:D I love Mycroft.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I HATE THEIR FATHER IHATEHIMIHATEHIMIHATEHIM!
Poor Sherlock... :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

Mycroft... :)

I really enjoyed this story. I always love between the two brothers that they try to keep hidden. Job will done.

I was thinking the exact same thing as your author note-about how sad that they lost a relationship that was so close & loving.

That was just as good as the first chapter! I absolutely love the interactions between Sherlock and John!

Interesting fact: I hate christmas too, so I can relate to Sherlock in this story. I don't like the commercialization of a holiday that is supposed to be about giving and it makes me sad... During the holidays I feel more lonely than usual and I can't help but remember the christmases of my childhood. And that makes me sad.

But enough about me... Mycroft giving the book to Sherlock was so sweet. The symbolism in that act was phenomenal.

And not only that, but all of the characters were very in character, and I know from experience that Sherlock can be tough to write about. You made the reader realize that underneath Sherlock's rude demeanor, he actually feels quite a bit of sentiment, and that is something I love to read about. Because, unlike Moffat, I do believe that Sherlock feels. I think that Sherlock just hides who he is from others because he is afraid of seeming weak or being hurt, and I feel Moffat has greatly misinterpreted his character. But that is just a personal opinion. I love what you did with Sherlock's character in this story!

I would love to read some of the other stories you have written. Seriously, post them and I will do my very best to review!

Let me start by saying that this first chapter was amazing. The greatest thing about this chapter, I think, was the emotions it made me feel. I don't exactly know what Sherlock is going through because I have two, very supportive parents, but you made me feel for him, made me feel as if I was going through the same thing. I almost cried several times throughout the story... and that is a good thing because that means you touched me in some way. XD

The chapter had beautiful characterization between Sherlock and the rest of the family, and I am excited to see where you go with the second chapter. I especially liked the interactions between Sherlock and Mycroft, talking about Esprit de Corps.

I loved the fact that Sherlock is five and is teaching himself french! I tried learning french last year, and let me say, that did not go down so well. I even had a teacher and a french friend to help me out! XD

I also loved the ending of the chapter because we got a brief glimpse out of the eyes of their mother. It made my heart warm and even thinking about it makes me grin.

I am going on to the next chapter now! Great start. XD

Perfectly written to the point where Sherlock actually came off as arrogant which is a hard thing to write about.

My apologies for the late review, I've been crazy busy...but I'm here now!

I just want to say upfront that the layout is SO MUCH BETTER! Yay for finding out what happened! :)

I love this beginning with the simple "I hate Christmas" hook line from Sherlock and also, I like how you described his motions with flipping and dropping his hand dramatically. I could totally see this happening in my mind's eye.

Also, just an aside: huge massive kudos for checking to make sure that Dickens is public domain now! I don't know a lot of writers that actually do that (I would be one of that guilty party that probably wouldn't check myself *hangs head in shame*).

Oh, did I lol at Sherlock's reason for hating Christmas: lack of crime! Hilarious (and very realistic) reasoning! Christmas just has a way of making people less...murder-y...if that's even a word! (By the way, you do have a small typo with the holiday 'New Year'; your 'n' in 'new' isn't capitalized :) ). Another type with 'fix or six good gases'...pretty sure you meant 'cases'?

That is SO COOL that Sherlock has the whole of 'A Tale of Two Cities' memorized! And haha, I love how he continues rattling it off even when John leaves to go answer the door; nice nod back to ASiB (you just carry on talking when I'm away?)

*squee* Mycroft comes bearing gifts! At least the distaste for Christmas hasn't affected him! I do have to wonder about the way you wrote 2000 in this: why is there a comma? Since we're talking about a year, I don't think there should be one there.

AWWWWW Mycroft gave Sherlock the book from childhood *flails in happiness* how amazingly thoughtful and sweet! And I love how Sherlock is so protective of it, to the point where he watches John when he's around it XD cute!

Another aside: love the 'run the Zimbabwe files' line! I honestly think it's my favorite line of narrative throughout this whole piece. Random, I know, but in a space of a few lines, you really gave us a glimpse into what Mycroft's job entails.

The overall message of this short fic, of esprit de corps being experienced between Sherlock and John on a deeper level than the physical is a beautiful message that you executed wonderfully, my dear writer. You did a fantastic job for your first fanfic here, and I can't wait to see what else you have to offer us. Thank you very much for writing this x

Excellent story! Well done on the characterization! :)

I really liked this story, Beautiful.

What a heartwarming, wonderful story! Thank You!

I thought it was great! ! Would love to read more of your stories.

:D fab ending!

(I am SUCH AN IDIOT, I accidentally pushed the 'post' button before I was done *facepalm* so sorry)

Now, where was I? Oh, yes, layout. Might want to double check it was what I was trying to say.

Also, highly encourage you to double check me on this, but something about the way you write dialogue was different. You used commas to continue on when a character was speaking, but I'm used to seeing full stops after tags. For example:

"Dad's gone," Mycroft said, "He left a few minutes ago..." - I would just put a period after 'said' but I could be totally wrong about this whole point and if I am, just ignore me, mkay? :)

ANYWAYS! I think I've taken up enough of your time today (and made a complete fool of myself in the process), but I am so interested to see the next part to this.

Thank you for writing x

Hi there :) just a warning, I'm a very chatty reviewer, so I hope you're ready for this!

I will say upfront that my headcanon for the Holmes parents is very different from yours, but that's only because I started writing fanfiction after season three aired. But I am always interested to see how different writer portray them, no matter if it's positive or negative.

I have to say, I personally found this beginning very painful to read. It's not because of your writing, but yet at the same time, it IS because of your writing. Let me explain. My father was a lot like Mr. Holmes was in this chapter to me as a child. From a young age, I always felt a very strong sense of rejection from him, and it stayed with me all throughout my teens years and into adulthood. So right away, with reading Mr. Holmes's extremely harsh words, I could feel my heart breaking for little Sherlock. He's a child that only wants his father to love and accept him and it really tugged at my heartstrings to see him so disappointed. I can wholeheartedly identify with that, so I give you kudos for really getting to me. I would rather be moved like this than struggling to connect with what I'm reading on the screen. Beautiful work so far.

But unlike me, Sherlock has support in the form of Mycroft, my absolute favorite canon character. I really love how Mycroft takes the time to listen to Sherlock tell his story of what happened and I also love the message of this first chapter wrapped up in the two of them sharing knowledge between them. Title drops are not my strong point, so I really like seeing how you did yours. Very nice placement :)

Can I just take an aside and say how much I love Mummy Holmes as you portray her? She's such a loving mummy *squee* adore seeing that in fanfiction. I almost wonder how she's managed to stay so pure and gentlw in the midst of her husband being a tyrant. But she kind of reminds me of my own mum, who managed to be the same way when my dad was around. As you can probably tell, this story is personally connecting to me on so many different levels.

There a couple of things that I would like to point out that struck me as things you possibly take a look at if you ever decide to come back to this first chapter:

I'm not really sure what happened to the layout of the story, but it's not very easy on the eyes. I'm not sure exactly what happened nor am I sure how to describe it, but if you could look at it as we readers see it, you might be able to see what I'm talking about