"What is mommy going to do Angel, I still have a long way to go." Ciel said to his daughter who rested her head against his chest and lightly chewed on her finger.
"Meemee!" She cried patting Ciel as if to comfort him.
"Mommy's right here little one." Ciel stroked her hair softly. He began walking around the room with her, Angelina smiled and pointed to one of the many photos on the wall.
"Dadyee!" She shrieked excitedly. The image of Sebastian holding a newborn Angelina was in front of them. The genuine smile that appeared on Sebastian's face each time he held their children after their birth. Ciel loved it, it filled his heart with joy and as much as he hated to admit it, Ciel would do nearly anything to see the happiness in his mate's eyes.
"That's right, Daddy was holding you. He loves you just as much as I do. You're our favorite wild child. " Angelina grasped his jacket tightly.
"I wonder what you all find so comforting about holding my jacket, your brothers and sisters do this too. Angelina raised her head and placed her palm on Ciel's cheek, she stared deeply in his eyes.
"It is not this thing on you Mommy, it is you. We hear your happy sound when we are this close to you. The sounds that tell us you will always love us and will never go away. You are why we hold on. You are comfortable to us,we just want you to know that you are a good mommy to have. Do you like it, your happy sounds are even more happy when we do." The tiny voice answered, Angelina rested against him once more.
"Thank you Angelina. Mommy loves you very much. You're my good girl." He said patting her back.
"Meemee!"
"Yes, that's right, I'm here."He turned his attention back to the box in the glass cabinet, his eyes fixed on the red candy box. He glanced around the room but he was alone. Though Alois had managed to get the chocolate he had been sent for, he hadn't been able to find the time to go to the guest house. He only hoped Alois hadn't eaten all of it by now.
"You wouldn't tell Daddy would you Angel?" Ciel asked inching closer to the cabinet.
"Na, na. Meemee." She cooed softly. Ciel smiled, though at times her anger was a concern, Angelina could also be as gentle as her siblings.
Before Ciel could do anything, the child began to growl and her eyes were suddenly glowing an angry red, tears filled them.
"Meemee,Meemee!" The child shrieked as she trembled. Ciel cuddled her, holding her tightly and allowing her to sob .
"M-Mommy, I am not wanting to do it, I am sorry, please still love me and want me. I do not know what to do,make it better mommy,please make it stop." The tiny voice reached his ears again.
"My poor little girl, I know you don't do it purposely. Try to relax, Mommy has you." Ciel soothed.
"I do not know why I feel like this mommy, I do not understand why."
"I know Angel, I know it's not easy. You know Daddy and I are very proud of you for trying. I wish I knew how to make it stop, you deserve to be happy." She let out an ear piercing shriek and brought her clawed hand close to Ciel as if to grab his jacket only to dig her claws into his shoulder,tearing his jacket and making him gasp. It was only after the child noticed the crimson colored substance coming from her mother that she seemed to settle. Angelina became silence,her eyes widened in surprise. Fresh tears fell and the sobs deepened.
"I am so sorry, I did not mean to make you hurt. I did not want to hurt my mommy. I am a bad baby,I love my mommy. I do not like this. Will you send me away I do not want to hurt you anymore." It wasn't a plea to stop her mother from giving her away, she was requesting to be sent away, her heart broken sobs only made Ciel hold her closer.
"Never Angelina Marie. You're my baby,I'm not sending you anywhere." He too was surprised, she had never physically harmed him. Sebastian rushed into the room.
"Ciel, what happened is everything alright, did she get hurt?"
" 's just having a moment,she'll be alright. Sebastian looked at the tiny scratch marks on Ciel's body.
"Did she do that?" He asked softly. Ciel didn't answer.
"Ciel, where did you get -"
"Doesn't matter, I'm fine. She's just scared."
"If she's physically harming you, she needs to be -"
"She needs cuddles right now, she's just a baby."Ciel replied protectively.
"She must learn. We can't allow her to think it's acceptable."
"She doesn't. She apologized, she's crying now because of it. It's only a scratch, you don't have to be harsh with her."
"She takes after my father, if we don't correct this behavior- Ciel, do you recall that I told you how different he was before my mother, he was just as frightening and terrible as you as a human were led to believe. Is that what you want for our daughter?"
"I know my children 'll never be that way." Ciel could feel himself getting angry now.
"You can't tell me you know what will happen as she grows, I love her as much as you do and I always will. She needs to know she can't harm her mother and have no consequences."
"She can't stop it, you can't punish her for something she has no way to stop doing. I'm telling you, I know my daughter, you don't go nine months and spend twelve hours in the worst pain you've ever felt in your life and not know -"Ciel stopped and walked over to the couch where he pulled his feet up and continued to comfort his child.
"Mommy's sorry Angelina. I love you and your sister very much. It's not your fault, I'm just a little cranky today." Sebastian sat on the floor in shock. He expected Ciel to be protective, it was only natural,but he hadn't prepared himself for that. There was only one thing he could do now. The older demon stood up and walked slowly over to his mate and daughter, he knelt down next to the couch and carefully pulled Ciel into a hug before kissing him.
"I'm sorry." He said gently.
"Why?"
"Because I caused you that pain. The twelve hours you spent in labor, though I didn't let you see it, were frightening for me. I did my best to focus the attention on you and I could never understand how much it hurt you, you were good at hiding it from me. Please forgive me."
"There's nothing to forgive, my anger isn't because I was pregnant or from the pain I had. It's because you think it's okay to be hard on an infant that can't help it and you aren't listening to me when I tell you that I know she didn't mean it. She can't help it anymore than your father can help being the devil. One day she'll have the ability to learn how to control her anger, but while she's this small, she needs to know we love her and we're here for her. Otherwise, how can she feel like she can come to us for help later?" Ciel said calmly.
"not having chocolate seems to have caused you a great deal of irritation, I think a small pause in our game is in order. I propose for the next hour, we stop. This hour will not count against us. You can have your chocolate and I will be allowed to interact with our pets."
"I agree, one hour." Ciel said."Sebastian?"
"Yes my love?"
"I'm sorry I've been short with you. I do love you and our family." Sebastian pulled him closer, holding him with one arm and stroking Angelina's hair lovingly with his other.
"Just look at them." Rachel Phantomhive whispered from the hall.
"Even when they argue, they don't seem to go at it long." Her husband replied.
"It's no surprise that Ciel's been short tempered." Madam Red commented holding her daughter's hand.
"What do you mean by this?" Vincent asked.
"Chocolate has many ingredients that are actually addicting. That could be the case. "
"I had no idea." Rachel said in surprise.
"Not many realize it, but that's also part of the calming effect some people feel while eating it."
"Interesting, I never would've guessed." Vincent shook his head. They watched as Sebastian moved to the cabinet and took out the box before handing it to Ciel and continuing to comfort both Ciel and Angelina. Eve soon joined, rubbing against Sebastian's leg.
"Go on." Ciel said to his mate.
"Thank you very kind you are."
"D-Dadyee!" Angelina called as the last tear fell.
"Yes my little angel?" She reached for Eve.
"You have to be nice with her, can you do that?" Sebastian picked up the thin cat, stroking her black fur. Angelina reached out,touching her head and mimicking her father's action.
"Ni..ni...ni.." She sniffled.
"Yes Angel, very nice." The child smiled at her father's words, she held tight to Ciel with her other hand.
"I think it's best if we give them a moment, we can take the opportunity to visit the other children" Rachel suggested leading her group down the hall quietly. She knew her son would be joining them soon and she fully intended to tell him just how proud she really was.
