There were many, many things about Rosenwyn Holmes that her eldest brother found endearing, adorable, and irresistible. When she kissed Mother goodnight and turned to him for a tuck-in; the times she shoved books at him and asked if they could read. Every time she showed him new dances she created, most of which were utter nonsense but she was only three and had only attended ballet for three months. Genius in the physical arts was not to be expected at this stage, but perhaps in another year or so.
There were also the times when Mycroft was able to leave the office at a reasonable time or delay his appearance at the office, which were admittedly few, but each time Rose would ask to have tea with him. Naturally, being Rose, she would only drink said tea if she could cuddle in his lap for their tea time.
Really, the tiniest Holmes had many, many lovely qualities that made Mycroft so proud to be her big brother and help raise her to be an intelligent and reasonable human being. In fact, he could see her making strides in that direction almost daily.
Yet there were sometimes downsides as well as highlights. Naturally, since Rose was a completely emotional and hyperactive three-year-old, she could be equal parts unreasonable, unpredictable, and completely ridiculous. A perfect example of this was her complete and utter meltdown when he left for work each morning.
At first, a week prior to today, he had found her little dramatic episode rather endearing. Clearly the baby loved him and that made Mycroft feel very happy, though he tried hard to be very happy in the most dignified and unsentimental way possible… When no one was looking! Rose's tears and her tiny little hands clinging to his suit coat had very much melted his heart. Immediately he'd scooped her up and cuddled her close, whispering assurances that he would be home in time to tuck her in if the world behaved itself. It mollified her and Rose went back to Mother for some suitable distraction that allowed him to slip away with no further tears.
What he had hoped was a one day ordeal had most unfortunately become a daily trial that was truly beginning to wear on his nerves. How many times must he explain that the world did not run itself and was not able to be stopped for crying little girls? Admittedly he'd only said that once, since Mother had given him quite the look for saying such a thing.
Still, whatever way Mycroft attempted to explain why he must leave for the day while promising to return, it consistently ended in failure with more and more dramatics growing each day. First, it was grabbing his suit coat, which had elevated to pulling on his, followed by sitting on his briefcase and refusing to get up. Rose's latest dramatic effort to detain him involved the tiny girl clinging to his leg like a particularly stubborn little barnacle.
This morning it appeared he might just escape before Rose awoke and spotted him, but as he put his hand on the doorknob a piercing wail told Mycroft that his hope was mostly firmly dashed.
"Nooooooooo!" Rose wailed, running out of the kitchen as quickly as she could. She flung herself at his leg, wrapping herself bodily around it, becoming a barnacle once again. "No My don't go! No no no!"
The eldest Holmes closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Mycroft looked down at her, quirking an eyebrow. "Rosenwyn, I've told you every day that I must go to work. I would certainly prefer to spend my time with you, but I'd like there to still be a world for you to grow up and explore someday. Such a hope requires sacrifice. It's not as if I don't come home at all. Why must we have such fuss all the time? Don't you realize how ridiculous you are?"
Rose let out a great sob and pressed her face against his trouser leg, something he found far more annoying than the dramatic display before him. If she got snot on his trousers…
"Mother! Some assistance!" Mycroft called. He could only pat Rose's head as she continued to sob. Each time he tried to disengage her from his leg, his little barnacle wailed even harder and held on that much tighter.
Maud Holmes came rushing out of the kitchen, hoping breakfast wouldn't burn in her absence. "Oh baby, we must let Myc go to work," she said gently. The Holmes matriarch began to carefully pry Rose's vice-like grip from Mycroft's leg. The moment Rose was lifted away from him, Mycroft dashed out the door.
"Oh Baby, don't cry so hard," Maud murmured, rocking her little one in her arms. "I know it's very hard to have Mikey go to work because you want to play with him. He wants to play with you too, but grown-ups must work, too, not just play."
"That's ridiculous," Rose decided immediately before pressing her face against the crook of her mother's neck.
Maud smiled and kissed Rose's curly head, finding it very amusing how often she picked up words from Sherlock and Mycroft and for the most part managed to apply them correctly. "Myc will be home later Baby, I promise. He'll come home probably in time for dinner, but if not, I know he'll tuck you up in bed all snuggly after a story."
"That's too long!" Rose wailed. "That's one hundred years Mummy, too long!" She wiped her face the shoulder of Maud's blouse, her enthusiastic tears wetting the fabric.
Struggling not to chuckle, Maud instead made gentle shushing noises as she rubbed Rose's back. "Well it's truly not that long Baby. Certainly not one hundred whole years! But I have a lovely idea that I think will put a smile on your face. Shall Mummy tell you?"
The tiny girl nodded, scrunching up her mother's blouse in her hands and pulling on it in an attempt to cuddle even closer to Maud.
"We should make Mikey a cake," Maud said with a smile. "Wouldn't that be a nice surprise for him? You're such a good helper in the kitchen and that would be great fun for us, hm? And a lovely treat for after our supper tonight! Should we go find your apron and then make Mikey a cake?"
Rose's forlorn little sniffles abruptly stopped at Maud's suggestion, which she appeared to contemplate for a moment before responding. "Mummy, you have very brilliant ideas," she decided. "My apron is in my playroom, and my bowls and spoons too!"
"Well we must have your apron," Maud agreed. "I think we'll use Mummy's bowls and spoons though, because we can make a much bigger cake in bigger bowls, right?" She smiled when Rose nodded. "Aw, my lovely baby," Maud murmured as Rose wrapped her little arms around Maud's neck. "You're a sweet girl Rose Holmes, don't you ever change. Promise Mummy you won't."
"Okay Mummy, I promise," Rose readily agreed. She kissed Maud's cheek as the Holmes matriarch carried her towards the stairs in search of her most essential cooking attire.
Twenty minutes later Rose had her chef's hat on her head and was wearing her little apron covered in cupcakes. "I washed my hands and I'm ready Mummy," the three-year-old announced. She readily helped Maud gather the needed ingredients, with the exception of the flour that was retrieved by Maud from the pantry as it was rather heavy. Everything else the little girl helped retrieve and bring to Maud, taking the eggs out of the fridge and caring them very carefully over to Maud, who put them on the counter.
"Mummy, there are not babies in there. Did you know?" Rose asked as she handed over the eggs. "I asked Sherlock and he said that there are not baby chickens in there, even though chickens do come from eggs. At first that didn't make any sense, but then he told me about… about…" She scrunched up her face as she tried to think hard about the word Sherlock had used.
"About fertilization?" Maud prompted.
Rose nodded, grinning happily. "Yes! The rooster has to make the egg be a baby and not an egg to eat and the rooster does it by… by that. Mummy help me say it!"
With a smile, Maud helped Rose practice saying the word, her heart swelling with pride at how brilliant her little girl was. "Sherlock tells you many things, doesn't he?"
"Yes, but sometimes My doesn't like it and then he pokes Sherlock with his brolly and says 'SHUT UP SHERLOCK!'" Rose shouted, trying to imitate Mycroft's blustering. "I don't know why he pokes Sherlock, I just have lots of questions and it's not nice to poke people."
Maud lifted Rose up onto a chair so she could help put the ingredients into bowl for mixing. "That's very true; it's not nice to poke people, especially with umbrellas." Inwardly she sighed at her boys and their behavior. What an example to set for Baby!
Rose watched with interest as Maud opened the bag of flour, immediately looking inside the bag, only to frown at the contents. "Mummy what is this stuff?"
"Its flour and we're going to-" Maud was interrupted by the sound of her mobile ringing loudly in the sitting room. "I need to go answer that love," she said, lifting Rose down from the chair. "Why don't you pick a cake pan for us from the cupboard? I'll be right back Baby. Wait for me to do anything else," Maud cautioned as she exited the kitchen.
As soon as Maud left the kitchen to retrieve her mobile, Rose opened the cupboard to pick out a cake pan. They had pans of all shapes and sizes and the little girl spent a few moments examining each of them before ultimately selecting a heart shaped pan. She stood up on her tip toes and stretched her arms up to put the pan on the counter top. Once that was completed, she crawled back onto the chair and stood up to survey the ingredients. As she did so, Rose could hear Maud's feet walking down the hallway to where her warm, cozy study was.
Surely she could start making the cake, Rose thought. After all, she and Mummy baked together all the time and made lots and lots of cakes! But, Mummy had said to wait for her, so Rose flopped onto her bum on the chair. Waiting, however, turned out to be very, very hard! Mummy was taking forever and Rose was quickly becoming convinced that Maud had forgotten all about her!
After waiting for what seemed like quite some time, but was really only about four minutes or so, Rose stood back up on the chair again. "I will make the cake all by myself," she decided. "And show Mummy that I'm a very good baker and very big all by myself! She'll be so surprised and then I can make cakes all the time!"
Feeling quite happy with her decision to surprise Maud, Rose reached for the bag and flour and pulled it towards her. She thought about how Mummy made cakes and remembered that Maud always held the bag in one hand and scooped with the other. Rose grabbed a measuring cup with one hand and tried to pick up the bag with her other hand. Her tiny hand was not truly able to hold onto the weight of the big flour bag and it quickly fell out of her grasp and onto the floor, flour puffing it from it like a white cloud as it fell.
Looking down at the mess, the three-year-old let out a sigh. They weren't supposed to eat things that fell on the floor and now she didn't have any flour because it fell on the floor. And you had to have flour to make a cake! "This is a problem but I have a solution," Rose murmured, mimicking Sherlock. Getting down from the chair Rose scampered into the pantry and looked for another bag that matched the one she'd just spilled. Sure enough, there was a whole brand new bag just waiting for her on a shelf she could reach!
With great care, Rose slid the bag off the shelf and held it tightly to her chest with both arms as she headed back into the kitchen. That was when she was confronted with another problem: the bag was heavy, how could she get it on the counter? Scrunching up her face in determination, Rose held tightly to the bag and attempted to stand on her tip toes and be as tall as she could. Sadly, she just wasn't tall enough.
"Grrrrrr," Rose growled, stomping her foot on the floor. "I want to grow very big!" After another stomp, the determined little girl tried once more, lifting the bag up with her arms high up over her head. For a moment, it seemed sure to work and Rose grinned with pleasure at the thought of accomplishing such a difficult task. But just as quickly as it seemed so certain she would manage, the weight of the bag became unbalanced and started to tip. Letting out a squeal of alarm, Rose grabbed for the now toppling bag but did nothing more than tear part of it, releasing the white contents within it all over herself and the floor.
"Yes, that will be just fine! Thank you so much for the invitation," Maud said as she closed her calendar. "I'm quite looking forward to speaking to your students. Make sure they have plenty of questions for me, will you? I want to have a dialogue, not just talk at them. I-" The sound of an alarmed squeal cut Maud off mid-thought.
"Goodness, eleven minutes flew right by, I need to let you go," Maud commented as she looked at the clock before dashing out of her office. "I left the baby in the kitchen alone. What? Oh, she's three now. I'll call in a bit and we'll talk about details. Bye now!" Maud clicked off her mobile just as she entered the kitchen. As she caught sight of her formerly bright, sparkly clean kitchen, Maud let out a gasp.
There was Rose, lying among the small heap of spilled flour, covered in it from head to toe as she laughed and moved her arms and legs around. Maud could only stare at her little one for a moment before she could even say anything. Really, having raised Mycroft and Sherlock, she should have anticipated such a disaster. It took small children seconds to create chaos and here she'd managed to leave Rose to her own devices for eleven minutes!
Maud could only chuckle at the silly sight before her, and shake her head at her own mistake. "Baby, what are you doing? What happened?" she asked. There wasn't a hint of displeasure in her voice as she was a very practical woman when it came to raising children. Children were children and a parent had to know when to pick their battles. This was as much her fault as it was Rose's and Maud well knew it! Eleven minutes was far too long to leave her precocious little one alone; three minutes might even be too long!
The flour covered three year old sat up and gave Maud a smile. "I'm making a snow angel in the flour Mummy!" She made it sound as if that were the most natural thing in the world to be doing in a heap of flour in the kitchen.
That did it. There was absolutely nothing for it but to laugh and laugh Maud did. Full deep laughter bubbled up from her belly to the point that she was nearly doubled over from it. "Only you my love, only you Baby!" Maud laughed. When she finally got herself back under control Maud looked up just in time to see Rose flop back over and began making snow angels again. There was really nothing for it, she thought; she just had to take a photo!
Across London, Mycroft was half buried in a folder of top secret documents that may or may not present a threat to national security. He paused in his examination and ran a hand over his face, rubbing at his forehead as he felt a headache begin to come on.
After summoning a strengthening cup of tea from his PA, Mycroft was just about to resume his examination of the papers when his mobile chirped, alerting him to a text. It was from his mother, with no written communication, merely an image attached, which he quickly opened. His eyebrows shot up, with surprise before he frowned at the screen. Good lord, was that Rose, flailing wildly in what appeared to be flour on the kitchen floor?! Rolling his eyes, Mycroft sent a response.
'I don't understand her at all Mother. M'
'Remind me to bring out your baby album later and perhaps you'll understand then.'
'Mother, don't threaten me. M'
Back at the Holmes townhouse, Maud could only laugh and shake her head at her eldest child's response.
With disaster neatly averted, for the moment at least, Mycroft made it home that night by 6pm. As he pulled into the drive, he spotted Rose in the sitting room window, undoubtedly waiting and watching for him. It's like she's becoming the most loyal of hounds, Mycroft thought to himself. Nevertheless, her unwavering enthusiasm to see him rather warmed his heart.
As he put his key into the door, Mycroft could hear the pitter patter of her feet as they thundered into the entry way. Sure enough, as he opened the door he found Rose bouncing around in excitement.
"Hi, hi, hi, hi!" Rose squealed. She barely waited until he was inside the house before attaching herself to his leg once more, bouncing as she held on tightly to him. "My I missed you! I had a very fun day and I made you cake!"
Rolling his eyes, Mycroft set his briefcase down and patted the tiny curly head. "Someone is far too excited this close to bedtime," he commented. "How will we ever get you to sleep if you persist in this bouncing? Have you had your bath?"
Rose shook her head. "Mummy is running it, but I don't want to have a bath, I want to play with you My."
"Well the world would prefer that you smell nicely, so I suggest you run up to Mother and get your bath while I eat," Mycroft told her. "Then we'll see what can be done about playing." He gently pried her hands from his leg and turned her in the direction of the stairs, sending her on her way with a firm pat to her bottom. Expecting her to obey, Mycroft headed in the direction of the kitchen to find some supper, but his expectations proved false.
"Nooooooo," Rose whined, scurrying to keep up with his longer strides. The second she got within arms distance, she reached out and put one hand in his pocket and the other into the waistband of his trousers. "No, My, no!"
"Rose, release me at once," Mycroft ordered, giving her a stern look over his shoulder. "No, no, I said release me, not remove your feet from the floor and utilize me as some sort of transport vehicle."
"No," Rose said firmly. "Won't let go!"
Mycroft continued to stride across the floor and into the kitchen. "Rosenwyn, you simply must let go of me, this is highly ridiculous. Go have your bath before I get cross, and god help you if you've damaged my trousers in any manner with your grubby little hands!"
Still the three year old did not let go and Mycroft was not going to drag her all around the house attached to his trousers. He stopped and looked at her sternly, or at least as sternly as one could while looking over their shoulder! "Why won't you let go of me and go have your bath?"
Rose pressed her face against his leg and gave her answer, the fabric muffling it to the point that Mycroft couldn't even hear her properly.
"Take your face out of my leg and give me an answer please," he directed.
"I want a kiss," came the tiny little response from the adorable little monster that was his sister.
Mycroft sighed heavily. "Alright, let go of me and you can have your kiss. Ridiculous child."
Rose was completely undeterred by comments about how ridiculous she was. Letting go of his trousers, she reached her arms up for him and smiled brightly when he picked her up and settled her on his hip.
"I'm beginning to believe I should call you a little barnacle rather than poppet," Mycroft said with a sigh before giving her the requested kiss. "You're certainly clingy enough to be one. What do you think of that?"
"I like poppet better," Rose told him. "Mostly 'cause I don't know what a bar-cull is."
The eldest Holmes chuckled and repeated the word slowly for her. "It means a person that clings tenaciously, or in terms of marine life, it is a crustacean that attaches itself to ships, timber, rocks and whales." He chuckled when Rose stared at him a bit blankly. "We'll go to the library and get a book about it," he promised. "Now will you please be my good girl and go have your bath so we can eat cake together?"
"Yes! Yes, I will do that! You will love your cake." Rose hugged him tightly and gave him a loud, smacking kiss on his cheek before being set on her feet. "MUMMY!" she shouted while running for the stairs. "MUMMY I LEARNED SOMETHING NEW ABOUT WHALES AND BARN-CULLS WANNA HEAR IT?!"
As Rose repeated her newly learned information to their mother upstairs, Mycroft could only shake his head and chuckle. If one just had to have a barnacle attach to his person, there's no other barnacle he'd rather have than his Rose.
NOTE: Petal 6 is being worked on slowly but surely amid the near end of the semester chaos that is ensuing. I will have it up as soon as possible, I promise! In the meantime, this little plot bunny popped into my head and grew into a short story that I hope tides you over until Petal is updated!