A/N: I had recently gotten this as a prompt, but I had already planned on the scenario being a whole-chapter ordeal, so here we are.

Rough ages are as follows: Johan at 73, Clara at 54, Olivier at 29, Lena at 23, Astra/Tara at 21, Sterling at 17, Maglina at 15, and Seren just turning 10.

Chapter Forty-Nine: The Thief

It was a chilly morning as Seren happily popped awake. He looked out the window to see that snow was lightly falling against mauve clouds—it was the perfect start to his birthday.

Scrambling out of bed, he made his way over to the wardrobe and plucked out the clothes he had chosen the night before already, carefully assembled to make himself look the best a lad could on his tenth birthday. The only thing that would have made the day better, he thought, was if Astra's baby had not kicked him out of the nursery before it was even born. He knew that he was supposed to be celebrating the start of his last year in the nursery, not preparing it for when some tiny monster plopped out of his sister. That was neither here nor there though, for nothing could take away the fact that it was his birthday, and that he was going to celebrate the way he wanted.

Once he was dressed, Seren checked himself over in the mirror before exiting the bedroom, doing his best to not run down the corridor to his parents' quarters. He found them being gross again—as they often were, if he was honest—kissing and cuddling as they laid together in bed. Clearing his throat, he watched as his father turned his head to look at him, brows furrowed in irritation.

"Don't you have breakfast to eat?" the Marquis asked. Seren watched as his father descended upon his mother's neck again, with her making a noise in reply that caused him to squirm.

"…but I always begin my birthdays with both of you," Seren stated. "It's not the same unless I am with my mama and papa."

"He has a point, Johan—let's give him this," the Marchioness said breathlessly. After another aroused squeak and swatting her husband away from underneath the bedding, she left the bed and slipped her robe on over her nightdress. She kissed her youngest on the brow and gave him the best smile she could muster. "Now how's that? Better?"

"Yes, Mama," the boy beamed. He followed her over to the settee and snuggled into her side as she sat, glad that he could still fit for a while longer yet. That quickly ended when his father found his own robe and crossed the room, picking up the Marchioness before sitting down hard on the settee. Seren had to scurry away before he was crushed under the weight of both parents, something he felt was intensely deliberate on his father's part.

"Good to see you, starlet—now head off to breakfast," the Marquis said.

"Papa! It's my birthday!"

"Yes, and you are out of the nursery," he reminded the lad. He buried his nose in the crook of his wife's neck indignantly, hoping that his youngest would leave if he refused to end his monopoly on the Marchioness for a while longer. "Mama and Papa still have some time to spend together."

"…but Papa!"

Just then, a courier knocked on the door and poked his head into the bedchamber. "Pardon my intrusion, my liege Doctors, but I have a message from Sladen House."

"Come in, come in," the Marchioness insisted. She stood and pulled her robe tighter as the stranger walked in and handed her an envelope before leaving. The Marquis pulled her back down into his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist as she opened the letter.

"What does it say, Mama?" Seren asked. The boy watched as his mother's eyes grew wide and tear-filled, which bothered him immensely. "Mama…? Are you alright…?"

"Yes, sweetie," she replied. The Marchioness put her hand over her mouth as she attempted not to cry. She turned her gaze towards her husband and nearly burst. "I do believe we have a child to visit, Grandpapa."

"Already…?" the Marquis breathed. He took hold of the letter and read it himself—it was in Astra's hand, which did more to set his mind at-ease than anything else. "Stars, we do. Seren, get your brother and sisters; we are making a call to Sladen House."

"…but Papa… my birthday…"

"We shall celebrate when we return," he promised. "Right now," he picked up the Marchioness as he stood, twirling around in a fit of glee, "we need to see the newest member of the family."

After gathering the remainder of their children, the Marquis and Marchioness piled the family into a carriage and made their way out to the Sladen Estate outside the walls of Gallifrey. They were greeted excitedly by the butler and led into the house to where Olivier and Astra kept their bedchamber. There they found Astra sitting up in bed, with Tara sitting crosslegged in the middle of the mattress, and Olivier sitting on the bed's edge holding a tiny bundle in his arm.

"It's about time you got here," Tara smirked. "I need someone around who isn't all weepy or else I'll die."

"You're terribly hypocritical, I hope you realize this," Olivier fired back, not a drop of resentment in his voice. He watched as his in-laws approached, proudly shifting so that the sleeping baby in his grasp was more visible. "Would you like to hold him?"

"Grandpapa and uncles first; I feel a feeding coming on and they can quickly leave without feeling slighted," Astra said. Olivier waited until the Marquis was seated before placing the bundle of baby and blanket in his arms, beaming all the while.

"Jasper, this is your grandpapa," Olivier told the child. Putting a hand on the wisps of hair atop his son's head, he attempted to not break down and cry at the overwhelming joy he was experiencing for the first time. "He's here because he loves you… he loves all of us… and he lives a lot closer than Gran and Grunkle Antoine."

"That's a good way to put it, lad," the Marquis chuckled in agreement. He bounced wee Jasper and the boy opened his eyes a crack, showing that he possessed the same deep, chocolate-colored eyes that his mother inherited from her mother. Switching to the ceremonial tongue, he traced the newborn's features with his little finger, forcing himself to stay dry-eyed as possible. "May you be the first of many children in your parents' lives, the first of many nephews and nieces for your aunts and uncles to spoil, and the first of many grandstarlets to shine the way for your grandmamma and me in the red of night. You are the Doctors' grandson—currently third in line to the governance chair—and I hope that you never know the pressure, the heartache, and the lonely days that I did. Only know the joys and love that I have, as they light the dark nights bit by bit, until even one's most miserable and tumultuous moments are well-navigable, as it is the best any man or woman can ask for while on this side of the earth."

"Okay, you know I've been working on the language, but that was a bit beyond my grasp," Olivier smirked. He reached into his pocket and handed his father-in-law a handkerchief, which he took thankfully to dab at the tears dripping from his eyes and into his whiskers. "I think maybe Uncle Seren should have a go before Jasper gets too hungry. What do you say? Let the birthday buddies get acquainted?"

"Before I break down in hysterics, you mean," the Marquis laughed. He kissed his grandson on the forehead and passed him back to Olivier, who then glanced over towards Seren. "Your turn."

"I… I don't want to hold the baby," the boy said, backing away. He accidentally bumped into Lena, who gently pushed him forward.

"Don't be afraid—the only thing he can do is lay there," she said. Leaning down, she put her hands on his shoulders in an attempt to help reassure him. "Take it from a Baby Expert: this is the perfect time."

"Alright…" Seren frowned, unsure if he was convinced. Lena led him over to the settee and sat him down, taking the seat next to him so that she could be there for support. Olivier knelt down in front of Seren and placed Jasper in the boy's grasp, being extremely careful with the transfer.

"There, now isn't that nice?" the new father asked.

"Not really," Seren replied. He stared down at his nephew, who in turn stared up at him, and he scrunched his nose in disappointment. "The way everyone has been acting, I thought this would be more exciting."

"Having a nephew is exciting," Maglina said, coming around to the front of the settee. "We get to help Astra and Olly take care of him, play with him, teach him things… when he stays over in the nursery, he might come and sleep with us as you did."

"…but I'm your brother," he said. "That's different."

"Not entirely," Lena corrected. "Jasper will love you, and look up to you, just as you did with the rest of us. Now it's your turn to be the older one, the guiding force, and help a mama and papa with nappies and playtime, and eventually mentoring him the best you can."

"I'm not a governess though," Seren scowled. "I don't think I care for babies."

"It's very likely that you shall, in time," Olivier assured him. "Even if you don't like Jasper as he is now, he will quickly grow. He will be breeched before you know it, and by the time you are used to that, he shall be the same age you are now. He shall be the younger brother you never got to have, and even though ten years seems like a lot, it won't be once you're both grown."

Seren turned his attention to Jasper again and found that the babe was sleeping, brow lightly furrowed and mouth barely open. "Can I go now?"

"Yes, although I think it's time for some of us to go," Olivier nodded. He took Jasper and brought him over to Astra, placing the infant in his mother's arms before going and ushering his male in-laws out of the room. "Don't worry, Sterling—you'll get a turn later."

"I'm not too worried," the teen said. "Even if I don't get to hold him today, you still live here, and I'm sure I'll see plenty of him before the Violet Sky."

"Yes, but it's still my birthday," Seren pouted. He turned towards his father as the door to the bedroom was closed, huffing indignantly. "When do I get to have my slae and blueberry pie? Are we going to make it home by dinner? Cook was supposed to make roast boar and rumbledethumps for me tonight!"

"Seren!" the Marquis scolded. "We are here to celebrate a new member of the family! The cook knows where we went and that we might have to wait until tomorrow for your birthday dinner. She is more than willing to put it off, as you should be, as this is a special, extenuating circumstance."

"It's just a stupid baby," the boy scowled.

"That stupid baby happens to outrank us both, I hope you know," Sterling said, stepping in before his father could snap at his little brother. "He makes it easier for us to do whatever we want simply by existing… you can't be cross at him for that."

"But I still don't understand why he had to be born on my birthday, interrupting my things, taking away my…!" Seren stopped when he heard Jasper cry, the infant on the other side of the door finally wanting his milk. "I can't even argue without him butting in now! And you say I should let him! It's not fair!"

Before anyone could admonish the boy he stormed off, going down the corridor and shutting himself in a room. Olivier, Sterling, and the Marquis all glanced at one another uneasily, knowing that the next part of the conversation was not going to be easy.

"Should anyone go talk to him?" Sterling pondered.

"No, let him be," the Marquis sighed in resignation. "The lad has not only your mama's stubbornness, but mine as well; that's a dangerous combination if there has ever been one."

"Was anyone else like this, might I ask?" Olivier wondered. The Marquis shook his head.

"They were either excited or too young to realize what was happening," he explained. The three were now walking down the corridor towards the staircase, ready to being a late breakfast. "Seren should understand in time—he is too bright a lad to not."

"I hope you're right about that, Papa, or this is going to become a very tense time in the coming years," Sterling said sadly. "Don't worry, Olly; we'll keep working on him."

"Thanks, I appreciate it," the other young man responded. "Now, let's get some food in you two before you fall over. Next time you rush over without eating something, I will tie you down into a chair myself and make sure that you have a full-course meal before allowing you to see anyone."

It was a threat that his guests were glad to have lobbed their way.

Back in Olivier and Astra's quarters, Jasper had just finished feeding and was being passed to the Marchioness for safekeeping. The new grandmother marveled over the babe in her arms, completely smitten.

"He's going to be such a good boy, Astra, I can feel it," she said.

"Thank you," Astra grinned. Her attention then shifted towards the door. "Will Seren be alright? I've never seen him like this."

"He is simply learning what it is like to no longer be the baby of the family," the Marchioness said, not taking her eyes off Jasper. "Your father had wanted to get Maglina a pet to prevent the same thing happening in her before Seren came along, but she got Malcolm instead."

"That's why I have Malcolm?!" Maglina marveled, thinking to her stuffed rabbit toy sitting on her bed at the castle.

"It would seem," Lena chuckled. "Too bad Papa misjudged which of his children would need the practice more than another. Seren would have probably done well with a cat or small dog."

"No," the Marchioness interjected. She ran her fingers over Jasper's hair and gently held him a bit closer. "If none of the rest of you had personal pets, then it would have been unfair to allow Seren to own one. The amount of children that we had made it so that you all would have to make do with the castle hounds and mousers and whatnot if you wanted pets; there's little worse than claiming responsibility for an animal and then ignoring it to the point where another cares for it. Good of a boy as Seren is, he would have definitely had the maids caring for a pet had we given him one."

The sisters all considered that and nodded in agreement—their mother had a point.

"Just give him time," Lena said. "He'll warm up to Jasper eventually, just like we warmed up to him."

"I hope he does," Astra frowned in worry. The new mother watched as her son was passed from grandmother to eldest aunt, hoping that the youngest uncle, wherever he ended up, would come around eventually.

In a darkened bedroom, Seren laid on the bed and pouted. Despite the fact the mattress had been stripped since the last time he spent time there, he had found a pillow and large blanket, curling up so that he was a lump of warmth in the chilled room. A blue sky outside poked through a slit in the drapes, soon to be replaced by the violet that he knew well to dominate his birthday hours.

'It's not fair,' the boy thought. 'We should be here tomorrow, not today. I should be able to celebrate my birthday properly! Why can't…!'

He stopped his internal grousing when he heard the door click open and footsteps cross the room. The mattress shifted and he felt a hand grab at his ankle and wiggle it.

"Seren? Are you alright?" It was Olivier.

"Leave me alone."

"Astra's worried about you; we're all worried about you." A grunt met him in reply. "Are you hungry? Your papa said that you didn't get a chance to eat any breakfast."

Silence passed between them and Olivier eventually sighed. "If you feel like joining the rest of us, you know where to look, yeah? Someone will come back to get you around dinner if we don't hear from you." He stood and began to walk back towards the door, only for Seren to sit up and cut him off.

"Why did Jasper have to be born today?" he asked. "I thought he was going to be born closer to the Violet Sky, but he stole my birthday instead."

"We all thought that he would be born later, but sometimes babies come early," Olivier explained. "It's no one's fault, you know. He didn't do it on purpose. Jasper is not a thief."

"He sure does feel like it." Seren slumped back over and covered himself with the blanket again, listening for when Olivier walked out of the room. The lad went to sleep in a fit of rage, wanting to forget everything that had happened that day.

When he awoke, Seren found that there was a fire in the hearth and a tray sitting out for him with cold tea and sandwiches. He nibbled cautiously, watching the violet in the sky grow deeper as the day came to a close.

Babies, he decided, were definitely not his most favorite thing in the world.