Disclaimer: I don't own anyone from the Professor Layton franchise, the rights to it belong to Level 5 games.

A gentleman's promise


Alfendi was tired, he was hungry and he was quite bored and restless.

The six-year-old boy didn't know what to think at the minute as he waited in the sitting room of the Layton household, waiting for his father to return home, he fidgeted in his comfy little cushion constantly as a means to entertain himself but he couldn't help but feel a variety of emotions that made his hair continuously change from their usual shades of purple to dark red.

The last hour or so had been quite trying for the boy since he had been vigilantly awaited for his beloved father's return from a long day at The Greensheller university where he taught, but he was pretty late and this made Al feel quite concerned since his father would always arrive at just around the same time each night he'd have to work.

He sat with his head hung low and his untidy mop of colour-changing hair fell over his hair as he eyed his own two feet lazily. At the minute he couldn't look anywhere else but towards the floor, finding it better to stare at then anxiously glancing over to the clock every five seconds, as he drew a variety of shapes with his eyes as a means of entertaining himself.

"Al? Alfendi...?" A slightly high-pitched but graceful voice broke him out of his thoughts and he found himself glancing towards the source, quickly recalling that his elder adopted sister -Flora- was there too with the intent to keep a close eye on him, even though Al normally preferred to stay home alone yet he also understood that his father simply fretted about the dangers of leaving him all by his lonesome.

The woman had a light-hearted grin curled at her lips, and she gave the worried Al some silent reassurance.

The "Golden apple" may had grown up in a town surrounded by robots, but it was clear that she was pretty great with children -yet her cooking always looked like some sort of evil concoction from the depths of the underworld, seriously she made him a cake with the unnecessary ingredients of marmalade and tuna as the filling, accompanied by turkey frosting and Marshmallows sprinkled on top. Alfendi felt that he was infinitely lucky that he nor his father ever ate her meals and never got food poisoning as a consequence.

...But neither of them ever planned to tell Flora that.

Flora was sat beside the boy, she was staying silent for a lengthy few minutes as she thought of what she could possibly say to break the rather uncomfortable silence between her and little Alfendi and she, too, was confused as to what was happening with their father since he was rather late than he'd normally be.

"Are you alright?"

Al opened his mouth to answer her, to inform her that he was fine, when the sound of the door swinging open cut him off -this caused his mood to perk and, without another word, he instantly leapt off of the chair and went to greet his father and Flora followed close behind him.

They both saw the gentleman of archeology stroll down the corridor leading into the kitchen, yet he seemed to have been carrying something in his arms. He seemed to have this air of complete happiness about him.

Confused, Flora approached the top-hat-wearing gent and asked him why he had come home so late and what he was carrying in his arms.

Professor Layton kept on walking and smiled warmly, black dot-like eyes gleaming with absolute delight, and he glanced at Flora and asked her and Alfendi in a quiet and low toned voice, "Alfendi. Flora. Would you like to come and meet your new sister...?"

Both of the Professor's adopted children froze with eyes wide with stunned surprise.

A sister...?

The Professor finally stopped walking and turned a bit to reveal the bundle he'd been holding, little Kat had fallen asleep and was blissfully aware of the sudden fuss that she was about to be bombarded with.

Flora's eyes became enlarged when she noticed the baby girl being cradled in her adopted father's arms. She fought back a squee from seeing how adorable the infant was, she couldn't resist getting a closer look by leaning in and crooning over little Kat, her smile was absolutely huge and practically sparkling.

The little baby girl was so little with that little gingery curl on its head, it's eyes were closed and it was still and appeared to have been fast asleep.

Unbeknownst to the two adults, though, Al's big yellow eyes were completely trained on the tiny pink chubby thing that was held in his father's arms.

The young boy didn't like this, what if this little thing made his father forget about him? Before this small infant came into his life it was him and Flora who the Professor loved...and now he feared about being cast off like a boat on the ocean sea and never to be thought about ever again. He couldn't help but scrunch up his pointy nose in disgust, his hair turned from purple to red and his yellow eyes gleamed with this maleficent Orange.

The six-year-old hoped that if he glared at it long enough then the ground would swallow it up and he would be the only child once again.

But then the baby opened its small eyes a tad, clearly shed woken up, and she spared a swift glance over to the boy whom looked on from afar and Al's heart started to melt a bit. He almost felt his heart become caccoon end in this warm and fuzzy sensation.

Wait a second, no!

He shook his head defiantly because he was determined that he wouldn't be captivated and turned into a cutesy fool like Flora had been reduced to. A pang of jealousy had hit him straight in the heart, much like an arrow would pierce ones flesh.

He didn't like this at all.


It had taken some time before Kat's adoption had been finalised and it was before the Layton family knew it until a week had passed by and almost everyone had grown accustomed to having a new baby around.

Flora was delighted to have a new sister to help take care of when the Professor was too busy with marking exams for the college students, the Professor himself had been the one to mostly dedicate most of his time to his new child and lost many nights sleep to having being the one running to her beck and call.

Alfendi, though, was still getting used to having the little one around.

He was very confused about it all.

He simply couldn't understand why such a ugly little chubby thing like a baby could warrant so much coddling, especially if it stole and hogged all the attention now. Al felt left out and unwanted so he had holed himself in his room most of the time...he felt a strange bitterness towards the little thing and it got worse with everyday that passed.

The things that irked him most about this new development was that the baby would wake up in the middle of the night, being very inconsiderate of those who are trying to sleep, throw things that it could get its tiny hands on, gnaw its yucky slimy pink gums on anything and everything, and it would always brainwash both Flora and his father into doing everything for it -kind of like mindless zombies actually.

It wasn't until one day when Al had been slinking down the hallway in his normal sulk when he paused upon spotting the door to the new baby's room.

It had been left slightly ajar.

He wanted to brusquely stroll passed it but something else had called to his more curious nature; he wouldn't tell anybody but while he had been mad at his alleged new sibling, he was also rather interested. When he was interested, he always became annoyed and his childlike curiosity was letting him be pulled into the room as if he was being pulled in by the force of a mental magnet.

Then he sighed and finally relented when that curiosity won him over, it shouldn't hurt to get a better look...

The six-year-old boy's hair was its usual crimson blaze that normally implied anger, frustration, jealousy, envy and resentment. The untidy mop of curls were dishevelled and he couldn't keep a sulky scowl off of his face while he mentally pondered his own decisions to himself. The boy pushed passed the White door and squeezed into the room, trying to hide the evidence that he was there to begin with should certain people investigate.

He crept into the room and studied his surroundings, making sure to be absolutely silent, especially since he wasn't even supposed to be in here.

The walls of the nursery had been painted a light yellow colour, the scent of paint clung to the air indicated that this room was freshly painted on and it was a last-minute thing more than anything. The floors were made from super soft carpet, much like the soft carpet that he had in his own bedroom. The curtains had been drawn as to create a comforting darkness in the room. On the shelves there were several stacks of books and the floor was strewn with toys and dummies and other items. There was also a changing table jammed into the corner of the room.

Al's attention was mainly drawn on to the soft blue and frilly cot that stood in the centre of the room.

The boy slowly plucked up the courage to leave the doorframe and approached the cot with total caution, he stepped around the toys and weaved himself around the room until he reached the foot of the cot. He was thankful to have been only just tall enough to be able to peer into the cot without having to stand on his toes too much.

There it was...the intruder.

Alfendi's brow left furrowed and thus painted a look of confusion on the boy's face. It seemed pretty peaceful at the moment and appeared to have been very content, it's eyes were closed and its chest rose and fell softly while it snored gently; the baby girl was wrapped up tight in her fuzzy pink blanket.

"Huh, she does look kind of...cute..." He admitted aloud in the form of a mumble, but then he realised what words had just left his lips and he shook his head to snap himself out of it.

'Arrgh, what's wrong with me!? This new baby is my enemy, she's taking papa's affection away from me!'

He mentally admonished himself, then he turned his focus back on the sleeping baby.

Alfendi narrowed his eyes darkly with naked dislike for the newborn.

He wasn't going to stand idly by and let this little pink ball of flesh and bones take all of his love away, he had supposed that the human heart could only hold so much love inside and if that love had transferred from him to this little thing then he supposed that nobody liked him anymore. He tried so hard to glare at the sleeping baby, and he forced it as hard as his little facial features would allow until it physically hurt.

Deciding that he had enough of this, Al turned on his feet and started back towards the nursery door. He remained indignant while he sauntered casually off and went to leave the room. But a sudden sound had stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Bwaa?"

Al froze in place.

He had a feeling he knew what noise came from but he wasn't entirely certain, and he most definitely didn't want to turn around and see that thing again...but something inside him stirred and he found that he had completely turned around before he could stop himself. He had been proven correct anyhow, the sound had come from the cot where the baby lay.

The young boy cautiously reproached the cot and peered in to find the baby girl once again, but she was looking straight at him with her giant blue eyes staring.

Alfendi hadn't noticed before but the newborn's big eyes were just hypnotic to him, they were the very same colour to beautiful crystal blue diamonds with ivory white pupils. She looked so frail and feeble, but she was also very active at the same time.

All the while, the baby girl looked right at the boy and blinked her huge eyes at him.

The six-year-old didn't know what to say at first but then he managed to glare at her once again and he put on the biggest stern frown he could and he spoke in a low and dark tone, "You really think you can put me under your spell? Well, it won't work! There's nothing you can do that will..."

He trailed off when he noticed that the baby was starting to whimper at him with a sad look.

Al tilted his head to one side with confusion. What was the child doing? Her big eyes were starting to water and her lower lip began to quiver and tremble while she let out high-pitched upset whines to communicate her distress. Alfendi began to feel a bit unnerved but he also felt a little fearful for the baby.

"What's the matter with you?" He asked, trying to mask his concern with another indignant act.

The baby reached out towards Al's face as if trying to communicate what she wanted. It was becoming clear that she probably wanted to just be held, but the older boy didn't know if that were a wise idea considering that she may take the chance to make him bend to her every whim too. He felt unsettled and sweat started to drip down his face.

He tried to reassure himself to calm his nerves, but he could feel the goosebumps ride up his arms as he swallowed nervously. "Don't give in...sh-she...you're just going to use your witchcraft and turn me into a mindless drone too!"

But then the baby started to cry her lungs out. Hearing the cries of the newborn made Alfendi panic a bit and he waved his hands about frantically, hoping it would somehow get her to stop her loud screeching, but it was an exercise in futility. The boy's hair became a tad more dishevelled and he pled with the small one.

"Nooo! Please don't cry, please don't! You cannot let papa know that I've been in here!"

But his words fell on deaf ears as the little girl, Katrielle, didn't seem to have been interested in negotiations. She cried and cried and bawled as she continued to have her little pudgy arms outstretched towards the older boy and tears relentlessly poured down her little pudgy cheeks like little waterfalls.

Al's eyes softened and his heart ached for some reason and he couldn't help but grab at his own ears in a desperate attempt to try and block out the sounds. It didn't work in the slightest...he racked his brains to try and figure out a way to reverse the situation and get the baby to calm down to avoid alerting his father.

Kat cried so hard that her throat was beginning to strain, her legs started kicking her blankets off and she wriggled about.

Alfendi finally dropped his act of not caring and tried reasoning with the one-month-old infant whilst he clasped his hands together desperately.

"Shhh! Stop crying! Shush! What on earth do you want from me!?"

The teeny girl just continued crying, leaving Alfendi totally clueless. He didn't understand what he could do to calm the screaming infant since he had never been in such a situation before and he was only young. The young boy now just searched his surroundings whilst praying for an answer to magically appear right in front of him.

It didn't.

But then Alfendi had a sudden idea, an idea that had jumped out at him. He had no idea how or why on earth it occurred to him but he figured that it wouldn't hurt to try and he was quite desperate now.

"Um! Uhhh! H-How about a puzzle, would you like to hear a puzzle?"

That instantly shut the crying girl up as she sniffled and sobbed, suddenly interested in what the older boy had just said. Her teary eyes were huge and her throat was raw from all the screaming she had done, she put her hand in her mouth and began suckling on her fingers and getting spit all over them.

Alfendi almost heaved a sigh of relief and actually managed a small sincere smile at the baby. It seemed that little Kat was interested in puzzles, despite likely not knowing what puzzles even were at such a young age, and that actually made his secret bitterness melt away instantly.

The small infant reached her podgy little arms in the boy's direction yet again and made her eyes appear absolutely huge to add to her own cuteness. She was clearly trying for a puppy-dog look.

Al heaved a deep breath as his hair turned from crimson red to peaceful purple and he finally decided to relent and just satisfy the baby and besides, how could anyone resist such a look?

It was physically and scientifically impossible!

He leaned forwards, reaching into the cot, and took baby Katrielle into his own arms. She was a warm little weight in his arms and felt a bit heavier than he thought and he would've been lying if he said that he didn't struggle to hold her even slightly.

Al couldn't hold back a kind-hearted grin as he adjusted the infant in his arms and sat on the floor, cross-legged, then settled Kat on his lap. He felt a tad awkward about doing this and there was a nagging fear that he'd hurt her accidentally but he found that the baby girl seemed to acclimate pretty quickly to her new position and started to play with Alfendi's long, slender fingers as he let her fiddle with them.

"Sooo..." The boy began thoughtfully, eyes wandering to the ceiling, "Which puzzle shall we start off with?"


An hour later...

The Professor meandered down the hall ways of the upstairs area, looking around for Al in hopes that he could find him somewhere around the house.

He had wanted to come to talk to the boy since he had noticed that his adopted son had been rather sulky since Katrielle arrived; the Professor knew that Alfendi was probably feeling a tad jealous due to the fact that the new baby was taking away some of the attention away. He could sort of understand that and he knew that he had to explain to his son that he didn't love him any less just because there was somebody else living with them.

The Professor had to wonder where Alfendi could be...?

The boy normally wasn't this hard to locate. Professor Layton couldn't help but feel some concern for his younger adopted child deep down in his heart, especially since that he hasn't been able to find the boy anywhere -not even in his bedroom where he would sometimes sit in there and sulk for some reason or another. Despite being a mere 6 years of age, Alfendi behaved more like a teenager than a child his age and it could be frustrating to deal with such an attitude but he knew that his son deeply cared deep down.

But then the Professor's focus was drawn to the door of Katrielle's new bedroom, and he became extra suspicious when he noticed that it had been left slightly more ajar then when he had left it. His brows knitted together to paint a unique look of a mix between suspicion and confusion as he raised a hand to scratch at his chin, slowly walking up to the nursery doorway.

Alfendi couldn't have snuck in when he wasn't looking, could he..?

The gentleman went over to the door and gently nudged it open with his foot and he slowly peered into the dark room, he squinted his eyes so his sight could adjust to the dimness of the darkened room.

What he saw made his jaw drop in disbelief and he had to blink three times just so his mind could properly register what he was seeing.

Alfendi was lying down on the carpet whilst he propped the back of his head against the wall, fast asleep with baby Kat laying against his chest. The boy had his hand resting on the baby girl's back to not only keep her supported but to also make sure that she wouldn't fall off, and Kat was sleep too but she had one hand inside her mouth whilst she suckled on her own thumb and her other hand had a tight grip on Al's ponytail, probably for security, she rested the side of her small head against the upper part boy's chest.

It was a very heart-warming sight...

The Professor smiled warmly upon seeing that his son had changed his tune about a little sister.

He knew that his son would warm up to her if he gave her a chance, and now he was absolutely sure that he would help to keep her safe whenever she needed help. Seeing his precious children like this made him feel so proud to have them in his life -once upon a time he was a lonesome man but now he had the greatest family a man could ever ask for.

He crept over to the two and looked over his two youngest children, his heart constricting within his chest, and he let his shadow fall over the two sleeping children as he watched them snooze soundly on the floor. He felt profoundly lucky to have been blessed to have witnessed this and he wished that he had a camera...because then he would have loved to have taken a photograph to capture this wonderful moment.

Smiling softly, he shook his head.

Perhaps he didn't need to talk with Alfendi because it seemed that he'd grown attached to Katrielle himself...

The Professor removed and dropped his brown jacket over his son and youngest daughter, wrapping them both in it to keep them warm before tucking it around them whilst being careful not to disturb either of them, and then he chuckled softly at the sight. Then he turned back towards the door and slowly started to sneak out of the room to let both Alfendi and Kat enjoy their snooze, yet he couldn't help but turn his head to glance over at them once more.

Alfendi shifted slightly in his slumber, arms still cradling Kat properly against his chest, and he mumbled something inaudible beneath his breath.

"Hmm..." Professor Layton's smile broadened as he silently tipped his top hat at the two of them. He could feel a nice sensation of pride swell inside his chest as he reached for the door knob and started to close the door and quietly shut it behind him as he made his silent exit.

"Sleep well, my children..."


A/N: Here's the second chapter, this time with things seen from young Alfendi's perspective.

Its full of fluff! I already have the last chapter in progress but it's going to involve a crucial time in Katrielle's life and I'm not going to say anymore than that just encase I spoil Laytons mystery journey -I hope you guys like this chapter anyway and I made sure to add some fatherly Professor Layton too.

I hope you like it, guys, please review and favourite.

-Chloemcg