NOTE: Someone asked me the other day if I had a tumblr and I said no. I don't know if I'm interesting enough to have a tumblr all about me, but I had an idea: tumblr on Rose stuff? Good idea? Bad idea? Gimme your thoughts please!
Also, I know I owe you all a chapter in Rose Blooms, but this popped into my head and I wrote like the wind. Will get to Rose Blooms ASAP!
Every Sunday without fail, nanny Leah Sutton took her charge, six-year-old Matthew Lyons to the park. It was a routine they had had for the past six months, ever since she'd taken the job as his nanny and learned how desperately little Matthew needed to expend his energy on a daily basis. Sunday was park day and every Sunday at 11am the park looked exactly the same. Children of various ages ran around, shouted, laughed, and at times seemed to be determined to injure themselves. Mothers, nannies, and a few daddies, sat on benches chatting away with one another while keeping an eye on their particular child, or children as the case may be.
This Sunday, however, there was something very, very different. Leah noticed it the moment she arrived, letting go of Matthew's hand as he ran off. There was a man she had never seen before at the park. While there was room on the benches with the other adults, the man had chosen to sit on a bench further away from them all on his own. That was a bit odd, but it was really his clothing that was oddest of all: never had she seen a man in a waistcoat at the park. Who the hell wore a waistcoat to the park?
Leah's nanny-sense began tingling and she couldn't help but wonder if this man wasn't a good man and didn't belong at the park. She couldn't see a camera or anything particularly suspicious, he was just so very odd! Leah didn't miss the way he scanned the park continuously with his eyes as if watching warily for something, though she wasn't certain what it was.
Well, there was nothing for it, Leah thought. She'd just have to go see what was up with this man. Waving at Matthew, who was about to take a turn on the slide, Leah crossed the park and sat at one end of the bench the odd man occupied. Upon closer inspection, she could tell his clothing was expensive and had to be bespoke, which only made the situation even stranger. He looked to be possibly the right age to have a child playing. He was also tall, thin, and had a little bitty bit of a receding hairline.
"Hello," Leah greeted, giving the man a smile.
Mycroft Holmes had noticed the woman watching him from across the park and had tried his best to look as unfriendly as one possibly could be. There were few things more uncomfortable than listening to a besotted parent prattle on and on with how amazing their child was and thrust their smart phone in his face to look at photographs. That's why Sherlock normally had park duty and Mycroft was convinced his younger brother was lying about having a headache but Mother would have been particularly put out had he refused to take Rose to the park or start a row about what a liar Sherlock was.
"Hello," Mycroft replied crisply. She was in her mid 20s and rather pretty, this woman who had dared to sit down near him and provided she didn't talk very much, he wouldn't object to her presence.
"Haven't seen you 'round here before," Leah commented, giving him a friendly smile. "New to the neighborhood?"
He rolled his eyes. "No."
"Have you ever been to a park before? You're really not clad in park friendly- or child friendly- clothing," Leah pointed out with a little laugh. "I'm Leah. Leah Sutton." She held her hand out towards him.
"I'm really not here for pleasant discourse with strangers, Miss Sutton. I'm here against my will and I'd prefer this to be as unpleasant as possible for the time I'm required to remain among all the screeching children," Mycroft replied.
"You aren't here for a chat, you aren't here to play," Leah responded. "What exactly are you here for then?"
Just then a tiny girl wearing a bright green jumper with her curly hair in bunches, waved in their direction and bounced slightly before following another girl in the direction of the slide.
"Lord, she's adorable," Leah decided with a grin. "She yours?"
He let out another sigh. "In a manner of speaking," Mycroft commented. The woman suddenly looked terribly concerned and it occurred to him, the second she gave him that look, that he'd just managed to sound particularly creeper-like. Damn, now he'd actually have to converse with her, if only to keep the woman from discreetly calling the police on her mobile.
"Mycroft Holmes," he said, holding his hand out to shake hers. "And while I do claim that ridiculous little girl who waved over here, I'm not her father. She's my sister."
Leah shook his hand, looking a bit more relaxed now. "No, really? That's your name? Serious?"
"I'm well aware it's odd, there's not need to call my attention to it," Mycroft replied wryly.
The woman blushed just a bit. "Sorry. Just… odd. But you're odd over all. Do you realize how out of place you look? How do you keep up with a little one dressed to the nine's like that?"
"Oh, believe me, this is the last place I want to be right now," he admitted with a sigh. "Park duty isn't my responsibility normally. I wasn't exactly dressed for the occasion when the nuclear meltdown occurred in the entry of our home."
Leah laughed long and hard. "I like your sense of humor. That one's mine," she said, pointing Matthew out. "In a manner of speaking; I'm his nanny."
Mycroft's upper lip curled slightly at her use of his own phrasing. "That sounds like a particularly dreadful occupation. If he's anything like my sister, you have my deepest sympathies. Don't let the adorable factor fool you, she's a hellion already and she's only four. I live in fear of the years to come."
At just that moment the hellion in question was getting ready to jump off the top of a particularly tall slide, rather than go down it properly. "ROSE!" Mycroft bellowed. "Don't even think about it!"
"But it's for science!" the little girl whined.
"Wait, what did she say?" Leah asked.
"No, it's not Rose! That's not a legitimate excuse for misbehavior and you know it!" Mycroft responded. "She just claimed it's 'for science.' Our brother is a budding scientist, he's fifteen and that's his answer for everything. 'Why in God's name are there toes in the refrigerator?' 'For science!' 'Why is there a gaping hole in the sitting room rug?' 'But it was for science!' Now she says that as her excuse for everything as well. They're bloody exhausting," he grumbled.
"Toes in the fridge? Are you serious?" Leah asked her eyes wide. They grew even bigger when he nodded to confirm what she'd heard. "Where does he get toes and what does he want with them?"
"Questions I've learned not to ask," Mycroft explained. He scowled darkly as he watched Rose lie on her back and slide down the slide. "Rose! You sit on your bottom when you go down the slide and you know it!"
"Sherlock lets me!" the little girl called back. "He does it too!"
Mycroft groaned. "Of course he does," he muttered under his breath. "Well I said no! Play appropriately or we'll leave! Mother will have my head if you manage to crack your head open on my watch!" Even from where he sat on the bench, he could see Rose's face light up. "That was NOT a suggestion! You WILL NOT actively seek out ways to crack your head open!"
"Does everyone in your family have weird names?" Leah asked. "Although Rose is nice and normal."
"The name Rose is short for isn't," Mycroft commented, making her laugh.
"So I'm curious," Leah began, moving a bit closer to him on the bench. "Are you over here because it's easier to watch her from here, or because you're avoiding all the people at the other benches?"
An eyebrow arched. "You're rather impertinent, aren't you?"
Leah shrugged and smiled. "Just a question. I came over here to make sure you weren't a creep," she admitted. "I'm glad you aren't. I'm not certain the police would've believed me if I called to report an incredibly well dressed, waistcoat wearing creep at the park."
Mycroft's lip curled again. "For all you know I might have been undercover here at the park."
"The point of undercover is to be inconspicuous, yeah? You're very, very noticeable, Mycroft," Leah challenged, unable to keep a cheeky grin from her face. "And so is the cutie pie you're with."
At just that moment, Rose came running across the playground towards Mycroft and threw herself at him. It was lucky for her that Mycroft had had a significant amount of practice at catching silly little girls. He caught her, tossed her up in the air, and then caught her again.
"Are you tired already?" he asked hopefully. Not that the present conversation was torturous by any means, but still, Mycroft wasn't a fan of the park.
Rose shook her head, making her curls bounce. "No. I missed you," she announced, nuzzling her cheek against his shoulder. Her little hands took a firm grip of his suit jacket as she snuggled close.
"How could you possibly miss me? I haven't gone anywhere," Mycroft point out, resting his cheek on top of her head.
"I did. You were far, far away over here," Rose whinged just a bit. Her attention, however, was fully focused on the woman sitting by her big brother.
"Hello sweetheart," Leah greeted. "Are you having a lovely time?"
Rose's eyes narrowed and she let out a little "hmph," in response.
"You're not shy Rose," Mycroft chuckled. "Answer her nicely, please." His sister was reasonably well-mannered and it always pleased him to no end when she managed to show off those manners.
"Go away," Rose told Leah. "Don't like you, go away!" She stuck her tongue out in added emphasis and then buried her face against Mycroft's shoulder.
"Oh no," Mycroft said sternly. "You don't get to be rude and then hide your face. That was very rude Rosenwyn Holmes and I know you know that it was." He gently pried her away from his shoulder and sat her in his lap, then tipped her chin up so she could look at him. "Apologize Rose," Mycroft ordered. "Apologize to Leah for being unpleasant."
Rose promptly raised her chin defiantly in a silent refusal to do what she was told. Mycroft responded with a light, warning pinch to her leg. "Are you really going to have a strop at the park and ruin your nice morning? I haven't raised you to be a rude little monster and this is your last chance, Rose. Apologize or we're going home."
The little girl looked over at Leah, completely ignoring the woman's friendly smiled. "He's my My and you can't have him!" she shouted. Rose even put her hands on her little hips for emphasis, the way Mummy did when she meant business.
Leah's eyes went wide. "Oh, honey! I'm not trying to take him away! Whatever made you think that?" she wondered. "I just thought he might like someone to chat with while you played, that's all. No reason to worry."
Rosenwyn Holmes was not to be appeased. "Well he doesn't want any goldfish so you just go away forever and ever because we don't like you and we don't need you!"
Leave it to Rose to not only overhear him make such a comment, but know precisely what he meant by it. Either she had heard it repeatedly or she was considerably smarter than he gave her credit for. That, however, was an issue for another day.
"And that is the end of your time at the park," Mycroft scolded harshly as he stood up from the bench. "If you open your mouth and are rude even one more time before we get home, you're getting a smacked bottom, do you hear me?" Mycroft had yet to ever give her more than one or two firm swats on the behind before and hoped she wouldn't push enough that he'd be forced to give her an actual spanking.
The littlest Holmes opened her mouth once again but it was not to strop, but to cry instead. She pressed her face against his shoulder once again as Mycroft turned to give Leah an apologetic look and bid her goodbye. With a put-upon sigh, he carried his crying little sister home from the park and straight up to her bedroom.
"Are you going to tell me what all that mess was about?" he demanded after putting her on her bed. "And you will speak respectfully—nicely," Mycroft clarified as he sat down beside her. Immediately Rose tried to cuddle up again but he gently removed her little fists from his shirt and kept her at arm's length. "We can have a good long cuddle when you explain your behavior at the park. I honestly don't understand it, Rose, so please tell me what was wrong."
When it was clear that Mycroft wasn't going to let her hide her face any longer, she reached for Teddy and hugged her as tightly as she could. "I don't want you to go away," Rose told him in a tiny voice.
"Go away? Where exactly am I going?" Mycroft felt very confused just then.
Rose sniffled and averted her eyes, finding Teddy much easier to look at than her big brother. "With the lady."
That explained exactly nothing at all, he couldn't help but think. "Where do you think I'm going with the lady and why do you think that?"
"Mummy tolded me-"
"Told," Mycroft corrected.
"Told," Rose echoed. "Mummy told me about when she and Daddy met each other. They were at a park and they saw each other and fell in love and then they got a house and lived happily ever after. I don't want you to live happily ever after without ME!"
Well if that wasn't the cutest, yet most ridiculous thing, Mycroft didn't know what was. "Mother and Father were friends for a very, very long time before they got married. They didn't just leave from the park and go straight to a church," he tried to explain. "But none of that even matters because I don't want any of that."
"Any what?" Rose asked, looking at him curiously.
"Marriage or a woman or anything else like that," Mycroft said in a moment of completely honesty. The reasons why were too complicated for a four year old to understand, naturally, but that didn't make the statement any less truthful. "I have you and I think that's plenty." Rose was, in fact, enough emotional entanglement for him and could present a security risk all on her own, let alone a wife and children. There was no length he wouldn't go in order to keep her safe and no measure he wouldn't take to ensure she didn't become collateral damage of his increasingly difficult job.
Rose's eyes went wide and her mouth hung open for several seconds before she responded. "I'm plenty? Just me, only me? Honest?"
Mycroft nodded and, despite his displeasure at her rudeness, found himself pulling her close for a cuddle. "I promise. You're plenty, just as you are."
"Even when I'm not nice?" she asked earnestly. "Even when you're mad at me?"
"Even then," he assured her. "Always. You'll always be plenty, just as you are. I don't need anything more," he whispered. Mycroft smiled as she made a little sound of contentment.
"You're all I need too. I told Mummy I wanted to marry you when I grow up, but she said that's just not done," Rose admitted.
He couldn't help but laugh loudly at that. "I am terribly flattered, poppet, but Mother is right, that's just not done. You'll understand when you're bigger."
"I am a big girl!" Rose exclaimed, sounding completely affronted at the implication that she wasn't.
"Oh you are, you're getting to be a very big girl poppet," Mycroft assured her. "But you have many more years to grow still. You're only four."
"Hmph! Only," she grumbled, but snuggled close just the same. "Four is very big."
Mycroft smiled, remembering how tiny Rose had been the day she was born and compared that to now. "Four is very big indeed," he soothed, rubbing circles on her back. "My very big girl."
They sat quietly for a moment until a figure appeared in the doorway. "How was the park?" Sherlock asked, smirking at his older brother.
"It was fun but then not very much fun. I wanted to do things for science and My said no and then I thought a lady was going to steal him away forever and I shouted at her and then My made me come home," Rose told Sherlock in a rush.
"A lady was going to steal Mycroft away?!" Sherlock asked, his eyes widening comically. "And you said no, she couldn't have him? Why did you do that?!"
"Because he's my My and I don't like to share," she announced with a bright grin that matched Sherlock's.
"Well, I suppose you have a point there. Sharing is dull," Sherlock decided. He held his arms out for her and Rose scampered off Mycroft's lap and ran over to him. When he scooped her up, Rose snuggled close. "So you were trying to do things for science?" he asked, walking out of the bedroom with her.
"Yes. My said I couldn't try to crack my head open and then I thought that would be a very brilliant 'speriment, but then he said no. But it was for science," Rose whined, wrapping her little arms around his neck.
"Mycroft just doesn't understand," Sherlock decided, shaking his head. "Good thing you have me, too, hmm?"
"Yes! You're mine too and you can't go to the park and meet any lady and get married like Mummy did, ok?" Rose asked.
"Of course not, that sounds terrible! Whatever would I do with a lady? You're much more fun," Sherlock assured her.
Rose giggled and kissed his cheek.
"Let's go think up something brilliant to do that will give Mycroft gray hair, hm?" Sherlock suggested.
The little girl squealed with delight at the idea and the two hurried off to discuss some masterful plans for making their big brother miserable.