It was an accident
(Part 3 of Little Sherlock)
John woke up because he felt something moist under his hand. He needed a minute to understand what it was that he was feeling and as he lifted the blanket, the smell of urine hit his nose. Next to him lay little William who started to stir feeling John move. While slowly waking up the boy started to move until he froze and looked up at John with scared eyes.
Before John could do or say anything to stop the situation from becoming worse, William started to cry. "William, everything is alright. Please stop crying." But John's word didn't make him stop; William continued to cry and started hiding his eyes in his hands. Mr. Bee lay next to the boy, thank god still on a dry spot.
"William, please it's alright. Noting bad has happened. We will you get cleaned up and then everything will be alright again." John felt helpless with the little, crying version of his flatmate. He tried to pull the boy into his arms to assure him that he wasn't angry or anything, but William pulled back and stumbled out of the bed.
John knew the boy wouldn't run away - he never left John out of his sight - but he couldn't let him continue to cry and be ashamed of something like that. Wetting the bed with three wasn't something a child should be ashamed of. Many three years old still wore nappies.
"William it's not your fault. I gave you a bit too much tea yesterday evening." The child still wasn't answering nor did he stop his crying.
"William, you are frightening Mr. Bee. He will start crying too soon because you are so sad. He doesn't like it when you are sad." His bee's name made Sherlock look up. He hadn't noticed that he wasn't holding his beloved toy.
"How about you and Mr. Bee have a nice bath and we change you out of those clothes? Mrs. Hudson promised to take us to that park with the duck pond so we need to get dressed anyway." He smiled at William to make sure his little friend felt safe.
William nodded and took John's hand but he didn't take Mr. Bee from him, so John carried the toy downstairs with them. The bath tub was quickly filled with warm water and William's favorite bubbles. His little charge didn't smile at that like he would usually do. He still looked sad and single tears were rolling down his face.
John took off William's clothes and threw them to the mountain of laundry that was waiting for its way down to the washing machine. He lifted William into the tub and let the little duck with the detective hat swim to William. "Watch it William, Detective Duck is coming and he likes to meet happy children." But the duck thing wasn't working this time. William pulled his legs up to build a wall between himself and the duck. "William say something." John tried again with Mr. Bee. "You can tell Mr. Bee; he will then tell me if that is alright for you. So you don't have to tell me what's wrong.
If William didn't start to talk in the next minutes he would have to call Mycroft and Mrs. Hudson for help. He placed the bee on the corner of the tub. "In the meantime I will just sort our laundry; I need to help a bit so Mrs. Hudson who is helping us a lot doesn't need to do all the work.
John turned his back to William and waited for the child to talk to his bee, like he always did. He could have left the room and listened from outside but he didn't want William to feel left alone.
"It was an accident. I didn't want it to happen. John will be angry and then I won't be allowed to sleep with him in one bed because he will find it disgusting and I won't like it when it happens. I will be scared alone in bed." The crying started again and John turned to embrace the wet boy who was covered with bubbles into a tight hug.
"Oh William, of course you are allowed to sleep with me in the same bed. It was only an accident. I'm not angry or disgusted and there is no reason for you to be ashamed. Most children at your age aren't even able to use the toilet like a grown up. You do really well with it. One little accident isn't the end of the world, okay? We will wash your pajama and dress the bed with freshly washed sheets. It needed changing anyway." William's little hands held John's shirt.
"I'm sorry John. It was an accident. It won't happen again. I promise." The last sob vanished.
"It's alright and if it happens again we will do the same as today: we will walk downstairs, have a nice bath with Detective Duck and get dressed in the clothes that we get to wear for the day. And there is no need for tears or being ashamed." William nodded into John's damp pajama top. But John didn't care. He would get dressed and they would have breakfast. After that Mrs. Hudson would go to the park with them and they would have fun, maybe get ice-cream for William. A normal perfect day for William.
John woke up because he felt something moist under his hand. He needed a minute to understand what it was that he was feeling and as he lifted the blanket, the smell of urine hit his nose. Next to him lay little William who started to stir feeling John move. While slowly waking up the boy started to move until he froze and looked up at John with scared eyes.
Before John could do or say anything to stop the situation from becoming worse, William started to cry. "William, everything is alright. Please stop crying." But John's word didn't make him stop; William continued to cry and started hiding his eyes in his hands. Mr. Bee lay next to the boy, thank god still on a dry spot.
"William, please it's alright. Noting bad has happened. We will you get cleaned up and then everything will be alright again." John felt helpless with the little, crying version of his flatmate. He tried to pull the boy into his arms to assure him that he wasn't angry or anything, but William pulled back and stumbled out of the bed.
John knew the boy wouldn't run away - he never left John out of his sight - but he couldn't let him continue to cry and be ashamed of something like that. Wetting the bed with three wasn't something a child should be ashamed of. Many three years old still wore nappies.
"William it's not your fault. I gave you a bit too much tea yesterday evening." The child still wasn't answering nor did he stop his crying.
"William, you are frightening Mr. Bee. He will start crying too soon because you are so sad. He doesn't like it when you are sad." His bee's name made Sherlock look up. He hadn't noticed that he wasn't holding his beloved toy.
"How about you and Mr. Bee have a nice bath and we change you out of those clothes? Mrs. Hudson promised to take us to that park with the duck pond so we need to get dressed anyway." He smiled at William to make sure his little friend felt safe.
William nodded and took John's hand but he didn't take Mr. Bee from him, so John carried the toy downstairs with them. The bath tub was quickly filled with warm water and William's favorite bubbles. His little charge didn't smile at that like he would usually do. He still looked sad and single tears were rolling down his face.
John took off William's clothes and threw them to the mountain of laundry that was waiting for its way down to the washing machine. He lifted William into the tub and let the little duck with the detective hat swim to William. "Watch it William, Detective Duck is coming and he likes to meet happy children." But the duck thing wasn't working this time. William pulled his legs up to build a wall between himself and the duck. "William say something." John tried again with Mr. Bee. "You can tell Mr. Bee; he will then tell me if that is alright for you. So you don't have to tell me what's wrong.
If William didn't start to talk in the next minutes he would have to call Mycroft and Mrs. Hudson for help. He placed the bee on the corner of the tub. "In the meantime I will just sort our laundry; I need to help a bit so Mrs. Hudson who is helping us a lot doesn't need to do all the work.
John turned his back to William and waited for the child to talk to his bee, like he always did. He could have left the room and listened from outside but he didn't want William to feel left alone.
"It was an accident. I didn't want it to happen. John will be angry and then I won't be allowed to sleep with him in one bed because he will find it disgusting and I won't like it when it happens. I will be scared alone in bed." The crying started again and John turned to embrace the wet boy who was covered with bubbles into a tight hug.
"Oh William, of course you are allowed to sleep with me in the same bed. It was only an accident. I'm not angry or disgusted and there is no reason for you to be ashamed. Most children at your age aren't even able to use the toilet like a grown up. You do really well with it. One little accident isn't the end of the world, okay? We will wash your pajama and dress the bed with freshly washed sheets. It needed changing anyway." William's little hands held John's shirt.
"I'm sorry John. It was an accident. It won't happen again. I promise." The last sob vanished.
"It's alright and if it happens again we will do the same as today: we will walk downstairs, have a nice bath with Detective Duck and get dressed in the clothes that we get to wear for the day. And there is no need for tears or being ashamed." William nodded into John's damp pajama top. But John didn't care. He would get dressed and they would have breakfast. After that Mrs. Hudson would go to the park with them and they would have fun, maybe get ice-cream for William. A normal perfect day for William.
