The Phantom gently opened the master bedroom door and closed it behind him. He noticed the oil lamp lit on his wife's night stand. Assuming she was still awake, he started talking, "Just finished discussing the winter care plan I kept for the park with Gustave and Rose. I truly believe Rose is going to be the one running the park. I am so glad Arthur spent the day working on his art. The other three drained me today."
He unbuttoned his waistcoat, "Rose is going to make a wonderful wife for our son. They are so balanced, yet at the same time she's bringing Gustave back to who he used to be."
At that very moment, Christine let out a sob.
"Oh Angel, don't cry. I thought you'd grown quite fond of Rose. You seem to like her more now than her mother."
"Of course she's going to be a wonderful wife," she continued to sob. "He needs one after the terrible mother I have been."
"What the Devil are you talking about?" Erik removed his waistcoat and sat it on the chair before walking over to Christine. He sat down on the bed. "You are a wonderful mother."
She held her arms tight around her pillow, eyes wide and red looking out and not at him, "No I am not! A good mother would have known her one daughter was so infatuated with a man! She threw herself at him, Erik! Wrapped her legs around him as she kissed him! Somebody probably saw them!" Christine buried her face into the pillow and whimpered.
"Angel, Angel please!" Erik caressed her shoulder. "Neither of us can help this. She is changing. Her body sending her feelings she's never had before. And we both know I have always allowed her to indulge her whims."
"But I as her mother should have been there to educate her about giving into such feelings! The damage it does to your reputation." Christine sat back up. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"All these years and you still hide this pain from me?" Erik reached over and used his thumb to wipe her cheeks. "You put on the brave face and it is mostly true but deep down there is always a part of you that sinks when they say oh what a colorful life you have lived. All the accolades, all the money but you will never be their equal."
"Oh Erik, you say that like I regret my life!"
"No, I say it as it's not the life you want for Charlotte and you see yourself failing from preventing it. But you're not failing. I am at fault in this as well."
"But what about Matilda?"
"No. We're not done discussing Charlotte," Erik caressed her cheek before coiling her hair around his fingers.
"What more is there to say?" The Soprano leaned into her husband's hand. "My little girl is now a young woman. I hope that school can help but I do want some more alone time with her. Maybe really explain what it meant when it was discovered that Gustave was your son. Oh how this makes me sound like a prude; how I am going to inflict beliefs onto her I do not agree with."
"You can sound like a prude all you want for the good of our daughter, but we both know you're my little minx!" Erik ran his hand down from her hair to the buttons on the front of her nightgown. His other hand quickly joined making short work of undoing the buttons.
"Erik no!" Christine slapped his hands.
The Angel of Music let himself fall on to of his wife. He latched his mouth onto one of breasts and sucked hard. Her nipples peaked instantly as a gasped escaped her lips.
He pulled away the removal of the suction creating a smacking sound, "Oh how I do miss your cream, Angel. Shall we try to create another baby? I know nothing has happened since Arthur…but maybe that just means we have to…" He pushed his groin into hers, allowing her to feel he was semi-erect. "When was the end of your last menses?" He pushed into her again as he whispered into her, "I'm still viable, maybe we just haven't hit the correct time."
Christine laughed, "You are being ridiculous!" Running her fingers through the gray toughs of his hair she smiled large at him, "Thank you." He leaned down and kissed her passionately as his fingers found their way to the peaked nipples. Erik pinched them tightly causing Christine to moan into his mouth. She wrapped her legs around his frame pushing her loins into his erection growing firmer. Just as fast as the interlude started it vanished with a pounding at the bedroom door.
"Mother! Father! Please help! Help!"
Erik groaned as he rolled off his wife, "And there's the fourth one!"
Christine fumbled to button up her nightgown as she headed to the bedroom door and opened it, "Oh yes, Arthur, dear what is the matter?"
"It was awful! This big scary man smashing everything at Phantasma and then he started chasing me!" The little boy whimpered holding his stuffed giraffe and little blanket tighter.
"Oh dear, you just had a bad dream, come here," Christine bent down and picked him up. She struggled just a little as he was getting to be too old to be picked up but it was just a short distance to the bed. "That was just a bad dream, that big scary man can't hurt you. But tonight, for extra protection you can sleep with Daddy and I."
Arthur bounced up and down on the bed where he sat. "Oh how wonderful! I will be safe in-between Mother and Father!" He crawled into the middle spot of the bed and made himself comfortable.
Christine smirked as she caught Erik roll his eyes as he got up.
"Where are you going, Father?"
"I need a little cold water and change before your mother and I can join you in sleeping." As he walked around the bed he stopped and kissed Christine on the forehead, "See you are a good mother."