Author's note: I'm putting an alert here that this chapter is a hard T. I don't think it needs to be rated M, as there is nothing explicit whatsoever, but let me know if you think the rating should be changed, or if you feel the T-rating is still appropriate with the "hard T" label I've described it as. I've seen far more explicit T-rated stories, but I tend to be more conservative with ratings.
Molly sat on the sofa and waited for Sherlock's return.
He was back within two minutes, holding the present she had wrapped for him. "Feels like a photo frame," he commented, seating himself beside Molly and she glared, snatching the present.
"It's not fun if you make deductions about it, honey," she told him sternly, swatting at his arm. "You had better not try and deduce what might be in the frame, if indeed it is one," she added, realising too late that she had basically confirmed his deduction anyway.
Sherlock grinned. "Wouldn't think of it. I wouldn't particularly like to spend the night on the sofa, at least not unless you joined me." He winked and Molly couldn't help giggling as well.
"Go on then," she said, handing the present back to him.
Sherlock looked at the tag first and smiled. Dearest Sherlock, love Molly XXX. "You're always going to use those words aren't you, just to remind me of that awful Christmas?"
Molly tilted her head towards him. "Well, you are my dearest Sherlock, after all. Would you prefer I wrote 'Dear Sherlock' or just 'Sherlock'?"
He snorted. "No, but you could put 'Dearest Husband' or 'Darling Sherlock' or something along those lines."
Molly rolled her eyes. "You're saying that to me, and yet you didn't even wrap your gift for me so I didn't even get a card."
"Fair point," he acknowledged, making a show of unwrapping the gift carefully. His mouth dropped open when he saw what it contained. "Oh, sweetheart, I love this."
It was a photo frame and she knew she had surprised him by the picture inside it. For The past year or so, Sherlock had kept a picture of her from her uni days on his nightstand. He really liked it and had commented once that the only thing missing from the picture was himself. So she had taken it upon herself to make a copy of the picture from the disc her mother had given Sherlock of scanned images from old photos of Molly, and she had put it into Photoshop. Then she had found an appropriate image of Sherlock from his own uni days that his mother had given them in an album of old photos as a Christmas present a few months after they were married. Molly had carefully manipulated the image to make it seem that Sherlock was standing just behind her, and they were together. She was quite proud of the result.
Actually, Sherlock had had a dream a few weeks after their daughter's birth, in which he had met Molly at uni and they had gone into a photo booth at a funfair to have pictures taken of them together. Since Sherlock had related that information to Molly after his dream, it had planted a seed within her to at some point turn the photo from that dream into a reality.
"You really like it?" she asked. "I know it wasn't expensive, but I also would prefer to see a picture of us together on your nightstand, rather than one of me alone, even if it isn't real."
"It's wonderful, Molly," he said sincerely. Then he continued quickly with, "I had your earrings custom-made."
Molly gave him a confused look. "That's perfectly lovely of you, Sherlock, but you know I love them already, so why does it make a difference?"
Sherlock pursed his lips. "I don't want you to think I didn't put any thought into your gift. There were no matching earrings that fitted that necklace, so I had the jeweller look at the necklace and find the right gems in the correct colours and sizes in order to make earrings that matched."
Molly raised an eyebrow at him. "Sherlock, do you think this is some kind of competition?" she queried. "I know that you always put thought behind anything you give me, and it seems like this one even more so. But I would love you if you gave me a pair of socks, because it would be from you."
He gave her a sheepish grin. "You're right. I'm being silly." Then he added with a cheeky grin this time, "So, next time I'll just buy you some socks. Much cheaper that way."
"Sherlock?" she said in the form of a question, putting the frame on the coffee table along with the discarded wrapping paper.
"Yes, love?" he queried in turn.
"Shut up and kiss me." And he did, for some time.
At last he released Molly and said, "I suggest you use the loo before we go to the final Act for the evening."
So, they were heading for the conclusion of their evening. That was fine with her. All that kissing was making her rather anxious to take things further too. "Okay."
While Molly used the toilet, Sherlock went into the bedroom. When she exited the bathroom, she saw the door was open, so knew she had permission to go in.
What she saw left her speechless for a moment. On the bed was her wedding dress, carefully laid out to prevent creases. The large box in which it had been stored after dry cleaning was in the corner of the room. Sherlock's wedding suit was also laid out and he was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Molly looked at him questioningly and he explained. "Last year we had a conversation about renewing our vows on the one year anniversary of our wedding day, and dressing in our wedding garments again."
Molly nodded. She remembered the conversation, but with all the activity surrounding Victoria's birth and how busy they had been as parents ever since, their wedding anniversary had come and gone without too much fuss, besides having a quiet dinner together while Mrs. Hudson babysat their daughter.
Sherlock continued. "Anyway, being Valentine's Day, I thought this would be a good opportunity for us to re-commit to one another and to say new vows."
Molly furrowed her brow. "New vows?" she questioned, uncomprehendingly.
Sherlock patted the empty space beside him, and she sat. Then he took her hand and looked at her. "I want to tell you how my perception of you has changed in the eighteen months and nine days we have been married." Molly had to smile at that. It was typical of Sherlock to be so literal in his thinking. Any other man would have simply said "eighteen months" and left it at that.
She continued to listen to his explanation with that smile on her face. "Since we have been married, we have been slowly becoming more comfortable with one another. You've seen things about me that I know irritate you, and I have been aggravated by certain things as well. What I wish is for us to talk about our understanding of those things, and how our relationship has changed."
Molly bit her lip. "Are you trying to say that you think these little things are problematical for us?"
Sherlock squeezed her hand. "Of course not, sweetheart. Life is not a fairytale, and acceptance and compromise in relation to our idiosyncrasies can only serve to strengthen our relationship further. I want us to dress in our wedding finery and say new vows that reflect how we have changed and grown as individuals who have become one pair since our wedding day. Does that make sense?"
Molly rested her head briefly against his shoulder. "I like that idea." Then she added, "You'll have to help me into my gown, though."
Sherlock grinned. "Of course." He pointed to something she had not noticed before. "I even remembered to hire a crinoline for the occasion."
Molly looked at the voluminous petticoated material of the crinoline that was on the other side of the bed where she had not seen it before. It looked very similar to the one she had used on their wedding day. "I'm glad you remembered that," she remarked. "Without the crinoline, my dress would be too long and it wouldn't look very good." Then she looked around, wondering if Sherlock had set out her corset as well.
Not surprisingly, he addressed her unspoken question. "I didn't bring out your corset because I don't feel it is necessary. Your breasts have swelled somewhat since we married, and I think your corset would not fit correctly." Then he added, "Of course, in the interest of full disclosure, I must concede that I also do not wish to spend endless amounts of time trying to unhook the damned thing as I had to do on our wedding night."
"Understood," Molly agreed with a smirk. She remembered Sherlock's frustration with that task. "Am I to wear my shoes?"
Sherlock shook his head. "I do not believe that will be necessary. Your gown will be a little longer as a result, but we will be, for the most part, standing in one place, and I don't intend for you to wear your gown for very much longer after we have made our own private vow renewal." He gave her a meaningful look and she coloured slightly.
"I suppose that's why you didn't bother bringing out my veil either?" she ventured.
"Precisely," was his deep voiced reply. Then he stood, pulling her up with him.
They spent several minutes getting into their wedding finery. Molly was able to do most of her dressing herself, although Sherlock had to pull up the zip of her gown when she had settled it over her body and the crinoline she had put on. She also remembered to switch the breast pads into the wedding dress.
Sherlock noticed that and enquired, "Any leakage?"
"Not yet," Molly responded settling the the pads inside the bodice.
"Too bad." Sherlock smirked, then said with a cheeky grin that made his dimple appear, "Perhaps by the time we make love there will be."
Molly blushed at that. Cheeky bugger.
At last they were ready and they stood a little awkwardly at the end of the bed in the relatively narrow space between the foot of it and Victoria's cot. Not surprisingly, the skirt of Molly's dress brushed against both the foot of the bed and the cot, it was so voluminous.
Sherlock took both of her hands in his. Molly couldn't help the tremble of anticipation that ran through her. He was such an eloquent speaker and she knew, without a doubt, she would be in tears by the end of it, as she had been during their wedding day when he had said his personal vows to her.
"Molly, my heart, my dearest love. I stand before you now at the opposite end of eighteen months and nine days of marriage with you." Of course, he had to be literal again, she mused, and concentrated on listening to his next words. "Since our wedding day we have continued to grow and learn things about one another, some good, some not so good. I've learned that you can be a poor loser when it comes to playing games." He squeezed her hands and Molly couldn't help smiling a little. He was not wrong, and she had shown evidence of that particular flaw on their honeymoon.
He continued. "In addition, I have learned that your blessedly long hair has a tendency to find its way into the drain of the bath on a consistent basis, and I have felt my showers turning into unintended baths for my feet as a result. Furthermore, you are inherently neat, straightening up papers on my desk and making it difficult for me to find what I need."
Molly bit her lip. "I'm sorry," she apologised, knowing she did have a tendency to be a little meticulous in her neatness and desire for order. She had on more than one occasion, okay, on several occasions, tried to place Sherlock's various papers into some semblance of order to straighten them.
Sherlock frowned at her interruption. "Hush, love. It's my turn to speak." He squeezed her hands and brushed his thumbs along the back of them to mitigate the severity of his words. "Anyway, as I was saying before you interrupted me, there is actually order to my chaos. My papers may not seem orderly, but I know where to find things unless you have moved them." Molly flashed him a penitent smile. She would have to remember that in the future and restrain herself from unnecessary tidying.
He continued. "Unidentified remains at the back of our fridge have been an occasional source of contention. However, that noxious odour of rotting food does help me to understand your own aversion to body parts being in the fridge." He smirked and Molly giggled.
"And then there are my own faults. I am aware that I am not the best house husband. I tend to be sloppy, and I know I forget to switch out the toilet roll at times or leave the toilet seat up. I apologise for that and will endeavour to do better. My only excuse for your unintended encounters with the porcelain rather than the seat is that I never lived with a woman before you. John and I tended to leave the toilet seat up for expediency. One tends to urinate on a more frequent basis than have bowel movements, after all."
Molly snorted with laughter. Of course Sherlock had to justify himself.
He frowned. "I fail to see what you find so amusing about my explanation," he said a little reproachfully.
"I'm sorry," she apologised again. "Please continue."
He pressed his lips together for a moment in an attempt to recall his earlier train of thought. Then he began again. "The crux of the matter is this, my love. It doesn't matter that we have little differences of opinion and things are not perfect. We are not perfect. But we do continue to share one thing that is most important. We share an abiding love and an abiding faith as well. I continue to love you more each day, and I know I will continue to learn more about you. There is nothing that will ever tear me away from you."
As Molly expected, she could feel tears forming in her eyes at his words, and they began to run down her cheeks as he continued. "I will always love you with my whole heart, and I will endeavour also to improve myself as we continue our journey together for what I hope will be many, many years. You are my soulmate and I'll never let go of that or you. This is my vow to you."
He stopped, and Molly knew he was finished. She sniffled. "I don't suppose you have a hanky?" she enquired of her husband. On their wedding day, she had made use of the pockets in her wedding dress to store some tissues and the piece of paper which contained her vows. Those pockets had definitely come in handy.
Sherlock smiled and reached into his trouser pocket, taking out a large square white handkerchief with the initial S - one of many he had received over the years from his mother as practical Christmas presents. Instead of handing it to her, he gently wiped away her tears and pocketed the hanky once again. Molly sniffed again. She could have probably done with blowing her nose, but that would have taken extra time and been rather mood killing.
They held hands once again. Molly took a deep breath and then began to speak from her own heart. "Sherlock, these past eighteen months have been amazing. There have been highs and lows, but so many more highs. I've watched you change and grow so much as we have adjusted to married life and the new journey of parenthood. You are an extraordinarily giving man. Yes, we've seen things about each other that are not perfect. Unsurprisingly, due to our more advanced ages when we married, we can be set in our ways and that can be difficult to change. I know I have a weakness when it comes to being too neat, and I will try to restrain myself in future from imposing too much of that neatness on you. I know and understand my own faults as well as those I see in you. We are human, after all, and try as we might, we will never be perfect. I am content in knowing that these little things will never become big issues with us. Yes, we might have the occasional row over something, but that will never change the way I feel about you. Even as you said to me that your love continues to grow, so does mine. It is unending, Sherlock, constantly flowing from me." She blinked back more tears as she saw the glisten of them mirrored in Sherlock's own eyes.
"Whatever the future holds for us, Sherlock, I am in no doubt that we will face it together, good or bad, because we are bonded in our love and in having God at the centre of our relationship. So finally, as I have said to you before, you are not the perfect man, Sherlock, but you are the perfect man for me."
A single tear slid down Sherlock's face as he removed his hands from hers to trail them lightly along her arms, from wrist to shoulders, leaving her skin tingling. After giving those bared shoulders a little squeeze, his hands travelled up again to rest at either side of her face. "Thank you, my darling," he murmured, bending his head down as she lifted her chin upwards.
Their lips met and fused in a kiss that was both tender and reverent, re-affirming their love for one another. Then the pressure and intensity of it increased, as Molly's arms went around Sherlock's back and she splayed her hands across it, pulling him into herself as best she could, given the rather hampering nature of her dress. Much as she loved wearing her beautiful gown again and recalling their wonderful wedding day, it was not the most practical garment when one wished to indulge in passionate kissing.
Apparently, Sherlock was thinking along the same lines, because he soon moved his hands downwards and reached around to the zip of her dress, remembering to separate the hook and eye at the top first. It was remarkable how he had mastered the art of kissing her while sliding a zip down.
Molly's hands too were not idle as she moved them around to blindly tug at Sherlock's tie, loosening it, then removing it. By the time she had progressed from releasing the single button of Sherlock's tailcoat, followed by his waistcoat buttons, her gown was unzipped and only being held in place due to the crinoline beneath.
Sherlock removed his lips from Molly's to murmur, "Why don't you take care of the crinoline and I'll do my shirt."
Molly complied, reaching behind herself to pull at the drawstring for the crinoline and releasing it. Immediately it dropped to her feet as the rest of her gown, no longer being held in place, slithered down also to pool at her feet. The breast pads too fluttered to the floor.
Impatiently, Molly reached to undo the button and zip of Sherlock's trousers, even as he finished removing his shirt. A few more moments and the rest of their clothing was removed.
Giving Sherlock a seductive glance, Molly sat on the bed and slid backwards towards the centre, then held out her arms. Sherlock climbed onto the bed and knelt in front of her, and their lips met and merged once again. His hands moved to caress her body and then his mouth traced a path downwards to take temporary possession of the usually-claimed-by-Victoria breasts as Molly gasped in pleasure.
His hands and his mouth were everywhere, creating thrilling sensations, as her own hands roamed around his body, touching, caressing the sensitive areas of his own flesh. They knew one another so well and took full advantage of that fact in their teasing and tormenting. And their union, when bodies craved the ultimate fulfillment designed by God, was fiery and passionate. They didn't hold back gasps and sighs of pleasure, exulting in their time alone. Tomorrow they would go back to being Sherlock and Molly Holmes, dedicated and loving parents, but tonight they were just Sherlock and Molly, dedicated lovers, committed to a lifetime of togetherness, and that knowledge was so sweet.
And as Molly closed her eyes in the deep contentment that followed, cocooned in her husband's arms, she reflected on the Valentine's Day she had spent with Sherlock the previous year, how romantic it had been, and yet she could not choose which was better. Sure, the previous occasion had involved re-creating their wedding night and making love three times, but this night had been a recommitment and an affirmation that their love was maturing as they too were, making small adjustments along the way. There had been a subtle change, as they had become more accustomed to being a team and raising a child together as well. Of one thing Molly was confident, their journey would continue together, always.
Author's note 2: I found this story just flowed, written in the space of three days, with the outline almost fully formed in my head.
I'd like to give credit to reader merygrace for the "You're not perfect, but you're perfect man for me" line.
A successful marriage takes work folks, but it's worth the effort! I hope you enjoyed the new vows Sherlock and Molly expressed to one another.
Molly's gift to Sherlock reflects something alluded to in Sherlock's Dream of What Might Have Been. If you'd like to know more about it, check it out!
Don't hold your opinions to yourself, share them with me and make my day. If you find this story relatable at all, let me know! This is your last chance to say something about the story. Be a giver as well as a receiver. Thanks so much.
9/10/20 Couple tiny corrections