I am not lonely [Mystrade]

CHAPTER 109 : Family Portrait

"No Alden darling, you can't wear your Buzz Lightyear costume. I said you could choose your outfit, but I was talking about a real outfit." the detective upbraided his son gently.
"But Papa ..." pouted the little boy. "I love this costume. I don't want to wear a suit."
"We can't always do what we want sweetheart. Now choose a suit or I will choose for you." retorted Greg, trying not to sound to fed up.
"Are you ready ?" wondered Mycroft, slipping a head through the door of his the toddler's room.
"Your son want to wear his Buzz Lightyear costume." explained his partner, rolling his eyes in exasperation.
"Why not ?" replied the auburn, raising his shoulders. "You can take your Buzz costume, but you also need a real suit alright little man ?"
"Okay Alden, you choose a suit and you dress up. I need to talk to your father." the inspector huffed before exiting the room and closing the door behind him.
"What ? I know this look Gregory." wondered the official.
"You can't say Amen to everything Alden request or do !" exclaimed the policeman, keeping his voice low not to be heard by the little boy behind the door.
"I m not saying Amen to all he asks, but I don't see where is the problem in authorizing him to wear a costume every other days." retorted the elder Holmes, looking bewildered.
"You are not letting him wear a costume every other day Myc ! You are spoiling him and letting him be the little prince in this house ! He can do absolutely all he wants and you buy him all what he requests ! Don't you dare say no." sighed the older man, struggling to keep his voice low.
"Sorry of trying to please my only son ! He is four years old, I can't keep saying him no to everything." the elder Holmes answered back. "And as far as I know he does behave like a little prince."
"Listen Myc', I know you try your best and just want him to be happy but believe me when I say that you must say no more often." the yarder tried to explain calmly. "I'm not saying to forbid him from doing anything but if you let him do whatever he wants all the time it won't end up well. He is only four but he will grow up and become absolutely unmanageable."
"I know, I know, but what am I suppose to do ?" sighed the auburn.
"Well you could start by not contradicting me when I'm attempting to set up some rules ?" Greg replied, a smile shyly breaking under his mask of anger.
"All right, I'll tell him he can't take his Buzz Lightyear costume." accepted the official, a hand already on the handle of his son's door.
"I really mean it. It's not only about a costume, it's every day." the detective stopped him, putting his hand on the other man's wrist. "For example you can't just keep buying him a new toy every time you pick him up from school. Promise ?"
"I'll try, I swear." nodded Mycroft, earning himself a cheeky peck on the cheek from his boyfriend before finally pushing the door to face his son nearly ready, sporting a light blue shirt and a navy suit, trying, unsuccessfully, to tie his shoelaces.
It took the elder Holmes more than twenty minutes to explain his son why he couldn't take his Buzz Lightyear costume with him and despite the few tears spent by the little boy, he resisted the attempt to give up and maintained his position until the toddler gave up and accepted to follow his fathers to the car that was awaiting them outside the mansion.

They finally arrived to the photographer studio a couple of minutes late but the young woman assured them it wasn't an issue and gave them a tour of the place to make them feel comfortable. It was the first time they were to have a real family portrait, usually they satisfied themselves with picture snapped by Mycroft or family pictures taken by Lestrade's parents or some friends. But the traditional part of the elder Holmes had awoken a couple of months earlier, wondering how they could have spent more than three years together and nearly two years with Alden without having any official portrait taken.
If he had listened to his mind, the auburn would have wanted a real painting to be done, but knowing that Greg would never accept such a quirk, he had instead proposed to have a photo shoot with a professional photographer. The policeman had never had his portrait done in any way except from those school portraits when he was still in middle school but he hadn't been that hard to convince and they had booked an appointment with one of the most reputed photographer in town the same afternoon.
"Have you got any idea of what you would like ?" wondered the middle-aged woman after she had showed them around.
"Something quite simple, not to cheesy with a lot of setting or flowers and that you know. Well, a little flower is okay but you know ..." replied Mycroft.
"Yes nothing to tacky and unnatural." nodded the woman, writing down something on her notebook.
"Yes, exactly." nodded the auburn. "Not to kitsch."
"Well, what we could do is a few pictures in the studio on the cyclo wall. Either on the white one or the grey, like you prefer then maybe go outside on the terrace to snap a couple of pictures with the city in the back. What do you think of that ?" the photographer proposed.
"Yeah. That seems nice." agreed Greg, who had stayed silent for the last minutes.
"Perfect !" the woman exclaimed joyfully. "Let's go then !"

The woman settled them over a grey background, providing them with metal stool and started snapping pictures, indicating them a few basic poses and then letting them improvise as they wished. The detective, at first quite intimidated by the fact of posing and hiding shyly behind his husband and his son, quickly gained confidence and soon enough took the poses choice in hand.
Seeing that his partner was having a good time, Mycroft quietly stepped away, letting the older man alone with his son for a few minutes, gazing a loving look over the two most important people in his life. Maybe the policeman was right after all, he should be a little more strict with the little boy. After all, even if the yarder sometime punished him -mostly when the auburn wasn't around- and didn't bought him everything he was asking for, the toddler didn't seemed to be especially mad at him.
"Darling ? Have you heard what I just said ?" the inspector diverted him from his thoughts.
"Mmm ? Oh, no, sorry ... You were saying ?" replied the official, looking rather confused.
"Would you like a few pictures alone with Alden ?" the older man repeated his question.
"Oh, yes. Yes I'd love it." nodded the elder Holmes happily. "What do you think Alden ? You want to take pictures with Daddy ?"
"Yes !" agreed the child, standing on a high stool. "And after you take pictures with Papa !"
"We will see, yes." smiled the auburn, stepping back on the grey background while his husband was leaving it. "You want to stay roosted like this ?"
"Can I go in your arms ?" the kid requested with his most effective puppy eyes.
"We first do a picture like this then we will do one with you in my arms alright little man ?" Mycroft proposed. "Come on, look at the camera and smile."
They snapped a couple of pictures of the little boy standing on the stool with his father beside him before the auburn fulfil his promise and lifted the child in his arms, firstly taking a rather serious pose before discreetly tickling the toddler so he broke in laughers and replied, the pictures becoming less formal and showing much better the relationship between the official and his son.
Quietly, Gregory joined them and without them noticing his presence he entered the battle, the three of them quickly rolling on the floor while the woman was snapping as much picture as she could, happy to catch a moment of 'real life', behind the poses and the formality. After five more minutes of savage tickling, they finally sat down to catch their breath, the little boy in the middle of his two fathers, holding them tightly by the neck, a large smile plastered on his face.
"Now, it's your turn !" the child exclaimed after they had recovered.
The two men exchanged a look. It wasn't planned and Mycroft, as much as he was happy to have pictures taken with his son, was a little reluctant at the idea of exposing his love in front of a stranger, but the look Greg was throwing him clearly shown that the perspective of a couple portrait was more than appealing to the detective and unable to say no to the man of his life, he finally nodded.
Looking very pleased with himself, Alden walked away and sat beside the photographer on a stool, giving the feeling to the inspector that he was a film director beside the camera operator. The two men stood up, the auburn looking a little clumsy, not exactly knowing what to do but thankfully his partner took the upper hand, directing him to what he believed were the right poses.

The inspector softly unwrapped his partner arms from around his shoulders and stood up before grabbing the official's hand and leading him to the computer were the photograph was reviewing the pictures that had just been taken. She showed the three of them the result of the session and the elder Holmes spotted a couple of unexpected and somehow very cute pictures of him with Alden and moreover, of him with Greg.
Satisfied with the work that had been achieved in the last couple of hours, the two men thanked profusely the woman for her work and, after being promised they would receive the prints in the next couple of weeks, they made their way to the exit.
"You know what we should do after diner ? We should go to the park, the three of us with Marcus, to play football." the auburn proposed as they were climbing in the Jaguar waiting for them in front of the studio.
"Could I wear my Buzz Lightyear costume ?" requested Alden with a hoping smile.
"Darling, you are not going to wear a costume to play football. It's not comfortable and you will damage it." the official scolded him gently. "You can were your football jersey if you want."
"The new one Banpa gave me for Christmas ?" wondered the little boy.
"Yes." nodded Gregory. "And you can wear the Buzz costume tomorrow afternoon when you'll go to your Uncle if you want."