MEETING MUMMY HOLMES
Well this the little awkward number where Molly meets Mummy and Sherlock is just really a kid about it. Also another one of those things that I mentioned on Tumblr and people encouraged me to write. Took a little while but here we have it. I hope you enjoy it. much love, day
Molly meets Sherlock's mum after receiving odd texts from Mycroft that most certainly weren't from the man, and the letter that came in the post a month a day after Sherlock takes her out for a stroll.
She didn't think much of it at first, replying to the messages as if it wasn't weird that she was asked information that was most certainly in the file that the older brother and government official (no matter how minor it was) had on her. Like where her family was from and what her income was like? Could she have children? The last bit not really something that should be in a file unless her OB had to give some information up.
The letter that she had received three days ago had explained a bit more. She having not read it until lunch hour when she found it underneath several bills that she was going through to pay. She blinked at the expensive envelope, the fibers of it felt well more than the stationery and stamps that she kept in her drawer at home or the file cabinet in her office.
Miss Molly Hooper was whom it was addressed to and the only clue as to who had sent it; the sender was an elegant scrawl that upon closer examination was only one word, a last name. A familiar one; Holmes.
Molly opened it carefully, doing her best not to rip the envelope apart. There was a seal which she glanced at briefly made of dark gold. She pulled the pages out. There was only one technically but there was others along with a map and directions. It was all very neat and put together. She wouldn't expect nothing less from a Holmes.
Molly read the letter a few times, her mind have trouble grasping the idea that Victoria L. Holmes - Sherlock's mother was inquiring about her and requesting her appearance for tea in four days. She even suggested that Molly bring along Sherlock who she hadn't seen in ages as she put it.
She had several questions on her mind, many of which she decided to shelf until she got off of work or saw Sherlock. Whichever came first. He had been out on a case in Scotland, merely texting her to inquire about certain lab things that could pertain to that and a brief and vague phone call where he asked "If I had been hit in the head with a boulder - not too large but heavy enough to cause bruising a minimal amount of bleeding would you advise that I find a doctor or that I was okay?" The first thing she had to do was try to stop herself from yelling at him because when Sherlock Holmes suggested there was minimal bleeding there really was a large gash somewhere on his body and it was stalling him from doing what he wanted.
Why not ask John, you say? John Watson is currently away in Japan with his missus after finally taking that long awaited honeymoon (plus a bonus week wherever he and Mary wanted to go) that he was supposed to have months ago. Sherlock had all but ushered them onto the private jet that had been reserved by Mycroft Holmes for them. That was why Molly had gotten both texts and phone calls from the man since he left a week and half ago about some of the most worrisome matters.
She ended up getting off of work first and immediately and anxiously called up the consulting detective. "Is this an important call, Molly? I am in the middle of being shot at?"
"I thought you were back." She stopped outside of Bart's to grab a taxi. She had lent her car to an old friend who had been in town for a conference for the past two days. She'd be getting it back tomorrow, thankfully. As she got into the cab, she whispered her address to the cabbie before trying to focus on the man who was breathing rather erratically and huffing all the way. She could hear wind more than anything but didn't put it past him to have stowed forgotten she was on the line.
It was only as she heard the click of gun that she flinched away from her mobile. "I was for a couple hours then I got a case on the website. John usually handles those but I needed something. Boredom, I despise it. Why are you calling?" He said breathing heavily.
"Did you just shoot a man?"
"A woman, actually. She was dressed a man. Does that make it better?"
Molly laughed at him. He was infuriating but careful these days about what he said to her knowing that she could blow up at him at any moment. "No but you were being shot at right?" Molly paused for a moment, a very brief one before continuing on to the next thing. The reason she was calling him at all. He usually was the one calling or texting or finding her at places that were not on her schedule - like the Laundromat.
"Is there any reason why your mother would want to meet me for tea?" She mumbled as she exited the taxi, paying her fare quickly before heading up to her flat. It was a different one. After an incident with a boiler, and an unexpected down pour in her bedroom Molly had had to move to another place. It was much more spacious and Toby seemed to like it.
"I don't think I heard you correctly." His voice took on a quiet tone. There wasn't much of infliction to it. It seemed the news had taken him off guard just as much as the letter had her a few hours ago.
"Your mummy as I've heard you call her on a few occasions has invited me, waited not only me though she really does want to meet me but you as well for tea in four days. I got a letter from her. I must have forgotten to read it when I got it but I read it on …"
"Read it to me."
"Sherlock." Molly warned.
"Please? I'll be back in a few hours and we can discuss it. Mummy never wants to meet people, especially those that she doesn't know."
"Fine." Molly stated as she dropped her bag onto the the couch and rifled through it with one hand as she took off her jacket. The one problem with this fact that it got a bit warm. The AC was off currently. She would need to turn it back on.
She walked over to it, cranking the switch on before sitting on the sofa and glancing at the paper that she only a few hours ago had been staring at repeatedly. She could have paraphrased it for him but Sherlock Holmes needed specifics and that meant everything had to be read.
It wasn't particularly long a half a page at best but it held such little information that it befuddle Molly even now even when Sherlock Holmes was in her ear making such strange noises and certain points of it. When she finished reading it she was met by silence for a few increments of time. "I'll see you when I get back. Eat something and feed your cat, I can hear him purring."
Molly rolled her eyes as she petted her feline who had curled up into her side, meowing at her. She ended the call without much of a goodbye and did exactly as he said, though she would have done so regardless. The sandwich she had eaten earlier hadn't been as fulfilling as the lasagna that she had made last night and still had more than half of left.
She heated up a plate and poured some dry food for Toby and some warm milk before heading to her room to get into more comfortable clothes. After eating she scummed to resting in her bed; worn out from the long day.
She woke up a couple hours ago and nearly shrieked at the long form of Sherlock Holmes sitting beside her - behind her really. She really shouldn't be surprised. He was a man with little to no care in the world for things that didn't seem out of the ordinary for him. They were a bit odd to others, including her.
"You're not going."
"Sorry, what are you talking about?" She yawned snuggling back into her pillow. She was quite comfortable here.
"Tea. With my mother. I don't think it's essential that you attend. I can go on your behalf."
"You are really a child. How long have you been deciding that I am not a necessary addition to this tea party with your mother?"
"Three minutes, fifty four seconds after our phone call. Besides you seemed off-put by the idea of you meeting my mother. It's a win-win situation."
"All of you are the same. You Holmes', if you find it necessary you'll find a way around a simple matter even if it's rather simple. I've always wondered what she was like. So, no I'm not staying home or lying about a fake illness or appointment I can't get out of. I too have thought about the situation. Seeing as there is no malicious factors at hand that I know of, I'll be going. You can accompany me if you like, Sherlock."
She heard Sherlock let out a sigh. "Fine but you need a nice dress."
"I have dresses, Sherlock. I doubt she's wanting to meet because of what I'm wearing."
"Yes, but you need better ones. My family is a bit more than what you're used to."
"I've dealt with you and your brother, I think I'll manage just fine. She can't be that bad can she?"
"You haven't met, mummy."
"Now, I will." She turned to him, noticing the pout on his lips. She giggled at him. He reminded her a kid when he didn't get his own way. Actually most days he reminded her of a child, an overgrown-man child. It really was quite amusing but it could get quite ridiculous. She could only imagine what he would be like in four days time.
When the day came, Molly didn't feel any different. Besides the dark blue dress that Sherlock insisted that she wore with a pair of black heels and a touch of lipstick that he quickly set in her hand as she was slipping on the pumps. Her hair was pinned back - not by his instructions. Molly just didn't want it to get in the way. It wasn't in it's usually ponytail though. It was pulled up halfway through a sort of plaited look and the other lay curled around her shoulders. She looked presentable she thought.
Sherlock's nod as she grabbed her purse that she had already thrown her keys, cell phone and a few bills in it just in case, was enough approve as she trailed behind him out the door and into an awaiting black town car. No one was inside besides the two of them.
As they rode in silence through the city and out of it, Molly took the time to inspect her counterpart. He wore a dark blue shirt that was a near match to her own ensemble and that made her bite back a smile while she looked over the rest of him. His curls were messy as usually though it did look like he tried to tame them slightly. Nothing really could be done to that. She liked his wild mane though. He wore his customary black suit.
As she thought she was done with looking at him for the moment, her eyes caught one little thing that had her speaking. "What's that?" She asked pointing to the little piece of silk peeking out of his right pocket. Sherlock frowned, stuffing it back in there as if she hadn't said anything at all. "Nothing." He grumbled.
Molly smiled as she switched over to the side where he was sitting and reached into his pocket much to his protests (there was a lot of yelling). In her hand was a tie, not an ordinary tie of course. Sherlock Holmes didn't do ties at all, she knew. However here was one black silk tie that he hadn't put on. "Are you waiting or do you need help?" She asked him, quietly knowing that he was glaring at her.
"Neither. Give it here, Molly."
"If you're not planning to put it on then you won't mind if I just hold onto it."
"Why would you do that?" Molly just shrugged while giggling at his baffled expression. They stayed quiet for the rest of the journey.
Everything moved a bit more quickly once they arrived. It was a villa more than a mansion. How that was possible? The pathologist seemed to suddenly get a bit overwhelmed by it and so she didn't notice the consulting detective looping her arm through his once they got out of the car and begun to pull her along with him. "As if you didn't know what you were getting yourself into, Molly. I did try to tell you."
"Shut up." She cut her eyes up to him as he led her inside and was almost immediately ambushed by an older woman who was literally the same person as her companion if not a bit older and female. Victoria Holmes gleamed as she saw her son. She hugged and kissed him all the while Sherlock smiled softly at her even when she had thwacked him on the arm for lying to her and making her grieve him when he was alive and even when he fumbled through why he did that, Molly saw that he held his mother with a certain difference than anyone else she had seen him around before. It was as if he was trying to be careful.
Molly inferred that something must have happened in the past but she didn't get much time to deliberate that as the woman had turned to her shortly after her berating of her son. "Molly Hooper, doctor actually. Well you're even prettier in person than in the photos." She beamed. She didn't keep them in the foyer very long, after giving Molly a once over and practically inspecting her with a round about turn she led them into the kitchen which was quite large and then out to the back where there was the tea set up already with finger foods.
Sherlock helped both of them into their chairs before sitting down across from Molly, while his mother was at the head of the table. "Mummy, not that I don't enjoy visiting." Sherlock started once they had all fixed a small amount of the food and poured the tea. ("I haven't seen you in three and a half years, Sherly.") "Why did you want us to come here?"
"I specifically asked for Molly. I figured you would come though. You've been joined at her hip for quite some time." Molly blushed while Sherlock looked very aware suddenly. He placed his tea back on it's saucer and turned his attention to his mother. "Yes." He stated, his stature was very awkward and uncomfortable. Not exactly stiff just very gangly and boyish in nature.
"Any particular reason why…do you think, Molly?"
Molly looked surprised to be acknowledge as the duo looked to be in a very heated discussion. She had been sipping her tea, silently as she watched them. "I'm not really sure. He's always done things unconventionally." Molly stated, adverting her eyes from the icy pair that sat across from her. He made her uneasy. Especially now.
Victoria smiled, as she looked between the pair. There was something hidden there. She wouldn't be a mother if she didn't try to find out what it was. "Yes, Sherlock has always been that way since he was a child. He wanted to be a pirate originally. I don't know if he's shared that with you. He would dress up and everything. It was adorable but he grew up a bit and has been dealing with something much more hazard to his health I believe."
Molly spoke up rather quickly, "From a doctor's standpoint though I'm not a medical one exactly, I think it's doing better than he would have been if he actual set out to be one of them."
"You are aware of his addiction issues?" Sherlock eyes grew dark at the sudden change of subject and even called out to his mum in a warning tone.
Molly didn't seem deterred in the slightest. She actually smiled. "Yes. He's not the first person I've helped who's had that problem."
"Family members?"
"Oh, yes." She stated. There was a short flicker in Molly's eyes but it quickly dissipated before Sherlock could even dream of inquiring about it.
"You were the one who saved him from the fall, am I correct in that assumption?" Neither one of the them moved to confirm nor deny that fact but they shared a look that had the older woman laughing suddenly.
The sound of the phone ringing had Victoria excusing herself and leaving the two adults alone. It was quiet for all of four seconds before Sherlock stood up from the table only to come around to Molly and extend his hand. "I want to show you something."
Molly stared at him uncertainly before sighing and taking his hand and getting up from the table. He gripped her hand tightly as they walked along the side of the house and through a patch of trees until they came across a stream and across that stream was a cabin.
"That was my first lab." He told her, it was caved in partly and much of it was covered by moss and earth. "It doesn't look like much now but it was my home when I didn't want to be home with the family. Sometimes I would just go there and work on experiments or lay in the cot that I had in there and begin the construction of my mind palace. It was still very small back then."
Molly listened to him but wasn't sure what he had to gain from telling her something so human…so personal to him. That was why when she opened her mouth to ask him, "Why are you telling me this?" She was caught off guard when she saw that he looked so very vulnerable. It was all in his face. From the watery glance in his eyes to the way his face seemed to gather a rare calmness about it.
"The reason why I've spent so much time with you outside of the lab is not because I need anything at all in relation to lab work, when you're not at Bart's I don't go there. It's because you became a part of my home when I didn't have one. Your simple ways and warmth even when I was in the worst state you've ever seen me in. It was comforting. You comfort me, Molly."
Molly wanted to smile. Every time she tried it would fall. There was something in her heart that ached hearing him say something like that. Maybe it was the closest thing she would get to the "I love you" speech that so many women craved. It felt like it was enough.
Most days Molly Hooper found herself wanting to kiss this man but today right now, she just wanted to touch him and as he still held her hand in his firm grasp, she squeezed it a little tighter. "Okay." She told him quietly.
"Okay?" He blinked, confused.
She nodded with a smile. "I understand." She continued.
"You do?" He needed some sort of confirmation.
Molly rolled her eyes before taking a slight step towards him and letting go of his hand. He looked at her, analyzing her as she moved. Molly slipped her arms around his waist slowly. Sherlock stilled for a brief second before letting out a sigh, pulling her closer to him as he returned the embrace.
"We should probably go back." She mumbled after a few moments.
Sherlock just nodded, taking her hand as if it was second nature. Maybe that was his reassurance, she thought as they went back the way they came. Molly smiled as they came back only to stop short as Sherlock did.
There was a man standing by his mother. "Who's that?" She whispered into his shoulder as he had moved her behind him. His calmness had disappeared again.
"Hello…father."