Mending the Broken

Ciel stood at the window to his study, staring blankly out at the manor's front drive.

He was angry. He'd been angry over the course of the past several months. Undoubtedly, if he were to walk into the room right now, the earl would lash out. Seeing him was the last thing Ciel wanted now.

Of course, he knew this was partially his own fault. No, it was his fault. A little more than eight months ago, his sixteen-year-old mind got the best of him. His victim: Sebastian Michaelis. He had ordered the butler to strip and lie down on his bed, and things escalated from there.

Two weeks later, Sebastian broke the news . . .

There was a rapid knocking on the door to Ciel's study, drawing the earl's attention away from a stack of paperwork on his desk.

"Come in." he called.

Sebastian entered the room, closing and locking the door behind him.

"What's this about, Sebastian?" Ciel inquired, "Is something wrong?"

Sebastian was stiff. He took a few steps towards the earl's desk and stopped.

"There's something I need to tell you, sir." the butler began, "You might remember what happened between us a couple of weeks ago."

"I do. What does that have to do with anything?"

A tremble started in Sebastian's body, "Before I tell you, let me explain to you that a demon's body is very much different than that of a human and that male demons are capable of things male humans aren't."

"Is this supposed to be some sort of a threat?"

"No, sir."

"Then what exactly are you trying to tell me?"

Sebastian took a shuddering breath in, "When you topped me that day, I failed to remember those differences." He straightened his spine, "I'm sorry, sir, but I've recently discovered that I'm pregnant."

Ciel stood from his chair rather quickly, "What?"

Sebastian appeared to be on the verge of an emotional breakdown. For once in his life, he was terrified, "Please don't make me repeat myself, Master."

"No, I will make you repeat yourself!"

The trembling was now very much visible, "I'm pregnant. The child's yours."

Ciel felt like the floor was falling out from under him, but in no way was he happy about this, nor did he feel happiness dawn when the news started to sink into his head. He wanted to think out his choice of words carefully, only to have his temper speak for him.

"Bloody hell, Sebastian!" he shouted, "How is that possible? Demon or not, you're a man; men can't bear children. This can't be possible!"

"I've already explained to you that for male demon's it is. Technically, we don't have a definite gender. We're hermaphrodites. We . . ."

"Shut up!" Ciel yowled, delivering the butler a slap to the face with his ring hand, "You disgust me! I'm engaged to be married to Elizabeth, and you have some hybrid heir, which you claim is mine, growing in your gut?!"

Sebastian held a neutral expression on his face, but the hurt showed plain as day in his eyes, "I-it is yours. Not to mention it was your order. I had no say in what happened that day."

"Oh, so now it's my fault?! I should rip out your tongue for even thinking that. Consider yourself lucky I won't force you to get an abortion, but that bastard you're carrying is not mine, am I clear?"

Sebastian's eyes were glassy—full of tears ready to fall—and his voice cracked, "Very clear, sir."

Ciel delivered another slap to Sebastian's face and pushed him to the floor.

"Get out of my sight! That's an order!"

After that, the mood inside the mansion changed. All of the servants were nervous around Ciel whenever he entered a room, and therefore their clumsiness increased. Ciel also came to realize that Sebastian had taken his order to get out of his sight to heart; remaining out of his sight except for the brief glimpses he'd get of the butler every so often, until he simply vanished one day. Tanaka had been the one to fill in for him the entire time.

A knock at the door to his study pushed Ciel out of his thoughts.

"Come in."

The door opened and old Tanaka walked in.

"What is it, Tanaka?" Ciel asked.

"I was wondering if I might have a word with you, Young Master." The old steward replied.

"Of course."

"It's about Mr. Sebastian."

"Tch, say whatever the hell you want about Sebastian. I don't care. My decision still hasn't changed."

Ciel had never seen a scowl appear on the old man's face, but those words had clearly touched a nerve.

"I don't think that's true, Young Master; especially after you hear what I have to tell you."

"Whatever. I'm still too mad at him to care. Say what you will."

"You don't care at all that your own butler is growing more and more afraid of you by the minute? You don't care that he'd lived practically every day of his pregnancy in his room and has been suffering the discomforts of it alone without reassurance from anyone? Because if that's true, I'd dare say you are a cruel, ruthless, and bitter young man with no concern for anyone other than yourself."

Ciel thought over the things Tanaka had said carefully.

"Is all that about Sebastian true?"

"Sir, I wouldn't lie. That loony red-headed man, Grell, took the liberty to check in on Mr. Sebastian every so often, as have I, but other than that Sebastian has been alone, and the stress you've put him through isn't good for him. I'd hoped you'd come around and accept him again, as did he, but he gave up after a while. He's had no support or encouragement through his pregnancy. Grell does what he can, but he's not the father, now, is he?"

"I thought I'd made it clear? That bastard Sebastian is carrying isn't mine. I won't accept it. It's not my fault."

"But it is your fault!"

Ciel froze. Tanaka had never been one to raise his voice, and now that he had the earl was forced to listen.

"It is your fault." Tanaka continued once he had calmed himself, "Mr. Sebastian had no say in the things you did to him. 'A master's orders are absolute' he tells me, therefore he had no other option but to obey. And when the consequences suddenly come crashing down, you pushed all the blame onto Sebastian and forced him to accept it."

It wasn't until that moment that Ciel realized how right Tanaka was.

"How is he?" he had the nerve to ask.

"He's upset." Tanaka replied, "Grell's with him now. I suggest if you want to make things right with Mr. Sebastian you do it now. He's been in labor for the past few hours and I highly doubt he'll be willing to forgive you after the baby's born."

Ciel nodded and turned towards the door. As he walked down the hallway he wondered what he as even going to say. "I'm sorry"? "I didn't mean to"? "Please forgive me"? Now that he thought about it, everything he had said to Sebastian was unforgivable. He knew that if he had been in the butler's shoes at the time, he sure wouldn't forgive the person who had said them. What made him think Sebastian would think any different?

Ciel stopped in front of Sebastian's door. He pressed an ear against it and listened.

"That's it, Bassy. Just breathe like I showed you."

"I don't think it's making much of a difference, Grell."

"It will help you relax if you'd just calm yourself a bit. It'll hurt less that way."

"Why don't you try going through what I'm going through right now and try to calm yourself."

"Don't let that distract you, now. Just relax and breathe."

Ciel knew it wasn't a good time to enter the room, but precious time was ticking away. He knocked softly on the door and things in the room went quiet.

"I'm pretty sure that's him, Bassy."

"Oh, shit . . ."

Ciel recoiled in shock. He had never heard the slightest traces of profanity come from his Sebastian. To hear a word like 'shit' come from him was completely unexpected.

"Come in." Grell called from inside the room.

Ciel hesitated to open the door, but did so slowly. Sebastian was lying on his side, trying to control his breathing as Grell rubbed the small of his back.

"What do you want, you little brat?" Grell asked rather hatefully.

"I need to talk to Sebastian." Ciel replied.

"I don't think this is the right time for sympathy. Why can't you wait until . . .?"

Sebastian turned to him, "No, Grell. I think I'd like to hear what my master has to say that's so important that he wanted to see me."

Grell nodded and scooted himself back as Ciel settled himself at the butler's side.

"Well, Master, let's hear it." Sebastian said bitterly, "Have you come here to scold me some more? To insult me? Am I not welcome in the manor anymore? Will you be forcing me to ship my child off to an orphanage? Tell me if I'm getting close."

Ciel's eyes fell to the floor. Who knew this is how bitter an unhappy Sebastian had become? Who knew he thought Ciel would even suggest those things, although he had to admit to himself that about half of them he had thought about doing.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Sebastian." Ciel began, "I came to seek your forgiveness. I was wrong; completely wrong. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you. I shouldn't have blamed you for my faults. I shouldn't have abused you like I did, but I did anyways and I'm sorry. Tanaka told me everything. I never realized how much stress and pain I'd put you through, and I completely understand it if you won't forgive me."

Sebastian was silent for a moment before he asked, "Why did it take you this long for you to say that?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm an arrogant brat who should have been watching his mouth."

Sebastian smirked, "Damn right, you are! You're forgiven."

"Why? I thought you'd still hate me after everything I'd said and done to you."

Sebastian gave a wide grin, "I just wanted to hear you say it, you arrogant little brat. After over eight months of being neglected and hated, I wanted that to be something you told me before I forgave you."

Ciel nodded. His eyes darted to Sebastian's sharply curved abdomen, which tightened visibly as a contraction started. Sebastian's hands gripped the sheets of his bed tightly as he started up his breathing again. Grell positioned himself behind him and started rubbing circles around the small of the butler's back once more.

"Sebastian, take my hand." Ciel commended.

Sebastian shook his head, "I'll crush you hand, sir."

"I don't care! Let me help you."

Sebastian nodded and laced his fingers in with Ciel's. Sebastian could only bear to squeeze his hand until the teen's knuckles cracked. He knew if he dared to squeeze his hand any tighter, Ciel's had would fracture in multiple places.

"Oow!" Sebastian's voice was barely a whisper as the contraction ended and his grip loosened.

"How bad is it?" Ciel dared to ask.

"Have you ever been punched in the stomach, my lord?"

"Yes."

"Try that times five and you're close."

Ciel nodded and rested a hand on his sharply curved stomach, "What's it like, carrying another life inside of you?"

Sebastian shrugged, "I always felt full, but I was always hungry. I was always tired. Grell said I got moody a couple of times."

"You were moody!" Grell ranted, "And more than just a couple of times."

"Well, I'm sure being angry with me didn't help at all." Ciel said.

"Forget about that, master. It's over now. I've forgiven you."

"I will forget about it under one condition: stop calling me 'Master' and start calling me 'Ciel'."

Sebastian nodded, "Very well, Ciel. I'll do well to remember that."

His grip on Ciel's hand tightened suddenly and he cried out.

"Grell! Grell! I'm pretty sure it's time, now!"

"Just breathe, Bassy. I'm going to check you."

Grell moved to the end of the bed as Sebastian roll onto his back and propped his legs up so they were bent at the knees.

"You must enjoy this, Grell." Ciel commented.

"Not exactly." Grell said, "Birthing a child, watching childbirth, and assisting in childbirth are all completely different things." Grell checked Sebastian's progress, "Alright, Bassy, it's time for you to push."

Sebastian nodded once before he curled forward and bore down.

Ciel felt helpless. He could only allow Sebastian to squeeze his hand and offer encouraging words to help him along.

He pushed until the contraction passed, and then gave himself the time to regain control of his breathing. He could feel the child in the lower art of his pelvis, causing a continuous urge to bear down and push again.

Sebastian gasped as another contraction racked his body and he forced himself to push again. The breath left his lungs as a he felt a powerful burning sensation start up.

"That's it, Bassy. I can see the head!" Grell cheered, "Keep pushing!"

Sebastian took a deep breath and pushed as hard as he possibly could. He moaned at the pain and the moans increased in volume the further he pushed the child's head out until he was practically screaming. Each cry sent an ache shooting through Ciel's chest and he could feel sympathy pains settling into his own gut and pelvis, not to mention Sebastian was crushing the life out of his hand.

He collapsed back onto the mattress as the contraction passed. He whimpered loudly and his legs trembled as he felt the baby retreat back into him slightly.

"Come on, Sebastian! You're doing fine." Grell encouraged, "Push!"

Sebastian ignored the command for a few extra seconds to regain control of his breathing. He waited until another contraction built up to help him along before bearing down once more. He cried out as he felt the child's head stretch him wider and the cry slowly increased in volume until it completely left his lungs as he pushed the head completely out.

"You're almost there, Bassy!"

"Shut up!" Sebastian said with a pained groan. He arched his back and let out a scream as the shoulders began to emerge and with one last push the child left his body and he collapsed onto the mattress.

A wail hit the air as Grell began to clean off a tiny baby with black hair and pale skin.

Sebastian's head fell against the pillows as tears of joy and relief streamed down his face. Ciel fought the urge to join him as he looked over the infant.

"It's a boy!" Grell announced as he wrapped the child in a soft, warm blanket and handed him to Sebastian.

"Oh, Sebastian, he's so beautiful." Ciel said, "He looks just like you."

The child's eyes blinked open, revealing those of a dark blue in color.

"He has your eyes." Sebastian pointed out.

Suddenly Sebastian's face twisted in pain, "What's going on?"

"Relax, Bassy." Grell said, "You're just delivering the afterbirth."

Sebastian set the child aside in a crib he formed out of a basket, "I-it doesn't f-feel like that. Ow!"

Concerned, Grell moved to the end of the bed once more and checked him, only to recoil in shock.

"There's another baby!"

"What?!" Ciel and Sebastian exclaimed at once.

Sebastian let out a sharp gasp and breathed deeply as his body struggled to birth the second child, but he found himself without enough strength to push, no matter how badly he wanted to.

"I can't do this!" he whimpered, "Not again. Oow!"

"Sebastian, calm down." Grell urged, "Panicking won't help."

"What will help?" Ciel asked, "He can't do this again. He's too exhausted!"

Grell helped Sebastian move to kneeling on his knees, hoping gravity would help with the delivery. Ciel held him as Sebastian leaned his upper body against him. The butler gripped the teen's shirt tightly and moaned as he felt the baby move lower into his pelvis and the head press against its birthing exit. It was at this point Sebastian made feeble attempts to push; each attempt causing the pain and the burning to intensify.

"I can't do this!" he said with a heavy breath, "I feel tired."

Ciel felt his heart ache and he tilted Sebastian's head up.

"You can do this, Sebastian." He said, "I know you can!"

"No I can't . . ." Sebastian's voice was scarcely a whisper. He gasped and moaned loudly as the contractions overlapped, "I-I just c-can't!"

"Yes you can!" Ciel said as he held him close, lacing his fingers through Sebastian's sweat-dampened hair, "I know you can. I know you're tired and I know it hurts, but you can still do this. You have to do this."

Sebastian lifted his head. In his tired, glassy eyes was a spark of faith. His grip tightened on Ciel's shirt once more as he gave it his all to push the child out. He let out a small scream as he felt the head leave his body and the scream increased in volume as the shoulders slid out. With a few lighter pushes the child left his body and fell into Grell's arms.

"It's a girl!" Grell announced.

The tiny infant was silent for a few moments before letting out a high pitched wail. This child bore a head full of downy greyish-blue hair and bright red eyes, like those of Sebastian.

Sebastian sobbed with relief and joy as he momentarily buried his face in the crook of Ciel's neck. Ciel also had tears streaming down his face as he held him close.

Grell cleaned off the little baby and wrapped her in a blanket and handed her to Sebastian when he had adjusted to lying back down. Ciel was given the boy before the Reaper left the room to give them some personal space.

"What are you going to name them?" Ciel asked.

"With your permission, Ciel," Sebastian said, "I wanted to name them after your parents; Vincent and Rachael."

"And they'll bear the Phantomhive name?"

"If you wish it. You are the father, but if you prefer them not to . . ."

"No, no, it's fine. It's perfectly fine."

A few weeks later it had been announced that Ciel had broken off his engagement with Elizabeth Middleford. Of course, the Middleford's were not at all pleased with the arrangement and Elizabeth demanded to know why. Ciel only told her she was he was in love with another person, but didn't mention who. This might have shattered Lady Elizabeth's heart even more so, but it was the truth.

Love had replaced lust in Ciel in terms of the way he looked at Sebastian. Now with children to support, Ciel felt as though his life was complete. For those who dared to ask who the mother of the children was, the earl had made up the story that the mother had died in childbirth, but those who had ever seen Sebastian and the twins side by side could easily tell the butler had something to do with it, especially when they noticed he didn't address Ciel as a butler normally would his master, and Ciel was the same.

The other servants in the house quickly discovered all the truths and had sworn to keep their mouths shut about the matter.

At last Ciel and Sebastian were happy. Although their contract was still in effect and Ciel's revenge would lead Sebastian to eat his soul, they spent every moment they had together to love each other and prove their love for each other over and over again.

THE END