The next day, per the letters suggestion, Erik and I both showed up in the British courts. I had been through this before, except in America and it was known that the English always took their testimonies seriously. They were never like testimonies; they were always more like interrogations; at least that was what Raoul had said when he was questioned for the fire of the Opera in Paris. The thought of Raoul had caught my breath, In the midst of the chaos I had not thought of him but once and I felt guilty. Of course I felt guilty, if I had passed away Raoul would be mourning my death just like I had mourned for my parents; or at least I thought he would.

"The court would like to call up Mrs. Holloway" The voice called out. I cleared my throat and released my hand from Erik's who had gave a sigh of relief indicating that I had a near death grip on his hand.

"Mrs. Holloway, you will remember on the night of this disaster to the Titanic, you were wakened, I think, by the collision?" He questioned

I nodded "I was" I swallowed hard and tried to remember the story I had told the American jurors

"I only want you to tell me one thing before we get to the boat, had there been offers to you to go into any of the lifeboats?" Lord Byron questioned

I once again, nodded "Oh yes, they put me in a life boat."

"You mean some of the sailors?"

I shook my head no "No, my husband, my father and our traveling companion Raoul."

"And you refused to go?"

"Absolutely. All three of them were very anxious that I should get into the boat."

"Well, eventually you did go. Did your husband come along?"

I shook my head no "No, he didn't join myself in the lifeboat. He stayed on the ship until it went down."

Lord Byron cleared his throat and looked at his notes "had you heard any orders given?"

"yes"

"Do you remember what they were?"

I looked at Erik who was sitting in the 'audience' I inhaled deeply and looked back at Lord Byron "As far as I can remember, it was to row quickly away from the boat for about two-hundred yards."

"And to come back if called upon?"

"No."

"You did not hear that?"

"Oh, no"

"I do not quite understand?"

I looked at him perplexed how could he not understand. "I did not hear that."

"Did you hear anything about suction?"

"Perhaps I did, but I wasn't paying attention, I was being lowered away from the most important men in my life." I gave him a look and shook my head "Would you be paying much attention if you were being lowered away from your wife sir?"

He nodded slightly and then looked at his paperwork "Did you hear any cries at all?"

"Yes, before she sank; terrible cries." I buried my face in my hands, perhaps if I couldn't play him on the thought of losing my husband, my father and my friend then I would play him on emotions.

"Before she sank?" he said as stone cold as he possibly could.

"Yes." I mumbled

"Did you see her sink"

"I did."

"were your men rowing?"

"Yes, as far as I remember. I jumped ship shortly afterwards, sir."

He cleared his throat and looked at a man at the desk next to him "I think that is all I need to ask, do you want to ask anything, Sir Robert?"

The man shook his head "No, my lord."

Lord Byron looked up at me and smiled slightly "The witness may step down." He nodded to me as I made my way from the stand "My lord calls to the stand Mr. Erik Eugene Holloway."

Erik passed me and I gave him a slight smile. He looked irritated already, and the 'intergoation' haddn't started quite yet. I made my way to the back of the room and sat down on one of the empty benches. Few people were sitting in the room, Lord and lady duff Gordon, second officer Charles Lightoller among a few other survivors.

"You are Erik Eugene Holloway, I think?"

"Yes." Erik responded

"Were you First officer on the titanic?"

"I was."

"how long have you been in the white star company's employ"

"Eleven years and seven months, roughly."

"That would be since about 1901?"

" October, 1901"

"Sailing with that company cross the alantic many times, is most of your experience in the north Atlantic?"

"Most, yes."

"We will get from you the first names of the officers, because you will have occasion to refer to them from time to time. Of course, Captain smith we know of; he was the commander?"

"Yes."

"Then next in order comes the chief officer?"

"Yes."

"Who was that?"

"Mr. Wilde."

"I believe the both of them were lost?"

"They were."

"then you come as first officer?"

"Yes."

"Who was second officer?"

"Mr. Charles Lightoller"

The questioning of Erik had gone on for about an hour, and he was told that he would be needed the next day. When Erik was sworn off the bench he and I made our way back to the house, where we spent the rest of the day in silence. I wondered if he was worried about the questioning, or if he was worried about me, or if he was mourning his fallen comrades. He spent his time in the library on the third floor, looking at a book with a untouched scotch in his hands. I often leaned on the door to make sure he was alright, and when he sensed my presence he would look back and I would give him a smile and he would motion for me to come towards him. We repeated this action every so often with me ending up on his lap.

The rest of the week drug by slowly. Erik had been called back to testify, and when he had came back home he seemed chipper; quite unlike what he had been during the first day of his testimony.

"Christine?" he questioned as he walked in through the front door. "Christine, where are you?"

"In the kitchen!" I smiled slightly and clasped my hands together "Hurry, I have something to show you!" I giggled slightly and watched as he walked in "Happy birthday!" I screamed and threw my arms up in the air throwing paper confetti in the air laughing slightly. "We never got to celebrate your twenty-ninth birthday in new York, so I figured we could celebrate it here, it's about a month late, but it's something, right?" I scrambled around the kitchen "I made pork chops and vegetables, oh!" I jumped slightly and made it to the cupboard "I found these little cookies." I held out the packaging "They're called Oreos."

"The package is open." Erik looked confused and then a smirk slipped on his face.

"I ate one I had to taste them. Oh they're delicious!" I grinned "Sit! Sit!" I commanded and watched Erik place the cookies on the counter before he made his way towards me "you're not sitting." I mumbled slightly, feeling like I was about to cry.

"I know." He mumbled and wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him "You're wonderful, Christine." He placed a light kiss on my lips and pulled away and smiled "Tru—are you crying?"

I nodded "Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because you're not sitting!" I whined wiping my eyes.

He laughed slightly, obviously finding this all comical "You're crying, because I'm not sitting?" He questioned, tilting his head to one side, still not sitting down.

"Yes!" I pointed to the table "The food is going to get cold and we're not going to be able to eat it." I cried out "we do not want to throw out uneaten food! There- there- there…" I sniffled "A PIG DIED TO FEED US ERIK! YOU COULD AT LEAST EAT IT!" I wailed and buried my face in my hands.

I peaked from beneath my fingers just enough to see a confused expression etched on Erik's face. "Christine..?" he whispered before he moved towards me "I-I'm sorry?" He seemed unsure whether he should be apologizing, and quite honestly I was unsure if he should be too.

"No, no." I looked up at him and wiped my eyes "I'm sorry." I blushed slightly and looked away "It just… Emotions, still." He nodded and wrapped his arms around me tightly.

"Let's go eat?"

I nodded "Let's eat."

Throughout dinner, I burst out in tears for silly things; the way Erik was chewing, the way he cut his meat even the thought of the pig that had died was enough to bring tears to the table. I had been doing well in the emotion department since I had the episode on the ship and the fact that they decided to make a appearance today of all days, was beside me. Dinner came and went and after the both of us decided to wash the dishes (where I had cried because Erik was washing in the wrong direction, or after he had rinsed the soap off I had seen extra soap and had cried about it) we sat around listing to the radio, where Erik would take extra precaution to make sure that I didn't cry during a story or a song.

For supper, Erik decided that we should have soup. I agreed deeming it to be the least cryable food to make. Nothing had died for it, Erik couldn't chew it and he couldn't cut it. I was golden. Except I wasn't; instead of crying, I got angry at Erik, for cutting the vegetables wrong, for adding them to the pot wrong and for not cleaning up his mess. Once or twice I walked out of the kitchen, leaving erik dumbfounded to my whereabouts until he had found me sitting in my father's study and coaxed me back downstairs and that he was sorry.

I found it annoying but yet comical.

I wished the emotions would have ran rapid another time, when I wasn't trying to celebrate my husband's birthday. After the soup had been consumed, without any tears; the dishes cleaned, without any tears the mood swings subsided and Erik and I enjoyed a wonderful evening munching on the delightful crème filled cookies.

Authors Note: I felt like some comedy should be put in here, I don't feel like I have put comedy in, in a while and let's be real here I'm not that good at it. There are quite literally two more chapters left, perhaps three depending on how I feel about it. I don't want to drag it on too much longer and I'm so proud of myself, this will be the FIRST story I've completed in the 7 years I've been on here