Chapter 7
“It’s our birthday!” Hamish ran out of his room and into the living room, cheering excitedly. He began to hop up and down, his antics rather amusing for the two men in the room. There was a pile of presents on the dining table, almost instantly noticed by the young boy.
“Are those ours?!” He grinned happily at Sherlock and John, who just chuckled.
“Some are yours, some are Martin’s,” John smiled. Molly rested in his arms, sucking her thumb as she slept peacefully. She was now seven months old and could crawl quite well. She’d also begun to form some words, mainly just “Papa” and “Daddy” but there were a few others in there. She seemed to be developing at the speed of Hamish, at any rate. Her blonde hair had grown longer and curlier, falling just above her shoulders.
“Can I open them now?” Hamish’s deep blue eyes widened pleadingly. John chuckled.
“Wait until Martin’s up,” Sherlock put in with a slight smile.
“But he was drawing! Can I go get him?”
“If you wish,” Sherlock replied. John shook his head with a chuckle.
“Did you ever get this excited over your birthdays, Sher?”
“No, they weren’t much of an occasion. I think we spoil them.”
“Maybe just a bit.”
Soon Hamish reappeared, dragging Martin behind him. The quiet boy looked a bit flustered at the sight of all the presents on the table that Hamish stopped in front of. Sherlock and John got up from their seats to walk over. John handed Molly to Sherlock before putting on tea and making toast. He turned to watch his children open their presents as he did so.
Hamish tore the wrapping paper off his at the speed of a running cheetah. He grinned in delight at each one. A book on forensic science, a series of detective novels, some equipment for school (boring) and his own full chemistry set! Wow! He began to meticulously go over everything he had, memorising it. There was loads of stuff. Obviously daddy didn’t want Hamish using his...
Martin unwrapped his with more care, rather slow compared to his twin. His presents were quite different from his brother’s. A fantasy book series, a range of sketching pencils, another sketchbook and equipment for school. Nothing much.
“We’ve got another present for you, Marti,” Sherlock smiled, leading the silent but smiling boy over to the corner of the living room. A blanket had been draped over something, a rather strange shape. Martin carefully pulled it off to reveal a keyboard.
“Thank you, Daddy,” he spoke quietly, looking up at Sherlock with shining blue eyes. Hamish had skipped over, stopping when he saw the keyboard.
“Wow! Now you’re going to be playing two instruments!”
“Martin will get piano lessons at your new school,” John called through. Sherlock and John had taken great pains to choose the right school for their sons. Eventually they had gone with one recommended by Mycroft. It was a private school, which meant they had to pay for it but money wasn’t an issue. It seemed like the best there was on offer. They didn’t allow pupils to be in a year higher than their own but each pupil could work at his own level while still in a classroom with those his age. It was an ideal situation. When John and Sherlock had gone in for an interview they had been told that their sons could take exams earlier than normal. This pleased Sherlock very much. It would undoubtedly happen for Hamish. John wouldn’t be surprised if he had completed all his A levels by the time he was sixteen. Like Sherlock had. But one of Sherlock’s problems at school had not been having friends. Part of that the fact that all his classmates were older than him. This would not be the case in this school.
They also offered music lessons, another thing Sherlock liked. He had already booked Martin in for keyboard lessons and had talked about all the other instruments he could take up if he so wished for days. Of course, Sherlock would still teach Martin violin. There was no question of that.
“Now, stop looking at the keyboard and come have breakfast!” John shouted again. The rest of his family all trailed into the kitchen, sitting down at the table to eat the toast put in front of them. John watched them all carefully while eating himself. Every single one of them had a habit of not eating. But not today. They were all going to eat today!
John set Sherlock to feeding Molly while he escorted Hamish and Martin to their room to get them changed. They were having family round today for their birthday so they had to look their best. John helped Martin choose his outfit while Hamish got his own. He didn’t need any help, having developed the same style as Sherlock. So as a result he wore black trousers and a light blue dress shirt looking very much like a little Sherlock.
Martin ended up wearing some nice jeans, a checked green shirt and a jersey. Along with scarf, of course. He refused to take it off. He even slept with it on. After both boys were dressed John left them to do what they wanted (with Hamish under orders not to use his chemistry set) and headed back to the kitchen. Sherlock seemed to have fed Molly and was sitting reading a newspaper. John smiled and sat down.
“Well the boys are dressed,” John commented. “Hamish is probably reading his book and Martin...” The sweet notes of a violin began to float into the room. “Well I think it’s obvious what Martin’s doing. We should probably tidy this place up a bit before people arrive.”
“I don’t see why,” Sherlock retorted, rolling his eyes. “It’s just Mycroft, Lestrade and Molly coming.”
“Well, at least tidy up the mess from your latest experiment,” John sighed. “Because there won’t only be Molly to watch. There will be both Arianna and Mycroft junior toddling about so there can’t be anything dangerous about.”
“Fine,” Sherlock stood with a dramatic sigh, putting Molly down on the floor. The little girl instantly crawled over to one of her toys, picking it up with a giggle. John shook his head with a snort, watching Sherlock as he grumpily tidied up.
The doorbell rang for the first time at 1pm. Mrs Hudson had come upstairs to join them, watching Molly with an adoring look, so John hopped up.
“I’ll get the door, Sherlock you get the boys,” he ordered, smirking as Sherlock let out a dramatic sighed. He headed off into the twins’ room anyway. John shook his head with a snort as he ran down the stairs. He quickly opened the door with a wide smile.
“Molly! Let me take those for you,” he offered, taking the bags off Molly before she could reply. After all there were quite a lot of them (undoubtedly filled with presents and food) and she was also carrying little Benjamin.
“Thank you,” Molly replied softly, following him up the stairs. John put her bags on the table. Sherlock had instantly swooped in, beginning to fuss over Benjamin. The baby boy looked almost identical to Molly, just male. He was sweet, just over three months old. Still rather young and unable to crawl about yet. Molly let Sherlock take Benjamin, looking almost shocked at the amount of attention he was getting. Especially from Sherlock. Sherlock nodded his thanks and sat down with the boy in his arms. Looking at him fondly.
“Hello, Benny. Yes, it’s your Uncle Sherlock,” Sherlock smiled down at Benjamin. The three month old looked at him with curious brown eyes before yawning and falling asleep.
“Aunt Molly!” Molly was practically tackled by Hamish when he finally realised that she was there. Martin joined in with hugging her, a light smile on his face. John chuckled as he watched the scene, shaking his head. Hamish then plopped himself on the sofa, swinging his legs slightly. Martin moved over to Sherlock, pulling himself up on the sofa so he was sitting on his knee without disturbing Benjamin.
“Auntie!” Molly junior squealed from where she was sitting on Mrs Hudson’s knee. Molly chuckled, moving over to little girl.
“Hello, Molly, you’ve grown.” Younger Molly nodded with a wide grin. The doorbell rang again and John ran downstairs to get it. Since everyone else was otherwise occupied with one child or another.
“Hello Mycroft, Greg,” John nodded to the two men who entered. He then knelt down to look at the girl that was holding Mycroft’s hand. She must be two and a half now. “Hello, Arianna.” He smiled at her, which she returned.
“Hello Uncle John.” Seemed she was as well spoken as Mycroft. John chuckled and turned his attention to the one year old boy in Lestrade’s arms.
“Hello Mycroft junior,” he smiled warmly.
“Myc!” The little boy replied indignantly.
“Well, he’s certainly speaking,” John chuckled. Mycroft (senior) shook his head with a snort.
“Of course he is. Molly’s speaking, isn’t she, and she’s younger,” he retorted. “Now shall we go in?” Lestrade gave John an apologetic look. John just arched an eyebrow slightly. This was going to be an interesting party.
“Hello Uncle Mycroft, Uncle Greg!” Hamish piped from where he was sitting. “Hello Arianna, Mycroft!”
“Myc!” The one year old squealed indignantly. Molly waved brightly at those that had just entered whereas Martin and Sherlock gave them identical nods. Arianna toddled over to sit next to Hamish.
“Happy Birthday,” she said calmly, a phrase echoed by all those around her.
“So... tea?” Mrs Hudson broke the silence that then fell. There was widespread agreement to this notion so she got up, handing Molly to Molly. As she was making the tea Hamish hopped up to go grab a book from his room, being trailed by Arianna. Martin began to actually fall asleep sitting on Sherlock. Obviously hadn’t slept the night before. Sherlock was really rubbing off on the twins. Mycroft junior was set down and crawled over to Molly, beginning to talk to her in baby talk. Benjamin just continued to snooze in Sherlock’s arms.
Yes. Definitely an interesting party.