Harry woke up just after the sun on his first morning with the Grangers. They had told him last night that something had happened during the press conference but refused to let him watch any of the footage that the various news stations were showing. They tried to assure him that no one was hurt and promised that he could call home this morning. He was very worried about his Papa and 'Lock though they were supposed to be okay.
He got up quietly, so as not to wake Hermione, who slept on the twin bed his trundle bed was usually underneath. He slid his feet into his slippers and made his way to the kitchen. Both of the adult Grangers were already up and drinking their coffee. They looked over to him when he entered. "Can I call Papa now, please."
Mrs. Granger smiled softly while Mr. Granger went over to the house phone and dialed John's cell phone number. It rang three times before being picked up with a sleepy sounding "'Lo?"
"Hey John, it's Chris. Harry wanted to call last night, but you were still at the Yard. We told him he could call this morning, first thing. Didn't expect it to be quite this early though." They both chuckled a bit before there was rustling in the background and then a distinct deep baritone could be heard. "John who is it?"
"It's Harry. He wants to talk to us." Chris heard more rustling before the distinctive click to speakerphone from their end. He handed the phone over to Harry, who had been chewing on his lip and looking rather worried while waiting for the adults to get it together.
"Harry? You there?" John's voice was still a bit rough, but he cleared his throat while waiting for Harry to answer.
"Papa? Lock? What happened? Are you okay?" The questions rushed out. "I want to come home!"
He couldn't help the slight whine in his voice. He wanted to be with his parents right now. He felt safe with them and after what happened yesterday, he just wanted his Papa. "Harry, calm down. We are fine."
Surprisingly, it was Sherlock's voice that Harry heard. "I wanna come home, Lock. Please."
John and Sherlock looked at each other. They were now sitting up in bed, side by side, with John's phone held in his hand between them. They could hear the distress in Harry's tone and while John wanted to immediately give in and let him come home, one head shake from Sherlock was all it took to remind him of why that was a bad idea.
"Harry, you know that you can't come home at the moment, though I wish you could. I need you to stick it out for a little longer, buddy. Can you do that?" John used his bedside tone, trying to keep Harry calm, but the words were obviously not what he wanted to hear.
"No! I want to come home! Right now, Papa!" The Grangers were a bit startled when Harry's voice suddenly rose. There were quiet tears rolling down his round cheeks and his breathing was a bit labored. He was clearly trying to control himself but it wasn't quite working. When his little shoulders sagged and a stern voice could be heard from the phone, they raised their eyebrows at each other when it became clear that it was Sherlock's stern voice that could be heard.
"Harry James Potter, it is unacceptable for you to speak to your Papa like that." John looked at Sherlock like he had grown a second head. He had no idea that Sherlock even knew that particular tone of voice or phrasing of name. Sherlock just smirked and winked at him.
"Sorry Lock. Sorry Papa." Came his mumbled reply.
"That's better. Now, we are not able to bring you home at the moment, but what if we met you for lunch? You could hug your Papa and assure yourself that he is okay. Would that be satisfactory?" John smiled at him. Apparently Sherlock understood Harry's need for reassurance after all.
A sigh from Harry and then a quiet "Yes, please."
"Right. Harry, let me talk to Mr. Granger again and we'll see what we can do about lunch. I love you." John, still using his calming tone, told him.
"Love you too, Papa." Harry handed the phone back to Mr. Granger and walked over to Mrs. Granger when she held out her arms. She pulled him up into her lap and wiped his face before giving him a reassuring squeeze. Together they listened to Mr. Granger make plans to meet John and Sherlock for lunch.
"Chris, sorry about that. He's not handling this very well and we didn't need a magical incidence on our hands to top it all off. Could you meet us at Angelo's around noon? We'll be able to get in, but the press won't. If you get there ahead of us, they won't know that you're even there."
"No worries John. I'll have to bring Hermione too, but we'll get there around a quarter till just to be safe. He'll be alright, I think, just needs to see you for himself to check that you're okay."
"Thanks, mate. We'll see you then." They disconnected the call and Chris filled in Kate and Harry on what the plan was. After a few more minutes of cuddles, Hermione came down the stairs and joined them at the breakfast table. The rest of the morning carried on from there, with Kate dropping the two at school for the morning and promising that Chris would be there to pick them up in time for their lunch date.
Harry's morning at school crawled by. He didn't join in as he usually did during morning circle time and Hermione tried to cheer him up to no avail. She was unhappy that her friend was so sad but knew that he would be okay once he saw his Papa and Lock. They both ran to greet Mr. Granger when he arrived at half past eleven to pick them up and they all quickly made their way a few blocks down to Angelo's. They didn't see any reporters when they slipped in but ten minutes later, the front of the restaurant was filled with flashbulbs and shouted questions. Angelo met them at the door, helping John and Sherlock through the mob and locking the door against the reporters.
The other customers in the restaurant were interested to see who the fuss was about but no one approached them. They continued to watch while Angelo escorted the two men into the alcove booth hidden from the front of the restaurant by a large privacy screen and potted plants. "Thank you, Angelo! This is perfect."
John patted the much larger man on the arm before turning to Harry, who had launched himself out of the booth and was making his way over. He swept him up in his arms and squeezed him tightly. Placing a kiss on his forehead over the scar, John set him back down and watched as he turned to Sherlock. The tall detective stooped down and gave him a hug as well. The motion once again surprising John with how natural it was performed.
He had expected Sherlock to balk at the physical affection shown to him by Harry but was constantly surprised and delighted that Sherlock seemed to have no qualms about accepting and returning it. "Better now, Harry?"
The small boy nodded and they settled into the large booth. John and Sherlock told the very edited version of yesterday's events while their server brought out the small salads for them to eat before their meal. Harry chattered in his usual manner now that he had been assured that his parents were in fact unharmed.
Harry was the happiest he had ever remembered being since he had come to live with John. He had heard stories of Sherlock and was excited to meet him when he finally came back from defeating the bad guys. He made Papa very happy and Harry felt like they were a proper family. Owen in his class had two moms, so Harry thought it would be okay if he had two dads. He would have to talk to Hermione and figure out what he could call 'Lock.
When they finished their lunches and had another round of hugs and kisses, the two men left after promising to call that night before bedtime. The three remaining waited for twenty minutes or so, lingering over the dessert Chris had indulged them in before leaving through the back door and being escorted to the street by one of Angelo's sons. They walked in the opposite direction of Baker Street and were quite oblivious to the lingering reporter who followed them to the park snapping pictures randomly.
Said reporter was equally oblivious to the two highly trained SAS agents trailing him as he trailed the small group. He caught on quickly when he was grabbed and thrown into the back of an unmarked black sedan after being stripped of his camera equipment. He pushed himself up by his arms and found himself only a few feet away from Mycroft Holmes. "Mr. Stanley, how nice of you to join me. If you would be so kind, I would appreciate you telling me how you found out about my nephew."
The predatory smile that spread across the haughty face sent chills running down his spine and it took only seconds for the information to come spilling out. Tad Anderson was going to be hurting big time when the Holmes' got their hands on him.
Hello Lovelies! Sorry about the wait! RL is a bit busy at the moment. This chapter is for Dark Neko 4000 who asked for how Harry would react to what happened at the press conference, Kai19 who didn't really request lots of hugging but got it anyway, Chibi-Daydreamer who asked for more Sherlock & Harry (Sherlock went all parental!), Fire Dolphin who wanted more bonding moments between the three of them (don't know if this counts, but here is my offering to you, I'll keep working on it!) and finally for Rollicking Skater who asked for Harry's viewpoint way back in chapter 33! (It took a while, Harry wasn't really "talking" to me if you know what I mean, but I finally got there). The soundtrack for this chapter (and most of the story really) is Mumford & Son's Babel album. As for Anderson...dun dun dun!
Also, 500 followers as of yesterday! You like me! You really like me! Thank you soooo much for all of your support for this story! We have a long way to go until the end!
Until next time, gentle viewers, enjoy! (And review. I read every single one and they make my day!)