Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I was busy working on my other story A Sons Promise. Enjoy the chapter and dont forget to review :)

Christine's POV

After a few days I began to feel better, I was just more tired than usual because Aria hardly ever slept through the night. I would always end up in her room asleep on the rocking chair with her in my arms. Being with Aria left me little time to do other things like get decorations for Christmas and find Erik a gift. It had been sometime since Erik and I had had any alone time together. He was usually too busy keeping up Phantasma and I had Aria, and now he was busy setting up a Christmas Eve masquerade ball to give people a first glimpse of Phantasma.

It was early one morning a few days before Christmas that I decided to sneak out and get some shopping done. I told Erik that I was leaving Aria with him and he said it would be fine. I grabbed my red cloak and headed out the door.

I loved walking along the snowy streets of Coney, Everything looked so beautiful decorated for Christmas; it was a winter wonderland. I first went into a clothing store and bought some red material to make Aria a Christmas dress. Then I headed over to a small gift shop to buy some decorations for the flat and the tree; Erik had promised me that we could go get a tree later and that we would decorate it together. I found a couple of boxes and sorted through the red and green tinsel to find some other decorations. Once I had enough, I purchased them and was off to find Erik a present.

I wanted to get him something special, he had done so much for me and I wanted to show him my appreciation. I went from store to store, but nothing seemed right for Erik. I searched high and low and could not find him the perfect gift. It wasn't until I reached the stationary store that I found Erik's gift, in the window there was a rack of brand new sets of pens, they were high quality and would last a long time. Erik was always complaining about how using his ink and quill was so time consuming and now he would have new pens to write his beautiful music. I also bought him a new set of sheets to write his music on.

I had expected the flat to be just as I had left it this morning, but when I came back a few hours later I was surprised. I heard the sounds of Aria crying in the nursery so I tossed Erik's gift under our bed and hurried in to see Erik walking about the room with Aria in his arms trying to calm her.

"Calm down!" he said his voice tensed which made her cry even harder.

I moved to him and he pushed her toward me. I shushed her and Erik ran his hands through his wig as he moved past me into the other room; a few minutes later I heard the sound of the piano being played. I placed Aria in her crib and went to talk to Erik.

I sat next to him on the bench and massaged his shoulders.

"She can be quite a handful."

He shook me off and started to walk away.

"Erik, what is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong is that I scare my daughter!"

"That's not true."

"It is, I can't hold her without her bursting into tears. You can hold her and she immediately calms down! I shouldn't even be allowed to hold her." He moved quickly about the room, grabbed one of the dishes on the counter, and smashed it against the wall. He then moved into our bed room and sat down on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.

I went and sat next to him and rubbed his back. "Of course you should be able to hold her, why shouldn't you? You're her father."

He lifted his head; his eyes were filled with tears. "But she is so small and fragile; a monster like Erik would surely hurt her."

"Is that what has you so upset you think you are going to hurt her? Don't be silly you would never be able to harm her in any way."

"Oh Christine I already have!" he moaned. "That mark on her cheek is from my horrid genes, she is scarred because of me. I understand if you hate me."

"I don't hate you, and you know what I like that mark."

"You do?"

"Yes, it looks like a kiss; a kiss from an angel." I lifted his face and placed a kiss on his lips.

The rest of the day was full of Christmas cheer, Erik and I went and bought a beautiful tree and once it was back at the flat he helped me decorate it with all the wonderful decorations I had found. Now with the flat decorated, it really felt like Christmas and I could hardly wait for the wonderful surprises of Christmas Eve.

I woke up early the next morning and wrapped Erik's gifts; I placed them under the tree and went to start breakfast. Soon the flat was filled with the scent of cinnamon as I mixed the dough for the cinnamon rolls; the smell reminded me of my father and how we used to make them together every Christmas Eve.

I felt someone wrap their arms around my waist as I stirred the dough.

"Good morning Christine." Erik whispered in his most seductive voice.

I turned my head upward and kissed him. "Good morning Erik."

He spun me around and we began to kiss each other passionately, we would have continued, but Aria started crying.

I went to get her as Erik finished the cinnamon rolls. Everything was perfect; we spent the day as a family laughing and spending time together until the ball.

I was in the nursery dressing Aria; I had made her a gorgeous red dress with shiny sequins at the bottom. I also made her a small bow to match and a tiny soft mask. She was so beautiful I scooped her up and snuggled her close to me.

"Christine? Can you come here for a second?" Erik called out.

I stepped into the living room and was surprised to find him standing there with a package in his hand. He was all dressed for the ball in his black tux with a red cummerbund. He had on a red mask and his dark wig.

"I know we agreed to wait to give each other gifts until later, but I want you to open this now so you can use it."

I took the package and gasped at the beautiful gift. Inside was a deep red ball gown that glistened in the light, there was also a red and black mask with music notes along the sides.

"Erik it's beautiful!" I said giving him a hug. "This must have cost you a fortune; you didn't have to get me something so beautiful."

"The real beauty will be seeing you in it."

I kissed him and then handed Aria to him so I could go get dressed. The dress fit me perfectly and so did the mask. I fixed my hair and put on my red hair piece and matching earrings.

I came out and laughed when I saw Erik's jaw drop.

"Mon ange, I have never seen you look so beautiful, well except for on our wedding day."

I blushed. Erik held out his arm, I took it and we made our way to the concert hall for the ball.

The room was beautiful; it was adorned with Christmas decorations. Silver and gold tables were placed around the room with red and green candles on each one, silver tinsel was wrapped around the large stair case, and blue, red and green stars shone on the ceiling as couples danced to jolly Christmas music.

"Erik, this place looks so nice." I gushed as we stepped inside. I glanced around the room and headed toward Meg and Madam Giry. Meg had her hair pulled up into a bun; she had on a skimpy light green dress with a matching mask shaped like leaves. Madam Giry had her hair in a braid, and she wore a long black gown with a small mask to match.

"Oh Christine! The baby is so beautiful!" Meg gasped as she put out her cigarette and came over to see her.

"She looks so much like Erik" Madam Giry said. "I heard about what happened how are you doing Christine?"

"I'm fine now, thanks." I smiled as Meg and Madam Giry swooned over Aria.

"Erik are you alright?" I asked him. He seemed very nervous and uncomfortable.

"Yes…it's just that, this is my first time I have ever attended a masquerade ball with a date. Usually I would never go to these sorts of things so I'm just not sure what to do really."

"You will love it, and now you do have a date."

"Just promise Erik that you won't leave him alone."

"I promise."

He smiled at me, just then a slow song came on and Erik held out his hand for me to dance with him.

"I would love to, but Aria…"

Erik shifted uncomfortably, and I apologized. Then Meg came up behind me and practically stole Aria out of my arms.

"Go, enjoy yourselves! You need it before this cutie gets any bigger and you two have no time for each other." She said walking away with Aria.

I started to protest, but Erik gently pulled me away toward the dance floor. We waltzed together just like old times, it felt so wonderful, but I couldn't stop glancing over at Meg over Erik's shoulder.

"Christine, relax she will be fine."

"I know, Meg is my best friend, but I don't know if I can trust her with Aria."

"What's the worst that can happen?"

We heard people clapping and cheering and we turned to see Meg holding Aria out to a whole crowd of people. Erik and I both started laughing.

"That's what can happen" I said between giggles.

We continued to sway to the music and I rested my head on Erik's shoulder. I loved dancing with him, when I had gone to the masquerade balls with Raoul he would quickly dance with me to one song and the rest of the night he would talk to people introducing me and then forgetting about me two seconds later, but this, this was how it was supposed to be.

We heard the cheering again and this time Meg was spinning Aria around. I pulled away from Erik and went to get her. I quickly took her back and made sure she was ok. Erik came over and placed his arm around my waist.

"Oh Christine…" Meg said in a sing song voice looking up.

I did the same and then noticed the mistletoe hanging above us. I turned toward Erik and passionately kissed him. He then kissed his daughter on the cheek and I did the same.

We spent the rest of the night dancing and laughing together and once it was over we stepped outside to see a beautiful new snow falling and sparkling in the moonlight. I held Aria and Erik took me by the arm as we walked together through the snow back to the flat.

Once we were home I laid our sleeping baby in her crib and went to exchange gifts with Erik.

We sat by the tree as I handed him his gifts. He first opened the pens and music sheets, thanking me for the wonderful gifts. Then I gave him his final gift. It was a heart shaped card that I had made for him. Inside was a picture of our family that he had drawn and I had written something for him. He sat and read the card aloud:

My darling Erik,

My angel of music, you have brought the light into my life and made my spirits soar. Every day I thank my father for sending you to me many years ago. You have been my angel, my friend, my love, and now my husband and I could never have asked for a better one. I love you with all my heart and wish you a Merry Christmas!

When he finished reading he had tears running down the sides of his face.

"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, please forgive me." I scooted over next to him and gave him a hug.

"I'm not upset Christine."

"You're not? Then why are you crying?"

"No one has ever given me such a wonderful gift or even said anything that nice to me before. Even my own mother felt like I was too much of a monster to deserve anything for Christmas, but you, you have given me the best gift of all; my first real Christmas."

I was surprised; I had no idea that he had never celebrated Christmas before.

"And now my final gift to you", he said pulling out a small box from under the tree.

"Erik, you already gave me my gifts."

"Ah, but I had to save one for you to open later and I saved the best one for last."

I took the small box and took the lid off. Inside was an elegant necklace, it had a rose made out of rubies and Emeralds on a gold chain.

"Erik this is amazing." I said in awe; it was so beautiful.

"Look at the back."

I turned over the rose and saw something etched into it.

"Mon amour éternel" I read aloud.

"My eternal love" he said. "This rose will never die, just like my love for you."

"Oh Erik! I couldn't have asked for a better gift. Will you put it on me?"

I lifted my hair so Erik could take the necklace and hook it around my neck. "I'm never taking this off. Thank you Erik."

I took his face and gently pulled off his mask and wig. I then kissed him, he wrapped his arms around me and moaned "oh Christine."

He picked me up and carried me to our bed. I removed his shirt and he removed my dress. It had been a while since Erik and I had made love and it was just as wonderful as I remembered it. Erik's touch was one of the best feelings I had ever experienced.

"Christine." Erik called out just as we finished. I lay wrapped in his arms as we watched the snowflakes falling outside. I heard the clock chime twelve.

"Merry Christmas Erik."

"Merry Christmas Christine."

Fulffy chapter! Thanks for reading and thanks to all the people who take the time to review! Luv you all! I will post the next chapter as soon as possible, there will be a jump in time,but i'm not sure how much yet. If anyone has any suggestions or idea's for my story feel free to add them in your review or Pm them to me (I prefer you Pm them so you dont give away the story :) ) thanks again and PLEASE REVIEW!