~0~
June 9, 1875
"Hadrian, darling," His mother called softly as she entered the room. He looked up from the old school book he'd been reading. She looked so lovely in the bright sunlight streaming through the library's giant windows, with her long strawberry-blonde hair piled high on her head and her blue eyes dancing in happiness. "Can I talk to you?"
"Of course, Mother." He responded respectfully as he shut the book, making sure to hide the cover from her view. She brightened even more and after lifting her skirts seated herself next to him on the floor. She fussed about for another moment before turning her eyes to his waiting face.
"Darling," She paused and took a deep breath. It was clear that whatever she had to say was something she'd been holding in. Hadrian justed waited with patience uncommon for children his age causing her to smile again. "How would you feel about having a little brother or sister?"
It felt like someone had sucker-punched him, forced all the air from him as the world spun out of control. Hadrian's mind was running a thousand miles a moment and maybe he waited too long because he could see the woman's face starting to droop. He jumped to his feet and started to dance around as her words finally settled in. He'd spent his 'entire life' just floating by, bar meeting Undertaker, but the news that he was going to be a big brother was like a switch flipping. Suddenly he wasn't just going through the motions and he felt something more for his new family than just a soft possessiveness.
"Oh Mother," He exclaimed as he all but threw himself into her arms, being careful of the small bump that he could detect. He was so excited that he could have just burst with it and the strawberry-blonde seemed to be in the same state. She was laughing and holding onto him tightly and if he had truly been a child he would never have noticed the tears in her pretty eyes.
~0~
July 24, 1875
Tanaka was an old man and had served the Phantomhives faithfully since Vincent's grandfather had been the earl. So it was no shock that he was trusted so dearly by the family that when the young Hadrian had run off his third nurse he was assigned to watch the little lord. This was along with his other chores but he had to admit he absolutely adored the green-eyed boy and found it no problem to watch over the nearly two-year-old.
In fact, since the announcement of the Countess' pregnancy Tanaka had become Hadrian's primary caregiver, what with Lady Rachel being restricted to bed again and the earl having all but vanished from the manor. Tanaka didn't know the exact reason for Vincent's sudden departure from the lives of his family but he suspected it had to do with the pregnancy. After all, the previous lord had been a cruel man who was more than likely the cause of the death of Vincent's older two brothers and if he was a betting man Tanaka would have put money on the young earl's fear of being the same type of man.
The old servant sighed as he wiped his hands on a soft towel, his brown eyes scanning the room till they settled on the form of the young lord. Green eyes looked up at him and a small smile curved full lips before the boy went back to his book. Tanaka wondered briefly if he was the only one who thought it was odd that the almost two-year-old was reading his father's old school books, never mind the fact that no one had taught him how to read yet.
"Young Master," The boy looked up again at Tanaka's call. "It is time for supper."
"Alright, Mr. Tanaka," Hadrian said politely as he closed his book, something on mathematics, and stood up from his place by the door. Tanaka smiled softly and took the young lord's hand, having to stoop to do so but not caring. The boy smiled up at him and the two of them started for the nursery which would soon have a new occupant.
~0~
October 31, 1875
Hadrian knew something bad was going to happen the moment he'd woken up that day. It was after all Halloween and even though he'd had two event-free years it didn't seem that he would make a third. He had been skittish all day and old Tanaka had been forced to send him to his mother to calm down. His mother, stuck on bed rest since not long after he'd found out about the baby, had pulled him up into bed with her and just held him to her rounded belly.
Hadrian lay there for a long time with her until he suddenly sat up like he'd been struck. His green eyes were round as a shiver ran down his spine and he jumped up from his mother's arms. He streaked from the room; that something in him telling to run, to move fast, to reach the door. He reached the grand staircase just as the large doors to the manor creaked open.
In stumbled his father, blood dripping down the side of his face and seeping through the white of his shirt. The man took one step and then fell, his head hitting the ground with a sickening crack but no servants appeared from the wings. Hadrian knew this was the thing he'd been waiting for all day; from where he stood he could just make out a ghostly figure standing over the prone form of his father.
Hadrian screamed, his high child's voice echoing off the walls and drawing others from the depths of the manor. It was Tanaka who found him first, no doubt having been called by his worried mother, and started to fuss over the boy even as he tried to point out his dying father. Finally, he screamed again, mostly because with the lump in his throat he couldn't speak. The old man blinked at him and finally looked in the direction he'd been pointing.
"Lord Vincent," Tanaka breathed in horror at the sight of his master sprawled and bleeding on the floor. To Hadrian's dismay, the ghostly figure was much more solid than before and he could make out a long weapon in his pale hands, a weapon that he raised high above his head as the steward rushed down to the earl.
The rest of the staff finally appeared from the wings and huddled close together at the bottom of the stairs. Hadrian, still at the landing, just watched as the figure's weapon started to fall only to pause inches from his father's chest. The ghostly head turned to him and those two-toned eyes looked deep into his soul before the apparition disappeared.
"Call the doctor," Tanaka shouted as he fell next to the earl and stated to put pressure on the wound that seemed to be leaking quite a lot. One of the other servants rushed away toward the phone. Behind him, he heard the quiet footsteps of his mother, who really should still have been in bed, when he turned his head Hadrian could see just how pale the woman was.
"Vincent," She breathed as a hand came up to clutch at her chest. Then he saw it, the moment she transformed from his loving mother to the Countess Rachel Phantomhive. Her normally bright eyes turned empty and her back straightened even as her face remained the same pale color. She reached down and took Hadrian's hand before leading him back towards her room.
~0~
November 1, 1875
It wasn't until Tanaka arrived with their morning breakfast that either Hadrian or his mother found out anything about his father's condition. The old steward quietly set up the tea service before sitting on the edge of the large bed and took his lady's hand in his. Hadrian watched as he clutched his own hands tightly as neither adult spoke for a long moment.
"How…" His mother started but she paused and cleared her throat. She took several deep breaths before turning her clear blue eyes to his green orbs. They looked deep into each other for a long moment before his mother turned back to Tanaka. this time her voice was solid and sure. "How is he, Tanaka?"
"He lives," The old man said after a moment but his brown eyes seemed to never meet those of the countess. Hadrian, for his part, frowned in concern; he knew that any little thing could kill a man in such a time. "The wound to his chest bleed a lot and for a moment the doctor thought he would not make it but it was the head wound that could be a real problem. The doctor stated that if he does not wake in the next day or so Lord Vincent may never wake again."
Hadrian's mother all but collapsed into the steward's arms as silent sobs rippled through her body. However, Tanaka's eyes never left the boy and Hadrian wondered if the man suspected he'd known something was going to happen. Not that he could tell Tanaka how he'd known because he really had no clue of that but he had the feeling if not for his timely arrival in the entrance hall his new father would have bled out on the marble floor.
~0~
November 3, 1875
Hadrian had tried his best to distract his mother from the fact that her husband had yet to wake but as she was bedridden there was little he could get her to do. So the two of them spent a great deal of time cuddled up together as she cried herself to sleep. He looked down at her, her pretty strawberry-blonde hair was looking ragged and her face was swollen from her tears but at least she seemed to have finally fallen into a deeper sleep.
The door creaked open and his Aunt Angelina stuck her red head into the room, after a quick scan of the occupants she entered and closed the door softly. Her steps on the plush carpet were soft and near silent. She seated herself on her sister's left side as Hadrian was on the right. Those red eyes turned to him and he could tell she'd gotten the first coach to the manor after hearing because of the deep bags under those eyes.
Neither of them said anything, nothing really needing to be said after all. They just stayed as close to their loved one as they could without waking her. Hadrian was on the verge of sleep himself, curse his small body, when the door was thrown open. His mother sat bolt upright, her breath coming fast and uneven. The maid that came charging into the room all but collapsed on the floor at the end of the bed clearly out of breath herself.
"Margaret?" The strawberry-blonde asked after she had calmed down from her sudden waking.
"My Lady, he is awake."
~0~
November 3, 1875
Vincent felt like he'd been run over by a carriage, everything hurt and it was hard to take a deep breath. It took a minute but slowly the events that had led him to feel that way became clearer. He'd been out on the town, trying to drown out his guilt for all but abandoning his dear wife during such a trying time in several bottles of scotch at his club when an old 'friend' from school had appeared.
The man, whose name seemed to escape him, had offered to drive him back to his city lodgings, a small manor house near to the fashionable district. Only he'd been as drunk as a sailor and had just wanted to go home so had asked if the man, a blond if he remembered, would mind the trip to his country estate. The man had jumped at the idea and the two of them had headed out.
Vincent should have sobered up on the drive but his 'friend' had brought out a variety of liquors and the two had toasted the night, twenty-six or so times. From there the ride was a blur but he definitely remembered arriving at the manor in the middle of the night and his 'friend' striking him over the head with one of the liquor bottles.
The blue-black haired man had nearly fallen but had managed to draw his pistol just in time to ward off a trust to his heart with a long dagger. Only he was too drunk to aim even at close range and fend off the attacks so the dagger had slipped through his guard. He'd all but thrown himself the carriage after taking a single shot and had fallen hard on his injured side as the coach took off.
He had struggled into the manor and his memory of events stopped but someone must have found him otherwise he would have bled out instead of waking in his bed. He lay still in the large bed and swore that he'd never again get so drunk. But he had to admit that the whole affair had been good for him because while he'd been stumbling into the house he'd been thinking of his family. His beautiful wife and son but also of the new baby and Vincent had finally made peace with the demons that had chased him since finding out that Rachel was pregnant again.