Both Sherlock and John were woken up abruptly the next morning by wailing over the baby monitor. John could feel his heart practically beating out of his chest at the sheer shock of his daughter's screaming and was worried that something was happening to her. Without a second thought, he got out of bed and rushed upstairs to his old bedroom to find… Rosie was just screaming in her cot. John rolled his eyes but went and consoled his daughter nonetheless. He picked her up with soothing words, and she looked up at him with terrified, wet eyes. She must have had a nightmare.
"Don't leave Daddy." She said in a broken voice.
John was shocked to hear that from her. It must have been a really bad one then. He held her to his chest and whispered,
"Never, Rosebud, I'll never leave you."
"Or Papa." She said.
Sherlock arrived at that exact moment (he'd stopped to grab his violin), and stood in the doorway, feeling like he had intruded on their conversation.
John looked over to Sherlock with a smile.
"Or Papa." He said.
Sherlock walked up to where John was holding Rosie and kissed her on the forehead.
"Papa's not leaving either of you, Honeybee. What made you so scared?"
She sniffed and looked up at Sherlock.
"Both dead."
John's heart broke at those two words. She really had a dream that they were both dead, and it obviously tore her up intensely. He just wished he could wave a magic wand and make the bad dreams go away for her because nothing is worse for a parent than not being able to help their child. It was hard not to break down in that moment.
"Oh, Rosie, we'd never let that happen." Sherlock soothed. "We're Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, remember? We fight the bad guys and catch the maniacs." Sherlock said it with all the sincerity he could conjure up, but he knew John had had a point the day before, their lives were dangerous and there were no guarantees in it, they'd both learned that the hard way many times.
"Do you want me to play Moana, Honeybee? Will that help?"
She shook her head.
"Just want you two."
Sherlock put his violin down on John's old bed and joined in as John continued to hold her and rock her in a little group hug interspersed with kisses and loving words. Sherlock wondered if it was just the conversation she'd overheard or that in their adrenaline fuelled lust they'd overlooked the importance of reassuring her they were both alright. The world's most perceptive child had gone to bed knowing her parents were in danger and when they had gotten back they had been so wrapped up in their own hormones… they would have to do better by Rosie in the future.
John continued to soothe Rosie until she fell asleep once again. He had to take a breath (which unfortunately ended up shaky) in order to keep himself from crying. He realized Rosie would be as affected by their jobs as much, if not more, than anyone. Sure, it was all fun and games during the chasing and fights, but at the end of the day, Rosie was the one they came home to, and Rosie was the one they needed to take care of above all else. He didn't want to let her go just yet, so he continued to hold onto her tightly and thought of why she would have that nightmare. She had seen all the photos and the evidence wall, but she didn't seem to be bothered by it. So what -?
"The argument." He said. "It was our argument about me going on the case that got her this way."
"I thought so too." Sherlock agreed. "It's my fault. I should never have forced you to go and when we got home we should have woken her to show her we were both fine. Our hormones got the better of us and that was unacceptable. I'm sorry John."
"It's not me we should apologize to, Sherlock. Rosie's the one who is terrified of losing us."
"We will do better for her in the future. We have to. What do you think we can do to make it up to her when she wakes up again?"
"I guess I could call off the appointment with Terrence today, and we can just play with her and spend time with her. Also calling Sarah wouldn't be too bad of an idea to see the best way to approach this."
"We'll do that, and I'll call Sarah, you just hold her for now."
Sherlock returned from his call a few minutes later.
"Sarah says you're absolutely right John. Spend time with her, reassure her of our continued support. Comfort her as best we can." Sherlock reported back when he re-entered the room.
John made sure to not let Rosie out of his arms unless absolutely necessary, and she seemed to not mind that. He fed her in his arms, played with her in his arms (with some yells for Sherlock from time to time), and they all made sure to stay together. Sometimes they rolled a ball back and forth between John and Sherlock so she would go between each of them to chase the ball. She seemed to enjoy herself and calm down.
Eventually she had to go down for a nap, but insisted she sleep in John and Sherlock's room with them in it entertaining themselves. So John had an ebook he'd bought on the Amazon Kindle and Sherlock had his laptop where he was answering quick emails about insignificant cases.
Sherlock felt terribly guilty about the dramatic start to their day. He set his laptop aside and put his arms around John. John put his tablet down and sighed tiredly, resting his head on Sherlock's shoulder. He almost looked like he was about to cry again, but he mastered his emotions once again with a few deep breaths. Sherlock thought it would be fine for John to cry, but he shouldn't do it in front of Rosie and he was grateful that John had managed to avoid it so far. His comforting skills were somewhat underdeveloped and he wasn't sure he could handle John crying about this without possibly joining in. He whispered to John as they held each other.
"She can sleep downstairs with us tonight, that might help…" Sherlock suggested. "Unless you want to sleep upstairs with her… I understand. Maybe we decided on the move too suddenly, we gave her no-one to wake up to and no time to adjust. I was rash, John. Last night was… amazing, but we should have thought of Rosie waking up alone. I don't know how to apologise to her for that, so I'm apologising to you." Sherlock tended to ramble on a bit when he was nervous, so he forcibly stopped himself and stared imploringly at John.
"I know. And I think we apologized to her by spending the day with her. She loves you, Sherlock, and…" He paused for a moment and tried to choose his words carefully. "Honestly, I know for a fact that no matter what happens with us, you'll find a way to stay in her life. She also considers you one of her fathers, so… I think you should adopt her."
John meant every word. Rosie chose to call Sherlock her 'Papa' and treated him as such, so it only made sense that he become legally part of her life forever. He knew that even if he told Sherlock to leave them alone and never come near them again, he'd find a way to see her. Even if he broke into her room to see her every night, he wouldn't give up. That was one of the things John loved about his detective: he didn't want to give up the things he loved. Never would he give up their friendship or Rosie. John would never trust anyone else as much with his child.
Sherlock was so overcome with emotion at John's suggestion, he saved every word in his Mind Palace to review later. He knew he was gaping at John with wide eyes and that those eyes were beginning to fill with tears of the utmost joy. He shut his mouth and cleared his throat, looking up and blinking rapidly to keep the tears from spilling, he was unsuccessful. He barely managed to say "Thank you John." without a small sob. He didn't feel he deserved such an honour after his selfishness last night.
"Are… are you sure about this?" He whispered hoarsely.
John pressed a gentle kiss to Sherlock's cheek and said,
"I don't think anyone else can take care of Rosie better than you."
"It's such an honour John, but I don't feel worthy of it. I caused that nightmare, I caused her that pain. I'll never be good enough to deserve her trust."
"No parent feels worthy of trust from their child, but they carry on anyway."
Soon enough, they heard some fussy noises coming from the cot. Thankfully they didn't indicate she'd had a bad dream, which was a big improvement.
"Daddy, Papa?" Rosie called out.
"We're both here, Honeybee. How are you feeling?" They both hurried from the bed to Rosie's cot.
Rosie stood herself up with the help of the side of the cot, and looked up at her fathers.
"Wet." She answered.
"I have a feeling you're in need of a nappy change." John said softly.
The little girl nodded her head and held her arms up. John picked her up and went through the ensuite door to the bathroom to change her.
Meanwhile, Sherlock's curiosity got the best of him and he figured he should find out a bit about John's reading. He picked up the tablet, (John never password-locked it), and saw that it was open to a book. He tapped back and it showed him the cover which contained 2 men holding each other (obviously heavily photoshopped) in a bed, and the bed had a rainbow sheet on it. The title read 'What You Need To Know About Gay Sex for Males'. Obviously John had been thinking about preparations for further down the line. Sherlock had done the research too (on the internet), but the cover on the ebook just made him want to laugh. He was still stifling giggles when John returned with Rosie. He had been caught out snooping but he didn't care. He looked at John, glad that Rosie was faced the other way and mouthed 'Rainbow sheet?'. John gave him an embarrassed smile, also suppressing a giggle.
"Food." Rosie said.
"Alright Rosie, we'll get you a bottle."
"No, food!" She insisted. "Bananas!"
"Ok, Papa will go get some bananas and Daddy and I can get some lunch too." Sherlock assured.
John knew they would need to switch Rosie onto actual food soon, but he didn't think his daughter herself would demand the food. Then again, it was Rosie, he shouldn't have been surprised. Sherlock entered the kitchen to mash some bananas, meanwhile John set Rosie up in her high chair. This time with the addition of a bib which they had never needed before.
Sherlock busied himself with mashing up bananas into a baby bowl that they'd also never needed before. This child was growing faster than he'd been lead to expect from all the (useless) baby books he'd read on his phone. He handed the bowl and the little spoon to John with a sense of trepidation.
"Now Rosie, if you don't like the taste, you can't just spit it out." John warned as he scooped up some banana.
When Rosie took her first bite, she actually looked incredibly happy, and yelled,
"Food good!"
She looked as if she was on top of the world with the best discovery the world had ever seen. It was funny, but also a huge step in her diet. She was at least progressing normally in that sense.
Her meal continued without any incidents and Sherlock made John and him food while Rosie ate. The bib would need to be washed as the bananas didn't want to stay on the spoon that well, so they'd need to go get some actual baby food soon. Sherlock ended up making some sandwiches for their lunch. He made John ham, cheese, and lettuce, and himself some toast with jam - he had a bit of a sweet-tooth.
To keep Rosie occupied while they ate, the playmat was put in the entryway to the kitchen so they could both see her and tell her if she spelled a word right or, as of late, what the word she spelled meant since she had seen plenty of words, but didn't know what the definition was. She was also getting better at spelling the words with silent or hidden letters.
Sherlock couldn't believe how much she picked up just from conversation and papers that were left around the house, which was why he'd convinced John that reading on his tablet was a better idea. He should convince him to use the fingerprint sensor too - Sherlock would program in his own too, of course, it wouldn't do to be unable to snoop if he wanted to. Rosie was comfortably playing and he began to think seriously about the offer John had made… Could he adopt Rosie? He was a (currently reformed) drug addict with a dangerous lifestyle that had ended in tragedy and more than a few close scrapes already. Would adopting her be a matter of public record and put her in danger? How would he live with himself if anything happened to her (or John) because of his line of work? He had so many doubts but there was one little nagging tug at his heart that clearly wanted to say yes. He loved Rosie and John was right when he'd said that Sherlock would not allow himself to be separated from her again. He had already experienced that once and he… hadn't exactly taken it well. Sherlock loved her and she (somehow) had deemed him worthy of her love in return. He wondered if he could convince John to call Mycroft, he still hadn't spoken to him directly, after the revelation that he was the only Holmes in the dark.
He looked from Rosie to John, held out his hand to him, which John curled his fingers around and Sherlock said quietly.
"Yes, I want to adopt her, John, but you're phoning The British Government because I'm still not speaking to him."
John rolled his eyes, but smiled indulgently at Sherlock, he would make the call if he had to because his was important.
Sherlock changed to a whisper, close to John's ear. "Please see if he can keep it off the public record, before the 'fucking maniacs' target her because of me." John smiled at the inside joke but nodded seriously at the implications. He whispered back, just as quietly,
"I just want you to have full parental rights if anything ever…" He paused. "Happens to me. If something did happen and you aren't her legal parent, she would be put through the foster system, and Lord knows what would happen to her then."
It wasn't just that for John, Sherlock was practically a father to Rosie already. He asked their friends who helped Sherlock watch Rosie how he treated her, and everyone said they were like a family. On top of that, seeing them together was like witnessing the other parent with their daughter. It just kind of made everything fall into place.
"I won't let anything happen to you, John."
John smiled.
"I know."
The Truth
So a photo has been going around in the media that we didn't give permission to. I'm going to put the rumors to rest right now and tell you the truth:
Sherlock and I are now together, we were never a couple before, we are both raising my daughter, and I didn't cheat on Mary with Sherlock.
I'm also furious that someone decided to take that photo. We were having a moment to ourselves and didn't expect a photographer to just be waiting across the street for a 'juicy photo'. It is not okay to do that to people no matter if they are famous or not.
Now please stop with the accusations and rumors. I hope you have a nice day.
The photo in question was of John and Sherlock at a front window holding each other. They were having a bit of banter together and it turned into flirting. Sherlock had wrapped his arms around John and kissed him on the head. Apparently a Paparazzi photographer had been waiting across the street in the dark for a photo like this. John had decided to just stop the rumors and reporters with a blog post so everyone in the media would shut up.
The post went viral and got a lot of love, but of course, some hate and homophobia. It wasn't unexpected in all honesty. John knew how a good portion of the world felt about LGBT couples, and having two semi-celebrities end up being a couple was bound to get attention. It was like saying Tom Felton and Daniel Radcliffe were actually dating while filming the Harry Potter franchise, which would make a lot of conspiracy theorists happy.
People like 'theimprobableone' sent their regards, so did Mike, Harry, and Molly, then there were some Westboro Baptist Church people who decided to comment for some reason, and there was a bombshell comment in there… from Hamish Samuel Watson.
Hamish Samuel Watson: Son, I hope you can forgive your mother and I for shunning your sister years ago. It is my hope that we can patch your relationship with you, even if you have started dating a man. We want to meet our granddaughter, so please try to visit or even call. We still love you.
John did everything he could not to throw his tablet across the room in anger. 'Even if you have started dating a man', really!? They couldn't just ask to meet Rosie, they had to bring Sherlock into it!?
Speaking of him, Sherlock walked into the lounge with a tiny Belstaff coat for Rosie that perfectly matched his own and had obviously been custom made. John stared at it - it was both the cutest and the most ridiculous thing he had ever seen.
"You do realize she's just going to outgrow that in a few weeks, right?"
"Then we'll get her another."
"Sherlock, what did that even cost?"
"I encouraged them to charge as much as they wanted when I put it on Mycroft's tab at the tailors. I hope she needs a new one every month." he grinned slyly.
"You're going to bleed him dry one day."
"Mycroft is financially secure enough to live in luxury for at least ten lifetimes, and I have some revenge to exact."
John merely chuckled and shook his head, but his smile faded when he caught sight of the comment again. It must have immediately shown because Sherlock took the tablet out of his hand and looked at the comment.
Sherlock stared at the comment from Hamish Samuel Watson with total disbelief. The very last thing he had expected from John's blog post about their relationship was this. Westboro Baptist, yes, they trolled everyone, but John's father, he could never have foreseen THAT. They wanted to meet their granddaughter, which made sense, but to comment (only with a slightly rude connotation) on this post of all things? Would they want to meet him as well? Well that was a moot point. Sherlock would never send John into battle alone.
"Well, well, the prodigal parents return? That is certainly an unexpected twist."
"Yeah…"
"What are you going to do? I'm with you whatever you decide."
"I said it before, and I'll say it again: Rosie doesn't need the amount of hate they'll give her because of her parents being gay. They don't deserve to be in her life."
Sherlock wondered briefly what John's parents would actually do if he and John displayed different and increasing levels of affection for each other during their meeting. It was like the perfect opportunity to take out his verbal frustration on two Andersons… practically Christmas.
"Imagine their faces if we told them I was adopting her, though." he said with the kind of smile and dancing eyes he usually reserved for a good serial killer.
John gave him a quizzical look.
"What are you suggesting?"
"We test their tolerance with increasing levels of affection. We make it into an experiment before they're allowed to meet Rosie."
That… was actually very interesting. It would be a very interesting opportunity, and considering how his parents found out about Harry was she brought her first girlfriend home with her for dinner, he knew that seeing two adult men being a bit handsy would make them vomit. It would be totally worth it. He smiled mischievously.
"I think I could work with that."
"It would be the best test… Are you going to call them?" Sherlock was grinning wickedly now.
"I don't even have their number anymore. I deleted all of their contact information when I left for the army."
"Well you can't arrange a meeting publically on the blog, we'd be stalked."
"Maybe a quick call to The British Government would help?"
He closed out his tablet and stood up with a bit more happiness than earlier… even if it was over something ridiculous.
"And you're calling him this time because I already called about the adoption papers." He said as he walked back to their bedroom.
"I consent to a text message only!" He yelled toward the bedroom.
To Myc: [Need contact information for Hamish Samuel Watson, John's father. - SH]
To SH: [Information in email. - MH]
Sherlock refused to even text his thanks. It would cost him the next time he had to ask for a favour but he didn't care. He forwarded the email to John's phone and waited.
