Shout-Outs: NiceNipps, Yeedle, Lothiriel84, CharlieOwsinHolmes, Brytte Mystere, Ladybugz7, emedealer, MegsHolmes, wordgirl75, lovebirds413, AJP910, and musme

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything related to Sherlock. But I did get a dress that I've been eyeing since my birthday a month ago.

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Chapter 4

He wound up meeting her at the market because he wasn't able to find a case that was going to hold his interest. He trailed her while she purchased all the things that he didn't have in the kitchen and some extras. She didn't even ask for his approval on any of the things she was putting into her basket. She had fallen into the role of his wife so easily that he was almost astounded.

"Did I do alright, Mr. Holmes?" She asked as they walked home together.

"You bought the wrong brand of coffee," Sherlock answered, shrugging. "But other than that, I don't have any complaints."

"Oh. . ." Molly trailed off. "Well then, the next time just tell me what kind of coffee you'd like and I'll buy that instead."

Sherlock nodded and clasped his hands behind his back. "Did you have a good day today?" he asked.

"It was okay," she answered. "I had a lot of backed up paperwork that needed filing. It kept me occupied for most of the day. What about you? Did you have a good day?"

He grunted. "Eh, it was okay. I had a bunch of clients visit, but their cases were relatively easy. A four at best, so I was rather bored."

"Oh. . ." Molly trailed off. "Well, is there anything particular that you'd like for your supper tonight?"

"I don't know," Sherlock answered. "I wasn't really thinking about food to be quite honest."

"Naturally," Molly replied. "Well then, I'll just have to see what I can come up with when we get home."

"You don't have to cook dinner, you know. I wouldn't miss it if you didn't," he told her.

"Cooking really isn't going to be any problem, Sherlock. I've mastered the art of throwing quick meals together. You can eat with me or not, it's entirely up to you."

Sherlock nodded. "Right," he said.

"Now, I was wondering if you'd heard anything about your parents coming for a visit?"

"No," Sherlock answered. "And we're probably not going to, Mycroft will probably orchestrate the whole visit and then spring it on us."

"Oh. . ." Molly trailed off and bit her lip.

"Don't worry about it, if that happens then I can blackmail him into taking them back until you think you're fully prepared to have visitors."

"It's okay," Molly answered. "If they show up unexpectedly than we'll just have to deal with it. I would like to start decorating as soon as possible though, I'll discuss it with Mrs. Hudson tonight."

"You do that," Sherlock said. "Well, where home again. Are you going to need my help putting food away?"

"Well. . . since you know where everything goes and I'm still trying to get my bearings in new surroundings."

Sherlock nodded and unlocked the front door. "Come on, I'll try and help you. I'm not exactly sure of the system John has in place though. But we can figure things out together, okay?"

Molly smiled and nodded in return. "Okay," she agreed.

Together, unpacking the groceries didn't take them too long. They got a system going between them and Molly had dinner started in no time.

An hour later, they were sitting down at the table.

"I don't think I've eaten at the table since I've moved in here," Sherlock commented as she served him a generous helping of pasta.

"Really?" Molly asked. "Why ever not?"

"I'm usually too busy with a case to eat and if I am hungry or thinking about food, I usually just grab a quick bite to eat," Sherlock answered. "I know that it's the same for you, you're usually busy with work and then you don't want to bother with a meal for one, so you eat whatever is fast and convenient."

"Well, neither of us have to eat alone again," Molly said, smiling at him.

"Unless I'm working on case," Sherlock reminded her.

"Yes, unless you're working on a case," she agreed.

They both fell quiet after that, concentrating on their meals and unsure of what to say next. Molly could have said a million things, she already felt like they had been together for a lifetime. Sherlock on the other hand was still trying to figure out what he was doing, being a husband was still a foreign concept to him. He was so afraid that he was going to fail and he couldn't fail, he had never failed at anything before.

He especially couldn't lose Molly.

This thought made his heart stop for a second and he swallowed hard, quickly deleting it from his mind palace as quickly as possible. If he lost her then he lost her, such was life.

But looking at her sitting across from him – tired but contented – he really, really didn't want to lose her. And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get rid of that one thought from his mind.

When they were finished eating, she left him with kitchen duty and went to talk to Mrs. Hudson about her redecorating project.

As Sherlock scrapped spaghetti into the trash, he was struck by how domestic his situation was all of a sudden. He never did dishes, he usually left them (and most other clean up duties) for John or Mrs. Hudson. He looked at the dirty plates with disgust and was tempted just to chuck them in the trash bin with the leftover bits, but he knew that Molly would probably discover them and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of her reaction to that.

Sherlock hadn't been at the dishes long when his wife returned and took the sponge from him.

"Well?" Sherlock asked.

"Well, she said that we could do whatever we wanted with the flat," Molly answered. "She thinks it would raise the property values and whatnot."

"That is exactly what I said," he reminded her.

She smiled at him sweetly, not giving him the benefit of being right for even a second. "Sherlock, would you be a love and dry the dishes?"

Sherlock was slightly put out that she wasn't praising his deduction abilities, but he picked up a towel and started to wipe the silverware dry anyways.

TBC. . .

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Author's Note:

This chapter is shorter than I wanted it to be, but I was out of town all weekend for my friend's wedding reception (he got married in New York, and we had a party for him when he came back home from his honeymoon because most of us couldn't be there), and then I've been bogged down with allergies because we've had a sudden wave of warm weather where I live. But I hope you like what I wrote anyways. Please leave a review if you did!

Until next time.

Love,

Holly, 2/19/2014_