Chapter 24

Treat Day

The next morning two toddlers bound into the bedroom belonging to their guardians. The one with blonde hair tugs on the sleeve of the toddler with a mop of raven curls. 'Be careful of her ribs.' The slightly taller one nods and he scrambles onto the bed under the duvet. He helps the blonde one up. They quietly crawl up the bed under the duvet before pouncing on a guardian.

'The zoo. The zoo.' They cry. Greg laughs, as John startles him awake.

'Excited?' John nods. 'Shock be careful.'

'I am.' The little boy pouts.

'He didn't get my ribs, Greg.' She tickles Sherlock stomach. John curls into Greg's embrace and snuggles down. Greg eases the duvet from over them and carries his blonde-haired son into the bathroom. Mary follows with Sherlock over her shoulder.

'Don't wanna bath.' Sherlock whines from his position over Mary's shoulder.

'No bath, no zoo.' Mary warns and Sherlock stop wriggling allowing her to remove him and deposit him on the bathroom floor before slipping him into the bath.

'We don't want a repeat of yesterday boys.' Greg warns.

'What happened?'

'Water fight.' Greg growls trying not to grin. 'Took me and Sophia an hour to clear up after them.' Mary cocks her head towards him. Greg tries to hide his smile in the collar of his pyjama jacket.

'So why are you trying to hide your smile?'

'I'm not.' He protests. Mary kisses him on the cheek and finishes bathing Sherlock. Greg lifts John out of the water, wraps him in a towel and carries him out of the bathroom. Still grinning.

'Shock what happened yesterday?'

'Nuffing.'

'Check up?' Sherlock pulls a face. 'I'll take that as a yes. I know about the experiment.' Sherlock looks up at her with big wide eyes. 'It was the day before wasn't it?'

'What was?' Sherlock asks innocently in the cooling bath water.

'Come on. Out you get.' Mary lifts the boy out of the bathtub and follows Greg's footsteps over the landing. The two of them enter the boy's room and smile at the sight of Greg being bullied out of his pyjama jacket by John.

'Off.' The boy demands pulling at the sleeve.

'No.' He replies pushing it up his arm.

'Off.'

'No.'

'Off.'

'No.'

'Off.'

'No.' Greg tickles John under his jumper making him fall back on the mattress shaking with laughter.

'Swap?' Mary asks.

'No.' John protests. Mary and Sherlock approach John's bed.

'You can pick out an outfit for me and Uncle Greg to wear to the zoo.' John's brow crinkles.

'Go on. I'll be right here. You'll be fine. I thought you liked Auntie Mary.'

'I do.'

'I won't disappear. I promise.' John gives him a weak smile and climbs down from the bed. He takes hold of Mary's hand and Sherlock is transferred to Greg's care. John and Mary head, hand in hand, to the master bedroom.

Two hours later, Greg and Mary unbuckle the two toddlers from their car seats in the car park along side London Zoo and set them on the ground. 'Pushchair or reins?'

'Walk.' John says looking around.

'Shock?'

'Walk.'

'We can use the pushchair for the bags. Until they need the rest.' Mary says setting the lunch bags and teddy bears in the seats of the pushchair.

'Agreed.' Sherlock spots someone in the near distance and runs over to greet them.

'Shock.' The person scoops him up and carries him back over.

'Greg, Mary.'

'Sally.' Greg relieves the detective sergeant from the burden of the toddler. 'Do that again and it's pushchair only, young man.' Sally smiles as Mary fixes the reins around John's torso. Greg sets Sherlock down and does the same, holding firmly to the handle to keep him close.

'Are you joining us Sally?' Mary asks.

'Sure, if it's okay with you.'

'Why wouldn't it be? I need to talk to you about something, but it can wait.' Sherlock pulls on his reigns trying to get closer to the entrance to the zoo. 'Easy tiger.'

'Lets not keep them hanging around.' Mary says noting the expression on Sherlock's face. The five of them move towards the entrance but Sally veers off to her car.

'Need to get a couple of things from my car. Meet you by the birds of prey.' Sally waves as she heads to the car and Greg allows Sherlock to pull him in the direction of the queues. Mary and John follow more sedately. The lead of John's reins looped around Mary's arm as she pushes the buggy.

After fours hours of strolling around the zoo looking at several species of animals and stopping at a picnic table to eat a satisfying lunch, Sally, Greg, Sherlock, John and Mary head towards the aquarium and the "Into Africa" exhibit. Someone pushes past the group nudging Mary in her injured ribs and walks off without apologising or seeing if she is all right. Mary bends over slightly winded. As Greg and Sally turn to assist her two other people grab the toddlers and disappear into the crowd, smothering their cries. Sally turns to look at the toddlers but sees only empty space. 'Sherlock, John.' She spins full circle and entirely fails to see them. She spots a bench and runs over to get a higher view point.'

'Where are they?' Sally can clearly hear the panic in Greg's voice.

'Greg calm down. Sally ring Mycroft.' Sally hops down from the bench and fumbles for her phone. She manages to dial the direct line to Mycroft.

'Hi, please tell me you have camera eyes on Sherlock and John.' Sally closes her eyes and breathes deeply as she listens to the reply. 'What? Great. Absolutely fantastic.' She aborts the call. 'He has an amazing view of their abduction but all the cameras in the zoo shorted at exactly the same time.'

'What else did he say?' Sally shrugs. 'I hung up.'

'Greg, have you told her?'

'Not yet, Sally come here and sit down.'

'Why?'

'Just do it.'

'What about security?'

'Mycroft will have alerted them and given them all the details needed. Sit down.' Sally complies. 'Jim Moriarty is back.' Sally's eyes bulge.

'Sally, wait, let him finish.'

'He knows about what's happened. He knows what but not how. But, that not the most important.' He silences Sally's protest. 'Those two are my kids. Sherlock and John are half brothers that share a father. Me. And before you ask it was a couple of misplaced flings. But no one else at the yard needs to know. They don't know.'

'O.K.' Sally says taking it all in. 'A lot to process.'

'Don't I know it.' Greg mutters as security officials approach them.

'Mr Lestrade?'

'Me, and it's Detective Inspector actually.'

'What happened?'

'Some one pushed into my wife, jarring her recently injured ribs and as our friend and I turned to help her kidnapped our wards.'

'Not sons?'

'What does it matter, but yes I am their guardian not their father.' Sally smirks at the blatant lie.

'Why do you think kidnapped rather than run away?'

'Over the past few days John has been extremely reluctant for me to be out of his sightline. Why would he just run off? Sherlock, on the other hand, might do but he wouldn't, not without John.'

'Are they close?'

'Best of friends, as well as brothers.' Greg runs his hands through his hair impatiently. 'Is this how parents feel?' He asks rhetorically. 'God I feel useless.'

'We'll let the police know. I think it's best if you go home.'

'I am the police.'

'Greg,' Mary lays a comforting hand on his arm, 'Let them do their job, you are on leave remember. I'm sure Sally, can co-ordinate between your colleagues and the zoo's security.'

'Sally?'

'Me. Detective Sergeant Sally Donovan. I'll call it in. My leave has just been cut short.' Greg opens his mouth but she cuts him off. 'And I wouldn't have it any other way.' She turns to the security officer completely professional. 'Where's the security lodge?'