Happy belated new year guys! And woho! It happens! And Erik is a mess again. But for a very good reason. And a liquid piece of butter he is too. But I think that's all of them. This chapter is exceedingly toothsome family fluff. And rightly so! You will not be able to deny it. Have fun and fluff with this chapter.

Greetings Petit Erik

Louise POV

Erik's illness dragged on. Unfortunately, to his and their chagrin, I had to keep the children away from him so they wouldn't catch it. Oh dear, it was hard on both sides. Erik was in bed, struggling through his cough and cold, and the kids couldn't get to him. He was shivering, had curled up in his blanket and was asleep at the moment. I gently placed my hand on his forehead to feel if he might have a fever. Sure enough, his forehead felt warm. I went to the bathroom, wet a washcloth with cool water, returned and placed it on my husband's forehead. He groaned, opened his eyes languidly, and looked at me.

"Lou?" he murmured.

Shhhh. It's all right. I just put a washcloth on your forehead because you feel a little warm."

"You're so good to me."

"What do you mean?"

"You take care of your sick, ugly husband but at the same time you take care of two little kids and you're pregnant on the side. I'm just a burden to you."

I looked at him with wide eyes.

"What do you mean by 'ugly husband'?"

"Look at me and tell me I'm beautiful!", he said, looking at me with a piercing gaze.

Slowly, I brought my hand to his disfigurement and stroked it gently. He closed his eyes and leaned into the touch.

"Erik, my angel. You were never ugly to me, and you never will be. And not to our family either. We love you just the way you are. You are not ugly, you are special."

I saw tears running down his cheeks from his closed eyes. He sobbed and I immediately hugged him. His whole body was shaking and I hugged him tightly. For about 15 minutes he cried and sobbed. I stroked his back and his few hairs. In the end, he was still sniffling lightly and still had his face buried against my chest.

"Erik, my darling. Everything is all right. Is there anything you want me to get for you?"

He nodded slightly.

"Tell me what you want me to get. I'll do it right away."

"The children," he mumbled, "please. I want to see them so bad. I miss them."

I sighed. He missed them both so much and longed to hold them both in his arms like any other father would.

"Okay, dear. Hold on a minute. I'll be right back."

He nodded and I took the washcloth from his forehead, took him to the bathroom, and then went to the kids. They were playing in their room at the moment. But they didn't look that happy.

"Well you two. Shall we go to Daddy?"

Immediately they dropped everything, jumped up and ran to me. I smirked slightly.

"Okay. Let's go see Daddy then."

I led them both into the bedroom and saw Erik lying in bed. His eyes were closed again. The kids crawled onto the bed and Erik opened his eyes. Immediately, all three of them started crying and the kids snuggled into their dad's arms. Erik sniffled and hugged his children to him. They cried and sobbed in his arms. Josy in particular cried a lot. She had a particularly intimate relationship with her father and she literally worshipped him. Jere also adored the ground on which his father walked but with Josy it was even more pronounced. The little girl had clung to Erik's arm and apparently didn't want to let go of him either. And Erik felt the same way. He wanted most of all not to let go of his children. The two had now fallen asleep in his arms and Erik was asleep too. I lay down with my family and also closed my eyes.

Erik POV

Oh, that felt good. Finally holding my children in my arms again. I had missed them so much. And apparently they felt the same way. They clung to me and didn't want to let go. In the end Lou joined us and in a big hug we all fell asleep. When I woke up again, the children were still in my arms and Lou was still sleeping peacefully. I gently nudged her with a finger to wake her up. She stirred slightly, opened her eyes and looked at me.

"Can I have some tea, please?"

"Of course, dear. Peppermint?"

I nodded, Louise scrambled out of bed and went downstairs to the kitchen. Soon she returned with a large cup of tea. She handed it to me, kissed me on the cheek, and then came back to bed. I grabbed the cup and slowly drank the hot tea. I felt it flowing down my throat. It was a wonderful feeling. With enough tea and the love of my family, I am sure I will get through this stupid cold.

Louise POV

Soon Erik was feeling better, which made me and the children extremely happy. He recovered and was able to sit at the piano and play with the children again. He visibly enjoyed the time with them. They were glued to him again, as they always were. Meanwhile, My birthday was approaching and so was the birth date. It was set for December 21. But as it happens, fate wanted as one did not want. Early on my birthday, Erik spoiled me with breakfast. We were cuddling together in bed when suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen. I gasped and Erik looked at me in panic.

"Angel? What's wrong?!"

"Erik. I think my water broke."

"Now?"

"Yes. Now."

"Okay. All right. Don't panic. We'll get dressed, take the kids, and then go to the hospital, okay?"

I nodded and slowly got out of bed to get dressed. Erik literally jumped out of bed, got dressed and ran to the kids to inform them that we were going to the hospital because mom was going to give birth to her little sibling. The little ones soon came running into the bedroom with Erik on their heels. He joined me and together we slowly made our way down the stairs to get dressed. Erik put on his mask and wig, grabbed his cell phone, the car keys and the kids. The three of them ran to the car and I slowly waddled after them. He put the kids in the car seat, strapped them in, and then helped me sit down. Then he climbed into the driver's seat himself, started the car and drove off. We got on the highway and then quickly drove to the hospital. He parked the car, helped me and the children out, and together we quickly went into the hospital. The nurse looked at us in panic.

"Are you all right?"

"My wife's water broke," Erik gasped.

He was a mess. The hair in his wig was disheveled and his mask was a bit askew.

"Follow me."

We were taken to the ward and I was dressed in the proper clothes.

"Mom? Are you okay?", Josy asked me, looking at me.

"Yes, everything is fine, little one."

"Mommy is going to deliver your new sibling and it takes a little while and it hurts too," Erik explained to her.

"Daddy?" asked Jere, looking at his dad.

"Yes, Jere?"

"Will you stay with us?"

Erik looked to me.

"Please stay with the children, angel. They need you."

He took a deep breath and nodded. At that moment, the nurses came into my room.

"So, Mrs. Mühlheim. Here we go again, right?" they said as they glanced at the children.

I chuckled lightly.

"Indeed."

"Okay. We would take you to the delivery room now. And your husband will watch the little ones here, right?" I nodded, gave each of them another kiss, and then was taken away.

Erik POV

When Lou was brought out of the room, the children came and snuggled up to me.

"Daddy?" said Josy softly.

"Yes, little one?", I replied.

"Mask off," she breathed, reaching her little hand to my cheek and pulling the mask off my face.

I placed it next to me on the bed where I was sitting. We were fortunately taken to a family room. I was lying on the bed with the children on top of me looking at me.

"Now what?", I asked, grinning at them both.

They giggled and snuggled up to me.

"Oh, I see. The cuddling that was missed when Daddy was sick is made up for now, right?"

They both just nodded. I giggled, hugged them both to me, and began to softly hum the music of the night. The children sighed and listened to my voice. Time passed slowly like this. When two hours had passed, I suddenly noticed someone trying to come into the room. I grabbed my mask and quickly slipped it on. Fortunately, I had not taken off my wig. A nurse knocked on the door and came in. When she saw me and the children, she smiled.

"Mr. Mühlheim? It's time."

My eyes widened. I knew what this meant. Gently, I woke my children, who had fallen asleep on me. We crawled out of bed, I took each of them by the hand and together we went to my wife. The nurse opened the door and I saw my Louise. She reached out to me and the children. Immediately they both ran to her.

"We would take you back to your room now and then we will be right there, okay?"

We nodded and Lou was taken back to our room, me and the kids on our heels. My wife was changed into fresh clothes and laid down in her bed. Soon the nurses arrived. They smiled and pressed a small bundle, wrapped in a soft blanket, into my hand. I took it with trembling hands.

"A girl," I was told, but I had eyes only for the tiny child in my arms.

A little girl. And she was absolutely perfect. Not a single scar could I see. Tears came to my eyes. I didn't even notice how the door opened again briefly and then we were left alone. I immediately took off my mask and wig and put them on the nightstand. My daughter opened her eyes. I was surprised to see that she had my eye color. While one eye was blue, the other was amber. She eyed me and I smiled. Then I noticed a movement in the corner of my eye and turned to my wife. I gasped at what I saw. In her arms was a bundle as well. Immediately I ran to her.

"Lou?", I breathed, "two?"

She looked up at me, smiled, nodded, took my daughter from my arms and placed the other bundle in my arms.

"Your son," she whispered, smiling.

I looked down at the other child in my arms. My son. He was just as perfect as his sister.

"He's the little one of the family. He's five minutes younger than his sister."

"Sebastian," I breathed suddenly.

I looked up at my wife.

"Do you like it?"

"It's perfect."

"Sebastian Philipp Mühlheim."

Lou sniffled.

"Angel," she breathed.

I knew what she was going to say and kissed her gently. Then she looked down at the tiny girl in her arms.

"Sophia."

She looked at me and I nodded.

"Sophia Marie Mühlheim."

Now I was the one sniffling. I knew why she had chosen that name. Marie Perrault was more of a mother to me than my real mother. My daughter started to whine and Lou lifted her to her chest to feed her. It was a beautiful sight. I stroked my son's little head. I saw that he had a few strands of dark brown hair. So the same color hair as Josy and the color I would have had if only I had looked different. But I had come to terms with how I looked. My family loved me unconditionally with my face and I couldn't be happier. My son in my arms looked at me. He had the same eyes as Louise and eyed me curiously. Then he started to whine too and I handed him off to Lou while she gave me my now sleeping daughter in her arms. She had snuggled into the blanket and only her tiny hand was visible. I stroked it gently with my index finger and immediately her hand closed around it. I became liquid butter. She was so sweet. I noticed tears running down my face again. Lou giggled and looked at me. I smiled and looked at our other children. They had fallen asleep on my bed by now from all the excitement and were snuggled up together. I grinned. The two of them were visibly exhausted. Lou could barely keep his eyes open, too.

"Sleep, angel. You need it," I whispered to her.

She smiled, stretched her neck toward me as a sign that she wanted to be kissed, and then fell asleep. I held my daughter in my arms, happily and proudly giving attention to my 5 angels.

I took a picture of our children, sent it to the family group and wrote underneath: "Our new little angels. Say hello to Sophia and Sebastian."