CONEY ISLAND

FAMILY GATHERING

Raoul has said sorry many times after that day. He understood that she was only doing it for the money. Gustave understood that Papa only hit Mama because he was tired. Erik understood that Christine had a family and he didn't. Everyone understood.

The next day, on a sunny morning, Christine woke up to find a note on the table.

Practice tonight at 7.

Christine started breathing heavily, still very ashamed of what she said to him the night before, but she knew she had to face him one day.

She somehow managed to convince Raoul to take care of Gustave, while she rehearsed. Gustave wasn't happy about it, he liked to hear her sing, but she didn't want Erik to meet him. It might cause unnecessary drama.

However, Raoul wasn't very careful, when it came to taking care of their son. He took him to a bar, and didn't even notice when he crawled away. Gustave has spent these couple of days exploring the park and he knew where the room, his mother was practicing in was. He ran to her and put one ear on the door, listening to her vocal exercises.

"Must I continue with this?" he heard his mother's tired voice. A deep, manly voice replied with a yes. "But all we've done in an hour are voice exercises!" she groaned. Gustave opened the door for a crack, so he could see what who was coaching his mother.

A masked man ina black coat sat at the piano. "That's because you forgot how to sing!" he scolded her. Gustave peeked inside and saw something strange. The way that his mother looked relaxed around this guy, how she didn't care if she made a good first impression. She wasn't very tense and she wasn't really trying to stand up straight. It seemed as if her and the man were friends sometime in the past.

She rolled her eyes and started the voice exercises. While she sang them, she kept her eyes on the masked man, and he kept staring at her. None noticed that they have a guest. Gustave quietly slipped into the room, closed the door behind him and sat in front of it, waiting for them to finish.

Christine sang the last note so loudly that it could probably be heard all around the park. She started catching air and the man seemed genuinely proud of her. Then in the corner of his eyes he noticed a small boy curled up, in front of his door.

"It appears we have a guest," he told Christine. Her eyes flew to Gustave.

She gasped.

"It sounded beautiful!" he said, excited.

She smiled. "Thank you, Gustave," she said and nervously looked at Erik.

"This is-"

"Mister Y," he completed her sentence, before she could mistakenly reveal his real identity.

"The Mister Y? The one that owns Phantasma?" asked Gustave, his eyes lighting up.

"That would be me," confirmed Erik. "Are you enjoying your time in my park?"

Gustave's face lightened up. "It's wonderful!" he exclaimed.

"Not to loud, Gustave," Christine told him. Erik grinned. He never imagined her as a mother.

"Don't worry, my dear," he said. "In my park you can be as loud as you can."

"How long have you had this park?" Gustave asked.

Erik was a bit hesitant. Everytime somebody mentioned that year his heart ached. "10 years," he said at last.

"Really?" Gustave asked, surprised. "That's my age!"

"Oh?" Erik was surprised. He knew that Christine would end up with Raoul, he just never thought that she would be so fast to get over their night. He quickly thought of something else. How stupid was he to think that she would ever even need to get over him. He kept repeating to his self; she never loved me, she pitied me. Christine looked awkward and nervous, probably knowing what he thought.

Then Gustave's face enlightened with an idea and he ran to her, whispering something in her ear. She looked at him with a look that said that she didn't know the answer. He raised his eyebrows motioning to Erik.

Gustave slowly walked over to the masked man, gathering the courage to speak to him. "Mister Y?"

"Yes, my child?" asked Mr Y with a soft and nice voice that sent shivers down Christine's spine.

"W-would you show me around?" Gustave looked at him with his big brown eyes. He looked so much like Christine, yet the eyes weren't hers. They were probably Raoul's, but since he never really stared at Raoul's eyes he didn't know then that well.

Christine was nervous. Why would the Phantom ever agree to this? It was Raoul's child. And he hated Raoul.

Erik was nervous. Why would he ever agree to this? It was Raoul's child. And he hated Raoul.

Gustave was nervous. Why would the man wear a mask in the middle of the day, far from Halloween.

Christine took a steep closer to Gustave, if by any chance Erik would lose his mind, and placed a hand on her child's shoulder, ready to pull him back any moment. Erik was about to say no. He couldn't look at the creature, created by Raoul and his Christine. Sharp pain in his chest reminded him of how his father was the one who took away the love of his life, yet somehow, all he saw in Gustave, was Christine.

"Of course," he said, with a mysterious smirk on his face, extending his arm to the little boy and pulling him away from his mother's embrace.

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