Hello my friends. A new chapter is finished. I'm so happy that I was able to update. I'm really proud of myself. And in this chapter we have two wonderful events. I need to say that I'm really in love with the children. They're so cute and lovable. I hope y'all like this chapter and see you next week.

Greetings Petit Erik


Erik POV

Today was the day. The third couple would get married today. The children were very excited as usual. Lou helped them get dressed while I was in the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror, washed my face, applied a nourishing cream and combed through my few hair, some of which were knotted. I combed through it carefully until all the knots were out. From the bedroom I heard loud giggling. I stuck my head out and saw Phia bouncing around in her cute dress. I smiled and my little girl waved at me. With a bright smile, I returned her wave. She beamed and bounced happily to me.

"What are you doing, Daddy?", she asked me curiously, looking at me.

"I'm making myself normal, you might say beautiful, for Uncle Raoul and Aunt Christine's wedding."

"But you're already beautiful, Papa," she replied.

"Thank you, angel. I'm so glad you think so. But you're beautiful, too."

My daughter's cheeks reddened. I smirked, applied my perfume, and went into the bedroom to put on my clothes as well. Lou was wearing a long, dark blue dress with rhinestones. Now whoever says I spoil my wife; yes, I know. But she deserved it. Just for loving me, the deformed phantom of the opera, she deserves all the treasure in the world. She wore blue heeled shoes with that beautiful dress and had curled her hair again. She had it up and a few curls fell out of her elaborate braid. It looked beautiful. And as always, she was wearing my silver jewelry. I was especially happy about that.

I got my suit on, tied my neckerchief as I always wore it when I was the Phantom, and looked at myself in the mirror. I was reluctant to steal the groom's thunder, although that would hardly be possible. While Raoul was beautiful, I was... oh, you know what I mean. We were all dressed, grabbed and everything we needed, went to the car and drove off. Of course, I had fed Ayesha beforehand. And when, she could always go outside through the cat flap.


After 30 minutes we arrived at the church. The children hopped out of the car while Lou and I got out. I took her hand and I saw most of the members of the opera were there too. Meg held Aaron's hand tightly and they both waved at us. We waved back and beamed at them. We made our way together and when we arrived at the church, my family and I went to the front of the front row. We sat down and the kids fidgeted excitedly. Soon the groom arrived. He greeted everyone in the church and when he arrived at our house, I stood up and embraced him in a brotherly hug.

When I read my book, I never thought that there would be such enmity between the Viscount and me. I really could not imagine it. He was like a younger brother to me. He also greeted Lou and the children and then stood in front. I could see how nervous he was. Soon Christine arrived and we all stood up. She looked beautiful and I immediately noticed tears coming to my eyes. She almost floated down the aisle beaming at all of us. When she arrived at the front, Meg, who was her bridesmaid, took off her bouquet. The children were excited and watching closely. Christine and Raoul had tears running down their cheeks.

Then they turned to us and the priest called out: "I present to you Vicomte and Vicomtesse de Chagny!"

We all jumped up and applauded the happily married couple. The children also clapped their little hands and smiled brightly.


We made our way to the pub and celebrated all together there. I was already loving teasing Christine with her new title. I knew Raoul hated it when I called him by his title but I enjoyed it. Lou always rolled his eyes at this, but also smiled. As we partied together, there were also many games played that we laughed heartily at. Then in the evening Raoul and Christine danced their first dance together as a married couple.

When the dance floor was opened for everyone, I danced together with my Lou. The kids, Nadir and Antoinette, and of course Meg and Aaron danced together. When we were all done, Christine asked me if I could dance with her. I nodded with a smile and led her in a dance as well. Meanwhile, Lou was dancing with Raoul. And while Antoinette danced with Aaron, Meg did so with Nadir.

Of course, many from the opera were there again, for all had taken Christine to their hearts. Even the prima donna liked her very much, quite unlike Carlotta. The young soprano was very happy about that. Marius grinned broadly and I returned his grin with my own. I loved this company more than anything. They accepted me as I was. That was a wonderful feeling. I realized how much they accepted me on my birthday.


Eriks 30th birthday

My Lou always surprised me. On my birthday she woke me up with breakfast in bed and then the children came into the room and congratulated me with beaming faces. I hugged them all and thanked them overjoyed. Later that day we all went swimming together. I was a little unsure about my face at first but Lou calmed me down. I really thought we were going to an indoor pool at first. My wonderful wife laughed and told me that we would. My face lost all color.

"Lou? But what...what am I...doing about this?", I stammered, gesturing to my deformed cheek.

"I saw you still have a skin-colored mask, right?"

I merely nodded.

"Maybe you can put that one on instead of your white one. And your wig to go with it. We'd just have to explain it to the kids. Don't worry, angel. I'm with you," she said and kissed me.

I took a deep breath, nodded, and together we started packing the swimming gear. I explained to the children that I had to wear my mask now and in the pool and that they should please not try to take it off. They promised me very firmly and off we went. About 15 minutes later we arrived. I grabbed the little ones while Lou followed us with the big ones. We paid for some time, took off our shoes and I went into a booth with my sons while Lou went into one next to us with our daughters. I handed them their bathing suits over the cubicle wall and I helped my young son get dressed while Jere could already do it on his own.

When my wife assured me they were ready, I opened the door to our locker room and together we looked for a locker to put our things in. Except for our bath towels and soaps. I went back to the showers with my sons and we showered off. Soon after, our girls joined us as well. We went to the non-swimmer pool and we each took two kids in our arms. It may have turned out a little silly but we didn't care. Besides, I wanted to teach my big kids how to swim. Thus, we went to the area where our almost 5 year old kids could stand. They stood by Lou, who still had the little ones on her arm, and I showed my big ones the swimming strokes. This went on for some time. After two hours our time was up again and we headed home.

After we arrived, I declared that I had to go to the bathroom and immediately ran. When I got there, I took off my clothes and ripped off my mask and wig. Then I stood under the shower and let the water trickle into my real hair and onto my now uncovered face. It felt wonderful. I stood under it for about 15 minutes and then dried off. I suddenly heard a knock at the door.

"Daddy?", asked Jere.

"Yes?"

"Are you coming? Mommy is making lunch."

"Yes, I'm coming."

I carefully dabbed my face, hung up the bath towel, applied my cream and combed my hair. Then I opened the door and went into the kitchen, where I saw my wife and children. Basti ran up to me and clung to my leg. I beamed at him and lifted him up. My son snuggled up to me and explored my cheek. We all ate together and my little princess waved her fork at me. I waved back and she beamed. For the rest of the day, my kids were glued to me.

"Next week we'll celebrate," Lou said to me.

"What?"

"Well, your birthday."

"My...birthday?"

"Yes. And this one will be celebrated big. 30 is something special. And you only turn 30 once. I've already invited a lot of people. And the restaurant is already booked, too."

"What, that much? Just for me?"

"Of course, just for you. All just for you."

Tears streamed down my cheeks.

"Oh thank you, Lou. Thank you," I said and hugged her.

She hugged me too, kissed me on the head and stroked my hair. This was the best birthday ever. Or so I thought. The following Saturday, the restaurant was jam-packed. Everyone from the opera, Lou's family, my friends and of course my own little family was there. My kids looked so cute as always and my wife like a queen. I got lots of gifts, something I never thought I would get. Lou's parents gave us something special.

"A spa weekend in the Harz Mountains with admission to the spa and hotel," I breathed in disbelief.

Then I looked at my in-laws with wide eyes. Tears ran down my cheeks and I hugged them both.

"Thank you. But what about the kids?", I asked.

"You have in-laws, right? And the kids love us. So you have a nice weekend with our Louise and the kids stay with their grandparents."

My eyes were still huge and the tears were still flowing. I thanked them again and they beamed at me. This was a wonderful birthday gift and I was looking forward to experiencing it with my Lou soon.


Louise POV

The wedding of Christine and Raoul was beautiful. We had all enjoyed it and we celebrated for a long time. In between Nadir had brought our children home to put them to sleep. But we didn't get home too late either. We got changed, I removed my makeup and then snuggled into bed with Erik.

"When do we actually want to go on our trip, angel?", he asked me.

"What trip?", I asked, confused.

"The one your parents gave me for my birthday."

"Oh. I kind of forgot about that one. Well, it's Ascension Day soon. And after that is Pentecost. Do you want to go there that weekend? That we'll take the kids to Mom and Dad's beforehand, and then we'll go afterwards?"

"That's a wonderful idea, dear. We really must do that."

This then took place. On the Friday before Pentecost, we left. We explained to the children that they were going to Grandma and Grandpa's for a weekend. They were excited about it but asked us where Erik and I were going. We explained everything to them calmly and understandably and then we drove off. Erik had his skin-colored mask on again and of course his wig again. We also had a small suitcase packed for us. We drove about 1 hour. When we arrived at my parents home, we were greeted joyfully and our kids had immediately run to their grandparents. I hugged mom and dad and Erik did the same. We said goodbye to the kids and my parents and then left.


About 2.5 hours we drove until we were there.

"Oh, it's beautiful here," Erik enthused as he pulled the car into the parking lot.

"Yes, isn't it? We've got plenty of time. Let's get the luggage put away first and then we can go visit my aunt with pleasure. What do you say?"

"No objections, angel," he replied and kissed me.

We got the key to our room and took our luggage there. The room was wonderful and Erik was excited anyway. Nothing could upset him anymore. When we had everything put away, we headed to my aunt's house. When we got there, we were greeted warmly. I had last seen her on Erik's 30th birthday. So it was nice to finally see them again. They asked us how long we would stay there and if we would come for dinner tonight. We agreed but decided not to come too early because I still wanted to show Erik a lot. We said goodbye again and I showed Erik around. We went to the Bode Valley and I led him to the cable car that would go up to the Hexentanzplatz. We bought a ticket and soon got on a cable car. It was a green one with a glass bottom. Erik was totally thrilled. He looked down often and also outside the window.

"Whew. This goes up pretty high here," he chuckled.

I grinned. He was like a little boy looking at a mountain of presents in front of him. When we got to the top, we walked to the railing and Erik looked down into the valley.

"Wow," he breathed, impressed.

I stood next to him and looked down as well.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Definitely."

We turned our backs to the railing, and I took my cell phone and snapped a selfie of the two of us. Erik smiled brightly and I sent it to the family group. A heart-eyed emoji came back from my mom. I smiled and Erik just grinned. We went for a walk first and enjoyed our time together. Just the two of us together. When we took the cable car back down, I got Erik to take the chairlift up to the Roßtrappe. We were also there for a short time and then went back down to the valley. Finally, we treated ourselves to a nice soft ice cream and then headed back home; our hands clasped together.