Work Text:
The Phantom's Acrobat One-shot
June 1891
Erik and Belle never had the place to themselves, or at least had gone on vacation. They spent most of their time doting on their kids. Doing everything with them, Erik really wanted to be an involved father; he wanted to show his kids that he would never leave their side. But he soon realized that every parent needs a vacation.
One fine summer day, Erik, Belle, Victoire and Dorian were in the market getting groceries. Brie, their family dog, had been keeping an old, watchful eye on the kids. She was a good dog to them. Erik stood at one of the market stalls observing the fruits with Belle right next to him. He had chosen to wear a half mask today, and he had cotton wads in his ears to drown out the noise of the loud market.
“Erik, my love, we need to make some apple jam for the kids,” Belle said as she grabbed a bushel of apples and placed them in her bag. She leaned into her giant husband.
Erik nodded. “We should get some eggs, chicken, and meat as well.” He added. He straightened up and looked around to find the meat stall. After Belle had picked out the fruits that she wanted, Erik paid the shaking merchant and guided her, Brie, and the kids to the butcher’s stall. Before they made their way to the butcher, Belle placed her fruits into the enclosed carriage.
As they were walking to the butcher’s stall, the family bumped into a familiar face.
“Christine?” Belle asked as she looked at the dark, curly-haired woman before her.
Christine smiled brightly, and she leaned in to hug the former scarred acrobat. “Belle! Oh, it is so wonderful to see you!” she said. The two pulled away from the hug; Christine looked to Erik. “—and Erik! Look at you! You look better and more confident than the last time I saw you.” She came in to hug Erik and felt the old chill move through her, brief and unwelcome, before her arms closed around him. She held on anyway. She had decided a long time ago that the man standing here was not the man who had taken her underground, and she held onto that decision even when her body remembered.
“It’s wonderful to see you, Christine. I’m still deeply regretful for all the pain I have caused you.” Erik said as he hugged her. The two let go of each other.
“What are you doing here, Christine?” asked Belle. She was shocked that Christine had remained in France; she believed that she and Raoul would’ve moved elsewhere to heal. “I thought you would’ve moved to England? Or Sweden?” Belle added.
Christine continued to smile as she held Belle’s hands. “We did move to Sweden. We are here for a couple of months to visit Raoul’s family.” She gestured to Raoul with her head.
Belle and Erik looked over to see Raoul carrying a child the same age as Victoire. Belle’s heart leapt for joy when she saw the boy. “Oh, you have a son!”
Christine nodded, “That’s Gustave; I named him after my father.” She said as she waved to Raoul and their son.
Raoul quickened his pace. Once he had reached the group, he nodded to Erik and Belle, then kissed Christine on the cheek.
“Erik. Belle. Good to see you both. I see that you two have kids now.” He said as he looked to the children. He set down Gustave and ushered him to introduce himself.
Victoire curtsied, and Dorian hid himself behind Erik’s leg, sucking on his thumb.
“Hi. My name is Gustave.”
“I’m Victoire!”
“And this here is Dorian.” Said Erik on his Son’s behalf. He leaned down and picked up Dorian, who had immediately hidden himself in Erik’s chest. “He’s shy.”
Christine shook Victoire’s hands and stood on her toes to pat Dorian’s arm. “Such lovely children, very beautiful!” She looked down at her son and then at Raoul.
Victoire grabbed Gustave’s hand. “Let’s go play! Brie is our dog! And she will protect us!” she said. Gustave nodded and then ran with Victoire. Dorian gestured to be let down so that he could join his sister, Gustave, and Brie. Erik happily let him down, and he toddled off. Leaving the four behind in an awkward silence.
Belle then had an idea; she looked to Raoul and Christine with a genuine smile. Her idea was to ask the de Chagny’s to babysit their two little ones for a week while they were on vacation. “If you don’t mind my asking. Would you two be interested in looking after Victoire and Dorian for us? Erik and I need a week to ourselves.”
Erik gulped; he knew that this may be a bad idea. His kids are fiery, especially Dorian when he is comfortable. He looked down at Belle and gave a nervous chuckle, “Umm, my love, maybe that may not be the best idea. They have never seen our children in action.”
Belle patted her husband’s arm, “Hush, they’ll be alright.” She looked back to Raoul and Christine. “So, would you be all right with it?”
Christine immediately nodded; after having Gustave, she had found herself to love kids. She always wanted a daughter, and she felt that with Victoire it may be good practice. “Oh, yes, that would be wonderful! Raoul, what do you say?”
Raoul had the same nervous feeling as Erik. And weirdly enough, he had to agree with Erik. But Christine is the boss of the house, so he nodded and looked at the two nervously. “If Christine wants to, then it is fine by me. Drop them off tomorrow at the de Chagny manor in Pithiviers.” He shook both of their hands. “Now, my dear. We must get going; we must prepare the other bedroom.”
“Of course. Gustave! Time to go! You’ll see them tomorrow.” Christine called.
Gustave hugged Victoire and shook Dorian’s hand. He patted Brie’s head and reached up to touch the broad knee of Goliath, Erik and Belle’s new draft horse. Bijou was aging and could no longer pull the carriage. And he made his way back to his parents.
The group said their goodbyes and separated.
Erik and Belle finished their shopping and rode back to their Loire farm. They explained to the children that the two of them would be staying with the de Chagny’s for a week so that Maman and Papa could have a moment alone. Victoire had no issue with this. Dorian, however, was hesitant. But Belle assured him that they would be fine.
***
The next day, they rode to the de Chagny manor. At half past one, they arrived. And got out of the carriage.
Belle hugged her children fiercely on the steps of the manor; Erik picked up his children and hugged them both. Belle then gave Christine a list of instructions four pages long. The two hugged their children again; they very nearly did not get into their carriage. Erik and Belle had never really been away from their kids. So this was foreign to them.
Christine and the kids watched them leave. She looked to Victoire, Dorian, and Brie. With a smile, she began to give them a tour of the place. Brie slowly trudged behind. After the tour, it wasn’t long until Victoire organized the boys and Brie. She organized them into what she termed “an expedition” and led them on a daring exploration of the estate that ended with all three of them, plus Brie, discovered atop the roof of the carriage house.
Shortly after, Marc-Antoine de Chagny – Raoul’s younger cousin, who lived on the estate – joined them after his studies.
Raoul found the children up on the roof; he was confused about how they got such a large dog up on top. He urged them to come down and explained that dogs should not be on roofs. When they came down, they immediately bolted to the wine cellar to play a game.
The next day, Gustave happily ran to Raoul and Christine. He had a beaming smile. “Victoire is teaching Marc-Antoine and me a new game! It’s called The Phantom. In which one child hid in the dark and made spooky noises while the others searched. It is a lot of fun, Maman!” he explained. Just then, Victoire called him over, saying that it was his turn. Gustave hugged both of his parents and ran off.
Christine’s eyes widened; she looked to Raoul, who shared the same expression.
“What have they been teaching them?” muttered Raoul.
Christine shrugged, “I do not know.”
The two of them watched the kids run back and forth in the house all day. Poor Christine couldn’t get a moment of singing in. Raoul couldn’t get a moment of paperwork done either. It was chaos.
The next day was peaceful inside the estate; Gustave and Marc-Antoine had chosen to show Victoire and Dorian the animals, which was far from the house. They were, however, escorted by Marc-Antoine’s footmen.
It was at this moment that Christine and Raoul managed to get some personal time for themselves and for their work.
***
Three chaotic days later, Victoire had decided to bake a surprise pie for her parents when they came back. The boys had agreed to help her. The main chef of the estate was pushed out immediately so that the kids could get to baking. The chef quickly made haste to Christine and explained that the kids had taken over the kitchen. Christine got up from her settee and made her way down to the kitchen. It wasn’t long before she finally came down to see four children and a dog covered from head to toe in flour. Dorian was on the counter kneading the dough with his fists. Marc-Antoine lifted Victoire so that she could grab a pie tin. Gustave was cutting fruits for the pie.
Christine’s hands flew to her mouth to stifle a scream or a laugh; her body couldn’t decide. Raoul heard the commotion and came down immediately; he wasn’t quiet about his surprise.
“Bordel de merde!” he said in shock. “Kids? What in the hell are you doing?”
Marc-Antoine set down Victoire after she grabbed the tin. All the children turned to look at the adults. Victoire gave a bold smile. “Making a pie for Maman and Papa!”
“I wanted to help her, Papa… Please don’t get mad.” Said Gustave, as he slowly made his way to his father.
Raoul pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, “Christine?”
It took Christine a moment to recover from her immediate shock; she looked to Raoul and smiled. “We could at least help them. They are arriving in a couple of days.”
“Children, they won’t be coming back for another two days. The pie will go off by then. So how about we make it tomorrow instead?” Raoul decided to offer the children a choice. He turned and rang the bell for the servants to come and clean. Christine made her way to Dorian and picked him up.
Victoire sighed; she wanted to make something now. But Raoul was right; the pie would for sure go off by the time Maman and Papa arrived.
“Why do you want to make a pie for them?” asked Christine.
“Papa makes us lots of pies. I wanted to return the favour by making him and Maman something special.” Replied Victoire as she circled the ground with her foot.
***
Upon learning that Erik was the one who did all the cooking and baking, Christine was not surprised at all. She remembered his cooking, and remembered it being extraordinary. She also remembered the time when he served her food in her room when he wouldn’t let her leave; it was not a welcoming memory. But she set those memories down carefully and returned to the children. She looked to Victoire with a dusty Dorian in her arms, “As Oncle Raoul says, we can make one tomorrow. Now, how about you three wash up? I will wash up your brother and put him down for a nap.”
Victoire nodded, and she ran upstairs. “Shall I ring the bell for your lady’s maid to help me?” she asked at the foot of the stairs. Christine nodded. Victoire smiled and made her way to the washroom.
Raoul looked at Gustave and Marc-Antoine and urged them to wash up too. The two boys nodded as they slowly made their way to their own washrooms. He looked to Christine, who was patting Dorian’s back as he slowly fell asleep in her arms. Raoul smiled. He took a couple of steps and kissed his wife.
“I think Gustave may need a friend.” He whispered.
Christine smiled and nodded, “Oh, yes! When the children are gone, I want another one!” She leaned in and kissed him back.
The next day, Brie went missing, and the entire household servants searched the grounds in a panic for two hours. Dorian tugged on the footmen’s pant legs and pointed to the linen closet. The footmen followed Dorian. Once they were in front of the linen closet door, he opened it to see Brie sleeping on the clean sheets. They ushered Brie to sleep somewhere else.
Shortly after, all four kids and Christine were down in the kitchen making a few pies. One apple pie and one blueberry pie. Christine used her mother’s recipe; she vividly remembered her mother’s pies being the best-tasting pies in all of Sweden. Three hours and five pies later, the children were excited to have completed their pie expedition. Christine had planned on making two pies, but somehow, they ended up making five of different flavours, and she didn’t mind. She loved baking, and she loved doing it with the children.
The next day, what was left of the de Chagnys was waiting on the steps when the carriage rolled up – Christine and Raoul looking distinctly more tired and somehow, older, and four children who, the instant they spotted the carriage, set up a shriek of joy and came pelting down the path with Brie at full gallop. Victoire ran further ahead; Gustave carried Dorian with him. Marc-Antoine stood next to Victoire, holding her hand.
Erik hopped off the driver’s bench of his carriage and picked up Victoire. He nuzzled his masked cheek against her cheek. Once Gustave arrived with Dorian, Erik picked up Dorian and did the same. Belle came out of the carriage, kissing her two children on the top of their hands. She then leaned down to pet Brie.
Marc-Antoine bowed and introduced himself. Victoire stated that Marc-Antoine was her partner. Erik shook his head, explaining that she was too young. Erik caved and played her little game.
The maids came down with five pies in their hands. Christine and Raoul followed.
“We made pies; Victoire wanted to make you some. We were supposed to make two, but ended up making five,” said Christine as she placed a hand on Gustave’s back.
“I hope they weren’t too much trouble when you were making pies?” asked Belle. She knew that the two of them were a handful.
Christine shook her head and gave a breathy laugh. “Oh no, they weren’t. They were perfect.” A little white lie, half true. They were indeed perfect when engrossed in pie making, but to herself, they were a bit much. But it was something she didn’t mind, because it had shown her and Raoul that Gustave needed someone to play with. Especially since they would be leaving soon to go back home, and Gustave would be alone again.
The maids placed the pies in the carriage.
Victoire explained the games that they all played. Erik’s heart stopped for a moment when she described The Phantom game. He looked to Christine and apologized profusely; he had hoped that Christine didn’t have terrifying flashbacks. Christine shook her head and explained that it was a harmless game that took her by surprise. After chatting for a bit, it was time for Erik’s family to leave.
Victoire and Dorian hugged everyone and then hopped into the carriage with Brie. Belle closed the door behind them.
“Thank you for looking after them. I know they were a bit of a handful.” Erik said as he shook their hands.
“They were, but they were wonderful,” Raoul said, and meant it, even through his exhaustion. “Watching over Victoire and Dorian has given us a few things to think about. We think that a house with one child is too quiet.”
Belle clasped her hands together excitedly, “Are you saying?”
Christine nodded in confirmation, “We’re going to try for another!”
Gustave and Marc-Antoine covered their ears and ran off in disgust.
Erik and Belle were genuinely excited for Christine and Raoul, another member of the de Chagny family. Christine joked, saying that she hoped that she would have a girl. The four adults laughed. They said their goodbyes and thank yous. Erik hopped up on the bench, and Belle made her way into the carriage. Raoul and Christine waved them off; they watched the carriage leave.
Once they were alone and no one was around them. Raoul pulled Christine into a tight embrace and kissed her neck. “Why not start now?” he said, his voice laced with eagerness and love.
Christine purred and nodded, “Let’s start!”
Raoul picked her up and carried her back inside, the two of them staring into each other’s eyes lovingly.