Three Months Later

"So the scenery fell down on Pablo, and of course he was furious. The managers starting shouting accusations at Francois, who saw that I had done it and was surely going to kill me later. The look on his face when he saw me standing there, laughing in the corner, was indescribable! I just couldn't stop laughing... I even went back down to the lair and laughed for another fifteen minutes!"

Cameron, Emilie, Francois, Sarah, Marc, and a very pregnant Christine all laughed as Christine told Sarah and Marc of a time that Cameron, Emilie and Francois especially remembered - a time when a much unhappier Christine had actually laughed.

She had laughed, but not nearly as much as she laughed now. Of the five sitting at a table on the back yard of Wellington Estates, Christine was the one laughing the loudest.

"I think, perhaps, that I can imagine what he looked like," Sarah said fondly, squeezing one of Francois's hands that she was holding and looking at him with undisguised adoration before turning to Christine and pulling a face. "It was something like that, wasn't it?"

Christine laughed. "Yes, that's exactly what he looked like! It was just the funniest thing that had happened to me in quite some time!"

All five of the people sitting at the table laughed, and then, when the laughter had subsided, Francois cleared his throat and rose, still holding onto Sarah's hand while she remained seated.

"I have an announcement to make," he said seriously, looking down at Sarah and smiling at her, and she smiled back at him. "Just two evenings ago, I asked this lovely woman, whom I love very much, for her hand in marriage. And I don't know exactly why, but she has accepted."

"That means that you and I are going to be in - laws now, Francois!" Christine exclaimed, smiling up at her friend and father figure. "What a wonderful piece of news. Congratulations to both of you."

"A toast, then!" Cameron declared, rising as Francois seated himself once again. He raised his glass of champagne. "To Sarah and Francois, who are sure to lead a wonderful life together."

"To Sarah and Francois," everyone else echoed (except for Sarah and Francois), raising their glasses of champagne (or, in Christine's case, water) and then drinking from them.

As everyone then set down their glasses, an infant's cry was heard from inside the Wellington residence, and Cameron and Emilie looked at each other and sighed, shaking their heads at the same time.

"That'll be Mr. I-have-to-be-in-on-everything, then," Cameron said, referring to Laurent, his and Emilie's month - old son, who always woke up when something exciting was going on with the adults. He rose from his seat. "I'll go and make him think he's not missing anything."

Then, without waiting for a reply, he turned and walked towards the house, heading inside. Emilie rose and followed him, saying something about Laurent possibly being hungry.

"I hope you'll take good care of my friend/my sister, Sarah/Francois," Christine and Marc said at the same time, Christine speaking to Sarah and Marc speaking to Francois.

"Oh, I'll handle him," Sarah replied to Christine in a joking tone, looking at Francois and kissing his cheek. "He'll be completely taken care of by me."

"And I, of course, will do the same for Sarah," Francois said to Marc, cupping Sarah's chin, turning her face so that their eyes met, and then gently kissing her.

They held it there for several moments, and in that time, Christine and Marc looked at each other and smiled, glad that two of the people they cared for had found each other.

"All right, then," Cameron announced as he arrived back at the table. "Emilie is inside feeding Laurent, and that always makes him fall asleep, so she ought to be back out in just a moment. Is anyone up for something more to eat or drink?"

"No, I think I'm fine... oh!" Christine exclaimed suddenly, her grey - green eyes widening as she grabbed Marc's arm tightly.

"What's wrong?" Marc inquired as the other three standing there looked at her worriedly. He placed a hand on top of the hand that was squeezing his arm. "Are you all right, love?"

"No," Christine replied, her voice lowering to a thin whisper, and she turned to her husband, looking slightly alarmed and slightly afraid at the same time. "I... I think my water just broke."

"Your water just broke?" Marc echoed, his eyes widening as hers just had. He glanced down and saw that, indeed, part of her dress was wet. "Oh, dear God... that means the baby's coming!"

"Mmm - hmm," Christine said, nodding as she looked even more nervous. A pained expression then crossed her face, and she let out a gasp, squeezing her eyes shut. "Oh! Go get the doctor, someone! Hurry up!"

"Cameron, please - go!" Marc exclaimed, looking up at his friend. "I'm going to take her upstairs. Run!"

Nodding silently, Cameron then turned and ran, not even going inside the house and instead running around it to find the nearby doctor who had been looking after Christine during her pregnancy.

"All right, love, come here," Marc then said to Christine, scooping her up in his arms with a bit of effort and then quickly carrying her inside the house. Sarah and Francois followed.

As the four then entered the house, Marc carried Christine upstairs as Sarah and Francois remained downstairs, then carrying her into one of the guest bedrooms and setting her down on the bed in a sitting position, moving the covers out of the way so they wouldn't bother her.

"Can I get you anything?" he inquired, placing a hand on her shoulder and noting with slight unease that her face became a deeper shade of red with each passing moment. He started to step back from her. "Water... anything?"

"No!" she moaned, taking a deep breath and then grabbing his free hand in one of hers, squeezing it tightly as the other hand gripped the bedsheets. "Just... stay here. Oh, I'm so afraid!"

And then, much to his shock, she started crying.

"No, no, no, don't be afraid!" he replied reassuringly, sitting down next to her and pressing a kiss to the hand that he was holding. "You're going to be fine. I promise."

She looked up at him and sniffed. "Really?"

"Really," he said with a smile, smiling and kissing her hand again. "It's going to be okay."

"Mr. and Mrs. Wellington?" a new voice said, and the married couple looked to the doorway to see Dr. Ernest Chancey, the doctor who had been taking care of Christine while she had been pregnant, and a nurse, standing there. Cameron was right next to him.

"Oh, thank God you're here, Doctor," Marc sighed with relief, letting go of Christine's hand and walking over to the doctor, shaking his hand. "My wife's water has broken."

"That's what I hear," the doctor said with a smile, walking over to Christine, who was trying to take deep breaths and stay calm. "Are you ready, Mrs. Wellington?"

Biting her lower lip, Christine looked up at him and shook her head. "No," she whispered.

"Ah, you'll be fine," he reassured her, smiling down at her warmly. He then motioned the nurse forward. "Now, to make things easier, I think it would be best if we removed your mask. It might help you feel a little cooler without it covering your face - or, at least, part of it."

"No," she protested, shaking her head fervently and looking over at Marc anxiously as her face paled. "No, I don't want... I don't want you to see."

"Mrs. Wellington, I don't know what you look like underneath your mask, but I assure you that it's nothing that I haven't seen before. Please - it will most likely be easier for you to breathe without it."

Christine looked like she was going to protest, but then she sighed and squeezed her eyes shut, then reached up with one hand and removed her mask, placing it down on the nearby bedside table and then opening her eyes, keeping her gaze down at the blankets so that she wouldn't have to see the doctor's or the nurse's reaction.

"Very good," the doctor said, his expression not betraying any horror as he placed a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed it as the nurse filled a syringe with some liquid and injected into Christine's arm. "The medicine you're being given now is going to help with the pain a little."

He then looked over at Marc and continued, "Now, Mr. Wellington, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the room at this time."

Marc shook his head. "I want to stay here with my wife."

"I understand, sir, but we need as much room as possible in here. I promise you that nothing will go wrong, all right?"

Marc uncertainly looked over to Christine, who simply shrugged and gave him a weak smile, from the doctor for a moment before sighing resignedly and nodding. "All right. I'll be downstairs if you need me for anything."

Then, without another word, he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him, and made his way downstairs and into the parlor, where Cameron, Emilie, Francois, and Sarah were sitting.

"They asked me to leave," he muttered rather crossly, sighing heavily and sitting down next to Cameron on the sofa. "That doesn't mean that anything's wrong, right?"

"Not at all," Cameron reassured Marc, patting his friend's shoulder. "They asked me to leave when Emilie had Laurent. They just want to make sure that, in case something does go wrong, they have enough room to move about and take care of things. But I'm sure she'll be all right."

"Foutre!" they all heard Christine shout suddenly from upstairs, causing them all to glance upstairs.

"That's exactly what I said," Emilie said, looking over to Cameron as they both chuckled and smiled at each other. "I was blaming Cameron for the pain that I was feeling right then. I'm sure Christine is doing the same thing concerning you, Marc."

"Oh, wonderful," Marc said sarcastically.

Then they heard Christine let out a long, loud howl of pain, and after a moment, her cries mingled with the cry of a newborn baby.

"Oh!" Marc exclaimed, his brown eyes lighting up as he rose from the sofa and looked upwards. "It's here! The baby is here!"

For a moment more, the five who were downstairs simply looked upwards in anticipation, and then they heard the sound of footsteps and saw Dr. Chancey descending the staircase.

"Congratulations, Mr. Wellington," he said to Marc, beaming at him as he walked over to him and extended his hand to him. "You have a son."

"A son," Marc echoed, a slow smile starting to spread across his face as he took the doctor's hand and shook it. "She was right, then."

He then looked up at the doctor. "Are they both all right?"

"They're fine, sir," the doctor reassured the new father, smiling. "You may come up and see them now, if you'd like. Everyone else may come up in a few moments."

Then, without another word, and two turned and walked upstairs, heading towards the room where Christine and the new Wellington child were with the nurse, who, when they entered the room, was holding a small bundle in her arms.

"Congratulations, Mr. Wellington," the nurse said to Marc with a smile, holding the bundle out to him.

Marc took the bundle from her and then looked down, seeing a little red face amidst the covers. There was nothing imperfect about this face, either - it looked as normal as most everyone's face.

Smiling down at the son he was holding in his arms for a moment, Marc then looked over to the bed. Christine was now in a lying position, her eyes closed. Her mask was still off.

He walked over to the bed and sat down next to her, holding his son in one arm while reaching out with his other hand and placing a hand on her shoulder, not knowing if she'd already fallen asleep. "Christine?"

Her eyes immediately opened, and she looked over at him, smiling tiredly. "I told you we were going to have a son."

"Indeed you did," he agreed, holding the bundle that was their son out to her. "Here - you hold him."

She took their son from him and held him close, and when she looked down and saw that the child hadn't inherited her cursed face, tears of relief filled her eyes.

"Oh, thank God," she whispered, sighing and pressing a soft kiss to her son's forehead. She then looked up at Marc. "He's going to lead a normal life. He won't live the way I did."

"Yes, he will, and no, he won't." Marc then paused for a moment before smiling at his wife. "So, I suppose that this child's name is Erik - Erik Christopher Wellington, just like you wanted him to be named."

"Mmm - hmm," she replied with a smile, looking down at her son again as her smile grew even wider. "Erik."

A/N #1: Woo - hoo! -tosses confetti- There's a new Erik in the house!

A/N #2: All right, ladies (and gentlemen, if there are any), this is the next-to-last chapter. Actually, this is the last chapter - next chapter is the epilogue. It's all almost over!