A massive thank you to google translate, who kindly translated all of the English dialogue into something that resembles French! I apologise now to any French speakers if it is truly awful, if so, could you please PM me, so I could sort it out?

You know who it's for, so there's no point in telling you!

These characters have been borrowed from Mofftiss, however Marie, Michael and Karen the bitch are all mine :)

Also, here is the link to the work written by my lovely co author, Jess:

/works/4633647/chapters/10565694

Summer in London for those who lived there did not live up to expectations: it was a constant incubator of suppressed stuffy heat, and constantly packed with tourists. It seemed that summer was the occasion where all the inhabitants of London left, and there places were filled by tourists from almost every nation, wanting to capture a peak of the beating heart of England.

for Things seemed to quieten down in the summer for both Greg and Mycroft: murderers, it seemed were not particularly found of the summer months, and the politicians had escaped on holiday; leaving the unlikely couple for a chance to relax, when other holidays and festivities were so hectic, the summer was a chance to sit back and forget that work ever existed. For two men who lived and breathed their occupations, this was quite frustrating, they had both taken a large amount of the holiday off to spend time with each other, but had actually spent a large quantity of their time complaining how boring the summer months were..

That was until, Greg suggested France. They hadn't planned on going away because their work was so unpredictable: there could be a crisis at any particular moment, so there wasn't any point of booking a holiday. But Greg needed to escape; as much as he loved London, he hated the tourists- in autumn it would take you ten minutes to get from their flat to the tube station, in the summer, it would take half an hour, as the streets were packed with tourists, constantly stopping to find out which street to go down or to take a picture outside of their favourite monument. It was safe to say that Greg had enough.

As he came in one day and lay down on the cool leather of the sofa, he broke the silence that quietly filled the room, "Let's go to France," He paused, waiting as Mycroft put down his blackberry, which was a silent shock for both of them, as the gadget was practically another limb.. "My parents live out there, so we wouldn't have to struggle to find a place, and it would give us a chance to actually get away from everything, and you putting your phone down would be a law for the whole time we were there."

Mycroft smiled, "I thought you were never going to ask," He replied, a smug grin slowly emerging, "But, I have two questions: the first being, when are we going? And the second, for how long?"

Greg kissed him, "To be honest, as soon as possible" He got up from his comfortable chair to walk into the open kitchen, rolling his sleeves up as his did, "I got hit by two selfie sticks today and I was stopped five times to take pictures of people."

"Goodness," Mycroft said, "Anyone would think you were bitter"

The detective inspector chuckled in response, bringing back two tumblers of whiskey as he walked into the room, "you obviously don't know me as well as you thought"

The next evening, the couple locked the flat they shared together and headed off to the airport. Greg was like a child going on holiday for the first time as Mycroft had hired the private jet used for all those working in the government for their flights, it was safe to say that Greg was looking forward to it.

Check-in and boarding was a breeze, and Greg quietly wondered why they didn't travel more often. The plane, was stunning: it was fitted with a bar with several brands of alcohol sitting proudly behind it, the sofas were furnished with white leather and decorated with coloured cushions and there was a small room for the pair, with a king sized bed sitting perfectly in the middle. The only word that came to Greg's mind was "wow", the place was fit for royalty. They spent a large amount of kissing and cuddling, (among an array of other shenanigans) and a small portion of the time chatting away about France.

As they were laying down, Mycroft lay as the big spoon, softly with the older man and playing with his hair, "How comes your parents live in France?" he asked quietly.

Greg turned around to face him and smiled, "My parents are both French, as you can tell the surname is certainly not English. My father is French only by nationality- he was born and raised in England, but he spent all of his holidays over there, so it was practically his second home. When he was 21, he took some friends out there to the place where his family always took him, and he met my mum: he was in a bar and she was a waitress, he wasn't particularly found of the bar and planned to leave after his first drink, but he was taken with her, and spent the rest of the night there, as well as the rest of the summer. They moved to England so Mum could get a better job and learn the language properly, and they decided it was best if the children that they raised were born and raised in England. After we had all grown up, my parents decided to move to the place they met."

"I can't wait to meet them," Mycroft said without a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "What an amazing story, so I'm guessing you were brought up with all the French traditions"

"Some" Greg replied, "They taught me to speak French from a very young language, and most of time we spoke it at home, so I was practically fluent before I started school"

"Je ne savais pas que tu pouvais parler français.." Mycroft said seductively.

[I didn't know you could speak French]

"Il ya beaucoup de choses que vous ne savez pas sur moi, Mycroft Holmes." Greg replied, bringing the younger man in to softly kiss him, slowly but surely weaving his hands into Mycroft's hair.

[There are lots of things you don't know about me, Mycroft Holmes]

"Je vais devoir trouver ensuite, parce que je suis désireux d'apprendre" Mycroft replied, deepening the kiss.

[I'll have to find out then, because I'm eager to learn]

This continued on for several minutes until someone knocked on their door, "I'm sorry for the intrusion, but we are about to get the plane ready to land, I must ask you to take your seats"

The men exited the room hand in hand, whispering to each other snippets in French as the plane landed safely on the Tarmac.

An hour or so later, they arrived at the Lestrade residence just outside of Bordeaux.

"Bonjour Gregory!" His mother said proudly as she ran out of the house, "Bonjour Mycroft!" As she excitedly galloped into the courtyard she gathered both men into a tight hug. "Votre père est dans le bureau, Gregory, qu'il avait hâte de vous revenir, nous vous avons tellement manqué."

[Your father is in the office, Gregory, he was looking forward to you coming back, we have both missed you so much]

Greg smiled, "il est très agréable d'être à la maison, maman," He said as he embraced his mother.

[it's lovely to be home, Mum]

She stood back, "Et vous, devez être Mycroft Holmes. Nous avons entendu tellement de Gregory sur vous." She hugged the government man tightly and kissed him on both cheeks, "Dépêchez-vous! vite, vite et je vais vous montrer à votre chambre. Si nous nous dépêchons, vous devriez être capable de déballer vos choses avant le dîner!"

[And you must be Mycroft Holmes. We have heard so much from Gregory about you;

Hurry! quickly, quickly and I will show you to your room. If we hurry, you should be able to unpack your things before dinner!]

Mycroft glanced over to Greg who was smiling brightly, he couldn't help but smile as well, thinking happily about his future, as he did, he felt a rush of panic surge through his mind, "Oh God" He thought, "Did I pack it?"

He searched through his jacket until he found the small velvet-covered box, he opened it quickly to check if it was still in place, as Greg had gone to the bathroom. He stood back and looked at the engagement ring that shone brightly in the French sunlight. It was going to be the best holiday ever.

The holiday, was perfect: Greg and Mycroft were staying in the outbuildings of The Lestrade Residence, which had been fully furnished and redecorated for any visitors, it was brilliant for many reasons. The first being that there was a massive room, with air conditioning, meaning that sweat would no longer be a worry when cuddling; the second was the en-suite bathroom (need I go on) and the third being that it was close enough to Greg's parents so they could spend some time with them , but far away enough so they could do their own thing. It was more than perfect, and both Greg and Mycroft were loving every single bit of it.

The first week they had spent out there had gone so quickly, it made them glad that they had booked three weeks off, as they planned to go back home a few days before they were due back to work, meaning they could do what they wanted for the next week and half.

Both couples had planned on a strict no phones policy at dinner, meaning that Mycroft had to detach himself from his blackberry, but it was easier somehow, it felt like work no longer needed him, the only thing that worried him now was the question, and when to ask it.

So, as they walked back with Greg's parents after dinner one night: Greg walked with his mum, gabbling away with her about French cuisine, which left Mycroft some valuable time to spend with Michael Lestrade. The pair walked back slowly behind Greg and his mother, whose bodies had morphed into one as, even in the hot night, they had linked arms with each other, bringing them closer together. Mycroft and Michael were extremely different in comparison, they walked parallel to each other, at relatively the same place talking quietly about this and that.

"Michael" Mycroft finally paused the small talk to ask his question, and he took a deep breath in and out before he said anything: "I want to ask Gregory to marry me, I know that we have only been together for almost two years, but I feel like I have known him all my life. And, I know this situation is nothing of what you had in mind for your son, but, I'm guessing that I would like to ask for your blessing of my marriage proposal to your son"

The elder man smiled softly and chuckled, "Mycroft, when I married Marie, I had known her for four weeks: one day I turned up on her doorstep and asked her whether she would like to marry me, without asking her parents or planning anything. I feel honoured that you would ask me, if anything, I would feel blessed to have you as a son-in-law. Your correct in saying that it wasn't my vision for Greg, but he is incredibly happy, in fact, I don't think I have ever seen him happier. After his marriage had broken down with Karen, his life seemed to crumble around him: he'd taken time off work, he'd stopped eating and he even contemplated suicide because he couldn't see a way out from this deep dark hole that had slowly swallowed him up. He came to stay with us for a week, a few months after his divorce was finalised and I had never seen him so broken. But with you, Mycroft, he is a new man."

Mycroft stopped in the middle of the cobbled road, completely speechless.

"Also" He added quickly, "Marie loves you"

The Government Man raised an eyebrow at Michael's statement and chuckled. "Really?"

"Of course!" He replied, "You're successful, you speak French, you're a good eater and you have an interest for French wine. And you love her youngest son, so it can't be all bad."

It was the last day that Greg and Mycroft were staying with Michael and Marie, before flying off to Paris for a few days, as they said their goodbyes, Mycroft couldn't help but feel instantly relaxed. They all went out for a meal before their flight which was in the early hours of the next morning, and Mycroft decided that the time was right to pop the question. He sat with Gregrory, Michael and Marie, and they discussed all sorts of things- as it turns out, Greg's mother was saying, this was the very Restaurant and bar that she met Michael, and evidently, the same place he eventually proposed. This lead to it, the big moment.

Mycroft ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath. "Gregory," he said, surprisingly calmly, "I have known you for a few years now, but recently, I've got to know you as a partner, a friend, a lover, a room-mate and a boyfriend. But I was hoping that tonight we could do one better.. I.. I was wondering if you would do the honour of becoming my husband, and not just for the sake of it, but because I couldn't imagine falling in love with anyone more perfect than you."

He slowly got down on one knee, and presented the ring box from his jacket, as he undid the clasp, Greg's eyes widened, "Gregory Phillip Andrew Lestrade, would you do me the honour of becoming my husband and making me the happiest man alive?"

Greg was absolutely speechless, and a tear rolled down his face, "yes" he said calmly, nodding as a smile emerged on his face "nothing could be more perfect, because funnily enough, I was going to ask you the same question". The detective inspector unveiled a ring box from his pocket and beamed happily. "Mycroft Siger Edwin Holmes, will you do me the honour of becoming my husband?" Mycroft nodded and kissed him slowly as he looked at the ring.

He looked more closely at the object and laughed,

"Are you kidding me?" he asked, "Of all the rings in London and we've bought the same ones?"

They both chucked, they were absolutely identical except for one feature, on the inside engraved, one bore "Mycroft, My love, Forever and always" and the other read, "Gregory, I will love you until the end of the earth"