Daddy Loves You
Chapter Ten: A New Day
"Good morning, John." Sherlock smiles, handing the sleepy doctor a cup of tea.
"Mornin' Sher." John replies sleepily, taking the cup from the younger man, "What's this for?"
"An apology. For the way I've been acting." Sherlock whispers, looking at the floor.
"Oh. Um, thank you, Sher." John smiles softly, leaning in to kiss the younger man.
Sherlock takes the cup from John's hand and puts it down on the table, wrapping his arms around John's waist to hold him better.
John brings his hands up to Sherlock's curls and pulls his head down slightly, kissing the younger man deeper; causing a soft moan to slip from his lips. John smiles softly, rubbing soothing circles in Sherlock's scalp and feeling the younger man relax into the touch.
"Idiot." John smiles fondly, stroking Sherlock's cheek.
Sherlock smiles in response, bringing his hand up to meet Johns'.
"Lestrade said there are no interesting cases yet, so we could take Ana to the park. If you want that is." Sherlock whispers, his arm still wrapped around John.
"That would be nice." John replies softly, still smiling at the younger man.
"After breakfast." Sherlock adds, moving away from John to head back to the kitchen.
"So I'm making it then?" John grins, watching as the younger man sits at the table and waits as patiently as a child.
"Obviously." Sherlock smirks, sipping at his tea.
"Go get Ana then. She'll be due a feed."
Sherlock smiles brightly before disappearing to the bedroom to get the little girl.
"Hello, Ana. I bet you're hungry, aren't you?" Sherlock says softly to the sleepy baby.
Ariana makes a sound in reply as Sherlock lifts her up out of the cot.
"Come on then, let's get you some breakfast." Sherlock adds, resting the baby on his shoulder as he walks back to the kitchen. "I bet you can't wait until you're bigger, then you can have proper food."
John chuckles as he listens to his partner talking to his daughter as though she can understand him.
"What are you giggling at?" Sherlock asks a little snappily, causing John to turn around to chastise his partner for speaking to his daughter so nastily.
As he turns round though, John realises the question was aimed at him, "You. What happened to 'it's pointless talking to her, John. She doesn't understand'?" He grins, handing the milk over to Sherlock.
"Yes, well, you said it's good for her to hear calm voices. And you are a doctor so you should know these things."
"It's not about being a doctor, Sher. It's about being a parent. Everybody talks to their baby in soothing tones. It's like the unwritten manual of parenthood." John smiles softly, stroking Ana's head gently.
"Oh."
This little noise causes John to giggle softly and causes the younger man to glare at him.
"Do you want to feed her?" John asks, a hint of amusement still present in his tone.
"Well, you're making breakfast so I guess I'll have to." Sherlock snaps, snatching the bottle off John.
"Yeah, and like you wouldn't have offered even if I wasn't making breakfast." John chuckles, filling Sherlock's plate with a few slices of bacon, two sausages and a few spoonfuls of beans.
"That's not the point." Sherlock replies, failing at snapping at John.
"Of course, love." John smiles, setting the plate down on the desk.
Sherlock smiles down at the little girl and a blush creeps up his cheeks.
"What's up with you, Mr Happy?" John asks in an amused tone.
"Nothing." Sherlock replies, still not able to wipe the smile off his face.
"Alright." John says, shaking his head and going back to his breakfast.
"You called me love." Sherlock whispers, his smile faltering.
John pauses in his actions, looking back at Sherlock, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. I guess it's just a force of habit when you're with somebody. I didn't ..."
"No, John, it's fine. Well, it's better than fine. I … like it." Sherlock smiles, looking up at John.
"Oh, good, I guess." John replies awkwardly, going back to his breakfast.
"Hello, boys." Mrs Hudson greets brightly, "Aww, Sherlock, look at you. Taking to this father thing very well, aren't you?" She smiles softly, looking almost tearful with pride.
"Morning, Mrs Hudson." John smiles, looking up at their landlady.
"Good morning, Mrs Hudson." Sherlock smiles as well, pulling the now empty bottle away from Ariana's lips.
"Oh, John, can I hold her?" Mrs Hudson asks softly, a little excited spark in her eyes.
"If Sherlock will let you, yeah." John grins at Sherlock; who just scowls in reply.
"Of course you can, Mrs Hudson." Sherlock replies with a smile, handing the baby over to their landlady.
"Aww, she's beautiful. She definitely gets it from you, John. There's even that little twinkle in her eyes, like the one you get when you come back from a case."
"I think she gets it all from her mother really, she was beautiful." John sighs sadly, looking down at the desk.
An awkward silence falls on the flat and Sherlock stands up slowly, resting his hand on John's shoulder.
"Mrs Hudson, would you give Ana a bath and get her dressed, please?" Sherlock asks gently, looking back at her with a soft smile.
"Of course, dear." Mrs Hudson replies with an understanding smile, "Come on, Ana, let's get you all nice and clean, shall we?" She says to the baby, smiling brightly at her.
Sherlock waits until they've left the room before kneeling down next to his partner.
"John, I'm not good at this, but I'll try to do what I can. I know that you're always going to love Mary, especially because she's the mother of your child and our … relationship has only just begun so you're not going to just get over the loss of your wife. And I would be wrong to ask you to, but I've never felt this way before and I'm going to need you, because I'm actually terrified. You know how fear annoys me but as long as I have you, I know I'll be okay." He says softly, resting his hand on top of John's.
John looks as though he's about to try when he turns to look at Sherlock, but instead he just replies weakly, "Thank you, Sher. I … I don't know what to say. That was … beautiful. Wow, who knew you could have such a way with words without knowing it."
"So, that helped? Me just going on without any proper point?" Sherlock asks in a confused tone.
"Welcome to the world of ordinary people." John smiles a little, ruffling Sherlock's curls.
Sherlock sighs dramatically and rolls his eyes, sitting at the desk to eat his now-slightly-cold breakfast.
John raises at eyebrow at Sherlock, curiousness on his face.
"You're always pestering me to eat, so I am." Sherlock sighs, shovelling down the food.
x..x
"Just remember to be careful with her, Sherlock." John warns as his partner sits down on a swing with Ana in his arms.
"I'm not an idiot, John." Sherlock sighs, swinging his legs a little to move the swing.
"Of course not." John replies with a slight smile and roll of his eyes.
"I think she likes it, John." Sherlock smiles widely, listening to Harry giggle.
"Yeah, she does." John smiles in return, sitting on the swing next to them and watching his daughter.
"When you're bigger, Ana, you'll be able to swing on your own." Sherlock tells the little girl, with a wide grin.
John chuckles softly, watching his partner interact with his daughter.
"You're surprisingly good with her. Considering where you were when you first started. You're actually acting like a dad. I knew you could do it." John says softly, smiling at his partner.
"Maybe it's not as bad as I thought it would be." Sherlock replies matter-of-factly, looking up at John and trying to suppress a smile.
"You love it." John grins, prodding his partner in the arm.
"Maybe." Sherlock replies indifferently, before looking back at Ariana, "Shall we go on the slide, Ana?"
"Oh, this I gotta see." John grins, pulling out his phone as Sherlock runs off to the climbing frame.
John clicks on the camera button and presses record as Sherlock holds Ana tightly to his chest and slides down the slide; his Belstaff giving a little help with the sliding.
John smiles widely as Sherlock bounces back over to him.
"What are you doing?" Sherlock asks curiously, spotting the phone in John's hand.
"Nothing, love. Just checking my texts, see if Lestrade's got anything for us." John replies innocently, quickly opening his inbox.
Sherlock looks him over suspiciously but quickly turns his attention back to Ariana; who is yawning and slumping against Sherlock.
"I think she's tired, John."
"Yeah, she does that. Come on then, let's get her home."
x..x
"She's out like a light." John announces, dropping onto the couch and resting his head on the back.
"I guess we tired her out." Sherlock replies, leaning back on the couch.
"Yeah, we did. And she's not the only ..." John breaks off, yawning loudly.
"I think it's time for bed, John."
"It's only half seven."
"Shall we watch tv for a while then?" Sherlock asks, picking up the remote anyway.
"Yeah. Just no commentary." John warns, pointing a finger at the younger man.
"Fine." Sherlock replies with a long-suffering sigh.
"Good." John smiles, putting his feet up on the couch to get comfy.
Sherlock keeps to his word and doesn't comment once, but John can tell he's just inching to; he's twitching his fingers and chewing the inside of his cheek.
John grins to himself and tries not to say anything.
After an hour, John's head falls to Sherlock's shoulder and the younger man looks over at John.
He's currently fast asleep and snoring lightly so Sherlock shifts him a little so that he can wrap an arm around John's back, while he moves the other under John's legs.
He should probably take John up to his room but he doesn't want to risk dropping his partner, so instead he lies him carefully down on his own bed before going upstairs to grab the baby monitor.
Once he's got that, Sherlock puts it down on the table and curls up to watch some more tv for a while.
x..x
"I actually need my bed." Sherlock sighs to himself.
When did he become so pedestrian? Or maybe it's the doctor in his bed that makes him need it. After weeks of closeness and curling up on the couch watching tv until John's goes back to his own room, Sherlock needs the doctor in his arms and in his bed.
He picks up the remote and turns the tv off, heading back to his room. Sherlock stops at the door, watching John sleep so peacefully. He smiles softly, climbing into bed behind John, hesitantly wrapping his arms around the older man and breathing in his scent.
John makes a sound in his sleep and Sherlock freezes, until John turns onto his back and guides Sherlock's head down to his chest, resting his hand in his curls.
Sherlock sighs softly, curling into John and throwing a leg over his partner's.
This is just what I need. Sherlock thinks, sighing one last time before succumbing to sleep for once.