Only Yours

31

William's P.O.V

'Happy birthday dear William, happy birthday to you!' My family finish as I smile awkwardly at them. The twins are singing in high voices, smiling hard, Hamish's voice going up and down because it's in the process of cracking. Daddy is mumbling, his mind on the same case as mine and Papa is singing with all his heart while making the baby conduct.

Personally, I don't find it at all cute, but that's just me. And Dad. And Hamish. And Mycroft.

Papa says it's a Holmes thing.

They finally finish singing and Papa yells, 'cut the cake!'

They got me a massive chocolate cake. Apparently turning 16 is a big deal. Granted, I got quite good presents: a briefcase, a new coat, seven new cases all of my own, a skull and one of Mycroft's top security passes, but I still don't know why it's that special to turn 16. I can now legally have sex (as if), get a job, claim benefits, join the army, move out, be arrested and fly a hang glider, but I don't really want to do any of those things. In fact, i would be quite happy to stay 15.

I am however really excited to go to university. Oxford accepted me in June and I have been counting down the days until I go since then.

14 more days.

It's not that I don't love my family, but they are SO annoying. Saphy's obsessed with going to secondary school in the autumn and Hamish is obsessed with animals. Animal facts twenty four hours a day, clogging up my mind mansion. Daddy keeps asking me if he can come with me to uni because it's so damn loud and he can't concentrate and Papa is obsessed with Jacob, who is now eight months old and constantly causing trouble.

We all got woken up at half past three this morning because he was screaming his head off. All of us except Hamish, who hates him, went in to try and calm him down, but he just wouldn't shut up. Eventually Hamish stormed in, picked him up, whispered to him for about three seconds before the baby fell asleep and stormed back out again.

For some reason, he adores Hamish.

'Go on, blow out the candles!' Saphira growls. I roll my eyes and blow out the candles as Jacob reaches towards them.

I make my wish, the same wish I wished last year.

'Please. Please let Jonty forgive me.'

Jonty has been living at Augustus Levinski's (his possible boyfriend) house for the past three months. He doesn't show up for breakfast, I see him occasionally at school, then he sometimes turns up for dinner, then after dinner he tells Daddy that he will be back by midnight while Papa is washing up and leaves until the following evening. Papa says he is going through a phase.

He didn't even turn up to my party tonight. I wasn't expecting him too, he hasn't talked to me since Jacob was born.

He wouldn't listen to me. We had that argument where he told me he hated me and I stormed off, leaving him alone.

He thinks I called our brother Jacob because it's Joseph's middle name. I called him Jacob because it was our cousin Liliana's, who died at the hands of Jim Moriarty, favourite boys name. She uses to follow me everywhere, and on the rare occasions I listened she would constantly tell me we were going to get married and have a son called Jacob.

I miss her.

'What did you wish for?' Hamish asks sullenly. I take a deep breath. 'I didn't wish for anything, there's no point as wishes do not come true in real life.'

Everyone goes quiet, staring at me, but that feeling of hopelessness that haunts me every time I think about my brother has returned.

He hates me.