Five Years Later
"Don't run too fast, now! You might trip and hurt yourself..."
That was Christine, calling out to her and Marc's five - year - old son and worrying herself over his well - being as he ran through a park in London, where the Wellington family was taking a walk.
At five, Erik was a mix of Marc and Christine in looks, with brown hair and grey - green eyes. He had Christine's long, slender fingers, which were perfect for playing the piano - a talent that he had inherited from his mother. However, he'd inherited a worse version of Marc's voice, as he couldn't sing to save his life.
"Oh, hush," Marc sighed, smiling and shaking his head as he took his wife's hand in his and gently squeezed it. "He's never going to do anything great or fun if you don't allow him to hurt himself once in a while. If he falls, he'll cry for a minute, and once you kiss it and make it better, he'll get up and start running around again - perhaps going a little slower than the first time."
Christine frowned. "But he'll still be running. He'll have missed the entire point, the reason that he got hurt. It's ineffective. So if I just tell him to stop running now, he'll be better off." She paused, then called out, "Watch out, Erik! Don't run into your sister!"
Erik wasn't the only Wellington child now. Just as Christine had wished, she and Marc had waited two years before trying for another child, and the result had been Madison, meaning that Marc had gotten the daughter he'd wanted in the first place. Despite the fact that she was only three, she was very beautiful, with jet - black waves that went down to her shoulders and grey - green eyes. She was a miniature version of what Christine would have looked like if she'd been born without a deformity, and Marc was sure that he was going to have to be very protective of her whenever she got older. She was also exactly like Christine in musical talent, with the ability to both play the piano and sing.
However, his mother's warning came too late, for Erik ran smack into Madison, knocking her down on the ground as he fell himself.
"Ow!" Madison cried out, her face reddening and crumpling as she started to cry. She pointed accusingly at her older brother and turned to her parents. "Mama! Daddy! Erik made me fall - on purpose!"
"Did not!" Erik protested indignantly, grabbing a tiny nearby rock and throwing it at Madison's head. "You're lying!"
"Erik, don't throw a rock at your sister!" Marc said sternly, suddenly becoming protective of his baby girl as he left his wife's side and rushed over to the siblings to pick up a still - crying Madison. He looked over at Christine, who was taking her time walking over to her family. "Christine, do something about him while Maddie and I get some ice cream."
"Can I have ice cream, too?" Erik called after his father, who was already walking away with Madison in his arms, hopefully.
"No, you may not," Christine replied for her husband, sitting down in the grass next to her son and bracing herself for her son's soon - to - be - oncoming temper, something that he'd inherited from her as well as from the original Erik, his grandfather. "Now, tell me why you threw a rock at Madison's head."
"Because she was lying to you and Daddy!" Erik huffed, folding his arms across his chest in the same way that Christine did when she was irritated. "She said I knocked her down on purpose and I didn't."
"I know that, but you should have just told Daddy and me that she wasn't being honest. We already knew that what you did was an accident - although I did tell you to quit running and to not run into her," she added sternly.
He opened his mouth to protest, but then he thought better of it and looked down at the ground, drawing a design in the grass. "I suppose you're right," he agreed reluctantly.
"Of course I'm right. I'm your mother." She paused. "Now, when Daddy and Madison come back, what are you going to do?"
"Tell her I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
"Knocking her down, even though it was an accident," he said, saying this last with a hint of bitterness in his tone. He cleared his throat. "And for throwing a rock at her, even though it probably didn't hurt her."
"That's right... but leave out the even thoughs in your apology, all right?"
"Yes, Mama."
"Very good," she replied, ruffling his hair a bit and then kissing the top of his head. Then she looked out in the direction that Marc and Madison had left in. "And look - here they come right now."
"I got you some chocolate," Marc informed Christine, holding out a cone of chocolate ice cream to her, which she took. He then set Madison, who was already about halfway through her vanilla cone, down on the ground in a standing position and gave Erik a look, knowing that his wife had told him to apologize to Madison.
Erik let out a soft sigh and stood up, speaking the words that were, to him, the most difficult in the English language to speak. "I'm sorry, Maddie. I didn't mean to knock you down, and I shouldn't have thrown that rock at your head."
Madison looked at Erik for a moment, looking as if she didn't know what he was talking about, and then she shrugged. "Okay."
Knowing that his apology had been accepted, Erik smiled with satisfaction, then leaned forward and kissed Madison on the cheek. At the same time, he reached out for her ice cream cone.
"Erik Christopher Wellington!" Marc said sharply, causing Erik to jump and stop his attempt at theft. "No ice cream for you, young man!"
"But Daddy, I apologized!" Erik cried out helplessly. "I said I was sorry like I was supposed to - and I meant it, too!"
"I appreciate that, but you're still not getting any ice cream," Marc replied. "You have the suffer the consequences of your actions." He paused, giving Christine a glance. "And your mother won't be giving you any, either."
Erik opened his mouth and looked ready to protest, but then Christine shook her head so quickly that only he noticed, telling him not to press the matter further, since it would only get him in more trouble with his father. So he let out a resigned sigh and hung his head, walking over to his mother and holding onto her hand as the family started to walk together, three of the four of them eating ice cream.
"Ooh, look - it's Laurent!" an ice cream - coated Madison shrieked, pointing ahead and allowing her family members to see that the Luc family - Cameron, a very pregnant Emilie, and Laurent - were just ahead. Laurent was Erik's best friend, but Madison didn't mind associating with her icky older brother if it meant spending time with Laurent, as she had a big crush on him.
Without any delay and without caring that she had ice cream all over her face, Madison dropped her ice cream cone and took off, running towards Laurent and his family and screaming Laurent's name delightedly.
"Could I go, too, Mama?" Erik exclaimed, tugging on Christine's arm and looking up at her beseechingly. "I want to play with Laurent, and I said I was sorry to Maddie! Could I go? Please?"
"Well, I don't know," Christine replied, looking over at Marc. "It's all right with me if it's all right with your father."
"Daddy, may I please go play with Laurent?" Erik begged. "I'm really, really sorry for making Maddie fall and throwing a rock at her! I already didn't have ice cream with everyone else!"
For a moment, Marc was silent as he simply looked at his son, but then he finally sighed and nodded. "Oh, all right. Go on ahead."
At this, Erik loud out a loud cheer and immediately released his hold on Christine's hand, bolting towards his best friend and his sister. When he'd reached them, he said something to them, and they immediately ran off together.
"Stay close together!" Marc and Christine heard Cameron call out to the three children in a rather worried tone. "We don't want one of you getting lost or kidnapped because you were too far away from the other two!"
"Oh, Cameron," Emilie sighed, shaking her head and lightly patting her husband's arm. "You worry too much about them. This is a very safe place to live. There hasn't been a crime here in decades!"
"I know, but all it takes is one fool..."
However, he was cut short as Emilie pressed her lips to his and wrapped her arms around his neck. He relaxed visibly and placed his hands on her waist as Marc and Christine approached them.
"Get a room, won't you?" Marc joked to his best friend and his wife, nudging Cameron forward slightly and causing the couple to almost fall over onto the ground.
"Oh, I see!" Cameron exclaimed, pretending to look annoyed. "I never tell you and your wife to stop being affectionate towards each other, but it's all right if you do it to me and mine?"
"That's right," Marc agreed, still joking, and then the four adults started laughing.
"What is everyone laughing at?" another man's voice demanded, and the four turned around to see Francois and Sarah there, carrying their newborn fraternal twins, Elise and Brendan.
"Mind your business, old man," Christine joked, stepping forward and kissing Francois on each of his cheeks. Then she took Elise's tiny hand and smiled at her. "Hi there, tout petit (little one)."
Elise cooed and give Christine an adorable baby smile, which caused everyone to go, "Aww..."
"She likes you!" Francois said happily, giving his young friend a smile. "I knew she would. You're very easy to like, you know, mon ami."
Christine let out a soft sigh. "Well, she won't like me when she finds out what I look like underneath this" - she tapped her mask with one finger.
"Oh, good God, Christine," Cameron groaned, rolling his eyes slightly. "All of the other children have seen your face and they don't care. The twins are still going to love you, and so will the baby that Emilie and I are about to have."
"Gain a little self - esteem, please, darling," Marc continued, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "No one likes you when you shoot yourself down the way you are now."
"Hmm," she murmured, letting out a sigh and running her fingers through her hair. Then she took her husband's hand. "Well, never mind it now. Let's stay close to the children now."
"All right," he agreed, smiling and pressing a kiss to her unmasked, undeformed cheek.
Then the three couples all started walking together, keeping close to the children.
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A/N: All right, ladies (and gentlemen, if there are any) - this is the end! That is... unless... you want there to be a "threequel"?
