A Phantom and His Family

Chapter 11: Caught In The Moment

Evangeline's POV

"Erik, what was going on back there?" I asked as I led him and the kids outside into the backyard. The grass and overgrown weeds reached high above our ankles as the twins took out a ball and began to play in it while we began to stroll to the front of the house.

Erik shrugged his shoulders.

"I just wanted to tell mother that I was ready to forgive her."

"Babe, didn't you forgive her already?"

He sighed as he held my hand before pulling me into a hug.

"No. I thought I did, but I still had unforgiveness in my heart. I wasn't really forgiving her like I was supposed to, so I still had anger and hatred for her. Besides, I have done terrible things in the past and was forgiven for them, so why not her, right?"

I didn't answer him, just stayed in his embrace as Ozzie and Tia ran towards us, their curly hair getting tangled in their horseplay.

"Mommy! Daddy! Look what we got!" The two of the chorused, an identical grin on each of their faces. In their hands was a single daisy that was missing a few petals here and there due to the gust of wind that blew. A rare thing considering that the cold weather should have wiped them all out by now.

"Aww, thank you, babies!" I smiled, taking the flower out of Ozzie's hands while Tia handed hers to Erik.

Erik gave a chuckle as he placed both flowers in my hair and scooped all three of us up into his arms as we joined in their roughhousing. We played ball in the tall grass, watched the clouds drift on by, and I even taught them some of the games from my childhood, such as Lemonade, Slide Baby, Miss Mary Mack, and even Concentration, where my winning streak had been taken by my husband and a kiss was demanded as a prize.

"It's the monster of Boscherville!" A woman yelled, making us stop midway into our kiss and pretty much ruined our relaxing afternoon.

Immediately, the two of us jumped up and the kids began to hide behind me as an entire crowd began to surround us. The needlessly nosey neighbors were mostly comprised of men in between the age of 30 to 70, many of them bringing their wives along to gawk at us.

"See? I told you the monster of Boscherville was back!" One man yelled.

"What is an African doing here?" Another man asked.

"It's bred with the monster of Boscherville!

"They have created half-breeds!"

"What a disgusting display!"

"Look, Father! Look at these unholy heathens!" Another woman yelled over the crowd.

At that, a very old, frail-looking man stepped through the crowd, a disgusted look on his face.

" Why have you and your spawn set your unholy feet upon God's sacred land? You, African heathen, must repent of this sin against nature! You have bed yourself with a monster who is of a different race and have bred the spawns of Satan! This union is an unholy act against God and must cease or else you will be damned to Hell for all eternity with this demon!" He screeched, pointing his walking staff at my husband.

Erik was about to say something, but I beat him to it.

"Kids, cover your ears. Mommy's going to say some unkind words." I said before I began to address the mob.

"First off, sir, God brought us together in order for us to get married. Second, don't be jealous that we've been with each other for the past ten years of our marriage and are still in love and can still have all the fun we want when most of y'all can't even get your wives, or lack thereof, to do anything for you. Third, y'all need to mind your business! We ain't bothering nobody and we don't want to be bothered!"

The crowd was silent for a second before going into a loud uproar. I could tell that I had hit some of them too close to home as the townspeople pretty much tried to lynch us.

"LEAVE THEM BE!" A woman's voice echoed through the crowd.

We turned our heads towards the sound and watched in shock as Madeleine approached us and quickly led us back inside.

Madeleine's POV

I lead them back inside, locking the door behind them before looking out the window once more. The mob had left, but not before throwing stones at my house.

"What is it with the people and them wanting to kill us?" Evangeline had exclaimed in outrage.

No one said anything for a few moments. But when the silence almost became deafening,  Erik spoke.

"Thank you for helping us." He said, picking up one of his children to comfort them. 

I simply nodded as I walked into the kitchen in order to make myself a cup of whiskey to calm my nerves while he, his wife, and their children sat on the chaise lounge. As I made my way toward the liquor cabinet to take out my liquid gold, I stole a quick glance at the small family I had left behind.  The two adults were rocking the children back and forth as they whimpered about what had happened.  

I retreated back into the safety of my kitchen, thinking about what to do now. I had opened the windows to my room which was at the front of the house and heard the entire commotion. From their conversation up until my fellow town members started to bother them, I heard it all and felt confused and guilty. 

I still was confused as to why I had decided to come to their aid when the last time the townsfolk came to them, I did nothing to stop them from harassing them. In fact, I was hidden from their sight and witnessed the entire affair from afar. I had even seen the crowd coming this way before the four of them even took notice that they weren't going to be alone and was prepared to leave them to face them alone.

That was until I heard Erik say that he wanted to forgive me properly. 

It was no guess that he wouldn't want to forgive me for all the hell I had put him through, both then and now, but here I learn that he wants to forgive me the right way.  I never thought that could happen. 

Ever. 

At that moment, I stole another glance at my four guests. Their eyes were closed as each member of Erik's family napped on the chaise lounge. The four of them looked peaceful with the twins being held by Evangeline and Evangeline being held by Erik. They looked to be the perfect family.

Suddenly, I was not in the mood to drink and poured the whiskey back into the bottle, perplexed and worrying about all the troubles this would cause me in the future. 

A/N: Hello there my fellow Phantom Phans!

Missed lil' old me? 😋

Thank you all SOOO much for the 6.97k views, the 550 votes, and all of your comments so far.

You're all awesome! 😁

I'm sorry for the late entry but school's been pretty busy for me. But don't you fret, my sweet viewers! 

For those who don't know, I had created two new segments for your entertainment. 

One is called Chrissy's World where you, yes YOU, can ask me any sort of (non-inappropriate) questions. 

The second one is called A Plethora of One-Shots and includes deleted scenes from my stories, alternate endings, epilogues, and other cool stuff for you to see, especially if yours truly isn't really able to give you your chapters fast enough!

So! It seems that Mean Mama Madeleine is growing even more conflicted!

What will this mean for our heroes?

Will the townspeople stop harassing them?

Vote, Comment, and Share and I'll see you guys next time!

M'kay, bye! 💋💖