Old Souls
Genre:Friendship, family
Pairings:Greg and Molly, Sherlock and Sally, John and Alex, Julian and Emma, Mum and Dad Holmes, all background
Main characters:Rosie, Julian, Greg, John, Sherlock
"Rosa," Julian said one day while he and Rosie were spending a lazy Sunday afternoon together.
Rosie looked up, eyebrows raised under the blonde curls that adorned her forehead. "Hmm?" she asked, prompting him.
"Will you marry me?"
Rosie blinked a few times before giggling. "Of course I will, Jules. But we're only seven so I think we'll have to wait a bit, don't you?"
Julian grinned with contentment. "We're nearly EIGHT, but of course we'll have to wait. But I wanted dibs, and I can't imagine never spending any time with you ever again. I want to be happy with you when we've all grown up, like my mummy and daddy, and Mr. John and Miss Alex."
Rosie smiled at this. "And Uncle Sherlock and Auntie Sally," she said.
"And Mr. Greg and Mrs. Molly," Julian said, smiling bashfully now. "We aren't old enough yet to even be boyfriend and girlfriend, but you ARE my best friend in the whole world and I think that's a good start, don't you?"
Rosie sighed happily, gazing at Julian. HE was her best friend in the whole world too, and she knew she'd never want to say goodbye to him. She sometimes, in a wistful way, imagined that she'd like to be as old and happy with Julian as Uncle Sherlock and Uncle Mycroft's Mum and Dad were with each other.
"I want to take care of you forever and ever, Rosa," Julian said, smiling shyly and gazing at Maisie, who lay curled up in the corner working on a chew toy. He looked up at Rosie and blushed slightly.
"I don't need taking care of Jules," Rosie said, almost defensively as her brows furrowed over blue eyes.
Julian blushed almost apologetically. "No, I know that Rosa, I mean that's what I love most about you. You aren't a sissy girly girl. You're strong and stubborn." He smiled at her, hastily adding, "But in a GOOD way. What I mean is, I want to always be there, just in CASE."
Rosie sighed and nodded in approval at the explanation. "Wait… You love me?" Rosie asked, suddenly. "But we're only seven."
Julian laughed at this. "Of course I love you, you're my best friend. Promise me that won't ever change?"
"Of COURSE it won't! Jules Bailey don't be a silly goose! And anyway, I love you too, and since you say I'm stubborn, of course that won't ever change, will it?"
John, sitting with Greg and Sherlock, and having witnessed the entire exchange between his daughter and Julian Bailey, shared a look with his two best friends. "Oh boy," he said.
"I reckoned this would happen sooner or later, but I didn't think it would be this… early," Greg observed.
"Well," Sherlock said, "given their nearly instantaneous bond and the fact that they're practically joined at the hip, and the fact that their rows are easily forgiven when they bring logic and reason into them, the balance of probability…"
"Yes, yes, Sherlock. The balance of probability. I really hate it when you say that," John said. "It generally means you're right."
"I think he IS right, John," Greg said. "Some people meet their soulmates and grow old with them. Others meet their soulmates and grow up with them. I think we're watching two old souls right now." He smiled warmly, thinking back on the chain of the many small, seemingly unrelated events that had come together to bring Julian Bailey and Rosie Watson together as classmates and friends. "Some things, some people, are just meant to be."
John reflected on this for a few moments as the three men fell into silence.
"Fair enough, Greg," John finally conceded. "But I expect him to ask for my blessing in 15 years when they want to get married for real, though I suspect that young Julian is enough of a proper gentleman that I won't have to worry about that."
"I suspect you're most likely correct on that," Sherlock said, while Greg nodded in agreement.