Christine wandered around her sitting room, twisting a loose curl around her finger nervously as she used to since she was very little. Autumn had brought endless days of rain with nothing left to do but pace. Céline had commenced learning how to read and was thus engaged with Nicole for quite a few hours a day. Erik was now gone practically every day, mostly not returning till very late at night, though appologising profusely for it each time. His mood had not exactly been a happy one of late. The bad weather had taken the pace out of his construction and it frustrated him. His work at the Opera had relit a spark, pulling at him constantly. His study had become an even greater chaos as before, merging architectural drawings with sheets of music, bills, contracts and an occasional affectionate drawing from Céline. For the first time in many a month Christine found herself back in the position of not being able to anticipate his reaction to a certain event. The staff were scolded constantly for the slightest of slips, desperately looking to her for advice which she could not offer.
She herself would tiptoe away from him at times, waiting for his anger to pass. A sad and most likely never passing consequence of a dark past filled with even darker memories, that had shaped his character in such an unpredictable way. Just when all believed things could not get worse, Céline fell ill with the flue. Innocent enough to be sure, but the poor child ran a high fever in no time, nearly collapsing in the hallway while chasing after one of the servants' children. Erik had thought his heart would stop. Her red cheeks, her fine curls stuck to her face with sweat, her irregular breathing. He had sat up with her through the night, a kind favor Céline had happily abused even though Christine had warned him over and over again the child was much better of with plenty of sleep. Neither had had any, causing both of them to be in a very bad state the next morning. Christine had felt she was suddenly the mother of two, plus her staff, and had angrily sent Erik to work, Céline to her slumbers, the staff back to their duties, Franca to the doctor's office, before collapsing in her own room.
For a while now she had noticed the changes in her body. Her favorite foods suddenly did not become her at all, breakfast was passed on completely save a cup of tea. She was tired from nothing and found Céline very heavy to lift, even though the girl had not grown that much. For her birthday in August, Erik had decided to finally redecorate Céline's room completely, brightening it up in happy shades of white, yellow and gold. The girl had been delighted, but Christine had found herself having to leave the room after a few polite minutes, as the smell of fresh paint made her stomach turn. And then her bleeding had not come. Impossible. Ever since the day they had started, her bleedings had been very precise, except... Erik hadn't noticed as most husbands would not, and she had not told him. She wanted to be sure. The last thing she wanted was to give him false hope. But now her second bleeding had failed her as well and the ordeal of this morning had taken too much energy, causing her to vomit heavily as soon as she was by herself. This was not an accidental thing. This was a child growing inside her!
As soon as Dottore Romani entered her room she was with him.
"Don't worry cara Signora, your child is well. A stubborn little patient as most children, but with the medicine I have given her she should improve within a few days. Meanwhile, I must urge you to convince your husband to let her sleep at night." He followed her smile, knowing it would not be an easy task to convince such a strong headed man of anything at all!
"Dottore...there was something else I wanted to ask you..."
The older gentleman sat down, his gentle eyes peering at her over the brim of his glasses. Before she knew it she had told him everything, and the look on his face confirmed all her suspicions.
"I will do a quick check if you allow it Signora, but being a mother yourself I suppose these symptoms are familiar to you?"
Christine smiled, still not sure whether to laugh or cry. "They are, Dottore. But my husband...I would hate to break his heart with news that is not confirmed by yourself. He has wished for this child for so long, not knowing..."
The Dottore knew what she was about to say. "And I have tried to convince him before that his facial deformity has no connections whatsoever with his ability to procreate healthy children Signora, in fact..." He fell silent for a while. "I have informed him I believe his disfigurement the result of a very careless mother."
Christine swallowed hard, seeing Erik's past it would not surprise her. Who knows what his mother might have gone through during her pregnancy, the things she might have done to prevent the child from being born in the first place! The thought alone made her stomach turn. It would have meant her never being with Erik now, not carrying his child now...
She shook her head as the Dottore quietly went to work. Not much later he gazed up at her again in an almost fatherly fashion. "There, Signora, I believe you may congratulate the Maestro on the conception of his first child..."
Now it was impossible for Christine to contain her tears. The Dottore provided her with a tonic to suppress her morning sickness, stressing it was important for her to try and eat as much and as healthy as her condition would allow her, and warned her to enjoy her lazy life as an upper class woman while she could.
"You let your capable staff worry about your household, Signora. I am positive it will do your emotions much good."
After congratulating her once more he left, leaving her in a complete state of confusion. She set down at her desk to write a quick note to Erik, inviting him to an intimate dinner, begging him not to work too late.
It was to no avail. She sat alone at the table, constantly assuring herself he would walk in any minute, knowing he would not. She tossed her food about, trying to eat at least some of it as the Dottore had ordered. Franca started to clear the table, cautiously eying her.
"Was everything to your liking, Signora?"
Christine snorted. "Of course Franca, with my stomach agreeing so well and my husband joining me in such pleasant conversation!"
The briskly shove her chair back, as Franca softly put a hand on her arm. "It is...true then? You are..."
Christine quickly turned at her. "Not a word Franca. Not to a living soul or you will come to face a side of me you will not find so agreeable."
As she heard herself speak the words she already regretted them. She fell into Franca's arms. "I'm sorry Franca, mi scusi. That was not how I intended..."
Franca shook her head. "No worries Signora. Do not trouble yourself. It is not good for you...or your baby." The two women stood and eyed each other for a while.
"I thought I had noticed a change in you Signora, but I wasn't sure. In any case it is only fair for your husband to know first..."
Again Christine snorted, feeling her anger rise and knowing it were her motherly hormones raging. "If he will bother himself in coming home. I am done waiting about for him Franca, I have more important things to care about than the Maestro's obsession with his precious arts!" With that she went up to Céline's room, and upon finding her free of fever and calmly asleep she returned to her own chambers, locking the door behind her.
Christine found herself in an even fouler mood the next day. Sleep had not come to her that night and she knew for fact she had heard a turn of the doorknob, followed by quiet footsteps proceeding down the hallway. It had been far past midnight. She was surprised though to hear that contrary to previous days, the Maestro had not left for work early but was still in bed. Or was presumed to be so, having ordered the staff not to bother him with breakfast in the morning.
Christine didn't mind, that way he would not notice she wasn't having any either. She walked into Céline's room, finding her wide awake. Still very pale and her voice less bright than normal, but happily playing with her dolls.
"Maman, I am better now! Can we go outside to play? Nicole says it is not raining now!"
Christine smiled at her. "That doesn't mean it is warm enough for you to go outside yet. You still have to get a lot better my sweet! Remember when maman was ill, and I had to sleep a lot to get better?" Pouting, knowing her maman was right, Céline nodded her head.
"You are not sick now, are you maman?" Christine frowned, how could she...
"I am very well my sweet, don't worry. Only a little tired. I had a lot of bad dreams last night and I had not your teddybears to comfort me."
Céline tilted her little head. "Then you should have asked papa to sing for you!"
"Indeed you should have dearest, I would have happily obliged you." His voice was dripping with an all too familiar sarcasm. Christine smiled at herself. So, he actually felt insulted to have been locked out? They would indeed have a lot to talk about!
By now he had turned his attention back to Celine. "You look a lot better, my sweet. Did you sleep well?"
Céline nodded proudly, as if that had been a great achievement on her own part. "You look tired too, papa. Did you have bad dreams too?" Children.
"The medicine Dottore Romani gave her works miracles. A good night's sleep seems to have done the rest."
Her words were meant as sneeringly as his own and he seemed to notice, for he turned at her and was about to say something. He doubted, decided not to do so in Céline's presence and hugged the child once more.
"You be a good girl now and take good care of yourself. When you are better again we will go away on the boat together, alright?" Céline immediately dug herself back in her pillows, to convince him of her desire to get well. He turned, only to find Christine had already left the room.
As he walked into her bedroom he noticed her taking a tonic. "You have not caught Céline's flue now, have you? I should have taken better care of you both." It was meant as an appeasing joke, and he was surprised to find her snapping at him.
"Yes, perhaps you should have!" He realised full well she was upset about him missing dinner, and he had no better argument to offer her than completely forgetting the time and dreading the confrontation with her more and more as it grew later.
"I was...very sorry not to see you last night." He put his arms around her but she immediately brushed them away.
"Sorry for not showing up for dinner or sorry for being locked out Erik?" Before he could answer she continued. "Or sorry for yelling at your staff continuously for the last three weeks, or for leaving the entirety of Céline's upbringing in my hands, or for letting me have breakfast, lunch and dinner by myself for days on end, or for spending more time at your cursed Basilica than in your own home with your own family!"
"Watch your tone Christine, you are forgetting yourself and it doesn't exactly become you!" She knew his razor-sharp tone from the Opera. He felt driven back in a corner and ice was now his only means of defense.
"Oh...so I am not allowed to speak truth to my husband? Am I forgetting myself as your humble and obedient wife? Have you no better defense than reminding me of my place as if we were back at your...humble abode at the Paris Opera?"
She had started crying but in her hysterical anger she hadn't even noticed. What she did notice was the blood running away from her head, the pounding of her temples, the sudden lack of breath...and then awakening to the touch of a cool damp cloth on her face and seeing Erik's concerned eyes looking down on her. The look that made ice melt and made her feel utterly silly for flinching at him so. He appologised before she could.
"Shhh...don't speak my angel. There is no need. You were utterly and completely in the right. I have been the worst kind of master and father and husband, and I have absolutely no defense for myself other than my work completely consuming me. This new life Christine...I love it dearly, but in such a short period of time it has tossed around everything I knew, so violently. I suppose I still have to accustom myself to the fact that there is more than just me and my work now. I have a wife, and a child..."
"Two, Erik..."
It had come as no more than a whisper and for a moment he just stared at her. "I'm not sure I understand..."
"Two children my angel." She had said it stronger now, carefully sitting up on the bed, relieved to find Erik's capable hands had already loosened her corset.
He had gone awfully quiet and awfully pale. "You mean..."
He swallowed hard, looking at her, then looking down at her belly, cautiously reaching out a hand. Tears rolled down her eyes once more as she lovingly cradled his hand in her own, guiding it further towards their baby's hiding place.
"I mean I am carrying your child with me and apparently have done so for almost three months now. If you had known a little bit more of the ways of women my dear, you would have realised I would not have scolded you so abominably had not my hormones raged inside of me!"
"Are you certain? I mean...is it confirmed? Did the Dottore...?" He seemed not to have heard a word beyond her telling him of the child's existence.
"The Dottore has visited me as he was here to provide our stubborn little daughter with her medicine. And he could only confirm what my motherly heart had already told me."
Still there was no reaction. Christine now turned towards him, worried. She cradled his face in her hands, making sure he looked straight into her eyes. "It is as certain as a new sunrise each morning my love. I am pregnant with your child, our child, and the both of us are very healthy indeed. You will be the proud father of two beautiful children come next spring."
She felt his tears before she saw them. Before she knew it she was cradled securely in his arms, his warm kisses everywhere, mingling with the violent shaking of his body, crying with a joy and disbelief surpassing the moment of their union.
"I never thought...I never knew...I didn't know, why did I not notice, God Christine, how you must have hated me! I have wronged you so! And all that time..." She hushed him until she found him capable of speaking again.
"Are you happy my love?" She could have read the answer from his face.
"Ecstatic my angel. It was my dearest wish! I mean...I don't mean to imply...Céline is as much my child as she is yours..."
She smiled. "Very well then, you may come up with a way to explain that her prayers have been answered and that she will indeed have a little brother or sister to play with soon!"
Suddenly Erik jumped back into action. "Of course. We must surprise Céline, and the staff, they must know." Suddenly he was pouring out the sweetest of ideas, planning the baby's room and everything. He was becoming a father, and the world would not see it pass unnoticed!