Hope you all enjoy this, I plan on it being a series not sure how long at the moment. Please leave reviews I appreciate them and would like to know if I am sticking true to the characters we all know and love.
After being married for nearly two years the Watson-Holmes had found that they were, if you could believe it, stuck in stale sort of rut. Cases came and went and they were as close as ever as the days passed by. John had remembered on their last case how Sherlock interacted with a frightened little boy, his father had been stabbed in front of him by a masked man. Through uncharacteristic patience and kindness Sherlock had managed to calm the boy and to get enough information about the assailant to solve the case. Smiling as he sat in his chair with a cuppa "Did you ever want a family? I mean would you ever." John hesitated to finish his sentence. "would you ever want to raise a child, with me?"
The question was enough to make the other man startled to the point that his usually steady hand faltered and a vile of something John could only identify as a toxic looking purple liquid crashed to the floor. "Right. Never mind. Forget I asked." His tone clearly one of offence, reaching for his laptop.
"You," Sherlock managed to say after a long pause of rather tense silence, "You would trust me enough to raise a child?" Genuine surprise in his voice.
John looked up from the screen and met Sherlock's eyes, a smile curving his mouth into a smile. "Yep. Yes I would." Nodding and waiting to see what his husband's reply would be.
"Yes then, though I'm not entirely certain you've thought it through. Last that I had checked neither of us have the required parts to reproduce and carry a child." Sherlock's voice softer than usual, nearly breathless. In truth he had never imagined having children of his own but he also never imagined having a husband either. Life was always full of clever surprises though, it was nice to know that he wasn't excluded from that aspect of humanity.
With that John let out a delighted small laugh and stood going over to his partner in crime-solving and stood tip-toe to kiss his delicate lips. "There's adoption or surrogacy." He suggested and Sherlock gave a curt nod as he considered the two obvious options that he had over-looked.
"Surrogacy, more logical and precise, more control in the situation." Sherlock looked down to meet John's eyes.
"It's settled then, surrogacy it is." He smirked and kissed his love once more before letting him return to his experimenting.
Sherlock and John had put an advert in a few of the papers and had been contacted by dozens of women who were willing to help. Sherlock took a surprising interest and seemed to arrange all of the meetings with the potential biological mothers. Today he and John were at Angelo's with a rather shy woman named Joanne. She was pretty enough, natural blonde hair, quiet thin but not gaunt and John had made a mental note that she had a lovely smile.
John attempted to make polite conversation as his husband quietly but obviously was deducing the woman who was fidgeting in her chair. "When I was little me mum use to—-" Joanne started but was cut off mid sentence.
"Your mother." Sherlock interrupted with out hint of apology.
John gave him a steely glare, knowing exactly what the other man was up to.
"Right. Um, well, when I was little my mother she use to say that every couple deserves the joy of having a baby. Makes life mean more but not everyone can have a kid on their own can then?I took it to heart really, that's why I became a surrogate." Joanne said keeping her eyes solely on John, ignoring Sherlock.
"It wasn't for the money then?" Sherlock scoffed as he noticed that her cardigan was tattered around the hem and cuffs.
Looking confused the young woman glared to Sherlock, "Excuse me?"
"I'm assuming that you would have been nervous for this meeting so you would have picked out one of your nicest things to wear. While the cardigan does bring out your eyes, it's worn, very worn you can tell by the sleeves." He gestured towards her, narrowing his eyes. "Assuming this it means you don't have the means to go shopping for newer, nicer things and judging by the rather expensive entree you ordered , knowing that you would not have to foot the bill, I am gathering you don't get to go to places like this often. So I ask you again Ms. Holland is money a motivator for you?"
Joanne blushed deeply and her mouth hung agape looking aghast at Sherlock. "Mr. Watson-Holmes, I'm offended." she finally managed to respond. He had hit a nerve. "Here I was ready and willing to help you." She stood up suddenly and grabbed her jacket putting it on huffily. "You're going to be a nightmare of a father if that's how you talk to people. Here's hoping no woman is a stupid enough bint to let you ever have that chance." She took her glass of wine and drank it in a single gulp, storming out of the restaurant.
"Sherlock," John kept his voice at a dangerous whisper, "What the bloody hell was that about?"
Cocking one eye-brow as if confused why John might be upset about what just occurred. "What?"
John let out a long sigh through his nostrils and collected himself before looking to his partner. "You know what. You know exactly what I mean. We've been doing interviews for months now, met with nearly twenty women and each and every one of them has run off exactly as she just did."
"Don't be so dramatic John, it's only been sixteen." Sherlock saw that this bit of trivia did nothing to quell the look of anger on the doctors face.
"John, you have to understand that as a logical person I want the very best candidate if we are going to pay her and have a contract with her to carry our child. Joanne was not that woman, she was a secret smoker which she lied about, clearly has a high tolerance to alcohol she drank two glasses and it had no effect. She had a predisposition to anxiety disorders as suggested by her nails which were bitten down to the quick and an acute case of asthma which was obvious by her breathing pattern. On top of all of that she was quite clearly doing it for the money and not for the opportunity to help others as she claimed and so she could not be trusted. She was a liar John, hardly my fault that she got caught up in one of them." He concluded pushing around his pasta with his fork a bit nervously.
"I understand wanting to be careful Sherlock, I do." John spoke carefully, "It just feels as though you are purposefully driving the women out of the conversation before it ever really has started. If you keep it up at this rate we should have a surrogate by the time we are in retirement. If you're so worried about health, lifestyle and all of those factors why don't we go through an agency?"
"Not thorough enough, not hardly. I want to screen the candidates properly and people often miss important details and fail to notice when someone is lying to them about themselves." Sherlock was a bit dismissive but he meant it, he really cared more than he even thought that he would about this subject. Seeing the anger starting to boil rather than recede on John's face he also sighed. "I just want this to be…perfect."
"That's the thing though isn't it?" John laughed lightly, "There is no such thing as perfect, especially when it comes to children. We're luckier than most you know. Most people, babies just sort of happen upon them don't they? Have fun, shag a bit and there you have it, none of this screening nonsense."
"It isn't nonsense." Sherlock felt agitated that his methodical and careful consideration was being tossed out so lightly by his husband. "You're right most people don't get to do what we are doing and that is all the more reason to be responsible about it. We have to make sure we choose the right woman, someone we can trust. Contract or not if she decided," he stopped himself and breathed deeply. Worry was clear on his face as he continued, "Even with a contract and payment if we choose a woman without being very careful and knowing that we can trust her we might end up with out a baby either way. A judge would be hard pressed to give us the child if she up and decided she couldn't give it to us after all or if she wanted more money before she would be willing to let us adopt."
John felt the dawning realization that Sherlock was even more invested in this idea now than he was. It had been his suggestion to have a child and certainly Sherlock was shocked by that idea at first. Now though he was already acting protectively and the child was still only an idea. A warm, soft smile crossed his lips and he met Sherlock's eyes. If he had ever been more in love with the man before this moment, he did not honestly know and any worry about Sherlock possibly leaving a vile of something well, vile out carelessly left him completely. Sherlock Holmes was going to be an excellent and attentive father; he truly cared about doing it correctly.
"Alright, you've made your point then." John grinned and took Sherlock's hand in his and intertwined his digits around those long clever fingers. "We'll do this your way, be precise."
Sherlock returned the affection, gently squeezing John's hand and letting himself smile.
"I draw the line at fifty though so you better find one you like before then." John let out a small sound of laughter despite his attempt to sound stern. Then, raising their hands towards his lips he kissed Sherlock's knuckles gently.
He nodded to John and took a long sip of water, they finished their meal in comfortable quiet and headed home shortly after. That night the contented doctor rested on the sofa next to his brilliant detective and thought to himself that it was not a matter of 'if' but 'when' they would get to complete this odd, wonderful little family with a baby. If he had to wait for Sherlock to screen a hundred women he would, hopefully it wouldn't come to that. Still, it would be worth his patience and until then he had Sherlock to keep him warm.
