Nothing like being buried in the books after a long day of work. As strange as it may sound, I felt a presence in the Phantomhive library every time I opened one of my mother's journals. As if she were in here with me. I could occasionally hear her voice in the back of my head. Which books had what. Where a certain spell was. Things I needed to know. Most would've been unnerved by such a thing, but once one marries a demon, has a cambion delivered by a reaper, dies and becomes immortal, it's desensitizing.

And by the looks on Sebastian's face from time to time, he was feeling it, too. Of course Mom would gravitate toward Sebastian. I didn't know much about the extent of their friendship, but the more I went through her journals, the more I could begin to understand it. They did have something special. Not enough to cheat on my father, but going by what she wrote, she thought about it a few times. Can't blame her, though. He's kind of temptation on two feet in a waistcoat. And some of us are silly enough to fall for his incubus-like charms.

"Sebastian?" I looked over to him, "Is everything alright?"

"It's shortly after six," he opened his watch, "And dinner isn't done. I'm curious as to what would be taking Baldroy so long."

"Because heaven forbid if your schedule's a bit off," I teased, kissing his cheek, "You mind the baby. I'll go check on dinner."

Sebastian held me against his chest for a minute longer, whispering in my ear, "As you wish, Mistress."

If there was one thing in this world Sebastian excelled at, it was definitely finding ways of spiking my body temperature. Or putting some color in my face. Or making my heart beating at glacial speeds turn into a horse track on a Sunday afternoon in the summertime. For as long as we've been together, for as long as we've been married, one would think I'd be used to it by now. Mom, how did you not succumb to him? A stronger will than mine. That's for sure.

I closed my books for the time being and went toward the kitchen. Bard was nowhere to be found. Huh…Strange. This close to dinnertime and there were no scorch marks on the wall. Nothing smelled like it was burning. It actually smelled like really good seasoned beef. The only thing in the kitchen was a sweet old man at the table with a cup of tea in his hands.

"Hi, Tanaka," I sat with him, "You wouldn't happen to know where Bard is, would you?"

"Oh, ho, ho…"

Great. Tanaka was useless. He couldn't have been lucid. I knew it took a lot out of him, but still. Just a little bit right now would've been really helpful. Oh well. I guess I was on my own to find him. The perk of heightened senses. And by the sounds of things, someone was struggling in the pantry. It sounded like Bard. Maybe trying to lift something heavy? I opened the pantry door and immediately regretted it.

"Bard, what the hell are you doing?!" I covered my eyes, not expecting to see him mostly naked.

"Lumi!" he scrambled to get his clothes back on, "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"

"I'm sorry," I screeched, "I didn't think you'd be in this state in the bloody pantry! Jesus, Bard, have a little decency."

"Sorry," Bard apologized, putting his shirt back on, "I'll put a do not disturb sign on the doorknob next time."

"Thank you," I sighed out, but not without peeking around Bard's shoulder, "Mary?"

"Hi, Lumi…" my secretary's soft, meek voice chirped up.

"Please keep this our secret, Lumi," Bard begged me, finally realizing the gravity of the situation, "We were only fooling around. Don't tell Sebastian or the master. Please. If you have any ounce of empathy, don't tell anyone."

"It's not my business to tell," I assured, "As far as I'm concerned, it never happened."

"And me?" Mary worried, "What will this do for us at work tomorrow?"

"What you do on your off time is your own business," I comforted, "Whether it be crocheting afghans for the homeless or Bard in the Phantomhive Manor's pantry. We all have guilty pleasures."

"Thank you," he groveled at my feet, "Thank you so much."

"Bard," I got down to his level, "We've been friends for quite some time now. Did you really think I wouldn't keep this between us?"

"No," he smiled, "But really. I appreciate it."

"It's no problem," I promised, "However, I do want the memory burned out of my brain."

"Sorry," Bard chuckled a bit while I was in mid cringe.

I had to admit, though. As much as I loved Sebastian, Bard was pretty nicely built, too. I didn't expect to see him that naked today, but I wasn't too mad about it. Before I spiraled into an odd fantasy that could very well be possible, but one of them would never allow it, I went back into the library. I watched as my beautiful little girl sat in her father's lap, conjuring small ice sculptures in her hand.

"What was taking him so long, darling?" Sebastian asked, in complete awe of Marcelina's abilities.

"It was nothing," I brushed him off, "You know, Sebastian, I've been doing some thinking lately."

"Oh?" he put Marcelina on the floor, replacing her with me.

"We should go on a trip," I figured, "It's been a while."

"And where, my love," Sebastian held me, "would you like to go?"

"I was thinking America," I went on, "She needs to meet the rest of her family, Sebastian. I'm tired of keeping Marcelina a secret."

"Well, since our secret's already out," he sighed, "Marcelina…"

"Yes, Daddy?" she chirped, sitting at Sebastian's feet.

"We'll be going on holiday soon," Sebastian pulled her up, "But you'll need to keep your powers under control as well as you can, ok?"

"Ok," Marcelina nodded, "I can do that."

"Also," I added, "You can't be my biological daughter. You can pass for ten, but you're still practically a baby."

"I know, Mommy," she grinned, "I'm a big girl!"

"Yes, you are, sweetheart." And that big girl made my heart melt.

"Where are we going?" Marcelina asked, her eyes aglow.

"America," I sat on the floor with her, "You get to meet my family. They're your family now, too."

"Which ones…?" she got really nervous really quickly, nuzzling into my shoulder.

"Don't worry, child," Sebastian assured, "I've met them. They'll adore you, darling. I promise."

"Ok…" Marcelina was still a little anxious, but I'm sure she'll calm down eventually. I squeezed her a little tighter, "When are we leaving?"

"In a couple of weeks," Sebastian decided, "Not next week, but the following week."

"Yay!" she started to get excited, "Can we take Pluto, too?"

"Pluto stays," he put his foot down, "I am not looking after the dog while we're gone. Besides, someone has to look after the young master and Lady Elizabeth while I'm away."

"I'll go run this by Ciel," I let Marcelina get back to her sculptures and ran down the stairs and through the maze that is Phantomhive Manor and into Ciel's study. The young earl was working hard to keep his company afloat and buried in paperwork. Much like how I was with my mother's journals. The only difference was he wasn't trying to fight off Lucifer. I knocked on the door, "Ciel? Could I come in?"

"Hi, Lumi," he greeted me, "Sure. Come in."

"Can I ask you a favor?" I sat on the edge of his desk.

"What is it?" Ciel asked.

"I need to steal your butler in a couple weeks," I requested, "If that's alright with you."

"For…?"

"We're going to America for a while," I explained, "We're taking Marcelina to meet the other side of the family."

"That's fine," he allowed, "Go ahead."

"Yay!"

"On one condition."

Always was a catch, "What?"

"Will you go check on Elizabeth?" Ciel worried, "She's hardly said a word all day. I tried getting her to speak to me, but she wouldn't."

"And you think she'll talk to me?" I assumed. It was really unlike Lizzie to go an entire day quiet. And I could tell Ciel was nervous. If Elizabeth isn't speaking, something was very wrong.

"Probably," he shrugged, "You're her best friend. I don't see why not."

"Ok," I nodded, "I'll go check on her. Any idea where she is?"

"Parlor, maybe?"

I left Ciel to his work and searched the house for Elizabeth. Not in the parlor…Not in the dining room…Huh. Where in the hell was Lizzie? I went upstairs and checked the bedrooms. Sure enough, she was balled up in the middle of her and Ciel's bed.

"Lizzie?" I sat with her, "Are you doing ok?"

"No…" her voice was so broken and her face and eyes so red.

"Lizzie," I put my arms around her, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Elizabeth bawled in my shoulder, "I just started crying. Nothing happened. I don't know why I'm crying, but here I am! Lumi, am I going crazy?"

"No," I cradled her, "You're not going crazy."

"Then, what's wrong with me?" she worried, "I've been depressed all day with no clue of how it happened. Then, there's this. You shouldn't have to see me like this."

"Elizabeth," I soothed her, wiping the tears from her eyes, "I don't care about seeing you like this. I care about stopping it and making you better. You're going to be ok. I promise you that much. You'll be fine."

"You think so…?"

"I know so," I promised, "We should probably get you some water."

"I'm starving!" Lizzie started to turn around, "Does Baldroy have dinner done yet?"

"Almost," I shook at the memory of Bard and Mary in the pantry, "Do you need anything? Besides the water?"

"I really want something sweet," she sighed, "Do we have anything?"

"I'm sure we will," I assumed, "Sebastian had a chocolate cake in the oven, last I saw."

"That sounds wonderful!" Lizzie squeaked in her usual, cheerful tone.

I must have some sort of magical power. When I walked in here, Lizzie was damn near inconsolable. Now, she's thrilled over chocolate cake? Was it me? Or was Elizabeth really starting to go slightly insane? No matter. She had a smile on her face again. That's all that mattered. One less thing to worry about.

A/N: Hi, guys! So, we all knew Lizzie was nuts. This just kind of solidifies that. And we got to see Bard naked! That's exciting. Now, I want to run something by you real, real quick. I have a very significant anniversary coming up next Tuesday. At first thought, I wanted to do an entire Kuroshitsuji week for it. But I'm thinking I switch up some posting dates next week and give a one-shot next Saturday. So, I'd be posting for Ouran on Wednesday and this would be on Tuesday. Sound off on it and either way, I'll see you next chapter. xx