Author's Note: Thank you for the wonderful responses to last chapter. It makes me happy. Just a short chapter today. Anyone who has ever paid attention to my notes will remember my bad nerve that I had an operation on. Well I knocked my arm really badly the other day and have hurt it. Don't worry it won't stay bad since the nerve now has room to de-swell but its really sensitive and therefor hurts like hell and will for a few days. It's hurting from typing this note… Anyway… Please read, review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: Clearly I don't own Sherlock. The show is the baby of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, while Sherlock Holmes itself is the creation of Arthur Conan Doyle.
The First Time She Caught Him Playing With Margot
Anthea spent the afternoon tidying up the house. Mycroft's big empty house didn't stay as neat now with a baby in the house with all her own belongings strewn across the place and unable to clean up after herself. It kind of made the difference between a house and a home. Even when the place was practically tidy there'd be bottles drying on the sink or a toy placed on top of one of Mycroft or Anthea's book they put down to go look after Margot. There always seemed to be a teddy on their bed, too. It was nice. For Anthea, anyway. She'd yet to ask Mycroft's opinion on it.
Anthea was walking past Margot's closed bedroom door to put her book on her bedside table when she heard talking from within. Obviously it could not be the little girl talking that would be just absurd, so that left only one person who would – or should – be in there. Anthea stopped and listened closely at the door. Sure enough it sounded like Mycroft. Anthea let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. The thoughts of an intruder must have been hidden in the back of her mind.
Calm again, Anthea tried to get the gist of the conversation without interrupting. Why ever Mycroft was in there, interruption could often lead to him closing up and walls going up. Strangely Anthea could hear maths terms and what she assumed was physics terms. She didn't do physics as a subject but she remembered enough from lower school to be certain that's what he was talking about. To Margot? Why? Anthea knew Mycroft chose to talk to her like an adult but this was ridiculous. Did he want her first word to be acceleration?
Antea creaked open the door and peeped in. Margot was propped up with a cushion in case she fell over, and she was sat across from Mycroft. Between them sat a large tower in the middle of being constructed by the genius himself. Not out of block, not out of books. Not out of anything that it made sense to build a tower out of with a baby. Mycroft had built a tower out of teddies and was explaining to Margot how he was getting it to stay up and work.
Anthea snorted. She broke into a smile. Her boyfriend was a child. Brilliant, sophisticated, elegant, but a child. With his daughter he had built this creative nonsense. Who else would think of this? And rarer than that; who else could get it to stand so high? Anthea loved her family. She loved her family so much it made her heart hurt. Was this what a family was like?
Mycroft's steely eyes fell onto Anthea's cheeky smile.
"Hello cutie." Anthea giggled as she greeted the genius who looked like he was caught in an indecent act. Margot babbled happily. Her matching eyes were on Anthea and she'd leaned forward outstretching a hand. She was happy to see her mummy. Anthea's nose crinkled. She gave a two fingered wave with a hand held close to her face. "And hello cutest." She said. Mycroft placed the teddy in his hand down in his lap.
"I was interacting with our daughter." He said as if he needed to explain himself.
Playing. Anthea thought to herself. You were playing with our daughter. She did not say this.
"I can see that." She said with a short and quick nod. "How the hell did you do that?" She gestured to teddy bear tower. Mycroft glanced at it then looked down at his hands. He played with the ring on his right hand. Margot too looked at the teddy tower but not because she was aware of what the adults were talking about. She was looking for something and Anthea could see what. Patches was in the middle of the tower.
"It's simple with a basic understanding of physics." Mycroft said. Anthea pursed her lips and hummed in disagreement as she cocked her head to the side.
"I don't think so." She hummed. Mycroft sniffed.
"Well, it's simple when you have the level of physic education that a mathematics expert expects her children to have and a moderate amount of patience." He correct. That sounded better.
"Now that's believable." Anthea teased. Mycroft's mouth twitched into something close to a smile. "It's really cool." Anthea said.
"You think so?" Mycroft asked as they both looked at the tower again.
Margot tried reaching for Patches and once again lost her battle with gravity. She fell forward onto her little hands, saving herself from a big fall. However her head bumped the tower and sent all the teddies falling down around her. The tiny baby squealed with delight and giggled. As soon as Patches fell close by she snatched him up and put his paw in her mouth. So that's one reason to stack using teddies, Anthea realised. Harder to stack but less dangerous. Also very delightful when the fall. A negative would be harder to put away I the right places rather than blocks which would all go in the same box. And Anthea had practically finished tidying up…
"Well, it was cool." Anthea sighed as she thought of putting all that away. Mycroft chuckled. He leant over and tugged on Patches' paw to get it out of Margot's mouth. She put it back in.
"Margot enjoyed the collapse more." Mycroft said. He sounded happy. It was nice. Anthea went over to the chest of drawers. In the top drawer she took out a dummy. She wiped it on the sleave of her long sleeve shirt just in case. She leant down next to Margot and like Indiana Jones swapping the treasure for a sand bag, Anthea carefully swapped Patches' paw for the dummy. Margot was satisfied with the replacement. Mycroft's eyebrows raised; he looked mildly impressed. Anthea jokingly tossed her hair back and looked proud.
"She just saw it raining teddies, obviously she thought it was great." Anthea added to the conversation.
"If only we were as easily entertained." Mycroft jokingly sighed. Anthea smiled at him. His awkwardness at being caught playing this game had almost entirely dissipated.
Then a thought came to Anthea's mind. One she'd never considered asking before… How had she not? It would be awesome.
"Hey," Anthea hummed. "Can you make a really big tower out of playing cards, too?" She was pretty sure everyone had attempted to make those and failed before. She and Robbie had been determined once to make a pyramid using an entire deck before and failed at about twelve cards every time they tried, give or take two cards. Mycroft licked his bottom lip and pouted as he thought.
"I haven't done so since before smart phones were invented but I'm certain with decent amount of patience and determination it could be accomplished, yes." He said. A complicated way to say maybe but Anthea took the bait anyway.
"Cool." She peeped. "Want to try?" She asked. Mycroft's eyes light up in surprise.
"You were serious?" He asked. Anthea nodded. Mycroft pursed his lips. "Certainly." He said with quite a light and carefree tone. "Did you wish to do so now?" He asked. "After I clean up after little Margot and myself, of course." Anthea looked around and the pile of teddies strewn across the space. Some were face down, some had landed on their backs, and most were on their sides. One from James had landed in a sitting position. That tower had been cool….
Anthea picked Margot up under her arms. Anthea moved crouching to sitting cross legged on the floor and placed Margot down in her lap. Margot made some happy noises, muffled by the dummy in her mouth.
"Not yet." Anthea said. "I want you to show me how to make that tower first." She stroked Margot's head. "And then we'll let this vagabond knock it down again." It took Mycroft a moment to respond. He analysed Anthea's words for feigned interest or downright lies. He then looked her over the way he did when she did something he appreciated or thought was special – like committing everything about her and that moment to memory. He looked at Margot on her lap and did the same thing. And then he smiled.
"Do you want the lecture I gave Margot when she received the demonstration?" He asked in the carefree voice and it made the hairs on the back of Anthea's neck stand up.
"Sure." She said. Mycroft nodded.
"I'm sorry Margot," Mycroft said. He began pushing teddies out the way to clear the foundation for the tower. "That means you'll have to sit through the lecture a second time."
"I don't think she minds." Anthea smiled. Mycroft smiled back, mostly to himself, as he picked up the largest teddy in the room.
Author's Note: I hope it was okay. I thought it was a cute concept. Let me know what you thought. Thanks to our guest reviewers; Goldfish, and Madalina. I hope to see you all in seven days! My arm should be good by then and my current assignment well and truly handed in so I don't think any delays will be necessary. See you then!