P.S. Please don't hate me after this chapter.
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November 6, 1875
It had been three days since Rachel's husband, Vincent, had woken from his coma but due to their bedridden states they had not seen each other. Not minding the trip she had taken that night to find her son which the doctor had had words with her about. So she sat on her bed watching as little Hadrian running around the room, climbing over the footstool and onto the bed before turning and repeating the feat. A frown crossed her face as he slipped from view and she gingerly twisted trying to catch sight of him. When he did not pop back up she placed a foot on the ground only to be rushed by the child.
"No," He stated sharply with a cute face. Rachel nearly laughed even as she tucked her foot back under the warm covers because Hadrian had all but become her guard dog after hearing the doctor give her his lecture. That she could have lost the baby or her life had scared the little boy who despite being only two had always seemed to understand what was going on around him.
Hadrian looked hard at her for a moment before smiling that smile of his that just melted her heart. He clambered up into the bed and cuddled close to her, his tiny hand rest lightly on her belly, and the two of them just laid there quietly until the door opened. Vincent stuck his head into the room and seeing the two of them alone crept inside. He closed the door softly before turning back to his wife and child.
"Vincent," Rachel all but breathed as she held out her arms, all those frightful months of his silence and rejection just vanishing in light of his near-death experience. Those brown eyes seemed so sad as he looked at her and she just wanted to fix whatever made him so sad.
"Father," Hadrian didn't quite shout but it was louder than his normally soft voice. he all but rushed to his father but stopped inches from him and gave him a once-over before attaching himself lightly to his left leg. Vincent smiled, his whole face lighting up at the sight of his son, and Rachel knew everything was going to be alright. Even if they never talked about the things that had happened in the last few months their family would preserver because they were Phantomhives.
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December 14, 1875
Hadrian was sitting with his mother, as he often had in the last month when she doubled over in pain. It took him a moment to realize what was happening, it having many years since he'd seen a woman going into labor, but he was soon rushing from the room to fetch Tanaka. Thankfully, the man had been in the process of walking toward his mother's room and so the search was quickly over.
"Tanaka help, Mother is hurting." He tried to explain without giving anything away, after all, he shouldn't have known what was going on. The old man looked at Hadrian puzzled until his mother's voice rang through the hall then he was running toward the suite set aside for the pregnant woman.
Hadrian watched the servant envyishly as he tried to catch his breath, it was more than apparent that he wouldn't be able to catch the man. He started to walk back to the room, green eyes stuck on the off-white painted door. As he reached the entrance he was nearly run over by the doctor and midwife coming from the other way. He blinked before opening the door a crack.
"That's not a place for men like us, Hadrian." His father's deep voice stated as he lifted Hadrian high into the air and closed the birthing chamber door.
"But Father…" He started, he wanted to be there. His Aunt Angelina wasn't there to hold his mother's hand because technically she wasn't due for another month. Such an early delivery could mean all sorts of bad things could happen and he had seen more than his fair share of stillborns, Ginny having had three before his first child was born. Thoughts of his old family ripped at him and caused tears to build in his eyes. His father floundered, one arm waving about as he babbled something about etiquette lessons but Hadrian wasn't listening too lost in the past.
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December 14, 1875
It was nearly midnight when the screaming stopped and the doctor poked his head out. Vincent was sitting in a high backed chair a servant had brought with his son in his lap. The boy was fighting off sleep, rather successfully too, and all but shoot up when he noticed the new man's presence. Vincent huffed a laugh and stretched before standing, one arm holding his son on his hip, before approaching the man that had stepped outside the birthing chamber door.
"My Lord," The man began as he wrung his hands, he sighed deeply causing Vincent to hold his own breath. The doctor looked up, his bright blue eyes shining with sympathy, and Vincent felt his heartbreak. That was the look of a man with bad news, news that could break a man in two. The man cleared his throat and pulled at his stiff collar. "My lord, the baby lives but is very weak."
"Weak…" Vincent didn't know what to say. He was thrilled that his child was alive but could he handle the problems that came with a weak baby. His own brother, Nathanael, had been weak born and had not lived past fourteen, partly because his father had been an evil bastard but still.
"So." The quiet voice of his firstborn drew his gaze to the boy. Those eerie green eyes were staring the doctor down, his whole little body a testament to his love of the being he'd never met. Vincent smiled, his brown eyes softening, and found himself wondering how the child could change every thought in his head. The doctor looked taken aback, probably never having been spoken to like that by a two-year-old.
"I have to agree with my son doctor," Vincent said as he reached past the man for the doorknob. "I don't really care if the child is weak as long as he lives I will love him just as I love Hadrian."
Vincent completely ignored the beaming smile that touched his son's lips as the two of them entered the chamber. The first thing he saw was Rachel laying exhausted and beautiful on the bed, in her arms a small bundle. It took a moment for him to realize she was crying tears of sorrow and for a second he thought the baby had died while he was dealing with the doctor. She looked up, her face a mask of true sadness, and reached for him.
"I am sorry, My Lord," She said after he'd taken her hand and set their son down on the bed. He frowned and cupped her shaking hand between his larger pair.
"Whatever for, my love," He asked as he looked deep into her blue eyes.
"I could not give you a second strong son like Hadrian," Rachel's voice was full of tears and Vincent felt his heart stutter again but firmed himself after a moment. He looked at Hadrian out of the corner of his eye, the boy was cuddled up to his mother's side just staring at the wrapped bundle waiting.
"I do not care, Rachel," He said with a smile and suddenly he truly didn't, it was like all the worries were gone. After all, if his new child was half as strong as his firstborn everything would work out.
"Oh, Vincent," Rachel all but sobbed, her joy at his answer causing tears to fall. He brushed them away and looked down at the bundle. Rachel tugged her hand free of his and brushed back the blanket to reveal the tiny face that so resembled his own right until bright blue eyes opened. He knew babies eyes changed color but he suspected that the little one's eyes would always be some shade of blue. "A boy, my love."
Vincent found himself only slightly disappointed, he'd been hoping for a little girl, but the sight of his first born's reaction was priceless. Hadrian had all but fallen on to Rachel trying to see the baby but hearing that it was a boy caused him to wiggle around in excitement.
"A brother," The boy was a little ball of uncontrolled joy, his entire body seeming to vibrate with the emotion as he reached out a slow and soft hand. His small fingers brushed the baby's face and those green eyes opened wide in surprise before brightening again. "A brother."
"Yes, my son. You have a little brother and I expect you to teach him how to be a good boy." Hadrian nodded but Vincent could tell all the boy's attention was on the baby. A baby he, Vincent, had to name as was the tradition. He paused and through a few names around his head, dismissing his father's name off hand, but one stuck; his grandfather's name. Ciel was a good strong name and perfect for those pretty blue eyes.
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December 16, 1875
Hadrian had forgotten how loud a newborn was, it having been many years since his own children had been that young and he himself had not been a fussy baby the second time around. So as he lay quietly in his cot with a pillow over his head he cursed the fact that he couldn't get up to help the poor thing. The new wet nurse, who had only put in the minimal amount of work, was no doubt in the next room pretending to be asleep so as not to have to deal with them.
He suspected the woman wouldn't last long but until such time as his parents got tired of her negligence, he was stuck with a colici maybe baby and nowhere to go. Not that it was all bad, during the day he mostly spent time with his recovering mother, working father or the also working Mr. Tanaka. He sighed at the thought of his parents; they were back on speaking terms, had been since his father had come to his mother's room that day in November, but something was still not cleared up between them.
Ciel stopped crying for a moment and Harry looked through the bars of his cot at the maybe baby. He didn't know why but the child felt off to him, true his magic was weak and twisted from whatever had happened to send him to that world but something said not everything was as it should be. Not that it mattered, Ciel was his baby brother, a brother he'd wanted since his first youth with the Dursleys. That meant he would do anything for the little maybe baby, even if it meant laying down his own life.
The baby started to cry again and Hadrian amended his previous thought, he'd do just about anything because he refused to listen to Ciel continue to ball his eyes out. So he crawled to the edge of the bed and waved a hand. A weak, sputtering ball of amber light waved from him to his brother before setting into the child's chest. Well, it wasn't a cure for colic, the spell would sooth the gas build up in the baby's small body.
"Thank you, God." A voice said from the adjacent room.
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December 24, 1875
It was Christmas and Vincent had taken his family to London, Hadrian had never been to the city and young Ciel had never been anywhere so it seemed to make sense. Not that he had gone for the pure joy of London in the winter, no Diedrich was in town and he planned to pay the man a visit. As it was they arrived late in the evening and the boy's with their Nanny were quickly put to bed and Rachel, still weak from the birth, went to rest as well.
So it was that Vincent was alone in his study when Diedrich stopped by, drunk as drunk could be. The Phantomhive waved the servant away and closed the door behind the pissed man. It was a good thing he did for the moment he turned back the German was on him. Hands everywhere and lips trying to catch his; Vincent pushed back against his onetime lover, not in the least attracted to the man in that moment.
"What is wrong with you man?" He all but spat as he finally caught the other's flailing arms.
"Fincent bleaze I need you." His German accent bleeding more heavily into his drunken words.
"Get a hold of yourself Diedrich. We are in my home, with my wife and children." Vincent's voice was firm and each word seemed to strike the other a physical blow.
"You care for zem too much." Diedrich's bloodshot eyes bored into his demandingly.
"They are my family, and I love them." Vincent softly responded as he let go of the other. The German nearly collapsed into a pile on the floor, soft sobs leaving him. Vincent felt bad, truly he did, but he'd only slept with the other because he'd been in such a foul temper about Rachel's pregnancy.
He didn't love Diedrich, no matter the whispered words that had passed between them in the dark of night in the other's lodgings. In fact, the very reason he'd all but uprooted his family the day before Christmas was that he'd known the other would be in town and he had needed to talk to him about what had happened. He'd planned to find the man at his lodgings but that Diedrich had come to him proved the damage he'd caused the other in his own arrogance. He just prayed that he could fix the problem before it got out of hand.