Prompt from Book Girl Fan: Left out in the cold.

It was with anger in my heart that I stomped up the thirteen steps to my old address at 221b Baker Street. The door not locked and I pushed my way in without bothering to knock. Holmes was sitting in the armchair near the fire, his ragged robe draped upon his shoulders. He reacted to my sudden arrival with merely the raise of a quizzical brow and gestured for me to take a seat.

"A fight with Mary, I deduce?"

"She's being impossible." I shook my head at the tea he offered and he wisely pushed the bottle of brandy my way instead. "First it's the china hutch from her grandmother, then it's the fact that I'm away with clients and never home for dinner on time. It's not as if I can control the weather. This time of year always sees a rise in influenza and what am I to do? Leave them all out in the cold so I can be home for supper with my wife?"

Holmes said nothing, but steepled his fingers against his lips.

"Honestly," I drank the brandy in one quick swallow. "I have to provide for my family. Being home right on time every night is an impossible task."

"Is it, John?" His use of my Christian name surprised me and I blinked as he calmly lit his pipe and leaned back in his chair. "I am not one privy to the nature of marriage and relationships," he took a careful puff and extinguished the match. "But I understand that when one enters into such a commitment, that there are promises made that provide a foundation for a successful couple." He pointed his pipe at me. "I remember you promised Mary to be home for dinner every night."

"I did not!"

"Yes, in this very room. You were engaged to be married in two months and whilst I was trying to solve the case involving the blind twins, you were making foolish promises to your sweetheart near the window. It was terribly inconvenient timing not to mention distracting to my work."

"Fine," I rolled my eyes. "Whilst in the star struck stage of lovers, I made impossible promises not practical enough to be kept by the chains of marriage."

Holmes made no sound of disapproval, but closed his eyes and let the sweet scent of tobacco fill the room. As he smoked, I found myself fuming. How dare he try to patch my marriage and offer me advice. He! The notorious bachelor of London. As if he remembered a promise I had made to my own wife that I could not.

"Do stop glaring like that." Holmes said drowsily. "And don't grind your heel into the carpet. Mrs. Hudson would be terribly displeased."

I held still. The fire crackled. Holmes opened one eye to study me. I scowled back in return.

"Don't be so patronizing." I chided. "Just because I chose to marry doesn't make me any less."

"I never said that."

"I can see it on your face."

"You see incorrectly. I was just thinking of what a pity it is you're letting this squabble get between you and your wife during the holiday season. Mary always loves this time of year and here you are spoiling it."

I ignored him. "That's what married people do. They bicker over silly things that don't matter."

"Like your patients."

"Like my- Holmes," I shook my head. "My clients are important. They are individuals with lives and families. They help pay for my household."

"And yet," Holmes stood to look out the window. "You value them over the household you claim so much to defend."

I fell silent. Holmes, ever the brain and never the heart, was gently reminding me that my obligations were not as black and white as I often saw them as. Mary deserved a husband who could join her for meals as often as a physician's schedule allowed. I would close early tomorrow night and surprise her. It would do us both good to revisit our relationship.

"But what of your clients?" Holmes was reading my every thought. "Left out in the cold as you so dramatically stated?"

"They'll have to cope." I rose and pulled on my coat. "I'll be open again the day after."

"An excellent idea."

I turned to go and his voice called me back.

"Oh, and, Watson." Holmes had the faintest hint of a smile. "About that china hutch belonging to Mary's grandmother…"