Another two months passed with out incident; CJ continued to work on making the house livable. The story she had submitted to the paper was turning out to be quite popular and she was getting more money from it than she had expected.

The change she was working in the house was unbelievable; each room was being painted, except the room in which the two criminals had killed themselves. We never went in there and CJ was sure the room was haunted.

At the police station, I was slowly being accepted into the group. Nobody went out of their way to talk to me but they stopped avoiding me like the plague.

I was reading the latest installment of CJ's story in the paper; I got quite a private laugh at the fact that I was the only person who knew who the true author was and everyone at the station house wondered who this Eriksson fellow was. I was just finishing when Leo Denton walked over to me,

I waited for him to speak, and when he did I was surprised at what he said,

"Phann?"

"Yes?"

"I…I have been meaning to ask you, how is CJ doing?"

I raised my eyebrows, "She is fine," I said slowly,

"I...," he looked very awkward, "I have been wanting to go and see her,"

I blinked, "You want to…see her?" I asked suspiciously

"To say hello, and to apologize for the scene I made the day she left,"

I snorted; he wanted to apologize to her when I had been the one with the black eye,

"I will only take a minute," he said earnestly,

"I will ask her if she wants to see you and then tell you what she said," I disliked this man very much, and I hoped CJ would not want to see him. She had said she was not in love with him; but looking back on the time she had spent with him she had seemed happy to me; maybe she would want to see him.

I went back to my business but Denton's request ate away at my mind; I continually looked up to see what he was doing. However I could not keep to close an eye on him because I suddenly had a barrage of complaining people sent to my desk. When I was finally through, I could not find Denton in the station house.

"Tom?" I went over to our former guard who was the friendliest with me, "Were did Denton go? I wanted to ask him something,"

"Oh…" Tom looked up at me from a form he was filing, "He took an early lunch or something,"

"I will be back," I said hurriedly and I rushed out of the station,

"Phann? Phann!" Tom called after me but I did not listen to him; I knew there was a good chance Denton was taking an early lunch; but I wanted to be sure. I practically threw myself in front of a cab and told the driver to hurry as I jumped in.

Once I was at the house I ran to the front door and opened it; and immediately I heard voices coming from the upstairs and I quietly snuck toward them; listening,

"It is good to see you again CJ, I have missed you," Denton said, and I cringed at his sincerity,

"I missed you two," CJ said lightly, and I felt my stomach twist,

"I think you know why I came here, I meant to come some time ago, but I have been making arrangements," Denton spoke excitedly

"What kind of arrangements?" CJ asked, sounding confused,

"I know why you married him CJ; Dumas told me all about it, you had to marry him, but I can fix it; I have fixed it!" he sounded blissfully happy, "I have contacted my brother in England, we can go there, we can get married and start over, no one hast to know the child is not mine; I will love it like it is; we can leave now; Phann will never find us!"

I wanted to vomit; it was going to happen now, CJ was going to leave now. I felt the urge to run up the stairs and throw her into our room and keep her there; I wanted her to stay, but as much as I wanted that another side of me recognized the situation; a better suitor had come along and I would have to step aside,

"I can't leave Leo," CJ said sadly,

"Yes you can CJ," Denton said firmly, "You don't have to be afraid of him anymore, I will protect you,"

"You think I am afraid of him?" the change in her tone of voice was astounding; a moment before she had sounded sad, now she spoke in a cold, almost bitter tone,

"Well, he is a bit of a…" Denton began and I could tell he was taken aback by her sudden change in mood,

"Bit of a what? Freak? Monster? May I remind you that he was not the one who started a fight in the streets when I said I was pregnant!" She was yelling now,

"Well…I was shocked! CJ, I know you are angry with me, but I can help you, I can take you away from all of this! I can take you away from him!" He sounded so pleading; I had not realized how badly he had fallen for CJ, and I knew CJ would say she would go; I had seen how this story was going to play out,

Suddenly I was back on the roof of the opera, watching as Raoul professed his love to my Christine and she agreed to become his fiancé, now CJ would do the same and run off with Denton. I closed my eyes, waiting for the blow to fall,

"I don't want to be away from him," CJ said quietly and I barely heard her,

"What?" Denton sounded dumbfounded,

"I don't want to be away from him!" CJ yelled this time and I was sure everybody in Paris heard her, "He is my husband! And the father of my child!"

"CJ, you are a forward thinking woman," Denton said, sounding upset, "You don't have to be bound to a man you don't love this way,"

"I do love him!" She shouted at the top of her lungs and I had to sit down, there were no chairs in the entryway so I just sat on the floor,

There was a silence upstairs for some time, "You can't, CJ," Denton said finally, "You can't love him,"

"The hell I can't!" she cried, "I have tried not to love him; I tried to move on but I can't! you are right; I am a forward thinking woman, if I did not love him with all my heart and if I could even imagine a life away from him I would follow you anywhere, but I can't!"

"CJ," Denton said gently, "I don't know how he got this hold over you; but you need to let it go, he is not a good enough man for you,"

"Don't you ever, ever say that to me again Leo," Her voice shook with rage, "You don't know him, you don't know what we have been through together; and you know what else Leo," she lowered her voice to an icy pitch, "As far as being a man is concerned; he was much better than you,"

"Oh CJ," Denton sounded truly hurt,

"Don't 'oh CJ' me," she snapped, "You come into my house and tell me my husband is not good enough, and you expect me to be civil?" Denton said nothing,

"I think you should leave," CJ said angrily, and before I could move they appeared at the head of the stairs. They saw me immediately; Denton looked down at the ground as he walked past me and left the house. CJ was staring at me; her eyes over bright,

"How long have you been standing there?" She asked me, her voice was still angry,

"The whole time," I said; still dazed by what I had heard,

"Well, I guess you know how pathetic I am now," CJ snorted angrily,

"I don't think you are pathetic," I said softly,

"I do, I am in love, hopelessly in love, with a man who can't love me back!"

"CJ I…"

"I know, Erik, you are still trying to get over Christine, and the rest of your tortured past, and I respect that; but you have had long enough!" she shouted, "I need you know; I need more of you than this pretty ring and your old clothes!"

"I have been trying to be better for you CJ," I said, becoming angry myself, "None of this is easy for me; everyone I have ever loved has left me the moment they found out who I really was and what I really looked like, my heart was broken when I met you CJ; my soul was gone!" I was letting myself get carried away; I did not even know what was making my say what I was saying,

"Well I am sorry for you; because you are the only one here with a broken heart! Who the hell do you think I am Erik? I know exactly who you are and I love you! I am not going anywhere, and I have heard enough about your face; about your appearance, the truth is I felt more with your kiss than when Leo was making love to me!"

I stared up at her as she took deep breaths, "Do you see me, Erik?" she said sadly, "Do you see that we are going to have a child? When are you going to stop wallowing in your past?" She suddenly turned and ran into our room and slammed the door.

Stunned, I remembered I was supposed to be at work and I could not risk getting fired. My mind was not on my work the rest of that day; all I did was think about what CJ had said to me.

She had been right; as much as I hated to admit it I would still think about Christine. I would still become depressed when I thought about my life; unless I was thinking about CJ, the one good thing I had ever had and I had ruined it because I had wasted time while I let the past hold me back.

That night I thought about sleeping in a different room, but as I walked in CJ appeared on the stairs;

"Erik…I am so sorry," she said to me and I stared at her, "I…it's the pregnancy, it is making me act crazy, you have been wonderful…I knew from the beginning this was not going to be easy,"

I shook my head; I did not deserve her forgiveness for not being able to love her. I did stay in our room, but I slept little. The next day was a haze for me; all of my actions were done without thinking and I hardly noticed when it was my lunch break and I wondered down to the street.

All I was thinking about was the torn feeling in my heart. CJ had a hold on my heart, but so much of it had already been taken away by Christine; there was little left for CJ to grasp at.

I was just thinking about this when I saw her; I saw Christine. Not in my minds eye as I had for some time but right there in front of me. She was sitting with a group of women at one of the more fashionable cafes on the street. She looked exactly like I had remember her; her beautiful brown hair pulled back from her perfect face, her dress the height of Paris fashion; and by the bulge in her stomach the she was with child as well.

There were several moments when I just stared at her; and then I shook my head. The answer and the cure had both been Christine; though she looked as beautiful as ever she lacked everything CJ had. As I watched her smile and laugh along with the other women she was dinning with I felt as though I was watching a living painting; beautiful, but not real.

Her eyes did not shine the way CJ's did, and when I heard her speak; the voice I had once found so heavenly to listen to now sounded weak; she lacked CJ's confidence. As she struggled to cut a piece of food on her plate I realized she lacked CJ's strength; and I knew she lacked her creativity as well. I knew then what I had to do and I turned and ran.

I ran as fast as I could back to my home; I felt as though a cab could not get me there fast enough. I had been an idiot; I had built Christine up in my mind and I had forgotten her flaws. Panting I reached the front door and tore it open,

"CJ!" I called, "CJ!" I ran up to our room and found her sitting on the side of the bed facing me,

"Erik," she said surprised, "what are you doing here?"

I did not say anything; I was too out of breath and I did not know what to say anyway. I dropped down on my knees in front of her; I took her face in my hands and I pressed my lips to hers as passionately as I could,

As our kiss deepened, she spread her legs and I moved as close to her as I could, pressing lightly against her expanding stomach, and I felt her wrap her arms around my neck,

"CJ," I broke away from her and looked into her sad eyes, "I love you,"

She began to cry, but she also smiled slightly and I kissed her again; this time she held me tighter,

"I am sorry CJ, I will make it up to you I promise," I said standing, "I have to go, I will come home as soon as I can," she was still crying and smiling when I left.

It seemed as though it took forever before I was back at my house; but at last I found myself in our bedroom; I began to speak but CJ, who was already lying down, motioned for me to be silent. She threw back her covers; a blanket had been added to the thin sheet, and patted the bed beside her.

For the first time I lay down beside my wife and held her throughout the night.