"I am not really the type to involve myself in private family matters. I am here as a friend, and as a parent myself," Lestrade began, after tea and biscuits had been served. "and I am not here to judge you, nor to tell you what to do. I'm hoping I can serve as a mediator between you and your sons, who wish to patch things up with you. Are you willing to let me try?"
It was Mrs. Holmes who answered him. "Mr. Lestrade, Sherlock has mentioned that you are a colleague, and that he respects you. I am willing to listen, however, I fail to see why your assistance is necessary. It is a private family matter, after all," she said stiffly. Mr. Holmes then spoke up quietly but firmly, "Let the man speak, Mildred." He turned to the DI. "I, for one, think that this has gone on for long enough, and I wish to see my family reunited. I would be grateful for your assistance."
Lestrade was a bit surprised by the Holmes patriarch. Based on his conversation with the younger Holmes and his own observations, he had pegged him as being somewhat henpecked, while the Mrs. ran the ship. Perhaps the senior Holmes had found a backbone. Either way, it seemed he could be an ally. He spoke again, "I am aware of what Mycroft has done, and how you feel he has betrayed your trust. I want to know if you have ever considered why he did it, and what his intentions were."
"Does it really matter?" Mrs. Holmes responded, a slight bitterness to her tone. "He lied to us for years, he made us grieve for a daughter who was still alive, he prevented us from seeing her. He should have known better, he should have done better!"
Greg prayed internally that he come out whole and sane from the conversation. Mrs. Holmes seemed to be a strong-minded person, and not one to be crossed lightly. He needed to try for his friends' sake, those poor boys deserved better. "Mrs. Holmes, in my work as a DI, we always look for motive, for the backstory. It always matters. If a person stabbed someone in self defense, while being held at gunpoint, it's quite a different situation then outright murder, don't you agree?" Without waiting for an answer he continued.
"I have known Mycroft for years now, ever since I've started working with Sherlock. I am not exaggerating when I say that Mycroft is unique in his devotion to his brother's wellbeing. All of Sherlock's friends, all of his associates at the yard, know whom to turn to when Sherlock is in trouble. I have requested his assistance myself on numerous occasions, and have never been denied. Mycroft always at least tried, even when he was unable to help. It is something we have always taken for granted. We probably shouldn't. Mycroft has been called at the most inconvenient of times, and has been inconvenienced in numerous other ways, yet he's always there. It's really admirable, I think. I may be wrong, but I understand that he is devoted to you, his parents. I understand that he has always been there for you when you requested his help. Am I right?"
"Mycroft has always been a responsible boy, and he understands that he has a duty towards his family," the Holmes matriarch answered primly. "Which is why it is so difficult to understand why he betrayed us like this," her voice tightened with hurt. Greg felt pang of sympathy for the woman, who had suffered through a lot with her children. Nevertheless, he was growing frustrated with her inflexibility. She had obviously raised her children with the old-fashioned philosophy of them being seen and not heard, and where children were expected to obey their elders as a matter of course. That type of upbringing did not typically involve a lot of praise or physical affection. He wasn't one for blaming parents for all of society's ills, not that he was one to judge. He was merely trying to get a perspective on the Holmes family, and those observations explained a lot.
"Perhaps we figure that out together," he said agreeably. "Can you agree with me that he definitely had good intentions, and probably thought he was doing you a kindness?" "I can agree with that," Mrs. Holmes said hesitantly, while her husband nodded silently.
"Pardon me if I'm being too intrusive, could you tell me at what age Mycroft got involved in his sister's care?" Greg asked carefully.
"Actually, he was somewhat involved practically from the moment she was born. Being the eldest, he always felt a sense of responsibility for his siblings..." she trailed off with a sigh. "He somehow understood them both better than we did. When she needed to be taken away, it was very hard for us, you understand." She looked uncomfortable. " It's alright if you don't want to talk about it," the DI assured her. "No, I'll be alright," the older woman responded. "Our daughter refused to speak with us when we visited, and that hit us very hard. We started going only once a year on Christmas, brought her a present, and came home. My brother Rudy, he had a position in the government and was able to arrange for high quality care. He would visit the facility to ensure that she was properly cared for. After our first visit, we insisted that Rudy take Mycroft along, hoping that she would respond to him. They went together about every two months."
"How old was Mycroft when he began his visits?" Greg inquired curiously. "He was sixteen," the matriarch responded. "Eurus was eight. Mycroft was one of the only people she always responded to, and he definitely understood her more than anyone else there. Rudy got clearance for him to speak to her doctors, and he was able to give them more insight into her. Seven years later, he told us the lie about the fire. I still cannot understand why," she shook her head.
Greg was flabbergasted. "So, Mycroft was basically responsible for the care of his sister, who had very complex needs, since the age of sixteen. That is pretty unusual. And he was only twenty-three when for some reason he made the decision to deceive you. Could it be that as a young single man, barely out of his teens, he made the best decision he could in his position? Perhaps he rationalized that this would be the easiest for you to hear? Perhaps this was an attempt to protect you, and he could hardly be expected to know better?"
"How could he do this to his own parents?" Mrs. Holmes questioned, her voice thick with unshed tears. "Why did we need to grieve over a daughter who was still alive?"
"I believe I can answer that," came the unexpected voice of Mr. Holmes. "I've been thinking about this a lot the past few weeks, and you have helped clarify the picture. I believe that Mycroft lied to us because we told him to."
"William!" came his wife's shocked exclamation. "What in the world are you talking about!"
"Calm down, Mildred. It's simple. When you look at it from Mycroft's perspective, we were telling him we couldn't cope. We placed basically all of the responsibility on his shoulder, while we dealt with the situation by ignoring it. We ignored our daughter. He didn't want us to fall apart completely. The truth was too terrible for any parent to hear. He should never have been in the position to make this decision alone." His shoulders fell. "I'm afraid we failed him too. He was given too much responsibility, too soon. We took his help for granted, never thinking about the heavy burden he was carrying."
A laden silence filled the air when the older man finished speaking. Mrs. Holmes looked stricken as she contemplated his words. "He was always so responsible, so willing to help. Do you think we shouldn't have let him go so far?" she asked her husband.
"I think we expected a bit much. And gave too little in return. In the span of several years, he found himself not only checking up on Eurus, but mostly responsible for the rest of the family. Don't you remember all that he did for Sherlock, how he spent all that time putting him back together? I don't k know if Sherlock would have ever come out of his shell if not for Mycroft. And then there was the way he worried about us, constantly asking us if there was any way he could help us, and all those times he reassured us that he would take care of everything, and everything would be alright."
"Of course, he was always a dependable child. And he did so much for us in those trying times. I was really to hard on him, I said such harsh things to him. I didn't really mean them, I was simply upset." Mrs. Holmes turned to the DI. "I suppose I should tell him I forgive him for that mistake. I appreciate for bringing this to our attention."
The DI was relieved, and he almost left it at that. He thought about his two friends, and felt a new burst of courage. "I hope you don't mind if I ask one more question." He paused, observing how they looked at him expectantly. "While Mycroft was busy looking after his family, who was looking after him?"
There was a stunned silence. "I am not blaming anyone here," he said gently. "I have made a similar mistake with my own daughter. I and her mother separated, and she worried for both of us, and for her siblings too. She tried to compensate for the situation by being the perfect daughter, and taking responsibility for her siblings, as well as looking after me. She would come over to cook my meals, and then run home to help her mother with the housework. She studied hard so we wouldn't need to worry about her grades, and in general tried to be as helpful as possible." Greg paused, a bit shocked at himself. He wasn't used to sharing such personal stories even with friends, let alone near strangers. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to get it off his chest though. "After several months of this, my ex- wife found her in her room, cutting herself. We arranged for therapy, of course. Her therapist told us that it was common for certain types of children to feel responsible for the family when there's a crisis. Sometimes, as in our case, it's an oldest child. Sometimes it's a child with a Type A personality. Whatever the cause, the child will usually find herself overwhelmed by the pressure of keeping it all together, and may act out or start suffering from psychological symptoms. We were told to explain to her that we, as the parents, are responsible for ourselves and all our children including her. When she let go of the burden she was carrying, she slowly came back to herself.
"I am not saying this situation is exactly the same. But what I am seeing here is a child who has been carrying a tremendous burden for far too long. He has had no one to share it with, and no relief over the years. I am amazed that he has been dealing with so much without ever breaking. It has come to a point where he is being castigated for making a mistake. And by that, I mean he blames himself too. I have seen him after the crisis he had, and it seemed to me that there were a few cracks finally developing in his façade. If you want to help him, you can start by expressing appreciation for everything he's done, I think he was taken too much for granted. He also needs to hear from you that you don't blame him for his mistake, and perhaps an apology for the way he has been treated because of it. I apologize for coming on so strongly, but this is the only way to save your relationship with your sons.
"I said sons, because Sherlock is also hurt. He has suddenly received all the responsibility his brother has had before, which he himself has admitted he isn't ready for. Instead of being flattered at being called a grownup, he's feeling a lot of pressure to perform in areas that are not his strong points. He feels that he is being used as a replacement for his brother, and he is uncomfortable with that. You would be happy to know that your two boys are really working on their relationship, and here they are being pitted one against the other, and they have no idea how to proceed. I thank you for listening and hope you don't take offense at my being so blunt."
Mrs. Holmes stared at her nails while her husband got up. "This is definitely not easy for us to hear, but you have given us food for thought. Perhaps it's not too late for us to be their for our children when they need us. They are lucky to have a friend who cares so deeply about them." He smiled at the younger man. "Let me see you out, and give our regards to our boys."
Lestrade slumped into the seat of his car as soon as he got in. He would need to call the junior Holmes's, but he first had three urgent phone calls to make. When the first call went to voice messages, he spoke into the receiver, "Hi, Katie, it's Dad calling. I just want to remind you, in case you've forgotten, how much I love you and how proud I am of you..."
A/N I really didn't think this scene would go on for this long. The Holmes family meeting will have to wait for next chapter. There might also be some more brotherly bonding and angst between the two of them, depends how long the scene will turn out.
P.S. I've written a one-shot about Eurus's point of view of her childhood, her relationship with her family, and what happened at Sherrinford. It's consistent with what I've written about them in this story. You can find it on my profile or by searching the title "Love is Not Enough." I'd love to hear what you think of it, as well as your thoughts on this story. Thanks, you make my day!