True Intentions
Genre: Family; mild romance; FUTURE FIC
Pairings: Daniel Watson and Grace Holmes introduced as established
Main characters: Greg, John, Sherlock, Daniel, Michael
Daniel Watson didn't much care who was in the room at the moment. He was frustrated beyond all reason and wholly done with it all.
"Girls are IMPOSSIBLE," he lamented, as he heaved himself down with an exasperated huff.
"Is this a… PARTICULAR girl you speak of," Sherlock queried carefully, "or is this girls in GENERAL."
Greg and John shared an "Oh, shit" look before training their collective gazes upon John's son.
"In general Uncle," Daniel said, "but in this case a particular one. Grace is… well I…" he said, before stopping short and blushing furiously, suddenly realizing he was venting to his girlfriend's dad.
"She's a girl, Dan," Greg finally said. "She's her little quirks, one of which is that she happens to be quite fond of you. YOU may think she's off her trolley, but she's still chosen you, more or less. Out of all the boys she could have set her sights on, she set them on you. I'd say you're a damned lucky young bloke, without prejudice."
"Son," John said carefully, "there are probably times when she thinks you're just as daft, if not more."
Sherlock snorted. "She'd have to be to put up with the likes of a man. Or a young one at least. Women have their little idiosyncrasies, but we as a male species in general can be quite… challenging, also. Are you sure my daughter is impossible, or is it you? Or perhaps it's the two of you put together. I know my girl can be… trying, at times. She's a bit too much of her mother in her. A bit too much of her father too, I suspect."
Greg rose an eyebrow at this, "When did YOU get to be so wise, then?"
"Osmosis," Sherlock said with a smirk. "I've absorbed it from living in the same house as you for all these years."
"Well, THAT was a right barrel of laughs," Michael said as he strode casually into the room. "My sister has just been venting about how boys are impossible. I reminded her she was talking to one but she was in one of her moods. You know the one. The "hell hath no fury" one."
"Takes after her mother then," Sherlock said, lightly, as he navigated the plate with the biscuits.
"Her father, more like," John said with casual air as he sipped his tea,
"Or perhaps it's the Watson-Holmes combination that has the moods so active," Greg replied to it all, as he bit into a particular biscuit that Kieran had sent home with him.
"Well in any case," Michael said, as he nosed out a cup of tea himself, "she's in a right splendid bloody mood. I've spent part of the morning advocating for Dan and the other part ducking. Mum had taken over the situation when I left. Thank God for Mum."
"What the hell IS the bee in her bonnet anyway?" Greg finally asked. "Grace isn't usually so volatile, is she?"
"I have no idea, Uncle," Daniel huffed with a frustrated sigh. "All I did was mention how I thought it was so nice that she loves sewing so much. Next thing she's calling me a sexist pig… I thought it was GOOD that she loves something like that, it's a dying art, really. But apparently complimenting her on such things is strictly taboo."
"Did you know that Sally has been teaching me how to knit?" Sherlock said, after several moments of silence, whilst the older men contemplated Daniel's conundrum.
"I didn't," Daniel admitted, his eyebrow raising slightly. Greg and John glanced to the teenager, curious where Sherlock may be going with this.
"It's really not difficult, and believe it or not it's taught me patience. We have enough dishcloths in our kitchen now to bequeath to a dozen grandchildren…. But more's the point, it's a dying domestic art, and one that perhaps, should you consent to join me in the lessons…" he hinted.
"I could use a new scarf," Greg said with a crooked grin.
"The hat Sally made me a few years ago is in need of replacement," John hinted gently, "and Rosie and Julian could use a new blanket for Riley, she's outgrown the first already..."
Daniel Watson, being clever, wise, and generally considerate – all thanks to the combined older male influences in 221 Baker Street, swirled the notion around his cooling tea cup while he munched on a biscuit.
"That might calm Grace's wrath, yeah?" he finally responded. "And I could make her something nice… let her know without words but with actions that I'm not a chauvinistic jackass? And that in spite of her moods… and mine… I DO love her?"
"That might do the trick, Dan," Greg remarked approvingly. "And sometimes a lady only puts so much stock in words. It's actions that show her your true intentions. Just… don't forget to say the words now and again, hey? Girls are funny that way. They need both. The trick is to know when to switch them up."
"Indeed, Uncle," Daniel finally said, grinning. "Oh I've already an idea. It may be a bit ambitious but I think I catch on rather quickly to new things, don't I? Just a few months to her birthday, I wonder…"
Sherlock cleared his throat, then shared a smile with Greg, John, and Michael.
"I'll talk to Sally, see if she's willing to take on another pupil, but if it means a grand plan to appease our spirited daughter I'm nearly positive she'll agree to it."
Daniel sat back, sighing with relief. "She's not THAT impossible I suppose," he finally admitted with a small subtle smile.