A Child's Perspective

Genre: Family

Pairings: Greg and Molly

Main characters: Greg, Molly, Scott; Johnnie and Greer mentioned

Greg entered the flat quietly, wondering why he didn't hear the usual din of children and a wife and even a telly in the background.

The moment he closed the door behind him, his eyebrows furrowed. He knew that Greer and the boys weren't planning to be anywhere but at home, and Molly was scheduled at least, to be home before he was, on this day.

He hung up his coat and stepped out of his shoes, nudging them with his feet onto the mat in the doorway.

"Scottie," he said quietly. "What's going on, Son?"

"Mummy had a bad day at work, Daddy. We're trying to be quiet to let her be. Oh, I SO want to go to her though. I hate it when she's sad like this."

Greg nodded at his boy, smiling softly. "I know, Scott. Maybe later, yeah?" He leaned down with a cautious smile to place a kiss on Scott's dark hair. "Where is she? Our bedroom?"

Scott merely nodded sadly at this. "Johnnie and Greer are in the kitchen making dinner. If Mummy lets you talk to her, tell her not to worry, we've got it covered… and we'll even clean up, too. And Daddy?" the young boy said, with a look of wisdom passing over his eyes, so much like Greg's.

Greg paused, listening.

"Please tell her that… well, we understand, sometimes she's sad after work, and well... you also, Daddy... The important thing is to remember all the happy she's surrounded by, and that in the end, the world isn't REALLY as big as it can sometimes feel. What's most important is right here, where her happy is. Your world really only has to be as big as this flat, when outside things make you sad."

"Will do, my boy," Greg said after a thoughtful pause, gazing at his son. Finally, tousling Scott's hair, he stood to leave the room. "What's for dinner, by the way?"

Scott smiled bashfully. "It's a surprise. We think Mummy will like it… Uncle John calls it soul food. Uncle Sherlock says it's adequate sustenance. Mrs. Hudson calls it her extra special old family recipe. She gave us a bottle of Irish stout to put in it…. But Uncle John made us promise not to taste it, just put it all in the pot… daddy, what's stout?"

"It's something… you'll learn about when you're old enough," Greg chuckled. "Thank you, Son. I'm sure it will be fantastic, it certainly smells good… is there something in the oven?"

"Oh, blast… sorry Daddy, I've got soda bread in the oven," Scott said, jumping up to dash into the kitchen. "Julian's daddy taught us how to make it, I hope it turns out…"

Greg smiled and shook his head at his departing son's back. He didn't see flames, smell smoke, or hear any alarms going off, so likely, he should just trust in his children, who seemed to be growing up awfully fast all of a sudden.

He made his way to the bedroom, rapping his knuckles on the door lightly before opening it.

"Molly? Scott said you were in here… he says you've had a bad day…"

He couldn't see much in the darkness of the room, but for Molly's silhouette. He heard her sigh in the darkness.

"Yes. A very bad day… but I think I'm okay now, darling. I just needed a bit of time to process it. We really do have the most remarkable children, don't we?"

"Indeed, we do. And they can cook too… we're going to be spoiled in our old age, I reckon."

"Oh, speak for yourself, Gregory. Old age indeed," Molly said lightly, as she rose to her feet. "You may be aging like an exquisite wine, but you're still aging. We ARE being spoiled, I think you mean!"

"You may be aging with the grace of an angel, but even you have lines where you didn't have the day we decided to get together. Time waits for no man, or woman, Molly Girl." He took her in his arms as she stood, embracing her with warming comfort born through their years together.

"When did our little children suddenly become… not so little anymore? They watch out for each other day to day, collaborate in the kitchen to feed our family, nurse each other back to health when one of them ails…" Molly asked, as she leaned into his arms, taking a deep breath, trying to guess what their children were cooking up.

"They even have wise words of wisdom now and then," Greg said, as he thought back on Scott's words, shockingly wise for his young age. "I think we benefit from that, I really do," he said. "There's just something about a child's perspective that can sometimes simplify the most over complicated problem… we adults sometimes have a tendency to do that. Ignore the simple solutions, disregard them. Children have no such tendencies. I like to think… in retrospect, we are raising each other, really."

"They see black and white, we only see shades of grey. Yes, we are raising each other," Molly said, as she turned to wrap an arm around Greg's waist, guiding him out the door. "We are raising good adults, they are raising good parents," she giggled. "Oh… my that smells delicious… I don't know who here is doing it, but they're raising good cooks, too…"