Today's prompt: desire/pining/wedding dress

Today's one shot takes place after the events of Love Never Dies. It's somewhat of an AU, as in this, Christine lives and has since healed from being shot, and she is also divorced from Raoul. I did pull a few elements from Susan Kay's novel Phantom as well, so those of you who have read the novel will recognize those bits. I hope you all enjoy!

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"You may kiss the bride."

Erik smiled and removed the sheer white veil from his bride's face. One hand came up to cup her cheek while the other wrapped around her waist, and he pulled her to him. Leaning down, he kissed her, softly at first but getting a bit more passionate as the kiss continued. Eventually, though, they pulled apart from each other, and a smile immediately spread across his face. "Congratulations, Madame Destler," he said softly.

"Thank you very much, my darling," Christine replied, smiling when she heard clapping from their guests.

There were only a few people in attendance at the wedding; their son Gustave, Nadir Khan—Erik's closest and only friend,— Nadir's wife Rookheya, and the Khans' twelve-year-old son, Reza. Erik had been rather impressed that they'd managed to keep the ceremony so small. He'd fully expected that somehow word would get out that Coney Island's beloved Mister Y and world-renowned opera singer, Christine Daaé, were getting married, and that they would have thousands of people wanting to see the happy couple not their big day. But to everyone's delight, they had managed to keep the wedding out of the press.

He was thrilled that everything had finally worked out for them. Then again, he would have been happy even if their wedding had been all over the newspapers. He finally had his Christine after all those years of waiting, praying, hoping that he'd one day be able to call her his wife. He'd been patient during his time in Paris, hoping that she would see the good in him and choose him over Raoul. Then he spent ten long years here in America, wishing that Christine would return to him. Now that Raoul was finally out of the picture, Erik had her, and he couldn't be happier.

"My friend, your face is going to freeze that way," Nadir said with a quiet laugh, observing just how much Erik had been grinning.

"Nadir, just let him be," Rookheya chided softly, though she chuckled along with her husband. "He's happy; that doesn't happen very much."

"Oh, I have a feeling that's going to change from now on," Nadir replied, smiling as he got to his feet. "Now, I do believe we have a little reception to be getting to. There's music to be danced to and cake to be eaten, and I am personally looking forward to both of the things."

"Alright, alright, we'll go in," Erik said with a chuckle. "Do you think about nothing but your stomach?"

"Well, when there's cake involved, what more do you expect from me?" Nadir asked, laughing as he patted his friend on the back. "Come on."

"Ah, right, my mistaken," Erik replied as he wrapped an arm around his wife's waist and led her into his friend's house, smiling when Gustave and Reza ran in head of them. "Boys, behave."

"Erik, let them have their fun," Christine said with a quiet laugh, gathering the skirts of her wedding dress. "Come on, focus on me."

"Alright, I'll agree to that. You're a very pretty sight to behold, you know," Erik replied, a lovesick smile on his face as he held the backdoor open for her.

"Oh, you're sweet," Christine replied, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink. "You know, I'm still shocked that this dress still fits."

"I'm still shocked that you kept it after all these years. I would have expected that Raoul would make you get rid of it after everything that happened the last time you wore it," Erik said softly, following his friends into their parlor. "But let's not talk of your insolent ex-husband on our special day."

When Nadir put a record on to play, Erik brought his wife close to him and began to spin her around the room. She smiled as he did so, laughing quietly at the enormous grin on his face. She was glad to see him so happy. In fact, it was the happiest she had ever seen him, and she was pleased to have been able to make him so cheerful.

Hours later, after they had danced for quite a while and had eaten their cake, Nadir insisted that it was time for the couple to open their gifts. He sat them down on the sofa and promptly set a box on his friend's lap.

Noticing the holes in the box almost immediately, Erik glanced up at his friend and eyed him suspiciously, but Nadir only shrugged casually in reply. Rolling his eyes, Erik let out a quiet laugh and allowed Christine to lift the lid of the box, only to gasp quietly when he saw the furry little face of a golden spaniel staring back at him. "Oh, you didn't," he said softly.

"Do you like her, Uncle Erik?" Reza asked with a smile. "Mama and Baba let me pick her out."

"Indeed we did," Rookheya chuckled. "Oh, and by the way, her name is Sasha."

When Erik finally realize what she had said, he looked up at her and Nadir with a smile, tears stinging the corners of his eyes. "This is so sweet of you all. Thank you very much," he said softly.

"You're very welcome, my friend," Nadir replied. "I know she won't replace your dog from your childhood, but we thought perhaps it might be a gift all three of you could enjoy."

"We definitely will," Christine replied, only to laugh quietly. "Ayesha may not love her quite so much."

"Oh, she won't, but that's okay," Erik said with a chuckle as he gently took the puppy out of the box, laughing quietly too himself as the puppy began to lick his face. "Well, hello to you too."

"That's so cute, aww," Rookheya remarked with a quiet laugh. "She already loves you so much, I can tell."

Erik smiled, a single tear cascading down his cheek as he kissed the puppy's head. He looked up when his son stepped over, and he gently pulled the boy down beside him. "Here, Gustave, I'll let you hold her. You should get to bond with her as well."

"She's so sweet," Gustave said with a giggle when the puppy licked at his hand. "I can't wait to take her home and place with her."

"I look forward to that as well," Erik replied, pressing a kiss to his son's temple. "I'm looking forward to a lot of things about the three of us finally being a family."

"And the three of us are looking forward to experiencing it all with you," Nadir said with a smile. "Because God knows that you can't get rid of us if you tried."

"Four of us, dear," Rookheya corrected. She watched her husband frown, but slowly, understanding crept into his features, and his jaw dropped. "Surprise."

"I- you...we're going to..?" Nadir tried to ask, his jaw working to form the rest of the sentence.

"Yes, we're going to have another baby," Rookheya said with a quiet laugh, looking over to the newlywed couple. "Thank you two for keeping my secret."

"Oh, it wasn't a problem at all," Christine replied, smiling as she leaned her head on Erik's shoulder.

"Yes, it was well worth it to see his reaction," Erik said with a quiet laugh, taking Christine's hand in both of his own as he watched the look of shock on his friend's face give way to emotions. "Someone hug him, for goodness' sake."

Rookheya laughed quietly and pulled her husband into a tight hug, and she couldn't help but think about how perfect everything had been that day. They had watched their close friend marry the woman of his dreams. They'd experienced the beginning of a new chapter in all of their lives, and one thing was for certain. There was not one thing that could have made that day more perfect.