Chapter 2
It was getting onto 6:00pm when John awoke to the sound of Eden crying for the first time since she arrived at 221B. He picked her up and soothed her by rubbing her back and swaying back and fourth slowly, whispering little shushing noises. Eden eventually quieted down. John figured she was hungry so he took her to the kitchen and grabbed the remainder of the bottle she had not finished earlier. He sat down in his chair as the young infant sucked contently on the bottle.
John glanced at the clock and sighed. "Where the hell is he?" he asked out loud. He looked down at the baby who was contently drinking from her bottle. "You know, Sherlock is one of the most brilliant men I've ever known, but he's never been around children before, especially babies", he said to her. "I can't imagine he would know a thing about taking care of you". John was starting to worry at this point. He never really gave it much thought as to how Sherlock was going to care for this child. Sherlock was practically a child himself and never really expressed any desire to have children. As John continued to gather his thoughts regarding Sherlock as a father, he was interrupting was the sound of a door closing. Sherlock was home.
"You really missed quite an exciting case today, John!", yelled Sherlock as he came up the stairs. As he came into the sitting room he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes fixating upon the small bundle nestled in John's arms.
"Uh John? What..what is that?"
"What do you think?"
"Something that doesn't belong here", Sherlock replied coldly.
"I'd be a little more careful with your choice of words, Sherlock", warned John.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
John sighed deeply. "Does the name Danielle mean anything to you?"
Sherlock thought for a moment and shook his head. John got the note from his pocket and held it out for Sherlock to take. Sherlock grabbed the note and read it to himself. After reading it two or three times, he looked at John and then at the baby who was no longer drinking from the bottle but was staring at the detective with wide eyes.
"I…I…need a moment please", said Sherlock as he quickly headed downstairs.
"Sherlock, where are you going?"
"I'll be back in a minute", he yelled, shutting the door with a little more force than he had expected.
John sighed and looked down at Eden who had finished her bottle and had now moved on to putting her fist in her mouth. "He does that a lot", he murmured to her.
Two hours had gone by before Sherlock returned to the flat. John had gotten Eden to sleep and put her in her basket and placed it in Sherlock's room, deciding that Sherlock will be the one to take over caring for her as he had done quite enough. As Sherlock came up the stairs, John was cleaning the dishes and turned to face Sherlock.
"In what world, Sherlock, does 'I'll be back in a minute' mean two bloody hours?!" said John angrily.
"I went down to the Yard and had Lestrade do some research about this Danielle person", said Sherlock.
John was surprised at his answer, softening his tone upon realizing Sherlock had actually gone to retrieve information about Eden's mother and not just galavanting around London like he usually does.
"Do you remember Danielle?"
"Yes actually".
John was more than surprised at Sherlock's answer. "Do you remember what you did that night?"
"Of course I remember. I was experimenting the levels of alcohol and how it effects the brain's ability to make judgements and process information —".
"I don't mean getting drunk, Sherlock", interrupted John. "I mean, do you remember what you and her did that night?"
"Oh…you mean the fact that we had sex in the loo? That was not supposed to happen. It was all a blur to me really. Bad judgement call on my part".
"You're damn right it was a bad judgement call", hissed John. "Because of your stupidity, that poor child now has to live knowing that her parents had drunken sex in a pub loo, and her mother abandoned her to her father who knows absolutely nothing about children and has never wanted children!". John was getting more angry as he spoke. At that moment the sound of Eden crying came from Sherlock's room.
"Where's that coming from?" asked Sherlock.
"Your room", replied John quickly.
Sherlock look stunned. "My room?"
"Yes Sherlock, your room. She's your child and your bloody responsibilty!" John was yelling at this point.
"For God's sakes John, keep your voice down!" yelled Sherlock. The baby began to cry louder.
John took a deep breath. "Sherlock, I've put my entire day of much needed rest on hold to tend to your child, and now that you're home, it's your turn to tend to her. I'm going to stay the night at Sarah's and will be back tomorrow".
"No wait John! You can't leave me alone with her!", pleaded Sherlock.
"I made another two bottles for her that's in the fridge. She'll probably be needing a nappy change soon", said John as he grabbed his bag that was already packed and put on his coat. Sherlock winced at that last remark.
"John please. I can't do this on my own". The sound of Eden crying was giving him a headache.
"Your a brilliant man, Sherlock. I'm sure you'll manage. See you tomorrow".
As John headed down the stairs Sherlock yelled, "How do I change a nappy?!".
"Youtube it!", yelled John back as he slammed the door. Sherlock wanted nothing more than to be somewhere else at that moment, but he knew that if he left the flat John would never forgive him. He took a deep breath and headed to his bedroom.
