Chapter 16

Dad was reading when I arrived at the hospital on Tuesday. He smiled at me, closing his book.

"Hello darling." He kissed me and I settled into the chair next to his bed.

"How are you feeling?" I asked him.

"I feel good. I had a session yesterday and we've been practising a form of meditation. It's very interesting."

"Is it working?"

"I'm not sure. I definitely feel calmer, but that might just have been the prospect of seeing you." He winked. I laughed.

"You're such a suck up."

"I do it because I care." He laughed.

We spent an hour or so playing games and chatting. Eventually, with a feeling of dread in my chest, I said,

"Dad, there's something I need to talk to you about. It's rather… serious."

"You can tell me anything, Christine, you know that." I bit my lip.

"I don't think you're going to like it." He eyed me.

"Tell me, Christine."

I took a deep breath.

"OK… you know that Raoul and I broke up?"

"…If you tell me that you're pregnant I'm going to have a heart attack." He warned. I laughed.

"No. I'm not pregnant. What I was going to say is that… Raoul and I broke up because I was…. Am seeing someone else."

He stared at me for a moment without speaking. Then he said, in a calm voice,

"Who is it?" I hesitated, bracing myself,

"Its… its Erik Lavonne."

He merely looked at me without speaking. After a while I said,

"Dad, please say something."

"I don't know what to say." He admitted quietly.

"Are you mad?"

"No. I'm not mad. I have to admit, I rather suspected something was going on between you and that man but…"

His voice trailed away. I waited for him to speak, not daring to say anything in case I choked. Eventually he asked,

"Is it serious?"

"Yes. Definitely. I… I love him, Dad. And he loves me." I said carefully. He sighed.

"Well I can't say I'm over the moon about it. But it became a little obvious when you started spending so much time there. And when he said you could stay there."

"Dad, it's not like we planned for it to happen. We definitely didn't. It just sort of… worked out that way. I've been putting off telling you, but what with you coming home for Christmas we decided it was time to tell you."

"Did he not come with you?" Dad asked, somewhat suspiciously. "I would have thought that he'd at least come and explain himself."

"He wanted to come but I asked him not to. In case you got angry about it." I explained.

Dad sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. I stared down at my lap. After a few minutes Dad asked,

"Are you happy?"

"Yes. Happier than I have been in a long time. The only thing that worried me was telling you. You and Erik are the most important people in my life. I want you to get along so badly." I explained. He gave me a resigned smile.

"Fine. When I get to the Manor I'll have a private talk with him and we can just get to know each other."

"Dad, I'm not sure if that's-"

"Christine, don't argue with me. He and I will have a talk. And in return for that I promise not to beat him to a bloody mess with my crutches." He smiled. I smiled back, heartened slightly by this attitude.

"OK. I'll warn him about it though. But… don't give him the same talk you gave Raoul, OK?"

Dad eyed me.

"What talk?" I raised any eyebrow and recited,

"Raoul, there comes a time in a young man's life when he-"

"OK, OK. Not that talk. After all, Erik isn't exactly a young man, is he?" He said.

"He's twenty seven. Eight years older than me." Dad considered me for a moment and then sighed.

"Even if I said you couldn't see him again you'd ignore me anyway, wouldn't you?"

"Of course." I said.

"Fine. We'll wait until Thursday. In the mean time you have to do something to make this up to me."

"What?" I asked, suspicious.

"You know those biscuits you make every Christmas? Make sure you've got a big batch of those waiting for me when we get home."

"It's a deal." I laughed.

"Speaking of which, how are we getting home? Not on that motorbike, I hope. And the car is still being repaired.

"Erik can drive us. He's got a car." I said. Dad smiled.

"I look forward to it. Let's hope he's slightly saner than you are on that bike."

"I am an excellent driver!" I said indignantly. Dad gave me a disbelieving look and I shrugged. "OK, I'm a reasonable driver. What's your point?"

Erik looked as nervous about the 'little talk' as I had been.

"He probably just wants to make sure that your intentions are honourable." I assured him. Erik looked at me.

"And what do I tell him? Yes Mr Daae, I am sleeping with your daughter, but don't worry about it."

"Well… maybe not in those exact words. Tell you what, get him talking about music and you'll be fine."

"…What if it doesn't work?" Erik asked. I shrugged.

"I'll be on the ready with Christmas biscuits and cocoa."

"Let's make that plan B." Erik agreed.

I laughed and got up to make tea. Erik sat at the kitchen table watching me. I hummed Think of Me idly as I worked.

"I finished the song." He said quietly. I looked up.

"Which one?"

"The Phantom of the Opera song."

"Really? Can I hear it?"

"No one else would hear it before you." He promised me.

We went up to the music room. He handed me the music and I read it. When I reached the final parts I looked up in surprise.

"Erik… this is just like-"

"The time you asked me why I taught you." He nodded.

"And you made me sing like that." I smiled. Erik smiled back.

"Let's call it… preservation. I don't want to forget that moment so I saved it in the only way I know how." He told me.

I looked down at the music.

"Can we…?"

"Of course." He sat at the piano, with a second copy of the music and played the sinister sounding introduction. That sound sent a shiver down my spine. I waited until the music reached the right point and sang.

In sleep he sang to me

In dreams he came

That voice which calls to me

And speaks my name

And do I dream again?

For now I find

The phantom of the opera is there

Inside my mind

A moment later Erik sang his part.

Sing once again with me

Our strange duet

Strange… that was an understatement. And yet, as I looked at him I felt that this duet was anything but strange

My power over you

Grows stronger yet

And though you turn from me

To glance behind

This line made me hesitate but he continued without a thought

The phantom of the opera is there

Inside your mind

I smiled as I recognised the words that came next. The ones we had thought up together.

Those who have seen your face

Draw back in fear

I am the mask you wear

It's me they hear

The next part of the song split into you's and me's and then came the part I was dreading. What if I couldn't reach those notes for him? I wanted to please him so badly but… what if I couldn't do it?

And yet… I did. He said those words he had invited me with, inviting me to sing higher and more perfectly than ever before. It wasn't even hard. It was like… pouring water, if that makes any sense at all. The higher I went, the more perfect the sound became a steady flow of song.

The piano music faded and so did my voice. I opened my eyes and looked down at Erik, where he was sitting. He was looking at me with an odd look on his face.

"Erik? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just… I feel like I'm falling love with you all over again." He said quietly. I smiled and he kissed my hand.

"The Point of No Return?" He asked. I nodded then said,

"Do you still write operas?"

"Not anymore. Not since Don Juan."

"Because when I was shopping on Saturday, I asked the owner of the music shop, Mr Reyer, if he'd heard of Don Juan. He was there, on the opening night. He said he hoped the man who wrote it would try and release another one."

Erik sighed and shook his head.

"I prefer not to share my music anymore. Except for you. You alone can make my songs take flight."

"Erik-"

He started to play the introduction to The Point of No Return. I didn't bring the subject up again.

Erik and I went to get Dad on Thursday. His bag was packed and he was ready to leave. He said goodbye to Joseph Buqet and I helped him out of the ward. Erik was waiting in the corridor and took the bag from my shoulder.

"Mr Daae." He said, holding out his hand. Dad shook it.

"Erik."

"Erik, are you alright?" I asked. He looked rather pale. He nodded.

"I'm not… not fond of hospitals."

"Oh. Well, let's get out of here and back home. It looks like it's going to get colder over Christmas." I said conversationally, helping him along the corridors.

"I doubt a little snow is going to stop you getting to the Christmas party." Dad said, smiling. I laughed.

"Has it ever? We go every year, without failure." I explained to Erik.

Dad sat in the car on the way back, his leg stretched out on the back seat. I turned to talk to him as we drove, Erik concentrating on steering.

"Dad, we're going to have some company for Christmas. I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not. Who is it?" Dad said.

"The gardener and his family. Wife, son and daughter-in-law. They're really nice, you'll like them." I smiled.

"And we've got a great Christmas tree. It's absolutely huge. We decorated it last weekend."

"I look forward to seeing it." Dad smiled. "Got those biscuits?"

"Two tins worth. That should keep us going for about twenty minutes!"

I glanced over at Erik. He looked at me briefly and smiled before returning to the road.

Dad was gobsmacked by the house. I was pleased, actually. Erik and I had put up some decorations in the main rooms, just tinsel and some holly and ivy. But in a house of that size it did look very impressive.

"This is… well, it's amazing!" He said. I laughed and Erik looked pleased. We took Dad to the library, where Erik lit the fire.

"I'll have to ask Thomas to bring my firewood in."

"Well, Dad, you sit down and relax. I'll take your bags upstairs and then I'll get us a hot drink."

I ran upstairs, unpacked his things and then went back down. The library door was closed and I decided to let them have a few moments. Instead I went to the kitchen, putting biscuits onto a plate and heating the kettle for hot chocolate.

I was slightly more anxious when I went upstairs and heard the murmur of voices from the library. Should I go in yet? Or would they need more time? I dithered outside the door before opening it, balancing the tray on my other hand. What I saw was a huge surprise.

I expected to see them talking, at the worst giving each other evil looks and at best smiling and discussing something passionately.

I didn't expect them to be leaning over a chessboard, debating their next moves. I stared at then smiled.

"Everything OK?"

"Of course." Erik smiled. Dad nodded.

"It's all fine. Come on in."

I entered and set the tray down on a table, handing out mugs and passing the plate around. I sat cross-legged, watching them play. I had never been particularly good at chess but Dad had loved the game. Erik, it appeared, was also quite adept at it. Whilst they played I fetched a book and sat down on the floor next to Erik's chair to read. His hand absently went to my hair, as it always did. I don't think he noticed he was doing it most of the time. I did. And Dad did. But he didn't say anything. Instead he gave a tiny smile before moving his knight.

"So there's no GBH to worry about?" Meg said over the phone. I laughed.

"Nope, it's all good. They're getting on fine. Whatever happened in their little talk went fine and I'm not about to complain about it. Ready for the ball tomorrow?"

"Absolutely! I can't wait! Especially to see your dress. How am I going to recognise you if you're wearing a mask?"

"Well, you have to wear a mask as well." I pointed out.

"I know, but you'll be able to spot me easily. I'll be the one dressed in green."

"There could be loads of people in green." I replied.

"Yeah, but you always find me."

"Only because I can hear you a mile off. You're not exactly quiet." I said. Meg laughed.

"Fine. At least you're honest."

"Are you going with anyone?" I asked her as I sliced some potatoes.

"Yeah. You remember James Grant from school?"

"The blond guy you had a crush on?" I said, searching my memory. Meg giggled.

"That's the one. Anyway, I bumped into him last week and he invited me. I mean, Mum's going to be there too but she'll probably find someone to hang out with."

"What a wonderful daughter you are. I've got to go, I'll see you tomorrow." I said as Dad and Erik came into the kitchen.

"Who was that?" Dad asked, settling at the table.

"Only Meg, wanting to gossip about the masquerade ball. Hungry?"

"Ravenous. What are we having?"

"Hot pot. Quick and easy." I said, putting the lid on the pan and leaving it on the stove. I sat at the table and said,

"Meg wanted to know what I was wearing so she could recognise us. Knowing her she'll end up talking to a complete stranger."

Dad laughed and Erik gave a smile.

"Erik was just telling me about the house. It's got quite a history." Dad said.

"Yes, I remember reading about it. When it's warmer you'll have to go out into the gardens, they're so beautiful. There's also a lake somewhere in the grounds, but I haven't seen it yet." I said, remembering a map of the surrounding lands I had found in a book. Erik nodded.

"It's about half a mile away, towards the hills."

We spent some it talking about the house and Christmas. Eventually I dared ask,

"So… you guys had a chance to talk?"

"Yes, we did." Dad said. I hesitated.

"Everything's OK?"

"Everything's fine." Erik replied. I looked from one to the other suspiciously.

"… Are you going to tell me what you spoke about?"

"No." They said in unison. I pulled a face.

"Men!"

"Christine, all you need to know is that everything is fine. Besides, it wasn't as if we were discussing your embarrassing childhood stories." Dad said with a perfectly composed face. I stared at him in horror and then turned sharply to look at Erik. He was fighting very hard not to laugh.

"Dad! What did you tell him?"

"Nothing in particular." Dad said, smiling innocently. I turned on Erik.

"What did he say? Don't believe a word of it!"

"Fine." Erik smirked. I glared at them both.

"OK, I think I'd prefer it if you were ripping each other's throats out. Feel free to start arguing."

"Christine, I would never dream of fighting with your father." Erik replied. Dad snorted and I got to my feet, stamping as I crossed the kitchen to finish making dinner.

I was pretty sure they were still laughing at me.

A/N: Hee hee, Christine's not too happy, is she? Lol, never mind. Thank you for the lovely reviews, you're all wonderful! I'm really enjoying this story, hence the frequent updates. Let's all just pray I don't get struck by writer's block. I hate writer's block with a deep passion.

Anyway, please leave a review, telling me what you think. Next chapter – the masquerade ball! Because you just know that's going to go completely smoothly without any disasters of any kind…