Thanks again for reading!)
Sherlock awoke the next morning with the sunrise. Light was pouring in from between the curtains. Sherlock stared at the ceiling, wondering what he was going to do that day. Then he remembered he had made a friend the previous day. A real-life friend! He decided he was going to visit the Lestrade family and maybe help them unpack, and things. Sherlock stroked Bear's head. One of Bear's ears was starting to fall off again.
Just then, Sherlock's bedroom door opened, and in hurtled his brother, who then jumped on the bed on top of him, tackling the younger, much smaller boy. Mycroft was very heavy! He muffled Sherlock's screams. Sherlock tried to hit him and fight him off, but it was to no avail.
"My! Myyyyy! Gerroff me! Gerroff!" Sherlock cried.
"It's time to get up, little brother!" Mycroft practically shouted. He was nearly suffocating Sherlock! "Auntie Adela and Madeline are coming to visit today!"
"I can't get up when you're crushing me!" the little one cried.
Mycroft got off and ruffled Sherlock's already messy locks. "You know I love you, little brother," he said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, right," Sherlock grumbled, pushing Mycroft away. "Get out."
So Mycroft strolled out of the room casually, whistling a peppy old tune they had once heard on the classical station on the radio.
Well, Sherlock thought, there goes my day. But he wasn't particularly concerned. Madeline was his favourite cousin. She was sixteen and was the prettiest girl in the entire world, as far as he was concerned. Well, after Mummy, that is. Madeline had pretty red hair just like his Mummy. Auntie Adela was okay too. She gave very tight hugs and her bosoms smothered his face. She smelled like vanilla and roses.
Sherlock hopped out of bed and dressed, although very slowly. Some normal, every-day tasks were very boring to him, like eating, dressing, and sleeping. He sat back on the messy bed and talked to Bear.
"Oh Bear, I haven't seen Madeline and Auntie Adele in a while. I was starting to miss them." He patted Bear on the head. "I was looking forward to going to Greg's today though. Isn't his family nice? His mum is pretty too, although not as pretty as mine." Sherlock figured pretty women were good women.
Instead of eating breakfast, then. he figured he would be good and practise his violin. He didn't particularly care for it, but it kept Mummy happy, and he didn't like it when Mummy was unhappy. He had screeched through a few exercises when Ms. Claire called his name. Auntie Adela and Madeline were here! Sherlock raced downstairs, nearly taking a tumble, and rushed into his relatives' legs.
"HELLO, AUNTIE ADELA! HELLO, MADELINE!" Sherlock called, looking up at them. His aunt hugged him briefly. He then grabbed his cousin's knees. She simply patted his curly locks.
"Someone forgot to brush their hair this morning, Curly Sherly."
Sherlock beamed, then took his cousin by the hand and led her in the next room. He looked at her good and hard. She looked thinner than normal, her skin was paler than normal too, and some of the colour in her eyes had faded. She looked very very sick. He frowned. "Maddy, what is wrong? You look sick."
Madeline sighed, and knelt down beside her little cousin. "Sherlock, I have some advice for you. Don't ever fall in love."
Sherlock wrinked his nose. Fall in love? Him? No way! Girls were so boring, and love didn't make any sense to him. Pus he didn't understand what that had to do with-
"Madeline!" called Mrs. Holmes. "Please come here. I do believe we need to talk. Oh, and Sherlock," she added, "go on ahead to Gregory's house."
Sherlock knew that tone in his mother's voice, and he knew she meant business. So he kissed Madeline on the cheek, hugged her tight, and flew out the front door and down the street to his friend's house.
When Sherlock arrived, he knocked frantically on the front door. Mrs. Lestrade answered.
"Well hello, Sherlock!" she greeted warmly. "I wouldn't expect you to be up this early!"
Sherlock frowned. "It isn't that early. Not to me, anyway," he explained.
"Well...you can come in, I suppose. Greg just got up, though."
"Do you need any help unpacking?" Sherlock offered.
Mrs. Lestrade laughed a pretty laugh. "You know, sweetheart, that would actually be a great help!"
And so in went Sherlock, and he helped his new friend's parents unpack books and put them in bookcases. Sherlock put books on the lower shelves, of course. They determined that was his division. Sherlock took note of what types of books they had. Many of them had dragons on the front of them. Fairy tales?
"Sherlock," Mr. Lestrade said. "Why do you have so many bruises?"
Sherlock looked down at himself. He was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, as it was a warm day. He analysed his legs and arms. "I guess I do have a lot, huh? My brother is kind of rough sometimes. He's kind of mean."
"How old is your brother?"
"Mycroft is fourteen. He tackled me in my bed this morning. He crushed me. He's mean a lot, but sometimes he makes me treasure maps."
"What's goin' on in here?" another voice chimed in loudly. It was Greg. He was dressed but still looked and sounded very sleepy. "Oh, hey Sherlock! What'cha doin' here?"
"Helping your parents!" Sherlock chirupped.
"Yeah, Greg!" Mr. Lestrade said. "You ought to help us too!"
Greg grumbled but picked up a few books and stood beside Sherlock. "Hey, Sherlock. What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"A pirate captain," Sherlock replied simply.
"That's so awesome! I wanna be a policeman, or a pilot." Greg talked a lot, and very loudly. Sherlock didn't mind though. At least someone would actually talk to him. He couldn't help but to smile while talking with Greg. It also helped him keep his mind off worrying about his cousin. He had never seen her so sad before, and that made him feel sad too. But he soon got lost in banter with Greg, his interesting, talkative, normal, real friend.