The end is here! :( I will miss this story so much! Thank you to everyone who read it and stuck with me throughout it. You have been the best and I thank you from the bottom of my heart, I do. You helped me reach my 200 reviews goal which is something I haven't been able to do with any other story before, I haven't even gotten close! This makes me so happy, you have no idea. Thank you and I love you all! Here's the epilogue :)
Epilogue
The sun set behind the mountains setting the sky on fire. At the top of a small hill not far from a village stood a modest home.
A pretty girl of 22 stood on the door way looking down the road looking for her husband who would be arriving soon.
On her hip was a little baby girl, with brown curls and brown eyes that were falling asleep on her mother's shoulder. To her side stood a boy of about four sucking on his thumb and with his other hand pulling down on her skirt asking repeatedly when his daddy would be home. On the lower steps sat a five year old playing with a worn out doll.
The young woman suddenly straightened up as she saw a horse riding up the dirt road. She had to suppress the urge to run out to meet him as the child in her arms had fallen asleep.
The night was approaching and the temperature was dropping. She wrapped her shawl closely around her and checked that her "babies" were snug enough.
It seemed as if it had been just a day ago she and her beloved had been torn apart.
Sometimes, at the middle of the night, she would turn around in bed to see if he was really there, to make sure it wasn't another dream.
Life had been peaceful since they had arrived here about five years ago. There had been trying times too, of course.
Just a few days ago her eldest, Erika, had asked her why her daddy looked different.
Her breath had caught in her throat. She had been dreading the moment this happened. She knew it had to happen but she didn't know how she would handle it. She only wished it was her they asked and not her father.
"Well, darling, did you know your dad is an angel?" was the first thing that popped in her mind.
"Daddy? An angel?" Erika asked.
"He is. You see, that's how I met him" she explained.
"Oh, go on, mommy, tell me!" she said now excited.
"Well, did you know that if you get a visit from the angel of music you are transformed for life?" she paused for effect. "So, don't tell your dad I told you, but he was my angel of music" Erika gasped with her eyes wide open. "And that's how I sing so pretty" she said with a smile as she brushed Erika's hair with her fingers.
"But if daddy is angel, then why does he look like that? Do all angels look like him?" she asked still confused.
Christine searched her mind for an explanation, any explanation What could she tell her?
Then she heard footsteps behind her and turned back to see her husband approaching.
"I fell in love with your mommy. That's what happened. But for me to be able to love your mommy I had to stop being an angel. And the punishment for that is to look like this" he finished for her.
Christine looked at him with loving look and tears in her eyes.
"Ohhh" sighed Erika, eyes wide with amazement.
She looked at her parents and hugged both and they hugged her back.
"I love you" Erika smiled with her eyes closed.
Erik and Christine locked eyes and a million unsaid words transpired between them.
'I love you' she mouthed at him and he did the same back.
Moments like this were the ones that made everything else worth it.
And now, as the late afternoon turned into twilight to lead the way for the night, Christine eagerly stood on the porch as Erik got closer and closer home.
He was nearly home now and the two eldest children ran ahead to meet him with hugs and kisses.
Their little legs ran as fast as they could, anxious to reach their father as soon as possible.
Christine herself started walking at her pace, as fast one possibly could with a child asleep on her arms.
She stood as she looked at Erika and Gustave try to get their father's compete attention away from the other and towards themselves.
Erika claimed to have finished that new dress for her doll and "daddy" had to come inside the house and see it right away.
On the other hand, Gustave pulled on his dad's shirt to get him to come see the new giant ant hill he had discovered just to the side of the house.
Erik tried to manage as best as he could to seem equally excited to see both new wonders.
"Let your old father come in the house and take a breath and then I will go see the new dress and the anthill. How's that?" he asked.
They both nodded and decided to race back to the house.
Erik stood from where he was kneeling and met his wife with a tender kiss and then bestowed another on the sleeping baby.
"How was work, darling?" she asked sweetly.
"Horrible" he said as he made a pained face. "Far too long away from you" he said with smile.
Christine laughed and started walking inside beside Erik.
His stride was tired after a long day at work.
On their first arriving to the small Swedish town they were not received by the families and so they sought refuge on the hills by building their own cottage.
For months they had a hard time even finding food. Christine had some of the money from Lady Hamilton left but no one would sell them any goods.
They didn't trust Erik's deformed face. Their own superstitions judged him and imagined him to be endless things but all evil.
It was only till, on their fourth month, while Erik was surveying the forest, that he met with two young ones from the village.
They had been playing and had gotten lost. Erik lead them back home but not without meeting a brown bear first.
He had gotten severely wounded protecting the children from it and on returning them to their families the children couldn't stop talking of how he had fought the bear.
Upon such an act of bravery, injuring himself to protect their children, they had no choice but to allow him the credit and accept him.
That's how the old blacksmith from town took him as his strike and apprentice.
Two years later when he had expired the job was taken by Erik, who was now fully accepted by the entire community for his diligence and constancy.
He was kind and pleasant to all and worked hard at his trade.
Only a year ago he had tried writing a new play which was performed in the town plaza the last spring. Christine had acted and sung beautifully as if she had never stopped and the village loved it.
They had few amusements in their daily routine and any diversion was welcome. They had already committed him to have a new one written for the next spring and that Christine should be the lead once again, accompanying the less gifted.
Aside from this, life was uneventful and peaceful, just perfect for them.
That night as Christine finished tucking in the children she went in her own bedroom to get ready for bed.
The day had been tiring and she needed the rest badly.
She laid down beside her husband who she presumed already asleep and let her tired muscles relax.
She was startled by his voice when he spoke.
"Sometimes I wonder, where would I be today had I not ran into you that day?" he said his eyes still closed.
"Oh, I don't know. You'd probably be at some English Opera House spreading fear all across it by threats to the owners and writing more operas and doting on some young soprano" Christine answered playfully.
Erik smiled at her teasing.
"No" he said. He breathed in and continued. "I doubt it. I think I would be still roaming the continent in search of you and my daughter" he replied turning to face her and opening his eyes finally.
Their eyes lingered on each other's for a few seconds as they contemplated each other.
He reached for her face and tucked back a loose curl from her face.
"Thank you for being so wonderful. Thank you for being in my life" he said as he stared into her eyes.
Christine caressed his cheek.
"No, thank you, for bringing meaning into my life again and giving me the best life I could ever wish for, with the best of husbands and the best of children" she said with a smile and a kiss.
They fell asleep this way as the cold air slipped in through the window.
Outside, the earth was cloaked under the night, beneath a moonless sky.
*THE END*
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Well, this didn't end up being as long as I thought.
I will be pained to part from this story :( and from you, amazing readers.
I will be soon writing two new stories- one for Pride and Prejudice and another for Gone with the Wind. If you are a fan of either, press that author alert button, if you haven't already, so you can read it when I start writing them.
Leave me a final farewell review :( and tell me your final thoughts on the story. Thank you again for making my story successful enough to gain 200 reviews. I don't think I could have done without your encouragement and loving words. I owe you everything.
I love you, guys and I'll miss you!
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