Chapter 19: Surprise!
Marie Claire and Arthur rode along the moonlit path back to their house, walking their horses slowly about the oak trees. Marie savored the ride, for it would be the last time she would be able to do this until after the baby was born. She gazed over at Arthur, her heart filled with a deep and undying love. Her love for him had only seemed to increase since they had found out that she was with child. She breathed in the fresh air, a giddy, contented feeling in her veins. She was so in love and happily married, she was going to be blessed with a child, the opera was reopening, and most important of all, her family was safe. A dark cloud still resided in her heart however, when Erik came to mind.
She was hurt and intensely angered at his actions, at what he had done. But she still desired to find a way for him to be happy, and she knew that her family wanted it too, for the reasons of the human compassion and kindness that he had never been shown, or indeed, allowed anyone to show him, and for the sake of their family's continued happiness and indeed, safety. Marie feared what he might do, to what lengths he might go to claim herself and her mother. She wished that Erik could see and understand she and her mother's happiness. But she really tried not to reflect on this situation, for it seemed that Erik had once again dissappeared into annonymity.
Arthur, who had noticed his wife's daydreaming smile, spoke softly in her ear. "What are you thinking about?" he asked, taking one hand from the rein to give his bay colored horse a pat.
"Oh, just about the baby, and the future and things like that," said Marie Claire, her expression glowing at her husband. "Deep thinking."
"Ah," said Arthur, a sly smile on his face. " Well, while you think, do you want to race me back to the stable?"
Marie laughed, a sound that sounded sweet to Arthur's ears. "Of course. But be ready to lose, love."
Arthur grinned, and the young couple sped off, the horses hooves flying along the lane. The race ended in a tie and a chorus of laughter. The two jumped off of their horses, taking them into the stable and giving them each a sugar cube before heading to the house. They opened the front door and went into the entrance hall to shed their coats, noticing that it was rather dark inside. As they made their way towards the living room, Marie heard a giggle that sounded suspiciously like Felix's, but Marie thought that she must be hearing things.
"Arthur, why is it so dark in here?" asked Marie Claire as they stepped into the living room.
"I don't have any kind of clue," said Arthur in a bemused voice, "Here, let me light a candle."
But before he could do so, the light came on and a resounding roar of "Surprise!" came from behind the couches and chairs. The faces of Raoul, Christine, Felix, Lucien, Madame Giry, Meg, Jacque, Lizzie, William, Andre, Firmin,Phillipe, Raoul's parents and Arthur's parents came up to meet them.
"Oh my goodness!" said Marie, a radiant smile on her face.
"I second that." said Arthur, the surprised expression on his face most comical. "And here I was thinking that it was going to be a quiet night at home." he said with a chuckle.
Up across the wall was a banner that read ' Congratulations Marie and Arthur !'
"We thought we would throw you two a litle baby shower before we all get wrapped up in the opening of the opera house." said Christine, her eyes twinkling beneath her curls.
"Surprised?" asked Raoul, smiling at the expression on his daughter's face.
Marie Claire who was suddenly overwhelmed with a rush of love for her parents, ran to them and engulfed them both in a warm hug.
"Thankyou so much," she whispered in a tender, emotion filled voice.
"Its no trouble my girl," said Raoul, his own voice quite emotion filled at the sight of his grown up daughter.
"We hoped that you would like it." said Christine, kissing her daughter's forehead.
"Well we certainly do." said Arthur smiling at his inlaws and going over to hug his own parents, a happy expression in his eyes.
"The looks on your faces were simply hilarious." remarked Lizzie as she opened a bottle of white wine that she knew was Marie's favorite.
"I propose a toast," said Meg gleefully, "To Marie Claire and Arthur and the child soon to come."
All raised their glasses in a toast and Marie blushed a rosy color. She was so glad to know that she was surrounded by such a group of people, and from the look on her husband's face, she could tell that he was too. After a few minutes more of talking, Marie and Arthur began to open their gifts. There was a crib from Raoul, Christine, and Felix and a bassonnet from Arthur's parents. There was an assortment of clothes from the Girys and a good selection of toys from Lucien. There was also a lovely music box from Marie's grandparents and her Uncle Phillipe.
As the last shred of ribbon came off, Arthur peeped his face out from under the mound of brightly colored wrapping paper. "Well I must say that this baby is quite well equipped already," he said sifting through all of the gifts. "I hope that this nine months go by fast." he said excitedly.
"Yes, well I daresay you will have to wait until June for that young monsieur." said Madame Giry with an amused smile.
"And when it is born," said Lucien, a grin on his face. "You must bring it over to visit me, so that I can teach the child all I know."
"Oh dear," remarked the Countess(Raoul's mother) in a jesting tone, " Corrupting the child so soon Lucien?" she asked with a joking smile at her son's best friend.
This caused an eruption of laughter from Raoul, whom Lucien promptly elbowed in the side.
"I wouldn't call it corruption Countess," said Lucien, looking over at both Christine and Meg, who were both trying not to laugh. "I just want the child to be able to say that they learned everything they needed to know in life from their Uncle Lucien." said Lucien, laughing himself. "Ah and by the way Raoul, I have a very interesting new neighbor that would like to meet the lot of you."
"Oh, I should find that interesting," said Raoul, rubbing his ribcage with a begrudging look at his friend. "I supposse that we shall do that while we are visiting you."
After everyone ate dinner a little bit later, the inevitable request came from Andre and Firmin that Marie, Christine, and Arthur sing. So, everyone gathered around the piano as the three joined in an old French folksong. If someone had looked in the window of Arthur and Marie's Tudor house on that snowy October evening, a serene and peaceful scene would have met their eyes. Felix and Lucien sat upon the piano bench playing the duet, with Chester beside them wagging his tail. Christine, Marie, and Arthur were surrounding him, their voices blended together in a beautiful harmony. Raoul had his arm around Christine's shoulders and she had her arm around his waist. Marie's hand was held loosely in Arthur's, Meg leant her head on Jacque's shoulder, and Lizzie smiled up at her husband William as he kissed her straight, golden locks. Raoul's parents, Arthur's parents, and Madame Giry stood silently, smiles on their faces as they watched their children and grandchildren. It was a wonderful moment as the friends and family were there, celebrating the soon to come addition to the opera house family. And they savored it. But they didn't know that in a few weeks, a black cloud would invade the sunny skies that they had worked so hard to achieve. The happiness that they had just found again after all the chaos at the opera, and the happiness that they deserved and wanted.
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A/N: Okay so the board is set and the pieces are in motion(Don't ya love LOTR!) This was sorta one of those sweet chapters that really wouldn't go anywhere else, so I put it here. I hope you like it, please read and review! Thankyou Asia1st and Samantha for your great reviews, I appreciate it so much! Okay next up is Chapter 20: Return to Music. They're going back to to opera, yay! What surprises lie in store! It shall be exciting! It will be up in the next few days, since I still have a week of summer vacation left. So see you guys then!