A/N: I'm glad you all liked the last chapter, I really enjoyed writing it! I love how Christine is coming along, really opening up into her own person. Love it! I just wanted to touch on something someone brought to my attention that I hadn't even realized. I chose 'The Count of Monte Cristo' and 'To Kill a Mockingbird' kind of at random, because I love them both so much, I hadn't even thought about the movie 'V for Vendetta' in relation to 'the Count of Monte Cristo' I just thought it would be a novel that Erik would enjoy. I know you all are going to hate me but I left a small cliffhanger at the end of this chappie, I'm working hard to get the next chapter done so keep the faith my friends!! A shoutout to my wonderful Beta!! Thank you so much! Keep the reviews coming in!! Love you all!
The next day Erik took Christine to the Cathedral of Learning and watched her wander the nationality rooms with a look of awe on her face. Afterwards they walked a few blocks to a small deli set off the main strip and had lunch.
"Thank you Erik. That was fun!"
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. On to Heinz chapel then?" he asked, as they finished their lunch.
She nodded enthusiastically. Hands entwined, they walked to the stone chapel. As soon as they walked in Christine started wandering around, looking at the stained glass windows. She seated herself in a pew close to the back, drinking in the sights around her. Erik sat next to her, an arm around her shoulders. "It's a shame no one is singing here today. You would have loved to hear the acoustics."
"That's alright, I can come back later and hear it." She wanted to go inside and look around for a few moments.
Erik guided her out onto the lawn in front of the chapel. As they waited for their car to come around to pick them up, they admired the architecture of the old building. Tired from their sightseeing, Christine wanted to lie down and Erik had some business to take care of. After making sure Christine was comfortable, Erik went to the room that he and Nadir had turned into an office and took his conference call. After he was finished he and Nadir sat and talked for a bit.
"Christine's a pistol, Erik! Are you sure you can handle her?" Nadir teased, the previous nights events still playing in his mind. He'd loved every minute of the dressing down Christine had given Rebecca. It had been long in coming, well deserved and way overdue.
Erik smirked. "I'm positive that I can handle her!"
"I never would have thought our sweet, demure Christine had such a loyal streak in he."
"It surprised me as well, though it's far from unwelcome," Erik murmured, if it were possible he loved her even more for it.
"Good!" came a voice from the doorway. Both men turned to see Christine standing in the doorway, leaning against the door -frame and smiling mischievously. She walked over and seated herself on Erik's lap, resting her head on his shoulder as he enveloped her in his embrace.
Nadir smiled at the picture they presented, so happy and in love and so very perfect for each other. "Erik, perhaps you could take Christine to Station Square for dinner and some shopping?"
Erik looked at her. "If that's what she wants then she shall get it!"
Christine nodded "But only if you come too, Nadir, I don't want you here eating room service alone."
Nadir laughed. "Thank you, Christine, but I will pass, I already have an engagement for this evening."
Erik kissed her neck. "Shall we go, my dear?"
"Yep!" She jumped up and hurried to their room to change quickly. She doubted very much that she could go to dinner in sweats and a t-shirt. Erik met her by the door, and escorted her out of the room down to the waiting car.
That evening they lay sated together, the sweat still lingering on their bodies Erik brushed her hair away from her shoulder before replacing it with the lightest of kisses. There were no words needed for the moment, as they both were happy to just lie in peace.
"Erik?" Christine whispered, almost afraid to break the perfect silence around them.
"Yes my love?" he responded, leaving a trail of kisses on her shoulder and up her neck.
"Mmm, that feels good!" She giggled. "Stop, I'm trying to talk to you and you're distracting me!"
"That my dear, is the point" he said, nipping at her neck.
Sighing in exasperation Christine stuck her bottom lip out and pouted.
"You know, you should register that lip as a lethal weapon." Erik grumbled, "Alright, alright I'm done distracting you!"
"Thank you." She rolled over to face him. "I wanted to talk with you about our wedding."
Erik's first instinct was to panic, thinking she wanted to delay it or even cancel it. She interrupted this line of thinking quickly.
"Settle down!" she commanded. He looked at her, but she put a finger on his lips to silence him. "I'm not going to postpone or cancel the wedding, so stop worrying! I can see it in your eyes!" She kissed him "There isn't a force on this earth that will stop me from marrying you, but I did have a question."
Feeling slightly better Erik nodded. "What is it, love?"
"I was working up a guest list this afternoon and I wondered if you had any family members you wanted to invite."
"No, I have no family," he responded irritably.
Undeterred she continued. "Nadir mentioned a cousin-" she was cut off by Erik.
"I have no family; Nadir should stay out of my personal life!"
"Alright! I'm sorry I mentioned it!" she huffed, rolling away.
Erik immediately felt bad. He kissed her shoulder as he pulled her toward him "Christine, forgive me. I didn't mean to snap at you!"
"Erik, I understand that you're angry at your family. Really I do, but family is so important. You should try to reconcile things if possible."
"I really have no wish to reconcile anything with him. He and I never got along. I want to leave him and my family in the past, where they belong." He nuzzled her neck "I wish to start a new family, with you."
Relaxing against him Christine kissed his temple. "Mmm, that sounds wonderful. I hope we have a son that looks just like his daddy!" Before he could react she continued, "I hope he has your dark hair, your golden-green eyes, your intelligence and your voice."
She felt Erik relax against her.
"Me too, my love, " he said finally, his voice thick with emotion.
"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked, hearing the change in his voice.
"I never…I never thought I'd ever have children. I never imagined anyone would want me, for that matter." He tucked some hair behind her ear. "I still don't understand why you agreed to be my wife, but it's made me happier then I ever dreamed possible and I promise you I will spend the rest of my days giving you everything I have."
Christine kissed him, forcing his lips open with her tongue as she pulled him to her. It looked to be a very long night.
Christine woke quite early the next morning. She snuggled against Erik for a few moments before sliding out of bed carefully to avoid waking him. Pulling a robe, on she made her way to the main room and poured herself a cup of coffee. Nadir must be up, she thought to herself as she took a long sip from her cup.
"You're up early!" Nadir's voice echoed from behind her.
"Mmm, yeah I couldn't sleep. I keep thinking about doing more wedding planning."
"Christine you have nearly 5 months!"
"Ah, but those 5 months are going to fly by and I don't want to be panicking in October."
Nadir nodded, seeing the wisdom in her words. They stood in front of the window looking down onto 6th Avenue, watching all the people as they made their leisurely way around downtown, enjoying their Saturday morning. She'd enjoy her shopping trip on the strip, though she knew Erik was going to hate it. Feeling a twinge of guilt, she thought about telling him she didn't feel like going, but that would only make him feel guilty. No, she would go about her morning as they planned and not think about their upcoming wedding and all the little details that would need to be worked out before then. Thinking about it was already giving her a headache! She hoped the next few months would fly by…
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Summer came to Happy Valley with blazing glory, as it always did. As May came to a close, many of the nearly 50,000 students headed home for the summer. The little town emptied out almost overnight. Then the summer session was in full swing and the campus over run with local high school and middle school sports teams. Christine made it a point to not go onto campus unless she had to since it only irritated her.
She secured the ballroom in the Nittany Lion in for the reception. She'd spoken to a minister at one of the downtown churches and he'd agreed to perform the marriage ceremony. At first Christine didn't want a religious service, since nether she nor Erik was very religious, but after some internal debating she realized that her parents would have wanted her to be married in the church. Christine had managed to keep the wedding small. She only had a small number of close friends and Erik had a few business associates that he planned to invite, but that was about it. Everything was going smoothly; she only could pray that it would remain like that.
Summer flew by for the residents at the Beauvais manor, Nadir and Christine kept themselves busy keeping up with their accounts, meetings, teleconferences and the like. Before any of them noticed, September was upon them, and everything started to fall apart.
"What? I ordered those invitations 3 months ago and they were supposed to be in my hands a week ago! " Christine seethed into the phone. Her invitations hadn't arrived, her gown wasn't complete and Meg was now trying to get out of a business trip for the same weekend as Christine's wedding. On top of that Erik and Nadir were swamped at the office, making them both irritable. She'd taken to staying up late with Erik trying to help him however she could, mostly by responding to emails and taking phone calls. Her temper was at its last end and the rude printing company associate on the phone wasn't helping matters.
"I have the paid invoice in my hands; I'll fax it to your office. I expect those invitations to be in the mail by the end of the week!"
Nadir chuckled as he listened to Christine, who was starting to sound like Erik a little more each day.
"Then I expect a full refund! And I'll be writing a very nasty letter to your manager!" Christine snapped before slamming the receiver down angrily, causing both Erik and Nadir to look over at her.
Neither knew what to say to her, and both men were a little fearful of incurring her wrath. Wisely, they remained silent.
Scowling as she thumbed through her wedding planner, she jumped when Erik's cell phone started ringing, since she dealt with most of his calls she had it on her desk. She flipped it open, not even looking at the caller ID "Hello?"
There was a pause on the other end before she heard a voice she never wanted to hear again "Hello, this is Rebecca. Is Erik available?" She obviously didn't recognize Christine's voice.
Christine glared at Erik, picking up a pen and throwing it at him. He looked over at her, scowling, wondering what he'd done to earn a pen to the ear. She thrust the phone at him angrily. Since she was normally the even-headed one, Erik was concerned. This was so unlike Christine. When he really looked at her, he realized she was exhausted and stressed. She had dark circles under her eyes and she looked rather pale. He took the phone from her hesitantly.
"It's your mistress, tell her your schedule is full for today but you can meet tomorrow afternoon." Christine spat at him before storming out of the office.
Erik watched her go, worried about her uncharacteristic display of temper. When he heard Rebecca's persistent voice on the phone he hung it up, throwing it to Nadir. "If she should call back, threaten to have her arrested for harassment, and then have her number blocked from our cell phones and land lines. I want nothing to do with her anymore!" he yelled as he followed Christine out of the office.
Christine was lying on their bed, wondering what had gotten into her recently. She was so tired! She felt like she hadn't slept in months, she missed Erik and she just wanted this wedding done with. They should have just eloped! She heard Erik enter the suite, and walk over to her pulling her into his arms.
"You're working yourself too hard my love. You need to rest," he said softly, noticing her bloodshot eyes. He studied her for a moment. "I know you haven't been sleeping, you barely eat and you've been moody for weeks. Are you sure you are well?"
Christine nodded, she hadn't been feeling her best, but she figured it was just fatigue. "I'm fine Erik, I just need to rest for a bit that's all." She caressed his cheek and kissed his temple. He laid her down on the bed and pulled a blanket over her."Please, sleep for a bit. I'll wrap up in the office and tonight we'll go out to dinner, just the two of us. How does that sound?"
"Perfect!" she responded, her eyes already becoming heavy. Erik leaned down and kissed her forehead before departing. He still had a lot of work to do before he quit for the day.
"Is she alright?" Nadir inquired as Erik returned to the office.
"Hmm? Oh, yes she's just tired."
Nadir studied his friend for a moment, wondering if now was a good time to voice something he'd been thinking about for a few weeks now.
"Erik" he cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable "Is there any way…" he stopped again, damn was this hard! "Could Christine be…pregnant?"
Erik narrowed his eyes at his friend for a moment, waving a hand dismissively "No, she's been on birth control for years and she is very vigilant about it."
Nadir was about to say that birth control, as good as it was, was only 99 effective. He decided against it, letting it go. But now he had planted a little seed in Erik's mind. Could she be pregnant?