Sherlock: The Next Generation

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

John was woken up by the feeling of something jumping up and down on the bed, before poking him continuously. He let out a light groan. Who could it be? It wasn't Sherlock... at least he hoped it wasn't. John let his eyes flicker open and sat up carefully, turning his head.

Oh. It was just Hamish. Nothing to worry about then. The nine year old... Wait, no. He was ten now. The young boy had a wide grin pasted across his rather pale face, unruly black curls (that really needed cut) falling all over his eyes.

"It's our birthday!" He exclaimed excitedly. John returned his smile, running a hand through his short greying hair. "Daddy said to come wake you up because we're having breakfast now." John glanced at the clock, narrowing his eyes. It was only eight o'clock and it was a weekend of God's sake! Damn, having a family of early risers was irritating at points. And three of those barely slept (or ate). Molly was the only one apart from John that got a sane amount of sleep. After Martin had recovered from his various injuries due to bullying four (or so) months ago he had gone back to his normal routine of staying up late drawing or whatever while Hamish read. John wanted to put down some ground rules about bed time and had actually tried for a while but when it didn't work Sherlock had just told him to leave it. It was rather irritating, though.

"I'll be down in a minute," John eventually sighed, shooing Hamish out of the room. He quickly got changed, pulling on reasonably nice clothes. After all it was his sons' birthday.

Sherlock had indeed made breakfast (what a shock), setting out a tray of heated croissants. Molly grabbed one, beginning to eat reasonably quickly. Hamish and Martin both ate at a slower pace, neither appearing to be hungry. No their excitement was almost overwhelming.

"What have we got?" Hamish constantly pestered Sherlock as they waited for John. Sherlock rolled his eyes ever so slightly, sitting down at the head of the table.

"You will have to wait and see."

"But daddy! Can't you tell us!" Sherlock shook his head and Martin cast an amused glance in his twin's direction. John emerged five minutes later looking a bit more awake than when he had been woken by Hamish. Sherlock shot up to give him a quick peck on the lips before offering him a croissant. John raised an eyebrow as he took it with a light smile.

"What put you in such a good mood?" He questioned his partner as he sat down. "You made breakfast. That's not normal." His eyebrow was only raised further as Sherlock got up again to pour John tea. Wow. Something really was up. Or maybe Sherlock was just being helpful.

"Oh, nothing," Sherlock replied with a thin smile. "Just looking forward to a lovely day with my family." Right. Sure he was. There was some catch. Sherlock couldn't possibly be putting in the extra effort just because it was Martin and Hamish's birthday.

"Presents!" Hamish interrupted John's thoughts with a grin. He may have turned ten but he was no less excited about the prospect of gifts that he had been years ago. No, he was still a child. John hoped that he stayed that way. He hoped that Martin stayed that way, too. It was obvious he was excited, just not expressing it as verbally as Hamish.

"Yes, presents," John smiled, standing up. The boys followed suite and scampered over to the living room where two small piles of presents were situated.

"Mine first!" Molly chirped as she skipped over, blonde curls bobbing up and down as she did so. She bent over to grab a present from each pile, handing one each to her older brothers. Hamish grinned his thanks, whereas Martin said it quietly. Hamish practically tore the wrapping off, eyes widening as it revealed a soft blue scarf of a much better quality than his old ones. Embroidered on one end was the initials H.G.W-H. Martin got the exact same, but green and with the initials M.J.W-H. He almost instantly replaced his old one with the present, shuffling over to give Molly a hug. Soon all three of the Watson-Holmes children were tangled in a rather chaotic hug. It took them a while to move apart, all grinning from ear to ear. Well, the day had already been a success. And that was only one present.

Hamish and Martin opened those from Mrs Hudson next (who was away at the moment). Both had received a new book series and a wool jumper. The last in the pile was those from John and Sherlock. Sherlock rather proudly handed them over to the rather wide eyed twins, both trying to guess what they were. Hamish opened his first, letting out an excited cry. "It's a laptop!"

Martin opened his to find it was the exact same as Hamish's. His grin only widened as he pushed open, turning it on experimentally.

"We thought it was about time that you both got one," Sherlock commented.

"So you don't keep on using mine," John added. Hamish had a habit of getting on by guessing John's password. Not good, considering that John has some private things on his laptop.

Hamish and Martin both spent the rest of the morning on their laptops, Martin stopping a bit earlier than his twin so he could fit in some violin, oboe and piano practice before they had to get ready for the birthday lunch they were having with all their family.

The twins got changed into nice clothes, Hamish's similar in style to what Sherlock was wearing and Martin's similar to John's. Molly quite happily got on a nice, but plain, purple dress that she had got while out shopping with Aunt Molly. John no longer shopped for Molly's clothes, unless it was something simple like jumpers or trousers. But never dresses. No, he had learned his lesson from trying.

The family of five looked rather smart as they got into a taxi and headed to the restaurant. They had chosen Angelo's as it was a bit of a family tradition to go there. And Angelo had been quite happy to put together a large table for them when the reserved. After all Sherlock had helped him many years ago.

Aunt Molly had already arrived with Benny when they got there. Molly happily hopped over to sit down beside her friend, beginning to chat amiably. Martin and Hamish sat beside each other opposite Benny and Molly while Sherlock sat opposite Molly and John beside them at the head of the table. Mycroft was five minutes late (how typical), taking his place beside Sherlock (much to his annoyance). Lestrade sat opposite him, apologising for their lateness. Mycroft was beside Benny, instantly joining in with the conversation the two other five year olds were having. Arianna sat solemnly beside Martin, and thus her father, looking far too serious for her age of seven years. She was definitely taking after Mycroft.

The lunch went reasonably well, amiable talk happening among them all. Hamish and Martin quite happily received more presents from the Uncles and Aunt. Hamish got science equipment and supplies from Mycroft and Lestrade and another book series from Aunt Molly. Martin got a graphics tablet from Mycroft and Lestrade and sketching stuff from Aunt Molly. He was incredibly pleased with the former.

Yes, it had definitely been a good birthday.