A/N: As usual, I own nothing. As always, thank you for reading/reviewing/following. As a friendly reminder, these stories are not posted in chronological order!
A rather harried looking Mary said to John, "Tell me again why we agreed to do this?"
"Because," her spouse replied through gritted teeth as he finally corralled Edmund and lifted the screaming, kicking toddler into his arms, "Sherlock and Molly needed some time for themselves, and since they, ungh," he grunted as Edmund's flailing legs caught him in the midsection, thankfully not anywhere lower or Izzy might end up an only child, "did the same for us after Izzy was born."
"Yeah, but next time I think we'll let Mycroft do the honors," was Mary's tart reply as she adroitly plucked Edmund from her husband's arms and tried to place him back into his cot. Izzy and Scarlett were both bouncing up and down excitedly at the sight of the other child's tantrum, but thankfully neither girl seemed inclined to join him. Even his twin, who normally empathy-cried when her brother had a meltdown like this, seemed too fascinated by the show to even think of joining in.
"Deal," John replied, then let loose a string of expletives as Edmund finally connected with a crucial area of the male anatomy and with a mighty heave, slithered out of Mary's arms while she was still a bit shell-shocked at the sight of her husband kneeling on the floor, groaning and cupping his private parts in obvious pain.
"No bed!" Edmund shrieked and scarpered out the door.
"No bed, no bed!" Izzy and Scarlett started chanting in unison, still bouncing excitedly and holding onto the railing of the cot they were sharing.
"Bed for everyone!" John roared, his expression promising bloody murder as he staggered to his feet and once again gave chase to his godson. Mary stayed with the girls, having no doubt that her escape-artist daughter would find some way to flee the cot, Scarlett giggling right along with her, if she left them alone long enough to help John with Edmund.
With a sigh, she glanced down at her mobile, even pulled it out of her pocket and hesitated a long, long minute before sighing again and shoving it back out of sight. "No," she muttered, running a hand along her sweaty brow and shoving her bedraggled blonde locks off her forehead. "We promised them two days. Two full days unless there was some kind of an emer…"
The sound of a crash and another fussilade of John's curses from the living room broke her train of thought; sternly telling Izzy and Scarlett to stay where they were, she rushed out of the room, followed by the rising voices of the two girls, Scarlett still chanting "No bed" and Isabelle now hysterically screaming "Daddy owie! Daddy owie!"
In the midst of the chaos, while Mary attempted to soothe Edmund and John snarled and grumbled his way to the kitchen to grab the dustpan and brush to clean up the lamp Edmund had knocked over, no one noticed the front door quietly opening, or the two stunned visitors staring at the wreckage as they slipped inside.
The sound of the door closing, however, caught Mary's attention, just as Edmund apparently noticed the newcomers. "Mumma! Mumma! Want you! Dadda!" he cried out piteously, as if Mary was torturing him instead of trying to calm him down. Rather than fight it, she simply released him and let him run to his mother's waiting arms. Molly's expression was apologetic as she stooped down to gather up her son, Sherlock's faintly amused, and Mary simply pointed to the bedroom, where Scarlett and Isabelle's howls had escalated.
"We, um, decided to come back early," Molly ventured as Edmund finally started calming down, his thumb firmly in his mouth, and Sherlock obediently headed for the two girls. "I'm so sorry, Mary, I had no idea they'd give you so much trouble! When Isabelle stays over they're all good as gold, I swear!"
Mary gave her a tired smile. "It's all right, Molly. They just missed you. We should've had the twins over for sleepovers before this to get them used to the idea, but someone…" she glared daggers at Sherlock as he entered the room, a todder clutched in each arm, both little girls beaming as if they'd never been working themselves up to hysterics only a minute earlier. "Someone kept insisting on having Isabelle over and finding excuses not to leave the twins here instead."
Sherlock didn't even look remorseful, merely grinned and kissed each of his girls — his daughter and his goddaughter — on the tops of their respectively auburn and blonde heads. "Can I help it if they prefer my company? Besides," he added complacently, "Don't pretend you and John didn't enjoy those extra nights off."
"Oh, lovely, of course you're back early," John said as he finally emerged from the kitchen, where it was obvious he'd taken a quick drink before grabbing the dustpan and brush he now held in one hand. "Come to gloat about what a hard time we've been having, trying to get the kids to bed?"
Sherlock finally looked somewhat uncomfortable, his eyes seeking out Molly's. Who merely grinned and shook her head before responding to John, "No, nothing like that. Let's just say that SOMEBODY missed the twins so much that SOMEBODY insisted we head home early."
Mary smirked, and John guffawed. All three children joined in the merriment while Sherlock gave Molly a look of betrayal. "You're my wife, Molly," he sniffed. "You're supposed to back me up, not throw me to the wolves."
She wrinkled her nose at him and kissed Edmund on the top of his head. "Sorry, love, you're on your own this time. I was perfectly content to stay for the night. And since I'm betting Eddie here has something to do with that broken lamp, maybe you should help John clean up while Mary and I settle the children into bed. Come on lovies," she added to Scarlett and Isabelle, nestled so trustingly in Sherlock's arms. "Time for bed. Aunt Mary and I will read you a story if you promise to be good."
"Promise!" Izzy sang out, with Scarlett's lisping echo of "Pwomise!" following close behind. Edmund, it would seem, had already contrived to fall asleep in his mother's arms, and now that the chief troublemaker was out of the picture, the two girls quickly followed.
After the promised story, of course.
