A/N: Many thanks to Phish Tacko for her help beta'ing this!
Ch. 6
Marie's 6th Birthday
"My God, I can't believe she's already six!" Sherlock said, watching as Mycroft's staff worked to assemble tables, buffet trays, decorations, and a bouncy house.
They'd decided to have the party at Mycroft's because of the extra space his land afforded. The theme for this year was "Disney", and Marie was dressed as her favorite Disney Princess, Belle.
"I can't believe that a bouncy house cost three hundred pounds."
Sherlock rolled his eyes.
"I paid for half of it, so it was only one hundred fifty for you."
Mycroft said nothing, but continued to look on as the bouncy house was inflated.
Seconds later, the sound of Marie's voice grabbed his attention.
"Daddy! Uncle Mycroft! Selah and James are here!" Marie ran over, holding up her skirt so that she wouldn't trip.
"Well, go greet them," Sherlock urged.
Marie nodded and hurried off towards the driveway, where Sierra had just pulled in. Selah exited wearing an Frozen-themed dress, though it wasn't quite as pretty as Marie's dress. Sherlock guessed that Sierra had probably made it herself, or had bought it at a cheap costume store. It made Sherlock feel a bit sad that Sierra had to struggle so much to get by.
Selah, however, did not seem to notice the difference between her dress and Marie's. To her, they were both royalty. James stood by, dressed in a pair of jeans and a Power Rangers t-shirt.
"Sherlock!" Selah called.
She took hold of James' hand and she, James, and Marie ran over to see him.
"Princess Selah!" Sherlock said, bowing to her.
"I'm Elsa!" Selah replied with a little curtsy.
"Ah, my mistake! And I see you've brought …erm… Kristoff?" Sherlock asked, referring to James. He often got the characters confused.
"Disney's dumb," James answered.
"Don't mind him." Selah said, glaring at her brother. "We did poorly with teaching him his manners."
James said nothing, but began eyeing the now-inflated bouncy house.
"You can go play, if you'd like," Mycroft offered.
Selah and Marie looked at each other.
"Let's go!" Both shouted.
Selah took her brother's hand and the three ran off.
00
Three hours later the party was in full swing. Disney music was being loudly played and a group of seven girls from Marie's class were sitting together at a table, having a 'tea party'.
Sherlock sat at the head of the table, having finally put on his costume. He was dressed as The Mad Hatter. It was a simple costume: a funny hat with flowers sticking out of it and a huge tag that read 'MAD' hanging off. He wore Mycroft's purple jacket as well.
"Pocahontas," Marie addressed one of her friends who was dressed as the character. "May you please pass the tea?"
'Pocahontas' nodded and passed over the plastic tea kettle. It held apple juice, but the children were pretending that it was tea. Marie poured herself a cup and looked at her father.
"Hatter, are you enjoying the party?"
"I am, but I fear the Jabberwocky may soon disturb us."
The children looked at him, wide eyed.
"The Jabberwocky?" One of them, a girl dressed as Snow White, asked.
"Yes – he's a true menace, I tell you! Very destructive! I can only hope that he has enough sense to stay away. He should know that you princesses would easily fight him off."
"Whoa," Came a collective response from the princesses.
In another part of the yard, Mycroft was busy making small talk with the adults. He hadn't dressed up for the party, though a few of the other grown-ups had.
Lestrade, particularly, had gone all out with a knight costume.
"Are you having fun in there?" Mycroft asked, tapping Lestrade's helmet.
"I am beginning to think that this costume was a bad idea, considering the weather."
It was a fairly warm day, and he was sweating profusely.
"Where'd you even get that thing?" John asked. He was dressed as a prince, but not a specific one. His daughter had insisted on it, apparently.
"I made it. It's amazing what you can accomplish with some poster board, a yoga mat and some silver spray paint!"
"Aren't the fumes getting to you?" Mycroft questioned. "I can smell the paint from here."
"To be honest, I stopped smelling it about three hours ago."
"Uh, you should probably at least take off the helmet," John suggested. "You know, with the paint fumes being toxic and all that."
"I think you might be right." Lestrade removed the helmet, thankful for the excuse to do so. Now he felt much cooler.
"And how are you enjoying the party?" Mycroft asked Molly. She was dressed as Aurora.
"Oh, I love it! It reminds me of when I was a little girl – how I loved Sleeping Beauty!" She grinned.
Mycroft couldn't help but smile at Molly looking so happy.
A moment later, Mrs. Hudson showed up bearing a bottle of wine and some glasses.
"The fairy godmother has come to grant our wish!" Lestrade exclaimed, taking a glass.
"I figured it was the least I could do," Mrs. Hudson replied. Her fake wings moved as a breeze hit, and she began pouring glasses of wine for everyone.
00
Mycroft had just finished his second glass when Marie, Selah, and one of their friends ran over to him.
"Uncle Mycroft!" Marie said, grabbing his hand. "Come to the bouncy house with us!"
"Oh, no," Mycroft replied. "I couldn't. That's for… uhm… royalty only!" In the corner of his eye, Mycroft could see Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson snickering.
"Hm," Marie thought for a second, then looked at her friend, who was wearing a tiara. "Cinderella, may I borrow your crown?"
The girl shrugged and handed it over. Marie took it and looked at her uncle.
"Uncle Mycroft, get down on one knee."
'Here we go,' Mycroft thought to himself. The 'clicking' sound coming from the right of him told him that someone – probably multiple people – were taking photos of this moment. Nonetheless, he did as he was told.
"As you wish, Belle."
Marie smiled and placed the tiara on Mycroft's head.
"I now proclaim you King Mycroft of… uh… London! Now you may come to the bouncy house."
It was at that moment that Lestrade, Mrs. Hudson, Molly and John all burst out laughing.
Sighing, Mycroft allowed himself to be led away.
00
Mycroft did not last long in the bouncy house.
Between the two Snow Whites and three other princesses, he found himself constantly struggling to avoid accidently hitting any of the children as he bounced around. Within moments, he found himself falling at an odd angle. He felt his ankle twist and yelped in pain.
"Mycroft, are you alright?" John asked.
He and Mary had joined Sherlock and the other adults near the bouncy house and were watching everything.
"I'm fine! I swear I meant to do that!" Mycroft answered, even though he was still grimacing from the pain. "I think I may be done with the bouncy house, though." He carefully pushed himself up and made his way out.
"I probably ought to look at that," John noted that Mycroft was limping.
"I'm fine," Mycroft groused.
"But you're limping. You may have a fracture."
"I said I'm fine!" Mycroft snapped.
"Alright. Suffer if you'd like," John replied.
Sherlock, meanwhile, was shaking his head.
"Can't handle five minutes in the bouncy house? What kind of a king are you?"
Mycroft glared at Sherlock.
"You should go in and have some fun, since you'll be so much better at it."
Mycroft hadn't expected Sherlock to take him up on the challenge. He was surprised when Sherlock removed his hat and handed it off to John.
"Sounds like a fantastic idea!" He took off his shoes and made his way into the bouncy house. Seconds later he was jumping around, holding hands with Marie as they kicked off the walls and fell to the floor, laughing.
"See, it's not that hard!" Sherlock called out.
"I need some more wine," Mycroft grumbled. He limped over to the adult's section, with Molly and Mrs. Hudson following him.
00
As dusk came, a large birthday cake topped with several plastic Disney Princess figurines was brought out. It had dozens of candles on it and it lit up the table that it was placed on. Marie's friends and family surrounded her and sang "Happy Birthday".
When the song was over, Marie blew the candles out, and the cake was served.
In the end, Marie had gotten many presents, but it was the party itself that she most enjoyed. Sherlock had to admit that he had enjoyed it too. He'd even go so far as to say that it was one of the best days of his life so far.