I have all sorts of baby plot bunnies that come around now and then, none of them more than a few paragraphs worth of something or other. As most of the little cotton-bums tie in to the Eurstrade universe which includes Sherlolly as its other primary coupling, and spans a period of 25 years or so. I thought I'd post them under one title, "The Ties that Bind," and because I love a good double-meaning phrase, the theme of family will be consistent throughout, while at the same time perhaps explaining minor things that may have been tossed into a longer Eurstrade Universe story. The Ties that Bind these stories together sometimes don't require dozens of paragraphs spanning multiple chapters, hence the collection.
These chapters will be self-contained drabbles within the same universe, and I will mention in prologue notes like the one below what you're reading right now what the genre is, if there are pairings, and where it sits in the Eurstrade timeline. They will be stand-alones but all will connect to existing stories for consistency. Some of them may dabble in a minor mystery, some will be family/friendship oriented, more than likely many will be humour themed, and some will probably be a bit angsty. Some may be romance focused on Eurus and Greg, or Sherlock and Molly, perhaps Will and Rosie, maybe even Mycroft and Lady Smallwood... or any combination of these couples, but at times those relationships will merely be in the background of a drabble that has a non-romantic theme. Hopefully I can keep this going for awhile and the two or three readers who seem to dig Eurstrade enjoy it! I appear to have a REALLY tiny audience for this, but it's still an audience and I appreciate everyone who reviews and favourites them, SO MUCH!
The Secret of a Happy Marriage
Genre: Family, with minor humour
Pairings: Mycroft and Lady Smallwood; Sherlock and Molly; Eurus and Greg; Rosie and Will. All pairings are background only.
Main characters: Mycroft and Sherlock
Eurstrade tie-ins: Completion
Mycroft Holmes had perfected the art of keeping secrets, much to the current irritation of his little brother, Sherlock.
The topic of Mycroft's clandestine marriage to Lady Alicia Smallwood, a revelation that had only "happened" to transpire on the eve of his nephew Will's marriage to Rosie Watson, had somehow come up in in the otherwise casual conversation. Once again, Sherlock was baffled and more than a little bit chafed at being left out of the loop.
"I hid our sister for thirty-five years, Sherlock. Why would you think that hiding a spouse for merely twenty would be so difficult?" Mycroft explained to Sherlock at the baby shower Molly and Eurus had organized for Rosie and Will.
"Well, surely someone else had to know about this surreptitious marriage," Sherlock said, mildly annoyed. Having finally had his emotional barriers obliterated and gotten together with Molly Hooper, Sherlock would have loved to have actually witnessed Mycroft give in to that which John had correctly said would complete a person, and he was frankly just a little bit resentful that his big brother had opted to keep the biggest news of his life from him.
"Of course someone did, brother mine," Mycroft replied, almost matter of factly. "I needed a best man, and we happened to have an ideal candidate in our circle of family and close friends. Police officers, especially ones with advanced rank, know best how to maintain confidentiality," he said, a little too casually, and nodding over towards their brother-in-law, Greg Lestrade.
Sherlock's eyes narrowed when comprehension struck. "GREG? Greg knew? LESTRADE was your best man? Are you bloody serious?! Oh you…" Sherlock had huffed, wishing he could be more upset than he actually was, "both of you are sneaky old gits! So who stood up for Lady Smallwood then?"
Mycroft cleared his throat softly, suppressing a cheeky smile. With the corners of his mouth twitching ever so slightly he nodded back towards where Greg and Eurus stood, talking to Will.
Sherlock's eyes narrowed again. "Eurus? EURUS was Alicia's... are you bloody serious?! Our SISTER knew as well?"
"Well, Eurus also kept herself secret for 35 years. Clearly she knows how to keep big news on the mum. Alicia and I opted to marry on one of the Thursdays that she was in London. Besides, I wanted to do it before logic and reason overtook my desire to marry the woman I loved. Old habits, brother mine, do not die easily. Sentiment and emotion were yet in their infancy for me in those days."
When Sherlock had fired one final look of annoyance at his big brother, after a few moments of silent absorption, Mycroft had simply smiled serenely in that aggravating way he still had, lifting his tea cup up to take a sip.
Old habits, indeed.
