I'm sorry it's been so long. All I can say is that Faye took an extended vacation. I'm going to try and update more, and while nothing much really happens in this short chapter, I wanna move it along so I can get to series 3.
So, I hope you like it :)
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John rocked on his heels, only waiting a moment after knocking for Mrs Hudson to open the front door, who was looking more flustered than normal. The weather, for once, was reflecting the season and he felt like he was melting in the August sun.
"Oh, thank god you're here!" She exclaimed, stepping out of the way to let him in, "I know you don't like coming around anymore, but I was just so worried…" He smiled, cutting her off with a pat on her arm.
"You did the right thing ringing me." He promised, "I would have been around sooner, but I thought she was still at Mycroft's." He looked up the stairs, the way to 221B and felt that need to turn and walk away he always had when he even thought about coming back. He had so many good memories of the flat, but it was just a giant reminder that Sherlock wasn't there and he was trying to move on from the tragedy he wasn't sure he could leave behind, "She hasn't been down all week?"
With a shake of her head, Mrs Hudson turned to the small side table that sat in the hallway, "Not once, but sometimes she doesn't." She explained, "She loves spending time with Bella, she forgets to go outside sometimes. But then these came," She handed John a small pile of letters, "I thought they were for me and they'd got my name wrong, but then another one came and I realised they were for her." John flicked through the pile quickly, every single letter addressed to some form of 'Ms Mary Hudson'.
"She's changed her name back." He declared, tapping the pile against his free hand as he thought for a moment, "Right," With a plan, he turned back to Mrs Hudson and shot her a reassuring smile, "I'll go check on her, go put your feet up. Don't worry, she'll be fine." Mrs Hudson nodded to herself.
"Okay, let me know if you need anything, dear." He nodded and headed up the stairs, knocking on the front door of 221B three times, efficient and to the point. Another pause and the door flew open, revealing a wide-eyed Faye, obviously confused to why anyone was knocking on her door.
"John?" She asked, "What are you doing here?" He blinked a couple of times, shocked. She had a towel around her shoulders, her hair chopped off to the shoulder like it had been when they'd first met and currently covered in whatever dye she'd put on it. She had bright blue contacts in and she was wearing a pair of festive pyjamas, which didn't really go with the season but was the least surprising part of her overall appearance.
"You're dying you hair?" He asked in reply, because she'd not done that since before Sherlock had died. She'd not worn contacts, either. He knew instantly it couldn't be good and as she stepped out of the way to let him in, his eyes darted around the room looking for Bella.
"Yeah, I found a bottle when I was cleaning out the bathroom and felt a bit nostalgic." She explained.
"Where's Bella?" It came out more of a demand than a question and she nodded towards her bedroom.
"Napping." She replied with a confused tone, "You think I'd dye my hair when she's awake? Have you ever tried to keep track of a crawling baby? You don't have the time to breathe." She waved at the kitchen, when the pots had piled and made the place look like it'd never been cleaned, "Or clean. Ignore the mess, I've been really busy. I'll get to it."
"Busy doing what?" He asked incredulously, "You've not been out of the flat all week." Her eyes lit up, bright and ecstatic that he'd asked that question.
"Oh, do you wanna see?" She asked, "Come on!" She turned and practically ran up the stairs to where his old room was. He followed at a slower pace, his concern just growing over her behaviour. What had she done?
He was surprised to find any trace of what had been his room completely removed, replaced by dark beige walls and a large brown rug. His old bed and dresser had been light wood furniture and there were meerkats spread across the wall.
"Mycroft sourced the wall stickers for me, but the rest is all me!" She exclaimed, "It's taken me all week because I can only do it around Bella and I've been so tired that I've not wanted to leave." She pointed to a pile of wood which still had to be assembled, "That's a shelving unit, but once it's together I can start moving her stuff up here."
"This is what you've been doing?" He asked, amazed as he stepped into the room. It had a distinct 'safari' feel to it. He couldn't say it looked professional, but then again he couldn't have done a better job himself, "But what about the mail?"
"What about the mail?" She asked, checking her watch to see how long she had before she had to wash the dye out.
"It's all to Mary." He held out the small pile, "You've been changing your name." She took the pile off him.
"Yeah, well." She trailed off as she looked through them, checking for anything important, "I decided Bella needed a mum who didn't hide from herself. I'll still get called Faye by my family and friends, but anything official is going to be Mary."
That wasn't the reason she'd changed her name, but she couldn't tell him that since she'd married Sherlock she didn't feel like Faye Newbarns anymore, she felt like Faye Holmes. But as she couldn't change her name to that, but couldn't stay Faye Newbarns either she'd decided to go back to Mary. She'd didn't like Mary either, but at least she felt like Mary some of the time. It was a very complicated matter, and one she wished she could talk to John about more than anything, but she couldn't. She couldn't even talk to Molly about it because it should have been John she was talking to.
She'd been married to Sherlock Holmes for six months now, and no one knew but Mycroft.
Her life was a mess, but at least she could give her daughter a nice bedroom, right?
"Wanna help me wash my hair out?" She asked John, putting the mail onto the top of the chest of drawers she'd built last, ignoring it for now.
"Just like old times?" He retorted with a grin and she nodded.
"Before our little madam wakes up." He rolled his eyes, sighing like it was such a big chore then, with a wave of his hand, motioned her to head downstairs in front of him.
~0~0~0~
John ended up staying the whole afternoon, which was the longest he'd spent in 221B since he'd moved out and he felt a lot better about that when he left. Faye, or Mary, had gone the dark brown he remembered Irene Adler being, so it must have been a bottle left over from then. He'd helped her tidy up, well, he'd played with his lovely niece while Faye, or Mary, had tided up around him. Bella was actually waddling about now, even though she preferred to be carried she could make her way around the room with minimal falling.
"John!" She exclaimed angrily as he shrugged his coat on, glaring at him just like Sherlock used to do when he did something Sherlock didn't want him to. The twinge in his chest was still there, that feeling of loss was never going to go away but it wasn't as acute as it once was.
"I have to go home." He told the little girl, who was pouting adorably even as she tried to tell him off with a series of babbling noise with some recognisable words in it, like 'food' and 'Mickey', "No, no. Mary'll be wondering where I am, I was only coming around to check on your mum."
"Who is looking mighty fine with her new hair." Faye, or Mary, added, picking up Bella. She'd ditched the blue contacts, deciding they were bugging her too much after not wearing them for so long. She'd put it down to personal growth, John pointed out they'd been sat in storage for a year and a half and she probably shouldn't have put them in to begin with.
"Yes, who is looking 'mighty fine' with her new hair." He repeated, sounding anything but comfortable with the turn of phrase. He placed a kiss on Bella's head, then on Faye's, or Mary's, cheek. He'd get it right in his head soon, "But you're coming around on Sunday, so you've got no reason to complain."
"John, no!" The little girl whined, "Boring!" They both looked down at her, surprised at the new word she seemed to have picked up. It was in an angry tone, annoyed as she was at John leaving, just like Sherlock would exclaim.
"That's just creepy." John declared, even as Faye's heart pounded in her chest, completely alarmed at the word she'd picked up from Sherlock. Thankfully John was logical and wouldn't assume that a dead man had come back to spend time with her daughter, but she'd started rolling her eyes like daddy, and calling out for her daddy and it was getting harder to explain that off, "How is it that she'd blaming me for being bored like Sherlock, and they never met? That can't be an inherited thing."
"I don't know." She replied with a nervous switch of her daughter to her other hip, "With two sons like Mycroft and Sherlock, there had to be something in there. Mr and Mrs Holmes are lovely."
"Why won't you call them their names?" He asked as he headed to the front door, "You had their granddaughter, I think you're allowed to call them by their first names."
"I know, but Sherlock liked me to call them that to annoy them, and now it's just habit." She explained as the doorbell went off. John paused, hand ready to open the door to let himself out.
"You fixed the doorbell?" He asked, amazed, "Now you're going to know when people are here to see you. Are you sure you're okay?"
"It's probably just Mary." She replied, dodging the question because she wasn't entirely sure why she'd fixed it, she hated the bloody thing, "We'll come say hi, won't we?" She looked down and Bella, "Wanna come see Mary?" She asked in the cheerful tone most adults used to talk to toddlers.
"Yes." She declared firmly and Faye nodded.
"Come on then." The trio left, coming to a stop at the top of the stairs as Mrs Hudson let Lestrade in through the front door. He blinked for a moment, surprised by the sight of the three stood together like a little family, then noticing Faye's new hair before dismissing it with a shake of his head.
"Date's been set," He told them without any pretence, "The investigation's finally going to go court."
