A/N: This one skips quite a bit of time. Just so you know. Also, some long-overdue thanks to those who reviewed, Lilly Oakleaf 13 and Vivstar. Huge thanks to you guys. Along with that, I would also like to thank everybody who followed/favorited. Thanks to you, too. I'm kind of running short on ideas, so suggestions are really, really, welcomed. Thanks!

Disclaimer: Didn't buy Sherlock in the last fourish days. Too much money.

The banner hung in the doorway, the table was set, and the balloons were filled. Yet the only guests who would be coming would be John's friends. Rosie had specifically requested this, asking her dad not to invite her friends from nursery school. So only Sherlock, Molly, and Mrs. Hudson had been invited originally. Then Rosie had gotten on his case for not inviting, Mycroft and Lestrade, each of whom she had only met once or twice, and wasn't particularly close to. Yet she insisted, and so the final guest list for her third birthday party included them as well. John guessed that Sherlock wasn't happy about it, but he hadn't complained, a new course of action for him. In the end, John decided, Rosie was making him more responsible.

Around three, the guests began to trickle in. Molly was first. Then a text from Mrs. Hudson saying that she was trying to get Sherlock out the door, but he insisted on wrapping his somewhat oddly shaped present. Then Lestrade arrived, greeted with a wave from Rosie. Then came Mycroft, who held in his hand a present larger than the ones Molly and Lestrade had brought. Last came Sherlock and Mrs. Hudson, Sherlock holding a hastily wrapped present that had bits of black showing through, and Mrs. Hudson holding a hatbox. Rosie ran across the room towards Sherlock, who gave the present to John and picked her up, settling the girl on his hip. She hugged him tight, insisting, "I haven't seen you in foooreeever!"

"I wasn't aware that half a day was forever. Mycroft, were you aware of this scientific development?" Sherlock turned to his brother.

"Hmm? Oh, no. I'm afraid I was not. I must not be as up to date on these things as I think I am." Mycroft then turned away and resumed his conversation with Lestrade.

A few minutes later, once John and Molly had settled the cake on the table, John called everyone over. He settled Rosie in her chair and sat down directly to her right. "All right, everybody. We know why we're here today, correct? Today is Rosie's third birthday, and she wanted to celebrate with her family. Because, really, everybody in this room is family." The normal birthday rituals were performed, with the singing and the cutting and distribution of the cake. Finally, after a surprisingly long period of patience, Rosie insisted on opening her presents.

"Okay, okay, Rosie. Which one would you like to open first?" John collected the stack from the floor behind him.

"Daddy, don't be silly. I want to open yours first!" Rosie grabbed at the present with the familiar polka-dotted wrapping paper. John smiled at his daughter's loyalty.

Rosie eagerly ripped the paper off, revealing a cardboard box. She then tore open the box and held up a stuffed penguin. This was another addition to her collection. Stuffed animals were the only presents she ever asked for. John then supplied her with another present, chosen at random, and cleaned up the wrapping paper in front of her. Rosie pulled out another stuffed animal, a polar bear from Mrs. Hudson. She and her father proceeded in this manner until she had unwrapped a dog from Molly, a kitten from Lestrade, and a tiger accompanied by a copy of Tom Sawyer, "For when she's old enough," from Mycroft. The only present left was Sherlock's hideously wrapped one, which John had specifically saved for last. He handed it to Rosie and cleaned up Mycroft's Christmas-themed wrapping paper. Rosie tore the wrapping paper off, even more excited than she had been for her father's present. Quickly and easily, she uncovered a small black violin case.

"I got her a one-eighth size violin. Her arms are rather short…" Sherlock trailed off when he saw the looks on everybody else's faces. "What? She's three now, the same age I was when I started."

"Yes Sherlock. And I'm sure that nobody in the room except perhaps Rosie wants my daughter to turn out like you." John said, "A violin, Sherlock. For a three-year-old?"

"You know she'll take care of it. She's careful. And I can teach her. A few months ago she mentioned wanting to learn, so I dug out my old eighth size."

Rosie interrupted the tension between her father and his best friend. "I love it, Sherlock!" she announced in her trademark lisp. "I absolutely love it!"

Sherlock smiled. "I'm glad you like it, Rosie. Now do you want to learn how to play?"

Suffice it to say that Rosie's first note, played right there and then, sent everybody but Sherlock diving for cover.

A/N: Wow, that was really fluffy. I got kind of lazy towards the end, if you couldn't tell. I hope you like it!