A Light in the Dark

Chapter 30

Chapter 29 (Erik's POV)

I pretended like I didn't know.

Of course I knew. It was written on their faces. The information Squelch delivered, of course, would have confirmed my suspicions, but it was all pretty clear without words being said.

The lesson had overall gone well. Elaina still had a terrible habit of slouching when she sang, but I didn't have the heart to correct her. Christine had the same habit when she was a young singer.

"Elaina, meet me outside," Gustave said as I collected my belongings.

He waited for the theatre door to close before he confronted me. "Alright, go ahead. I know that you know."

"Know what?" I said.

"Don't play coy with me."

I shrugged. "I'm not playing coy. I'm playing dumb."

"Well, stop it."

"Would you rather me scold you?"

"Yes, I would," he replied in a frustrated tone, "because I know that it's coming."

I sighed and shook my head. "I don't have the right to scold you about the matter, but I just thought that I gave you a better warning." I smiled. "You did better than me though. I suppose that's what matters."

He looked at me in shock. "What do you mean?"

"Son, sit down. It's time that you and I had a talk man to man." He did as he was told. "You know that I'm getting old."

"Papa, please don't –"

I put my hand up to silence him. "Let me finish. I'm old enough to know my mistakes and my regrets. I'm old enough to know the difference." I began to lose my courage. I had never really talked to Gustave about what really happened. He never asked. I suppose he knew that there was nothing that either of us could do about it. "That night I spent with your mother," I began, "I don't regret it. That was a mistake, and mistakes aren't always bad. Besides, thanks to that mistake, now I have you. Please know though that when I left, that was where I went wrong. That was a regret. It wasn't a mistake though. I intended to leave. I was ashamed. I thought that when your mother woke up, she would see my awful face next to hers and be horrified. I didn't think that it was fair to her, so I left."

He looked at me blankly as I studied the floor.

I shook my head and felt tears come to my eyes at the confession. "I'm not proud of it, Gustave. I left her cold and alone. Well, not alone because she had you, and if I had known that, I would have stayed. I would've taken care of both of you. You can't change the past, Gustave. You can only fix what you messed up. Some things you can't fix at all, but you can try your best to make up for it."

"Papa I..."

I cut him off again. "The point is, Gustave, if you end up with a little baby, then don't worry about your mistake. Just make sure that you do nothing you'll regret. You be there for them. I won't scold you for the accident, no, but if you do anything to hurt that girl or future child, then I will wear you out. I don't care if you're blood. I will not let you have the same burdens as me. Now, I raised you well enough to know that you shouldn't steal or murder, so you don't have to live with that. Don't live with knowing you left either. Knowing that I left my family burdens me more than knowing I killed a man ever could."

He opened his mouth to speak, but whatever he was going to say didn't come out. Instead he just hugged me. That was all that needed to be said between us.

I let him go. "Now, you go back to that pretty little girl of yours. I have some business to tend to." He slipped out the door, and I finished gathering my things.