I am not lonely [Mystrade]

CHAPTER 22 : First Day.

Mycroft rang at the door, while holding his son's hand. A smiling blonde woman with short hair appeared and opened the glass-door, greeting the two Holmes in. The little boy was looking around him, curious.
"You must be Mr Holmes ? I'm Alicia" asked the woman.
"Yes, and this is my son, Alden." replied the official with a fake smile. He and Gregory had thought that the toddler needed to socialised with other children of his age and had then decided to make him go to nursery three days every week. Wishing the best for his son, the auburn had picked a very popular and even oversubscribed venue in Chelsea, using his influence to have Alden accepted there.Of course Greg had protested against those methods but he nevertheless agreed when he had seen the brochure showing the nice garden and huge range of activities the children were offered.
"So, you've sent us all the paper we needed." stated the young woman, checking on a notepad she was carrying. "Have you bring some spare clothes and a plush or a toy for nap time ?"
"Yes, it's all in his bag." said Mycroft, showing the little tiger-shapped backpack the little boy was proudly carrying on his shoulders.
"Perfect. Would you like to visit the nursery Mr Holmes ?" asked the blonde, already leading him to the main room where a bunch of kids were painting or playing in a huge ball-pond. "As you can see this is the main activity room." resumed the woman, gesturing to the coloured and luminous room in front of them. "It's where the children spend most of their time, except if they can go outside, and it's where we organise the activities."
She then leaded the man and the boy to another room, darker, with little beds. "This is the nap room. We try to adapt the nap time to every kid biological clock as their parents can do at home to make the toddlers feel comfortable.". The next rooms she leaded them to were the dinning room and the infirmary. The visit finished in the garden, a nice lawn with foam structures for the kid to play and another huge ball-pond. Alden seemed very pleased, arboring a big smile on his face and the official, who had been scared about his son reaction was now feeling relieved.
"Are you coming to pick him up tonight sir ?" wondered Alicia, hanging the little boy's backpack alongside those from the other kids in the corridor between the entrance door and the main room.
"No. It's my partner who will come. Mr Gregory Lestrade." replied the auburn, picking up his son from the ground. He brought him to his chest and looked at him in the eyes. "Daddy must go now. You gonna stay here with Alicia and the other kids ok ?Papa will pick you up tonight. Ok darling ?" he said gently.
"I want you stay !" soughed the boy. His smiled had vanished at the moment he had understood that Mycroft wasn't going to stay.
"But Daddy need to go to work dear ... You know, it's just like when you stay with Uncle Sherlock. You stay the day and Papa come and bring you back home." the auburn tried to reassure him, rubbing his hand softly on his back.
"No ! Daddy stay !" whimpered Alden, on the verge of tears. He was now looking really upset and crawled his head in his father's neck.
"Alden ... Darling ... You know it's not possible ... Look, you will have loads of comrade with who you will be able to play, and you are going to do loads of very amusing activities." whispered the official in his son's ear. He wished that Greg could have been here with him because he certainly knew how to handle with this kind of situation much better than he knew himself. The baby was now crying in hysteria, refusing to let his father go.
Alicia, who had stayed two paces away during the entire scene, approached the tall man and ran a finger in the little boy's ginger hair. "Come on Alden, you big boy, do you want to come and make a nice drawing for Daddy and Papa and show them how talented you are ? You would make them really proud ..." she said softly.
The toddler didn't reply but he stopped crying and turned his face to the woman. She smiled to him gently and rubbed her finger on his cheek wipe out his tears. Mycroft placed a last kiss on his son forehead before handling him to the childcarer with a little 'thank you' smile. "See you tonight young man" he said softly to his son before leaving and closing carefully the door behind him.
He was feeling heartbroken to let by the baby's tear and supplications and he was now feeling guilty of letting him in this unfamiliar place. He knew that it was the best for him, that he needed to meet other kids and that he couldn't spend his entire life at the Holmes Mansion, 221B or at Lestrade's parents place, but his heart was trying to overrun his brain at the moment. He tried to convince himself that Alden was going to do right, that he was just sad to be left in an unfamiliar place and that he just needed a bit of time to feel comfortable.
Mycroft was still trying to convince himself when he entered the Diogene Club and Anthea threw him an interrogative look when he passed a head in her office to wish her a good morning. He noticed the glance but he just smirked and exited quickly.

"Greg !" started Sally Donovan, opening the door of her boss's office. "Ryan Kenneth have finally confessed !".
"Great." answered the detective, absentmindly, grabbing his coat on the hanger.
"Greg ? Ryan Kenneth ! The guy who cut the student into pieces. Confessing." repeated Sally, astonished by the reaction of her superior.
"Yes. I've heard. Congratulation." retorted theinspector, still not looking very concerned by the news.
"Boss ? Are you sure you are feeling well ?" asked the woman with a suspicious look.
"Yes, I just need to go pick up Alden at the nursery. First day and I don't want to be late." replied Gregory while exiting his office without a look for Donovan.
The young woman closed the back and returned to her own desk in the nearby openspace. Her colleague, Anderson, glanced her a questioning look. "So? Is he coming with us to the pub ?"
"Nope." smiled Sally. "Parenting is calling him apparently. It was Alden first day at the nursery and he need to pick him up. It was so hard on his mind that he didn't even react at the confession ..."
"Well ... Love definitely have changed him ..." laughed Phillip. "Come on, grab your coat and let's go .".

When Gregory entered the nursery his son was swimming in the ball-pond, apparently having a lot of fun, according to the large smile on his face. The detective stood at the doorstep during a few seconds before Alicia noticed him. The blonde woman shook his hand. "Mr Lestrade ? I'm Alicia."
"Hello" he replied with a pleased smile. "So how has it been ? My husband was quite ...anxious, this morning ..."
"Oh, it's not unusual for a boy of this age to be a bit scared to be left with stranger but after half an hour he was completely fine don't worry." she reassured him. "Heis a nice little boy and quite precocious actually."
"Really?" replied Greg, surprised. "Actually I don't know that much about kids of his age. My youngest son is 5 but I haven't really seen him ... growing up a lot .."
"Yes, his drawing are quite precise for a 2 years old and his vocabulary and syntax are really impressive, believe me." Alicia advised him.
The little boy still haden't noticed his father standing near the door, to preoccupied about the balls. Greg called him gently, making him turn and jump out of the pond. The toddler ran to the detective who lifted him against his torso. "Hello young man !" he smirked to him.
"Papa !" shouted the boy, throwing his arms around the inspector's neck. The man placed a kiss in his son's hair. "You say goodbye to Alicia, Aldy ?" He asked him.
"Goo'bye" smiled the kid, turning his face to the childcarer. "Goodbye Alden"answered the blonde while Greg was grabbing the toddler's bag.
He was parked nearby so he haden't put the little boy on the floor and just carried him into the car and strapped him in his booster before settling himself in the driver seat. It was only a 5 minutes drive from the nursery in Chelsea to the Holmes Mansion in Kensington but because of an accident, it took the detective more than half an hour to reach Kensington Palace Garden and finally park in the driveway, the young boy in the back seat starting to shout, out of boredom.
Gregory had just exited the car when the front door of the house opened, revealing a rather preoccupied Mycroft. "Is everything ok ?" asked the auburn.
"Yeah. Just a huge accident on the way back ..." the inspector sighed, unstrapping his son fromthe back-seat of the BMW. The little boy ran to the official and jumped in his arms, hugging him heavily.
"So little man, how was this day ?" he asked him, trying to hide the insecurity in his voice.
"Fun ! I draw and I play with Marcus in the balls !"replied the boy, apparently very proud of himself.
"You made a friend ?" wondered the auburn, a fond smile enlightening his face in relief.
"Marcus." repeated the toddler. "When I go back?"
"Tomorrow." answered Gregory who had just joined the two other on the Mansion's doorstep after tidying up the back seat and collecting Alden's bag. "You see Myc', there was no reason to be worried really, it's normal to be scared on your first day in a newplace." he added to his lover, kissing him on the cheek.
"I don't know, you are the specialist in kids ..." winked his partner.
"You have been a child on day you know darling ... You could remember this." giggled the DI.
"I've been to boarding school at the age of seven. I haven't cried, Holmeses aren't that weak." replied the other one, deadpan.
"You are desperate really !" laughed Gregory
"That's why you spoused me." replied Mycroft, re-entering the house and putting his son down onthe floor.
"God save me from that." sighed the detective, closing the door.