A/N: Hey kids! I'm back with a new chapter! I hope to be able to update Sandwiches this week as well, so stay tuned! Thanks for being so patient! *blows kisses*
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the children!
The twins were nearly a month old before Gabriel and Katie made up. It was the longest time they had ever gone without speaking. At first it wasn't so bad. Gabriel was busy with school and helping at home, but once the routine was established Katie's absence began to weigh heavily. They were in the same class, but she'd been purposefully avoiding him. He'd even gone so far as to send her a message on his tablet during maths class. The teacher caught him and took the tablet. Then Gabriel had to endure a grueling lecture in the cab ride home after Sherlock had to go to the school to retrieve it.
"I didn't give you that thing so that you could muck about in class," Sherlock grumbled as he was mucking about with his mobile.
"I wasn't, Dad!" Gabriel protested. "I only sent one message. I was just trying to get Katie's attention."
"Perhaps maths wasn't the best place to try showing off."
"I wasn't showing off! I promise!"
Sherlock sighed. "Could you not have waited until after?" He was trying to be as patient as possible, but it wasn't easy. Ever since their conversation the day the twins were born, Gabriel had been increasingly teenager-like. And it was bloody annoying. "Time is at a premium these days and I had to leave a crime scene to go to your school."
"I know," Gabriel breathed. "I'm sorry. But she won't even look at me. I've been trying to call her and her dad keeps saying she's not home. So then I call her mum's and her mum says the same thing! I know she's there. I can hear her talking in the background."
"Why won't she talk to you?"
"Because of that fight we had. Dad, she hates me."
"She does not hate you, Gabriel. She's pissed off. Females are usually pissed off at us. That's what happens to them when they're afflicted with adolescence. We get erections and hair on our chest. They get breasts and pissed off at males in general. And it doesn't really go away, so you may as well get used to it."
"But what do I do about it?"
"Well… I would say send her text saying you're sorry. But I'm totally taking your tablet away from you for the next several days…"
"Dad…"
"So my advice," Sherlock continued, completely ignoring Gabriel's whining, "would be to go to her with a peace offering. Tell her you're sorry."
"But what I said to her was true—"
Sherlock chuckled and shook his head. "Truth means nothing when it comes to girls. Telling someone the absolute truth isn't always the best thing you can do…" Sherlock's voice trailed off and he snapped his mouth shut. Had he really just said that? That would imply that Sherlock had just told his oldest child to employ tact when dealing with people. Sherlock Holmes who had never, of his own accord, desired to be tactful with anyone. Brutal honesty is what one generally got from Sherlock. Or else he just wouldn't say anything at all. It was one of his foundations of belief. Since becoming a father, many of his foundations had begun to crack and crumble. To quote Tolkien: the world had changed.
"Dad? Are you all right?"
Sherlock shook his head and cleared his throat. "Absolutely. Anyway, go see her and tell her you're sorry."
Gabriel thought this over. "But what will I say?"
"I'm sure you'll think of something."
Scarlett was sitting at the coffeetable, drawing a picture when Finn started to cry. She sighed and considered taking her hearing aid out. The babies were so noisy. Especially at night when she was trying to sleep, but they didn't discriminate. Especially Finn. Scarlett thought he was probably the angriest baby she'd ever seen. When he screamed, his face turned bright red and he looked just like a tomato. Especially since he didn't have any hair. Will, on the other hand, was much more relaxed. He was bothered by very little and usually only cried when his brother started first.
Scarlett looked around for someone to get the baby. Her dad was picking up Gabriel, her mum was in the bathtub and Nena was downstairs. That left Scarlett and if she didn't act soon, Will would start wailing too. She sighed and threw down her fat red marker. She wandered over to the little portable cot that they always kept in the lounge. As soon as she approached, Finn stopped crying and stared up at his sister. "Be quiet," she scolded, shaking her finger at the infant. He made a gurgling noise and kicked his legs at her. "I not picking you up," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Mummy said you have to nap." She pointed over at Will who was still snoring lightly beside him. He didn't respond and Scarlett rolled her eyes. "What's the point of babies anyway? They can't talk or play." She turned on her heel and went back to the table and her picture. As soon as she knelt down, Finn crowed angrily at her. She tried to ignore it but after a minute or two, he was screaming and crying again. "Fine," she sighed, throwing her picture aside again and going to the cot. Reaching down, she picked up the baby clumsily. He protested again at her rough treatment, grabbing at her curls and pulling.
"Ow, Finn!" she shrieked, peeling his fingers away from the red ringlet he had clenched in his fist. Her face was evidently amusing and he smiled, pulling more. "Stop. No!" Scarlett took his hand away and tapped his fingers lightly. "Don't grab people's hair." She noticed that one of the baby carriers was sitting on the floor and she set Finn in it and pulled it over to where she was. "Just sit there and be good baby," she said, signing 'good baby.' Gabriel had told her a million times that signing to the babies was silly; that they couldn't understand. She argued that they couldn't understand when they talked to them either, but that didn't stop anyone. Finn was content to sit there and watch his older sister draw and as much as Scarlett grumbled about it, she didn't mind. She could babble away at Finn or Will and they just sat there and listened. Not like Gabriel who always told her to be quiet "just for five minutes, Scar." Nobody understood what it was like being four. She just had a lot to say.
"Cat is licking Irene in this picture. She hates it when Cat licks her but I think it's funny. I don't know why anybody wouldn't want doggie kisses." As if she'd been summoned, Cat jumped down from where she was sleeping on John's chair and ambled over, nosing around Finn. The baby cooed at the dog who repaid him by licking the dried remnants of milk on his cheeks. Cat's fuzzy nose made Finn sneeze and the dog cowered. "It's okay, Cat. Mum says baby snot is clean." Cat didn't seem convinced and trotted down the hallway to take refuge in Gabriel's room.
Scarlett had almost forgotten about Finn in the carrier beside her until he started to whine again. Clearly watching his sister draw was no longer prime time entertainment. She glanced over and he wasn't full on wailing yet, but it was only a matter of time. That was the trouble with babies. You could never keep them entertained for more than a couple of minutes. "Here, Finn," she started. She was desperate to find something to keep the child from crying and waking up Will. Taking her red marker, she put it in his hand and curled his tiny fingers around it. "You can hold my marker until I'm ready for it." It worked. He was utterly fascinated by the object. His coordination wasn't the best and he dropped it a few times before getting the hang of keeping it in his grip. Once he seemed content, Scarlett went back to her work.
OoOoOo
Gabriel spent all of his time at violin thinking about his father's suggestion. He was so distracted that Ms. Antonescu, his violin teacher, had scolded him for daydreaming. "You need to get your head out of clouds and into Stravinsky, yes?" she said in her heavily accented tone. He nodded and continued practicing, but it was of little use. What could he give Katie that might make her forgive him? Probably nothing. She had probably already forgotten him and moved on to other friends. He had observed her many times over the last few weeks in the schoolyard. Laughing and giggling with the other girls as if she didn't miss him at all. And he couldn't be sure, but he could have sworn that he'd seen her walking along in the park with Archie. Just the thought of it made Gabriel's cheeks burn with anger. It wasn't fair! Everyone liked Archie better than him: he was older, taller, more athletic. Archie was never shy around other people and people just seemed to like him. Especially girls. Especially Katie. Gabriel wasn't unpopular, but he was quiet and seemed to be more mature than other boys their age. He didn't care much about watching football matches on telly or the latest fad or trend. In fact, the other day he'd made everyone at the lunch table laugh because he didn't know who Arianna Grande was. He'd tried to point out that they didn't know who Mozart or Bach was, but they just looked at him strangely.
"Gabriel! You not concentrating today!" Ms. Antonescu snapped. "You play like beginner."
"I'm sorry, Ms. A. I just don't feel like it today I guess."
"We take break. Go ask Tilda for a cup of tea. When you finish, we continue, yes?"
Gabriel nodded and put down his violin, making his way into the kitchen. Ms. Antonescu was blind and Tilda was her housekeeper. She was an old lady that reminded him a little of Mrs. Hudson, but she wasn't nearly so clever and warm. "Tilda, may I have a cup of tea?" he asked politely, flopping down in a kitchen chair. "Ms. A. said I could have it."
"Of course, dear," Tilda replied, pouring him a cup and setting it in front of him with a small saucer of biscuits. "You look a bit low today, Gabriel. Anything the matter?"
He shrugged and shoved a biscuit into his mouth. After a minute or two of staring at the swirl of foam floating on top of his tea he broke the silence. "Tilda… you used to be a girl."
She chuckled. "If memory serves."
"Did you have boyfriends?"
"I suppose I did. Aren't you a little young for that sort of thing?"
"I'll be twelve on my birthday."
She nodded. "Still a bit young if you ask me."
He heaved an exasperated sigh and grabbed another biscuit. "Anyway, Katie's not really my girlfriend. I mean, she's a girl and she's my friend…"
"You mean that cute little redheaded girl who used to come watch you play sometimes?"
"That's her."
"Oh… she's very pretty, that one."
"Anyway, she's not my girlfriend. But she is my friend and she's mad at me. Did you ever get mad at your friends when you were a kid?"
"Oh of course! We were always fighting about one thing or another. Is Miss Katie angry with you?"
"Yes, and she won't let me apologize. My dad says I should go see her after this. She lives with her dad right down the street from me. But… I don't really know what to say. I mean, I said something really mean to her and I want to take it back."
"Silly boy. You can't take unkind words back. That's why you should never say things you don't mean."
"I don't know why I even said it and now she may never speak to me again!"
"Sure she will. You just have to be patient. Do something to show how much you care about her. Something that only you can do. Something special." Tilda went on and on, babbling about friendship and weathering storms, but Gabriel wasn't listening. He had filtered out everything except "something special." There was something only he could do!
Gabriel dashed out of the kitchen shouting, "Thanks Tilda!" over his shoulder. He ran into the music room where Ms. Antonescu was waiting and grabbed his violin. "I gotta go, Ms. A.!"
"What? Gabriel, you've only been here half-hour!"
"I know, Mrs. A. I promise I'll practice extra hard this week, but there's something I gotta do."
"But Gabriel—" It was too late. He'd already pushed his way out the door and was racing down the street toward Katie's flat.
OoOoOo
Amazingly enough it was quiet when Sherlock arrived home. No one was crying, shouting or arguing. The television was even off. Gabriel was still at violin and Scarlett had barely acknowledged his presence from her position, kneeling in front of the coffeetable. He'd briefly considered going to the cot and saying hello to Will and Finn, but if they weren't making any noise, that probably meant they were asleep. Which meant if he woke them, Molly would kill him.
He strolled into the bedroom and found Molly lying across the bed dozing. Her hair was still in a towel from her bath, but she was dressed neatly. He smiled, relieved that she seemed to be handling the new babies much better than she'd handled post-Scarlett. There had been no crying jags or sitting in dark rooms. Sure she was tired, but she had perfected the art of napping while the babies napped and accepting help with chores. He and Gabriel had made sure that she had absolutely nothing to do except take care of the twins. They did all the laundry, picked up the flat, prepared meals and Sherlock had gone straight out the morning before Molly and the twins came home and bought a new dishwasher that actually worked. No way was he washing his own beakers. Scarlett had even learned, against her will of course, to pick up after herself. After nearly breaking his neck falling over her multitude of dolls, Sherlock had threatened to start throwing away anything left on the floor. One more time that he'd slapped his hand over his own mouth in disbelief.
"Molly…" Sherlock whispered, lying down on the bed beside her. He kissed her temple gently as he wound his arms around her waist and snuggled. "Molly… wake up…" She replied with a growl and rolled over. Sherlock smirked and kissed her earlobe. "If you don't wake up now, you won't sleep tonight at all…"
"I don't care…" she mumbled.
"Yes you do." She rolled over facing him, but did not wake, burying her head against his chest. "Come on, Mouse. Don't make me tickle you."
"If you have any regard for your life, you won't do that."
He chuckled, knowing that she was fully awake. "You wouldn't kill me. Then you'd be left with all these children. There would be mutiny in a day."
"Probably," she said with a yawn. "Did you get Gabriel's tablet?"
"I did. It's locked away in the study. I also took him to his violin lesson, but he was going to walk home. He had a stop to make before coming back."
"Oh?"
"He was going to make one last plea for poor Katie Adams's forgiveness."
Molly laughed. "She can hold a grudge for quite a while, that girl."
"I just hope she forgives him so we don't have to hear about it anymore. You know that's who he was texting on the tablet."
"Oh… don't be angry with him, Sherlock. It's kind of sweet."
"I'm not angry. I was the one who suggested…" Sherlock stopped and sat up, listening. "Have you noticed how incredibly quiet it is?"
"Yes and it's glorious…"
"No… that probably means that something's broken…" he said. The utter silence of the flat was a bit unnerving. He'd been in the room with Molly for at least ten minutes and Scarlett hadn't come knocking. She usually couldn't help herself when she knew that her parents might be in the room alone together.
As if on cue, the twins began to wail, signaling that they were done with their nap for the afternoon. "You just had to say something, didn't you," Molly sighed, rolling out of bed with a small wince. Her stitches were healed, but still sensitive. "It's probably time to change the twins anyway." Her face lit up and she looked at Sherlock. "And you're here to help me!"
"Great," he grumbled. As they meandered into the living room, they noticed that Scarlett was sitting way over in the corner of the couch, pretending to read a book very intently. It was true that she had a few picture books she could already read from and others that she liked to look at the pictures and tell the story as if she were reading, but this was what appeared to be Gabriel's science book. And it was upside down. "Hello, Peaseblossom," Sherlock said, an abundance of sugar falling from his lips. "Reading up on astronomy, are we?"
"Huh?" He pointed at her book. "Oh. Yes, daddy," she said in her 'best little girl in the world' voice. "I like Bre's books better."
"I see." He started to say something more when Molly shrieked.
"Oh Finn! Look at you!"
Scarlett slid down further in her seat, trying to disappear. Molly rushed over, holding Finn out in front of her like a muddy dog. The baby was completely naked and covered from head to toe in red magic marker. Sherlock took the baby, who didn't seem any worse for wear. In fact, later everyone would mark the occasion as the first time Finn really and truly laughed. Sherlock looked to his daughter, his eyebrow raised expectantly. "Care to elaborate on this, Scarlett?"
"Uhm…well…"
OoOoOo
Gabriel walked up to the door and turned back at least five times before he finally got up the gumption to ring the bell. "Oscillation on the pavement…" Gabriel mumbled, wringing his hands. "Just do it, Gabe. All she can say is go away." He sighed. If she turned him away, then their friendship was most likely over. And he didn't want to let Katie go. She was the best friend he ever had. His first friend. He took a deep breath and finally started up the steps to her door. He raised his fist to knock, but the door opened suddenly. "Oh… hi…"
Katie Adams stood in her doorway, looking awkward. "Oh. Hey Gabriel." She shifted on her feet, looking down at the welcome mat with interest. "What are you doing here?"
"Look, Katie… I know you're angry with me and you're absolutely right."
"I know!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest. "What you said was really mean, Gabe. You hurt my feelings! I cried all day long!"
He nodded, blushing with shame. "I was just… I didn't mean what I said. And I'm sorry."
"Good," she said, pulling her coat around herself. "Well, I'm going to the park. I told Archie I'd meet him there."
Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "Archie?"
She blushed. "Yeah… he's been really nice to me lately. He's been eating lunch with me and helping me with my homework. Anyway, I'm going to be late." She tried to slip past him, but Gabriel didn't move. "What are you… You don't mind if I'm friends with Archie do you?"
Gabriel started to speak, but after a moment shook his head sadly. "No. It's okay. See you later, Katie." He turned to walk away, dragging his violin case behind him. He could hear her footfalls on the street as she started toward the park. Suddenly he realized that if he let her go, she would be gone for good. "Katie! Wait!" he shouted. He whipped around, running back toward her.
"What is it?" she asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
"I just…" He threw his violin case down and ripped it open. "I wrote you a song to say I'm sorry."
She giggled. "What?"
"It's not very long, but… can I play it for you?"
Katie looked around and finally shrugged. "Sure."
Gabriel pulled out his violin and started to play. It wasn't anything complicated, a simple melody, but it worked. When he was done, he put the instrument down and to his surprise—Katie was smiling. "I'm really sorry, Katie. I didn't mean what I said. Please be my friend again."
Katie grinned and nodded, rushing over and enveloping him in a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry, Gabriel. I stopped being mad a while ago, but I was too embarrassed to talk to you! I missed you so much!"
"Me too!" he cried, squeezing her tightly. "I've been so crazy lately. But you're my best friend and I love you so much, Katie! I didn't mean to make you cry!"
Eventually they let go of one another and joined hands, walking off to the park to meet Archie.
