'Sherlock, where are we going?' John asked as he put on his jacket
'We are going on a walk' Sherlock said while tying his scarf.
'If we are just going on a walk, we could take Rosie with us'
Sherlock gave his best 'You are an idiot look' 'Don't be silly. Tara needs a reason to be here.'
'I don't understand. Why does Tara have to be here?' John asked.
'Because she needs to fix things with Mycroft' Sherlock cried.
'Wait, wait wait...I don't understand what's going on. And since when do you care about Mycroft's love life?' his brain was spinning with confusion.
'I don't, but if he has one, he wouldn't be bothering us' he told the doctor.
John liked the alternative too and he cared about Tara.
'What do I do?' John asked, totally on board now.
'Text him and call him here. Say it's urgent' Sherlock told him.
'Why don't you text him? He is your brother' John whined.
Sherlock rolled his eyes at the stupidity of the doctor's question. 'As ever Watson you see but not observe. Why would I ask my brother for help? He'll see right through it'
'Right' John sighed at his stupidity 'What about Tara?'
'She thinks she is babysitting Rosie because we are out on a case' Sherlock informed.
'Good' John pulled out his phone and texted Mycroft
Baker Street now. It's Sherlock. Urgent
JW
...
Tara was reading to Rosie when Mycroft walked in. She looked up at him and was at a loss of words. How could she? She pushed him away without any explanation.
'Where are John and Sherlock?' He broke the silence
'They are out on a case. They'll be here soon. You can wait' She said as she got up from the couch.
'No. I must leave' he said and turned but stopped by a tug on his suit. He looked down and saw it was Rosie. 'Child, let go' he told her, trying not to sound harsh.
'Stay' she said.
He sighed 'I'm afraid I can't' he said flatly.
'Stay. Daddy and Uncle Sherlock will be home soon' she pouted and made puppy eyes.
He wasn't very good with kids and he didn't want to upset Watson's daughter so he surrendered.
'Alright.' he sighed.
He went and sat on the couch, watching Tara read and act out the stories to Rosie.
'Roro, It's time for dinner. Go wash your hands' Tara told her.
'No' The girl folded her hands across her chest.
'Come on, Roro. Don't you want to grow up and become a big girl? If you don't eat you won't become a big girl' she explained to the little girl.
Still no response from the little girl.
'Okay. How about this? If you eat your dinner, I'll make you a fresh batch of your favorite chocolate chip cookies' Tara bribed as her last resort.
'Yes!' Rosie exclaimed and ran to wash her hands.
Rosie came back and started to eat. Halfway through her dinner, she pushed the plate away.
'Roro, sweetie, finish your sandwich' Tara said sweetly.
'But I don't want to, TM' she whined.
'Roro you shouldn't waste food. Finish what is on your plate' she said sternly.
The girl just frowned. So, Tara picked up the sandwich and made airplane noises, making Rosie giggle. She flew the airplane sandwich around for a while before crashing landing it into Rosie's mouth. The girl happily obliged and finished her dinner.
Mycroft was still angry with Tara, but he couldn't help but smile at the way she interacted with Rosie. She didn't care about how stupid and ridiculous she looked.
After Tara put Rosie to bed, Mycroft decided he should leave.
'Mycroft wait!' she called out.
'What is it?' he asked in irritation. He didn't want to face her.
'I owe you an explanation.' she said in shame.
'Whatever it is, I don't want to hear it' he stopped her.
'Mycroft please' she urged.
'No'
This was starting to turn into an argument
'IT WAS NOT SAFE' she told him.
'DON'T PRETEND THIS IS ABOUT SAFETY BECAUSE IT IS NOT'
'I CAN'T'
'WHY NOT?'
'I JUST CAN'T'
'WHY NOT?'
'BECAUSE I AM MARRIED'
His anger faded away and was replaced with sympathy 'You're not. Not anymore.' He said softly.
'But I was. I loved him... for 12 years. I was married to him and then he died' He knew who she was referring to.
A few years ago, he would have said 'All lives end. Everybody dies. It's the one thing human beings can be relied upon to do. How come it still comes as a surprise to people?' But this was different. He was different now. A lot had changed, especially since Eurus.
He could see right through her.'You're scared' he sighed
'Of what?' she scoffed.
'Of letting him go' he said softly as he brought his hands up to her cheek, wiping her tears away.
'I can't stop loving him. I will never stop loving him and that is not fair to you' she pulled away with guilt.
'Just because he is dead doesn't mean you have to stop loving him, but at some point, you have to let go, you have to move on' he told her.
'I don't want to talk about this she pulled away.
'Good. Because neither do I. I just want to move forward. I want to live my life. Because guess what? I'm still here, I have still got a life and so do you' he told her.
She just shook her head and looked away.
'Don't do that. Don't look at me like that. Like I don't know what I talking about. I have seen my share of deaths' Mycroft came in front of her.
'Nothing is certain, nothing is for sure.' She told him.
'Exactly. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life alone, thinking about the things you should've done but didn't because you were scared...I didn't know how lonely I was until I met you. I don't want to go back to my old life' he told her sincerely as he looked into her dark, onyx eyes as if he could get lost in them.
'Kiss him already, you beautiful fool.' Yelled a voice that sounded like Mrs. Hudson.
Startled Mycroft and Tara looked at the door. Standing there was Mrs. Hudson, behind her Sherlock and John.
'For the first time in his life, my brother is saying the right thing. Listen to him' Sherlock said.
'How long have you all been standing there?' Mycroft asked inwardly panicking. Tara looked at him, she was also worried about what they heard too. They didn't know about her past or the fact that she was married and was now a widow. And she preferred to keep it that way.
'We came when you asked her if she wanted to spend the rest of her life alone' John said.
Mycroft and Tara looked at each other, relieved.
'So, are you two an item?' Mrs. Hudson asked with a smug smile.
Mycroft looked at Tara for an answer, worried whether he was able to convince her or not.
'Yes.' She breathed and looked at Mycroft. She leaned on her toes so she could kiss him and he returned the kiss.
'I can never unsee that' Sherlock said making a disgusted face, earning him a smack on the arm from Mrs. Hudson.
Mycroft and Tara pulled apart awkwardly. Sherlock makes a whip crack on his phone. Mycroft looked at his brother in disgust. He had managed to ruin a perfectly good moment.
'Sherlock, the whip sound app is not contextually appropriate here' John cringed and told his best friend.
'Damn it' Sherlock mutters under his breath. He had been trying to use the app at an appropriate time to tease people but just couldn't get the hang of it.
'Rosie has had her dinner and is in bed' Tara said trying to change the topic.
'Thank you, Tara' John nodded.
'No problem. I should leave now' Tara said and went to gather her stuff, rather hurriedly.
Mycroft looked at Sherlock and John and said 'There was never an emergency, was there?'
'Nope.' Sherlock smirked and popped the 'P'.
'I thought so...I should leave too' He started on his way out but stopped on his tracks 'Thank you, brother mine' he said genuinely. Sherlock was shocked and gave a simple nod, not wanting to make it more awkward than it already was.
Tara gathered her belongings. After an awkward goodbye, Mycroft was walking her to her apartment.
'I am sorry.' she broke the silence... 'for hurting you'
'I know...it's alright' he said.
'You still going to take me on that date?' she asked nervously
Mycroft smiled down at her 'How about I make you dinner?'
'Aaahh you can cook. I like that in a man' she teased and tried to ease the tension.
'Good for me...I'll send a car to pick you up at say 7?'
'That would be wonderful' she nodded with a smile.
'Good Night, Tara' he said as they reached her door.
'Good Night, Mycroft' he kissed goodbye. There was no point denying it anymore, despite their best intentions, they had developed romantic feelings for each other. No matter how dangerous it could be.
