"Dads!" Rosie called as she dashed up the stairs and burst through the door.
Sherlock looked up from his microscope raising and eyebrow as John mirrored his movement from behind the local paper.
"Yes, love?" John smirked as he watched his daughter practically bounce in place.
"I did it! I did it! I did it!" Rosie exclaimed.
"Did what?"
"I finished my study! I've been doing my very own study and I finished all my calculations in free period. Papa! Come here!"
"Yes, yes, I'm coming," Sherlock affirmed, waving his hand dismissively as he carefully moved the slide out from under the stage clips.
He then saundered over, plopped onto the chair across from John, and crossed his legs.
"So what's your experiment on?" John asked.
"It's not an experiment it's an observational study," Rosie corrected. "And it's about you!"
"Me?" John probed apprehensively.
"Yes, Daddy, you and Papa."
"You hear that Sherlock? Me and you."
"Yes, John. So tell me, Watson, what were the findings of this observational study of yours?"
"Well, there were several behaviors I observed that occurred when you two interact with each other and compared them to when you interact with your other friends like Mrs. Hudson and Mr. Lestrade."
"Rosie, why would you-"
"Shhh I'm not done yet. I counted the number of times you touched each other per hour and the length of these touches. I also timed the ratio of time you held eye contact to overall time, and counted how close to each other you stand compared to other people. I have concluded that Papa, you touch Daddy 1.2 times more than you do other people, and these touches last 3x as long. You also keep eye contact 4 times longer and stand 35 centimeters closer to Daddy compared to your friends on average. Daddy, you touch Papa 4 times as often as you do to your other friends and linger for 6 times longer. You hold eye contact 2 times longer and stand 26 centimeters closer on average compared to where you stand when talking to others. I also noticed that you both look at each other when the other isn't looking a lot with this weird look on your faces, and Daddy looks at Papa's-"
"Rosie! Rosie, dear, that's enough."
Rosie was so invested in presenting her findings that she didn't even notice her dads' reactions.
Sherlock was staring intensely at John, eyes wide, now perching on the couch cushion like a cat about to leap, and John was cupping his hand over his face, blush slowly creeping up his neck.
"No! I haven't even told you the hypothesis yet! So anyways, I didn't get data on those last few things but I made some charts and graphs of the other behaviors in free period." She pulled them out of her bag and forced a few papers onto her parent's laps "See? Evidence! Oh yeah! I almost forgot! So my hypothesis was that you two-," she jabbed a finger at them for emphasis, "are idiots! You like like each other! I knew it all along but I needed proof, so I did research on how people who like each other act when they're with each other and then I watched."
At this point, the jaws of both accused men were gaping comically as they stared at their daughter.
"She's been spending way too much time with you, huh?" John put in, breaking the silence, but Sherlock seemingly didn't notice. He was staring straight ahead, perhaps processing this information, forming his own analysis.
"Well, anyways, I'm gonna go do my homework and then eat and then I'm going to Kristie's house," Rosie stated, walking away.
"Rosie, I don't remember you asking me if you can go to Kristie's house today," John stated.
"Yeah, 'cause I didn't. But don't worry, her mum said it's fine.
"Yeah, but I didn't-" John attempted, but Rosie strolled off to go downstairs to her room in 221C.
"Okay. Right. Okay. Great," John prattled.
At the sound of the door, Sherlock snapped back into reality.
"John."
John swallowed. "Yeah?"
Sherlock turned his head to look at him. John couldn't help but to compare him to an owl, his eyes frantic as he precariously balanced on his toes pressing down into the cushion.
"She's right. We're idiots."
"Yes, s'pose we are."
Sherlock's gaze focused into a laser point as he propelled himself off his spot and almost into the chair John was hunched in, landing on his feet directly in front of it.
"You aren't denying it."
"No. No, I'm not. It's all here in charts, isn't it?" He tossed the crudely drawn papers off his lap onto the floor next to him.
"Yes. Brilliant."
"Hmm?"
"She's brilliant, using science so we couldn't just deny and pretend. Watson knows just how to get under our skin."
"Yeah well she does have a genius for a father."
"Two. Two geniuses. And her mother wasn't a complete moron either."
John scoffed. "Yeah, guess you're right." His eyes beamed as he met Sherlock's gaze. "Never thought I'd hear you call me a genius."
"Don't be absurd, John. You did go to medical school after all. Plus, after so many years with me you've caught on to some of my methods."
"So it's true, then. Her hypothesis, I mean," John cautioned.
"Yes, I do believe there is plenty of evidence to support it. I came up with 57 more examples in the past 5 minutes."
"Good. Great," John smirked. "So I guess this means… I suppose now we…"
John stood up from his chair, almost chest to chest with Sherlock, who was crowding so close. He reached his hand around the back of Sherlock's neck and gently pulled him downwards until their lips met and moved softly against one another.
John released him, the two of them glowing.
"Ahem, so, you 'like like' me then?"
"Please, John. We are not calling it that," Sherlock pouted.
John quickly placed a peck on that pout, making it go away instantly.
"So what shall we call this then?" he teased.
"Love. I love you."