I am not lonely [Mystrade]

CHAPTER 128 : Breath

Mycroft took a look at the clock on the wall opposite his desk and  let out a heavy sight. It was only two in the afternoon and with all the  work he still had to achieve he knew he wouldn't be able to get out of  the room before at least another six hours of work. He was stretching  his back, yawning at the simple thought of what was coming ahead when he  heard the doorbell ringing.
Who could possibly  come visiting a Sunday afternoon and announce himself like this ? If it  had been his brother, he wouldn't have rung and just entered the place  as he was in his own premise, or he would have maybe knocked on the door  if he was in a good mood. It couldn't be Molly or Sally either, the two  young women being invited a little later in the week for a diner that  Greg had set up for Alden's birthday.
The auburn was still in his  thoughts when Greg opened the door, unveiling the presence of a youngish  woman and a little boy. As soon as he heard his father talking, Alden  came running down the stair, apparently very pleased by the other boy's  presence. He quickly led him to the living room where the policeman had  finished hanging up balloons just minutes ago and showed him a couple of  his miniature car, while the detective was reassuring the toddler's  mother that everything was going to be alright until she picked her  child up at 6. Another five kids followed the first one and in a matter  of minutes, the living room was full of excited 4-years-old, playing  around with the birthday boy's miniature car and action figurines.
Mycroft  grunted as he had to resume his reading of the same page of his rapport  for the third time, always interrupted by a surprising cry from a child  in the nearby room. Although the house was luxurious and quite well  equipped, the official had to acknowledge that the soundproofing was not  as efficient as it probably should be. At the fifth scream of his son  discovering another of his friend at the door, the elder Holmes had  recalled himself that Gregory might have told him about a birthday party  for his son a few weeks ago but, as much as he was delighted that his  son was having a good time, he wondered how long this little thing was  going to last, having barely been able to concentrate for the last  half-an-hour and actually not having achieved a single thing of what he  still had to get through before the night.
In the living room the  kids looked like they were having great fun, now crafting some cards on  the carefully covered floor, most of them already having received a  little glitter in the hair, but mostly giggling at one another and  enjoying the activity, under the amused gaze of Greg who was himself sat  cross-legged on the floor between his son and a little girl from  Alden's class.
Another half an hour later, the auburn appeared  through the living room's door, a smile on his face and nodding gently  toward the children who had stopped their crafting to have a look at the  tall man that had just popped in, while the inspector decrypted the  slight tension behind the grin and with a little pat on Alden's head and  a warning to the kids to behave while he was out of the room for two  minutes, he followed his partner in the corridor.
"What's going up darling ?" he demanded, pouting just a little.
"I  know it's not your fault, neither the child's, but I'm trying to work  in the office and the walls are very thin ..." the official explained, a  little discomforted.
"Yeah, I can understand ... Tho,  I can't really have them more quiet than what they already are I fear ...  You've seen it yourself, they aren't really of the trouble maker kind  ..." the yarder agreed, understanding his husband's struggle. "I could have brought them to Alden's room but it's just over your office so I doubt it would be any better, would it ?"
"Yeah  I know ..." Mycroft sighed, knowing that his lover was trying his best.  "I would have gone to the Club if only it wasn't the weekend they had  chosen for refurbishing it ..."
"I may have an idea ... It's not exactly the best solution ever but it could be something ..." Greg started, thinking out loud.
"It can't be worse than staying here in the noise can it ?" the auburn chuckled lightly.
"Maybe you could use my office at the yard ?" the older man proposed shyly, not sure who good of an idea that could be.
"You know you are a genius you ?" the official smiled before placing a soft kiss on his husband's forehead.
"I never thought you find it a good proposition." retorted the policeman, quite surprised.
"You are joking  ! You found me a solution in less than five minutes that involve a  place filled with things and scent that belongs to you ? That's even to  me ..." Mycroft chuckled as he grabbed the keys the man was handling  him.
"Well, if I had known that you would love it that much, I would  have proposed it earlier." Greg laughed. "I shall probably get back  inside there before one of those little monsters find a way to choke himself with glitters ..."
"That would be a very original death ..." spiritualised the elder Holmes. "I'll call you when I'll leave tonight."

The  traffic was a right mess, especially for a Sunday afternoon and  Mycroft's car was stuck in a flow of cabs and buses, unable to move an  inch to the man greatest despair. He had asked to the driver to try the  blue lights, but the traffic was so packed it had had nearly no effect  and fed up with the noise that thing was doing he finally had asked the man to cut it down, resolving to wait as any commoners.
As he was looking absentmindly by the window to a red bus carrying an advert for a new West end  musical, the auburn wondered how bad of a parent "running away from  your son's birthday party in order to work on a Sunday" could make him  and was pretty sure it might be pretty high on the list. As much as he  loved the little boy, he was still finding it pretty hard sometime to be  a father to him, especially when it seemed so easy to Greg. If he was  usually feeling a little embarrass not to be at home with the boy  enough, he was feeling even worse at the moment as he could easily  realise it had been even worse for the last weeks as he had spent even  more time at his office or in his private office, burying his mind into  his work to try to prevent himself of thinking too much about his uncle.  If he had indeed not thought that much about the old man, he had the  feeling he had neglected the little boy and that was making him feel  really ashamed and embarrassed. How selfish of him it was to put his own  comfort before his son's ? He was old enough to understand that  everyone was to die some day, especially someone who had told him months  ago that he wouldn't make it to the end of the year and something in  his guts was telling him that he should stop self pitying and be more present for the child he had chose to raise.
"Turn around." he suddenly ordered the driver.
The  younger man looked at him, astonished, not looking quite sure that he  had actually heard the right thing but still did as he was asked,  turning on the blue lights but still provoking a right mess in the  already messy traffic.
Less people were trying to reach the west part of London  and less than 10 minutes later, the official was back at his starting  point. He left his driver take care of the box of files he had taken  with him and re-entered the house, taking of his coat and jacket and  appearing in the living room to the greatest surprise of his husband who  was not expecting this in the slightest.
Without a word of  explanation, he managed to find a seat on the carpet nearby his partner  and son and took a look at what the little boy had crafted. The other  children were looking at him quite curiously, not exactly aware of whom the man could be, but none of them dared to speak, to intimidated by him.
"And  what about this work you had to do ?" Greg whispered to the elder  Holmes's ear when all the kids had returned to their crafting.
"Damn  my work, it's Sunday ! They can do without me for 24 hours, can't they  ?" the official simply explained, grabbing a piece of paper, some glue  and glitters and starting to craft.
"You nearly always work on Sunday love ..." the yarder remembered him, not even bothering to tell him how unlike him it was to get his hand dirty crafting like he was clumsily doing.
"And what about from now I stop working on Sundays ?" the auburn proposed.
"No more at all ?" the detective wondered, not really believing what he just had heard.
"Nothing less than a nuclear war." the younger man confirmed  before handling the key of his private office to his boyfriend. "You  can hide it every Saturday night to be sure I don't enter it."
"I don't need to do that to trust you." the DCI rejected putting back the key in his husband's trousers's left pocket.
"Hey Alden, what about we go out for football after this ?" Mycroft turned to his son after glancing a last smile to his lover.
"You're going to play football ?" the toddler asked, bewildered.
"I've already played football !" the man protested before blowing a little bit of glitter in the ginger's hair.
"Do you want to play football with my Daddy ?" the young boy wondered to the other children, earning himself a loud cheer.
"Alright buddies, finish your art and then we will go then." Greg clapped his hand, a large smile spread across his face.