A/N I am so, so, so, so, so, so sorry that this chapter has taken me so long. I was having problems writing out what I wanted to write, it seemed that every time I would write something down, it would never sound right to me, so that created a few problems. Then I was sick with the flu and I tried to write, but my mind was not in it. But here you go, I put a lot into it so please enjoy and please review and tell me if you liked it. It would make me feel so happy.

Thanks to all my reviewers, you make writhing totally worth it!

Ch. 8

Erik nervously paced back and forth. She would be here any minuet. Erik had never felt like this before, but then again he never thought that Christine would conceive a child out of wedlock before either.

He had tried to sit and plan the details for the Masquerade, but it had proved useless. He was too nervous. He wanted to say so much to her, but when he tried to think of what he wanted to say, his mind went blank.

"Sir, Mademoiselle Daae is here. Shall I show her in?" Betty asked, peaking her head through the door.

Erik could feel his heart jump up into his throat. "Yes, please do." Erik replied stupidly.

He jumped up from his seat and made his way over to check on his appearance in the mirror above the mantel. The mask sat perfectly in place and he was clean shaven and was about as good as he imagined it'd get.

He looked back to see Christine hanging up her coat. He could tell that she was nervous.

"Hi." She said softly.

Erik smiled at her, and then he looked at the table and remembered lunch. "Oh, Please sit, our lunch should be here soon." He said pulling out her chair for her.

"Thank you." She said as she sat down.

She had been nervous all day that she couldn't help the wringing of her hands. She didn't know how to begin and the way Erik was staring at her was beginning to make her a little scared. She could see that he was waiting for her to say something.

"Thank you for agreeing to have lunch with me." Christine began. "I know that I have some things to talk to you about."

"Please Christine." Erik began flatly. "Start explaining to me how you are now a mother!" Erik spat out. "I can assure you that I have never been more shocked in my life."

Christine was taken aback by his forwardness. "Do not think that I am going to let you know everything, Erik. I am my own person and I have my own life, some things will remain my business and my business only." Christine said defensively.

When Erik smiled at her choice of words, Christine suddenly felt like the room was closing in on her. His ability to make one feel completely out of place was profound.

"But to be honest my dear, you were never great at keeping secrets." Erik replied coldly.

Christine glared at Erik with an immense amount of anger. "I thought that maybe you would be interested in hearing what I have to say, but I can see that all you want to do is pry into my life and hold things over my head." Christine said to him holily. "I really thought I could talk to you." She finished sadly.

Erik relaxed a bit, he knew that he shouldn't have been so forward with her, but he couldn't help it. It hurt him when he knew that he had missed so much in her life.

"I am sorry; it's just such a shock. I never expected anything like this to happen to you. Also, I believe that you know that I am not a huge fan of any kind of change." Erik said apologetically. "I just hate that I don't know what has gone on in your life, I hate that I wasn't there to protect and make everything okay for you!"

"Can you trust me enough to know that I am okay?" Christine suddenly asked. She understood where Erik was coming from and she understood why he was feeling the way he was feeling, but she need him to be able to trust her.

Erik looked at her face and saw confidence, a type of confidence he had never seen in her before. "What?" He questioned.

"I have had some hard and trying times in the last five years. But I am really okay. I have a beautiful daughter and now a promising career." Christine began. "I just want you to trust me, trust me when I say that I am okay." She said as she grabbed his hand to help reassure him.

Erik could see that she was now a woman; she was no longer the girl from Paris that he had once adored. She was now twenty one and had proved strong enough to manage for her daughter and herself.

"I do trust you." He replied.

Christine smiled. "Then act like you do." She teased.

Erik couldn't help but smile at her bubbly attitude.

"Now, would you care to learn about my little angel?" She asked as a smile appeared on her face at the thought of her baby.

Erik still felt tense about the idea that she was a mother, but if things were ever going to be the same with them, he needed to learn to accept her as she now was.

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Raoul had thought that the nightmare of five years ago had ended, but it seemed that he was wrong. He had been furious when he found out that Erik had once again seeped his poisonous venom into Christine's and his life.

"Papa, wer is mama?" Chloe asked in her toddler talk. She had been playing with her block set for the last ten minuets as Raoul sat and pondered his current situation.

Raoul looked down at his daughter and smiled. He had been so thankful that Christine had allowed him this one thing, he felt at peace being a father. It was as if nothing could bother him so long as his baby girl was safe.

He had ultimately been surprised to find out Christine's delicate situation, but he knew that he would never desert her and so he begged her to let him help.

"Mama is at lunch with a friend." Raoul cooed. "She will be back shortly."

"She will probably be back in the next half hour." Antoinette's voice said coming from the door.

Raoul looked over to meet her amused gaze. "What is so funny?" He asked.

"You deciding to stay in America." She replied with a smirk.

"How so?" He asked.

"Its funny to me at how you have convinced yourself that Christine will end up as your bride. Even when she was selling herself, you still saw her as your betrothed. She is never going to agree and I thing you should learn to live with it and move on. Lord knows she is!" Antoinette remarked.

"She is a stubborn girl and that is why she keeps refusing me. She does love me and one day Chloe, Christine, and I will be a family. Just you wait and see." Raoul said.

His mind knew there was no future for Christine and him, but his heart was still not ready to admit it.

"Raoul! I care for both Christine and you. I also care a great deal about Erik. I know all three of you to a T and I consider each and every one of you my children. So as your surrogate mother, I think I know the workings of each of your hearts. Christine no longer loves you child." She told him softly.

She knew even back at the Opera Populair that Christine would one day realize that her love for Raoul was nothing other than a severe case of puppy love and that the love she felt for Erik was one so strong, that once she finally succumbed to her feelings, she would love him till their dying days.

But Christine had learned all of this too late.

"She has to love me." Raoul cried out. "Look at everything I have done for her. She will love me and we will be happy." He said as tears came to his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away for he did not want Chloe to see her papa crying.

She smiled at the dream that would never become a reality. "Raoul, Christine loves Erik. I believe that she always has. But you need to remember that you have hurt her just as much as you have helped her. You can't hold your generosity against her when you look at the wrongs you have committed." Antoinette scolded.

Raoul took a deep breath. "I know and I am sorry, I should have not said that." Raoul replied. "But she can't love him, I saved her from him."

"I know and I commend you for it. You saved her when she wanted to be saved. So now you should let go when she is asking you to let go." She said trying to reason with him.

Raoul looked into the older woman's face and saw nothing but concern. Finally he had to ask. "Do you believe they will eventually be together?"

She smiled at the thought. "Yes, if Erik lets himself love her like he once did and can look past everything Christine did these last five years, I believe they will be together forever."

Raoul nodded his head as he let the reality of his life sink in.

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