He pushed the panic that had risen down and walked to the door calmly and knocked instead of rushing to the door and bursting into the room like he wanted to. The door opened slowly and Erik heard Christine sigh in relief and wondered what it was about. She hugged him and said "I was worried that Emory and Sarah would do something to you." Erik held her close and softly replied "I am fine my angel. They did not say anything to me or even look at me." She put a hand on his unmasked cheek and asked "How does your cheek feel?"

He still felt the sting from where Sarah slapped him earlier but he did not wince when Christine put her hand there. He replied "It is a little sore but I will live." She nodded adequate with that answer and said "There is another person waiting to see you." She grabbed his hand and shut the door behind them as she walked with him to the living room. He entered the living room and was surprised to see that Gustave was pacing back and forth. Christine whispered in his ear "I think he gets that from you." Erik whispered back just as softly "I have been noticing that he gets a lot of things from me. His hair, his eyes, part of his musical talent, his temper, and now the pacing." Christine laughed softly and then said to Gustave "Honey your father is back."

Gustave looked up and when he saw Erik standing there he ran over to him and hugged him around the waist. Erik bent over and hugged him back. Gustave whispered "I was so worried that Madame de Chagny was going to do something to you." Erik replied "She did not even look at me as she left." Gustave nodded and asked "Would you have hurt her is she had slapped me?" Erik sighed and replied "No I would not have harmed her but I would and will not let anyone hurt you or your mother." He looked Gustave in the eyes at that and then looked Christine in the eyes. He turned back to Gustave when he asked "Do you promise?"

Erik smiled at Gustave and replied "I will give you something better. I vow that as long as I am alive and breathing that no harm shall come to your mother or you." Gustave smiled at him and said "Thank you father." Erik nodded and replied "No problem." Gustave smiled and asked "Is it okay if I am excused and go draw?" Erik smiled at him and replied "Sure, it is okay with me."He turned and looked at Christine as he said "What about you Christine?"

Christine smiled at Erik and then at Gustave and said "It is okay with me too Gustave, go ahead." Gustave smiled and went and sat on the floor in front of a table and started drawing. Christine and Erik sat on the couch together never separating their hands. Christine and Erik watched Gustave and Erik said "He really is an amazing child." Christine smiled fondly at Gustave and replied "Yes he is."

Christine asked "You really do not regret that night?" Erik looked at her and instantly replied "No I do not. Do you?" Christine shook her head and said "No not at all. The only thing I regret is that I did not wake up in time and leave with you." Erik looked at her in shock and asked "Really?" Christine nodded and replied "I wanted to search for you after that but I did not want Raoul to get suspicious and hunt you down and hurt you."

Erik said "That is the past though. We are together now, and that is all that matters. Because like I told Sarah the only thing I regret about that night was that I made you cheat on Raoul when you actually cared for him." Christine smiled and replied "Even when my reputation is crappy you still worry about it."

Erik smiled back and said "That is just how I am Christine." She laid her head against his shoulder and asked "Erik, why did you choose me to fall in love with?" He stroked her hair and replied "Because you were and are still very sweet, caring, compassionate, strong, independent, innocent person and then you found me a monstrous, deformed, crazy musical psychopath and thought me an angel and after that I wanted to keep seeing you so I did and then as I grew older I started falling for you and your beauty, and voice. Then when you were 16 I figured it was time to tell you whom I really was because I realized that I could not live without you. Then Raoul came and that night when I saw how much you loved him I knew that I had to let you go because you loved Raoul way more than me. Also you did not deserve someone as horrid as me."

Christine curled up closer to him and said "I did love you though. I do deserve you because even though you have done immoral things you are still a musical angel." Erik squeezed her hand without his other one faltering on stroking her hair. He whispered "Thank you for saying that my angel it means a lot to me."

She whispered back "It was not a problem because all of what I said was true." He smiled at her and continued stroking her hair. She looked at him and studied him for a few minutes. He asked "What is it my love?" She replied with a question of her own "You are genuinely happy aren't you?" He said "Yes, my angel I am very happy. I have a beautiful angel that loves me, and an amazing son with that angel who loves me and looks up to me."

Christine smiled and replied "I am happy too. Happier than I have been in 10 years." Erik asked "Really?" Christine replied "The only time in 10 years that I have been this happy is when I was doing things with Gustave." Erik said "I am sorry that you were so miserable."

Christine replied "Do not be sorry my angel. Because I could not have been unhappy as you were. I mean when I saw how agonized you were that night that was the face of how I remembered you ever since. There is no way that I could have been more miserable than you." Erik stroked her hair and said "I let you go Christine so it was my choice to be miserable do not feel bad." Christine kissed him on the lips quickly and replied "The problem with that my angel is that I did not want to leave."