Baby's First Crime Scene:
A little over a year and a half had passed since John Watson and Sherlock Holmes had celebrated the first birthday of their daughter, Endora Holmes, and a lot had changed. Dora was now walking and talking circles around her parents, and Sherlock had gone back to helping Lestrade with cases leaving Dora in the care of their landlady, Mrs. Hudson, whenever he was out.
Sherlock hadn't had a case in weeks, and he was becoming restless. He watched Dora color and sighed. He was bored with normality. He needed excitement. Sure, he loved spending time with his family, and he loved his daughter, but the thrill of his work was too tempting to pass up completely. After taking so much time off from solving cases, the normal breaks in between them was agonizing.
He watched Dora for few moments before going to check the website. Nothing. He groaned and flopped back on the couch.
"What's wrong, Father?" Dora asked, looking up from her drawing.
"Nothing's wrong. That's the problem." Sherlock grumbled.
Dora scrunched up her face in confusion. Her Father never made any sense, but she was learning not to bother trying to understand everything he said. Her Daddy had told her some things weren't ever going to make sense with her Father.
Dora went back to drawing, and Sherlock's phone beeped.
Double homicide. Seems tricky. Interested?-Lestrade
Finally something exciting.
On my way.-SH
"Dora, want to go play with Mrs. Hudson for a bit?" Sherlock asked.
Dora nodded and grabbed her coloring supplies. "Can I bring my colors?"
"Of course." Sherlock said helping her put on her shoes and walked over to Mrs. Hudson's door. "Mrs. Hudson? Mrs. Hudson?" Sherlock called knocking on her door.
He waited a few moments before realizing she wasn't in. "Well, Dora, change of plans. How would you like to go with me to visit Detective Lestrade?"
"Yes!" Dora yelled, elated to see the Detective again, and she followed her Father to the cab.
"Now, we mustn't tell Daddy we came to see Lestrade. Okay? It will be our little secret. Promise me." Sherlock said as they arrived at the crime scene.
"I promise."
"Good." Sherlock got her out of the cab and headed over to Lestrade. "Afternoon, Detective." Sherlock said.
"Um, Sherlock?" Lestrade started eyeing the small toddler standing at Sherlock's side. "Why is your daughter here? For goodness sake, Sherlock, you can't bring a child to a crime scene. Are you mad?"
"The sitter was out. She'll be fine here." Sherlock said, simply.
Lestrade sighed, "Does John know?" He asked nervously.
"Does John know what?" John asked as he walked up passing by his daughter.
"Hi, Daddy!" Dora chirped before remembering her promise to her Father. She moved to stand behind Sherlock but the damage was done.
"Dora, what are you doing here?" John picked her up and shot a glance at Sherlock.
"Father told me I can't tell you. It's a secret." She said, smiling at both of her parents."
"Did he now? Well, then, let me guess. Mrs. Hudson wasn't able to sit and Father was too stubborn to call your Uncle and see if he could watch you?" John asked, well accused, mostly to Sherlock rather than Dora.
Dora shrugged and Sherlock scoffed. "Of course not, John. I made absolutely certain no one could sit, and, once we found out no one was available, she asked to come see Lestrade." Sherlock lied.
"No, I didn't. You asked me if I wanted to come 'cause Mrs. Hudson didn't open the door."
John glared at Sherlock once more. "Maybe we should all head home and talk about it then. Sorry, Lestrade. We'll have to miss this one."
Lestrade threw his hands up and walked away. John hauled a cab, and the family climbed inside. The only cheery member was Dora who was oblivious to her Dad's anger towards her Father. The car ride drug on for ages, and when they arrived Sherlock seemed to find John's continued anger annoying.
"What were you thinking? Couldn't this wait for a sitter?" John asked, keeping his voice low and steady.
"No one was home, and I was bored." Sherlock said flopping onto the couch.
"Dora was fine, John. She was going to stay with an officer for an hour at most and then we'd go home. What's the big deal?" Sherlock groaned. He didn't see why John was so upset. He could make decisions regarding their daughter. He wasn't stupid.
"We'll talk about this later. Come on, Dora. Why don't we go play in your room?"
John took off with Dora leaving Sherlock sulking on the couch.
"Is Father in trouble, Daddy?" Dora asked.
"Yes he is." John said, calming down.
"What did he do?"
"He lied to me."
"Does that mean he has to go to bed early and have no dessert? That's what happens when I lie." Dora said, settling herself onto the floor to play with her puzzles.
"What do you think? Should that be Father's punishment?"
Dora nodded. "But since he's old and should know, he shouldn't have dessert for a week." She said seriously.
"Well, alright then. Why don't you go tell Father then you can come back and play while I talk to him." John said ushering her back into the living room, smiling.
"Father! Father!" Dora yelled, jumping on his chest. "Daddy said you were lying to him. That means you have to go to bed now and no dessert for a whole week. Daddy said."
"Did he now? Dora it's too early for bed." Sherlock was still annoyed and thought John was silly for using their daughter against him.
"That's why it's a punishment. That's what happens when you lie, Father. You told me so. You have to. It's the rule."
Sherlock sighed. If he didn't play along, Dora wouldn't listen to him again anytime soon. John was clever sometimes. Sherlock kissed Dora on her head and went to his room. He laid on the bed and sulked. This was stupid of John. He was just trying to have some fun. He would never do anything he thought was bad for Dora.
Sherlock laid in bed for several minutes before John came in.
"We need to talk." John said.
Sherlock didn't answer.
John sighed. "Sherlock, look, I know you can make decisions for Dora. You're her Father, and she looks up to you, but there are boundaries. She's not even three yet. She's not old enough to be at a crime scene, especially not a murder scene. What if she had wondered off? She could've gotten lost, or hurt, or seen something to upset her for a long time. And then there's your track record. For God's sake Sherlock, you once attracted a man who strapped me to a bomb and tried to make you kill yourself. What if you attract another lunatic and they try to hurt Dora? And then the lying? We are a couple, Sherlock. Even if you I'm going to be mad you need to tell me the truth. I may be furious you took Dora to a crime scene, but we could've talked about it. We need to trust each other, and we need to be in agreement on the big things when it comes to Dora or else she is never going to have stability. We need to be able to talk and decide the right way to guide her in life, and keeping secrets isn't going to help."
"I would never let anything happen to her, John. I shouldn't lie to you, but I'm not going to let anyone even think about hurting her, or you, again. And, I wasn't lying, I just didn't ask permission. I didn't know I had to check in on you when I was caring for our daughter, or is she just yours." Sherlock was mad. He didn't like his intelligence being questions.
"Sherlock, you are missing the point. I don't doubt your ability to protect our family. I would do the same. Taking her with you to help Lestrade is something major, and we need to talk about it before we do anything impulsive. I'm sure there are things you don't want me to do without asking. I love you, Sherlock. Let's stop this. We need to communicate if we are going to make this work. We are in this for life now. There is no going back, so we might as well work together and figure this out." John pleaded.
"Alright, I will talk to you next time, but she's going to have to get used to it sometime. She's a Holmes, after all. She'll be better than you before long. Also, in my defense, you know how boring it can be without cases for a while." Sherlock said.
John breathed a sigh of relief. "We still need to talk, but right now there is a little girl in the living room waiting for dinner. Goodnight, Sherlock." John winked and stood to leave, but he was pulled back onto the bed.
Sherlock stole a kiss and pushed John back off the bed. "Night, John"
A/N: Thanks again to RainyDays-and-DayDreams for reviewing. Knowing people are enjoying this story makes me so happy. Also, just a heads up, my grandfather passed away a few days ago, and my family is going through a difficult time right now. I have several more chapters planned out and I have started writing, but I don't know when I will have a chance to post again. I should be able to post soon, but if not I just wanted to let you know in advance. Thanks for reading. 3