I am not lonely [Mystrade]

Chapter 153 : Brothers and Sisters

The youngish woman climbed shyfully the few steps to the door and knocked on the panel, feeling a little intimidated by the scale of the house. She had walked nearly half of a street she knew by reputation was probably the most expensive street in the all London. She had passed by the French embassy and the Nepalese and was just hoping that she hadn't knocked at the wrong door, not entirely sure she had picked out the right house.
Thankfully, the door quickly opened to reveal the smiling face of her elder brother, Michael. He greeted her inside and helped her take off her coat in the lobby, a place that was already twice as big as her small flat in Bromley.
"Make yourself at home. The young man smiled, showing her around. My employers aren't as pretentious as the house may suggest."
"Still, I suppose that piece of art isn't a cheap print you by for three pounds in Tesco, innit ?" Tania remarked, pointing a painting hanging on one of the walls.
"Right. It's a Monet." the cook nodded. "Actually there is a few like this around the house, and a few sculptures too. But you can walk on the carpet and sit on the sofas without caring too much."
"Monet ... Alright, we don't live in the same world. Although it was clear from the size of the house ..." the woman joked.
She was of course impressed by the house, but seeing her brother so at ease and being all natural was soothing her a little and she started to understand what he meant when saying that it was just a normal family like the others when, entering the living room, she saw the toys laying on the rich carpet and the stack of dvds alongside the tv set. Of course, she could notice the wealthyness of the family in the last generation flat screen and in the beautiful piano but after all, you could be very rich and still a nice person, couldn't you ?
"That's Mr Holmes private office, no one is welcome in here without having been invited by the man himself." Michael commented, pointing to a door before climbing the stairs quickly. "The kids are somewhere upstairs, don't worry if they are a little noisy, they are just really excited for tonight and I'm very bad at keeping them quiet."
Indeed, the three boys were playing with miniature cars in Alden's room, making rather a lot of noise to cover up each other's screams. They didn't even notice the stranger in the room before Michael coughed a couple of time. Suddenly the three boys went silent and raised to their feet, straightening their T-shirts.
"Good evening miss, please excuse my and my brother's behaviour. My name is Jake." the eldest introduced himself. "This is Lucas and Alden."
The young woman laughed silently at the ceremonial the boys were putting into the presentation, thinking that it was probably something their parents had taught them according to the fact that someone who owned such a house might have to meet with important people now and then.
"Very pleased to meet you." she replied with a brilliant smile before her brother dismissed the boys with a simple move of his hand and a wink.
"Sarah must be in the master's bathroom with Aelane. It's bath time." the man then add before directing his sister to the said room.
The toddler was sat in the gigantic bathtub, water up to her waist, playing with a couple of plastic animals, her elder sister sat on the edge of the bath and trying to clean her hair.

Breaking the usual "no other cars that the private cars of the owner in the street" rule, Michael ordered the cab to come pick them up at the door and made the four kids enter the black car and, with a last wink to his sister and the baby in her arm, followed them.
After a few argument over the type of food they were to eat, they finally agreed over a simple burger meal and their guardian directed the cabbie to Mayfair'S Burger and Lobster, a restaurant he had heard about in a vogue issue he had read last time he had been to the tailor to take a delivery for Mycroft.
Arrived in front of the restaurant, the cook was pretty satisfied with his choice. It was looking smart but not too posh or pretentious and from what he could see, the burgers in the customers' plates were looking pretty delicious.
The waiter managed to find them a table in the crowded restaurant and took their orders, three original burgers for the boys, an original roll for Sarah and a Singapore roll for Michael. Soon after, they were brought their drinks, a large jug of lemonade and a couple of pretzels to share.
"Would you fancy having a walk on Southwark after diner ?" the young man asked as they were waiting for their main dishes.
"I want to see Buckingham Palace." Alden requested, liking the salt of the pretzel on his fingers.
"We don't beg, we ask." Lucas scolded him with a funny mimic. "May we have a look at Buckingham Palace please ? That's how we do it."
"Yes, we will go." the man laughed before turning toward the other kids. "What do you want to see ?"
"Maybe we could just walk on the embankment. Mycroft say there is always some kind of show going on on Saturday night." Sarah suggested, taking a sip of lemonade.
"Mmmpf." her middle brother agreed, hi mouth full of pretzel.
The burger soon arrived to the kids greatest pleasure. The dish was looking divine with cheese pouring from everyside and a huge amount of juicy meet. Those were quickly followed by the gigantic rolls, exalting a fine lobster smell. The five of them quickly bite their food, too hungry to talk.
Food was prompt to be consumed and despite being already quite full, the kids insisted on having a dessert, a demand to which Michael was unable to say no as soon as he has had a glance at the divine home-made cheesecake.
Half an hour later, their bellies ready to explode and 140 pounds out of Michael's pocket, they made their way outside right to Green Park. The temperature was chilly but the sky was clear and quite a few people were strolling through the park.
Even Michael who wasn't into having children or family was feeling really good surrounded by the joyful tribe and was having fun running after them all around the trees and bushes until they arrive to the gates leading to the Palace.
The place was, as usual, crowded with tourist but having young child with him helped the young man to make his way to the gates. The Queen was apparently spending the night at the palace as her flag was gently waving in the wind at the top of the mast.
For the three Lestrade kids, standing in front of the Palace was still an unusual act, although for Alden, it was something that he was used to, even if he was still awed at every given occasion. He was the only one of the tribe to have had the chances to enter the place, having been invited alongside his father on multiple occasion for tea parties and garden parties by the Royals.
"Hey guys, why don't you all pose in front of the gates and I'll send a photo to your dad ?" the cook proposed.
The four children aligned themselves in order of height in front of the golden gate and striked a pose, each of them trying to look smarter than the other one. Founding them utterly cute, the young man snapped a couple of pictures before texting them to his employer's husband. They then strolled in St-James Park, the two youngest running after the squirrels and the ducks while their elder were conversing with Michael about what they wanted to do ten years from then.
Jake, who had always been fascinated by all what could fly, was hoping to enrol in the Royal Air Force and become a pilot, a choice of career his father only mildly approved as it meant putting himself in the gunshot line. Sarah was hoping to become a professional footballer, although she knew it would probably never be the case. Her second choice at the moment was to be a forensic since she had loved the little internship she had done with Molly a few months ago.
The Thame's embankment was quite crowded with tourists but the kids insisted on stopping before every street artists giving a show that night. They were especially awed by a couple of young men tap dancing and playing the violin at the same time on a very rapid rhythm.
It had been pretty rare those last few months that the Lestrade's kids had come to visit their father after yet another fight between the detective and his ex-wife but, despite being far one from another most of the time, they still had a very deep affection for their younger siblings. Alden, on the other hand, was taking advantage of not being the eldest for once and being treated like his brothers and sister's baby brother to do all what he wouldn't allow himself to usually in order to be an example for Aelane.
He used his cuteness to convince Jake of carrying him on his back or to request Sarah's constant attention, giving her faces until she would take his hand and drag him along in whatever she was doing.
It was clear to Michael that the Lestrade's kids had more than accepted their parents' divorce and the choice of their dad to marry Mycroft. Some psychiatrist would probably have argued that it was because by marrying man, Gregory hadn't really replaced their mum or such a non-sense, but the young man was pretty sure that the children had been aware for a long time that their parents weren't going along in the best way and had been fed up with their constant fighting and were just more than pleased to see the genuine love between the two men. After all, kids, unlike adults, weren't overthinking things, and more than all these adult's theories, they were able to recognise real feelings from fake relationship. Wasn't it common knowledge that the truth always came from children's mouths ?
Michael snapped some more pictures, secretly hoping that if he was one day to have children of his own, they would look just like the Lestrade-Holmes' when looking at a boat cruising on the Thames.