Nerve food at last! One here has also quite bitterly needed. But he lusts fortunately also after other things, I hope? Anyway, here comes chapter 10 and I hope you enjoy it.

Greetings Petit Erik


9.1.2022

In the middle of the night, about 3:00, a loud thump suddenly sounded. Shortly after came an exclamation, "SHIT!" Jenny woke up and sleepily went to her bedroom door. After opening it, she already saw the other phantoms and their ladies standing in the doorway. Even they looked more than tired. Jack clung to his father to keep from falling over.

"What was that?" he muttered so softly it was hard to hear.

"I don't know," Jenny whispered to him, "I'll go see."

With that, she tiptoed down toward the kitchen. Standing at the doorway, she very carefully lunged around the corner. When she saw what was going on there, her breath caught in her throat.

In the kitchen, Kari was rummaging around in some cupboards and drawers where Jenny knew the candy was stored. Then she saw him lift a bag where dark chocolate balls were inside. With a triumphant grin, he turned to the door and let out a yell, which surely had now awakened everyone in the house.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed at Jenny, dumbfounded.

"ME?" the latter asked back confused, "what are you doing here in my kitchen at 3 in the morning?"

"I'm looking for something."

"And what?"

"Candy for Panaro."

"You...what?"

"Yes. Candy."

"Why?"

"He appeared at my door. Quietly, of course, so as not to wake Sierra. He slipped out his door just as quietly because Trista is with him. Then he appeared at my house and asked if I could get him those chocolate balls."

"And why you? I mean, why not someone else?", Jenny asked him still puzzled.

Kari replied: "I live closest to the door to the common room out of the 10 of us. That's why he came to me and asked if I could get it for him."

Jenny looked at him, puzzled.

Then she said: "But if he runs up to you he can go right down. I mean, by the time you're awake, he has to knock, and not loudly either. In the time while he's knocking, he could have gone downstairs, quietly taken the chocolate and gone back up, right?"

"Actually, yes," Kari replied, "but he came up to me all tired out and said he really needed his chocolate because he was ravenous for it and couldn't I get it for him?"

Jenny, meanwhile, still looked very puzzled.

Kari continued: "After pleading several times, I gave in and finally went downstairs. He thanked me profusely. Unfortunately, though, he forgot to tell me where the candy was. Because he knows exactly and I didn't."

That was true. Panaro knew the hiding places of his candy very well. No matter how many times Jenny thought up new hiding places, he always found them. 'Someday I'll build a safe and electrocute it,' Jenny thought to herself, 'but I bet he can get even that open.'

"Okay," she said and sighed, "give me the bag and I'll take it to him. I have to go back up anyway."

"I'll come with you," Kari said, yawning loudly, which Jenny acknowledged with a smirk, "I need to catch up on my sleep."

Together they made their way upstairs. Just before they got to the 1st floor, she yelled upstairs: "HUGH PANARO! GET YOUR MUSICAL ASS UP HERE RIGHT NOW!"


After she said this, the door to his room opened and a very nervous-looking Panaro stepped out.

"Yes?" he asked, frightened.

"Where on earth did you get the idea to send Kari to the kitchen in the middle of the night?" she raged.

"I was hungry," Panaro replied meekly.

Jenny exclaimed: "And for that you take chocolate?"

Panaro said: "Yes, I love them. But not as much as my Christine," with that statement he turned to Trista who blushed prettily.

He grinned and turned back to Jenny: "May I please have my chocolate now?" He punctuated this statement with big pleading puppy eyes.

"Ohh well," Jenny moaned, "here take."

And with that she handed him the bag of chocolate balls. His eyes lit up and he looked like a little boy. Beaming with joy, he said: "Thank you," and then quickly went back to his room. Trista followed him shaking her head and grinning. She knew all of his idiosyncrasies very well and was relatively comfortable with all of them.

After Panaro disappeared to his room, the others went back to theirs as well. When Kari had also disappeared again, Jenny lazily went back upstairs. On her floor, everyone was still standing outside, which was actually pointless because they all heard Jenny's voice from the second floor. When she came back upstairs after an hour, she looked very tired and could barely keep her eyes open. Jack was leaning against his father and had fallen asleep again. Lewis was not allowed to move or he would run the risk of his son waking up again. Even he looked more than tired. Jenny briefly explained what was going on below and then went back to her room. The others went back to their rooms themselves, or rather staggered back because they could barely keep their eyes open. Jack was lifted up by his father and carried back into the room. He mumbled something, but slept on anyway. 4:30 then all lay in bed again.


Late in the morning, everyone came out of their rooms. Many still looked a bit hungover. It was decided to skip breakfast because it was already too late. But Jenny still went to the kitchen and made coffee for everyone. When she came back out of the kitchen, everyone was delighted with the pick-me-up. Jenny poured them all a big cup, leaned back in her chair and enjoyed her coffee. The children also shared a small cup, which surprised their mothers greatly but they didn't give it a second thought.

"Can we go outside again today? It's so nice out," Jake said. Jenny looked out the window. Because it was already cold yesterday, it had gotten even colder overnight and it had started snowing. Right now it was still snowing and the sun was shining. Outside everything was glittering and it looked really beautiful.

"It would look even prettier in the moonlight," Murphy said, looking with waggling eyebrows at Meghan, who turned bright red and buried her face against his shoulder. He chuckled softly and kissed her lovingly on the head. Anna was no different. She too blushed and hid her face. Her phantom looked at her in surprise, then grinned and laughed softly. His son grinned back, which was also the case with Murphy. You could really see the resemblance between fathers and children. Not only in appearance, but in behavior they were almost the same. The temperament was there too, but it was tempered by the gentle nature of their mothers. When music was played together, it was most evident. You could really see the talent the children had inherited from their parents.

Jenny answered Jake's question: "We can go out again if you like. I would just get something small to eat and then we can go out."

She then went to the kitchen and returned a short time later with plates full of fruit. Everyone helped themselves to plenty of it and Trista was asked by Jenny if Panaro still had chocolate or if she was already out of it.

She thought for a moment and then said: "I haven't seen any left. So I'm assuming it's all gone."

"Wow," Jenny said, "and there he can eat some now. I'm surprised."

Trista laughed and said: "You should have seen him when we went back to our room. He blissfully flopped down on the bed, tore open the bag, and let himself enjoy it."

"Did you get one off, too?"

"Difficult. As far as his chocolate goes, he's incredibly greedy. I had to grab some real quick so he wouldn't notice. But I think he got it anyway."

Jenny laughed.

"Well, of course he noticed," she grinned, "He's the Phantom of the Opera. He notices everything. Even that."

"You're right," Trista said, laughing too.


At that moment, Panaro bit loudly into an apple and the two ladies turned to him. He just looked at them with a puzzled look and then just kept on chewing. When Jenny and Trista saw him looking so innocent, they couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing and curled up on their chairs laughing. Panaro just shrugged his shoulders and continued to eat with relish. The others looked at him, puzzled, too.

"What?" he mumbled with his mouth full.

Kari laughed too and said: "You ate a whole bag of chocolate last night and you can eat again now?"

"I didn't eat it all by myself," Panaro defended himself, "Trista ate some too." With an accusing finger he pointed at her, who was still curled up in her chair laughing.

"So, shall we go outside? Otherwise we won't get up at all," Jenny said.

"Oh yeah, let's go," Jake said, pulling his father up with him.

"Easy, easy," Murphy replied with a laugh, "your old dad is no D-train."

Jake's eyes nearly fell out of his head.

"Old? Dad, you old? Hardly. Erik is old but not you!"

"Hey!" chimed in from across the room from Erik, "I'm not old at all. Just rich in experience."

"Or something," Jake retorted, rolling his eyes.

"I wouldn't come out with you because I have things to do," Jenny said.

"All right!" shouted Jake to her, who pulled his father up the stairs behind him. Meanwhile, the others had also gone to their rooms and changed into their winter clothes.

A short time later, everyone rushed out the patio door and into the garden. Soon after, all the voices outside could be heard shouting and laughing with joy. Jenny laughed too and went into the kitchen. She had decided to bake a marble cake for the coffee party. Something with chocolate, of course, especially for Panaro. So she set to work in the kitchen. As she worked, she hummed to herself. Soon when she was done, she put the cake in the oven, set the time and went to the terrace. Outside, she saw the others running around in the snow or building snowmen. She grinned to herself and waved back as Sarah and Marina, Warlow's Christine, waved at her. She also watched the children chase their fathers around in the snow and their mothers delightedly join in.

When the alarm clock rang, she went back into the kitchen and turned off the oven. After the cake had cooled, she spread another glaze on the top and put it in the refrigerator until coffee time. A short time later, everyone returned from the garden. They were all cold but they looked very happy. They went to their rooms, hung up their coats and returned to the living room. Soon the cake was ready and Jenny took it out of the refrigerator. She brought it into the living room and put it on the table. Shortly after, the table was also set and Jenny made hot chocolate for everyone in the kitchen. When she came back into the living room, Teri, who was in a relationship with Derik, had turned up the heat and it was felt. It was comfortably warm and everyone sat in the living room enjoying cake and cocoa. Panaro hummed contentedly when he had his chocolate.

Trista whispered to him: "I hope I haven't slipped to second place now."

He looked at her: "Never my love. You will always be my first love." She kissed him lovingly on his misshapen lips. Panaro smiled and kissed her back lovingly.


Later, when everyone was finished, they cleared the dishes together and put them in the dishwasher, which was turned on right after. The Christines went to their rooms to see if their coats had dried, because they had to leave soon. For a short while they wanted to leave them hanging. Then they returned to the living room.

"I tell you, you can always come over to our place," Sarah said, walking over to Crawford.

He replied: "We could. But you know us. Twenty-one masked men walking down the street is not entirely safe."

"And carrying a lasso on the side," Christine muttered softly.

"What?", Erik asked her.

"Nothing."

She was right. Coming into contact with one of the lassos was often fatal. Panaro, in particular, was very involved with it. But fortunately, fathers kept a low profile with their sons.

"But you could still reconsider that visit," Jenny took up the subject again.

"When are we supposed to get there? Now, from the days?" asked Gerry.

"Well," said Jenny, "you could go over when I'm in Germany. I'm not there for a few days, so you'd have time."

After a bit of arranging, that time when Jenny wasn't there was set as the date when the gentlemen would be with the ladies.

"Okay," Jenny said, "I'm glad you guys had time so spontaneously. We should do that more often."

Kristine, Kerik's friend, smiled, hugged her and said, "We liked it too, as usual. The spontaneous thing always works out, or usually does. Just check in with us."

"Will do," Jenny said, smiling too.

The Christines smiled happily and said goodbye to their opera spirits with lots of kisses and hugs. The boys also said a fond farewell to their fathers. Soon they were all back home, which could be seen from their front door, and Jenny closed the front door. Before she went back to her room, she saw a person quickly run out of the kitchen. She cleared her throat loudly and the person stopped. Panaro looked at her and held up a bag of chocolate balls with a grin. Jenny shook her head in amusement, said to him, "Beat it," and beaming with joy, he ran up the stairs. Shortly behind him, Jenny also went to her room and relaxed a bit more from the excitement of that day.