Hidden Cuddles

A.N. sorry for the wait, school started for me last week on the 15th. But not to fear! For I am homeschooled, and can take breaks to still write :)

…

One morning, in his study, Sir Topham Hatt sat at his desk, sorting through paperwork. As he was doing so, Henry sat with him on his desk, under a heat lamp.

The poor little engine was going through another episode of boiler aches. So Sir Topham Hatt brought him into his office, and placed him on his desk under a heat lamp, and gave him soft boiler rubs.

The rest of the engines, curious as to what was happening, followed the man, and quietly did their own little activities as Sir Topham Hatt helped Henry.

After a few moments, Henry's breathed calmed down, the aches subsided, and he slowly fell asleep.

Sir Topham Hatt smiled and continued to sort through his paperwork. He was about to wrap it up for the day, until the sound of glass breaking in the room broke the silence.

Quietly, Sir Topham Hatt stood up and walked away from his desk a few steps to see what had happened.

He couldn't stifle the chuckle that left him as he watched Edward doing his best to shunt a guilty looking Gordon away from a broken vase.

"Well now," He whispered to the engines below him. "What happened here?"

Gordon turned towards him, the guilty expression still on his face. "Accident… didn't mean to…"

"It's alright." Sir Topham Hatt reassured. "I'll clean it up. But you have to be more careful, Gordon." He said, suddenly serious. "Next time, I won't be so kind."

Gordon looked down. "Yes Sir." But he let a gasp leave him as he was once again shunted away from the mess by Edward. "Edward!"

"Shh." He whispered, moving away from the bigger engine. "Henry sleeping." He explained. "And sorry for not giving you warning."

Gordon huffed. "It's ok…" He muttered after a moment.

Edward smiled at bit, before moving back to his original space, and began to push blocks around, as if he were putting together a puzzle. Gordon tried going to a corner, and just watch, but… what Edward was doing looked so fun. So, Gordon slowly made his way over to Edward. "I play too…?" He asked quietly.

Edward smiled. "Ok!"

Gordon smiled back, and started to push blocks around with Edward, pushing them together, like a puzzle, as said before.

…

Sir Topham Hatt walked back into his office after he safely threw away the broken vase. He smiled upon seeing Henry still asleep, and Gordon and Edward playing with blocks; everything seemed in order.

But as he looked around, he noticed one thing out of place. Thomas and James were nowhere to be seen.

A bit concerned, Sir Topham Hatt went back to his desk, and looked under it. Neither engine was there. His worry growing ever so slightly, he stood up, and looked around the room. He couldn't see them anywhere.

Now he was seriously worried. Though, not wanting to excite his other engines, he tried to contain it. Quickly, he walked around the room, looking behind his door, under chairs, and even in cabinets. But he found nothing.

He wanted to keep his worry to himself, but he must've seemed to be more jittery than before, because Edward and Gordon were now following him, wondering what was wrong.

Even Henry, who had awoke shortly after Sir Topham Hatt left his desk, was now following him around.

But Sir Topham Hatt didn't really notice. He was intent on finding James and Thomas.

Suddenly, he looked over to his standalone wardrobe*. There was a ramp that lead from the floor to inside in case any of the engines wanted to nap somewhere secluded.

Quickly, Sir Topham Hatt ran over to wardrobe, and threw open the doors. Immediately, a wave of relief flooded over him.

Both James and Thomas were inside, sleeping. They were right next to each other, on a red pillow large enough to hold both of them.

While he was relieved that they were alright, Sir Topham Hatt felt a small pang of guilt hit his heart, for he had flung the doors open without thinking, but he was glad they hadn't woken up because of it.

The two small engines were sleeping next to each other; so close they were almost touching, and it seemed that every time Thomas shifted a bit, James would move closer, trying to stay with him.

Sir Topham Hatt chuckled a bit, and closed the doors once more, but kept them open just a tad, so they wouldn't be in complete darkness when they woke up.

Then he walked back to his desk. "Now, hush little engines." He whispered, as he looked at their inquiring faces. "Everything is alright. I'd suggest winding down, now."

So, Henry moved back to his original spot, and fell back to sleep, under the safe, warm, and dry heat lamp once again. Deciding to follow Henry's lead, Gordon and Edward made their way over to the wardrobe, and fell asleep right in front of it next to each other, intent on being there for when the two younger engines woke up.

"Have a good nap…"

…

*please, if you are confused by the wardrobe part, just google 'standalone wardrobe' and the first couple images should help you understand :)