Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every second and fourth Saturday!
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After gorging himself on his mother's plump breasts, baby Vincent's chubby cheeks puffed with the frown that lingered on his adorable, miniature lips as he slept soundly.
Sebastian felt his heart ache as he glanced between his son who lay in his bassinet and his exhausted lover who slept peacefully in her newly cleaned bed.
He could hardly bear to leave the room as he turned and hurried after the midwife while she walked down the stairs.
"Madam?" Sebastian called out in a hushed whisper, "...Madam?!"
"Yes, Mr. Michaelis?" The midwife answered with a soft smile as she looked over her shoulder as she stopped and turned around.
As Sebastian came towards her, the midwife's brow furrowed in concern, "...Is there something wrong, sir?"
"No, nothing at all." Sebastian replied with a pleasant smile, "I was merely wondering if we may speak privately for a moment? My office is just down the hallway."
"Privately, sir?...May I inquire about what?" The midwife asked hesitantly.
"I'm certain you noticed the child was born with……unique characteristics." Sebastian remarked.
As he spoke, he was unable to suppress the arrogant smirk of pride that curled his lips.
The midwife's demeanor changed as she sniffed and lifted her chin haughtily while she replied, "Certain things do not go unnoticed by women in my profession, sir. However, you need not worry. Midwives are paid to assist mothers and babies, not gossip about them."
"Of course, madam." Sebastian said with a smile of feigned politeness, "I merely wanted to give you a token of the Phantomhive household's appreciation regarding your kindness."
"Ah." The midwife nodded with a similar, terse smile.
Sebastian raised a hand to gesture towards his office as the midwife nodded before she followed him down the hallway.
A short while later, the horses neighed while Finny drove the carriage back to the city.
The midwife sat inside the vehicle with a wide grin on her face as she counted the numerous gold coins Sebastian had paid her.
Ciel's midwife was a woman of character.
She had spoken truthfully and fully intended to keep her patient's scandalous secret.
Vincent wasn't the first illegitimate infant she had delivered in her long career, but he was the first baby for which she had received ten times the amount of her usual pay.
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After Ciel and the baby had woken, the birth was announced to the rest of the household, including little Elizabeth who held Mey-Rin's hand as they dashed down the hall towards her mother's bedroom.
"Quiet now, my lady, you don't want to startle the tiny lad." Mey-Rin whispered to her youngest charge as she gently knocked on Ciel's door.
Elizabeth wrung her hands and stifled a squeal of delighted anticipation when she heard her mother call out, "...Come in."
Mey-Rin gently pushed the door to Ciel's bedchamber open while she glanced down at Elizabeth and put a finger to her lips.
The little girl eagerly peered around Mey-Rin's skirts as she gazed into her mother's room.
A deep gasp came from her lips as she saw Ciel sitting in bed, holding a small bundle in her arms.
Mey-Rin grasped Elizabeth's hand as she let the child drag her to her mistress's bedside.
"Sit beside me, Elizabeth." Ciel ordered while her daughter gazed up at her in awe.
Ciel's voice rang with its usual frigidness, but her heart melted in her chest at her little one's obvious excitement.
As Mey-Rin gently helped Elizabeth up onto the bed, baby Vincent whimpered in discontent.
Ciel bounced her newborn for a fleeting second until he settled down as she angled him towards Elizabeth's wide eyes.
"There you are." Ciel nodded at her daughter, "Have a first look at your brother, Vincent. One day, I hope that you two will be very close."
"Mummy!" Elizabeth exclaimed in a hushed gasp.
Ciel's eyes moved from the baby to her little girl as she studied the expression of amazement on her eldest child's face.
"He looks like one of my dolls!" Elizabeth declared with a quiet laugh.
"Is that so?" Ciel asked as baby Vincent cracked his eyes open and blinked at his sister.
A smile came across Elizabeth's face with a width that hurt her cheeks as she beamed at her new brother.
Ciel's eyes widened in surprise as her newborn curled his tiny hand over the blankets and mirrored his sister's smile with a joyful little shriek.
"He smiled at me, Mummy!" Elizabeth exclaimed as she looked up at Ciel, "I think he likes me!"
"Don't be silly, Elizabeth." Ciel huffed as she scowled at both of her children, "Infants his age can't smile, that was only gas."
"No, it wasn't, Mummy, he smiled at me! He knows how much I love him!" Elizabeth chirped.
Mey-Rin clasped her hands together as she struggled not to cry while she watched her little lady meet her newborn brother, but Ciel dismissed the sweet moment with a sigh, "Elizabeth….."
"You don't have to think he smiled at me, Mummy, but I know he did." Elizabeth insisted while she reached out and gently touched the baby's miniature fingers with her own, "It's funny, you know…….my new brother reminds me of Mr. Sebastian!"
Mey-Rin and Ciel exchanged glances of silent understanding.
In that moment, Ciel found confidence in her decision to ask Sebastian for an escape.
If a child as young and innocent as Elizabeth could see his influence in her newborn that easily, Ciel knew her son would have no chance at a life among the British aristocrats without scorn.
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While Ciel recovered as she spent time with Elizabeth and Vincent in the comfort of her bedroom, Sebastian gathered the other servants of Phantomhive manor.
He eyed each one closely as they stood in front of him.
"It's wonderful news that the little tyke's here and everything went well!" Baldroy exclaimed.
"I can't wait to see the baby!" Finny smiled, "Lady Elizabeth was extra adorable when she first came to us!"
Snake remained silent with a soft frown on his face.
Upstairs, Tanaka laid in his bed.
Sebastian had questioned him briefly before he called the impromptu meeting.
He had learned what he had expected from the previous Phantomhive butler, nothing.
The ailing, aged man who spent his days immobile in his room did not have much to report or any notable suspicions to offer.
Sebastian had been left with the great task of deciding who would not be accompanying his little family on their great journey.
He had cleared Mey-Rin while Ciel had finished her nap through the use of intuition and a few pointed questions.
"The baby's arrival is more than pleasant news, yes." Sebastian nodded, "Unfortunately, that's not the purpose of this meeting. Someone here….." He paused as he paced up and down the floor and looked each man in the eyes, "Someone in this very house….had the audacity to betray our mistress and speak illicit lies about her."
"What lies, Sebastian?" Baldroy frowned.
"...That she had partaken in vile acts of debauchery. Lord Midford himself came early one morning to relay those allegations to me several months ago……he found them abhorrent to such a degree that he has not visited this manor since." Sebastian explained.
The servants blinked as Sebastian crossed his arms and concluded with a wicked smirk, "The only way he could have conceived such wild ideas would have been for someone to start the chain of gossip from this very house."
"'Not us' says Emily." Snake whispered in a low hiss.
Sebastian eyed the odd boy carefully for a long moment.
He remembered that Snake had helped Ciel journey to and from the gentleman shop when they had first met and mated.
His suspicions fell away as he moved on and looked at Baldroy.
"I haven't said anything, Sebastian!" Baldroy exclaimed with a shrug, "What would I have to gain from spreadin' lies about our mistress?! This place is my home!"
Sebastian intended to interrogate Baldroy further when Finny interjected with a shrug, "A man did speak to me months ago……but I only told him the truth!"
Sebastian's eyes narrowed at the gardener as he scowled, "...What man?"
"The man who visited the manor one afternoon with the official from London." Finny frowned, "Don't you remember Sebastian? He wore a grey hat and a striped tie. He asked me if my mistress was expecting and I said yes. I didn't start any of those horrible rumors!"
"...Was that before our lady stopped accepting visitors?" Sebastian asked quickly.
"It was." Finny nodded.
Sebastian sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose and contemplated how Finny's naivety exposed the pregnancy at a time when he and Ciel had worked hard to conceal it from the rest of the world.
"...Is our mistress going to send me away, Sebastian?" Finny asked with an anguished frown, "She's told me several times how much she values my ability to always tell the truth."
Sebastian decided he couldn't fault Ciel's kindest servant for his own ignorance.
"No, Finny." Sebastian said as he raised his head with an irritated smile, "Our mistress isn't going to send you away. However, as soon as she and the baby are strong enough, I believe we'll all do some traveling quite soon."
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Sebastian kept his word.
London mourned the tragic passing of Ciel and her children after a horrible house fire consumed Phantomhive manor one night.
As Ciel rode away in the comfort of the Phantomhive family's most opulent carriage, with Sebastian across from her and her children on her lap, she sighed to herself in contentment.
Behind them, the other carriages rattled along, each driven by one of the servants and filled with valuables taken from the house before the arson had been committed, er, before the fire had occurred.
"Are you alright, my lady?" Sebastian asked as Ciel adjusted Vincent while he nursed.
Elizabeth stared down at her picture book as Ciel turned her brilliant, sapphire eyes onto Sebastian and spoke with unfaltering assurance, "I'm better than I've been in a long time, Sebastian."
At last, Lady Phantomhive had received her liberation.