A/N: Okay, I know it's been a really long time, but I finally came up with a MAJOR and CONFUSING twist to this story which will happen in this chapter…
Chapter 20
Madame Giry stood in the doorway staring at Erik and how sloppy he looked, way out of Erik's nature to look so terrible. Erik stared back at her and…..
Erik woke up sweating at the terrible dream he had. He rubbed his eyes and almost fell off the bed when he remembered how little room there had been for him in that bed the last two months. He looked next to him and saw a very pregnant Gabrielle sleeping peacefully. She had more than enough room in the bed with inches to spare while he sat up on the very edge. His dream had been very vivid, almost like it was real. He stood up grabbing his mask and sat more comfortably in a chair across the room where he put his mask on and thought about the events that happened in the dream. He remembered it started with Gabrielle's pregnancy and he dreamt that she left him for her mother's and he slept with Christine in the meantime eventually killing Gabrielle.
He almost began to cry because he didn't know what to make out of all of this. Was he doing the right thing by staying with Gabrielle and not being with Christine? He was so frustrated and confused by all the issues his dream brought up that he slammed his fist into the arm of the chair making a loud bang and causing Gabrielle to shoot up out of bed.
She felt the bed next to her and suddenly lit a lamp to see Erik sitting across the room with his head in his left hand.
"What's the matter dear?" She said struggling to get out bed clutching her protruding stomach with her hand. Once succeeding to get out of bed, she put her robe on not bothering to tie it because it wouldn't fit around her and waddled over to where he sat.
"Tell me what it was about." She urged.
"It was just about how you committed suicide while you were pregnant over something stupid that I did and I lost you and our child." Gabrielle put her arm on his shoulder and said,
"Well, I'm not dead and I don't think I would be commit suicide over something no matter how bad it was, especially while I was expecting. I don't think I have the nerve or low self esteem to do something that dumb. So basically…" She said pulling his chin up to make his eyes meet with hers,
"it looks like you're stuck with me." And she smiled at him.
"The dream just seems so real, maybe I'm dreaming now." Gabrielle smiled again and pulled a hair on his hand and he pulled away in pain.
"I don't think you're dreaming." He began rubbing the top of his hand with the other one and said,
"Thank God I'm not." He stood up and put on his slippers and robe,
"I am going to go downstairs in the study and write in my journal. Maybe getting this dream on paper will help me forget about it." Gabrielle smiled and said,
"Maybe that will help, don't be up too late." Erik hugged her as tight as he could to make sure she was real and left the bedroom. He stood out in the darkened hallway for a moment and heard Gabrielle yell his name; he suddenly remembered reality of the last couple of weeks and how he had been on edge knowing that Gabrielle could go anytime. He rushed back in the bedroom only to see her standing next to the bed,
"What is it?" He asked in concern.
"Oh I am glad that you didn't go too far, I forgot to ask you if you could help me get back in bed." Erik let out a loud sigh of relief and helped her get back in bed. Once she was settled and comfortable, he kissed her forehead and left the room again.
He made it down to his study where he pulled out his journal and read through the last entry, written about a month ago.
Gabrielle's pregnancy has left me with so much joy and fear at the same time. I just hope it is normal and healthy. Jean keeps asking me at the office if I prefer to have a boy to carry on my name since Adrienne is my daughter, but I really don't care. What is my name anyways? It is a piece of my imagination that I made up when I established a life for myself after living in the Opera House. Even Gabrielle doesn't know the truth about our last name and we have been married for seven years. On a lighter note, it is amusing that the two of us can barely fit into bed together anymore, or shall I say, the three of us can't fit in bed together. It's going to be a long month ahead and she'll only get bigger. We discussed names last night, she wanted Madeleine if we are to have a daughter, but I put my foot down, if there is one thing that I won't be able to stand for the rest of my life is having a daughter who I will love named after my mother whom I hated for so long. Gabrielle doesn't know the reasoning behind my outburst last night, but I can't deal with my past, starting with my mother and ending will all the terrible things that I did before I married Gabrielle and I hadn't done a thing wrong since the night I conceived Adrienne and that was before we were married. Why would I want to go backwards?
He finished reading the entry relieved that his dream was just a figment of his imagination and he did remember reality, where he and everyone else stood in his life. He decided not to write about his dream and just leave all the details in his head, where no one could find them and crept back upstairs to his bedroom.
He opened the door to find the room completely dark again and closed it behind him. He quietly removed his robe, slippers and mask and tried to fit into bed next to Gabrielle. Gabrielle slept soundly while he continued to shift around like he did every night on the edge of the bed trying to get comfortable in the small space. He finally fell back asleep in a dreamless sleep.
Ok….that was probably a confusing twist but basically everything from Chapter 14 on was nothing but a dream….so to all you EC fans, sorry but Gabrielle is still very much in the picture! I love her character too much to be able to cut it from the story completely. So leave a review and let me know what you think!