John was sitting in his old armchair in the sitting room, the paper in his hands. There were touches of gray about his hair now, stray hairs to his usual military cut.
His husband of 15 years, Sherlock Holmes, was seated on the couch, his fingers steepled together, an his hair, as usual, immaculately black.
Greg and Molly Lestrade had come round for tea the other day, and Greg, a solid 8 years older than his wife, had joked that Sherlock was surely dying it to which Sherlock had merely contented himself with rolling his eyes and returning to his microscope.
John had kept secret the fact that Sherlock now required reading glasses, though he made no attempt to hide his own, perched on his nose.
Daisy Lestrade was 10, and had not made an appearance at 221B in some time, but John had laughed over pictures with Molly. The two had become fast friends in their time living in London, and especially in the time that Sherlock had been gone. John had given her many parenting tips, though some didn't apply. Their child was, after all, a son.
They had adopted Tyler Daniel Holmes after their first year of marriage when Tyler was an infant, barely 6 months old.
To this day, he called Mrs. Hudson "Gramma", and Daisy was like a cousin to him, he was very fond of her.
And so that peaceful day at 221B, it was quite a shock when the door opened and Tyler entered, holding hands with a pretty willowy teenage girl, who had straight blonde hair and a pretty smile.
Sherlock stood at once, surveying the pair carefully.
At age 15, their son was barely a few inches taller then his father, and quite a bit taller than his dad.
He looked nervously at his parents, his eyes flicking from Sherlock, who looked rather haughty, to John, who was watching the scene unfold with something akin to worry in his eyes.
"Father…." began Tyler, addressing Sherlock. "Dad…." he continued, looking at John "This is Joanne. She's ah…."
And then something quite unexpected happened.
Joanne stepped forward, extending a hand "Sherlock Holmes, Tyler's father I presume?"
Sherlock took it, shaking slowly, looking wary. "Yes…."
Before he could say anymore, she spoke again, her voice quiet but firm "My name is Joanne, and I'm quite sorry if Tyler hasn't told you about me, but we've been going out for three months now. He can be quite silly, but I expect that's because you have a tendancy to test people he brings around, see if they're worth your son."
John was watching, his mouth hanging slackly open.
Sherlock quirked an eyebrow.
Tyler looked terrified.
Joanne continued "Well sir, it is in my experience that a parent will never find someone that they feel deserves their child's company, but I can assure you that I have Tyler's best interests at heart, same as you."
Sherlock and Joanne looked each other directly in the eye. She was at least a head shorter then him, but held his gaze steadily.
And then, much to John's and Tyler's surprise, Sherlock smiled.
"Pleased to meet you Joanne. This is my husband, John."
John stepped forward, shaking her hand "Pleased to meet you, Joanne"
"Pleasure" she responded, a more relaxed smile on her face now.
Tyler, in the corner, looked as though he might faint as his father said "Joanne…do you like experiments?"
"I do, very much sir! I would love to tell you about my experiences dissecting sheep's eyes with my father…."
Tyler exchanged looks with his Dad, who muttered "Well done. You've found another one."
