Chapter Fifty-Five: Untold Truths

Blue eyes slowly opened as the morning sun hit Christine's face. She blinked and yawned, completely content with where she was at the moment. Two strong arms held her against a hard, solid chest, and Erik's face was pressed into her hair. His leg was wedged between hers and she had one of her own thrown over his hip. Her breasts were pressed against his warm chest and Christine knew she could die like this and still have had a happy life with him. Erik's coat was over both of them, shielding them from prying eyes. In truth they had only fallen asleep a few hours before, having been to busy making love to each other. Christine desperately wanted to give birth to their baby soon because she wanted to see Erik as the wonderful father she knew he would be.

Erik's eyes opened slowly and she could feel the yawn he let forth as he pulled her closer. He closed his eyes once more and kissed her forehead, obviously wishing to stay right where they were. She said nothing, wanting that moment never to end. However, Erik's mouth began to wander down her face, neck, chest, and suddenly he was resting his face on her barely swelled stomach. She smiled and ran her hands through his hair while he kissed the smooth flesh of abdomen.

"Dominic."

Christine frowned and looked down at him. He had murmured the name softly. It was not a question, rather a statement.

"What?"

"I want to name our son Dominic."

"No."

Erik looked up at Christine to see her shaking her head, a twinkle in her eyes even as she disapproved of the name he had been thinking about for quite some time, without letting anyone know about it. All of that time thinking and she did not like the name.

"That is a wonderful name," Erik argued. Christine shook her head.

"I do not like it."

"Then what do you have in mind?" he asked. She smiled radiantly.

"Tristan," she replied. Erik made a face, causing Christine to slap him on the arm.

"That is an awful name!" he replied.

"No, it is not!" Christine said, laughing. She loved the fact that Erik had already picked out a name for their baby, even if it was horrible. This was just another thing to prove that this was the man she wanted.

"Fine, what about Sébastien or Anton?" Erik asked. Christine was surprised. She did not think he would have had more than one name ready. She was impressed.

"Those are slightly better. But what if we do not have a boy?" she asked, wanting to say it because she knew Erik would frown. He did.

"We are not having a girl."

"Would you be disappointed it we did?" she wondered softly. Erik instantly shook his head.

"I would love our child whether it was a boy or a girl," he assured her. Christine seemed to relax a little. In truth Erik had thought about girl's names as well, it was always better to be prepared. Besides, this was not their last baby; it would be good to have names ready.

"I really like Geneviève," Christine murmured. Erik looked up into her eyes. She had a look of motherly love on her face that made her just glow. He liked the name as well, it was rather beautiful.

"Geneviève Bernadette Desslar?" he murmured. Christine's smile grew wider. She loved the sound of that! Her husband really was amazing.

"Dominic Tristan Desslar?"

Erik pulled her to him and kissed her. They had just proven why they were together. They loved each other enough to make compromises. Christine had admitted that she did not like the name Dominic and yet she had allowed it because he had allowed Geneviève and they had both used one name that they both liked for each name.

"I love you," Erik murmured against her mouth. Christine smiled.

"I know."

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Nadir watched with some amusement as Erik and Christine came into the house, their clothes disheveled and wrinkled. Christine's face was glowing and she had a hand on her stomach and the Persian was sure she did not even realize it. He knew they must have worked things out and Nadir was glad, they needed that before having to face Delauney. The young couple stopped when they heard shouting and banging coming from the other room. Nadir sighed and shook his head. The house had been that way all morning.

"Christine, I think I could use your help," the Persian sighed. Christine turned to him with a frown, as did Erik as the shouting continued.

"What is going on?" Christine asked.

"Meg is getting a sound thrashing," Nadir answered. Christine gasped and turned towards the sound once more. She could now make out the sound of Antoinette's voice, and Meg's sobs.

"What in Heaven's name for?" she asked, moving closer to Erik without realizing it.

"You two were not the only two out having a little rendezvous," Nadir said dryly. Christine gasped and her eyes grew round.

"Raoul?" she demanded, not believing it.

"Yes, it appears that your handsome friend wastes little time getting what he wants."

Christine could hear the anger that entered the Persian's voice and she glanced at him. She knew that he must think of Meg like a daughter and to catch her in a compromising situation out of wedlock must make any father angry. She glanced at Erik. If they had a daughter would he be as protective over her when it came to men? She had little doubt he would. He would not let anyone near her until she was passed thirty. Christine put a hand to her stomach, suddenly glad about Erik's protective nature. She did not want any man near her daughter for a long, long time.

"Where is he?" Christine asked. Erik glared at her. He did not want her getting into anyone elses business. They had enough things to worry about on their own.

"I sent him to your room, I had planned on having a talk with him myself," Nadir answered. Christine went to rush upstairs when Erik caught her arm. She turned to him, her eyes pleading.

"Erik..." she whispered. Erik sighed and let her go. She gave him a thankful smile and rushed upstairs. She could not believe that Raoul would do such a thing as compromise Meg. It did not seem like him at all. Raoul stood when the door opened but frowned when he saw that it was just Christine. He did not need this right now. Christine said nothing for a moment after she shut the door behind her.

"Raoul, what did you do?" Christine murmured. This could ruin everything but Christine did not want to tell him that. If Antoinette wanted to she could make all of them leave, and that could not happen right now, to many things needed to be done first and this was the only safe place. Raoul ran his hand through his hair and sat down, staring at his hands.

"We...I let things get out of control..."

"How?" she asked softly. Raoul sighed. If he could talk to anyone it would be Christine. She was a woman who was in love, perhaps she would understand where he was coming from.

"We were just talking and I could not look away from her mouth...I can not explain it, I just wanted to be close to her," he whispered. Christine knew Raoul was not aware of it, but he was in love. She could see it clearly. She admitted that she was surprised that it had happened so quickly, but it was more than evident.

"What did Antoinette see the two of you doing?" Christine asked, not sure if she really wanted to know. Raoul shook his head.

"We were making love in the foyer," he whispered. Christine gasped. In the foyer? That was almost worse than making love outside! At least she and Erik had been far enough away from the house. Meg's mother had only been down the hall! No wonder she caught them!

"The foyer?"

"I tried to get us upstairs but it proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated," he whispered. Raoul had ruined everything. He would have to marry her now. He had compromised her from every marrying anyone else! But he was not complaining. In the short time he had known her he had developed feelings for Meg. But he knew his father would never approve. He was of noble birth, Meg was not. But in all honesty he did not care what anyone thought. He would do the right thing by Meg.

"She does not deserve to be yelled at like that," he said, hearing Antoinette's voice from downstairs. It was his fault, he had nearly attacked her in his need to make love to her. Although Meg had enjoyed it. He knew about giving women pleasure and she was certainly receiving pleasure.

"Raoul...you are going to do the right thing, I hope?" Christine wondered. She was glad that he and Meg had feelings for each other. Raoul deserved to be happy.

"Yes, I am."

With that he stood and walked from the room.

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"All of your ideas will get you killed!" Christine shouted, beyond angry now. Erik threw up his hands and glared at her.

"And your ideas will do nothing but make me look like an idiot!"

"You are doing a fine job of that right now!"

"This is what I get for thinking a woman would be able to help me!"

Christine screamed in frustration and threw the nearest thing she could reach, which happened to be a vase. Erik ducked and it shattered against the opposite wall. They had been trying to discuss what would be the best plan of action to take against Michael but so far neither had agreed with anything that the other had said. It was a little past midnight, and Christine knew they were making far too much noise but Erik was making her so mad she could not help but scream! His ideas would only lead to him getting hurt but he would not listen to the voice of reason, which happened to be her.

"Do not give me that woman talk, Erik Charles Desslar! You are being a typical man, hard headed and ignorant!" she growled.

"And you are being a typical woman, daft and not listening when her husband tells her something!"

"You are impossible!"

Erik watched her as she stormed out of the room. He needed a little while alone to calm down. He loved Christine more than anything but she could be very stubborn sometimes, as could he. He knew he would never be able to tolerate a timid wife but at times as crucial as these he did not need the arguments, it was getting them no where.

Trying to get his mind off of the present situation he thought about what had been going on with Chagny and Meg. He had thought it was incredibly amusing the fact that he had been caught making love. The boy was not as smooth as he believed himself to be and Erik found that very entertaining. But Raoul did have courage. He had stormed downstairs after his talk with Christine and interrupted Meg's thrashing. He would marry Meg, if he had the permission of her mother. Erik could see Antoinette was taken back by this but of course she had demanded that the two marry. It was the only way to save both of them from scandal! Meg had been surprised that Raoul had proposed but she obviously had accepted.

Sighing, Erik went downstairs, needing to be alone but unable to be without Christine. Everyone was in their rooms but he knew they could not be asleep with how much yelling he and Christine had done. He went into the foyer to find Christine sitting in front of the fire. Raoul was no where to be found so Erik could only assume that he had snuck into Meg's room. The boy never learned. Christine had her knees drawn up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. The fire illuminated her face as she stared into the flames, not turning when she heard him come in. He could see there were tears in her eyes and on her cheeks and he sighed. This seemed to be happening a lot lately, him making her cry. He did not sit down and he did not go to her, he simply stood there, aching to hear the sound of her voice.

"I have seen things in my life that I would give anything to forget, my mother dying, my father slowly wasting away without her, but never, never will I be able to erase the image of you dying in my arms..."

Erik took a step back at the haunting tone in Christine's voice. He had never heard her sound like that before, perhaps when he had come to her for the first time after she had thought he was dead, but not since. He did not like it. But she continued.

"I turned in on myself...you were not there, so I had to make a world in which you were still with me. At times I could find it in the sanctuary of my own mind, but other times I watched you die, smelt your blood, and heard your heart slowly coming to an end. It was hell, a constant burning that would never go away. God himself could not tear me away from my own madness. I was in a state of constant disillusion. I did not eat, sleep always eluded me. At first my screams could be heard in the long hours of the night, and it drowned out the singing of the birds in the morning..."

Tears were now not only on Christine's face, but on Erik's as well. He had known that she had not been doing so well without him but he had never imagined that it was this bad. Never in any of his wildest imaginings would he have believed something like that could happen to Christine. Christine began to cry as she continued.

"A-Anthony called for a d-doctor...he said-he said I would k-kill the b-baby if I-I did not eat soon..."

She broke down completely and Erik was given the first real shock of his life. Christine, in her madness, had almost killed their child. The child they had made out of love.

"I-I d-d-did not m-mean to, E-Erik...I-I w-would never p-purposely do t-that. I-I was s-slowly dying w-without y-you!"

Erik knew Christine would never hurt their baby, she was not like that. He could see that she was afraid of his reaction. But he knew why she was telling him this, this was the reason she needed to help him. If he were to die than she might follow him to the next life, which meant the end of their child's life. She had collapsed forward, her arms around her abdomen and her face pressed to the rug. Erik went to her, getting down on the floor and pulling her into his arms, cradling her as he rocked back and forth.

"I cannot let that happen again...I-I n-need to help y-you!" she sobbed. Erik pressed kisses all over her face, wanting her to know that he did not blame her for anything. She loved him so much she had almost allowed the unthinkable to happen.

"Shh, love, it is alright now. We will do this together. No arguing. No throwing vases at the others head," he murmured.

"I'm sorry..."

"No. Never apologize, it is the past, we will not dwell on it, alright?" he said. She nodded, pressing her face against his chest.

"My little Dominic or Geneviève does not want their mama unhappy," he whispered. She gave a shuddering sob.

"I do not want you unhappy." His voice was soothing and low, trying to get her to relax. Grief sometimes did things to people that they would never normally do, and so he would never blame her for that, ever.

"Stop shedding tears, my love, we will come up with a plan together, and Michael Delauney will not know what he has gotten himself into."