Much Ado About Johnnie and Scott

Genre: Friendship, with minor humour

Pairings: Greg and Molly, background

Main characters: Johnnie, Scott, Rosie, Julian, John

Gregory Scott Lestrade gazed up at Rosie with the saddest big brown eyes he could muster.

Given his genetic heritage, it wasn't a difficult thing for either he or his brother to achieve.

Their own father, in fact, had perfected the technique with their mother, so the young identical twins - more and more Greg's little doppelgangers as time passed - came by it quite honestly.

"We… I mean… I didn't MEAN it, Wosie. Weally I didn't!"

Rosie glanced over at Julian, sighing. Julian merely smiled. Being the big kid really sucked, sometimes.

"Scott, you KNOW it wasn't just you. It was Johnnie too?" Rosie gently pressed. She knew Scott Lestrade was distressed when he started to pronounce her name funny. At five years old, he and his twin brother had long since graduated past sounding like toddlers just learning to talk. This was definitely serious.

Scott looked up at her, his bottom lip starting to wibble a bit. He always did have a weakness where Rosie was concerned, and even at his young age, he knew what a fib was – even if it was a fib told with the very best of intentions.

"John, WAS it just Scott, or was it you too? BOTH of you together?" Julian asked.

Johnnie sat stoically, trying to appear neutral, but just as with his brother, his big expressive brown eyes gave him away. "It WASN'T Scott, it was ME!" he said, trying to be convincing.

"You know we know what really happened, don't you?" Rosie said gently.

The question was too much for the 5 year old Johnnie to bear, as huge tears began to roll down his cheeks. He managed to nod, though he couldn't quite bring himself to speak. He turned to Scott, whose own eyes had begun to overflow with badly held back tears.

"Well THAT wasn't so hard, was it, to tell the truth?" Rosie said, pulling Scott towards her. She wrapped her arms around the younger boy as little John found himself seeking out the reassuring embrace of Julian Bailey.

"Now," Julian said. "What are we going to do about this? You have to tell your mummy and daddy what happened, but in the meantime I think we really can find a way to fix it." He ruffled Johnnie's dark hair and glanced over at Rosie.

"We can make it not so bad, we promise," Rosie said, as she gave Scott a big squeeze, then releasing him. "You only have to be honest about what you've done, but Jules and I will be there too. I'll just bet Auntie Molly and Uncle Greg… I mean… your mum and dad, won't think it's so bad. Everything seems worse when you're only little."

"Now, they won't be home for a bit yet," Julian said. Mr. John said at least an hour. So why don't we go out and talk to him and maybe he knows what to do? Grownups always have a good answer," he smiled confidently, "especially the ones who live here."

"Daddy won't be mad at us?" Johnnie asked tearfully.

"John, I think he'd be more mad if you tried to hide what you did," Julian said. "You know my daddy is a policeman too and he's only mad at me if I do something bad and then fib about it."

"Promise, Julian?" Scott asked, his big brown eyes not having gotten any smaller. He turned to Rosie pleadingly. "Uncle John can really help?"

"My daddy ALWAYS knows what to do. And HE never gets mad either as long as I don't fib," Rosie said with a smile.

Bolstered by a new resolve, Johnnie and Scott Lestrade, confident now in what they had to do, allowed Rosie and Julian to take their hands and lead them out to where John Watson sat with his blog.

"Uncle John?" Scott said softly, "We have to tell you something…"

John looked curiously at the Lestrade twins, flanked by his daughter and her best friend, and smiled thoughtfully at Rosie. He rose from his spot at the cluttered desk and moved to the easy chair facing opposite Sherlock's in the living room.

As he settled down, John motioned for the two little boys to hop onto his lap. "What's that then, little lads?" he asked, wrapping his arms around them with a reassuring squeeze. "I'll just bet whatever it is, we can make it okay again."