Not long after dawn the next morning, Catherine was stirred from sleep by the sound of birds chirping. She slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, rubbed her eyes and looked around the room. It was a fairly large room with light blue walls, a large window with a white frame, the furniture consists of an antique white wardrobe with mirrors on the doors, one mirror was obstructed by Catherine's dress hanging over it, an antique dressing table and chair with three mirrors, to the right of the dressing table was a doorway leading to a wash room, on the ceiling was a modest sized crystal chandelier with electric lighting, the bed itself had a white head and foot board with intricate carvings on them and the mattress was so soft it felt as though Catherine had been sleeping on a cloud all night. Catherine was confused, at first, about where she was but then she recalled the events of last night which brought a beaming smile to her face, thinking that soon she will be married to the love of her life. With that in mind, she rose from the bed with haste, made her way to the wardrobe, grabbed her dress down and made her way into the washroom to get ready for the day. A few minutes later she emerged fully dressed and her face washed, she then made her way over to the dressing table and sat down, she picked up the hair brush that was, conveniently, resting on top and started brushing her hair through until it was smooth and tangle free. She gets up from the chair and makes her way towards the door. As she goes to close the door, she hears the sound of another door opening and closing behind her and when she turned she saw it was Erik, exiting his own bedroom. He turns and sees Catherine; his face broke out into a smile as he opens his arms to her and without hesitation Catherine throws herself into his loving embrace. He picks her up and spins her around which makes them both laugh with joy at seeing each other, even though they had only parted for one night. After spinning her one more time, Erik gently lowered Catherine back to the floor, he eased his grip on her waist, the two lovers kept a hold of each other and looked at each other with loving eyes.

"Good morning my love, I trust you slept well?" asked Catherine, feeling a little concerned he would find it hard to sleep in a strange place.

She moved her arms up until her hands rested, gentle, on his neck.

Erik closed his eyes for a moment relishing in feeling Catherine's soft fingers brush against his neck a little, then he opened his eyes and looked at Catherine again.

"Yes my love. Surprisingly, I did. It'll take some getting used to waking up to the Sun beaming through a window" admitted Erik.

"You will get used to it, my love. And soon it'll be a natural thing to wake up to in the morning" said Catherine.

She then pulls herself up closer to Erik until her lips touched his, which he welcomed gladly. Their kiss soon became heated and their grips on each other tightened a little, they were so enthralled they failed to notice Monsieur Carriere leaving his room until he closed his bedroom door. The lovers pulled away and turned to face him. Catherine greeted him with a smile but when she felt Erik's body go rigid she turned to him and looked up with concern. She saw his eyes were fixed on Carriere with a piercing glare and she knew she had to encourage them to talk their problems through.

She raised her left hand to Erik's face and gentle turned him so he would look at her.

"I think it's time you two had a long talk, you both have a lot to say to each other and now is the time because after today who knows when you will get another chance" she said in a gentle tone.

Erik looked at Carriere out of the corner of his eye then turned his attention back to Catherine, he nod his head 'yes' in agreement he will speak with the older gentleman. Catherine smiled up at him then turned to address Carriere.

"Let's go downstairs, the two of you can talk privately in the Parlour" she said as she lowered her arms and took Erik's hand in hers.

She led Erik towards the staircase and made their way down, Carriere followed behind them.

The three made their way towards the Parlour. Catherine stopped in the threshold and let go of Erik's hand and gestured for him to go in and Carriere followed behind. Catherine reached out to both sides of the threshold and grabbed both of the sliding doors and started pulling them together, she stopped a moment when the doors were a few inches away from touching.

"Take all of the time you need to talk, and I will let Christine and Phillippe know you won't be joining us for a bit. And please try to remain civil with each other" she said before closing the doors all of the way.

Catherine leaned her head against the doors and silently prayed 'Please Heavenly Father, help this father and son reconcile after so many years of secrets and lies'. She then pushes herself away from the door and makes her way across the hall to the dining room, where Christine and Phillippe were already sitting down to breakfast. She sat down beside Christine and helped herself to some porridge and orange juice.

XXX

There was a deathly silence in the room after Catherine closed the doors. Erik made his way towards the fireplace and rested his arm on top, his eyes fixed on the burned-out wood within it that had yet to be cleaned out. Carriere took cautious steps towards Erik and opened his mouth to speak but Erik beat him to it.

"Even after my warning for you to leave and to never return to my home you still tried to interfere, you tried to convince Catherine to leave me" he said.

His voice sounded strained as though he was trying to keep his anger in check.

Carriere stopped about a foot away from Erik.

"Can you really blame me, Erik? After what you said you were planning to do? What you were going to do could have led not only to yours but also Catherine's death and I couldn't bear the thought of it and what it would have done to her sister. But it seems, in the end, I had nothing to worry about. Catherine has proven me wrong in trying to convince you to do the right thing and now all I am asking is your forgiveness Erik" said Carriere, almost begging.

Erik breathed a sigh before turning to face Carriere.

"There is no need to ask for forgiveness from me Gerard. The truth is I should really be thanking you for everything you've done for me" he said.

Carriere's eyes widened with shock and he couldn't speak, he felt as though his tongue was tied.

Erik turned and walked towards the window. It gave a view of huge fields and a big oak tree at the front of the chateau.

"All in all, not all that bad, being born. I could hear music and I heard Catherine" he said.

"She really loves you, very much" said Carriere.

"Yes, just as I love her and as my mother loved me. I thought that when she asked to see my face, she was asking too much of me but when she looked at me her eyes sparkled with love and acceptance. My God, it was more than I could have ever asked for and now we want to be together forever" said Erik, smiling as he pictured Catherine in the clear blue sky outside.

"Now, perhaps you would like to see my face" said Erik as he turned to face Carriere.

He raised his arms to the back of his head to untie his mask.

"I've seen your face2 stated Carriere, stopping Erik in his tracks.

"When?" asked Erik.

"When you were a child. One day you saw your reflection in the water, at first you thought it was a sea monster and then you realized it was you, yourself. I was not an easy day" explained Carriere, looking back on a sad memory.

"Did you know my mother well?" asked Erik.

"Yes"

"Did you love her?" asked Erik.

"Yes I loved her" sighed Carriere.

Carriere's face dropped into a sad expression.

"And she let you see my face?" asked Erik.

"She thought your face was absolutely, flawlessly beautiful" stated Carriere.

"What did you think of it?" asked Erik.

If most of his face wasn't obstructed by his mask, his eyebrow would be raised.

"Well I...I thought it could be better" Carriere confessed, nervously

"I am you father" he confessed.

Erik nod his head 'yes' at him.

"I wondered when you'd say" stated Erik.

Carriere jerked his head up and looked at his son with shock.

Erik chuckled at his expression.

"You see, my eyes are the only part of my face I can look at in a mirror without wanting to break the glass. But they are not her eyes, they are yours" said Erik as he walked towards his father and stopped a foot away from him.

"Father?"

"Yes"

"I am sorry for what I put you through" said Erik, whole heartedly.

Carriere smiled at his son and sighed.

"Well, actually, there never was a day that I wouldn't have given any of it up for anything" he said.

"Oh I like that story, tell me another fairy tale" said Erik in a joking manner.

"It's true" said Carriere, insistently.

"Why?" asked Erik.

"Because you have your mother's soul" said Carriere.

Erik sighed and recalled happy memories of him and his mother then his thoughts turned to Catherine.

"Remarkable really, twice in my life I have been touched by an angel. Surely, not many men are as fortunate as that. And now, Catherine will sing, but only for me and I will be forever blessed to hear the true beauty God has created" said Erik, with a smile on contentment.

Carriere smiled at his son, happy he that he had found someone to love him for himself.

"I think we should return to the others. I am sure Catherine will be anxious to know if we have patched things up between us" chuckled Erik.

Carriere chuckled along with him.

"Yes, let's go" he said.

Neither men had made a move towards the doo. They stood facing each other and then they threw their arms around in each other in a father and son embrace. Carriere and Erik both shed a tear.

XXX

Meanwhile, in the dining room Catherine, Christine and Phillippe continued eating their porridge. Christine and Phillippe were in a deep conversation, but Catherine kept anxiously glancing back and forth at the door, waiting for Erik and Carriere to make an appearance. Every so often you would take a spoonful of porridge, which was starting to get cold, but she took no notice of it. Christine and Phillippe soon noticed how she was behaving,

"You mustn't worry yourself Catherine, you said so yourself they have a lot to discuss" said Christine, giving Catherine's had a pat of reassurance.

"Although you haven't told us why they needed to talk. I didn't think they knew each other well" said Phillippe as he took a spoonful of his own porridge.

"They know each other more than you could ever imagine, but I won't say how because it is not my secret to tell" said Catherine.

Suddenly they heard the doors to the parlour sliding open and when they turned they saw Erik and Carriere coming towards the dining room, sporting smiles on their faces.

Catherine's face lit up with joy at the sight of them.

"You patched things up!? That's wonderful!" she exclaimed with excitement as she got up from the table and ran into Erik's arms, giving him a warm hug.

After a moment she pulled away from Erik and gave Carriere an equally warm hug.

"Have you told him?" she whispered in his ear.

Carriere smiled as he hugged her back and nod his head.

"Yes" he whispered.

The two pulled away.

"It appears my secret wasn't really a secret after all" said Carriere as he looked towards his son.

Catherine's eyes widened with surprise as she turned to look at Erik too.

"You mean...?" she asked softly.

Erik smiled and nod his head, confirming her suspicion.

"Oh Erik! You knew all along!" she exclaimed as she threw herself at Erik for another hug.

She and Erik laughed with delight.

The moment was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat and when everyone turned they saw it had been Phillippe.

"I apologies but would someone please explain what is going on?" he asked with confusion.

Catherine turned back to Erik; her smile had dropped at now there was a look of worry on her face. Erik looked at her and smiled at her, reassuringly, then with a flick of his head he gestured for Catherine to tell Phillippe and Christine their secret. Catherine breathed a sigh of relief before turning to look at her sister and Phillippe.

"Chrissie, Phillippe, all me to officially introduce you both to Monsieur Erik Carriere. Monsieur Carriere's only son" she said leaning into Erik's and rested her head on his shoulder.

Phillippe and Christine were in shock and disbelief.

"What!? But how can this be? You never told me you had a son, Gerard!" spluttered Phillippe.

"I never told anyone, Phillippe. I did it in order to protect Erik from those who would wish him harm" admitted Carriere.

"Because of his face?" asked Christine, making an immediate assumption.

"Yes" sighed Carriere.

Silence fell upon the room as Christine and Phillippe looked back and forth at their three companions. Phillippe was hurt that one of his oldest and dearest friends kept such a huge secret from him but after giving it more thought he understood where Carriere was coming from because it was natural for any father wanting to do anything to protect his son, whatever it takes. Christine on the other hand felt immediate compassion for the father and son duo. The love between them was clear as day.

"You'll have no fear of that from either I or Phillippe and I think I speak for us both when I say. Welcome to our family" she said.

Carriere and Erik smiled in return at Christine but were unsure it Phillippe really agreed with her until they glanced at him and saw the young Count was smiling at them too and nod his head 'yes'.

Erik turned his attention back to Catherine and she looked up at him. The began to lean towards each other to kiss but before they could their moment was interrupted by Pierre entering the room with the Vicar standing behind him.

"Pardon the intrusion, Monsieur Count. Father Augustin has arrived" he said as he stood in the threshold.

"Merci Pierre, we'll be right there. Show the Father into the Parlour" said Phillippe.

Pierre bowed his head, turned, and walked back to the Vicar, with his arm he gestured towards the Parlour. Father Augustine made his way into the room.

The five companions turned to face each other.

"Well, this is it. Are you ready to get married, my love?" said Catherine as she looked up at Erik.

Erik looked down at his beloved and smiled with a gleam of excitement in his eyes.

"Yes my darling, if you are then I am. Shall we go?" he said holding his arm out to Catherine

Catherine smiled up at him and linked her arm with his.

Erik led her towards the Parlour. Everyone else followed behind, all with smiling faces.