"I'm home, Sherlock, what did you want to—what is all of this?" she asked, stepping over and ducking under the various papers and photos strung across the sitting room.

"Oh, Molly, it's brilliant! Family and friends of Ethan Murray threw him a surprise party, but instead of the man in question showing up, they received his ashes and a note from the murderer," Sherlock explained. "Would you care to take this case with me?"

"Sounds interesting, I'm in," Molly remarked, still trying to find her way through the maze. Her foot tripped over a lower string and Sherlock caught her with his strangely cat-like reflexes. Speaking of cat-like… "Where's Toby?" A loud pop from the kitchen sounded and Toby yelped at it.

"Kitchen; popped my balloon," Sherlock chuckled.

"Oh my God," she laughed wholeheartedly, clutching her aching stomach. "Life is never dull with you, Sherlock."

"Of course it's not," he replied smugly, but flashed a beautiful eye-crinkling smile at her.


Sherlock was furiously typing away on his phone when Molly appeared from the bathroom, freshly showered. His eyes flicked over to her searching through the cabinets in the kitchen.

"Any particularly special reason you're wearing my shirt?" he asked. She wore his aubergine button up that went down to mid-thigh. Each raise on her tip toes as she looked into the cabinets gave Sherlock a flash of her lacy yellow knickers. He smirked to himself, finding another reason to love her short stature.

"It's comfy," she shrugged nonchalantly, grabbing a bag of crisps. Molly skipped over, ready to sit in what was deemed as John's chair when Sherlock gently tugged on her wrist.

"And where," he began, "do you think you're going?" She followed his lead and backed up, ready to sit on the arm of his chair but he stopped her suddenly and took hold of her hips, pressing a kiss onto the small of her back before pulling her into his lap.

"What does this investigation involve?" Molly asked, popping a crisp into her mouth.

"His family has a charity fundraiser coming up and I'd like to use the opportunity to search their house," Sherlock told her. "Of course, I'll need to acquire a fake wife for the evening."

"Oh? Who were you planning to ask?" she teased.

"Oh, Mrs. Hudson surely," he joked.

"Smart arse," Molly laughed.

"No, I'm serious," Sherlock insisted, unable to keep the amused grin off of his face.

"Oh, well then, I guess there's no point in attempting to seduce you, Mister Holmes," she flirted, making a show of moving off of him until he brought her back to him, his lips next to her ear.

"I assure you, Miss Hooper, there is always a reason to seduce me," he purred. "Furthermore, your choice of nightclothes and knickers leads me to deduce that your very goal was to seduce me." He winked at her. "Now, will you be my fake wife?"

"I'd love to. After all, you've deduced correctly," she told him. "Deduction is the new seduction, Mister Holmes." His breath hitched at her remark. Molly slinked off to the bedroom with Sherlock eagerly following right after.


The following weekend, Sherlock and Molly were readying for the charity fundraiser. Molly had just finished her hair and makeup when she met Sherlock in the sitting room.

"You're quite becoming in that dress, darling," he told her, his face showing a look of pure adoration. Taking her hand in his, Sherlock slipped a beautiful vintage engagement ring on her finger along with a band of rose gold encrusted with diamonds. The engagement ring was also rose gold, a heart shaped diamond set in the center with studded butterflies on either side of it.

"Sherlock, where did you get these?" Molly gasped at how beautiful they were and the fact they fit her perfectly.

"My maternal grandmother's rings; had my mother send them over," he explained. She didn't question him further for fear of saying too much. Molly planned on truly acting the part, as it was probably the one time they'd ever 'be married.' So, she took the arm he held out to her and they left to be taken to their destination by one of the cars Mycroft had sent.


Author's Note: The investigation is next chapter hehe :p