A/N Yep, that's right. Still here.
I hope you like this one because I had sprinkled it with the adorable Watson family (or at least what I had envisioned of them). Also, Sherlock's naughtiness made me umped the ratings…though nothing much vulgar, just mentions :P
Enjoy!
A week earlier
Four year old Elizabeth Watson loves going on outings, especially if the final destination is Uncle Sherlock and Aunt Molly's house, in 221 Bee…or should it be B? She's just starting to learn her spelling and the letter B always had a picture of a bee in it and Uncle Sherlock loves bees so the letter B in their door probably means bee!
Either way, Eli Watson is simply bursting with excitement as they wait for Nana Hudson to open the door, because she's about to see her most favourite person in the whole world (aside from Mommy and Daddy)!
"Why are bouncing like a ball, Eli?" John Watson knows how much his daughter adores visiting times with Uncle Sherlock but it seems as if her excitement can't be contained today, seeing as her whole body just has to express her delight.
Mary Watson on the other hand, simply smiled at her little girl as she tried to hang on to Eli's hand. "I think Eli is just excited to show Uncle Sherlock and Aunt Molly what she had learned at school this week."
"Yes. I want to go inside now! Where's Nana Hudson?" Eli gave a little jump to emphasize her thinning patience.
"Coming dear!" Nana Hudson's sweet voice filtered through the door along with a few clicks as she manoeuvred through their locks. "I see someone's a bit impatient today!" She said as she opened the door to welcome the Watsons.
After giving his former landlady a peck in the cheek and a brief hug, John Watson stepped into his former house and allowed his wife to greet the old lady. "Forgive Eli for her impatience Mrs Hudson. You know how much she loves visiting time!"
Before the old lady could respond however, it was Eli's turn to greet her Nana Hudson which she did by almost bowling her over as she jumped and hugged her Nana in the waist. After all, Eli loves giving big hugs. "Nana, I've missed you!" She exclaimed as if she hadn't been there last week.
Mrs Hudson on her part simply chuckled as she returned the hug with equal warmth. "Oh aren't you a ball of energy today! Go on now. I think your Aunt and Uncle are waiting for you upstairs. I'll be by in a minute to bring your favourite cookies!"
"Yes!" Eli exclaimed as she made her way through the adult's legs and towards the stairs that lead to her Uncle's flat. She was too caught up with her excitement to remember that she's not supposed to climb the stairs alone.
"Eli, wait!" The little girl had already climbed three steps before her father was able to catch up with her. "You know you are supposed to wait for me or Mommy before you climb stairs!" John said as he took his little's girl's hand to guide her.
"Sorry daddy." Eli exclaimed without pausing in her ascent. "But I want to go up now!"
From down the staircase, Mrs Hudson and Mary watched as the duo tackled the steps leading towards the Holmes' flat.
"Oh she's one determined kid, isn't she?" Mrs Hudson exclaimed as she looked at Eli's tireless effort despite her underdeveloped limbs.
A smile spread through Mary's face as pride swelled within her. "Well, that's John's genes at work Mrs H."
"Oh believe me dear, I think it's more of your genes than his."
Up in the consulting detective's flat, the father and daughter had arrived, and though she had just navigated through 17 staircase steps made for adults, Eli's energy didn't wane.
On the contrary, it seemed to have increased.
Without waiting to be ushered in, Eli pushed through the slightly opened door and into the vacant living room. Upon seeing his daughter's cheeky action, the war veteran merely sighed before stepping inside his former dwelling.
"Hello, anyone home?" John asked as he stepped further inside, while Eli made her way to Sherlock's chair which she had long decided was her chair as well.
For a moment, John wondered if Sherlock had forgotten that they were visiting today – something that he's prone to do, which in the past had resulted to the Watsons walking inside an empty flat or very bizarre situations. However, his worry immediately passed upon being reminded that one of those bizarre situations involved an unabashed Sherlock Holmes in his full naked glory with his back towards them as he shields an equally unclothed Molly Hooper.
That was the time they had learned that Sir Shag-a-lot Holmes wasn't a myth, it was merely a question of who's the partner involved.
And that Molly Hooper and Sherlock Holmes had been secretly dating behind their backs ever since the twin Moriarty fiasco ended.
Thankfully, one year old Eli Watson was downstairs, happily playing with the Peppa Pig toy that Mrs Hudson had fetched in her flat. Otherwise, he may have made Sherlock pay for therapy sessions for Eli.
On second thought, he should have made the consulting detective pay for his therapy session or for a bottle of bleach which he still needs to wash his brain off of that memory.
Nevertheless, the presence of Molly Hooper, now Holmes, in 221B had ensured that no visiting times had been forgotten or had started in an X-rated scenario. Though that should probably be attributed to the habit of locking the doors which she had managed to miraculously instil in Sherlock – something which John had failed to do despite living with the consulting detective.
Thankfully, now Eli Watson could just burst through their flat without John having to worry for the future of his daughter's mental well-being.
As of the moment though, the lack of presence of any Holmes presents quite a puzzle to John. Perhaps they had stepped outside without Mrs Hudson's knowledge – which is quite unlikely because Mrs Hudson had proven herself to be the ever watchful sentinel of 221 Baker St's door.
Or maybe they did forget, in which case John will just have to text them.
"Hey, where are they?" Mary Watson who had finally finished catching up with Mrs Hudson, entered with an equally puzzled face upon seeing that they are missing their hosts.
"Seems like they went out." John said as he whips out his phone. "I'll just text them and let's just wait for a few moments to see where they are."
With Mary comfortably seated in the sofa as she survey's the flat, and Eli wriggling in her Uncle Sherlock's huge and comfy chair, John began composing his text.
Sherlock where are you? You do remember we're visiting tod-
"Adiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
John's concentration was cut by his daughter's shrill voice which was followed by an equally shrill shriek.
"Eyiyieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
From behind Sherlock's chair, 8 month old Addison "Adi" Hooper-Holmes, came slowly crawling out. With seemingly deliberate and precise movements that are rarely seen from babies his age, but what his proud Uncle Mycroft has remarked as "something that is to be expected from a Holmes", little Adi made his way into the centre of the living room and stopped right in front of John's shoes, before manoeuvring into a sitting position.
With a huge smile and raised arms, little Adi greeted the Watsons in behalf of his missing parents, with another shrill shriek.
"Yeyooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
In response Eli jumped out of her seat and circled in front of Adi before kneeling and encasing him into her baby-friendly version of a delicate but equally warm big hug.
"Adi, I've missed you!" exclaimed Eli as she ended the hug to bestow a wet kiss on the babe's chubby cheek.
For a time, Sherlock Holmes may have claimed the title of Elizabeth Watson's favourite person in the whole world (aside from Mommy and Daddy), but that had changed the moment Eli laid eyes on the new born Holmes. With childish possessiveness inherent in three year old toddlers, Eli had declared to everyone present in the hospital room that the youngest Holmes is hers.
Though her possessiveness had naturally dialled down – for the first few hours she had refused to let anyone including Molly and Sherlock to touch Adi – her fondness for the littlest Holmes never disappeared, which had resulted to Addison unknowingly knocking down his own father from his titular place of being Eli's favourite person in the whole world (aside from Mommy and Daddy).
Now each visit in the Holmes household meant that Eli gets to spend time with her favourite Adi who seems to return the same sentiment, evident from his hearty laughter and enthusiasm over the older girl's efforts of showing him what she had recently learned.
Today's agenda is to show Adi the words she had learned to spell from Mrs Doherty's class. However, before Eli could start with her demonstrations, her father had stepped in to resolve a very pressing matter.
Namely, the absence of Adi's parents.
To Eli's displeasure, John picked up his godson from the floor and bestowed Adi a tender kiss in the forehead before meeting the little boy's heterochromic pair of blue-green eyes and asking as solemnly as possible. "Adi, where are your parents?"
Silence reigned for a few seconds as John stared at his godson who had momentarily stilled and returned his passive look. If John hadn't known any better, it would seem like Adi is actually pondering on how to answer his question. However, the spell broke when little Adi merely giggled at the silly man in front of him before turning around and throwing his body towards Mary who had risen from the sofa to greet her godson.
With flourish, Mary plucked Adi from John's arms and kissed his chubby cheek before wiping it to get rid of the wet smack that Eli had bestowed him earlier. "For a moment it seemed like you were seriously waiting for Adi to answer you, John." She said with a chuckle. Dismissing her husband's silly act, she turned around and returned to the sofa to settle down and put Adi on her lap.
"What?" John shrugged. "For all I know, with Sherlock's genes Adi could have answered me."
"And said what?" With Adi secure in her lap, she raised the boy's arms and waived it like a puppeteer towards her husband and said with a high pitched, baby like voice. "My daddy's behind the kitchen corner Uncle Johnny, because he's attempting to play the grown-up version of hide and seek with you!"
"Astute as ever Mary Watson." From behind the kitchen corner, the world's only consulting detective emerged, bearing with him his usual mysterious aura.
Which, in a split second had been broken by Eli Watson who again lunged and wrapped herself into the thighs of her favourite uncle in the whole world – a title which Sherlock happily took after being dismissed as her favourite person in the whole world (aside from Mommy and Daddy).
"Uncle Sherlock, I've missed you!" Eli said as she further tightened her hold on the consulting detective.
In return, the tall consulting detective bent down and kissed the little girl's forehead. "I missed you too my Eli."
Despite witnessing it far more times than other people, seeing Sherlock openly being affectionate never failed to amaze the former war doctor. It's not because he had shared other's notion that Sherlock Holmes is a thinking machine devoid of emotions. On the contrary, John takes pride in the knowledge that he had always known – perhaps even before the man himself knows – that Sherlock has a heart. His amazement has more to do with the fact that Sherlock is now openly being affectionate to the people he cares – not that he does it in public, he's still averse in public displays of affection – but that when he does, it's always at the most tender and solemn of times.
Eli was the one who broke the hug and release her Uncle Sherlock after satisfying her need to give out a big hug. She's now intent on executing her next mission which is to play with Adi like a puppet, because it seemed like a fun thing to do when Mommy did it. After that she's going to teach him how to spell.
"What are you doing behind the corner, Sherlock?" John asked with a frown as he was reminded again of his friend's childish behaviour. "And where's Molly?" The doctor supplemented as he made his way towards his former chair, an act that serves as his silent invitation for his former flat mate to do the same.
Just like old times.
Sherlock on his part, showed his rebellious streak by going towards Mary instead, who remained perched in the sofa and received a greeting peck from the consulting detective, like queen on her throne. Only after doing so and bestowing his son a kiss for the job well done, did the consulting detective stalk towards his chair and settle in front of his best friend.
"To answer your first question, I was actually playing hide and seek, not with you" He said quickly as John started to glare at him. "But with Adi, when you came in. It just so happens that Addison, like me" He emphasized with no effort of concealing his pride. "Seems to be adept at hiding and had actually concealed himself from all of you. Until of course, Eli discovered him." Upon hearing her name, Eli beamed at her Uncle before returning to directing Adi in re-enacting Jack and Jill's tumble. "Something which I suspect is an early manifestation of her astuteness, which of course, she had inherited from Mary." He finished with a smirk directed to John.
"Oh stop teasing him, Sherlock" Mary admonished, "Though, of course you're right!" She said matter-of-factly, which earned her a glare from her husband.
"As for your second question, Molly is out buying some other ingredients for the lunch she's making. Which reminds me," Sherlock said as he once again turned towards Mary. "She asked me if you could take a look at the roast chicken and the other what-not's she left cooking in the kitchen."
"If I didn't know any better," Mary said as she rose from her seat. "Which I actually do, by the way. I'd say she asked you, and not me." With an accusatory finger pointing towards the consulting detective, Mary made her way towards the play pen situated beside John's chair, with Eli trotting behind her.
"Your astuteness never fails to amaze me, Mary Watson." Sherlock said with a smirk, despite being found out.
"Well, you are lucky that I really do want to help Molly." Mary said as she situated both Adi and Eli inside the play pen. "Because I know that she has her arms full of a stubborn baby." She sprinkled all of Adi's plush blocks inside the play pen, much to the delight of Eli. "And by stubborn baby, I mean you." She turned towards Sherlock, happy to have the last word, before turning around and heading towards the kitchen.
"That's my wife." John said proudly, feeling rightfully avenged by his beautiful, ex-assassin wife. Sherlock on his part, merely scowled at his best friend before bringing his palms together underneath his chin. "So John, have you given any thought about the unidentified Ophelia that Lestrade had found floating in the Thames?"
"Yes. What strikes me the most is the way her hands were positioned. They looked like Millais' painting but somehow it felt different. It's like…"
And with that, the partners plunged into their new mystery while Mary become engaged in not so much as checking Molly's cooking but on taste testing each one of them – after all Molly had proven herself to be an excellent cook. These left only the two children happily playing inside the play pen.
"Here Adi I'll show you something. If you put this, and this, AND THIS together. You get THIS!"
"Ayiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii"
"Aren't I clever, Adi!"
"Yewooooooooooooo"
"That's right! I'm clever. And you will be too Adi, because I am teaching you!"
"Oooooooooooooooeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwww"
e L i WA ts O n
A d IHO Lm e S