Three
It had been close to three in the morning when John had gone to bed, so waking up at seven was not ideal. However, it was unavoidable due to the music blaring from the kitchen. He figured Sherlock had some new experiment, though he couldn't figure out what. Perhaps he was trying to see how much he could irritate John before getting his head knocked against the wall.
So John was highly surprised when he walked into the kitchen to see the youngest Holmes. Mary was dressed in a small tank top, and short shorts covered in sleeping bunnies. Her long blonde hair was tied in a messy bun on the top of her head, bouncing around as she danced to the loud music. She had her back to him and hadn't seen him walk in.
"Hey, I just met you!" she sang along, beautifully of course, with the small radio on the counter. "And this is crazy! But here's my number! So call me, maybe!"
John fought the urge to burst out laughing. It was then he noticed the platefuls of pancakes, bacon, and eggs sitting on the table. Mary, still dancing and singing, was standing over the stove flipping a half-done pancake.
"Before you came into my life, I missed you so bad!" she sang, turning around to grab the plate of pancakes. She noticed her audience of one, pausing her singing for only a second before smiling and continuing to sing, dance, and cook. John watched as she filled a plate with two pancakes, several slices of bacon, and a scoop of eggs before placing it on the table. She gave him a look and he realized that the plate was for him.
Sitting down and taking a bite of eggs, John was surprised at how good they were. John settled into his breakfast as Mary turned up the radio. John thought it was a little too loud but noticed her staring intently at Sherlock's door as she turned it up even more. As a new song started up, Mary began to used two spatulas and her dirty pans as a drum set. After a minute of this and watching the door, Mary tossed the spatulas in the sink and walked over to the door.
"Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!" she sang as loud as John thought humanly possible. She stood there through several measures, probably damaging her vocal chords.
"Let's go crazy, crazy, crazy 'til we see the sun! I know we only met but-!" she was interrupted by Sherlock's door being yanked open, revealing a disheveled Sherlock. He glared at his younger sister who only grinned at him and twirling around, practically floating to the table and preparing him a plate. He sat down where she placed it and angrily stabbed his fork into a pancake. Mary continued to dance as she began cleaning up the pans.
John couldn't believe this was the same girl who he'd seen screaming and sobbing only five hours ago. She seemed blissfully ignorant of her situation. She smiled as if she hadn't a care in the world. John finished his food and kept watching her to see if she was just putting on an act for her brother. But Sherlock would see through it if she was so there'd be no point. Plus, to John, she seemed genuinely cheerful. Her smile reached her eyes.
"Remind me," Sherlock finally spoke. "How old did you turn yesterday?"
"Twenty-four, dear brother."
"Then why is it I'm being woken in the same manner as I was when you were six?" Sherlock asked sarcastically. Mary just grinned at him again and took both of their plates. "Hey! I'm not done!"
"Yes, you are," Mary said, ending any argument from Sherlock. John was surprised. He'd never seen Sherlock eat very much, yet he'd eaten nearly two platefuls. However, Mary's cooking was amazing…
"So," Mary said turning off the radio and turning to Sherlock. "What are we doing today?"
"I don't recall promising you an outing," Sherlock said, still annoyed at her stealing his plate. When he looked up at her, she wore a pout that John recognized as the 'puppy dog pout'. Sherlock was glaring at her more and more each second. Pout vs. Glare, John deemed this battle. Shockingly to John, Pout won.
"Fine," Sherlock caved. Mary giggled and clapped her hands together. "Go get your coat."
"Thanks, Sherly." She kissed his cheek and darted off. John waited a moment before bursting with laughter. Sherlock then turned his glare on him.
"Sherly?" he asked between laughs. Sherlock glared harder.
"Shut up."
Mary came back into the room a few minutes later fully dressed and pulling on a jacket. Sherlock then took his turn in his room to change. While waiting on him, Mary turned to John. She tilted her head to the side as if confused; John thought this incredibly cute.
"Aren't you gonna get dressed?" she asked. John gave her an equally confused look.
"Sorry?"
"I assumed you'd be joining us…" This surprised John.
"Do you want me to?" he asked. She gave him a soft smile.
"Yes."
And that was all it took: that small smile and her big blues eyes giving him the most tempting look. He didn't reply, he just walked into his room and got dressed. When he returned, Sherlock was wrapping his scarf around his neck and opening the door for Mary. She looked over and gave John another smile. What was she doing to him?
As they got into a cab, Mary sitting in between them again, John realized he didn't know where they were going; again. Then he heard Sherlock tell the cabbie to take them to a park that was close by. It was where John had reunited with Mike after returning home. The day he had met Sherlock.
They merely walked for a while, but soon Sherlock became bored and went off on his own to observe the people in a crowd watching an impromptu concert. John and Mary chose to sit on a bench close by and watch him from afar, like the way parents watch a toddler on a playground.
"So John," Mary began, "tell me something about you."
"I'm not very interesting." He laughed. "But I'm very curious about you. Sherlock never even told me he had a sister, so all I know about you is what you told me last night. Oh! And that you're a great cook."
This made Mary laugh that beautiful laugh. John really liked hearing it.
"Alright…hmmm," she thought for a moment. "Well, I'm the baby of the family. Don't worry there aren't any more of us hidden anywhere." This made John laugh. "By the time I was born, Mycroft was already out of the house so I'm not very close with him. Love him, of course, but I'm much closer to Sherlock. I was the normal one of the family, if you'd believe it. But that made me a bit of a black sheep to them. Don't get me wrong, I was always good a observing and deducing like Sherlock and Mycroft, but where Mycroft preferred politics and Sherlock preferred science, I preferred music and art. I've been singing since I could talk. I also enjoyed people more than they did so I had more of a social life."
"Ah, a Holmes with an understanding of human emotions? That's different." John joked, making Mary laugh again. John waited a moment before asking his next question. "So…where did you meet your husband?"
"College." Mary answered, not seemingly bothered. "We met my first year. He was in his third. We got married a few months after he finished. He nearly convinced me to quit school so we could try having a child but I told him no. Glad I did, too. Once my music career finishes I'll have my degree to fall back on. Also I think a child would complicate our whole situation." This subject had taken a turn towards upsetting Mary so John quickly changed it.
"What was your degree for?" he asked. Mary smiled, seeing through his change of subject but taking it.
"Education," she said. "I used to tutor back at boarding school and enjoyed it."
John wanted to ask more about her but Sherlock walked back to them and grabbed Mary's hand and pulling her up.
"Sister, dear, the young man singing over there cannot stay on key. I've asked and they said you may sing instead." He explained as John stood.
"I'm so glad you asked me if I wanted to sing before you volunteered me," Mary said sarcastically. Sherlock gave her an 'are you stupid' look.
"You always want to sing," he said simply. Mary almost said something but thought about it and shrugged, agreeing with him. With this, Sherlock led her over to the band and left her there to speak with the band there. The drummer seemed to recognize her from the club and welcomed her. Sherlock and John stood closer to the crowd and waited. Mary and the band seemed to choose a song and took their places. The drummer started a beat and they began.
"I'm wide awake." Mary sang. John was captivated once again by how amazing her voice was. The words surprised John. He wondered why she would pick such a sad song that would remind her of her situation. Perhaps, he thought, that was how she dealt with things: by singing about them. "I wish I knew then, what I know now. Wouldn't dive in, wouldn't bow down."
John looked over at Sherlock but the consulting detective was staring at the members of the crowd, still observing. John shook his head and returned to watching Mary. She smiled as she sang, an honest smile like the one from breakfast. He didn't know how she did it. She seemed to enjoy every second of life, no matter what was happening. He wished she had been around when he was mourning Sherlock, she would have cut his grieving time in half with her joyful spirits. Although, John wasn't quite sure how she would have handled her brother's 'death'. She may have been worse than John, he made a mental note to ask her one day.
Soon enough the song was over and the crowd was cheering loudly. Mary gave a small bow with the band and gave the mic back to their singer. She then walked back over to John and Sherlock.
"Hey, everybody," they all looked back to the band to see the drummer talking into the mic. "If you want to hear that beautiful voice again, she sings at "The Vibe" most nights of the week."
The crowd cheered again and Mary gave the drummer a small wave as thank you. She then followed her brother away from the crowd and towards the road where he hailed a cab. John walked a little ways behind them as they spoke, trying to give them privacy. He did hear Mary thank Sherlock for asking her to sing. When they got into the cab, John saw Mary give a shudder.
"You all right?" John asked.
"I've seen that drummer in the club before," Mary explained. "I've read him plenty of times. He's a major creep. He's not dangerous or anything, believe me I would have put him away long ago if he was, but he always watches me. Once he tried to dance on stage with me but security threw him out. I really hope he isn't there tonight."
"Tonight?" Sherlock asked. He looked at his sister concerned. "Mary, I'm not allowed to let you out of my sight until Mycroft fixes everything. And I can't follow you around all night as you dance on a bar. I have cases."
"And I have band-mates who expect me to be there tonight." Mary countered. She definitely knew how to hold her own against Sherlock. "Danny isn't stupid enough to come to the club, Sherlock. I'll be fine."
"I can't take that risk." Sherlock said.
"Sherlock-!"
"I'll go with her," John cut in, anything to stop them from arguing. Although, he sounded a bit eager to himself, he hoped they hadn't noticed.
"What?" Both Holmes' asked.
"Yeah," John said. "It'll be fine. Mary will sing and I'll keep an eye on her while you work on your cases. I'll get her there and back, safe and sound."
Mary turned her head towards Sherlock, begging with her eyes. Sherlock looked back and forth at them before nodding his head. Mary grinned and kissed her brother's cheek before turning to John.
"Thank you, John," she exclaimed kissing his cheek as well. John resisted the urge to touch the spot she'd kissed. He just smiled.