"Dear, you really should spend more time with the children."
The Holmes patriarch heard his wife's voice, but kept on writing, unwilling to let go of his train of ideas. Einstein's theory of relativity was so interesting; the possibilities seemed virtually endless! So if he observed the nuclear fission of a Helium atom at 90% the speed of light, would the gamma factor cause a time dilation significant enough to-
Two dainty hands splayed over his papers forced him to look up to see the person responsible.
Oh, he thought simply as his brain mentally catalogued each and every detail caught by his eyes, ears, and nose in order to form a picture that didn't bode too well for him.
Actively, physically interfering with his work instead of drugging him as she was usually wont to do – of course he knew about it, he may be a tad distracted at times, but he wasn't oblivious – suggested an advanced degree of irritability as well as some sort of time constraint; a slightly humid patch of fabric at her lower ribcage, right about the height Sherlock had reached recently – the child could not stop talking about his non-existent growth spurt for weeks after having reached that point – probably originated from the boy attempting to placate her because of a mistake done during breakfast with a hug, which didn't seem to have worked all that well; a strand of hair – too thick to be her own – about her breast, Mycroft's certainly, led further credence to the theme of atonement and forgiveness as the lad was remarkably touchy about that tamed contraption on his head he liked to call hair.
But it was her face which held the most pieces to the puzzle: her eyes flickered away every so often as her ears seemed to strain to hear the slightest bit of sound, brow furrowed in what could pass as concentration, but was most likely irritation, as well as a smile… No, defiantly not a smile, a baring of teeth would be a more apt description perhaps, as it exhibited entirely too many teeth to be anything even remotely close to resembling a genuine smile.
Problem solved then: the boys had once again had another spat, which coupled with her relative's death as well as the neighbour's daughter's inappropriate choice of a boyfriend – anybody other than Mycroft, really – seemed to have driven her right up the metaphorical wall.
The atmosphere needed to be lightened then: he could do that.
"'Our babies will be smart and beautiful', you said," he voiced, barely managing to keep a poker face on. "'Perfectly angelic', even," he continued, completely failing to keep the smirk out of his voice.
"And they are," she acknowledged, the edges of her grin softening to form a smile.
Mission accomplished, Daddy Holmes thought as he went back to his papers, mind returning to estimating the length contraction that would result from the resultant time dilation, and oh! If he added another planet there to shift the gravitational axis, it would-
He raised his eyes again to meet a smug gaze and that damnable Cheshire grin he'd dreaded ever since the first time he'd seen it.
"I should be ashamed of the time it took me to realize I was writing on my desk, shouldn't I."
He said that more for his wife's benefit than his own as he gazed back down at the no longer unblemished surface of his desk, then at the papers she held in her deceptively dainty hands.
She turned around to leave the way she had come instead of answering, flashing him a wicked grin made out of nothing but bare teeth as she left.
"It's getting quite chilly in here, don't you think?" she asked instead as she slightly raised the papers she still held in a waving gesture.
He groaned in dismay as he heard her threat loud and clear: "Follow me or those papers might serve to heat the house," she'd none too subtly implied. He briefly entertained the idea of letting it go and restarting his notes from memory, but…
It seemed like Einstein would have to wait after all, he acknowledged as he reluctantly stood up to follow.
Troublesome woman.
I'm back! Just a chapter from Daddy Holme's point of view for the amazing GeorgyannWatson who requested it :) Not sure if you'll like, cuz I think the middle is a bit confusing, but I tried :P
And yeah, the updating once a week thing for each story totally didn't work, so I'm trying something new this time: I'll try to put up a piece of writing (either Malphas, Let it Go, Living with Geniuses, or my oneshot collection) once a week so you'll all at least have something to read :)
I really hope it works :P Leave a review on your way out if you can~