Chapter forty-eight: Broken vows
"Tammy," it's Sherlock's anxious voice I can hear out of the distant fog. "can you hear me?"
"She's waking up fine Sherlock." That's Charles's voice I can hear. "Just relax."
"Relax. How can I relax?" Sherlock sounds like he's panicking. "She's been asleep for two days."
"Shut…up," I croak. "you idiot."
Sherlock exhales and I find his face close to mine as I open my eyes. "Oh, I never thought I'd ever miss hearing you call me idiot, but I did."
I blink. "What…happened?" Sherlock leans forward and kisses me firmly on the mouth. I let out a whimper and gently push him away. I stare at him as he caresses my face gently, the fear and worry on his face is shocking for me to see. "You're...worried about me."
Sherlock exhaled. "God, are things so bad between us that you doubt I'd be worried about you?"
"No, I don't doubt it but...what happened?"
Charles is on the other side of my bed. "You almost had a miscarriage." I gasp and looked immediately towards my stomach. My stomach was still round, the baby was still there. "Relax, Tammy," Charles says as he nudges me back down on the bed. "the children are fine."
I exhale. "I'm glad, where are Sherlock and Linda? Are they ok?"
"Yes, John and Mary are taking care of them." Charles chuckles. "but that wasn't what I meant. Tammy….you're having another set of twins."
My head whips around and I stare at Charles. "What?" I spin around and look at Sherlock whose mouth is sagging open in shock. "This…is…all your fault!"
Sherlock stares at me, it takes a few seconds for his tongue to connect to his brain. "My…my fault! How is it my fault?"
"Oh, don't ask me to spell it out!"
"Well, twins don't run in my side of the family. It's your fault!"
"You're the one with the groping hands, not me! Besides-
"All right! All right!" Charles laughs. "Let's say that the fault lies with the two of you."
I pout and caress my stomach. "I wanted children, I didn't want children! I do not want to be like Anne of Green Gables talking about three sets of twins!"
Sherlock groans. "You really don't want three sets of twins do you?"
"I am…venting! Do not talk to me!"
"I'm not done giving you the rest of the news." Charles says calmly with a huge drunken smile on his face. "Both of you are going to be stuck in this room together for a whole month."
I groan and grab ahold of my hair. "Oh, no!"
Charles clears his throat. "Do you two…want to know what gender the babies are?"
I turn at him and shrug. "Yeah, we've got…nothing but time to discuss names."
"They're both boys."
"Fine. I want to talk with Tammy alone for a moment." Someone knocks on the door and Sherlock snaps. "Come in Molly!"
Molly comes in uncomfortably, bearing a gift of three roses tied with a ribbon. "Hi."
"Hello Molly." Charles steps towards her. His eyes glance down at the flowers. "I see they arrived."
She nodded. "I'm sorry," she looks to Charles and holds out the roses. "I-I there…must be some mistake."
Charles smiles and places a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump slightly. "There is no mistake," he takes the roses from her and places them back into her hand. "I bought them for you." Molly's mouth drops open in shock. She couldn't have looked more surprised, but she was when Charles leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss on the mouth. Her face flushed red and the roses fluttered to the ground as she places her hands on his chest. But she doesn't push him away, she leans into the kiss.
I smile broadly, happy at the scene playing out before us. But as always. Sherlock has to ruin it for everyone. "Don't mind us."
Charles pulls away slightly. "We won't." He kisses Molly once on her nose before pulling away. "I'll see you tonight."
Molly stammers as she bends over and picks up her roses. "Tonight?"
He nods and begins to walk away. "We've got a date."
"We do!" Molly gasps. "I-I don't-
"If we don't have one, then we should be going on one." Charles turns and grins at her. "So, how about it?"
Molly nods dumbly. "I-I guess."
"Good, I'll pick you up at 8:00. I'll need your address."
"Do you two mind taking your dating arrangements elsewhere?" Sherlock asks. "Please?"
"Well, since you asked so nicely," Charles says as he takes ahold of Molly's hand and pulls her towards him. "we will."
"Have fun!" I call. "He's a wonderful dancer Molly!"
The door closes and for a moment, the only sounds in the room and Sherlock and my breathing. We look around awkwardly before Sherlock demands. "So…what are we?"
I frown. "Pardon?"
"What are we?" His voice is angry, but I can hear that it's something that he clearly must say to me. "Tammy."
"Sherlock...I just woke up." His phone rings and I point at it. "Answer it."
He grabs his phone and angrily answers it. "Hello!" He barks into the phone. "Sorry mother." I look up at him as he flops back onto his pillows. He's trying hard not to look at me. "Yes. She's awake. No…I haven't told her yet. I was about to! No, it's something I need to do! Fine!" He hands out the phone to me. "She wants to talk to you."
I take the phone with a frown. "Hello?"
Tammy! Thank God you're all right! Sherlock has been so worried.
"I know. What's…going on? Is he going to drop something on me?"
Yes, and I thought it best that I give you a warning.
"Thank you. Care to soften the blow?"
We've been talking these last few days. He's told me that he's made a mess of his marriage. Tammy, I'm sorry, that things are so irreconcilable.
I frown. "I never said that."
He's told me that he's going to honor your request. I loved having you as a daughter-in-law, and I hope we can still be friends.
I frown. "Ok? But…what are you trying to say?"
That you two are getting a divorce.
I bolt up in the bed. "A divorce!" I look over at Sherlock, who's studying his covers. "Oh…wait a minute! I didn't say that!" I shout at him as I drop the phone on the bed. "What do you mean we're getting a divorce?"
"Aren't we?" He demands. "Look, I've thought long and hard about it! We never should have ever gotten married! I've done nothing but hurt you! I've lied to you and hurt you in the most inhumane ways. I've broken both of my marriage vows to you at least five times! In the entire time we've been involved together, you've gotten shot, assaulted, raped and you almost miscarried! And it's all because of me!" The hurt and anger in Sherlock's voice and face is enough to let me know that I've taken too long in telling him straight out that I love him and I love what we've had together. "I want you out of my life before it's too late! I don't want anything more to happen to you!" He throws his hands up in the air. "I've lost you, it's all my fault and I know that! I'm not selfish enough to even trying working this out again. I certainly won't ask you again, because I am not going to put you through any more of this!" His voice cracks slightly. "I still love you, but too much to put you through whatever the future for us holds. I'm going to release you from our vows."
I stare at him in shock. I cover my mouth as tears run down my cheeks. "I…can't."
"What did you say?"
I yank my hand down from my mouth and shout at him the words that my heart had decided the moment I saw him bleeding to death on the floor. "I don't want…anyone else, I want…you." He stares at me in surprise. "I love you Sherlock. I don't want a divorce."
