Sorry I haven't been writing I've been busy with theatre things. But hope you like the next chapter. Read & Review please. WARNING: Following chapters may contain material rated M.

The night air was freezing cold and woke me from my loving dream. I pulled the sheets closer around my body. My quick movements led to a piercing pain in my side. I let out a short sharp cry of pain and felt warmth cover me. Erik's arms were around me in minutes. I could feel his warm breath on my ear as he whispered to me frantically.

"Darling are you alright. Christine?" His voice was weak and hoarse with distress. The room was covered in the night's blackness but when I turned my body, very carefully and slowly, I could see Erik's face in the moon's illuminating rays. His eyes were full of worry and his brow's displayed the pain he had in his heart. I could feel his hands trembling on my back where they held me. I pulled his lips to mine trying to calm him. I knew that he still blamed himself for the whole on my side and it troubled me deeply. How could such an amazing man be cursed to live a life of such cruelty? Who would ever damn him to a life of darkness he never deserved.

I could feel his stress float away as our lips touched. My hands fell from his face onto his shoulders and slid down his back. I pulled his body closer to mine and I felt him give way. He laid down next to me and melted into my touch. All I wanted was to have him in my arms and to shower him in my love. I wanted to kiss away his thoughts. I knew he was imagining Raoul and Meg. They both had disappeared after the incident. Of course Raoul had nothing to do with it but I knew the Erik couldn't help to worry about his future plans of vengeance. I pulled away from him suddenly and looked into his eyes, black in the light of night.

"Calm down Love. All is finally right. Our lives are perfect. There is no need for you to worry." His arms realized from me and he sat up. He buried his head in his hands that rested on his bent knees.

"How can I stop worrying when you have a hole in your side, a hole that I caused? How can you stand to look at me Christine? I tore apart your family. All I do is ruin everything I touch. How can I raise your child? How can you trust me to? What if he turns out to be just like me?" I sat up and held in my cries of pain. I sat at his feet and pulled his hands from his face. I forced him to look me in the eyes.

"I hope he does to turn out like you Erik." His eyes filled with disgust.

"A hideous monster?!" Before he could look away I grabbed his chin with my fingertips.

"No. A beautiful man who can find the beauty in anything and everything. A talented angel of music that fills people's hearts with unearthly melodies. A creature of light that is stronger than anyone I've ever known. A man who can find his way out of pure darkness and still possess such love." He scoffed at my words and pulled his head out of my hands.

"A man who murders innocents?" I pulled his face back and could see as his tears were beginning to fall.

"Erik, that's not who you are anymore. You were a lost soul once. You were treated as animal in a cage as a child. You were tortured and yet you found the strength to base your life in love. You aren't nor were you ever darkness. You have always been my light. You treated me with so much care when my father died. You helped when no one else could. You were the one that inspired my voice. You have always been good. You are an amazing father and I pray to God that Gustave turns out to be at least half the man you are. Do you think I can't see the tenderness and love in your eyes when you see Gustave? You love him more than anything the world could offer." I pulled his chin forward and kissed his lips softly. I heard him sigh and felt his lips pull into a smile. He pulled back and looked me in the eyes.

"Not everything." And then he brought my lips back to his. His lips floated down to my collar bone and his right hand slid down to my waist, his left rested on the side of my upper back above my bandage. I let a single moan and my head fell back. I let out a quiet chuckle. I'm sure he enjoyed the effect he had on me. He pulled me onto his lap and pulled me close. My left hand crept up to the mask that rested on his face. I gently pulled it off and set it on the bed behind me and pulled his face of my collar bone and kissed his face delicately and felt him shiver in pleasure. His grip became stronger as he pulled me closer until my chest was on his. He found my lips and kissed me with such an intense passion. His lips were sweet and soft, leaving the feeling of flower petals as they slipped down my neck. My hands slid down his chest and found the first button on his shirt.

"You aren't in pajamas. Do you even sleep Erik?" I felt him chuckle into the nape of neck. He pulled back slightly to whisper to me.

"Sleep? Who has time for sleep when they have the beautiful Christine Daae in their bed?" I grinned at his response and quickly returned my hands back to their work on his shirt. His mouth became hungrier for my skin. After 3 buttons my trembling fingers got frustrated. I pulled on his shirt and heard as the buttons released themselves from the fabric and tumbled to the floor.

"Well Christine!" I blushed at his response. My actions when I was near Erik never seized to surprise me. He had an astonishing effect on me. His body drove me crazy. It was becoming addictive. I pulled shirt from his body and let it fall to the floor. I couldn't fight the shivers that ran through my body as my fingers grazed his bare chest. I could tell he was enjoying my response chuckles fell into the skin his lips rested upon. I could feel his finger as they searched for the bottom of my nightgown. Moments later his fingers were pulling the hem over my head. His pure perfection left me to feel so self-conscious about my body. He must have noticed my hesitation. I felt his lips at my ear.

"Miss Daae, you are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen." I couldn't control the moan that fell from my lips. The combination of his voice, the warmth of his breath, and the feel of his skin touching mine was making my mind go fuzzy and driving my body insane. I wanted him so badly. I need him just as badly. His fingers traced my spine and then I lost the small bit of self-control I still had. I woke to the feeling of his strong arms around me and his lips on my shoulder. The sun's rays fell on my skin making warm. My insides were warm and fluffy but as I turned to face him I could feel the pain of my side. I bit my lip and held in my squeal of pain. I met his loving brown eyes and felt my heart melt.

"Good morning Beautiful." He kissed me delicately on the lips. He made me so happy. How could I have ever doubted my feelings for him? He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. My hands rested on his chest. I could get used to mornings like this. Then suddenly Gustave fell into my mind.

"Where is Gustave?"

"He is learning the ways of Phantasma. Since the accident he's been working with the different acts. He's enjoying himself and making new friends. There is no need to worry Christine." I missed seeing my son all day.

"I want to watch him explore your domain." He chuckled but then sighed.

"Christine you must heal. Give it a week. Until you are healed you must rest Christine."

"Uh! But what am I to do in bed all day for that long?" And then I felt the blush rise to my cheeks as my brain thought of a few ideas. He must have felt the heat on my face because he looked down.

"Christine, are you okay?"

"Mhmmm."

"Christine why are you blushing?" I buried my face into his stomach. "Christine?"

"I was just thinking of the ways well… the ways that um… you could… um the ways you could keep me entertained."

"Oh." I was drowning in my embarrassment. Suddenly he pulled my face to his. "Well I'll see what I can do." And he kissed me with so much intensity. Luckily he hadn't redressed from last night so didn't have to deal with any buttons that day.

By six o'clock I was panting trying to catch my breath. I was covered with sweat and my muscles were so sore and tired. Erik made me a bath. He finally took off my bandage. It was the first time I had seen my wound. It was an actual hole in my side. The bullet had thankfully hit a rib just barely missing my lung. The bleeding had been bad. But thankfully Erik knew enough about the human body from his past experiences with death that he quickly got the bullet out, stopped the blood, and stitched the hole (thankfully he had a very large medical kit in case a performer got injured). Erik had saved my life. The wound didn't look so bad. I was small and swollen. There was a little dried blood and thin black medical thread closing the wound.

Seeing it for the first time I shuddered. There were so many painful thoughts attached to that bullet. He saw my distress and pulled me in close to him.

"I'm so sorry Christine." I placed my hand onto his cheek and looked into his eyes.

"This is NOT your fault Erik! Stop blaming yourself!" I wiped away the tear that fell onto his cheek. "Meg was tormented by her past and almost killed herself. Don't you ever forget that YOU saved her. And then after I was shot YOU saved me. You saved two lives that night Erik! You are my hero." He looked at me and I could see that his eyes held the sadness of the world. I placed a kiss delicately on his scarred cheek. He shook his thoughts out of his head and helped me into his white porcelain bathtub. As he turned to leave, I grabbed his arm. He looked back at me and I could see that his dark thoughts had crept back into his mind.

"Aren't you going to join me?" He gave me a very pitiful smile and got into the bathtub with me. He placed his arms around me and we sat in silence in the warm water. The water was beginning to get cold and my toes were becoming wrinkly. Reading my mind he got out of the water and got me one of his big fluffy old towels. He helped me out of the water and wrapped it around me before getting one for himself. Once I was dry he put a new bandage on my side. The water soothed away the pain and rid my body of its aching and drowsiness.

"Um, Erik?" I looked around confused. He appeared at my side somehow already dressed.

"What's the matter darling?"

"Where are my clothes?" He looked at me shocked at my question.

"Oh yes I guess we'd been busy I haven't given you a tour." I was very familiar with Erik's bed by now but I had no idea of where anything else was besides the bathroom and piano. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the wall. "Well this is a closet for you, my Christine." He placed his hands on the rock that jutted out of the wall and pressed it. Suddenly the wall seemed to open. I walked inside of the hole and found myself in a very large walk- in closet. But the room didn't look like a dark cave. The walls were made of the same rock, but they were smooth and flat. The ceiling had a small replica of the chandelier at the Opera Populaire. The room was long and it took at least twenty steps to reach the shelves of jewelry on the back wall. Every rack held expensive, elegant gowns. Some I recognized as my own, others I did not. The shelf held beautiful shoes or amazing jewelry. But like the clothing most of it wasn't mine.

"Whose stuff is all of this?" He looked at me with an expression of amusement.

"Did you really believe, my Christine, that I would let you live here without giving you everything I possibly could?" I turned to him and laughed at what he said. He was so good to me. I walked down the racks and looked at the beautiful clothing. I quickly changed into a beautiful nightgown. I continued my journey looking at the back shelves. Erik came up behind and placed his hands on my shoulder.

"Where did you get all of this Erik?" I turned and looked up at him. He looked at me and shrugged.

"Some I bought others I made. Did you think I ever doubted that you would choose me over Raoul? I've been preparing for your arrival for a while, I guess." I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. I wish I could have been so sure of the choice ten years ago in his lair. He turned me around and faced me to the shelf once more. He then pointed to a small black leather box directly in front of me. It was in the middle of the shelf. "Do you know what that is?" He lifted his hands up off my shoulders. I picked it up and turned to ask him. When I turned he was down on one knee. "Now that has belonged to you for over twenty years. That has been yours since the day I first saw you, my Christine, along with my heart." I opened the box and inside it sat a small delicate ring. It had a silver band with a small white diamond surrounded by tiny little black diamonds. Somehow there were various thin, delicate black and white metal strands that flowed around the diamonds encaging them. It was the most stunning, intricate things I had ever seen. The metaphor wasn't lost on me either. The white represented me and he was the black. The ring's setting represented us finally being together and being wrapped in our love for one another. I couldn't stop the tears that flowed from my eyes. I didn't dare touch the ring. Everything about it looked so dazzling and so delicate. I was scared that if I touched it that it would fall apart. "Christine I am so deeply in love with you. I need you now and for always. Would you do me the honor of becoming more than my muse. Miss Christine Daae, would you become my wife and make me the happiest man to ever exist?" I couldn't find my voice. I shook my head up and down vigorously. He smiled and stood. He took the box from my hand and put the ring on my trembling hand. He pulled me into him and kissed me so hard. It was overwhelming. My legs gave way and he caught me in his arms. He laid me on the bed and held me in his arms. Suddenly Gustave came running into the room. He jumped on the bed.

"Did you ask her father?" I heard Erik chuckled.

"Indeed I did." He looked down at me. "I hope you don't mind but I asked Gustave if he would allow me to ask you." He wiped away my tears and I finally gained the control of my body and of my tear ducts. Gustave looked at me with worried eyes.

"Oh Mother didn't you say yes? Don't you love Father?" He had misinterpreted my crying.

"Oh Darling of course I do. I'm crying because I feel so overwhelmed with love and joy. I haven't felt this happy since God gave us you." I brushed the hair out of Gustavé's eyes and let my hand rest on his cheek. Erik grabbed and held my other hand, my left hand.

"I hope you like the ring." I looked down at it. It fit my finger perfectly but it also fit my hand perfectly. It wasn't over the top like Raoul's had been. It was tiny, it was just perfect. And it was amazing how well Erik knew me and what I liked.

"I love it Erik." His face beamed and I leaned into him and kissed him. "And I love you, Erik." My family was finally together. My perfect family.

"Father, can we play now? I have had a song in my head all day!" Gustave looked at Erik with excitement and hope in his eyes. Erik let me go and stood. He picked Gustave up from the bed and set him on the ground.

"Of course Gustave!" And I fell again once more listening to the enchanting music of my two boys.