Work Text:
CLOSE-UP OF THE UPPER SURFACE OF A STONE WALL
A kid’s hands pour out a roll of Smarties onto the concrete. The hands start swiftly almost hastily to sort the Smarties by their colour and arrange each colour in rows of ten, starting a new row with the eleventh, the twenty-first and so on. The colours are arranged from the left to the right from the lightest to the darkest.
THE CAMERA ZOOMS OUT SLOWLY
The hands belong to a boy of about eleven years. He has dark curly hair that's slightly longer than my grandmother would approve of. He wears jeans, a self-knitted cardigan with a pirate pattern and yellow wellies. Beside him on the wall lays his school bag.
The sky is blue with white clouds, but there are no leaves on a tree in the background yet. Considering the thick cardigan the boy is wearing it still seems to be pretty cold, early spring. It's a little windy but not stormy.
The boy is sitting all alone on the wall, but we hear children's voices from further away in the background.
CUT: THE BOY’S POINT OF VIEW
In front of him is a grass field with two football goals where a few boys and some girls - about the age of the boy on the wall, some maybe a little older - play football. They don't wear football shirts, this is not an organized training, just the kids of the village meeting to play football together.
The football field is surrounded by green fields. In the far background we see a few houses, the outskirts of the village.
The boy on the wall interestedly observes the game, while he systematically eats the Smarties, first eliminating the ones that are not part of a full row of ten.
A boy shoots at the goal. The pictures go into slow motion.
The boy on the wall looks up at a flag waving on a pole beside the football field. In the upper left corner of the screen appears: 7 m/s WSW.
The boy looks back at the game. Around the ball flying in slow motion a few vector arrows and numbers appear. A line appear showing the trajectory the ball is going to take. The line ends right at the goal’s bar. The boy shakes his head deflatedly.
The vectors, the trajectory and the wind velocity disappear. The picture moves in its normal speed again. The ball hits the bar.
MAN’S VOICE: It was obvious that he’d miss.
BOY (smiling slightly without looking up): Yes, it was.
He looks up. Sherlock is standing beside him also following the game. He must have arrived unnoticed while the boy was observing the shot on goal. The resemblance between Sherlock and the boy is obvious.
The boy is definitely happy to see Sherlock, but his reaction is pretty casual. They are seeing each other regularly, so it's not a special surprise that Sherlock has come to meet him here
Sherlock moves the boys school bag to the side to sit down on the wall beside him. When the school bag is moved the camera catches the name label on the school bag and lingers on it for a moment.
We read: Daniel S. Holmes and an address in Friston, East Sussex.
Sherlock and Danny don't look at each other while they are talking but are both following the game. Occasionally Sherlock also takes a Smartie but only the ones that should be eaten first.
DANNY: Mom didn't say, that you’d come this weekend.
SHERLOCK: I didn't know I’d come until this morning either, but I just closed a pretty heavy case. (He pauses for a moment.) I can use some time away from London.
They watch the game for a few moments.
SHERLOCK: Mom wants me to talk to you about school.
DANNY: What about school?
SHERLOCK: You have to choose which school you want to go to after primary school this summer.
DANNY: Yes.
SHERLOCK: Mom says you want to go to Eastbourne Secondary school.
DANNY: Yes.
SHERLOCK: You know, you are on the application list for the boarding school me, Mycroft, Grandpa and kind of every Holmes before him went to. What about that?
DANNY (not scared or whining, just stating a fact. He knows no one will force him to do anything he doesn't want to do): I want to stay here.
SHERLOCK: Why?
DANNY: I want to stay with Mom, I want to see you for the weekends and most of the kids from my class also go to Eastbourne.
SHERLOCK: You always say all of the kids in your class are stupid.
DANNY: They are! But… (Thinking for a moment about why he wants to stay with them anyway.) Jerry is the only one who still says mean things sometimes and Jacob and Gracie always tell him to shut up.
A boy from the football field comes running over. He’s gotten warm from playing football and throws his jacket onto the wall beside Danny. He gives a nod to Sherlock.
The boy is about to run off again, but his eyes land on the sorted Smarties on the wall.
BOY: Oh, can I have one.
DANNY: Yes, but only that one.
He points at the Smartie whose turn it is to be eaten. The boy takes the right Smartie without questioning the instruction and runs off to join the game again. The kids in the village know that Danny is pretty special (not only) about his Smarties and most of them have stopped wondering about it.
SHERLOCK: Will Jacob and Gracie also go to Eastbourne?
Danny nods.
DANNY: They are the only ones who do not constantly complain, when I let it slip that I think they're stupid. (Thinking for a moment.) Maybe because I tell them that much less often than I do with the others...
SHERLOCK: Do you just tell them that less often or are they actually less stupid than the others?
Danny thinks again for a moment.
DANNY (musingly): I don't think they understand much more than the others either but somehow they don't seem as stupid as the others anyway…
SHERLOCK (smiling slightly): Maybe it's because you like them? People tend to seem less stupid if you like them.
Danny nods slowly.
DANNY: Maybe.
He thinks for a moment.
DANNY: You think the kids at the boarding school are less stupid than the ones in my class?
SHERLOCK (honestly): Probably not...
Again they watch the game for some time. After a while:
DANNY: Did you like it at boarding school?
SHERLOCK (without hesitation): No, I was miserable!
DANNY (snorting): Then why do you want me to go there?
SHERLOCK (calmly): It's an opportunity many would envy you for, you know? It will open doors for you for the rest of your life. People will always let you join in their games if you have been at a school like that.
Danny thinks about that for a few seconds. He watches the other kids from the village play football.
DANNY: Will it be games I’d like to join in?
SHERLOCK: Sometimes…
DANNY: Will it be people I’d like to play with?
SHERLOCK (smiling slightly): Probably not…
DANNY: Then do you really think it was worth it to have been miserable for six years?
SHERLOCK (snorting): I don’t know if I would have been much less miserable at Eastbourne Secondary school... Or any other school for that matter…
He looks at Danny. The question hangs in the air: Will you be miserable at any school?
DANNY (looking back at Sherlock): I’m already there once a week. I know Tom and Adam. I think they will take care of me.
CUT: A SCHOOL HALLWAY
There are posters warning kids to stay away from drugs and advertising for an exchange year on the continent. Some students walk by. They are teenagers. This is obviously not Danny’s primary school.
Danny walks around the corner. A notebook under his arm. He seems to know his way.
He stops at a door. At the door we read: Computer lab. Below that is a self drawn poster: ASTRONOMY CLUB, Tuesdays 3:30 to 5 pm.
Danny opens the door. A few teenagers sit at the computers. They wear school uniforms that are pretty much dissolved this late in the day. Most of the ties have gone and some kids have put on jumpers that aren't part of the uniform.
A guy has just gotten up from his chair and taken his school bag to leave. He meets Danny at the door.
GUY (to Danny): Hi, Freak!
Two other guys (Adam and Tom) are sitting in front of the computer next to the door.
Adam gets up and draws a third chair over for Danny to sit on.
ADAM (to the guy, who just insulted Danny): Oh, fuck off, Chris!
Chris just snorts and leaves, closing the door behind himself.
On Adam’s and Tom’s computer screen we see a sketchy model of planets moving on their orbits.
Tom clicks with the mouse. A source code opens. They are obviously programming a model simulating the planets’ movements.
Danny gets up on the chair, his legs dangling down. These chairs aren’t made for eleven year olds.
TOM (to Danny): Have you solved our problem from last week?
Danny opens his notebook.
DANNY: Oh, yes! I have!
CUT BACK: THE WALL AT THE FOOTBALL FIELD
DANNY (continuing): And with Jacob and Gracie also there... I think I’ll be ok…
They have finished to eat all of the Smarties. Danny jumps down from the wall and takes his school bag. Sherlock is still sitting on the wall. He holds the school bag on its handle to take some of the weight while Danny puts it on his back.
Sherlock also gets down from the wall. They start walking towards the small parking area between the football field and the road.
A girl (Gracie) on the football field sees that Danny and Sherlock are about to leave. She waves at Danny.
GRACIE (shouting): Bye, Danny!
A boy (Jacob), also involved in the game, turns around and also waves as well.
Danny waves back at them.
DANNY (shouting): See you Monday!
SHERLOCK (while they walk side by side): So… Jacob, Gracie, Tom and Adam… (almost proudly) You’ve got four friends!
DANNY: Friends…? (Thinking for a moment, then continuing not sad or disappointed just stating a fact) I don’t think I would go that far! (after a moment) Do you think Grandpa will be disappointed that I won’t go to his old school?
SHERLOCK: Maybe… But that’s not your problem.
DANNY: What about Uncle Myc? What will he say that his nephew goes to a (He continues in a tone that we can easily imagine Mycroft would use if he had to say these words) state-funded comprehensive school.
SHERLOCK: Oh, if he says anything ask him why he never produced any offspring of his own to send to boarding school…
Sherlock presses the car key. The car beeps.
SHERLOCK (devilish): And please let me be close by to see his face...
He opens the driver’s door.
Danny doesn’t really get that joke and looks confused for a moment. He opens the passenger's door.
SHERLOCK: Mom said we should buy something for dinner. Pizza?
DANNY (enthusiastically): Pizza!
They get into the car. The car starts and drives off. The camera slowly floats up and pans around. We see an overview of the football field, the surrounding fields and the village in the background, in the distance the Sussex coast and the English Channel.
_____________________
TWELVE YEARS EARLIER
WE SEE SHERLOCK’S FACE. He looks extremely confused.
SHERLOCK: Wha… What? ( Pause ) What?
THE CAMERA ZOOMS OUT SLOWLY. Sherlock is sitting at a table. He’s wearing an outwashed T-shirt of the University of Oxbridge. In front of him a cutting board with squash on it. He’s holding a knife that's still sticking halfway in the squash. Obviously he froze in the middle of cutting it. He’s staring at someone in front of him.
SHERLOCK: You want what?
CUT TO THE BROADER VIEW: THE KITCHEN IN JANINE’S COTTAGE IN SUSSEX
Janine is standing at the stove, a cooking spoon in hand. Behind her there’s a pot and a pan on the stove. She has been cooking but has turned around to Sherlock now.
JANINE: I want a child.
Sherlock is still staring at her. He opens his mouth a few times, but nothing comes out. Finally:
SHERLOCK: With me?!
JANINE: If you want to… Yes!
SHERLOCK ( Hastily ): I DON’T want to! ( Pause ) What if I don't want to?
JANINE: Then I’ll find a different solution.
Sherlock still looks pretty overchallenged, relieved that there seems to be a way for him out of this but not entirely sure he wants to know about the “different solution”.
Janine puts down the cooking spoon on a plate beside the stove and sits down at the table opposite of Sherlock.
JANINE ( calmly ): Look, I have decided… I realised that I want a child. ( Pause ) I imagine that becoming a father is not exactly something you have in mind for your future?
SHERLOCK: Well, NO! ( Pause ) So… ( Slowly getting what this might mean for them and not liking that thought at all ) So… I assume, you are going to search for someone else who DOES have that on his mind for his future…?
JANINE: No.
Sherlock looks at her questioning.
JANINE ( continuing ): I haven't found the perfect “man-who-is-going-to-be-the father-of-my-children” up to this point of my life, so it's not very likely that I will in the near future... And I’m actually not even sure anymore I’d want to find him.
SHERLOCK (After thinking for a few moments ): So... ?
JANINE: So, I’m going to do this on my own… As far as the social part goes anyway… I obviously need someone for the biological part…
SHERLOCK ( slowly getting it ): So, you’re not asking me to move in here, buy a Volvo and think about baby names. You’re just… ( Pause )
JANINE: ...I’m just asking you to get me pregnant. ( Pause ) If and how much you’d also want to be involved as a father is entirely up to you. You can just be a name on the birth certificate or I can even convince everyone that it happened at the Summer carnival in Hastings and that I don't remember the name of the guy in question, if that's what you prefer.
They look at each other for a few seconds.
SHERLOCK ( calmly ): What if I still say no?
JANINE: I suppose then I’ll find a guy at the Summer Carnival in Hastings...
Sherlock lets that sink in. Considering that he always wanted this relationship to be as casual as possible the thought of Janine with someone else bothers him more than he would ever have expected. In fact he doesn’t like all of this.
SHERLOCK ( stubbornly, defiantly) : What if I do not just not want to be a father, but don't want to have a child running around here at all?
Ever thought of that?
I want to spend my weekends with you drinking wine (He points at the glass of wine beside his cutting board, that has obviously already been emptied half way while cutting squash.), having dinner and having sex whenever and wherever we feel appropriate. I don’t want a kid around here. It doesn't really matter if it's mine or somebody else's.
JANINE (Trying to stay calm in the beginning, but getting angrier with every sentence ): You know I’ve always been totally ok with this arrangement: Spending weekends together, having fun together, but otherwise not interfering with each other’s lives. I do not just accept this because you want it like this, it suits me very well as well.
But this doesn't just mean that I’m not supposed to interfere with your life, you aren't supposed to interfere with mine either!
If and how much you want to be involved in this child is your choice. IF I’m going to have a child at all, is not!
If I want to have children, I will. I’m not going to forgo that because it might spoil your weekends! I'm not your mistress that has to keep at your disposal when you need an escape to relax.
If you don't like having a kid around here, you will soon have to go somewhere else for your weekends!
She storms out of the kitchen. Sherlock remains seated. He looks after her, surprised about this outbreak.
SOME TIME LATER; JANINE’S PATIO OVERLOOKING THE ENGLISH CHANNEL
Janine is standing on the patio looking out over the sea. Sherlock comes out of the french door behind her.
SHERLOCK ( quietly ): Would you like it to be mine?
Janine turns around towards him.
JANINE: Yes. ( Pause, smiling slightly ) You think I would prefer the DNA of some Sussex farmer’s boy if I have Holmes-DNA available?
SHERLOCK (Also smiling slightly) : You know, on the very rare occasions the thought of children ever came up…That was kind of the only thing on the pro-side: That it would be a real waste if the Holmes-DNA would not be passed on...
JANINE: You actually thought about having kids?
SHERLOCK: Rarely. Very theoretically. A long time ago. Provided that there would ever be someone with whom I… I think I rather thought about not having kids to be exact. Except for that one point on the pro-side, I ended up with a pretty clear and final No! So,... ( Pause ) No! I’m sorry!
JANINE: Well, your brother will certainly not take care of passing on the Holmes DNA, won’t he?!
SHERLOCK (Grinning): No certainly not. (Jokingly) You are sure you’d be up to handling someone with Holmes-DNA?
JANINE (Teasingly): I am one of the very few people who can claim that I’m totally up to handling someone with Holmes-DNA.
SHERLOCK: That’s pretty optimistic… ( still trying to sound as if he’s joking ) I’m sometimes not even sure myself , that I’m able to handle myself and my DNA!
JANINE (Seriously) : Was that part of the contra side? ( Pause ) That - as worthy of preservation you might consider your DNA to be - you know what it’s like to live with it?
SHERLOCK (Evasively): Maybe… ( Pause ) If you constantly meet people, who… Except for myself, Mycroft - I assume - and maybe my parents, I suppose you are the only one who would consider the Holmes-DNA outstandingly worth of procreation.
JANINE: But I totally do! If that means something to you...
SHERLOCK ( Smiling at her ): It does…! (Pause) But you know I’m… (Pause) I’m not the guy for drying up pee puddles and blowing up balloons at birthday parties. I really have… Better things to do…
JANINE: I know, that’s why I said I don't expect anything more from you than your sperm, if that's what you want.
SHERLOCK: Even if YOU’d be ok with me only acting as the sperm donor: It's a significant difference if you don't have kids because you decided you have better things to do or if you have a kid out there but still decide that you have better thing to do then to care for it.
JANINE: There are fathers who are always available and who are horrible anyway and there are children who don't even know their father or who hardly see him because he works all the time and who manage just fine anyway.
There are also possibilities in between being in your child's life constantly and not being there at all. I’m sure if you decide to do this, you can find a way to be a part of this that suits you.
( Jokingly ) I think there is beekeeper clothing available in children’s sizes…
Sherlock smiles slightly, imagining it. He gets serious again after some seconds.
SHERLOCK: You know, I really don't like people. Why do you think I would like this child?
JANINE: You like SOME people, don't you? I suppose chances are good that your child might be one of them.
They look at each other for a few seconds.
SHERLOCK ( calmly ): I’ll think about it…
A WEEK LATER.
A ROAD IN THE SUSSEX LANDSCAPE, JANINE’S CAR, THE COAST IN THE BACKGROUND.
Janine is driving, dressed in pretty formal clothes, probably on her way home from work. She turns from the main road into the smaller road leading to her cottage.
CUT: JANINE’S POINT OF VIEW, THE COTTAGE COMES INTO VIEW. On the patio at the side of the house Sherlock is sitting in a lawn chair, smoking. Leaned back, looking very relaxed, his legs stretched out. He raises his hand to greet Janine. She frowns surprised.
She parks the car in front of the house and gets out. She walks around the corner of the house.
PATIO OF JANINE’S COTTAGE
Janine comes walking around the corner. Sherlock’s still sitting in the lawn chair, a backpack of the size it could contain things for a few days by his side.
SHERLOCK ( Smiling at her): Hi!
JANINE ( Surprised ): What are you doing here; I didn't know you’d come today?
SHERLOCK: Well, you're ovulating tomorrow. I figured you wouldn't want to wait another four weeks…
He smiles at her, perfectly aware that this is a very sherlocky way to say “yes”.
JANINE: How the hell do you know, when I’m…? ( Remembering who she’s talking to ) Well, never mind…
She smiles back at him.
JANINE: Come on in, when you’ve finished your cigarette.
She gets in.
Sherlock leans back, relaxed, continuing to smoke his cigarette, looking very content with himself.