You will be leaving tomorrow morning," Erik said. Both Raoul and Meg nodded. Raoul had insisted that Meg and her mother come with him, that as soon as he and Meg were married they would be moving into his estate in Paris to start their new life. Anthony, too, was anxious to get going because he desperately wanted to get back to Sienna, who still had no idea if he was alive or dead. Erik felt dead at the moment. He had never been so confused in his life. He had no idea what to do with Christine and it was killing him. Perhaps some time away from her was the best thing, although it was not very appealing to Erik. Separating himself from her felt like he was avoiding the situation, and he did not want that, he wanted to fix the problem, not make it worse. Sighing he walked back to his and Christine's room and pushed open the door with a weary sigh...only to find that Christine was not there. Deciding not to panic Erik looked around the room. Her bags were all gone. Time to panic.
"Christine! Christine!"
Bolting from the room Erik ran into the foyer to find Nadir standing in front of the fire place, staring into the flames.
"Where is Christine?" the masked man demanded. Nadir turned to look at him with sorrow in his eyes.
"She's gone, Erik...and I highly recommend that you go after her."
Erik muttered several curses as he pulled his cloak tightly about himself. Christine had left on foot so he knew that she could not have gotten far. There was only one road to take to get to the village and he knew he would find her somewhere along it. He knew that everything that had been happening could not be healthy for her or the baby and he was beginning to worry. It was a rather chilly night and the last thing Christine needed was a cold! God, nothing had been going like Erik had planned, nothing. And Christine running off did not help matters much either. It was this impulsiveness that he was trying to get across to her that could get her in trouble!
"No, no, no!"
He heard her before he saw her and she did not sound particularly happy. Silently he made his way towards her, not wanting her to see him just yet. What he saw brought a smile to his lips even though now was not the most perfect of times to be smiling. Christine was staring angrily at the sight before her. Her satchel had split open and all of her belongings were lying in the dirt. Some very nice clothes that were now ruined were in the mud and Christine appeared to be fuming.
She was muttering several curses under her breath and as Erik continued to watch she stomped on her clothes angrily, muttering more curses. Erik's smile grew, forgetting, just for a brief moment, all of his troubles. Christine bent down and with angry arms picked up some of the items of clothing and threw them away from her. She crossed her arms after a moment and huffed in agitation. It seemed nothing wanted to go her way. Several minutes later her anger seemed to dissolve and she sat down on the ground. She laid her hand on her stomach and shook her head sadly.
"I hope you do not have my temper, or Erik's, that would not do you any good," Christine murmured down at her stomach. Erik remained in the shadows, entranced with his wife sitting there talking to their child. She continued to talk softly, no one else in the world at that moment except for her and the baby.
"And do not be a twit like I am, when someone tells you to do something, do as they say, it is for your own good," Christine said. "I want you to be intelligent, like your father, make him proud of you. I would never tell your Papa this but I do hope you are a boy...it would make him happy, no matter what I have done I do want him happy."
Erik smiled when she said she wanted the baby to be a boy but his smile quickly turned to a frown. He knew she wanted him to be happy, he never doubted that, it was her actions that caused him to question everything.
"When I met your father, little one, I thought he was rather frightening at first, because he does have that sort of aura about him. Slowly, however, I came to realize that like the mask he wears on his face, he wears his anger like a mask to hide the real man he is underneath. He is afraid of getting hurt, I realize that...I am afraid too, but it is hurting me so much the way he continues to turn away from me-"
"Christine..."
She turned to look at him in surprise and disbelief. Erik had not been able to hear any more because he was afraid of what else she might say. He did not want to hurt her, and it seemed like he was doing that anyways. Christine scrambled to her feet and tried to wipe away some of the tears she was beginning to shed.
"You were not supposed to come after me," she whispered brokenly. Erik stared at her a moment.
"You do not want me to come after you?" he wondered. Christine shook her head helplessly.
"You are making it worse!" she cried softly. Erik frowned. It seemed that they were going to be having their talk sooner than he had anticipated, but perhaps it was all for the best? But at the moment he had no idea what his wife was talking about.
"Christine, what are you talking about?" he asked, still frowning. Christine put a hand to her stomach, as if looking for strength before she began to speak.
"I would not be able to stand watching you walk away from me," she whispered. Now he knew what this was all about.
"I did not ever plan on walking away from you," Erik said. Christine's eyes found his, disbelieving.
"You said you wished to separate," she replied. Erik sighed and nodded and Christine turned away from him. He really did not want to talk about all of this!
"I thought it best if we had some time apart, Christine," he said. Christine turned to him angrily, putting her hand on her stomach almost desperately.
"If you no longer love me there is nothing I can do to change that, but do not punish this baby for my actions! He deserves to know his father!" she cried. Erik took a step back from the tone in her voice and what she was saying. Not love her? Where in the world had she come up with this nonsense? He approached her angrily, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her just a little.
"I do not ever want to hear you say that again! Do you hear me? Ever!" he growled. Christine stared up at him, her gaze never once wavering from his.
"Say what?" she demanded.