After the Scorpion

Erik wasn't exactly confidant enough to return to society, yet Christine's happiness and well-being forced him form his solitary existence. He did enjoy talking to the stonemason's however, and hired workers to begin building his dream house. It was set away from the main road within a forest glade, and was to be two stories tall with nine rooms. There was also going to be a spectacular garden; an escape of sorts. He was glad to be working on architecture again and soon lost himself to the project. He'd never felt more content as he laid the stones and mixed the mortar. The other workers were careful to avoid their strange masked boss, and that was all well for Erik. Christine would come by in the afternoons with lemonade and biscuits.
She had decided not to pursue her opera career, which disappointed Erik, yet he respected her wishes. All he wanted was for her to be at ease. Erik had acquired quite enough money from his travels (and stolen articles) so they could live quite comfortably for the next decade or so.
However, so lost within his work, Erik had failed to register the small hacking cough he had begun to acquire. Christine had insisted he see a doctor, but he refused to go out beyond the confines of their small apartment unless it was to the home-site and back. He spent so much time there anyway that the apartment had become solely for Christine's use. She still entertained her friends and had introduced Mamma Valerius to her husband. Erik knew she was pleased with him, yet he did not want to be paraded around like a toy. Once the house was built, he would never venture out beyond the forest's edge. Christine had grown accustomed to his habits and appeared quite comfortable appearing in society alone.
Erik was disappointed that she never pushed him to be with her, and they had only consummated their love twice in the seven months they had been married. When he did choose to spend the night at the apartment, she slept on the couch, only saying that she respected his privacy. He knew it was because she did not enjoy his cold embrace. Erik had already resigned himself to this dilemma.
He loved her deep within his soul, and was quite joyful just for her presence, if not her physical touch. He heard news that the Vicompte De Chagney had a new flame, and was actually happy that the boy could find someone else after Christine. If Erik had lost Christine he would have died upon the spot, much less been able to find another woman willing to stand two feet away from him. The months flew by as he worked diligently on the house, and to his relief Christine occasionally came to his bed. He was beginning to cough dreadfully and soon found he was coughing blood.
Christine cornered him about this, and they had their first true fight. He refused to see a doctor; if he was dying he wanted to do so in dignity, not in humiliation. He had cried on her shoulder and she held him. They had known this might happen, yet he had so desperately wanted to experience just a few years of normalcy. It was a few weeks after this incident that Christine told him she was pregnant. He was so overcome with joy that he actually took her out to a café for lunch and then dancing later that evening. He'd endured taunts, stares, and whispers behind his back, yet nothing could daunt his excitement. A young prodigy, to follow in his footsteps and carry along the generation.
His only reservation was his fear. He was afraid his deformity might be genetic, but it was hard to explain DNA and Genetics to Christine, who insisted that something like him only came along once in a blue moon. They clung to that belief as she progressed.