I am not lonely [Mystrade]

CHAPTER 141 : Niece

Gregory was splashing some water around with a little plastic dolphin, kneeled on the bathroom floor, his shirt damped and his three-day beard stained with foam his daughter had splattered on his with her little fists. As he was to attempt another trick with the dolphin he suddenly heard the doorbell ringing downstairs and let go of it, raising on his feet and walking to the window to try to have a glance of who was on the door step.
The visitor must have been an impatient one has he had time to ring a second time before the detective even reached the window and by the time he actually could see something by it, it was only to see the man disappearing through his entrance door.
"Come on baby girl, your uncle have arrived." the inspector chuckled, turning on his heels and grabbing a towel to wrap his daughter in.
"Uncle ?" the toddler repeated, question marks in her eyes.
"Yes, uncle Sherlock. He is the brother of your Daddy." the man nodded
"Oh ..." Aelane smiled even if Greg wasn't really sure she had understood a word of what he had said.
"Alright, lets get you dress." the policeman grinned, bringing his daughter back to her room and deposing her on her bed. "What about that Marvel pyjamas Daddy bought you the other day ?"
He dressed her up quickly before spraying a little perfumed oil on her hair before lifting her on his shoulder and bringing her downstairs. Trusting the sounds he was hearing, he directed himself toward the living room where the sleuth was indeed sat, watching the television.
"Good evening Gunther." the young man greeted his brother-in-law. "My brother have deserted his cave ?"
"He is fencing with Alden like every Wednesday." the DCI denied.
"Whatever, I didn't come for him." the detective smiled, turning his head toward the little girl Greg still had on his shoulders. "So it's you, the new little human my brother can't stop babbling about ?"
"Aelane meet Sherlock, Sherlock this is your niece." the inspector smiled, handling the toddler to her uncle. "Remember not to break her."
"You are very funny tonight Guilhem." the sleuth reacted, catching the little girl in his arms as if she was the most precious thing he ever had carried in his life. "So, someone told me you were very clever. That wouldn't surprise me actually, you look very clever and you have a very nice outfit. Who gave it to you ? Papa ?"
"Daddy." the toddler retorted, not frighten at all by the stranger who had just appeared in her life. "It's Mavel !"
"Yes, Marvel ! You are clever indeed." the younger Holmes grinned, pinching her cheek. "What else Daddy have given you ? You show me ?"
Reassured, Gregory stepped back and closed the door. If he wasn't sure he would trust Sherlock for anything even as simple as buying the grocery, he had not hesitation about the young man ability to take care of children. For some reason he himself couldn't understand, the consulting detective had always been quite popular within the children and had always loved them, mostly because they had fewer boundaries and preconceive ideas than adults.

"Oh, your Uncle is here apparently." Mycroft informed his son as they turned the corner of Kensington Palace Garden.
"How do you Daddy, how do you do that ?" wondered the child, as amazed as always by the deduction his father was able to do.
"You'll be able to do it as well one day." the politician smiled, patting the boy on the head.
The youngster's hair were damp from the shower he had just took after having fenced against his father for more than an hour. The auburn was very proud of what his son was now able to do and he was thinking about signing him in a proper fencing club so the boy could maybe one day compete if he ever wanted to.
The driver parked the black Jaguar before the Holmes Mansion and as soon as he had stopped, Alden jumped outside without even putting his coat on and joined the door, rushing inside to join his uncle he hadn't seen for quite a while as the sleuth had been rather occupied these last weeks.
"Alden ! Don't run like this, you're going to injure yourself on these steps one day !" his father warned him with very little conviction and even fewer effects.
With less precipitation, the elder Holmes also joined the living room, finding his brother laid on his tummy on the floor, his long coat absent-mindedly abandoned on one of the couch, a miniature car in each hands, making them crash one against the other to make his niece laugh.
"You two have met as I see." the official remarked with a little smile, untying his scarf. "So, what do you think of her ?"
"She looks fully functioning." the sleuth simply retorted, not even glancing a look to his brother.
"That's the best you can do ?" wondered the auburn, a little hurt by the absence of reaction of the youngest.
"What do you think ? Of course she is fantastic, look at her, you can't doubt of her cleverness, can you ?" the detective chuckled before turning to his nephew who had been waiting for a few seconds and hugging him. "And you lad, what do you think about your sister ?"
"Was that a compliment ?" Mycroft wondered, gobsmacked.
"You've heard me well. Your daughter is gorgeous and clever. Now don't ask me to repeat it once again or I may be very tempted to break your teeth." the sleuth reluctantly admitted.
"I nearly thought you were becoming soft brother mine." his eldest replied before retreating to his private office.

The elder Holmes escaped his office around ten in the evening, disturbed by the complete silence in the house. He crept out of the room, looking suspiciously around him, not really sure about what to expect. He slipped a head in the living room, finding it empty. Of course, the politician was used to a silent house as he most of the time came back home way after the other inhabitant had gone to sleep but at this time in the evening, Gregory was usually watching television or reading and listening to music, either in the living room or in his bedroom.
The auburn continued his exploration with the quite unused dinning room, the family using more and more the living room for their rare family diner. A thick layer of dust was now starting to cover the table and despite his current state of questioning, he still made a mental note to talk about the state of cleanness of the mansion with Michael, as soon as he would have a little time to see him.
He finally found his husband in the kitchen, drinking a tea with no one else than Sherlock himself ! The young detective was holding Aelane in his left arm, his cup of tea in the right hand, whispering to Greg in order not to awake the little girl or her brother who was sleeping on his father laps, his head resting on the kitchen table.
"Sherlock ?" the official jerked out, gobsmacked by the appearing civility of the sleuth.
"Shush, you're going to wake them up !" the younger Holmes retorted, pointing to the children.
"Do you want a cup dear ?" the policeman wondered.
"Yes please." his partner replied, taking a seat, still looking quite shocked by what he had just witnessed.
Chuckling lightly, the inspector carefully moved his son from his lap to another chair and proceeded to make a new pot of tea for the three of them. The two brother were looking at each other in wonder of what was to come next. Sherlock seemed uneasy about having been caught by his elder behaving like any adult human being should behave, knowing that from now, the politician would most probably insist even for him to behave like this all the time, while Mycroft was still not exactly sure about what he just had seen and wondering if it wasn't all a dream as it was so weird.
"I think I might go now. John will be waiting for me after his disastrous shift at work." the sleuth finally broke the silence after a few more minutes.
"How do you know it has been a disastrous shift ?" the DCI asked, pouring his husband a cup of the freshly brewed tea. "Oh wait, don't tell ..."
"Brother dear, Gustavo, I bid you farewell." the detective grinned before giving the sleeping little girl to his brother and leaving the kitchen.
"What the hell were you talking about for him to be that calm ?" Mycroft wondered after having taken a sip of his tea.
"Nothing special actually ... He was just talking about the fact that he would like to bring Alden to Alton Tower next week as he has been commissioned to have a look there." the detective shrugged, as surprised as his boyfriend about the younger Holmes' attitude. "Don't worry, he told me he would bring either Mrs Hudson either John along to look over him while he would be occupied with his business ..."
"My brother is commissioned and accepted ? What the hell is going on in his life !" the auburn replied, even more shocked than he already was.
"I think he essentially wanted to bring Alden somewhere for Christmas or something like that and he found a way to be commissioned." Gregory corrected, glancing a loving look over his fast asleep son.
"Yeah, I suppose something like this is more than probable ..." the elder Holmes chuckle before raising to his feet. "Time to put those two in their bed, what do you think ?"
They joined the first floor, both with a child in their arm and entered their rooms. Mycroft started to undress his daughter, trying not to wake her up too much and chose a green pyjama in one of her drawers. He was trying to put her head through the neck hole when she started whimpering, not really fancying being awoken that late in the night and the politician brought her close to his chest, rocking her gently until she fell back to sleep before finishing dressing her up and deposing her gently in her bed, leaving only her bedside night lamp alighted. He blew her a last kiss before closing the door and joining his own bedroom, still not knowing how to interpret his brother's night behaviour.