𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝘼𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚 | 𝙋𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙤𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙊𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖

xxi. The Heart Understands

A few weeks later...

"Good morning, Papa," Charlotte said as she entered the kitchen, taking in a deep breath. "Something smells wonderful."

"I decided to take it upon myself to make breakfast to give you a little bit of a break," Nadir replied, smiling at her from where he stood at the stove.

"Thank you," Charlotte smiled, moving over to kiss his cheek. "Is Gustave awake yet? He wanted me to show him how to paint Phantom today."

"I woke him up just before I came down, but I don't know if he actually ended up getting out of bed," Nadir said with a chuckle.

"That sounds like him," Charlotte giggled. "He likely fell back asleep, so I think I'll go try to wake him."

"Yes, you should do that. He might never get up if you don't."

"Alright, I will." Charlotte hurried up the stairs and went straight to Gustave's room. "Darling, it's time to wake up."

"No," Gustave replied, pulling his covers over his head.

Charlotte chuckled, walking over to the bed. "Move over."

Reluctantly, Gustave rolled over in bed, making room for Charlotte to sit next to him.

"Will you get up if I cuddle with you for a few minutes?" Charlotte asked with a soft laugh.

"I don't know," the boy replied, finally poking his face out from under the covers.

Charlotte giggled, laying down beside him. "Are you getting more excited about your new sibling? You can actually see them now."

Gustave nodded, looking at Charlotte's growing belly. "I just want them to be here. I'm tired of waiting," he mumbled.

"I know, darling. But we still have about five more months to go," Charlotte sighed, wrapping her arms around him.

"That's so far away."

"Don't remind me," Charlotte chuckled. "But trust me, it'll be well worth the wait."

"I know. I'm just excited to have a little brother or sister," Gustave said. "Mother always wanted another baby, but she never had one with Raoul. I don't know why."

"Maybe it just wasn't plausible," Charlotte shrugged. "I guess we'll never know."

"I guess not."

"Perhaps Raoul wasn't the man she wanted to have another child with."

"Because she still loved Papa?" Gustave asked.

Charlotte nodded, kissing his forehead. "It's a shame they couldn't be together."

Gustave nodded. "I wish Papa had been with us since I was a baby," he said quietly.

"He does too. Very much," Charlotte sighed. "But your father...he didn't think your mother truly loved him, and he left."

"But she loved him so much. Why did he think that?"

"Your father has...he's made mistakes, Gustave. Grave ones, I'm afraid. After all of that, he didn't believe anyone could love him. Not truly."

"Is that why he doesn't talk about his past very much?" Gustave asked. "Because he doesn't want us to know about the things he did?"

"He's told me," Charlotte nodded. "But he doesn't want you to know."

Gustave frowned. "Why not?"