APRIL 1916

Gustave,

While I am sure that William has already received a letter or will be receiving one soon from his mother and father about this, I thought that I would write one of my own for you. Enclosed with this letter is a photograph of a baby girl, which I am sure you have stumbled across already. In that case, I would like to introduce you to Elizabeth Rose Edwards, who was born on the twenty-sixth of April. Congratulations are in order for William for becoming an older brother, so please pass those sentiments on to him for me. Both Madeleine and Elizabeth are happy and healthy, and Charles is doing fine, though his hand is a bit bruised from helping his wife through her labour. All in all, everything is running as smoothly as it can here, and we all could not be more thrilled to finally have this little one with us. We cannot wait for the two of you to come home and finally meet her; I just know you are going to love her.

Do write soon. I hope all is well.

- Your Father

~

ERIK

It was the early morning when my doorbell rang, tearing me from my thoughts. I had been trying to plan out my day in my mind, knowing that Nadir had to work for once, which gave me the day to myself.  My architectural business was positively booming, leaving the phone constantly ringing and an ever growing stack of commissions on my desk. Besides that, I had an upcoming lunch with Lara to get ready for, and I had to make time to go visit Madeleine and Charles in the hospital. Charles had phoned me when his wife had gone into labour and again once she had delivered a healthy baby girl. I had told myself that I was going to make it to the hospital, but the more times I said that the more often an obstacle arose. I hated that I hadn't gotten around to going to see them and to check up on Maddie, but life kept getting in the way in the form of my clients and there wasn't much I could do.

"Alright, alright," I said to myself, briskly walking to the front door when the bell rang a second and then a third time. Not quite sure who could be calling on me with such persistence, I opened the door with a frown, only for it to disappear when I saw who was on my front porch. "Maddie, Charles! What are you doing here? I thought you were still at the hospital, you said you weren't getting checked out until tomorrow."

"Yes, well, we got let out early for good behaviour," Charles joked as he gave me a handshake. "So we figured we would stop by and say hello."

"Well, I'm glad to see the two of you. I'm sorry that I couldn't make it to the hospital; I truly wanted to, but life seemed intent on preventing that." I turned to Maddie then and gave her a warm smile. "How are you feeling, Madeleine?"

"I'm doing well, considering all that happened. But Erik, I believe you are forgetting to greet the newest member of the family. Say hello to Elizabeth," Maddie said, smiling as she moved her hand to push the blankets held in her arms away from her newborn daughter's face.

I looked down at the bundle in her arms, wondering how I had managed to miss the baby that she was holding. I was so accustomed to only seeing Maddie and Charles that I wasn't quite used to the idea of someone else joining them when they came to my house. Looking at the child, I couldn't help but smile at her round little cheeks and the little layer of red hair on her head that so closely resembled her mother's.

As I gawked at the child, I started to curse myself for making the three of them stand out on the front step. "My God, what sort of host am I? Come in, please. It's been cold and damp, I don't want any of you to catch cold," I said, stepping to the side so they could walk into the front foyer. "Come and get comfortable. Then I'll greet your new little one."

Maddie smiled at me, wrapping her free arm around my waist to hug me from the side before she walked into the living room. I turned to Charles then, laughing quietly as he set down their bags. "Quite a bit of luggage with you, hm?" I asked.

"Yes, well, between Maddie's hospital bag and everything we had to bring for Elizabeth, it certainly adds up," Charles said, stretching his back once his bags were on the ground. "Now it's my turn to do the heavy lifting instead of Madeleine."

I laughed as the two of us walked into the sitting room to join Maddie and the baby. "Yes, it's time to redress the balance," I said as I sat down in my armchair across from Madeleine. "How are you feeling, Maddie? You're recovering well, I would hope?"

"Yes, I'm doing much better. I'm positively euphoric, though; I didn't think I would have another baby of my own after we had William," she replied, looking up at me with a smile.

"Well, if you're alright, I will direct my question elsewhere. Charles, are you alright?"

"My hand has been better. She has a grip like nothing else, that's for sure," Charles replied, massaging his right hand as he sat next to his wife on the sofa.

"Do you blame me?" Maddie asked, the comment getting laughs all around. "You go through twelve hours of excruciating pain with no pause in between and then push a human being out of your body. Then you can talk about being uncomfortable."

"She has a point, Charles. When birth is in the equation, I don't think you or any man has any leverage with regards to pain," I pointed out.

"I never have much leverage with regards to anything, so I'm used to it," Charles mumbled.

I bit back a laugh as Maddie turned to glare at her husband, though a smile remained plastered on her face. "You make me out as a tyrant," she scolded.

"And are you complaining?"

"Oh, absolutely not."

I sat quietly in my chair, watching the pair bicker and tease each other. That was something I had no grasp on and never would have any understanding of now that I had lost Christine. If I had only one wish in this world it would be to have her back, so that perhaps we could have experienced this type of love, the kind where you could be arguing one moment and completely lost in one another in less than a second. It pained me to know that I never got a chance to have that, but just as I was rationalizing my disappointment, watching what the couple did next only sent another pang of pain and jealousy through my chest.

As their bickering ceased, they laughed and shared a kiss before setting their sights on their baby girl again. With the irony of their names, my mind couldn't help but wander to my parents. When I was younger, I had imagined what it would have been like if my father hadn't died. I wondered if I would have grown up with the personality and great sadness that I did. Maybe they would have been in the same position as the blissful couple before me - holding a new little one, my baby brother or sister, as I sat on my father's knee, waiting to catch a glimpse of my sibling. I wondered if my father would have had a close relationship and if Mother and I would have been closer. But now that I saw this couple and their happy family in front of me, I could only think that it would have been as blissful for my parents. Or for Christine and I, had she survived and had another child with me and...

"Erik? Are you alright?" I heard Maddie ask, drawing me back to the present moment. "You were just looking at us, rather glassy-eyed. Is everything okay?"

"Fine, yes. Just lost in thought," I replied, smiling at her. "How long do you think we have before Elizabeth wakes up? She seems to be sound asleep now, but I do know that never lasts long with newborns."

"We should still have some time. Now, come closer, silly. You can't see the baby from over there," Maddie said, smiling back at me. "You can hold her as well."

I immediately stiffened at the suggestion, already slightly uncomfortable with the idea. The thought of me accidentally hurting her new baby was terrifying, and I didn't even want to entertain that idea. "Oh, that's alright. Best she has her space."

"What are you on about? All a baby like this wants is to be close to someone. Just come over here and sit next to me."

"Madeleine, I'm sure she's comfortable where she is with you. I'm fine looking at her from he-"

"Erik, get over here and hold your goddaughter," she said, only to pause and start to laugh. "Now look what you've done. You made me ruin the surprise!"

I froze, a frown on my face as I made an effort to make sense of what she had said. She couldn't have possibly said what I thought she did! "W-What? What do you mean my goddaughter?"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. I know you heard me, and if your brain can design buildings down to the millimetre, I know it can comprehend that sentence," Madeleine replied, a grin on her face.

"But...why me?! I'm sure you had other options that are much better than I am."

"We did have other options, yes, and we chose you despite that. We truly believe that you would be the perfect person to take care of our child should something happen to us," Charles replied. "We trust you, Erik. We truly do."

I couldn't help but smile at the remark; two of my closest friends trusted me to be a father to their daughter if anything went wrong. It was a privilege I had never been granted before, not even with Reza, and I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. "I...I don't deserve the honour, but thank you. I will uphold the title with the utmost dedication."

"We know you will. Now come and hold her," Maddie said again.

I hesitated for another moment, still not entirely sure about holding the baby, but I could tell that Maddie truly wanted me to. So I stood up and stepped over to the sofa, sitting next to Madeleine and folding my arms like hers. As she set Elizabeth in my arms, I took a deep breath as I held her close to my chest and slowly leaned against the back of the sofa. Simply holding her close was enough to make a warm feeling flood my chest and a smile spread across my face. I wasn't sure what it was - my paternal instinct that was still somewhat untapped despite having Gustave in my life, I suppose. I gave her a smile, despite knowing she couldn't see it as she slept, then quietly said, "Hello, little princess. I'm your godfather. You'll have to forgive me when I make some mistakes, I'm very new to this. Though one thing I can promise is that I am going to do my best to be there for you. When you need me, I will be there," before leaning my head down and pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead.

Looking up again, I saw Maddie with her head on Charles' shoulder and tears in her eyes. "That was so sweet, Erik," she said, her voice quiet.

"Why are you crying?" I asked, slightly confused about what I had done to incite such an emotional reaction in her.

"Oh, I'm just hormonal and all of that nonsense. It isn't you, don't look so concerned."

"Ah, I see." I adjusted the way Elizabeth laid in my arms, raising my arm slightly to keep her head up, then smiled at her parents. "She's beautiful, you two. She is absolutely beautiful."

Charles smiled wide. "Thank you, my friend. We're sure she's going to love you if she hasn't started to already, given how she's holding onto your finger."

Glancing down at Elizabeth, I couldn't help but chuckle when I noticed that she had her tiny fist wrapped tightly around my pointer finger. "She's strong too, that's what it is. You're going to make out to be quite the tough little girl, aren't you, Elizabeth?"

The room fell quiet and I grew more at ease with the baby in my arms, only for that to all be undone when she started to fuss. As her quiet whining grew into louder cries, I found myself starting to bounce her in my arms, almost on instinct, as I turned to Madeleine. "I have a feeling she wants her mother," I said, my nervousness evident in my voice.

Maddie smiled as she stood up and took her daughter from me. "She's just hungry, that's all," she said, rocking Elizabeth back and forth. "Is there somewhere I could go to feed her?"

"Yes, of course. You can step into my study upstairs. It's private and quiet for you two," I replied.

Madeleine nodded, looking down at her daughter. "Alright, sweetheart, let's go get you fed. You can see your Uncle Erik again in a moment."

I smiled at hearing the nickname, making note of it so I could make use of it later. "I appreciate the confidence in me. People have never wanted their children anywhere near me, so to now be dubbed godfather to a child and allowed to hold her if I want to is a lot to take in."

"Well, all of that can be forgotten now that Lizzie's here. You can say you've held a baby now! It's a lovely feeling, isn't it? It sends a fuzzy sort of feeling through you," Charles said.

I nodded, starting to fiddle with the ring on my finger as slightly more negative thoughts ran through my head in relation to his statement. "Yes, it's wonderful."

"What's going on?" I frowned and looked over at Charles, seeing him frowning right back at me. "You only fidget with your ring when you've got something on your mind, so come on. Tell me what's wrong."

"You've caught onto my nervous ticks, have you?"

"It's hard not to, Erik. It happens a lot."

"I suppose so," I said with a nod. "I just can't help but think about Gustave. I love my son more than anything in this world, but having him in my life and never having held him in my arms, missing all those key developmental stages of his life...it feels wrong in a way that the first baby I've ever held wasn't even my own."

Charles nodded, resting his arm on the back of the sofa as he said, "I understand. Having a baby is like nothing else, and that's not me trying to throw that in your face; that's only me speaking the truth as a father of two. Still, I completely understand how it would be really difficult. Do you...were there any photos of him from when he was young? Did his mother pass any on before she died?"

"I didn't get my hands on any, no. Christine wasn't with me for very long before she died, so she never got to tell me. If there are any, though, I doubt I would be able to get them now. The Vicomte has probably been rid of them for years now," I said. It was a sad reality, I realized as I pondered that fact more and more. I would never see photos of my son from before the age of ten because the Vicomte wanted nothing to do with me and would never do anything as gracious as that. The thought almost angered me, that man had no right to see things in my son's life any more than I did. He had been there for all the moments in Gustave's life that I had longed to see most. It felt like it was just one more thing on the laundry list of moments Changy had stolen from me. Those first few years of his life remained a mystery to me and I simply had to settle for that.

"I'm sorry, Erik," Charles said, reaching over to set his hand on my knee. "I know those are nothing but words, but I meant it. No father should have to go through that sort of thing, not knowing about a decade of his child's life. I don't know what I would do if that was the case with myself and William."

I shrugged, looking at Charles as I fiddled absentmindedly with my ring. "No going back now. I have him now and I could ask for nothing more than that. Well, besides having his mother back by his side. Even still, all things considered, I would say that our family is as close to perfect as we're going to get."

"All you need now is for Gustave to put a ring on Lara and for them to make you a grandpa. Then it will be absolutely perfect," Charles replied with a laugh.

"They will do it all in their own time. I'm not going to pressure them into making a major decision like that before they're ready."

"Well, someone should tell him that there is no time like the present. You and I both know that he would marry Lara tomorrow if he could."

"I do know that, yes, but I'm not sure I'll be the one to tell him that. He will get there, I'm sure of it; the way he looks at her gives it all away. He looks at her like she is an angel on earth, and that's just how I looked at my Christine," I said, a smile spreading across my face at the thought. I saw so much of myself and Christine in Gustave and Lara - the higher points of our relationship, of course. He looked at her with such love and pure wonder at how lucky he was to have her in his life. I recalled so vividly thinking the same thing when Christine and I spent that one incredible night together; I hadn't been able to even begin to comprehend how I had been lucky enough to have such a beautiful woman in my arms.

I noticed a smile appearing on Charles' face as I spoke. "Your adoration for Miss Daae is incredible, you know. I can't help but enjoy hearing it from you."

"Well, when I finally found the woman that I knew I had truly fallen in love with, I fell hard. I never wanted to let her go, even in death. She will always have my heart, as I'm sure Madeleine does for you."

"Oh, certainly. Madeleine is everything I never even knew I needed," Charles said. "It sounds like Christine was just the same to you."

"She was my saviour, giving me the reason for existing that I had so long been searching for. It would have been cruel of God to have sent her to the opera house otherwise," I explained.

Charles nodded, his gaze dropping to the wedding band on my finger. "So you would have married her, I take it?" he asked. "From what I've gathered, you had managed to win her from this Vicomte that you've made mention of."

"I would have married her in a heartbeat, yes," I said, touching my ring. "I could never have won her because she was not a prize. She chose the Vicomte because, I can only assume, he represented stability to her. I thought the same, but how wrong we were. I shoulder that guilt daily, knowing that if I hadn't left her that night, our lives would have been so different."

"That night?"

I bit the inside of my cheek, realizing that I had brought up a topic that Charles had forgotten about. I owed him at least a brief explanation at that point, I realized; there wasn't a point in leaving him totally in the dark. "The one night Christine and I shared together eighteen years ago that...well, that resulted in Gustave," I said with a chuckle. "It was far from a planned encounter, but a wonderful one nonetheless."

"You had her with you, then. What happened that separated the two of you?" Charles asked with a frown.

"Even with what we had shared, I still didn't think I could give her the life that she deserved, so I left her before she woke. She married the Vicomte, and I moved to America with no idea that she was carrying my child."

"I see. I'm sorry, I can only imagine how difficult it was for you," Charles said quietly. "You didn't have to tell me all of that."

I shrugged. "Your wife knows, so I figured Iw ould fill you in," I replied, looking to the doorway of the room as Maddie walked back in with Elizabeth. "Speaking of whom."

"Speaking of me? What did you two get up to while I was tending to my daughter?" Madeleine asked with a laugh.

"Why is she only your daughter all of a sudden?" Charles pointed out with a slight sense of annoyance in his voice.

"Oh shush you know what I mean." Her chidding him as if he were another one of her children was an entertaining sight to say the least.

"Just sharing something with your husband that you already knew, that's all," I said, smiling when I noticed Elizabeth reaching up to grab at her mother's hair. "She's wide awake now, is she?"

"That she is," Maddie replied as she walked over to me. "I need to run to the restroom quickly to freshen up a bit while she's content. Could you hold her for me?"

I nodded, a new sense of confidence in me when it came to holding my goddaughter. "Of course."

With a smile, Maddie looked down at her daughter as she set her in my arms. "There's your uncle Erik, my darling," she said. "At least you can't pull on his hair as you can with mine."

With a laugh, I watched Maddie walk away before looking back down at Elizabeth, finding her looking up at me with wide blue eyes. "Why hello, little one," I said.

"I think she likes you," Charles said as he moved down the couch to sit by my side.

"Well, I would hope so. She's stuck with me as her godfather now," I replied, my smile growing as Elizabeth smiled up at me. Whether she knew she was doing it or now, she had still smiled at me, which was something I hadn't realized I would love as much as I did.

"She does, trust me. She hasn't made a sound; she's content to just look at you and let you hold her. She wasn't even that relaxed when my mother was holding her, so she is definitely liking you already."

"I'm glad to hear that, then. And I'm sure she'll come around to your mother eventually." I looked over at Charles again and couldn't help but smirk as I found something new to pester him about, which was always my goal with him. "So I see you have a new look going for you."

"Oh, don't even go there," Charles said with a roll of his eyes.

"Why not? It's quite the drastic shift from your normal appearance, you can't expect me not to say something." 

"Okay, this 'new look', as you call it is the result of having a newborn baby who wakes up every hour and a half to be fed, changed, or rocked," he retorted, gesturing to the scruffy beard that had started to grow on his face.

"No, not this sweet little one," I replied, looking at Elizabeth and finding her aimlessly fiddling with one of the buttons of my shirt. "She can't possibly be the cause of your beard of sleep deprivation."

Charles sighed, looking at his daughter with a smile. "As precious as she is, she can really scream and cry when she wants something, which means Maddie doesn't sleep. So I handle things sometimes for her, which means I don't sleep either."

"I see. No time to shave your face, though?"

"God, no. Shaving is one of the last things on my mind at this point in time. Still, you can't seriously tell me that you have never had one of these in your past life."

"More recently than you think, actually. You know these past few days and months have been far from easy; I didn't get around to sleeping much or caring enough to bother shaving, really," I admitted, keeping my eyes on Elizabeth as I spoke to my friend about how hard things had been for me. I had only really talked about that with Lara, only just starting to really come clean about it to Nadir, so to say something to someone else brought some sort of relief.

"I understand," he replied as he set his hand on my shoulder in a comforting gesture, then gave me a pat as he changed the subject: "But not a sleep deprivation beard brought on by a baby!"

"No, certainly not," I said with a laugh. "Gustave woke me up now and then because of a nightmare when he was younger, but never enough to bring about a beard."

"You're a lucky man," Charles mumbled.

I shook my head. "Far from it. Rather, you're the lucky one here. You get to savour these moments."

"Savour the fact that I haven't slept for the past few days, between Madeleine being in labour for twelve hours and Lizzie's inability to sleep? I don't know about that."

"Oh, you know what I mean. You get to see her, be with her. Be present in her life from an early age. I envy you for that."

"Yes, well, I'll cherish them more once she's older and I've gotten some sleep," Charles said as he ran a hand through his hair. "Still, I'm glad that you're going to be a big part of her life as well. You're true godfather material, Erik."

"Let's hope so. Though I think what we really need to be concerned about is how either of us is going to survive her teenage years."

Charles groaned, leaning his head against the back of the couch. "You know, I've been trying not to think about them."

"They are unfortunately inevitable, as they are for everyone."

"Maybe it will be different this time. She doesn't have to get that big, right?"

I laughed. "You may not want her to, but she will, just as our boys did. Do you remember how nervous we were when they entered their teenage years?"

"We were petrified, yes. Still, I think there's something different with a girl, though," Charles said, reaching over to gently touch Elizabeth's cheek.

"God help us all," I said, smirking as I turned to look at him again. "You know she's going to come home one day with a boy in tow, don't you?"

"And his body will never be found should he break her heart."

"Oh, I will help you hide it. Trust me, I have had experience with wanting to take action against someone for hurting my child," I said with a roll of my eyes. "The first girl that Gustave courted wasn't worth his time and broke his heart. I had some choice words that were difficult to hold back, trust me."

"Well, if and when somebody breaks Lizzie's heart, you won't have to withhold those comments," Charles said with a nod.

"I won't, don't worry. Still, we should just let her be a baby now, shouldn't we?" I asked, looking back at Elizabeth.

"Yes, enjoy it while it lasts."

I nodded, smiling as I watched Elizabeth's eyes starting to close again. "But to circle back to the beard, I think it's a nice change for you," I said, finding myself starting to gently rock the baby in my arms.

"Why, thank you, Erik," he replied with a smile.

"Anytime, John."

"Why? Just why?" he asked with a laugh.

"Because I can and it's fun for me."

"Pestering people is your favourite pastime, isn't it?"

"Well, you have to admit that the reactions are fun. Not to mention that hardly any effort is required on my part," I pointed out, keeping my eyes on my goddaughter as she fell asleep in my arms. When Charles stayed quiet, though, I turned my head to see him staring at me rather intently. "Why are you staring so hard? You'll hurt yourself."

"I'm using my imagination," he replied, narrowing his eyes as he looked at me.

"A dangerous pastime. For what, exactly?"

"To picture you with a beard. I've never seen you when you aren't clean shaven."

"Well, I'm never not clean shaven, so there would never have been an opportunity for you to see me like that," I pointed out.

"Alright, fair. Would you ever intentionally grow one? A beard not born out of sleep deprivation?"

"Not in this lifetime."

"Oh, why not? I think you could pull it off. Not to mention that the ladies tend to like it," he said, nudging my arm with his elbow.

"First off, don't be ridiculous. I am not growing a beard to attract a partner, so abandon that idea," I retorted. "And also, they're quite uncomfortable for me, honestly."

"I suppose they would be, considering the mask and all."

"Indeed. It's quite the procedure to have to shave every morning anyway, so I avoid the additional work whenever possible."

Charles chuckled at the comment as we looked up when Madeleine walked back in, smiling at us. "What are you two laughing about? Not me, I hope," she said.

"Never, dear. We're not talking about anything, really," Charles replied.

I scoffed. "Yes, we are. Your husband is pestering me, Madeleine," I said.

"Well, that's no shock. Now what did he do?" she asked.

"I didn't start it!" Charles exclaimed, only to cover his mouth with his hand when I shushed him to make sure that the baby stayed asleep. "He pestered me about my beard, so I'm imagining him with one and trying to get him to grow one, that's it! He started it!"

"You two are worse than children."

I shook my head as I got to my feet, slowly passing my goddaughter back over to Madeleine. "Pointing fingers, are we, Charles? What example does that set for your little girl?"

"Now you listen here-" Charles started.

"Gentlemen, you've made your point: You're both children and you can play with your toys and blocks later, but Charles, we should get home. Lizzie's asleep and I'm exhausted, so if you have any closing comments to make in this case with Erik, please do so now."

"Yes, in fact - is there a designated day to mock me? Is it today and no one told me?" Charles demanded.

"Oh Charles, have you not caught on yet? That's every day," I said with a smirk.

"Okay, I'm going to get my shoes on. Goodbye, Erik," he said, waving at me over his shoulder as he walked to the front hall.

I laughed as I looked back to Madeleine. "Your husband is absolutely ridiculous, you know."

"Oh, I am well aware of that fact after twenty years of marriage," she replied, looking down at her sleeping daughter. "Thank you for getting her to sleep, by the way."

"I didn't really do much, honestly. She fiddled with the buttons on my shirt for a while and then started to nod off. I only rocked her a bit," I said with a shrug.

"Well, I appreciate it nonetheless. You certainly are good with babies, even though you're a little inexperienced." Maddie looked at me with a smile before she gave me another side hug. "It was good to see you, Erik."

"Yes, it was good to see you too, as always," I said, smiling at Madeleine before I bent over to kiss her daughter's forehead. "And it was a pleasure to meet you too, Lizzie."

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Hey guys. Look who's back again. This level of productivity is insane and we are riding this wave for as long as possible. I hope you enjoyed this chapter cause it is honestly is one of my favourites. Say hello to Lizzie, I love her so much and I hope that you guys will love her too. As always please leave your comments we love to see them.

Stay amazhang
~ Buddy_2002 💙💙💙