Chapter 12 - Sway
Katrina was sixteen weeks in her pregnancy, when she suddenly felt something going on inside her belly. What felt like little butterflies moving inside her, turned out to be the baby moving. She smiled, as she was laying in bed and held her hands on her stomach. And as she enjoyed the feeling inside her, she wanted Tara to also feel the little kicks, so she stood up and went into the girls room to wake her up.
"Want to feel something really cool?", she asked her, whispering into her ear to carefully wake her up. The little girl immediately opened her eyes and sat straight in her bed.
"What is it?", she asked excitedly, so Katrina took the girls little hands and placed them on her belly.
"Wooow!", her hands moved around slowly to feel everything possible.
"Does it hurt?", she turned her face towards Katrina.
"No, it just feels like little butterflies."
"So just what you felt when you were with Sherlock?"
"Tara!", Katrina smiled and hugged her. But she was right. Just the day before she told her about the ball she was at with him, how they danced together and enjoyed their time. And how it felt for her to be in love with him.
—-
It was a strange occurrence that their next case led them to the private ball of one of the biggest investors in London. The huge residence he had just outside the city was ridiculous and felt like an insult to everyone who couldn't afford rent in the city and its surroundings. But John Myers, the investor, was sure that someone was planning a murder on him and so it was her and Sherlock's job to investigate on it. Myers had his daughter in law in mind, who in his opinion wanted revenge for him cutting a huge part of his son's heritage. It wasn't a case Sherlock was too interested in, but it was the best he could get to this time, and since he didn't want to sit at home and be bored, he chose to take it. It was the peak of summer and the nights were warm, so Myers decided to hold his ball in his big gardens.
As usual, Sherlock insisted on picking Katrina up directly from home. She realised that he tried to find the silliest reasons to spend more time with her, but she didn't mind. She liked his company, even if he could get difficult from time to time. She remembered this one time, when he shot all the vases inside his flat, for scientific reasons as he called it. He wanted to know how porcelain bursts depending on the distance the bullet was shot from. Mrs Hudson of course wasn't happy about it, but as usual, she accepted Sherlock's weird behaviour.
Katrina stood just outside her parent's house, dressed in her dark red dress, that was an A-line until just under her knees and head a pretty neck holder. She shivered. Even though it was summer, it was still slightly chilly, especially when the wind was blowing. Ciri stayed at home, so all she had to hold onto was her handbag and her cane. It didn't take Sherlock long in his taxi to arrive. He went out, greeted her with a soft kiss on her cheek and held her arm to help her into the car.
"You look marvellous!", he said, as she fastened her seatbelt and placed her handbag next to her.
"You for sure look too!", she answered, smiling at him. Katrina heard him huff. Was he getting red? She wanted to know, but couldn't just ask him.
"So, are we going to dance?", she asked after some minutes into the traffic. She really had no idea what he would answer. She could imagine him saying both, either loving to dance or despising it.
"No, or, I mean, do you want to?", he stumbled upon his words.
"Well, I wouldn't say no if you asked me to!", oh, was that too flirty? She immediately got worried that her answer might have scared him.
"Oh, well, let's see how the evening is going. And, of course, how the suspect is behaving. We might want to keep our eyes, erm, and ears open!"
"Don't worry, I don't take that personally.", Katrina grinned at his saying.
"You don't need your crane, just take my arm and follow my guidance.", Sherlock said when he helped Katrina out of the car. She nodded and took it. His arm was warm and strong and his muscles seemed to tighten when she got hold of him. She felt gravel crunching under her feet and it was difficult to keep hold of her balance in her heels. One thing she learned after turning blind was to completely trust other people's lead. She just had to trust Sherlock not to let her run into anything or anyone. But something in her told her she could let go of her worries and just follow him.
—-
Her grip was soft yet firm on his arm. He was careful to guide her through the mass of people, not letting her run into something or someone. He wouldn't tell her, but he tried to make their way to the table as long as possible, too good was the feeling of her warm grip on his arm. He was scared of what she was able to do to him and in his worries he looked at her profile. Her milky eyes followed no specific things in the distance, there was a light smile on her face, that made her cheekbones even more visible. A curl bounced next to her nose, something in him made him want to touch it. He then realised the ticklish feeling inside his belly. He stretched out his arm, wanted to adjust the curl, feel its softness, when suddenly John Myers appeared.
"Ah, Mr Holmes! What a delight to see you here. Oh - and your… significant other! Pleased to meet you, Ms!", he announced in a deep voice trying to kiss Katrina's hand.
"Oh, we are actually kind of colleagues. Katrina Brown, nice to meet you!", she said with a friendly smile towards him. Colleagues. There was a slight hope inside Sherlock that she would refer to them as something more. But after all, she was right, they were just colleagues.
"It appears to me that you are blind! How come the great Mr Holmes requires your help?", he asked with a grin on his face Sherlock definitely didn't like.
"Believe it or not, Mr Myers, she is the very best when it comes to deductions. It not only requires one's eyes, when it comes to finding a clue. But, referring to clues and deductions, would you be so kind as to introduce us to the suspect?", he asked in his deep baritone. Myers cleared his throat and looked down to his shoes briefly.
"The lady is standing right there over the table with champagne. The one with the pink long dress. Amelie is the name.", Sherlock looked at the mentioned direction and narrowed his eyes at the sight of her. A blond young woman was laughing and talking with a man next to her.
"This? This is my son Arthur.", Myers added as if he realised the questioning look on Sherlock's eyes.
"I know. If you would excuse us now.", he mumbled and walked away with Katrina on his arm.
"Did he offend you?", he whispered.
"Oh come on, I have a tough shell.", she smiled. Still he worried about her. He didn't want her to think of being anyone less important than him.
The curl was still bouncing next to her nose when they talked about the next steps of the deduction. And everytime she smiled, he even more wanted to touch her face and take a grasp of her soft hair. But he didn't. Instead he tried to prolong their walk to their table as much as possible, hoping that no one would notice him strolling around the yard like a fool.
"Quite a way to our table, huh?", Katrina said and giggled. Thank God she couldn't see the faint blush on his face.
"Here we go!", he said, helped her on her chair and sat next to her.
—-
"Hello there, Miss!", she almost choked on the piece of fruit she just ate from the desert. An unfamiliar voice appeared at her back, too close to be ignored. Music was playing in the background and people started to dance. Katrina has always been a rather slow eater so it was to no surprise that she was still sitting here with her food.
"Hello!", she briefly answered while whipping her mouth.
"I was wondering if you would fancy a dance with me? And believe me, I am familiar with almost all the dances there are.", he grinned, when he grabbed a chair next to her and leaned his head on his hand. She looked at him with surprise.
"Oh, but I can't. But maybe you will lead me?", she asked. He probably realised her milky eyes staring not into his, but just towards his direction, when he stood up again.
"Oh Miss, I am sorry, I totally forgot that I already promised the next dance to another woman. But believe, we can dance later if you like!", he responded, cleared his throat and left.
"This guy will never come back.", she plainly said, looking at Sherlock. And then they both broke out in laughter. She was used to guys not wanting to be involved with her. To difficult it was for them to be with a disabled person. She didn't blame them, somehow she even understood.
"Will you dance with me?", she then heard Sherlock say and the laughter suddenly disappeared.
"I mean, also the mentioned suspect is dancing now and you could grasp a bit of the conversation with Arthur.", he immediately added. For a moment she hoped that he would like to dance with her just like that, but she knew they had a job to do.
"Lead the way!", she smiled at him, held out her arm and waited for him to grab it.
—-
He laid his hand on her lower back after he had put her's on his shoulder. They were swaying to a slow romantic song. He smelled the perfume on her neck, which he so urgently wanted to kiss. He made sure they were close to Amelie, so Katrina could clearly hear the words she was exchanging with her husband. They danced closely, letting it seem as if they were just another couple who participated in the dance. He pulled her closer to him, allowing her to reach her head more over his shoulder, even though she was quite smaller than him.
"It's not her, it's her husband. His son!", she whispered into his ear. Her lips were close to him and her breath tingled on his neck. He swallowed and suddenly felt his manhood twitching underneath his trousers. It was difficult to distract himself from that feeling, so he focused his mind on Myers, who was sitting on a chair not far away from the dancefloor.
"Sherlock, are you listening?", she whispered again.
"Huh? Oh, yes. Have you heard something?", he asked her, clearing his throat slightly.
—-
The night ended much earlier than Katrina wished for. They revealed that Myer's son was actually the one who planned to kill his father. It all ended in a major family tragedy and the police crashing the event.
They were sitting next to each other in the cab, not saying any word for a long time.
"Don't you want to join me to Baker Street and enjoy a glass of wine?", Sherlock suddenly asked, rubbing his hands together.
"I would love to! Tara anyways is with her grandparents now and probably already in bed.", Katrina immediately replied, happy about his suggestion.
They enjoyed a lovely rest of the late evening, chatting on the sofa, enjoying their glasses of wine. They eventually moved into Sherlock's bedroom, in order to not disturb John in his sleep. Katrina smiled, when she realised, that they both fell asleep on his bed, cuddling up to each other, not bothering to move even an inch from each other.