Chapter 21

Cripes I didn't mean to kill you with the cliffhanger. Don't bite off my head. Here's your update you vicious animals…

Erik walked into the kitchen. He saw Christine was just standing in the room, with her hands on her stomach.

"Christine? What's wrong?" Erik asked placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I….don't know. Just all of the sudden I felt a pain in my waist. It was almost like the pains I had before I had Valer--." She stopped and looked at her daughter. "Before I had Valerie…" She said softly.

"Oh Christine... do you think that you may be pregnant again?"

"It's possible. I mean it was only a few weeks ago that we--." She looked to Valerie again. "That we…called the…baby fairy to come and give us a baby. I guess we got one."

Erik tried hard not to laugh. "The baby fairy…" He thought. "Well Valerie it looks like you are going to have a new sibling."

Valerie smiled. "Oh boy!"

Everything was wonderful and everyone was happy. But then things changed when Erik remembered something.

FLASHBACK

"Papa? Why am I like this?" Valerie asked, pointing to her face. "Am I a devil?"

"Of course not. You are an angel." Erik replied. He then quoted Christine, "A genius with a handicap. I'm like this too you know. You aren't the only one."

"I suppose so, but how come you wear a mask and I don't?"

"Well, because I have grown very used to this mask, it has become a part of me. I can't part with it, ever. And besides, why rid the world of your beautiful face?"

"Everyone tells me I'm ugly."

"They're wrong. You're perfect." He kissed the top of her head.

END OF FLASHBACK

"Erik, what is it?" Christine asked, poking him.

He looked at her sadly. "No Christine…we can't do this to another soul…"

"What do you mean?" Christine asked, puzzled.

"You know very well." Erik flicked his mask. "Not…again." He said slowly.

"Erik, I think it's a little to late for that now. And besides, we don't even know for sure if I am pregnant. It could just be a pain, and nothing more."

Erik stared at her. He shook his head slowly. "No…I don't think so."

"What makes you so sure?" Christine asked him angrily.

Valerie looked up at them. Confused at why they were fighting. Then she realized. Her father had pointed to his mask. So he obviously meant that he didn't want another child like him. With his problem… This made Valerie very sad. She began to think that her parents were mad at her because of her handicap. Valerie decided that it would be better if she ran away.

"Goodbye then…" She muttered softly.

Erik and Christine were too busy yelling to hear her. Only Nadir did. Valerie burst into tears and ran away, out the front door. No one noticed her leave until the door shut. Everyone stopped and looked.

"Valerie?" Erik asked. "Oh no… Valerie!" Erik yelled running out the door to find her.

Christine followed close behind, Nadir following her. They all called frantically after her. Erik heard crying coming from a bush. He ran over to it. "Valerie?" He asked.

"Go away! You hate me and I know it." She answered sobbing.

"What? Why would ever think that?"

"Because you said you don't want another child because he might turn out ugly like me."

"I didn't say that."

"I heard you arguing! You hate me…"

"Valerie please listen to me. We do not hate you. We love you very, very much. More than anything. I never said anything was wrong with how you are. I just don't want another child to have to suffer like you, and like I did."

"You suffered when you were little?"

"More than you can imagine…I think it's time for you to hear what your Father's past was really like. Please come out of the bushes."

"Only if you promise to stop arguing with Mother."

Erik looked to Christine. She smiled softly. "I promise Valerie."

"All right. I'll come out." Valerie replied, walking out of the bushes. She had several cuts on her face and arms.

"You poor thing, come here." Christine said holding out her arms.

Valerie ran to hug her. Then they all walked inside. Erik set her on his lap and began his story.

"All right Valerie. It's time you heard this now. When I was born my mother and father didn't love me like we love you. They were afraid of me, ran away every time I came near. So, I ran away from them. Only I didn't hide in the bushes. I went to a completely different country. Which is where I met Nadir. But the point is, I had to run away from my family because they hated me. I had to run away from everyone. I went through a lot of ridicule. And I'm not saying that you are going to have to go through this, but if you do. I don't want to have two children suffering. Now I know that doesn't seem fair to you now, but you'll understand later."

"All right. I know one person that never laughed at you, mother."

"Yes, that's true. And that's why I married her. Because she loved me for who I am. And that's exactly how we feel about you. But you see, others only see what's on the outside. They don't understand."

"I wish they did."

"I wish they did too angel, I wish that every day."

A/N: And the moral of this chapter is, "Look for more than what's on the outside." Or, "Don't judge a book by its cover." Or my favorite, "STOP INSULTING POOR ERIK OR IM GONNA PUNJAB YOU!"

Valerie nestled her head on Erik's chest. "I love you Papa."

Erik smiled. "I love you too." He looked up at Christine, "And I love you too."

IT'S A LOVE FEST! I know this chapter didn't explain much, but it was fun at read, I hope… Anyway next will be more about the baby. Just warning you, I'm going to camp for a week so I won't have updates for a while. And I think this story will only have a few more chapters left anyway. So adieu for now.