I told you guys I would update faster now that school was out for the summer! Oh and this is big news we shaved my Persian cat,Anyways it's not Cat's birthday and they're going to have to plan something while she's asleep. Thank you so much for reviewing I really appreciate it. Go death the Kid! SYMMETRY! The more reviews I get the more inspired I am to continue typing, even though and y computer has delete over fifty times and the curser keeps moving and messing up.
Ciel and Sebastian's POV in the carriage.
"Sebastian, I don't understand why you rushed in dressing me, but then made me wait over five minutes to get the carriage ready, and what in the devil's name took you so long in the kitchen?" Several minutes earlier Sebastian had met a fairly irritated Ciel who tapping his toes and growing more impatient by the second.
"I needed to make sure that the staff was on the lookout." Sebastian said indignantly "We wouldn't want Cat to get hurt now would me?" Ciel rolled his eyes.
"One way or another, why were you in such a hurry this morning? Other than Cat's bedclothes I don't see why we needed to go out today, and even that's not a big deal."
"You really are a terrible brother." Sebastian commented.
"How dare you! I love Catherine!"
"Calm down Ciel. Not being a good brother doesn't mean that you don't love her. "Ciel's anger began to deflate. "You just don't know her." Inflated again. For some reason Sebastian was being very open today. Not seeming to realize that he was stepping all over Ciel's nerves.
"Who are you to say I don't know Catherine!" Now it was Sebastian's turn to roll his red eyes.
"Well for starters you don't even know when her birthday is," he continued before Ciel could interrupt him, "Which is tomorrow just so you are aware." Ciel widened his cerulean blue eyes. His little sister's birthday was tomorrow and he had no clue! He had to get her a gift, something remarkable so she knew that he cared, but didn't have much time- wait- is this why Sebastian was so rushed this morning? Sebastian of course knowing exactly what Ciel was thinking nodded and said, "That is why I wanted to go to town early today. You need to get a gift." He pulled the carriage to halt and popped out to open the door.
"What am I supposed to buy for her?" Ciel asked out loud. Sebastian smirked but then quickly pulled it into a seemingly indifferent line.
"I don't know my lord, all the shops around here seem suitable enough to browse through, I think that the shopkeepers could give you adequate suggestions." The tall man then promptly turned on his heel and walked away.
"Where are you going!" Ciel yelled after him bewildered. Just where the hell did his butler think he was going.
The slim raven haired man turned, "Ciel, you are capable of shopping on your own, besides I have business to attend to." Sebastian turned and again began to walk away taking up a striding pace, leaving the be-eyepatched (?) boy standing there with his jaw practically on the floor. Slowly he picked up his jaw off the floor, and walked into the nearest jewelry store. Several hours later, Ciel found himself in the predicament of….having to carry his own boxes. Oh the HORROR! Granted he had two small boxes, but he also had a fairly large box that took almost all of the arm space he had, and the other boxes stacked on top of it blocked the short boy's vision. He stumbled out of the shop nearly tripping and falling off the edge of the curb dropping the boxes. In a flash of black, Sebastian was there, all the boxes landing safely in his gloved palm.
"Really Ciel, you should be more careful." Sebastian chided, a small playful smile gracing his lips. He opened the carriage door with one hand. "Did you have a successful shopping trip my lord?"
"Yes, I did Cat should be happy with her gifts." Ciel said in his voice as cold as ice, not fitting for someone who was talking about the gifts he bought his little sister for her birthday.
"That's good." Sebastian nodded.
"What were you doing while I was shopping Sebastian?"
"I had to get Cat a gift too you know."
Meanwhile at the manor. In Cat's POV
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR BIRTHDAY'S TOMORROW?" Bard, Mey-rin, and Finny all yelled in my ear. (In unison none the less.) i leaned back and hunched my shoulders in surprise.
"Sorry Cat." Finny said remembering how close my ears were to his mouth. "It's just…why didn't you tell us? I'm sure that we could have had a big party for you…"
"But I don't want you to throw a big party…" I said indigently. "I don't need to be fussed over."
"But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't get you a gift!" Mey-rin exclaimed, with Bard nodding in agreement.
"I'm going to make you a magnificent cake! It'll be huge and nice and I swear won't burn it!" I chuckled
"You don't need to do that Bard. I've never even celebrated my birthday before." It was true, I mean what street kid has time to celebrate their birthday when they're running from the cops. Of course I wasn't going to tell them that part.
Suddenly the door was flung open by none other than Sebastian. "What in the world are you doing up this late, and why are you so sooty?" he didn't give them a chance to answer (they seemed to do that a lot…hmmmm) before continuing. "Was there an attack while we were out?" They just nodded knowing that Sebastian would cut them off if they tried to explain. He then turned finally noticing me in all my black smudged glory. "Cat!" he exclaimed rushing over to examine me over for scratches or bruises. Finding none, (I'm just that good) he stood and a stern look over took his face. "Catherine Juliet Phantomhive, what in the world were you doing outside while they," he gestured over his shoulder to the three that looked relieved that they were still alive, "were trying to ward off intruders?" He gave me a look of ice that said 'don't fuck with the butler'.
"I guess I was just watching." I said telling what I considered not to be a lie, but more of a 'withholding information'. He didn't have to know that I was able to kill a majority (okay more like 1/5 of the people) of the intruders. They were after all my enemy. They didn't just follow me around my birthday, no they followed me year round but they were always able to pick up my scent around my birthday or the days around it.
Sebastian's voice gave an air of disappointment, "Catherine, you are up far too late, and you're filthy! Come now, I'll run a bath and then straight to bed young lady." Sebastian walked behind me and proceeded to wheel me to my room undress me and plop me in the bathtub. After the bath and I was dry we looked into the dark water, He pinched the skin between his eyes and muttered something about how he didn't understand how one girl could get so dirty in a single day. He tucked me into the down feather soft white comforter, telling me to have sweet dreams, and kissing me on the forehead. He blew out the candle and whispered in my ear "I love you Cat." Thinking that I was asleep I assumed. I smiled lightly to myself. It seemed that the black butler did have feelings. (Did you see what I did there? XD *self satisfaction* wait that sounded kind of racist…. Anyway the next day!)
I woke up the next morning with the sun shining brightly in my face. I was about to curse the day when I made the realization that it was my birthday. Finally I was nine years old! Nine was the age that almost got you to being a pre-teen and it separated you from the little kids. I heard a knock on my door. The door opened to Sebastian who smiled upon seeing that I was sitting up in bed.
"Good morning my lady, you're up earlier than usual, but I guess it's all the anticipation for your birthday that you have." I smiled upon seeing him.
"Good morning Sebastian, I hope you're not still mad at me from yesterday."
"How could I ever stay upset at you? And on your birthday none the less." He ruffled my hair. "Now, shall we go downstairs?" I nodded eagerly awaiting breakfast. It was a treat to eat breakfast every day. He wheeled me downstairs where I expected a formal breakfast, most likely just me and my brother, but to my surprise he took me out on to the back lawn, the grass still wet from morning dew. There sat my silverware waiting patiently for my arrival, along with Finny, Mey-rin, Bard, and of course my brother. I smiled at him.
"Good morning Ciel." I told him respectfully. He coughed delicately into his hand.
"Good morning Catherine, happy birthday." So he did know it was my birthday after all.
"Yes, happy birthday!" Finny exclaimed smiling at me from where he sat at the long elegant, white table clothed dining table. Mey-rin and Bard both gave me exclamations of 'Happy birthday' as well. Sebastian walked out of the kitchen with a basket of something that smelled sweet and heavenly. He set it upon the table bringing out more dishes than you can imagine, all covered and smelling different and delicious. Finally he brought me a glass of milk and announced 'Bon appetite' I opened the covered basket to find a bunch of croissants, but when I bit into them they oozed chocolate. My eyes rolled back and I think I uttered a little coo of happiness because Sebastian chuckled. He turned to my brother, and commented,
"I think she has a sweet tooth just like you do Ciel." I looked to my stoic older brother curiously, and asked out loud,
"Ciel has a sweet tooth?"
"Yes, to a fault I'm afraid, but nonetheless it's one more thing you inherited from him." I smiled at the thought of me being like him. It seemed to please him as well, as his lips twitched up at the corner, into what I consider to be a half smile. Suddenly though I heard a swishing sound and flash of bright red, and out of no where a man was standing in the middle of the table, at least I thought it was a man, but i couldn't really tell with his long flamboyantly red hair.
"Bassy!" he exclaimed jumping onto the bewildered and seemingly annoyed butler. I chuckled to myself, Bassy? I don't think that I have ever heard anyone call Sebastian that. Probably a good thing that no one did either, as Sebastian looked ready to decapitate the man. The man then jerked his head my way.
"Who's this Bassy? You weren't cheating on me were you?" What is with all these people and thinking that I'm out to get their men, I mean seriously! I was eigh- no- nine! (I refer you to the first time I met Lady Elizabeth.)
"Grell, we aren't in a relationship, so even if I was courting her, which I'm not, it wouldn't matter to you." The man, Grell I suppose made a squeak of disapproval.
"Um, excuse me, Sebastian? Who exactly is this man?" I asked finally taking the initiative of asking my own question.
"That man, is Grell Suttcliff, just an acquaintance of ours." Ciel said addressing my question, while Sebastian attempted to pry the flamboyantly gay man off of him.
"More like a nuisance." Sebastian muttered under his breath. Grell gave him a wounded look, but then quickly got over it to walk over and look at me up closer.
"You're that girl we almost killed with the carriage!" Grell exclaimed recognizing me now all of a sudden. "I almost didn't recognize you without all the dirt and grime and being soaked to the bone." Okay now I understood how Sebastian was annoyed by this man.
"Gee thanks." I commented sarcastically.
"What are you still doing here? We almost killed you over a month ago…" then Ciel piped up.
"She's my sister you dimwit." He burst out a hash mark of anger appearing on his forehead. I noticed Sebastian had one too.
"Ooooooh." Grell said understanding. "Well aren't you adorable! You can just call me your auntie Grell. So what's the special occasion?" my, self proclaimed auntie Grell asked me.
"Today's my birthday." I said truthfully. "Sebastian made a nice breakfast to celebrate." Grell pulled up a chair and perched his head in his hands.
"He certainly did! Oh Bassy, you never cease to amaze me!" the red-clad man exclaimed, blowing a kiss at the dark haired butler, who in turn muttered under his breath, 'moron' I have to giggle a little bit at that because I had never heard someone as refined as Sebastian be so openly rude to someone, not to mention he wasn't really setting the top notch example for his reluctant etiquette student. Grell turned back to face me. "How old are you today little one?"
I brushed off the little one comment with just a touch of annoyance. I wasn't that young! But I was still small for my age. (sigh) "I'm nine!" I responded in a chipper tone.
"My, my you are young! But you are still so adorable! I'll bet your brother was like that when he was very little. You look a lot like him, with his hair and his eyes and everything." I nodded smiling. I thought Ciel was handsome, but did that mean that people thought I was beautiful? I probably wasn't, but I didn't really care. "So tell me, why are you in a wheelchair?" he leaned over to Ciel and 'inconspicuously'(meaning I totally heard it) whispered in his ear, "She's not on the 'to die' list so why does she keep getting hurt?" I looked up at Sebastian who was still scowling at the man and asked him in an actual inconspicuous voice.
"What is the 'to die' list?" Sebastian shook his head, that didn't really give me answer but I ignored it anyways. Grell supposedly heard my question and was about to explain it to me….
When again, out of nowhere a man dressed in a black dress suit came and grabbed him by the shoulder.
"I said no pit stops Grell!" The man exclaimed, then he glanced over his shoulder at Sebastian and Ciel. "Good morning Sebastian, I apologize for the trouble this bafoon has caused you." Ciel shrugged and Sebastian said that it wasn't his fault. Without another word the duo left, leaving me with my jaw on the floor and everyone else, acting as if nothing had happened.
Ciel turned to Sebastian, "Perhaps Catherine could get dressed and we would spend the rest of the day out here in the garden?" I thought to myself, that sounds fun and Sebastian somehow some way picked up on that thought and excused us both from the table.
"Ciel seems hasty for you to get to the gifts, or perhaps he's hasty to get to the cake." I smiled as Sebastian pulled the first dress I'd worn, other than the night dress I wore last night, over my head. It was a beautiful blue color, matching my necklace and Ciel's eyes.
"Oh Sebastian!" I exclaimed swishing the skirt a little bit. "It's so pretty! Thank you!"
"Thank your brother for that, he purchased it while you were in the bookshop with Finny." My grin only got wider from there on.
"Shall we go downstairs?" Sebastian asked chivalrously.
"We shall." I don't think I ever felt more elegant in my life, than when Sebastian promenaded me down the staircase. I felt like I was the queen. It didn't even matter that I was in a wheel chair. It was amazing. Finally when we entered the garden Ciel stood up and walked behind me, whispering to Sebastian, 'I'll take it from here.' Sebastian bowed and in the same hushed tone responded, 'Yes my lord.' Ciel then continued to wheel me to the seat right next to his. Before sitting he lightly kissed the top of my head, and whispered
"You look lovely Catherine."
"Thank you Ciel." I responded still smiling.
"Now," he leaned back in his chair, "I say, we get started with the gifts we bought you." Bard stepped up.
"I'll present my gift first, with your permission of course my lord." Ciel nodded and Bard walked over to me with a little box in his hand. It was decorated with a pretty dark purple bow.
"Thank you Bard! You didn't have to get me a gift!" He smiled.
"Your right I didn't have to, I wanted to." He winked at me. "Now go on, open it up!"
"Yes, I want to see it yes I do!" Mey-rin piped. I pulled open the bow and opened the lid to see a pretty perfume bottle laying on a bed of satin, filled with none other than perfume. I sprayed it, and out came a fruity scent, that was sweet and mellow, not too over powering where it would trigger my asthma.
"Thank you so much Bard! It's just perfect, I love it!" I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around his neck.
"You're very welcome Cat." He smiled and walked back to his seat. Ciel tapped me on the shoulder and presented me with a bright pink box, that had a brighter pink bow, and a bunch of glitter and flowers.
"This is from Lady Elizabeth, who somehow knew it was your birthday." Well that explained the box. I opened it and found a pretty jewelry stand that had an emerald bracelet on it. It was so pretty! I had to put it on my dresser in my room. There was also a card which I read aloud-
"Dear Kitty Cat, I hope you have a stupendous birthday! I'm sorry I can't be there I'm out of town with my family. I wish I could have been there I would have organized a ball and there would have been dancing and music and I would have gotten to dress you up and make you look adorable!" I could practically hear her high pitched squeal of an accent my ringing in my ears. Suddenly Elizabeth seemed to remember that there was someone she was actually supposed to be writing to and signed, "Anyways, I hope you have a great day, Sincerely yours, Lady Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Middleford (Or Lizzie for short)."
"Well," I said, "That was nice of her." Everyone nodded. "But how did she know that it was my birthday?"
"I honestly don't know." Ciel responded truthfully.
"Maybe, she's just trying to be one hell of a sister in law." Sebastian said. Didn't explain anything, but I'll go with it anyways. And with that we moved on!
"Oh oh I want to give Cat my present next! Please!" Finny pleaded/exclaimed. I smiled and nodded. I loved Finny, we spent a lot of time with each other on the garden. Both of us seemed to have a mutual understanding for each other because both of us needed to go outside in the fresh air, and though I didn't like the sun so much, the outdoors had a sense of freedom to it.
"I can't wait Finny." I smiled at him and he smiled back at me.
"Here you go." He gave me a box that I opened up to find a big bag of sweets and a book of Shakespeare's plays.
"Oh thank you Finny!" I exclaimed. I couldn't wait for us to share the sweets and read the sonnets together.
"Wait! There's more!" then he came up with a huge bouquet of flowers, red roses and lilies of the valley, my favorite. He also had a small planter and had several bags of seeds. "We can plant these together on your windowsill. There more of your favorite, and I bet they'll grow fast and you can have a fresh supply of them always in your room." He smiled sheepishly, "Do you like it?" he asked.
"Are you kidding me? I love it!" I exclaimed hugging him extra tight. He seemed a little reluctant at first but then hugged me back.
"I'm glad." He said before going back to his seat looking extremely happy and a little dazed. I giggled.
"I'm next yes I am!" Mey-rin exclaimed. She brought over a small box placed it in my lap. I opened it to find all kinds of hair ribbons of different colors.
"Thank you Mey-rin! These are just lovely!" there was only one thing I wondered though. The box was heavier than the weight of a bunch of ribbons. I pretended to shuffle through them when I found the false bottom. In the false bottom were the two twin pistols that I had used the day before, along with a red shirt and a pair of fitted black pants. It also contained a note reading, you are a good gunman my friend, I don't think that I had ever seen anyone shoot with their pinkies. I want to practice with you some time. The outfit, is because it's a lot easier for you to run in pants rather than a skirt. Love always, Mey-rin.
I looked at her and nodded yes, showing her I would like to practice sometime. Ciel cleared his throat.
"I have a gift for you too." He said as he leaned down to bring the gift from under the table. This box was wrapped in blue and had two smaller boxes on top of it. "Open the bigger box first." Ciel suggested. I opened the lid to find a beautiful satiny dark red dress, laid over with black lace. The sleeves were black with gray stripes, and the middle was red, and this was the most magnificent dress that I had ever seen.
"Thank you so much Ciel! It's beautiful! Where did you find it?" my brother t shrugged in fake modesty.
"Just a little shop, now go on open your other gifts." I opened the next box. A teacup and saucer were nestled softly in paper, I took them out gently, they seemed just so delicate, that I was worried I would break it on accident. I picked up the cup and held it to the light. There were place where the cup was crystal and the light shined through making little rainbows on the white table cloth. And I ask you what girl can't resist rainbows?
"I think this is the prettiest tea cup I have ever seen!" I exclaimed. "I love it." I stated. Ciel's lips turned up a little higher. It was almost a smile.
"I'm glad you like it Catherine, but you have one more gift to open from me." He placed the last light box in my hand. I opened it eagerly to find a silver locket. It was lovely, and the chain was so delicate. I was studded with diamonds and blue sapphires. I turned it over the back, where I saw a message engraved in the silver. The message read- Happy birthday Cat, I love you. Forever yours Ciel. My eyes began to well up with tears, but it wasn't until I opened it to find a picture of me and Ciel when we were little. Both of us were smiling and he carried me in his arms, when the tears started to really overflow. I flung myself around his neck and hugged him tight, sobbing quietly into his dress shirt. I expected him to push me away, but he only hugged me tighter. "I love you Cat" he whispered into my ear. That was the first time he ever called me Cat, instead of Catherine.
"I love you too ." I whispered into is shirt. When I finally released him he took out a handkerchief and dried my tears.
"Look at you, crying on your birthday?" I smiled my cheeks crinkling from the salt trails left behind. Sebastian walked over and told me he still had a gift for me.
"Okay." I smiled and he picked my up and carried me back to where he was sitting. Once he settled me on his lap. He gave me my first gift, a long box, that I opened to find a dark silver pocket watch. It was engraved on the back too and said "Dear Cat- we love you!- Love Sebastian and the family." Sebastian ruffled my charcoal black hair.
"Do you like it?" Sebastian asked leaning around me to look at my face.
"I think it's fantastic Sebastian, thank you!" he smiled I do have one more gift to give you, he pulled out from under the table.
"You got me a kitten!" I exclaimed playing with the black mewling bundle of joy. Sebastian chuckled, Ciel rolled his eyes but smiled, and Bard, Finny, and Mey-rin, looked on happily.
Okay that chapter was a lot longer than I expected so im gonna wrap this up quick. I hope you all liked it, and please review review review. Thank you so much for reading I love you all!