A New Start

Chapter 15: Birthday and anniversary surprises

A/N: These next two chapters are happy ones, considering that the last chapters have been very intense, and the characters needed a break. There is lots of Raoul and Christine fluff, because I am a huge R/C supporter, and love their relationship. You get to see a happy Marie Claire, since she's been through a lot lately. Enjoy!

Marie Claire woke up on the morning of her seventeenth birthday with one of the first real smiles that had been on her face for a month. It had been a little over a month since Marie's journey to Erik's lair, and indeed she had not been the same. She had lost a little bit of her innocent trust in all people, and that was hard to deal with. But despite all of that, the most recent performance at the Opera Populaire had gone quite smoothly, the cast handing in another magnificent performance. Marie Claire's performance was especially wonderful, leaving everyone that had attended the opera astounded, and Marie's name began to spread over Paris. Everyone was talking about the daughter of Christine de Chagny, and had decided that music must run in the family since Christine had been the leading opera star for the last twenty years. It appeared that Marie Claire was following in her footsteps. Everything though, had been strangley quiet. There had been no word from the Phantom since Marie's encounter with him. It was asthough he was waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Marie still had frequent nightmares about it, and she knew that he was planning something. But she shook her head free of these unhappy thoughts for the time being and let her grin overtake her face. It was her birthday! She absolutley couldn't wait until tonight. Her parents, in order to cheer her up she knew, were throwing a masquerade in honor of Marie's birthday and in honor of their twenty first wedding anniversary. Coincidentally enough, Marie Claire had been born on the same day as Raoul and Christine's wedding anniversary. What a happy surprise that had been for the couple! Marie climbed out of her cozy bed, the warm April sun streaming in through her window. She looked outside. What a perfect day for her birthday and her parents anniversary. She just hoped that all went well. Just as she was pulling on her robe over her nightgown, her door burst open and Felix came running in. He jumped on her bed and gave her a crushing hug.

"Happy birthday sis! Come on let's go downstairs and open your presents, Mama and Papa are waiting!"

"Okay, okay I'm coming." said Marie laughing at her little brother's antics.

Felix grabbed her hand and ran with her down the stairs as fast as he could go.

About an hour before Marie Claire had woken up, Raoul woke up to find Christine still sleeping soundly beside him. He grinned. He has been hoping that he would awake before her so that he could surprise her. As he sat up, he stretched and yawned as he gazed at his beloved Christine. How he loved her, she was the light of his life. And knowing that she had always returned that love fully and passionatley, made him the happiest man on earth. And as far as he was concerned, the luckiest. How happy the last twenty years had been for the two of them. They were blissfully married with two children that they loved with all of their beings. Christine's singing career had been so succsesful, just as she had always dreamed. But he thought, as he traced his fingers lightly over her soft facial features, they had had to go through a lot to get there. The whole experience with the Phantom had been so traumatic for them both. It had taken a long time to get over, but they had had each other, so they had made it through. And now, as hard as it was to believe, they were at their 21 wedding anniversary. Raoul smiled at his sleeping wife. Then he got out of bed and found the small box that contained his special surprise for Christine. He had hidden it deep inside one of his drawers so as to prevent Christine from finding it. He had hidden it so well in fact, that even he had trouble finding it. His eyes glowed as he opened the box and gently pulled out what was inside. It was a golden heart locket with 'I love you' scripted in diamonds on the front. On the inside was picture of Raoul and Christine on their wedding day smiling blissfully, and on the other was a picture of the two of them with Marie Claire and Felix when they were younger. It was perfect. Raoul was rather proud of himself. He always had a hard time finding what he considered to be the perfect gift. He really hoped that Christine liked it. He grinned a playful grin as he sat back on the bed. Christine was sleeping soundly, but not for long. He kissed her gently and lovingly on the lips and her dark eyes came slowly open.

"Happy anniversary darling." he said as he brought the locket around and clasped it. Christine'e eyes glimmered like the ocean when the sun shines on it as she looked at the locket.

"Oh Raoul, my love, its perfect! Its your best yet!" she said as she threw her arms around him affectionatley.

Her heart soared as she gazed into the face of her beloved Raoul. It had been him that had kept her going after the events of all those years ago. His face, his voice, his touch, his very being had helped her through it. He had always been there, through thick and thin.

"Can you believe that its been 21 years, Raoul?" she asked, fingering the lovely locket.

Raoul pretended to have a questioning look on his face.

"No, I can't," he said, a mischievious twinkle in his blue eyes. "But I can believe this." he said as he kissed her once more.

It was a loving and passion filled kiss, and Christine returned it with all the emotion she felt inside. Raoul ran his fingers gently through her soft brown curls. When they broke apart both smiled as Christine lovingly traced her fingers on Raoul's cheek and their foreheads touched. They laughed softly.

"I love you Christine." said Raoul softly.

"I love you to, Raoul my darling. And I have a gift for you to." said Christine, turning and pulling out a nicely wrapped package and handing it to Raoul.

He opened it to find a smiling portrait of the whole family with the two of them in the back, Raoul's arm around Christine's waist, and Marie and Felix in the front. Christine had had one of the most popular and talented artists in Paris paint it. She and Raoul loved many of the painter's other works, so she had thought that it was the perfect idea. And judging by the look on Raoul's face, it had been.

"Oh honey, I love it. Now I can look at all of us together right as I fall asleep." he said, as he placed the lovely portrait on his bedside table.

He kissed Christine once more in thanks before he checked his watch.

"Oh, we'd better get downstairs. Marie Claire will be awake soon." said Raoul, chuckling. "And you know how impatient she is."

Christine rolled her eyes.

"You bet I do. I can't believe she's 17 today. It seems like just yesterday that I was giving her bottles and rocking her to sleep."

"I know, she's growing up to fast for my liking. Perhaps if we put a brick on her head it would stop her from growing." Raoul debated as he took Christine's hand, his strong fingers intertwining with her small ones and leading her down the stairs.

Christine laughed at the thought.

"My father used to say that to me." she said, remembering the fond memory of her beloved father.

"I know." said Raoul, "That's where I got it from. If your father thought it was a good idea, then it must be. He was a wise man." he said, grinning.

Christine and Raoul heard a thundering sound as though a heard of elephants were coming down the stairs when indeed it was just two children. Marie Claire was greeted by a pile of brightly wrapped packages on the living room table. Marie ran over to her parents and hugged them fiercely.

"Happy birthday darling!" said Christine grinning. "Are you excited about tonight?"

Marie's blue eyes lit up.

"Of course I am, you know how much I love parties." said Marie giving her mother a kiss on the cheek. "Are those for me?" asked Marie Claire pointing over to the pile of presents.

"I don't know," said Raoul playfully, "They might be for some other little girl." he grinned, knowing that this would drive Marie crazy.

"Oh come on papa, I know they're mine. May I open them?" she begged.

"Sure dear go ahead." said Chrisitine putting her hand over Raoul's mouth to prevent him from teasing Marie Claire any further.

Felix jumped up on the couch between his parents as Marie pulled her presents toward her. There were various squeaks and squeals of delight as she made her way through the presents. She hugged her brother as she opened his, a homemade braclelet and card. Then Marie looked over at the last two presents which had been set aside for last. Raoul and Christine smirked. Marie Claire had been trying to pry out of them what was in this box for two weeks.

"Finally, I get to see whats in these boxes. I've been so curious." she said gleefully.

She opened the larger box to find and exquisite light blue dress that perfectly matched her eyes. It had white lace on the sleeves and pearls placed carefully every which where on the bodice. Marie Claire was slightly speechless. She had never seen a dress this beautiful, and she had seen and had very many pretty dresses.

"Oh mama, papa, this is the most gorgeous dress I have ever seen. I can't wait to wear it tonight!" she said happily as she held the dress up to her small frame.

"I thought you would like it darling." said Christine. "It really suits your style and taste."

"You pick out the most beautiful dresses mama, thankyou." said Marie.

"You're welcome. I daresay you'll want to open the the next one, papa picked them out." said Christine.

Raoul winked at Marie Claire as she opened the box. A beautiful pair of silver and pearl dangling earrings lay before her. She gasped.

"Oh papa , these are so pretty. And they match my dress perfectly. Thankyou." she said as she took Felix's spot between her parents as he had gone to play with the left over wrapping paper. She put and arm around each of them, giving them each a kiss on the cheek.

"Now," she said slyly, "How about some birthday cake?"

It has always been a tradition to eat her birthday cake for breakfast. This seemed to attract Felix's attention.

"Oooo cake. Let's go!" he chirped.

Raoul chuckled at his son's eagerness as he picked him up and made his way into the dining room. Christine and Raoul made Marie close her eyes until they got in the dining room. She opened them to find a banner with 'Happy Birthday Marie Claire' on it and a large white layer cake sitting upon the table.

"Happy birthday Marie." said everyone in unison.

"Happy anniversary Mama and Papa." said Felix and Marie.

"Well without further ado, lets dig in as they say." said Raoul.

And with that, the family dug in, enjoying one of the few peaceful and happy moments that they had had since Erik had returned. They ate cake until they were completely stuffed, then went to prepare for the masquerade that evening, each hoping that everything went as planned.

A/N: Hey everyone, thanks so much for all the reviews and the email I got, It really inspires me to write more, so please read and review. Hey its time for a masquerade!