Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Black Butler! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates on the second and fourth Saturday of each month!

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While Rachel stayed with Ciel, Vincent scowled at Sebastian as the two men sat across from one another in Lord Phantomhive's study.

"Might I inquire about the reason behind your despicable behaviour, Sebastian?" Vincent snapped.

"Please accept my humblest apologies, my lord." Sebastian said with an arrogant grin, "I assure my intentions towards you, your house, and your daughter have been honorable since my arrival at this estate. Have I not served you well?...Did I not ask for your daughter's hand before the news of-"

"-What difference does that make?! You already touched her!" Vincent roared as he slammed a hand down on his desk.

Sebastian blinked as his employer rose to his feet with a snarl marring his handsome face, "You deflowered my daughter, my only child, without a thought! How am I supposed to assume your proposal came from love, sir, and not sheer, irrepressible guilt?"

"Guilt, my lord?" Sebastian asked with a smirk.

"Ciel is an innocent young girl!" Vincent thundered, "I…I have half a mind to nullify my agreement of your union!"

Sebastian's face fell.

"While I understand your frustration, my lord…" He frowned as he politely replied, " I fail to see how such radical action would be of much benefit to your daughter. The truth of our liaison will be brought to light soon enough and without a wedding, where will she stand?"

"Perhaps in the same spot she started!" Vincent hissed, "You come from a noble line yourself, Sebastian! Yes, I verified your papers! News came just this morning that you are indeed a man of good breeding and fine connections. Regardless, the senseless way you and my daughter have carried on, it makes me angry enough to part the both of you forever!"

Sebastian dropped his pleasant facade as a dark scowl twisted his angular face.

"Earl Phantomhive, I haven't the slightest idea what you're suggesting." He replied in a low voice.

"We can claim an illness that keeps her confined to bed." Vincent sniffed, "Then I can announce my wife's 'condition' and raise the babe my daughter will bear as our child instead. Besides, there's plenty of homes I could place Ciel in for a while. Many girls in the noble class go off to such 'boarding schools' when needed. It's not an uncommon occurrence. I'm sure you know that yourself, sir."

Sebastian visibly bristled at the audacity of his employer.

His genuine fondness for Vincent filled him with sadness as he contemplated the likelihood of having to harm Lord Phantomhive.

Although Sebastian abhorred the thoughts of revolting violently against the man he greatly admired, he would allow no one to separate him from his beloved or their unborn baby.

"With all due respect, my lord….." Sebastian calmly said as he rose to his feet as well. The two men stared eye to eye while Sebastian spoke, "Regardless of your opinions concerning these particular circumstances, my heart, my body, and my life belong to your daughter. I'll do whatever it takes to keep her by my side and stay by hers. I'm afraid I can't allow you and your wife to raise my child under a lie…..and my fiancé certainly won't be shipped off to any sort of institution for unwed mothers……..If you'd prefer to fake her death, that would be preferable. I still have plenty of time to take her to my country for sanctuary before the child's birth."

Vincent frowned as he listened to Sebastian's declaration of genuine sentiment.

He narrowed his sapphire eyes as he placed his butler under tight scrutiny before he asked, "Is it true, then?...Are you really in love with my daughter, Sebastian?"

"You have my solemn vow, my lord." Sebastian nodded as he placed a hand over his chest and politely bowed to Vincent, "That I will remain by your daughter's side, as devoted and loyal to her as any man could ever be, until I draw my last breath in this world."

Vincent turned around with a huff as he stared out at the grounds through the large window of his study.

Behind him, Sebastian smirked in celebrated haughtiness.

He knew from his master's great love of his daughter that Vincent would fail to act on his cruel plots.

Sebastian secretly vowed to abscond with Ciel in the middle of the night if for some reason, his conclusion about Vincent proved to be incorrect.

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Although Lord Phantomhive ceased his hateful threats, he cruelly kept the two lovers apart for the rest of the day.

Ciel lay in bed while she endured a thorough verbal lashing as Rachel expressed her weighty disappointment.

Vincent's daughter wisely devised a way to finally free herself from her mother's hateful grip that evening as she closed her eyes and feigned drowsiness.

After some last statements filled with harsh love, Rachel stood from her seat and left her daughter's room as Ciel rolled over in bed.

She had initially faked her fatigue, yet she gradually began to yawn.

Drowsiness threatened to send her into a deep sleep until the slight creaking of her door jolted her from her trance.

Ciel made a soft noise as she turned her head and glanced towards the sound.

Her fatigue vanished as she sat up in bed and cried out, "Sebastian!"

"Quiet, my lady." He purred while he lifted a gloved finger to his lips and grinned, "If your father finds me here, I'll have to do quite a bit of work to stop any harm from befalling the three of us."

A soft pink blush dusted Ciel's cheeks as Sebastian mentioned their little one.

She eagerly scooted forward as he walked over and sat on the edge of her bed.

He hadn't known exactly how his little love would react once she saw him again after learning the news, but as Ciel crawled into his lap, it became evident her affection for him remained unchanged.

Sebastian chuckled as his expectant lover boldly seated herself with her hips over his.

Ciel frowned as she gazed into Sebastian's face, upset he made no motions to initiate what she hoped would evolve into another bit of love-making.

"Are you not exhausted by the day's events, my lady?" Sebastian asked Ciel with a soft smile, "Perhaps it would be best for our unborn son or daughter if you would kindly lie down and sleep."

"Have you not missed me, Sebastian?" Ciel frowned, "I've spent this miserable day counting the moments until I could see you again!"

"I assure you, my lady….." He smirked, "Your visage burned in my mind the entire time your father placed me under his condemning scowl."

"Then show me……" Ciel demanded as she lewdly ground herself against Sebastian.

"May I ask what the doctor said about such activities?" He asked.

"...What do you mean?" She pouted as she stopped abruptly.

"Is our coupling…..safe……for a woman in your current condition?" Sebastian frowned with genuine concern.

Ciel scowled as she thought.

"Well…….the doctor didn't say much about it. It wasn't really something to be discussed now as I am unmarried and people expect me to act like I'm a dead, passionless wallflower until our wedding day." She huffed.

As Sebastian laughed at her rebelliousness, the deep, rich sound made goosebumps prickle across Ciel's skin.

His amusement irritated her as she dove towards him and pressed his lips against hers.

To her consternation, Sebastian readily returned her kiss but declined to respond when she ran his hands over his chest and ground her hips against his.

After several minutes of failed seduction attempts, she pulled back with a frown as she exclaimed, "Sebastian!"

"My lady, my only greater wish than your happiness is your health." Sebastian explained with a knowing smile, "I would prefer to seek the guidance of a physician or a midwife before I claim you again. If any harm befell you or the child at my hands, I'm not certain how I'd live with myself."

She scowled as Sebastian pressed another gentle kiss against her lips.

Ciel's heart and body ached with the desire to feel Sebastian's skillful touch once more.

Her selfish greed made her angry to know just how much he truly cared about her.

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Sebastian didn't have to concern himself with putting Ciel off for very long.

A few days after her condition had been confirmed, her symptoms returned unrelentingly.

Dizzy and lightheaded, she spent the better part of each hour in bed, pale, and sleeping during the periods when she did not vomit.

Rachel and Vincent continued to whisper to one another about the wedding and the soonest possible date they could schedule such an event, but as Sebastian sat at Ciel's bedside and loyally tended her day after day, he found their conversations to be ridiculous.

An anguished frown twisted his lips as he tucked the covers around Ciel to keep her warm one evening.

Her pallid face looked thin and gaunt as she lay with her eyes tightly closed.

Sebastian knew his lover was in no condition to stand up, much less to endure the enormous strain of a busy, social event.