Author Note: It's been so long since I published a chapter that the Trump presidency ended, there is a pandemic among us (wear your masks and be careful, you beautiful people, or I swear to god-) and I have become a brand new person. So, yeah. This is Maxwell, ready to pick up where we left off. With a wider vocabulary and a bigger word count because why the hell not. Important notice though, I am looking for volunteers to be my beta reader so we can polish these chapters with a better spellcheck and to make sure that the sentences are built correctly. Any brave souls ready and determined to lend a hand can send me a private message.

Thank you for reading, being patient and most important of all; for not giving up on me. Keep moving forward, everyone. I hope you like this chapter. :)

Alex POV:

Allow me to paint you a picture. Imagine that you are seated at a table about to have dinner. On one side you have a group of people, officially labeled as criminals, whose assess you saved and on the other side is your family which you have known for less than 48 hours. Then, there's you. Sitting with your back straight, not knowing who to talk to, not even sure what to talk about…

Despite everything, the ambience in the dining room was actually pretty warm. Granny, who I still have a difficult time to refer to as such, and Dad-EVEN MORE DIFFICULT- were back in the kitchen preparing supper. Arturo had come in every once and again to lend a hand to them but apparently Granny had threatened an ass-whopping unless he sat back down at once. Not that Arturo was a bad cook, according to my cousins.

"Kitchen is like, forbidden land, when Nana is inside. Only one who's allowed in is Uncle Leo and sometimes he gets kicked out too" Louis explained calmly, idly passing a finger over the rim of his glass.

"As territorial as a lion, I swear. She hit me with a ladle! Right here! I bet I have a bump forming already!" Arturo bowed his head, pointing right in the middle. "See? Right here!"

"And you call me dramatic…You got nothing, you dum-dum!" Louis grabbed his head, took a small glance and upon finding nothing smacked his shoulder.

"Are you sure we shouldn't be helping out? I mean, there's a lot of us here…"

Dagger shot a concerned glance to the large table that would soon be housing over ten people. I was quite distraught as well. Preparing food for that many people? Sebastian wouldn't have a problem but…

"Oh, no, no, trust me! There's no need. Grandma has it covered. Besides, you're guests! It would be rude to make you do the cooking!" Dani waved it off.

"You sure? It's been some time…" Joker leaned back and craned his neck to glance at the door to the kitchen. "Oh, sh-!

"Joker! Watch it!" Beast chided as he pushed his chair to a more safe position. The fool almost killed himself. "Behave, will you?"

"Hope you kids are hungry!"

The door finally opened and grandma marched triumphant carrying what I would assume was a Spartan shield.

(How the hell did that fit through the door?)

(I absolutely have no idea.)

"Oh, shit, is that paella? Haven't had that in ages!" Dani tapped his fingers on the table excitedly.

"Ugh, it was Spanish cuisine tonight? I was hoping for Japanese…Haruto, you still need to make me some more of that mochi dish from new years. It was so good…"Louis moaned.

"Hey, it was my turn to pick the menu! You got a problem with it?" Arturo took offense to the comment, a hand slamming down onto the table.

"I got a problem with you always choosing that dish!"

"Well, excuse me for choosing one of the easiest dishes to make a ton of. If you haven't noticed we have a bunch of people to feed!"

"Sure, this is you being generous… this is not because your culinary repertoire is the same size as you brain."

"Te arruino la vida, desgraciado-"

"Kids…"

You know the ability demons have to mellow any living thing with just one look? Well, apparently grandmas also have that power. Louis and Arturo stopped pulling at each other's hair and very calmly, which is the word I prefer to use instead of scared shitless as to not to damage their pride anymore, folded their hands over the table. I noticed that Haruto and Dani were watching this whole exchange the same way one would expect a tennis match. Apparently this happened often enough to not be surprising. Cody meanwhile was more entertained by balancing a fork on his index finger.

"Well, now that we've all calmed down…"Granny made a point of glaring specifically at those two. "Let's serve dinner before it gets cold. Alex, sweetie, do you mind passing your plate?"

"Oh, right. Here." It took me a second to react, I was still a bit…disoriented with the whole situation.

And I was so, so fucking disoriented that I did not notice several queues coming from my cousins. Such as Haruto shaking his head, Dani crossing her arms in front of her in the shape of an "X", Louis mouthing "don't" and Arturo's hand making cutting gestures around his neck…Safe to assume that I probably shouldn't have done what I did. But, think about it, what could be so wrong about handing my plate to my dear sweet grandmother at dinner? Why, there should be no problem here!

Bitch, how wrong I was.

"Here you go, dear."

"…thanks." That's all I could muster and I hoped she heard me behind the absolute mountain of yellow rice that had been placed before me.

I did not know how much paella someone could pour on a plate, as in legally. Because I'm pretty sure that there had to be a law to protect you from situations like this. Yet I was pretty sure that that law had just been broken in this house.

(It won't be by the sword, or by a gun. You meet your fate right here, right now.)

(David, if I try to put this much food inside me I will die. Just die.)

(It's been a pleasure residing inside you, girl.)

"Who's next?" Granny asked, as if she didn't sentence me to death.

"MEMEME! HIT ME UP, GRANDMA!" A plate was waved in the air.

"Why of course, dear! Here you go!" She was apparently very glad to indulge Doll in her pursuit of DEATH as well.

To the horror of my cousins, all of my friends were pretty excited at the prospect of perishing by my grandma's cooking. I get that they lived in poverty for a long time and to them food was like a treasure that should be cherished, but that was too much food.

"Dani, your plat-"

"NO! No, no! Don't worry, we've got this, you've done so much for us already! So, sit, sit, I can take it from here!"

Well, somehow that worked. Now that Dani had taken the weapon-I mean, the spoon from grandma's hands she now could control the quantity of food being served. That's when the collective breath that my family was holding was released in relief. But just to be a bitch, Dani served Arturo an extra spoonful. Or two. Or three…

"Okay, that-THAT'S ENOUGH! Enough, you fucking…" Arturo had to physically move the plate away to stop another onslaught of rice to fall.

"Oops, my bad."

I did not miss how Louis and Dani gave each other a fist bump while she diverted the cart carrying the Spartan Shield of Paella from Doom to the side. Everyone was served and ready so we started eating. Well, devour in the case of some people.

"You're going to choke at this rate! No one's going to take it away, you can calm down." I had to stop Doll who had at least the politeness to send me a thumbs up while she slowed the pace. "They're gonna think I've been starving you, guys."

"Don't lie to your family! She's been super cruel to us! Our hearts could barely take the abuse-"

"Peter, I will personally come down to your level and kick your ass."

"Don't say that!" Wendy half-whispered half yelled at him, but the tiny trapeze artist only snickered. "You've been doing great so far. Really, thank you. And also thank you all for you hospitality, you didn't have to."

"Nonsense, family takes care of each other! And that includes our friends…You can consider yourselves…uhh…Honorary! Yes, honorary members of the Kane family!" Leo smiled.

"Is this a way to make up for the scare back at the inn?" I deadpanned.

"What? No! Of course not! I am still very sorry about that, by the way…Is your throat okay?"

"I'm just messing with you! Trust me, I've had wor-"I paused, finally taking my first bite of the colossal rice. "Oh."

I would consider myself a privileged individual when it comes to food. First of all, a noble household has access to ingredients that would not be available for most people. Second of all, said food is prepared by a demon whose skills, regardless of how much I hate to admit it, are beyond perfected. You would think that after tasting delicious meals prepared by him nothing could surpass it

"Holy shit. This is so fucking good. "

"That's the ancient power hidden among grandmothers. Their cooking is awesome." Haruto answered. "Wait. You said you had worse?"

"Worse than Uncle Leo choking you? Nuh-uh, I don't believe that." Louis lifted his head in disbelief.

"Oh, I've been given a beaten by a mafia guy, stabbed in the arm AND the knee by Jack the Ripper, got a bunch of rabid dogs sacked at me, an Executor almost asphyxiated me…"

(The whole demonic possession thing…)

(David, you know I'd love to introduce you to the family, but it may be a little too early to break open that can of worms.)

Soon I noticed that every head in the room was turned in my direction. I coughed into my fist.

"I mean, I'm still here, right? So that's not so bad…" I poked some of the rice. "Anyways, maybe we should discuss about what to do from now on? I still have to find you guys a job and all that."

"Uh-uh, no way. This day was already packed for all of you." Leo gestured around with his fork. "All of us, really. Tonight we have a calm dinner in peace then we all go to bed. We take a break."

"Yeah, to be honest I'm still in disbelief that all of this is actually happening." Beast gave a loud sigh. "Like a week ago everything was so different and suddenly we have all of this to deal with."

"Big Sis…" Dagger struggled to come up with some encouraging words. "Everything will turn out okay in the end! I'm sure of it! We've got Alex and her family watching out for us, right?"

"But, are we actually safe from The Yard? And the Earl? Are you sure they aren't going to show up and gun us down?!" Peter was getting agitated by the second.

"Yes, you are! I mean, if Ciel wanted you dead you'd be dead by now, you can bet on that!"

"Maybe he wants us alive?" Peter challenged.

"Doubt it. Ciel has no use for any of you. You have literal zero value in his eyes. You guys are just like me right now. Disposable. We're off the chess board. And since Ciel "solved" the case for the Queen and no more children are going to go missing, well, that investigation is closed shut and thrown into the river." I breathed through my nose to calm myself. "You got nothing to worry about."

An awkward silence filled the dining room. I could catch some worried looks exchanged between my family members. I didn't know if they had some secret code and were communicating but I don't think I wanted to know what they were thinking.

"HEY WHOA, WHAT ARE YOU-?!"

The silence was broken suddenly by the indignant shouts of Joker. A white, furry tube made his way up his shoulders and threw itself onto the table with the grace of a flying squirrel. An overweight flying squirrel, mind you.

"Cody! I thought you locked that beast away-! Ah, the glasses, the glasses, watch out!" Louis had the reflexes to lift them up before they toppled over by the rampage of the ferret.

"I did! Dick, get over here you absolute rat!"

"Got it! I got him!" Beast triumphantly grabbed the offending creature, but it still managed to slip away. "Shit!"

"He's getting away! Jumbo, intercept him!"

Jumbo did his best, by creating a barrier with his hands tall enough to represent a challenge. Haruto did the same on the other side. Which blocked his two main exits. All that was left…was a leapt of faith.

"LA PUTA! GET HIM OFF!" Arturo shouted as the creature jumped onto his head.

"GOTCHA!" Doll once again managed to catch him midair. "I got him. Phew!"

Cody walked the side of the table to recover his pet. Let me paint you a picture once again. An albino man, on a mission to capture a ferret with a severe case of "going batshit crazy". An ex tight-rope walker holding an apparently calm furry tube of doom. Between them, a table. I, sitting next to where Cody was standing, could only watch helplessly how Doll extended her arms to reunite the tiny devil with his master. I would later think to myself that, hey, I have a demon inside of me. He has one of the best reaction times of all creatures in this universe. Perhaps he could have stopped the fall from grace that the animal would have after he, in a desperate attempt to escape, bit Doll's finger. Let's play the scene, shall we?

"Here you go-OH HELL! NO!"

"No, no, no!"

SPLAT!

I blinked owlishly as Dick made his home on my, still large, mountain of paella. He licked his yellow stained muzzle as well as munching on what remained of a chicken piece. No one said anything, they kept quiet. The munching sounds echoed through the dining hall. I carefully got a hold of him, turning him around to face his tiny, self-satisfied face. I couldn't help it.

"HAHAHA! OH MY GOD! I CAN'T-!"

(Okay, I'll admit it. I LOVE this ferret!)

A muffled laugh joined mine. Then a collective chuckle but soon enough we all dissolved into uncontrollable laugher at what just happened. I finally managed to pass Dick to Cody who firmly held him between his hands. Grandma gave an amused clap.

"Wonderful spectacle, children. Now, seeing that almost everyone is finished and Alex can't eat what's left after…well, that. How about we bring out the second course?" She smiled at us.

"…Excuse me what?"

My friends were not so though after that. The paella was followed by a pork roast with rations big enough that one would think that we were eating a small pig EACH. And a flan for dessert. And then a nice cup of coffee, tea, milk and even liquor for some of us. According to Arturo this was called "sobremesa" and it was a little time after having food when people just chatted about, allowing food to settle in better. We were in desperate need of sobremesa since no one was eager to get up. I doubted that any of us could get up AT ALL.

"All right, that…was a lot of food, not gonna lie." Dagger had popped one of the buttons form his trousers. "I think I'm gonna explode."

"Oh so you admit defeat? I remind you I had TWICE the amount of potatoes than you. " Joker let out a small hiccup and held his stomach. He was in an even worse state. "Ugh, I'm going to be sick…"

"You two are idiots. Why did you decide to make an eating contest out of this?" Beast was face-palming as she swirled her teaspoon in her cup.

I'd chalk it up at a poor attempt by Dagger to impress her. The plan clearly backfired.

"You answered yourself, Beast. They're idiots." Dani rose her glass of brandy in the air. "Everyone, I propose a toast! To the idiots!"

Everyone gave a hearty snicker and rose a glass in their honor. Joker and Dagger exchanged a look with an eyebrow lifted until they too lifted a glass and clinked them together.

"Well, if we're proposing toasts. I say a toast to reunions and to a bright future that is sure to come. We'll make it happen, everyone!"

(I sure hope so, Leo, I hope so…)

"TO THE FUTURE!"

"So, penny for your thoughts?" I asked David as I undressed to get ready to bed. The demon was lying on top of it, on his side.

"Probably in my top five of best dinner parties I've attended." He extended his hand, five fingers extended.

"Not a dull moment wherever we go, right?" I chuckled.

"Wouldn't prefer it any other way." He nodded. "You holding all right?"

"Well, I think I'm finally convincing myself that this is happening. That this is real. Actually real."

"You thought it wasn't?"

I sat next to him. Despite his lack of a physical body, he had the courtesy of scooting over to leave me some space. It still felt odd talking to him like this. I still expected some kind of warmth to come from him, a proof that he was there, with me. Nevertheless, I was talking to the wind.

"David, I could go down this hall, knock on a door and my father would come out. My actual fucking father. I've been an orphan for literally most of my life! And now I can just "Hey, dad, how are you doing?" It's surreal!"

"Yeah, it's pretty surreal that the weirdest thing so far in this house is that. Look at you, talking to a demon and living with an ex-circus criminal crew under the same roof. But, nah, the weird part is that now you have someone to call Daddy!"

"I don't think I'll ever use that term in particular." I shook my head.

"But you could use it…since your papa is here! Come on, be a little more excited!" David suddenly shot up and started to levitate up and down.

"Uhhh…what are you doing?"

"Jumping on the bed! Come on! Join me!" David grinned down at me. "This is big, Alex! You just gained an entire family! You should be hopping up and down!"

"David…"

"Ohhh, I get it…You're too cool for jumping on the bed. I guess I'll just have to enjoy this by myself." He kept levitating up and down and for good measure he spun like a ballerina. "Wheee!"

I rolled my eyes at his antics, biting my lip to stop the laughter coming out. But then again, the house was pretty big, everyone had their own room and there was a thick wall separating each of them from one another. Oh, what the hell…

"That's what I'm talking about!"

"Are you happy now? I'm doing it! I'm jumping on the bed like an idiot!"

"Yeah you are! At the count of three we flop down! Big finish, all right? One…"

"Two!"

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"FUCK!"

The interruption was so sudden that instead of landing on the bed I fell straight to the floor. David vanished with an apologetic smile and a small wave.

"Alex, what are you-? Oh, god, you all right?!"

I opened my eyes with a hiss to see my cousins crowding around me with concern written on their faces.

"What happened to you?"

"We heard noises and voices in here and we got worried!"

"Did she hit her head?"

"Ugh…I was just being silly and fell off the bed…nothing to worry about. Oof." Cody helped me sit up. "I'm okay, really."

I finally stood up, rubbing my sore backside with a grimace. I hoped that there wouldn't be a bruise there tomorrow. But I think the worse damage I had was on my ego. That was so embarrassing…

"So, uh, do you talk to yourself often? Is that a thing-OW!" Louis received a good smack from Haruto for that remark.

"Uh, kinda? It's something I do to cope…Since I don't usually talk to people about stuff I just talk to myself. I know it's odd." I muttered, blood rushing to my cheeks.

Great, way to make a fool of myself in front of the family. Wonderful job, Alex…

"Meh, not the weirdest thing we've seen someone do." Arturo shrugged it off.

"Yeah, we precisely wanted to talk to you about that. Umm, we're sorry if we kind of overwhelmed you back at dinner? We tend to be a bit eccentric sometimes, but…"

"We don't usually let ferrets loose at dinner time, I promise." Cody supplied.

"It was fun, but I admit it's not the best way to have a family meeting considering, you know…It's your first time with us, and…"Dani seemed to be struggling with words.

"No, no, it's fine, you're fine, really. I should be the one to apologize. I made things a little bit tense back there and I just didn't know what to do, or what to say or, or, or what to think and I-"My rambling just got worse and worse with each word I said.

"Hey, hey, calm down. It's okay."

Haruto placed a hand on my shoulder. His grip was warm. Tight enough to be comforting but not tight enough to feel forceful. I looked up at him. He was looking down at me with a soft smile. He nodded to the others, inviting them to continue. Dani finally took a breath.

"What we wanted to say is that…We're glad you're here. We are delighted to meet you. I know things are confusing right not, but we're your family, and we're here for you, whatever you need."

"Yeah, you can count on us. It may seem a little bit intimidating, but trust us. We're just so excited that you're actually here. But if you need us to slow down, we'll understand. "Arturo explained, with nothing but honesty in his words.

I let out a shaky breath. I was overwhelmed, no doubt about that, but, not in a bad way. I suddenly felt so full of…affection and reassurance. I felt myself calming down, but my heart was still beating so fast. I wanted to say something. I wanted to express my gratitude in some way-

(All right, here we go again…)

(David, what are you-WHOA!)

I was lunged forwards. My arms surrounded Haruto's waist, my head coming to rest against his chest. All of that calm was replaced by panic. What was David thinking? You can't just go around, hugging people!

"It's okay, it's okay…We've got you, Alex. We've got you." His arms held me closer, holding me tight. I could hear his heartbeat. It was so soothing.

I let myself close my eyes for a while. Trying to compose myself. Maybe you could go around hugging people after all. Soon enough, I felt a hand passing through my hair and Dani's short, but affectionate laugh.

"Come on, everyone, let's get in here. We're making this into a group hug, no questions asked." Arturo claimed and with a grunt of supposed effort, surrounded both Haruto and me as the others came to join us.

With the amount of people surrounding me, you probably couldn't have known that I was in the middle, less that I was smiling through tears. It had been a long time since I felt so much genuine, physical affection.

"Okay, children, I hate to interrupt this tender moment, but it's late." Grandma's voice came from the door's threshold. "Your cousin needs to rest, so I want all of you in bed now, chop-chop!"

She clapped her hands, and through some amused laughter from Louis and a whiny "do we have to?" from Dani I was left to go. They all proceeded to head to the door, back to their respective rooms.

"Goodnight, Alex."

"Sleep well."

"Don't let the bed-bugs bite you!"

"And don't fall off the bed again? Please?"

"Okay, okay!" I chuckled, wiping some stray tears from my eyes. "Goodnight, guys!"

Grandma made sure they all left before she entered the room. Gently she held my cheeks and kissed the top of my head. Holy shit, I felt like crying again. Have I been starving for contact this much?!

"Goodnight, my dear." She half whispered, and by god, her face. She was looking at me like I was her entire world.

"Night…Granny." I made an effort and despite how odd it felt to say, it actually felt right.

She seemed to beam at me even more. Suddenly she gave a loud sigh, moving her hands from my cheeks to my shoulders.

"I bet you're probably tired from all of this but there's still one last person who wants to see you. He's super nervous so, please try to make it easy for him." She begged me, but she said it in a way that was more like "if I have to hear him rant about how insecure he is I'm going to scream".

"I'll try." I promised.

Sure enough, after she left the room. Leo appeared in all his gigantic glory, arms crossed and moustache trembling.

"I…uh…came to say goodnight." He explained.

"I can see that." I put up a smile for him, but it still felt kind of too cold for my taste. So I decided to maybe indulge him a little. "You know, I think it would be a little unfair if everyone got to hug me except you. So…?"

I extended my arms, waiting for his response. He almost took a step back in surprise, but quickly recovered. With tentative steps he closed the distance between us. Well, the horizontal distance. The vertical one was still an issue. I stood on my tip toes to reach better as he bent over. I managed to surround his thick neck and he carefully, almost fearfully, held my lower back. He didn't squeeze me. I wanted to take offense to that since, hey, I'm not made of glass. Then I remembered that he almost killed me with his bare hands so I supposed I could let him get away with being hesitant of touching me further. We broke apart. Not knowing how to end the hug I have him a light pat on his huge bicep.

"Sleep well, dad. Don't blame yourself too much, okay? I'm a though one, I can take a few hits." I pointed to his chest, which still had bandages covering his wound. "Dish out too."

He inhaled sharply. His eyes turned a little misty. He shook his head to compose himself.

"I know, I know…I-"He stopped himself with a sigh. "Goodnight, Alex."

I gave him a smile goodbye and he closed to door. I breathed out. I felt a ghostly presence returning to the room.

"So that was heartwarming…Wanna jump on the bed again to celebrate-"

"NO, DAVID!"

…

-End Alex's POV-

The Phantomhive manor seemed darker that night. Even quieter. The young Earl had finished his company's paperwork and a last report to the Queen regarding the missing children. He had made up his mind, he would visit the workhouse that Baron Kelvin had been funding soon. If the money from that scum had been the only thing that kept it working, he'd have to divert some of his money to take his place. It wasn't an act of goodwill, of course. This was part of his responsibility as the Queen's Watchdog. He had to clean up the messes of others.

Ciel let out a grumble after Sebastian left his room. His stomach had been upsetting him. That demon probably messed up with dinner or something. But, Sebastian never messed up…Whatever. It was probably the strange feeling he had all day. He kept glancing over his shoulders. He kept expecting someone to be there, next to him, following him. But no one was there.

How funny. That should be a reassuring thought. No one is following me. But, still, Ciel Phantomhive did not feel reassured. In fact he almost felt, unnerved. He knew why.

It didn't matter. She made her choice. He made sure she learnt that actions bore consequences. Besides, he wasn't a kid. He didn't need to be looked after by anyone. And, if he needed help, there was always Sebastian. He didn't need her at all.

An odd scratching at his door made him bolt up in panic. The Earl quickly grabbed the pistol from under his pillow. He aimed at the door, waiting for the attacker to bust through the door-

Whine, whine…

"Phantom?" Ciel walked over to the door, opening it slightly. "How did you get inside-hey, what are you-?!"

The mutt quickly entered the room and jumped on the bed. Ciel's eyes were wide. The nerve of the animal! How dare he invite himself like that?

"Hey, get off there! You can't be here! Out!" Ciel angrily pointed to the door.

The dog whined loudly, with a soft woof at the end. He put his head between his paws, tail thumping side to side. It was not a happy wag. Not at all. Ciel grumbled under his breath, walking up to the bed. He put the pistol back in its place and looked down at the animal. Brown eyes looked up at him, pleading.

"Fine. You can stay. But keep it on your side."

The Earl tucked himself back into bed. He closed his eyes, until a weight was placed on his stomach. Phantom's head rubbed against him, small whines escaping him. Ciel sighed and rubbed at his ears to make him shut up. Still, the company made his heart feel a little bit lighter. Despite it all, he loved dogs quite a lot. Suddenly, he heard Pluto letting out a loud, mournful howl outside. Ciel cracked an eye open, annoyed.

He loved dogs, all of them, except that damn demon hound.

Author Note: Well, there we have it! I've read your reviews, don't worry and I am very greatful for your kindness and support. You have all been amazing for sticking around, I even see some new people who I welcome with open arms and disbelief, because how deep did you go into the Kuroshitsuji archives to find this shiet?

But yeah, I have been doing much better lately! And I hope all of you are doing okay. These are some difficult times we are living so wherever you are, please stay safe and try to stay positive. Sometimes the brain is a bitch and tries to bring you down, specially when things get hard. But don't let that grey mush win the battle and show that your spirit is much stronger than that. And if you ever feel alone, just remembert that there's always someone rooting for you somewhere. I am certainly rooting for all of you! We can all grow and change for the better through effort and dedication. Be passionate, be brave and be kind to others and to yourself. That's my message from me to you.

Much love, keep being cool and I see you all in the next chapter. I'll be back to answering your individual reviews then, because last chapter's reviews you left can be answered with the same message which is:

I FUCKING LOVE YOU ALL, SO GOD DAMN MUCH AND YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH THIS MEANS TO ME.