Chapter 5 - Home
Katrina almost shrieked up, when suddenly the door opened. She was in a state of what she would call "self-pity", staring at the ceiling, trying not to think about anything that could bring her tears back. Of course she failed, it was just still impossible to suddenly cheer up and forget about the day when Sherlock jumped off the roof. But she knew she would have to come over it, not only for her, but especially for the baby inside of her. She put her hands on her lower stomach, silently talking to the human inside of her, telling them not to worry, that she would have everything under control. It was difficult to mean it in a serious way, since she herself wasn't really sure about if she would have everything under control by the time the baby would arrive.
"Oh, I am so sorry, Katrina. I really didn't want to disturb your nap!", Mrs. Hudson said with an upset voice.
"Oh, Mrs. Hudson, no! No, you didn't disturb me, I actually wasn't even napping.", Katrina immediately answered, standing up from the sofa and smiling in her direction. She knew, that Mrs. Hudson never had something bad in mind, especially when it was about her. She has been so supportive to her throughout the years, especially when it came to "protecting" her from the "boys", as she would call John and Sherlock. Not that she really needed that protection, but she still appreciated it, when she stopped those two guys from ranting over whether or not to throw brains they got from the morgue against the wall. She would never forget the very first moment, when she opened the fridge in 221B, looking for something to eat and suddenly holding what seemed to be a toe in her hands. Sherlock really didn't understand why she was so upset, especially since it was, how he called it, a "only-two-week-old-toe" from a corpse that was found stuck in a water pipe. From this day on she claimed the highest shelf in the fridge to be hers, so she also could be sure that no strange liquids could get onto her food.
By this memory she even started smiling a bit.
"My dear, Tara will be home any moment and I've allowed myself to cook pasta for us. Please, join us downstairs and let's have a nice evening. And anyways, you're eating for two now, aren't you?", she smiled, wrapped her arm around hers and guided her downstairs. She whistled Ciri to join them and the dog stood up from her bed, stretched, wagged her tail and followed them.
"Well, I am actually not really eating for-", Katrina wanted to intervene.
"Shh! Your baby will like that pasta. Remember, this little person is technically eating everything that you are. And oh - just think about all the milk your body will have to produce!", she exclaimed in her usual high pitched voice and pulled her further down, until they reached her flat, where she guided her to the dining table.
"Sit down, dear!", she said. And exactly in this moment the doorbell rang and Mrs. Hudson rushed to open it.
"Oh, here is our little Miss Sunshine! Come in, come in. How was school? Are you hungry?", she asked Tara. A smile appeared on Katrina's lips, knowing that her "little girl" came home safely, even though it was like this every day. And she was thankful for that.
"Hi mom!", she yelled, running over to her, hugging and kissing her on the cheek.
"Hey, baby. How was school!"
"It was really cool!And I got an A in math!", she exclaimed happily.
"Wow! I am so proud of you! You're a genious!"
Tara's progression in learning the English language since she arrived in England was amazing. And school seemed to be a piece of cake for her. There was nothing left of this insecure and frightened girl she met back then in Afghanistan. She developed into an amazing and clever 9-year-old, who loved school, had a lot of friends and brought sunshine into everyone's lives. Her hair reached her hips right now and Katrina was happy to do her a different hairstyle everyday before school. Even though she couldn't see the beautiful colour of her hair and her eyes anymore, she was happy to give her everything she could, despite her blindness.
"Okay girls, are you ready for some pasta?", Martha yelled from the kitchen and rushed out with a big pot filled with bolognese and spaghetti. The parmesan was already placed on the table, waiting to be spread over the bolognese.
"Yes!", Tara almost screamed, taking the cutlery into her hands and smiling.
It almost felt like the months and years before, where they all would sit together on the table, herself, Mrs. Hudson, Tara, John and Sherlock. Sure, especially those two guys weren't always here, but still, when they were, they often ate all together. Mrs. Hudson was always proud of the, what she called it, good appetite of John and scolded Sherlock, if he denied taking another portion of her freshly made dishes. It broke Katrina's heart to know that it would never be like that again and it was difficult to keep her appetite on that thought. But she knew she needed to eat. If Sherlock couldn't be here anymore, then at least their baby could. And she wouldn't risk them to suffer in any way.
They finished their food and helped Mrs. Hudson to clean the table. First she tried to stop them, telling them that they should remain seated, but Tara and Katrina didn't listen and eventually she gave in to their help. When they sat down on the sofa in Mrs. Hudson's living room, Katrina looked into their direction and smiled slightly.
"Do you want to see a picture of the little detective?", it was a name that her landlady chose for the unborn baby. Katrina liked it, even though it reminded her way too much of Sherlock. But she was right, it was after all his child and she would always cherish that.
"Oh dear, yes!", she didn't really get who was more excited at this moment - her landlady or her daughter, what made her smile even more. They moved over to her side on the sofa.
"So, here it is!", Katrina exclaimed, took the ultrasound picture out of her pocket and handed it over to the two girls. She heard excited gasps and "Aww"s, which put a warm feeling of happiness inside her.
"So, what does the baby look like?", Katrina asked them, waiting for their interpretation of the picture. She found her peace with her blindness and wasn't sad about the fact that she couldn't see the picture herself. "If I would be sad or angry about it, it would just stop me from seeing the actual beauty of this world.", she once said to Sherlock, when he asked her about her condition. Of course the consulting detective would be devastated if something like that would happen to him, but she assured him that she found ways on how to deal with it. And she did. And he believed her.
"It… it looks like an alien with a big head.", Tara said in a way that made her laugh.
"Tara!", Mrs. Hudson exclaimed, but even she had to laugh about the hard truth the little girl just said.
"It looks just… wonderful! Those tiny arms and ! And there is even a part of the umbilical cord visible!", she pointed at the picture and showed it to Tara, explaining to her what this cord was for and how the baby was "eating" through it.
"What do you think it will be? A boy or a girl?", Mrs. Hudson asked curiously and handed the picture back over to Katrina.
"I really don't care about the gender. I want it to be a surprise!", she answered, carefully putting the picture back into her pocket, patting over it.
When the evening arrived, Katrina and Tara headed back up into their flat and Tara rushed into her room to do her homework. Katrina then took the chance and pulled her phone out of her pocket, "hearing" her messages. It was something she got used to quickly. With every swipe on her phone, there would be a voice, telling her on what page she was and what Apps she opened. And the same voice also could read messages. Turned out she got a message from Lestrade.
"There was a murder in Bond Street. Could you come over to the morgue tomorrow morning and check on the body?", he asked in his message. He knew that she couldn't be at the crime scene at the moment, not in her early pregnancy and with Tara being all alone otherwise. She usually would give her to Mrs. Hudson on those occasions, but she knew that Lestrade didn't want to stress her right now, especially since she was still dealing with the loss of Sherlock.
"Sure. Will be there at 9. See you tomorrow.", she answered and placed her phone aside. Not much later she went into her bed, after she kissed Tara good night. In the darkness of the night she remembered Sherlock, how they'd spent long evenings with even longer talks together. Tears came into her eyes again, she closed them and the drops fell onto her pillow. She placed her hands onto her stomach, which still was quite flat, although she had the feeling that there was definitely a tiny bump there.
"I love you so much.", she whispered, meaning both her baby and Sherlock.