It goes on. And something will happen with Erik. But I won't spoil what. Anyway, his whole family is worried about it. But of course most of all his wife and children. They are just all so sweet. I hope you like this chapter and I wish you happy reading.

Greetings Petit Erik

Louise POV

Oh, I was so proud of my husband. He had dared to go on stage completely exposed. And no one laughed at him, shouted or did anything else. That had boosted his self-confidence considerably. Christine had taken over the position as understudy for the prima donna. She and Raoul had become very good friends to our family. They were there for Erik's birthday and the birthday of our big kids. Very soon they were just "Aunt Christine" and "Uncle Raoul." The two of them didn't mind much. On the contrary; they even enjoyed it.

Erik was floating on cloud nine at the moment. He had a big grin on his face throughout. Every morning when I woke up he beamed at me, when he went to work he smiled and also when he came home late in the afternoon. The children were delighted with this. There were often moments when all four of them were attached to him and never wanted to let him go. Only when he had to go to work did they have to let him go. But one day everything was different. Erik had gone to work like every morning. Then at noon, I suddenly got a call from Nadir.

"Lou!", he shouted in a panic.

"Nadir? What's wrong?"

"It's Erik. He's hurt!"

"What? what happened?"

"He was in the rafters fixing a set. Suddenly the rope came loose and he fell down onto the stage."

I gasped and tears came to my eyes, which soon overflowed.

"How badly is he hurt?", I trembled.

"Badly. He broke several ribs, his shoulder and his hand. In addition, he hit his head and hurt his face."

"Which side?", I stammered.

"The right," he sighed.

I quickly shook my head as I began to sob.

"Can I come to the hospital? Or is it a no-go right now?", I asked.

"They picked him up a few hours ago. I think you can go to him."

I nodded for me, thanked him, and then hung up. I then fell onto the sofa and burst into loud sobs. It shook me, I was crying so hard. Immediately my children came running.

"Mommy? What happened?", Jere asked me.

"Is it about daddy?", Josy followed up.

I nodded and lifted my tear-streaked face from the sofa. When my children saw me like this, they also started crying.

"Mommy?", they asked.

"It's about Daddy," I sniffled and started crying again, "he's hurt."

"What about him?", asked Jere.

"He got hurt badly at work. He's in the hospital now. Shall we go see him?"

Everyone nodded and we went into the anteroom. There we put on our jackets and shoes, I grabbed my keys, my cell phone and we went to our car. We had a van with 9 seats because otherwise we wouldn't all fit. I put the kids in their car seats, buckled them in, and then got in myself. I fastened my seat belt, started the engine and drove off. After 30 minutes we arrived at the hospital. I parked the car, unbuckled myself and the kids and together we went in to check on Erik. When we were told on which ward and in which room he was, we immediately went on our way. When we arrived at the room, I knocked gently on the door.

"Yes?", I heard a soft voice from inside, which I immediately recognized as Erik's.

I quietly opened the door and saw Erik lying in a bed by the window, his upper body and hand covered with bandages. I gasped and ran to him. He turned his head toward me and looked at me.

"Louise," he breathed softly and held out his hand to me.

Immediately I took it in my own. I had started crying again.

"Erik," I whispered, bending down to him and kissing him on the lips.

"My wonderful wife. Are the children with you?"

"Of course they're with me, " I replied, turning to them, "come. Daddy wants to see you."

Immediately they came running to the bed and the two big ones had sat down on the mattress while the little ones sat on my lap.

"Daddy," Josy breathed, looking at him out of wide eyes from which big tears were streaming again.

He lifted his hand and gently wiped them away.

"Don't cry, angel. Papa will be better," he told her.

"Do you promise?"

"I promise."

She lay down on the mattress with him and he gave her a loving kiss on the cheek with his deformed lips. Jere had cautiously snuggled against his other side.

"When do you think you'll be coming home, angel?", I asked him.

"I don't know. I think I'll have to stay here for some time. But I don't want to stay here too long. I miss my little ones already," he said, stroking Jere's hair.

I stroked Erik's own sparse hair and he leaned into my touch. I really hope he will come home soon.

Erik POV

I didn't feel like staying in the hospital that long, but I had to. The weeks dragged on forever. I was bored and never knew what to do. I missed my music and my work, but most of all I missed my family. Lou and the kids came to see me often but it still dragged on. I knew how to use my smartphone and we video chatted often. The kids loved seeing me anyway, even though I couldn't be with them. Doctors often came to see me to see how well I was healing. My ribs were healing very well but I knew that later I would have to learn to write again and everything else I used to do with my left hand. Unfortunately, I had broken my left hand and my left shoulder. It had hurt terribly. Fortunately, I could still play the piano with my right hand. But I would have to relearn that with my left hand as well. It would all take so long, which I really didn't feel like doing. But it had to be done.

With the weeks that I was there, the exercises slowly started to teach me everything again. It was a long process, but I wanted it to be the same as it was before the accident. It took a long time to really get it back to the way I knew it. After many weeks I was finally allowed out of the hospital. But I was not allowed to work again. I could not lift the children either. But at least when I sat on the sofa, they would crawl onto my lap by themselves so I could hold them. They had understood that they had to be gentle with me.

"Papa boo-boo?" asked Phia, looking at me.

"Yes. Papa still has a little boo-boo. But he'll be better soon."

"Playing again?"

"Yes, angel. We can play together again after this."

She smiled and cuddled gently against my chest. I put my arms around her and felt her little body on mine. It was such a nice feeling.

"Daddy?" she murmured softly.

"Yes, angel?"

"Love you."

I felt my heart melt. I loved my children so much.

"I love you too, little one. More than you can imagine."

"Mommy too? Others too?"

"Of course, mommy and your brothers and your sister too. I love all of you."

"Nice."

"That's nice. That's right."

My little angel looked at me, reached up with her tiny hand and gently traced my disfigurement. I hummed, closing my eyes and enjoying her feathery touch. She giggled and continued to explore my cheek. I knew myself that it was a rough feeling to touch my cheek. But my daughter didn't seem to mind. In fact, she seemed to enjoy it. She explored everything. My cheek, my temple, my lips. And never did the happy child smile disappear from her face. When she finished exploring my face, she hugged me.

"Love you, Daddy," she murmured against my neck.

"I love you too, angel," I replied, hugging her to me.

Soon I felt her little body gently rise and fall. She was such an angel and so sweet. Soon the other children came and snuggled up to me.

"Hmmm," I hummed, "surrounded by angels. All that's missing now is the greatest of all the angels. And here she comes," I grinned as my wife came up to me.

She smiled at me, sat down and snuggled up to me.

"My Louise," I murmured, kissing her gently.

"My Erik," she replied, smiling into our kiss.

She snuggled up to me and let out a sigh. I rested my cheek on her head and enjoyed the time with my family.

Louise POV

Erik slowly began to recover. He was helped by a lot of rest and, of course, the children. I don't want to appear smug, but I think we helped him a lot. Slowly he was allowed to go back to work. He just had to promise us not to climb up anywhere. Especially to his children he had to promise that. I had told Nadir to call me immediately if something happened. He made me a solemn promise. But I think Erik was so grown up that he could take care of himself. And his children took care of him the most. It was one afternoon when one of the cutest things ever happened.

Erik was reading a bedtime story to his kids. I was listening along, too. Suddenly Basti asked why Erik's lips looked different from mine. I was shocked by this question and I saw that my husband was too.

But Josy said: "Don't worry, Papa. Your lips are better than Mommy's. You can give softer goodnight kisses."

Erik started crying, hugged his children and gave them their good night kisses.

They kissed his deformed cheek and said: "We love you, Daddy."

Erik replied: "I love you too."

Then he kissed his children again, as I did, and before we left the room, I saw them smile. And I saw the look in my husband's eyes. And I saw that he knew his children loved his lips. How they love his face. How they love everything about him. Because he's their daddy.

Erik POV

I left my children's room and fell sobbing into my wife's arms.

"Erik, what happened?" she asked me.

I lifted my tear-streaked face to hers and looked at her.

"They love me, Lou. Everything about me. They love my horrible lips, too. They love me, despite my face."

"Oh, Erik. Of course they do. They are our children. Of course they love you. They would never not love you because you look different, would they? And neither would I. You know that, right?"

I nodded at her neck. Of course I knew that. My children adored me and so did my wife. They had never looked at me differently because I didn't look like everyone else. Lou always looked at me the way she looked at everyone else. And with my family and friends, I felt completely accepted and like any other man. For that, I was grateful beyond measure. Meanwhile, I had gone into the living room with Lou. I snuggled up to her and she put her arms around me and stroked my few strands of hair. I sighed and closed my eyes. She was so tender with me. So loving. She gently caressed my cheek and I hummed. Before, I never thought anyone would want to touch me or my disfigurement. But Lou did. Both. She loved me. She touched me. Both on her own free will. And she had never been disgusted. And neither had my children.

I lifted my head and looked at my wife. She smiled at me, gently cupped my deformed cheek and kissed me on my distended lips. I enjoyed the feeling of her lips pressed against mine. I smiled into the kiss and noticed her lips lifting as well. When we parted, I held my hand to my lips. Lou giggled softly and held out her hand. I looked at her confused, but she just smiled. I felt her put her hand to my lips and rub lightly on the right side. She noticed me flinch slightly as she touched the bloated part.

"You have lipstick on your lips," she giggled.

I grinned and kissed her fingers, which were still on my mouth.

"That's just proof of how much I love you," I said.

She smiled and hugged me. I lay down on the sofa and she snuggled up to me. Shortly after, we were both asleep.

Louise POV

When I woke up again, I saw that it was already afternoon. Erik was still lying on the couch, asleep. His arm dangled from the backrest and his body slowly rose and fell. Gently, I stroked his cheek. He was starting to wake up.

"Lou?" he murmured.

"We need to wake the kids. And you'll want coffee, won't you?"

He grinned brightly. We went to the kids together and while Erik woke Josy and Basti, I was with Jere and Phia. Erik somehow always managed to carry two kids, something I never could. Josy put her finger to her daddy's lips.

"Can we sing today, Daddy? I would love to hear and see you sing."

I saw Erik's eyes widen and he looked at his daughter.

"You want to see that sing?", he asked, pointing to his lips.

"Yes, of course, Daddy. Why not?"

"Because of my lips. No one ever wanted to look at them. Let alone touch them."

Suddenly, however, Jere exclaimed: "Don't listen to anyone else's opinion, Papa! They are not as beautiful as you."

I saw Erik's eyes widen and he squatted in front of his son.

"Why would you call me beautiful, Jere?" he asked him.

"Because it's true, Daddy. You're special, and that's why you're beautiful."

Erik's eyes grew moist and he hugged his son with one arm.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Jere smiled, kissed his father on his disfigured cheek and whispered: "I love you, Daddy."

And he smiled and replied: "I love you, too."

As we walked into the living room, Basti was angling for his father.

"DADA!", he shouted loudly.

Erik set his daughter down and lifted his son into his arms. Immediately, Basti snuggled into his arms. When Sophia saw her brother, she loudly protested.

"DADA!"

I lifted her up with a smile and brought her to her father. She immediately snuggled up to him and looked at him with her stunning eyes, which were the same color as his. Meanwhile, I sat on the other side of the couch with my other two children while my husband was besieged. I smiled at him and he grinned. I saw Basti looking at him curiously and raised a small hand to his lips.

When he wasn't so gentle in one spot, Erik said: "Ow."

Immediately his son looked at him.

"Daddy ow?"

Erik smiled and shook his head.

"No, Papa doesn't have an ouch. But you have to be careful with Papa's lip so it doesn't get a boo-boo."

Now Jere looked at his father.

"Why do we have to be careful, Papa?"

"Well," Erik replied, "my lip is very sensitive. More sensitive than your mother's. And if you're not gentle, it can hurt me a lot."

Immediately Josy ran to him.

"I'll always be careful, Daddy," she said.

Jere immediately seized his other arm.

"Me too, Papa."

I joined to my husband and snuggled up to him as well.

"And I'll always be careful. Just like I always have been to your Papa, because I love him with all my heart."

I kissed him with all my love and he returned it. When we parted, we looked at each other with all the love in our eyes. And when we looked at our children, they also looked at us with all their love. And there was nothing more beautiful in the world.