DISCLAIMER: I don't own any Phantom characters, only the nurse, and Brigitta the house maid.
Thank you for the lovely reviews: DarkMoonLightBright, mrsphantom1029, elfofrohan, Ankhof Hearts, PhantomLover2005, and trueinspiration:)
Eleven months and twenty-eight days, since Christine had given birth to an infant girl named Angelica. It was now hours before the child would be taken to the newly repaired opera house. Where Christine Daae discovered her voice, where Raoul de Chagny had found his bride, and where the Phantom still resided...Every day, never forgetting the woman who gave him the strength to be lonely.
The nurse paced the floor of her small cottage, thinking of how to take the babe to the opera house.
"She cannot be harmed. " she said aloud, still pacing madly. "Nor can she be found before day break."
The nurse's paces began to slow down as she looked over at the sleeping Angelica. There she was, fast asleep, not having a care in the world, not knowing where her life would lead her.
"She truly is a remarkable child." the nurse whispered, tip-toeing over to Angelica's basinet.
'Most babies her age did nothing but weep and wale' she though to herself, but not Angelica, she was as content as anyone could ever be.
The nurse reminisced for a moment of the past year she had spent with Angelica. She remembered just this month when she said her first word, "Angel". The nurse thought she was trying to say her own name at first, but realized that she probably just heard people in the distance every Sunday morning, singing church hymnals.
"Well that's enough for now." she whispered hoisting Angelica out of the crib. "We must go, my child."
Angelica remained asleep even when she was being wrapped in blankets and during the long walk to the re-opening opera house. The air was thick and the sky was black and cloudy. But still, the nurse trudged on, holding the baby close.
The rain started to pour on them just as they had reached the opera house steps. The nurse took a small breath and made her way to the side of the building, past the ballet dormitories, and the chapel. She opened a large barn-like door to reveal a stable with horses inside.
"It's warm, you'll be safe in here."
She crept over to the other side of the entrance, kissed Angelica on the cheek, and placed her gently on a small stoop below the door leading into the opera house.
"Be well, Angelica. Your mother would have wanted it that way." she said wiping a tear from her eye.
Those were the last words that the nurse ever said, to the child who was sleeping on the doorstep of the Opera Populaire.
THE END...Or the beginning?
Not as good as the other chapters, but what can you do, right? Where one story ends, another begins...In layman's terms: Expect the sequel soon:) Thanks for reading and reviewing!