I was quite tired and ready for sleep. Reluctantly I dislodged myself from CJ's arms and turned down all the lights in the room. Returning to the bed I slid close to CJ; closing my eyes I was on the verge of sleeping when CJ shook me,
"Erik?" She whispered,
"What?" I grumbled,
"My locket; I can't find it," She sounded worried and she was grabbing at her neck; CJ always wore the silver locket I had given her for our first Christmas together and now she was distraught that it was missing,
"I had it at dinner, I know I did," she said frantically as she jumped out of bed and wrapped a robe around her,
"Is this going to be a thing where we don't sleep until you find it?" I groaned; in my exhausted state I was not one for sentiment; I would buy her another damn locket if it was that important to her,
"Erik!" she said, putting her hands on her hips, "That locket means a lot to me; even if it means nothing to you,"
I sighed; this was going to be a thing. I forced myself out of the bed and took out the robe I had brought from home. I walked over to CJ and kissed her softly on the top of her head;
"I will go down and look in the dinning room, you can check in here,"
"Thank you Erik,"
I trudged out of the room; I did not mind doing things for my wife; I would do much more for her if I could, but at this moment I was simply exhausted. We had been very busy at the police station and as we were going to be taking time off we had had to work a string of very long hours to compensate. I blinked in the dark hallway; my sight in the dark had never left me and I did not take a candle with me as I walked to the dinning room.
I searched all over but I did not find the locket. I had given up and was heading back to tell CJ the bad news when I heard voices coming from one of the bedroom doors. I identified the voices immediately as Christine and Raoul,
"I told you, everything will be fine," Christine was saying, and I could not help but want to stop and listen, so I stood in the dark hallway and strained my ears to catch every word through the thick wooden doors;
"Well, so far, but she has no idea how to act in society!" Raoul exclaimed, and I felt hot because I suspected he was talking about my daughter,
"You saw her Raoul; she will be the most beautiful girl by far, everyone will love her," Christine assured him
"She is beautiful; she looks a great deal like her mother," Raoul stated and I clenched my fists; normally this would have been a complement but coming from him it felt as though he were trying to encroach upon my territory,
"You think CJ is beautiful?" Christine asked, and I noticed a hint of irritation in her voice,
"She is a beautiful woman, Christine, just like her daughter,"
"You never say that I am beautiful anymore," Christine pouted,
Raoul must have thrown something because there was a loud noise and I heard Christine try to shush him,
"Do not say that to me, Christine; do not act as though I am the one who does not care for you," Raoul hissed angrily
"I do care for you Raoul!" Christine sounded distressed,
"You care for me but you have always loved him!" He shouted and I heard Christine gasp,
"I don't know what I was thinking letting you invite him here," Raoul continued,
"I am not in love with him!" Christine snapped,
"Maybe not; but you desire him, you think about him, I can see it in your eyes!"
"Raoul, be quiet," Christine hissed, "You will wake Henri,"
"And what will he do? Come crying to him mother? Honestly Christine you gave me the most useless son in the history of France," Raoul spoke with indifference and I could not believe he was being so cold toward his own son, when it was his fault that his son had been kidnapped in the first place,
"Don't say that Raoul, don't you dare say that, Henri is just shy; he will grow out of it, and I think that with Bernadette…" Christine sounded close to tears,
"Bernadette is a goddess for Christ sake! Every man in France will be chasing her and she will not look twice and your son," Raoul burst out angrily and I made a mental note to wring his foppish neck,
"Our son Raoul, Henri is our son," Christine said, and I could tell by her voice she was crying now,
"I need sleep Christine; I am leaving early for Paris tomorrow; goodnight," and with this I heard him approach the door and I disappeared into the shadows, slipping into my own room,
CJ was on the bed, and I saw vaguely that she was holding the locket in her hands. She was smiling at me but her smile quickly faded when she saw my face,
"What is wrong?" she asked as I sank down on the bed beside her,
I did not say anything for a moment, then I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her to my chest, "I just overheard a conversation between Christine and the fop,"
"You were eavesdropping?"
"No,"
"Denial is good I guess; and by fop you mean Raoul?"
"That would be correct,"
"You can call him Raoul,"
"No, I will call him fop to the end of his days; which may come soon if I have anything to say about it," I said grimly,
"Threats are good too," CJ said sarcastically, "So what did you hear?"
"They were arguing; the fop did not think Bernadette would know how to act in high society,"
"I'll kill him," CJ said and I knew she was dead serious; the protective instincts mothers have for their children are freighting strong and I had no doubt CJ would beat the life out of anyone who she thought was treating Bernadette badly,
"You see?" I said, "And then Christine said Bernadette was so beautiful it would not matter what she did,"
"And Raoul, or the fop as I am going to call him, what did he say to that?"
"He said, and I quote, "She is quite beautiful, she looks a great deal like her mother,"
"What?" CJ tuned in my arms to look at me,
"Then there was an argument about if Christine still had feelings for me or not,"
"My God," CJ sighed,
"And the fop said he thinks his son is worthless," I shook my head, "He kept saying your son to Christine; it was sick,"
"So how should we kill the bastard?" CJ asked me, fumbling with the locket in her hands,
"I don't know," I muttered, "Where did you find the locket?"
"It was by the bed; I must have taken it off without realizing it,"
"And you made me walk all the way to the dinning room? All for nothing?" I teased her as I took the locket and hung it around her neck once again,
"Thank you darling," she said to me as she turned down the lamp and the room fell into darkness;
CJ wrapped her arms around me and settled comfortably against my chest. It felt so good to have her next to me; there was a strange pleasure I received from knowing she was mine; CJ belonged to me and nothing could take her away from me, not even the fop who thought she was beautiful.
"You're mine," I whispered to her, kissing her on the top of her head, "You belong to me,"
CJ pressed her lips to mine; she did not need to say it and neither did I but I belonged to her just as much; she held sway over me entirely and my soul was wholly in her keeping,
"My darling Erik," CJ said sleepily as her eyes closed and her head fell against my chest again.
I wondered what the hell I had gotten myself and my family mixed up in by agreeing to come to the de Chagny household; but at least I could spend more time with CJ and my daughter.