Hey all – This is the last chapter! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Sabine

A few days after the bodies of Christine and her lover were found beneath the opera house, there was a funeral held for both of them. A great scandal had arose and questions were asked of how and why the former diva had been drowned and who this man that was with her that night could possibly be. People began talking about the Opera Ghost again and a search party was formed to try and find the infamous phantom, but of course, nothing was recovered. Erik and I laid low for a while in our cozy little home until a few weeks later when the commotion died down.

Afterwards, Erik went out in search of a job and later became a very successful contractor. Even though we were beginning to acquire enough money to move out of our sleepy little house, we chose to remain, even though I spent most of my time remodeling to suit our own tastes. By early July, we had the house almost completely redecorated and were both very satisfied with the results.

Erik and I led very peaceful but exciting lives. Even though he was still self-conscious about his mask, Erik took me places and we traveled when he found time to take a vacation. After we had been married three years, I mentioned to him that October that I always wanted to go to Egypt and within the next month, we were headed on a ferry for a two week stay in Egypt with a hotel room overlooking the pyramids. This is where we also conceived our first child.

The night I told Erik I was pregnant, we had just finished decorated the house for Christmas. It was about a week before the holiday and Erik had announced that he would find a tree for us the next afternoon. We were sitting on the couch, Erik drinking a brandy, when I turned to him and explained that I had something important to tell him.

He set his brandy down on the table and asked, "What is it, dear?"

"I'm going to have a baby, Erik. You're going to be a father."

The look in his eyes was one of complete surprise and excitement. He began laughing out of pure joy and threw his arms around me waist, holding me against his body.

"I'm so happy!" he exclaimed. "A baby? I can't believe this! We have to start thinking of names."

We sat up the rest of the night and started thinking of what to name our first born child.

At the end of August, our baby was born. I awoke late one night and told Erik that I was having pains in my lower stomach and that I felt restless. Erik went to fetch the doctor and seven hours later, our baby boy lay in my arms.

We decided to name him Pierre, after a very good friend Erik had made during his years as a contractor. When I saw my husband holding our son for the first time, I knew immediately that he was going to be the best father this little boy could ever want.

On our sixth year anniversary, we decided to travel to Italy. The countryside was absolutely breath-taking and little Pierre even seemed to enjoy himself as well. He was only just over a year old, but he seemed to be completely content with traveling.

We arrived home shortly after the New Year. I started to become sick and Erik was very worried about me. After a couple of weeks of this sickness, I became aware of why I was ill and I announced it to Erik one night as we were sitting in the living room.

I sat in the chair across from Erik mending one of his shirts when I said, "We might have to start traveling a little more often."

"Why?" he asked as he gently rocked Pierre to sleep.

"Well, it seems like when we travel, I become pregnant."

He looked up in surprise and whispered, "You're going to have another baby?"

I nodded and gave him a shy smile.

He smiled back at me and kissed the top of Pierre's head and said, "Well, I'll be happy to have another one just like him. Except, a little girl would be nice."

At the beginning of September, when the leaves are just starting to change on the trees, I gave birth to not just one little girl, but two. Unfortunately, Erik was out of town on a contracting site when I gave birth, but when he arrived home a week later, I presented him with two little presents. One was Antoinette, named after my aunt Giry, and the other was Adele, named after my late mother.

After the twins were born, I had no more children, unfortunately. Erik and I tried for more, but I was never able to conceive again after that. I told my husband, who was for some reason blaming himself for this, that I had had a very hard birth with the twins and I may have damaged myself when giving birth.

"I still think it's my fault," he answered. We had been in bed for some time making love when Erik had brought up the subject.

"It doesn't matter, my love," I answered. "I love you and I love our children. If we have more children, that will be wonderful, but if we don't, it won't upset me. I'll always have you and the other children. I love all of you dearly."

"You've made the past ten years of marriage the best ten years of my life," he replied. "When Christine left me fifteen years ago, I never thought I'd be able to love anyone ever again. But then I found you and everything changed. You are the best woman a man could ever dream of having for a wife. Thank you for loving me."

"Thank you for saving me."

"Saving you?"

"Christmas has just past a few months ago and every year, I remember how we spent our first Christmas together as husband and wife. You saved my life, Erik. You saved us both."

I kissed him gently and then curled up into his arms.

"Wait," he whispered. "Please my love. Once more before we sleep?"

I smiled shyly at him and then began kissing him passionately. Slowly, my hands roamed his body until they found his most sensitive area. He groaned in pleasure as I began to slowly stroke him. Gently, I placed myself on top of him and we made love once more.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered as I lay on top of him gasping for air.

"I love you, Erik."

"Sabine," he breathed. "You will never know how much you mean to me."

With that said, I slowly climbed off of him and fell asleep curled up in his arms.