"It's taken so long to get you here," he said softly, his eyes shining in the candle light.
"It would've been inappropriate earlier…Sherlock," she smiled, still getting used to using his Christian name.
"Not going to get into an argument about that, I find the English language insufficient to detail the utter foolishness of propriety!"
Molly chuckled. It was a relief to finally get rid of all formality and express her amusement at Sherlock's impatience with customs. He hadn't let go of her hand since her confession in the sitting room, and now she felt her cheeks go red at the look in his eyes as he gently rubbed her wrist with his thumb. She was no longer able to hold his gaze that had turned almost…heated and possessive. She looked up at him when she felt him give her hand a gentle tug, but the moment was spoilt when Mrs Hudson opened the door and walked in with dinner, smiling happily at the blushing woman holding hands with her husband at the dining table.
"Oh, I can't believe it…I just cannot believe it. It's like the moment that keeps giving! Him… coming back from the dead and sitting in his chair…ordering me about like he's always done." Sherlock protested at this, but Mrs Hudson was unstoppable. "And now this…you two…oh, I could die today a happy woman," she sighed happily.
"Oh stop with the hyperboles…God isn't ready to get troubled any time soon," Sherlock huffed.
"Mr Holmes, I've known you since you were a baby. I've seen your brilliance in almost all things and then also your absolute idiocy. It took you so long to see what you had-"
"Yes yes, thank you very much. I've had a long time to think about that. Now do you plan to serve us food at all or was that tray just an excuse to disturb my first dinner at home with my wife?"
Mrs Hudson huffed but gave Molly a big smile.
"Thank goodness, I thought she would never leave," Sherlock sighed when his housekeeper finally left the room.
"You care about her, it's pretty obvious," Molly remarked with a smile while starting to eat.
"My affection for everyone in this world is 'pretty obvious' to you, Molly, just chose to be blind at times, did we?"
Her smile faded at his remark but when she looked up at him, his eyes were twinkling. He was teasing her and she blushed when she realised that. There were so many new aspects to his personality, as she was discovering.
They continued eating in a comfortable silence that was broken by Sherlock's chuckles.
"Didn't realise you were so hungry," he said with a smirk.
"Sorry, it's a habit – eat well when you can," she responded, her dimples showing.
The significance of her casually thrown words wasn't lost on Sherlock, who looked grave as he placed his hand on hers.
"Molly, I'm so sorry you had to go through all that."
"You have no reason to apologise. I knew what I was doing. It's fine." She really hadn't thought or moped about the difficulties she had faced. Thinking about them wouldn't have solved them and frankly, she just didn't have the energy to spend on what she saw as whining. She told as much to Sherlock, who just shook his head, now caressing her hand with both of his.
"You could've stayed here and studied. Do you really think I wasn't aware of your interest in medicine or the fact that you had met Dr Jex-Blake," he sighed. "But it was safer for you this way. Even Watson didn't know it then but I was already in Moriarty's sight."
She blinked as she processed his words, the food momentarily forgotten. "Are you telling me that all that time… you knew about it?"
"Yes," he replied emphatically. "I wasn't exaggerating when I said that Professor Moriarty was the toughest foe I had faced. There were whispers of his involvement since a long time…whispers that faded the moment you tried to hear them. Even the British government was in the dark about his details. He saw things differently. He checked his facts, understood how people behaved…identified their weaknesses and only then made his move. He would've known everything there was to know before he made contact with me." He paused then, taking a deep breath before looking at her with the softest look on his face.
"Letting you go was one of the toughest things I've ever done Molly." He took her hand and kissed her palm, smiling as she shivered at the delicious sensation. "And it's not something I plan to do ever again."
"Dessert! We have to celebrate this day!" Mrs Hudson again interrupted their private moment. Sherlock just rolled his eyes in a resigned manner and accepted his coffee, making Molly giggle and then attack the grandly presented dessert in front of her.
As she finished and waited for her husband to light his pipe, she finally summed up the courage to ask something that had been bothering her. "Sherlock...the annulment...there was no small detail left in the application, was there?"
He had the decency to look a bit abashed. Looking down at the pipe in his hands, he nodded and after a pause said softly, "But if something were to happen to me or...or you were to meet someone...Mycroft would've taken care if it...he still will."
"Good to know that."
He looked up at that but when he saw her twinkling eyes and that impish grin, he sighed and gave a short laugh, shaking his head. "This still feels like a dream Molly. I still expect to wake up and be all alone."
"Oh Sherlock, this isn't a dream!"
"So I won't wake up alone?"
There was no humour in his question; he asked it in all seriousness. It was a valid query, how would they practically move on from here? Would they make a belated wedding announcement in the papers, or just let their close friends know? Would there be a scandal? There probably would be, considering the parties involved: any news about the resurrected detective raised eyebrows, no matter how silly. Now it would also involve a female doctor working in the morgue; it was a scandal just waiting to happen, no matter how the news broke. Molly also had no doubt about the fact that acceptance from society was a long way in coming. But she had paid her dues… they both had…and when they actually owed none!
In the end, the decision was simple.
She walked up and knelt in front of him, holding his hands and looking deep into eyes. "No Sherlock, you won't wake up alone…not if you don't want to!"
This time when he kissed her it was a kiss heavy with want. It was possessive, heated and it made Molly feel like her whole being was celebrating being a woman. As her hands moved from his chest to hold onto his shoulders Sherlock moved his hand into her hair, causing the stern bun she tied to fall loose. Tangling his hand and pulling her tresses slightly to expose her throat, he then started laying open mouthed kisses down her chin and along that pale white column. He gradually moved to her pulse point, nipping gently and causing her to gasp. It was as if that sound made him throw all caution to the wind, nuzzling into her neck till he encountered the high collar of her dress. Trying and remarkable failing to put his erstwhile dexterous fingers to use unbuttoning the top buttons, Sherlock actually growled as he simply pulled at the offensive garment, ripping it apart to finally get access to her neck and shoulder.
Molly was simply burning. She was a doctor; she knew and studied the human anatomy. But no amount of education had prepared her for the sheer deluge of sensation flooding her whole being. And it wasn't restricted to the physical, she felt overwhelmed emotionally too. It had been tough times, seeing Sherlock's genius struggle for breakthrough, agreeing to be a safety net for him, coming to know him closely and seeing the wonderful human being that he was. Deciding in her own mind that she needed to do more to match up to him, daring to dream, learning from his bravery and taking the plunge…it was all worth it. And it was always heading to this moment, in his arms…as his wife, as his partner.
Molly let all her inhibitions fall away once she managed to coax her very enthusiastic husband to continue his ministrations but in his private quarters. She gloried in the worship he bestowed upon her. She was an equal and enthusiastic partner, blinking through the momentary pain to further explore the nooks and corners that made up her husband. A word she was only too happy to use in all its entirety.
The next morning Molly greeted Mrs Hudson and the breakfast tray at the bedroom door, dressed in an oversized dressing gown and blushing comely. As the housekeeper winked and handed over the tray, she whispered, "I just returned from your dwellings with your essential things Molly. Do let me know when… or if you need them anytime soon." She tittered as Molly's blushed even more.
The newly united couple was now ensconced in a bubble of happiness, learning a little more about each other and enjoying their new discoveries. They were in the sitting room, Sherlock enthralling her with his travels to the exotic regions of North Africa, when reality in the form of Dr Watson, accompanied by Inspector Lestrade, knocked on their door.
Dr Watson stopped short at seeing the detective in such good humour, but was further surprised to see Molly in attendance.
"Molly! Or I should say, Doctor Hooper… how nice to see you."
Molly smiled broadly at the man who looked like he had been injected with life itself! He looked completely different from the defeated man she had last encountered within these same walls.
"Good to see you too Dr Watson… Inspector Lestrade."
"Well, wonderful, everyone has said their hellos. Now you may leave. I am busy." Sherlock interjected.
"Busy? What, a case already? And here I thought I was being hasty in asking you to help Scotland Yard!" Inspector Lestrade exclaimed.
"Yes, a case…a case of the absentee husband. Something I have full intention of getting to work on with minimum delay."
The kind Inspector frowned in confusion, but Dr Watson's face morphed from confused to disbelief to joyous in a span of seconds.
"Holmes! Have you two…oh thank god, finally! Oh this is brilliant news, congratulations Molly," saying which he kissed Molly on her cheeks and heartily shook the detective's hand.
Inspector Lestrade looked more confused than ever, so Sherlock asked him in an exasperated voice to state the case confounding Scotland Yard.
It didn't take more than a few words of description before the detective looked interested, firing more questions, his eyes lighting up.
"Oh, double murders, separate locations, seemingly unrelated. This looks like an eight Watson! Let me grab my coat."
But he stopped when Molly coughed gently, the excited look on his face morphing into a guilty one. Looking apologetic, he turned to Watson and Lestrade and was about to refuse them when Molly interrupted. "Are the pathology reports in? Didn't we have a similar case last week from near Brighton?"
"Dual double murders," Sherlock whispered in awe.
"I think that qualifies as a nine, don't you think?" Molly asked her husband, a smile on her face.
Grabbing her face and kissing her in full view of the others, Sherlock happily announced, "You are the best, Molly Hoo-…Dr Holmes. I think you should get ready too. I would need a trusted pair of eyes at the morgue!"
"What? Dr Holmes? When did that happen?" Inspector Lestrade spluttered.
"It's a long story, my dear friend." Dr Watson replied, leading the man out of the door.
"Come now, wife. We have a pair of dead bodies waiting for us. And Radcliffe to slag."
"Sherlock. I have no doubts that the man is a slob, but promise me you won't insult him or…or deduce something. I don't want a cry baby on my hands!"
"Oh no, I am not going to get involved at all. I am just going to watch as you put him down without even looking up from your bench. You have no idea how attractive you look when you do that," saying which he kissed her again.
"Oh Lord, am I going to have to deal with all this everytime now?"
They hadn't even realised that Dr Watson had come back for them. Sherlock huffed and Molly blushed, apologising and grabbing her coat. Just as they were about to leave the house and board the waiting hansoms, Sherlock bellowed, "Mrs Hudson, going out for a case, the wife coming along. Might get late, the wife too. But keep the food ready!"
"But Mr Holmes," Mrs Hudson protested as she hurried out to the door, "weren't you planning on going on a honeymoon?"
"What? With dual double murders happening? Molly wouldn't hear of it," saying which he winked at the old lady and jumped into the hansom already occupied by his wife.
"No she wouldn't, would she," the housekeeper muttered, fondly shaking her head as the horses drew the cab away.
x-JUST THE BEGINNING-x
Please drop a line and tell me if you liked it! Like a pal just reminded, its my longest multi chapter fic! And I would love to know how i did!