Disclaimer: Why don't I ever get to own them, no matter HOW hard I try? (cries) Now, if I were Lord Peter Wimsey, perhaps I could buy them…

A/N: Hey, everyone! Great to see ya, after being absent from fanfic world so long! (No thanks to exams at school…)

It's about time I posted this. I've had it written for ages, and hadn't typed it. Sooo…anywho…er. Um. Can't think.

Just enjoy, okay? I'll give you semi-intelligent conversation later, when my brain isn't taking a holiday because exams are over.

I was officially, as of one hour ago, Holmes' wife.

And I still couldn't believe it.

We sat in the automobile which had been hired for the occasion. We hadn't spoken for a while—both of us were lost in thought—but it was quite a companionable silence, not awkward at all.

Holmes took my hand, and our fingers laced together. I looked at them, light and slightly darker skin pressed against each other, and had a sudden thought. Our fingers, in a way, resembled our lives, intertwined as they were. This brought up a faint memory…

"What was your friend Lady Beaconsfield going on about, Russell?" asked Holmes, closing the door and turning to me with a quizzical look on his face.

I shrugged. "It was the book she's reading. Something about a girl named Destiny, who finds true love and realizes that her name means more than she'd thought."

"That is balderdash."

"I know, Holmes, but she's my friend, so I put up with it."

"You don't see me putting up with such nonsense from you."

"I don't read that type of book…"

And this, I remembered, had set us off on an argument. Of course.

Now, however, I wondered. Was it truly such balderdash as Holmes claimed? Or could it be true; even, could this apply to Holmes and me? Perhaps we were marked by fate for each other. After all, this seemed too good to have simply happened, and there were so many things which, having gone just slightly in another direction, could have prevented it. What if my aunt had kept me in that day on the Downs? I would possibly never have met Holmes. Or what if, having done so, I had apologised for tripping over him and gone on my way? He could, after having tea with me, have decided that I wasn't worth his time, or I might have thought that he wasn't worth mine. What would have happened if one of us had been killed during a case?

So many possibilities, and yet somehow, things had conspired to turn out this way. Could it be destiny? Or was it merely our unconscious choices that had brought us to this?

I looked up at Holmes, opening my mouth to ask the question, but then I closed it again. I did not want to hear that it was balderdash, Russell, he'd told me before, and I wasn't entirely sure that I wouldn't hear that, newlyweds or not. This being considered, I lowered my gaze again—and it fell, once again, on our joined hands. Once again, I observed the interlocked fingers, and as I did so, I realized something.

It truly didn't matter whether we had been brought together by fate. We were together, destiny or not—for better or for worse, I thought with a smile, remembering the words of the ceremony (1). We were married now, legally, spiritually, and emotionally husband and wife.

As if reading my thoughts, Holmes slid his arm gently around me. Unfortunately, this gesture involved letting go of my hand, and after what I had just been thinking about, that felt wrong. I leaned against him—my husband, I thought happily—and then, with a slightly sheepish grin in his direction, moved my other hand into his, watching with a smile as our fingers, like our lives, intertwined.

1--I don't know if those are the words they use in civil ceremonies, although I'm sure that's what they would have done…(the only reason I know that is thanks to the wonderful authors on The Hive! Thanks, guys!) So if they aren't right, just…pretend they are. Okay? (grin)

A/N: Short, I know. It always seems longer on paper… (sigh)

Well, anywho…Hope you liked it, and, as always, please review.

More to come!

Hollybridgetpeppermint

P.S. Coming soon…

(Untitled as of yet)—Unmarried Russell and Holmes take on a case in which they will reveal not only a ruthless murderer, but also their own feelings for each other. AU. Mystery/Romance.

Coming sooner…

With A Little Help from Aladdin, the Genie, and Puppets—Russell and Holmes, still unmarried, meet up with some old friends and some new ones, all of whom help them to discover what they feel. AU, with references to canon. Romance.