Chapter 7

Erik quivered as his mother shrieked continually at him.

"GETTING A NEW JOB AND NOT EVEN TELLING ME!"

"Well, it's not exactly new, I was never a banker." Erik tried to reason, but Madeline was ignoring him.

"AND NOT EVEN INVITING ME TO THE WEDDING! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SOMETIMES, Erik!"

"Mother, please calm down-"

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!" She roared. Erik swallowed nervously.

"Mother-"

"AND MARRYING SOMEONE I'VE NEVER EVEN MET, AFTER STEALING HER AWAY FROM HER HUSBAND! I DIDN'T RAISE YOU THIS WAY!"

"She didn't WANT to be married to the fop!"

"DON'T CALL HIM A FOP!"

Christine winced as Madeline's voice permeated around the cellar. She ventured nervously from her hiding place.

"Madeline, please don't yell at Erik. He didn't mean to upset you."

"Well, it's a bit late for that, isn't it!" Madeline huffed, marching to her bedroom. Christine turned to Erik, who looked thoroughly miserable.

"Erik, go and apologise to her."

"I've tried! She just interrupts with another thing that I've failed to right in my existence as a son!" Erik hissed. "I'm not apologising, she's the one who should apologise!"

Christine ground her teeth, narrowing her eyes in a way that made Erik instantly regret saying anything.

"Erik, you are going to go in there and apologise to her, right this minute or… or…"

"Or what?" Erik said, not feeling entirely threatened.

"Or I'll move out!" She said in a poisonous voice.

Suddenly Erik felt slightly more threatened.

"Where would you go?"

She hadn't thought that far ahead, admittedly. Who would upset him the most? Of course, the answer was obvious.

"To Raoul and Dennis! I'm sure they'd be delighted to have me. I'm going out to do some shopping. When I get back I want you to have sorted this whole mess out!"

And she left. Erik threw a disgruntled look at Madeline's bedroom door before going into the kitchen. He needed milk.

"He just makes me so angry, Meg." Christine said, wandering around Meg's living room. The ballerina/secret ninja poured her some tea.

"You're both way too dramatic. Living under an Opera House probably isn't helping."

"I just wish they could get on." Christine sighed, collapsing into an armchair. Meg patted her arm comfortingly.

"There, there. Come on, they'll make up. People always fight at Christmas. It's like a law. But I'm sure they'll make up in time to create a wonderful ending to the story."

"What?"

"Story of our lives." Meg said wisely.

Christine nodded.

"I suppose so…"

"Just give them a couple of hours to talk it all out. You'll probably get back and find them hugging and making up."

"Yes. Yes, I'm sure you're right." Christine said. After all, it wasn't as if they'd kill each other.

Was it?

After all, she didn't know how adept Madeline was with a punjab lasso. She dank her tea nervously, paling slightly at the though of returning to find her husband and mother-in-law suffocated in her living room.

"Come on, let's go shopping. Nothing takes your mind of familial difficulties than shopping!" Meg said enthusiastically. Christine hoped she was right. She really needed a good distraction right now.

Erik, meanwhile, was carefully considering his options in the form of a list. As far as he was concerned, he could:

A: Apologise to his mother.

B: Wait for his mother to apologise.

C: Wait for Christine to come home and apologise to her, hoping she would forget about the whole thing.

D: Wait for Christine to come home and ravish her, hoping she would forget about the whole thing.

E: Run away and join the circus. Again.

F: Hang himself.

Thus far, D was his favourite option. But he knew that Christine was highly unlikely to let herself be ravished out of an argument, nor would a mere apology work. He was most certainly not going to apologise to Madeline unless she did first. But, again, that didn't seem very likely.

So that left with the circus or suicide. Neither of which were entirely appealing.

"Back to the drawing board." Erik muttered, throwing the paper over his shoulder and starting on a new plan.

Christine returned to the cellar not to find Erik and Madeline sat together, avidly discussing their feelings and reunited in a stronger relationship.

She found that Madeline was still shut in her bedroom and Erik was on the playstation. Erik had grown bored of trying to come up with plans and had decided to challenge the forces of evil to a dual before trying again. Dropping her shopping bags onto a table, she turned to demand an explanation from her husband.

"Erik!"

"Yes dear?"

"Don't you 'yes dear' me! Why haven't you spoken to Madeline?"

"Because she should apologise first." Erik said firmly.

"Erik!"

"Yes dear?"

"Oh! You're so insufferable!"

"Thank you, dear."

She resisted the urge to throw something heavy at his head. Instead, she marched over to Madeline's bedroom door and pulled the woman out.

"You two are going to sit down and TALK! I don't care if it KILLS you! You are going to sort this out so we can have a nice Christmas together!" She ordered.

Madeline and Erik exchanged a sulking glance. Christine glared.

She could very much grow to dislike this season.

A/N: Another too-short chapter. This is all filler and I hate writing filler. I promise it'll pick up soon.

Love

Katie