Erik's POV

Twenty years have come and gone… I watched my son grow into the respectable man that I knew he would turn into. In school, he was always the outsider, for he never had too many friends to play with. But that didn't stop my child from attempting to achieve his goal. Music became his friend, and from that, everyone began to notice how wonderfully he played. Music made he and I closer than ever before. When the boy turned fifteen, he landed a position in the opera house orchestra playing the piano for the shows. When I saw him play, I believed he had finally found his dream job. Night after night, he played that piano for operas and one man shows, always stunning the audience with the beauty of his instrument. My daughter, Melody, also found work in Coney Island. It wasn't with the opera house, but with the sideshow. Her first job was working at the cotton candy stand…

In the past, my Melody was always easy to deal with, but when she hit her teens, it was like I got landed with an impossible hurricane. She wanted to go out with her friends, and she wanted to have money to buy dresses and hair clips. I had worked ever since I could remember, and I wasn't going to be one of those parents who spoiled their child. No, I told my daughter that she needed to work if she wanted to have some extra spending money. Therefore, I talked to Mr. Squelch about her working for him during the summer season. For months, my daughter made the cotton candy and handed it out to paying customers… But was that enough? Of course not! She wanted more, and soon, she found it with the sideshow. One hot afternoon, the star of the sideshow, Franc Debut was passing by her cotton candy stand. I had met the brat before on a different occasion. He was a young French acrobat that swept my daughter off her feet. Five years later, she was swinging from his arms in one of his shows. Franc taught my daughter everything he knew about being an acrobat, and she soon became an experienced trapeze artist! To think, my daughter! An acrobat! Oh, how I wanted to intervene, but for the first time in her adult life, she was happy…and who was I to say otherwise? When Franc broke away from the sideshow, he and my daughter made their own. Franc wanted to travel the world with his new show, and he wanted to take my daughter with him.

There was nothing harder than having my daughter leave Coney Island to travel the world. I think Christine took it harder than I did. It was even harder during the first month. Melody wrote from time to time, sending us post cards and trinkets from where she had been. Nothing could ease the pain of her absence though… I missed seeing her every day, but at least from her postcards I knew she was safe. Gustave on the other hand…he was a puzzle. As I had said before, I thought he had found his dream job when he landed the pianist position with the opera house orchestra, but after six years of playing for them he became bored. The hours were long, and the people were ignorant. Therefore, he quit…he quit! He could have had anything he wanted in the world, and he quit! He left his comfy piano bench for a mason job building houses and such in Coney Island. The boy was a genius just like me, and he was following in my footsteps. If there was one thing I did wish, it was for him to find a woman of his own. My daughter was five years younger and she was already on the road to marriage, when my son was nearly twenty nine and lonely. I was just cleaning up from supper, when I heard the front door opening. It was dark outside, and once more, Gustave was getting home late from work.

"Your dinner is on the table," I said, upon seeing him walk through the kitchen. My son had grown into a fine young man, one that looked just like me. He placed he coat on the rack and sat down in his usual spot. "Melody sent another post card…"

"Well, good for Mel," he scowled.

"Gustave, I know your sister's happiness angers you, but you shouldn't speak about her like that. She loves you…"

"It's not like I don't try," he snapped. "I was the most famous pianist in Coney Island and yet, I was invisible to women. I spoke to Anna after a show one evening… She didn't even know who I was and she didn't care."

"Anna?" I questioned. "Anna Lestran, the diva?"

Gustave nodded. "It hurt, you know…"

"Is that why you quit? Did you quit your job because a woman didn't know who you were?"

"I didn't want to be around her or any other ballerina anymore."

I patted my child on the back to comfort him. "Anyone who doesn't look past your face doesn't deserve you. You just haven't found your Christine yet."

When my child stood to his feet, he simply nodded and reached for his coat.

"I need a walk…"

And when he left, Christine came down the stairs in her night attire.

"Was that Gustave?"

"He just left…"

"Should I go after him?"

I shook my head and embraced my wife that I loved more than anything.

"He will be all right, Christine. He just needs some time alone."

Who knew that tonight, right out our front door, Gustave would bump into a woman passing by with her hands filled with groceries. She would slip and fall on the winter ice and Gustave would run to her aid. Her name would be Antoinette, and she would love Gustave at first sight. It was love at first sight when I saw Christine for the first time those many winters ago… Christine was my angel of winter, and Antoinette would be Gustave's…

And that's it! Its been a long road but well worth it. I'd like to thank everyone who read and reviewed my story. And i'd like to thank my Beta. Without all of your help and support this story wouldn't have been Possible. I hope to see you over at my new story. Thanks again!