July 28 - July sun
Title: Carry On
Author: Pompey
Universe: my head-canon ACD
Rating: PG
Warnings: mention of death, grieving. Touches of William S. Baring-Gould biographies
Word count: 125
Summary: How do you explain death to a child too young to understand?
Prompt: July 28 - "In July the sun is hot; is it shining? No it's not."
The funeral was in July, a hot and sticky day despite the overcast sky. The lack of a shining sun was one of three things that allowed Andrew Watson* to keep himself together. The other two were his sons. For their sake, he could not go to pieces, no matter how much he mourned the loss of his wife.
Harry was seven, old enough to understand that she was not coming back. But Jack was barely four and every confused, plaintive request for his mother sent another bolt of pain through Andrew’s heart. The best he could do for either of them was to hold Jack on his lap, wrap his other arm around Harry’s shoulders, and try to be both a mother and father.
*A/N: In SIGN (set around 1887), Holmes says that Watson’s watch had belonged to his father and is about 50 years old, which means the watch was made in the 1830s. But if Watson was born in the mid-1850s (my own head-canon says spring of 1853 to have taken his M.D. in 1878), then to have owned a watch worth fifty guineas that was made in the 1830s either his father was rather old when Watson was born, or he was given a very expensive watch at a very young age, or the watch belonged to Watson’s grandfather first and then passed to his Watson’s father before going to Watson’s brother. (“Jewelry usually descends to the eldest son” after all.) So in my head-canon, the H.W. stands for Hamish Watson, John’s grandfather.
Author: Pompey
Universe: my head-canon ACD
Rating: PG
Warnings: mention of death, grieving. Touches of William S. Baring-Gould biographies
Word count: 125
Summary: How do you explain death to a child too young to understand?
Prompt: July 28 - "In July the sun is hot; is it shining? No it's not."
The funeral was in July, a hot and sticky day despite the overcast sky. The lack of a shining sun was one of three things that allowed Andrew Watson* to keep himself together. The other two were his sons. For their sake, he could not go to pieces, no matter how much he mourned the loss of his wife.
Harry was seven, old enough to understand that she was not coming back. But Jack was barely four and every confused, plaintive request for his mother sent another bolt of pain through Andrew’s heart. The best he could do for either of them was to hold Jack on his lap, wrap his other arm around Harry’s shoulders, and try to be both a mother and father.
*A/N: In SIGN (set around 1887), Holmes says that Watson’s watch had belonged to his father and is about 50 years old, which means the watch was made in the 1830s. But if Watson was born in the mid-1850s (my own head-canon says spring of 1853 to have taken his M.D. in 1878), then to have owned a watch worth fifty guineas that was made in the 1830s either his father was rather old when Watson was born, or he was given a very expensive watch at a very young age, or the watch belonged to Watson’s grandfather first and then passed to his Watson’s father before going to Watson’s brother. (“Jewelry usually descends to the eldest son” after all.) So in my head-canon, the H.W. stands for Hamish Watson, John’s grandfather.