Consulting Babysitter, at Your Service
Disclaimer: I do not own Sherlock or Cinderella!
Prompt: Stripes
Sherlock Holmes never saw himself as a babysitter, but as Mary and John Watson fluttered around his flat making sure there was nothing dangerous laying out, he couldn't help but roll his eyes and huff softly; he was fully capable of "baby proofing" his flat, especially since he had twenty-four hours' notice, a landlady-not-your-housekeeper, and a pathologist girlfriend who could not only dispose of body parts and chemicals, but also had friends with young children and knew exactly what was dangerous and what wasn't.
221B Baker Street had probably never been so clean.
"Alright, everything looks good," Mary said before turning to Sherlock. "I can't thank you enough. My brother normally doesn't need a sitter on Wednesdays."
"It's fine," Sherlock mumbled, yawning and stretching his arms over his head. "When will your brother drop off…?"
"Madison. She'll be here around 8:30. And she's staying the night with us, so I'll get her after I'm finished with everything at school."
"Mary, if we don't hurry up, we'll both be late. Sherlock has our numbers. I'm sure if something happens, he'll give us a call." John turned to Sherlock and lifted a brow, "Right?"
"Of course I'll call!" he said irritably, before shooing them away. "I have to sort through my Mind Palace with what little time I have left of my morning, so if you could leave?"
John rolled his eyes, but Mary smiled, pleased that Sherlock wasn't in an obvious foul mood. He was just behaving as he usually did. "Here's a bit of advice before I leave, Sherlock. You'll want to change out of that suit. Children are messy."
"She doesn't have any allergies to foods or medications. She's been using the potty for a few weeks now with success, so you don't have to worry about diapers. I've brought her little seat adapter for your toilet and—well, if I don't stop talking, I'll never leave." He laughed to himself and bent down so he was level with his daughter.
Sherlock deduced that Madison Morstan was terribly shy, had long curly blonde hair and her favorite color was blue. The deduction of her favorite color was easy because she had on a pair of dark blue jeans, a navy blue and white striped jumper, and a blue flower clip in her hair.
"Daddy will see you soon, okay?" he asked, and the little girl nodded her head. Sherlock cringed because he was certain she was going to start crying at any moment, and if there was one thing he was absolutely terrible at, it was crying children.
After a hug and a kiss, Mark Morstan stood up, thanked Sherlock for the fourth time, and dashed to the door. Sherlock watched as Madison slowly walked to the top of the stairs, and stared at the door for almost a full minute after her father left. When she started to sniffle, Sherlock clapped his hands which got her attention. "Madison, would you like to run a few errands with me this morning?"
She nodded her head, and Sherlock exhaled slowly. Her wide blue eyes were filled with tears. "Okay. Please sit down on the couch, and I will be right back."
Sherlock nearly ran to his bedroom, not waiting for her to move from her spot at the stairs. He decided he would follow Mary's advice and dress down. He also thought he would be less imposing on the two year old if he was also wearing jeans and a jumper instead of a suit.
Donning a pair of dark blue jeans and his purple shirt, he thought for a moment before forgoing his black suit jacket for a dark gray cardigan that had been sitting in the back of his closet for years. Feeling out of sorts without his usual suit, he stepped out of his bedroom, wallet shoved in his back pocket, and was met with the sight of Madison still standing in the same spot. It seemed like she just finished having a cry, because she was wiping at her eyes and cheeks.
"Are you ready to go?" Sherlock asked, kneeling down and picking up her diaper bag. From what he remembered, she had an extra change of clothes, a few toys, a few snacks, and books. Everything that was needed to keep her occupied was in that bag.
"Yes," she said softly.
Sherlock shouldered the bag and made his way down the steps. He only made it down three before he heard a soft, "Wait for me!"
Sherlock had to remind himself that two year old children did not have legs as long as him.
Lestrade was well informed prior to Sherlock's appearance in his office that a two year old was going to be accompanying him, and he insisted anything harmful to a child's psyche needed to be hidden away.
"I'm tired," Madison said, once they walked up the steps to New Scotland Yard. Sherlock looked down at her, and in fact, she did look sleepy and a little worn out by the amount of steps she had walked that day, so he crouched down.
"I can give you a ride if you want?"
Sherlock found it wasn't that difficult to be kind and gentle with a child. He made a mental note to try this experiment with people who annoyed him, namely Anderson.
Madison smiled at Sherlock and very carefully climbed onto his back, and Sherlock shifted her up until she was safely on his shoulders. "Don't pull my hair," he said, as he stood up.
"Woaaah!" Madison squealed, her hands finding purchase in his hair but not pulling. "So high!"
"I am a bit tall," Sherlock said, before making his way inside, careful to duck so the little girl perched on his shoulders wouldn't hit her head on any doorframes. He ignored the stares as he made his way to Lestrade's office. He rolled his eyes when he saw Sally Donovan in his office, obviously there to "observe" his behavior with a child.
He knocked on the door once before opening it. "I have paperwork to sign?"
"Good morning to you too, Sherlock." Lestrade said, pushing paperwork to the other side of his desk. "And who do we have here?"
Sherlock lifted Madison off his shoulders and held her as he made his way to a vacant seat. He placed her carefully on his knee. "Madison, this is Detective Inspector Lestrade." Madison gave him one look before turning and burrowing her head in Sherlock's chest. His eyes widened for a moment, before he said stiffly, "And this is Detective Donovan." Madison peaked at her, before hiding her face again.
"She's terribly shy," Sherlock added.
The hour at Scotland Yard was mostly spent on signing paperwork, while Donovan and Lestrade slowly coerced Madison from Sherlock's chest and to the floor, where she played with a small doll and a race car from the diaper bag.
As they were getting ready to leave, Sherlock noticed that Madison was holding her privates and swaying a little back and forth. His eyes widened and he knew (only because Molly mentioned it the night before) that that was a telltale sign that she needed the loo.
But this is where Sherlock was stumped. "Do I take her to the men's lavatory or the women's?" he asked Lestrade.
"Take her to the men's and don't let her lock the door. Just hold it closed for her."
Sherlock Holmes never in his life thought he would spend a period of time standing protectively outside a toilet stall, holding the door shut so a two year old wouldn't lock herself inside as she relieved herself.
"Need help!" she cried after the toilet flushed and he saw her little feet on the ground.
"With what?"
"Buttons and zip!"
Sherlock opened the door slowly, relieved to see she had her pants and jeans pulled up. He knelt on the floor and carefully pulled up her zip and fastened the button before standing and directing her to the sink. After rolling up the sleeves on her striped jumper, he lifted her and assisted her in washing and drying her hands.
Not having a car seat was a hassle, as Sherlock had to ride the tube to get to St. Bart's, his second and last errand of the day, but the small trip was uneventful. In her diaper bag, he found a small lunch bag with an icepack. It had a baggie with sliced apples and cheese. Madison was pleased with her snack of cheese and played with her toys quietly like she did in Lestrade's office.
As they were walking the short distance to St. Bart's, Madison's hand clutched tightly in Sherlock's, Sherlock sent Molly a text, asking her to meet them in front of the hospital. Even though it was slim, Sherlock didn't want Madison to see a cadaver or anything harmful within the confines of the hospital.
When they reached the hospital, Molly was standing just past the doors, and she grinned brightly at her boyfriend and his small companion for the day.
"Madison, this is Molly," Sherlock said, once they reached each other. "And Molly, this is Madison." Sherlock wasn't surprised this time when Madison hid her face against his leg. Molly just cooed and stooped down until she was level with her.
"Hello Madison. It's very nice to meet you. I'm friends with your Aunt Mary and Uncle John." She pulled her face away at the mention of her aunt and uncle and smiled tentatively at Molly. "Isn't she the sweetest!" Molly said, giggling before looking up a Sherlock. "Has it been a good day?"
He nodded his head. "She cried after her father dropped her off, but she's been mostly quiet. We went to Scotland Yard to finish the paperwork from my last case and now we're here."
"That's not bad at all."
Sherlock shook his head. "I don't understand why everyone was so worried about this. It's relatively easy. Except the loo. I wasn't expecting that."
"You're potty trained?" Molly asked, looking back at Madison. At this, Madison smiled brilliantly and said confidently,
"I wear big girl pants!"
"You do! That's very good!"
Sherlock couldn't help but smile at their interactions as Molly asked Madison several more questions, and the little girl opened up to her. 'Having children might not be a bad idea if it's like this. Especially if it makes Molly smile like that all the time,' he thought to himself. Sherlock observed their conversation, cataloguing the way Molly interacted with Madison, the tone of her speech, and her body language. It was beneficial to see this behavior, because he was confident that he could now properly replicate it when it was just the two of them again at Baker Street.
After a few minutes, Madison said she was hungry, and Molly took that as her cue to stand up. "Do you have something for lunch?"
"Yes. Remember when you brought some shopping over last night? We'll be fine for lunch." He rolled his eyes, but smiled fondly at Molly regardless. "She had a bit of a snack on the tube, anyway." He pulled out his wallet and handed her a twenty pound note. "And now you have something for lunch today."
Molly blushed and sighed. "I can't believe I left my wallet at home! I'm just glad I had my oyster card or else today could have been a lot worse." She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek; they normally didn't do public displays of affection. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He bent down and hoisted Madison up onto his hip. "Will you be over later?"
Molly nodded her head, trying not to smile too brightly at seeing Sherlock with a toddler on his hip. She didn't want to put ideas into her head, at least not yet. "I'll see you later Sherlock. And it was very nice to meet you, Madison."
"Bye Molly!" she called, as Molly waved at them and then made her way back to St. Bart's.
Sherlock was certain that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with apples slices was not supposed to be this messy. But the little girl who was finishing her apples seemed to have more peanut butter on her face than she did on her sandwich. He wanted to be irritated, because it was an additional mess he had to clean up (two cups of milk were sacrificed to the kitchen floor), but he found it cute (and would never admit it to a living soul) instead.
After lunch was finished and faces were cleaned up, Sherlock reluctantly agreed to play a game of tag where she made up the rules as they played. He was amazed at the amount of energy she had, when he was under the impression that children napped after they ate meals. This new information was stored in a small closet in his Mind Palace so he could explore the idea later.
"'Lock, you have to catch me! Catch me!" she squealed, running around the coffee table twice. Sherlock just stood back and watched. On her third lap, she slowed down, gasping for breath. "Tired now." He smirked and led her to the couch, where she climbed onto the furniture and plopped down.
"Would you like a cup of juice?"
She shook her head. "Wanna watch film."
His brows furrowed and he looked around the room. "I don't have any films appropriate for your age level."
"I have one! Mum put it there!" she pointed to her overnight bag.
Eventually, Sherlock found the film (Cinderella, the original Disney version), poured her a cup of juice in her sippy cup (Sherlock found that the liquid didn't spill from the cup and he wished he put her milk from lunch in there), and then assembled her training seat on his toilet so she could go to the bathroom after only taking two sips of her juice.
He waited for her to finish so he could fasten the button and pull on her zip and lift her up to the sink, and then they made their way to the couch. Sherlock sat down slowly and Madison climbed into his lap. "There is more than enough room on the couch, Madison."
"My Mum and Dad let me do this." She looked at him with wide eyes, and Sherlock sighed.
"Fine. At least let me lay down…" After shifting around, Madison was snuggled on Sherlock's chest and he had her hand tightly in his. He was planning on going through his Mind Palace, and with her hand in his, he would be able to feel if she were to get up and try to wander around.
Mary let herself into 221 Baker Street, climbing the stairs slowly. The door to the flat upstairs was cracked open and she pushed the door open slowly. It was eerily quiet, and she looked around, before her eyes landed on Sherlock Holmes, fast asleep on the couch with Madison curled up on his chest, wrapped in a blanket. The television was on the DVD player's blue loading screen.
She laughed softly and pulled out her phone, taking a picture. She then began gathering up Madison's bags, potty seat, and taking her cup that was forgotten on the floor and rinsing it out. When her belongings were ready, she crept to Sherlock's side and shook him awake. "Sherlock?"
His eyes snapped open and he blinked his eyes tiredly. Then he looked down at his chest to see Madison asleep. "We barely watched the film," he said groggily, rubbing his eyes. His head dropped back to the couch and he stared up at Mary.
"She kept you busy then?" she whispered.
"We ran around the flat for almost an hour. And we went to Scotland Yard and Bart's today. I'm not surprised she got tired." Mary reached down and untangled Madison from her blanket. Then she carefully picked her up.
"Hopefully she'll sleep until we get back to my flat. She gets really fussy when she wakes up from naps."
Sherlock stood up from the couch and stretched his arms high over his head. "I'll carry down her things."
The two moved quietly out of the flat and down to Mary's car. She gently placed Madison in her car seat as Sherlock put everything in the trunk.
"I can't thank you enough for today, Sherlock."
"It was a very informative day. I enjoyed it."
After a few more pleasantries, Sherlock stepped back from the car and watched as Mary drove away. Then Sherlock made his way back to his flat, going straight to the couch and plopping down.
In a matter of minutes, the exhausted Consulting Babysitter was fast asleep.
Fin.
BB/N: Thank you for reading!