"While then, I guess this is it."
Sherlock peered over the edge of several flasks containing lethal-looking chemicals.
"No more fake suicides, of crazy gunmen or running for my life."
Today was the day that Sherlock had been secretly dreading for a long while. Sherlock's best friend and constant companion, John Watson was leaving the flat that the two of them had shared for a few years and going to live with his new wife, Mary Morstan. The wedding had been tedious, and so had been packing all of John's boxes. Why anyone would ever want to get married, Sherlock had no idea. Marriage was an ordinary people thing.
"I'll be lost without my blogger" Sherlock said, cracking a smile. John smiled a little in return.
"I'll make sure to come visit you from time to time" John promised.
"Please do, you know how dreadfully boring it gets around here."
After a few seconds silence, John looked at his watch. "Got to go, it's nearly quarter to four. Goodbye."
"Goodbye John."
John turned and left the room. Sherlock waited a few seconds, then stood up and slowly walked to the window. He saw John climb into a cab, hand in hand with his new wife. Sherlock saw the cab drive off, and watched the back window. John didn't even look back.
Sherlock felt a sudden pang of a strange emotion. It took him a moment to place it. Loneliness? No, that couldn't be. Sherlock Holmes didn't have emotions, they were unnecessary, like friends. Just a weakness. He walked back over to the table and sat down, focusing on the experiment. Behind a strange soft-pink liquid lay a pair of blue-green eyes, blinking back tears.
"Mary, are you bloody kidding me?"
"I think it's a brilliant idea. You haven't seen Sherlock in ages. It will be nice to let our children get to know him."
"Letting him 'get to know' our kids is fine, but do we trust him enough with our kids to leave him alone with them! He'll probably use them for one of his bloody experiments or something! Mary, trust me!" John bellowed.
"John, relax. Let the kids get to know their uncle Sherlock. Everything will be fine. The babysitter is busy tonight, and it won't kill Sherlock to babysit once." said Mary, leaning casually on the kitchen counter.
"Please, listen! You don't know him!"
"John..."
"Okay, I'll stop by the lab and ask him to babysit." said John defeatedly, knowing he had lost before he had started.
"Thanks."
"No problem, but you might want to find a back-up babysitter, just in case."
John and Sherlock had been slowly drifting apart over the past few years. John would occasionally help him out with cases, but most of the time he was too busy looking after his children, the twins Hamish and Anabiel. The posts on his blog dwindled from fewer to fewer. Every once in a while John would stop by and visit Sherlock, but he seemed more reserved and focused on his experiments. John was pleased to finally be able to settle down and live a proper life which was an experience that he hadn't had, but sometimes he missed being surrounded by suspense and danger. Oh well.
John knew that Mary wanted their family to stay close to Sherlock, and for Sherlock and John to remain friends, but some things just couldn't be helped. He felt as though Sherlock was reverting to his old antisocial ways. Mycroft probably wasn't pleased.
He chuckled to himself. he couldn't wait to see Sherlock's face when John asked him to babysit.
The door to the lab swung open. John looked inside. Sherlock was behind the microscope, just as John had guessed that he would be. Apparently, he couldn't be bothered to look up, probably in the middle of one of his bloody experiments. Typical.
"Molly, please put the books over there on the counter." said Sherlock, who seemed to be oblivious to the identity of the person in the doorway.
"Sherlock, this is John."
"Oh" said the man with mild interest. He looked up over the microscope. "Hello. By the way, I'm not babysitting for you. I've got enough problems without two children." He pronounced the word 'children' as though children were a scourge upon humanity.
John chuckled inwardly. He had forgotten how Sherlock constantly took him by surprise. He considered asking how Sherlock had figured it out, but decided not to knowing that it would probably annoy him. Actually, this whole visit was probably irritating him a good deal. But he had to try. For Mary.
John opened his backpack and removed a large bag full of rare chemicals, cigarettes, and assorted illegal drugs that Sherlock used occasionally.
"Is this the same John Watson I knew?" Sherlock asked. "Thank you" he said, reaching for the bag, surprised at such a thoughtful gift. John pulled the bag back out of his reach.
"It's yours once I find my children safe and sound."
"Okay." Sherlock sighed inwardly. Those chemicals were expensive.
"I mean it."
"No experiments!"
"Okay."
"Perfectly healthy!"
"I'm not going to murder my best friends children!"
"Okay, my house, seven o'clock?"
"Sounds good." said Sherlock, eyeing the bag hopefully.
"Okay, see you then." said John as he walked away, praying inwardly that Sherlock would kept his word.
"See you."
Sherlock walked back over to his microscope and sat down. "Still the same John Watson I knew" he muttered to himself, thinking of how John had yelled at him. He grinned a little, then his smile faded as he thought of the task he had undertaken. This was going to be horrible.
Sherlock arrived at John's house a few minutes after seven o'clock. Recently refurbished, last owner was an elderly woman. She had left to go to an elderly home after her husband had passed away from lung cancer. Other deductions of this sort popped out from every nook or cranny imaginable. Sherlock smiled. Deductions had taken his mind away from horrible things like babysitting. Then his mind returned to the task on hand.
Sherlock hesitated before ringing the doorbell. Then it struck him that he was nervous. Why was he nervous? That was stupid. The slender, pale finger pressed firmly onto the doorbell.
The door opened almost immediately. John's wife quickly ushered him inside out of the slightly cool evening air.
"Oh goodness Sherlock, we haven't seen you in so long. how are you doing? How has everything been?"
"Quite fine, thank you." Sherlock forced a half-hearted smile.
"Oh that's wonderful. Feel free to put your coat over there. There's some chicken noodle soup on the stove, it's still warm. Feel free to take some for yourself too, it's my mothers recipe. I have some biscuits on the stove for after dinner. Hamish likes his with a glass of milk. Bedtime is at eight o'clock. Feel free to read or watch television after then. I have some childrens books on that shelf over there, they put Anabiel right to sleep. Hamish's stuffed animal is right on top, do you see? Okay, that should be it. We'll be home in a few hours, text John with any questions. See you soon. Oh John, your friend is here!"
John walked into the room, Sherlock sneaked a look. Some of the furrows on his face had faded, and there was a glint in his eyes. He looked...happy. That was strange, Sherlock would have been distinctly unhappy in his situation. But then, John and Sherlock were very different.
The two men stood a little ways apart. The air between them was tense. John looked for a moment as though he wanted to say something, but he didn't. Finally, he cleared his throat,
"Well then, good luck. See you later."
"See you."
John offered his hand to his wife. She took it and they began to exit the flat. On their way out, John planted a light kiss on Mary's cheek. The door swung closed, and shut with a grave crash.
A little girl stood behind Sherlock in a doorway. She had been standing there for a while. Her head was a nest of soft blond curls, and her eyes flitted around the room, taking in every detail. Behind her eyes, her young brain was desperately trying to connect everything, delicately extracting logic from conclusion with a precision similar to Sherlock with his experiments. Every drop landed in the correct petri dish. Every once in a while, the microscope would zoom in and details would be observed. And these small details made up a larger picture, which the girl was then free to observe at her leisure. This girl was Anabiel, and she had a very special gift. She had the gift of logic.
Sherlock was laying on the couch, stretched out like a cat. He was focusing intently on a small crack in the ceiling. I could have solved three cases by now. A miniature version of John ran up to him, toy car in hand. This was Hamish.
"Why are you laying down? It isn't bedtime yet." he inquired, his youthful eyes full of innocence.
"Bored" muttered Sherlock distractedly.
"Why are you bored?" The boy laughed in his carefree voice. "Do you want to play cars with us?"
" The other child, Anabiel, came up to Hamish and tried to lead him away.
"He solves mysteries for a living. We're not mysteries, so we're boring."
Sherlock moved his head to look at the girl. "Did your Dad tell you that?"
"No."
"Then how did you know that?"
"I figured it out."
Sherlock sat up and turned to face Anabiel. Tonight might not be so boring after all.
Anabiel and Sherlock spent the next half-hour at the window, deducing things about passerbys. Sherlock taught Anabiel some of the tricks and shortcuts to deduction, and how to deduce things more quickly. Hamish seemed content that Sherlock wasn't bored anymore, and proceeded to race his cars across the room. Then, dinner was eaten.
"You like to do experiments, right?" asked Anabiel.
"Yes, I like experiments." Sherlock replied.
"Can you do an experiment with us?" she asked.
"No" said Sherlock quickly. He wanted to keep his word to John, and he was afraid that he would accidentally injure the children. That couldn't happen.
"Please?" asked Hamish excitedly, standing up on the chair.
Sherlock's mind wandered back to an experiment that he and Mycroft used do when they were young. He smiled a little, remembering the fun they used to have.
"Okay, I'll help you do an experiment."
"YAYYYY!" The twins toppled off their chairs and scurried to the kitchen. Sherlock stood up slowly and followed them.
Upon reaching the kitchen, Sherlock removed a glass cup from a shelf. He then removed a bottle of vinegar and some baking soda. The children observed intently with wide eyes.
"Watch closely."
Sherlock proceeded to unscrew the cap from the vinegar and fill the glass halfway. Then he scooped out some baking soda with a spoon and dumped it in as well. All was silent for a second, then a frothy mixture bubbled out of the cup and overflowed onto the table! The twins gave a shriek of laughter and tumbled backwards. They began cheering.
"Do it again! Do it again!"
Sherlock smiled and began to refill the glass...