Chapter 7:
John paid the taxi driver and stepped out of the cab and up to the front doors of the large shopping complex. Sherlock sighed and stood next to John.
"Is this really necessary?" He asked watching a hassled looking mother push a cart filled with two screaming children and lots of diapers out of the store. John grabbed a cart and took Sherlock's hand.
"Sherlock, if we don't get food soon, we'll starve. There is literally no food in the house." He took the moment to look reproachfully at his husband. "We wouldn't have to shop today if you hadn't used the last of our canned foods as toys." Sherlock shrugged.
"It was an experiment."
"What kind of an experiment was that? You shot canned beans through a potato shooter, out the window, at Greg and me!" Sherlock smirked ever so slightly at the memory of their faces.
"I was aiming for Anderson." He said, walking through the automatic sliding doors alongside John.
"Well, you missed! I had to wash my hair three times before all that goop came out. It still smells like baked beans…" He mumbled ruefully as they entered the store. Sherlock sighed dramatically and dragged his feet behind him like a child.
"I still don't understand why we have to come here!" He complained loudly looking around him in disgust. To their right was a couple oohing at a big screen television. John followed Sherlock's gaze.
"She's dating him for his money; he's dating her as a rebound. Obviously." John shook his head and ignored what his husband had deduced.
"The reason we're shopping here is because I have other things besides food that I wanted to look at, and here I can get it all done in one swoop." John led Sherlock down the aisle and over to the produce section. Ignoring Sherlock's outbursts of 'oh John, you really want that vegetable?' and 'John I don't like that one; it's all green' John managed to fill the cart with the food that they would need for the week.
The lines for the south end checkout were longer than expected so John led Sherlock around the mass of people and towards the north end checkout center. Sherlock was about halfway down an aisle that he only took the time to notice was particularly pastel colored, when he realized John wasn't behind him anymore. He turned around and saw their shopping cart parked off to the side with John in standing in front of a couple and their new baby. Sherlock frowned and looked around him. Oh, yes. So that's why the aisle was painted such absurd shades of pink and blue. It was the baby supplies section. Sherlock walked back down the aisle to John who was looking admiringly at the small baby in a young woman's arms.
"What's her name?" John asked, smiling. The young woman continued to bounce the sleeping baby in her arms, and her husband answered.
"Her name is Marie, after my Grandmother." John smiled at the man, who was beaming with pride.
"She's just beautiful." John said.
"Thank you." The mother said. John gave a little wave to little Marie who was just waking up, then turned and pushed the cart back down the aisle, Sherlock trailing behind.
"Wasn't she adorable?" John asked, as one of the store clerks scanned their items. Sherlock shrugged indifferently.
"I suppose so." John shook his head. Once the grocer was finished, he paid for the goods, and John and Sherlock headed back to 221b Baker Street.
John and Sherlock put away all the groceries, then Sherlock went over his computer to check for new messages on The Science of Deduction. John sighed and went over to the window.
"It looks like it will rain…" John trailed off, staring through the glass panes.
"Yes, I know." Sherlock said, rubbing agitatedly at his hair, which had gained a few inches in volume due to the humidity. John hummed, not really paying attention, and Sherlock glared at him. Why was John so distracted? Sherlock jumped up quickly and looked out the window, following his husband's gaze. Oh, god. Not another one.
"Look how small he is…" John cooed to it through the window.
"John that is pointless and rather ridiculous. It cannot hear you." John spun around and faced Sherlock so fast, the consulting detective was reminded of John's former status in the army.
"Sherlock that is a human being down there, not an object!" John stormed into the kitchen to start dinner, and Sherlock followed behind him, rolling his eyes.
"Oh for god's sake! It cannot even-" John glared at him and Sherlock quickly backtracked, "I mean he- cannot even hear me! Why are you so protective of someone that has the mental IQ of a caterpillar?" John slammed the refrigerator closed and walked over to Sherlock, his eyes throwing daggers. Though John was a good many centimeters shorter than his partner, he still managed to make Sherlock feel small with a glare like that.
"That's all that matters to you isn't it? A person's IQ, their intelligence?! Well, I'm sorry but it is impossible to deduce a person's worth based off of something as-" John paused angrily, searching for the correct word. "Something as belittling as their intellect! We can't all be as brilliant as the famous Sherlock Holmes!" Sherlock frowned, but suddenly became quite defensive.
"John, that is not what I meant, and you know it!" John stormed angrily over to the living room.
"Oh, did you deduce that as well?!" Sherlock threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.
"I don't know what to do, John! I can't win with you today!" John laughed without humor.
"Well! That would be a first, wouldn't it?" Sherlock stared at his husband, shocked.
"I don't know what I did to offend you, but whatever it was, I'm sorry John." John shook his head.
"No, you know what? Just forget it. Forget all of this. I'm sorry-" John stopped talking and shook his head again, before walking quickly down the hall to their bedroom and closing the door promptly behind him. Sherlock stood in the middle of the room, left completely adrift from their sudden fight. It had happened without any explanation. Normally Sherlock could pinpoint the exact moment when things started to go awry before a fight, but this time there seemed to be no catalyst. Sherlock closed his eyes, still standing in the middle of the room, and went to his mind palace.
What had happened right before John started to get angry? What was there seconds before things started to go astray? Sherlock had referred to a baby as 'it' but… Oh.
Sherlock jolted and half-ran to their bedroom. He opened the door quickly and saw John sitting in the center of their bed.
"Sherlock, I want to talk to you." John said, eyeing him cautiously. John spoke quickly and his voice shook slightly with nerves. "I know what you're going to say, but just let me say this anyway. Sherlock, you are the love of my life and it made me the happiest man alive when you agreed to marry me. I want to take the next step with you. Sherlock, I want to raise a family. I want to have a baby."
A/N: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :) Fear not! I will update this within the week! (And by that, I mean within the first week of April.) If I do not, feel free to leave pestering messages in my PM reminding me to get off my butt and update.
