I wake up because I'm cold and I'm swaying like someone's carrying me. I peek my eyes open to see. John is taking me to bed. I must have fallen asleep in wardrobe. I'm still holding onto Pa's nightgown. It's blue and made of silk and it's super soft. Pa likes it. But now he's gone.

I sniff loudly and cry. I don't mean to, but my chest feels like it's been squeezed super tight and I'm so scared. Maybe if I hide, it will all just be a nightmare and go away.

The Somebody puts me down on the bed. Then he pulls back the covers and climbs in with me. I want to tell him we're not in our pyjamas, but I'm too tired to care. He pulls me close and holds on so tight, I almost can't breathe. He's shaking like he's trying not to cry. He breathes funny into my hair. I cuddle his neck. He makes some of the pain go away. I don't remember going to sleep.

"Jack? Jack? Wake up, sweetheart."

I open my eyes, but I don't want to. I'm all warm and comfy and Pa is hugging me so tight. But Pa doesn't smell like Pa, but more like John. Then all the bad thoughts and feelings come back. Mrs. Hudson is looking down at me.

"Wake up, dear. Your Uncle would like to speak to you."

Uncle Mycroft went to the hospital in the ambulance with Pa and the evil shiny men. I sit up and so does John. I can't see Uncle Mycroft in the bedroom, but Mrs. Hudson holds a phone to me.

"Here you are dear."

I've seen people use the phone before, but I never have. I don't know what to do. I stare at it until the Somebody puts it properly in my hand and pushes it to my face.

"Say hello, Jack."

"Hello?" I whisper, because I don't really know how this works.

"Jack. How are you?"

"Uncle Mycroft!" His voice is coming from the phone. I don't understand. "Do you need rescuing?"

All I hear is breathing. Then, "What do you mean?"

"You're trapped in the phone. Do you need me to rescue you?"

Mycroft does a little laugh. I'm a bit proud, because he doesn't normally do that. "No, no need to start a rescue, but thank you for offering. I wanted to inform you that your father… your Pa is doing a lot better."

"He didn't bounce to heaven?"

"… No, no, your father didn't… go to heaven. He's awake and Doctor Stamford is taking good care of him."

"Are you bringing him home? When will you get here? I'll make Pa his favourite sandwich and we can watch the bad TV that John likes and shout at it."

I hear Uncle Mycroft lick his lips. I'm good at deductions, so I know he's going to tell me a truth that's bad because it sucks. "I'm afraid your Pa can't come home today."

"Tomorrow?"

"No, Jack, not tomorrow either."

"When?"

"When he's feeling better."

"When will that be?"

"Jack…"

"WHEN?"

The Somebody shushes me and rubs my back. I push him away. "Don't talk to me like I'm a baby, Uncle Mycroft! I want Truth and only Truth, now!"

"I am telling you the truth, Jack. No one knows how long this will take."

"This all your fault! Pa was okay and then you said the bad thing. I hope… I hope you stay trapped in the phone forever!"

I throw the phone on the floor and it bounces. I hope Uncle Mycroft bounced too. I pull the covers back over me and hide from everything. The Somebody says lots of dumb words that are all stupid, so I tell him so. He goes quiet and keeps hugging me instead.

The quiet is too quiet. It's so quiet that it's a loud quiet that makes my skin itch.

Doctor Stamford comes to visit. He says Pa is still very poorly. He tells me that Pa wanted to escape the Monsters, but he's not used to the Outside yet. Pa had forgotten the Outside isn't perfect.

We do some drawing and I use all the colours of the rainbow. I haven't seen a rainbow yet, but maybe I will soon. I draw Pa and me and John and Uncle Mycroft and Mrs. Hudson and Lestrade! All the paper makes me think of my schoolbooks in Room. I ask Doctor Stamford if I can have them back.

"I didn't know you had schoolbooks, Jack. What do you want to learn?"

I think of the size of the World and rainbows and reading and knowledge. "Everything", I say.

Uncle Mycroft comes with books. Perhaps he wants me to forgive him. I asked for a dictionary and an encyclopaedia, because they're full of awesome stuff. He takes off his coat and tells John he wants to talk. He says they need to decide whether I should stay at Baker Street or if I should go to his house. The Somebody gets mad and says I should stay with him and Mrs. Hudson, because now that Pa's gone I need comforting surroundings. Uncle Mycroft says there are still a lot of media in the street. John says that the media expect me to go with Uncle Mycroft, so they might go away soon anyway.

This makes Uncle Mycroft have a super hard think. Then he says he has a plan. He tells the Somebody he's "a little smarter than he looks" and leaves.

John plays pirate swords with me, but he's actually quite rubbish. I help him make dinner. Today it's pasta and tomato pesto sauce. I still find new food weird. It makes my tongue tingle and my nose scrunch up, but I always try, except for fish, because that's stinky.

We eat in front of TV as a special treat. I have a tray and John has already cut my food up. I have a plastic plate, just in case of an accident. When the Somebody leaves for the bathroom, a new program comes on and I watch.

"Wrong!" I shout, "Look at his socks! He's not that baby's Pa!"

John runs back in and looks. "Oh god, the Jeremy Kyle show, I'll just change… Wait, what did you say?"

"He's not the Pa… I mean the father. His socks are wrong."

The Stupid man on TV reads a piece of paper saying what I just said, and the sock man gets up and shouts at the lady that she's a liar. A big fight starts, and big men pull them apart. John coughs and changes channel.

"You're incredibly smart. I wonder if your Uncle has seen you do that?"

"Is he going to take me away? Make me live somewhere else?"

He hugs me and kisses the top of my head. "I won't let him, Jack. I promise."

The next day, John keeps his promise. Uncle Mycroft has come up with a plan. He's hired actors that look like us. John's looks like him only from the back and my one is a girl because I have long hair. They dress her in the clothes I wore when I first got here, and they borrow a coat that looks just like John's. Assistant Anthea "accidently" tells someone of the media that I am being moved. Suddenly, there are lots of people outside with cameras again.

I want to watch from the window, but John says I must stay away. When we turn the TV on, we see Baker Street. I haven't properly seen it from outside before. John points to our flat.

As we watch, loads of super police cars arrive. Then our outside door opens and Lestrade walks outside. I gasp. I just saw him and now he's in TV!

Lestrade opens a car door and suddenly the actor who is pretending to be John appears. He has a newspaper to try and hide his face with one hand and in the other he is holding the girl. I can just see her hair and my old boots. I also see another person leave, it looks like Mrs. Hudson, but she has a big blanket over her, so I can't see her face either. Then Lestrade slams the car door and it leaves with all the police cars and their loud sirens. In Real World outside, I can hear them so loud, I can't hear the TV!

I want to watch out the window, but John says if I'm seen it will spoil everything. On the TV, lots of people on motorbikes follow. "Did Mrs. Hudson go with them?" I ask.

"No, dear," Mrs. Hudson appears I our living room. "Anthea put a wig on and old clothes of mine. She's a bit taller though, so they used a blanket. It was a last-minute decision, but hopefully if they think I've gone with you then they'll stop waiting outside trying to get an interview with me. If 221 Baker Street is empty, no point in waiting outside for us is there?"

She and John laugh, but I don't get it.

Three days later, we go to the park. There are ducks and swans and lots of fish. Mrs. Hudson brought some bread and we feed the animals. Ducks go "quack"! I didn't know they make a noise.

Then I see THE BEST THING EVER! I see so many dogs. There are big ones and little ones and fluffy ones and all sorts. One comes close to me, but the owner calls it away. Or maybe it was Uncle Mycroft's secret agents hiding in all the trees. I'm still mad at him.

I tell John about Redbeard. Seeing all these dogs makes me want one now! John says a dog needs lots of love and two long walks a day. He says we must wait for Pa to come home first, and see what he thinks.

Now that I have had all my injections, I don't have to wear a mask outside anymore. But sunlight is still bright, so I wear sunglasses even though it's not summer, which is like now, but even brighter and hotter. John and I walk home, and Mrs. Hudson takes a cab because of her hip. We stop at every shop because I want to see the windows. In one I see a dark and warm coat that would fit Pa perfectly.

"Pa needs that one", I tell him.

The Somebody looks at the price. "It's very expensive, Jack. I could never afford that."

"Please, John, Pa would love it!"

His phone starts to ring. "Hold on, Jack, I just need to get this. It's your uncle. I'll put him on loudspeaker."

Uncle Mycroft's voice comes out all funny sounding. "Buy the coat, Doctor Watson."

"… I'm sorry? How'd you…? Have you bugged me?"

"The money is being transferred to your account. Buy it." The phone hums.

"I'm still mad at you!" I shout, but he's gone.

"Bloody hell!" says John angrily, then he clears his throat. "Don't repeat that."

We buy the absolute perfect coat for Pa. It's called a 'Bel Stuff' and it's made of wool. I just know he'll love it.

The next day, Uncle Mycroft brings news of Pa. He has a photo of him outside wearing his new coat. His face looks tired, but he has a smile and looks very warm.

Uncle Mycroft calls him at the hospital. "He wants to speak to you, Jack."

"Hello?" I whisper.

"Jack? It's me, it's Pa."

"Pa." I start to cry without my own permission. "I miss you. Come home."

Pa starts to sound wet too. "I can't, not yet. I'm really not well."

I don't understand. "Are you sick?"

Pa has a think. "You remember when you got your birth certificate? You asked me if you were real in the Real World?"

"Yes! And I asked you the same and you said "Maybe."

"That's right. Well, I'm still not real. I can't cope with the Outside yet."

"That's what Doctor Stamford said. He said you thought the Outside would be different. What can I do to help, Pa?"

Pa does a little chuckle. "Thank you for offering, Sweetheart. I just thought Grandma and Grandpa would want me, and I thought the pain in my leg would go away. But I can't forget all the bad things that happened and then Mycroft said…" He goes quiet.

"Don't worry, Pa, I'll handle it. I'll invade one of Uncle Mycroft's countries and make him mad. Oh, Pa, I saw lots of dogs at the park today!"

Pa is quiet. I think he might have gotten lost in the phone, but then he speaks. "I have to go now, Jack. I love you."

"Pa, no! I have lots to say!"

Pa sounds like he's breaking. "I love you." The phone hums. He's gone.

"Pa? PA!" I throw the phone on the floor. "Fine, I'll bounce you too!"

"Jack! Do not throw my phone!" Uncle Mycroft bends down to pick it up. This makes me mad. Pa is sick and he only cares about his phone!

"Bloody hell!" I shout at him.

I'm 'grounded'. That doesn't mean I'm not flying, but it does mean I have to sit on the steps for five minutes as punishment for saying Bad Word.

"Are you mad at me?" I ask John. Uncle Mycroft made him sit on the steps for thirty-four minutes for letting me learn Bad Word. He laughs.

"Of course not, it's my fault. Besides, Mycroft can't make me do anything I don't want to. This is a good excuse for me to learn to watch my language from now on. Ow. OW, my leg."

He stretches it out. He's in pain because I said bad word. I hug him tight.

"GROUNDED MEANS NO TALKING!" shouts Uncle Mycroft from the kitchen.

"EAT CAKE!" I yell back. There's silence.

"You've done it now, haven't you?" Mutters John, rubbing his face. Something tells me I'm in even bigger trouble.

I'm made to sit on the Naughty step for an even longer time. It looks just the same as every step, so I don't know why it had to be this one. It should have been the one that creaks. Time just takes forever and ever and now Uncle Mycroft hates me! I'm small and bored and dumb.

Uncle Mycroft comes down the steps. "Half an hour is up. I hope you've learnt your lesson young man."

I run to hug him. "I'm sorry. Don't hate me."

Uncle Mycroft hugs me back. "I'm sorry too, Jack. I have never been much of a people person and what I said to Sherlock was…"

"Not good." I finish for him.

"Yes. Yes. It was a bit not good."

"Love you, Uncle Mycroft."

He stops breathing. For a time and a longer time he doesn't move. I think I broke him. So I also say, "But if you say any more mean things, I'll bounce you in the phone and eat all your cake."

He actually laughs properly. It's not as creepy as usual, "I love you too, Jack. Don't tell anyone I said that."