And Boxing Day Tragedies:

One year later:

"John, again with the camera, must you record everything?" Sherlock groaned as his husband recorded every step he took with Hamish.

"Not only is it Hamish's first Christmas it's his first birthday. You could allow me to enjoy this instead of complaining about the bloody camera." John remarked back to him.

"Daddy, Father, can we go down and open presents yet?" Dora asked impatiently. "Hamish and I waited all year for this." She huffed dramatically.

Sherlock and John laughed and headed into the living room. John set Hamish down between him and Dora and Sherlock sat on the couch.

"Look at all the presents Santa brought us, Hamish!" Dora yelled.

"Mine!" Hamish exclaimed, plucking a bow from one of the boxes and clutching it to his chest.

"No, that's not how you do it. Here," Dora set a box in his lap and took his hands. "You got to tear it off and see what's inside." Dora helped Hamish unwrap all of his presents and then her own, and the two Watson-Holmes kids sat in the middle of a sea of wrapping paper.

This was a wonderful Christmas. Dora and Hamish both had mountains of presents and even better. John brought in two small cupcakes and allowed Hamish and Dora to have them for breakfast to celebrate Hamish's first birthday.

Hamish was happy. Dora was happy. The whole family was happy. The heart condition that almost cost them Hamish's life was long forgotten. It was a wonderful year. Everything was wonderful. Life was-

"John? Wake up."

What?

"John, the doctor is coming."

Life was horrible, one hundred percent horrible.

The pale morning light shined weakly through the waiting room windows. Hamish had been in surgery all night and they hadn't heard anything. They weren't sure they wanted to hear what the doctor had to say. To John, waiting in agony was better than knowing their son would never come home with them.

"Mr. Watson and Mr. Holmes?" The doctor asked.

"Yes?" John asked, gripping Sherlock's hand tightly.

"What is it?" Sherlock added.

"I'm terribly sorry to tell you this, but Hamish didn't make it." The doctor's apologetic tone did nothing to soothe John. His son was never going to come home and that hurt could never go away.

John collapsed into Sherlock's arms. He couldn't take this. Why was this happening to them? They didn't deserve this. Hamish didn't deserve this. He was an innocent baby who just last night was sleeping soundly in his arms. Why? Why? Why?

John was speechless, unable to make a sound. Sherlock left him in the waiting room to talk with Maddie and Josh about what they were going to do next. He came back for him several minutes later and led John out of the hospital.

"Let's go home, John. There is nothing we can do there."


The ride home was silent and John went straight up to the nursery where he would sit for the next several days while Sherlock went to Mrs. Hudson's to deliver the news.

Dora was curled up on the couch next to Mycroft. She was still sound asleep, but Mycroft and Mrs. Hudson looked like they hadn't slept all night.

"Oh, Sherlock." Mrs. Hudson said as she opened the door. She could tell by the look on his face that the worst had happened. "Why don't you go on and spend some time alone or with John? We can keep an eye on Dora for a while longer."

"No, no, I want to take her home. The sooner I tell her, the easier it will be." Sherlock walked over to the couch and shook Dora's shoulder. "It's time to wake up. Want to go home?"

"Is Hamish home yet?" Dora mumbled half asleep.

"No, he's not. Why don't we go home and talk about him?"

Sherlock carried Dora up the stairs to their flat and went to her bedroom.

"Listen, Dora. We need to have a serious talk. Now, I know you loved your brother very much and he loved you, but Hamish got very sick last night. His heart was broken and he didn't make it. He isn't coming home." Sherlock explained.

Dora's face scrunched up. She was confused. "You mean he can't come home today?"

"No, I mean he won't ever come home. He died, Dora. I'm so, so sorry. I know you loved Hamish and wanted to be his big sister. I loved him, too. I wanted to be Hamish's Father very badly, but we need to be strong for Daddy. He loved Hamish, too, and he isn't doing very well. I need you to be strong for me and for Hamish because he wouldn't want us to be sad. He would want us to be happy for him because he can't be here to be happy with his family. Can you be strong for me and help Daddy feel better?"

Dora nodded, but she didn't understand. Why couldn't her brother come home with her? Where was he? She wished she could see him and understand, but she needed to be strong for Daddy like Father said.

Sherlock left the room to check on John, and Dora sat in her room trying to understand what she had to do to make her family happy.


The funeral was held a week later. Dora stood in between her parents wearing her red dress that was meant for Christmas. John cried most of the day, but Sherlock stayed quiet. Mycroft and Mrs. Hudson tried to keep Dora from becoming upset. They even introduced her to a woman who claimed she was her Aunt Harriett, her Daddy's sister, but Dora wasn't in the mood to meet new people. She just wanted to go back to Christmas Day where her baby brother was still alive and her parents were happy.

Sherlock and John hadn't spoken much since Hamish died. John stayed in the nursery most of the time leaving Sherlock to try and care for Dora alone while he was grieving. They got by, but it wasn't easy. Dora was quiet too. She spent most of her time in her room coloring. She loved to color and as she stood by the hole in the ground that her brother would soon occupy she closed her eyes and tried to pretend she was in her room coloring with him beside her.

She didn't want her brother to go. She didn't get to help him learn the violin or play for him. She didn't get to do all the big sister things she planned on doing. All she wanted to do was cry especially now that he was being buried. She would never see him again and that hurt her more than anything ever hurt her before, but she had to be strong for Daddy like Father said.

Late the night of the funeral, after her Father had crawled into bed and her Daddy had fallen asleep next to Hamish's empty crib, Dora crept over to the Christmas tree. The presents were still there untouched. She searched through them looking at all the labels but not opening one until she got to the very bottom of the pile. She noticed her Father's handwriting on the small label, but it wasn't from him.

To: Endora

From: Hamish

Dora knew she shouldn't open it without her parents, but Christmas was long over and opening one present couldn't hurt. She pulled out a brown sock monkey with white polka dots and found a card. She stared at it for a long time sounding out the words in her head. It said:

Dear Endora,

I'm probably not there to see you open this, but I wanted to thank you for being such a good sister even though I'm not there with you. I wanted to get you something. This is Elf the sock monkey. He will keep you company when I'm not there.

Merry Christmas.

Love,

Hamish

Dora pondered the letter for a bit trying to understand its meaning, but once she understood it she hugged Elf to her chest and cried. She knew she shouldn't because she promised her Father she would be happy for her Daddy, but the letter made her sad. Hamish gave her Elf so she wouldn't be lonely without him and now he was never coming home to keep her company.

Dora slept there that night by the tree. This had been a long journey for her with a horrible end. She was so excited to have a baby brother to love and care for and now that was ripped away from her. She barely got to know him and now she was forced to say goodbye. It wasn't fair.

All the tears she was unable to cry in front of John came out now as she lay under the tree clutching her new toy. She wouldn't sleep without it again. Why did it have to be Hamish? Why her brother?

Dora and her parents would never have the answer to that question, and they would never want to take this chance again. The loss cut them and damaged them in ways that hadn't even begun to surface. All it took to destroy her Christmas miracle was one quick sentence. That is enough to destroy worlds.


Author's Note: Thank you once again for reading this. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you thought, and I hope you all had a Merry Christmas or a Happy Holiday Season.