"Lucille are you drunk?" The Dowager Lady Holmes sneered across the breakfast table, at her oldest daughter-in-law.
"Not yet Violet, are you?" She sneered back from behind knitted hung-over brows.
Mycroft, Sherlock, Sherrinford, Simon and Dr Watson had gone to meet the Boxing Day Hunt, leaving the ladies and Junior to breakfast in the Dowagers sitting room. If Lucy's depression hadn't been the cause of a temperamental humour, being forced to spend the morning with the monosyllabic Katherine and the acidic Violet, would have turned the sweetest mood sour.
"So Katherine, what's Mycroft like behind the cold, control freak exterior we all hate and despise?" Lucy asked her sister-in-law, whilst sinking another glass of champagne.
"Uncle Mycoff is rovery" Junior suddenlt announced, giving Katherine a sticky and loving hug, "Anti Kafrine too, they gave me Pooh things for Chrismas"
Katherine patted the tot on the head, and smiled.
"Did you like the Winnie the Pooh playset John?" She asked the tot, who was now perched on her lap, in reply she got another cuddle.
"Traitor" Lucy hissed, and sank another glass.
"Have you ever been to the hunt before, Dr Watson?" Mycroft asked John as they entered the pub car park
"Erm, no in fact I've never seen one outside the telly" John explained, looking around impressed at the selection of hunters emerging from various horseboxes.
"Of course before Mycroft banned it, there was actually a point" Sherlock sneered, continuing as distractedly as he had all morning.
"It wasn't actually in my power either way, Sherlock as you know"
"Fatcroft can't do horses" Sherlock continued
"Yes well some of us didn't spend our adolescence in the stables with the grooms did we Sherlock?"
"Daddy, Uncle Mycroft, Uncle John?" Simon asked, tugging at John's hand "Can I stroke a pony?"
"Of course Darling" Sherlock suddenly said, his false smile plastered on his face, "come along" He led his eldest son of to a group of men and there mounts, he was greeted with claps on the back and welcomed like an old friend, disappearing into their midst without a backwards glance.
"He hasn't come to Christmas for nearly ten years" Mycroft huffed "I wish him another decade of absence".
"Oh Mycroft that's not fair" John chided "we came to celebrate your first Christmas as a married man, all the family together"
The politician smiled "Thank you Dr Watson" he shook the Doctors hand, "Welcome to the family, John".
John smiled, and shook it back enthusiastically, just then he turned to see where Sherlock had got to.
"Oh for gods sake Sherlock...give that man his horse back!