Thanks for reading and reviewing! Good to know someone is enjoying it. And for those silent readers, if there are any, thanks for reading :) I'm a silent reader myself, so I don't hold it against you. Anyways, here's Chapter 3!
Chapter 3
"What happened?" John asked.
"Sherlock's mean! He doesn't like my picture I drawed! All he cares about are his stupid 'spearments and nothing else!" Addie yelled
John sighed and his hand came to rest on her small shoulder. "I'm sure he likes it Addie, he's just busy at the moment. It is a very nice picture though. I even put it on the fridge, did you see?"
Addie nodded her head excitedly.
"And, I've got one more thing that will make you happy," John said, taking a bag out from behind his back.
He handed the bag to Addie and had her unwrap it. Her eyes widened.
"Thanks Mr. John!" she told him before a confused look came over her face. "What is it?"
John grinned. "It's a game," He explained to her. "This little device here is filled with tons of tiny little puzzles. Each time you tap here," he showed her, "You get a new puzzle. And each time you do the puzzle correctly you get to move on to another one."
Addie looked completely mesmerized by the little device. "There's lots of puzzles in here?" She asked and shook the device trying to hear the pieces rattling around.
John laughed, "No, no. There's not actually puzzles in there. It's a computer game."
"Oooh a compooter. Mycof had one of those when he went to university. He never let me play wif it," she said.
"Well, now you have one of your own," John told her.
Addie suddenly threw her arms around John. "Thank you Mr. John! I love my puzzle compooter!"
John hugged her back and replied, "You are very welcome. Now you don't have to be so bored. Shall we start one now?"
Addie nodded, "Yes please!"
John turned on the device and showed her how to start the game. Once he got her started she was completely enthralled in her puzzle and didn't even respond when he told her that he was going to the kitchen.
Sherlock looked up when John walked in.
"You don't have to spoil her John. She likes you just fine," Sherlock said.
"I wasn't trying to buy her affection. I was just trying to avert a disaster and keep her from getting so irritating when she's bored. You can't deny that it would be nice to have some quiet time without her in our hair every day," John said.
Sherlock agreed with an, "Mhhm."
"Mr. John! I finished one! I got it all right!" Addie shouted from the next room.
"I think you underestimated Addie's talent for doing puzzles," said Sherlock.
"Well, then I guess it's a good thing I downloaded three different versions, isn't it?"
Sherlock looked impressed. Then his text alert went off and he jumped up to get it.
Suddenly Addie appeared out of nowhere, her game forgotten on the coffee table, to lean over Sherlock's shoulder. "What was that?"
"I got a text." Sherlock answered matter-of-factly.
"Oh. From who?"
"Detective Lestrade."
"Who's atective 'Strade?"
"Detective Lestrade, and I work with him," Sherlock said, losing patience.
"You have a job too?" Addie asked.
"Yes."
"What's your job? Are you a doctor like Mr. John?"
"No. I'm a consulting detective," Sherlock answered as he started to clean up his experiment.
"Oh." Pause. "What's that mean?"
Sherlock ignored her as he kept gathering his things. John filled in for him.
"It means that he helps the police solve crimes. He catches bad guys."
"Wow!"
"Pretty cool, eh?" John nodded. Addie nodded back at him with wide eyes.
"Lestrade want us down at the scene as soon as possible. It's pretty recent so all of the evidence should be fresh," Sherlock said with unmasked glee.
John started putting on his coat and his boots along with Sherlock, discussing what they knew of the case so far.
"Cool! We're going to catch some bad guys!" Addie jumped up and shouted.
Both John and Sherlock paused mid-conversation and looked at her, as if forgetting she was in the room.
They seemed to be having a silent conversation with each other.
"Mrs. Hudson?" John suggested.
"No, she's at her BINGO night," Sherlock cursed.
"Molly?" Sherlock asked.
"Sherlock! You won't bring her to a crime scene but you'll take her to a morgue?"
"I see your point."
"We'll have to take her with us," John said defeated.
"Shit!" Sherlock said running a hand through his hair.
Addie gasped "You said a bad word! Mummy's gonna wash your mouf out when she hears about it!"
Sherlock walked over to her and bent down to her level.
"Now Addie, listen to me carefully alright? We're going to go to the crime scene but I need you to do everything I tell you. Do as I say and be a good girl. Can you do that?"
"Yes."
"Good," Sherlock said standing up.
"So you're really gonna take me?" she asked.
"We don't really have much choice now, do we?"
Addie's face lit up in excitement. "Thanks Sherlock! And I won't tell mum about your curse word. Pinky promise!" she said sticking out her pinky.
Sherlock hooked his pinky in hers and started gathering up some warm clothes. He stopped when he realized all of her clothes didn't shrink with her. John seemed to be thinking the same thing and he ran into her room frantically.
He returned with an armful of boxes containing kid clothes.
"Seems Mycroft and Mrs. Hudson thought ahead," he said dropping the box at Sherlock's feet.
Sherlock thanked god for them both and began searching for a coat and some boots.
Once Addie was dressed they all bustled outside and into the cab Sherlock hailed. Addie sat between them doing her best to be on good behavior. She didn't whine about the long cab ride, or the scratchy coat, or the tight seatbelt Sherlock insisted she wear.
They pulled up to the scene and Sherlock helped Addie out of the cab as John paid the cabbie. It wasn't long before Lestrade spotted them and he jogged over to fill them in on the situation.
"Took you guys long enough," Lestrade said. Anderson and Donovan came over to be briefed on the details also.
"Yeah, well, we were a bit…held up," John explained.
Lestrade felt a tugging on his jacket. He looked down into the light blue eyes of a little girl no older than 5 with dark wavy hair and a purple coat.
"What's your name?" the girl asked.
"Umm…my name is Gregory Lestrade. What's your name?"
"My name is Adelaide Holmes. Pleased to meet'cha Mr. 'Strade," she said politely.
"Pleasure, Adel-" Lestrade cut off, looking to Sherlock and John. "What the f-" he looked at Addie smiling innocently up at him and began again. "What the hell, Sherlock?!"
"We can explain…well actually no we can't, but we don't have time for that right now. Let's get to the case," Sherlock said.
"Now wait a minute, we can't have a kid coming into a crime scene! It's bad enough we let you in!" Anderson jumped in.
"Thanks for your opinion Anderson, enlightening as always," Sherlock mocked.
"Wait, are you atective 'Strade? The man who works wif Sherlock? Are you an "insulting atective" too?" Addie asked.
Everyone except Sherlock and Addie laughed at that.
"Insulting detective? That's brilliant! I suppose he is an insulting detective, isn't he?" Lestrade laughed.
"Addie, it's consulting detective and we're wasting time!" Sherlock said annoyed.
"Right, let's go check it out then. I've left everything as is, you've got 10 minutes," Lestrade briefed them as they approached the caution tape.
Sherlock and Lestrade were the first through the tape. Addie was following close behind before John caught her and pulled her back.
"Hold up a minute kiddo, not so fast," John said.
"But…Sherlock!…"
Sherlock turned back at Addie's yell. He gave John a questioning look.
"Sherlock, she can't just come into the crime scene. She's four-years-old!" John tried to reason with him.
Sherlock rolled his eyes. "Well, what are we supposed to do with her?"
"You could leave her with Sally. She's already been in," Lestrade suggested.
"Don't be dense Lestrade. I'm not leaving my little sister with that horrid woman. Some of her idiocy might rub off," Sherlock stated.
"Sherlock, we don't have much of a choice. I can't watch her since you need me in there, or rather won't go without me," John said. "Leaving her with Sally for a few minutes won't cause any harm."
Sherlock sighed and turned on his heel to follow Lestrade. John accepted that as an agreement and led Addie over to Donovan.
"Addie, this is Agent Donovan. She's going to keep you company while Sherlock and I go have a look around inside," John explained.
"Are you coming back?" Addie asked nervously.
"Yes, of course we will. We'll just be gone for a few minutes ok?"
Addie nodded and waved as John got up to leave. She looked to Donovan hesitantly. She was skeptical about the woman but her mummy always taught her to be polite, so she introduced herself.
"Hello Don'van, my name is Adelaide Holmes," she said.
"Hello Adelaide. Very nice to meet you. I'm Agent Donovan. But you can call me Sally if you like."
"Ok Miss Sally. Do you work wif Sherlock too?"
"Yes. I do," Sally replied.
"Is he nice to work wif?" Addie asked.
Sally didn't really want to tell a 4-year-old what she thought of her big brother and she didn't think calling him a freak would go over very well. She decided to be as nicely truthful as she could get.
"He's...he is very clever and he helps us a lot on the cases," she answered.
"He's the cleverest ever! And he's the best big brother ever! And Mycof, he's the best too!"
"So Sherlock's a good brother? What's he like?" Sally asked. She was curious about what Sherlock is like when he's not being an egotistical prat.
"He's really fun. He gives me puzzles and teaches me cool stuff. And he lets me help wif his 'spearments. Except when they are dangerous. Then he makes me just watch and he says I can't touch. And he makes me feel better when I'm scared, or plays the violin for me when I can't sleep," Addie rambled. Then she leaned in really close to Sally as if whispering a secret to her. Sally bent down and put her ear to Addie's mouth. "And sometimes, when I have a bad dream, he lets me come in his bed and tells me a story til I fall asleep again."
Sally smiled at Addie's complete adoration of her big brother. She's surprised to hear about the more human and sensitive side of Sherlock Holmes. Suddenly he isn't so much of a freak to her anymore. But that doesn't mean he's not an insensitive arse either.
"Well, he sounds like a fantastic big brother," Sally said standing up.
"Uh-huh," Addie nodded. She then looked at Sally and studied her.
"Don't worry Miss Sally, Sherlock doesn't hate you. He doesn't like being called a freak though. But he doesn't hate you. He just needs to pretend to be a prat cuz he's been hurt by people in the past. He would like you to be nicer though," she said.
Sally looked confused and slightly freaked out at being deduced by a four-year-old. "Right. Noted. I'll try to be nicer."
Addie looked satisfied with this answer and nodded her head. Then she added as an afterthought, "Oh and don't be sad. Mr. An'erson really likes you too. He's just scared cuz he thinks you might get caught. I dunno what he is scared of doing, but he wants to do it wif you cuz he likes you," she finished.
Sally stared at Addie in awe and smiled to herself. Maybe the Holmeses aren't so robotic and freaky as she originally thought. Well, at least not Addie.
Sherlock, John, and Lestrade returned shortly after and Addie ran to Sherlock. Sherlock eyed Donovan suspiciously.
"Well Addie, I hope your time with Donovan wasn't too scarring," Sherlock drawled.
"Her name is Sally and she's really nice. And she's gonna try to be nicer. I told her you don't hate her and she doesn't hate you neither," Addie said to him.
There was an awkward silence.
"Now shake hands and be friends," Addie instructed them.
"Addie, it's not that easy," Sherlock addressed her.
"Sure it is! You just gotta be nice," Addie said in her 'duh' voice.
"How about we settle for being civil, then we'll work on being nice," John suggested, very much doubting Donovan and Sherlock would ever be friends.
Lestrade kicked Sherlock and raised his eyebrows.
Sherlock cringed and forced a fake smile, "Good day Don—Sally."
Donovan returned his fake smile with one of her own. "Good day fr—Sherlock."
"See that wasn't so hard was it?" Addie said.
John steered the conversation in a different direction before anymore could be said. "Alright then, we'll just be going now. Good luck with the case," he nodded, "Lestrade, Sally."
Addie was being tugged behind an eager to leave Sherlock shouting and waving, "Bye Miss Sally! Bye Atective 'Strade!"
She continued waving until their cab was driving off towards home.