Chapter Twenty-One: Jonathan and Oliver
After waking up early and getting myself ready for school. I wandered down the hallway, I had found Sherlock had left me a note on my side of the desk. I picked it up, straighten out the page so that I could read it more clearly.
"Clara, I have had to leave early to discuss some things with Molly. I will be back in time for you to arrive back from Lestrade's home. Make sure you have a shower this morning and all your homework done. Dad"
He has called himself Dad. A wave of joy and relief flowed over me, relaxing me and bringing me back down from the clouds. I wandered into the bathroom and showered, feeling fresh and extremely clean afterwards. I brush my hair up into a ponytail, the many knots pulling on my scalp. I dress myself in my uniform and throw my blazer around me to keep the warmth in. I grab my backpack from beside my side of the desk and quickly ran downstairs and asked Mrs. Hudson, who was making my breakfast and lunch, where 112 Harley Street was.
"Oh dear, it's not even a ten minutes away it is just around the corner pretty much, you'll find it being the smart young lady you are." She said. "Now I've packed your lunch, it's in the fridge and your water bottle is in the drying rack." She adds.
"Thank you Mrs. Hudson." I say. I scoff down the porriage and fruit that have been placed on top. Once I am finished, I wash up and turn to the fridge door, the cool are blasting into my face as I open the door. I stuff the lunch into my bag and put my water bottle onto the side of my backpack. The weight of the backpack pulls me towards the ground like an anchor, but not enough to knock me over. I dump my bag at the foot of the stairs and quickly dash upstairs, once up there, I open Sherlock's laptop to quickly Google Lestrade's address. While it loads, I furiously brush my teeth. I memorise the directions and make my way down stairs, scooping up my bag from the floor.
"Goodbye Mrs. Hudson!" I bellow, before the door slams shut. The cool London air surrounds me as I walk down Baker Street to 112 Harley Street.
"Ah Clara! You are early than I expected." Lestrade said, pulling me into a massive hug.
"Good to see you too Greg."
"Daddy who is that girl?" A small voice squeaked.
"Is she our new babysitter?" Another piped
"Jonathan and Oliver, this is Clara. Clara, this is James and Oliver." I place my bag beside me and get down to there level. The young boys were identical twins, every feature and aspect of them the same. Jonathon and Oliver look so much like their father it would be hard to say that they aren't his children.
"It is very nice to meet you." I say, holding out my hand to shake. Jonathon reaches out for my hand first, followed hesitantly by Oliver. "Do you guys have nicknames I can call you by, you can call me Cee if you want."
"Jonathon is called JJ a lot, due to his middle name being James, and Oliver is called Ollie." Lestrade says proudly. I turn my attention back to the two boys.
"Can I call you two by those names?" I ask.
"Yes, but don't get us mixed up!" Ollie says.
"I will try my best." I giggle.
"Okay boys, go get dressed, Clara will be waiting for you downstairs to take you to school." Lestrade says. The boys smile and quickly run up stairs, Ollie tripping on the last step. "Would you like a drink, they will be a while." He says.
"A cup of tea will be lovely actually, it is freezing cold."
"I shall be right on it. The kettle just boiled" Lestrade says.
"Just fill it up half way, I won't have time to drink it all."
"Sure thing." He pours the hot water over a English Breakfast tea bag. "Have you had breakfast?" He asks.
"Yeah, I had porriage with fruit on top. Don't worry, I do get feed." I say. Lestrade's smiles.
"Well, if you don't happen to have breakfast, feel free to make yourself some toast or cereal, the boys will show you where everything is." He adds, taking a sip from his coffee.
"Thank you, means a lot." I gently sip on my tea, the hot water burning my tongue a little. I turn to see Lestrade fishing out of something in his pocket. He pulls out a silver key, all shiny and new.
"Here is a key to the house, incase I am not home when you arrive." He says, sliding it across the bench. "I'm heading off now so I have to leave you with them."
"It's fine, I'm sure they will be ready soon, plus, we have a full hour and a half before school starts. So same time tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Sounds good." He sculls down the last of his coffee and runs upstairs to say goodbye to his boys. I giggle hearing Greg say to them to behave and make sure you look after Clara. He comes flying down the stairs and grabs his coat of the rack.
"Have a good one!" I yell.
"You too, I'll be home to see the boys in the afternoon." He says. He shuts the door with a loud bang, the force rippling through the walls. Not even a minute later, JJ and Ollie come flying down stairs.
"Clara can you do my shoelaces up?" Ollie asks, holding is foot out to me.
"And mine!" JJ adds.
"Yes, of course boys" I giggle. "Have you too had breakfast?" I ask.
"Yes." Ollie says. He gives me his other foot.
"Have you two got lunches too?" I ask.
"Ummm…. No" JJ says. "Daddy forgot again." He adds.
"Don't worry, I'm sure I can make you your lunches, we still have an hour and a half 'till school time starts." I say.
"Okay, so have you two got your lunches?" I ask
"Yep" Both say in unison.
"Drink bottles?"
"Yep"
"Brushed hair and teeth?"
"Yep"
"Okay let's go." I say. I pull out the set of keys Sherlock gave me and find the one Lestrade had given me. I usher the boys out of the house and lock the door.
"Okay, onto the footpath boys." I order. Once on the path, the boys grab my hands in unison.
"Daddy always said to hold his hand so that we don't get lost." Ollie said.
"Well your Dad is a very clever man." I say.
The boys talk to me almost the whole way to school. I drop them off at their classroom and introduce myself to their teacher.
"Oh! You are that young girl from the papers." Miss King says.
"Yes, my name is Clara Holmes." I say, putting out my hand to shake, which is takes enthusiastically.
"Why do you have the Lestrade boys then?" She asks.
"Oh Sherlock and Greg are close friends, and I offered to take his boys to school since I go to the same one as them."
"Oh I see, well it was lovely to meet you."
"And you Miss King. If you have any issues with either of them at school, please come and find me first before calling their father, he has a lot on his plate at the moment." I say.
"Sure thing, I'll add that to the school roll." She says. I quickly turn to Ollie and JJ.
"Okay boys, now you have a good day today and behave okay?" I say.
"Yes Clara." JJ says.
"Yes Clara." Ollie giggles.
"Okay, I will come and pick you up from here after school. Be good boys." I say. I make my way across campus to my locker, only to find James standing there waiting.
"Morning Clara." James greets.
"And good morning to you too James."
"How was this morning?" He questions. I open my bag and all the unimportant things into my locker. I shove my PE bag on top of my school bag and slam it shut.
"Pretty good, from today onwards I am taking a family friend's sons to school, they are in Yr 1 so they are quite young."
"Oh yes, I saw you walking hand-in-hand with them on the way to school." I giggle.
"Well, you should have stopped."
"Couldn't, Dad was driving me again."
"Lucky you." I say, punching him lightly in the arm. The bell shrills throughout the halls.
"Better get going." James says.
"Agreed." I open my locker and shove in my tote my books for the first two periods of the day. I shut it and wait for James, before we walked to homeroom together.