A/N: Hey guys! Thanks so much for the reviews and for all of you who subscribed to this story! There is a time skip here which means that it will be Ariadne's birthday in this chapter. Sorry if it seems like I'm rushing again, I just needed her to grow a bit older before I bring in the good stuff.
Disclaimer: I forgot to put this in before so I might as well put it now. I own nothing except Ariadne. If I owned Sherlock, I wouldn't be in my room sobbing over Reichenbach.
Chapter Five
It had been nearly six months since Ariadne arrived at Baker Street and everyone could see the impact she had on Sherlock. The detective's cold façade melted away whenever Ariadne was nearby and the looks he gave her were of pure adoration.
There was something about her eyes that made everyone love her at once. While her eyes were the same greyish blue as Sherlock's, hers were filled with warmth and laughter. Even Sally couldn't help but coo over her whenever Sherlock brought her along to one of his crime scenes.
Ariadne grew up quite happy despite the number of odd things she saw everyday at the flat. John still remembered the day she said her first word. They had been sitting at home watching the telly when Sherlock burst into the room shouting, "Bored, bored, bored! I need a case, John. I need a case!" John tried to keep him quiet so he wouldn't startle Ariadne.
Sherlock had thrown himself down on the couch and sulked for a good ten minutes before a tiny voice snapped him out of it.
"Bord." John and Sherlock gazed at the child who was sitting in her crib. She smiled toothily before repeating, "Bord!" She shouted, flailing her arms around. Sherlock's face lit up with excitement and he picked Ariadne up and spun her around excitedly.
"John, did you hear that? Her first word, 'bored'!" He exclaimed with glee. John smiled as he watched the detective praise the squealing girl.
Molly had been quite surprised when Sherlock strode into her lab carrying Ariadne and she seemed a little put off by the child. John had noticed she also looked somewhat disappointed at first. Eventually Ariadne's smiles won her over and Molly became rather close to Ariadne.
It was now early April and John was getting ready for Ariadne's birthday. When he asked Sherlock if he wanted to have a little get together with a few people to celebrate her birthday, the detective surprised John by answering yes.
"As long as Anderson keeps his mouth shut. I don't want him damaging Ariadne's developing mind." He added. John rolled his eyes but told him he'd do what he could. He decided to invite Lestrade, Molly and of course, Mrs. Hudson. He also invited Mycroft; he was Ariadne's uncle after all.
The party was happening tonight and there was nothing ready except for a few bottles of wine and John was panicking. It didn't help that Sherlock was off in his room experimenting and Ariadne was wailing in her crib.
"Sherlock? Can you please calm her down?" John shouted as he tried to appease Ariadne. Sherlock poked his head out of his room and stepped out when he saw Ariadne's tears.
"Shhh… It's ok." He whispered. Ariadne stopped crying and hugged him back.
"Dada." She said against his shoulder. Sherlock smiled a little and frowned when he saw John's ruffled state.
"What's wrong?" He asked. John gave a huff.
"The party is starting in a few hours and there's no food ready." He nearly shouted.
"What's all this about?" Mrs. Hudson asked as she entered the flat.
"Ah, Mrs. Hudson. Do you think you could help John? He's a bit flustered about tonight's party." Sherlock said. Mrs. Hudson took in John's expression and smiled.
"Of course, dear." John let out a relieved breath.
"You are a life-saver, Mrs. Hudson." Sherlock watched Mrs. Hudson and John hurry into the kitchen to finish off the rest of the preparations for the evening. Ariadne tugged on his hair insistently.
"Dada dow." She said. Sherlock set her down gently and she crawled over to her toys. Sherlock watched as she carefully stacked the blocks in a neat tower before knocking it over with her fist, clapping happily as she watched the blocks tumble down. Sherlock had noticed she was unusually quiet for a one year old. She seemed to be absorbing in everything around her all the time.
At around 6 o'clock, John finally emerged from the kitchen looking tired but happy. "Everything's finally ready. Is Ariadne dressed?" He asked. Ariadne crawled to him and raised her arms up.
"Unca Jawn, up!" She demanded. John laughed and picked her up, noticing the little black dress she was wearing. He kissed her cheek fondly and walked over to Sherlock's room.
"Sherlock, are you ready? People will be arriving soon." He shouted. The door opened and Sherlock emerged wearing a dark purple shirt with his regular black pants. He looked slightly irritated.
"I still can't believe you invited Mycroft and Anderson." He grumbled. John rolled his eyes.
"Just try and act a little civil towards them. Or you can ignore them if you want." He suggested. Sherlock gave a little sniff and sat down in his chair.
Soon, people started arriving. Molly was one of the first to arrive bearing a small gift for Ariadne. She set it down in front of the child who ripped the wrapping paper apart with glee. She squealed with joy as she pulled out a stuffed dog. Molly smiled down adoringly at Ariadne and turned around to see Sherlock watching.
"Oh! Evening, Sherlock." Molly squeaked. Sherlock just gave her a slight nod before picking Ariadne off the ground. She clutched her stuffed dog tightly in her arms and suddenly made a face at something behind Sherlock.
"What's wrong?" He asked, turning around. Anderson and Sally were standing in the doorway eyeing Sherlock. Anderson was glaring at Ariadne who ducked her head.
"Hello, freak." Sally greeted. Sherlock curled his fists.
"Please, not in front of Ariadne." He said coldly. Sally ignored him and strode past.
"I can call you whatever I want. You've made us look like fools before. Why shouldn't I have some fun?"
"Sally, keep your mouth shut." Lestrade's voice said wearily. Sally stiffened as Lestrade entered the room.
"Sorry, Sherlock. I would have thought she could behave herself for Ariadne." He said pointedly. Sally frowned and crossed her arms. She marched off angrily, Anderson following her. Sherlock watched as Lestrade pulled out a small wrapped box from his jacket.
"Just a little something for her." He said, grinning as he held it out. Ariadne peeked out over Sherlock's shoulder and saw the little box.
"Whassat?" She asked shyly. Lestrade smiled and handed it to her. She smiled back and tore the wrapper off eagerly. She took the lid off the box and Sherlock got a glimpse of what was inside.
Inside the box was a smaller version of Sherlock's deerstalker hat.
Ariadne pulled it out and eyed it curiously. After a moment she placed it on her head and smiled at Sherlock. "Dada, hat?" Lestrade watched Sherlock's reaction but was surprised to find the detective smiling at Ariadne.
"She's got you wrapped around her finger, hasn't she?" Lestrade said.
"You could say that." Sherlock said, smiling. Ariadne hugged him and pointed to the ground. Sherlock set her down and watched as she unsteadily tried to stand. She wobbled slightly and as she tried taking a step forward, she fell. Lestrade noticed she didn't cry though. She had that same frustrated look on her face that Sherlock had sometimes and she held her arms out to Sherlock who picked her up again.
"I'll go check on John." Sherlock said, excusing himself.
The rest of the evening went on well. Sherlock managed to hold his tongue around Sally and Anderson and everyone was laughing and chattering happily. John looked around the room at their friends (possibly excluding Sally and Anderson in Sherlock's case) and felt a sense of belonging sweep through him. The only person missing from the party was Mycroft.
He felt something tugging on his pant leg and he saw Ariadne rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Looks like its someone's bedtime." John said as he picked her up. She yawned and rested her head against the good doctor's shoulder. John caught Sherlock's eye and he gave the detective a nod. Sherlock nodded back and John carried Ariadne to Sherlock's room and laid her down on his bed gently.
"Good night, Ariadne." He whispered. Her eyes fluttered open but they closed quickly. She rolled over and was quiet. John backed out of the room quietly and closed the door.
The moment he stepped back into the party, he sensed something was a bit off. He looked around for Sherlock and found him talking quietly to Mycroft near the door. They weren't arguing but there was tension between the two. John started walking towards the Holmes brothers but was stopped by Mrs. Hudson.
"Oh, this such a lovely get together John." She said happily. John didn't want to brush her off rudely so he stopped and talked to her for a bit. He couldn't help but glance back every so often at the brothers and before long, Mycroft had left, leaving Sherlock with a box, possibly a present for Ariadne.
John excused himself and hurried over to Sherlock. "Why didn't he stay?" He asked. Sherlock looked a little distracted and blinked as he registered John's question.
"Hmmm? Oh, he was a little tied up at work. He said he couldn't stay long." He said vaguely. John could tell that there was a little more than that but he didn't want to ask any questions so he nodded instead.
"Right." John said awkwardly. They stood there for a while in silence before Sherlock broke it.
"Leaving so soon, Anderson? Sally?" He asked, amusedly. John turned around and saw the two of them heading their way. Anderson sniffed.
"Yes. Tell your daughter 'happy birthday' for me." He said haughtily. Sherlock eyed him up and down and smirked.
"Taking Sergeant Donovan home with you?" He mused. Sally looked outraged and stomped out of the flat stormily. Anderson shot him a filthy look and followed after her. John shook his head.
"You can't go a day without taking a stab at those two, can you?" John said amusedly. Sherlock gave a small grin and closed the door.
"Let's get back to the party, shall we?"
The two of them made their way back to the kitchen where most of the people were. Molly was watching Sherlock nervously, still trying to figure out where Ariadne came from. She sipped her wine tentatively and tried to pay attention to what Lestrade was saying but Molly couldn't help but think back to the day when she first met Ariadne.
"Molly, I need a favour."
Molly's heart thumped as she heard the familiar command behind her. She looked away from the body she was leaning over and turned around, a small smile on her face. That smile faded away quickly as she saw whom Sherlock was with.
In Sherlock's arms was a baby girl.
Molly froze and eyed the baby nervously. She looked at least six months old and she definitely had the same blue-grey eyes that Sherlock had. The same eyes that always made her knees feel weak if she stared for too long. Sherlock snapped his fingers impatiently.
"Molly, I need to borrow your microscope." He said irritably. Molly jumped a little and squeaked out a response before uncovering the microscope. Sherlock gave her a nod and handed the baby to her.
"Wh-what? I can't carry her!" Molly protested. She didn't want to be so close to a child that was clearly Sherlock's. It made her feel a little jealous of the girl's mother.
"You're already carrying her, Molly." Sherlock said, fighting the urge to roll his eyes as he peered through the microscope. Molly swallowed and looked at the baby girl who stared right back at her curiously.
"H-hello." She stammered. The baby girl tilted her head before nuzzling against her neck affectionately. Molly was surprised by this but hugged the child back carefully. "She's adorable." She told Sherlock happily, all previous feelings of jealousy disappearing. Sherlock hid a smile.
"Molly, meet Ariadne. Ariadne Holmes."
Molly snapped back to reality when she realized that Lestrade was asking her something.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" She asked meekly. The detective inspector coughed.
"Do you need a ride home? It's getting pretty late." He offered. Molly was taken aback by his offer and blushed a little.
"Th-thank you so much." She said. Lestrade smiled at her.
John listened to the exchange between their two friends and smiled. Molly and Lestrade? Who knew?
A half hour later, Lestrade and Molly decided to head home. Molly realized she had forgotten to feed her cat and was rushing to get back. John and Sherlock said goodbye to them and helped Mrs. Hudson clear up the mess.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" John asked Sherlock.
"Hmmm, I suppose." He said slowly. "Although the conversations were a bit boring, at least Ariadne has new things." John smiled. Sherlock always looked out for Ariadne before himself. It was nice to see the detective caring so much about someone yet at the same time it was rather strange.
"I'll just bring this downstairs." John said, carrying a plastic bag filled with garbage. Sherlock gave him a short nod and John followed Mrs. Hudson down the stairs.
Sherlock straightened up properly and yawned loudly, loud enough to cover the sound of the door to his room creaking open.
"My, my, my. The great Sherlock Holmes playing Happy Families? Now this was something I was definitely not expecting."
Yeah, this chapter seemed a bit like it was all over the place but hey, my favorite character has returned! Please review! It would mean a lot to me!