A/N: Warning: this chapter will probably make you mad. Don't worry- it's going to be resolved in an awesome way. But I was 3300 in and thought I'd break it up a bit. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the children.

Scarlett ran to her parents, the glass of milk momentarily forgotten. She pointed at Gabriel and Katie accusingly. "Bre kissed Katie!" she spat and then dissolved into giggles as if this news were the funniest thing she'd ever heard. Gabriel could only cover his face and Katie made a small squeaking noise as if she had been frightened and wanted to bolt from the room as soon as possible.

"Scarlett, that's very impolite," Molly scolded. "You shouldn't spy on your brother." She pasted on a smile. She was trying very hard to take Sherlock's advice and not overreact. If they acted like it was a big deal that would only make them more determined. Intellectually, Molly knew he was right. She wished that someone would explain it to the angry mummy in her head.

"But Mummy—"

"But nothing. Why don't you come with me to change your shirt? We're going out and you have paint all over your clothes."

"Okay Mummy," Scarlett chirped, allowing herself to be ushered up to her room.

Gabriel and Katie sat very still like birds on a wire, staring wide-eyed up at Sherlock. "Well, well, well. You two have been really busy lately." Sherlock's mouth was turned up in a teasing sneer and he winked playfully.

"Dad…"

"Oh, don't try to deny it. The blush in Miss Adams's cheeks reveal everything."

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Holmes!" Katie shrieked, bursting into tears. "We didn't mean anything by it. It's just…"

Sherlock stopped her with a raised hand. "No need to explain, silly girl. I was twelve once. And all I'm going to say about it is to remember that you're twelve and keep it to hand-holding okay?"

"Yes, Dad," Gabriel replied, both of them nodding in unison.

"Because it upsets your mother."

"Yes, Dad."

"And if she gets upset then she's all over me about it."

"Yes, Dad."

"And do know that I am well aware that you're simply agreeing with me now only to go back to doing whatever you like when I'm out of sight." Sherlock winked and started toward the kitchen. "Remind me to tell you this story about the party trick I used to do at university." Katie looked at Gabriel questioningly and he could only shrug.

"Do you think they're mad?" Katie whispered as Gabriel helped her into her coat.

"Nah," Gabriel said. "My mum's probably concerned but she'll get over it."

OoOoOo

Every now and then the absurdity of the scene in front of him really disturbed Angelo. When he'd first met Sherlock Holmes, he would never have believed that it was possible. He had been pale, strung out and obnoxious. When Angelo got out of prison and opened the restaurant, the boy wasn't on drugs anymore, but he was just as lonely. For years Angelo had watched Sherlock sit alone at the same table, gazing angrily out at the world. It was a relief the night he'd come in with John Watson. Finally, someone out there had shown up with the stamina to be Sherlock's friend. Since that night, the table by the window had grown exponentially until now they could barely fit into the space. Angelo smiled, recognizing each one: Sherlock and pretty Molly, John Watson and sassy Miss Mary, Mrs. Hudson (whom he'd been trying to ask to dinner for months), and an entire table side full of children. Gabriel, his girl Katie, Scarlett, Jada, Isabel and the twins sat in a row like a flock of pigeons on a wire. They were animated, but not noisy and whiny like many of the children that frequented the restaurant. Even Will and Finn, the newest additions to the clan, cooed and giggled at their parents and siblings, but never made the shrill crowing that was so offensive to one's ear.

"My friends!" Angelo exclaimed as he approached. "I see we have the whole gang tonight."

"Nuh-uh," Scarlett said. She loved to correct people. "Uncle Greg isn't here."

"Oh, well… beggin' yer pardon, little miss," Angelo said with an exaggerated bow. He took everyone's order which were mostly repeats of what they always had: spaghetti with extra sauce for Gabriel and Katie, salads for Molly and Mary, pasta primavera for Mrs. Hudson, linguine with clams for John, a cheesy pizza for Scarlett, Isabel and Jada. Even the twins' menu was mostly unchanged. "Did you see my new fish on the way in, Scarlett?"

Scarlett's eyes lit up at his words. She was fascinated by the enormous saltwater aquarium that stood in the front of Angelo's. In fact, there was a lobster in it named after her. She'd saved it from the steam pot with her wide, glistening blue eyes. "You got new fish?"

"A clownfish!"

Scarlett gasped and rushed over to Sherlock. "Daddy! Can I see the fish? Please let me see the fish! Please! Please!" she shrieked, tugging his arm.

"Yes, just go," he replied, waving her off.

Scarlett raced over to the lobby area and leaned over the fish tank. "Hello fishies," she said, waving to them. She loved the bright colors of the fish and the way they darted around the tank. She pushed a stray curl out of her face as he stared intently, looking for the clownfish. At least her mother had braided her hair in an attempt to tame the curls tonight, otherwise they'd be trailing in the water with the fish. "There you are, Nemo," Scarlett whispered when she spotted Angelo's new fish. She stood there staring with childish wonder for a while until she saw another child walk up behind her in the reflection on the tank. She turned and recognized a little girl from her class at school. Annemarie. Scarlett's heart pounded in her chest as she tried to smile. Annemarie was her nemesis at school. She had started the week after Scarlett, but was much more adept at making friends than Scarlett had been. Annmarie was one of those children that had mounds of blonde hair that always behaved, an attractive scatter of freckles across her nose and overindulgent parents who bought her the latest fashions. She never got dirty or had scraped knees. Scarlett wasn't careful or prissy. More often than not she had paint all over her well-worn overalls. Scarlett loved new clothes, but she had her own funky, artistic style. And Annemarie was never shy about pointing out the holes in her jeans or the fact that she'd worn her princess shirt twice in the same week. Or the funny way in which she pronounced her words. Or how she had a difficult time reading. Annemarie had asked her loudly, in front of the whole class the other day, why she had to go with that special teacher every day. Scarlett was so embarrassed that she didn't say anything and ran to the bathroom. Isabel got into trouble for rushing to Scarlett's defense and pushing Annemarie down, but it didn't stop her from being embarrassed.

"Hello, Scarlett," Annemarie shouted in her face. Annemarie assumed that because Scarlett had a hearing problem that she had to talk to her loudly as if she had the brain power of a cactus. "What are you doing here?" she said slowly, annunciating each letter.

"Eating with my family," Scarlett replied, trying very hard not to slur her words. She pointed to where everyone sat.

"Me too," Annemarie said.

Scarlett didn't say anything else, but went back to looking at the fish. "What are you doing?" Annemarie asked.

"Looking for the Nemo fish," she replied. She wished the other girl would go away. Just talking to her made Scarlett very nervous and she didn't want to be embarrassed in front of her family. Secretly, the last couple of months she'd felt pretty dumb at school and she knew that being dumb was not tolerated at her house. Scarlett reached up and tugged at her ear nervously.

"What is that?" Annemarie asked, pointing at the hearing aid in Scarlett's left ear.

"My robot ear. They help me hear better." Scarlett had recently been fitted with an aid in her right ear to match the one in her left. She usually wore her hair down, but tonight the small pink boxes behind her ears were very visible.

"They don't seem to be helping much," Annemarie replied.

"I can hear you," Scarlett said, rolling her eyes.

"Well you can now. But at school you act like you don't hear anything. Even when the teacher has that microphone on." Scarlett shrugged and turned back to the aquarium. "I guess that's why you talk funny."

"I don't talk funny," Scarlett snarled.

Annemarie laughed. "Yes you do!" she exclaimed as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She followed this up with her own impersonation of Scarlett's speaking voice and growing peals of laughter.

"Stop making fun of me!" Annemarie mimicked her with another exaggerated impersonation. "Stop!" Scarlett said again, stomping her foot.

"What's going on?" Scarlett turned around to see Gabriel standing behind them. "Are you okay, Scar?" he said, signing to her.

Scarlett looked from Gabriel to Annemarie. She didn't want to tell her brother that this girl made her feel small and stupid. Like there was something wrong with her. "I'm fine, Gabriel."

"Good. Come on. The food's here." He took Scarlett's arm and pulled her toward the table. She narrowed her eyes, staring angrily at Annemarie as she went back to the table.

OoOoOo

It was very late when Gabriel wandered out of his bedroom and into the bathroom across from Sherlock's study. He was half-asleep and as Sherlock peered out the doorway, he saw Gabriel make two attempts to walk through the door before succeeding. "Hey Gabriel," Sherlock called as the boy came out of the loo. "Come here."

"Yeah?" he replied with a yawn.

"Katie asleep?"

"Yes."

"In Scarlett's room?"

Gabriel sighed. "Yes, Dad. Mum even made Scarlett keep her door open so she could spy on them."

"To be fair, Scarlett always keeps her door open at night. She wants to be able to run away from the closet monster as quickly as possible."

"Oh."

Sherlock smiled at his child's ability to be brooding and sarcastic even at one in the morning. The older Gabriel got, the more like his father he became. "So are you awake? Do you have a minute to talk to me?"

"Sure," Gabe sighed and ambled into the study. He and Scarlett weren't usually allowed into the inner sanctum. This room had been built specifically for Sherlock and there were usually things unsuitable for children lurking inside. The door even had its own special lock and Gabriel and Scarlett had been told that they were never to go inside unless invited. He flopped down in the oversized leather armchair in the corner. Sherlock hated that chair. Mycroft had given it to him for his birthday and it was the most uncomfortable collection of wood and stuffing ever invented. "What is it?"

"So about the kissing thing…"

Gabriel sighed heavily. "Dad, I told you we'd keep it to hand holding."

"And you were lying through your face," Sherlock countered. "You know who I am. I can see right through you."

"So you don't trust me?"

"When it comes to pre-teen hormones, no. Look, I'm not going to make a big deal or anything."

"Dad, you already are."

"No, making a big deal would have involved yelling and locking you in your room until you were thirty. Obviously that would just be ridiculous. And Gabriel, I do trust you to be smart. I'm just reiterating what I've already said to you: remember that you're only twelve and you have your whole life ahead of you."

"Dad… I know that…"

"Would you please just let me finish? Trust me, this is not easy. Nobody talked to me about sex at all and I'm not exactly comfortable talking about it with you. But I do think it's important."

"Dad, we're not going to have sex. It's just a kiss."

"Of course it is. For now. And wait… who said anything about having sex? And how do you know about having sex?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Well let's see, I do watch telly. And go to movies. Oh and they've already told us some stuff at school. And I've seen you and mum…"

"Wait. What?" Sherlock suddenly felt the tables being violently turned on him. "What do you mean?"

"Dad. Please. Do you really think I didn't know what was going on all those times I came into your room late at night before Scarlett was born? And when you and mum are in the bathroom together for a really long time? Or that time that I came back from my violin lesson early and you guys dove behind the couch. I mean, come on, Dad. Mum's knickers were hanging on the lamp."

"Okay! I get it." Sherlock pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping that the humiliation wasn't evident on his face. "Look, Gabriel. What I'm trying to say is, don't be too quick to jump into being an adult. And go into every situation knowing that there are always consequences to everything thing that you do. The phrase "casual sex" is a misnomer. There is no such thing. You're living proof of that."

"Ugh… Dad… I'm only twelve."

"I know. Trust me, I thought I had at least four more years before we had this conversation."

"I think you worry too much," Gabriel grumbled, getting to his feet.

"Your mother worries too much."

OoOoOo

It was a month before Christmas when Scarlett finally broke down. Everyone had noticed how irritable she was lately, but chalked it up to Christmas nerves. She was quick to cry and even quicker to throw tantrums these days over the slightest thing: from Will breaking a crayon to finally outgrowing her princess shirt. Despite Molly's assurances that they could get another shirt exactly like it but bigger. Finally, Sherlock noticed a pattern that most of her anxiety was happening just before school each day. He and Molly had finally cornered Scarlett and asked her what was going on at school. She would only say "nothing" and after twenty minutes of discussion, she cried and carried on so that Molly decided to leave it alone and speak to her teacher the next morning. Of course, when she arrived at the school, the teacher was out sick and the assistant had too many children and not enough help.

"What else would you have me do, Sherlock?" Molly growled as she slammed the groceries into the cabinets. "I left her a message to call me."

"You couldn't go see the administrator?"

"I'd like to try and deal with it with Miss Preston first."

"Well I'm just going to go see her myself," Sherlock bristled. "Obviously there's something going on with Scarlett at school."

"Just don't interrogate her anymore. She seems to be upset enough!"

Sherlock and Molly argued about it for the rest of the night and both resolved that they would go and see either Miss Preston or the administrator the next morning.

OoOoOo

"Mummy, I don't feel well," Scarlett whined as Molly pulled her jumper down over her head. "Do I have to go to school today?"

"I thought you liked school, precious. And isn't it your day to be the snack helper?"

"Yes. But I still don't feel well," Scarlett groused.

"What feels bad?"

She pointed at her belly as she yawned and rubbed her eyes. Molly leaned in and pressed her lips to Scarlett's forehead. "No fever, love. I think you'll be all right. It's only until noon and then Mary will pick you up."

"Can't I stay with Nena and Will and Finn?"

"I'm afraid not, baby girl. But buck up. It could be worse. Poor Izzy has a dentist appointment today." Scarlett's stomach rolled over at her mother's words. Isabel Watson was her very best friend and extremely protective. As long as Isabel was there, she didn't worry so much about Annemarie or the other kids who sometimes laughed at the way she spoke. For one thing, Isabel did most of her talking for her. For another, it was common knowledge that anyone who dared to be unkind to Scarlett was likely to find themselves on the receiving end of Izzy's rage.

By the time she reached the school, Scarlett's mood was dark. She walked with Gabriel and the others silently, clutching her brother's hand tightly. When he handed her off to the greeting teacher, she threw herself against him. She needed the reassurance of love before she went inside the lion's den.

"Whoa, Scarlett. Are you okay?"

She nodded. "You love me, right Bre?"

"More than meat loves salt, Scarface. You know that."

"Okay," she sighed. "I wish you could stay."

"I know. But I have to go to real school." He winked and hugged her again. She was still waving weakly as he walked away.

She put her coat and bag away and returned the book she had borrowed the day before to the basket. As she walked into the classroom, she stuck her hand into her pocket and ran her fingers over the smooth glass of her daddy's magnifier. She nicked it from time to time when she needed a good luck charm. The smooth glass and the weight of it gave her something to hold on to and made her think of him. She knew he'd be angry if he caught her with it, but she just couldn't resist the temptation. It made her brave.

Scarlett walked up to a group of kids at a table. They smiled and greeted her, offering her a piece of the puzzle they were working on. She chewed on her lip as she stared at the piece, tracing the shape of it with her eyes.

"We can't figure out where that piece goes," a little boy called Seamus said. "Maybe it goes with a different puzzle."

Scarlett shrugged and put the piece down, snapping it in place easily. "Nope. It goes there."

He smiled. "I told them you would be able to do it." Seamus always teased Scarlett and loved to boing her curls, but he always had a sweet smile and kind words. Scarlett liked Seamus a lot.

"Oh hi Scarlett!" She knew from the shouting and the taunting tone that it was Annemarie. But as her mummy always said, 'kill them with kindness.' So she plastered a big smile on her face and turned.

"Hello, Annemarie," she said.

"My mum told me that your dad is Sherlock Holmes. That guy in the papers with the funny hat."

Scarlett was watching the girl's lips very carefully, trying to see what she was saying. "That's my daddy."

Annemarie smiled. "You should wear his hat to school sometime," she said, honey dripping from every word. "Those things on the sides would cover up those things on your ears." Scarlett narrowed her eyes and looked from Annemarie to the others at the table. Some of them giggled, others looked sympathetic. Scarlett could feel shame and anger bubbling in her belly. "Well don't look so angry. I was just trying to help." Annemarie laughed and turned on her heel to walk away. Scarlett snapped. She reached out and grabbed the little girl's bouncy blonde ponytail and pulled hard. Annemarie shrieked and turned, slapping Scarlett's hand away from her. "Don't touch me, Freak!"

"Don't talk about my robot ear!" Scarlett shouted, finally finding her voice.

Annemarie laughed and mimicked Scarlett's voice. Her friends that had gathered around started to laugh and this made Scarlett furious. Before she could stop herself she had pushed Annemarie down and bolted from the classroom.