Mary handed Greg a cup of tea. She stood at the bench with John, who also took his cup, and put the kettle away.
"So, how are the wedding plans going?" Greg asked, taking a sip while standing.
"Yeah, alright." John answered, asking with his hands if Greg wanted to sit at the table. Greg nodded.

Mary and John joined him.
"There's so much to do." Mary said, sounding a little overwhelmed.
"And so many decisions to make!" John added.
"Oh, and I haven't received your RSVP yet, Greg." Mary pointed out. Greg cleared his throat.
"Erm, sorry about that. Yeah, put me and Mycroft down as attending. I haven't really spoken with him about it to be honest… other things have always come up."

Mary smiled, making a mental not to herself.
"So, what's on your mind, Greg?" John asked.
"It's Sherlock."
"What's wrong?" Mary enquired, and Greg was glad to hear genuine concern in her voice.
"Well, he's not coping with the changes very well. He's freaking out, basically. He messaged me in a panic to help him with his best man speech. I actually was there a couple of days ago, and he was still working on it. He hadn't gotten very far, mind. I helped where I could, but mostly it was just clear that he's dreading the wedding."
"Why would he do that?"

"Seriously, John? Don't you see?" Mary answered before Greg could speak. John raised his eyebrow at her.
"He obviously thinks that once you're married, you're going to leave him. You're clearly very important to him - possibly the MOST important person to him - and so he's thinking that the wedding is the last time he'll see you."
"Mary, I don't think he'd take it that far… I mean, of course I'm still going to see him."

Greg opened his mouth to talk, but remained being cut off by the couple chatting.

"He's a drama queen, you know that. Of course he's going to catastrophise it. You need to make it clear to him that it won't change anything."
"But I thought I did that!" John protested.
"Just saying that nothing will change without giving him any proof that he's still included isn't going to make him believe you." Mary stated with an air of finality, and took a sip of her mug.

Greg blinked a few times, a bit surprised that Mary had been the one to tell John everything he'd been intending to say. He smiled at her warmly. He really did like her, and she made John better. John grumbled to himself.

"Well what am I supposed to do then? To show him he's still included?"
"Why don't you get him to help out with the wedding plans?" Greg offered, and they both looked at him.
"What? You were just saying that there was so much to still do and so little time to do it in."

Mary looked at John.
"That would work."
"But that's supposed to be our thing." John protested. "What, you want him to come cake tasting with us?"
"No… just let him be involved a little. Help with the seating arrangements and such… those kind of boring necessities that his logical brain would excel at. Give him little tasks that don't really matter either way to us."

John sighed and smiled at Mary.
"You, my dear, are amazing. I can't tell you what it means to me that you are so willing to have Sherlock included."
"Yeah, well, I know what he means to you." Mary responded, giving Greg a knowing smile of which he was unprepared for. Mary knew John has feelings for him? Well at least she's fine with that and including him so much in spite of that knowledge…

"I think he'd get bored pretty quick with wedding plans, though," Greg said, "And it might just reinforce the idea that everything's changing and it's all about the wedding now."
"Hmm, you're right about that." John pondered.
"Take him out on cases. Run him. Make him see that he's involved in the wedding and our lives, and that you're still going to spend time with him like the old days." Mary offered with delight.
"Seriously?" John questioned.
"Yeah, it'd do you both good I think." Mary said, finishing off her tea.
"Got any cases available, Greg?" John asked, turning his attention to Greg. He shook his head.
"Sorry, mate. Nothing interesting going on right now. Maybe some of your fans from your blog have something interesting."

"They're not fans, they're clients." John corrected. Greg just chuckled and drank his tea.

"Hey, Sherlock, it's Mary."
"Hello, Mary." Sherlock answered into the phone.
"Listen, I've got a bit of a favour to ask of you."

Sherlock listened to Mary talk of how much there was to do before the wedding, and how she wanted his help to get it done in time. He chuckled softly upon hearing that John was not very helpful in making decisions quickly. He reminded her of the difficulty the invitations alone had caused from John's middle name, and received a laugh in response.

"So, what do you say, Sherlock? Can you help me?"
"Of course, Mary, I would be honoured to assist you in your preparations." Sherlock stated, trying to not make it clear how eager he was.
"Oh, and there's one more thing. It's about John." Mary added. Sherlock's interest perked.

"He's been getting frustrated with all of this planning. He tries to hide it but he's not doing a good job. Could you try finding a case for him and taking him out? Something to get him out of the house and thinking about something other than just flowers or colour schemes… run him, like old times. It'd do him good." Mary said happily. Sherlock's heart leapt. Mary wanted him to take John away without her? Even just for a few hours? It was more than he could have hoped for.

"What would John say about that, though?" Sherlock asked cautiously, not wanting to overstep any boundaries that John might have placed.
"Oh, I think he'd love it. Listen, we'll come over soon and bring all of the planning things we have. You can help for a bit, and then find a case to take him out on. I'm sure after a few hours he'll be the one searching for something to do."

Sherlock grinned.
"Certainly. I will see you soon."

He hung up the phone, and jumped into the air. He quickly straightened himself and eyed about to make sure Mrs Hudson hadn't seen. It was the best news he'd heard in a while. It seemed Greg was right in saying John still wanted him around. He wanted to hug Mary for allowing him to stay involved in their lives: he'd known many people in John's life who were not so willing to share him. He was positively glowing.