I promised to update soon! So here it is. Lots of interesting things going on in this chapter that I hope will just whip you up into a fluff frenzy! I'm very excited about it anyway... I got so many nice comments after the last chapter. Thank you so much. You all really make me feel better when it seems everything else in my life is falling apart. Anyway, here's the next bit... Expect the next chapter later this week!
Scarlett was fine until she realized that Gabriel was leaving.
He walked her into the classroom and introduced her to the teacher standing at the door. "Miss Preston, this is my sister Scarlett. She's starting in your class today." Miss Preston was an older lady with long silver hair and a Bohemian style that was immediately fascinating.
She had a big smile as she turned. "Hello, Scarlett!" she said, her voice almost singing. "I'm so glad to see you!"
"You got really red lips," Scarlett replied. Gabriel nudged her roughly with his hip. "But I like them."
Miss Preston giggled. "I know. That's how I like them."
Gabriel pulled the information card out of Scarlett's bookbag and handed it to the teacher. "Here's her card my mum filled in. But her and my dad might not answer the phone today. Our mum is having a baby, so she wrote my Uncle Mycroft's number on there too."
"Oh how exciting!" Miss Preston exclaimed. "A new baby on your first day of school! Is it a boy or a girl?"
"We have two babies," Scarlett answered. "I have two baby brothers."
"Twins! Well that's even more exciting!"
Gabriel almost laughed at Miss Preston's enthusiasm. He took something else from her bag and handed it to Miss Preston. "My mum said I should give you this too. It's a little kit to clean Scarlett's hearing aid if it comes out or something. There's also an extra battery and more of those little squishy things to put on the earpiece. If she gets annoyed, sometimes she'll take it out so she can't hear you."
"Well she is a precocious little thing, isn't she?" She offered Scarlett a knowing wink.
"You have no idea. But my dad says if she does that, to call him and she'll be in big trouble. I know how to put it back in too and my school is right across the street."
"Can she hear without it?"
"Some things. But not really well. She can sign and lip read too. She's wicked good at lip reading."
"Perhaps you can teach our class to sign, Miss Scarlett," Miss Preston remarked with a smile. She offered her hand to Scarlett. "Let's go meet the other children and my assistant."
Scarlett took her hand and grabbed Gabriel's other. "Come on, Bre."
"No, Scarlett," he said, kneeling down on her level again. "I have to go to school."
She looked confused and blew a stray curl out of her eyes. "What you mean?"
"Me, Katie and Jada have to go to our school, now. But Dad or John will come get you at noon."
She bit her lip and Gabriel could tell she was trying hard not to cry. Their father had scolded her several times about crying over nothing lately and she didn't want to, but Gabriel could already see the fat, salty tears already collecting on her eyelashes. "You stay with me, Bre," she whined, pulling her hand away from Miss Preston.
"I can't," he said, trying to reason with her. "I have to go to my school. You'll be fine."
"No I won't! I need you, Bre!" she sniffled, the tears that were so close to the surface bubbling out. Gabriel felt his chest tighten and he hugged his baby sister. Despite the fact that she got on his nerves and could make him so angry, Gabriel loved her more than anything and seeing her so upset was almost more than he could stand. The truth was that Scarlett had always been at home with someone fawning over her every minute since the day she was born and now the thought that she would be left in a room full of strangers who wouldn't care if she was tired or sad or upset was absolutely terrifying. "Please don't go!" Her hot tears came fast, wetting Gabe's shoulder.
"I have to, Scarface. I'll get in trouble if I don't show up in class. And what about Katie and Jada? They have to get to school too."
"I don't care!" she wailed.
He looked up to Miss Preston for help. She gave a sympathetic smile and tried to pull Scarlett away. "Come on, darling. We'll have lots of fun today and your brother will want to hear all about it later."
"No!" she shrieked, pulling her arm violently away from Miss Preston.
"Scarlett!" Gabriel snapped. "That wasn't nice. Say you're sorry!" The reprimand only made her cry harder. She clung to Gabriel, sobbing pitifully against his shoulder, her breaths coming in great shuddering gulps. Other kids and their parents were starting to trickle in now, all of them staring at the weepy child. While Gabe was embarrassed by Scarlett's display, he couldn't help but feel angry at them for staring. So what if she was scared? Haven't they ever seen a little kid cry before? "Scarlett, this is really silly, you know. If you don't stop crying, Miss Preston will end up calling Dad."
"Good!" she whimpered. "I want my Daddy!"
"But what about Mum? If he has to come over here to get you, then he can't be with Mum and the babies."
She seemed to think this over. It was almost comical watching her little face as her brain worked the problem out. She didn't want her father to be angry with her, and he definitely would be if he had to come to her school. Finally, with a final sniffle she croaked, "But I scared, Bre."
"Well there's no reason for that," Miss Preston interjected. "Everyone in the class is very nice and we're all so happy to meet you, Scarlett. I promise you'll have a good time." She offered her hand again and this time Scarlett took it. Somewhat reluctantly. She looked over her shoulder sadly and waved as Miss Preston led her into the classroom.
Gabriel watched as the teacher took Scarlett over to the puzzle table where some other kids were playing. He seemed just as unsure as she did and Katie linked her arm with his. "She'll be okay, Gabe. But we're going to be late if we don't go now."
"I know. I just don't want her to cry all morning."
"She won't," Jada said. "She'll forget all about you as soon as you leave."
"I hope so," he sighed, letting the girls lead him out into the courtyard.
OoOoOo
"She's going to be fine," Sherlock sighed, shoving clothes into the nappy bag. "Scarlett has never met a stranger. Do we really need all these?" he asked, holding up bodysuits in each hand.
"Yes! We need a couple of different sizes in case the boys are bigger or smaller than anticipated." She sighed, leaning back against the pillows piled behind her on the couch. "I just feel guilty—sending her off to her first day of school by herself."
"Oh, she's okay, Mols," Mary said, patting her foot affectionately. "You sent Gabe with her. He'll take care of her."
"Of course he will," John chimed in. "She may actually do better with Gabe than you two."
"But still, it's going to be hours before I'm even ready to go to the hospital," Molly said, wincing as another tiny contraction gripped her. "Sherlock, you could have gone with her."
Sherlock shook his head and shoved the rest of the clothes into the bag. "You and I both know that if I'd gone with Scarlett this morning, she'd have caused a big scene. We agreed, if we act like it's no big deal then she will too. She's not like Gabriel. Gabe was infinitely adaptable, Scarlett has to be shoved forcefully into change and allowed to sink or swim. John's right—she probably did better with Gabe taking her."
Molly finally nodded, resigned to just let Sherlock be right. He usually was and just now she felt so tired and worn down that she didn't want to think anymore. The little pains and movements of the twins had kept her up most of the night. Not to mention Sherlock's constant mother hen routine. He kept watching her and jumped whenever she moved. It was unnerving.
"Are you all right?" Mary asked. "You look pale."
"I'm just very tired," Molly replied. "And I need the loo. Again." She groaned and grumbled as Sherlock and John rushed to help her up off the couch. "I'm like some fucking turtle on its back!" Every time they managed to get her up, her center of gravity shifted and all three of them were crashing to the sofa again. Sherlock tried to get up, but only succeeded in stumbling again as it seemed the corner of his dressing gown was caught on something. It was then that they realized that Molly was sitting on it and neither could manage to get up. John started laughing, followed by Mary who had gotten up and was trying to forcibly pull Sherlock out from under his wife. By the time Mrs. Hudson came up the stairs with tea, all four of them were howling with laughter. "Oh help, Mrs. H… these two idiots are going to kill me. Or we're all going to be in a puddle."
"Really, boys," Mrs. Hudson scolded, shoving them aside. She and Mary made quick work of hoisting Molly to her feet. "You might try being more careful."
"Oooh…" Molly shrieked, doubling over. "Oh… that did not feel good…"
"What? Are you all right?"
"I'm… I'm not sure…" Molly said. Her voice was barely a whisper and Sherlock could tell she was in pain.
"Is it the baby?" John asked. "Does it feel like the other contractions?"
"I guess… but stronger… I think it's easing up…" She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. After several seconds she nodded and visibly relaxed. "Okay… I'm fine. Except I still need the loo."
OoOoOo
"We are going to be so late," Katie groused as they waited at the crosswalk. "All the others have already gone inside."
"I know, Katie," Gabriel said. "I'm sorry. I didn't think she'd get so upset."
Katie turned to look at him. "It's okay. Mrs. Nichols will understand." She leaned over to Jada and whispered in her ear, "Gabe is Mrs. Nichols's pet."
"I am not!"
"Are so. You turned your report in a day late and she didn't even take off any points."
"I was sick!"
"You weren't that sick." Lately Katie and Gabriel had been arguing a lot. Both were coming into their adolescence where they suddenly discovered that they liked one another much more than they should. Gabriel had begun to notice how his friend had gotten taller and more angular. Her childish frame was starting to take on feminine curves and she seemed to always smell of honeysuckle and peaches. Sweet. She was always touching him these days and he didn't want to admit how much he liked it so he responded with growls and teasing. She would get angry that he wasn't responding the way she thought he should, so she was constantly annoyed with him. Meanwhile, Jada was completely unaware of their budding sexuality and simply thought the sun rose and set only because Gabriel wished it. As they crossed the street, she was oblivious to her older companions' arguing and concentrated on his hand as he reached back to take hers as they walked out into traffic.
"You're just jealous because I get better grades than you," Gabriel snapped. "I don't even have to study and I always get the highest marks."
"Yes, we all know how brilliant you are," Katie scoffed. "You still wouldn't be able to multiply if I hadn't shown you."
"Oh whatever, Katie. I'd have figured it out eventually."
"Your daddy would have figured it out for you," she taunted.
"At least my daddy helps me with my homework." Suddenly, Gabriel was very angry and his temper flared up before he could stop himself. He was very stressed about the situation at home, still shaken by Scarlett's reaction to preschool and insulting his intellect was a very sore spot. Consequently, he wanted to hurt her feelings back. "Yours dumps you off at your Gram's so he can go out on dates with girls."
Katie stopped short on the sidewalk. "You take that back." Jada's wide eyed stare bounced from one to the other as they argued. She heard the school bell ring and she tried to pull them along, but neither would budge.
"I will not! It's true. Your mum is getting a divorce from your dad because your dad was taking other girls on dates!"
"That's not true, Gabriel Holmes!"
"It is so. My dad told me and you know he's always right about that stuff!" Katie started to reply, but all that came out was a choked sob. Then she turned and ran into the school, leaving Gabe and Jada standing bewildered on the sidewalk.
OoOoOo
Mycroft Holmes liked nothing more than his first, silent cuppa of the day. Silent being the key word. He sat in his study, looking down over the quiet park across the street and sipped his tea. Most of the time, he didn't even look at the neatly folded newspaper that Anthea always left for him on his desk. He simply stared out the window and savored the relaxing thought that the outside world was safely behind his leaded glass windowpanes. Sherlock had sent him a message earlier that it was likely that Molly would go into labor and for him to be prepared to pick up Gabriel and Scarlett from their respective schools. Scarlett at noon and Gabriel at half past two. He thought he might call and check on them both shortly, just to see how things were progressing. But now, he was content to sip his tea.
Mycroft's mobile buzzed, nearly falling off the desk. He glanced down and saw Sherlock's number flash on the screen. With a sigh, he picked it up. "Yes, Sherlock?"
"Where are you?" his little brother snapped.
"And good morning to you too, Sherlock."
"Good morning," Sherlock greeted. "Where are you?"
"I'm on the moon," he said, the sarcasm thick in his words. "I'm at home of course."
"Look… I need… uhm… well…" Sherlock must need a favor. He hated asking Mycroft for anything and always stumbled over his words when he had to. "I need you to get Scarlett."
"Is Molly in labor?" His question was answered by the sound of Molly shrieking in the background. "Is everything all right?" He heard the phone hit the floor. Sherlock must have dropped it in his urgency. He could hear the muffled voices of John Watson and Mrs. Hudson in the background. And then a shrieking,
"There isn't time, Sherlock! I'm combing the baby's hair!"
"Oh dear God," Mycroft exclaimed, punching 'end' somewhat forcefully and leaping to his feet. So much for that quiet morning cuppa.
