A few creeks from behind.
A few quiet steps.
A little voice, belonging to a little boy.
"Father?"
The voice startles Sherlock a bit. He jumps and quickly turns of the TV and wipes away the tears.
"I thought you were asleep. What is it?"
The seven year old crawls up into his lap. He sits down and gives his father a big hug. "Why can't you just call papa, and ask him to come back?" Sherlock has to fight back the tears that are threatening to spill.
"I can't, William. Besides, he'll be back here in two days, when I have packed."
William sits up and looks at his dad, two sets of blue eyes staring at each other.
"Why not, you miss him. Why do you have to do this? Why do you have to move to Uncle Mycroft?"
Sherlock looks at him and sighs. "Because sometimes, two people aren't meant to be together. But I'll still visit you and Alice, and you two are free to visit me whenever you want to."
William takes his father's head in his hands. "You've been watching the wedding tape on repeat for the last two hours, and you've been crying, father."
A tear falls from Sherlock's eye, and he smiles at his son. John and sherlock has two kids together. Alice, the oldest one is 15, and then there's William, he's 7. Alice is mostly Sherlock's daughter, and William is mostly John's. They got Alice two years before they got married, and then a few years later they got William.
William kisses his father's chin and then he runs back to his room. Sherlock waits a few minutes before he turns on the TV again. He puts the remote on the table and watches. He doesn't last long before he starts crying again.
A new pair of feet. Sherlock doesn't notice it until the TV is turned off. This time, he has no time to dry away his tears. "Dad?" Alice's pure voice sooths him. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, but the tears won't stop. A pair of hands grips Sherlock's hands and when he opens his eyes, Alice sits on the floor in front of him, his hands in hers.
"Oh Alice, what have I've done?" His voice breaks and Alice gets up fro the floor and hugs her dad hard. "You didn't do anything wrong. It's not always your fault, you ought to remember that. I want you to be happy, and I want father to be happy as well. You do what's right", she pulls back and hands him his phone, "and call him. Now." She tousles his curls, and kisses him on his forehead and leaves the room. "I'll be upstairs, and you don't hesitate on coming upstairs if there's anything you need. I'll be checking on you in a few."
Sherlock glances at the phone in his hand. It's worth a shot, right? With shaky hands, he dials the number. After three rings, he's sure John won't answer, but he doesn't hang up. After four rings, someone picks up. Sherlock holds his breath, waiting for the voice on the other side. A few shaky breaths, and then he answers. "Sherlock?"
