The Past, The Present and Perhaps a Future
Chapter Fifteen: All is Right in the World
Flashbacks

Two weeks later and everything was finally moved into the new home. What hadn't been shipped over from Vancouver was bought and Talis had quickly become a favorite customer of several boutique furniture establishments.

Nick had settled quite nicely into his new environment, making new friends so quickly it made Sherlock marvel at his son's social graces. Sherlock and Talis had decided that for now, they would defer Nick's Harrow admission and enroll him in the Westminster school, that way he wouldn't have to board. Nick could stay with Talis for as long as her heart would allow.

Talis still hadn't told Nick about her condition and impending death, she simply couldn't find the right words to say, or the right time to bring it up. Sherlock was surprisingly patient with her hesitancy, and the two had had many discussions on whether or not she should tell him at all or just let nature run it's course.

"Sometimes I wonder if I should say anything at all…" she mused one evening after Nicky had been put to bed, "Is it fair for me to burden him with the fact that I'll be dying soon? What does that sort of information do to a child's psyche?" she took a sip of wine, swirling the dark liquid in her glass.

"I can't tell you what to do Tal, but there are a few wise words I've discovered that may help you decide what to do, I believe it was Frank Clark who said, 'The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them.' and then there's Erik H. Erikson's words, 'Healthy children will not fear life if their elders have integrity enough to not fear death.'" He stared out into the night, reveling in the cool night air.

"It's not the dying part I'm afraid of." She leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder as she tucked her feet underneath herself, "That part's easy." She laughed humorlessly, "And now that you're in his life, I have no doubt that he'll get along just fine. You're good for one another, he humanizes you in a way I never thought possible." She smiled up at him, pinching his side playfully, before sobering, "No, it's not the dying I'm afraid of, or the worry that Nick will be okay, because I know he will. It's just my own selfishness of wanting to see just how well he'll turn out." She took another sip of wine, "I know he's going to do great things Sherly," she settled more comfortably into his side, "I just wanted to be around to see them."

Sherlock didn't say anything, there was nothing to say, nothing to offer to alleviate her distress. Instead he just wrapped an arm around her, offering silent support as she warred with herself as to what was best for Nick.

The 4 bedroom, 5.5 bath brownstone Talis had purchased had been turned into a home, the once empty house now radiated love, life and warmth. Nick with the help of his father and Jae had painted his room to look as if he were in the middle of an archeological dig. The ceiling was light blue, with sponged on white clouds, the walls a kind of sand color, complete with an eight foot tall triceratops skeleton sticker, and other dinosaur bones on one wall, a giant sized sticker of the pyramids and the great sphinx on another and lastly a lush tropical forest on the last. A large picture window took up the remaining wall, giving Nick a view of the garden out back.

Talis' room had been painted a soft gray, with one deep aubergine accent wall, her furniture was mostly white, it was fashionable, yet inviting, her king sized bed looked like it was made for lazy Sunday mornings and Sherlock was willing to bet that more than one breakfast in bed had been served within it's feathery soft down comfort.

Jae had opted for one navy blue accent wall, leaving the others white, he decorated the plain looking walls by hanging a few ancient scrolls written in Korean calligraphy and photos of the family from various exotic locations.

One of the bedrooms had been turned into an office, one where Talis could take a more proactive roll in running her restaurants. She had brought in 4 different desks, each fitting the style of the restaurant they represented.

Tapas Brindisa's was Spanish inspired with a Castilian marble surface, and several gorgeous accents such as jeweled drawer handles.

St. John's desk was a sturdy looking desk made of rustic oak, that looked more like it belongs in a carpenter's workshop rather than a restaurateur's home.

The third desk was very modern and almost cold in its functionality, it represented Talis' newest restaurant, Deco which had opened last year to rave reviews. It had even hosted an A-list actor's 35th birthday party a few weeks earlier.

The last desk was a relic from the past and Sherlock had almost gasped when he saw it being unloaded from the moving van.

At first glance, it was nothing special, just some random inexpensive mass-produced run of the mill desk. However, it was the coffee ring stain in the lower left corner that drew the detective's attention. Running his fingers over the mark, he pulled open the center drawer, carved into the desk were the initials T+S. Smiling at her sentimentality he closed the desk, remembering when he had carved those initials in there.

"Sherlock what on earth are you doing!" Talis had just returned to her dorm from a midterm, only to find her boyfriend carving something into the wood of her desk.

"Nothing." He hid his defacement from her.

Rolling her eyes, she flopped down on her bed, too tired to argue with the infuriating man. "If they charge me for damages, you're paying for it." She threw an arm over her eyes, willing the stress of the midterm to melt away.

Sherlock smiled and kept on scratching away at the wood, until he was satisfied. Looking over at Talis, he smiled tenderly as she had already fallen asleep, sometimes he wondered if she was pushing herself to hard. Replacing the items in her desk, he figured he'd leave his artwork for her to discover later, closing the drawer as quietly as he could, he toed off his shoes and climbed onto the bed, chuckling softly when she instinctively rolled into his arms.

Two weeks later, she still hadn't mentioned anything to him about his artwork, puzzled, he pulled open the desk one day while she studied on her bed, and was surprised to find she added something to it. The engraving now read,

T+S
Always

This desk represented her favorite of all her restaurants, the one that her parents had first opened; it was called Dormitory, and served all types of home-style meals. It was the most cozy and casual restaurant of the four, and it was a place where families went to celebrate, and everyone felt welcome. Sherlock had always imagined that it was similar to what Talis' home had been like when her parents were alive, warm, loving and inviting.

The remaining bedroom had been left to Sherlock to decorate, seeing as Talis dubbed it his unofficially (so long as he kept all his experiments at Baker Street). He hadn't felt the need to decorate it, or furnish it with anything other than a bed, but on day two, he had been surprised, but secretly delighted to see the same fleur-de-lis wallpaper that adorned his sitting room on the walls of 'his' room, complete with spray painted smiley face, although this one wasn't as high on the wall, and Sherlock had a sneaking suspicion it was his son's doing.

Things couldn't be more right with the world. Sherlock and his son were getting along fabulously, and if one hadn't known better, you'd never know they hadn't been together since day one.

He had adjusted to the new role of father with remarkable ease, surprising nearly everyone that knew him. Although he knew that it was thanks mostly to Talis, who knew exactly how to reign in their son when he was becoming a tad too overwhelming. Nick, the ever intelligent boy, quickly picked up on this and soon was reigning himself in when he could sense that panicked look in his fathers eyes.

And Molly? Well things were going well there too. He had been surprised to find that Talis and Molly had become fast friends, he had originally assumed that they would be too different to maintain any kind of lasting attachment, but he supposed he wasn't one to speak of opposites attracting, after all he and John were best friends and nearly as different as night and day.

As for a deeper relationship with the pathologist, well things were progressing there too and Sherlock had a sneaking suspicion that it was in part due to Talis, because it was a very closely guarded secret that Sherlock Holmes loved Kinder Bueno candy bars, and lately Molly always seemed to have them in supply.

The fact that Molly and Nick got along was the icing on the cake. Nick had accompanied Sherlock to the morgue one day, excited to see what it was his father did for a living and had been introduced to the shy but sweet pathologist. Upon finding out what her job was and her role in saving Sherlock's life, she had immediately been placed on a pedestal and became an instant star in Nikolai's eyes.

Yes, all was right in Sherlock Holmes' world, and he wondered idly, how long the peace would last.

"Alright." Talis clapped her hands together while her boys took a breather in the sitting room. There was only one more area that needed finishing, and she was going to make them do it on their own, the basement. "I'm leaving you guys in charge of the basement. It's big enough that you should each be able to claim a section. Turn it into a man-cave or whatever."

She stared at the men she loved more than life itself, smiling softly at each of them. "I have some errands to run, I should be back in a couple of hours."

"Okie dokie mummy!" Nick ran forward and gave her a big hug, "See you later!" he kissed her cheek when she bent to his level.

Nodding to Sherlock and Jae, she headed outside where Sean was waiting to take her to St. Barts, she was having more frequent bouts of chest pain and this morning her heartbeat was so erratic she thought she was having a heart attack then and there. It took her nearly 20 minutes to get the blasted thing under control, she had made an appointment with the best cardiologist in London immediately after.

Talis returned home only to find all three boys having an epic Rock Band battle. She watched from the bottom of the basement stairs as they rocked out around the room, clearly not having done anything to the room other than set up the gaming stations. She knew she should be at least a little annoyed that they hadn't done anything, but the way they were all concentrating so hard warmed her heart and made impossible to be angry.

She watched as Nick smiled brightly at Sherlock who just completed a rather intense piano section, before turning his attention back to his own upcoming guitar solo. Jae cheered from behind the drum kit as Nick tackled the challenging section with a practiced ease.

When the song was over, Talis clapped and cheered loudly, causing all three males to turn to her with a sheepish expression on their faces.

Talis bit back a laugh as they all looked so pitiful, like they were waiting to be scolded for not doing what they were supposed to. Instead, she walked over to Nick, ruffled his hair, and kissed his head, "Got room for a singer?" she smiled as she picked up the microphone.

She looked back at Jae and Sherlock, "Just try and keep up." She winked as the game launched into Living on a Prayer, one of her absolute favorites.

"I want to host a dinner party." Talis announced as she returned from putting Nick to sleep. "I want to invite the Watsons, Molly, Mycroft and your parents." She looked at Sherlock, "Unless you think I should have dinner with your parents and introduce them to Nick before having a full on family gathering."

And before the press finds out went left unsaid. So far, (with Mycroft's assistance) they had managed to do a pretty good job of keeping Nick's parentage under-wraps, but they knew that sooner or later the press was going to get ahold of the fact that Sherlock Holmes had a child.

Hiding his smile at the fact that Talis considered the Watson's and Molly family, he took a long draw of tea. Schooling his features, he put his cup down and nodded, "I think introducing Nick to my parents first would be a good idea, I'm still not too sure how they'll react to the knowledge of having a grandson that they've missed out on the first 9 years of his life. They may not be too happy with you."

Talis sighed but agreed, "I know, but I'm hoping once the situation is explained they will understand. They don't have to agree with or like the choice I made, but hopefully they'll understand." She sat next to Jae on the couch, smiling in thanks as he offered her a cup of tea. "Perhaps we can take a drive to your parents this weekend. You and I can go meet them first and explain everything, while Jae and Nick tour the town. Then, if they're comfortable, we can have Nick and Jae join us at their home, or we can go into town and join up somewhere for dinner." She looked between the two men, who exchanged a look before both nodding in agreement.

Sherlock turned to look at her, "That sounds doable." He pulled out his phone, "I hope you don't mind if I invite Mycroft, he's been pestering me for an introduction."

Talis laughed, "Of course not, I told him last week that he was free to come by to meet Nick whenever he wasn't busy preventing some international incident or another, but I suppose he's too still too polite to invite himself over anywhere that isn't 221 Baker Street." She took a sip of tea, smiling softly at Jae when she realized it was chrysanthemum, her favorite. "Although, tell him his spying skills are slipping." she grinned widely, "I've caught him following Nick and I around almost every day since we've arrived back in London."

Yay, another chapter! Sorry this one didn't have Molly in it, the next one should. I keep changing my mind about how she'll meet Jae, and how that whole interaction will play out.

The quotes that Sherlock mentioned above are a couple favorites of mine, and I quite agree with them. I'm still not sure if/how I'm going to have Talis break the news to Nick, any suggestions, or thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Hope you all have been well! I started a long term work assignment, which so far has promised to keep be pretty busy until the end of summer, but hopefully it won't put too much of a cramp on my writing time!

Stay classy my friends!
Getting2KnowL
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Fun fact: Living on a Prayer is my favorite song to perform on Rock Band