1MADDIE
"Madeleine, have you seen my suit jacket?" Charles called from the bedroom as I lay in the bath on the day of Daniel and Deirdre's wedding a week after the fire at the opera.
"No...did you look on the chair?" I called, just wanting to enjoy every moment of the warmth.
"Yes! It isn't there!" He called back and I rolled my eyes, getting out of the tub and pulling my robe around me. I walked into the bedroom right to the chair and moved my dress out of the way, revealing his jacket.
"You have to move things dear Charles." I teased him and he grinned shaking his head and coming in for a kiss, which I dodged, taking my dress and moving to go behind the screen to change. He of course, caught me around the waist and took a kiss anyway.
"Have I ever told you I loved you?" He asked and I messed his curls.
"Only about twenty times a day." I said, kissing his nose as he let me go and get dressed.
I walked downstairs as Charles finished getting dressed to find Erik sitting at the table with his legs elegantly crossed as he always sat, sipping his tea and reading the morning paper. He didn't even look up but managed to say,
"Good morning Madeleine." Always formal, this man was.
"Morning Erik..." I said, sitting across from him and studying him. He looked up, feeling my eyes on him.
"Yes?" He asked and I smiled.
"Sorry...it just must be awful." I said and he looked confused.
"What?" He asked, for the first time letting down his cool exterior. I grinned.
"Erik when is the last time you laughed? I mean laughed..." An amused smiled played at his lips.
"I can't remember." He said, staring at me.
He sighed and challenged me with his green eyes.
"Why is it that you're the only one who isn't afraid to say what you're thinking to me?" He asked and I shrugged.
"I'm not afraid of you Erik." I said and he looked toward the stairs. Again, I couldn't control my mouth. "Charles wants to know you...he's just too afraid to say..." The man's eyes darkened.
"Trust me dear girl...it's better that he doesn't know me...he'd only hate me." Erik replied, his voice ever calm, always masking his true emotions as he sipped his tea nonchalantly.
"Why? For loving his mother? For saving my life and his own child's? What?" Erik sighed.
"You don't know Madeleine...I'm not a good person. I've killed people for the perverse pleasure of watching them die. I deceived a sixteen year old young woman into believing I was a fictional Angel of Music. I used her fiancé as the key to keeping her as my bride...I terrorized everyone at the opera house. Shall I go on?" He asked, his voice low.
I sighed, looking at him with pity.
"You think Charles is so quick to judge? He loved me even after he found out what I was..." I said softly and Erik turned to face me completely.
"And what is that my dear?" He asked and I sighed heavily.
"The daughter of a prostitute...an orphan. A nothing." I said and he took my hand across the table.
"You're not a nothing..." He said and I shrugged.
"Not anymore." I said and he shook his head.
"You never were, and don't ever let me hear you say that again...do you hear?" He asked and I nodded, trying to hold back my smile.
"Am I missing something?" Charles asked, standing in the doorway of the kitchen, buttoning his jacket. I laughed.
"No you damned fop, you take longer to get ready than Benedetta did." He laughed richly and came into the kitchen.
"Good morning Erik." He said politely and much more reserved than he was with me. The man gave him a nod.
"Raoul told me to inform the two of you that he will meet you at the church." Erik said and Charles nodded.
"Aren't you coming to the wedding?" He asked, almost hopefully. Erik smiled slightly.
"I'm afraid weddings aren't in my list of favorite things to do." He said and I gave Charles a pat on the arm, telling him we needed to get going. He nodded, sighing.
"Well then...er...goodbye Erik." He said, unsure of what to do or say still. Erik smiled warmly at both of us.
"Goodbye...I shall see you both later. Maybe we could talk about your interest in architecture dear boy." Erik looked at me for approval and I nodded. Sure enough, like a child on Christmas morning, Charles's bright green eyes lit up and he nodded.
"Will do sir. Good day." He took my arm and I looked back to wink at the man sitting at the table before rejoining my fiancé."
The wedding was like all other weddings. Long and tearful. I stood beside Deirdre holding her bouquet and my own. Charles stood beside Daniel with a grin on his face. Although he was still painfully thin, the life seemed to have come back into his face which gave me hope. Camille stood beside me along with her two other sisters and Gabe along with two of Daniel's friends stood beside Charles. I faintly listened to the vows...I wasn't much of a wedding person. Sure, I was getting married, but how silly it was when I heard Daniel and Deirdre become a bit choked up at their vows. I mean, after all, it's only recited words. Just say them and get on with it. Right? Well, I for one wasn't going to cry at my wedding. I swore it. I only wished Madame Giry could have been here to see it. I smiled at Raoul from where I stood and he smiled back.
"How was the wedding?" Erik asked as we all walked in later that night.
"It was nice." I said, suddenly a bit hungry. Maybe a piece of fruit to hold me over...cravings had slowly begun to come over me. Not often but every once in a while lately, I would really want a pear or maybe some grapes. Grapes sounded good. I ate three of them at once. Charles and Erik both stared at me as if I were loony.
"Leave me alone," I said with my mouth full, "I have a right...I am pregnant." I crinkled my nose at them and went back to eating the lovely fruit.
"About that architecture Charles..." Erik said, motioning for Charles to follow him. I waved at them as they left the room and sighed.
"Madeleine?" A soft voice asked.
"For the love of Christ, I am pregnant!" I cried and spun around to see Raoul.
"Oh...Dad. Sorry..." I said lamely. I tried to call him Dad whenever I could. It was still taking a lot of getting used to. He smiled.
"It's quite alright...can we talk?" He asked and I nodded, following him with the bowl of grapes into his office. He shut the door.
"I remember you talking about not having a real picture of Chloe..." He said and I nodded.
"So...? All of our things would have long since been trash." I said and he sighed.
"Not quite..." He turned to pick up a picture and handed it to me. I breathed as I saw my mother standing in Raoul's embrace in a hotel room. They looked absolutely Heavenly together. What a beautiful couple they could have been. She ran...And he still had loved Christine so desperately. How horrible it must have been to be torn between two loves.
"You loved her..." I said, looking at the photo still and he nodded.
"I did...I do...and she has somehow still managed to give me the greatest gift of all...you." I smiled, blushing.
"Thank you Raoul..." I said as he took my hands.
"Maddie...as much as I loved Charles and still do, something was always holding us apart and that was Christine's and my own secrets. It broke my heart that my blood would not pulse through Charles or my grandchildren's veins. Not that something like that would ever change my feelings for Charles...because God knows he is a wonderful and loving son. I always wanted a little girl who looked just like Christine. I prayed for it. Then I saw you and you became one of the lights in my life. It actually frightened me that I was so fond of you...but now Maddie, you have given me the greatest gift of all."
I bit my lip, squeezing his hand.
"What is that?" I asked and he grinned.
"Not only did I get a daughter who I created out of the rare and brief love I shared with Chloe, I am getting a grandchild who is not only a part of you and Charles, but Christine, Erik and I. Now we can all share something and it is a perfect kind of love. It is the most wonderful thing I have ever felt." He said, tears formed in his eyes.
"Thank you..." I said, hugging him.
"Which brings me to my next point. Weddings...I want you and Charles to get married soon...and spare no expense whatsoever on your wedding..." I laughed.
"You know I am not much for materialistic things such as that." I said and he nodded.
"You deserve it though, both of you have striven so hard to get where you are. And I am sure when the opera reopens you will both be enchanting the audiences again." I sighed.
"Maybe...why the sudden rush for us to marry? Because I am pregnant?" I asked and Raoul nodded.
"In a way...I think that you deserve to be a bride before you are a mother...before your feet swell and your back hurts." I grinned, thinking about how ridiculous I would soon look.
"I think you're right."