Chapter Text
“Sherlock!” John cried out, “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!”
“Really?” Sherlock asked dubiously glancing around, “You’ve never seen anything cooler than this?”
“It’s like a space castle!” John said dropping his backpack and running to the big, full windows. He pressed his face against the giant plane of glass and looked at the view of the town trying to pick out his house from the flickering lights below. He felt Sherlock wander over as he was scanning the area and ruffle his hair affectionately.
“Oh, my,” A woman’s voice said mildly, “I didn’t realize that you’d arrived.”
John turned quickly to stare at the slight woman before brushing at his jumper to try to get rid of the wrinkles and smiling politely, “Hello Mrs. Holmes. My name is John Watson. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Well, aren’t you just a little gentleman,” She said, smiling.
“I’m technically nine and three quarters,” John said firmly.
“Goodness gracious,” She said, sounding astounded, “I can’t believe that Sherlock has been looking after you almost six years now.”
“I’ve hardly been looking after him,” Sherlock huffed agitated.
“He’s just the best babysitter in the whole world,” John said seriously, “And my very best friend.”
John turned a beaming smile on Sherlock unaware that there was a matching one from Sherlock’s mum being directed at her son as well. He watched as Sherlock blushed light pink before clearing his throat and picking up John’s suitcase.
“Is the guest room ready?” he asked mildly.
“All set up,” she said to her son before turning to their houseguest, “Now Sherlock will give you the tour but don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.”
“Thank you very much, Mrs. Holmes,” John said proudly, “My mum told me to say that this is very kind of you and that I won’t be a nuisance.”
“We’re very happy to have you with us, John,” Mrs. Holmes said with a bright grin, “Make yourself at home. Dinner’s going to be here at seven, alright? I’ve got that event this evening so you boys will be on your own.”
“Do you need me to help set the table?” John asked hurriedly, “Tom says I’m very good at setting the table.”
“I will keep that in mind for the rest of the week,” Mrs. Holmes nodded sagely, “But for tonight why don’t you focus on settling in, alright?”
“Okay,” John replied.
“Come along, John,” Sherlock directed, “I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.”
John trailed after him, trying to absorb the sleek gray, black, and metal details of the house. They walked quickly passed a sculpture of what looked like several spray painted, sparkly deer and up a flight of stairs that didn’t seem to be held up by anything.
“Sherlock?” John whispered, “Is your mum a gazillionaire?”
“My mother did inherit a considerable amount of money after her father passed away which does pay for most of the day to day expenses of the household,” Sherlock said blandly, “But she’s hardly a gazillionaire. My father works in the government.”
“Wow,” John replied reverently, “Should I take my trainers off? Mike’s da always makes us take our trainers off because he doesn’t want us getting dirt on his investment. Whatever that means.”
“That’s because Mike’s father is compensating for something,” Sherlock said with a smirk.
Stopping in front of a random door along the hall, John leaned back to see that the big, frosted glass door went all the way up to the ceiling. John peered around his babysitter as the door was pulled open and blinked several times at the neon yellow and charcoal gray interior.
“My mother is experimenting with marked contrasting right now,” Sherlock explained sounding a bit flustered.
“Does it glow in the dark?” John whispered hopefully, “Because that would be brilliant.”
“I’ll see what we can do about that, shall I?” Sherlock grinned, “Let’s get you unpacked and then you get your bath in before dinner.”
John helped as much as possible as Sherlock unpacked his small suitcase into the wardrobe and listened attentively as Sherlock explained the taps in the bathroom. Sherlock left him to it and he carefully stripped and folded his clothes before filling the bath. He stared curiously at the soaps and bottles lining the tub before placing them neatly in a line on the shelf by the toilet and swapping them out for his Captain America shampoo and soap. He washed quickly and put on his brand new jimjams that Mrs. Hudson had brought back for him from Edinburgh. He wandered out into the hall trying to orient himself to the stark hallway. He was just about to start knocking randomly on doors when Sherlock came out of the room directly across from him.
“Ready for dinner?” Sherlock asked before beckoning toward the staircase. As they walked down, John heard the doorbell go and heard Mrs. Holmes answer it as Sherlock led him into the kitchen.
“Orange juice?” Sherlock asked pulling a bottle out of the fridge.
“Yeah,” John smiled and sat quietly on the bar stool.
Mrs. Holmes bustled in with a couple of pizza boxes held far away from her cream, structured dress.
“Orange juice with pizza?” She asked eying her son warily.
“John’s favorite drink,” Sherlock shrugged placing a glass in front of the boy with a grin.
“I was wondering why it was on the shopping list,” She said breezily, “Dig in and don’t cause any trouble. I’ll be home around midnight.”
“Have a very good time tonight,” John said.
“Well, thank you,” She said placing her hand gently on John’s curls, “You as well. Keep an eye on Sherlock for me?”
“I shall try my best,” John said solemnly before grinning mischievously at his babysitter.
“Bye, love,” Mrs. Holmes said to Sherlock before shuffling down the hallway on glittery heels.
“Your mum is really pretty,” John said after inhaling his second piece of pizza.
“Objectively, she has many of the traditional features that the general public would considered aesthetically pleasing,” Sherlock shrugged.
“Does your da think she’s pretty?” John asked.
“I believe he does,” Sherlock said evenly, “Why do you ask?”
“Tom calls Mum pretty,” John huffed lightly.
“Thomas Jeffrey Hoyt. Your mother’s boyfriend,” Sherlock replied.
“He tells me to call him Tom,” John explained, “Which is weird because I’m supposed to call every other adult by their fancy name.”
“He just wants to be your friend,” Sherlock said quietly.
“Mum keeps saying that he’s gonna be a part of our family,” John sighed, sounding slightly miserable, “Do you think they’re gonna get married?”
“Do you not like him?” Sherlock asked, “Has he ever been mean to you?”
“No, I mean, he’s okay, I guess,” John answered, “He keeps telling Mum that I need to build character. That’s what they’re doing this week. Tom said that they’re gonna secure my future.”
“John…” Sherlock asked carefully, “Where are your mother and Mr. Hoyt going this week?”
“Mum wouldn’t say,” John shrugged, before swallowing heavily, “You don’t think that he’d take Mum away from me, do you?”
“Not at all,” Sherlock said, turning John’s stool to face him before grasping his chin gently to pull John’s eyes up to his, “Your mum would never ever leave you. Don’t ever think that. She loves you more than anything in the entire world.”
“I know,” John said heavily, “It’s just that she wouldn’t even let me come with them. I must have asked her a thousand times but she just kept saying no.”
“She probably just didn’t want you to miss classes for a week,” Sherlock said confidently, “We have to keep that brain active, don’t we?”
“Yeah,” John admitted, “Mrs. Turner says I’m the best at maths in my whole grade.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second,” Sherlock answered with a smile, “Now shall we clean up this mess and see what’s on telly this evening?”
“Okay,” John replied.
John was curled up in the big bed asleep when he heard something clunking loudly in the hall outside the bedroom. He jerked awake and shifted toward the edge of the bed waiting for any more noises. It was pitch black in the room and there was no light coming in through the door from the hallway. He was just about to scramble back up to the pillows when his door slid open showing just the barest outline of an extremely tall person entering the room. With a great leap and a fierce shriek of bravery, he slammed into the top half of the intruder.
00000000000000000
Sherlock was browsing through the course catalog for the upcoming school year when a high-pitched shout sounded loudly from the room across the hall. He vaulted off the bed and threw his door open, hitting the light switch on the way just as the door to John’s room opened and Mycroft stumbled out with John’s arm wrapped firmly over his face with the rest of him clinging to his brother’s shoulders with fingers and toes.
“I believe this belongs to you?” Mycroft growled out causing Sherlock to throw back his head and start laughing uncontrollably, “Would you stop bloody laughing?!”
“What’s going on?” Mrs. Holmes said running down the hall.
John was still hanging from Mycroft’s limbs and neck but he poked his head over his shoulder to call out loudly, “He said a naughty word!”
This caused Sherlock to laugh even louder and collapse against the wall to support his weight as the amusement and affection for this little boy poured out of him. He watched on happily as Mycroft tried to maneuver the little boy around so that he could set him down on the floor neatly.
“Mycroft,” Mrs. Holmes smiled. “I didn’t know you were coming home today. I would have told you that John would be staying with us for the week.”
“Hello,” John said, thrusting a hand out, “My name is John Watson. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“You as well,” Mycroft said, shaking it firmly, “Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s elder brother. I do apologize for disturbing your sleep cycle.”
“That’s alright,” John said brightly.
“Now that everyone has been formally introduced,” Mrs. Holmes cut in, “Mycroft, why don’t you take the east room. John, you best get back to sleep. You have school in the morning.”
“Okay, Mrs. Holmes,” John said, “Goodnight everyone.”
Sherlock, Mycroft, and Mrs. Holmes watched as John quickly returned to his room. Sherlock turned back to his room but was stopped by the expression on Mycroft’s face.
“What?” He drawled over his shoulder.
“I see why you like him,” Mycroft said blandly, “He does have a bit of a spark about him, doesn’t he?”
Sherlock just huffed loudly and spun on his heel secure in the fact that Mycroft didn’t know the half of it.