Author's Note: Well, I'm embarrassed. I uploaded this chapter Saturday night, but just realized I never published it! *facepalm* School is clearly taking a toll on my sanity. Probably no chapter for a few days (on purpose this time), but I'll make sure to double check next time I upload a chapter so this doesn't happen again!
Finding someone to marry them proved to be more trouble than Anya had expected. Erik had warned her it would be difficult, but she never imagined a church would turn anyone away who desired to be married under God. Between Erik being a masked stranger, Anya never having attended a church in Paris, and their only witness being a Muslim, it took a considerable amount of searching to find a priest who was comfortable marrying them
After over a month of searching, Anya was finally able to employ the priest in the girl's home she had surrendered young Elise to not long prior. The priest had gotten to know her some during her visits to see the girl, and knew the woman was deeply in love with her fiancé before he ever saw the man. Such love should not be kept apart, he decided, and invited the pair to be married in a private service in the home's chapel.
Anya did not wear white, although it seemed to be a tradition in Paris even among the girls Anya knew were not virgins. She was not ashamed of her impurity; she had waited until she was married to bed her first husband, and did not regret a single time she had made love to the man who was soon to become her husband. When she slipped into the room in her lightly champagne colored gown adorned with pale blue lace both Erik and Nadir could not pull their eyes away; she had refused to show either of them the gown, and now it was very clear why.
Erik was certain he was about to marry an angel. It felt sacrilegious to be marrying such a work of art when he himself was so hideous. He was certain it would have felt sacrilegious even if he were the most handsome man to ever walk the earth. Surely he would still not be deserving of this masterpiece, hair pinned in neat waves like dunes of sand by the sea, with her grey-green eyes shining through the veil.
Although Anya knew he would never believe her, she thought that he looked rather handsome standing somewhat uncomfortably in front of the pews of the chapel. His suit was well cut and his frame had begun to fill out nicely since she had first met him, when he had been little more than a living skeleton. Although his face was masked the porcelain looked smart and clean, more like a piece for a masquerade than an unfortunate necessity.
Anya had begun to fill out herself since her injury. On her insistence Erik had removed the splint on her leg, and while she walked with a slight limp she had refused to walk with a cane down the aisle to greet her husband. The leg was somewhat thinner than her good leg from the time of disuse and considerably weaker than it once had been, but the pain was only moderate. The length of her dress hid the unevenness, but hugged her tight enough around her waist and breasts to show that she was gaining a comfortable amount of weight. Erik was pleased about this for more reasons than one. He had always loved her oddly proportioned frame, but now she seemed… softer. More feminine than ever before, with slight curves in her breasts and hips that she had been lacking before. Her proportions had not changed; her legs were still long, as were her arms, her head was still small with full cheeks and her torso was adorned with broad, delicate shoulders. She was quite the same woman, simply gentler and more ethereal in appearance.
The weight gain had also worked wonders on her health, as Erik expected it might. For the first time in over a decade Anya had bled, and though she was cramped and bedridden because of her newfound 'health' there was also considerably more natural color to her cheeks, and a certain added softness to her hair and skin. Her appetite was healthier, her energy increased, and Erik thought she appeared to be generally happier, with more of a glimmer in her eyes than ever before.
Those glimmering grey-green eyes met his when Anya stepped beside him and took his hands before the priest. The thick, jovial man smiled to them and first addressed Nadir.
"Monsieur, I am correct in guessing you are their witness this evening?"
"You are," answered the Daroga, smiling broadly with pride. "And before you ask, I approve of the union whole heartedly."
The priest chuckled. "Very good then," he concluded, before beginning the ceremony. At Erik's request it was brief and simple; Anya knew he was not particularly religious, and he certainly did not have the patience to sit through what could well have been a four hour service even if it was with Anya's hands in his. Anya did not mind either – the sooner they returned home the sooner they could begin their lives together as husband and wife.
After only an hour long service the vows were exchanged, and Anya's voice shook with such happiness she thought she could see a hint of tears in Erik's eyes at her emotion. She couldn't help it. Somehow, this felt different than her first marriage had. She had been fifteen years old, completely enamored with a handsome young artist and surrounded by their friends and family. She and her husband were both rising stars. All Anya could see before them was greatness and happiness… yet this moment was even grander. She was a widow with no career, marrying a masked genius who's mood was as unpredictable as a bolt of lightning and often just as intense, who made his living extorting a theatre to make up for his lack of proper compensation years and thousands of francs before… but she was happier in this moment, with this man than she had ever been with her husband. There was no explanation for it, and as far as Anya was concerned no explanation was needed.
Simple rings were exchanged and when given permission by the priest, Erik lifted her veil as though it were made of spun gold. With no reservations Anya threw her arms around her new husband's neck and kissed him soundly, tears of joy falling freely now. Erik kissed her back just a firmly, and both the priest and Nadir applauded with broad smiles. Husband and wife moved to Nadir, and Anya embraced the man tightly. "Thank you for coming, Nadir!"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," the Daroga promised. "Erik, you are one lucky man. If you do anything to spoil this I will hunt you down until one of us drops dead."
Erik chuckled. "You sound like her father."
"More like the man she ought to have married," Nadir teased, and Anya smacked the Daroga's shoulder gently.
"I married the exact man I ought to have. Many, many years too late, but Fate got in the way," she smiled up to her husband, who kissed her soundly.
"Truer words were never spoken," Nadir promised with a smile, walking with them outside of the chapel and back to the Palais Garnier. "Are you sure you won't let me buy you a room for the night?"
"There's no need, Daroga," Erik promised. "We've been living together for weeks already."
Anya nodded her agreement. "Besides, it's so awkward don't you think? Everyone knows exactly what you're there for."
Nadir chuckled. "I suppose you're right. Well then, when I can figure out what to give the man who has everything for a wedding present, look for it by the set pieces that hide the forest. Congratulations again, to both of you."
Together Erik and Anya walked through the Rue Scribe gate and down through the catacombs before reaching the house by the underground lake. The moment they were in the door the newlyweds began kissing and stroking one another desperately, undressing even as they made their way into bed. Erik had been good and had somehow managed to keep from making love with Anya until their wedding. It had been nearly as difficult as coming off narcotics. Sex was like a drug, one neither of them objected to indulging in as often as they liked.
Two months after their wedding night, Erik sat on the bed with Anya, helping to stretch out her foot and leg. The woman clenched her teeth through the pain, but did not complain. "It still hurts?" Erik asked, and Anya nodded.
"Terribly. Is it not supposed to anymore?"
"It's impossible to say what it's supposed to be doing, but I would have thought with all the stretching you've been doing the pain might have lessened by now."
Anya shook her head. "Not much. I do feel more flexible though. And I feel as though I'm limping less."
Erik nodded. "I've noticed the same. It hurts more when you stretch it like this than when you walk?" Anya nodded her response. "Well, that's something then," he remarked, knowing slow progress was better than none at all. Patting her foot fondly, Erik moved out of the bed. "I have a gift for you. Several, in fact."
The woman couldn't help but smile. "Do you really? What's the occasion?"
"No occasion," Erik promised. "Simply things a wife deserves from her husband."
"I may have something for you too," Anya remarked, and Erik raised a brow.
"You 'may'?"
"I'll explain in a minute, now I'm excited to see what it is you've gotten me," she promised with a grin, and Erik took her hand to lead her out of the Louise-Phillipe room to the door of his bedroom.
The door was unlocked and opened easily when Erik turned the handle and pushed forward. The room beyond was completely different than it had been the last time Anya had seen it, so much so it caught her breath in her throat. The bedroom seemed so much larger than it had before with a casket suffocating it in the middle of the room. Now there was a large, elegant four-post bed against the back wall matching Erik's work desk where it sat across from the organ on the other end of the room. A large bookshelf with glass doors held pages and pages of neatly organized scores Anya was sure Erik had composed all himself, as often as he worked in here. A large Persian rug ornamented the floor, with lamps on side tables lighting the room pleasantly. It seemed for all intents and purposes like a perfectly lovely master suite in a perfectly lovely Parisian home.
"Oh Erik, it's beautiful! How on earth did you manage to put such a bed in here without my noticing?" She demanded, and Erik chuckled.
"In bits and pieces while you were out. I worked on it a little bit every day after I took you up to the market."
"While you were supposedly working?" Anya asked with a raised brow, and the man nodded.
"Precisely. And you never suspected a thing, did you?"
The woman shook her head. "Not at all! I'm going to miss the Louise-Phillipe room, though. It was beginning to feel rather homey."
"I thought if we're eventually successful in having a child the Louise-Phillipe room would be more suitable for the child than where I work," Erik explained, and Anya nodded her agreement. "On the desk is your second gift," the man told her, and Anya wandered over to his work desk with a smile, picking up the piece of paper that was neatly laid out and reading it aloud.
"'This document entitles Monsieur and Madame Erik Rameau to the property located at 471A Rue Vernier' – Oh my God, you bought a studio!" She exclaimed, running to him in spite of her week leg and leaping into his arms to kiss him soundly. "Rue Vernier was my favorite one, but the landlord said it was already taken!"
"I knew how much you liked the space, so I bought it off the man who purchased it for twice the price. A dance studio better suites the neighborhood than a hat shop anyway, if I may say so," Erik remarked, and Anya kissed her husband again deeply.
"You shouldn't have, Erik! There are other spaces fit for a studio-"
"None like that one," Erik promised. "You have good taste. The floor was solid, walls are large enough and sturdy enough for good mirrors and bars, the foot traffic there is good but not overwhelming. It really is in the perfect place."
Anya smiled. "My gift for you isn't nearly as thoughtful," she remarked, though the small smile she wore showed she was still proud of it.
"Well, what is it then?" Erik pried – it was not often at all that he received gifts, and the ones Anya got him at the market from time to time were all wonderfully sweet little tokens of affection.
The woman stood firmly on her feet and took Erik's hand, guiding it carefully to her belly with a small, almost secret smile. It only took Erik a moment to catch the enormous meaning of the gesture. His eyes widened immensely, and immediately Anya was swept up into a tight and loving embrace. "You're pregnant! How do you know?"
"I missed my monthly even though I've been putting on weight, so I went to see Doctor le Blanc again to see why it was. He told me I'm expecting sometime in late January," Any explained with a broad smile. "Are you pleased?"
"Pleased? Anya my gifts to you pale in comparison! I am beyond pleased," he promised, kissing her deeply as Anya melted into his embrace.