Let The Shadows Win

A Domestic Disaster

"Where's Rosie's room then?" John asked, grunting as he heaved one of the heavy suitcases up onto his hip to wait for further instructions.
"In my old room." Sherlock decided. "I made it up all nice for her."
"In your room? With the...with the picture?" John clarified with a look of surprise.
"Her guardian angel." Sherlock agreed with a little smile.
"Yes alright." John agreed with a reluctant sigh, as if he understood that he couldn't do anything now to rearrange. "Where are we sleeping then?" John called down as he hiked up the stairs.
"In Mycroft's room!" Sherlock called back. He heard John's footsteps falter; the man paused all together on the stairs for split moment before he began going once more. Obviously that hadn't been the answer he had been expecting. However it was the only possibility, wasn't it? The bed was a king sized, plenty big for the two of them. There was only one other room upstairs, and that was their parent's bedroom. Surely Sherlock could never settle himself into that bed, considering the infidelity and murder that had happened on it. No, even as a child he had never set foot in that room, for he had been afraid that his mother's spirit might come up and slit his throat as well. And so Mycroft's room really was the only option, considering Sherlock's old bedroom had been occupied by the deadweight of the Watson family. Clinging Rosie Watson, the child that may end up to be the death of Sherlock once and for all.
"Can I go see my new room?" Rosie whined, tugging a bit on Sherlock's hand so as to try to lead him to where her father had just disappeared. Sherlock blinked, nodding as he came once more out of his head.
"Yes of course." Sherlock agreed, letting Rosie run up the stairs while he hobbled behind, finding that these stairs had become a lot more treacherous throughout the years, with or without his limp. This structurally imperfect house really was no place to raise a child, however a tiny voice in the back of Sherlock's head reminded him that if Rosie should die that would actually be something of a relief. He finally made it up to the hallway, where he had vacuumed the moldy old rug and tried to dust the cobwebs off of the lamps that were mounted onto the walls. It was sanitary enough, and obviously it had passed Rosie's inspection as she had run right past the hallway and into her room. Sherlock arrived in the doorway just in time to find Rosie beginning to cry, standing next to the bed with tears in her little eyes, looking around at her new room as if she couldn't believe the state she was being forced to live in. Well that spoiled, over privileged little brat!
"THIS IS GROSS!" Rosie was screaming, all while John was setting the bags down on the bed so as to console her a bit more. Sherlock sighed, standing in the doorway and wondering what on earth he had done to deserve such insults. Did she not appreciate the history here in these walls? Did she not understand the sentiment?
"Rosie now don't say that! Mr. Sherlock cleaned it very well, it may be different from what you have at home but you're really not giving it a fair chance." John insisted, dropping down to his knees so as to wipe away Rosie's tears while he ignored Sherlock's scowl from where he stood in the doorway.
"Unappreciative, isn't she?" laughed Mycroft from his own doorway, standing there where he always used to, standing and watching Sherlock down the hallway with his black, ever observant eyes. Sherlock sighed heavily, nodding his head and turning away for he really couldn't stand to see John melt so obediently at the first sign of his horrible child's distress.
"Yes, terribly." Sherlock agreed with a groan.
"Might we be doing something about that soon?" Mycroft asked hopefully, his face breaking out into that terrible smile he so often donned. Sherlock sighed heavily, but shook his head reluctantly. He really didn't know what to do about it, his only solution to most problems was murder, and obviously that wouldn't settle well with John. It was obvious that John had a special place in his heart for Rosie, and that fact alone made Sherlock's stomach churn in jealousy. He was supposed to take up the whole of John's heart, when will that man realize that Sherlock was the only thing he was allowed to love? Yes, Rosie would be a problem in the near future, yet Sherlock would have to get clever if he was going to solve it all while keeping John safely by his side.