The Past, The Present, and Perhaps a Future
Chapter Nine: Secrets

Sherlock shuffled behind the trio, jealous of the familiarity this newcomer had with his son. Sherlock once again cursed Moriarty for his obsession that led to lives being irrevocably altered and for the years he lost with his son.

He was so lost in his haze of annoyance that he barely sensed the presence behind him before he was shoved roughly into an alcove, out of sight from the general public.

"Why are you following us?" The voice was strong and firm.

Sherlock looked into the eyes of the man playing house with his family, causing the man to gasp and release him.

"You're Sherlock Holmes!" He exclaimed softly in slightly accented English.

"Obviously." Sherlock rolled his eyes and readjusted his disguise.

"You're Nick's father." He scrutinized the consulting detective, seeing past the disguise, "He looks just like you."

Sherlock's eyes strayed to the child in question as he waited excitedly at the baggage claim, watching the luggage go round.

"Talis didn't tell me the au pair was a man." Sherlock returned his gaze to the handsome stranger before him.

"Yes well, she's full of secrets isn't she?" he chuckled before extending his hand, "Jae Sung Bae, nice to meet you."

Sherlock shook it once before falling back into his homeless persona and shuffling off.

Jae watched Sherlock go, slipping seamlessly back into the fray and furrowed his brow, it seemed that Talis had been keeping secrets from both of them.

Sherlock was once again shuffling behind the trio, his eyes flittering between them, adoringly at Nick, and questioningly at the man. He was annoyed that Talis hadn't told him about Nick's au pair, and that he had assumed it was a woman. Talis had always been a tad unconventional, a male nanny would be right up her alley, he should've known that.

After meeting the man, Sherlock couldn't really begrudge her choice, Jae Sung Bae clearly had some sort of training if he had been able to sense Sherlock following them. The grip in which he had shook his hand also lead Sherlock to deduce that he was well trained in at least one form of martial art, most likely Taekwondo.

Sherlock had made enemies over the years, and while Moriarty's network had been dismantled, the detective still managed to piss off several influential and dangerous people. Knowing that someone as vigilant and trained as Jae was watching over his son would help him breathe a little easier, especially after Talis died.

Sherlock watched as Talis met with the driver she had hired and began loading the car before heading towards the tube. Getting on the first one that appeared he sat in the nearly empty car, not really caring where he was headed, as he replayed the image of his son running into Talis' arms, a wide happy smile lighting up his young face.

Sherlock was a bit envious, he didn't have any warm memories of his mother and he wondered how different he might have turned out if he'd had a woman like Talis for a mother. One thing he knew for sure was, he could've turned out a lot worse if his mother hadn't been friends with Mrs. Hudson. His dear elderly landlady (who everyone knew meant much more to him than that) was more like a mother to him than his own had been (was).

He also wondered what would become of the jovial child once Talis was gone.

He needed to think, and he knew exactly where he would be able to do that best.

Talis smiled as her son told her all about the first class trip from Vancouver to London, "Jae let me have 3 desserts!" he exclaimed obviously still hopped up on the sugar.

Jae smiled sheepishly as Talis raised an eyebrow in his direction, "You know I can't say no to those puppy dog eyes of his."

Talis laughed, Nikolai had learned at an early age, that his eyes, so similar to his mother's could usually guilt Jae into granting the young boy anything.

Nikolai was young, but he was far from stupid. He knew Jae was in love with his mother and while his mother was brilliant, she either had absolutely no clue, or ignored Jae's affections, Nick had a suspicion it was the latter.

He also knew that his mother and Jae were keeping some big secret, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure it out. It was one of the few times that his puppy dog eyes hadn't worked on Jae, which is what led to the multiple desserts.

He took in his mother's appearance, trying to emulate his hero, Sherlock Holmes and deduce the secret. She looked a little tired, but he supposed that could be attributed to jet-lag. She was wearing a scarf he had never seen before, and while it's not impossible that she had gone shopping while she was here, the scarf looked well loved and clearly worn. Where had she gotten it from? And why did it look so familiar?

He was about to ask her about it when a Maybach Landaulet stopped at the curb and a smartly dressed driver hopped out and opened the door, tipping his hat in greeting before helping Jae with the bags.

Nick turned to his mother, "We get to ride around in that?" he was bouncing with excitement (and the residual sugar from his 3 desserts).

Talis squeezed him to her side, ruffling his hair before kissing the top of his head, "Yes Niki, this is for us." She gave him a gentle nudge towards the vehicle.

"Awesome!" he exclaimed before climbing in.

"Ms. Jordan, I'll be your driver for the duration of your stay." The driver held out his hand to assist her into the vehicle, "My name is Sean O'Connor, please let me know if there's anything I can do for you."

"That you Mr. O'Connor," She smiled, "I see you already met Jae," the two men nodded, "and this is my son Nikolai."

Nick waved, "This car is awesome!" he exclaimed, a bright spark of innocent joy that only a child could posses lighting his eyes.

Sean laughed, "Just wait until you experience it in action."

Three hours later, the trio was settled into the Mayfair and Nick was finally asleep. Jae and Talis were enjoying a glass of wine while she showed him a virtual tour of the houses and she and Sherlock had found the day before.

"We narrowed it down to these 3," she swiped between the homes on her tablet, "Tomorrow, we can go see them, and you and Nick can decided which one you like the most." She lingered on the photo of the Marylebone home, and Jae knew it was the one she preferred.

The home hadn't been far from where Talis herself had been raised, and she was grateful for the kismet that made Sherlock pick Baker street to live. This way Nick would be raised where she had, and in some cosmic sense, he'd keep her near.

Jae had been uncharacteristically quiet as she showed him the houses she was considering.

"I met Nick's father at the airport." He blurted out suddenly.

Talis put the tablet down, and took a sip of wine, eyes meeting his slowly, "And?"

"Why didn't you tell me that Sherlock Holmes was Nick's father?"

"Because he had the right to know before anyone else did." She replied simply, "Up until a few days ago, the only one who knew who Nick's father was, was me. I didn't think it was right for anyone else to know before Sherly."

"Sherly?" Jae stared at her in surprise, "You call the world's only consulting detective Sherly?"

Talis chuckled, "Sherlock and I have a long and complicated history, I've known him since I was 17."

Jae absorbed the information, he knew that she was a private person, but the extent of secrets she was able to keep was a bit unnerving.

He had been by her side for nearly 10 years and she had never once alluded to anything other than an acquaintance with the world famous detective.

"Does Nick know?"

Talis shook her head, "I haven't told him, but I have a feeling he knows," she sipped her wine, "He knows that I knew Sherlock when I was younger, and you know he worships his and John Watson's blogs. He's terribly observant, he's probably already noticed the similarities and drawn his own conclusions." Her fingers danced on the rim of her glass, "He asked me once, a few years ago, I didn't handle it well." She confessed, looking down into the glass as if it held the secrets of the universe. "Sherlock had just faked his death and I broke down, he never asked me again, and I haven't brought it up either."

Running a hand through her hair, she sighed in frustration. "They were never supposed to meet one another, at least not until Nick was grown and went searching for Sherlock himself. I was supposed to have more time to sort all this out," her voice hitched, as she closed her eyes in shame, "I know it wasn't the best or most fair plan, but it was what I could handle. This stupid condition, my weakness," she spat the word, "it screwed everything up." She look to him with tears in her eyes, a rare show of vulnerability. "What if he hates me?"

Jae pulled her into his arms without hesitation, "Nick loves you Tal, he might be upset or confused as to why you kept it a secret for so long, but he'll never stop loving you." He ran a hand soothingly down her back, "It'll be alright Tal, everything will work out."

Wrapped in his warm embrace, Talis let herself believe him.

Molly's shift was nearly over when Sherlock showed up, (scared the daylights out of her was more like it). He was still dressed like a member of his homeless network and she hadn't recognized him at first. She had walked into her office only to find him sitting on her desk, clearly lost in his mind palace.

She's positive he would've have even registered his presence if she hadn't squeaked in surprise. "Sherlock!" she swatted him with the file she was holding once she recognized him, "Why must you be so damn sneaky!" she whacked him again when he smirked.

With her heart rate returning to normal, she waited for Sherlock to speak, there was a nervous excitement lingering in his eyes, yet he remained silent, so Molly had to make the first move.

"Why are you dressed like that?" she gestured to the hobo ensemble.

"I got to see him today," his voice was light, and Molly smiled at the pure happiness in it. "He's beautiful."

Molly's heart warmed, before cocking her head to the side in confusion, "You met him looking like that?"

"Don't be ridiculous Molly," Sherlock waved her off, "I said I saw him, not met him." He pulled out his mobile and showed Molly the shots he had taken at Heathrow before showing her the ones Talis had sent him.

Molly melted at the sight of Nikolai, "He's absolutely precious." She whispered in wonder at the miniature version of Sherlock, fatherly pride radiating from the usually stoic emotionally closed man.

Molly tore her eyes from the screen to look at Sherlock and if possible, she fell even more in love with him.

His guard was down in a rare (although more frequent) show of emotion, and the unshielded show of happiness, contentment, love and pride eclipsed any memory she had of the man, including the time he had kissed her goodbye before leaving to take on Moriarty's network.

"When will you meet him officially?" she inquired softly.

"Talis wants to give him a couple of days to adjust to the time change and being here in London before telling him and I agree." He pocketed the phone, "But she did say that I could follow them around so long as I remain hidden," his eyes met her and Molly stepped back at the mischievous look in his eyes. "Which is why I'm here," he gave her that charming smile that had so often worked on her in the past. "You're off tomorrow yes?"

That damn smile, Molly shook her head with a chuckle, while it no longer allowed him to walk all over her, still made her weak in the knees, smarmy git knew it too. "I might be, why?"

"Perfect," he smiled, a real one this time. "Do come 'round Baker street bright and early tomorrow, say 7:30?" he gracefully slid off her desk and headed towards the door. "Oh, and wear comfortable shoes." And with that he was gone, leaving Molly to wonder what she had just agreed to.

Yay! Molly's back! And she will be featured heavily in the next chapter, as so far most of what's been written is from her point of view.

Thanks to the faithful reviewers of this story, it's your wonderful and supportive reviews that keep me going!

To the guest reviewer:

This site should be a place where we support one another in our creative endeavors, if you don't agree with the direction a writer is taking their story, then DON'T READ IT! Reviews are meant to critique, positively or negatively, not tell the author everything you feel they're doing wrong. No one is forcing you to read my story, just because you can't see how I could possibly turn this into a legitimate Sherlolly doesn't mean that it can't happen.

I know I could have eliminated the problem of rude reviews by disabling anonymous reviews, but I feel like one shouldn't have to be logged in to leave a comment, however, I will no longer acknowledge any more rude reviews from you (or anyone), if you have issues with my story, don't read it.

Not sure if I'll get another chapter up before Thanksgiving, so if I don't I hope you all have a wonderful day of thanks and know that I am thankful for each and every one of you!

Love,
Getting2KnowL
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PS. In my head, Jae looks like a cross between Daniel Henney and Ian Anthony Dale. Yum!