"You feeling better, boy?" Andrés Villalobos asked of a seemingly repaired SHerloc Holmes. Sherlock grinned, looking over his shoulder at Damian, Nik, John and Mycroft who had decided to play beer chess and had fallen asleep after a few rounds.
"Better than they are, that's for sure. Sorry for cutting the evening short. Irene Adler," he shuddered, feeling as if his soul would disappear through his mouth if he spoke anything more of her.
"She was the one that made Addie's blood boil?"
"Yeah. In all fairness, the feeling was mutual. Irene didn't like competition Especially competition that didn't even have to take their clothes off to make a man speechless." The man smiled, proud of his bold –if not borderline violent- daughter and pushes a tumbler full of ice and a pale liquid in Sherlock's direction. "I'd rather not."
"It's ginger ale," he clarified.
A wry chuckle escaped him and he grasped the glass making shapes on the condensation. "Thanks." He fell into deep thought, brow furrowing in the process. The shadows caused by his errant curls and sharp cheekbones did nothing to relieve the tension of his dark, ominous look.
The older man sipped his gin, making a face as it burned down his throat. "You look worried."
"I am." He stroked his thumb over the droplets of water and stared up at the aged eyes of the other man. "What was she like before…"
"Her mum left?" Sherlock nodded, somewhat reluctant and unsure if he should even ask the question. It had never been a topic he had broached with Addie, nor did he think it ever would be, but the ever-curious part of him made him want to dig deeper into her history. "Well, she wasn't great, I'll admit. It was mostly my fault, I didn't want her mother to leave, but it made the kids so sad. They all tried so hard and took their lives in the direction they thought would please her. They never got a positive word in return."
"I gathered as much. She was such an unpleasant woman when she wanted to be. I wanted to throttle her into the ground. Sorry," he added, as an after thought.
"No, you're right. She was terrible. Not just as a person, but as a mother, as an influence. I remember Addie asking me once why anyone would want to get married if it only made them miserable."
Sherlock chuckled. "Cynical, as always."
"She was right. I was miserable. Her mother was miserable. Her brothers were miserable. One day, she quit." He took a swig from his drink to strengthen his spirit to continue. "Stopped caring what her mother thought, stop paying attention to things she cared nothing about and disengaged. She did what I couldn't: identify all that was terrible about her life and stop interacting with it. Of course, it didn't stop her mother from wounding the last shreds of rebuilt self-esteem she had." The younger man was quiet, sipping from his glass every now and then and trying his hardest not to make a fool out of himself. "Oh, Andy, how do I know I haven't pressured her into marriage?," he asked, putting on Sherlock's accent and tone of voice, seeing the man's reluctance to speak. "Well, Sherlock, it's hard to say. Although, I've never known Addie to do anything she didn't explicitly want to do. How will I ever be sure? It's a pretty safe bet she loves you and just wants to be with you, no certainty required. How will I ever keep her safe? So many people hate me!"
"Oi!" Sherlock interjected, after a moment of staring at each other, he added, "Continue."
"Will you relax? I am aware your job can be dangerous, so I'm sure she has that branded in the back of her mind. My girl knows when it is viable or not to pursue something. She has never stuck around for anyone for this long."
"That's the problem. I'm not even sure why she has. What if I let her down? I haven't a clue what I'm doing."
"Neither has she. Nor do I. This is all a learning experience and she decided she wanted to learn from you. As long as you come back home, she'll let you know what she needs." He smirked. "Do you doubt her?"
Sherlock smiled, throwing back what was left of his drink. "Never."
"Good. Then it's settled. You'll be fine, and if you're not. I'll skin you alive."
"You'll have to beat Mary to it, most probably, but sure."
The door blast open and a gaggle of giggling women crossed the threshold.
"Oh, crap. I told you they'd be back early!" Addie whined, trying her hardest to be quiet in her drunken state.
"We're only late because you insisted on doing body shots off that one guy's abs," Mary teased, giggling like a teenager after.
"Only because Mrs. H wanted me to. Tell her Molly."
"My head feels all squidgy," the pathologist mewled, finding a blank space on the floor next to a sleeping Bart and curling up to sleep.
"Body shots off who now?" Sherlock asked, his tone a few octaves higher than usual, and stepping out of the kitchen. Mary and Addie huddled together and laughed, holding onto each other for support.
"What happens on the Hen's night, stays at the hen's night." Mary announced, dislodging herself from Addie and stumbling towards her husband.
"You weren't there, so I couldn't do shots off you, now could I? Daddy!" With glee, she ran –read, tripped- towards her father and launched herself onto his lap, gripping his neck for support. "I love you, Daddy. You're so sweet. You did such a good job."
"Clearly my lecture on drinking went amiss, but, sure."
"I don't feel sad about her anymore. I'm happy and I'm drunk."
"Yes, you are."
"Sherlock, take me to bed!" She asked, bending backwards to look at Sherlock instead of just turning her head. The detective smiled, nodding and managed to peel Addie off her father without much trouble and tossed her over his shoulder with a giggle from her. "Night, Daddy!" Sherlock made short work of getting her tucked into bed, and Addie pulled him down beside her with a sharp tug at his black button-up. "Thank you for taking me to bed and taking care of me." His expression, even in the dark, softened and he traced his finger down her cheek in a delicate gesture. As if reading his tumultuous thoughts, she stopped his fingers with her own and stared into the darkness at his eyes. "I trust you." She was asleep a moment later.
"You shouldn't."
TBC
[I'm on a roll! Addie's hen and some other chapters should be up next. Or soon. 3 you guys ]
