AN:This is Sanda67´s birthday present, a story for and with her.
Enjoy the trip. ^^
Mr. Bee meets Charlie
(Part 16 of Little Sherlock)
Chapter 1:Weekend without John
It was Thursday evening and John had a problem.
His problem was three years old, breathtakingly cute and looking at him right now with tears in his eyes. For the third time during this month John found himself in the role of a parent. Not that he would ever complain about it, William was a role model for every child but right now he had no time to take care of his friend who had the form and age of a child again. These sudden changes, which were a side effect of his experiment, nearly a year ago, always happened in the worst possible moments. For example when John needed to go to a medical conference for the weekend where he couldn't take a child with him.
"William, there is no need to cry. We will find someone who can look after you." That wasn't the right thing to say because now the tears fell freely.
"You don't like me anymore and want me gone." Sighing John took William in his arms, cuddled him tightly and they sat down on the sofa together. On the sofa William snuggled into John´s arms and held his favorite toy, Mr. Bee very close.
John stroked William´s wild curls. "I have to go to this conference, I´m one of the people who talk there, it is very important."
"Is it more important than me?" John knew before this discussion even started that he would lose.
"No sweetheart you are the most important thing to me. But with this speech I want to help army doctors like I was one. I want to help them when they are in the field so they can help the soldiers who are hurt better." Sarah had told him about the topic of this conference: 'Doctor´s in extreme workplaces' and John offered to speak about his time in the army and his work in the field. This had been planned since months but now with William in his lap, who questioned his love it was hard to just say that he had to go.
"But I will be alone. I don't want to be alone." John pulled the child closer.
"You won´t be alone. I will ask Uncle Mycroft. Maybe you can have a sleep over and Mr. Bee could tell you a few of his secrets." John needed a backup plan; he wasn't sure when Sherlock would turn back, it could be in five minutes or five days. The last time it was only an hour before that he had to deal with his flatmate being a child for ten days. "Let me make a call." William nodded and returned his attention back to his bee without letting go of John´s shirt.
Mycroft answered his phone after the second ring, sounding busy and tired. "Doctor Watson, what can I do for you? I´m a bit busy right now, preventing the next world war." That didn't sound too good.
"I was hoping you would have the weekend off so you could watch William. I´m at a medical conference and I don't know when he turns back."
"I´m sorry Doctor but I´m not in the country right now and there is no way I will come back before Wednesday. You have to find someone else to mind my brother, someone he likes. I´m very sorry." John knew he was, the two brothers would never say it out loud, but they loved each other and shared a deep bond.
"Not your fault but thanks anyway and Mycroft… stop that war, you know Sherlock hates what it does to the traffic." Their little inside joke was for Mycroft to smile so he wouldn't feel guilty for not having time for his little brother.
"I will try, take care you two." Mycroft ended the call
John needed a new plan. First a list of every possible person who William knew long enough to feel comfortable to stay with.
Mycroft, his first choice, didn't have no time. He could also ask Greg or Mrs. Hudson but taking care of a child could be a bit much for their landlady. She wasn't the youngest anymore. Maybe she and Greg could share the weekend.
"William, Mycroft is in another country and won´t be here for the weekend because he has to work. Would you like to stay with Greg and Mrs. Hudson?" Maybe Greg could stay over in the flat and Mrs. Hudson could come up when he needed to go out for something.
"That would be nice. Mrs. Hudson wants to bake a chocolate cake with me, we could do that and Greg can draw with me again, like the last time he visited." William didn't sound or looked to upset about his Uncle Mycroft being busy with work. Sadly it reminded John of what he had told him about their parent´s behavior.
John picked up William and walked downstairs with him to knock at Mrs. Hudson´s door but after the second knock he remembered already that she was gone for the weekend too, visiting her sister. Sherlock would have been alone for the weekend. "She isn't home. Let´s call Greg. Maybe he can bring you some crayons."
John tried to reach the policeman but after the fourth time of only reaching his mailbox he decided to leave a message behind and to wait for him to call back. While waiting for him to return the call, John and William prepared dinner together. Together, meant, that John did everything a child can´t do because it´s too dangerous and William 'helped' by putting the chopped vegetables into the casserole dish. They were having a veggie and potato casserole. John was happy to cook something healthy for a change and not to eat another take away this week. He should talk to Sherlock about the whole food thing again. Not that the man who didn't need food for days had interest in healthy food at all. He was happy with his Indian or Chinese's food. Sometimes they would go out, to Angelo´s or one of the other restaurants Sherlock rated as worth going to but they rarely uses their kitchen for anything else than preparing tea and breakfast.
At the same moment, as John put the food into the oven his phone, which he had laid on the table, started to ring. "William can you take the phone and answer it? That should be Greg."
"Okay." William reached for the phone and pressed the green button. "Hello Greg." The casserole was safe in the oven. "No this is William." John turned to watch his little charge on the phone. He always founds it very interesting to watch the child interact with other people. "Yes, John is here too. We are making dinner together. I put all the vegetables inside the casserole and they all had different colors. I liked the orange carrots and the green things and there are lots of yellow potatoe´s on top of it and the cheese is yellow, too. I like yellow." John waited for William to finish or for Greg to ask for him, which turned out to be the case. "Yes, I will ask him." William turned to John. "Greg wants to speak to you." John nodded and took the phone after William could say his 'good bye' to Greg.
"Hey Greg, please tell me you are free this weekend?" He didn't want to sound that desperate but slowly John was getting out of options of people he could trust William with. Some stranger was out of question, let alone for the reason that William could turn back any second.
"Not really, I´m in New Castle, there is a killer on the run who was operating in London before. So the NSY has some kind of cooperation thing going and I´m the one that plays on the other team, they don't like people form London, or any place else. Why are you asking and why is Sherlock a child again?" Not another one. Why was everyone busy this weekend? If he wouldn't know better he would have suspected Sherlock himself had something to do with it, to have a very quiet weekend.
"Mycroft has no solution for this changing thing and the reason I´m calling is that I need someone to watch him for the weekend because I´m at a conference. It can only be someone who knows him and his condition." Who was left he could call?
"Maybe you can ask Molly she would do it, she is good with kids." John hadn't thought about Molly, she had only had short contact with William but it was an emergency and he knew she would be good with him.
"I will ask her. Thanks and have fun with your colleagues, tell them about Sherlock and about the rubbish he let you work with. It could get you a bit of sympathy or pity. You can still go for a pint that warms the heart." John ended the call. The food would need another twenty minutes in the oven.
"William, do you remember Molly? You know the nice woman who brought you medicine when you were ill." William nodded as he looked up from his play with Mr. Bee at the kitchen table, the bee was wearing a chef hat. They had found it between Mr. Bee´s clothes. "I could ask her to watch you during the weekend. She has a cat, her fur is very soft and you could play with her."
"A cat? What´s her name and what color is her fur and does she bite?" William loved animals, especially dogs but also cats and every other creature that he came across.
"So I can call her?" An excited nod followed. "Good, but I can´t answer your other questions William, because I have never met this cat."
"Oh. Then I will tell you when I meet her." William continued to put on different outfits on Mr. Bee, they wanted to play later and his friend needed the right clothing for this event. Right now the bee was wearing a pirate's hat and an eyepatch.
Before John called Molly they had their dinner. William was hungry and since John knew Sherlock hadn't had a real meal for days, this was more important. William blew carefully on every bite he took. The child was a bit afraid to burn his tongue but ate all the vegetables and even wanted a second plate.
After dinner and cleaning the kitchen, John sat down in his chair and William played pirate with Mr. Bee on the sofa. The sofa was the pirate ship and only pirates were allowed to step on it. While John watched William play he took up his phone and hoped for Molly to both be free and feeling able to handle a child.
He pressed the call bottom and waited. Just as John decided that Molly must be busy and was about to hang up, she answered the call with a cough. "Are you alright Molly?" John asked when she was finished and taking deeper breaths again.
"Hey John, not really, got this naughty flu and the couching just won´t stop." She sneezed and he could hear her search for a tissue. "Why are you calling, is everything okay?"
Sweet Molly was always thinking of others. "Yeah we are good. I need someone who can watch William for the weekend but I don't think it is a good idea to bring him to you; you need to rest with your flu and all. Watching William would be too stressful."
"Maybe you can ask Mrs. Hudson or Detective Lestrade. Sherlock likes them both." Another cough follows. "Or his brother, they always fight but they can work together."
"Don't worry, you should go back to bed, doctors order." He couldn't tell her that he had tried all the people they could think off.
"Yes mummy." John could hear her smile over the phone. "Take care of him and good luck with your conference." She ended the call before he could say good bye, probably falling back into bed and asleep in a second. He would call her later again to see if she needed anything and ask if someone was taking care of her.
John had a problem and it was playing pirate with his favorite toy on the sofa. All people that knew Sherlock as Sherlock and William and wouldn't be surprised when the child that they were babysitting would change into a grown man were busy.
Think John. John could hear his friend´s voice in his mind. Think. So he needed someone who William didn't know and who he would trust enough to let them in on that kind of secret. He needed a person with very special skills, appearance and empathy. They also needed a few more qualities.
- Time this weekend
- Good with children
- Someone he could trusts
- Ability to keep a secret
- Should be able to stay with Sherlock after he turns back, in case William reappears again
- A good cook
- None threatening looks
- Someone too good for this world
John looked at his list and sighed. Where should he find someone like that? He could ask Mycroft but he didn't want to trust William with one of his men … or women. Someone he knew. No army buddy, they were all just gigantic men and William would be afraight of them. Not his sister, she was in one of her off phases with Clara, again and she was drinking, again. Rolling his eyes he tried not to think about it. He had offered her help, his home and everything else. When she was done with her self-pity she would turn up and ask for it and he would give it to her.
Maybe someone from work. Sarah was with him at this conference; he wouldn't give William to another doctor or nurse. He didn't have enough friends he would trust. John took up his phone again and opened his contacts, starting with A he scrolled through the list. It took him until the letter S to find a person that he could imagine to trust William with.
John wouldn't ask William, he had no choice and thought William should like her. For the fourth time this evening he called someone. Mycroft really needed to find a cure.
