Rhose balanced the chubby youngling in his arms as the little demon, tugged playfully on Rhose’s long hair. The sapphire eyes of her mother stared back at him with an intensity not found in human children.
“Thank you, but I will be taking this back now.” Sebastian smirked as he plucked his daughter from Rhose’s, cradling her against his chest. “After all the child should be spending more time with her father than her grandfather, don’t you think?”
“I think you had better quit trying to cause trouble, sir.” Kat came up from behind Sebastian, startling the both of them. “I will be taking my daughter now if you don’t mind.” She took the baby and cooed, tickling the giggling child’s belly with the hair that cascaded down from her ponytail. “It’s time for someone’s nap. Sebastian would you mind going into town to get a few things? The Earl gave me a list, but…” She looked down at her daughter who gummed the end of Kat’s ponytail.
The Butler bowed, “Of course my lady, I will have to finish my own work of course. Someone has to in this house.”
Kat snorted, “You give birth to a child and I will commiserate with you. Until then take pity on me and do it please?”
Rhose had to laugh at their exchange, even if was under his breath, they had come a long way during the last nine months. It had been especially amusing when Kat’s pregnancy cravings had started. There was no telling what she wanted…or when. The most amusing thing would have had to have been the two-o-clock run to the other side of London for some Eel freshly caught in the port.
Sebastian had returned only to find her asleep on the couch, a hand resting on her distended stomach.
Of course he had been busy as well.
Between him and Sebastian it had been a full time job making sure she didn’t do too much. She had been livid when he had refused to let her in the kitchen the last week of her pregnancy. Sebastian had been nearly out of his mind with worry that she would burn herself or do some irreparable damage to herself or the unborn child. And seeing as he had been in the dog house still for moving their room downstairs to the first level so she wasn’t going up and down the stairs so often…he had decided to take pity on the poor sap.
Not that that battle had borne any fruits, Kat still went up the stairs.
Between the remaining servants there was a schedule contrived, they took turns taking her up and down the stairs. It still frustrated her, but she soon found out they weren’t as easy to order about as her husband or adopted father.
He watched as she smiled down at the baby, tiny lines of exhaustion still tugged at the edges of her eyes. She was still so tired; it was a blessing that the child didn’t wake them at every other time in the middle of the night, but it hadn’t been an easy birth. She had been in labor for close to twelve hours.
And cursing Sebastian through every minute of it. It had been a…colorful experience to say the least. He had learned quite a few things about Sebastian’s parentage during that time.
“Here allow me, Gattino, allow me to do that, the poor man just went through the hardest thing possible for a man, allow me to do this small favor for you both.” He plucked the list out of Sebastian’s hand before either of them could react. He kissed Kat’s forehead and ruffled the ebony down that graced the baby’s head. “I will return shortly.”
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Flour, Sugar (confection) , Tea (Darjeeling), and so much more…Rhose ran over the list over and over as he walked the crowded streets of London. A feeling of doubt crossed his mind as he searched the windows for any signs of the things he was supposed to gather. He had come to the realization that he knew nothing of grocery shopping only a little distance before he had entered the city itself.
This is wonderful, simply wonderful…I volunteer for a job and I cannot finish it because I have no experience…how humiliating.
He grunted when a solid body slammed into him, knocking the list from his hands. “Watch where you are going, amico mio, there are other people walking today.” He steadied the young woman who had just run into him.
Without meeting his gaze she pushed passed him trampling the list into the ever present London street side muck.
He stated down at the list for a moment, a forlorn look on his face when yet another person shoved him from behind. Biting back a curse he threw a punch that landed solidly on the jaw of the man who had dared to touch him. A woman was one thing, but a man shoving him was an invitation to a fight.
The man flew backwards into the scattering crowd, a thin stream of blood running down his chin. “What do you think you are doing, man? That little thief is getting away!” He spat a wad of blood onto Rhose’s shoes. “Idiot, she’s getting away with my goods!”
Rhose pinned the man against the wall with one hand when he rose and tried to run after the girl, his eyes narrowed as his grip tightened, “Let me get one thing clear. I am not your friend; I do not care about your goods. I do care that you seem to think that it is permissible for you to shove me and get away with it.”
The man choked and tried to pry Rhose’s fingers from his throat. There was a soft murmur that from the crowd, making Rhose realize that he had an audience. He dropped the man to the ground and turned on his heel in the opposite direction.
Apocolyptian Demon of Death he was, center of attention…he didn’t like to be.
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Rhose readjusted the large box in his arms to a more comfortable position as he trudged home. Thankful that one of the humans that ran the shop he had last visited had taken pity on him and given him a wooden box to put it all in.
He wasn’t sure if he had everything, since he had lost the list. If he didn’t though he had made sure to get everything sounded familiar.
Somewhere in the distance a wolf pack howled.
It must be nice to have such large families… After he had taken Kat in his life had changed drastically, there was then two mouths to feed, a slower pace to be made to compensate for her shorter legs and lack of endurance, and then finally the protective spirit that seemed to invade the very fiber of his being every time she was threatened.
It had nearly undone him the first time she had come to him in tears because another child had thrown a rock at her.
All those feelings he still had today, he envied the wolves for their large families. The kind of feeling it must be to never be alone…I wonder what that’s like…
There was a scream closely followed by another round of howls from the wolves.
Without thinking Rhose dropped the box and raced towards the sound, his inhuman speed quickly carrying him over the fallen trees and treacherous bogs that lay hidden in the seemingly harmless ground. This time when the wolves howled the sound was closer as his feet carried him over the ground in fleet strides.
He broke through a dense bush of briars, scratching any exposed skin and shredding his clothes, to find the girl from earlier treed by the howling canines. With a feral growl he scattered the entire lot, their tails tucked between their legs as they ran.
Irritated that he had had to frighten the animals he respected he turned to give the girl a piece of his mind when a small fist nicked his jaw. He looked down with mild amusement at the girl who swore a stream of profanities that would make a sailor blush scarlet.
“Now, Now that mouth of yours is not very lady like.”
She hissed and swatted at him again, “I don’t need to be ladylike.”
Easily catching her wrist he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder, “It might be a good idea for you to find manners then. I find myself irritated that I save you and you attempt to hit me.”
She screeched in outrage, “I did hit you, now put me down!” Her small fists rained ineffectual blows down on his unprotected back.
He bounced her on his shoulder, winding her and momentarily stalling her protests. A sigh of contentment escaped his lips as silence surrounded them once more.
“I hate you.” She wheezed
“I can’t say I’m particularly fond of you either.” Came the reply.
She hissed and swung her elbow backwards into the back of his skull. Surprised at the unseen attack he stumbled, dropping her in a bundle of skirts on the forest floor.
Massaging the back of his head he glared at her, “What was the point of that?”
Standing with a huff she didn’t answer, merely wiped the worst of the forest off of her skirt and turned to go. Before she could though Rhose had her by her wrist.
He had to lean back to avoid the other hand that flew back in an attempt to scratch his face. He seized that wrist and held her in place. “Now tell me My Lady Wildcat why are you in the forests this late at night? I believed you to be a city dweller.”
She tugged at his grip, “I don’t have to tell you anything.”
His grip tightened, but not tight enough to really hurt, “Are you certain?”
Her eyes flashed in the moonlight, momentarily stunning him, one was a spring green with tiny silver flecks clean through and the other a vibrant violet. The lovely eyes narrowed on him as she noticed his stare. “Yes, I am now kindly stop staring at my face.”
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Nevaeh glared at the stranger in front of her, doing her best to break the grip he had on her wrists. Why did he feel the need to do this? She hadn’t asked for his help and she had to get back to the hut before dawn. She had been gone far too long already.
She was so close…just through the trees behind him and over the hill.
She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, his eyes a deep brown that reminded her of the forest. The deep brown of the trees and their park that grew there.
He smirked, making her realize that she had been studying his face. “Let me go.” She demanded, tugging on her encased hands. Trying hard not to think on the fact that his hands were twice the size of hers.
Everything about this man was big, not only were his hands large, he was large. He towered over her, how she had run into him without seeing him was a freak accident.
“Not until you tell me why you are out here.” His voice was deep, with a foreign accent that only seemed to contribute to the deep rumble that was his voice.
“I-”
“Navie! Navie! Where are you?”
Nevaeh froze as the small high pitched words were repeated over and over.
The man cocked his head to the side, sending a wave of dark hair, the color of Mahogony, tumbling over his shoulder. “Is that a child?”
“No.” She increased her efforts of trying to free herself, to no avail. The only thing she could do was watch in horror as the children came over the hill, eight in all, the youngest clutching a teddy bear to her chest.
Upon seeing Nevaeh they all cried out happily before swarming the two adults.
“Where were you Navie?” Demanded Dom, the self-appointed “leader” of the small band.
“Did you bring us a present?” Murmured Ellie, the quite little girl who clutched the threadbare teddy to her chest.
Darn it, why couldn’t they have stayed at the house a few minutes longer? She watched the strangers face for any indication of his reaction as he took in the sight of the children clinging to his legs. Her heart skipped a beat as Ellie held her teddy towards him, what will he do? Hit her?
“Would you like to see my teddy mister?” She asked softly, holding it forward.
Nevaeh tugged against her still trapped hands again, needing to be free to defend them when he released her. Instead he took the stuffed animal and held it to the sky, “It is a wonderful animal piccolo, it must have taken bravery on your part to capture such a beast.”
Ellie grinned, displaying a sweet gap toothed smile, “My mama gave him to me, mister.”
Nevaeh watched in shock as the other children broke from the stunned stupor to swarm over the man, laughing and demanding piggy back rides through the forest. She watched as he good naturedly swung not one or two, but all eight of them into a bear hug that left them squealing with happiness.
He must have children of his own, that’s the only way he could be so good with them….I still can’t believe Ellie smiled for him, she’s never done that before… Ellie had come to live with Nevaeh and the other children just like the others had.
She had found the girl wandering the streets of London, hot with fever, and near collapse. Her parents had died in a carriage accident and leaving little Ellie to the orphanage. The Orphanage had already had too many mouths to feed and had discreetly turned the little girl back out onto the streets. And Ellie was one of the luckier ones, Michael and Mark, the twin blue eyed blonde boys, had come from a home where their mother was a drunk and their father beat them. Dom still wouldn’t speak of what happened in his home…
“Again! Again! Please?” The children begged in unison, bringing Nevaeh back to the present. The man chuckled and swept his arm out in a dramatic bow. He met Nevaeh’s eyes with a knowing smile, “I am afraid that your caretaker is worrying over your safety. I would be wise to not test her temper, correct?”
“Navie can be mean sometimes.” Remarked the now talkative Ellie.
Nevaeh blushed, “I am not. Now come along its time for supper.” She dusted the leaves and dirt from her skirt before stepping, head held high, and passed the child friendly giant.
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Rhose watched as the young woman led the group of children back over the hill to their home. His eyes ponderous…the girl intrigued him that was the only way to put it.
Why would such a young lady take in so many children? She couldn’t be older than twenty two and already she was taking care of so many? Why? He debated for a moment whether or not to go over the hill and investigate when he remembered the box of food that waited to be delivered to the Phantomhive estate.
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Another chapter------------------------------------->