A/N: Warnings: suggestive material, discussions about sex, nothing explicit…merely implied (sorry for those wanting smut…it's not happening in this story...).

Dating. Sherlock had sneered at other people's attempts at romantic attachments before, mocked John's romantic emails and all of that nonsense. But when he showed up on Molly Hooper's doorstep with some roses (Mrs. Hudson had bought them, so he'd been forced to bring them), he had to admit this was a challenge.

Perhaps this was how most normal people felt about thinking. That was the only possible parallel Sherlock could draw as he tried to find suitable small talk, struggled to figure out how to carry on with Molly at his side. When was it appropriate to kiss her? Should he kiss her? Did he want to? Did she want to? So many questions were bouncing around in his mind, and deduction was only getting him so far.

The only good thing was, Molly seemed to figure out he was uncomfortable, and she soon was suggesting things to him, trying to make his life easier.

On things to do for their dates—going to the cinema was one of her first comprising of an awful attempt at mystery that was far too obvious for his tastes. But she slid her hand into one of his during the film, and the feel of her smaller fingers wrapped in his was surprisingly comforting.

On what to talk about—mostly she stuck with work, but she was good at coming up with interesting questions about his experiments or crimes he had looked at recently, and she soon learned to not wait for him to ask her about things, she'd just tell him. Though occasionally her chatter grew a bit tiresome, Sherlock was learning to appreciate her boldness in being willing to open herself up.

On when to kiss—thank god. Sherlock didn't think he could handle trying to figure it out himself. So one night when he dropped her off home, she told him she'd had a nice time and asked if he wanted to kiss her. He'd complied, and again, found it a bit better than he'd expected.

On how to handle Alex—that was probably the best of it. Sherlock was so wrapped up in making sure he did well with dating Molly, but she reminded him they weren't the only ones who needed to adjust.

"Maybe we ought to do our next date with the three of us," Molly suggested. She leaned back on the couch, sipping a little more of the wine Sherlock had brought.

"And what would you suggest we do?" Sherlock asked, blinking a few times at the idea.

"I was thinking we could go to the zoo actually," Molly said.

"The zoo? Staring at animals in cages," Sherlock muttered. "And the point of doing such a thing is?"

"To entertain a little boy. Provide bonding time and all that," Molly said with a smile. "Sherlock, don't you ever take him out to do things? You know, normal things?'

"I take him to school. And to his football matches and all that…I even go to them since Mrs. Hudson insisted. I took him to a crime scene once, but Lestrade said that was too dangerous, so we didn't repeat it. I've taken him out for food when Mrs. Hudson isn't willing to cook…taken him to his aunt's…taken him to the A and E for his cast."

Molly started laughing and he had to stop.

"What's so funny?" he asked. "What have I said that you find so utterly hilarious?"

"Sherlock, he's a little boy," Molly said with a smirk.

"So?"

"So, little boys like to do fun things? You know, enjoy an outing from time to time? Change things up?" She gazed at him quizzically. "None of that's ringing any bells for you then is it?"

"I've taken him to the park from time to time. When he begs me usually. I don't really see the point."

"The point isn't for you, it's for him. And it would be a good excuse for him to get used to us being together," Molly said.

"I'm not worried about that, he likes you quite well," Sherlock said with a sigh. He lifted his own wine glass to take a swallow.

"He likes me quite well as Molly, your friend and his babysitter. Stepmother is another thing altogether."

Sherlock again didn't see the distinction, but he agreed that if Molly thought it was best to take Alex out then they'd do so.

Sure enough, Alex was a picture of excitement when the three of them arrived. He wouldn't stop bouncing up and down, though he had taken Molly's hand, his burns clearly healed up nicely by that point so that the movement didn't hurt him. Sherlock gave Molly a look indicating that she ought not to have worried. Alex was clearly fine with the whole arrangement.

"Can we see the lions first?" he asked her.

"Of course," Molly replied. "We can try to see as much as you'd like."

Alex beamed at her. Sherlock wondered for a moment if Molly had just replaced him as Alex's new hero.

Sherlock, again, didn't feel sure what he wanted to really do. Thankfully, Molly grabbed for his hand as well, pulling him along after the overly excited boy.

"Look at him," Alex said, pointing at the biggest male lion. "He looks like Aslan!"

"Yes he does!" Molly said. "Do you like The Chronicles of Narnia, Alex?"

"Yeah they're my favorite," Alex said with a smile. "I wish animals could really talk in our world."

Sherlock shot him a confused look. "What nonsense are you talking about now?"

"Just a book," Alex said. "You wouldn't like it."

Sherlock was unable to restrain a small pout, especially as Molly and Alex went back to talking about the strange book without him, something about wardrobes and witches and other nonsense.

He really did try to keep his snarky remarks to a minimum. But it was hard. A "bored" did escape at one point, causing Molly to elbow him and shoot him a glare.

"Zoology is a very valuable science," Molly hissed at one point.

"So?"

"So, teaching Alex about different animals is valuable to his scientific education. Surely you of all people would appreciate that."

Sherlock shrugged, and went back to watching Alex at the window to the gorilla exhibit, staring in at the animals with awe in his expression. He did seem to be enjoying himself at least.

"Molly, can we go see the bugs now?" he asked, coming over and holding out his arms. Molly laughed and scooped him up.

"Of course, let's go see those bugs."

Sherlock rolled his eyes, but followed after his new fiancée without a fuss. Some annoyances were worth putting up with, or at least he was beginning to feel that way as he watched Alex's ever growing smile. At least he was happy. Now how long did these ridiculous outings last?

Four hours was the answer. Alex had spent four hours going about looking at all the animals, asking for treats at one point that Molly gladly bought for him. She clearly was going to spoil Alex, but with all the chiding Mrs. Hudson gave him, he was aware he did the same.

Molly started insisting Alex spend more time with them after that. She came over and cooked dinner one night. And while it wasn't as good as Mrs. Hudson's cooking, it was decent. Alex especially seemed to enjoy it.

And one evening they stayed in and watched a film together. Sherlock pretty much spoiled the ending for them all, but Alex only gave him a glare and climbed into Molly's lap. Besides, it didn't matter since he fell asleep before the end anyways.

"Should I wake him up?" Molly asked, looking down at the sleeping boy with a smile.

"I can carry him up to bed," Sherlock suggested. He carefully scooped Alex out of her arms and carried him towards the stairs. Molly followed along to help by opening Alex's door for him and pulling back the covers. Sherlock set Alex down and allowed Molly to tuck him in. The boy's eyes opened a bit, blinking blearily up at the two of them.

"Goodnight, Alex," Molly whispered.

"Goodnight, Molly. Night Sherlock," he replied with a soft yawn before his eyes closed again.

The two of them made their way downstairs. Molly stood at the next set of stairs, looking towards Sherlock meaningfully. He frowned and looked around, wondering what was keeping her from leaving.

"If…you'd like…Is Alex a heavy sleeper?"

"Quite," Sherlock said. "Why?"

"Because, if you're not worried about him coming down for any reason…we could…well…only if you'd want to… I honestly don't care either way. I understand you might not…I mean people have said before you're well…asexual…"

Sherlock caught on. "Oh. Sex. Um…if you'd like."

Molly offered a shy smile, pushing hair back behind her ear. "Only if you want to."

"Er…yes…why not."

Molly took his hand and led him back towards his bedroom. Sherlock was extremely glad he'd thought to tuck the jar of tongues into one of his drawers rather than leaving it on the nightstand. He stood there nervously as Molly shut and locked the door. She turned to him with a light smile.

"It's alright. We don't have to, Sherlock," Molly whispered, coming over to put a hand on his chest, her mouth moving closer to press a light kiss to his lips.

"No, I'd like to. I…you're a very…I…"

"Shhh," she whispered, placing more soft kisses. "No need to talk. Let me just take care of you. It'll be alright."

Finding himself with nothing intelligent to say, Sherlock promptly shut up and let her lead, deciding he'd settle for using actions rather than words.

He woke with her head on his chest, finding himself more relaxed than he normally was in bed. The clock next to his bed read 7:12. He sighed and laid back on the pillow again, admiring the way Molly's hair looked spread out around her on the bed and his chest. It was so soft. One hand reached to run through it softly, causing Molly to twist a little, eyes blinking open.

"Good morning," he said.

"Morning," she said with a yawn. She sat up and glanced at the clock. "Oh golly, I should be going."

"Work?"

"Oh no, I just…I figured we didn't want to have Alex see us…" She slid out of bed and grabbed for her pants. Sherlock managed to lean up and grab her arm.

"No, it's fine," he reassured her. "Stay, we'll have breakfast or something."

"Sherlock, I don't know that it's appropriate…well for me to…for us…for…"

"Molly, we're engaged and if we move in together this will be regular thing," Sherlock said with a sigh. "Besides, if you recall…someone talked me into telling Alex storks bring babies rather than giving him any clue what went on with us last night."

Molly smiled. "I'd forgotten about that. I suppose that's true. See, I knew there was a reason to tell him that."

"Clearly," Sherlock said with a half-smile. "Come back to bed for a few more minutes. We don't need to worry about Alex."

Molly slid back in beside him, letting out a sigh as Sherlock's arms wrapped around her again.

"Besides, it's Mrs. Hudson you have to worry about," Sherlock said with a smirk. "And she's been up an hour already. No getting past this awkwardness."

"Lovely. And I'm guessing I'll have to go ask her for something for breakfast too."

Sherlock didn't answer that. Last he remembered the only thing he'd bought was milk…and that had probably been more than a month ago.

"So, did you enjoy…well…I hope it was adequate enough for you," Sherlock muttered.

Molly shot him a strange look. "You can deduce if people have happy marriages or not, you can tell where people have been by the mud on their boots, but you can't tell if I enjoyed sex or not?'

"Oh…well…you seemed to…but I know things like that can be…well…faked," Sherlock said putting particular emphasis on the last word.

Molly laughed and cuddled in closer. "It wasn't, I promise. I rather liked it. And what about you?"

"Interesting. Better than I'd expected actually."

"I'm not sure if I should think of that as a compliment or not," Molly said with a soft giggle.

"It was."

"Sherlock…were you…I mean had you done this before?"

"A little experimenting as a hormone ridden teenager, but not much. That was around the time I figured out I wasn't much drawn to the idea of sex…"

"Oh…so you are asexual," Molly asked, her eyes flickering off the side. "I'm sorry if it felt like I pressured you. I really didn't mean for—"

"No," Sherlock interrupted her. "It was lovely, and I would have told you no if I truly was uncomfortable. No…I'm…well I don't really know what I am and I tend to find labels often just don't work as well with human behavior as one would like them to. Some might label me as demisexual…grey-A…essentially I'm not traditionally drawn to the idea of sex, but I have experienced interest in it before…especially around people I share a strong emotional attachment to," Sherlock sighed. "It's complicated and I don't know that we need to dice it out, unless you'd like to."

"Oh no, as long as you know you can always tell me no," Molly said.

"I know these things are expected in a relationship though," Sherlock said. "I don't want to disappoint you."

"Oh Sherlock," Molly gave him a sad smile. "I've been single long enough I can take care of myself. Don't you worry about me."

He was about to reply when a noise came to his attention.

There was a knock at the door suddenly. And then a male's voice calling for Sherlock. The consulting detective groaned and sat up.

"Who's that?" Molly asked.

"My brother," Sherlock muttered.

"What?" she gasped, sitting upright.

"Stay here, I'll handle this," he muttered. He grabbed for one of the sheets, wrapping it around himself before heading out to the living room to find Mycroft standing looking out the window, fist curled on his umbrella.

"Mycroft," he said.

The other man spun and gave a grimace on seeing Sherlock undressed. He strolled over to one of the chairs and had a seat.

"Ah, awake, good," Mycroft said. "I have an important meeting this morning, but I thought I'd pop in before. You see…I had a chat with your social worker. Was curious why she'd elected to leave Alex here after everything that had happened. I was considering telling her about those drugs after all, when suddenly she sees fit to tell me that with your new fiancée she couldn't say no just yet. And I had to say I was most…surprised…my own little brother getting engaged."

"Yes, well we'll send you an invitation to the wedding when we're good and ready," Sherlock muttered. "Until then I was just waiting for the appropriate time to phone you up and tell you the news. Mummy and daddy too of course."

Mycroft scowled. "Your lies will cost you even more, don't you realize that? Are you really so stupid to think a silly little scheme like this would work?"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? Proving how stupid I am. Showing me how I can't possibly care for a child. Proving me wrong as always," Sherlock growled.

Mycroft sighed. "Sherlock, all I want is what's best for you. And having a child here is not in your best interest. I let you have your fun, enjoy your little experiment, but this must end. And your lies will do nothing for that. So, I'm here to tell you to start helping Alex pack up. Someone will be over to collect him first thing in the morning."

"He's not going anywhere," Sherlock snapped, stamping his foot.

"No? If you don't, I'll have him taken by force," Mycroft said. He lifted up a hand and examined his cuticles. "So please don't make this any more difficult than it needs to be."

"Mycroft for god's sake get out of my flat. Now," Sherlock shouted.

Mycroft said nothing. "Do you understand, Sherlock?"

Sherlock opened his mouth to yell again, only to hear footsteps. He looked over his shoulder to see Molly, clothed though looking a bit rumpled, hair still down and unbrushed.

"I was just going to make some coffee. Would either of you like some?"

"Black, two sugars," Sherlock muttered. "Sorry we woke you with our arguing, darling."

"Oh it's alright, dear," Molly said with a brilliant smile. "And anything for you?" she looked meaningfully at Mycroft.

The older Holmes had his mouth slightly ajar in a rather undignified manner. He was staring at Molly, clearly making the obvious deductions as he looked her over, before glancing back at Sherlock.

"I don't believe you've been formally introduced. Molly, this is my brother, Mycroft. Mycroft, my fiancée, Molly Hooper."

"Pleasure to meet you," Molly said with a warm smile. "Coffee?"

"No, thank you," Mycroft managed to say, clearing his throat and fixing his gaze to the ground.

As Molly disappeared back into the kitchen, Sherlock turned a smirk to his brother.

"Clever, Sherlock. Well done," Mycroft said, eyes darting towards the kitchen once or twice more.

"Thank you," Sherlock said. "Now, if you'd be on your way…Molly and I were going to have some breakfast together."

Mycroft scowled but rose from the chair.

"This is a sham, and I'm aware of that even if the social worker is not. I suggest you don't mess it up if this is truly the route you're going."

"I don't intend to," Sherlock said. "Goodbye, Mycroft."

The man didn't reply as he walked towards the door. Sherlock listened to his footsteps descending before going to find Molly.

"Thank you," he said, settling himself against the opposite counter and watching as she fixed his coffee.

"I didn't mind," she said. "They won't take Alex from you so long as I'm here. And I do intend to be here. You needn't worry."

"You're…more than I ever could have hoped for, Molly Hooper," Sherlock said, coming over to peck her cheek gently. "Never leave me."

"I just told you," she said, turning to glance at him with a smile. "I don't intend to."

A/N: Denethorian- never ever ever be sorry for your amazing reviews. Seriously, they are wonderful and you deserve this shout out for reviewing so regularly. I only wish you had an account so I could PM you my thanks.

Thanks also to LadyofBalliol, and galaxygashes for the lovely reviews! Appreciate your support and feedback.

Sorry for the rant last chapter…had a more critical review that didn't really help much. Just figure constructive criticism is the key if you have to be negative. Thanks to those who have given me that or positives, you guys are awesome!

Hope this was an adequate enough chapter. I'm trying to give this story as much attention as I can since it's my favorite (shhhh don't tell the others).