A/N: This is a short chapter, I know! But I want to keep the format of the story that each chapter is in one POV so it doesn't get confusing, so some of the chapters will end up being kind of short. The next chapter should be much longer! Apologies in advance if I'm not too prompt in getting updates done, what with Christmas coming up I'm really busy!

Big hugs and thanks to: ChoChangLookAlike, SummerSong, Menacer Phan, Elisabetta, AshleytheStrange, asdklfj, Mystery Guest and erik'sangel527 for your reviews!! Thanks also for your suggestions, I appreciate them! I love ya guys!!

MenacerPhan-thx for pointing out the Mama & Papa thing. I will address that in the next chapter.

erik'sangel-thanks for your suggestion regarding Erik's and Christine's relationship. I tried to fix that a little in this chapter!

Disclaimer: I still do not own The Phantom of the Opera. But I am REALLY excited to see the movie and just bought myself a movie poster to put in my room. hehehe….

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I walked along the creek that ran alongside our cottage. The anger that had taken hold of me was still simmering inside of me. I knew it was not fair of me to take out my frustration on Christine. She was only looking out for me, trying to protect both me and our daughter.

The thought that Beth was going to sing at the Paris Opera House filled me with the most bittersweet of emotions. At once I was thrilled, yet at the same time I was terrified that my past would come out.

No matter how hard I tried to believe that there was no chance that she would find out, that surely everyone from my days as the Opera Ghost were long gone, I also believed in Karma. What goes around comes around and I knew that the things that I had done in the past were unforgivable.

I was torn between wanting to just confess now, tell my daughter the truth, and wanting to keep the past hidden in hopes that it would never come up and I could continue to be just Erik, Christine's husband and Stephan and Beth's father. I just wanted to forget the things that I had done, the manipulations, the murders (both intentional and accidental). I wanted to just forget all of it.

But it was not that easy.

xxx

When I had finally calmed down I walked into the house and went directly to the kitchen where Christine was busy fixing dinner, Beth and Stephan helping. At least, Stephan was helping. Beth was too excited and too busy going on about the Opera House. I looked wistfully at my little girl, wishing she could stay that way forever. An innocent child that did not have to face the harshness of a cruel world. I smiled wryly at that thought, remembering the many times I had seen Christine, seen her innocence and wanted nothing more than to take that innocence away from her, force her to see the darkness in the world, shake her from that hazy dreamland she had always been in.

I had succeeded in that, a fact which I was not proud of. The things I had done to her…

I cut the thought off at the quick. There was no sense in dwelling on what had happened. It was over and done with.

We ate a quiet dinner, with Beth asking about the Opera House, about the dormitories that Monsieur D'Aubigne had said she would live in, where Christine herself had lived until a certain Ghost had helped her salary increase so that she could afford a flat of her own.

We were finishing dinner, the children gathering dishes to take to the kitchen, when Beth suddenly said, "Did you know that there is a lake beneath the Opera House? When they were building the Opera House they discovered it and built around it."

I glanced over at Christine, whose face had paled slightly at Beth's words. I had the most insane urge to start laughing.

"Why yes, Beth, I did know that," Christine said, her voice somewhat tight.

"Did you ever get to see it?"

Christine glanced at me, her eyes wide. She was looking to me to decide what to say, what to tell Beth. I looked at her helplessly.

"The catacombs beneath the Opera House are off limits to the performers," Christine said at last, not answering Beth's question.

Beth looked disappointed. "I so wished to know what it looked like."

Feeling suddenly suffocated I stood up and went directly to the basement music room where I could be alone.

I do not know how long I was down there, staring at the ivory keys of the organ when I heard the door open and the soft footsteps of Christine coming down the stairs.

She said nothing as she came to stand next to me at the organ.

"Erik," she said softly.

I clenched my jaw and looked up at her. My emotions were whirling around inside of me as I looked into Christine's green eyes, which were warm and compassionate.

"Erik, Bethie loves you. You could talk to her, she would understand…"

"Understand? What is there to understand? Her father is a monster, what else is there to say? She could not understand the things I did, who I was then. She would be horrified, disgusted. I cannot tell her."

Christine pressed her lips together. "You do not give her enough credit."

I stood then. Laughing cynically I turned away from Christine. "It is not a matter of giving her enough credit. How can I expect a child to understand why I did the things I did?"

"I understood," Christine said softly.

I turned sharply, expecting, I suppose, to see some sort of pain, some sort of regret, in her eyes. But there was nothing but love and acceptance.

"Please, Erik, do not shut me out again. I am your wife and I love you. Let me be there for you," she said quietly, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.

I took a deep breath, wanting to argue, wanting to push her away. But here she was, proving once again the depth of her love and commitment to me.

Silently I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to me. She sighed in relief and clung to me and I realised anew how truly lucky I was to have Christine in my life.

I buried my face into her silky hair. I took a deep breath and smelled the faint scent of lavender. "I love you, Christine," I murmured against her hair.

"And I love you, Erik," she replied softly.

I was lucky, so very lucky that she had forgiven me my sins and loved me despite my past. But the thought of telling my daughter about my past was terrifying and I knew I could not tell her. I just hoped that my past would stay where it belonged, in the past, and would not come back to haunt me any further.

xxx

From that day forward I vowed to be as honest as I could with my daughter without actually telling her any of the many things I had done. When she asked about the Opera House Christine and I told her the things that anyone who had performed there knew. It satisfied Bethie's insatiable curiosity while still keeping my past from her.

Whenever I started to feel guilty for lying to my daughter I ruthlessly told myself I was protecting her, I was doing what was the best.

Somehow I never quite believed myself…

((more to come! please remember to review and tell me what you think! Thank you!!))