Our journey is now complete. Thank you to everyone for being so supportive of this story. I had more than 400 reviews by a decent sized group of readers, which made me very happy. For once I did not have to shamelessly plead for them. Of course if you are reading this long after this story has been written, please feel free to add your review to it. I love hearing from new people.

Anyhow I would first of all like to thank everyone who favorited/followed this story I have not thanked you individually but you are all special to me. If you have not favorited this story I would love it if you do. It only has 13 favorites, which is less than some of my other stories yet it has been well supported so I know that others are out there. Now on to my reviewers:

Thank you to stingray2185, scrubso, AZhiD, Rising Phoenix-82, broadwaybound 2016. I don't know if you are still reading this since you reviewed in the beginning only but if you are thank you anyhow, especially Rising Phoenix-82 who has been very supportive of me in more than one of my stories. RoseRed 60, Bonepetitepoodles, phantomslove01, you reviewed later so are more likely to still be out there, thank you all for your recent reviews I love hearing from new people even when it is near the end. I am glad that you are enjoying my story. Grandma Paula, I always worry about you when I do not hear from you since you are in and out of the hospital. I hope that you are feeling better, and I always look forward to your reviews they are usually very kind and supportive so thank you again. Phantomsgirl: You reviewed fairly often and always encouraged me. Musicalis you reviewed every so often. I tried to make sure that I gave you a good taste of England and that I was as accurate as this Yank could be. I apologize if I inadvertently added anything un-British. I tried to keep it as British as I could muster other than using the American spelling for words. Thank you for your continuing support, unknown guests I cannot thank you privately because there is no way of doing so, and of course unless you tell me a name I have no way of knowing if you are one person or ten but your reviews were always very kind and supportive thank you again. Left Artist- It is time for me to crack open some champagne, and eat some caviar as I should do whenever I conclude a story, unfortunately since this is fan fiction and I do not get a cent from doing this it will be a Cava from Spain or a Prosecco, if I ever publish a story and become a best selling author it will become a Dom Perignon or something even more amazing that a not so wealthy, unknown writer like myself has never heard of because I simply do not move in those circles, but thank you again for your often humorous support, both when you did it using your name or as a guest. Mimi Pied, thank you for reading multiple stories of mine. I love loyalty, and hope that you will continue to enjoy my stories. I don't hear from you often but am always happy when I do. PhantomPhan33 and PoE99, I love that you discuss my story between you. I will have to return the favor and read some of yours now that I will have more time since the summer is almost over. Savannah White, I haven't heard from you in a few chapters so I am guessing that you are busy with your story and life, so far from what I have read I really like it. Keep up the good work. I will try to read more of it soon. I hope that your exams go well. It has been nice chatting with you both by PM and your reviews. I hope that you will have time to finish this story soon. Kitkat, BadassSyd, TMara, MarilynKC thank you for supporting me throughout this story, and some of you have done so throughout my other stories. You are all the greatest and have been my rock, thank you for your vast amount of support. When you write these stories seeing as you do not get paid those encouraging reviews are what keep us going. Writing is like a marathon race it helps to have people on the sidewalk cheering you on to the finish without them the task of writing and finishing a story becomes tedious and mundane. Thank you all for helping me to keep going. TMara and You are Love are both excellent writers and their stories deserve your attention. You are Love, I think that you will like this chapter, read and review; it has many of your favorite elements. Judybear236 you are always last but not least, my friend and beta, she too has some interesting stories to read. Thank you for your continuing help and support. There I think that I have named you all if you fell through the cracks I am sorry it doesn't mean that I have forgotten you but this list is so long which is a good thing that I probably thought that I did get to you. If not thank you anyways, and thank you again to the silent readers that I know are out there. There is still time to let me know personally that you are there. Soon I will post chapter 1 to my new story. I hope that you will all check it out. If you have not read my other stories they are out there as well.

Chapter 50.

Seven months later.

The winter had been a strong one, but the family endured it, and hunkered down together in Shropshire. Erik, Christine and the rest of the family never did return to London to continue Livy's season. Darnleigh had proposed to Livy on that beautiful mid-summer night in Shropshire and so there was no need for Livy to return; she had found the love that she had been looking for within a short distance from her father. Annette and Bertie too had resolved all of their previous differences and were prepared to marry as well, originally they were going to do so fairly quickly but it was decided to wait for Livy and Darnleigh and marry together to save Erik the trouble of hosting two weddings close together to one another. Annette and Livy bonded greatly over picking out wedding attire and decorations, it brought the two girls very close together, so close, that they began to think of themselves as real sisters.

There was a third couple that did find love also, Aziz and Juliette. Neither party had expected that the other would care for the other and danced around their feelings but they were constantly being left alone as the only two single people where everyone else was paired off. Aziz did not want to fall in love with a kaffir, and Juliette found Aziz to be rather patronizing to her as a woman. Despite those concerns, they found one another enjoying each other's company more and more. Juliette kept comparing every man that she met to Aziz and they were found wanting, either too foppish or not dark and handsome as he was. Aziz found that Juliette had a very lively mind and decided that he liked that. He looked at his father's relationship with his kaffir wife and decided that if his father could abide it then so could he. Eventually, months after they met, Aziz proposed to Juliette and she accepted. In their parent's eyes they knew that it was going to be an interesting marriage since Juliette was so different from the women of Lahore or Baluchistan. Juliette would never be meek, nor would she wear an abaya or any other Islamic garment, nor would she contemplate converting to Islam. She did agree to raise their children in that faith and that was good enough for Aziz. Religious status in Islam was passed down paternally so it did not in the end matter to him whether or not Juliette was a Muslim, as long as his children were. Although Erik had no children involved, since a wedding had already been planned, with many of the same guests; it was decided that Aziz and Juliette could also share that wedding date and ceremony. Juliette and Aziz decided to have a second, Islamic wedding, in Baluchistan, on their honeymoon, to appease Aziz' sensibilities.

To Christine's joy, Meg had been invited to the weddings and made the crossing from Cleveland to England with her husband, but not her children. No one had wanted to reveal Erik's identity to Meg until she arrived for the wedding to be reunited with her oldest and dearest friend. While Antoinette and Erik had been friends in the old days, Antoinette had made it perfectly clear to Erik, at the time, that she wanted him to stay away from his daughter. Like everyone else at the Opera Populaire, she was petrified of the Phantom, and had been pleased to find out that he had died in the fire, and relieved that Christine had escaped his grasp. Imagine her surprise when she discovered who Christine's new husband was.

It was early spring day when Meg stepped off the ship onto the pier at Bristol. She had spotted Christine and practically ran off the gangway straight into a very pregnant Christine's arms. Twenty plus years fell away in a cacophony of giggles and tears. Erik could not help but smile as he watched Christine change from a woman to a girl. The very innocent and carefree girl that he had fallen in love with, not the fearful one that had kissed him in his lair on that long ago night. He closed his eyes and remembered how he used to watch them exchange swatches of gossip and mirthful observations, as well as their impressions of the handsome men who entered the opera house. At the time he had longed to be one of those men that they so desired, and never had thought it possible that he could attain such a woman for himself. Yet there Christine was, standing there glowing with love for him and their ever growing baby that was his child, conceived in their love. Meg squealed in delight as she finally noticed her friend's very pregnant belly. She had barely looked at her surroundings in her haste to reunite with her friend.

She exclaimed, "You look positively glowing Christine! I do not think that you have aged since I saw you last when we were young girls." She turned towards Erik while adding "You must introduce me to your hus…" She stopped talking and blanched.

Until that moment she failed to notice the features of the person that was standing right beside Christine. Erik had stood there with a smile on his half masked face. Meg had decided to make the crossing several weeks early to attend to Christine before the wedding, specifically to spend some time with her pregnant friend. Erik had told Christine to invite Meg early. He had ulterior motives for the suggestion, as he knew that Meg would likely need time to adjust to Christine's new husband, specifically him. He was not disappointed in her reaction; she had not changed an iota in two decades. As Meg felt Erik beside her, shivers of fear tingled down her spine and the hair on her neck stood up on end. Her eyes had caught, and identified, the tall lanky figure, the white half mask and the black evening clothes standing right beside her friend watching them closely like a hawk looking to devour its prey, or so she thought.

She continued, "Mon Dieu, Christine, it is the Phantom of the Opera standing right here beside us, but he is supposed to be dead." She told Christine, clearly panicked. She backed away from him quickly, her face as white as a sheet.

Christine dismissed her friend's trepidation and tried to explain, "Erik is as alive as you and I, perhaps even more so. He is my husband now Meg and he is wonderful. Please don't look at me that way, do not…" Meg fainted and Erik caught her just on time and then he gently carried her to a bench near the pier. Christine looked helplessly at her husband, as he produced smelling salts seemingly out of air.

"How did you know that she would faint at the sight of you, ange?" Christine asked in amusement. "Do you always carry smelling salts?"

Erik laughed, "No, but I remembered how afraid of me that she always was. 'He's here the Phantom of the Opera. Run Christine, before he catches us and hurts us.'" Erik spoke in a perfect rendition of Meg's voice.

Christine giggled, "Your gift of mimicry never ceases to amaze me, Erik, even if you are a cad for making fun of my best friend in such a way. I should be offended on her behalf but I am not."

Erik smiled at her mischievously, "I will make it up to you later. I promise."

Suddenly, they noticed that a man had stepped off of the pier, he looked at the two of them, and then his unconscious wife in puzzlement, "I am Meg's husband John Pennington, and I do not speak even a stitch of French so would one of you please tell me why my wife just now fainted into your arms sir and is now lying there unconscious on a bench? Meg never faints."

Erik looked at the bemused man and smiled, "I am afraid that it is all my fault sir. You see we all thought it best that Meg come over with no preconceived fear at what she might find on this side of the ocean. Her mother was afraid that she would stay away out of fear. You see your wife believes me to be a homicidal maniac."

The man looked at Erik in disbelief, "A what?"

Erik smiled broadly and continued, "You mean that your wife never mentioned a certain Phantom of the Opera? If so I am surprised, you see he was a large presence looming over everyone back then, when she and Christine were both performers at the Opera Populaire."

"Well, of course she mentioned the monster, but he is supposedly long dead. What does he have to do with any of this? Why is Meg in such a panic?" Meg's husband asked still not comprehending.

Erik pointed to the masked side of his face, "Your wife never described the infamous Phantom to you?"

"Well now that I think of it, she did mention that he wore a peculiar mask, a half mask to hide his supposedly hideous face. I used to think that she exaggerated when she described it. She said that it looked like the rotted face of a corpse."

"And did you not notice that I too wear such a mask?" Erik asked unflinchingly despite the terrible, but accurate, description of his face.

Suddenly it dawned upon the poor bemused husband, "You are he? But you are dead. Lost in a fire that you set to escape, when you kidnapped Christine."

Erik smiled, "Do I appear to be dead, sir?"

"No, although your mask is a bit disconcerting." John admitted backing away a little.

Erik handed the American the smelling salts, "Please wake your wife and Christine and I shall endeavor to explain everything. We shall wait for you in my automobile where we shall all speak in private and explain. It is the Roll's Grey Ghost parked up ahead. My chauffeur is standing next to it."

John swallowed, "You will not harm us?" he asked fearfully.

"I do not make a habit of harming my guests, particularly when they are good friends of my wife, besides the events that took place were a long time ago. We are all a little older and wiser, I think," Erik told him wryly.

Christine took her husband's hand and squeeze it tightly, and then gave him a fond and adoring glance, and then looked back at Meg's bemused husband. "My Erik is a perfect gentleman. He was never the horrible man that we believed him to be back then. He is perfectly kind and agreeable and completely sane. I assure you that no harm shall come to either of you." Christine reiterated.

John looked at Christine, "I will take your word for it. I suppose that you would not be standing here out in the open with a fine motorcar if you were truly a threat to us."

Erik laughed, "If I were a threat to you sir, I would not invite you into my motorcar, I would simply dispose of you post haste, but that would be in rather poor taste since you and your wife are to be our honored guests for the next few weeks. But where are your children?"

"They are with my parents. You see Meg wanted to spend time with Christine without distractions. I am afraid that our children can be quite a handful at this time, and thus we felt it wise to leave them behind. They were very disappointed. Antoinette told us in a letter that you live in a very fine manor house, and that you are a knight." John told them, relaxing his wary gaze.

"I am a Baronet, not a knight, although the titles are quite similar." Erik told him. "Unlike an ordinary knight, my son Bertie, and his sons will inherit the title. I am not considered to be a member of the nobility."

"Well to me you are, because in America we don't have any such things as knights, Baronets, Dukes or Kings. There are just men of wealth and the rest of us. My boss Mr. John D. Rockefeller is a very wealthy man; he owns most of the oil in America. I run one of his refineries in Cleveland," he told Erik proudly.

They could all hear Meg moan and turned towards her. Erik observed to John, "Your wife is stirring. Perhaps you might not need the smelling salts after all. We shall leave you for the time being while you tend to her. Please see to her comfort and then join Christine and I."

Christine and Erik waited in the car while John attended to his wife. The chauffeur gathered their bags and put them on the roof of the limo, and in the trunk. They could see John gently speaking to his wife and then she looked over towards the limo fearfully but gradually both of them came over. Meg looked as if she would love to run in the other direction but her husband stopped her and reassured her.

Finally they arrived at the car. John poked his head in and requested, "sir, I apologize but would you please reiterate to my wife that you have no intention of harming her? She is still a little uneasy about coming near you given what she remembers from the past."

Erik used his most calming and appealing voice to soothe her fears, "I will not harm you Meg. Your mother and I have been friends since before you were born. In all that time, when did I ever try to hurt you?"

"Uh, never," she admitted. "But what of Buquet, and Piangi. My God Christine he kidnapped you right off the stage. He is hideous and a murderer. How can you stand to be near him?"

To Erik's credit he did not react to Meg's less than kind description of him. He had anticipated the entire exchange, and to be fair he was hideous, and in her eyes, a murderer.

Christine replied calmly, "He was working with the Surete the whole time Meg. Buquet was trying to harm us all, and Piangi was an accident. The rumors were right after all, despite what we all believed back then, it was Erik who saved all those people that night."

Meg looked at Erik in confusion, "You did?"

Erik smiled, "At your service Madame."

Meg looked at Christine, "But you were terrified of him, you told me all sort of horrible things about his face, and then when you took off his mask everything that you said was true. He was terrifyingly hideous."

"I don't really see his face in that way anymore Meg," Christine told her. She then caressed the handsome side of Erik's face, "In fact I find even that part of his face to be quite beautiful, just as wonderful as the rest of him. You will too once you get to know him. You will see that he is a wonderful husband and father and so loving."

Erik smiled at his wife, "You describe me kindly, mon ange, perhaps almost too kind. It took me years of careful planning to build up my fearsome reputation and you would have it destroyed in one afternoon. Next you will invite Carlotta here and force me to apologize to her for my boorish behavior. Just to let you know ahead of time I refuse to do so."

John looked at his wife and observed, "Erik appears to be a fairly reasonable man to me. He even brought smelling salts for you."

Meg looked at Erik tentatively, still a little mistrustful, "Give me a little while to get used to the idea that you are not a murderer. But tell me how did you and Christine come across one another again? Were you still stalking her after all these years? Maman was so secretive and now I know why."

Christine looked at her friend and motioned her to sit across from her. She gladly complied because it was away from Erik, who she still eyed warily, but with much less fear.

When they were settled Meg again asked, "How did you come together once again? Were you stalking her the whole time waiting for her husband to die?"

Christine and Erik looked at one another and laughed at Meg's question.

"No I stalked him, Meg. Erik was quite the catch," she added. "Although admittedly I did not think so in the beginning, I had him arrested and thrown in jail."

Christine then began explaining their whole story to her old friend. Meg and John were both very astounded at their narrative. Christine, and also, Erik were able to explain much of it on the long trip back to Shropshire. By the end of the journey, Meg began to see Erik in a new and much more admirable light. By the time that they arrived at the manor, they were all laughing, mostly at the expense of some of their old 'friends' at the Opera Populaire. As predicted Meg began to see Erik in a new light, and when she saw the grandeur of their manor house, she began to look at him with wonder and newfound respect. By the end it was clear that they would all be good friends. Meg did not even flinch when Erik took her hand to help her out of the motorcar.

Several weeks passed and it was time for the triple wedding. Once again the small church was packed with well-wishers for all three couples. It was a most unusual site to see three brides and grooms but they had all become such good friends and they already felt like they were family to one another, the wedding was just a formality to seal them all together officially as both three families and also as part of one big family. As Erik sat beside Christine, as her husband, he could not believe the difference that a year had meant in his life. It was only little more than a year ago that Christine had re-entered his life and she had irretrievably altered his life forever. She had helped him to lay to rest many of the unresolved pain that had remained from her supposed rejection of him long ago, and then instilled in him a new purpose for living a longer and more fruitful life, and not just existing for the sake of his children.

He had once thought himself to be beyond the need for a new wife, and love. He had been content to watch his children assume the mantle of family, while he would simply fade into the sunset, and rejoin Emma in death someday when his allotted time on earth had passed. He was not truly seeking love out again. When he was a young man he would have been content with the notion that one woman could find him to be less than a disgusting and monstrous creature. He would have given the world just to be held for a moment. When Christine had kissed him for the first time, on that long ago day, he had released both her and Raoul, because she had given him that gift that had eluded him for all of those years, the gift of a kiss. At that moment he would have gladly died and believed that he had obtained the ultimate sign of affection that he would ever receive. But it was to be only the beginning of his journey from monster to man. Now, on this day, that long journey was complete, as he became the patriarch of a large and loving family stretching across two countries. Never again would he know the sting of feeling completely empty and unloved; the bitter anger that his loneliness had instilled inside his heart. His pain had fled into the dark realm of the Phantom that he used to be, he could bid farewell to it at last. Once upon another time he could never look backwards because the people and the places had brought him nothing but grief. But now that he had found what he was looking for, he could look upon his whole existence clearly without resorting to sadness or rancor. He had been infused with pride of what he had accomplished. He had evolved into a normal man and away from being a ghost, all because he had found love.

The next day the three couples left the manor on their respective honeymoons. Aziz and Juliette were making a long journey to Persia and India to visit his family, and to have their Islamic wedding. Once they had done so, they would return to London where they took a flat in Belgravia. Aziz knew that Juliette would never be happy living in a place where her opinions would not matter and he did not want to see her change. He had grown to like the fact that he had such a modern and opinionated wife. Aziz found employment at the Persian Embassy, thanks to the intervention of Nadir, who still had many contacts in the Persian government. Bertie and Annette traveled to Italy to see the wonders of Florence, Rome and Venice. After that, they too would settle into a townhouse near Grosvenor Square in the heart of London. Bertie had decided to dabble in politics and had been appointed to replace an MP from Shropshire who had been forced to resign due to failing health. He would soon run for office in his own right but was expected to win given his family's clout, and his connections to the Earl of Mercia. Once long ago, Erik could never have imagined that his son would reach such heights in British society. Livy and Ian moved into Darnleigh's family seat near Ludlow in the southern part of Shropshire. Both Livy and Darnleigh preferred the quiet of Shropshire to London. They took a short honeymoon vacation in the Lake Country in the North of England, but neither of them wanted to be gone for very long. Darnleigh was too excited about working with Erik to stay away for too long. To allow for the fact that neither he nor his son-in-law was eager to leave their respective wives and eventually children, Erik opened an office in Shrewsbury so that they could meet with their clients closer to home. Eventually Darnleigh became the face of the company, because Erik decided to cut back on his time to devote more time to Christine, and their young family. As an older father he knew that he would not have as much time remaining to be a father to his younger children, as he had been to his older ones, and therefore he wanted to spend as much time with them as he could.

Several days after the wedding Christine's water broke, and Dr. Hughes was called in to deliver the baby. To everyone's surprise she had twins, a boy and a girl. As promised, the boy was named Gustave after Christine's father and the girl was named Emma. The Earl and Countess were very touched that Erik and Christine would remember their daughter in that way, and were especially grateful to Christine for allowing such a name to be given to their baby. To Erik's relief both babies were born perfect and with flawlessly beautiful features, and yet resembled both parents. As he had done with his other children, Erik removed his mask from the very beginning, and let them explore the unfortunate side of his face. Christine was completely overjoyed to have twins, although they would prove to be much more work than just one baby might have been. Erik's semi-retirement could not have come at a better time for them, although the couple did employ both a wet-nurse and a nanny to help with the babies. Erik wanted to make sure that he and Christine had time together alone, so that they could enjoy one another's company without distractions.

Several years went by and before long Erik and Christine became grandparents as well. Bertie and Livy would often return to stay at the manor with their respective families. There was seldom a time when the manor was empty, except when Erik and Christine would stay at their redecorated townhouse in the heart of London. Emma continued to reign over her spot in the foyer of the house. Christine no longer minded having to look at the face of her deceased rival. She knew that there was no dispute between them because Emma had been the one to save Erik from the demons that had once possessed his mind, and helped transform him into the loving man that he had become. She and Erik had had their time together and their own children as well; who had both grown to see Christine as a second mother. This time belonged to Christine and she had both fulfilled Emma's fondest wish that Erik find happiness again after her death and yet Christine found her soul mate.

They would often sing together and feel the merger of his spirit and her voice into a single strong entity. For their fifth anniversary Erik composed a new opera geared to both of their voices. They performed it locally as a fundraiser for the village church, but word of it spread and they were eventually asked to sell it to the London Opera. Erik and Christine decided not to be the actors to perform it, the rigors of a large production were simply not feasible for either of them at that point in their lives; but they did go to London to attend the premier, and the production was extremely well received. At the end of the opening, two familiar Frenchman who were eager to buy the rights for the production of the opera for the Palais Garnier approached them. To their surprise, the composer was a familiar sight to them. Like Meg had done several years before, they both froze in shock and terror when they saw him. They turned away to flee when Christine stopped them.

"Please Monsieurs, my husband means you no harm," she told them.

Monsieur Firmin turned around, "But it is he. We heard the rumors that he still lived but we did not believe them. We thought that he was dead."

Erik smiled, "I am as alive as you are, and my wife has told you the truth I mean you no harm. Why did you approach me to begin with?"

Montcharmin replied, "Because we truly enjoyed your opera and wanted to propose taking it to Paris, and giving you a share of the profits in return."

Erik smiled, "I will give you the rights to my opera, but for free Messieurs, I would be honored to have it performed at the Palais Garnier. But I have no need for money, consider it an atonement for my past 'activities' there, and repayment for my 'salary'"

"That is most generous of you Monsieur. We too have much to atone for with regards to you. We never did thank you for your efforts to preserve the opera house, and for saving all of those people. If we had known that Buquet was a criminal we would not have cooperated with the Vicomte that day." Firmin told him.

Erik waved their thoughts away; "I no longer blame you for anything that went on back then. We were all much younger and less experienced in the ways of the world. As I said I would be pleased to hear my work performed in the Palais Garnier once again. In a way it will always be 'home' for me."

Moncharmin replied, "We shall perform it, and you may have your old seat in Box 5 to observe it. We have left it open for you for all of these years. It is a superstition for us, a reminder of the glories of the past."

"You mean you don't mind reminders of me?" Erik asked in astonishment.

Firmin sighed, "The Opera ran much more smoothly under your supervision. We never realized how much you helped to make matters run more smoothly. You were well worth your 20,000 francs."

Erik laughed, "And here I was feeling terrible for what the Phantom did to you, and wanted to atone. Perhaps I should charge you gentlemen."

Suddenly a beautiful five-year-old girl tugged on Erik's pants, "Father, I loved the Opera, why didn't you ever take us before. You promised that you would start to teach me to sing just like Mother."

Firmin mused aloud, "What a bright and beautiful child, she seems so young to speak so clearly. She is yours? Your natural born child?" He asked astonished at the child's good looks.

Erik beamed proudly, "She is mine in every way, and Christine's as well, of course. Her name is Emma. She has a twin Gustave who is about somewhere probably trying to scare some unsuspecting patron of the Opera House here."

"Come Papa, take me behind the stage," the girl begged.

Erik gave them an apologetic look, "I am sorry to cut our reunion short gentleman but I did promise to take my daughter back stage. This is her first opera and I wanted it to be special. It is time for us to go for now but I am sure that we will see you again soon, we will be in touch."

Erik handed Firmin his card, and then gave the two men a slight gentlemanly bow and touched the rim of his fedora in a salute. Firmin looked at the card which read Sir Erik Montgomery, Architect, and Composer, Montgomery et fils.

"What an amazing man." Firmin observed while looking at the card in his hand. "He will never cease to amaze me."

The two men watched in astonishment as the Phantom, Christine and their two small children vanished seemingly into thin air behind the stage.

FIN