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The split was messy, there's no doubt about that. Yelling, screaming, tears, red faces. A horrible, awful breakup that Molly had never before endured. Although, if she were to be honest, she was happy that it happened. Things with Tom felt forced on her end and she was able to get everything off of her chest when they broke up. Yes, she was angry, but not sad. Breaking up with Tom got rid of a lot of issues in her life, except one; her mother's visit.
Mother Hooper had not had the pleasure of meeting Tom before the split. She was coming to do just that, as well as help Molly plan some wedding details. Her plane ticket was purchased (she'd moved to New York after Molly's father died) as well as reservations to her favorite restaurant and tickets to a show that Molly and her mum both wanted to see. Now, Molly loved her mum. She was happy that she was visiting. Her mum just didn't know about the breakup and Molly didn't know how to tell her about it. She also didn't want to have a night out alone with her mother, considering she would be interrogating Molly with things like "what was wrong with this one?" and "did you scare him away again with the cadavers?" or "maybe you were too needy too quickly." Molly's stomach churned at the thought of enduring her mother's questioning.
The day of Mother Hooper's arrival came, and Molly found herself unable to sleep the night before. She rehearsed how to tell her mother of her newest failed relationship and found that she couldn't find a good way to spit it out. Molly was at a loss. As soon as it was an acceptable hour to call, Molly did the only thing she could think of and rang Mrs. Hudson.
"Hi dear, is everything okay?" Mrs. Hudson's voice came through sounding confused.
"Oh," Molly began playing with the bottom of her shirt. "I guess. Listen, can you do me a favor?"
"Of course! What do you need?"
Molly explained the breakup and her mother's visit to the older woman. When she finished, Mrs. Hudson let out a sigh. "I'm sorry about Tom. He seemed nice. I'll definitely make it tonight, don't you worry."
"Thank you so much!" Molly ended the call.
That day passed slowly. Molly picked up her mum from the airport, and got an earful on what New York was like on the drive home. Then back at Molly's flat, her mum insisted on cleaning everything, even though nothing was terribly filthy to begin with. "Your flat looks like a natural disaster went through here! How can you let it get like this? I raised you to clean up after yourself, Molly!" The younger woman just let out a heavy sigh and went off to get ready for dinner that night.
Eventually, Molly was ready to go in her slim blue dress and black heels. Her mother followed suit with a blue pantsuit. As they took their table in the restaurant, Molly couldn't help but feel that Mrs. Hudson wasn't arriving quickly enough.
"Tom won't be able to make it tonight, Mum. He got tied up at work," she told her mother.
Mother Hooper looked to her daughter. "That's a shame, I was so looking forward to meeting him tonight. Tomorrow will work, instead."
Molly busied herself with looking at her menu. "I suppose tomorrow will. I do have another friend coming tonight, though. She said it would be lovely to meet you and she didn't want to stick you with me."
Her mother laughed. "Can't wait to meet her."
Molly scanned the items on the menu but didn't bother to pay attention to them. She was instead thinking of how she would tell her mother of breaking her engagement. Molly's thoughts began getting the best of her, until a deep voice shook her from thought.
"Mrs. Hooper, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," the familiar voice spoke quietly and Molly looked up to Sherlock. Her mouth fell open and a string of silent questions flowed out, none of which she got to ask before Sherlock leaned down to give her a swift kiss. "You're looking great tonight, Molly. This is your mother, yes?"
Molly's mum nodded. "You must be Tom."
"The one and only!" Sherlock grinned.
"Th-this..." Molly stammered, "is all great but Tom can I speak with you for a moment?"
Sherlock nodded and stood, following Molly to a wall of the restaurant.
"Sherlock Holmes, what the hell are you doing here?" she hissed out.
"Mrs. Hudson sent me. She said you needed a Tom for the evening and it's no use arguing with Mrs. Hudson. Don't worry about anything, just let your mother think I'm your fiance." Sherlock shrugged and hurried back to the table.
Molly followed and let out a string of profanities under her breath. When she sat down again, she saw that Sherlock and her mother were getting along well. She laughed as Sherlock told her funny stories about Molly, taking just a little too much time trying to describe Molly's hair after a particularly bad day with Toby at the vet.
Dinner passed quickly. She didn't have to do much, just listen to Sherlock and her mum converse. He tried his hardest to divert conversation away from their "engagement" and managed to be a charmer. He even picked up the check, and offered to pay for her mother's cab fare back to her hotel. When they were left alone once more on the streets of London, headed towards her flat, Molly took the opportunity to ask Sherlock about the evening. "How were you able to act that way so well?"
"Simple," he replied. "It was merely a part that was easy to play. Tom was rather two-dimensional, no offense, and I already knew most of those stories from you. It wasn't hard at all."
"All right. Why did you help me?"
"I told you. It's not easy going against Mrs. Hudson's will." Sherlock sighed.
Molly nodded. "Well thank you. I didn't want to be left alone with my mum. I mean, not that I don't like her, I love her more than anyone. It just would have been awkward with her expecting to meet my fiance only to find out we split and she came back to London for nothing." She laughed nervously.
They approached her building and Molly turned to Sherlock. "Really, thank you so much. It means a lot."
He smiled down at her. "Anytime, Molly. It was sort of fun playing your fiance." Sherlock bent down to kiss her forehead. "Goodnight." He turned and walked away.
Molly got up to her flat and realised that, while her mother got to meet "Tom", she would still have to explain why they weren't getting married. ALthough she'd save that for some other day.