Hello readers!

I don't know if where you live it's beginning to get cold, but over here, in Quebec, it sure does! The colors are beginning to change in the trees, it's beautiful. But so cold and humid...:s My favorite season...save for the pain in the joints because of the cold humidity, lol. It's my birthday soon...yerr...I'll be twenty-six already... I hope I won't have to suffer the presence of some unwanted people this year...wish me luck. lol

Some old characters comes back in this chapter, I hope you'll enjoy it! :D

Kaya

Chapter 51

Catherine was almost six months pregnant. She was never one to attach too much importance to her appearance, but these days she truly felt fat and ugly. Everyday she had to cope with new changes and she just felt awkward. Erik kept repeating her she was the most beautiful woman in the whole universe, that he was very proud of her and that he loved her. It comforted her, but he still had to repeat these words often. He certainly did not mind and he did find her gorgeous.

It was dawn, the first lights painting their bedroom in different shades of yellow and orange, as it did every morning. In the past few days, Catherine began waking up before Erik. With the baby dancing and bouncing in her belly, it was hard to sleep sometimes. Their daughter, if what her husband thought was true, was quite agitated, as though she did not have enough room to play. What will it be in three months from now? She thought. For some reason, it made the father very proud and he would brag about it often to anyone who would hear it. That was her or Brigitte, their maid.

Rising from the bed carefully, Catherine put on a robe and went down to the kitchen. She had one of those strange cravings… Right now, she would kill for some rye bread with lots of butter and fish! She giggled at the thought of that particularly disgusting breakfast. She wondered if Erik would approve though… When she arrived to the kitchen, Catherine sat down for a bit, remembering she was not to stay on her legs for too long. When her resting period was over, she made her breakfast.

Just then, as she was cutting and generously buttering some bread, the young woman noticed a note left by Brigitte. She blushed at the thought the maid knew about her morning escapades to the kitchen… Along with the note, there was an envelope…with the De Chagny crest. Her breath caught. What could it be about? She did not waste another second and read Brigitte's note.

Madame,

This letter arrived late last night and,

since Monsieur Lavoix ordered me not to

disturb either of you after eight in the evening,

I chose to leave it on the counter

should you come down to eat something.

Have a nice day,

Brigitte

Catherine found the young maid very nice. In the little time they had known each other, they had become good friends. Yet, she could not get Brigitte to call her anything but Madame… Such formalities always made Catherine uncomfortable especially between friends…and also because they were almost the same age… Taking the letter, she took a bite of her snack and carefully opened the sealed envelope. She did not receive anything from Christine in weeks. Since they left the De Chagny manor, Catherine and Christine would write to each other every week. They had become close, even though their husbands were enemies once more… Now, Catherine was worried about her friend and anxious to know what had been going on to keep her from writing.

Dear Catherine,

I truly am sorry I did not write to you in a while.

We have been having troubles at La Rose Bleue and

not only to find a new Prima Donna, but also with

one of our business partners. It is the duke of Reinhardt.

He has not been the same since you two separated. He

never digested your rupture and you marrying Erik.

He still lives in Paris and he pretty much drinks his

money away. He spends his time in Montmartre and

you know what they say about the Moulin rouge…

We need him. La Rose Bleue is struggling and we fear

we will have to close its doors if nothing happens.

I know I should not have told you about this. I guess

I needed to vent some of my frustration out. My

husband tried to hide the problems our opera house was

having to me. He is sure I could not handle it well.

I guess he might have been right, to some extend. Though,

he doesn't know that I know. I am not as naïve as he

might think.

As for the rest, all is well. Gustave and I are fine. My son is

always smiling and he bring me joy in these hard times.

Raoul is out again today. He is desperately trying to repair

Reinhardt's mistakes and tried to find new investors.

I do not want you to worry, my dear friend. My little boy

cheers me up with each of his smiles. I will only ask this:

pray for us, for everything to come back to normal. I

hope you are doing well and that we will see each other

soon. Give me news as soon as you can. I miss you.

Yours,

Christine

Catherine folded the letter back into its envelope and sighed. Christine did not want her to worry, but it was way too late… The desperation in her words were enough to have her worried for her friends and La Rose Bleue. Catherine did not finishe her food, it did not appeal to her anymore.

Pensive, she slowly returned to the master bedroom. She wanted to do something about La Rose Bleue. She felt responsible for what was happening. Catherine did not hear about Friedrich in months and now, most likely because of her, he was putting her friends' opera house in danger…

Returning to bed, thinking she could use a couple more hours of sleep, Catherine tried not to wake her sleeping husband as she got under the blankets. Erik stirred, opened his arms, but did not wake. She settled in his warm embrace, feeling safe and she sighed. She liked that even in his sleep he was possessive and over-protective. But even though the atmosphere was favorable for her to fall back asleep, the young woman could not stop thinking about Christine's letter…

A few days passed, Catherine took that time to form a plan. Erik needed to return to Paris. He wanted to retrieve a few items from the house by the lake. It was still early and her husband was sleeping. She would go ahead of him. She wrote him a note, telling him she needed to run a few errands in Paris too and would join him in his old lair once she was done so they could return home together. She did not tell him what real purpose she had to want to go to the City of Light. It would upset him needlessly.

Catherine intended to visit with Friedrich Reinhardt and attempt to convince him to put himself back together. A man of his rank should never behave like he had. He was ruining everyone's life, including his own. She had enough affection for him still not to want him to destroy himself thus.

Silently, Catherine put the note on the nightstand, beside Erik's mask where he was likely to find it and left the house. She hailed a coach and before long she was heading to Paris. She was terribly nervous and the baby must have felt it, for it kept boxing her insides as though warning her of some sort of danger. The young woman also felt bad for lying to her dear husband, but she promised to herself to tell him everything once it was done.

Trying to calm both her little one kicking in her belly and herself, Catherine sang one of Erik's newest compositions. It was a song he composed especially for their child. It was the first time he wrote a lullaby and he swore it would not be the last. Catherine smiled at the thought. The song was soft, pure and so peaceful, it was hard sometimes to imagine it was the infamous Phantom of the Opera who composed it.

She could not help but think what he would say once he found her note. Would he be angry at her for leaving on her own? For sure, once she met him later at the old Populaire, Erik would remind her that she was pregnant and fragile. He would certainly show his possessive side rather than his protective one. It did not matter though, she loved him either way.

After almost two hours, the carriage finally came to a stop at the gates of the Duke of Reinhardt's manor. The young mother-to-be was very anxious to meet with her former betrothed. What would be his reaction when he sees her? Would he be angry with her still? She remembered what Christine said in her letter, about Friedrich drinking his money away. Would he be drunk? Would he be violent?

Maybe it was not such a good idea to have come to his home alone, but Catherine's mind was set and there was no turning back now. She needed to help the duke, and her friends at La Rose Bleue. Before she could talk herself into renouncing, Catherine's feet were leading her past the gates and to the main entrance of the large mansion. Catherine pulled at the doorbell and soon after a young, scared maid opened. They both started when a male's voice boomed from behind the servant.

-"MIREILLE!" Reinhardt yelled through the house. "COME BACK HERE AND GIVE ME THAT BLOODY KEY OR SO HELP ME!"

The maid shook, so Catherine assumed it was Mireille. She kept looking behind her, as though she feared the duke might erupt out of nowhere and strangle her. Catherine swallowed, scared too now. She did not expect that…

-"Oh hmm…" The maid mumbled, turning back to the visitor

-"I am here to see Monsieur le Duc." The young mother-to-be said formally

-"Hmm…Madame, the master…he isn't…disposed to receive any visitor…" The maid continued uncomfortably, with a shaky voice

-"THE KEY, FOR DEVIL'S SAKE!" Reinhardt screamed, making Mireille jump back

-"Do you have the key he is yelling about?" Catherine asked gently and the maid nodded. "Then give it to me, I shall return it to him myself."

-"Ohh…n-no, Madame. He's violent when he's drunk and…" She began, her eyes darting down to Catherine's rounded stomach. "And in your condition…it would not be wise. No, Madame, I can't let you do that…"

Catherine looked at the maid firmly, though kindly and held her hand out, waiting for the said key. She gave a reassuring smile and Mireille nodded, reluctantly giving the visitor the key, then led her to the drawing room where her master was currently redecorating… The maid left, not to say fled, and Catherine stood in the doorway a moment, staring at the mess, sadly observing the man whom she was supposed to marry months ago.

Friedrich had his back on Catherine as he was desperately searching for the mysterious key. He broke everything he thought was in the way, which was anywhere his furious hands were. When he finally turned in a growl, the young duke froze when he realized who was observing the raging storm of his drunken anger.

-"Cat-Catherine…is that really you?"

The young woman tried to smile, but found that she couldn't. She blinked tears away and slowly made her way into the war field that had become what must have been a lovely drawing room at one time. Ever so carefully, Catherine took Friedrich's surprised hand and placed the very object that had triggered today's anger. His eyes widened when he saw it was what he had been looking for so violently.

-"Mi-Mireille stole the key to the liquor closet…"

He interrupted himself, realizing it was pretty much useless to explain why he had been destroying his own house. His attention turned back to Catherine and his eyes drifted to her swollen belly, a tear escaping one of his blood injected eyes.

-"A…a baby…" He mumbled

-"Yes." She answered simply

-"For when is it…" He swallowed, unable to finish his sentence

-"In about three months."

Catherine gasped when Friedrich's fingertips touched her stomach, but at least the contact was brief, she was relieved. The young, broken duke met her eyes, at last and she found they were reddened from both alcohol and unshed tears. It truly broke her heart to see him so miserable. Reinhardt on his part was lost in her dark depths, until he fell on his knees with a sob.

-"I-I wish it would have been mine…" He whimpered

Not knowing what else she could do, feeling utterly torn, Catherine knelt beside the young man, stroking his back affectionately. He cried like he probably never had in his adult years and the mother-to-be murmured for him not to be sad, begging him not to ruin his life and those of others.

-"I-I loved you so, so very much…" He sobbed

Turning suddenly, Friedrich took Catherine against him, placing his heavy head on her shoulder. She was terribly uncomfortable in this position, and not only because he was holding her tightly, but because he was drunk and this was very improper thing to do. Besides, she needed to have a serious talk with him and she felt it was impossible in this awkward position. She pushed him away and looked back into his blood injected eyes.

-"You need to listen to me, Friedrich." She began firmly, though calmly, hoping she would have some influence on him. "You have to put yourself back together, or else La Rose Bleue will close its doors… You are much stronger than that, my friend, I know you are. Everybody, including you, will suffer if you don't do something quickly."

-"I do not want you to suffer." He whispered, tears trailing down his unshaved face. "I still love you."

Catherine had to put a stop to this. She got up on her feet and walked back to the doorway. She heard him get on his feet behind her and she let out a shaky sigh.

-"I am happily married, monsieur, if I may remind you." She said, a bit more coldly than she intended. "Take care of the opera house and don't dishonor your name any more. Now I must go."

-"No, wait!" Reinhardt yelled, grasping Catherine's arm