A/N- Well, this is it. The end of my Elspeth story. I've never finished a multichapter story before, so I'm rather proud of myself! But anyway, I hope you guys like the ending. I might come back to this universe one day, but I'm not sure. We shall see. Thanks for your patience with me as I finished this little story and for reading. Enjoy!
Epilogue- A Special Day
Sherlock woke up to his daughter running into his bedroom.
"Daddys! Daddys! It's today! It's today!" she shouted. Sherlock yawned.
"Yes, Elspeth, it is today," he teased the bright eyed six year old, "But what on earth is so special about today?"
"Sherlock-Daddy!" she cried exasperatedly, "It's special because I finally get to go to school today!"
"Ah!" Sherlock slapped his forehead theatrically, "Of course! How could I forget?"
"You have to get up and help me get ready!" she demanded. He raised an eyebrow at her and simply stared for a moment. "Please?" she added more quietly. He smiled.
"Of course, love" he said, "Let's see if John will make waffles for you."
"Yay!" she cried. Sherlock rolled over and shook John awake.
"Mmph?" he snorted.
"Elspeth is starting school today," Sherlock announced, "And I think that this is a waffle day."
"Mmmm. Mmhmm," John made affirming noise and kept his eyes closed. Sherlock waited for a few moments. Three…. Two… One…. "Sherlock! Elspeth starts school today!"
"Yes, love, she does," Sherlock hid a smirk," Elspeth, why don't you go watch telly for a few minutes while we get ready, then I'll help you while John makes waffles?"
"Okay!" Elspeth ran with bouncing curls. Sherlock looked at John.
"Are you ready for this?" Sherlock asked.
"Of course not," John looked amused, "But no parent is. I can handle it though. The real question here is this: Can you?" Sherlock hesitated.
"I think so," he replied after a moment, "Like you said, no parent is ready for this. I will miss her. But she's ready, and because of that, so am I." John stared at him in shock, then smiled gently.
"So you are. Now let's get ready and get her ready so she's not late."
Thirty minutes later, John was in the kitchen making waffles and Sherlock was with Elspeth in her room trying to pick out an outfit to wear.
"I wanna look nice, Sherlock-Daddy, but I don't wanna look stupid," she said, worried.
"We'll find something, sweetie, don't worry," he soothed. Her face still crinkled with worry. She wasn't very girly, so the frilly dresses and skirts that little girls usually wore to school on the first day were out, but she didn't wanna look too informal either. Finally Sherlock had an idea.
"How about you wear your jeans and that flowy purple shirt that you like?" Sherlock offered. She thought about it for a minute, then nodded.
"Get dressed and then come downstairs for breakfast" he smiled at her. She nodded again, then began gathering the outfit together.
A few minutes later, she came downstairs clad in the outfit said. She looked rather amusing like this with brightly colored socks and her dark curls sticking out in all directions as though she'd gotten on the wrong side of some static electricity. Sherlock and John looked at each other and were hard pressed not to laugh. They simply smiled and handed her a breakfast of waffles and eggs.
She ate silently and quickly, strange for her. Sherlock and John kept up light conversation, things that Elspeth could comment on if she desired, but didn't have to. She didn't comment more than once. When they were done, she looked at John pleadingly.
"John-Daddy, can you help me with my hair?" he smiled at her.
"Of course, let's go," he replied. Sherlock smiled and began cleaning off the table.
John took Elspeth into the bathroom and helped her wash her face and supervised her brushing her teeth. Then he carefully brushed through her tangled, wild curls, eventually clipping some of it out of her face.
"That okay, love?" he asked her.
"Yes, thank you John-Daddy," she replied seriously.
"You're welcome," he smiled, "Let's get your knapsack and make sure all of your stuff is in there, okay?" she nodded, scared.
Together, they made their way into her room and collected her purple knapsack from it's knob on the wall. John checked that all of her school supplies were in it, then gathered up her trainers and her coat. Together, the two went out into the front room where Sherlock awaited them. While John fetched his coat from the closet and Elspeth's lunch from the refrigerator, Sherlock helped a quiet Elspeth into her coat and trainers. Then he grabbed one of his blue scarves and wrapped it around her neck.
"For good luck," he explained. She nodded, looking close to tears. He brought her close and hugged her. "It's going to be okay, love. You'll do wonderfully." She still didn't speak. John brought her lunch and the three of them bundled into a car that Mycroft had sent. He doted on his niece and would have done even more if Sherlock had not intervened.
When they finally arrived at the school, a couple of tears escaped Elspeth's eyes. Her dads cuddled her close, wiped her eyes and waited for her to compose herself. Then the three of them got out of the car, Elspeth holding one of each of their hands.
They led her to her new classroom, and introduced her to the teacher, a blonde woman whose nametag said R. Tyler.
"This is Elspeth Holmes-Watson," John said, "I'm Doctor John Watson and this is Sherlock Holmes." The teacher nodded and smiled at Elspeth.
"Hi, Elspeth, I'm Miss Tyler," she smiled.
"Hi, Miss Tyler," Elspeth said quietly to the smiling blonde woman. Sherlock's mind whirred with deductions. First real job, wants to do well, but loves kids and has good intentions. Not married and probably not intending to be so. Late 20's. Not well off, but does what she can. Nothing he deduced made him not trust the woman. John met his eyes, and he nodded slightly. John's face relaxed minutely.
"What would you like to do this morning?" Elspeth thought for a moment.
"Can I read please?" she asked. Miss Tyler's eyebrows rose, but she nodded.
"Of course," she replied, "Say goodbye to your parents and then you can show me what you can read, okay?"
"Okay," she turned to Sherlock and John, "You'll be back later?" she asked fearfully.
"Of course," Sherlock said, kneeling in front of her, "We'll be waiting for you as soon as you're done. Then Mrs. Hudson wants to have tea with you!" She giggled.
"Okay! You too, John-Daddy?"
"Of course, love," he replied, "I'll see you soon." She hugged them both, then set off toward the bookshelf with her teacher.
As they were walking out, Sherlock looked at John and said,
"She's gonna be alright, isn't she?"
"Of course she will, Sherlock, and so will we."