Calvin took presents to her family the afternoon of Christmas Eve, making sure to not spend more than an hour with them in case they tried to beg her to stay. Surprisingly enough, they respected her wishes and when she had to get home, they simply said good-bye and Merry Christmas.
Having merely worn jeans to her family's, Calvin headed for her flat to wear something a bit more flattering. She picked a square necklined, long sleeved white dress from the back of her closet. Not really being one for doing her hair and makeup, she simply let her hair out of its' bun and covered the dark circles under her eyes with foundation. With no more freshening up besides a new line of grey eyeliner, she trotted up the stairs. She decided to forego shoes, not seeing any need of them in her own house.
Lestrade had arrived by the time Calvin returned to 221B, and he opened his arm to give her a slightly awkward side hug and smiled at her as he wished her a Merry Christmas. He gave her attire an appreciative look.
John appeared next and gave her a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek. Calvin smiled brightly at him, nudging him playfully with her hip as he retreated to give Mrs. Hudson a turn. She waved at Jeannette, whom she did not know well yet. Calvin turned next to Sherlock, who was standing against the mantel of the fireplace.
She gave him a teasing look and held her arms out to him. "Come on, Sherlock. It's Christmas. You have to be nice to me on Christmas." she told him cheekily.
"It's Christmas Eve, not Christmas." Sherlock reminded her blandly, though he pushed off of the mantel and swept down to hug her with one arm, the other hand staying in his pocket. Calvin chuckled as she pulled away.
"Presents!" she said excitedly, scooping up her ragtag pile of cards and the one large gift for John that she had left in the flat. She couldn't wait, she had to see them opened now.
"Molly isn't even here yet." John reminded her with an amused smile. Behind them, Sherlock began to play a Christmas tune, much to Mrs. Hudson's delight.
"Ohh! Wear the antlers, Sherlock!" she implored, holding them out to him.
"Yes, wear the antlers." Calvin agreed, grinning at him as she ignored John and passed the gifts out to their owners.
"That was wonderful, Sherlock. I do wish you would have worn the antlers, though." Mrs. Hudson said as the tune ended, only a little disappointed. Sherlock smiled at her.
"Some things are best left to the imagination, Mrs. Hudson." he told her. He set his bow down as Calvin thrust a card with a green and red bow into his hands. He stared at it for a brief moment before setting it next to his bow. Calvin sat next to Mrs. Hudson to make room for Jeannette to come through with a plate of food to offer around.
"No, thank you, Sarah." Sherlock said, and Calvin inwardly cringed at the mistake. She smiled in interest. John saw the look pass over Calvin's face before realizing what Sherlock had just said.
"Ah, no, no, no, he's not good with names." John assured her, coming to the rescue.
"No, no, I can get this..." Sherlock said, looking thoughtful. "No, Sarah was the doctor and then there was the one with the spots, and then the one with the nose... and then who was after the boring teacher...?"
Jeannette cleared her throat, arms crossed. "Nobody." she said, obviously offended. Calvin willed herself not to laugh.
"Jeannette! Ah! Process of elimination!" Sherlock exclaimed happily. John gave him a disapproving look before leading Jeannette away, giving Sherlock a full view of Molly as she came up the stairs. "Ohh... no."
Calvin followed his gaze to see Molly and immediately got up to take the bags of presents from her hands, and thrust her present into her hand to replace it.
"Hello! Hello, everybody. Ah, the note on the door said just to come up, so..." Molly greeted as the rest of the room murmured their 'Merry Christmas'es. She stared at the card in her hand and Calvin grinned at her. Moly shrugged off her coat to hand to John, the reveal being somewhat of a shock to everyone in the room. She looked beautiful, Calvin thought, though somehow the look didn't suit her exactly.
"We're all having our Christmas drinkies, then?"
"There's no stopping them, apparently." Sherlock muttered, sitting at his desk and flipping the card that Calvin had given him in his hand.
"Okay, okay, Molly's here, so presents!" Calvin exclaimed, standing up. She never could wait to have her presents opened, she was just too excited.
"Alright, alright, here we go. I'll go first." John assured her as if he were speaking to an over-excited child, picking up his large box. Everyone quieted a bit to see what the big box was. Lestrade returned from the kitchen with a drink in hand for Molly.
He ripped open the paper to reveal the new laptop, on which Calvin bolded the letters 'Fingerprint Locked!' on the box. John laughed, reading the description aloud and the room chuckled at Sherlock's expense, all knowing that he often 'borrowed' John's laptop. John hugged her once more, placing another kiss carefully on her forehead, as he set his gift on the couch. Jeannette looked on disapprovingly.
"Thanks, Calvin." John murmured as he pulled away to sit down next to his frowning girlfriend.
Lestrade went next, opening his card with his eyes flying over the explanation of what would be happening to his car two days from now. His eyes widened and his face split into a grin.
"Oh... this is too much..." Lestrade said, but hugged Calvin in thanks as she shushed his protests.
"It's just enough. I've known these guys since college, they'll take good care of your car." Calvin assured him, grinning up at the D.I. She turned to see Molly looking uncertainly at the card in her hand. Calvin urged for Molly to open it, and she did so with renewed fervor, pulling out the two tickets to Phantom at the Opera with a gasp.
"Oh... no! You shouldn't have!" Molly squealed, her face a mix of horrified and delighted. "I... don't know what to say!"
"Merry Christmas, Molly." Calvin said, giving her a hug as well. Calvin turned to look at Jeannette, and John leaned over a bit by her as she opened the small box that Calvin had handed her, and smiled at the set of earrings that sat in the plush.
"John helped me pick them out." Calvin assured her, though that was a complete lie. She was trying to help get him out of hot water, at least for tonight. Jeannette smiled, thanking Calvin and kissing John on the cheek. Success.
Calvin slid over to Mrs. Hudson, who had already begun to open her card out of sheer curiosity. When she did, reading the card and receipt, surprise covered her face and she seemed genuinely shocked at the gift.
"A new stove! Oh!" she exclaimed, showing the receipt to Sherlock and Lestrade with glee. "Oh, oh, how did you know, dear? This is too much... but... oh, how lovely! I don't know what to say."
Calvin blinked and smiled softly, bending down to hug the woman. Nothing else was needed to be said. The whole room turned to Sherlock. He stared back, uninterested.
"You don't have to open it now, Sherlock." Calvin told him with a shrug. "You don't have to open it at all, actually."
Sherlock huffed, leaving the card where it was. Calvin perked up a bit, turning to Molly. "Molly, how about you pass yours out, as well?" she suggested, picking up the mood a bit. She nodded, taking a sip of her wine before setting it down to reach for the bag of presents she brought.
"Hmm, yes. And I see you've got a new boyfriend, Molly, and you're serious about him." Sherlock interjected, looking up from the laptop on the desk. She looked up from the bag of gifts she was beginning to pick up.
"Sorry.. w-what?" Molly asked, face turning slightly red. Calvin narrowed her eyes slightly, noting the tone of Sherlock's voice. She turned to look at him, but he would not allow her to catch his eye.
"And you're seeing him this very night. And giving him a gift."
"Take a day off." John said softly as Lestrade said, "Shut up and have a drink."
"Oh, come on. Surely you've all seen the present at the top of the bag, perfectly wrapped with a bow. All the others are slapdash at best." Sherlock sighed, standing up and walking towards her. "Something special, then. The shade of red echoes the lipstick, either an unconscious association, one that she's deliberately trying to encourage."
"Sherlock." Calvin sighed under her breath, just a hint of forcefulness behind the small sound. He glanced back momentarily before ignoring her, and continuing the analysis that Calvin had already seen and understood. He was on his way to hurting Molly's feelings more than usual.
"Either way, Miss. Hooper has love on her mind. The fact that she's serious about him is clear from the fact she's giving him a gift at all. That all suggests long-term hopes, however forelorn." Sherlock deduced, flipping the red gift in his hands as he spoke. "And that she's seeing him tonight is evident from her make-up and what she's wearing. Or else, she's trying to compensate for the size of her mouth and breasts-..."
"Sherlock." Calvin snapped, but that was not what ended his rant. He opened the little card on the gift, and presumably saw his name there. The room was silent, nobody knowing what to say.
"You always say such horrible things." Molly told him, cutting through the silence. "Every time. Always. Always."
Calvin, who was studying Sherlock's face, noticed the real look of guilt that covered his features. She knew that he felt like everybody else, but it wasn't often that she saw the raw emotion on his face. It was gone as soon as it came, however.
"I am sorry. Forgive me." Sherlock said, his voice reflecting true remorse. Calvin blinked, leaning against the mantel of the fireplace. He took a few more steps forward. "Merry Christmas, Molly Hooper." He placed a kiss on her cheek.
The personalized text tone that John and Calvin had become accustomed to played in the very next moment, and Molly blinked rapidly in shock.
"Oh... no! No, that wasn't-.." she exclaimed before Sherlock interrupted her as he pulled out his phone.
"No, it was me." Sherlock assured her.
"What, really?" Lestrade exclaimed, and Calvin had to stifle her chuckling.
"My phone."
"Fifty... seven?" John mused aloud. Calvin turned and smirked at him.
"Sixty-two. You missed five while you were out the other day." she corrected as Sherlock muttered, "What?" at them.
"Okay, sixty-two of those texts. That we've heard." John clarified, furrowing his brow at Sherlock.
"You've been counting."
"Well, yes. Do you ever answer her or-..." Calvin began in her usual, teasing tone, before she turned around and saw Sherlock extract another red gift from his stocking. He stared at it for a moment before excusing himself.
"What... what is it, Sherlock?" John called after him.
"I said, excuse me." Sherlock replied coldly, heading for his room and shutting them all out. Calvin blinked a few times, trying to connect the text and the present. Obviously it e=was from Irene, but what could have effected him so?
The worried look on John's face scared her.
OoOoOoOoOo
I'm back. I'm so sorry. I got really busy at the end of summer and I'm working a lot and I'm moving and it's just hectic. I'm sorry.
This chapter was mostly for Calvin to give her presents. Boring, I know, but there is a point. And you'll find out what she got Sherlock possibly next chapter. Either way, I'm very excited to write the next two or three chapters. Very. Excited.
ANYWAY I HAVE STUFF TO DO SO I'LL LEAVE YOU NOW. SORRY FOR A MEDIOCRE UPDATE AFTER SO LONG. I LOVE YOU ALL, AND I APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT SO MUCH.
Jess