The next Tuesday, Sherlock was waiting when he got to lab in the morning. "Why, you're early. The lab won't open for another half-hour you know."
The boy smiled and rolled onto his toes. "I told Mummy that I needed to come early from now on. I don't want to miss anything!"
"What is there to miss? You've always had enough time to complete your labs before."
"But there's so much more than lab. I want to study maths and find out about matrices. Can you believe that they haven't covered that in school yet? It seems so simple, but I don't quite have my head around it. And the orbitals. I thought that they were just drawings, but he described them as if they were simply equations. Are they shapes or equations?"
"Both...or neither. I guess it depends on how you look at it."
"But how do YOU look at it?"
"Whoa there, lad...I mean Sherlock. You shouldn't be thinking about them at all yet. You need to learn to walk before you can fly."
"No you don't," Sherlock said. "Baby birds learn to fly straight out of the nest. They learn to fly before they can walk. I want to learn it all. I want to learn it now!"
"Why the rush? You have plenty of time to learn things you're only...what...ten?"
"I'm twelve!" he said frowning.
"Oh sorry, twelve. You still have a few years yet. What do you plan to do with all this knowledge anyhow?"
"What do you mean, 'what do I plan to do?' What does anyone plan to do with knowledge? You learn it all. That is a goal in itself. I want to know everything about everything, and life is too short for that, so I need to learn this now."
Robert smiled, "An admirable goal, but you should run along and play in the courtyard or something. The lab still won't open for half an hour."
"Twenty four minutes now."
He glanced at his watch, "I guess so. Give me some time to set up, will you?"
Robert closed the door behind him, making sure that it was locked before walking over to put his bag down under the bench. Sherlock Holmes was enthusiastic. Sherlock Holmes was excited. How long would that last, he wondered? For some people it lasted their whole life, but such a person was rare. He gave it a month before Sherlock tired of it all and went on to some other subject.
Robert remembered feeling that kind of excitement when he had first been able to see molecules in his head. He had closed his eyes and he had understood the way that the chemicals were dancing with each other in the beaker, and the beauty of it had blown him away. He didn't often feel that way. He didn't often have to stop and appreciate something about the world that had seemed like such a mystery before. It did happen, occasionally. He looked forward to it. Revelation was a part of science. The part that made the slow, trudging work worthwhile. But mostly, it was lots of hard work. He picked up his folder and headed out of the door to find Sherlock facing the wall and muttering to himself. He turned when Robert came out and stood up straighter, like a spaniel did when someone dangled a treat in front of it.
"Not yet," Robert said. "I'm just going to make some photocopies. The boy deflated and then plopped down on the floor cross-legged burying his head in his lab book.
Soon, the weeks took on a periodic quality. Sherlock continued to come early every Tuesday and Thursday, waiting for the lab to open. By the second week, Robert let Sherlock wait inside rather than having him sitting on the floor. Sherlock asked questions, constantly. "Why are you using beakers instead of test tubes? Wouldn't they be more efficient? Why are we using Litmus paper to determine the pH? A pH meter would be more precise. Why is this product double-distilled when the difference in vapor pressure means that the first product is pure enough. In fact, if one does not adequately clean the round bottomed flask one could get more contaminants with a second distillation."
The boy was frenetic, writing corrections in the lab manual that he dutifully copied onto notebook paper for Robert to 'get fixed'. He stored them in an envelope in his desk promising that the next time that he saw the author of the manual, he would pass them along. The child was irritating. He was always underfoot, but Robert couldn't begrudge him his enthusiasm. So few ever kept it for any length of time. It was worth giving it free reign for a while.
When term was ending Sherlock stayed in the lab long after he had successfully finished his final project. He sat watching as others rushed in full of apologies and asking for ways to make extra points at the last minute because they had spent most of the term goofing off. Robert simply glared and handed them their grades. Sherlock held his form in his hand. The passing mark clearly visible as he waited. Robert looked up suddenly, feeling as if something was missing but he didn't know what, until he realized that Harcourt had not yet come to get Sherlock. The lab was closing, and Robert was ready to lock up. He looked down at the boy.
"Your ride is late today."
"Yes. I told him that I had to stay after."
"But you don't. You've been done for hours. Aren't you excited about the holiday?"
"Holidays are boring."
"Boring? Come now. You are entirely too young not to be excited about Christmas."
"I hate Christmas."
"How can you say that. You told me that you got your chemistry set at Christmas."
"I don't like Christmas because they all treat me like a child."
"But you are a child."
"I am not!" he said rising to his feet. "I am not a child. I thought that going to college would make them understand, but no one seems to. People look at me as if I'm a trained monkey. They think that I'm doing tricks. Making it look like I understand complex things when I don't. But I do understand them! I do! I know more than they do, the idiots! Why must people always look down on me?"
Robert didn't know what to say. "Maybe, they look down on you because you're short? But that won't last forever. You'll hit your growth spurt and then they won't call you a child. But honestly, I wouldn't be too ready to grow up if I were you. There are so many things that you have to deal with as an adult that you don't as a child. "
"Like what?"
"Like work, laws, dating, taxes... Take your time. Enjoy your childhood while you can."
"But I like the lab."
"The lab will still be here when next term rolls around. Get some rest. Think of things other than chemistry, and you'll appreciate it all the more when you return. I'm leaving so good bye lad ... I mean, have a good holiday, Sherlock."
"Happy Christmas to you, Robert."
Robert paused for a moment simply looking at the boy. He didn't think it appropriate for the boy to call him by his first name, but he deserved a bit of a break for all of the good work that he had done. Robert nodded his head and walked out of the door locking it behind Sherlock before heading off. This time, he didn't look back.
