This was commissioned by someone….Can't remember. I had them all written in the notes in my phone and then I got a new one. But if you asked for a story about Irene and Sherlock trying to get Nero to bed with a song or bedtime story this is for you. No Sherlock in this one, unfortunately. Just Irene and Nero and some brief John.

I don't own Sherlock, but enjoy!

"Mummy, where's Daddy?" Nero asked for the third time. The child knew exactly where his father was, but was simply stalling to avoid going to bed. Irene wasn't falling for it.

"Daddy is in Belgium, working on a case, love. You know that." She scooped him up and carried him off to his room, passing John in the hall.

"He still won't go to sleep, huh?"

The child twisted in his mother's arms, and said in an annoyed tone worthy of his father: "He is right here. And I'm not tired," he whined, also worthy of his father.

"Too bad. Off to bed with you." Uncle John said in a teasing tone, prompting Nero to stick his tongue out and turn away.

"Mummy, I'm not sleepy," he said, protesting all the way to his room.

Irene sighed. She normally worked nights, but with Sherlock out of town, she had to deal with getting their son to bed. It wasn't easy, and when Sherlock got back she would take his passport so he never left the country again. "What does Daddy normally do?" she asked wearily.

"Sing. Or play his violin. Or both." He said, his eyes wide and shining in the lamp light.

"Daddy recorded his violin music, would you like me to play it?"

"No! I only want real violin music."

Irene sighed. "Well, I can sing for you." She suggested.

"No! Mummy's voice is a lady voice. Daddy has a big man voice."

Another sigh. It was going on midnight and the four year old was determined to stay awake. "How about I tell you a story?"

Nero thought this over. Finally he consented. "Fine…"

"What kind of story?"

"An adventure story!"

Irene racked her brain. No one ever told her bedtime stories as a child. She couldn't think of any children's stories that Nero might be interested in. But maybe.

"Okay this is a true story. It's fact, all of it. And it's about Mummy and Daddy, alright?"

Nero eyed her suspiciously, making her want to laugh out loud despite her fatigue. "Alright…"

"In Pakistan, Mummy had run into a bit of trouble. Mummy had angered a few people, because she knew secrets. Secrets they didn't want her to know. I was captured by some of the bad people. And they were going to kill me."

Nero's eyes widened.

"Just as I thought all hope was lost, and I had made peace with my death, a thought struck me. And I asked my executioner to allow me to send one last text. He agreed. So I pulled out my phone and typed quickly: Goodbye, Mr. Holmes."

"That's Daddy!"

"It is." She readjusted Nero's covers and continued.

"Then, my executioner got a text."

"But I thought you texted Daddy?"

Irene smiled and waited for it all to click into place for her son. Suddenly he gasped. "Daddy was gonna kill you!?"

"Let Mummy finish the story darling."

"Okay. Wait, how'd you know Daddy got a text?"

Irene smirked. "He had a very specific text alert tone for Mummy dear."

Nero looked curious but was eager to hear the rest of the story. "Oh."

"So anyway, the executioner—your daddy—got a text. I felt a glimmer of hope. I looked up at him, and I could see him smile. And then he said: 'When, I say run, run!' Then he turned around and began to fight off my captors with the sword they gave him to execute me with. When they had been incapacitated, he shouted 'Run!' and together we ran through the desert to one of the Jeeps the terrorists left around camp.

"We jumped into the car, and he started it and drove like mad through the desert to a small city. He had a hotel room there and he'd brought spare clothes. He'd solved a case for one of owners of the hotel, and the man let him stay there under a false name, and promised not to tell anyone we were there."

She was pleased to see Nero looked intrigued and sleepy at the same time. "Then what?" he yawned.

"He let me go upstairs and have a shower, and he gave the clothes he had bought for me. Then we argued a bit. I tried to thank him, and he said he only did it because he thought I was intelligent and should be kept around. I told him I thought it was because he loved me."

"It was because he loved you, right?"

"Sweetheart, you know Mummy always wins."

Nero blinked sleepily, but nodded emphatically. Mummy always won…

"Eventually, you're right, he admitted that it was because he love me. And as soon as he admitted it, we—"Irene stopped. Funny she never had issues talking about sex with anyone. She could and would use it to her advantage, and often. But it didn't seem something to tell her four-year-old son.

"We…kissed."

"Ew!"

Irene grinned. "Well, it happened. Over and over again." She said, saying one thing but meaning another.

"Gross, Mummy."

"Well I told you it was a true story." Irene said, running her fingers through the boy's dark curls.

"Where was I? After all the se—kissing, your father fixed up the scene at the terrorist camp to make it look like I had really died."

"Why?" Nero asked, yawning again, his eyes falling closed."

"He needed to fool Uncle Mycroft. Uncle Mycroft didn't like me much either. To this day, I don't know how your father managed to swing it, but he did. Then he came back to the hotel, and handed me a brand new passport and a new driver's license…a whole new identity. Even a new phone, that looked just like my old one. We kissed once more, and then parted at the airport. He was on a plane to England, and I on one to America. I stopped him to put my new number into his phone, but he said he already had it in, with the old text alert tone. I leaned over to see what name he's put in it: Irene Adler, or Amelia Baker, my new name."

"Which was it?" Nero muttered, sleep nearly over coming him.

"Neither." Irene said, smiling fondly at the memory. "Just, The Woman."

Sorry my updates are getting so infrequent, guys. I'm running into some complications with my chemo therapy, and on top of that, my teachers are piling on the homework. Anyhow, PLEASE REVIEW AND PROMPT! and if I haven't written your prompt, remind me. have a good rest of the week!