The first couple of days were rough for Erik. Katja had instructed her family not to speak to him in French so he was constantly surrounded by German. At first, he was extremely frustrated, but after a while, words and phrases started to stick and he began to pick up the language. It helped that German wasn't his second, or even his third or fourth language.

Of course it wasn't an overnight process. Katja and her family often had to repeat themselves over and over and speak much more slowly than they were used to. And while Erik didn't ask, he had a very strong feeling they were speaking as basic as they could, like they were teaching an infant how to talk. But whether he liked it or not, it was helping him learn. And sometimes at night, after Katja went to sleep, Fredrick would tutor him in the language as well, answering some of his questions and teaching him proper grammar and other technicalities.

As German began to make sense, other things began to fall into place. Rehearsals began to run much more smoothly for Erik and it was getting easier for him to understand what people were saying about him when they thought he couldn't hear. While he didn't understand everything, Erik generally could get the gist of what was being said. For the most part, people generally thought he was odd, but people didn't run away screaming 'Murderer!' so Erik didn't mind too much.

Now that Erik was beginning to settle into life in Germany, it began to sink in that he was leaving everything he knew behind. Odds were he would never return to Paris or even see Nadir again. While he loved Katja, it was a lot to ask. Erik made a mental note to write his friend so that Nadir would know that he wasn't going to be back.

Erik had a lot to do in a short amount of time. It would only be a few weeks until Katja starting showing and everyone would know about the baby. He wanted to find a house, a place that he and Katja could call their own. And of course Erik wanted to get a ring for Katja so he could propose properly. Hopefully this time Katja would say yes.

Katja wrapped her arms around her stomach. As much as she loved being with her family again, she hated feeling sick all the time. She often found herself wishing that her father owned any business but a café, or at the very least, lived in a separate house. The morning sickness was awful, but she was quickly learning what foods made her sick, and she could control what she ate. Katja couldn't control the smells and those were what made her stomach turn all hours of the day.

She wondered what Erik was doing. He was normally back long before now. Over the past week he had been coming home later and later, but not like this. Katja couldn't help but feel worried. Had something affected rehearsals? Or had something happened to him? This didn't make sense. Erik didn't like being out any more than necessary. He hated people staring at him and always came straight home after rehearsal.

The door opened and thankfully Erik walked in. Katja threw herself into his arms. "Where on earth have you been?" she demanded. "You should have been home hours ago!"

"I just had some things to take care of," he replied evasively.

"Now what are you hiding?"

He placed his hand on her cheek and stroked it gently with his thumb. "I'm not hiding anything. I'll show you if you want." When Katja nodded, Erik offered her his hand. "Come with me."

The couple walked hand in hand through the dark town. "Where are we going Erik?" Katja asked curiously, still wondering where he was taking her.

"It's a surprise," he replied.

"But I don't like surprises," she protested.

"This is a good surprise," Erik countered. Katja didn't question him further, but continued to wonder what exactly that meant. Knowing Erik, it could be just about anything. She could only hope that she could handle this 'surprise'.

Erik had brought her to the lake. Katja turned to him, still confused. "What are we doing here?"

"Come," he said, wrapping his arm around her waist. Erik led her to a small house sitting on the shore and opened the door for her. "Here we are."

"Where are we Erik? What is this place?" Katja asked, looking around the cottage.

She turned, and to her surprise, she saw Erik down on one knee. "It's ours," he explained softly. "Katja, it's all ours. We can be together here forever." He pulled out a gold band with a large diamond in the middle, with three smaller ones on each side and presented it to her. "Willst du mich heiraten?"

"Oh," Katja gasped. She should have known this was going to happen. Fredrick had even told her he was going to ask again, but Katja had denied it to herself over and over again. But now the moment was here and Erik deserved an answer. Her knees felt weak and threatened to give.

"Katja?" Erik whispered, slowly standing. He grabbed her elbow to steady her as she wobbled on her feet. "Are you okay?"

"Ja," she breathed. She threw her arms around his neck as his hands went to her hips to support her. Her legs felt like jelly in his embrace. "Ja."

He leaned in so that their foreheads were touching, their lips just inches apart. "Ja was?" he asked breathlessly.

"Ich werde," she answered, leaning up to kiss him. One of Erik's arms wrapped around her waist and the other came up to the nape of her neck while Katja ran her hands up his chest. When they finally separated, she rested her head against his chest. "Ich liebe dich," she murmured.

Erik slipped the ring on her finger. "Ich liebe dich auch." He kissed her again, holding her tightly. Their bodies melded together perfectly. Katja's legs couldn't support her any longer; she was simply too overwhelmed with emotion. If Erik hadn't been holding her, she would have fallen to the floor.

The couple stared at each other, both slightly out of breath. Katja clung to Erik, still not trusting her feet. "Are you alright?" he asked again.

Before he could protest, Katja pulled his porcelain mask off and caressed the deformed side of his face. "Never better," she replied with a smile.

I love weddings! Drinks all around! But seriously though, YAY THEY'RE GETTING MARRIED! I don't really have much to say other than hi, but I feel like I haven't talked to you very much in this story which is kinda odd for me. So for the most part, I'm just checking in, saying you're awesome, I love you, thanks for reading, and get the confetti ready to throw soon! Read and Review!

~nibblesfan

German Translations

Willst du mich heiraten?-Will you marry me?

Ja-Yes

Ja was?-Yes what?

Ich werde-I will

Ich liebe dich (auch)-I love you (too)