Turning Six

Chapter Summary:

It's Ava's birthday and Sherlock is really busy off being brave.

18th June

"I want a rainbow cake," Ava announced as they sat watching 'Pointless', which was possibly the only game show on TV that Sherlock liked.

Apparently, it had become habit to have it on because Sherlock wasn't at home again.

Daddy nodded slowly. "A rainbow cake? Shaped like a rainbow?"

Rolling her eyes, Ava turned to look up at him. "No, then there would be less cake. I want a cake with rainbow colours."

Daddy made an annoyed sound. "I'd like," he corrected.

Ava nodded past it. "And with a flake. And smarties."

"Mrs Hudson is going to love you," Daddy jotted it down on a pad next to him. Ava grinned, loving the fact that Daddy was making notes like he did when he and Sherlock were on a case. It made her feel as if she was really grown up.

Which she was; she was about to be six!

"What about your birthday party then?" Daddy asked, drawing a line.

Ava shook her head. "But we go to the park."

Daddy paused and looked up at her, the notepad balancing on the arm of the chair and pen hovering in his hand. "The park?" he repeated blankly.

Scowling now, Ava pursed her lips. "Daddy!" she huffed, sure that he was being purposefully silly. "We always go to the park."

Daddy still stared at her as if she'd suddenly started spouted French, like Sherlock did that one time. "Right…" he glanced down at the pad as if seeing it for the first time. "Ava…we can go to the park as well-"

"But everyone has a birthday party," Ava whined, standing up to look at the list. "And Tommy's always sick and it means I have to invite people I don't like so no-one gets left out."

Daddy's eyes warmed a little. "But who's going to eat the cake?" he asked throwing up his hands in a silly way.

Ava hadn't thought about that.

"Well," she scuffed her foot against his chair. "Maybe I could take it into school," she said looking hopeful. "I promise I'll make sure there's some left for you and Sherlock…" Ava frowned, "If Sherlock likes cake," she said, unsure.

Daddy pulled her into his lap, tickling her until she wriggled and squealed. "I tell you what," he said when he stopped and just let her shift so she could see the TV again, "how about we make your party the Friday before your birthday? Then we can rent out the hall across the street from school and everyone can go straight there after lessons are done and you won't to see the people you don't like for very long at all."

Ava debated that. "But we can still go to the park?" she checked.

"Of course," Daddy said, giving her a proper cuddle.

He gave the best cuddles.

6th June

The party turned out to be pretty cool, even if Tommy threw up twice.

In fact it made it cooler because it was like her party held the record!

"I'm going to be six tomorrow," she told Daddy as she bounded down to him in her pajamas and then stopped when she saw he was on the phone.

Adults were so weird about phone conversations, she'd found.

But Daddy, unusually for him, beckoned her over, put the phone between his shoulder and ear then pulled her up to his lap.

"I am not telling your brother he's fat….because he isn't, not everyone looks like an overgrown beansprout…don't start…for god's sakes I'm agreeing with you about the rest."

Ava grinned into Daddy's shirt that still smelt like party rings. She wasn't sure how that was possible, but it did. Only Sherlock got to be scolded like that. And, if Daddy was scolding, it meant that everything was alright and Sherlock didn't have to be brave today.

"Will you be back tonight?" Daddy asked and Ava peeked up in interest.

But Daddy's face fell a little bit and his hand started to stroke her back a bit.

No Sherlock. Ava settled back down, trying not to feel disappointed and glancing at the medal that sat where Sherlock's skull used to sit; her reminder to keep her temper and remember that Sherlock had to do important things because he was so very clever.

That's what Daddy had said anyway.

Then Daddy tapped her nose and she glanced up.

Daddy gave her the phone.

"'llo?" she asked.

"I assume you drove your father mad at your party?" Sherlock asked, his voice tinny from the phone.

This was awesome! Ava sat up flashing a grin at Daddy who looked amused.

"I was good," Ava preened. "But Tommy threw up twice. Almost on Daddy's shoes the second time,"

"Ah. Well, maybe next time," Sherlock dismissed. "Is John looking better?"

Ava turned to study Daddy. "Yes," she smiled at him, "He had party rings and laughed at Mrs Hudson when she danced with Mr Finley."

There was a long pause before Sherlock replied. "You both managed then?" he asked.

Ava nodded, before remembering that he couldn't see her. "Yes," she said quickly.

There was a bit of a pause.

"It's my last night as a five year old," Ave boasted as Daddy shifted so that she was on the chair while he got up to answer the door. "And Daddy and I are going to the park tomorrow."

"He said. He's looking forward to it." And she could hear in his voice that, while he didn't completely understand it, Sherlock was pleased it made Daddy happy.

Ava watched as Daddy disappeared down the stairs. "If I'm six tomorrow, how many more years do I have to wait until I get to come on case too?" she asked eagerly.

Sherlock made a noise that sounded as if she'd amused him. "Still a while yet," he replied, his tone much softer than before.

"Well what about when I'm seven?" she asked.

"No," Sherlock sounded as if he was paying a lot more attention to her now, and the background noise wasn't as loud. "Try twenty seven."

"But then you'll be really old." Ava wrinkled her nose. "You'll be like…" she frowned trying to remember her number-lines and how old Sherlock was. "Did you have a birthday?" she asked.

"Yes," Sherlock said, suddenly sounding sharper, "Go and attempt to do your job," he snapped at someone on his side of the phone.

"Is Anderson being stupid again?" Ava asked as Daddy came back in.

"Even a five year old can tell your incompetence from miles away," Sherlock added and she could hear the glee in his voice as he reacted to what she'd said.

"Nearly six," she corrected him.

Sherlock chuckled and then sighed. "Is your father still there?"

Ava nodded as Daddy knelt by the chair. "Yes," she said remembering again that he couldn't see her.

"Well…" Sherlock seemed uncomfortable. "Good night then"

"You have to say it special because it's the last time you get to say goodnight to me as a five year old."

There was a very long pause this time and Daddy leaned and pressed speakerphone, pressing his finger to his lips to tell Ava not to make a comment about that.

"I don't imagine you'll consider not turning six tomorrow?" Sherlock asked sounding a bit funny.

"Nope," Ava grinned at Daddy. "I want to be sixteen and have a phone of my own."

"At least then your father would refrain from putting me on speakerphone," Sherlock sulked. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Ava gasped in delight. "How did you know?" she squeaked.

"I'll tell you tomorrow," Sherlock sounded a bit happier. "The quicker you go to sleep the quicker you'll turn six."

That was true.

7th July

"I'm six!" Ava declared as she ran down the next morning.

Daddy nodded, then stopped and stared at her.

"You look older," he frowned seriously and then measured her height against him, "And taller!" he added shaking his head. "We've had this conversation before; you're not supposed to grow up this quickly."

Ava beamed. "You think I'm taller," she looked around, trying to decide if she was looking at things from a different angle.

"Definitely," Daddy hoisted her up. "See, much taller."

Ava giggled into his neck. "That's cheating."

Daddy laughed and popped her into a chair. "Right birthday girl, what will it be for breakfast?"

"Presents!" Ava chirped. "Please Daddy?"

"Breakfast first," Daddy said firmly. "Orange bread?"

"Yeah," Ava bit her lip and watched Daddy put the bread into the toaster. "When are we going to the park?"

Daddy laughed. "We have all day Ava, calm down."

Ava loved St James' Park. It had that long, long pond and Buckingham Palace was looming behind it. There were herons and funny birds flapping around. Daddy would make voice for them as they stood at the fence and he would pretend that there was a whole play going on just for her.

And the squirrels were so tame that sometimes, if you were really lucky, they'd crawl up you and take a nut from your hand.

Ava was always lucky on her birthday.

The ice-cream stall stood on the outskirts and was packed because it was such a lovely Saturday. Daddy bought them both a '99 that wasn't 99p anymore and they sat on a bench watching the tourists.

And Daddy would tell her things about them. Not like Sherlock did, at rapid fire and without tact but silly things that made her grin and he explained carefully how he did it in a way that Sherlock never did. He wasn't as good as Sherlock but, after a while, he had her try with a few obvious people.

Then they walked across the streets and Daddy hauled her up so that she didn't get tired. They walked to the bridge and took the path down to the path by the river, watching the street entertainment that danced there by the stalls that had been set up for the summer.

Daddy even treated her to a game of air hockey when they reached the amusement arcade.

Then, when it got late Daddy flagged down a taxi.

But they didn't go home.

"A real restaurant?" Ava asked as they got out of the taxi.

"As opposed to the fake kind?" Daddy asked paying the man.

Ava didn't even bother to glare at him; it was just too brilliant. "Am I allowed to have wine?"

"Nice try," Daddy muttered as they walked in.

"Doctor Watson," the man greeted them eagerly. "And this must be the little one."

Ava scowled up at him. She was six!

"Your table," The man pointed to one by the kitchen, "As asked for."

Daddy nodded spotting it, his eyes darting for a moment and then he sighed. "Just us two then?"

The man nodded sadly.

The pasta was really nice but the bestest part was the desert. A huge ice-cream sundae with brownies and sparklers and whipped cream and sauce.

Daddy eyed it in an unimpressed way and then asked for a spoon so he could help her out, muttering something about teeth and being ill.

And weirdly, when Daddy tried to pay, the man just shook his head.

"On the house. Anything for Sherlock's family."

8th July

Being six and one day wasn't too different to being just six. She still felt a little bit taller and Daddy let her play with all her presents and organise her new clothes. In fact he watched her most of the day with a strange look on his face, his phone never far from his side.

"You're not mad?" he asked her as he tucked her in that night. "Sherlock was meant to come to dinner with us yesterday, that's why he didn't call."

Ava nodded. "It's ok," she said seriously. "I'm six now, I understand."

Daddy sat on the edge of the bed. "You understand what?" he asked cautiously

"That he's doing very important things," Ava said with a small smile. "And he made sure you got to be here," Ava shrugged.

Daddy tilted her chin up. "As long as you understand, Ava, that when Sherlock isn't here, when I'm not here, it isn't because there are things that are more important than you going on. It's because it's urgent and sometimes because we're trying to keep you…" Daddy suddenly stopped and seemed to think better of what he was about to say. "You're very important, do you know that?"

Ava nodded as she snuggled down with Charlie-Bear. "I know."

Daddy grinned as he kissed goodnight.

Daddy woke her up while it was still light outside.

"Wakey, wakey," he said gently.

Ava glared up at him and tried to wriggle into her pillow.

"You need to get dressed."

No, she didn't. She needed to sleep and get back into the wonderful dream that was already blurring in her mind.

Then the unusualness of it woke her up a bit and she rolled back over to yawn up at Daddy with curiosity.

"Up you get sleepy head."

Daddy made sure that she was wrapped up, even though it had been warm during the day.

"It's school tomorrow," Ava told him.

"If you're very tired you can miss it," Daddy allowed.

That was new!

That was ace!

Sherlock was waiting downstairs.

Sucking in a breath, Ava leapt the last few stairs and jumped straight at him, feeling him stagger as he moved to catch her quickly. She buried her head into his shoulder, breathing in the wonderful smell of his fancy coat and the wild smell that was just him.

Pulling back she grinned up at him.

"I'm six."

"And a flying monkey apparently," Sherlock scolded. Daddy followed her down, without the leap.

"All right?" Daddy asked and Sherlock nodded once.

"Are you sure-" Daddy begun.

"Do I look like an idiot?" Sherlock asked, letting Ava slide to the floor.

Daddy raised an eyebrow at that. "In the cleverest of ways…" he trailed off, leaning against the wall.

"Where are we going?" Ava asked glancing between them and then in awe at the time. It was after half eight in the evening!

"You and Sherlock are going out for an hour," Daddy explained with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Why aren't you coming?" Ava asked concerned, going over and staring up at him.

"I have a meeting." Daddy stroked a strand of hair back behind her ears. He looked over at Sherlock and swallowed

A long fingered hand wove its way in front of her and covered her eyes and she could feel Sherlock close behind her. Then she was almost squished between them and there was the definite sound of snogging above her.

She screwed up her nose, knowing the Sherlock would feel the movement with where his hand was over her eyes.

"We're upsetting your daughter," Sherlock said after a minutes as they broke apart.

Daddy rolled his eyes.

Sherlock took her on the tube. It was pretty quiet as it was a Sunday evening and he seemed to know exactly where everything was and where to go. He never even glanced at the maps on the walls of the tunnels.

Eventually, they got to wherever it was they were going to and, as they left the station they were faced with a huge column that looked almost like something she's seen in her topic work when they'd studied ancient Greece.

Sherlock pushed gently on her back to indicate that they needed to cross the street and they wandered around it until they came to a door.

Inside was a tiny counter and the woman smiled at Sherlock and nodded them up.

"What is this?" Ava asked as Sherlock swung her into his arms.

"Monument," Sherlock said, as if that would explain everything. It must have shown on her face that she didn't have a clue because she felt his chest rumble as he started to climb the stairs.

"Have you heard the story about the great fire of London?" he asked.

Ava nodded. "A baker left the bread in the oven too long. It's why we have to remind Mrs Hudson sometimes not to get too distracted by countdown."

Sherlock snorted. "Something like that," he agreed. "This was built where the fire started."

Ava stared up at the spiral staircase as they continued to climb. "Isn't there a lift?" she asked, realising just how far up they might have to go.

"No." Sherlock shifted her again. "I'll carry you back down again."

Sherlock had to be pretty strong to manage that, Ava thought.

"Why are we here though?" she asked as the stairs went on forever.

"It's my present to you," Sherlock said, sounding a tiny bit strained now. "You told me once that you wanted to learn all the streets like I had."

Ava gasped, "Really?"

Sherlock nodded as they came to the top.

It was amazing. Ava drew in a deep breath as Sherlock took her to the edge and let her look out at the landscape below. There was a cage around the top which blocked a lot of the view but it was still incredible.

"When I first came to London," Sherlock murmured into her ear, "I wanted to be able to know exactly where I was at all times. Everyone here acts as if they know it perfectly, but they only know their own routes." His grip tightened on her. "So I snuck up here one night and started to map it all out on my head."

Ava snuggled backwards, trying to take everything in.

"And when you're older we'll come up when the cage is off so we can see clearly."

"Can't we take it off now?" Ava begged.

Sherlock shook his head, his chin brushing against her hair. "Not tonight."

And then he started to teach her. He showed her the Gherkin that looked like a shining bullet in the setting sun, Tower Bridge and the war boat that was always close to it. There was The Tower of London and St Pauls' domed roof. He made it into a game where he let her down and she had to run to where she thought the best view of each landmark would be, and then he would lift her up so she could see just how right or wrong she was.

And he had some paper in his coat and he let her draw a rough map with the landmarks she could see and the river as it twisted its way through the city.

"How high up are we?"

"Two hundred and two feet," Sherlock replied and then, seeing her blank look he smiled. "There are three hundred and fourteen steps."

Ava stared. That seemed like an awful lot. "But there are 14 at home," she reminded him.

Sherlock nodded." It's much taller."

Ava stared at him with newfound respect. "Are you going to be able to get us back down?" she asked doubtfully.

"Of course."

When they finally got back down, Sherlock let her wander around the base to study the inscriptions as he leaned against the wall texting.

After studying the carvings on one side she wandered around to see that Sherlock had finished texting and was staring at the inscriptions on one of the panels.

"What's it say?" Ava asked.

Sherlock was silent for a long time. "You don't want me to read all of that to you, surely."

"The important bit?" Ava wheedled, winding around him catlike. "Or the bit that you're staring at."

In the coming dark it almost seemed like he was smiling. "'...three short years complete that which was considered the work of an age'."

Ava frowned. "What's that mean?"

Sherlock scooped her up again. "That in a very short amount of time sometimes that which seemed so unlikely can happen very quickly."

Ava didn't have the heart to tell him that made even less sense to her. But, as she fell asleep in the taxi, she just about heard his voice murmuring a very quiet happy birthday to her.