"PUSH!"
The midwife knelt between Christine's legs, watching for the baby to emerge. Several months had passed since Erik's visit to the hospital, and since then he had been quite healthy. Now it was time for their second child to be born. "Go on, Christine! You must push harder!" The midwife encouraged, patting Christine's leg in a motherly fashion.
Erik stood beside Christine this time, holding her hand in his own and watching for the baby to emerge. He was far too curious to resist.
Christine cried out hoarsely and pushed, her teeth gritting as she felt sweat drip down her brow. "Oh God!" She pushed and made grunting noises, her face contorted in pain. "How much longer?!" She cried, panting heavily.
: The midwife looked with concern at Christine, and felt between her legs. "Oh honey, I don't know... just keep going, I'm sure your baby will come soon... just keep pushing, or you will loose him!"
Erik's eyes widened with fear, and he squeezed Christine's hand tightly. "You can do this, mon ange..." He whispered, kissing her brow. "Think of our sweet baby boy."
Christine's eyes went wide and she screamed as she pushed with all her might, grasping Erik's hand so tightly she thought she would brake his bones. "AAAAAaaarghhhhh!"
The midwife smiled broadly then, squeezing Christine's knee with pride. "Wonderful, I can see his head!" She exclaimed, and when she looked back down, her eyes widened and her face blanched. However, she continued her encouragement. "Good girl, just a bit more now."
Erik looked down eagerly, wanting to see his son's head, and he gasped at what he saw. However, he knew if Christine didn't push this baby free of her body, she would die. "Yes, Christine...! Almost!" He said lovingly, kissing her hand.
Christine threw her head back, gasping for air, and she hit a high B flat as she pushed her son the rest of the way out. She fell back onto the pillows, panting more heavily than she could ever remember, and she held on tight to Erik's hand. "Let me see my son!" She demanded, smiling and holding out her arms eagerly.
With shaking hands the nurse cut the cord, and gently wiped the baby off. She looked up at Erik. She knew why the man wore the mask, it did not upset or frighten her in the least. Would they make this boy wear one too? Wrapping him in blankets, she handed him to Erik, silently conveying her condolences. With tears in his eyes, he covered the baby's face, and went to his wife's side. "I'm so sorry...�
Christine looked at her like she was insane, and, fearing something had gone horribly wrong in her pregnancy and the baby had not made it alive, she clawed the blanket off him, wanting to at least see her son before they took him away to be buried. She uncovered his head and her eyes widened. She gazed into his mismatched eyes, one light blue and one very dark blue, and saw him turn his mouth toward her breast. She uncovered herself and fed him, still examining him. At last, she broke out into a smile, and looked up. "He's beautiful!" She exclaimed, and placed her free hand upon his head, stroking his hair lightly.
Tears fell silently from Erik's eyes, and he sobbed as he shook his head. "No... he's like me!" He wailed, dropping to the side of the bed and touching her cheek. "I'm so sorry... I've ruined him!"
Christine shushed him and tipped his chin up, wiping tears away from his face. "No, Erik, don't you see! Look at his eyes, his hair!" She gazed with adoration down at her son. He had a lot more than a smattering of dark brown curls, much like her own, and he had the cutest little nose she'd ever seen, in which case, he wasn't completely like Erik, because Erik had no nose. "Erik, look at your son, our son! He's all I could've asked for!"
Erik reached out and traced the tiny face, moving his fingertips over the twisted features of the side of the boys face, over his deformed lips, over the bit slightly lazy eye. Blinking a few times, he sighed, and withdrew his hand. "So that is what I looked like. And yet I am willing to bet mother never held me as you did. In fact, I suspect she flung me away at her first chance." Shaking his head lightly, Erik looked away. "I had so hoped this wouldn't happen, and yet I should have known... I was tempting fate, to believe one of our children would not turn out to look as I do..."
Christine pounded her fist on the bed angrily, and if she would've been standing she would've stomped her foot. "If you insult my son, Erik, you'll never come to bed again! You'll sleep in the kitchen!" She glared at him and softened her gaze as she ran a hand down her son's cheek. "He's our son, and you should be ashamed for the way you've acted. You talk of others treating you abhorrently, and now when it's your turn you do the same thing!" She snuggled closer to her baby. "I'm glad it happened. This child will be loved and honored, whether you like it or not." Those were her last words, and she settled into the bed, facing her newborn and snuggling close to him. "I love you," she whispered into his ear.
Erik sighed softly. "Don't you see, Christine... I do care for him. I pity him as well. No matter how much love we show him... the world is a much different place."
"Damn the world, Erik." She turned her fiery gaze upon him. "He will make a difference." She turned back to her son and cradled him carefully, watching him slowly close his eyes as she nursed him.
Looking down at the little boy, Erik gave his first soft smile. Reaching up, he removed his own mask, and traced his fingers over his face as he looked at the boy. "Well..." He chanced a glance to Christine and winked as he spoke. "At least the boy has a nose."
Christine rolled her eyes and looked down at her boy. "An adorable nose." She cooed at her son adoringly, and then murmured softly, "What to name you?"
Erik bit back the name that wanted to come out so badly, and instead coughed and shook his head. "Good question." He said weakly, looking down at the boy as an ironic smile slipped on his lips. You can't. Mother would turn in her grave! But the smile remained none the less.
Christine's eyebrow raised as she stole a glance at her husband. "What is so funny?" She questioned, wondering how he could go from being so upset to smiling. "Well?"
"Nothing." He said simply, touching first the boys nose, then his wife's. "He has your nose." He said softly, a smile on his lips.
Christine grinned. "He does? Well, he has my hair, as well. Maddy has yours." She reached out to stroke Erik's hair, but couldn't, and instead ran her hand down his arm. "What shall we
name him then, Erik? You acted as if you want one in mind..."
He shook his head lightly. "Oh, I just thought it would be... interesting... to name him for my father, is all... I was supposed to be named for him after all... until mother saw me, that is." He smirked, touching the good side of the boys face.
Christine raised an eyebrow. "Well?" She prodded gently, meeting Erik's hand with her own on the boy's face. "Charles, is it, mon ange?" She grinned and stroked his soft curls, his deep eyes now closed.
"Oh no no no, It was my mother's name that we gave Maddy. It would be unfair for us to use my fathers for our son, now. It is your turn." He insisted, meeting her eyes.
Christine gave a small smile and turned her head when Maddy rushed into the room, climbing up onto the bed by the baby and running her hand over his head softly. She studied him carefully and grinned at her mother. "What is his name, Mamma?"
Christine smiled and kissed her forehead, and then her son's forehead. "His name is Charles."
X
Erik walked through the house and toward the bedroom on the second floor with few slices of warm bread covered in butter for his wife. She was in bed right now with Charles, giving the boy his breakfast. A week had passed since the boys birth, and Erik was grateful that Christine had healed from the birthing. Gently he opened the door, and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Hello, my dear." He purred, kissing her gently. Looking down at Charles he gently touched the boys nose and sighed. "I suppose I shall have to look into making him a mask soon..."
Christine had been pleasant until he said that. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him, stopping in her slight rocking. "What did you just say? I must have misunderstood you, my love."
Erik winced at the tone his wife spoke in, but boldly said his words again, meeting her eyes. "I said 'I should look into making Charles a mask soon.' Not for around the house, mind you... but in public..." He shook his head slightly.
Christine glowered at him. "A mask? A mask for our son?!" She sat up a little bit straighter and laughed humorously. "Charles will wear no mask. You will make him no mask, do you understand me?" Of course it was unorthodox for a wife to play man of the house and wear the pants in the family, but she had vowed when this conversation would come, she would put it at ease quickly and sufficiently.
Erik stood and looked down at Christine with fire beginning to form in his eyes. "He will not be humiliated in public!" Erik exclaimed, hands forming into fists. "I will not have him on display like I was all those years ago! A feast for the eyes! His mask will be his protection from that! God hear me, I wish I'd been allowed to keep mine in that cage, stared at from all sides, all who wanted to see the living corpse!" He cried, turning from his wife to face the wall. "He will not be like me."
Christine gulped and blanched, and looked down at her little son, one tiny hand on her breast as she nursed him. "The mask will make him think he's unloved," she said quietly, but with still as much passion. "I won't have him wear one." She burned holes into Erik's back. "I never planned on him being in a cage, either." Charles's eyes had been droopy with oncoming sleep, but they quickly opened and he stared up at her sadly as if he knew what was going on, as if to say, "I'm sorry."
"Cage or no cage! His whole life will always feel like one!" Erik cried, rage in his voice as he turned to Christine again. "Does my mask make me feel unloved, Christine?! Is that why I hate to remove it?! No! My mask is my only defense! He will need it too! Unless you plan to hire private tutors for him? Never send him off to school? I would demand that very thing, except we haven't the money!" He cried, sinking down on the nearby chair. "My God I should have planned for this, set money aside... done something! Christine... he must have a mask, or he will be more lost than I was!"
Christine closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "Fine, Erik. Fine. But I swear to you that he will never wear a mask in front of us, in this house!" Noticing Charles had drifted off, unable to stay awake any longer, she set him down next to her on the bed and buttoned up her chemise, and sat up to push her hair off her shoulders. She was upset with Erik for making it seem that Charles was worse than he was. He was hardly as bad as Erik, and Erik she loved with all of her soul. Would he ever truly accept their son?
Erik sighed and looked at Christine then. He hadn't honestly expected to win, and he had a feeling that there would be trouble for the two of them ahead if he didn't talk to her now. Walking to his wife he sat down next to her. "Christine, I love him. That's why I want him protected, that is all... you understand that, don't you?"
Christine nodded half-heartedly and turned away from him, lying down on her side facing Charles. She watched him sleep, and lovingly stroked his face. She imagined a mask being there, covering his deformity, and she didn't like the idea of it. She hated people for always judging, and she was upset that so many people had treated Erik wrong. She was upset because she knew she couldn't control anything.
Erik sighed heavily. "You're angry with me now." He said balefully. "But I'm only doing what I know..." He sighed, running a hand over his face. "I've never raised a son like me... I'm running on instincts.. and all I know is what I've experienced. And I know that without my mask I would have probably been killed long ago." He stated simply. "Maybe I'm wrong though, Christine. Charles wont be living on his own like I did..." He sighed, pounding the bed with an angry fist. "I just don't know! I don't want to do wrong by him, God knows I had enough wrong done by me. But what if I make the wrong choice and he ends up hating me like I hated mother?" His voice became soft, haunted. "If Charles hated me, I wouldn't want to live... for if people like he and I cannot understand
one another, how can we ever hope that other people will understand us?"
Christine turned and grasped his face in her hands, bringing her own close to his. "If we always considered buts and ifs, how would any of us ever live without being paranoid?" She sighed and lay on her back, her fingers knitting into the front of her chemise. "He won't wear the mask around us, just as you do not around me." She took a deep breath and exhaled. "I have already seen the signs I saw in Maddy that shows he is very smart. He will know things early in life, and when he knows, he can make his own decision. And we will be there for him every step of the way. That's all we can do."
Erik nodded sadly, laying beside his wife as well and curling against her. "I apologize for shouting before." He said softly, sliding his arms around her waist. "I should not have let my temper get away with me."
Christine ran her fingers through his dark hair, sighing. "Do not apologize to me, Erik, when you have no reason for it. I understand that you want to keep Charles safe from the world that treated you so wickedly." She turned her head and kissed his forehead. "I love you."
Erik gave a sleepy murmur as he cuddled closer to his wife, burrowing his face into her neck and exhaling greatly. "I love you too, Christine." He whispered, letting his eyes slide closed.
X
Maddy chattered away as she led Meg from the foyer into the sitting room. "And he's my baby brother and if you try to take him away I will put you to sleep!" She jumped giddily and let go of Meg's hand, running to jump onto the couch by her mother. She kissed her brother's head and cooed at him like she'd seen Christine do many times. "Aunt Meg, Aunt Meg, he's awake!"
Christine smiled to Meg and motioned for her to come forward. "I'd let you hold him, but you may drop him," she said uneasily and she revealed the baby to those all around her now that her final guest had arrived. She spoke loudly so that Meg, Jean Claude, Nadir, and Marie could hear her clearly. "This is our son--" "--And my brother--" "And Maddy's little brother, Charles."
Marie gasped and looked to Erik. "Charles?" She questioned, her voice shaking. His mother would roll over in her grave!
Erik smirked. "Yes, Charles." He stated simply.
Nadir and Meg both looked down at the boy, Meg with wide eyes and pale face, and Nadir with something between sadness and a bit of pride as well.
: Jean Claude studied him for a moment with a sturdy jaw before smirking and lifting the boy out of Christine's arms. "Well he fits into your family of angels perfectly!" he announced, and smiled as Maddy jumped onto the edge of the couch. "That's my brother!" She told everyone, beaming. She turned and climbed onto the back of the couch to jump into her father's arms. "He has Mamma's hair!" She shouted, pointing to Christine.
Erik swung Maddy about a bit, before placing a swift kiss to her forehead and setting her to the floor. "And no need to shout, mon petite ange." He reminded his daughter, before looking down to his son with a smile.
Christine reached to take Charles out of Jean Claude's arms, appreciative of her uncle's acceptance. How she loved her uncle. She patted the space next to her on the couch, motioning for Meg to sit down. Maddy climbed up on the other side, grinning wide as she stroked her brother's curls.
Meg sat down nervously and continued to peer at the boy. She reached out cautiously and touched his face, and her eyes widened as she gave a squeak of surprise when a tiny hand grasped her finger and pulled it to his mouth, suckling on it. "He's adorable!" She exclaimed, grinning.
Christine was relieved. She placed the baby in Meg's arms and then sat Maddy on her lap, watching her giggle at Charles wanting to eat Meg's finger. Christine wondered how Nadir felt about all this, and she smiled brightly up at him and then gazed back down at the baby.
Nadir grinned at Christine then. "I am very proud of you and Erik both, for being so calm with him." He said softly. "I know this must have been hard for Erik... it stands as a testimate to your control over his anger, for him to look so lovingly upon the boy now." He looked down in an almost fatherly way to the boy. "He's already a charmer." He said with a wink.
Christine laughed and nodded. "I know. Look at his flirtatious ways toward his Aunt Meg!" She grinned up at Erik. "He gets that from his father, trust me." Maddy tilted her head to the side. "Flirtachios Papa!" She giggled and nodded. "Papa is flirtachois!" She stuck her tongue out at him teasingly, giggling.
Erik gave Christine a hard look at her words, and winced when Maddy began to tease him. "Do you know what that word means, dearest?" He asked his sweet daughter. "It means that I send naughty little girls to bed early." He teased, and winked at her.
Maddy clamped her mouth shut and fidgeted in her mother's lap as Christine turned her head to raise an eyebrow at Erik's words, and she gave him a seductive pout before turning back to chat with Meg. Maddy broke out into a bright smile then and climbed over the back of the couch to leap into his arms again. "You love me too much to do that, Papa!"
Erik grinned and held his daughter close to his body, cuddling her gently. "Of course I do." He said gently, sitting on the chair and holding her in his lap.
Christine took the baby from Meg and sent her a line about how she was flirting too much with him, and then handed him to Nadir. "He's your new best friend," she spoke to Charles, and grinned over her shoulder at Erik. "You'll be spending a lot of time with Uncle Nadir and Uncle Jean Claude, so best you get to know them now."
Erik chuckled, setting Maddy to the floor and walking to lift Christine into the air with a grin. Sitting in her spot, he then let her slide back down and onto his lap. "Ah... now this is my favorite person to sit on my lap." He teased, kissing her cheek lovingly.
Nadir smiled as he held the baby, and he looked down into Charles' face with a grin. "Hello there, little fellow."
Maddy folded her arms across her chest and shrugged, instead choosing to sit on Meg's lap. She settled herself in the dancer's lap and grinned at her father. "This is my favor to sit on!" She wrapped her arms around Meg's lap and laid her head on her shoulder.
Christine laughed at Maddy and spoke to Erik, "I wish she would show me nearly as much affection as she shows Meg!"
Erik laughed at Christine's words, cuddling her closer. "That's because you are her mother." He teased, tickling her sides playfully.
Christine couldn't help herself, and she was sure her friends and family around her were used to their public displays of affection, so she said softly in his ear, "Well at least I love you to love me..." She captured his lips in hers in a deep kiss, holding the back of his head so that he could not pull away.
Erik gave a small sigh as he kissed her back, grasping her shoulders in his hands and kissing her back firmly. He could feel his desire mounting just at this kiss, and he lifted his hips just a little bit against Christine's bottom, trying to show her his need.
Nadir groaned when they began to kiss, shaking his head. "Not again..." He murmured, rolling his eyes and smirking at Jean Claude and Marie.
Jean Claude was beginning to get uncomfortable. He and Marie had just done the same thing the previous night. She gave him a knowing smile and said softly, "It's getting late, perhaps we should go on home." Her eyes went wide and she began to explain frantically. "I mean, Jean Claude will go to his home and I to mine.... and such. You know how that goes." She blushed and waved. "I'll be in the foyer!"
Christine turned in Erik's lap so that her hips were pressed against his, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. She didn't even hear as Jean Claude said goodbye, she didn't even have any conscious thought except Erik's lips on hers.
Nadir raised an eyebrow at Marie's frantic explanations and he laughed richly. "Oh ho! So there is something between the two of you!" He called after Jean Claude.
Erik gave an almost inaudible whimper as he moved his hips against Christine's again, and finally he pulled away from her mouth, gasping for breath. "That... was the most sound kiss I believe I have ever received." He stated, eyes wide. He looked around in confusion then. "Where did Jean Claude and Marie go?"
Nadir laughed richly. "Marie made a bit of a slip... seems she and Jean Claude have moved in together..." He said with a grin.
Meg giggled at the whole ordeal, blushing a little from seeing her best friend and her husband kiss, and sighed as she looked to the clock.
Maddy shook her head. "They live together before Charles was born!" She grinned and curled her fingers in Meg's hair, and then examined her own hair with a giggle.
Christine was flustered, and truly aroused from just his lips. She shivered and grabbed his head to her again, not really knowing or caring what she was doing. Everyone else could leave; this was their house! She ran her tongue along Erik's lower lip and moaned almost inaudibly, her hips moving forward just a tad.
Erik gasped, kissing her back with every ounce of passion he felt at that moment, then forced himself to withdraw his lips for a moment to look pleadingly at Nadir. "It appears I'm about to be accousted... could you take Maddy and Charles to the music room perhaps?" He begged.
Nadir nodded, and looked to Meg, who stood with Maddy in her arms. "Come Maddy... I'll teach you some more ballet." She said gently, and carried the girl from the room. Nadir gave Erik a wink before taking off after Meg swiftly and closing the french doors behind them.
Christine pushed Erik back on the couch, pushing open his suit jacket and leaning down to nip at his neck. She moved her lips to his earlobe and nibbled it gently as she ran her hands down his chest and began to unbutton his shirt.
Erik groaned deeply, moving his own hands to the ties of Christine's dress, and whimpering as he began to pull it down her arms. His entire body trembled in need, and he moved his face to catch Christine's lips with his own.
Christine moaned deeply and sat up once again, her hair flipped to land down her back. She was able to pull her dress off, but in the frustrating war with her chemise, she decided finally to just hike it up around her thighs. She ripped Erik's shirt open with superhuman force and ran her hands down and into his pants, her fingers brushing against his manhood. "Touch me, Erik!" She rasped, and undid his pants as fast as she could, and jerked them down his hips.
Erik gave a cry of passion when Christine touched him, and he brought one hand down to side along her thigh, and the other hand grasped the back of her head, bringing her mouth to his and kissing her with a bruising force. His questing fingers reached their destination and he pressed his fingers against her womanhood eagerly, sliding them across her heated flesh and teasing her opening.
Marie walked into the sitting room, having forgot her purse, and she stopped dead in her tracks as she saw husband and wife becoming very intimate indeed right on the couch. Christine mooned her from where she was standing, and she gasped and turned away. Looking back only once to scan for her purse, she saw it lying on the table right in front of them. She gulped and moved forward slowly, not wanting to disturb the two.
She jumped as Christine cried out and watched in amazement as Christine tugged Erik's hand away and lowered herself onto his manhood. Marie blushed; Erik was blessedly endowed. Christine began to roll her hips against Erik's, crying out as he moved deep within her. Marie gasped and grabbed her purse, and ran from the sitting room, casting one last glance back and then grinning as she sped toward the hansom Jean Claude was waiting for her. "Oh, Jean, honey... I have an idea..."
Erik had wonderful hearing. He was well aware of their audience as soon as Marie entered the room, but to save both her and his wife embarrassment, he chose to ignore the fact and continued to make bold love to his wife, first with his fingers, then with his manhood. Now that Marie was gone, he flipped Christine beneath his body, grasping her wrists and thrusting powerfully within her as he held her hands high above her head. "Christine..." He groaned, nibbling at her neck and moaning almost constantly.
Christine mewed beneath him, her eyes closed and her body moving in time with his. "Erik!" She moaned loudly, her chemise now sticking to her perspirated flesh. She sought his mouth and nipped teasingly at his lip before kissing him passionately, and moving her hips hard against his, whimpering in the back of her throat.
Erik thrust harder and harder within his wife then, unable to stop his great gasps of pleasure as he drew closer and closer to his release, and he growled low in his throat as he kissed Christine with a possessiveness he had never felt before. "Mine..." He growled when his lips broke from hers, and he set his mouth to her neck then, nipping and suckling at her skin, determined to leave a mark to prove his ownership.
Christine cried out and managed to smirk at his actions. "Yes, Erik, yes, claim me and mark me," she gasped out, squeezing his shoulders. "Show me I'm yours!" She squeezed her legs around his waist, feeling herself so incredibly close to her pinnacle of pleasure. She nibbled at his jaw and moved as hard as she could against him.
Erik moaned deeply at her encouragement, biting her skin swiftly, before kissing her lips with an unequaled passion and thrusting hard within her over and over. He slid a hand down to tease her womanhood, and his other hand unbuttoned the front of her chemise. Within a matter of seconds his lips were attached to a breast, and he suckled eagerly, moaning when he tasted her milk flowing into his mouth and moving his hips and his other hand passionately against her.
Christine cried out hoarsely and arched her back, feeling herself tighten around her husband. She held his head as she continued to move, even after she had been shuddering from the after effects. She panted and became determined to have another release, her body tingling erotically. She moaned continuously, and then shouted his name as she unexpectedly released again, trembling once more.
Erik whimpered against her breast, thrusting only a few more times after her second release before finding his own, and he groaned deeply, unexpectedly clamping his teeth down on Christine's nipple and whimpering as he trembled himself. Resting against his wife, he continued to suckle at her breast, glancing up at her and winking.
Christine sighed as she made it past her pants, and she smiled down at him. "That was fabulous..." She whispered, stroking her fingers down her back and smiled happily.
Erik finally drew his lips from her breast and sighed softly, resting his head on her chest. "That it was." He mumbled, stretching out across her a bit better and nuzzling his face against her chest in an attempt to get a bit closer. "You'll want to wear a dress with a collar for a bit." He said with a smirk.
Christine smirked and slid her hand over his hair. "Really? I would think that you'd want everyone to know how I belong to!" She grinned and pulled his head up to hers. "Can I give you a mark, Erik? After all, I don't want women swarming around on my husband..."
Erik arched an eyebrow at Christine's words. "I don't exactly think they would swarm, my dear..." He said softly, and stroked her cheek. "But if you'd like to..." He grinned then and nuzzled her cheek.
Christine turned to push him on his back. "Lay down, then," she whispered seductively. "There's many moves Meg can teach Maddy before we'll have to part." She grinned and lowered her mouth to his neck.
Chapter Twenty One