Narrator's POV
A few weeks flew on by and Sebastian received a text from his half brother asking if he and his family could come visit.
Sebastian was yet to reply, not sure if he should allow it: he wanted to see Claude and Alois and Luka but he did not want to share the news of Ciel's return with anyone.
So, that night at dinner while he fed Ciel, the black haired man asked if he wanted to meet his aunt and uncle and cousin.
"We have more family?" Ciel asked, not realizing he had more than just daddy
"Yes, Claude is my younger half brother and best friend. Alois is his wife and they have a son, a little boy like you but a bit younger, named Luka." Sebastian explained, pulling up a picture on his phone
The blunette stared at the small happy family on the screen, at the three figures.
The first was a man who greatly resembled Sebastian except his eyes were golden instead of crimson and his hair was styled a bit differently.
The next was what he assumed was a woman with blond hair styled into twin buns and pale blue eyes.
Finally was their child who was an actual child around two or three years old with light brown hair and deep brown eyes.
"I want to meet them, daddy." Ciel agreed, cuddling against the older male
***
Within a few days, the Faustus' arrived to stay the weekend.
Sebastian had prepared the guest room perfectly, laundering the bed sheets and making sure it was tidy.
Around noon, the door bell rang and Sebastian rushed to the door, letting his half brother and his family in.
Ciel peeked at the sight from the hallway, his body mostly hidden by the corner.
None of the adults noticed the blunette watching as they talked, but Luka did.
The grey eyed boy tugged on the skirt of his mother's sundress, pointing down the hallway, "Muma, who dat?"
Alois looked to where Luka was pointing, seeing Ciel.
"Did you get a girlfriend, Sebastian?" The blonde asked her brother-in-law
"N-No, nothing like that." Sebastian mumbled, "I...uh...I found Ciel."
Claude and Alois' eyes widened, "What?"
***
About ten minutes later, Ciel found himself sitting in the living room with his Aunt Alois and Cousin Luka.
The blunette was playing with his cousin, stacking blocks with him.
The heterochromatic eyed boy did his best not to shiver, feeling his aunt's gaze rarely leave him.
***
Upstairs in Sebastian's office, said man sat with his brother across from him, both holding a glass of whiskey.
"How long have you had Ciel back?" Claude softly asked after taking a sip of his liquor
The younger man knew his brother had always been a little off, there were times that his imagination overruled reality.
And honestly, Claude would not put it past one of Sebastian's fantasies to kidnap someone and force them to be his dead son.
Sebastian shrugged, "A couple of months, I have not been counting."
"How did you find him? Was it online? A chance encounter? What?" The golden eyed man asked, his tone still gentle, knowing a few months would have let Stockholm Syndrome set in with the boy Sebastian stole
"I have never stopped looking for him, his picture was on every missing person's list, someone recognized him and contacted me. After that, I had it arranged for him to be brought to me." The other man replied
Claude got a bit braver, "Have you confirmed this is actually Ciel? Did you do a paternity test?"
Sebastian nodded.
"And what did it say?" Claude asked
The crimson eyed man sighed, "I did not open it, it does not matter what it says I know I have Ciel back."
"I believe you, Seb, I do, but just so we all have absolute certainty and peace of mind let's read the test result." Claude persuaded
Sebastian got up and opened his hidden safe where he stored the letter, handing the envelope to his brother.
With careful, slightly trembling hands, Claude unsealed the envelope and pulled out the letter within.
Skimming through the medical nonsense he did not really understand, he read the result of the paternity test.
His golden eyes widened and his mouth opened in disbelief.
"Probability of Paternity: 99.9998%.•
Holding a hand to his mouth in shock as he continued to stare at that sentence, Claude remained silent.
Leaning back in his chair and chugging the rest of his whiskey like a shot, "Good God, that is Ciel."
"I told you." Sebastian said, pouring more liquor into his brother's glass, "My father's heart knew. You would recognize Luka on sight would you not?"
Claude nodded, taking another drink, "H-Have you told anyone about Ciel?"
"Just you three." Sebastian replied
"Do you plan on telling anyone else?"
"No. Someone might try and steal him away from me again."
Claude sighed, remembering the promise he had made to their mother on her deathbed: do not let Sebastian's mind get him in trouble.
It would take a bit on convincing to get Alois to stay silent about this so they did not have to worry about the legality of this all, but Claude would keep the secret of Ciel's return safe.
"Can I talk to Ciel alone?" Claude asked
"Why?" Sebastian asked in return
"Please trust me, brother." Claude pleaded, "I just want a bit of peace of mind."
***
Claude waited in the office while Sebastian left to retrieve his son.
It did not take long, the blunette skipping happily as he walked into the office hand-in-hand with his father.
Sebastian carefully sat Ciel in the chair he had been sitting in earlier and kissed his head, "Be a good boy and talk to Uncle Claude while I make dinner, okay baby?"
"Okay, daddy." Ciel smiled
Sebastian smiled back at the loving title and left.
"Hello, Ciel." Claude greeted once Sebastian was gone
"Hi!" The teen greeted
"I do not mean to be rude, but I wish to get straight to the point, where were you before Sebastian found you?"
Ciel shivered slightly, remembering the cold life of loneliness he had former lived.
No, Ciel Michaelis never lived that life, Astre Phantomhive did and he was not him.
But to answer his uncle's question, he replied, "In a foster home in London."
"Did you love your foster family?"
"They all hated me, the last was just the same."
"What about friends, anyone woukd would be missing you?"
Ciel shook his head, "I never had any friends and no one ever paid attention to me unless they were forced to."
Claude picked up a piece of paper and handed it to the blunette, "This is a paternity test, you are really Ciel. Whoever you were before was never supposed to be real. Don't tell your father I told you this; but when you were a few months old your mother, Angela, committed suicide and her note claimed that she killed you beforehand to make sure Sebastian could not have you. We spent months looking for your body but now we have the hindsight and now she just gave you away and there never was a body to find."
"I-I am really Ciel?" The blunette asked, staring at the paper
"The test confirms it." Claude replied
After a few minutes of pleasant silence, Sebastian walked into the room and told them dinner was ready...