My family and I had sat in the café for so long, the menus for dinner. I ate lightly with the rest of my family and listened to them gossip as Margaret Brown and Madeline Astor- the subject of their gossip - had joined them. After I had my fill of daily gossip I excused myself to read on the sun deck. I pulled 'the problems of philosophy' book from under my pillow. It was a nightly read, something to put me to sleep and it was unfortunately the only book I had thought about bringing. I made my way to the deck and found a nice lounge chair in the center of the row.

I made it quite far in the book when I heard a familiar squeaky voice "Hello!"

I looked up from my book and smiled "Why hello there." I shut my book and moved my legs and the little girl sat down "How have you been Marabelle?" I smiled.

The little girl shrugged "Okay. Mother is ready to get off this ship." She looked at me and smiled "I could stay on it forever!"

I laughed and leaned towards her, tucking one of her stringy blond hairs behind her ear "Well, they can't have a stow-away on the ship!" I placed the book down on the deck "scoot back here, let me do something with your hair." I watched the girl scoot back, practically sitting in my lap "don't you think your parent's would miss you if you stayed on this ship forever?" I questioned, running my fingers through her tangly hair.

"No." she said as she sat perfectly still "My parent's wouldn't even know I'd be missing. I'm the youngest."

I frowned and contuined to comb through the girls hair, it was frightfully messy "How many siblings do you have?"

She thought for a moment "I have six brothers and five sisters."

I gasped "My! That's quite a large family." I thought for a moment, I remembered Marabelle was a third class passenger and her family was made of fourteen people. The thought alone made me sad, the fact that this little girl was here in front of me, very much little the young girl I had been when I was younger, the only difference was our class ranks, the fact that I didn't have eleven other brothers and sisters and my parents showered me with attention.

"Yes." She mumbled "Do you have any sisters or brothers?" she questioned after a while.

I split her hair into three sections after I was satisfied with the work I had done "No, I don't. I grew up an only child." I thought for a moment, I thought about telling the girl about my brother, the little boy who never had a chance to live. I decided against it because I didn't want to haunt the little girl with my nightmares.

"Oh." She sighed and I started braiding her hair "Do you have any children?"

I laughed slightly and shook my head "No, not yet anyway."

She gasped slightly and turned around, ruining the braid I had just done "You're married?"

I turned her head back towards the endless ocean and laughed slightly, removing the hair from its twists. The hair had shimmered a light red, very different to the color of blond I had thought she was in the swimming pool "Yes, I am."

She giggled slightly "is he handsome?"

I split her hair into three sections once again and began to braid it "Yes, quite handsome." The more I braided the girls hair, the redder it became.

She sighed dreamily "is he rich?"

I paused at brading for a second. Was Erik rich or was he poor? He obviously didn't marry me for the large trust fund I was to inherent when we returned to England, I never told him about that. Perhaps he was just second class as I remembered his story about his father inherieting a bit of money from his second wife. He never disclosed the amount and he was staying in a first class cabin. "Yes." I said after a while and started to braid the girls long hair again.

"Oh how romantic!" she said breathlessly.

For the rest of the afternoon the girl and I stayed on the sun deck. She decided that she wanted to braid my hair, which much to my amazement she did quite well on. We played with a father and his son with a top that the boy had brought. The deck was buzzing with sound and life, it was the most active I had seen titanic the whole time I had been on board. I had taken Marabelle to the Café and ordered a snack for the both of us, which we enjoyed with a few more cups of tea. I had learned a lot about Marabelle during our time in the café, my favorite part was that she had a plush doll that her older sister made her and how she treasured it.

After our snack she and I walked around the deck, I taught her the same things Erik had taught me; the stern and the bow, the portside and… I had forgotten the other one so I left it out. She seemed to be taking in all the information she could and when it was time for her to leave, I was devastated. The time I had spent with marabelle that afternoon was enjoyable. I slowly made my way back into my stateroom, my thoughts on Marabelle, the little girl from Belfast.

"There you are, child!"

I looked up to see my mother sitting on one of the high backed chairs "I've been on the sundeck all day." I looked at her and smiled slightly "I was playing with that little girl Marabelle, the one I met in the pool area." I placed my book down on the small table.

"Well…" my mother stood up and walked towards me "you had me worried." She looked at me and smiled.

I laughed slightly and looked at her "I'm fine mother. Honestly. If you're worried about me fainting again you don't have to. I haven't felt like I was about to faint or anything." I smiled and hugged her "I must dress for supper. I heard that lamb was on the menu tonight. It's my favorite." I smiled.

My mother smiled and patted my cheek "Okay."

I looked at her and gave her a small smile "I love you mother."

My mother smiled and nodded "I love you too, Christie."

I smiled and disappeared into my bedroom. I shut the door slowly and then walked to the bed, falling face first into the cotton clouds. My mother had been acting funny, I wasn't sure if she had known about what Erik and I had done this morning, or if something else was bothering her. Another thing about my mother; she never spoke about her feelings, unless they were really bothering her. She never thought that a woman should bother a man with silly things. I laid on the bed for a while before I decided to get up and finally dress.

I chose a light pink gown with a loose skirt, when I spun it spun with me and it was one of my favorites. The sleeves were short barely covering the tops of my shoulders and a beautiful beaded design made of diamonds. Diamonds decorated the ends of the small sleeves. I slipped the necklace back onto my neck and placed some earrings on my ears. A bracelet made of gold and black gloves finished the ensemble. I pulled my hair up and placed a thick black ribbon through the front of my hair and smiled at the finished product.

I made my way down the steps and finally made it to D Deck, where I thought I'd have seen Erik, but he was absbent, just like my mother had been. I smiled at the man in the white coat and contuined down into the first class dining area. The music played loud and strong, the spirits were flowing and it seemed more like a lavish party than it did a first class dining area. I got pulled into a dance, just like I had gotten pulled in to the party on the boat deck when we were departing. The music soared through my veins, it made my heart pump and my eyes close. I spun in circles, moving my feet as if I knew what I was doing. I just let the music take me to wherever it wanted. I was its slave and it was my master. I smiled and when I opened my eyes and laughed as I fell into a chair, breathless.

"Hello Miss Daae."

I looked at the table I had practically tackled and laughed slightly "Mr. Ismay, Captain smith! It's lovely to see you." I smiled slightly, trying to get my breathing under control.

Captain Smith smiled at me "Your parent's will be joining us in a moment, told me to tell you if I was to see you before them." He took a sip of his water.

I smiled at him "Thank you, sir." The captain was such a wonderful man, his smile always made me feel good, and he always tried to make everyone on board happy. My mother seemed to get to him often and I wondered if she spent a good period of her day seeking out the poor man. I was lucky, however, to find my seat and it seemed as if my table had enjoyed my entrance. I listened to the men talk politics, whenever I had tried to speak about the subject at hand, I was shot down by Mr. Ismay.

Eventually, my mother, father and Raoul joined us for supper and a very long time later, Erik joined. He looked worn out, beaten and just plain exhausted. I watched him lean over and mumble something in the captain's ear. The captain looked alert, and told something to Erik before he once again rushed off.

My eyes met the captains and I leaned in slightly "Isn't first officer Holloway joining us tonight sir?" I questioned.

The captain smiled "Yes, Yes of course." He smacked his lips before he contuined "Just a little scurry in the wireless room. Nothing to worry about."

I nodded and scratched a small part on my face. A short while later Erik came back and sat across from me. He gave me a weak smile "Dance?" He mouthed and I nodded.

We made our way to the floor and the waltz came on, played out slowly by the orchestra. "What happened?" I questioned as we walked away from the table.

Erik shook his head "Iceberg warnings. Nothing to worry about though my dear, we are too far south for an iceberg, the captain said so himself." He took a hold of one of my hands and wrapped a arm around my waist and held me close.

"Icebergs?" I questioned

He nodded "Like I said my love, nothing to worry about." He smiled and twirled me around "let's just worry about tonight shall we?" He questioned and I gave a nod "How was your day?"

I smiled slightly "Well, it was quite lovely." I started "I met this little girl in the pool area the other day, her name is Marabelle and well she was on the deck. I spent the day with her. I braided her hair and we played tops with a boy and his father and enjoyed a snack in the café." I smiled and looked up at him "She's such a loving little girl. She reminds me of me at that age." I chewed on the inside of my lip, lost in thought for a moment before I was spun again "What about your day?" I inquired.

Erik laughed "quite a normal day. Checked on the cargo, made an inspection of the ship's decks, made sure everything was in tip-top-shape." He looked down at me and placed a curl behind my ear "Christine, I've thought long and hard about this. When we dock back in Ireland, I'm quitting the seas." His eyes searched mine "I want to spend the rest of my life, right by your side."

I looked at him like he was crazy "But you love your job. You're so close to captain Erik I can feel it." I placed my hand on his cheek "You love being on a ship, I can tell." I laughed slightly "I've only known you for a week before I married you but I already feel like I've known you my whole life and I know that this, right here, what we are on is what you love." I smiled and rubbed my thumb against his cheek "Don't give that up."

He took my hand off his cheek and kissed the palm of my hand "But I love you more, Christine." He kissed my hand again "I have enough money to support you and I and whatever other life we decide to bring into this world." He placed one of his large hands on my cheek and smiled slightly.

I closed my eyes and sighed heavily "But this is what you love Erik." I looked around and sighed once again "may we talk in private?"

He nodded and led me up the grand staircase and into the most private place we knew of; Erik's cabin.

"What's there to talk about in private?" He questioned as he shut the door behind me.

I looked at him "When we get back to England, I get one million pounds." I searched his face, which remained unchanged "I get it for being married and I didn't want to tell you too early because I didn't want you to rush into marrying me for the money." I looked down at my feet "I didn't want to seem to dependent, I didn't want you to worry about me while you were gone. I should have told you sooner." I chewed on my bottom lip.

Erik looked at me "The money changes nothing." He said after a while "I meant what I said when I had said I wanted to spend every waking hour with you." He lifted my head and gently placed a kiss on my lips "I never lie to beautiful women."

I laughed slightly and looked at him "You're a smooth talker, you know that Mr. Holloway?" I questioned as I straightened his tie.

"I do know that, Mrs. Holloway." He lifted his chin as I played around with his tie.

I smiled and tightened the tie "that's nice to hear, you know?" He made a grunt and I contuined "To hear Mrs. Holloway." I giggled slightly and placed a kiss on his neck.

He gave a slight moan as I proceeded to place kisses in various places around his neck "Yes, it is nice to hear." He mumbled.

I smiled slightly and helped take his jacket off, and laid it on the side of the couch before I guided him to sit down on the couch. I made my way behind the couch and put my hands on his shoulders and gently gave them a squeeze. "You seemed stressed." I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck, my cheek pressing against his "Anything I could do to help?" I questioned stairing at the empty hearth.

His hands rubbed up and down both of my arms and his lips pressed against mine, then he pulled away "I don't think I can think of anything" he pursed his lips and kept rubbing my forearms "Unless you can?" he looked at me innocently.

I laughed slightly and placed a kiss on his cheek "I don't think I can think of anything either. Perhaps we should go back down to supper."

He shook his head "No, they wouldn't know that we were missing. They will be too busy dancing." He looked over at me and stole another kiss.

I smiled and kissed him back, before I moved to the couch next to him. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his side. For the longest time we sat in silence, and every once in a while we would steal each other's kisses. I broke away from Erik's side and slipped my legs over each side of his and pressed my mouth against his. Erik met my feverish kiss back and seemed to get what I was implying.

My fingers slipped over the buttons of his crisp white top and pushed it back off his shoulders. His lips slipped over the side of neck and I felt his hands unzip my dress. A soft moan escaped my mouth and I pressed my lips against his. I felt his hands work at the back of the corset and in less time than the day before, it slipped off. My fingers fumbled around his pants buttons and after they had become un buttoned Erik and I once again found the floor. He tossed my dress aside and placed his pants on the couch. Our kisses turned heated and our hands moved around each other's bodies, making sure not an inch was untouched.

I playfully pushed Erik off me and straddled him once again. He slipped my chimsey off and let his fingers play with the waist band of my knickers. I smiled and kissed him feverishly before I made my way down to his chest, placing kisses on random spots, being more daring than I was the night before. My breath quickened as I reached the top of his knickers and in a bold statement I put the fabric between my teeth and yanked his knickers down with the help of my fingers. I looked up at Erik; his eyes were closed and his breath was quickened. I smiled and tossed his knickers off to the side and moved back up the length of his body and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

Within seconds Erik had once again flipped me over and pulled my knickers down quicker than I could have imagined. I felt his lips touch mine, and a pressure between my legs, but within a moment; both were gone, the pressure replaced by pleasure and his lips let moans escape both of our lips. Fire filled my veins and my fingers dug into his back and fell down the length of his body. Together, we made love deep into the night.