NOTE: You asked and I answered! Enjoy!
It was the perfect Saturday morning. Early, but not too early, a light breeze coming in through the open dining room window. Eggs, scrambled, muffin with butter, sausage links, and a large mug of tea; make that a very large mug of tea. Add the newspaper and the reigning silence in the Holmes house and it was perfect.
Then he heard it. That tale-tell hop/run, light footsteps full of excitement, half-hopping or skipping across the floor above him that signaled the peace and quiet was about to end in five… four…three… two…
"Good morning!" Rose greeted him, singing the words in an operatic tone as she sailed into the dining room.
"It was, until you arrived," Mycroft grumbled, giving her a scowl.
Rose smiled, grabbed his newspaper, and tossed it off to the side before crawling onto his lap. "That's your "I'm pretending to be very cross with you" scowl and I'm not intimidated," she assured him.
"I was reading that!" Mycroft retorted. "And how am I supposed to eat my breakfast and drink my tea with you sitting in my lap?"
"I dunno," she replied with a shrug. "But you're clever, so I'm certain you'll figure something out."
"I will indeed. Be gone, pest, and go sit in your own chair," Mycroft ordered, pointing to the nearest chair. "Hand me my newspaper on your way."
"I don't want to sit in a chair," Rose pouted. "I want to sit on you, because my bum hurts."
"Hmm, I wonder why that is?" Mycroft quipped, an eyebrow raised.
"And that's why you are the meanest and nastiest brother in the world Mycroft. Smack her and then make her sit on a chair? Outrageous," Sherlock announced as he entered the dining room. He plucked Rose up off their brother's lap and swung her around a bit, nearly smacking Mycroft in the process.
"I'll be your chair," he offered, carrying her to a chair. "How's that sound, Rosie?"
"Sounds lovely! It's too bad My is so awful," Rose said, playing up the sympathy card. She practically preened when Sherlock made a gentle shushing sound and held on to her protectively as he sat down at the opposite end of the table.
Mycroft rolled his eyes as he retrieved his newspaper and tried to ignore his brother and sister and their silliness at the other end of the table. Once his breakfast was finished, however, Mycroft was ready to depart the family home for a bit.
"Where are you going?" Rose called from her spot on Sherlock's lap.
"My club. I'll only be out a few hours, its personal, not work," Mycroft answered. "Don't damage the house while I'm away, please. Either of you."
Rose watched as he exited the dining room and got ready to leave. "Wait! You can't go yet!" she called when he opened the front door.
"Why not?" Mycroft asked, giving her an incredulous look.
Without a word Rose got up and ran over to him, wrapping her arms around him as tightly as she could. "Can't leave without a hug and kiss," she said quietly.
"You just agreed with Sherlock that I was the meanest, nastiest brother in the whole world and now you want a kiss before I leave?" Mycroft asked, sounding flabbergasted.
"Yes, because I was only teasing. Sherlock might really think that though, I'm not sure. But I didn't really mean it," Rose hurried to assure him, giving her brother a very anxious look.
Mycroft rubbed her cheek gently with his hand. "I know Poppet," he assured her. "Want to know how I know you didn't mean it?"
Rose nodded, looking up at him curiously.
"Because if you really thought those things, you wouldn't hunt me down for a quick cuddle before I leave," he whispered.
"Genius!" Rose announced with a grin.
Mycroft chuckled and picked Rose up. "Be a good girl for Sherlock and stay out of my study," he requested before kissing her cheek. "Think you can manage?"
"I think so," she replied, giving him a smile as he put her down. "Have fun at your stupid club."
Ever the put-upon brother, Mycroft rolled his eyes and gave her a gentle shove away from the door. He watched her scamper back to Sherlock, whispering excitedly about something. Just as Mycroft was about to shut the door firmly behind he heard…
"Of course you can stay in your pajamas all day and eat ice cream!"
Sherlock made the worst co-parent ever. Mycroft opened the door fully and stepped back into the house. "Rosenwyn Holmes, you will be dressed within the hour and you will not eat ice cream until after you've eaten lunch, and it will be a reasonably sized portion when you do."
The two younger Holmeses pouted at him, but Mycroft was not deterred in the slightest. "Sherlock, do try to be a grown up for once and not countermand every rule." With a warning look, Mycroft finally left and shut the door behind him. Those two were incorrigible! He hadn't had a moment's peace since Rose was born. Not a single solitary moment of peace.
Mycroft looked up as the door to his private office at the Diogenes Club was opened. As a man stepped inside, he stood to greet him, but the other man beat him to the punch, so to speak.
"Mycroft old boy! Good to see you!" George Whitaker greeted his old university friend. He came forward and clasped Mycroft's hand, shaking it vigorously. "Been an age since we last caught up."
"Indeed," Mycroft replied, trying to keep the disgust from both his face and tone. It was a good thing he had so much practice being diplomatic; always came in handy at times like this. "Scotch? Or brandy?" he offered, making his way to the decanters on the sideboard.
"Scotch and water," George responded. "You rent this out, eh?"
"I do. It comes in handy for a great many things," Mycroft confirmed. "Particularly when I need to speak with people, which isn't allowed in other areas of the club."
"Quite right. First time here myself," George admitted, accepting the drink Mycroft handed him.
"I imagine you know why I asked to meet with you today," Mycroft commented, taking a seat in an expensive but comfortable armchair.
"Yes," George confirmed, sitting in the other arm chair. "Heard about that business yesterday. The admin, Hartford, called my office. She was a bit disturbed by a conversation she had with you on the phone. Something about threatening her job."
Mycroft nodded. "Good, I meant for her to be disturbed and I meant what I said about her job. It was really more of a promise than a threat."
George looked at his friend appraisingly. "I told her I'd look into the matter, so I was rather relieved when you asked me to meet you here."
"There is very little to look into, George, aside from Miss Hartford's immediate dismissal. My sister is, as they say, a "handful", so don't believe that I've turned a blind eye to any misbehavior at school. Quite the opposite really," Mycroft explained. "While I admit her interactions with Mr. Reynolds were rude, I find the school to be at fault for the whole debacle yesterday."
"How so? I'm not contradicting, mind, I'm just interested in your thoughts on the matter," George clarified.
"As you know, my mother and I were very selective about the schools we visited and thought about sending Rose to," Mycroft began. "My brother had a beastly time being forced into a curriculum far below his intelligence level with instructors unwilling or unable to accommodate him. I was not going to have that for Rose. Your school came very highly recommended and Mother and I were quite impressed by the willingness of the staff to work with us on Rose's education so that she wouldn't be bored and miserable. Nothing good ever comes from a Holmes being bored and miserable."
George chuckled and nodded, indicating Mycroft should continue.
"Thus far, the staff has been exemplary in working with Rose, fulfilling their promises to the fullest, with the exception of continued instances of bullying," Mycroft admitted with a sigh. "Though I do understand that can be, to a certain extent, out of their control so I haven't taken great issue with the matter. Unfortunately, however, the school has begun to greatly disappoint me. I don't pay exorbitant amounts of money in tuition and donations to the school for Rose to be banished to the hallway for hours a day, punished with lines because she's bored, and have her special privileges revoked.
"If there's a behavior problem, certainly send her to the hall for a bit of reflection time. Leave her there for hours on end? That's unacceptable George, and very, very disappointing. This arrogant, undereducated, bullying arse of a substitute-come-permanent teacher will have to go. Or I will go and take at least a dozen students with me in the process. People value my recommendation and have placed their children in your school because I have sung its praises. They won't hesitate to leave the moment my displeasure with the school becomes public knowledge." The look on Mycroft's face was that of a man used to bending the world to his will and both willing and able to ruin the reputation of the school in question without a second thought.
George swallowed hard and then took a deep breath. "You make some very excellent points Mycroft. The board of directors takes the care of its students very seriously and was, in fact, unhappy to hear of the situation with your sister. We were not made aware of the issues within Mrs. Allen's classroom until yesterday when Miss Hartford called my office. Mr. Reynolds, on paper and in his interview to be placed on our substitute list looked like a very good teacher, but looks can be deceiving."
"Indeed," Mycroft murmured.
"Give us a few days to sort the matter out and find a replacement," George asked. "I'll personally ensure that Rose's regular routine is adhered to in the meantime, regardless of Mr. Reynolds feelings on the matter. We'll also make very certain that the new hire understands her situation and will have no problem with the arrangements for Rose."
"That sounds like a perfectly acceptable solution. Naturally Mr. Reynolds will be dismissed without a reference for future work, as well?" Mycroft asked.
"Yes! Yes, naturally, naturally," George agreed without a second of hesitation.
Mycroft smiled and nodded. "Excellent. That's one matter dealt with. The other is this administrator, Jean Hartford. I question my sister's safety within her care. How in god's name does a seven year old leave a school without anyone noticing her absence, be gone for at least two hours time, and have no one even notice her waltzing back into the building until she's got a fake tattoo? Don't my tuition fees pay for security? For enough staff that students are not free to come and go as they pleased and potentially be carried off by kidnappers or hit by vehicles crossing the street?"
George nodded. "They do! They certainly do, Mycroft. I'm not entirely certain if all that can be laid on Miss Hartford's shoulders however…"
"Oh I'm very, very certain of it, George," Mycroft interrupted. "Clearly she isn't paying anywhere near the proper level of attention to the happenings within the building of which she is in charge. That any child should be able to wander off and not even be missed then blamed and disciplined for their disappearance, is completely outrageous.
"Should Rose have wandered off?" Mycroft asked the question rhetorically. "No, certainly not. But that should never have been an option for her or any other child. The safety of the children is paramount, George, and an administrator that allows something like this to happen is clearly ineffective in her post and should thusly be eliminated from it immediately and without reference. In fact, her licensing should really go under review for this. I know this isn't the standard of care the school wishes to become known for."
"Certainly not! The board cares very much about the children; about their education and their safety," George hurried to reassure him. "This is not a shining moment for Miss Hartford by any means but I'm not certain I can…"
"Of course you can George," Mycroft interrupted once more. "You're the head of the board of directors and it is within your power to sack anyone at that school and justify your actions to the rest of the board later. You can and you will fire Miss Hartford today before word gets out that this happened and the school finds itself on the news this evening. Not that I would do anything so vulgar as to alert the media of the issue, but the incident has surely made the rounds from child to child and house to house. It's really in your best interests to act, before any parents decide to make an example of the school, isn't it?"
The other man coughed and shifted uncomfortably in the chair. "Yes, yes of course," he murmured. "I'll take care of it straight away. Safety of the children is truly of the utmost importance and I'm certain the board will find my actions appropriate."
"I'm certain too," Mycroft murmured rather smugly. "Well, I appreciate your swift response to the issue George and it was lovely to see you again. Do give my regards to family." His tone fairly dripped of sarcasm.
It was abundantly clear that he was being dismissed and despite himself, George shot up out of the armchair. "I will. I appreciate your discretion Mycroft. We'll catch up again soon." With a curt nod the man hurried out of Mycroft's office.
Mycroft, smiling to himself like a Cheshire cat, took a long drink of his absurdly expensive scotch, savoring the sweet taste of victory.