Author's note: Surprise! If you are a follower of my stories, I hope you will find it a pleasant surprise to see a notification in your email that I have posted a new chapter. Sorry it has been a long time in coming. I can't believe we are already in the second month of 2023! I am prayerfully anticipating a good year after some challenges over the past couple of years.
"Happy anniversary," Sherlock whispered into Molly's ear.
She turned sleepily to smile at him and curl her arms around his neck. "Happy anniversary."
A glance at the clock showed there was plenty of time for them to have a little early morning celebration of their love before breakfast. How pleasant it was to not have to worry about children interrupting them at an inconvenient moment. That was always an occupational hazard at home. Several times, amorous intentions had been thwarted by a fussy baby or toddler demanding attention.
After some leisurely and uninterrupted time, Sherlock and Molly shared a last kiss before getting out of bed to dress for the day.
Downstairs, they sat at the dining table and waited for the pancakes they had requested from Kara the day before.
She came in with a stack of fluffy pancakes. "How was your picnic yesterday?"
Molly smiled, remembering how amazing it had been to read Song of Songs aloud with Sherlock. He always had such wonderful ideas. And of course, the lovemaking that followed had been sublime. "It was lovely, thank you."
Kara set down the plate for them to help themselves. "You definitely chose the best day for it. I saw we are expecting a little rain today."
Molly frowned slightly. She hadn't thought to look at the forecast. "Oh, I hope it doesn't rain too much. Sherlock and I are going to tour Warwick Castle for our anniversary today."
Sherlock took a pancake and put it on Molly's plate, then took one for himself as Kara said, "I expect it will just be a drizzle. Happy anniversary. Four years, isn't it?"
Molly beamed. "Yes, it is."
She sprinkled sugar, then squeezed some lemon onto her pancake as Kara said, "Time goes by so fast. Martin and I have been married for twenty-eight years, and our son and daughter are all grown up and out of the house." Her smile was wistful as she added, "At four years, you two are still practically newlyweds."
Molly felt Sherlock reach over to squeeze her hand as he responded. "With a wife like Molly, it is easy to still feel that way."
Kara winked. "Well, I'll leave you 'newlyweds' to it. I'm going to do the washing up."
"We'll bring in our plates to you," said Molly.
"That's not necessary. I can pick them up."
"We insist," said Molly, watching as the older woman departed with a smile of thanks. She looked at Sherlock, who was now also putting sugar and lemon onto his own stack of two pancakes. "I wonder what we'll be doing when we've been married twenty-eight years."
"Good Lord, Molly, I don't even want to think that far ahead. I'll be sixty-eight by then, so presumably I will be semi-retired." He smirked. "Perhaps we will be living in Sussex on Grandpa Holmes's bee farm so I can tend the bees myself. Or perhaps we will live in my parents' house and I will just go to the bee farm when I feel like watching their hives."
Molly gave him a dreamy smile as she chewed on a piece of pancake. She liked the thought of retirement away from London. Much as she loved the city, the idea of living out her retirement in the countryside was very appealing. Besides, Sherlock's parents weren't far from Brighton, so they could get the feel of city living whenever they wanted. She swallowed her mouthful and said, "I really like the sound of that, Sherlock." Then she added curiously, "How far away is the bee farm from where your parents live?"
"Oh, it is only fifteen miles. Next time we are in Sussex, hopefully at Christmastime, we can stop by the farm and see it, if you like. I know Daddy goes there regularly to see the tenants. Mummy likes getting the honey from the tenants, but she's allergic to bees, so she doesn't go with him."
"I'd love to visit the farm. It's a shame your mum is allergic to bees. Are you sure you aren't?"
He grinned. "I've had a few bee stings in my youth with no issues. Of course, people can develop allergies at any time. How about you?"
Molly furrowed her brow. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever been stung by a bee, so I have no clue if I'd be allergic." She took another bite of pancake.
"Well, it is rare for a person to have a severe reaction the first time they receive a bee sting." He grinned at her. "Actually, you may not even see any bees because it will be winter time and they will be clustering inside the hive to keep warm. We'll have to visit the farm in the summer at some point."
"If we won't be seeing the bees anyway, we might as well just wait until warmer weather to visit the bee farm. How about next summer?" suggested Molly.
"Perhaps it could be a trip for our fifth wedding anniversary." He paused and added slowly, "I suppose it will depend on whether we have a family expansion and when it occurs, if it occurs."
Molly licked her lips, suddenly recalling she had told Sherlock that if her cycle returned to normal, there was a possibility she could conceive again during this second honeymoon. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but she couldn't help expressing her feelings on the subject. "I hope we do."
They finished eating and took their plates into the kitchen, handing them to Kara with another word of thanks.
As they ascended the stairs to the bedroom, Sherlock asked, "So, what time were we planning to leave to tour that castle?" He shot her one of those looks that still made her weak at the knees, and she knew he was quite aware they had no need to leave for hours.
"Well, we have to eat lunch before we go."
"In other words, we have time to kill." He cast another smouldering look her way and closed and locked the bedroom door behind them. "Plenty of time for us to continue the practice of procreation, in that case."
She giggled and took his hand, leading him towards the bed.
Later in the morning, Sherlock suggested, "Why don't we find a place for lunch that is close to Warwick Castle?"
"Sounds good," said Molly.
Using Molly's iPad, they did a Google search and selected "Giggling Squid", a Thai place which was only a three minute walk from the castle.
As they walked towards the car, Molly noticed the look in Sherlock's eye as they approached it. She had been the one to do the driving since they arrived, and she had the feeling he wanted to get behind the wheel again. "Why don't you drive, and I'll navigate?" she suggested, holding out the keys.
He smiled at her. "How did you know?"
She shrugged. "It's the job of a wife to know her husband's moods."
"You always could see me." He bent his head to give her a swift kiss before opening the passenger door for her.
Fifteen minutes later, they were at their destination.
Inside the restaurant, they perused the lunch menu and ordered their drinks, mango passion for Molly, while Sherlock chose ginger beer.
"What do you want to order?" Sherlock asked, after the waiter disappeared to get their drink order.
"I'm going to have the cashew stir fry," Molly said.
"Knowing your love of cashews, I wondered if you'd choose that," commented Sherlock, "but I thought perhaps the fact that there is a picture of a chili pepper next to it might put you off."
"Most of the offerings have at least one chili pepper, so my options were limited. At least it doesn't have a picture of two chili peppers."
"True," agreed Sherlock. "I'll go with the red curry."
When the waiter arrived with their drinks and to take their order, Sherlock gave their choices.
To Molly's relief, when the meals arrived, she discovered that the stir fry, while it did have some spice, wasn't too hot. She and Sherlock sampled each other's dishes. His was also labelled with one chili pepper, but Molly thought it was a little more spicy than her own, so she was happy with her selection. Even so, she was unable to finish and pushed her plate towards Sherlock. "You have the rest."
"Molly, you are always giving me your leftovers. I will get fat!" He made an exaggerated gesture in the vicinity of his stomach, which, although no longer as flat as it had been years earlier, was certainly far from even the semblance of excess pounds. At least he no longer looked malnourished.
Molly gestured at her own stomach, which had remained a little more rounded since giving birth and adding a few pounds. "You have a long way to go to be considered even mildly overweight, unlike me."
Of course, she wasn't surprised when Sherlock jumped to her defense. "You are not in the least overweight either. You are perfectly proportioned." He added with a sly look she knew was directed at her larger bust size. "And some areas are even more perfectly proportioned than others."
She giggled. "Just finish my food, Sherlock."
He did so and they paid the bill, then drove to the castle car park.
It was a bit of a walk from the car park, and a light drizzle began. To Molly's surprise, Sherlock stopped short, and she looked at him questioningly.
"To my knowledge, we haven't kissed in the rain since our honeymoon. Shall we?" He opened his arms.
Molly smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist, then lifted her face for a lingering kiss before they walked on. There weren't a lot of people around, and Molly thought perhaps people had been put off by the forecast for rain, but if it remained a drizzle, she wasn't bothered by it.
They paid their admission and went through the entrance into a courtyard. "Where to first?" asked Molly, looking at the enormous courtyard.
Sherlock looked at the map and gestured to their left. "Let's start with the Great Hall."
Inside the Great Hall, they were treated to displays of various guns and rifles, suits of armour along the wall and elegant table settings. Molly enjoyed reading the information posters in the room. She knew Sherlock wasn't overly interested, but he stood by her and made appropriate sounds when she talked about this thing or that. He was such a dutiful husband!
They left the Great Hall and walked to the Red Drawing Room. In it were wax figures of a man and several women. Molly read the poster. "Oh, Henry the Eighth visited the castle. This is supposed to be him and his six wives."
"Well, that is rather silly," said Sherlock. "You'd think he had all those wives at the same time."
Molly laughed. "Kaitlyn was telling me at work that there's a musical called Six that is all about the six wives of Henry the Eighth. It's coming to the Vaudeville Theatre at the end of September, and she wants to see it."
"You haven't spent any time with her outside of work in a very long time. Why don't you go see it together? I'm sure David could give his wife a night off from watching their son, and I am quite capable of watching our daughters."
Molly beamed. "You know, I love that idea." She reached up to kiss Sherlock's cheek. "When we get back to London, I'm going to suggest we go see it."
They walked to an opulently furnished dining room, another drawing room, and into a room with a piano and card table that also had wax figures arranged for a "Royal Weekend Party".
After they had explored the rooms, Sherlock and Molly returned outside. It had stopped raining and Molly said, "Should we climb up to the battlements and see the towers?"
"Whatever you want, love."
They climbed what seemed an endless amount of spiral staircases and steps in their continued exploration which yielded a beautiful view of Warwick.
Molly was a little out of breath by the time they climbed back down.
Sherlock took her hand. "Have you had enough?"
"No, of course not! Just give me a minute."
"You must be getting old," he teased, and Molly glared.
"That was an awful lot of stairs!"
His arm came around her shoulders and he squeezed, "You know I'm just teasing, sweetheart."
She tossed her head. "Still not liking you very much right now."
His head dipped down and he kissed her earlobe and whispered, "You can't stay mad at me, Molly. You love me too much."
She couldn't help giggling. He was right, after all.
A couple minutes later, Molly was ready to head to the blacksmith workshop attached to which was a gift shop.
"I think I'll get a little souvenir," she told Sherlock, before purchasing a pin with an image of the castle. It would be a nice memento of their trip.
Molly was glad that Sherlock refrained from commenting about the stairs when she wanted to climb the Conquerors Fortress. It was named for William the Conqueror, and was the oldest surviving feature of the castle, built in 1068.
From the top there was another excellent view that included St. Mary's Church, where several of the last Earls of Warwick were buried.
Back on the grounds, they viewed the other attractions - including the old jail and a mill with a water wheel that was no longer in use.
They viewed the Peacock Gardens, which had a fountain and conservatory.
There was even a place to try your hand at archery. For £5 you would get 12 arrows, or you could get 6 arrows for £3. "Are you any good at archery?" Molly asked.
Sherlock's lips twisted. "Archery is not something I have done since my school days."
"Why don't we try it, just for fun?" She gave him a pleading look.
"Very well."
They paid for the 12 arrows and took turns. Not surprisingly, Molly's were all over the place, not even close to the target, despite Sherlock's instruction on how to aim correctly. He fared a little better, hitting the outer part of the target twice with a narrow miss as well.
"That was fantastic, Sherlock," Molly praised.
He shrugged modestly. "A little more practice and I would undoubtedly improve."
Molly grinned. "I wouldn't doubt it." She looked at her watch. "It's getting close to closing time, I'm ready to go now."
They returned to the car. "Where shall we go for dinner?" Sherlock asked, bringing out his phone.
They searched for nearby restaurants, but unfortunately none opened before 5 PM.
"Guess we'll just head back to the B&B and go out for dinner a little later," said Sherlock pragmatically.
"I guess so," agreed Molly, and Sherlock drove back to the B&B.
As they sat on the bed to use Molly's iPad to find a dinner location, she said, "Thanks for indulging me today, Sherlock. I know you weren't any more interested in touring the castle than you were in touring Holy Trinity Church."
"I enjoy doing things with you. Besides, I love seeing the excitement on your face when you are learning new things. And the archery at the end was most entertaining." He gave her a roguish grin. "Besides, tonight I shall get even more entertainment when we indulge in our little role play - wench."
She fluttered her eyelashes at him. "I'm looking forward to that as well, Captain Yellowbeard."
They returned to browsing. "How about El Greco?" suggested Molly. "We've never eaten at a Greek restaurant."
Sherlock nodded. "It is a cuisine I am not overly familiar with, but I am certainly willing to try it."
Having made their decision, they headed out of the B&B once more.
At the restaurant, they were shown to a table for two, and Molly looked at her menu. "Oh, this twenty-two dish Greek banquet sounds like a great way to try a lot of different dishes."
"I concur," said Sherlock.
It was a good choice. Molly enjoyed sampling all the different types of food, and she could see Sherlock enjoyed the taste experience as well.
They had a variety of dips to try with pita bread as starters. Main courses included traditional Greek dishes like moussaka and souvlaki.
But it was the desserts Molly enjoyed the most. On offer were baklava and katafi, which were served with honeycomb ice cream. "This baklava is delicious," she declared, even as she struggled to eat the delicious treat, she was getting quite full.
She pouted at Sherlock, who had eaten a lot more and seemed to have plenty of room. "How can you eat so much at one time and not get full?"
He gave her a smug smile. "I've always enjoyed a fast metabolism, although that has meant there have been times on cases when the result has been the loss of a few pounds because I wouldn't eat."
"Oh yeah," Molly said, remembering quite clearly that conversation from many years earlier when she had still had a crush on Sherlock and he had complimented her on her hair, just to get his own way in a case, "the nonsense you spouted to me once about digesting slowing you down."
He huffed. "It is hardly nonsense. The faculties become more refined when you starve them."
She gave him a sceptical look. "If that is the case, why don't you starve yourself anymore during a case?"
He pursed his lips. "Because you won't allow me to skip a meal."
Molly giggled. "With all due respect, I don't think eating regularly has adversely affected your sleuthing abilities."
"Perhaps not," he conceded, picking up his cloth serviette to dab at the corners of his mouth.
"Thank you for a lovely dinner," said Molly as they exited the restaurant a short time later.
He slung an arm around her as they walked towards the car, which was parked a short distance away. "You don't have to thank me. It's our wedding anniversary. I want it to be memorable."
"But I'm the one who made all the plans, and you just went along with them."
"Molly, I am quite content to follow your lead. You came up with the idea of a second honeymoon, and I am thoroughly enjoying our time away from London." He paused, then added, "Although, I do miss our daughters. I don't think I'd like to be away from them for more than a week."
Molly gave him an affectionate smile. "I miss them too. When we get back to the B&B, we might as well do our usual FaceTime call right away."
And that is what they did.
After Sherlock's mother, as usual, the one in charge of overseeing the FaceTime call, wished them a happy anniversary, she called Victoria.
It seemed Victoria was finally missing her parents, because the first thing she said was, "Mummy, when are you coming home?"
"Soon, Victoria. You will go to sleep tonight and tomorrow night, and then Mummy and Daddy will be home again."
When Sherlock's mum raised Christina to enter the FaceTime conversation, Christina raised her hand towards the screen "Mama."
"Hi, baby," said Molly, waving back. "Daddy and Mummy will be home again soon." Apparently Christina wasn't concerned because she struggled to get off her grandma's lap. Apparently, she had more important things to do.
With the call concluded, Sherlock and Molly did their Bible reading for the evening.
Setting the Bible down, Sherlock said, "Well, I guess we should take our showers now and enjoy the rest of our anniversary night."
"I'll get the costumes." Molly looked at him. "Are we taking a shower together or separate?"
He chuckled "You know what usually happens when we share a shower. You go ahead while I do a quick check of my email."
"Alright."
Deciding it would be better to put her costume on in the bedroom after her shower, Molly took both from the suitcase and laid them together on the bed, placing the eye patch on the top. Sherlock didn't particularly care for the eye patch because it reduced his vision, but he tolerated it because it was part of the pirate persona.
As she headed into the bathroom, she saw Sherlock already had his laptop open.
Ten minutes later, Molly emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a towel.
"Good timing," remarked Sherlock, closing his laptop.
"Any interesting cases you are missing?" She perched next to him as she spoke.
"Nothing that can't wait," he responded, tracing a hand along the top of her towel. His fingers twitched as if he'd like to pull her towel down, and she put her arm across her chest.
"No you don't. Get thee to the shower."
He smirked and picked up the pirate costume and eye patch, then headed off for his own shower.
Molly dropped the towel and put on the red skirt with black lace beneath followed by the long sleeved off-the-shoulder red blouse. She put on the fishnet stockings next, then fastened the corset that fitted beneath her breasts.
She sat on the edge of the bed and waited for Sherlock.
When he came out of the bathroom a little while later, she drew in her breath at his appearance. Even though she had seen him in this costume on a couple of occasions, he still took her breath away. He swaggered towards her in his black trousers and shirt with the red vest. "Ah, Molly, me pretty wench, I've been looking forward to a relaxin' evenin' wi' ye."
She peeped up at him from beneath her lashes. "And did you get a lot of booty from that French frigate you captured, Captain Yellowbeard?"
"Aye, lass, lots o' booty," he waggled his one eyebrow not covered by the eye patch, "although methinks I'd rather see a different kind o' booty right now."
"Oh, Captain Yellowbeard, you say the naughtiest things."
He reached her and bent to place his hands beneath her bum and pull her up into him.
His hand slid beneath her skirt and she felt him caress her bum as he said, "Shiver me timbers, lass, ye are a comely lookin' wench."
She giggled, sliding her arms up and around his neck. "So, um, did you take any prisoners aboard or did you make them walk the plank?"
"They were scurvy dogs, and now they be in Davey Jones' locker." He moved a hand to push her hair aside and bent his head to kiss her neck, then feather kisses along her bare shoulder.
Yep, this was usually the point at which they abandoned the role-playing. Sherlock was always too eager to get into the kissing and beyond. Not that she was complaining. She tried to think of another pirate phrase to say. "Um, what are the rest of the crew doing? Are they swabbing the decks?"
Sherlock didn't miss a beat. "Nay, they be counting out all the doubloons we pillaged from the frigate." He placed kisses along her other shoulder.
"Are you not afraid they will take all of the plunder for themselves?" she managed to get out, as Sherlock tugged at the elasticised front of her top to expose her breasts so he could kiss one, then the other, before he responded. "Right now, I'm more concerned with plunderin' ye, me bonny little wench."
Molly gave up trying to think of anything else to continue the role-play. "Then plunder away, my love."
And plunder he did, raising his head to kiss her, plundering her mouth with his own quite thoroughly before moving to other parts of her body as clothes were removed one by one, followed by the eye patch.
Of course, Molly was not about to let Sherlock be the sole plunderer, and she did her own share of it, before they tumbled onto the bed.
A most satisfying lovemaking session ensued. Molly enjoyed being unrestrained in her enthusiasm which wasn't really possible when their daughters were around.
As they snuggled together under the duvet afterwards, Molly rested her head on Sherlock's shoulder as he lay on his back, his breathing still a little shallow following their exertions. Her hand caressed his chest. "Thank you for a very memorable and wonderful anniversary, honey."
His fingers rubbed her back lightly. "Every moment with you is memorable, my love, but I agree, and this was a most satisfying ending to our day. I love you, Molly."
She made a little sigh of contentment. "I love you too, Sherlock."
Author's note: I spent a lot of time in research for this chapter. I found a great video of a tour of Warwick Castle by Emma Spears. Feel free to check out her video. I also researched the restaurants I spoke of in the chapter and looked at their online menus. A little research makes for a much more realistic story, in my opinion.
And finally, I got to do a little romantic scene that involved the pirate and wench costumes Molly received on her hen night way back in my initial story, A Journey to Love, Faith and Marriage. It's hard to believe I have been writing for Sherlolly since 2017!
Looking at when I wrote this chapter, aside from a few tweaks during my proofreading, it was September of 2021.
I confess that real life has really taken over, to the point at which writing and publishing has taken a backseat. I don't see that changing in the near future, so my publishing will most likely continue to be sporadic. My closest reader friends know what has been happening in my life that has been keeping me occupied.
But hey, if you are still out there and enjoying my writing, I'll always be happy to hear from you. I still respond to all reviews because the notifications come to my email inbox. Send me a message with your thoughts on this chapter. What was your favourite part - the tour? The description of the food at the restaurants? Or the little pirate and wench love scene? Perhaps you enjoyed the brief FaceTime interaction with the Holmes girls.
Sherlock and Molly are still my OTP!
FYI, this story has one chapter to go.