A Small Problem 4

"Come on, I know I can do this!"

"Give it up John, you've been at it for almost 12 minutes now"

"And I'll gladly keep at it for another 12"

"If you must, just don't hit the coffee table this time"

Sherlock was draped over his armchair regarding me curiously as I braced myself for yet another cartwheel. All my previous attempts had failed miserably and ended up with me having a sore ass. I threw myself forward, left hand hitting the floor first, closely followed by my right. My right leg landed then my left. I looked down and found that I was upright.

"YES!" I yelled in victory "I knew I could do it!"

"Congratulations John, including the hand-stands you accomplished before breakfast you've achieved two new skills and it's not even lunch."

"What else am I supposed to do?" I said, hopping onto the couch. "It's not like I can go out"

Sherlock got up from his seat and looked out of the window. "Why would you want to go out there? It's boring. Nothing remotely interesting, apart from the occasional case, happens out..." he trailed off, looking more closely at something that seemed to be on the pavement. I got up and looked down at what he was staring at. "It seems Mrs Hudson has a few visitors" and she did.

A young couple were standing in the street talking to Mrs Hudson who had went to greet them. Also, the couple's two little children were hugging our landlady and giggling when she pinched there cheeks. Then, the couple waved and started walking up the street, the children waved back and they went inside.

"So those are her grand kids" I mused to myself.

"Her son and his wife too" added Sherlock "Second honeymoon probably" he paused for a moment before continuing "She's pregnant"

I was going to ask him how the hell he could possibly know that when there was a knock at the living room door. "Yes, come in Mrs Hudson" called Sherlock. The door opened and our landlady and the two children I saw before stepped into the room.

They looked remarkably similar. They must be twins for they looked the same age, they couldn't be older than 6. Both boy and girl had the same chestnut hair and hazel eyes. They were both the same height and there clothes even matched. The boy was wearing jeans and a light blue t-shirt, where as the girl wore white tights under a denim skirt and a long sleeved baby blue shirt.

"This," Mrs Hudson said, addressing the twins "is Sherlock and that little boy is called John. Say hello"

"Hi" said the boy timidly. Mrs Hudson nudged his back slightly and he continued "I'm James and that's Jessica" he said nudging his sister.

"Hi" she said quietly, giving us both a shy wave.

I got up from the couch and walked over to them. "Nice to meet you" I said, giving them a smile so they knew I didn't bite.

"Sherlock, I hope you don't mind me leaving them with you for the day, I thought that with John all by himself and that I have to check up on Mary down the road with her bad hip and--"

"It's perfectly fine Mrs Hudson" Sherlock cut in "we'll look after them, won't we John?" he asked, smiling.

I nodded and she smiled back. "Well, I'll be back later munchkins" she said hugging the twins "Behave for Uncle Sherlock now" she added as she descended the stairs and out the front door.

"So, what do you kids want to do?" asked Sherlock.

"I dunno" shrugged James "What do you do for fun around here?" he asked me.

"Um... I, well-" I stammered, trying to find an excuse.

"Does your dad not let you do ANYTHING?"

Dad? Did he mean Sherlock? I must of looked shocked because Jessica put a hand on my shoulder and looked confused. "Are you OK?" she said lightly.

"He's fine" started Sherlock crouching so he was at our level and placing a hand on my other shoulder. "John, come and help me in the kitchen will you. You two can watch telly if you want." He got up and walked to the kitchen beckoning for me to follow as the twins leapt onto the sofa.

"They think your my dad" I said as I closed the door.

"Well, let them think" he said simply "can't have them knowing the truth"

"Your right, as usual. So what do I do now?"

"Act like a normal kid. Watch TV, slide down the banister, whatever you want"

"Really?"

"Really, now go entertain them"

"What about you?"

"John, have you met me? I don't do well with children"

"You do OK with me"

"Yeah, with you, but your not a child"

I cleared my throat and gestured to myself hoping he would get the hint. He rolled his eyes and sighed. "In body yes but not in mind, though point taken"

There was a slight pause then I had an idea. "Can I really do anything?"

"Yes, you have my permission, just keep them amused"

"I'm going to have to hold you to that" I said, exiting the kitchen hoping that the twins liked sledging.


********************


"John, when I said anything-" Sherlock was cut off by the laughing and squeeling of the twins and myself as we zoomed down the stairs on Sherlock's duvet and crashed in a heap into his bedroom door at the bottom.

"Bet you I can go down faster than you!" cried James as he picked up the duvet and made his way back up the stairs.

"No way, I'm a pro!" I called as I jumped up the stairs behind him.

"Oi! It's girls first!" said Jessica "And besides, girls always go faster"

I could see Sherlock leaning on the living room doorway, arms crossed watching with an amused grin as he watched us sled down the small flight of stairs one by one.

When the game grew tiresome we went into the kitchen to see if there were still some biscuits in the tin. "Hay James, pass me over the chair" I said and I climbed up to the cupboard as he steadied the chair. "Jessie, catch!" I called as I dropped the tin and she caught it easily.

"Got it, and it's Jessica, not Jessie" she said as she opened the tin.

"Sorry" I said as I jumped off the chair and helped myself to a biscuit.

"Hay, where's your dad?" asked James with mouth full of digestive.

"I dunno" I said as I glanced through into the living room.

"Lets find him, It can be like a treasure hunt" said Jessica excitedly.

"Like a boring treasure hunt" said James as we walked into the living room "This place is quite small, there's not many places to hide"

"I'll check his room" I said, though the others still followed anyway. "He's not here"

"Wow, his bed is huge!" gaped James "Bet I can jump higher than you!" he said running and jumping on the bed.

"No you can't!" said Jessica as she joined her brother.

"Come on John, it's fun!" called James

"I bet I can touch the ceiling before you!" cried Jessica

"Yeh, give me a sec" This was odd, Sherlock wouldn't just leave without telling me. I need to calm down. He's probably in the bathroom. I bounded up the staired and knocked on the door but I heard no reply. I opened the door to make sure. Nope, not there. I checked my room but still no luck. I went back to Sherlock's room to find the twins sitting on the bed.

"Where were you?" asked Jessica as I joined them on top of the bed.

"Bathroom" I said, not too untruthfully.

"Your dad is so cool, letting you do all this stuff" said James.

"Well...yeah, he is cool isn't he?" I said, thinking about how well Sherlock has been taking all of this, me being little again.

"Our dad is cool too" Jessica boasted "He reads us bedtime stories and he says he is going to teach us how to play cricket this summer"

"Those stories are for babies!" said James as he playfully shoved his sister "I like fights and battles and dragons getting there heads chopped off!"

"What's your favorite story John?"

"I dunno, I guess I liked Cinderella but I don't get bedtime stories anymore"

"I like that one, we did a play about it in our class. I was the Fairy and James was the Prince"

I looked over at James who was hanging face first off the bed. "Hey, what are you doing?" I asked.

"I dropped half a biscuit around here and I--AAH!" he yelled and scrambled back onto the bed as fast as he could. "There is something down there!"

"Well this is Sh- um dads room. There is some weird stuff in here" I said as I belly slid to the side of the bed where James had been. I dropped myself down so that I was peering upside-down underneath the bed and I saw the 'something' that was right under us. "Are you going to come out or are we going to have to come in after you?" Sherlock then army-crawled out from the darkness, stood up and dusted himself off and ran a hand through his curls.

"Well, I guess you found me" he said sitting down on the bed.

"You were hiding?" I asked.

"No. Just looking for a quiet place to work, and it was before you started jumping on the bed" he said smirking at the twins.

"Sorry" they said simultaneously.

Just then we heard a knock on the door. "That was quick" said Sherlock as he stood up from the bed.

"What is?" I asked as he made his way to his bedroom door.

"Food" he said smiling "Hope you munchkins like pizza"


********************


"Thank you Uncle Sherlock" said James as he licked his lips clean of the tomato sauce.

"Yeah that was really nice" said Jessica as she took a drink from her lemonade.

"Thanks dad" I said without realizing what I had just called him. "Um...I mean, I-"

"Your welcome" he said ruffling my hair and saving me from embarrassing myself further. "Help me clear up will you John" he said grabbing a pizza box and making his way to the kitchen. I grabbed the other pizza box and followed him.

"Sorry about that" I babbled after I wedged the box into the bin and hopped up onto the table. "I don't think of you as a dad. You have been kind of parent-y the past few days but that's not the point. What I mean is -"

"I know what you meant" he interrupted, placing a hand on my shoulder "I don't think of you as a son" then he leaned forward and placed a light kiss on my forehead. I could feel my checks burning and I was grateful that he didn't point it out. "Come on then" he said as he reached the door. I hopped down from the table and went into the living room.

"Uncle Sherlock, what's your favorite story?" asked Jessica when he sat on his armchair.

"Um..." he started, looking quite confused by the question "I don't know any stories"

"Really?" I asked, looking just as confused as Sherlock.

"Your parents never read you stories when you were little?" asked Jessica

"Um...no. Sorry"

Jessica thought for a moment before she said suddenly "We can tell you a story!"

"What?" said James

"We can show him a story. We can tell Uncle Sherlock Cinderella. John likes it and we pretty much know all of it off by heart. Please James!"

"Fine. Only if it's OK with you John"

"OK then" I agreed

"I'll be the Fairy, James will be the Prince and John, you can be Cinderella if you want" said Jessica, getting more and more excited.

"What? I dunno, I cant - I don't --"

"Go on John" I turned to Sherlock to find him smirking at me "I've never had a story told to me before let alone acted out"

I gave out a long sigh and finally replied "OK, I'll do it" Sherlock can be so manipulative at times. "but I better not be expected to wear a dress!"

And so we performed a short play for Sherlock that I will never hear the end of for as long as I live. Jessica narrated the story and told me that I had to scrub the floor at this bit and dance with James at another bit. At one point I had to take off my trainer to be the slipper but it wouldn't come off right away so that kind of put a dent in our already rusty performance. Now I was sitting on the couch as the Prince came looking for the Princess who's foot fit into the glass trainer. He placed it on my foot carefully and took my hands in his and lifted me off the couch.

"...and the Prince kissed his Princess and they lived happily ever after"

"EEW!" cried James and myself and we jumped back from each other. I heard Sherlock laughing and clapping us from his chair. Jessica grabbed our hands and we bowed a few times then sat on the couch awaiting Sherlock's verdict.

"That was fantastic! Cinderella is now my favorite fairy tale story"

We talked a while longer then we turned on the telly and watched a rubbish musical that just happened to be on. It was almost an hour before the twins fell asleep then I followed just 15 minutes later. I, being a light sleeper, heard the front door close and Mrs Hudson climb up the stairs. Keeping my eyes closed I heard her and Sherlock whispering together. Then I felt the body of Jessica, who was sat next to me, being lifted off the couch closely followed by James.

I heard Sherlock re-enter the flat and sit next to me silently. He stroked a few strands of my hair out of my closed eyes and traced the side of my face with a slender finger. I felt him rise from the sofa then I felt his arms wrap themselves around me and lift me up into his embrace. I naturally snuggled closer into his shoulder and wrapped one arm around his neck and I let the other rest on his chest as he carried me off to bed.

I couldn't feel him going up the stairs though. He took me into his room and tucked me into his bed before climbing in himself. I felt him stroke my face and I shuffled slightly closer to him. I kept moving nearer and nearer until his arm was around me pulling me close with his fingers tracing small circles between my shoulder blades and my head nestled into the crook of his neck.

That was the best nights sleep I have had in years.