Sadie: That’s a very good point. John would fight tooth and nail to keep that ‘tough guy’ exterior up around Mycroft…his is not a baby, should anyone need to be reminded. But, Sherlock *does* look awfully content to sit in his older brother’s lap. And Mycroft, while still being his normal stuffy, proper self, doesn’t sound as nearly condescending as he usually does. And John is starting to feel a bit left out.
“Sherlock, apologize.” Mycroft put a gentle hand on the back of John’s neck.
“Sowwie!” Sherlock cackled, rolling on the bed.
“Say it like you mean it!” John sneered.
“And we’re done here. Jawn, will you get out the hero movie we’re going to watch and put it in the DVD player?” Mycroft guided Jawn out of the bedroom.
“Jawn no know how!” Sherlock chased them down the hallway, bare feet slapping.
“I do so!”
Mycroft gave john a gentle push towards the sitting room before turning on his baby brother. “Sherlock. Collect your bottle and Jawn’s cup, please.”
“Is my cup. Mine ‘ron man!”
No. Sherlock is to little for a big boy cup today. You’ll have your bottle. Now, go get them please.“
Sherlock frowned as he stooped below the kitchen table to collect the bottle.
“My’coff, where going?” John asked from the doorway of the sitting room.
“The lavatory. You both have tasks to complete. Behave!” Mycroft slipped into the bathroom, closing the door. It was a huge gamble, leaving them alone, but nature wouldn’t wait any longer.
Sadie: John turned to go into the sitting room to set up the movie, but he noticed that Sherlock breezed back into the room, with only his bottle in hand. “Where’s my cup?”
The little detective shrugged, and John frowned. “Go get it!”
Sherlock scowled. “You not boss!”
“My told you!”
The little detective dropped his bottle and folded his arms across his chest, then shook his head. “I do movie,” he said, brushing past John.
“Nuh-UH, my job!” John whirled around, caught Sherlock around the waist and lifted him off his feet, eliciting an ear-splitting screech.
Mycroft sighed, and wondered if he could get away with just staying where he was.
Mycroft slowly washed his hands and adjusted his waist coat, listening to the intense squabbling in the sitting room. He was actually surprised it had taken this long for a fight to break out. ‘Sibling’ rivalry had been the theme of the day.
Steeling himself, he opened the bathroom door and made his way into the sitting room. Without hesitation he smacked the back of the first thigh he saw. Sherlock howled indignantly, releasing the hold he had on John’s ear to cover his thigh.
“Naughty step. Now.”
Sherlock looked about ready to protest but another smack on the leg sent him scurrying for the steps. John stood glaring at Mycroft, chest heaving. Mycroft moved swiftly, stepping in and smacking John’s thigh, “Corner. Now.” The little doctor rushed to obey.
The flat was silent except for the sounds of sniffles from the stairwell and the corner of the kitchen.
Sadie: Now that the boxers had been sent to their respective corners of the ring, Mycroft took his time in getting both John’s cup and Sherlock’s bottle, then returning to the nursery to collect two blankets…the green one being John’s, obviously, so that must mean the purple one was his little brother’s. He left them on opposite ends of the couch, and then put the DVD into the player. “…You may both come out now.”
He kept his back turned until he heard the quiet footsteps of two subdued little boys pad up behind him. When he turned to face them, he was met with two very contrite-looking, ruddy-faced little ones…Sherlock still even had unshed tears in his eyes and had, at some point, lost his dummy and traded it for his thumb . Mycroft put his hands on his hips and looked down at them; “You both know why you put into time-out, so I’m not going to rehash why and why you shouldn’t ever do that again. I want you both to hug and apologize, then go sit with your blankets.”
Sherlock and John cast wary glances at each other, neither making the first move, until Mycroft cleared his throat. John, feeling that since he was the older of two, opened his arms and mumbled “Sorry,” while looking down at the floor.
Sherlock fell into the little doctor’s embrace, burying is face in John’s shoulder, “Sowwie, Jawn.”
John patted his back reflexively. “S’okay.”
“There’s my good boys. Now, blankets.”
John and Sherlock untangled themselves and went to sit on opposite ends of the sofa. Sherlock sat sideways on top of his blanket, rubbing his cheek on the soft material draped over the back cushion. John curled into a tiny ball underneath his blanket, only his nose visible.
“You’re both adorable, which is lucky, because you’re both also incorrigible.” Mycroft sat between the two little boys, tugging them both in close before turning on the DVD.
“Now who is this handsome character with the septre?” Mycroft gently pulled Sherlock’s thumb from his mouth and replaced it with the bottle. With all the weeping and nappy changes, they were both at risk for dehydration.
“Loki.” John peeped from beneath his blanket barricade.
Mycroft gently prodded John out of hiding. “He’s who the captain and the iron man must defeat?”
“Yea. But he was tricked and is sad. So it’s kinda not his fault.” John said, eyes glued to the screen as he fiddled with the sippy cup Mycroft had put in his hands
Sadie: ““P’etty,” Sherlock said, feeling the need to add to the discussion going on without him.
“Hm, what was that? He’s petty?” Mycroft asked, petting Sherlock’s hair.
The little detective giggled and popped his bottle out of his mouth. “No, p’wetty!” he said, smiling and wrinkling his nose up at his brother. A thin line of juice dribbled from the corner of his mouth and down his chin.
Mycroft wiped it away with his thumb, then wiped his thumb on Sherlock’s blanket. “Well…you’re not wrong. But I thought you like Iron Man?”
“Bo’ff!”
John snorted, which no one in this room of Rulers of the Derisive Snort would have noticed, had it not been for the fact that John had quite forgotten about the straw full of juice in his mouth. A swig of apple juice shot down his throat the wrong way and for a moment, he lost his breath before coughing violently.
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