To Make Life Worth Living

~17~

The door he knocked on was black and the entrance to a nicer flat in London. He'd been here a handful of times since he met the owner a few years ago. Lestrade answered the door swiftly, looking disheveled and with his tie not yet tied. His hair was ruffled where he'd been running his hands through it so much. Clearly, the man barely had enough sense to get himself ready on early mornings let alone a child as well.

"Sherlock." He greeted, taking a sip of his coffee and walking back into the flat for the man to follow after. "Hamish!" He called into the flat next, "Sherlock is here to pick you up."

The detective inspector peered at Sherlock over his coffee, "I can't believe he is actually letting you do this!" He chuckled.

"John lets you look after Hamish!" Sherlock objected with a wave of his hands.

"Yes but I'm his uncle... Not by blood but I've been helping out since he was a baby and plus, your a psychopath!"

"Sociopath." He answered coolly, glaring at the DI.

----

Sherlock held onto the small human's hand tightly. It mildly frustrated him that he had to significantly slow down his pace but he accepted it begrudgingly. He glanced down at Hamish, who was trying to jump over the cracks in the pavement, and let out a smile. He hadn't ever been given the opportunity to spend time with a child before.

The small boy's hair bumped up and down as his body rose and fell. The innocent grey eyes would occasionally flit to Sherlock's large feet as he didn't even attempt to jump the lines. He seemed to wish Sherlock would also jump.

While walking hand in hand with Hamish, Sherlock did notice how many older women glanced at him with fondness in their eyes. Mothers clearly appreciative of a father playing their role. He wasn't going to burst out to some stranger that he and Hamish weren't related.

"So," Sherlock decided to try and produce some intellectual conversation from the four year old."What did you do with your uncle yesterday?"

The boy swung on his arm, pulling him down. Sherlock regained balance quickly to prevent them collapsing onto the pavement.

"I have spaghetti and pull it up like this." He make a sucking sound with his mouth as though he was drawing in a length of pasta, "And I watch Big Hero 6 and play with Monkey. Uncle Greg read me Gruffalo!" He pulled on Sherlock's arm again but this time the man was prepared so held his upper body rigid.

"Sounds like you had fun." Sherlock mumbled.

"Where we going? Where Papa?" Hamish peered up at the tall man.

"I'm taking you home. Your Papa had to go to work so I am watching you today instead." He smiled at the boy, trying to stop him being disappointed that his father had to spend another day apart.

"Will we play?" He asked, priorities set in order.

"Of course, we will play. We will do other things too." Sherlock chuckled at the boy. He was glad he was allowed to be innocent and have a normal childhood. When he was Hamish's age he was already intellectually ahead so he couldn't act like a normal child. He couldn't have fun. Looking down at the boy now, he wished he had been able to have something similar to him where he can just be a child.

"I am hungry." The light haired boy told the detective while tugging at his sleeve.

"Already?" The boy nodded and Sherlock sighed, "Fine, I'll get you some ice cream."

----

John clicked the door open quietly as the flat was silent. If there was any activity, the flat would be small enough to reveal it. There was no such thing silence in a small flat. It wasn't that rare for Hamish to be quiet but silent was an oddity. He would normally be scribbling on a piece of paper and bashing his toys against the floor.

He crept in, just in case his son was napping. He poked his head around the bedroom door to find it empty. He frowned and padded further into the flat. He looked inside the living room and discovered the pair.

Sherlock was lying back on the sofa with Hamish cuddled next to him. A book was on Sherlock's lap but they were both asleep.

John chuckled before going out to change into something more comfortable. He decided to leave them to nap for a few minutes more as, from the mess on the living room floor, it appeared as though they'd had a very busy day. He made a mental note to tidy it up once Hamish was in bed.