The following weekend, Sherlock planned to spend Saturday evening with John and Harry. He wanted to forget all those depressing things his mum had told him. He hadn't talked to Mycroft about it since then, but he made sure to call his mother all the time and check up on her. Perhaps seeing Katie and John for a little bit will cheer him up.
Perhaps.
He hummed as he quickly walked up the stairs to John's flat, observing the light in the upstairs window.
John's here then, he thought. No need to use my key.
He ringed the doorbell once; and then twice, and was about to reach for his own key before the door slowly clicked open.
Katie's little round face appeared and she smiled as she recognized Sherlock. She lifted her arms up and the detective picked her up and kissed her cheek.
"Hello, Katie," he said. "Did you open the door all by yourself?"
She nodded happily and clapped her hands.
"H'llo, Sh'lock. Climb."
Sherlock looked down to where she was pointing, and saw a small stack of books she had apparently used to climb up to reach the doorknob.
"That's smart. Make sure you don't fall, though."
Closing the door, he made his way into the living room with the small toddler on his hip. He set his things onto the floor and put Katie down. Letting a sigh of protest, she flung her hands on her hips and stomped away.
"Where are you going?" he asked, following her. "C'mon Katie, don't leave me alone. Where's John?"
"Jawn not here. Follow."
He followed her voice and entered a room slightly the same size as the room he and John slept in sometimes. Quickly glancing around, he calculated that a female probably stayed here. Carefully made bed, lavender colored curtains and bed-sheets, pink everywhere, makeup strewn over the table...He hadn't had the time to realize that this was the room that Harry stayed in before he heard a small yelp.
"Oh my God, Sherlock, you scared the living daylights out of me," Harry said, coming out of the walk in closet. "Thought you were a burglar or something."
Sherlock flushed and turned around. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were home. I apologize for seeing you in such an indecent manner."
Waving her hand at his comment, Harry picked up her makeup brush and started dabbing foundation on. "Don't be silly, Sherlock. You and your fancy frou-frou language. I'm not indecent, whatever made you think that?"
"Um," Sherlock started, feeling a bit embarrassed. "You're not dressed?"
Harry laughed and continued to apply makeup on. "Oh, is that all? I'm wearing a towel around my body, Sherlock. I just took a shower. Geesh. You should have seen me in uni. Used to change after tennis practice-"
"-Right in the auditorium," John finished for her. He smiled hello at Sherlock and came into the room with a freshly ironed dress. "Here you go, Harry."
"Thank you love," she said, taking the dress and standing up. She went to the bathroom and emerged a few minutes later wearing the yellow dress John had handed her. It looked quite nice on her, and Sherlock had told her so.
"You make me blush," she joked, swatting his hand as she walked past him.
"Where are you going?" Sherlock began to ask. "You're all dressed up."
"My graduation reunion is tonight," Harry said, glowing with happiness. "I'm so excited! I'll be seeing Eliza and Isabella and Jeniffer again! And Marcus and Joseph, Daniel and David and-"
"We get it, you'll be seeing a lot of people tonight," John laughed, preventing her from listing the 50 people she will be meeting again. "Are you ready?"
Running a hand through her hair and pouting her lips at the mirror, Harry looked back and John and nodded. "Yep. How do I look?"
John gave her the thumbs up and Sherlock nodded.
"Well, approval from Sherlock Holmes and John Watson isn't all I need. Where's my little sweetheart?"
A muffled sound of glee erupted from somewhere in the room and Katie crawled out from under the bedsheets.
"Hi mum!"
"You've been here all along? You little trickster." Harry turned towards her daughter. "How does mummy look, honey?"
Katie cocked her head and hummed for a while. Looking over her mother with strict and criticizing eyes, she finally gave a small sound of approval and smiled. "Mummy good."
"Fantastic!"
She turned toward her brother and extended her palm. "Keys, please."
Rolling his eyes, John reluctantly placed the keys in her hand. "Be safe, Harry. Be careful with my car, don't wreck it like you did in uni."
She nodded and clutched the keys like she was a teenager being allowed to drive for the first time.
"Look both ways. Be mindful of the signs. Please please please watch the traffic light! And don't drink if you're going to drive afterwards, remember you have a daughter to come home too."
"Yes, mum," she said, rolling her eyes as well. When John finished his little speech, she slipped her shoes on and wrapped her coat and scarf around herself.
Harry blew a kiss towards the three of them and went out, the door clicking softly behind her. After a few seconds, the sound of an engine was heard and soon, she pulled out of the driveway.
And then she was gone.
It was silent for a few minutes in the flat. Sherlock looked at John, and John looked at Katie, and Katie looked at Sherlock and John.
Three minutes tick by.
"...So."
John raised an eyebrow, but still thankful Sherlock had broken the ice.
"What are we going to do?"
He shrugged but kept his eyes on Katie.
Frowning, Sherlock asked, "Why are you staring at her like that?"
The teacher sighed, thinking of a way to tell Sherlock without Katie knowing. "Katie est très sournois. Elle agit très pointilleux quand sa maman n'est pas là." (Katie is very sneaky. She acts very finicky when her mother isn't here.)
Finally understanding, Sherlock laughed and looked at the toddler as well. He wasn't sure about the situation, knowing that she could stand up at any moment and run around the flat, doing what she wanted, now that Harry was gone.
"C'est drôle," Sherlock said, chuckling. "Elle agit de manière diligente quand Harry est ici." (That's funny, she acts very diligent when Harry's here.)
John only laughed and shook his head. After observing the toddler for a bit, he finally decided the carefully approach her.
"Katie?"
She looked up from her position on the living room couch. Throughout these few minutes, she had been uninterested in the conversation going on between Sherlock and John.
"Hmm?"
"Mummy's gone, Katie," he continued to say in his soft and gentle voice.
Sherlock marveled at his patience and gentleness with children. He watched as John assessed the situation and how he should approach the little girl.
"Yep."
"So, what do we do when mummy's gone for a while?"
Katie scrunched her face up in thought. She hummed for a while and then smiled. "Quiet. Nice."
"That's right," John praised. "We are quiet and nice. Do we run around and make noise?"
She shook her head.
"Do we climb on top of the refrigerator and eat all the cereal and then get a tummy ache later on?"
"No."
"We don't fill up the bath with bubbles and soap and flood the bathroom either, now do we?"
"Nope."
John slowly nodded. "Okay. That's good, Katie, you remembered. We do not make trouble when mummy's not here."
Katie smiled. "Yes. Make trouble."
"No, that's the thing we don't do," John shook his head. "We do not cause trouble."
Katie nodded again. "Yes. Trouble."
The teacher sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He turned to Sherlock and looked at him with pleading eyes. "Sherlock, would you mind watching her for a bit?"
Sherlock almost panicked before John had to reassure him.
"Only for a bit, I need to make dinner. Then she'll have her bath and go to sleep. We'll be peaceful then."
"Yes. Peace." Katie looked up, clapping to herself as she said those words.
"That's right, Katie." John walked to the kitchen and left Sherlock alone with her. "I won't be too long, Sherlock. Is spaghetti okay for you?"
"Yeah, it's fine."
He was left alone with the little girl once more. This time, Katie looked up and smiled at Sherlock.
"Hi, Sh'lock."
"Hello. What are you doing?"
He sat down next to her and looked at what she held between her hands; a piece of paper and a few crayons.
"Draw'n."
"Oh." Sherlock paused. "Dull."
Katie, not understanding, sat back down and started doodling again.
"I take art at school, you know," Sherlock began.
That sparked Katie's attention and she looked up. "Art?"
"Yeah, art. I like science much better though. Do you still remember what I taught you last week?"
Katie smiled again and nodded. "Yes. Nit'gen, ox'gen, car'bn, hyd'gen."
Sherlock praised her. "Very good! That was excellent, Katie. What do they teach you in science at school? Can you remember?"
"Trees. Sun."
"That's it? How dull. At your age I already knew how to calculate the atomic mass of most-"
"That's because you're a genius, Sherlock," John answered, his voice coming from the kitchen. He laughed and appeared in the doorway. "Food's ready."
Sherlock brought Katie to the bathroom and they washed their hands, then walked together to the kitchen, where John had set up plates of spaghetti bolognese for each of them. He grabbed a few cushions and set them up so that Katie could eat at the table properly, since she had refused a high chair.
They sat down and began eating. The room was filled with the clicking of knives and forks and it was peaceful. The food was great, Sherlock ate his entire plate, and Katie scarfed down her food without complaining.
"Tastes good," Sherlock complimented. "You're a good cook."
John smiled. "Am I? I was just hoping for something that was edible; but thank you." He turned to Katie. "Katie, have you had enough, or would you like more?"
"No. Play."
"Play? What do you want to do?"
She climbed down from her chair and ran to her room, where she emerged a few minutes later with a bunch of puzzles and board games.
And that's what Sherlock, John, and Katie did for most of the evening. They played puzzles until their eyes got blurry, they played board games until Sherlock had managed to win Monopoly, and they drew and colored, and Katie smeared lipstick and makeup all over Sherlock's face.
They played dress up, and keeping house, and 'going to the ball'.
Sherlock's favorite had to be dress up. He had laughed so hard when Katie had put makeup all over John's face. He looked a mess, with eyeshadow on his cheeks and lipstick on his eyebrows, but Katie had thought he looked perfect, and she had put her princess crown on his mess of blonde hair. When Sherlock's turn had come, John watched with delight as his partner's beautiful marble face slowly became a jumble of red, blue, and pink.
They took a long time scrubbing the makeup out later on; apparently, Harry's favorite type of makeup was all waterproof. They would have to bear the marks of Katie's makeup skills on their face for a long time, until they could get their hands on some makeup remover.
It was not until after a long time that Katie had begun to feel sleepy. She yawned a few times and tugged on John's sleeves.
"Sleep."
Understanding, John picked her up and started walking towards the bathroom.
"I'll wash up the plates," Sherlock offered, standing up as well and following John.
"Oh, you don't have to do that-"
"That's okay! You can bathe her and put her to sleep, and I'll finish with the kitchen."
John thanked him and brought Katie to the bathroom, where he quickly bathed her as Sherlock finished the dishes. By the time they were both done, Katie was almost falling asleep in John's arms.
They brought her to Harry's room and laid her down on the bed.
"How does she sleep?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like, does she like having someone sing her lullabies or something?"
John thought about that. "Maybe so. Harry sings her songs sometimes. Hey, Katie, would you like-"
They looked down and saw that in the midst of their conversation, she had fallen asleep. Satisfied, John tucked her in under the blankets and shut the lights off.
Finally, for the first time this evening, they were alone. They both breathed out a sigh of relief and headed for John's bedroom.
"She's actually well behaved," Sherlock remarked.
"Ha, no, that's probably because you're here. Don't worry, she'll get used to you and once we're left alone with her again she'll act out."
Yawning, Sherlock flopped onto the bed and pulled the covers up.
"Aren't you going to take a shower and change into your pajamas?"
"Hmm. Too tired. Let me just close my eyes one second."
John shrugged and got into bed with Sherlock. They did their usual kisses and cuddles before they both slipped into a deep slumber. It was only 15 minutes after they had both fallen asleep that Sherlock's phone buzzed with a new message.
Dinner tomorrow? Important. -Irene
Wow I feel like I haven't updated in forever! Hoped you guys liked this filler chapter! Please leave some reviews! I hope you guys aren't getting bored with this or anything lol
Tell me what you thought about this chapter!
-Lissa