I want to be …

(Part 20 of Little Sherlock)

Chapter 1: I want to be a pirate

"John I want to be at a pirate." The adult spoken to looked down on his cute charge. William was still in his pajamas with Mr. Bee tucked under his arm. It was Sunday morning and John was relaxed with the newspaper from the day before.

"A pirate? Let me think what we can do about that." John stood up and picked up the giggling three year old.

They go to Sherlock's room; Mycroft had brought over a few things from their parents' house. Clothes, books and toys.

"Let's have a look in our treasure box." William and Mr. Bee stood surprisingly calm in front of the box, but, as expected, the excitement was boiling under the surface.

Mycroft had told him once about Sherlock's pirate phase from when he was around five. There should be something inside the box that would let John fulfill the little boy's wish. John opened the box; it was a chaotic mess, but the first thing he saw was a black pirate hat. "Look, William, we can already make you a Captain." John gave William the hat; it is a bit big but the rubber ribbon can be tied tighter.

While William was jumping happily on Sherlock's bed, John also found a wooden sword. "And a weapon for our Captain." William took the sword. "But you have to be careful with it. You could hurt yourself or others. Promise me to be careful."

William stopped his jumping and looked seriously into John's eyes. "I promise, but we have to find something for Mr. Bee too. He is my first mate, he will need something too." William was right. So John returned to the box; after rummaging through the content he found a little eye patch and a cloth. "William, can Mr. Bee come over here to me for a second?" As always, when the topic was about letting go of Mr. Bee, William had to think really hard about it.

"Okay, John, but only a second." Mr. Bee was placed in John's hands.

"Close your eyes; this is a surprise for you." William closed his eyes after a last glance on his friend.

John put the eye patch over one of Mr. Bee's eyes and tied the cloth on his head. Also Mr. Bee was ready to play pirate now.

"William, your first mate is ready." The child's hands flew away from his eyes and looked at Mr. Bee.

"Let's go, Mr. Bee, we have to find a few treasures." Mr. Bee hopped back to William and both took off playing pirates on the sofa; the piece of furniture would never again be only a sofa.

"Thank you, John, from Mr. Bee too." William shouted out of the living room. "You're welcome, my little pirate." John whispered and returns to his newspaper enjoying the Sunday morning.