Our Love is Evergreen

Chapter 50: Apollo and Aphrodite

   Skin-to-skin worked wonders for little Apollo. After a few hours, he was breathing normally. He was still slightly weak, but aside from that, he was just fine.
   Gustave, Bella, and Catherine reentered the room and to their surprise found two babies instead of one.

   "Twins?" Gustave choked out.

   "Gustave, Catherine, meet your new brother and sister," Erik beckoned.

   "What are their names?" Catherine asked.

   "This is Aphrodite," Christine said, presenting the girl.

   "And this is Apollo," Erik said, presenting the boy.

   "They're perfect," Bella complimented.

   Erik and Christine told the trio all about the stillborn scare.

   "You can imagine our shock when Apollo started breathing," Erik finished.
  
   Apollo was handed over to Gustave and Aphrodite was handed to Catherine.

   "I can see where you got Aphrodite's name from. She's beautiful," Bella observed.

   "She takes after her mother," Erik said, giving his wife a kiss. "I'm very thankful that neither of them inherited my deformity."

   After a few days, the Destler family was able to return to the comfort of their home underneath the opera house. It felt great to be home.

   "Welcome home Apollo and Aphrodite!" Catherine exclaimed.

   "Wait, Gustave. You're twenty-two. And Catherine, you're eight," Christine realized.

   "You're just realizing this now?" Erik asked.

   "Yes. I can't believe how grown up my children are. I feel so old," Christine complained.

   "Yet, still as beautiful as the day we were married," Erik added, putting his arm around his wife and kissing the top of her head.

   Gustave and Catherine took the babies into the nursery and Bella cooked dinner for the family.
   The next few weeks went by quickly. Soon, Pierre and Clara were able to visit the family and meet the twins.
   Erik still couldn't believe that neither of the children were deformed. He had been so worried that they would have another distorted child.
   One night, all the others had gone to sleep and Erik and Christine were alone talking.

   "I was so upset when the doctor said Apollo was stillborn," Christine remembered.

   "As was I. All I could think was, 'There has to be a way to save him'," Erik told.

   "That was the scariest moment of my life. I can't imagine how we would have been affected if we lost him."

   "It would have been awful. Of that, I am certain."

   The husband and wife went to sleep shortly after. It had been an exhausting time for them both and they needed their rest.