long chapter ahead, ladies and gents. i am so so so sorry that it's been so long since this book was updated; quarantine or not, my co-author and i have been in school up until the 26th, but my co-author was very busy with school and life in general and didn't get a chance to sit down and write. i promise that chapter 29 will come out much sooner. thank you for your patience, and i hope you enjoy!
updated 02-18-21
OCTOBER 1919
ADELE
I glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner of the sitting room, sighing as I realized that it was getting too late in the morning for Nadir to continue sleeping. It was almost half-past nine; I had been up for over an hour and a half and had yet to eat breakfast, as the two of us usually ate together. By that point, though, I was considering just eating on my own and leaving the newspaper for Nadir to find before I left to run errands. At the same time, though, I knew he would only worry if he woke up and didn't know where I had gone. Not that he felt I had to tell him where I would be - Nadir was far from that kind of man - but he was simply too worried about me to think that I might be in a scenario where I might be hurt. It was sweet, truthfully; I adored his kindness.
What I did not adore was his attachment to our bed, particularly when I was awake and hungry. Determined to put a stop to it, I set my book aside and made my way up to the bedroom to wake him. Walking to his side of the bed - always the right side - I couldn't help but smile when I looked at him; his hair was a mess and I could tell he would have to fight to control it once he got up. The collar of his shirt was askew and I could tell that his face was a bit swollen, so all in all, he looked like a bit of a mess at the moment, but I loved him nonetheless.
Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, I gently ran my fingers through his thick black hair, though it was slowly being overtaken by the grey hair that had been filling in bigger patches recently; by that point, there was about a half-and-half combination on top of his head. I noticed little wrinkles by the corners of his eyes; smile lines, I hoped, though I knew frowning and serious expressions were the more likely culprit. From what he had shared of his past thus far, my heart ached to know all that he had suffered, but I had made it a personal goal to make enough beautiful memories with him to push the tragedies he had faced aside.
"Nadir, darling, you have to get up," I said softly, moving my hand from his hair to gently stroke and tap his arm. "It's late, you can't keep sleeping."
A moment later, he started to stir and yawned as he did, but didn't open his eyes. Instead, he reached up, wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me down to lay beside him. "Not yet, love," he murmured, still sounding half asleep, what with the gravelly roughness to his voice.
I rolled my eyes and gave him a light smack on the shoulder to try and get him to let me go. "Nadir, come on," I said, only to sigh when I felt him pull me closer to his chest, that action alone serving as his response to what I had said.
"There we are. This is much more comfortable," he said. "Far superior to you just sitting next to me."
"Mm, yes. I suppose," I said, sighing to tease him despite the small smile on my face.
"You know it is," Nadir replied, managing to nuzzle himself closer to me, his face tucked into the crook of my neck.
I shrugged slightly. "It's alright, I suppose." I was determined to tease him, refusing to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had uprooted my original reason for coming upstairs.
I felt him lift his head and could tell without even looking that he was trying to read me. "Well then. This should improve things," he said before he leaned over to kiss my cheek.
"Perhaps it does improve it a little bit."
"I'm slightly offended, love. I thought it would be perfect with me here."
"I'm teasing you, don't be stupid. It is perfect here in your arms, you know that," I said, setting my hand over his where it rested on my waist.
He pressed a kiss to the back of my neck and I could feel him smiling when his lips lingered for a moment. "Good. We can stay here as long as you want."
"I would stay here forever if I could, but I have to go down and make breakfast for the two of us."
"Says who?" he asked, lifting his head just enough to rest his chin on my shoulder.
"Says me because I have been up for some time and I'm hungry," I retorted, laughing even though I wanted to be - or at least sound - annoyed. "But are you not hungry this morning? Is that it?"
Nadir shook his head as he buried his face back into the crook of my neck. "I am happy right where I am," he said softly.
"Well, in that case, I suppose we can stay here for now," I said, smiling when he tugged the covers over me and pulled me even closer to him than before.
At that, we fell into a comfortable silence, simply enjoying one another's company and the intimacy of such a simple gesture as holding each other. The closeness of it, feeling the heartbeat of the one you adore. So much could be said about your love without using a single word.
Our blissfully peaceful moment was soon interrupted, though, when there was a knock at the front door. I knew that Nadir had heard it too and should let me go so I could answer it, but I frowned when he made no move to do so. "I have to go get the door, dear," I said.
"No you don't," he replied, his voice muffled as he spoke into my neck.
"Nadir, I can't leave whoever that is standing on your front step," I remarked.
"Says who?"
"Says human decency. Come on, I have to go open the door."
"Fine," he mumbled, though he didn't move his arms at all from where they were still tightly wrapped around my waist.
Rolling my eyes, I reached behind me and tickled his side, which quickly got him to pull his arms away so I could get to my feet.
"Cheater!" he exclaimed, though he was laughing through his words and clearly having more fun with our mutual teasing than he wanted to admit.
"You wouldn't let go! I did what I had to do!"
"That was uncalled for."
I laughed quietly, kneeling beside the bed and running my fingers through his hair again. "As I said, I did what had to be done," I replied, leaning forward to give him a gentle kiss. "Now, I'm going to open the door. Get out of bed."
"Alright, alright," Nadir said, smiling and giving me another quick kiss before I got a chance to stand up.
I smiled as I got to my feet, making my way down to the front hall. I wasn't sure who it was that could be knocking, but when I opened the door, I wasn't surprised at all. "Good morning, Erik. It's good to see you."
A slight frown formed on my face when I noticed how confused Erik was as he looked at me. "Oh. Good morning. It's...nice to see you too, Madame, but, with all due respect, I thought you were in Switzerland," he said.
There was my answer; Nadir hadn't mentioned that the two of us had started living together. "I did go back for a very short time, yes. Only to collect my things and bring them back here," I explained.
"I see. Um...is Nadir home?" Erik asked, still sounding very confused even with the explanation that I had offered.
"Yes, he's just upstairs getting changed. Come in, Erik."
"Thank you, Madame."
I stepped aside to let him in, then smiled at him before I walked to the bottom of the stairs to call up to Nadir. Walking towards the kitchen, I paused when I noticed Erik was still standing in the front hall, awkwardly shuffling his feet. "Erik, you're welcome to go sit in the parlour while you wait," I said.
"No, that's alright. It seems I won't have to wait anymore," Erik said.
Looking over my shoulder, I smiled as Nadir walked over to me and wrapped an arm around my waist. "Your friend wants to speak with you, love."
"Yes, is there any chance we can talk in private, Daroga?" Erik inquired.
"Of course, we can just step into the sitting room. Is something wrong, Erik?" Nadir asked, kissing my cheek before he followed his friend into the other room. I considered leaving the two of them to talk, but I found myself to be too curious about what Erik had to say, so I stood by the door, behind the wall, to listen in.
"Yes, something's wrong," Erik said, his voice hushed as he spoke. "The fact that you never told me that she moved in with you."
I covered my mouth to muffle my quiet laughter. I could practically see Nadir's frustrated expression; I knew that he would have been worried about Erik after he asked to speak alone, only to hear the true reason for his visit. "And why is that wrong, exactly?" I heard him ask, his words echoing my own thoughts.
"Because I am your closest friend and you should tell me these things," Erik replied.
"Erik, don't be upset. Yes, Adele moved in here. Now you know and we can get on with our lives, can't we?"
"Maybe."
Erik was intent on being a nuisance that day, it seemed, and I could tell that Nadir would have none of it. "What's on your mind? I know that tone."
"Nothing. That's just a result of my brain trying to figure out what this means for your relationship," Erik said.
"Look, it just means that things are moving forward. I'm not quite sure what else you'd like me to say to you," Nadir replied.
Erik's response was almost immediate: "I would like to know when you plan on going ring shopping so I can come along."
I felt my cheeks flush at the comment and I set my hands over them to try and cool them down so no one would notice. That thought...Nadir proposing...it was strange to think about, but far from an unwelcome thought. To be married to him, to call him my husband for the rest of my life...just thinking about it made my heart flutter; I couldn't think of a more amazing privilege.
"I'm not going ring shopping anytime soon, so don't look so eager," I heard Nadir say. After my moment of fantasizing about a life together, it stung the slightest bit to hear that, but we both knew that it was much too early in our courtship to consider marriage.
"You know that saying that does absolutely nothing," Erik replied.
"Right, because you're convinced that I'm going to walk into the kitchen right now and ask her to marry me, hm?"
"Not at this moment, no, but if that's where you want to 'pop the question,' as they say, go right ahead." I laughed to myself again; when Erik wished to be annoying, he was certainly good at it.
"Look, if that happens, it will be at the right time when both of us feel ready to make that commitment. We aren't at that point, we're not rushing anything," Nadir said, but the comment that he added was the one that made me smile: "And if it does happen, I will be proposing in a much more beautiful place than in our kitchen."
"How intriguing. It's 'our' kitchen now," Erik said, and I could hear him smiling through his words, clearly happy to find another way to bother his friend.
"Yes, it is. Our kitchen, our house. She lives with me and we are a couple, what do you expect?" Nadir inquired.
"This is just me teasing you. Don't get all annoyed."
"I'm not annoyed, you twit. I'm setting things straight for you."
Shaking my head fondly at the friendly bickering, I finally stepped away and into the kitchen to make breakfast. I decided on oatmeal with fruit, as it was quick and I was starving; whether Nadir was present or not no longer mattered to me. But I had only just started to put my oatmeal together when Erik burst into the room, looking frantic as he stopped a few feet away from me, then looked back to the doorway. I looked in the same direction and watched Nadir walk in, much calmer than Erik, with a look on his face that told me he was holding back his irritation. "Am I missing something?" I asked.
"No, you're not. Besides the fact that I'm going to kill him," Nadir replied, his gaze fixed on Erik as he stood next to me and wrapped an arm around my waist. "If you want to start digging the hole, I'll meet you in the yard."
"What did he do now? You were only talking for a few moments."
"It's not important."
I quirked a brow, not believing him one bit. "Which means it is important. I know you, dear, and I know when you're annoyed and trying to pass it off as nothing, particularly to do with Erik. What did he do?" I asked again.
"Just harmless teasing," Erik piped up, clearly determined to defend himself.
"Of what nature? Erik, are you making jokes you shouldn't be?"
"Jokes that were warranted considering how long we've known each other."
I sighed as I gave him an unimpressed look, trying to make it less obvious that I had overheard part of their conversation. "It was teasing about our relationship, wasn't it?" I asked.
"Maybe a little," Erik replied with a haphazard shrug.
"Erik, just tell me what you said so we can resolve this and Nadir can stop plotting your murder in his head," I said.
"You know that he does that anyway," Erik pointed out, a smirk on his face. "I am aware that I can be quite a challenging individual."
Nadir scoffed at the comment, acknowledging the fact that what Erik had said was a remarkable understatement. "Yes, we are well aware of that, but what is it that is so inappropriate that you won't tell me?" I inquired. "It can't possibly be that bad if Nadir hasn't lashed out at you already, so you may as well just tell me."
"Alright, alright. He was going on about how this house belongs to both of you now, so I asked him if it was your shared bedroom as well and then he started looking at me like that, so naturally, I ran," Erik explained.
"Oh, well, I'm not sure why he did that instead of simply answering. It is our shared bedroom, yes."
Erik's jaw dropped when he heard that; clearly, my answer was not the one he had been expecting. I turned to Nadir then and found him looking at me with a slight frown. "Darling, does he need to know that?" he asked.
"What difference does it make?" I queried.
"Well, I don't know. That's sort of a...personal aspect of our relationship, don't you think?"
"Nadir, if he wants to jump to his own conclusions, that's his problem. The two of us know that nothing has happened, which is what matters."
"Fine, fine. It's done now, so it doesn't matter," Nadir said with a sigh, turning to his friend and laughing quietly when he noticed the lingering shock on Erik's face. "Would you pick your jaw up off the floor, you ridiculous man?"
I laughed along with him, thoroughly entertained by just how baffled Erik was. "Unless you want to catch the fly that's been buzzing around this kitchen for the past few minutes, I'd follow that advice," I added.
"Well, I...I'm just trying to get my head around it, that's all," Erik said when he had finally found his voice again.
"There's nothing to wrap your head around. We share a bedroom, it isn't an enormous news story," Nadir replied with a roll of his eyes. "Why did you even come over in the first place? You never come over."
Almost immediately, I noticed a change in Erik's disposition; his eyes seemed to darken, his shocked expression morphing into a more solemn one. "Gustave is at home with Lara and they need their space right now. I needed company," he said, his voice quieter than it had been only a moment before.
"What happened? Are they alright?"
"They will be, in time, but...Lara had a miscarriage."
I gasped, lifting my hand to cover my mouth when I did. I hadn't known Lara very long at all, but I could tell she was a sweet young lady. Not to mention that the love she and Gustave had was obvious; they didn't deserve to know that pain. "My god. Is she alright? Physically speaking, that is," I finally said.
"She was still uncomfortable when they got home from the hospital the other day. Still some cramping and general pain," Erik explained.
"They must be devastated," Nadir said, his voice quiet. I was quick to wrap an arm around him to hold him tight; I knew he had experience with the very same tragedy and I wanted him to know that I was there for him.
"Lara was a mess, and I can only imagine Gustave was the same, though he put that aside for his wife's sake," Erik replied.
"Let him know that I'm here to talk if he needs me. I know him as well as you do; he'll bottle it all up for a million years for her sake, but it isn't healthy."
"I know it's not. I'm worried that both of them will do exactly that."
Nadir nodded and reached up to run his hand through his hair. "I hope this doesn't hurt their marriage," he said. "I don't know if those two could function without each other."
"They wouldn't be able to, that's for certain. I'm hoping they'll be alright; I haven't heard from them since it happened," Erik replied.
"It might be best that you let them work things out on their own for a time," I piped up. I knew that losing a baby was a pain like no other for a young mother, and I wanted to ensure that Lara and Gustave had that space to work through it together.
"Oh, I know. I don't want to intrude at all. That's why I'm here and leaving them to themselves. I needed someone to talk to about it," Erik admitted, twisting the wedding band he wore around his finger.
I heard Nadir sigh as he stepped back to lean against the counter. "I don't know how I feel about you having told us all this," he said, continuing when he noticed the confused expression cross Erik's face: "I mean, we worry for their wellbeing, obviously, and I'm glad that we know. At the same time, though, I can't help but think that this was something that they should have shared."
"I do too, but now I feel bad that I said anything," Erik sighed. "I just couldn't keep it to myself any longer, Nadir. Not after I saw Lara so soon after it happened."
"How soon after?" I asked with a frown.
"Right after. She had stepped into the bathroom to clean up before we went to the doctor; her cramping had been bad and she was dizzy, which was enough cause for us to take her. She called for Gustave a moment later and I was right behind him, but we both walked in to see that it had already happened," Erik explained.
"My god. That's awful," Nadir said.
Erik nodded, looking down at his feet. "I knew what had happened the moment I stepped into that room. I had had my suspicions before, what with the cramping and everything, but seeing her just confirmed it. To have to tell my son and daughter-in-law that they had lost their baby was...an absolute nightmare."
"Oh Erik," I said softly as I stepped forward and gently set my hand on his arm. "I can't imagine what that must have been like."
"Let's just say that I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."
"And you've had a lot of those in your life," Nadir said. I glanced over at him and saw the hesitant smile on his face; he was trying to cheer his friend up, even a little bit, but at that moment, with the subject at hand, that was a difficult feat.
"That I have. Even with them all, though, that's not something any father should have to do," Erik replied, sounding more choked up than before.
I sighed, gently setting my hand on his back. "This is something no one should have to go through, no matter who they are," I said, rubbing his back in an attempt to comfort him as best I could.
"Do you think we should check on them soon? Make sure they're okay?" Nadir inquired.
"I'm not sure. Perhaps we should, but I believe they need their space at the moment," Erik replied.
"Just give them their time together," I said with a nod. "I'm sure they'll go to you both when they need you."
Erik shrugged and started to fiddle with his ring again. "I would like to think we can be the support system that they need."
"I'm sure you will be," I replied, setting my hand over his to stop his fidgeting. "But if you overthink it, neither of you will be there for them in the way you need them to be."
"You're right. But then again, of course you are. You're always right, Madame," Erik said, giving me a small smile.
"Someone has to know how to keep the two of you in check."
"Well, we appreciate it. You'll have the rest of your life to put up with at least one of us, it seems."
I smirked slightly as I shot Nadir a side-eye. "We'll see what happens," I said, my smirk growing into a smile when I noticed his ears turn a bright shade of red.
"Y-yes, I...I suppose we will," he stuttered, his cheeks flushing as red as his ears when I stepped over and kissed him.
I kept it to myself, but I sincerely hoped Erik would be accompanying Nadir to go ring shopping. It was only a question of when.
OCTOBER 1920
NADIR
It was a beautiful day as Adele and I arrived at Erik's house; we were running a little late and I was truly hoping I wasn't in for an earful about tardiness from him. Thankfully, though, it was Elizabeth who answered the door.
"Hi Auntie Adele!" she exclaimed as we stepped into the foyer. I couldn't care less that she had only acknowledged Adele; the two of them were adorable together.
We had barely taken our shoes off before Lizzie was hugging her aunt. "Hello, my little prima ballerina. How are we doing today?" Adele asked her as she handed me her coat to put on the stand. The nickname had come about the moment Elizabeth had begun to show interest in dance; Adele was over the moon about being able to teach someone again. I didn't believe she would ever admit to it but I could tell that it made her feel important again.
"Good. I beat Uncle Erik at checkers," she said confidently.
"Oh wow," Adele replied before she leaned in to speak in a more hushed tone: "To be fair, though, he's been quite bad at checkers for a long time."
"I heard that," Erik called from another room; that man could hear all the way to Russia if he really wanted to.
Instead of apologizing, Adele yelled back, "You were supposed to!"
Elizabeth giggled and whispered, "He is pretty bad at it."
"Good to know I don't even have to be in the room to be attacked anymore," Erik said as we entered the sitting room to find him packing up the checkers board.
Elizabeth wasted no time defending her godfather, proclaiming, "I love you, Uncle Erik!"
"I know you do, princess." He smiled at her, then proceeded to jokingly glare at us. "Your Auntie Adele and Uncle Nadir don't love me, though."
"I didn't even say anything," I protested. I realized that I was shifting the blame onto Adele, but that was besides the point at the moment.
"Silence speaks louder than words, Daroga," he said rather simply. I knew he just wanted to put on a show for Elizabeth, so I played along and threw my hands up in surrender.
The little girl was laughing all the way through until she turned back to Adele, who was holding her. "Are we going to do more ballet lessons soon, Auntie Adele?" she asked.
"Not right now, dear, Auntie is a little bit tired. But why don't you ask your mother when you can come over to our house so we can have our lesson?"
"Okay. Can I go ask her now?" The excitement was already building on her face as she spoke.
The smile on Adele's face at the eagerness of the little girl in her arms was more than enough to make me smile. She gently set her down before telling her, "If you want to. As long as she isn't busy."
"She's not, it's okay. I'll be back," Elizabeth said before running off to the kitchen to find her mother, who was, in truth, probably busy.
"You know how excited she is about learning ballet, don't you?" Erik pointed out as soon as she was gone. "She won't stop talking about it"
The smile on Adele's face was one of complete contentment. "Well, I'm glad to hear that. I'm happy to teach her."
"It must feel nice to be teaching again," Erik said as we all sat down.
"It does, yes. I didn't realize how much I had missed it until I started doing it again." I knew that she was trying to be brief about it; going back to teaching had ignited a spark in her that I had not seen until that point. It was almost like she was born to be an instructor and she had just been waiting for a reason to go back to it.
"I know exactly what you mean. It felt amazing to teach- what is that on your hand?" Erik demanded as he focused on Adele's left hand.
"What do you mean? It's just my ring," Adele said as she raised her hand so he could get a better look.
It was an even better reaction than I had hoped for.
"I know what it is, but it's new and that finger-" Erik began, only to interrupt himself with a sharp gasp once he had seemingly put the pieces of the puzzle together. "You didn't."
"You didn't what? Erik, finish your sentences," Adele prodded at him, already laughing as it was, truthfully, utterly hilarious. I had been expecting him to be shocked but it was almost like he had stopped functioning as a human being.
"Please forgive me but I'm not talking to you. Daroga, you know exactly what I mean. Answer the question," he said before looking over his shoulder towards the kitchen. "Maddie, get in here! You're going to want to see this."
"I'm not sure what there is to be confused about. You can draw your own conclusions. Or do you need me to say it to believe it?" I asked; the game we were playing much too easy for me at that point.
Madeleine entered the room then, looking completely confused as to what was going on. "Say what? Is this one of your synchronized things? If it is, just say it, Nadir," she demanded. I knew better than to play that sort of game with her when that entailed keeping her from the information she wanted, so I decided to put the issue to rest.
"Alright, alright. Adele and I got married," I said as I wrapped an arm around my wife's waist to hold her closer.
Madeleine's reaction was similar to that of a giddy young girl as she squealed and jumped up and down before nearly knocking the couch over with the force of her hug. "That's amazing!" she shrieked.
"Let me see the ring. I have to know if my taste has rubbed off on him," Erik said as he walked over to us. For reasons unknown, Adele obliged without a single word in my defence as she let Erik take her hand. To be fair, though, she knew that he had always been the one with more vast knowledge on the topics of jewels and things like that.
"Well? What do you think?" she asked him as he scrutinized my choice.
He gave a small nod before turning to me. "I'm proud of you, Nadir. You've done well."
"Well, it's not like he did it alone," Charles piped in from the entrance to the kitchen.
In less than a second, Erik had whipped around to face him; one would think that he would end up hurting himself from moving that fast. "What do you mean?" he demanded.
Charles instantly went pale with fear with the realization of what he had revealed, then tried to cover it up by stuttering, "I-I said nothing," but it was already too late for him at that point.
"Don't you lie to me, Charles. He didn't do it alone? You helped him with this?!" Erik was getting more annoyed by the second, but instead of waiting for a reply from Charles, he shifted his attention to me. "You went to him?!"
"Look, Erik, just relax, alright? You're overreacting." I tried to coax him out of the anger that was clearly building up, but I honestly hadn't been expecting that level of a reaction from him, so I wasn't sure where to take it.
"I'd have to disagree. This is a betrayal I hadn't been expecting today, Daroga," he said, crossing his arms as he sat back in his armchair.
"Oh, don't call it a betrayal, come on." He was actually starting to annoy me by that point; I could understand him being upset, but calling the situation a betrayal was a hyperbole and a half on his part. "It was only engagement ring shopping and the proposal."
"I've known you since I was nineteen. I thought I would have been involved in something as important as this." I could see where he was coming from, and as much as I hated to admit it, he had a point; an engagement and proposal was typically something that someone would tell their close friend about, but I had my reasons not to.
Erik took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down before continuing: "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you, but I do feel betrayed at the fact that you didn't come to me or even tell me about it."
"Look, I'm sorry, I really am, Erik. I just know how you get when it comes to design choices and things and I was already ridiculously nervous about asking her to marry me," I tried to explain in an attempt to make the blow as soft as possible, but the look on his face was telling me nothing in regards to whether I was successful or not. "I knew Charles would be more relaxed, which was what I needed."
"I would have been alright if you had told me anything about your plans. You didn't even tell me you were thinking about proposing."
I took a deep sigh and thought back to everything I had felt before I'd proposed: the fear, the anticipation and the overwhelming anxiety of it all. "I was unsure of it myself for so long. I was nervous, Erik, I didn't think to tell anyone. I didn't want it to accidentally get mentioned and for Adele to find out, that's all. It's really nothing against you."
The pained expression that he had been wearing on his face soon washed away and was replaced with a smile. "The important thing is that you two are happy. I'm sorry if I was being petty."
"Well, you were, but what else is new?" That said, I was genuinely shocked that he had called himself out for that type of behaviour; that was something new. "I appreciate the kind sentiment, though, I really do. We both do."
"Thank you, Erik, we are happy. Though I do believe I understand where you're coming from," Adele chimed in.
"Thank you, Adele. And Nadir, I'm glad you didn't go alone, at the very least," Erik said as he glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Charles trying to make a break for the kitchen in a futile attempt to escape his inevitable scolding. "Don't even think about it, John. I will deal with you later."
"We both will," Madeleine said, almost mirroring the look on Erik's face.
Charles slowly lowered himself back into his seat with his hands raised in surrender. "I know, I know."
"Only a coward runs," I pointed out.
"Well, I'm not running. I'll stay here and accept my fate," he retorted with a matter-of-fact tone.
"Shall we tell Lizzie? I'm sure she'll be happy," Erik said and, as if on cue, Elizabeth skipped her way into the room and plopped herself next to Adele.
"Tell me what?" she asked, looking around at all of us. It was quite an entertaining sight, to say the least; this small child looking around at all the adults in the room and nobody was opening their mouths to answer her question.
I was no help; I had no idea how one would word such an explanation to a child. For all she was aware, Adele and I had always been married because she couldn't remember a world without her; she had been much too young to recall me as a single man. So rather than try and figure out a way to explain it to her, I prompted the group with a question of my own: "The real question will be who is going to tell Gustave."
The timing that day was particularly impeccable, seeing as right after I had spoken, there was a knock at the door. "Well, you can tell them both at once," Erik said as he stood up to go let them in.
As Gustave and Lara came into the room, there was a level of anticipation radiating off of Elizabeth like a physical force. "Gustave, sit down. Uncle Erik says Uncle Nadir and Auntie Adele have to tell us something," she said as she got up and practically dragged him to his seat.
"And what would that be?" Gustave asked, still laughing about Elizabeth's persistence, only to look at us and immediately zero in on Adele's hand. "Oh my lord, you didn't."
"Observant people in this household, god. But yes, we did." I confirmed.
"Did what? Tell me, I wanna know too!" Lizzie was getting increasingly impatient; she clearly did not like being left out.
Thankfully, Adele was able to be the one who explained it: "Well, I'm officially your auntie now, Elizabeth. Your uncle and I got married."
"Really?!" The little girl practically jumped out of her spot and onto Adele's lap and engulfed her in a tight hug. The smiles on both her and my wife's faces were absolutely priceless.
"Do I not get a hug?" I asked, feeling a little left out.
"Sorry, Uncle Nadir," she said as her head shot up, realizing that she had neglected to hug me as well. She got off of Adele and I was almost jumped on to receive my hug. "I'm really happy you married Auntie Adele."
"Well, I'm glad you approve." I couldn't help but smile that she was so happy about something that she quite likely barely understood.
The moment was interrupted by Charles and his laughter. "Is anyone going to acknowledge the fact that Gustave's jaw hit the floor two minutes ago or is that just me?" he asked, pointing out that it did, in fact, look like Gustave was trapped in time while in his state of shock.
"We were getting to him, yes," I said, though I couldn't avoid laughing myself. "Gustave, take a deep breath and come back to reality when you're ready."
He finally closed his mouth, only to open it again to say: "I can't believe you didn't tell me."
"Be nice, Gustave. That's not the proper thing to say when you find out your uncle got married," Lara said, giving her husband a light hit on his arm before coming over to hug both Adele and me. "Congratulations, you two."
"Thank you, Lara. And don't worry about your husband; his father said almost the exact same thing," I said as I shot Erik a mocking look of disapproval.
"You two share a brain, don't you?" Adele pointed out, looking at the father and son duo. She really wasn't that far off.
I nodded before Lara and I ended up saying in unison, "It's exhausting."
Erik scoffed as he realized that speaking in sync was typically something that we did. "Now you two are doing it as well. Nothing is special anymore."
"We did it first, it's alright. We still have that as our signature thing," I assured him.
"Wait. Can we circle back to something, because I feel like I missed something. I actually have two questions," Gustave said, looking rather confused. "The first one being: you didn't tell Papa about this? I'm shocked."
I gave him the briefest explanation possible, not wanting to repeat myself: "Your father is a high strung man about absolutely everything and I was petrified about proposing, so yes, I kept it to myself."
"Not completely, apparently," Erik piped in, gesturing to Charles.
Charles was clearly tired of being called into question as, with a heavy sigh, he explained, once again, that he was innocent: "Look, he asked! I wasn't going to say no!"
"Okay, but now for my second question." I couldn't tell if Gustave was trying to save Charles or if he was genuinely curious, but his question cleared everything up for me: "Did you take my advice about the steel grey?"
I smiled, thinking back to the conversation we'd had in his old room not long before his own wedding. "I did, yes. I liked it very much, so thank you."
"So you were the inspiration for that lovely choice of a suit? In that case, I have to thank you as well." Adele said; she had loved the choice and that just made me all the happier about following his advice.
Gustave looked quite proud of himself as he smiled at us. "You're welcome."
"He had input on this and I didn't?!" Erik was shocked, to say the least, and I couldn't blame him for that.
"Look, it was back when we were planning his wedding. He mentioned that I should wear that colour as a joke long before I even thought of proposing." As I thought back, I had laughed at Gustave for getting ahead of himself when he'd originally given me that suggestion. Little did I know that I would be following the advice he'd given me a little over a year later. "I hadn't even seen Adele in person again at that point. So just relax. You're only proving my point about you being too high strung."
"I apologize for being shocked." He was clearly saying it sarcastically, but I didn't care.
"Yes, yes, sure. Apology accepted," I replied. Erik was about to make his retort when his attention was pulled away, both hypothetically and physically, and his eyes were drawn to his goddaughter, who was at my side, pulling lightly on my sleeve.
"Uncle Nadir, Uncle Nadir," she said softly, leading me to assume that she wanted my attention but didn't want to interrupt.
"What is it, dear?" I asked.
With the widest grin on her face that one could imagine, she made her request: "Give Auntie Adele a kiss."
With a smile of my own, I obliged her and leaned over to give Adele a quick kiss, noticing that she was already rosy with blush at Lizzie's rather abrupt statement. We were quickly taken out of the moment, though, by a small squeal from Madeleine, and we looked over to see her with such an expression that one would think she was ready to burst.
"Do you have something you'd like to share with the group, Madeleine?" Erik prodded through his laughter.
"No, no. It's fine, I'm fine," she replied. I couldn't tell if she was trying to affirm us or herself with her words.
"Are you sure?" Erik was really out to be granted his own death sentence, it seemed.
"Yes." Her voice was at such a pitch that one would think that she was trying to hold her breath as she spoke.
Before Erik could bother her further, Charles jumped in to join him: "Kiss her again, Nadir. Kiss her like you mean it this time," he said, knowing full well that he had to go home with his wife at the end of the night.
"You need to shut up before something happens to you," Madeleine threatened. She didn't even look at them, so we weren't quite sure who she was talking to, but it was frightening nonetheless.
"No, Uncle Nadir, please do it. I want to see where this goes," Gustave said through his laughter.
"You people are the worst," Madeleine protested, her face in her hands to hide the redness that has taken it over.
The whole situation was hilarious so I entertained the boys and looked over to Adele, but she ended up beating me to the punch; she held my face in her hands and pulled me in for a longer kiss than the previous one. That display was greeted with even more squealing from Madeleine, and when we pulled away, she looked like the perfect replica of a schoolgirl.
"Do you want to sit down, dear?" Charles asked her, offering her his chair as he stood up.
"I don't want one word out of you. You instigated this," she replied.
"Technically Elizabeth did," he stated but was greeted with a look of death and immediately sunk back into his chair. "Okay, okay. Take your time."
"You look like you need to hug someone, and I have a feeling it's me and my wife," I pointed out. It was greeted with immediate and almost aggressive nodding from Madeleine which I simply had to chuckle at; it was cute how much she loved things like that.
"Alright, come here," I said as I stood up. Within moments, I was almost knocked back onto the couch with the force of her coming up and hugging me, and she did the same to Adele.
"I'm sorry about her," Erik chimed in, still laughing as he spoke. "She's a small person so there's not a lot of space to store the emotions she has. And she has a lot of them."
"You know, when it comes to her being happy about me getting married to the woman I love, I don't have any complaints," I said, defending her emotional nature.
"You see, this is why I like you more than him," Madeleine shot back at Erik, giving him a glare that could have easily buried him six feet underground.
"What? You got the kiss you wanted, didn't you?" Erik pointed out, returning to his own defence. "Based on that squeal of yours, I know you're happy about it."
"You were trying to embarrass me," Madeleine said, glaring at both Erik and Gustave along with her husband. "You all were."
Even with that accusation, Gustave was still laughing like a madman at Madeleine to the point where Lara had to take him into the kitchen to calm him down.
"My love, you're adorable, that's all," Charles said, trying to make her feel a little bit better about the whole ordeal.
"Yes yes. Adorable and entertaining is what I believe you want to say based on that smile." Madeleine pointed out, and if one looked at Charles's face, it was clear that she wasn't wrong.
"No, don't be ridiculous." The poor soul was not a good liar. "Still, if you hug Nadir any tighter, you might suffocate him. Don't hurt the new groom."
"I'd still like him in one piece." It was Adele's turn to laugh at him.
After taking a moment to simply enjoy the fact that my wife was laughing and the resulting lovely sound of it, I piped up to add to her point: "Yes, I do have a new wife to love and take care of. I wouldn't mind being alive to do that, as much as I love the hug."
"Sorry about that. I'm just so happy for you both. This is incredible," Madeleine replied. She was truly too sweet for words.
"Erik, how does it feel to be the only single adult in the room?" I tried to jab at my friend, realizing that he had been uncharacteristically quiet.
He seemed a bit dazed, but when he came back to reality, something about his demeanour had changed. "A little strange, I will admit, but I'm used to being the single one, so it's alright," he said.
He said that but he was fidgeting with his ring again; something was off. He only played with it when he was nervous or upset. "Are you okay?" I asked quietly.
He must have realized that I had noticed his tick so he dropped his hand into his lap, then responded with a look that seemed to say, "I'm alright."
I still didn't believe him, so I tried again without saying a word as I looked at him: "Are you really okay?"
It took him longer that time, but he insisted with a look that said, "I'm okay, I promise."
He wasn't going to tell me, not right then and there, so I simply silently told him: "We'll talk about it later."
I was taken out of my silent conversation by the sound of my wife making fun of me: "Hopefully one day I'll be able to understand what it is you two talk about when you look at each other like that."
"Believe me, you never really understand it," Gustave pointed out.
"We've managed to keep those silent conversations a secret for years. I do believe we'll keep it that way," Erik said as he plastered a smile on his face, but if someone who knew him as well as I did looked close enough, it was easy to tell that there were cracks.
Instead of dwelling on whatever was upsetting him, I looked back to Adele and continued with the narrative he had set up: "Don't worry love; it has taken years of development to get to this point. I don't think we even understand how we do it."
"No, not quite. We just make it work somehow," Erik said.
Adele giggled a little and looked between us before saying, "Are you sure it's me you're married to?"
"Yes, I can say so for certain," I affirmed with a smile on my face, not only because the premise of her asking was entertaining, but also because stating the fact that she was married to me brought me great joy.
Madeleine, however, decided to keep running with the joke: "It's a fair question though."
"I've realized that, since everyone in this room besides Erik and myself has made similar comments," I pointed out, only to realize that when I actually said it out loud, it sounded a little more depressing than I'd meant it to.
"I still don't understand why," Erik added.
"Apparently, the closeness of our friendship makes us seem more like a married couple." I knew that he was well aware of the facts but he was entertained by the explanation nonetheless. "We'll have to put a stop to that somehow."
"But it's funny," Elizabeth said with an adorably cheeky grin on her face.
Erik and I shared a knowing look before he turned his attention to Lizzie. "Oh, is it? Even you find it funny, do you?" he taunted.
His response was a few nods and a lot more giggling from his goddaughter. "Well then, I'm going to have some fun too." With one movement, Erik scooped the girl up in his arm and began tickling her sides. She squirmed like a fish that had just been caught but Erik's grip on her was stronger.
"No, Uncle Erik, no tickles!" she cried out.
He paused only for a moment to ask her a question that he probably already knew the answer to: "Do you still think Uncle Nadir and I are funny?" He was once again greeted by some rather enthusiastic nodding. Erik shrugged his shoulders before replying to her: "Well then. I guess it's time to be tickled."
One could barely make out the words she was saying in between her shrieks and giggles, but what I thought she said was something along the lines of, "No! Don't tickle me! Put me down, Uncle Erik!"
Erik must have heard the same thing as me as he walked her back over to the couch and hovered her over where she had been seated when the entire ordeal began. "Alright, you want to be put down?" he asked and, without hesitation, dropped her on the couch and walked back over to his seat, leaving her still a bundle of laughter between Adele and me.
"Now, that hopefully taught you a lesson. If not, more tickles are in order." It seemed the standard now that his questions would be met with laughter from this girl. Erik, however, took it as a sign of confirmation: "Yes, that's what I thought. You're just going to giggle for the rest of the night now, aren't you?"
Gustave, who had been watching intently throughout the whole endeavour, chose that moment of all times to pipe up: "You instigated it, in her defence."
"I'm not complaining about hearing her giggle. She's my goddaughter, I love hearing that. I'm just asking if it's going to proceed. I can still go after you, you know," Erik said looking his son dead in the eyes. "Just because you're older doesn't make you immune. I know very well where you are ticklish, and I can - and will - take advantage of that"
Without missing a beat, Gustave turned to his wife and displayed the most manners I'd seen from him all afternoon: "Lara, if you'll excuse me. I should probably start running."
"I would agree with you, dear," she affirmed him. With that, he was out of the room and up the stairs before I could blink.
"He's a smart boy, that one. He's learned," Erik said as he leaned back in his chair with a satisfied look on his face. "But not smart enough."
"Aren't you going to go get him?" I asked, genuinely curious as to why I wasn't seeing a chasing match between them.
"I don't think I will. The fact that I strike fear in him still is enough satisfaction for me."
"Can we get back to the new couple in the room, please? I want to hear how you proposed, Nadir," Madeleine insisted as she brought the attention back to Adele and me.
"Oh alright. I suppose you won't leave me alone about it until I tell you."
"No, definitely not." I knew better than to fight her on that.
"From the start of this plan of mine, I knew it wasn't going to be easy," I said as I looked at my wife and recalled just how different the worlds we came from truly were. " Adele and I are different, which society frowns upon, and knowing that made me very nervous. I didn't want anything to go wrong."
"He was terrified. He was shaking the whole time," Adele pointed out.
I ran my fingers through my hair and tried to play off the embarrassment that was beginning to well up inside me. "Yes, I haven't been that nervous in a long time, I will admit."
"That must have been so sweet." Madeleine was already so close to the edge of her seat that I feared that she might fall if she went any further.
My new bride seemed to be on a mission to point out all the mortifying details to our closest friends: "I thought so, at least. I'm sure he thought he was more embarrassed by how much he was shaking."
"Not my finest moment."
"Oh, it was sweet, dear, don't worry about it," she said and confirmed it by pressing a quick kiss to my cheek.
"What you saw was nothing compared to what I was like before I actually got down on one knee," I said as I thought back to the multitude of near-panic moments before enlisting the help of Charles.
"Is that so? Well, tell us how it went then. I'd like to know too," my wife prompted, listening just as intently as Maddie.
"Now I don't know if I want to say anything," I protested, knowing full well that she would probably make fun of me for it later on.
Madeleine looked instantly disappointed and began pleading with me. "Oh, please Nadir? Tell us, come on."
"We know you can't say no to Maddie. I know you'll say no to me at the drop of a hat," Erik said, clearly enjoying watching the show of me trying to deny both of those stubborn ladies the story.
"That much is true. Not to mention that my wife is asking too, and I certainly can't say no to her."
"Then go on. Tell the story." I realized then that I had nailed my own coffin shut with my last point.
"Alright, fine, fine. I'll tell the story." I could only keep them at bay by going in circles for so long. "I had recruited Charles for help and after we had managed to pick out a ring, we needed to sort out a plan..."
"What do I do, Charles?" I asked as I paced back and forth like a madman. Adele was out at her studio doing a class and I had enlisted the help of Charles, of all people. "I have no idea what to do."
"Well, you've been married before. How did you do it last time?" he asked. I fought back the urge to roll my eyes; clearly, he was not up to speed on the circumstances of my previous marriage.
"I didn't plan it last time," I said with a somewhat exasperated sigh. Even if I had proposed to my first wife, I wouldn't want to do the same thing for Adele; she deserved something special and unique to match her beautiful personality. "It was an arranged marriage. Rookheya was given to me, for lack of a better term."
"Dear god. We're starting from square one, aren't we?" Finally, he was starting to look as nervous as I did.
"Yes, we certainly are," I responded with some frantic nodding brought on by the nervous energy I was experiencing.
He tried to refocus himself and put on a serious expression; up until that point, he had taken a more relaxed approach and I had been having a hard time trying to figure out if I liked it or not. "Alright. Do you have any ideas whatsoever?"
"Well, I wouldn't mind it happening outside. There's a park not far from with a beautiful willow tree." I was already picturing it all in my head when I came across an obvious setback and looked down at my hands. "But I realize doing it outside...in public, that is, might be a problem."
"Indeed it could." He had caught onto my train of thought; as much as our love should have been the only thing that mattered in the situation at hand, society was rather unkind to people who looked like me. "But you deserve to have this the way you want. If you're comfortable with it, I could be there in case you get in trouble."
"I'd appreciate that Charles, thank you. I just want this to go well."
"And it will," he tried to reassure me.
"I hope so. She deserves nothing less than perfection, and I want this to be no exception to that."
Clearly, he saw that I was heading down a path that would ultimately lead to my own ruin. "Don't put so much pressure on yourself. I'm sure she'll say yes, perfect or not."
"I'd like to think so. I may be the better orator between me and Erik, but that doesn't mean I can get out coherent sentences when I'm this nervous." At the mention of him, I immediately realized that Erik was going to be rather peeved with me once he found out I had formed my proposal plan without him.
"Do you want to practice what you want to say?" He said it so casually that I almost didn't register it.
"Practice? With you?" I genuinely had to ask to make sure I was hearing him correctly.
Again, he was so casual that I couldn't imagine that he was feeling the same level of discomfort that I was: "I don't see why not."
"It's slightly strange to do, but I suppose I can manage if I can just get my thoughts together." My brain was running wild with everything that I could potentially say at the moment and I had absolutely no idea how I was going to make it all come out in a coherent speech.
Charles must have finally noticed my discomfort and decided to attempt to offer a potential solution: "Would it make it easier if you had a picture of her to look at?"
"I suppose it would. I actually have one with me; I put it in the locket I have, along with Rookheya's picture." I reached into my breast pocket and pulled out the silver locket that I made sure was on my person every day. I found that I was quite nervous to show it to Charles; the only other person I had ever shown it to, besides Reza decades ago, was Erik.
"That's very sweet. I've never heard you talk about her. You know, beyond the circumstances in which she came into your life," Charles said as he looked at the two pictures side-by-side. It had just felt right to me to put them together in the locket; I loved them both with all my heart and it felt only fair that they should be next to one another, near to my heart.
"Yes, well, it's...it's hard to talk about her, really. Losing her when we finally had our baby boy was incredibly difficult." Even at the mention of my son, I felt the emotions rising inside me. Even with those negative feelings of grief and guilt, a little glimmer of positivity stuck out; I had a gut feeling that Reza and Adele would have adored one another.
"I can only imagine."
"That's really why I don't mention her much. I can only keep my emotions to myself for so long, so I tend to keep it to myself."
"Well, if you need to talk, you know you won't be judged by me."
"Oh, I know. I would never worry about you judging me." I started to scramble to change the subject sooner rather than later; I couldn't bring myself to talk about her when I was planning a proposal. "I appreciate it, Charles, thank you."
My prayers were heard and Charles changed the subject for me: "It's not a problem, Nadir. Now, back to the task at hand."
"Yes, let's focus on that. Now I just need to figure out what to say."
"That shouldn't be that hard. What words come to mind when you think of her?" He had prompted me with something so simple, but within seconds, it felt like I could go on for hours.
"Too many to narrow down into a short speech. Beautiful, kind, generous, talented, brilliant. I could go on."
"Alright, you are of no help to me, and I'm already useless to begin with so this should get interesting." He paused for a moment then and he almost resembled Erik in the sense that I could practically see the gears turning in his mind as he tried to think of a solution. "Oh, here's an idea: what about the impact she has had on your life?"
"Well, a tremendous one. I...I haven't been this happy for years." Of course, it wasn't as though I had been miserable before; the last few years had been made up of some of the happiest moments I had had in a long time; getting to spend time with Erik, seeing Gustave grow up, making new friends. I had simply begun to feel more complete with someone as wonderful as her in my life.
Charles was seemingly satisfied with that comment, as he prodded me to continue that train of thought: "We can work with that. Keep going."
"Okay, um...she makes me a better person, really." It did feel rather awkward to be saying things of such a delicate nature when it was only Charles and me in the room, but he seemed to be pleased with the progress that was being made, so I continued. "She balances out the countless flaws I have and brings out the good parts of me. She makes me so happy, makes me laugh at the best moments and hugs me in the worst moments."
"There we go. After you say that, you should get on your knee and then keep talking. Some women need a moment to catch their breath when something like this happens so it would be good if you kept talking to give her that moment and make sure you get a response. I speak from experience; mistakes were made in the past." He had said that with almost a twinge of regret in his voice, which only made me want to ask questions.
"What did you do, Charles? What mistake did you make?" I inquired.
His face turned bright red, clearly not enjoying the fact that whatever it was had been brought up. "I'd rather not discuss it. This is about you."
"Fine, fine," I said, resolving to bother him about it later on. "So get on one knee and keep talking to let her breathe. What do I talk about?"
"Just keep going with that idea we were working with. Then maybe add in how happy you would be if she said yes."
"Right, okay." I remembered then why I had brought the locket out in the first place and decided to try that method instead. "What about something along the lines of, 'I cannot imagine not having you by my side to make me the best I can be, so I would be honoured if you were to take this ring and call yourself my wife.' Is that good? Or does that sound ridiculous?"
"It's great, Nadir. You're going to take her completely by surprise." He seemed almost as giddy as Maddie would have been; those two were truly perfect for one another. "Is this helping your nerves?"
"Slightly. I just hope I don't screw up and say something stupid at the moment." I didn't want to get lost in my shot nerves at the moment and say something that would spoil the entire ordeal.
"Trust me, it doesn't get worse than me. Maddie still tells our engagement story as a comedy routine." The redness was beginning to return to the tips of his ears at the mere thought of it. One's engagement was supposed to be something that one remembered forever, for better or worse, though it was clearly the latter in Charles' case.
"You still aren't going to tell me what you did, are you?"
"Oh, no. I'll let you use your imagination," he said as he shook his head.
"Fantastic. That's always fun, so I can just assume you set something on fire." The look on his face was enough to tell me that my plot to toy with him was working. "But back to the matter at hand…I think what I'm going to say is sorted now, as well as where. When is the question now."
"Well, do you two have any important dates coming up?"
"Um...the first anniversary of when the two of us reunited in Switzerland is coming up soon. Very soon, in fact," I said with a small smile. I would always consider that to be one of the best decisions I had ever made in my life.
"That is perfect."
"Yes, I think so too. We'll have a special dinner, go for a walk down to that park nearby. Then I'll ask her." I was beginning to find myself getting more excited about the impending proposal rather than nervous; I was starting to wish that I didn't have to wait to ask her.
"Wonderful. Do you still want me at the park when it happens?"
He raised a good point; it would be very simple for someone out of my control to try and spoil things, so I was going to need all the help I could get. "I think it would be wise, just in case anyone decides to make a scene."
"Well then, I'll be right there. This is going to be perfect, Nadir. I know that for sure."
After some more meticulous planning, the night had finally arrived. We'd had a lovely dinner, though it had been difficult to find a nice restaurant that would take us after hearing my name. Once I had found a place and we had arrived for our reservation, it was nearly impossible to avoid the looks we were getting for the entire meal from the other patrons, but I was not about to let their pettiness spoil what I had planned, so when we finished our meal, we made our way to the park I had told Charles about.
"Nadir, what are you doing?" I heard Adele ask. I realized that I must have had a stupid looking grin on my face as we approached the weeping willow tree that had prompted her to question me. We were arm-in-arm and I knew that it was the right moment; it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
I quickly came up with a half-decent cover story that would allow me to flow into my plan: "Just lost in thought."
"Oh? And what are you thinking about tonight?" she inquired.
"I was thinking about how it has been one year since we reunited in Switzerland and how I think that might have been the best day of my life. Adele, I hope you know that I love you with words beyond what I am capable of expressing with my vocabulary. You make me happier than I have been in a very long time." I had gotten down on one knee by that point, completely rewriting what I had initially wanted to say, but, glancing up at her, it looked like I had taken her breath away. It even took me a moment to collect myself after fidgeting with the ring box that was now shaking in my hands. "Adele Giry, I know that our story has never been normal and that is one of my favourite things about it. If you'll do me the honour of becoming my wife, I hope to continue writing this story because I would really like to see how it ends."
Before she spoke, she nodded her head, but I didn't truly believe it until those magical words left her mouth: "Nadir...yes. Yes, of course."
"Really?" I was genuinely shocked, and two thoughts ran through my mind; someone needed to pinch me and bring me back to reality, or she was going to snap out of whatever daze she was in and I would find out that it was all an elaborate ruse. "Oh my goodness. I love you so much."
"What do you mean really, you ridiculous man? You didn't think I'd say yes?" I couldn't tell if she was laughing at me or giggling with joy, so I decided that it was probably an even mixture of the two.
"I thought I was dreaming." A completely true statement, but my comment was met with a swift response of her pinching me on the arm. Not enough to truly hurt - though I was in such a state of euphoria that I don't believe I would have been able to feel it if it did hurt - but it was enough to ensure that I was awake after all.
"Do you believe it now?" she asked with a beautiful wide smile on her face.
"Yes. Yes, I do," I replied as I felt a smile grow on my own face as well. However, that blissful moment was interrupted when we ran into some difficulty as I attempted to put the ring on her finger; my hands were still shaking so badly that it took much longer than necessary, but once it was on, Adele gripped my hands tightly as I stood up.
When we were eye-to-eye once more, she still had a gorgeous smile on her face, though her eyes conveyed the fact that she was very real and very serious at that moment. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere," she affirmed to me.
"Please don't. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here anymore."
"You'll never have to find out." Her words made me feel the safest I'd felt in such a long time. She was my constant and she wasn't going anywhere.
"Thank goodness for that," I said and I meant it with all my heart. "I love you so much, Adele."
"I love you too," was all I needed to hear from her before we kissed. It was all perfect, just as I had wanted it to be.
That was until we were rudely interrupted by someone who felt it was their duty to go messing around in other people's lives. "Why are you wasting time with someone like him? You should reassess your standards," he called out to Adele from the path a little ways away from us.
I had hoped that Adele wouldn't respond; it would all go more smoothly if we just ignored him. At the same time, I knew who I was marrying and it was no surprise to me when she shot back at him: "I beg your pardon?"
"I asked you a question." He spoke in such slurred words that it was a little hard to tell whether he was drunk or about to experience a stroke. "Why are you wasting your time with someone like that? Why don't you come with me and I'll show you how a lady should be treated?"
"A lady knows that someone low enough to make such advances isn't worth her time," she replied.
I didn't want her to fight the battle on her own, so I knew I had to speak up. "Sir, we had no intention to disturb you, but I don't see the need to make comments of that nature," I interjected.
"I'm not talking to you. Now miss, I didn't hear an answer on my offer?" He was acting as if I was nothing more than a spectre in the air.
"My answer is no. I am perfectly content where I am." She linked her arm through mine as she spoke. "With someone that I know will treat me like a lady."
The man seemed to be on a mission to act like I wasn't standing right next to Adele the entire time. "And who would that be?" he asked.
"She is referring to the man you weren't talking to." Even I was getting fed up with his ignorance at that point.
"You?" he scoffed. With that declaration, I was able to confirm one of my two theories as to his affliction, though I will admit to some disappointment in which of the options it turned out to be; the man must have a very good understanding of what the bottom of a whiskey glass looked like. "Somehow I find that difficult to believe."
"Well frankly, I don't give a damn what you believe." I could tell that she was getting confrontational now, though, in all honesty, I knew that she was capable of incapacitating him without my help.
He gestured vaguely in my general area before speaking again: "Come on. You know you can't trust his sort of people."
He was drawing close to my last nerve. I could handle the looks in the restaurant, the shocked gasps I'd heard from onlookers as I proposed, even everything he had said up until now. But that...that was cutting it too close. It was one thing to gawk and stare or even to make off-hand comments, but to disrespect my people as a whole was something I did not take lightly. It made me wonder if that imbecile had ever attended a decent history class in his life. If he had, he would have known that, without my culture and my people, his precious England wouldn't have a leg to stand on.
"And what sort of people is that, sir?" I demanded.
"I don't need to explain myself to you," he spat back at me. "And I don't remember this conversation even including you. Backwards thinking lowlife."
I'd had it and I could see that Adele had as well, as she made an attempt to run up to the man but I caught her by the waist just in time. "Adele, don't," I said softly. As much as I hated to admit it, I had heard all of those remarks before and I knew that he wasn't worth our time and energy.
"You let him address you by your first name?" He seemed genuinely offended for her as if it was a great injustice.
"Why would I not allow him to do that?" she asked. She had stopped pulling on my arm to try and get me to release her, but that wasn't about to stop her from destroying him with words.
"Are you blind?" the man said, gesturing vaguely to me once again.
"I'm not, no. I still fail to see why I would have to make him address me only by my surname." Her plan seemed to be to try and make him recognize his own ignorance by asking him a series of questions. I knew that plan; I'd even tried that plan once upon a time, but I knew that it rarely ever worked.
"Adele, he isn't worth our time," I spoke softly to her.
I could tell that she was slightly surprised to find that I was the one that was trying to deescalate the whole situation, considering the fact that I really was the victim in the end. "I will not let him disrespect us like this," she replied.
"I'm used to it, dear," I tried to explain, even though I knew that she would probably request that I go into further detail when we got home. "But please, he really isn't worth it."
"Nadir, you can't let people do this to you. It's wrong, I don't want you to deal with this." It warmed my heart to see that she was standing up for me, but I really didn't want the situation to escalate any further than it already had.
"And I appreciate that, but please, let's not let this ruin today," I said as I applied slight pressure to her engagement ring on her finger.
With a deep sigh, she agreed to leave the man to his out-of-date thought process. "Fine, fine. I'll leave it, even if I really don't want to."
"Thank you. I appreciate that," I said as I kissed her cheek.
The man clearly didn't like the small public display of affection, as he started to roll up his sleeves with a wave of rising anger as he spoke: "Someone needs to remind him of his place if he thinks he can give you instructions."
"If anyone here should be reminded of their place, it is you. I have been higher up in the society of a true empire than you could ever dream." I realized that if I was going to walk away from the ignoramus I was faced with at present, I was going to have the last word. "Now, if I recall, nobody asked for your opinion on our lives. If you'll excuse us, the lady has made herself quite clear, so if you could just leave us alone that would be lovely. Have a good evening."
As we walked away hand-in-hand, Adele made a point of leaning on my shoulder. "I appreciate you trying to help, dear. I just don't want you to get into a bad situation, you know that," I said, trying to help her make sense of the fact that I hadn't wanted to confront the man further.
"But I hope you know I was more than capable of dealing with him. I handled worse in America, he would have been nothing," she replied. That statement only affirmed my hypothesis that she could have easily toppled him without assistance from me.
"I know you can handle yourself." I didn't want her to think that I thought she was incapable of saving herself when I knew the reality was quite the opposite. "I just never want to risk you being in a situation where you might get hurt."
"Thank you, love. It's been a long time since I've had someone want to protect me." She leaned a bit heavier on my shoulder and nuzzled into the crook of my neck slightly while I looked back briefly to see that Charles had stepped in to make sure that the man didn't follow us.
I pressed a quick kiss to the top of Adele's head and smiled as I looked down at our hands intertwined. They were just a perfect fit for one another, like two pieces of a puzzle that had gotten misplaced into different boxes; though it may have taken a long time to be put together again, the picture, when completed, was something beautiful.
"Well, I'm always going to protect you. I can promise you that much," I whispered.
"I can't wait."
"And now, here we are. Interruptions or not, she said yes," I said, smiling wide as I absentmindedly ran my thumb over Adele's engagement ring and wedding band. Recounting the issues we had faced on the night of our engagement - the sheer intolerance of others - wasn't the easiest thing to do, but knowing that I had my wife by my side despite that made it a simple task to forget all of that.
"And I am very happy that I did," Adele said as she smiled at me and set her other hand over mine.
I turned my attention back to our friends then, chuckling at the content grin on Maddie's face. "My god, that's so sweet," she said. "Still, I'm so sorry that you had to put up with that awful man, Nadir. That's horrible."
"Unfortunately, that isn't the first time I've heard comments of that nature, and that said, I've had to deal with worse than him," I replied, looking at Erik. "Remember that man I had in a chokehold back in Paris one of these nights that you actually left your cave to visit me, Erik?"
"How could I forget?" Erik asked with a chuckle. "He did have it coming, truthfully, and while it was fun to watch him get what he deserved, it was my turn to prevent you from going to jail for once."
"Is that yet another story that you two have never told me?" we heard someone ask, and turning my head, I noticed Gustave as he walked back into the room, clearly through with hiding from his father.
Erik smirked as he glanced at his son over his shoulder. "Well, given that you don't know the details, it seems that way, yes," he said. "Decided to join us again, did you?"
"Yes, I figured I was safe from you tickling me by this point," Gustave replied, standing beside his father's armchair. "What did I miss?"
"The whole engagement story," Madeleine said.
"What?!" I couldn't help but chuckle at Gustave, particularly when Erik turned and scolded him in French, probably for how loud he was being. "Sorry, Papa, but I'm disappointed that I missed the story."
"It was adorable, love, but I'll tell you when we get home," Lara promised.
With a huff, Gustave walked over to the sofa to sit next to his wife. "Fine. I guess that'll do," he muttered, a slight pout on his face that was enough to make Erik roll his eyes when he noticed.
"It's your own fault. I know where you hide, so if I hadn't come after you within the first two minutes, you should have known it was safe," his father said.
"You don't know where I hide," Gustave retorted.
Erik chuckled and smiled over at his son. "The big bottom shelf of the linen closet down the hall. You'd move all the towels and things to the other shelves so you could tuck yourself in and hide," he said.
"You never knew when I was a kid! You'd always give up!"
"Oh, I knew. I'd just get tired of pretending not to find you."
Gustave rolled his eyes and leaned back on the sofa, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're no fun," he mumbled.
"You were always so happy when you thought you'd beaten me," Erik said, a fond smile on his face as he recalled his son's childhood. "I didn't want to take that from you."
"Alright, that's true. I always loved that part. Your overly enthusiastic reaction when I popped out was always the best," Gustave said.
"You see? Now you can't be mad," Erik replied.
Gustave shook his head. "Oh, I'll still be mad. I just won't do anything about it."
"You'll get over it, now stop pouting."
"I'll think about it." Gustave's disposition changed quickly, however, when Lara gave him a swift slap to the back of the head. "Okay, I'm over it."
Erik smirked and gave Lara a wink. "That's what I thought."
"Whatever, that aside," Gustave said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Is there a reason why none of us got to go to the wedding, Uncle Nadir? If there is, it's alright, but I think we all would have loved to have been there."
I sighed, realizing that he had no idea of just why my marriage to Adele was so problematic to so many people. "I know you're disappointed, and so are we, but we realized that a ceremony wasn't something we could do."
"That you could do? What do you mean? What problems would there have been?" Gustave inquired.
"I need you to think about it. As much as all of us in this room know that there is no difference between Adele and me, any venue would have refused to host us," I said.
"All because you're from Persia and not Europe like the rest of us? That's ridiculous."
I couldn't help but smile; it was a welcome change for someone to be so baffled by the intolerance of someone like myself for the colour of my skin. Still, it was easy to be amused by just how clueless he was. "No, Gustave. I am not a Christian," I explained. "So because Adele is, while I am of the Muslim faith, neither of our religions would have permitted a ceremony."
"Oh," Gustave said, wearing the same thoughtful frown that he shared with his father. "It's really that much of a problem for there to be a marriage between people of two different faiths?"
"It shouldn't be, and we all recognize that, but unfortunately, many, if not most people, see otherwise; religious leaders included," Adele replied, then turned to me and smiled warmly. "But we went to City Hall and signed our papers, exchanged our vows and rings, so legally, we are married."
"Well, the church has always looked down on those who are different; I know it all too well. But with their approval or not, to the government, you are married, and you wear the rings you exchanged on your fingers," Erik said. "Your love speaks volumes."
Lara nodded firmly, and I knew she was passionate about the subject; I could tell from the look on her face alone. "Societal conventions be damned, you two are happy and that's what matters," she added.
"My sentiments exactly," Erik replied.
"As much as you two deserved a ceremony, if they don't want you, then you don't need them. Your relationship doesn't need their validation," Gustave said.
I felt Adele squeeze my hand, and I turned to see her giving me another smile. "I agree wholeheartedly. Being able to wear my wedding ring and say I am married to the most wonderful man is worth more than any ceremony," she said. She leaned forward then and gave me a gentle kiss, both of us smiling through it as the two of us undoubtedly considered how fortunate we were to have each other.
"Well, just because you couldn't have a ceremony doesn't mean that we shouldn't have a celebration," we heard Erik say as we pulled apart. "I say we should do something tonight. I'll make dinner, we can pick up a cake, and we can have a small reception right here."
Before Adele or I could reply, Madeleine had jumped up and was dragging her husband to his feet. "I can go get the cake! Come on, Charles!" she exclaimed.
"Gustave and I will set up some decorations in the dining room," Lara added with a smile.
"Oh, we don't have to do it now," I said in a weak attempt to protest.
"Of course we're doing it now!" I heard Madeleine call from the front foyer; when she'd gotten there, I had no idea. "You two, go home and get dressed in your best clothes. This is our wedding gift to you."
"Can I stay here, Mommy? I want to help Uncle Erik make dinner," Elizabeth said as she ran over to her godfather and hopped onto his lap.
"If it's alright with him, then it's alright with me."
"Yes, it's fine with me," Erik replied, chuckling as Elizabeth pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Now go on, go get the cake. Have fun."
Charles scoffed from where he stood in the doorway to the parlour. "She's going to a bakery, it's impossible for her not to have fun. My mission now is to keep her from buying every cake in there," he said.
"That's a tall order, but do try your best."
"I will, I will. We'll be back soon."
With a nod, Erik looked back at me and Adele and smiled. "Go get all dressed up so we can make this the reception you deserved. I'm going to start dinner with this little princess," he said, gesturing to Elizabeth, who he was bouncing on his leg as he spoke.
"Wear the steel grey suit, Uncle Nadir!" I heard Gustave call from the dining room.
"You are all too kind to be doing this on such short notice. Come on, love, let's go get ready," Adele said as she got to her feet.
"Yes, I'm coming, dear," I said, standing up with her and wrapping my arm around her waist. "Thank you, all of you. This is very nice of you to do."
"You're family, you needn't thank us," Erik said, only to laugh to himself. "Besides, don't be premature; you have no idea if this will end up messy or not."
I chuckled and shot him a smile. "Somehow, I have a feeling it's going to turn out just fine."
A short while later, Adele and I walked up the front steps of Erik's house, dressed for the occasion as we had been instructed; me in my steel grey suit, Adele in a deep navy blue dress and her hair out of the braids for a change. "I don't know what to expect when we get in there," I said with a quiet laugh, turning to my wife for her input.
"People who care about us doing something wonderfully unexpected," Adele replied, a smile on her face.
I couldn't help but return the gesture, admiring both her beautiful smile and her poetic words. "Yes, I'd agree with that. I do know that it's going to be lovely."
Adele nodded, setting her hand on my chest as she leaned over and gave me a gentle kiss. Vouching to make everyone wait an extra moment, I wrapped my arm around her to pull her closer as I returned her kiss, still feeling my heart flutter at the perfect feeling of her lips against my own.
"We should probably go inside now," Adele said as she pulled away, a content smile on her face and her cheeks flushed slightly.
"Should we? We can't just stay here and kiss for the rest of the night?" I teased, pressing another quick kiss to her lips.
"We can later, but for now, we have to go inside."
I raised my eyebrows at the comment, feeling my own cheeks flush as I realized what it was that she was implying. "Right, o-okay," I stuttered as I lifted my hand and knocked on the door.
Adele laughed quietly as she kissed my cheek, but our attention was quickly drawn to the doorway as the front door opened and we were met with a chorus of "Congratulations!" All of our friends - our family - stood in the front foyer of Erik's home, all dressed up in their best clothing as if they were indeed attending a wedding reception. Elizabeth stood in front of them all, tossing little flower petals from the same basket she had used as the flower girl in Lara and Gustave's wedding.
I felt Adele slip her arm through mine as she leaned her head on my shoulder while I couldn't help but laugh and shake my head fondly at the group of our friends. "You are all too much, really," I said.
"Oh, you both deserve it, Nadir," Madeleine said, stepping through the doorway to hug me. "We want to celebrate this with you two."
"Well, thank you. It's very kind of all of you," I said, turning my head when Adele left my side and smiling as I saw her bent down to greet Elizabeth as she ran into her arms.
"Thank you very much, Elizabeth," Adele said, hugging the little girl tightly. "Your little flowers are beautiful."
Elizabeth smiled as she looked down at her flower basket. "I think so too," she said. "I wanted to bring my basket because I wanted to be the flower girl when you guys got married."
"And we would have loved nothing more, sweetheart, but what you've done for us now is perfect," I added, smiling as Elizabeth wrapped her arms around my leg.
"Okay, come in, come in! We want you to see what we did for your party!" the girl exclaimed, grabbing me and Adele by the hands and tugging us through the front door, clearly fed up with the greetings.
"Alright, we're coming," I said with a chuckle.
"Come faster, Uncle Nadir, come on!"
Erik laughed as he watched his goddaughter pull my wife and me along. "You heard the lady, Daroga. Move faster," he said.
"At least she knows how to get things done," Adele said with a laugh. "She's an efficient little girl."
"Further proof that she is my daughter," Madeleine piped up, her pride evident in her voice and almost daring her husband to object, which he, wisely, did not.
I laughed to myself as Elizabeth pulled me and Adele into the dining room, where we found it decorated for the occasion; gold and white streamers had been pinned to the walls, and the two chairs that had been put at the head of the table had been designated for us with folded paper flowers at the place settings. A spread of food had been set on the table; there was so much that I didn't see how Erik had managed to get it all done in time. What caught my attention the most, though, was seeing Ayesha sitting on the corner of the table, a gold bow wrapped around her collar, while Sasha barked at her from the ground, her own pink bows braided into the fur of her ears.
"The cat is a very nice touch," I remarked.
I heard Erik groan as he stepped past us and lifted Ayesha off of the table. "She thinks she runs this house, I swear," he said, scratching the cat under the chin. "But the cat aside, I do hope you both like all of this."
"Oh, of course, we do. It's lovely, everyone, thank you," Adele said as she turned around to properly thank and hug our group of friends.
"This was just thrown together last minute. Imagine what we could have done with more time," Erik said.
"I'm sure it would be beautiful, but somehow, I have a feeling this impromptu party is even better than what that would have turned out to be," I said as I wrapped an arm around him and patted his back.
"Not to mention that it wouldn't have been as fun," Charles pointed out. "The chaos made it enjoyable."
I noticed Erik roll his eyes at the comment, clearly not keen on the 'chaos' being mentioned. "I thought we agreed not to talk about the chaos, Charles. Just let this be enjoyable."
"It was good chaos. Besides, Maddie nearly killed you. It was hilarious."
"Yes, that's the part I don't want to discuss."
I looked up at him with a frown, immediately trying to think of what idiotic decision Erik could have made to tempt Madeleine to commit murder. "What did you do?" I inquired.
"I nearly collided with her when she walked into the house with the cake," Erik explained.
"Ah, I see. I understand why she would have wanted to kill you," I said with a nod. "Getting between Madeleine and her baked goods is not a good idea."
"You see? He understands, Erik," Madeleine said as she shot our friend a pointed glare.
"Yes, I know, but I apologized and lived to tell the tale. I am here to see the happy couple enjoy their private reception," Erik replied.
I smiled, turning to glance over my shoulder as Adele wrapped her arms around my waist from behind. "And a private reception, in my opinion, is much better than having a large group of people in some fancy hall. This is family and that's what matters," she said.
"I would say so as well," I said with a nod. "Now, I hate to break up this lovely chat, but could we eat? The meal that Erik and Elizabeth cooked smells delicious, I'm starving, and I want to see Madeleine's cake afterwards."
"On that, we can agree, Uncle," Gustave piped up.
"Alright, well, everyone sit down. Nadir, you and your wife can sit at the head of the table, where your seats are marked by the lovely flowers that Lizzie and Lara made," Erik said as he gestured to the seats in question.
"How special," I said with a smile.
Erik nodded, pulling out Adele's chair for her so she could take a seat. "That was the aim of this entire event, after all; to give you two the special night that you deserve. Now sit down, Daroga, and we'll serve you your dinner."
The dinner with just the eight of us was more perfect than any formal, structured wedding reception could have ever been. We laughed together, harder than we had in a long time, what with Erik telling my wife any and every embarrassing story about me that came to his mind. Compliments for Erik's cooking came from all around the table and he brushed them off, attributing the meal's success to following a recipe, but I could see his proud smile despite that. Elizabeth talked away to all of us, going on and on about any subject that crossed her mind; cooking with Erik, her father's antics at home, the tea party she'd had most recently with her stuffed bears. In the end, we had all laughed so hard we had cried at least once, and Adele had stolen my handkerchief for exactly that purpose. Still, laughing so hard that we couldn't breathe was the perfect way for my wife and me to celebrate our wedding; good stories, good food, and great friends. We couldn't have asked for anything better.
Once the dishes from dinner had been cleared and tea and coffee were served, Erik got to his feet with a smile. "Just before we begin dessert, I would like to say a few words," he said.
Anxiety immediately ran through me; what else could he have to say? Was it possible he could embarrass me in front of my wife even more?
He must have noticed me considering how I could kill him if the need arose, as he chuckled and said, "I know that you might be afraid of the things I could say, Nadir, but no need to worry; I'm not going to go too deep into our interesting past.
"Now that I think about it, that is a perfect word to describe our friendship; interesting. We have known each other far longer than I care to admit at the risk of giving away how old we are, but in those years, I don't think I've seen you as happy as you are when you are with Adele. To you, Madame, I cannot thank you enough for being there for him; I know that it takes a lot for him to trust someone so deeply, if at all, so I know you are truly special if he trusts you with all that he is. Believe me when I say he is going to give you everything you could ever want and so much more; he is going to treasure you, love you, and protect you, no matter what he needs to do to make that happen."
I felt Adele reach over and hold my hand, resting our interlocked hands on my leg. Looking over at her, I returned the warm smile she was giving me before turning back to Erik and finding him watching us; he looked content and genuinely happy for the two of us, and yet I caught a glimpse of the sadness in his eyes that he hadn't been able to hide from me since before the party had even begun.
"I hope you know that this is all I have ever wanted for you, Nadir: pure happiness," he continued. "When we met, I remember looking at you and being able to tell, clear as day, that your world was falling apart, no matter how much you tried to hide it; but looking at you now, I can tell that you are whole once again. I could never hope to imagine what would have become of me if you hadn't dragged me out of Russia to Persia all those years ago, nor could I have survived Paris without you checking in on me as you did. Not to mention that Gustave would not have turned out to be half the man that he is today without your help.
"You are more than my best friend; you are my brother, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I wish you all the best with this new chapter in your life, and I hope that we can continue to be there for each other through thick and thin."
Everyone clapped as Erik finished his speech, but I was too busy trying to discreetly dry my eyes to pay any attention to it. The person that noticed first was Adele, of course, as she laughed quietly and brushed a tear from my cheek before giving me a gentle kiss. I hadn't expected to cry, but I also hadn't anticipated such heartfelt expressions to come from Erik. Not that he was incapable of making sentimental statements, but for him to direct them towards me was practically unheard of, which had left me unprepared for the speech.
As I tried to regain my composure, I prayed Erik, of all people, wouldn't notice, but my hopes were dashed when he gasped and exclaimed, "Did I make you cry? I did! I am taking this as an absolute win."
"You're such an idiot sometimes, I swear," I said, taking my handkerchief back from Adele to dry my face.
"You know you love him," Adele said, laughing quietly as she took the handkerchief, tucked it into my pocket, and kissed my cheek.
"I know I do, that's why I'm crying," I replied, getting to my feet and hugging Erik; another thing we didn't do very often. "Thank you, my friend."
"Of course. You deserve it," Erik replied, his voice quiet so only I could hear him, then he patted my back and pulled away. "Alright, enough hugging. It's sentimental enough between us right now, it's bizarre."
I laughed as I took my seat beside my wife again. "It is, yes. I'm not sure how to process it."
"Erik, that was so beautiful. I nearly started crying myself," Lara said.
"Oh, I don't want to make you cry," Erik said quickly. "That's never my aim."
I scoffed and looked at him with a frown. "But I'm fair game?"
"You've always been fair game, Nadir. But right now, knowing that something I said managed to tug at your heartstrings rather than annoy you is quite the achievement for me."
"A rarity, I imagine," Adele remarked.
"Indeed, which is why I rejoice that it's happened," Erik replied.
I saw Madeleine rolling her eyes at our bickering, but I wasn't shocked; we could be difficult at times. "You two are children," she said.
"We know. Pestering each other keeps us young," Erik explained.
"Yes Papa, as you've explained multiple times," Gustave said dryly.
"I'm simply reiterating it," Erik retorted. "Still, our friendship was basically built on pestering, so we've kept that up. I drove him mad in Persia."
Charles laughed as he helped Elizabeth to take a sip from her small cup of tea. "I can only imagine what he must have been like when he was younger."
"A nightmare," I immediately replied. No point in hesitating when I had an answer right away.
Erik looked at me then and glared at me. "You were no walk in the park either, you know."
"At least I wasn't a sewer gremlin," I muttered, picking up my coffee cup to take a sip. I paused, though, when I noticed Madeleine practically spit out her tea when she processed my comment before she swallowed hard and burst out laughing.
Glancing back at Erik, I smirked when I saw his jaw hanging open. "I am both offended and impressed," he said.
"I'm not wrong. I was simply stating a fact," I said, determined to defend my comment.
"I never said you were wrong, Daroga. I was simply caught off guard."
"I can tell."
"We can all tell," Gustave piped up.
Erik sighed and waved everyone off. "Alright, alright, I get it, thank you. Maddie, dear, get a hold of yourself and let's go back to talking about our happy couple. I made Nadir cry and I'm pleased with myself," he said.
"Of course you are," I said, shaking my head as I turned to my wife and smiled when I found her to still be laughing as well. "Darling, take a breath."
"I will, I just...that is one of my favourite descriptions of the Opera Ghost days," she said, taking a breath and wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.
"I was not a gremlin," Erik said, suddenly wanting to try and make a case for himself.
"You only came out at night, caused utter chaos, and cringed at the thought of sunlight. You were a gremlin," Adele replied.
Erik started to reply, only to stop himself and shake his head. "Again, why are we still talking about me? This is your night, not mine, stop it."
"Well, we both enjoy poking fun at you, so this is fine," I said with a shrug.
"Right, and the fact that I'm not fond of it doesn't matter at all, I assume," Erik replied.
"You want us to enjoy ourselves, don't you?" Adele asked, quickly joining in the effort to tease our friend.
"I do, yes, though I wish it didn't entail pestering me."
"Alright, fine, we'll ease up."
I frowned as I looked at my wife. "Well, now I'm disappointed," I teased.
"Oh, don't be. We're going to have a lovely night even if we don't get to bother Erik," Madeleine said, quickly putting the issue to rest.
"Mommy, can we eat the cake now?" Elizabeth asked from where she now sat on Gustave's lap. Clearly, she'd been waiting for the right moment to make her request and had found it.
"She has the right idea," Gustave said, nodding along with Charles as both obviously shared the little girl's sentiments regarding the cake.
"Alright, I'll get the cake to appease the children," Lara said as she got to her feet and walked to the kitchen counter, laughing at the chorus of 'thank you's' that followed.
Adele smiled as Lara brought the cake over and set it down in front of us. "Oh, look, dear. It says Congratulations Adele and Nadir," she observed. "That's so sweet, Madeleine."
"I'm glad you think so. I didn't know what kind of cake you two liked, so I decided to go with simple chocolate with strawberries on top," Madeleine replied.
"That's just perfect. Thank you," I said as I shot her a smile.
Pieces of cake were quickly served to everyone, and while Elizabeth immediately dug into her slice, Lara requested us: "You two have to break off a piece and feed it to each other!"
I laughed and turned to Adele to ask if she wanted to do that, but found her already breaking a piece of her slice of cake off with her fingers. "Alright then, we'll do it, I suppose." I offered the piece of cake I had broken off to her, smiling as she delicately took it between her teeth into her mouth and hummed in contentment as she did.
"Well, it seems like it's-" I began, only to pause and gasp when my wife went to feed me my piece but smeared it on my mouth and chin as she did. "Adele! Why?!"
"Why not?" she replied through her laughter.
"Oh, you're ridiculous," I said, reaching up with my hand to assess the damage. "Love, it's all over my face; it's in my beard now too."
Still laughing, Adele wiped off my mouth with a napkin before she leaned over to hug me. "I love you so much," she whispered in my ear, then pulled away from our embrace to kiss me. And at that moment, chocolate and strawberries had never tasted so sweet.
As the party was winding down, it seemed like an appropriate time to make sure I kept the promise I'd made to myself. Erik wasn't himself and I needed to make sure he was alright. Charles and Madeleine had left earlier, since Lizzie was getting tired, and Gustave and Lara had left shortly after, so it had just been Adele, Erik and myself. He was acting truly odd and once it was only the three of us, he didn't put as much effort into hiding it. At one point he got up rather abruptly, said goodbye and went upstairs, even though he would normally wait for us to be out the door. Something was wrong and I needed to make sure that he was going to be safe for the night.
"I just want to speak to Erik for a moment before we leave," I said to Adele as she was putting on her shoes. "He hasn't been himself tonight, which I'm sure you might have noticed."
"Of course I noticed. He was acting strangely."
"No, he certainly wasn't. I'll just check on him quickly and then we can make our way home." I was looking up the stairs as I spoke, knowing I was going to be met with a lot of defiance when I got up there. Erik didn't like having people ask questions about how he was, but sometimes necessity outweighed his comfort.
"I'm happy to wait. We have all the time in the world."
I kissed her on the cheek and started up the stairs. "Thank you, dear," I called back before she was out of earshot.
When I reached the second floor, I found that his bedroom was empty, as was Gustave's, but I finally found him when I peeked my head in his study. He'd poured himself a glass of whiskey and was simply sitting at his desk, staring at a gold band on a chain. I had a rough idea of what it was, based solely on the fact that I'd only ever seen him look that same way once before.
"Erik? What are you doing up here?" I asked.
He didn't even look up to reply; it was almost like he was expecting me to come up. "I'm fine. Just thinking," he muttered.
"You've been doing a lot of that tonight, haven't you? I'm surprised the fire department wasn't called from all the smoke coming out of your ears." I had tried to lighten him up with a joke, but he wasn't having it; clearly, there was no other way than to just be blunt with him. "You tried to tell me you were fine earlier, but I know very well that you aren't."
"I promise, nothing is wrong." He went to pick up his drink but I grabbed the glass and kept it out of his reach. I needed him as sober as possible if I wanted coherent answers.
"Erik. I know you better than that. Talk to me."
He was no idiot; he knew that I wasn't going to let the matter go until he spoke. After a deep sigh, he finally started to speak: "I'm happy for you, I swear I am. But at times like this, I just miss her so much."
"I'm sorry, Erik. I know you do." I put his drink back where it was and, without hesitation, he took a sip, which made me think of another question: "You know, I have to wonder. Why is it that whenever I find you missing her, you tend to have a drink nearby?"
"It might sound foolish, but if anyone is going to understand, it would be you." He downed what was left in his glass and continued to stare at the ring. "You know that indescribable feeling of warmth that comes from having the love of your life look at you like you are the only person in the world that matters?"
I thought back to Adele who was sitting downstairs, waiting for me so that we could go back to our home. I didn't have the heart to give him a verbal answer, so I simply nodded.
"I've come to find that when I drink this," he explained, running his fingers along the rim of the glass. "It gives me a warm feeling. It's not the same; nothing ever will be. I suppose you could say that I'm looking for it again."
"Erik, I know what you're trying to say. But I swear to you, you won't find what you're looking for at the bottom of a glass." His point actually made me wonder about Lara's uncle, the Vicomte. Perhaps he had turned to alcohol looking for the same thing Erik was.
"I suppose you're right. Still, it can't hurt to try every once in a while." He got up and put the glass back with the decanter, then sat back down and continued his staring contest with the ring on the desk. "This isn't your fault in any stretch of the imagination. A lot of memories just get stirred up when things like this happen."
"I would imagine so. Do you need to talk about it? I'm right here if you feel you do." I was trying to prod him further to get to the brunt of his problem, and it seemed to have worked.
"It just reminds me of how much she deserved to see, but she hasn't," he blurted out. "She would have loved to have seen you and Adele so happy, and seeing you all so happy in your relationships just makes me feel so lonely. I'm not saying I want to find someone new; nobody could ever replace her. Still, seeing you and Adele, Gustave and Lara, Maddie and Charles...all that does is remind me of what I've lost. I do hope I'm not ruining your night by saying this."
"No, you aren't ruining anything. Don't worry about that, it's okay. Better that you tell me what's running through your mind. I don't want to leave you alone here if it's all bottled up inside; I don't want something to happen to you because of that." I knew him; that was why he hated talking about his feelings. Despite my best efforts, he always felt like he was a burden to everyone around him.
"Nothing was going to happen. Maybe having one more drink and wallowing in self-pity." It was his turn to try and make a joke, but I knew better than to believe it.
"Yes, but 'one more' drink might become 'a few more' drinks, and I don't want you to be by yourself in an alcohol-influenced state while you wallow in your self-pity. You know that's dangerous." I was tempted to try and take the decanter home with me just to be safe.
There was a chuckle from Erik, which I actually found to be quite unsettling. "Believe it or not, I have developed some self-control," he said.
He truly had learned a sense of self-control in my years of knowing him, but that didn't change the fact that he had habits that worried me and those habits had been hard to crack the first time around; I vastly preferred to not go through it again. "I know that and I'm proud of you for that. But Erik, I know all too well how low you can get in periods like this and I refuse to leave knowing that I could come back tomorrow and find you hurt or dead, Allah forbid, because I left you here alone."
"And I appreciate it. I just don't know what to do." His voice was so empty that it was like every ounce of life that Gustave had flooded him with had been stripped away.
"I completely understand. Can I do something? Get you anything? Would a hug help at all?" I asked him instead of just going up to hug him; it varied from time to time whether or not he wanted to be touched.
He picked up the ring and looped the chain back around his neck. "I think just the company of a good friend would be best," he admitted.
"Well, that I can do. I can stay here as long as you need me to." I knew that he would try to send me away knowing that my wife was downstairs, so I tried to reassure him that it was alright. "You know that Adele doesn't mind waiting. I wish I could do more to help, Erik, I really do."
"I suppose I don't know what I wouldn't do to be able to hold her in my arms again. I don't know if I told you this, but on Gustave's wedding day, I actually turned over in my bed and thought I was going to see her lying beside me." His hands were tangled up in his hairpiece; I could tell that he was truly feeling disturbed by what he was telling me. "I think I might be losing my mind without her."
"Erik, I...I'm sorry. I really am." I knew apologizing wasn't going to do anything but it was all that I could think to say.
"Don't be. I suppose this is my weight to bear. I couldn't save her." He was glancing over at the whiskey again as he spoke. "She saved me and I couldn't do the same for her."
"Erik, you did everything you possibly could. You know that." I wasn't there when Christine died, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Erik would have done anything at that moment if it meant that she would still be by his side.
"My name was fatal to her from the moment we met."
"You can't seriously believe that."
"Is there any other way to look at it?!" He was starting to get impatient; my next move had to be a cautious one. I knew that it was best for me to let him finish his rant before trying to help him make sense of it all.
He continued: "If it weren't for me interfering with her life in the Opera House, she would still be there, dancing and having the time of her life regardless of whether or not she was the star. If I hadn't taught her to sing, she wouldn't have stepped in for Carlotta and that damned husk of a man never would have found her again and she never would have had to endure his abuse. If I hadn't pulled all those idiotic stunts, the Opera House as a whole would still be standing. She wouldn't have had to go through the heartbreak of lying to her husband about who the father of her child was. She would still be alive if I hadn't called her to Coney Island in the first place. If I had just shut my damned mouth and gotten the gun from Meg she would be alive. So yes, I find it very simple to believe that my existence in her life was fatal because it is a factual statement."
"I hear you, Erik, I truly do. The beginning of your story was...difficult, yes, but it had its beautiful moments, didn't it? You can't deny that." He always focused on the negative but I needed him to try and see the light for himself. "You told me once that she was born to sing and you gave her the ability to share that with the world. I know for a fact that regardless of what followed, she never would have regretted those moments for a second."
"I suppose you have a point. When I was with her, I had some of the best moments of my life. But one could accurately say that the bad outnumbered the good, no matter how important they were to me."
He was staring off into space and I had to smack my hand on the table to get his attention again. "Erik, you can't think of it like that. Looking at it as more trouble than it was wonderful doesn't make it easier for you."
"Since when have I ever made things easy for myself?" He was looking at me, but I could tell that I wasn't what he was paying attention to; I knew better than to put my trust in the direction of his eyes. "Why should this be any different?"
"It's about one of the happiest times in your life, that's why. You deserve to have a beautiful memory of the woman you love instead of reflecting on the trials you faced. Why won't you let yourself have even that?" It was remarkable that he could be so thick-skulled sometimes.
"Because I effectively killed her. I may not have pulled the trigger but I put her in the line of fire."
"But you put yourself in the line of fire ahead of her, didn't you? You were ready to take that bullet and that is more than most men would ever do."
"I was the reason she was there in the first place." I could tell that my words had struck him; he started looking at me and actually seeing me again. "If I had never brought her to America out of my own selfish desire, she never would have been at that pier."
"Erik, you know that isn't true. Some events took place in America that should never have happened. Meg should never have had that gun, she should never have taken your boy." It felt awkward, to say the least, to be talking about Meg the way I was. I had no idea where I stood in terms of relation to her; on paper, I was her stepfather, but in reality, I had no clue what to call our relationship. "Her trip to America was supposed to be amazing for both of you, you know that."
"I can't help but take the responsibility for it. You know me, I don't know how to exist in a world where I can be happy." He looked so defeated by life that I almost felt my heart breaking.
I gently turned his head with the crook of my finger, making sure I had his attention so I could ensure that my point got across. "And I want to help you finally find a way to exist in such a world."
"Does such a world really exist for someone like me?"
"Yes. God, yes, Erik. Look around you, my friend. Did you not see the family surrounding you only moments ago downstairs? They love you so much. That world in which you can be truly happy is right here. You just need to let yourself see it." I knew it wasn't going to be that simple for him but I thought maybe if I put the process in little steps, he might find it more manageable.
"I suppose you're right," he said quietly.
"I know I'm right. You have a son and a daughter-in-law who view you as the strongest man in the world. A goddaughter who looks at you and sees not a thing wrong with you. Best friends in Madeleine, Charles, Adele, and myself who would do anything to make sure you're happy," I replied as I felt a lump swelling up in my throat; it hurt so much to know that, regardless of what I said, he was still going to be terrified that everything and everyone he had was all going to disappear. "This is your family and they're never going to leave you."
"I don't think you and I are allowed to leave each other, given how we seem to keep finding each other." There was a hint of a smile as he brought up our old joke of being stuck with one another whether we liked it or not.
I managed a small laugh myself before attempting to affirm that fact once again in case he still felt the need to question its validity: "Yes, that's true. But even if I was able to go, I never would. You're my brother, Erik. I'm never going to leave you or abandon you."
"Thank you, Daroga. I don't know what I would do without you all in my life." His voice was sounding tight. I could only assume that he was feeling the same lump I was in his throat, yet neither of us was willing to actually give in.
"How's that hug sounding right about now? You sort of look like you need it," I asked again, partially for him but mostly for myself.
Instead of saying something, he got up and hugged me, which served as his response. I thought for a moment that I may have actually gotten through to him and helped him realize that I wasn't going to leave him; he might have actually believed me when I said that there were people in his life that wouldn't leave.
He squeezed me a little tighter then, which prompted me to repeat something that I knew I had said a thousand times before, but felt that I needed to say just one more time: "Alright, I've got you, it's okay. Everything's going to be fine, Erik."
