Disclaimer: I do not own Erik, or Meg, or Madame Giry, or any other characters from the ingenious mind of Gaston Leroux! Or anything by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Anne, however, she's mine...well, she resides in my head until her story is done.
AN: So...you may not celebrate Christmas and that's okay, but during this season of giving I have something I wish to give to you. The past few days have been a whirlwind of excitement and thrills for me. I have now finished writing the end of Anne and Erik's story. So, these last few chapters are my seasonal gift to you, my dear readers. It makes me so sad to post this but it also makes me joyous. I have loved this journey and am thrilled to start the next one.
Epilogue
Ten Years Later
Words cannot describe what those years were like after Erik and I were wed. We brought five children into the world: Maria, now age nine, Meg, age seven, Christian, age six, Giselle, age five, and Antoinette, age two. They each were blessings in our lives and none of them bore their father's scars. Erik, in the beginning, had been terrified with the prospect of his children being like him. Though none of them had his visible deformity they were all so very much like him for they all wanted to be a part of the theatre.
All of them are extremely talented, each of them being able to sing beautifully and play admirably on at least one intrument. Christian most of all has an ability to hear melodies where no one else can, and though it might be too soon to tell, Antoinette may be an architect for she has such a love of her building toys.
"Daydreaming again, my love?"
Erik's voice came from behind me and I turned to see him standing in the front door way of the house. I had taken myself outside to be alone with my thoughts as I often did at this point of a pregnancy. We were expecting our sixth child to arrive in a few weeks and we agreed that this would probably be our last one.
"I was just thinking, dearest," I replied, willingly leaning against him when he came up to stand behind me, his hands encircling my waist.
"About what?"
"Nothing in particular, as usual."
He chuckled and pressed a kiss to my cheek. "You received a letter today from your grandmother today."
I sighed. On the aniversary of Elizabeth's death, I received a hate filled letter declaring that I was responsible for the loss of her beloved granddaughter. I could never truly explain what happened, so I let her have her words and would respond that she still had another granddaughter who had a family that she could get to know if she wanted. However, on the next letter I would receive on Elizabeth's death date, there would be no mention of the family I had or want of a reconciliation.
"It's just the same as always, my love. I also received a letter from the de Chagny's today. Christine has finally given birth to a son after having four daughters. Raoul is immensely overjoyed."
"When is Madame Giry arriving?"
I sighed, seeing as Erik once against wanted to avoid any conversation about them. It wasn't that he couldn't let bygones be bygones but rather there was more important things on his mind than the past.
"Aunt Giry and Meg should be here tomorrow. I hear she's bringing our little Meg a new pair of dance shoes."
"Will Meg be bringing her own family?"
I nodded. "Yes. Her husband, Pierré, as well as little Anne and Erik will be here too." Meg had met Pierré during a performance of Swan Lake and they had fallen for each other fast. With the birth of her two children, Meg retired from dancing and took over her mother's role as Ballet Mistress. Aunt Giry was only too happy to stay and look after the children while Pierré and Meg worked during the day.
"So...we shall have a full house."
I could hear the grimace in his voice. "It shall be a fun house for Christmas."
"Just try not to overtax yourself."
Wrapped safely in his arms, I knew that there would be no possibility of overtaxing myself. As I watched the sun set, I was reminded of a dream I had once had before Erik proposed to me. I stood on a property similar to this, with our hands joined over my belly that was great with child. My dream had become a reality and I found that this reality was far better than any dream could ever be.
To Give Thanks
I want to thank each and everyone one of you who have been on this wild journey with me. This story of Anne and Erik has been a roller coaster story that has undergone many changes just as I wrote it. Now begins the long process of going through this with a fine tooth comb and making my edits. As an author, I would love your feedback and perhaps ideas on what things you'd like changed or added or explained further.
To those who have been with me since Chapter One ( RosePC786 and RedDeathLvr ) my gratitude is eternal. You were the first two to review and as such have kept me going. To Dralamy who created the beautiful fanart (link: art/Erik-x-Anne-399032418 ) the fact that someone loved my work to make fanart for it is amazing to me and is a great honor!
To each and everyone of you who have read/reviewed/PMed/favorited/followed me or my work, you are the reason I write. For you I was able to write 60 chapters in a little over a year and was finally able to write a story from beginning to end.
To my husband who will may never read this thank you for putting up with the voices inside my head and for understanding that I'm crazy and for not putting me in the looney bin.
To my Heavenly Father who blessed me with an imagination to write such a story as this, I am unworthy of your blessings to me.
This is the not the end of my writing as you can tell by the other stories I've written. This is the end of Anne and Erik, but it is the beginning of a new life for me. I have finally written a story from beginning to end...something I've never been able to do. For when a story finally revealed its ending to me, I stopped writing. But now, because of my readers...because of YOU...I write. For YOU I continue on this journey of creativity. I hope you all stick around for this ride. Otherwise, this all will get very lonely very fast.