Yes, My Love (Sequel to Yes, My Lady) (Black Butler Fanfic) COMPLETE

Chapter 13

"Chrystal," a soft voice spoke gently.

I made a noise that I couldn't even describe to let whoever was speaking know I was awake.

"Chrystal, Maia said dinner will be ready soon. You should really be getting woken up."

I groaned at the female voice that was stirring me from my slumber. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, then glanced over to see who had been speaking.

Jasmine was smiling at me. I rolled my eyes and threw my feet over the edge of the bed.

"How's Lily?" I asked through a yawn.

Jasmine's smile faltered. "I honestly don't know. I believe the doctor is still with her."

I glanced over at the clock, and saw that it was nearly six. For a moment, I was scared for Lily. If the doctor had been in there with her for so long, it had to have been something serious.

But as my brain began to remember everything that happened prior to my nap, I realized that I had no idea what time Sebastian had forced me to rest. I simply nodded to Jasmine. "Thank you for waking me. Please make sure someone shows Jennifer to the dining room, and I will meet you all there shortly."

Jasmine smiled and nodded, then turned and left the room.

As the door creaked closed behind her, I stood and stretched. I'd needed that nap more than I'd realized. A small part of my brain felt bad about the fact that I'd been sleeping so much, but I knew how much stress I was under. Not knowing when you could get attacked again was terrifying, and it was slowly but surely wearing me down. We had to find out who was behind all of this and stop them. I wasn't sure how much more of it I could take.

I quickly shook off the feeling of dread that was setting in and went over to my closet. I wanted to change out of my now wrinkled dress into something a bit nicer for dinner. My eyes skimmed the clothes hanging inside, and one in particular caught my eye. It was one I never really thought I'd wear. Why not?

I pulled it out of the closet and quickly changed. When I looked into my vanity mirror, I couldn't help but smile. The dress was a pale pink color with a flowing skirt that went to my knees. I found some white heels and gloves and put them on, then looked at my reflection again. Perfect, I thought with a small smile. Well, almost perfect.

I reached up and pulled the hair tie free from my ponytail. My white locks fell loosely onto my shoulders in waves, and framed my face. I ran a brush through it until it was soft and untangled, then smiled approvingly at my reflection. Now it was perfect.

I quickly made my way down the stairs and into the dining room. I was immediately hit in the face with several different aromas. I couldn't place all of them, but I knew of a couple that made my heart sing; grilled chicken and corn. Yum.

A moment later, Thomas was standing beside me, smiling and offering his arm. I smiled back and accepted it, and he led me to my seat at the head of the dining table. As I sat in my chair, I finally took in the appearance of the table itself.

A white tablecloth had been placed over the wooden table, a fruit bowl in the center, and violets and white roses from the garden had been trimmed and placed in vases as centerpieces. Sarah and Jasmine were setting out plates and silverware, and Jennifer was seated to my left.

"How is Lily?" I asked her, wanting to break the silence and clear the nervousness from her face.

She sighed. "The doctor said he thinks it's the flu, but he'll have to take samples back to a lab to test them before diagnosing her."

"That shouldn't take too long. He can call us once he knows, and I can have Thomas go pick up the medicine."

Jennifer forced a smile. "That's very kind of you, Chrystal. Thank you."

I was about to tell her that it was no problem at all when I was interrupted before I could even open my mouth.

"Thomas! Come help me bring everything out!" Maia called demandingly from the kitchen.

I giggled as Thomas sighed and walked into the kitchen.

A moment later, they both came back into the dining hall with food carts. There was grilled chicken, corn, mashed potatoes, rolls, and so much more.

I thanked Maia as she dished out the food and then took her own seat beside Jennifer. Jasmine sat beside me on the right, Sarah beside her, and Thomas at the other end.

"I assume Sebastian isn't going to join us?" Sarah asked.

I shook my head, quickly trying to come up with a lie to tell them about why he wasn't going to eat with us. The best I could do was, "You know how he is."

Sarah sighed, and I was slightly shocked that it had been enough to get her to leave the question alone. She simply said, "He's as much a member of this family as the rest of us now. He's the reason you were able to stay here. The least he could do is join us for dinner."

I didn't say anything, and neither did anyone else. We all thanked Maia for cooking the food, then dug in.

We ate and talked about anything we could think of, all doing our best to avoid all of the problems at hand. Jennifer at one point asked Maia to make something for Lily once she was well enough to eat again, and Maia had happily agreed. Jasmine and I talked about flowers and how we could work on updating the look of the garden outside ("A fountain would be lovely," she had said, sighing in adoration as she imagined it. I'd laughed and agreed.) Thomas chatted with Sarah about adult things that I, luckily, hadn't had to deal with just yet. We were all having a great time enjoying each other's company.

Once we all finished, I tried to help clear the table, but Maia wouldn't allow it. I sighed and smiled. Some people never change.

I had Thomas escort Jennifer back up to Lily, and as they left, Sebastian entered the room. I looked up and smiled at him, and he took in my appearance and smiled back.

"James has arrived," he said.

I nodded. "We just finished here. Can you lead me to him, please?"

Sebastian smiled. "Right this way."