Chapter Nine- August

August.

The middle of summer.

Baking in the city!

Don't get me wrong. Summer is great and fantastic and you can get a lot done.

But does it have to be so bloody hot!

Anthony was now 9 months old. Which was scary! He was a pretty advanced crawler now which meant that you couldn't leave him anywhere on his own. He was also starting to pull himself up onto furniture and walk along slowly. Our living room was still littered with cushions and soft things so that if he fell backwards, he would be ok. He was talking more coherently now and not just 'mama' and 'dada' but he would call Sherlock, Mycroft and Lestrade 'gagdad' and Molly 'gagma'. Keira and Mollie still didn't have a name as did a lot of our friends and family, but that would come with time.

Anyway, August meant holiday month for us and Sherlock, Mycroft and Lestrade had organised a big family holiday to the states. It was very exciting. We would be spending a week in New York (following some very exciting news) and then two weeks in Florida. The reason we were going to New York was because of some news that Keira had received. She had been offered a role in the company of Wicked! The Musical, on Broadway. She was so excited and had decided to go out to New York with Mollie, Matthew and James to look at where she would live and practical stuff like that. She also had to do a week of rehearsals with the existing company so that she knew how the show would run and what she had to do before proper rehearsals started next year. I had always wanted to see New York and so had other people of my family so we all planned to go out and have fun while Keira was in rehearsals.

The flight was fairly interesting. It was the longest flight that I had ever been on and having a nine-month old certainly made it memorable. For 8 hours I was trying to keep him quiet and happy. Dan, Molly, Mary, John, Keira, Mollie and Hamish were all very keen to lend a hand which meant that Dan and I had a very pleasant flight indeed. Sherlock, Mycroft and Lestrade were all bent deep in conversation and didn't talk to anyone the whole flight over. Sally, Emily, Johnny and Sam weren't joining us as they had other plans but they would be flying out to join us in the final week in Florida.

New York was a busy city, bustling and teeming with life. It was also incredibly hot and humid. But we made the most of it. We went to Central Park, the 9/11 memorial, the Statue of Liberty (which Hamish, Amber and Phoebe took a great liking to). We had to explain what happened at 9/11 but I think they understood. We had dinner at some rather nice restaurants and went to some nice museums. Then we boarded the plane in New York and set off for two weeks in Florida. The flight took us almost 3 hours to make and if we thought the heat in New York was bad, it was worse in Florida.

We were staying on the Disney World park, which greatly annoyed Sherlock and Mycroft. 3 weeks away from their normal lives was beginning to get on their nerves. Sherlock was starting to become more vindictive and cruel towards people, particularly John. Only when he was in the company of his wife and son was he pleasant. Mycroft, the other hand, refused to leave the hotel once we had arrived, no matter how much Phoebe and Lestrade begged. He said that while the hotel was childish, it was more tolerable than outside.

The rest of us had a pleasant time. We wondered round the parks and went on a lot of rides. Hamish loved the Haunted Mansion ride so much that everyone was fed up with it by the end. Amber and Phoebe were just trying to find as many princesses as they could to show off to Claire when she came next week. Molly Hooper ended up being the bag holder as she couldn't go on the rides owing to being pregnant.

Sally, Sam, Johnny and Emily joined us for the final week. John and Mycroft picked them up from the airport. It was the first time I had seen Mycroft out the hotel all week. The minute Claire arrived, Phoebe and Amber were trying to show her all of their photos and wanted to take her to the park to meet Anna and Elsa and Ariel and Rapunzel.

That night, we sat outside and watched the fireworks over the castle. Hamish had Anthony, Amber, Phoebe and Claire were all busy discussing which Princess they wanted to meet next. Keira, Matthew, James and Mollie had gone off on a double date. Joseph was sat with Sherlock who was telling him how fireworks worked, Molly and Mary were sat keeping an eye on things, Lestrade and Mycroft were in their room and Sally, Johnny, Emily (Elijah asleep), Sam, Dan and I were all sat together.

"You know, I think the last time we were all together like this, without children was Leavers, at Sixth Form." Sally commented.

"Sally, you were 6 months pregnant!" Emily reminded her.

"Oh yeah," she smiled, "You know what I meant."

"Yeah." Said Johnny, "Abi was recovering from her brush with death, my twin sister was pregnant. Those were the 'normal times'."

"Johnny, we never had normal times!" I said, "I grew up with Sherlock, your dad was his best friend," I pointed at Emily "and your dad found him cases." I pointed at Sally and Johnny.

"Then our parents ended up getting together." Daniel added, looking at Sally and Johnny, "Which I never thought would happen!"

"Dan, I don't think anyone did!" I added.

"No, what I meant was, after mum died, I honestly thought that Dad was incapable of feeling anything for another woman."

"But he didn't." Sally commented, "He felt something for another man!"

We all fell about laughing.

"But seriously," said Emily, "Look how far we've come!"

"I know," said Sam, "Hardly seems possible!"

"It seems like we were kids 5 minutes ago!" Said Johnny.

"Imagine how our parents feel though!" Said Dan, "We were their babies once and now we have our own babies."

"Do you imagine," asked Sam, "That Anthony, Claire, Elijah and any other children we have, will be sat like this one day, with their children, talking in the same way?"

"Eeesh!" I squirmed, "I don't want to think about it!"

We all laughed again.

At that moment, Keira, Matthew, James and Mollie came back and Mycroft and Lestrade joined us, holding hands.

We all sat together and watched the final few fireworks. I let my hand slip into Dan's and I rested my head on his shoulder. After the fireworks, Mycroft got our attention.

"Greg and I have decided on a date for our upcoming wedding." He said, "Seeing as one of my daughters will be living over here next year, we have decided to get married in New York!"

Everyone was super excited but none more that Keira. For her, the fact that her dad had planned his wedding around her career was everything. She ran up to Mycroft and gave him the biggest hug ever. Then another miracle happened, he returned the hug.

Our time in America came to an end all too soon, but we had to get back for the start of school. It was nice to know that Lestrade and Mycroft had set a date and that Mycroft had considered his daughters career. Whether that was his idea or Lestrade's, I doubt we'll ever know. But it was nice to know that Mycroft Holmes was capable of humanity after all.