Note: This chapter kind of jumps around in time a bit, flashing back to Molly and Sherlock's date, and the present aka the night that Molly and Talis have their dinner. Hope it's not too confusing!

The Past, The Present, and Perhaps a Future
Chapter Twelve: When Mum's Away the Boys Will Play
Flashbacks/Texts/Thoughts

Last night...

"Sherlock, it takes months to get a reservation here… are you sure you don't want to just go to Angelo's?" Molly took in the restaurant the cab stopped at.

His hand appeared before her, helping her out of the car, "Have a little faith Molly." He smiled secretively at her, gently squeezing her hand before letting it go to open the door.

"Ah, Mr. Holmes, welcome to Brindisa Tapas Soho." The Maître 'd smiled graciously.

"Boy? Girl?" Sherlock questioned in a move of social grace that Molly wasn't used to from the usually awkward man.

If possible the maître 'd's smile grew, "Boy, we named him Scott."

"Good name." Sherlock returned the smile.

Molly watched the exchange with interest, wondering just what in the world they were talking about.

"Your table is ready Mr. Holmes, right this way." the maître 'd lead them through the crowded restaurant, and to Molly's surprise, into the kitchen. She marveled at the fast paced environment, everyone busy preparing delicious looking dishes. She was so busy watching the preparation of a rather elaborate dessert that she hadn't realized Sherlock had stopped, and she would've run right into his back if he hadn't anticipated her distraction and turned just in time to catch her in his arms.

She blushed, ready to stutter out an apology, but he just smiled down at her.

"Chef Atticus will be with you momentarily." The maître 'd helped Molly out of her coat, placing it on the rack beside the booth, "Enjoy your evening Mr. Holmes." And with a little bow, he left them to their devices.

"Sherlock," Molly stared at him in wonder, "How did you manage this?"

Sherlock shrugged, "At first I thought it was because I came here once with Mycroft." He removed his scarf and coat, "but then I realized it's one of the restaurants that Talis' parents owned, and that we had come here when it first opened, she had me placed on a permanent VIP list that was honored even after she died. Thank goodness for that, I'd hate to owe anything to Mycroft." He scoffed, but there was a trace of playfulness to it.

"This is where John proposed?" Molly seemed surprised at the swanky lengths good old pub and chippy John Watson had gone to for a perfect proposal.

"Well, he would have if I hadn't thought it'd be hilarious to reappear while they were dining."

"Oh Sherlock, you didn't," Molly admonished him with a reprimanding look, and he had the decency to look mildly ashamed.

"Yes, well in my defense I thought it was rather hilarious, until he tried to strangle me."

Before Molly could comment the head chef arrived, "Ah Sherlock!" he smiled brightly, giving Sherlock a boisterous hug. "It's been a long time."

"One could say a lifetime." Sherlock smirked, and Molly's jaw dropped, wondering who in the world she was dinning with because it clearly wasn't the Sherlock Holmes she was used to.

"You're horrible." The chef rolled his eyes playfully, "And who is this darling?" he turned to Molly, his green eyes bright.

"Atticus, this is Molly, Molly this is head chef Atticus," he introduced the two, "Atticus here is quite simply a culinary genius."

Atticus blushed, "I would argue, but he's right."

Molly giggled, "It's lovely to meet you." She extended her hand, blushing when he kissed it. "I've always wanted to eat here, never thought I'd get the VIP treatment."

"Yes, well any friend of our owner is a friend of ours." He smiled, "Now, usually I just create something for Sherlock, since he's had everything on our menu." Atticus handed her a menu, "But since you haven't been here before, is there anything that catches your eye? Or would you like a custom creation as well?"

Molly looked at the menu, overwhelmed by the amount of delicious sounding dishes.

"Atticus is the culinary version of me, the man is a taste deduction master. If you don't mind the recommendation, I'd let him create something for you, I guarantee you won't be disappointed." Sherlock supplied as he looked over the wine list.

Molly nodded, "That sounds lovely." She handed the menu back to Atticus, "Although, there was that red velvet tart thing I saw someone preparing over there," she pointed towards the patisserie chef, "Could I get one of those for dessert?"

"She's got good taste Sherlock." Atticus nodded, "Of course darling, that's one of our signature dishes." He waited while Sherlock picked a wine for the evening before bowing gallantly, "Dinner will be served in about half an hour, appetizers will be sent over along with the wine. I do hope you enjoy your evening."

Molly took a deep breath before turning to face Sherlock, who stared back at her, same sort of 'where do we go from here' expression on his face. The absurdity of it all was too much for Molly to bear, and it was apparently evident on her face, when Sherlock fought back a smile, causing Molly to lose it completely and burst out laughing, Sherlock following suit a beat later.

Sherlock smiled at the memory, last evening had been rather enjoyable if he were being honest. He had always assumed that a date with Molly would involve an embarrassing amount of stuttering and fawning on her part; he had been pleasantly surprised that it hadn't.

That's not to say, she didn't stutter every now and again, but it was usually prefaced by his snarky sense of humor that caught her off guard.

The whole experience reminded him of the early days with Talis, where everything was uncomplicated, and easy. He knew that he was acting 'out of character' as far as everyone was concerned, but they hadn't known him when he was younger. Back before the jaded grip of reality tainted his otherwise naïve world, back when he had known Talis.

Strange, how she was the catalyst for so many changes within his life; first with her disappearance and again with her resurrection. He wondered which version was the real him, the slightly anti-social young man with a passion for all things science? The self proclaimed high-functioning sociopath? Or perhaps something in-between.

The chime of his mobile pulled him from his thoughts before he could fall further down the proverbial rabbit hole.

You have 3 new photos from Bill Wiggins, click to download.

About an hour before Talis goes to the morgue to invite Molly out for dinner.

Nick sat in the hotel room, flipping through the channels, the Brits had an interesting sense of humor, perhaps it was why his mother was so quirky.

"Oh! Black Adder!" speaking of quirky, "I love Rowan Atkins." his mum plopped down beside him, "I have dinner plans with a friend tonight, so you and Jae are on your own." She kissed his cheek and ruffled his hair.

"Okay mummy." Nick beamed up at her, he had a secret plan in mind and it would be much easier to pull off if his mum wasn't around.

"I don't know if I'll be back before you go to bed, and I want you in bed no later than 9:00 young man."

"But mum!" he protested, puppy dog eyes and all.

"No but mum's," she pierced him with a mock stern look, "we're moving into our new home tomorrow, and are getting up bright and early." She stood up, "Alright, I'd better get going." She smiled at Jae who entered the room, "You two behave now. I don't want to hear of any international incidents while I'm gone." She winked at her boys and disappeared out the door.

Jae plopped down next to him, "What do you want to eat?"

Nick lit up, "There's this sandwich place I've heard good things about." He turned his puppy dog eyes on his au pair, "Can we go check it out?"

Jae shrugged, "Sure, don't see why not," he grabbed the tablet off the table, "What's it called?"

Nick smiled brightly, "Speedy's."

Pulling up Yelp, Jae searched for the restaurant in question, it wasn't terribly far from the hotel, and rather close to their new home. He figured it wouldn't hurt to check it out, figuring they'd probably frequent it often if it was as good as the reviews said it was.

"Do you want to walk there? Cab it? Or take the tube?" Jae looked at the map, wondering why Baker Street sounded so familiar.

"We should walk, get to know the city better," Nick reasoned, "After all, mum says we're here permanently right?" he looked to his au pair, "I want to finish watching this program first." He motioned to Mr. Bean on the telly, "Mum says it's hilarious, but then again she likes Glee, so I'm rather suspect on her taste in tv."

Jae laughed out loud, "True, but Rowan Atkins is usually pretty funny." He settled against the couch, "You're going to have to get used to a whole new style of comedy. The Brits have a different sense of humor than the Yanks."

Nick watched as the audience laughed at something he didn't particularly find funny, "You can say that again."

"Mary's telling me that I should have brought Mina, so she could go and drop in on your wife and girlfriend having dinner." John pocketed his phone, humor in his voice as Sherlock continued to pout like a five year old on the couch.

"She's not my girlfriend," Sherlock mumbled from the couch and John didn't feel the need to point out that he hadn't corrected him the first time he referred to Molly as his girlfriend.

"Perhaps I should text Irene and Janine and they you could have all the women in your life under one roof, drunk and talking about you." John teased as Sherlock tensed at the mention of the other two women.

"Oh John, leave the poor dear alone." Mrs. Hudson admonished as she appeared with some tea and biscuits, however the entertained smile on her face made it clear she found the situation as funny as he did.

The smell of tea brought Sherlock round, and he sat up taking a cup from the tray, studiously ignoring the look of smug amusement on John's face.

Grabbing his own cup, John decided to lay off Sherlock, (for now) and looked out the window at the street below. It was hard to imagine that just two short years ago he, Sherlock and Mary had sat here in this room, and he learned the truth about just who the hell he had married.

So much had changed since then, yet at the same time it was remarkably the same. Sure, he had a child now, Wilhelmina Abigail Watson (shut up Sherlock we didn't name her after you. -insert self righteous smirk- Well, we both know that's a lie.) was nearly 18 months and was an absolute joy, (definitely the best thing in his life followed closely by his wife and best friend) and while he didn't live at 221B Baker Street any more, he popped in often enough that one would think he still did.

Although he wouldn't admit it to anyone, John could tell that Sherlock had been nervous about the transition of priorities in his life. Sherlock had silently wondered what would happen to his best friend now that he had responsibilities to someone other than a self-appointed world's only consulting detective.

Which was just another reason why Mary was a godsend. She really was perfect for him, she understood his relationship with the world's smartest man-child and actually encouraged him to get out of the house and go on adventures with the sometimes reckless consulting detective, in fact John was pretty sure if it wasn't for her pregnancy or subsequent nursing she would have joined them.

The biggest shock had been how good Sherlock was with little Mina; Sherlock doted on her endlessly, and while he never talked to her in baby speak (She's a baby, not an idiot) he did marathon hours on youtube on how to stimulate young minds, as well as read every baby book under the sun. Sherlock quickly became their go-to babysitter, and John was half expecting her first words (aside from mumumumum and da) to be Uncle Sherlock or some babyfied version of it.

John frowned to himself as he realized that Sherlock had been denied the joys of seeing his own son grow up, that the brilliant detective had no idea when Nikolai took his first steps, said his first words, or any other milestones that a parent experiences with their child. He turned away from the window to ask when he would be meeting his son, when the site of someone outside caught his eye.

"Sherlock, you're not going to believe it, but I think I just saw Nikolai outside." John stood at the window, looking down at the street below. "I think he just went into Speedy's."

Sherlock stood from the couch, and stalked to the window, just catching a glimpse of Jae as he too disappeared into the café downstairs.

What on earth are they doing here? He wondered as he grabbed his coat and headed down, he was planning on simply walking by, catching a glimpse of his son. Sherlock found it rather odd how quickly he cared for the boy, after all he had just learned of Nick's existence a few days before, and yet he knew that he would move heaven and earth to ensure Nikolai's health and happiness.

Talis had warned him how quick and easy it was to become attached, and it seemed like even someone with an intellect as great as his, (and emotions as inept as his), wasn't immune to the biological pull to his child.

He had just made it downstairs, John following behind as the door creaked open and a familiar head of curls peaked in.

Sherlock froze as he stared at his mini-me.

"It's really you." The little boys whisper was as reverent as he'd ever heard from someone so young. His little hand reached out tentatively, to touch the Belstaff coat that had become as synonymous with Sherlock Holmes as the dreaded deerstalker.

"Nick!" Jae's voice caused the young boy pull his hand back, but he didn't stop staring.

Sherlock stood, still frozen as the young boy took him in, cataloging everything. He could see the gears in the boys mind turning as he processed the similarities between the two of them. His little brow furrowed as his mind came to a conclusion he couldn't seem to understand, or believe.

"You're my dad." He blurted out.

Sherlock still unable to speak, could only nod, there was no point in lying to the boy. Despite the fact this wasn't the way he wanted to meet his son, he didn't want to start their relationship with a lie.

The young boy turned to look at Jae, a look of confusion and betrayal in his eyes, "Sherlock Holmes is my dad?"

Jae murmured a rather colorful phrase in Korean as he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed in resignation, "Your mother is going to kill me."

Well, that's one secret Talis isn't going to have to reveal to her son. Cheeky tyke, too smart for his own good. Thanks to all of you who have reviewed! They really do make my day!

Not sure when I'll be able to get the next chapter up as I accepted a 18 day work contract and won't have much time to write. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up before that starts so it won't be too long between updates!

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's day and Presidents Day!

Stay Classy,
Getting2KnowL
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