Chapter 12: Something To Do

I flipped through the channels for some time until I rested on a weird yet interesting show about a man who was called The Doctor and a flying blue box called the TARDIS. It was set in Christmas time in London, and it made me rather nervous for the approaching season. I knew better than to believe that Christmas trees really could be turned into weapons of mass destruction, but a part of me almost hoped it to be true. The next episode that came on held my attention so well that I did not notice my father coming back and resuming his experiment in the kitchen. In this episode the doctor was fighting against some robots called cyber men. At one point I screamed, pulling a random jacket over my head, but peeking through the top. I was vaguely aware of my father checking on me before going back into his work.

At 11 o'clock the program changed to something boring so I turned it off and wandered into the kitchen to see what my father was doing. I observed him once again mix a white powdery substance with the green substance and saw him scowl when it bubbled a little less but turned blue once again. I wasn't sure what he was trying to do, but whatever it was he was not happy with it.

I looked out the small window in the kitchen and then turned to my father. "Can I go outside?" I asked him. He stared at me for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders.

"Stay close by." He told me. I quickly ran to the door, pulled on my long red coat and my shoes and ran out down the stairs. I was out the door in a flash and froze as I took in the busy street that was now my new home. There were cabs driving by, on the wrong side of the road again, and men and women waking. I sat down on the steps and just watched the people as they hurried by. Quite a few of them stopped at the small café to my left, many of them leaving just as quickly as they had entered. I even saw one person pass with a TARDIS beanie on his head. After sitting there watching the people for about 10 minutes, I got up and walked down the street a little, jumping up on one of my neighbor's stoops, hiding behind a shrub when I noticed a sleek black sedan pull up in front of my house. I wasn't sure why I had hidden, but I figured that this would be a fun time to try and figure out the kind of people who came to visit my father. As quickly as the vehicle had appeared, it disappeared, leaving behind a man swinging his umbrella.

He was about as tall as my father and was wearing a very elegant pin striped black suit. His royal red tie was tucked inside of his vest and a pocket watch chain draped across his front. I could tell that he was rarely without his umbrella and that he was not normally a man for smiling. He was a little pudgy and his face looked as if he had a perpetual scowl. I watched as he walked right up to my door, straightened the knocker, and then knocked it.

Mrs. Hudson answered it and with her cheerful voice exclaimed "Mycroft! Do come in! Have you heard…" and then the door shut behind him and I could hear no more.

I sat on the neighbors stoop, pondering who this Mycroft was, and why he seemed so peculiar. Before I could come up with any ideas the door behind me opened up. "Oi!" Shouted a short red-headed lady who had obviously had a little too much to drink already. "This ain't a bench!" She shouted, waving her hands at me. "Bugger Off!"

I quickly jumped up, "Sorry ma'am!" I said as I backed away towards Speedy's. The door to 221B opened up and I heard my father's voice.

"What do you mean she's not..." His voice clipped when he saw me, standing by Speedy's. "Mycroft, you imbecile. She's right there!" He exclaimed, exasperation in his voice. With that the door shut as quickly as it had opened. I stood there watching the door, unsure of what had just happened. A few moments later the door opened again, this time with Mrs. Hudson coming out.

"Alexandria," She called out to me, "Are you hungry dear? I've whipped up some Broccoli soup." I shrugged my shoulders and followed her inside, ignoring the raised voices coming from up above, and walked into Mrs. Hudson's kitchen.

"So dear, you're from America. How did you like it there?" She asked me, obviously trying to make conversation as she placed a bowl of soup and some bread in front of me.

"Uhm, yeah, it was okay. I mean, a lot of people there were kinda rude... and I wasn't really allowed outsdie... but that's all to be expected I guess. It's the only thing I know though..." I sighed. "Or rather knew, I guess." I pushed my soup around with my spoon, staring at it.

"Well I'm sure that you'll love London dearie. It's in your blood." Mrs. Hudson told me with a smile. I forced a smile back at her and finished my meal in silence. When I had wiped up the last of my soup with the bread, I took my bowl over to the sink and rinsed it out.

"Who's Mycroft?" I asked suddenly.

Mrs. Hudson seemed taken aback by that question. "Why, you don't know?" She queried. She shrugged her shoulders. "Well I guess it shouldn't surprise me. Sherlock usually doesn't speak of him. Mycroft is your uncle. He's Sherlock's older brother."

My mind went blank and swarm with thoughts all at the same time. I stared at Mrs. Hudson, unable to produce any language for the moment. I knew that it was rude to stare. My mum had told me that many many times, but I couldn't help it. I had an uncle. I had family other than just my mum and dad. When I could finally move again I went and sat back down at Mrs. Hudson's table. Maybe... I allowed myself to think... Maybe I'm not as different as I'd thought.

Mrs. Hudson stood by the sink watching me and said "Oh don't worry honey. He's not as scary as he looks, though he'd like to believe it's true." She walked over and patted me on the shoulder. That seemed to bring my words back to me.

"I'm not scared." I said, I said turning up my nose. "I just..." I paused and took a deep breath, nibbling on my bottom lip. "I just didn't know I had a family... I've only ever had my mum. And well, I knew about my dad, but that's all. I... I didn't know that I had anyone else." I stood up and walked quietly out to where I could see the door at the top of the stairs. The voices were still going at it, so I tiptoed up the stairs and stood in front of the door, trying to hear what was being said, when suddenly it opened and I heard my father say "It's rude to eve's drop."