A/N: Thank you to peanutpup, Phantomgirl24, BabyNake, MarilynKC, the Guest, and FleshofMidnight for the reviews on the last chapter! I appreciate them very much!

Four years later

The late afternoon sun streamed in through the windows of their second-story bedroom, as Christine held her son while Claire sat curled up against her side, watching Gustave as he nursed. The little girl, now four years old, had adjusted fairly well to having a sibling, mostly wanting to admire the month-old baby, although there had been some moments of jealousy as well.

As Gustave settled into his feeding, Christine heard footsteps on the stairs, knowing they were strictly for her benefit as Erik could move as silently as ever when he chose to. "Papa's home," she said softly to Claire, who didn't respond but instead curled tighter into Christine's side, as though hoping to escape Erik's attention. Pretending she didn't notice what her daughter was doing, Christine looked up as her husband appeared in the doorway, still wearing his mask from his trip outside, not missing the way he studiously trained his gaze only on her and Gustave.

"Hello, my love," Erik greeted her, crossing the room with one arm held behind his back.

"Hello," she answered. "How did your errands go?"

"Oh, very well," he replied, leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. "And how is our son?"

"He's hungry, I think." Christine didn't miss the loving look in his golden eyes as Erik gazed at the baby, nor the way he gently brushed Gustave's button nose with one long finger before he straightened his posture once again.

When Erik pulled his other arm from behind his back, Christine had to bite back a sigh that was a mixture of frustration and sweetness when she saw what he had been hiding. Her husband really was incorrigible.

"However, I thought there might be a little girl here who would enjoy this doll, but I don't see her," Erik said, pretending to hang his head in disappointment.

Predictably, Christine heard a little giggle as Claire wiggled away from her side, carefully rounding her mother and little brother before holding her arms up to Erik. "Here I am, Papa," she crowed, as though this game the two of them loved to play with each other was the most amusing thing in the world.

"Oh! So you are," Erik exclaimed, picking her up to settle comfortably against his chest as Claire reached for the new doll.

"She's beautiful!" Claire proclaimed reverently, stroking the doll's blonde curls which matched her own.

Although Christine knew the last thing Claire needed was yet another doll, she found she couldn't be angry at Erik, even though he spoiled their daughter shamelessly. To think that there had been a time when she worried he would never truly care for her child seemed almost unbelievable now. In fact, they were so close that during her second pregnancy, Christine had worried if Erik would feel a bond with this new baby, but thankfully he seemed completely taken with Gustave, as well.

Erik was certainly not a perfect father, but he was a devoted one. In retrospect, that fact shouldn't have surprised Christine: her husband was not a man to do things by half-measures, and that was apparent in the way he treated Claire, acting as though he thought she could do no wrong.

And in turn, Claire absolutely adored Erik, to the point that Christine sometimes felt like her daughter's second choice. Overall, though, the fact that Claire had a devoted and protective father in her life made Christine very happy, especially considering that the man who should have been that for her had turned them both out without a second thought.

Trying to distract herself from thinking of that unpleasant period of time, Christine returned her attention to the present, watching as Erik's long hand stroked gently over Claire's blonde curls while she continued to admire the doll, asking Erik, "Do you want to watch me play with her, Papa?"

Biting back a smile as Erik answered that question with a completely sincere "Of course," Christine nodded as his eyes met hers questioningly.

"I think we're nearly done here. You two go ahead."

With a last loving look at her and the baby, Erik carried Claire from the room, no doubt intending to take her to the library to play.

xxxxx

When Gustave had fallen asleep a short while later, Christine laid him gently in his cradle - the same one that Erik had procured for Claire to use when she was an infant. As she thought back on those days, Christine felt herself become slightly misty-eyed. It seemed just yesterday that she and Erik were newly married and trying to figure out a way forward with a newborn baby, and now that baby was no longer a baby, and they had somehow had another one. Sometimes it seemed incredible to her how quickly the last several years had gone by.

Leaving the door open so that she would hear Gustave if he cried, Christine entered the hallway and moved the short distance to the open door of the library, pausing in the doorway to shamelessly eavesdrop on her husband and daughter - and not for the first time, she thought as she smiled slightly.

Just as they had on that night that was now several years in the past, Erik sat in his huge chair with Claire on his lap, but now the little girl was a much more active participant, as she seemed to be giving her father a lecture on every detail of her new doll. On a day when she had already found herself to be feeling emotional, seeing the gentle way that Erik indulged their daughter brought a catch to her throat. Life with Erik wasn't always easy, but Christine knew she wouldn't trade this life and family they had built together for anything.

In keeping with her reflective mood today, Christine found her thoughts drifting to Raoul. She had wondered if he would ever try to contact her again, but she hadn't spoken to him since the three of them had had the confrontation in the park, although she had seen him when she performed at the Opera the season before last. He had attended regularly, sitting in Philippe's box with the same young lady Christine had seen him with when he first saw her in the park that summer.

Since she knew from the newspapers that he had married, it was obvious that the two of them had already been courting - perhaps had already been engaged - when Christine had seen them together. Now that everything had worked out better than she could have hoped for for herself and her daughter, Christine had found that the anger she used to feel toward him had lessened, although she didn't know if she would ever be able to forgive him entirely for what he had done.

However, without Raoul's actions, she would most likely have never even seen Erik again, let alone been able to build a life with him, and Gustave would never have been born. And the fact of the matter was that Raoul was most likely better off, as well - no doubt he would have a much happier future being married to someone of his own social class than he would have had being married to her.

Christine's thoughts returned to the present when she saw that Claire seemed to finally be wrapping up her discussion on her new doll. As she trailed off, the little girl looked up at Erik's face with a small frown. "No mask, all right, Papa?" she said as she reached up and lightly patted his covered cheek. Predictably, Erik promptly removed his mask, setting it on the small table that sat next to his chair.

"Is that better, my sweet?" he asked, and Claire nodded absently, already returning her attention to the doll as she slid from his lap and carried it over to sit on the rug in front of the fireplace where she liked to play. While the significance of his question was lost on the little girl, Christine knew exactly how much it meant to him that Claire hated it when Erik wore his mask, always preferring that her father go without it, although she was starting to understand that Erik would always wear it when he was away from home.

Proving once again that Erik was constantly aware of her, he asked without looking at her, "Won't you come see your Erik, Christine?"

Smiling, she crossed the room to him, laughing a little when Erik opened his arms to her. Sinking down to sit on his lap, she cuddled against him as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, both of them content to sit together in silence for a time, glad to steal a few minutes for just the two of them.

As they both idly watched Claire play, each of them had to smother a laugh as she retrieved the tiny copy of her own cradle that Erik had painstakingly made for her from the corner of the room, unceremoniously tossing the doll that had been laying in it to the side before bringing it back over to the rug to place her new doll inside of it.

Chuckling, Erik brushed his lips against the top of her head again. "She really does remind me of you, my love. She certainly is a little diva."

Relaxing against him, and with her thoughts from earlier still at the back of her mind, Christine spoke without thinking. "That may be, but she looks so much like Raoul, it's almost eerie at times."

Belatedly realizing what she had said, Christine gasped, afraid that Erik would grow angry or upset at the reminder of Claire's natural father. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking-"

Erik cut her apology off with a firm squeeze. "There's no need to apologize, my dear. Your Erik isn't blind, you know."

Relaxing against him once again, Christine agreed, "I know."

"Actually, as a matter of fact…" Erik began before pausing, and Christine smiled secretly to herself, sure that he was about to say something incredibly moving and sweet, "it's funny how life works sometimes. I certainly never thought there would come a day when I would be glad that your vicomte is so very pretty."

Startled, Christine giggled helplessly against him. "Well, he's definitely not my vicomte, but I understand the sentiment."

After a few more minutes, Christine felt herself growing sleepy. "Thank you, Angel, for loving her," she murmured, "for loving all three of us."

Erik didn't reply for a long moment, and when he did, his voice was thick. "It is I who should thank you, Petite. Not only am I the luckiest man alive to have you for a wife, you've also given me the two most wonderful children a man could ask for."

Sighing happily at his words, Christine squeezed her arms around his thin waist. "I love you, Erik," she whispered as she felt herself drift off into sleep.

As Erik felt his darling wife slip into sleep, he continued to hold her tenderly, lightly stroking his hand over her brown curls. He had meant every word he had said to Christine - this life they had now was more than he had ever hoped for, and some days it was still hard for him to accept that this was his reality now, after the life he had led for so long. However, as time went on he found that he was dwelling on the past less and less, and more able to look forward to the future he had never truly thought he deserved, no matter how he had tried to selfishly force it into being at one time.

Christine snuggled even closer against him in her sleep, distracting him from his thoughts. Resting his cheek against the crown of her head, Erik cradled her gently, a smile on his thin lips as he watched Claire play with the doll he had brought her and thought of Gustave, sleeping securely in his cradle in their bedroom.

He truly was a fortunate man, to be blessed with a family like this.

A/N: I would like to thank everyone for all your support on this story! Every review, favorite, and follow has meant so much to me, and I hope you all know that. It is bittersweet for me to say goodbye to this story, but I'm consoling myself with the fact that while the story is finished, the series is not: I have at least two more entries planned for it, and I hope more than that. So, again, thank you for reading, and I would very much love to hear your thoughts on this final chapter!