Beauty Of Music

Epilogue

5 Years Later

"... and the Angel and the Singer lived happily ever after" said Catherine in a soft tone.

She was sitting upon a Queen sized bed on the right side, there was a candle burning on a bedside table as the only source of light in the room which had various toys littering the floor, light blue painted walls, a large white three door wardrobe on the other side of the room, to the left of the wardrobe was a door leading to a washroom, on the right was a white changing screen with a blue floral pattern on it, on the right side was were two large windows with white frames that gave a view of the beautiful garden at the front of the property, a beautiful starry sky and the full moon high in the sky. In the bed lay two small children, both aged 5 years. The first was a little girl with strawberry blonde hair that fell down past her shoulders in little ringlets, she had soft milky white skin, a cute button nose and big hazel eyes, she wore a white night gown with little pink ribbons around the ends of the short sleeves and around the neckline, her name was Belladova 'Bella' Carriere. The second was a little boy who, like his sister, had strawberry blonde hair only much shorter and had a shaggy look to it, he also had pale milky white skin except he also had freckles on his cheeks and nose which was also a cute buttoned one just like his sister, big blue eyes and he wore a long night shirt with white and blue stripes going down it, his name was Frederick 'Freddie' Carriere.

"Is that a true story, Mama?" asked Bella in a soft, squeaky little voice.

She rubbed one eye with one hand whilst holding a teddy bear close to herself with the other.

Catherine smiled down at her children lovingly.

"Well my little dove, I believe it is. Do you?" she asked.

Both children smiled up at their mother and nod their heads 'yes' then yawned simultaneously.

"Goodnight my darlings, sweet dreams" said Catherine as she gave her children a kiss on the forehead each.

She left the candle burning on the bedside table as a nightlight for the children then rose from the bed and tip toed quietly to the door. Once she was out of the door she turned to close the door but before she did she checked on the children one last time and saw they had already drifted off to sleep. As she closed the door she heard faint piano music coming from downstairs and felt a compulsion to follow it, and so she did.

She came to the top of a winding staircase with white spindles and a dark wooden rail, the steps were covered with a light gold carpet and led down into the entryway of the manor Catherine and her family have called home ever since coming to England. The entryway had a shiny marble floor with a red floral carpet, the walls were a soft creamy colour and had various paintings hanging up all around, the biggest one was right next to the stairs and it was a portrait of Belladova, Erik's mother, that Erik painted himself a while back to replace the original that was left behind in Paris and on the ceiling was a large crystal chandelier with electric lighting. Catherine walked slowly down the stairs and heard the music getting louder as she went. At the bottom she turned to the left and came into a parlor with blue wallpaper with a golden pattern, two huge windows with white frames, an elegant couch with a white frame and light blue cushions, in front of the coach was an antique white coffee table with a candelabra in the middle, on the other side were two arm chairs that matched the couch. In between the windows was a black grand piano where Erik was sitting, playing away as if he was in a world of his own. He wore a white puffed shirt, black trousers, shiny black shoes, and he was without his mask. It had taken him some time to really feel comfortable without wearing his mask as often as he did before but with the love and support from Catherine and their children, Erik now only wore his mask when the servants were around, and the family were content with this. Catherine crept upon her husband and wrapped her arms around his neck, gently, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Her actions made Erik stop playing abruptly and turned to look at his wife.

"I trust our little muses are asleep at last?" he asked.

"Yes my love, at last. They wanted a bedtime story, so I decided to tell them our story. Only I referred to us as The Angel and the Singer" giggled Catherine.

Erik laughed with her.

"I wouldn't call myself an Angel my love. It is you who is the real Angel" he said, taking a hold of one of Catherine's hands and kissing it.

"You are an Angel to me Erik, my Angel of Music" said Catherine, insistently as she brought her right hand up to his hair and ran her fingers through it gently.

The two lovers pulled into each other for a passionate kiss

After a while they pulled away for air and Erik sighed with contentment before glancing towards the Piano, particularly at the photographs sitting on top of it. One was a picture taken the day the twins were born; it was one of the happiest days in their lives. The second was of Christine and Phillippe's wedding, they had come to England so that Catherine and Erik were a part of it, along with Carriere. And the last one was of Carriere himself, Erik looked at this one in particular with sadness. Catherine wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder as she looked at the photograph too.

"I miss him too Erik. If only the children got the chance to know him better" she sighed.

"They will in some way. From how you describe him in our story" teased Erik.

Gerard Carriere died peacefully in his sleep one year after Erik and Catherine moved to England. He had come to see them before he passed and was even present for the birth of his grandchildren, which was the most wonderful day for the whole family including Christine and Phillipe who were also present.

It turns out the children were conceived when the couple first consummated their love in Erik's former home and when the pregnancy was confirmed there were mixed feelings at first, particularly from Erik. At first he felt joy at the prospect of having children but that quickly turned to fear of the possibility the children would inherit his curse but when the twins were born his fears flew out the window and he thanked God from that day onward because they were born perfectly normal, he would even go as far to say they were the most beautiful children ever to be born and he treasured them and loved them with all of his heart. Catherine on the other hand didn't care whatsoever if her children would have inherited Erik's features because she loved him, and she would love her children all the same.

They've had such a wonderful life together, although when they first came to England there was a period of unsettlement because they feared the police would still pursue Erik so they kept corresponding with Christine and Phillippe to help put their minds at ease and as it turns out they had nothing to fear. The police had managed to enter Erik's domain, without losing anymore officers, and searched the place from top to bottom but didn't find any trace of either Erik or Catherine down there and eventually sealed the place off. Inspector Ledoux came to speak with Christine and Phillippe at the Chateau thinking he would be delivering sad news, but Phillippe came up with a clever story. He told the Inspector that Catherine managed to escape and found her own way back to them but was so traumatized by her experience that Phillippe sent her to England where she could recover from it all. The Inspector concluded that the Phantom fled after Catherine escaped, thinking she would go straight to the police, and since there was no trace of where the Phantom had gone he had no choice but to close the case. The news was a huge relief for the couple and from that day on they lived in blissful, happiness.

The Angel of Music and the Singer, together forever.  

Well there you have it everyone, a happy ending that was deserving for a man who longed to be loved. I hope all of you who have read this will leave a positive comment and, hopefully, favor it.

I started this story a while back but put it on hiatus due to work and other commitments. When this global pandemic began and I was on furlough from work for a few months I thought it would be the perfect time to work on this story and I am proud of how it turned out.