Christine's POV

"You're what?"

When Meg and I arrived home for the evening, that's when everything hit the ceiling. Meg went running to her mother and blurted out everything. Yes, the part about Raoul was a complete lie, but I couldn't have told them both that I willingly slept with the murdering Phantom and that I was now carrying his child.

"And I guess you expect to keep this from Raoul?" Madame Giry questioned. "To never tell him about his child?"

"He left me with the Phantom!" I cried. "The Phantom spared Raoul's life for mine in return, and he did this without a second thought. I refuse to let him know about this child. He doesn't deserve to know."

"And what are your plans now? Babies are a lot of work and lots of money."

"I will get a second job if I have to. I don't know anything about being a mother, but when I get to hold my child for the first time, I do know that I will love it with all my heart. I will do my best to raise it and give it a good life, just like my papa gave me a good life."

"Very well," Madame Giry replied

Meg's eyes went wide with excitement. "Oh, Christine, I can't wait! I get to be an aunt! Oh, I am going to spoil this child rotten!"

I smiled, for Meg was more excited about this baby than I was. There were many nights after that one where I would lay awake thinking about this child. Sometimes, I would place my hand over my stomach and think about my angel of music and how he would have taken the news. Then, there were other nights when I would hum my child a lullaby. It comforted me, and I could only pray that this child would love music just as much as his father adored it. Spring and summer both came and went, the crowds at the pub never ceasing and only becoming busier as the summer season went on. After work on those hot nights, Meg and I would stroll down to the beach to walk along the side of the ocean. Those walks became few and far in between, especially once September arrived, for my stomach was so large, that it made it unbearable to walk. By the second week in September, I had to stay in bed, for I had come down with a terrible illness from the pregnancy. Feeling worried, Madame Giry sent over a doctor, who then told the terrible news that I may lose the baby before it was time to give birth. It brought me to tears, for I had carried this child nearly nine months without a problem and now this. No, I wouldn't lose this child…I needed to bring it into the world, for it was the only part of my angel that I had left. The doctor told me not only that, but that if the child was born there could be complications.

For the next two weeks I prayed to the lord above to save my child, and that no matter what it came out looking like, I would love it. Madame Giry and Meg had helped with preparing for the child's birth by knitting socks and purchasing a cradle. I knew if my angel were here, he would have built not only the cradle, but a rocking horse and everything else the child was going to need. The love for my angel was what kept me going, right up until the late night of October 28th. It had been an uneventful day, but late that evening, I awoke feeling wet, only to realize that my water had broken. I screamed for Madame Giry who then sent Meg running for the midwife. I was so frightened and scared about giving birth, but Madame Giry sat by my side for the next few hours while the agony of labor wracked my body. I thought my insides were tearing apart, but she assured me that it was just the baby getting ready to make its way into the world. When the midwife arrived, she checked every few minutes to see if I was ready to give birth. I prayed each time she looked that it would be time, and finally after six hours of labor, the midwife settled herself down at the end of my bed and instructed me to push. I was so exhausted and weak from the labor pains that I just wanted everything to be over.

"Push, Christine…"

I gave it all my might and pushed, feeling the little form of life leaving my body inch by inch.

"Again, Christine…I almost see the head."

This excited me, and I gathered enough strength to push again.

"The head is out…" I heard her say. "Just the shoulders now…One more push and your child will be born."

The last push was the most exhausting and painful one, but that cry…Oh, the sound of my child crying was something that brought tears to my eyes. If my angel were here, he would have compared those tiny cries to music. Though, at the same time, I was frightened, for what if my child had my angel's disfigured face? If it did, I knew that my lie would be no more and my child would forever be in danger.

"A boy," the midwife cried out. "It's a boy…"

The midwife swaddled my son in a blanket and placed his tiny form into my arms. When I dared to look down at him for the first time, what I saw melted my heart. He was beautiful! My little angel had a patch of chocolate hair on his head, and my angel's blue eyes. He was absolutely beautiful and I knew I would love him until the day I died.

"Hello," I cooed. "My little Gustave…"

Gustave, that was what I named my little angel of music. I would have named him after my angel, but I didn't know his first name. Therefore, I named him after my father and it fit him well. For the next three years, I spent every moment with my little boy. Some nights, I couldn't bear to put him in his cradle and had him sleep beside me in my bed. It was a bad habit to get him into, for even when he turned three, he continued to sleep beside me when he would wake from a nightmare. My child was smart, just like his father, for he walked before he crawled, and talked in small conversations before he was one. He was my little angel of music, and as each day passed, he began to look more and more like his father. Sometimes, I imagined that my angel would have looked like Gustave if he didn't carry a deformity. I only hoped that Madame Giry or Meg would never suspect it. But who could say otherwise? Both women treated Gustave as though he was one of their own. Madame Giry even babysat Gustave while I was out working with Meg at the pub. We were all one big happy family.

"Mama…" I woke one evening when I heard my child's frightened voice. I opened my eyes to see him standing at the side of my bed with his blanket wrapped around him.

"Gustave, sweetie, it's late."

"I had a bad dweam…Could I sweep with you?"

I lifted his small form into bed with me and covered him up.

"What did you dream, pumpkin?"

"That dada was a monster…He was on the beach and begging me to come to him. When I wan into his arms, he turned into a scawy monster."

"There are no such things as monsters, Gustave."

"Mama?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Where's dada?"

There had been many times in the past when Gustave had asked about his father. I had hoped that he wouldn't have started asking until he was older, but I knew he became curious after seeing other children playing with their fathers on the beach.

"Sweetie, I told you what happened to papa… He went to heaven before you were born."

"But why didn't he stay? Didn't he want to see me?"

"No one can choose when they go to heaven, Gustave. When the lord calls us home, we have no choice. Though, I know that he would have loved you more than anything in the world. Now, enough talking. I'm going to kiss you goodnight and close my eyes."

"Will you hum me my favorite lullaby?"

"For you, a thousand times over again."

And when my lullaby was finished, we were both fast asleep in each other's arms.

"You seem tired today, Christine," Meg said the following afternoon while we were at work. I couldn't help it, for she was right, I was exhausted.

"It's Gustave," I said. "He hasn't been sleeping lately. He wakes with these terrible nightmares and crawls into bed with me."

"I don't recall you ever having nightmares when you first came to the opera house."

"I didn't… He's been having nightmares about his father. Though, I keep telling him over and over again that he went to heaven. What else could I tell him? That his father is alive and an abusive man?"

"He needs a father. He's too young to grow up without one, and you're too beautiful not to find one for him."

Oh, I knew where this conversation was leading to.

"Meg, for the last time, I'm not going to flirt with the men who come to the pub. They're nothing but a bunch of drunks. That's not what I want for my child."

From out of her blouse, Meg pulled out a folded piece of paper.

"I was going to apply, but I think you need this job more than I do."

"What are you talking about?"

"Mr. Squelch gave it to me. Remember when we were on the beach last summer and saw all the construction going on around the abandoned area of the boardwalk?"

"How could I forget such a sight," I began. "There was so much noise."

"Mr. Squelch told me that they're building the new world. It's supposed to be a sanctuary for people with oddities and deformities. They're going to work and run this new world of amusements and fun. It's going to draw a lot of crowds when it opens in two weeks."

"Sounds strange…"

"The owner," Meg said. "He has a mansion on the other end of town. He has a friend who's friends with Mr. Squelch. This friend told Squelch that the owner is looking for a housekeeper, one that will cook and clean for him."

"I don't know, Meg. I don't know if I would feel comfortable working in a large house with a strange man lurking around."

"Mr. Squelch said that's the greatest part of the entire job. He said the owner is barely home, and won't be there at all once his new world opens. You'll get a key for yourself and clean for a few hours, and the man is supposedly paying top dollar for this new maid. Christine, you're crazy if you don't do it. Plus, you're sure to get the job because this man didn't advertise the position. He trusted Mr. Squelch to pick someone to do it. This would give you and Gustave a better life."

"What about you, Meg?"

"There will be more opportunities for me, Christine. You have a child to think about and this could be your chance to make some decent money for the both of you."

I looked down at the address and smiled, for Meg was right. Tomorrow I was going to go to this address and apply for the job. If I was lucky enough, I would get it, and my money troubles would be over. It was time to close the door to this life and open the door to a new one, for nothing mattered in this world but my son. I would do anything for him, and I knew that this was going to be the start of something wonderful.

Chapter 4! It's been really fun writing this so far and I hope to have more people reading it once my latest story ends sometime next week. Please review! Thanks again, everyone. Let's see who this mysterious owner is...