Somehow, Mary Watson had persuaded Sherlock Holmes to assist John in babysitting their daughter for the evening while she, Molly Hooper and a few other woman friends had a night out. Not that she had to work too hard; little Ailsa had him wrapped around her finger, and was very excited at the thought of 'Unca Sherley' coming over. John had been excited too, at the chance to be with his daughter and best friend without any dangerous cases happening, until he found out Ailsa had managed to persuade Mary to let her watch a movie before bed. With a sinking feeling, he knew what movie she would choose.

Sure enough, when Sherlock showed up at the door, the three-year-old charged up and hugged him around the legs, proclaiming, "We're gonna watch Dumbo!"

The detective raised an eyebrow and looked up at John, who had followed Ailsa to the door.

"Dumbo?" He pronounced the name as if it were a foreign language. Which for him, it probably was.

"It's an American movie about a baby elephant." And has an absolutely heartbreaking scene that I don't want to watch, because you will mock me the rest of my life for crying during it.

"Fascinating. I'll have to watch it with you, see what has your offspring so excited."

D_. Here I was hoping maybe he'd just lounge around a different room. Ailsa, why did he have to like you so much?!

John kept his face in neutral, not wanting to reveal anything to the detective's probing gaze, as Ailsa explained, "The baby elephant's got really, REALLY big ears, Unca Sherley. An' all the other elephants laugh at him, but then he-"

"Ailsa!" Mary scolded as she came out of the kitchen, where she'd finished making some baked cavatelli, "Don't give it away!"

"Sorry." Ailsa still smiled enthusiastically, and grabbed Sherlock's hand, leading him to sit next to her at the dinner table. The detective followed her with a smile.

After they finished eating, and got Ailsa into pajamas, Mary kissed John and her daughter goodbye, and then hurried off, leaving the two men and the girl alone in the house. Ailsa bounced with excitement as they began setting up the DVD. Then she snuggled down between them on the sofa; John smiled to himself when he noticed how Sherlock allowed her to hold his hand. And despite how obviously juvenile he thought the plot was, he made no sardonic comments, just watched silently as the story unfolded.

Things were okay for John during the beginning of Dumbo, and even when he got separated from his mother-though now that he actually had a child, the pain the two elephants were feeling was far more understandable-he didn't so much as bat an eye. But when the opening chords from "Baby Mine" started-oh, bloody h_, he could already feel his eyes starting to fill up-no, enough of this, he was a soldier, he was NOT going to start blubbing about a silly kid's movie in front of Sherlock, even if it was so terribly sad that the little elephant and his mother could barely touch each other, and now he was being rocked in her trunk, as the heartrending music played, and the little mouse had to wipe a tear from his eye-

John scrubbed at his eyes with the hand not wrapped around Ailsa (who was young enough that this scene wasn't as depressing for her), hoping his friend would still be focused on the movie, and therefore wouldn't mock him shamelessly for being so tenderhearted. Just then, there was a loud, audible sniff from Ailsa's other side. Not a sniff of disdain, or of someone about to sneeze, either. John looked over at Sherlock in surprise, which quickly changed to glee. Evidently, not even Sherlock Holmes could withstand the onslaught of pathos that Walt Disney was famous for producing in this movie.

"Shut up," Sherlock hissed at him with a glare, wiping his eyes and nose on a handkerchief.

"There, there," John whispered back, patting him on the shoulder, "it's only a movie."

A few seconds later he received a sofa cushion to the face.