Short version: Not dead. Sorry this took so long! Enjoy!

The Past, Present and Perhaps a Future
Chapter Ten: House Hunters - London
Thoughts/Texts

Molly and Sherlock were sitting at a little café across the street from a rather large brownstone with a For Sale sign in the front garden. According to Sherlock, Talis, Nick and the nanny were going to be looking at houses today, and then heading to the zoo.

Molly stared at Sherlock, finding his disguise rather attractive, he had donned a blond wig and a fake mustache, reminding her a bit of Jude Law from that Howard Hughes biopic. He was dressed casually (or at least as casually as she had ever seen him) in jeans and a button down and a black jumper. The part that Molly found absolutely adorable were the scuffed up and well worn Chuck Taylor's on his feet.

Sherlock watched Molly from the corner of his eye, he knew she was scrutinizing him, and instead of calling her out on it, he simply returned the gesture.

She was wearing a dark colored wig in a little pixie cut that made her look even younger than she was. She was wearing dark blue librarian-esque glasses that framed her brown eyes, bringing out the flecks of gold in them. The dark green jumper she had worn hugged her petite frame in a much flattering manner than that horrid cherry jumper she usually wore (that he secretly didn't mind as much as he claimed). Her legs were clad in a simple pair of dark wash jeans, a shade darker than his own.

Molly's attention was pulled away and Sherlock took the moment to fully take her in. If he was being honest with himself, (something that he could be fantastic at avoiding) he'd admit that something shifted between himself and Molly ever since she stated all those years ago that she didn't count.

The conviction she'd had when saying those words unnerved him, and she managed to render him speechless. He knew he could be prickly on even his best days, but he never imagined that his actions and words towards her made her feel so insignificant.

When the things with Moriarty were coming to a head, he knew without a doubt that Molly Hooper, innocent yet extremely gifted Dr. Molly Hooper was the only one he could turn to. He had never really stopped to wonder why it was her he had turned to. Surely Mycroft would have been the better and let's face it more logical choice, so why had he sought absolution in the morgue of the petite woman before him?

Before he could analyze that thought any further, a gasp from said woman pulled him from his thoughts.

"Who's that?" Molly's jaw fell open as she stared at the beautiful man beside Talis.

Sherlock's eyes narrowed as he glared at Molly traitorously, "That's Nick's nanny." He bit out, but Molly didn't even register his tone, she was too busy mentally undressing Jae. "He's gay." Sherlock surprised himself with the quip, hiding the startled look on his face before Molly saw it.

"Really?" Molly scrutinized the man further, Sherlock finding the crinkle of her nose so typically Molly, and absolutely charming. "He doesn't look gay," she watched as he held open the door for Talis and Nick, his hand lingering on Talis' back longer than necessary. "but then again, Jim didn't look gay either." She shrugged before looking at Sherlock, "Thank goodness I have you around since my gay-dar is apparently broken." She smiled brightly.

Less than 10 minutes later, the trio exited the home and Molly got her first good look at Nikolai, she had been right, the product of two people with features like Sherlock and Talis had created an absolutely beautiful child.

His face was lit up in a smile as he chattered about the house they just viewed, exclaiming excitedly about the size of the back garden. Talis and Jae were listening intently, soft smiles on both their faces no doubt from the boy's enthusiasm.

Molly stared unabashedly across the street at Sherlock's mini-me, "He's adorable," she smiled, not tearing her eyes from the boy until they had disappeared around the corner. "Absolutely adorable." She turned to face Sherlock, "He's a miniature version of you!" she nearly squealed in joy and Sherlock had to fight back a smile at her exuberance.

"Come along Molly, we have approximately 20 minutes to get back to Baker Street, change and head to the next home on the list." He stood up and pulled back Molly's chair, helping her to her feet as well.

"Change?" she looked up at him in confusion as he tucked her arm into the crook of his elbow and carried on down the street like any normal couple would.

"Yes, according to Talis and my own deductions, Nikolai is terribly observant, and he's bound to notice us following them if we stay in this disguise." He hailed a taxi and barked out the address, "Now, I'm thinking this time, you can be the blonde."

"So what did you think of that house Nicky?" Talis looked at her son and smiled as he scrunched his nose, a sign he was thinking about how to phrase his dislike of the first building.

"That it was just that, a house; it was nice but it didn't feel like a home." He nodded with a small smile, proud of his diplomatic answer.

Talis and Jae shared a look, before chuckling softly, "Alright, that one is off the list."

"Really?" Nicky looked up at his mother.

"Of course, I want you to love the home you grow up in." she ruffled his hair, "I loved the home I was raised in, I want you to have that same feeling, that place you know you can always call home, always come back to."

Nikolai nodded as they continued down the street, taking in the neighborhood, it was a nice area, upper middle class, a bit on the posh side as his mum would say. There were a handful of parks they'd passed, a bit on the small side, but workable.

The first house that they visited was nice, but it seemed cold, it wasn't warm and inviting, it reminded him of the apartment they had lived in while in Vancouver, it was functional and a bit clinical. Too be fair, they had only been there for a year, they rarely stayed anywhere for more than a year, they moved a lot. Although Vancouver was always a sort of home base, they'd travel the world for a bit before returning to Vancouver for a while, until his mother got the itch to move again. Which to be honest, he didn't mind, he had liked the change of pace, and he had friends all over different parts of the world, friends he still kept in contact weekly.

He spoke several languages, not fluently, but conversationally, enough to survive should he ever get stranded in a non English speaking country.

But that was getting a bit off track.

When his mum first mentioned moving to London, he had been excited at the prospect of living in Europe, living not only where his mum had grown up but also where in internationally known Sherlock Holmes lived.

When she told him that they were going to put down roots, move to London permanently he had been shocked, she had never expressed wanting to stay anywhere longer than a year, 18 months at most. Combine that with the secret nature of her and Jae's conversations and he knew that there was something more they weren't telling him.

At any rate, once he realized that London would now be his home, he decided that he cared a bit more about where they lived. Something he had mentioned to his mother when she left to get a head start on house hunting. He never really expected her to take his opinions in such a serious matter, but he was grateful that he was getting an input on where he would be growing up.

Sherlock was throwing clothes out of his closet, creating an impressive pile of costumes on the floor. "Where is it?" he grumbled as Molly attempted to pick up after him. "Aha!" he emerged with a ginger wig on and nearly scared Molly half to death as he held up the blonde Marilyn Monroe styled wig.

Approaching the petite pathologist he carefully pulled off the pixie wig and gently placed the blonde one atop her head. "There," he tucked the last bit of brunette hair away, "Ready to go find out if blondes have more fun?" he teased softly.

Molly was positive her face was purple, far beyond a pink blush, or a red stain of amusement.

"Go change." He ushered her towards the bathroom.

He watched her disappear before texting Talis,

Told you he wouldn't like that one.
-SH

Barely a moment passed before his phone chimed out a reply,

I believe we both decided that he wouldn't like the first one,
and that we would save the best for last. Molly looked amazing
in that green jumper, the color really brings out her eyes, wouldn't
you say? ;]
-T

Sherlock rolled his eyes, though the annoyance in the gesture was minimal, after all he did agree, the green of Molly's jumper suited the pathologist perfectly. Sherlock pocketed his phone just as Molly emerged wearing a perfectly fitted pair of gray slacks with a soft pink cashmere sweater. She had added a sharp 50's style winged eyeliner and ruby red lipstick. She looked like a pin up girl a teenager from the late 1950's early 1960's would have on their wall.

Molly smiled, taking in his change in outfit, the jeans with their rolled cuffs gave Sherlock a greaser type look that matched her rockabilly style perfectly. "You should wear jeans more often Sherlock," she had a saucy gleam in her eyes, "they suit you." Without missing a beat she turned and sauntered off down the hall, pausing at the door to wink at him, before slipping out of sight and down the stairs, her laughter floating back towards him.

Sherlock stood gob smacked for a moment before smiling and following after her, clearly blondes did have more fun.

"Sherlock, what was today about?" Molly asked him, halting his progress up the stairs.

He turned to face her, and even though she was a redhead, he couldn't deny the feeling of déjà vu as she repeated the question verbatim that she had asked all those years ago, just after his return to the world of the living. Stepping down so he was eye level with her he pierced her with an honest stare.

"It has been brought to my attention that I take you for granted." Molly opened her mouth to speak, but Sherlock forged on, "Don't deny it, it's true. Today was about seeing my son, but it was also about spending time with you."

The look of surprise on her face was absolutely charming and Sherlock couldn't help but smile.

"Talis' return has reminded me that I wasn't always this way. I mean I was always a bit of a loner arsehole," his lips quirked in a small but genuine smile, "but I used to have friends, not many, but a few." He paused to gather his thoughts in a rare show of vulnerability, "She knew me before and during the drugs. You knew me during and after. You had no good versions of me to remind yourself of the man I was, and yet you never gave up on me Molly Hooper. You always believed I was a better man than I am. The last thing I want to do is let you down."

Molly was near tears as Sherlock confessed his feelings. After things with Moriarty she knew without a doubt that she meant something to him, and then again after he had been shot, he had told her in a morphine induced haze about her role in saving his life. So even though he wasn't the best at showing it, she knew that he held her as a dear friend, but to actually hear him voice the words took her breath away.

"Oh Sherlock." She smiled as she threw her arms around, laughing softly as he stiffened, unfamiliar with the physical show of emotions, but before she could pull away, she felt his arms wrap tentatively around her. Sighing in contentment she leaned more fully into him, heart warming as she felt his hold around her tighten protectively.

She wasn't sure how long had gone by before his phone beeped and the two pulled away, exchanging soft smiles before Sherlock reverted to 'detective' mode and checked his phone. She was unsure as whether or not to follow him, but he turned and looked at her inquisitively before motioning towards the apartment.

Smiling, she followed him up the stairs, and sat comfortably on his couch, watching as he disappeared into his bedroom.

He emerged a few moments later, looking more like the Sherlock she'd come to know and love. Black curls a gorgeous mess, and Molly blushed as she realized that while he had changed into his custom tailored shirt and coat, he remained in the jeans that she had complimented him in.

"So, they decided on the last house?" She inquired as Sherlock busied himself making tea.

"Yes," he nodded, "I figured as much, as did Talis, she had wanted to save the best for last, and it appears that Nick agrees with her. He loved the last one."

"Plus, it's not that far from here, just a couple blocks away." Molly took the offered tea, "I'm sure that'll come in handy once it's revealed that you're his father."

Sherlock nodded once again, taking a sip of his tea, "Yes, I'm glad that money is of no object with Talis, had she not been able to afford a home here, it'd be like pulling teeth to get her to accept help from me."

Molly's eyes went wide, "She's rich?" the words slipped from her mouth before she could stop them.

Sherlock chuckled, "Yes, her parents were rather famous chefs back in the day. A handful of their restaurants are still among the most popular in London. In fact the restaurant John nearly proposed in is owned by Talis." he cocked his head to the side, wondering how he hadn't remembered that fact until now. It was weird sometimes just how small the world really is.

"Really?" Molly's jaw dropped, "That place is amazing." she placed her cup down, "I hear the food there is incredible. No wonder Talis is such a great cook."

The light in Sherlock's eyes made Molly wary, she knew that look, it was the look he got whenever he was going to ask her to do him a favor, a look that she had a very hard time saying no too. "Go change Molly," he ushered her to the bathroom, "You don't have any plans for later right? No? Perfect?" he didn't even give her a chance to respond, just gently shoved her into the bathroom and closed the door, leaving Molly to wonder not for the first time, what was going on in that beautiful head of his.

She was just about to pull her shirt over her head when there was a knock on the door. Cracking it open she looked up at Sherlock who held out the emerald jumper she had worn earlier in the day. "Talis mentioned the color looked stunning on you, and I can't help but agree." He handed it too her and cleared his throat, "You should keep it. It suits you."

Molly smiled at him before taking the top, letting her fingers brush against his. "Thank you."

He returned the smile with a small one of his own, "Put it on, I'm taking you to dinner." And without waiting for a response he turned and headed towards the living room.

Closing the door, she leaned up against it, while she couldn't deny that she had enjoyed the day spent with Sherlock, she couldn't help the doubt that crept in. Molly wasn't an idiot, (despite the bumbling school-girl Sherlock could sometimes reduce her to), she couldn't help but wonder if it was all a ruse. After all, he had successfully fooled the world into thinking he and Janine were a couple, perhaps he was using her to make Talis jealous.

She warred with herself, for a moment before decided to simply enjoy the rest of the evening. The day spent with Sherlock had been nothing short of perfect, there was no need to ruin it by over thinking anything. Splashing some water on her face she nodded resolutely at her reflection; have fun tonight and dissect every little thing tomorrow.

Putting on a wide smile she exited the bathroom to find Sherlock waiting in the living room, coat on, holding hers.

His smile certainly seemed genuine and made her weak in the knees.

Yes, enjoy this now, over think it later.

Holy balls it's been a while since I've updated. Sorry it's taken me so long, I went and got a job, which has put a dent in my free time. Thanks to those who have recently favorite this, it was the motivation I needed to finish this chapter.

Hope you guys liked it.

Until the next chapter, stay classy!
Getting2KnowL
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