AN - Hello there dears. Sorry for the wait but my Arrow fic bunnies have been borrowing my inspiration at the moment. This little something was inspired by a lovely guest review one of you dears left me a couple of weeks ago, mentioning something about the problems teenage Isabel would face when she started dating. Writing Sherlock dealing with this was an awful lot of fun. Just an fyi here before you dive into the story: Isabel is bisexual. Teenage/adult Isabel may end up dating either men or women. If that is not your sort of thing, I completely understand. There will not be a lot of adult Isabel or Dominick though, as i'd prefer to focus more on their childhoods. Thanks as always for all your reviews, every word means an awful lot to me :)
"Isabel! Will you turn that noise down!?" Sherlock yelled in the direction of his 16 year old daughter's bedroom.
"Oh leave her be, love. It's not that loud." Molly scolded him softly as she passed on her way to walk Ginny.
"Molly, it is impossible to get any work done with that racket blaring away." Sherlock grumbled. "Why must the teenage brain loose any sense of consideration for others?"
Molly snorted. "You're a fine one to talk about consideration for others, Sherlock. Need I remind you that while I was in labour with Isabel you wanted me to nip to Barts and pick up some eyeballs and a liver?" Molly smiled and stretched up on her tip toes, pressing a kiss to her husband's cheek. "I wont be long. And if her date gets here before I'm back please be nice. That goes for you as well, Dominick." Molly glanced towards her son, who at twenty four had grown to be the very image of Sherlock when Molly had first met him.
"It's not me that wants to deduce everyone Isabel goes out with, Mum." Dominick responded with a grin. Sherlock looked mildly offended at his son's betrayal.
"Just be nice, both of you." Molly blew them both kisses before she disappeared out the door with Ginny.
The song changed upstairs and Sherlock rolled his eyes, an exasperated sigh escaping his lips. "Your mother promised me, before you and your sister were born that having children would not be a hindrance to my work. I'm beginning to suspect that your mother is a better liar than I've given her credit for." Sherlock looked to his son, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth in spite of himself. "I suppose you are a hindrance that is sometimes worth it."
Dominick grinned at his father. "Aw, we love you too, dad."
The fact that Sherlock loved and adored his children was never in any doubt. But neither was the fact that he spent a large amount of his waking hours being a bad tempered arse.
"Tea? While we wait for your sister's date to get here?" Sherlock all but sneered as he said date.
"Dad, you'll have to give one of them a chance eventually. Bel is not a Disney princess, you can't lock her up in her room forever." Dominick laughed as he followed his father into the kitchen.
"Of course I can't lock her in her room; your mother would never allow it." Sherlock responded, laughing with his son. "That does not, however, mean that I have to give any of them any sort of chance whatsoever."
"Come on dad, Bel's not a baby any more. Neither of us are." Dominick sat down at the kitchen table, Sherlock taking his place opposite him.
"Your mother said the same to me the first time you brought a girl home. And look at the disaster your love life has been since then."
Dominick shrugged his shoulders. He couldn't exactly argue with his father on that point; he was, as his Uncle John was fond of calling it 'playing the field.' "You just don't want to admit that you're getting old." The young pathologist in training levelled his father with a look so much like one of Sherlock's own.
Sherlock scoffed. "I am not getting old, Dominick. Older, yes. But not old. And my ageing has no baring on the matter of your baby sister being in a relationship."
Dominick let out a loud, booming laugh, shaking his head. "Dad, she's going out on one date. She's not picking out wedding dresses just yet."
"But that's how it starts, isn't it?"
Dominick sipped his tea, fighting to control his laughter.
There was a yell from upstairs. "Dad! What have you done with my phone?! And don't pretend you don't have it because I'll tell Mum!"
Sherlock sighed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out Isabel's phone just as his daughter bounced downstairs and into the kitchen.
"Dad! I've missed three texts! I'm so telling Mum." Isabel all but snatched her phone from her father's hand, turning on her heel and running back upstairs. The sound of her bedroom door slamming was almost enough to shake the walls of the house.
"You're in so much trouble later." Dominick said, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.
Sherlock shrugged, looking completely unrepentant. "It was worth a try."
A loud knock at the door drew father and son's attention. Dominick was on his feet and running for the door before Sherlock could even get up from his chair.
"I'll get it dad, don't want you breaking a hip or something running to the door." The younger Holmes called over his shoulder.
Sherlock muttered something under his breath about wishing Dominick had been sent to live with Mycroft in his younger years, and followed his son to the door.
Dominick opened the door to reveal a girl who appeared to be about Isabel's age. Sherlock vaguely recognised her face from the few time's he'd collected Isabel from school before she'd declared she was old enough not to need an escort home and "You're so embarrassing dad!"
"Isabel!" Sherlock called upstairs, he was met only by the sudden silence of the music stopping.
Dominick ushered their guest inside to wait for Isabel. Sherlock's eyes narrowed, his face taking on the look his family described as his 'deduction face.'
The girl was pretty, he supposed, straight blonde hair; a little too much make up but the detective put that down to whatever the current fashion for such things was. Two brothers, one older, one younger. One cat. Overdue homework. Secret packet of cigarettes not very well hidden in her pocket. Nervous.
The girl fidgeted somewhat under Sherlock's gaze. Isabel bounded down the stairs, immediately making herself a human barrier of sorts between her father and her date. Dominick leaned against the wall, an amused look on his face.
"Hi! Sorry, I couldn't get my hair right." Isabel giggled, a slight blush colouring her cheeks.
"Oh, that's okay." The blonde girl answered shyly, giggling too.
"Ahem." Sherlock cleared his throat impatiently.
"Oh!" Isabel grinned. "Dad, Dominick. This is Alex." She gestured to her date for the evening. "Alex, this is my dad, Sherlock." She leaned close to Alex. "Don't mind him, he can be a bit weird sometimes but he's harmless." She said it in a mock stage whisper. "And this idiot is my brother, Dominick."
Alex waved awkwardly.
Isabel grabbed her coat from the hook by the door, shrugging into it before timidly taking Alex's hand. "We should get going or we'll miss the start of the film."
"Isabel, do you have your phone?"
"Yes dad." Isabel answered, eagerly pulling the door open.
"You're to be home before eleven." Sherlock stated while cataloguing everything he'd deduced in his mind palace for closer inspection later.
"I know dad." Isabel rolled her eyes, stepping outside into the crisp spring night and pulling Alex with her.
"Make sure you look after my baby sister now." Dominick grinned.
"Shut up, Dominick!" Isabel hissed before pulling the door closed.
The moment his daughter and her date were out of sight, Sherlock had his phone to his ear.
"Brother mine...yes, they just left...you are watching, aren't you?...I want updates every five minutes Mycroft...I mean it...And find out everything you can about that Alex girl...yes everything...I don't care...your neice's safety is more important than the British Government...good bye Mycroft."
With phone still in hand, Sherlock stalked into the kitchen and began pacing the floor.
"Were you this bad with me?" Dominick asked, stopping to lean in the kitchen doorway.
"Hm? Oh. Of course I was. What? Why are you laughing?"
Dominick just shook his head, unable to get a word out between giggles.
They heard the door open again, followed by Ginny barking as she trotted into the kitchen with Molly not far behind.
"I haven't missed Bel's date, have I?" Molly looked from her husband to her son.
"I'll let dad fill you in. Or I'm sure Uncle Mycroft could. Best not mention Bel's phone though, eh dad?" Dominick sauntered off into the living room, leaving his parents alone.
Molly's eyes narrowed. "Sherlock, you haven't got Mycroft spying on them have you? And what about Isabel's phone?"
Sherlock had the good grace to look sheepish. "Ah, I can't explain that..."