22-24th April 2021
Sherlock looked over at the monitor, where he could see Christina stirring. It was time to get up. Molly had already left for work an hour earlier, and he hadn't really been sleeping, just dozing.
He wondered again what Molly had in mind for his birthday next week. She was being very mysterious about it. The fact that she wanted to go somewhere on Wednesday, rather than his actual birthday, meant it was an activity that would occur during the time in which she would be at work on Thursday. If he really wanted, he supposed he could try to deduce what she had in mind, but that would only spoil things, and he would disappoint Molly by showing off.
So he forced it out of his mind and went to attend to his youngest. By the time he had changed her and dressed her, Victoria was also awake.
He spent the day looking after the girls, playing with them, reading to them, and he had just taken Christina upstairs for a nap, while Victoria watched an episode of Peppa Pig, when he heard a text come in from Molly. She must be on her lunch break.
He sat down on the sofa and looked at it.
Kaitlyn brought in a really cute, soft toy today that she says she got from Amazon for David for fun. I think it might be a cute present to get for Victoria for her birthday. We need to start thinking about that because it's less than three weeks away.
He texted back a response.
Let me know what it is, and I'll do a search for it.
Her reply came through a couple minutes later.
It's a reversible plush toy, a little octopus. One side has a happy face and when you turn it inside out, it has a frowning face. Kaitlyn tells me there are dozens of options for different colours for it.
I'll check it out, Sherlock texted back.
Okay. How are the girls behaving?
Just put Christina down for a nap. Victoria's watching Peppa Pig, so I should be able to do some research on this little toy while she is otherwise occupied.
Great, gotta get back to work. I'll see you later, honey. Love you XX
Love you too XOX
Molly was right, Sherlock thought as he went upstairs to retrieve his laptop from its usual place charging on his office desk. They really did need to start thinking about getting presents for Victoria's birthday. With everything that had happened recently, he hadn't been thinking much about his own upcoming birthday, let alone hers.
He sat himself back on the sofa with the laptop on his lap and booted it up, then went to Amazon.
Molly had been right. A search for "reversible plush octopus" yielded a plethora of results for the toys in different colors.
Well, he decided, the first thing would be to see if Victoria had a favourite colour. He had never thought to ask that before.
He looked over at Victoria who was sitting on the floor enjoying her cartoon. "Victoria!"
She turned her head and frowned. "I'm watching, Daddy. Don't int'wupt."
He was amazed at how her vocabulary continued to expand. Where had she picked up the word interrupt? Probably from something she watched on television.
Sherlock reached over to pause the playback on the episode, and she frowned again at him. "This will just take a moment," he said.
She folded her little arms. "What is it, Daddy?"
"I was just wondering if you happen to have a colour that you like better than any other colour? Do you have a favourite?" To further explain, he added, "For instance, Mummy's favourite colour is pink, and mine is purple."
She furrowed her brow for a moment, then said, "I like owange."
He smiled. Not a common choice, he thought. He was about to hit the playback button once more, when Victoria said, "but I like pink, and gween, and wed, and blu..."
"That's okay, Victoria," he said hastily. "You like lots of colours." He pressed the play button once more.
Orange had been her first choice, so that was what he would go with.
There weren't many colour options for an orange plushy. Aside from one orange and black option, which he did not care for, they seemed to be orange and yellow, so he put one into his shopping basket. With Amazon Prime, it would arrive in a few days. On impulse, he decided to purchase one for Molly as well. If a child could enjoy it, why not his wife? She had seemed very enthusiastic about it. During his search, he discovered a variety of the little toys that had different expressions, rather than the happy and angry ones. Oh yes, he liked this variety very much, and he purchased one for Molly that had two different shades of pink. Oh, he just knew she'd enjoy it!
A search for age appropriate toys and games for Victoria yielded some good results. A magnetic clever clock used numbers to teach both hours and minutes on a clock face, including how to say them out loud, as in "20 past" or "25 to" for telling time. Victoria will be telling time in no time with that toy, he thought. There was a compact quoits game that would be useful for Victoria's hand/eye coordination.
Another game caught his eye called "Pop Up Pirate," which Sherlock saw was listed for children 4 and up. Victoria was doing puzzles way beyond her age range, and he didn't see the harm in getting this one. In the game, you pushed plastic swords into a barrel, hoping the pirate wouldn't be "hit" and pop out of the barrel. Victoria would surely enjoy that one, and, if he was honest, he would too. Anything to do with pirates brought back fond reminiscences of his childhood and scattered memories of playing pirates with Victor.
There was a memory game that used Disney Princesses. Sherlock added these to the basket. Victoria had her jungle animals memory game already, but he thought she'd enjoy seeing something new.
Finally, he looked at puzzles. Many of them were much too easy for Victoria, despite the age range being appropriate. He found a box that had three 49-piece Disney princess puzzles - Ariel, from The Little Mermaid; Belle, from Beauty and the Beast; and Cinderella. Victoria would probably not find them particularly challenging, although the age range said 5 and up. But they would be something new for her to enjoy, and she loved doing puzzles.
Finally, Sherlock found a container with alphabet fridge magnets. He was sure these would come in useful as Victoria learned her letters and began to read. She was already sounding out the letters of her alphabet block puzzle with Sherlock or Molly's help when she played with that puzzle. Sherlock felt quite pleased with himself for getting so much accomplished for Victoria's upcoming birthday. Molly could see to anything else, such as clothing. That was something he knew she would prefer to purchase for Victoria herself.
Sherlock had just completed the order when Victoria's Peppa Pig cartoon finished. He thought about the Disney princess puzzles he had ordered. Victoria had not yet seen Cinderella. It would be good if she saw the film before she got the puzzle for her birthday so she recognised Cinderella.
"Victoria, would you like to watch a new Disney film?" he asked, when Victoria got to her feed.
"Need to wee," she stated, and he took her to the toilet.
When they returned, he asked again, "Would you like to watch another Disney film? There's one called Cinderella which is all about a girl who falls in love with a prince." Thank goodness Molly insisted on my watching her Disney film collection over the past three years, he thought, relieved that he could at least offer brief synopses of the films to Victoria.
"Okay, Daddy. Watch with me?"
"I'll watch as long as your sister is asleep," he told her, pulling her up beside him onto the sofa so she would be more comfortable.
Sherlock watched with Victoria, privately thinking the film very dated, which wasn't surprising. He recalled reading it had been released in 1950. But Victoria seemed to be enjoying it. Every time the mice appeared, after Cinderella had named them, she'd say excitedly, "Jaq! Gus Gus!" And Sherlock found it amusing when she kept saying "Luficer" to name the nasty cat, even after he told her on more than one occasion that the cat's name was "Lucifer".
A little cry came from the monitor on the coffee table just as the evil stepmother was talking about the grand duke visiting houses with the glass slipper to discover its owner.
Despite himself, Sherlock had been watching attentively with Victoria, answering her questions about the characters, and he got up reluctantly. The most humorous part of the film was coming, and he didn't want to miss watching Drizella and Anastasia struggling to put their feet into the tiny glass slipper. If he hurried, he could be back downstairs to see it.
He bounded up the stairs, two at a time, and took Christina from the cot, rubbing her back gently to soothe her grizzling. Molly didn't like it when he gave the girls snacks in the front room, but he thought it wouldn't hurt if he took a few cheerios in a bowl to keep Christina occupied as he watched the last few minutes of the film with Victoria.
He hurried to the kitchen and poured a few Cheerios into a little plastic bowl one-handed, all the while, keeping Christina at his hip. "Look what Daddy has for you," he told her as he carefully carried the bowl back to the front room.
He settled Christina on his lap, holding the bowl so she could pick up the Cheerios and put them in her mouth.
Just in time, he thought, as Victoria giggled at Anastasia's fruitless efforts to put on the tiny slipper.
"She's silly," she pronounced.
When the scene changed to the mice getting the key up to Cinderella's room and Lucifer slammed a teacup on top of Gus and the key, Victoria shouted, "No, Luficer!"
"Lucifer," Sherlock corrected automatically as he suddenly realised that Christina had inadvertently rested her hand on the side of the bowl, causing some of the Cheerios to spill out of it onto herself and presumably the sofa.
Molly was going to kill him if he didn't find each and every last dropped Cheerio, he thought gloomily. Guess she was right to say no food in the front room.
As the film concluded with the usual happy ending and a wedding, Victoria clapped her hands and said "Mawwied! Like Mummy and Daddy!" She pointed to the framed picture on the mantel of Molly and himself in front of a tree in Hyde Park.
At that moment, Christina struggled to get down. Her bowl was now empty, and Sherlock could see a couple of Cheerios she had dropped.
He set her down into the playpen and cleaned up the few Cheerios he spotted, hoping he'd found them all.
So much for hoping, he thought later that evening, when Molly came to sit beside him on the sofa after dinner. The girls were happily occupied in the playpen.
Molly had tucked her legs beneath her as usual and suddenly exclaimed, "What the..''' She reached her hand down to her feet and extracted a Cheerio. "How in the world did that get here?"
Sherlock gave her a guilty look. "Well, Christina had just woken up from her nap, and she was hungry. I wanted to catch the last bit of Cinderella, so I thought I'd quickly get a bowl of Cheerios for her to eat while she sat on my lap."
Molly pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. "I guess I should be grateful you didn't try to appease her with fruit shapes instead. They would've really made the sofa sticky if any of them had fallen into it." She folded her arms and gave him a reproving look. "That's why we don't eat food in the front room."
He gave her a penitent look. "I'm sorry."
She chuckled then, and an impish smile curved her lips. "You're forgiven. You can make it up to me later."
He slid his arms around her waist from behind and pulled her closer, kissing her temple. "I will. By the way, I ordered a few things from Amazon for," he indicated the playpen, "you know, including the item you mentioned. But I'll let you take care of ordering any clothes or things like that."
Molly settled her left hand onto his knee. "Thanks, honey. What did you buy?"
Thinking fast, knowing if he showed her the order it would also reveal his purchase of the extra octopus plush for her, he said, "I'll show you when the items arrive." Then he added, "Don't want little ears to hear, you know."
Molly nodded. "Okay."
The rest of the evening passed quietly.
The next morning, Sherlock had a niggling feeling there was something important about the date. The 23rd of April had some significance.
He pushed the thought to the back of his mind to work on the problem in the background whilst he and Molly got the girls up for breakfast.
It was during breakfast when he suddenly remembered the significance of the date.
He looked over at Molly. "It's John's birthday today, isn't it? I need to send him a text."
Molly finished her mouthful of cereal and smirked. "I was wondering when you'd remember. I already sent him a happy birthday text while you were in the loo."
At Molly's words, Sherlock quickly picked up his phone from the dining table and sent off his own text.
Happy birthday, John. My wife may have beaten me to saying it, but I assure you I remembered on my own.
Thanks, mate. First time for everything, was the response.
Sherlock was wondering whether to be offended or not at the probably true statement, when John sent another text.
Seriously, Sherlock, thanks for remembering.
Any special plans for the day? Sherlock asked before he set down his phone to take another bite of his second crumpet with honey. He much preferred that to the Coco Pops Molly was eating, and Molly had kindly allowed him to have the last two crumpets. He needed to go out and do some food shopping in the next day or two.
Another text came in from John, and he looked at it.
Kayla has something planned, but she won't tell me what. All I know is we are going somewhere this afternoon.
Sherlock cast Molly a suspicious glance. Molly had been talking with Kayla two nights ago, and then she had also told him she had plans for an early birthday celebration. He wondered if there was a link.
Well, whatever it is, I hope you have a good time, he responded.
I'm sure I will. Have a good day yourself.
Will do.
Sherlock couldn't resist saying something, though, to Molly. "John says Kayla has something special planned for him for today."
Molly gave him a most contrived innocent look, and he knew there definitely was a connection between the plans of the women. "Oh really? That's nice."
Sherlock dropped the subject. The old Sherlock would have insisted on learning more, but he really didn't want Molly to be disappointed by him deducing what the surprise was in advance.
Instead, he smiled at her and said, "I love you, Molly."
That adorable dimple appeared in her cheek as she smiled back. "I love you too." His heart swelled with the deep love he had for her. He would never take that love for granted.
After breakfast, Sherlock consulted his weather app. It was expected to reach 17°C later in the day. He had spent so much time inside, and he was itching to get outside.
He looked over at Molly, who was putting the breakfast dishes in the dishwasher, assisted by Victoria, who had carried over her own plastic plate and Christina's. "Weather's supposed to be nice this afternoon. Should we take the girls for a walk? We've barely used the double pushchair we received for Christmas from my parents."
"Oh, it would be wonderful for the girls to get some fresh air," agreed Molly.
They set out at three o'clock, making their way to Finsbury Park and one of the walking paths. The Finsbury Park late Easter Funfair had been operational the week before, but now all was quiet, and Sherlock was glad they didn't have to contend with distant screams from people on thrill rides. Only a few people were taking advantage of the spring day.
Victoria and Christina began to protest their long confinement in the pushchair, so Sherlock stopped by a bench. He and Molly extracted the girls so they could stretch their legs for a few minutes. Leaves from the previous autumn still littered the ground, and these proved a source of fascination for the girls.
Sherlock observed in amusement as Victoria gathered leaves together in a pile with big sweeping motions of her arms, and Christina would hand her one leaf at a time to add to it.
He glanced at Molly, who was also observing their daughters. He had to admit, he rather liked her hair that red colour. He was also getting used to the shorter length, and he laughed as the breeze kept blowing wisps across her face, which she pushed away.
"I should have worn a ponytail," she grumbled, as Sherlock reached to tuck her hair behind her ear after another encounter with the pesky breeze.
Sherlock was glad of his recent haircut. It definitely served to minimise the effect of the breeze on his curls.
After about ten minutes, the girls grew bored with their leaf-collecting and returned to Sherlock and Molly. While Molly brushed the leaves from Victoria, Sherlock did the same with Christina, pulling out a leaf which had also lodged itself somehow into her hair. He was amazed to see how long her hair had become. He couldn't quite recall how big Victoria had been at 16 months, but Christina, at least to his eyes, looked to be older than her age.
He lifted her into his arms and deposited her back into the pushchair as Molly did the same with Victoria.
Sherlock had his hands on the pushchair, ready to head home, when Molly said, "Wait, we have to clean their hands first from the leaves!"
He groaned inwardly at his own foolishness for not thinking of it. Of course their hands were dirty, They had been playing amongst old leaves.
Molly reached behind the pushchair to the changing bag she had secured in the rear basket, and she pulled out two baby wipes, handing one to Sherlock.
Once their daughters' hands were clean again, they headed home, Molly throwing the dirty wipes into one of the rubbish bins along the path.
Outside the Finsbury Park train station was Rosa's Thai Café.
Molly put a hand on Sherlock's arm. "Why don't we get some takeaway for dinner? I haven't had Thai in ages."
Sherlock pursed his lips. "What about the girls?"
"We can get rice and steamed vegetables for them. If they don't like that, I'll just heat up some chicken nuggets and chips for them."
Sherlock nodded and pulled out his wallet. It had been a very long time since he had had Thai himself.
They settled on chicken satay starters, then Pad Thai with chicken and Massman Curry with beef. Sherlock would have gone for the spicier Rosa's Green Curry, but Molly's palate was more sensitive to spice, and he knew she would only eat a mild curry, and they had decided to share. Perhaps next time they could each get their own. They also purchased the jasmine rice and steamed vegetables.
Then they set off briskly to get home before the food got completely cold. By the time they arrived, Sherlock could see how rosy his daughters' cheeks were from being outside in the fresh air. Molly's cheeks were flushed as well, and he supposed his own were. It had been enjoyable to spend time outside as a family.
The food was no longer hot, but that was better for the girls anyway, and the walk had made them all hungry. Molly offered Victoria a piece of her chicken satay and a bite of her Pad Thai, but Sherlock was unsurprised to find his daughter's palate not one to appreciate the more exotic flavours.
In the evening, Sherlock sent John a text.
Molly, the girls and I took a walk to Finsbury Park today. Thank God the funfair was last week, so the park was very quiet. How was your day?
He received an answering text a short while later.
It really was a perfect spring day, wasn't it? Glad you took advantage of it. We had a great day. I'm sworn to secrecy about what it entailed, sorry. But afterwards, we stopped by your favourite fish shop and got some fish and chips.
Sherlock felt a tiny twinge of envy. He had enjoyed the Thai food, but he would always choose chips over anything else if given the choice.
Glad it was a good day for you. See you at church on Sunday?
We'll be there.
It seemed the outdoor outing had tired the girls out, because they were both ready for bed early that night.
Sherlock was quite happy to have some extra alone time with Molly, and they too retired to bed early.
After a satisfying, as always, lovemaking session, Sherlock stroked the soft skin of Molly's back as she cuddled into him. "Molly, remind me in the morning not to miss the Zoom NA meeting. Next week marks my fourth anniversary of being clean, and our leader wishes to commemorate it, as we do any milestones."
"You need to learn how to use Alexa for reminders," said Molly. Molly was quite good at setting herself reminders on their Amazon Alexa device, but he never seemed to think of things when he was in the same room as the device.
"I would have, if I'd remembered earlier, but Alexa is in the front room, not here."
She tapped his chest lightly. "For a man with a mind palace, you have a remarkable propensity for forgetting simple things like dates and appointment times."
He kissed her forehead. "That's your fault. My mind palace is filled far too much with things related to you and our daughters. So, will you remind me in the morning?"
She let out an exaggerated huff. "Yes, honey. Good night."
"Goodnight, my love."
Molly was as good as her word. It was ten to ten the next morning when she said, as they were in the front room as usual with Victoria and Christina in the playpen, "Don't forget your meeting in ten minutes."
He gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks, sweetheart. What would I do without you?"
She gave him a devilish grin. "Apparently, not much."
He gave her a lingering kiss of appreciation then stood and went upstairs.
These Zoom meetings had been good, to continue the NA meetings, but it was definitely not the same as being in person. Even the tag to commemorate being clean for 4 years would be sent in the post by Dave, the group leader. Another one to add to the keyring that held his car keys. He had to admit, once in a while, he would see those tags and be proud of the length of time he had remained clean.
The regulars of the group had changed over the years. A couple people had left, others joined, but Bob and Matthias from church also remained regular attenders. Both were here today. Eleven people in all were at the meeting, and Sherlock duly received recognition for his 4 year anniversary of being clean. But there were others who had reached higher milestones in the group, and today, Audrey, who had received her 18 month grey tag at Sherlock's first meeting, received recognition for being clean for 5 years.
At the end of the meeting, Matthias caught Sherlock's attention. "Sherlock, mind if I give you a ring once we are off the meeting?"
"Of course," responded Sherlock, adding quickly, "I mean, I don't mind." He wondered what Matthias wanted to speak to him about. He was Matthias's NA sponsor, and he hoped Matthias wasn't struggling with the temptation of addiction. He knew there were people who had returned to addiction due to the stress of the pandemic, and as a man who lived alone, Sherlock knew that risk was even higher due to loneliness.
When he answered his phone to Matthias's call, though, he discovered it was for a very different reason.
"Sherlock," began Matthias, "you're a happily married man, and I was wondering if I could ask your advice on how to approach someone? To ask her out, I mean."
Sherlock chuckled. "Do you even know who you are talking to, Matthias? Before Molly, I had no interest in romantic entanglements. I'm the last person to give out relationship advice."
"But your wife knows this person, and you do too," said Matthias, unfazed. "So I guess I am wondering if you think she might be receptive."
Sherlock raised a brow, even though Matthias couldn't see him. "Who has captured your interest?" He knew Molly had said several times that she wished Matthias would find a woman who would appreciate him.
Matthias cleared his throat nervously. "It's, uh, Allison. She's been divorced for a while now. We've had some good conversations, and I get along really well with Archie. I...well.." Sherlock could hear the embarrassment in his friend's voice, "I'm attracted to her. Do you think it would be too soon for me to ask her out?"
Sherlock thought carefully about an appropriate response. He vaguely recalled Molly telling him that Allison's divorce had been finalised at the beginning of 2020. As Sherlock recalled, Molly and Allison had become friendly during the time of rehearsals for the play they had done on the life of Jesus. Her husband had asked her to file for divorce, because he wanted to move on with another woman, but he was not able to do so until 2 years had passed. Only the injured party could do so. After some counselling from their pastor, Allison had decided she would not file for divorce, that her husband would have to do so himself. And, from what Molly had told Sherlock later, Allison had let Molly know her husband had filed for divorce almost immediately after the 2 years of separation had elapsed.
"Sherlock? Are you still there?" asked Matthias, and Sherlock realised he'd been lost in thought.
"Sorry, sorry," he said. "I was just recalling how long Allison has been divorced. It has been over a year." He suddenly thought of how happy Molly would be to see two friends begin a relationship. Sure, Matthias was a dark-skinned black man and Allison was white, but only idiots would look askance at a bi-racial couple. Sherlock didn't understand how the colour of a person's skin was any different than their hair colour, for example. "Matthias," he said at last, "I think you should go for it. And Archie can always act as chaperone to begin with, No pressure."
Matthias heaved a relieved sigh. "I was hoping you'd say that. Thanks, Sherlock. Oh, and congratulations again on being clean for four years."
Sherlock smiled. "In three months, you'll be at the same milestone, my friend."
Matthias chuckled. "I guess you're right. See you in church tomorrow? You might get to witness my fortune or misfortune. I thought I'd speak to Allison after the service and ask if she and Archie would like to grab something for lunch and go back to eat at my place." His lips quirked. "I know we aren't supposed to meet people indoors, but I'm so tired of Covid restrictions, and I'm willing to take the risk of being indoors together if she is. After all, we're indoors at church."
"I couldn't agree more," said Sherlock, "and yes, we'll be at church." He added, "I know Molly will be rooting for you as well."
He hung up and hurried downstairs to share this bit of news with Molly.
Author's note: Ah, a little time for just relaxing. The octopus plush reversible toys are adorable - look them up!
The funfair did take place late as I mentioned, and the Thai café is real as well, including the menu. Yep, I love my research.
With Sherlock's upcoming 4 year anniversary of being clean, it reminds me that I began writing my first Sherlock story almost 4 years ago, even though I didn't join the site and begin publishing until November of 2017. Wow, time flies! I don't think I've ever retained interest in one subject for so long!
So, the Matthias/Allison idea is something I have planned for quite a long time. If you are reading my WIP, Journey to a New Home, you will be familiar with these characters more as I have been developing them. What do you think about this potential relationship?
I hope you are still enjoying this continuing story for my characters.
Enter your thoughts in the review box below. I'd love to hear them.
