Chapter 11

One year later

"But dad!"

"There's no but", said John firmly. "I told your grandmother we were coming long ago."

"But I can't! You don't understand! This party is super important and all my friends are going!", begged Audrey on the verge of tears.

"Surely it's not the end of the world…"

"Yes it is! Everybody is going to make fun of me if I don't go!"

"Oh please…you can make an effort and spend ONE week end at your grandmother's."

"No! I don't want to go there. She doesn't like me anyway, it's always everything for Jack !"

"It's NOT true!"

Molly stepped into the living room, alarmed by the noise. It had all started when John had denied Audrey the permission to attend a party, because he was planning to take her and Jack to spend a week end at his mother's in Surrey. Now, it had turned into an ugly argument, one in many lately.

"What is going on here again?", she inquired.

"Mom! Please you need to tell him! I have to go to Kelly's party!"

"It's only one week end, Audrey. And you already went to Emma's party two weeks ago."

"But this one is more important!". She sounded honestly desperate, as if her life depended on it.

Molly was already tired of the conversation. Audrey was probably the more stubborn person she knew after Sherlock. She briefly imagined the nightmare Sherlock must have been as a teenager and she deeply sympathized with his mother. She also knew that John and her had to stick together if they wanted to maintain some semblance of authority.

"No", she said, "listen to your dad."

"I don't know why I have to go and see her since she's not even my real grandmother. I'll ask to stay with papa instead and I'm sure he'll say yes!". There was a look of satisfaction on her face which was clearly provocative.

"That's enough!", yelled John, "Sherlock doesn't have anything to say about this".

"YOU don't have anything to say about this. YOU're not even my real dad!".

"Audrey!", exclaimed Molly in shock.

"I hate you, I hate you all!", she yelled and ran into her room.

The door banged loudly as she slammed it shut.

"Audrey come back right now!", shouted Molly.

"I'm going out", said John putting on his jacket. He was trying to control himself but Molly could tell that he was boiling inside.

"No wait! John wait, I'll talk to her!"

But she didn't have to time to hold him back. Another door slammed and Molly was left standing there.

"Oh god…" she whispered to herself.

^/^

An hour had passed and the flat was now strangely silent. Jack and Molly had dinner in the kitchen but Audrey was still locked in her room. Molly kept a plate for her and knocked tentatively on her door.

"Open the door darling"

"Leave me alone!", answered an angry voice.

Molly sighed and tried to stay calm. She knew it was the only method which worked with her daughter.

"Please Audrey, I just want to talk. I'm not mad at you."

This time her voice met only silence.

"… And I've got pizza", she added.

She was about to give up when the she heard the sound of the key in the lock. She gently pushed the door and found her daughter seated on her bed. Molly put down the plate on the desk and sat next to her.

Audrey was busy drawing, apparently ignoring her mother's presence. Her long legs were curled up against her chest and Molly noticed that her eyes were red.

"So…", started Molly, "what is so special about this party?"

"I'm not going anyway…", replied Audrey, still not raising her eyes from her sketchbook.

Molly started again: "If it was only about your friends you wouldn't make such a fuss. So I guess there's something else… A boy perhaps?"

This time Audrey finally looked up. She seemed surprised.

"Maybe…" she said.

"What's his name?", asked Molly.

"Carlo."

"Carlo? Isn't it the boy who was expelled from your class last month?"

"Only for one week. And it wasn't his fault."

"I see…", sighed Molly. "Bad boy syndrome starts early", she though.

"He's invited to the party and he asked me if I was going too! He didn't ask anyone else and all the girls are jealous. Now nobody will understand if I don't go!"

"And you think it's a reason good enough to say things like that to your dad?", said Molly dryly.

Audrey looked down and bit her lip. She obviously felt guilty about her behavior.

Molly passed a hand in her daughter's hair.

"So my little girl is in love?"

"I'm not a little girl anymore."

"My big girl is in love?"

Audrey rolled her eyes. "I don't know… I like him. But, how do you know when you're really in love?"

"Well… I guess it's when someone makes you really happy, and you can't stop thinking about him."

"Was it like that between you and papa?"

Molly was a bit taken aback and didn't know what to answer. She had loved Sherlock for sure, but what about him? She couldn't possibly tell her that their relationship had been mostly about sex.

"I think so yes", she replied.

"Then why didn't you stay together?"

"Darling… I already explained you what happened."

"But when he came back?"

"When he came back I was married to you dad. And I was in love with him."

"But you loved Papa even more! I've read it."

Molly's eyes widened, "What did you read?"

Audrey looked slightly embarrassed. "The other day… I was googling names of people I know… And I found your blog."

"My… my blog? You mean that old thing? It's still exist?"

"Well, yes if you never deleted it. The internet is forever mom!"

"Oh", simply said Molly. She had stopped writing on that blog years ago and had almost forgotten about it. Hopefully there wasn't anything too compromising but the fact that Audrey had discovered it made her felt uncomfortable

"Listen…", she started. "… I was very much in love with your papa. Then I lost him and… it broke my heart. But hopefully I had you, and your dad. I don't know what I'd have become without him. He was there when you were born, and you've been his little princess ever since. You know he would do anything for you, and he doesn't make any difference between you and Jack."

"But Grandma does!"

"Your grandmother… I know she's not being very fair with you. And she doesn't like me much either. But, you must at least respect her, like you must respect Irene. I know you did some efforts with her lately and I'm very proud of you. Now about your dad…"

"Do you think he'll come back?"

"Of course he'll come back. I know you didn't mean what you said earlier but, words can hurt you know. And I'm sure your dad is feeling really sad right now."

"I'm sorry…", murmured Audrey.

"It's not to me you have to tell it."

She nodded and tears started rolling again on her cheeks. Molly took her hand.

"There will be other parties. And I'm not sure this Carlo is really worth all this trouble. You're only 12, you've got all the time in the world to worry about boys! And with those beautiful eyes of yours, it will never be a problem…"

Audrey gave her mother a timid smile. "Did you have a lot of boyfriends?", she asked.

"Not that many", said Molly, "and certainly not when I was your age."

"What about Jim? The guy from your blog?"

The name made her shiver. Of course, she had talked about Jim on her blog. About the nights where she had been watching "Glee" with a psychopath killer. Audrey knew about the Reichenbach incident, but hopefully she hadn't made the connection between "Jim from IT" and the infamous James Moriarty.

"Oh, I only went on a few dates with him but it didn't work out."

"Because he was gay?"

"I never really found out. But, he wasn't a good person. Actually he was pretty awful. Nice boys aren't always what they seem, please remember that. I hope you never meet anyone like Jim…" She gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead. "Ok, eat that pizza and then off to bed. And promise me that tomorrow morning you'll apologize to your dad and give him a big hug. He's already all grumpy about his birthday…"

"I swear. Good night mom."

^/^

John still wasn't back home. Molly though he was probably having a few beers at the pub. While waiting for him, she settled in bed with her laptop and went to check her old blog. It was still there indeed, like stuck in time. She looked with amusement at the first pictures of Toby. He was an old cat now but had always been a loyal companion.

One of the texts caught her attention, it was of course about Sherlock:

"Do you believe in love at first sight? There's this man and I love him. At least, I think I do. I can't stop thinking about him. He's so intelligent it's like he's burning. And he's so cool but not really. And he's fit. Oh, he is really fit. And I can't stop thinking about him. I'm a sensible girl, I always have been. I've worked hard to get the job I have and I've got plans but he just rides all over everything. It's like I'm Molly Hooper, in control. 'Little Miss Perfect' as my mates call me. Until he walks into the room and then suddenly I'm this little mouse. He turns me into a mouse."

She couldn't help smiling at her own words. It had been over ten years ago and she had changed for sure. But she was still a hard worker. And Sherlock was still fit. As much as she tried to deny it, it hurted her to see him with Irene. She knew that they sometimes had some massive rows, but they would always get back together and seemed to be happy. Maybe she was right for him after all, and it wasn't her business anyway… That blog belonged to a time that was gone, and she decided to delete it for good.

She glanced at the watch, it was getting late. She took her phone and texted John:

"Where are u? Come back we love u xx"

^/^

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