Five Years Later
Sherlock stares at the girl across from him as if he doesn't even know her. It's been a while since they'd seen each other in person, clearly, and he doesn't know what to make of the sight before him.
Olive bites her lip. "I wanted to tell you in person, and you're always busy every time I—"
Sherlock stares at her more intently. "A warning would have been nice."
"This is what people do sometimes, when they like each other and have liked each other for…geez, four years? Five?"
"I think, when something like this happens, you more than like a person."
She grins. "I guess I do, don't I?"
Sherlock watches her absentmindedly rub a hand over her swollen belly. Actually, Sherlock thinks, it's more than just swollen. He estimates she must be six months along. He hasn't seen her in…four.
"You knew last time I saw you."
Olive shrugs. "I didn't want to tell you, yet. I hadn't graduated yet. I didn't want you to be upset or think I was quitting school, or something. He and I agreed that if it happened, it could happen after my graduation. Well…just before graduation, I guess."
"It's Paris'?"
"Of course it's Paris'! And it's a 'he', by the way."
Sherlock is confused, very confused, and concerned, but it pleases him that two of his closest friends are together and everything with them is going so well that they're having a baby.
"I wanted to tell you tonight before we all meet. I didn't want this to happen at the party."
"I'm allowed to be surprised," Sherlock tells her. "I never thought of you as someone who would want a child."
"I didn't know I was one of these people either," Olive confirms. "But…I don't know. We had talked about it. And now it's happening."
"Are you going to get married?"
"Would it matter if we did or didn't?"
Sherlock shrugs. It really doesn't matter. They can still be good parents without rings.
"What about you?" she asks. "Are you two going to tie the knot?"
Sherlock frowns. "With John away so often, it'd…be hard, to say the least."
"When will he be in?"
"This afternoon, until Sunday night."
"Do you go see him?"
Sherlock nods. He likes to visit John at his new university, but usually if he has to make the trip, it's because John has work to do. So John spends most of the weekend doing homework and Sherlock spends most of the weekend wandering the city.
"How are you guys handling the separation?"
It's only been four months since John started this term, and Sherlock is already in agony. The next four years are going to kill him, but he knows this has to happen. He tries not to think about what'll happen when John gets his military assignments.
"We're fine," he says, sipping his coffee.
Olive eyes him, but doesn't comment on his lie.
He begins to ask her more things about her pregnancy, trying to seem interested. Honestly, he doesn't care about the classes she's taking, but she is happy with his questions so he is happy. He is at least happy about her pregnancy.
John arrives home early in the afternoon, enough time for them to be alone before the party they need to go to for Declan and Ellery. After that couple graduated from Harvard, they returned to London to pursue their careers, and last month, Declan proposed. Tonight is a party to celebrate their engagement. And it'll be the first time in almost a year that all of the old friends will be together at the same time.
They hug as John enters the flat, but it's hurried and distracted. Sherlock's heart sinks. Usually, if when they meet they don't start with an eager kiss or more than that, it isn't going to happen that weekend at all. John's mind is obviously elsewhere.
"Hang on," he mutters, letting Sherlock's go. "Gotta pee."
Sherlock watches John trot to the loo, and when he disappears Sherlock begins cleaning up his discarded items.
At least John doesn't need luggage to come home. That would make it worse, implying that John no longer lives here. Sherlock takes his bag (school books) and coat to the sofa and drops the heavy load on a cushion, then he flings himself next to it, glaring at the bag like this is all its fault.
John returns minutes later, smiling widely. He tosses his heavy bag to the ground and sits next to Sherlock. Sherlock is pleased that he has John's attention and not that stupid bag.
"I missed you so much," John says, leaning over and kisses Sherlock's cheek.
But the attention doesn't last long, for John returns to his bag a second later.
"I missed you too," Sherlock mutters, angry at the books or John's laptop for stealing his attention.
However, to Sherlock's surprise, John pulls out a box wrapped in sparkling blue paper.
"I almost forgot about this," John says, handing it to Sherlock. "I found it and thought you'd like it."
"When you say found—"
"Nicked it from a lab? Yup."
Sherlock looks at John, his eyes sparkling and in complete awe of his boyfriend. Then Sherlock directs his attention back to the box and rips it open excitedly.
Inside the box is a skull. A human skull. A real life human skull.
"In truth," John explains, "One of my professors was leaving, leaving the profession entirely, so he said he was leaving his office door open for one hour only and anyone could go get something from him. He listed a few things he had, including the human skull, and immediately everyone asked for that specifically. I waited around his office for hours on the day he said it'd be open, and when he finally came out, I ran in and grabbed it before anyone else could. But if it's better to believe I actually stole it, you can believe whichever story you like."
"It's beautiful," Sherlock says.
"It's a 'he'," John tells him.
Sherlock chuckles, thinking of his meeting with Olive. "Oddly enough, that's not the first time that exact sentence has been said to me today."
"Please explain."
Sherlock runs his fingers along the sockets of the eyes and down the nasal ridge. "OIive's having a baby."
John's jaw drops.
"And she thought to tell me first because my reaction was predicted to be bad."
John shakes the shocked expression from his face. "I just…never thought her to be the first to have a kid is all. I'd have expected Harvey and Lily."
"That's what I thought."
"Huh," John mutters. "Wow."
Sherlock nods in agreement, no longer willing to pay attention to John but instead examining the skull again.
A few minutes later, when John gathers his thoughts, he nudges Sherlock playfully.
With a saucy look, John asks, "Can I interest you in a different type of head?"
Sherlock snorts out a laugh. "Oh my god, John."
John just grins and leans over to mouth at Sherlock's neck.
"You don't have work to do?" Sherlock asks. "The bag—"
"I came straight from a lecture, or else I'd have been here a lot sooner. I have nothing to do this weekend. Well, except you."
Sherlock kisses John to stop him from saying any more terrible innuendos.
"You look gorgeous," John says sometime later as Sherlock shrugs on his suit jacket.
"Thank you," Sherlock says, smiling at a John still swaying from his mellow post-sex mood.
"Do we have to go to the party?" John asks, sliding into Sherlock's personal space and pushing his jacket off his shoulder again. He kisses Sherlock's jaw, down to his neck.
"Seeing that I am an actual family member of the groom, we'd better go."
John groans and latches on to Sherlock's neck harder.
Sherlock pushes John away before he can leave a mark, but it leaves Sherlock wanting more.
He straightens his clothes again and says, "We can go, say our hello's, then come home."
"Do you really think your family will let us out that easily?" John asks, adjusting his clothes, too.
"No, my family is eager to see you. Prepare for a million questions about how school is going."
John just smiles. "At least they'll be more interested in my career than my own family is."
"Harry still hasn't spoken to you?"
"Since she's started the countdown on years until I die, no."
Sherlock frowns, then wraps his arms around John's neck. He does all he can to convince himself Harry's dumb prediction will not come true.
"I love you," he finally says.
"I love you too."
The party is a hit, and John is glad that Sherlock warned him about Olive's pregnancy. Though, he would've liked to know she was as far along as she is and it's very, very noticeable. But he gives his congratulations and asks if they've thought of any names for their son.
Right as Sherlock walks by, Olive says, "Actually, I was thinking William."
Sherlock spits out his drink and glares at her angrily.
Sherlock's family does ask John a million questions about school, telling him they're all proud of him and asking him to get Sherlock on a path for the future. John just says he's doing his best, but he knows there's no convincing Sherlock of something he doesn't want to do. In truth, he has no idea what Sherlock has planned for his future. John just hopes he can be involved.
When the party ends, the two decide to walk as long as they can before requiring a cab.
"Your family kept asking me to help you set out a career plan," John tells Sherlock.
"I expected they would. They won't tell me they're disappointed, but—"
"Nobody's disappointed," John argues. "We just want to help. I know you're not happy doing nothing."
"I just don't know what it is I want to do."
"Science? Obviously, my school has a great science department."
"I just don't know, John."
"I know you don't. I just want you to be happy and like I said, I don't think you are."
"Maybe it has nothing to do with my lack of a career or a degree and everything to do with the fact that you left me to pursue yours."
John stops in the street. Sherlock's never said anything like that. As a matter of fact, he's never said anything about any of this. John realizes Sherlock's never done more than offer little encouragements and a few vague 'I'm happy for you' congratulations.
"You've never asked me not to."
"How was I supposed?" Sherlock asks. "How was I supposed to ask you to stay? 'John, give up your dream because I can't be away from you?'"
"You could have—"
"I couldn't have. So I didn't. And I won't."
John frowns at his feet, avoiding Sherlock's gaze.
"I didn't mean to upset you," Sherlock says after a few silent moments.
"I'm only upset because I didn't know. How could I not see—"
"I go through great lengths to ensure you never finds out that I'm…" Sherlock runs a hand through his hair. "I'm completely lost without you, John. I thought it was bad before, when I was still in school, but now it's…I don't know what to do."
"Then come with me."
Sherlock slowly shakes his head. "I can't do that."
"Why the fuck not?" John asks, completely upset now. "You can get some kind of job up there, go to school if you'd like."
"I think it's better to begin distancing myself from you now."
"So you're going to punish yourself until I get shipped out? Sherlock, that's not going to be for years, if they even take me once I'm that old."
"You'll be a doctor by then and much more valuable than you are now."
John frowns. "I don't want you to distance yourself. I never want you to. What do you think, if I go I'll never be able to speak to you?"
"Well—"
"I mean, it'll be a lot less. But it's not like we'll lose complete contact. We never will, babe. I hope you realize we'll be together forever whether you like it or not."
Sherlock cracks a smile. "Do you promise?"
"Sherlock, I've expected us to get together forever since we were, like, ten. Before I even knew we'd want to kiss each other or anything."
Sherlock chuckles. "As long as you've been this sure over the years."
"Of course I'm bloody sure, you maniac. Now get over here." John pulls Sherlock into a tight hug.
"Then I don't wish to be away from you any longer," Sherlock says against John's shoulder.
"I was hoping you'd say that," John says. "Because I was thinking we could sell the place here, move into a bigger space up there, and have enough room for a lab."
Sherlock pulls back to look at John's face. "Do you mean it?"
"Of course. I want you up there and I want you to be comfortable."
Sherlock kisses him. John happily kisses back.
After the kiss, they get a cab from where they are to hurry home.