Dads

Genre: Family; Friendship; FUTURE FIC

Pairings: Greer and Sam; Scott and Naomi friendship

Main characters: Greg, Greer, Scott and Naomi mentioned, Liam introduced in conversation

Author's Note: Greg's discussion with Sherlock regarding John is in reference to Chapter 39 "The Measure of a Man"

"Daddy?" Greer asked thoughtfully.

Greg, curled up on the sofa and with full intentions – until that moment at least – of delving back into the book he'd been relaxing with for the past few days, looked up curiously. He hadn't even heard his daughter enter the flat, let alone come into the room.

"Sam has Beth, I gather, and shooed you out of your flat?" Greg tried not to let his amused wince come through the questioning look he gave his daughter.

"Beth has a bit of a temperature. My husband gave me that annoying gleefully determined look he gets when he's about to fix something."

"Ah," Greg nodded, placing his book, still open, face down on the stand next to the sofa. "His infamous 'hold my beer and watch this' look. Well, he IS an Industrial Arts teacher. Fixing and building things, well, it's sort've what he does, isn't it? And not only that, he's teaching teenagers how to do it. Anyway I know he's delved head first into being a hands-on dad."

Greer half smiled, half sighed at this, heaving herself down next to Greg. Giving him a tired look, she leaned back into her dad's arm, with a heavy sigh of frustration and relief, strangely all rolled into one.

"I AM tired. She's been fussy all day and the temperature only started just before he arrived home. I suppose he reckoned I'd had enough for one day and ushered me out. He had specific instructions that I was to come here and relax with you and mum, with a glass of wine or something. I think Dad," she said, yawning, "I think I fancy a cup of your coffee more than that."

"Hmmm," Greg said, thoughtfully, knowing Greer would sniff out the fresh pot herself that he'd just made, sooner rather than later. "So it seems he knows what you're made of and when you've had enough... even when you don't seem to know yourself? Just remember what HE'S made of too, yeah?"

Greer laughed softly at this. "Well, he DID crack open a beer as I was fetching my coat. You can take the boy out of Saskatchewan, but you can't take Saskatchewan out of the boy, I suppose," she giggled.

Greg chuckled, then pondered a moment. "You realize that little Elizabeth Megan Ciana is going to be just as much of a daddy's girl as YOU are, Little Love? In fact I reckon she already is. If you want one of your own, you may have to try for a mulligan…" he hinted, teasingly.

Greer said nothing to this, merely punching her dad lightly in the shoulder. "Hush now, you old git," she finally said. "We've enough babies around already at the moment. Between Beth, and Aiden, and Riley, there are plenty enough to go around. Not to mention Liam, oh he's a busy little man."

"You had a valid argument up until Liam, Little Love," Greg pointed out. "I can hardly count Liam just yet. Scott and Naomi aren't dating, for as much as they give off the impression that they are, they're not together in that way."

Greer snorted softly, shifting herself off the sofa to retrieve a cup of coffee from the kitchen. "Well they're not YET, at least. Mark my words Dad, one day, whether it's next month, or next year, or the year after that, they will be. There's no question they've bonded very closely and I know they're only friends just yet. Neither of them have ruled that out. They're just not quite ready yet."

Greg thought on this quietly, as he shifted his legs to stretch them out. He winced as his muscles stretched and his knee gave off a cracking pop.

"You sound awfully sure of that, Greer," he called out to her, as something in the back of his recent memories slowly crept to the forefront of his consciousness. Something he'd seen, and casually even observed, but hadn't thought much about for various reasons.

"You've seen it Dad," Greer said, as she returned to the living room, handing her dad a fresh cup of coffee. "You've probably even OBSERVED it, but didn't put much thought to it. And you've filed it away in the back of your mind for future reference, until something dislodged it." She grinned triumphantly at her father's blank look and cocked head, knowing she'd once again hit the nail on the head.

After several moments of facetious silence, Greg finally spoke. "I'd scold you for being an impertinent little brat, but truth is, you're my daughter through and through. YES, I've seen it, and you're correct, I have observed it but didn't think much of it at the time. Perhaps I brushed it off given the circumstances... It's the way they look at each other."

Greer sighed happily, knowing her big brother was on the cusp of happiness again someday, whenever the moment arrived when he was ready to take that step forward. "Yes," she said, as she claimed the spot next to Greg, crossing her legs and facing him. She paused only long enough to sip blissfully from her mug. "They may not be IN love yet," she said, as she held the cup to her face, drinking in the aroma, "but make no mistakes, they do love each other very much, I'd put money on that."

"I haven't seen Scott seem this peaceful since before Meg died," Greg admitted. "It's as though he's slowly finding contentment again. Now that I think about it, it's quite similar to what we observed in your Uncle John when he was first dating Alex. He kept their relationship on the mum for quite some time, but in retrospect, Sherlock and I agreed he'd seemed different somehow. We even discussed it once. Before that he seemed… well, we'd seen him that way since Mary died and we'd just sort've gotten used to it."

"Liam is already showing signs of Scott's influence. They've bonded, Dad. They're a family, in their own casual platonic way. He's fully two years old, and the only father he's likely to remember now will be Scott, I believe," Greer said thoughtfully, as her phone toned.

"Speaking of dads," Greg chuckled softly, as he waited for Greer to check her message. "Let me guess, Beth is settled and sleeping soundly? See, she just needed her daddy," he winked.

"So did I," Greer said, smiling.