The Consulting Detective, the ex-Army Doctor, and the Child //BBC Sherlock

~CHAPTER 5~

Xavier remembered his first Christmas with John in almost perfect detail, or at least that's what he said, John seemed to disagree though.

He had been adopted just weeks earlier on December 3rd leaving not much time to prepare at all. John hadn't been expecting to have Xavier living with him for another month at least so he hadn't even started to decorate yet, or at least that's what Xavier claimed. John insisted that he did have up some tinsel and a small plastic Christmas tree. 

The weeks leading up to Christmas John struggled to get a babysitter for Xavier so that he could get to the store and get some Christmas presents for his son, meaning that by the time that Christmas came around there was only three presents under the tree, with one of them being from Xavier to John.

In the first present, the one from Xavier to John, was a painting that Xavier had done in school earlier in the month. Although it was supposed to be a Christmas tree it looked more like a weirdly shaped dinosaur. That photo hung on the living room wall for years after that, no matter how much Xavier begged his father to take it down once he got older. Once they moved in with Sherlock, much to Xavier's pleasure, John put it in a box and never took it back out.

The second present, one for Xavier, held a small wooden car, it was painted red with yellow wheels. Xavier loved that car and played with it constantly, even after he had outgrown the toy it stayed on top of his dresser, next to where he kept his pens.

The third and final present was another one for Xavier. This one was a book. One of the first things that John and learned about Xavier was that he was a very smart kid, and that he really enjoyed science, so, obviously, he had bought the kid a science book. Xavier cherished that book for years but sadly moving came with it's prices and sometime around when John and Xavier had moved to a smaller flat a few years later the book was lost, never to be seen again.

Xavier and John's second Christmas together was much more organised than the first. Xavier was there to remind John to put up Christmas decorations, and to buy a real tree because that tiny one from last year wasn't going to cut it this time. John had also decided that Xavier was old enough to be allowed to go shopping by himself so when they went to do Christmas shopping (in early November because as responsible as Xavier was John didn't trust him in the crowds in December) he didn't need to worry about getting a babysitter. That Christmas was certainly the best Christmas that Xavier had had to that date, but crowded group home Christmas' and one very rushed Christmas weren't  much to compare too.

Although Xavier loved all of his Christmas', especially the ones that he spent with John, there was one in particular that stood out to him. December 2008 was what Xavier considered t be the best Christmas of his life. Alright so maybe it wasn't the best Christmas day of his life, but it was certainly the best Christmas season.

December 10th had brought snow to London, meaning that it was time for most kids to go outside and enjoy the rare occurrence. John had been away at the time, meaning that Xavier was stuck with Harry. It wasn't that Xavier didn't like Harry, although he did prefer to spend his time with Clara, he never liked the smell of alcohol, he just would rather spend Christmas with his father. Clara was working that day and Harry was passed out on the couch meaning that Xavier was left to decide what he was going todo himself. Since there was no one to tell him what not to do he took his messenger bag and ventured outside.

There was a small park only a few minutes away from where he was staying but when he arrived there he discovered that it had been taken over by three year olds who's parents wanted to get their kids outside for what would likely be the first snow that their kids would remember. Xavier didn't really feel like hanging out with a bunch of children so he kept walking around town.

He must have been walking for at least an hour when he stumbled across a small clearing in a bunch of trees. He wandered inside of it and was greeted by an old, run down park. It was almost empty, except for two young boys and an older woman who Xavier assumed was someone's mom. Although he didn't know the boys Xavier recognized them from around the hallways at school and was pretty sure that they were both in his grade. He took a seat on a nearby bench, across from where the woman and the two boys were playing, and started to mold the snow in his gloved hands.

He had been sat there for a few minutes when a snowball his eight in the centre of his stomach. He looked up from the snow that he had been rolling in his hands and found the two boys laughing. He tossed the snow from his hands into the general direction of the boys but missed by a few feet. The boy on the left threw a snowball back once more and from there it turned into a two hour snowball fight.

The two boys who were there that day turned out to be Brandon and Owen and two years later they were all still friends, hanging out in the same park together almost everyday.

Although that year may or have been Xavier's best Christmas Day, it was certainly his best Christmas season. As for his best Christmas Day, that was a whole other mess of events.

It was December 25th, 2006 when Xavier woke up to a loud noise outside. He rolled over to check his clock to discover that it was currently one in the morning. John had made Xavier promise not to wake him up before seven that day so Xavier stayed true to his promise, but he still had to go outside to see what the noise was, because what if it was Santa? It was in fact not Santa, but instead a stray German Shepard that had found his way to the outside of the building. Now no child in their right mind would just leave a dog to sit out in the cold so Xavier grabbed his fur and  dragged him inside and down the hall until they finally reached the young boys room.  The rest of Xavier's night was spent playing with his new dog, who he had named Marshmallow after a different dog that he had met when he was a child.

The morning cane sooner than expected and the moment that John found out about Marshmallow they were looking for his owner. Xavier tried to convince his father to keep the dog, but space was too much of an issue at the time and there was no way that a six year old could take care of a full grown dog on his own, so by the end of the day Marshmallow was returned to his rightful family and Xavier was sat in a corner sulking. But soon all was forgotten as presents were brought and played with for the rest of the night. It wasn't a wonderful day for anyone, but it was certainly an eventful one and one that Xavier would cherish for most of his life.

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A/N: I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas, or what ever other holiday you celebrate!