A/N: Thank you to peanutpup, ClaryF, sharp52092, BabyNake, Amelia Mariee, Phantomgirl24, and PhantomWriter098 for the reviews on the last chapter, I appreciate them very much!

Erik closed his eyes as Christine and Andrew Reyer reviewed the rehearsal that they had just completed, content to let the satisfaction of not only hearing Christine sing once again, but this time actually being an invited participant in the process wash over him for the moment. Although he would have to speak to her to determine what she thought, Erik felt it had gone very well. She had even asked his opinion on a few things, seeming to already be showing a hint of falling back into the synergistic relationship that the two of them used to enjoy when it came to music.

Christine's voice was in very fine shape, but Erik had already made a few mental notes of minor things that she could work on, if she agreed to listen to him. He merely had to hope that the lure of what he could do for her voice would be enough to overcome her resistance to meeting with him further.

Just when it seemed the two of them were finally wrapping up their conversation, Erik bit back a groan as he heard footsteps behind him, knowing it was Christine's son and foster mother. She had mentioned that they would be meeting her after rehearsal for lunch, but he had hoped to have a few minutes alone with her after Reyer departed and before they arrived.

Annoyingly, the man seemed to take their entrance as his hint to leave, reminding Christine to lock the door behind her when they left before giving Erik a cordial nod on his way out. Inclining his head slightly in return, Erik privately acknowledged that the man was a pianist nearly worthy of Christine - which was high praise indeed coming from him, the other man's unfortunate sense of timing notwithstanding.

Watching as Gustave ran over to where his mother stood by the piano after he and Adelaide Valérius joined the two of them on the stage, the older woman trailing behind him, Erik was struck once again by how engaging Christine's son was. With the exception of Reza, he had had very little interaction with children, due to both their instinctive fear of his mask and a general lack of interest on his part, but even he had to admit her child was cute - not that that was any great surprise, with Christine as his mother.

Studying the boy as Christine bent down and hugged him, Erik could still detect no hint of de Chagny in the child's features - he looked very much like his mother, with hair the same shade of chestnut brown as hers, and her blue eyes and button nose. Idly, he watched as Gustave said something to her, seeing Christine's nod of agreement before he reached for the piano keys.

Holding back his impatience to speak to Christine, Erik waited as Gustave tapped his way through an elementary-level song, while Christine and Mme Valérius watched him. When the boy finished his short piece, they both praised him to a level that Erik felt was slightly higher than his performance deserved, but presumably that was what loving mothers and grandmothers did - he certainly had no experience with either, after all.

When Gustave finished his song and Christine had begun to gather her rehearsal materials, Erik noticed Mme Valérius looking at him for a moment before walking over to him. Straightening his posture, Erik prepared himself to greet her, surprised to see Gustave trailing behind her, a shy look on his face.

Although he wondered if she would have anything to say about finding him here in Colorado of all places, she merely greeted him in a pleasant but slightly reserved manner.

"Hello, Erik. It's nice to see you again."

Following her lead, Erik answered, "And you as well, Mme Valérius."

"Please, you can call me Adelaide, as you did before."

Nodding in agreement, Erik let his gaze drop to the boy. Clearing his throat slightly, he greeted him, "Hello again, Gustave."

Reaching up for his grandmother's hand, he replied, "Hi."

As he looked blankly at the two of them, Erik hoped that Christine would come over and interrupt this awkward situation, but Gustave spoke up instead.

"Your name's Erik?"

Nodding, Erik looked at the child again. "Yes, it is."

"Oh. Did you know that's my middle name?"

"Um, no I didn't." That was a question that was very much like one Reza would ask, Erik reflected, feeling on slightly more familiar ground - but that feeling didn't last for long.

"Yes, it is. Gustave Erik Daaé," he recited proudly, while a growing feeling of unease began to form in Erik's mind.

"That's nice," he replied automatically, as he stared at Christine's child. The name Gustave had been an obvious choice, after Christine's late father, but Erik had always assumed the boy's last name would be de Chagny, although he had never verified that. That it wasn't, combined with the fact that he couldn't picture any circumstance under which Raoul would agree to name his son after Erik, was setting off an alarm in his mind, although Erik tried to resist letting the thought form fully.

Telling himself that what he suspected in spite of his best efforts couldn't possibly be true, Erik found himself studying Gustave even closer. It seemed almost sacrilegious in a way, to think that he could have had a part in creating this beautiful child, but what had previously seemed so impossible that he had never allowed himself to even consider was suddenly becoming more plausible by the second.

Could it be? As his mind whirled, Erik heard Christine's light footsteps as she walked up behind him.

Spinning to face her, Erik noted that she had opened her mouth to speak, but when she met his eyes and saw what he could only presume to be the wild look in them, her face paled and she stayed silent, returning his stare for a long moment, before tearing her gaze away from his.

"Why don't you two go on ahead?" she asked, with just the slightest tremor in her tone. "Erik and I need to talk about a few things, so I'll meet you there, okay?"

Vaguely aware of Adelaide and Gustave departing, Erik could only stare at Christine as she watched them walk away, waiting until the two of them were alone before she returned her gaze to his. Staring at her desperately, unsure of what he hoped to hear, Erik asked the question that was consuming him.

"Christine, is he...mine?"

xxxxx

Although she had known that Erik had realized the truth when she saw the look in his eyes after he had been talking to Gustave and Adelaide, Christine still let out a slight gasp at his question. At least she no longer had to make a decision about whether or not to tell him, she reflected as she closed her eyes briefly to gather herself for the upcoming conversation.

"Well, that depends on how you want to look at it," she began, seeing Erik's eyes turn even wilder at her words. Unsure what he wanted the answer to be, Christine continued, "But, if you mean biologically, then yes, he is."

Stiffening even further, she saw anger flash in his eyes before he spoke. "When were you planning on telling me, Christine? Did you really think I wouldn't guess?"

At his words, anger of her own flared up, burning away the anxiety she was feeling, at least temporarily. "What the fuck, Erik? How dare you ask me that? When exactly was I supposed to tell you?"

Lost for the moment to the rage his question had inspired, Christine found herself stepping closer to Erik, fists clenched as she glared up at him, silently daring him to say another word. For a long moment, he returned her angry gaze, until suddenly his eyes closed and his shoulders seemed to hunch in on themselves.

"Oh my god, Christine, you're right," he said as he suddenly backed away from her, turning around as though he was lost, before walking abruptly over to the piano. Sitting down, he placed his elbows on the closed lid before leaning forward to bury his masked face in his hands.

Just when he had been silent so long that Christine thought he wasn't going to say anything further, Erik rocked forward slightly on the bench and let out a choked sob before speaking.

"I'm so sorry, Christine. For what I said just now, and...for everything. I didn't know. How could I have known?"

When Erik lifted his head and looked at her, his eyes glassy with his tears, Christine felt some of her anger fade in the face of his obvious remorse. Crossing the stage to stand next to him, she crossed her arms in front of herself before speaking.

"You could have known by not leaving in the first place," she replied, slightly surprised at how bitter her tone was. Realizing that even though her anger may have faded, she still had plenty of hurt to deal with, Christine took a steadying breath as Erik looked away from her again, shame flashing in his eyes.

Continuing in a more even tone, she said, "But, I was surprised you didn't make the connection already. I wasn't trying to hide it from you - until you mentioned Raoul the other night, I just assumed that you knew."

Still looking away from her, Christine heard him say quietly, "But how?" Unsure whether Erik was talking to himself or not, she answered him anyway.

"Erik, surely you know 'how' it happened."

"I don't, Christine. It doesn't make any sense."

Unsure how to respond, she merely gazed at him in confusion, but his next words helped her to finally realize what Erik really meant.

"He's...beautiful, Christine. He seems smart, and loving - perfect, really."

Feeling a ghost of a smile in spite of herself at hearing Gustave praised so lavishly, Christine responded, "He really is all of those things, Erik. I know that technically he's not actually perfect, but he is to me."

When Erik turned toward her again once she spoke, Christine was taken aback by the look in his eyes; he looked even more haunted than before. "I don't understand, Christine."

"What don't you understand?"

To her surprise, instead of replying, Erik reached for his mask, fingers trembling as he pulled it from his face, setting it on the piano in front of him. After a long moment, he met her gaze once again.

For a moment, she simply took him in, the distorted face of the man she had once loved so much that she had been willing to risk anything for - a face she hadn't seen since she and Raoul had left his apartment on that long-ago night in Paris. Although he had spent most of that weekend in a rage, frightening her with his anger, it had always been the expression on his face as she glanced back over her shoulder while Raoul led her away from him that she remembered - the pain and regret, the hopelessness.

Exactly the same look that he had now.

"Look at me, Christine. And I know you realize that this," he said, waving a hand in the general direction of his face, "isn't even the worst of it - you know I'm even uglier on the inside, the terrible things I've done. How could such a perfect child possibly be mine? How could a wretch like me even contemplate such a thing?"

xxxxx

As Christine gazed sadly at the obviously broken man in front of her, she felt some of the ice encasing her heart crack just the slightest bit. Without thinking, she placed her hand on Erik's shoulder, startling him enough that he lifted his golden eyes to meet hers.

Before she knew exactly what was happening, she and Erik leaned toward each other at the same time, with him turning his head to the side to lay it on her shoulder, his arms slipping around her waist almost reflexively.

Not questioning her instincts, Christine slid her arms around his shoulders in return, holding him while he collected himself, a few tears of her own escaping as she noted the way his head reached her shoulder so perfectly with him seated while she stood next to him. Maybe the difference in their heights illustrated their larger relationship all too well - they were a hopeless mismatch in nearly every way, it seemed.

But maybe their current positions meant something, too - namely, that if they were willing to bend a little, change a little…

Cutting off that whimsical but dangerous line of thinking, reminding herself that she was hardly being reasonable in this emotionally charged moment, Christine cleared her throat before letting the words that were in her heart flow uncensored.

"Erik, I know that you have trouble seeing your own worth, and I understand at least some of the reasons for that, but the fact is that he is your biological child. And not only that, but I see similarities between the two of you. You are not the monster you think that you are."

For a long moment, he remained silent, head still on her shoulder before he pulled back. Surreptitiously wiping his face as he kept it angled away from her, he reached for his mask and replaced it before turning to her. She half-expected him to refute her words, but Erik surprised her.

"Thank you for that, Christine."

Taking a deep breath, he rose from the piano bench, once again towering over her as he turned his pleading gaze down to hers. "I have so many questions. And there's so much we need to talk about," he said hesitantly, looking as though he was afraid that she was going to refuse to speak with him outright.

"That's true, we do," she answered, and she thought she saw Erik's rigid shoulders relax the slightest bit. "But, right now I need to meet my family for lunch."

What prompted her next words, Christine didn't know - perhaps it was the look of resigned longing that flashed in Erik's golden eyes.

"Do you want to join us?"

As the words floated on the air between them, Christine watched as Erik stiffened in what seemed to be surprise at her invitation, while questioning why she had issued it in the first place. When he didn't respond for several moments, she began to think he was going to decline - and if she felt a twinge of disappointment at the thought, Christine did her best to ignore it.

Typically though, Erik behaved as he usually did and surprised her when he finally spoke. "I would like that, Christine. Thank you."

Wondering yet again what exactly she had gotten herself into, she led him from the dark opera house out into the beautiful sunny summer day, locking the door behind them before turning to lead him to join her family for lunch.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please feel free to leave a review, I always enjoy seeing what people are thinking!