Hey everyone! Sorry for not updating in like forever. Mid terms nearly killed us, BUT we're both alive and still kicking.
So, here's the new chapter to you faithful readers.
Zoe walks into Matt and Heather's room and turns on the light. She goes to Elizabeth's crib and looks down at her. Seeing that she's not hungry or needing a change, she picks up her goddaughter and say to her, "Oh, you attention seeker."
Zoe coos at the baby, after a few minutes she settles. Sherlock comes in and takes Zoe by the shoulders and kisses her.
After recovering from her shock, she puts one hand on his chest, while she holds Elizabeth in her arms and pushes him back away from her.
"What?" Zoe gasps.
Instead of answering her, he walks out of the room. Zoe takes a minute and follows him out, shuts the light off as she makes her way out of the room, and still holding Elizabeth.
"Why did you do that?" She questions him again. He gets his overcoat and scarf from the stand by the door.
"To show I care." He says simply as he puts on his scarf.
Zoe sighs and says softly, "I know you always cared."
Then she asks him before he leaves, "How are you going to get back to your hotel? It's after nine, and it'll take 30 minutes for a cab to come." She pauses and offers, "Would you-would you be willing to stay here for the night? You can have the spare room upstairs if you want."
He thinks for a moment and then he nods. "Sure no one will mind?"
"As long as you don't insult them again." She responds.
He takes off his coat and scarf and hangs them up again; Zoe goes into the den and sits on the couch. The hallway light is on so she can be able to see enough. He comes in and sits next to her.
After a moment, Zoe asks him "Would you like to hold her?"
Sherlock looks at Elizabeth who is still awake and is looking at him, he makes a face. "Not good with children. They are utterly unintelligent and beyond annoying at any age."
Zoe sighs and just hands him the baby. Since he has no other choice, he takes her.
"Don't worry, they grow up and then they can be intelligent. Except during middle school, it's just really annoying." She tells him.
Zoe helps Sherlock hold Elizabeth a little better so she won't fall. Elizabeth doesn't make any fuss when being handed to another person. She is calm and snuggles into his suit jacket, Zoe smiles.
"See, she likes you already."
He just looks down at her, not knowing what to say.
Zoe eases her arms away from his so he's just holding her on his own. "See, she doesn't bite. And she's taking a liking to you." Then says in an afterthought. "Wonder if that's a sign…."
"How do you mean?"
Zoe runs her hand through her hair and looks at the pair. This much of 'domestic' should be freaking her out, but for some odd reason; it doesn't.
"She's very….picky I guess on who's holding her. Since you've never knew her, she's completely calm that a stranger is holding her, and not a family member." Zoe explains.
He nods and slowly rocks her. "What would John say if he were here now?"
Zoe smirks and easily replies, "Who are you and what've you done to the REAL Sherlock Holmes or something like that."
He gives a little smile and then frown, "Don't tell Maddy. I will never hear the end of it with her."
The American smiles and says, "Your secret is safe with me."
They spend some more time on the couch in comfortable silence. Elizabeth falls asleep in Sherlock's arms, seeing this; Zoe takes her from him and goes into her parent's room. There's already a crib there, since James and Laura babysit Elizabeth as well.
After placing the baby in the crib, Zoe tells her parents about Sherlock staying the night. They agree, but let's their daughter know that they will be out, last minute shopping the next day. Laura get's some clothes for Sherlock and hands them to her daughter.
She says good night to her parents and meets Sherlock back in the hallway.
"This way." She tells him as she leads him up the stairs.
They go up to the second floor to the guest room, its right across from Zoe's. She hands him the grey shirt and black sweats that her mom gave her.
"Thanks." He says and he takes them. Then he says, "So will you stay and talk? I feel restless."
Zoe smirks; this is too hard to pass up. She raises her brow and say, "My my Mr. Holmes, moving fast aren't you?" She laughs and shakes her head. "Sure, just let me go get change. Meet you in 5?"
He nods and goes into his room to get changed. Zoe then makes her way into her room and changes as well. She walks out and sees Sam outside her room.
Before he can say anything, Zoe interrupts him by saying "There is nothing to forgive you know. It's cute when you act the big brother, but it can be annoying. I know what I'm doing, trust me?"
Sam is relived that he's forgiven and says, "Always."
They hug, and then he walks forward; making Zoe step back. Still in the hug, he leads her into his room where Jessica is sitting on the bed with Zoe's laptop. Zoe goes to her friend and sits with her on the bed; Sam gets back on his computer on his desk.
Jessica puts the laptop down and starts to braid her hair. She then asks, "So, he's staying the night?"
"Just for the night." Zoe confirms.
Sam gives a little groan from his desk.
"Not sure if this really is a big brother moment Sammy." Jessica tells her cousin.
"Of course it is. I still don't like him." He tells her.
"Get over yourself Samuel David Ryan. And yeah, I JUST used your full name." Zoe tells him when he swivels around in his chair to look at them.
Zoe winces when Jessica ties it with a hair band. Jessica looks over her work, she put her friend's hair into a French braid, and she left some of her hair out so it can frame her face with her bangs.
"There, all done." She says, satisfied with her work.
Zoe turns around and smiles at her friend. "Thanks. So, are we still on for tomorrow Sam?" She asks when she faces Sam again.
"So on Tyler." He says.
"It's a date then." Zoe says in a teasing tone.
"Oh la la a date huh?" Jessica joins in and winks and smiles at the two.
Zoe smacks her shoulder. She sighs and says, "Night you two."
Then she gets up from the bed and walks to the door.
"Where are you going?" Jessica asks.
Zoe stops at the door and turns to look at her.
"Going to go play Russian roulette."
She walks out of the room, ignoring both of their shock faces. Sam and Jessica know what that meant.
Zoe closes the door and walks down the hallway to Sherlock's room. She knocks on the door.
He opens it soon after and allows her to come in. Zoe walks in and sits on the bed crossed legged and asks, "So, what's up?"
He shrugs, "Just thinking, always thinking."
She shrugs in return and lies back on the bed, still crossed legged.
"It looks nice, nice to see your hair out of your face." Sherlock comments about her hair style.
Zoe shoots him an odd look. "Did you just compliment me?"
"Don't tell anyone I've done so. I have a harsh reputation to uphold." He says in mock seriousness.
She chuckles and smirk softly, "Another secret that I'll take to my grave."
Out of the corner of her eye, Zoe sees Sherlock still standing.
"You can sit you know." She says and pats the space next to her.
He hesitates at first, but does so.
She stretches out her legs, but remains lying down on the bed next to him. Trying to lighten the mood, Zoe says "Oh calm down, I'm not going to bite you."
"I know that." He growls. "I just don't want to push anything."
Zoe rolls her eyes. "Geeze, you're just as bad as Sam is when he puts on the 'big brother' routine."
Lifting up her left hand, Zoe picks out the remaining paint ball chips under her nails. At least she's got something to do if he refuses to talk.
"He is the other one who gets under your skin, isn't he?" Sherlock questions.
Zoe grins and continues to get the last neon blue out of her ring finger nail. "Yup." She pops the 'p'. "Just him and you, you know."
Then she pauses and looks at him. "Why are you asking now? Wait, here is a better question; why come to DC at all? You could have told me BEFORE I left. So why now?"
"Because I had to make sure what I felt was real. I didn't want to come all this way to suddenly realize I didn't only care for you in a certain way." He reasons.
Zoe sits up and looks down at him. "That…makes a lot of sense."
She's really glad that he actually thought through this. Her ex's would never give their relationship a through thought.
Zoe spots his hand fidgeting; she sighs and tells him "Come here."
He gives her a questioning look.
She rolls her eyes. "You're fidgeting." Giving him a pointed look at his hand, which is tapping the comforter. "Either it's from jet lag or not going to have cases for the two and half weeks. Besides, it's annoying at the moment. And I promise I'm not going to attack you either."
Zoe pats her lap.
He relents and comes closer to her. Zoe puts his head on her lap and starts to rub his temples very gently. The same way that her mom would use when Zoe would get too wound up or when it was just the two of them when her dad was deployed and she couldn't sleep.
Continuing her technique, she asks him "Feel any better?"
"Yes, actually. Where did you learn this?" Sherlock asks as his body is starting to relax into her hands.
Zoe then moves her fingers to his scalp and lightly combs his hair. She gives him a small smile. "From my mom, she would do this when-when my 'gift' gets too much….and when Dad is off on his tour."
Then she moves back to his temples and repeats the process. She can tell that he's very relaxed right now.
"Your family is lovely." Sherlock comments.
Zoe nods her thanks. She is finished and just runs her hand through his hair for now.
"What are you going to do for the next two and half weeks?" She asks him curiously. "You're not going to do anything out of hand are you?"
"Thought I'd spend time with you, let the affection grow."
She giggles at that. "Wow, Sherlock Holmes showing affection? Sure I'm not dreaming right now?"
"One way to find out."
Zoe laughs at his flirty response and taps his forehead like Sam would do to her. She leans against the pillows, he still hasn't moved from her lap.
Zoe's eyes wonder to the alarm clock on the nightstand, it reads 10:30 pm.
"Did you want to get some rest? What time did you want me to drive you back to your hotel?"
"Would you stop questioning me?" He asks. "You sound like John when you do that. And I would rather not picture him when I'm planning to kiss you."
That sends Zoe into laughing. "Wow, you REALLY know how to show a girl a good time Sherlock!"
She runs a hand through her bangs and loose strands of hair from her braid. Then she says, "The reason why I asked is because I'm going out with Sam and Jessica tomorrow, I need to get up before noon." She pauses and says, "Uh, did you want to come with me?"
"I have a feeling Sam wouldn't want me around. So no, I think I will just call and bother John and dearest Maddy." He declines her offer.
Zoe gives him her special grin, the same one that she used earlier with her mother.
"Ah, but you haven't heard what we'll be doing tomorrow. Tomorrow we're going to Mike's work. He works at one of the gyms in the city. I'm going to beat Sam in a match."
Zoe tells Sherlock about her ROTC freshman year. They had an inspection near the end of the school year and it was a match. The instructors drew out their names, everyone had to go. The match lasted 5 minutes and Zoe won. Afterwards, Sam told her that she cheated and won the match.
They both argued over it before deciding on a rematch whenever they had the time to do it.
"Well, then I shall root for you." He tells her.
She smiles at him. "Thank you. Did I mention that the loser has to pay for lunch?"
He perks up a little more. "Well then I shall certainly be there."
Zoe laughs, "You're such a guy! Making your girlfriend do all the hard work." She teases him.
He gets up and looks at her with a little shock look. "Girlfriend….?"
Zoe waves off her slip. "Whatever." She says casually.
"You said girlfriend. Why did you do that?" Sherlock presses her.
Zoe gives him a look. "Do I ACTUALLY have to give you a list? You paid for dinner, introduced you to my family, and let's not forget- you're willing to spend two and half weeks without a case." She lists off on her fingers. "You tell me Mr. Holmes."
"Well then….suppose it is settled…." He says, and then he makes a face. "And I will never hear the end of it from your mate nor John for that matter."
"What about me? Jess will NEVER let this down. And Mrs. Daniels will start planning the wedding." Zoe exclaims. She shudders at the thought as well.
"Maybe we should keep it quiet until we get back to London." Sherlock decides.
"That went out the window during dinner." Zoe says dryly. "By now it'll be all over on Facebook." Then she adds, "Maybe I can hack into her account…." Zoe groans and covers her face, "Oh dear God…I don't even want to know how the college will react. You've got a fan base there, thanks to John."
Sherlock scowls. But then says, "Wonder how he is getting on with Maddy."
Zoe drops her hands and has a fond smile. She remembers the first time she saw the army doctor.
"They'll be just fine. She's in good hands."
"Think they'll end up together as well?"
"I'm surprised that they're NOT together by now." Zoe tells him, and then she looks at the clock again. "And I need to go to sleep."
He nods, "I'll let you sleep then."
Then Sherlock reaches for her and kisses her forehead.
Zoe hugs him, and then she lets him go and makes her way to the door.
Turning back, she says "Remember, we're leaving the house at 11:00."
He nods.
She leaves the room and goes into hers. Jessica is waiting for her, sitting on the air mattress.
"So….."
Zoe gets her brush and goes into her bathroom and turns on the light. She undoes her braid and brushes her hair out.
"He's coming with us tomorrow."
"Cool." She smiles and waits for a moment. "Anything else to report?"
"And…." Zoe fiddles with the teeth of the brush. "I may have use the term of me being his 'girlfriend'."
She jumps off the air mattress and squeals, "OH MY GOD! Seriously?"
Zoe doesn't answer her. She finishes in the bathroom, turns off the light, and tosses the brush on the vanity. Zoe sits on her bed with Jessica sitting with her.
"He went with it. He- didn't seem to mind with me being called his girlfriend."
"Why would he? The man is lucky you'll put up with him! But this is so exciting Kira!" Jessica says happily and hugs her. "And it's about time too."
"Shut up Daniels." Zoe says teasingly.
She laughs. They lightly chatted before going to bed.
To clear up some things-
The Ryan's house is two floors; you've got Zoe's /Jessica's room (they do share whenever they stay the night), Sam's own room, his parents', and 3 extras (Zoe's family, her goddaughter's family, and Sherlock).
And the loft is upstairs.
One bathroom upstairs and two downstairs, they're very well off in DC.
But other than that; any questions or comments?
You guys know what to do, so go forth and review! It's our bread and butter. :p