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“Come back to bed, John…”, Sherlock groaned as he rolled around to face the side of the bed John sat on. “I can’t, remember?” John leaned back down to kiss his husband, “I have to get some shopping done before we go to Rosie for dinner and I have a meeting this afternoon with the woman who wants to take over the surgery?” He wanted to push himself up, but Sherlock had already wrapped his long arms around his neck and pulled him down again. “Hmmm, boring. I know something loads more fun!” John smiled against Sherlock’s lips. “Really?” “Really.” John let himself lay down on top of Sherlock, who was now fully awake. “Then show me…”
*****
After an incredibly enjoyable morning and some less enjoyable meetings and shopping, they arrived at Rosie’s and Tim’s house. After they married, they moved out of the city into the suburbs to have a little bit more space. And maybe also to get away from two very nosy and very protective men who always seemed to know everything, but if you asked Timothy, it’s just the first reason.
“Dad! Father! How are you?” Rosie opened the door with a big smile, although she seemed a bit nervous. “Great, darling, sorry we’re late, we got a bit delayed this morning!” John gave Sherlock a soft smile, while Rosie tried to ignore that comment. She had gotten quite good at ignoring comments like that. “Hello, Rosa Mea”, Sherlock looked at her from top to toe and kissed her as he followed John into the living room. Timothy was busy in the kitchen but came to greet them both. “Hello, John. Sherlock, how are you?” “Hmmm, good. I see you are doing great too.” “Uhm, yes, well, yes, I was just cooking, Uhm, yes, I should probably check up on that…” “Father, please stop!” Rosie gave her father a look that meant ‘stop, but also please keep going’. “We have been married for more than 2 years; you can stop scaring Tim!” “No, sorry, boring…” Sherlock smiled and John laughed while he sat down on the couch.
“Do you want something to drink? We have champagne!” “That would be lovely, love, thank you!”
*****
Rosie sat down next to John while Timothy poured the champagne. Sherlock sat down in the armchair. “When are you going to tell us the big news?” “Wh... What big news?” Timothy tried to sound relaxed but failed tremendously. “Right, you really can’t control yourself, can you?” Rosie laughed and pulled Timothy next to her on the couch. “What news?” John asked a bit agitated he was again the last to know.
“Well,” Rosie hesitated, “We wanted to wait until dinner, but with father, that was always a bit optimistic.” She smiled at Sherlock, who just said: “Then you shouldn’t make it so obvious!” “Can someone please just tell me!” John was getting curious now. “Rosie’s, Rosie’s pregnant!” Tim blurted out. “Congratulations!” John stood up to hug Rosie and Timothy, while Sherlock just sat in his chair. “Congratulations, Rosa Mea!” “How many weeks?” John asked. “8 weeks!” Rosie sounded really excited. “I’m so happy for both of you! We are going to be grandfathers, Sherlock!” “Always so observant, John”, Sherlock smiled and stood up to hug Rosie and to give Timothy a handshake. “I warned you about that expired condom!” Timothy went red and stuttered, “Ha, well, hum, not really, Uhm, this particular, uhm…, instance…”, while Rosie just looked at Sherlock and John quizzically, “What are you talking about?” John laughed and looked at Sherlock, who just seemed very pleased with Timothy’s reaction, and said: “The first time you brought Tim home, Sherlock deduced he had an expired condom in his wallet.” “Father, really!?”
*****
Later that night, John and Sherlock lay in bed. “You really knew already?” “Yes.” “Since when?” “Since they came to have dinner with us.” “That was 6 weeks ago!” “That’s why you are my blogger, otherwise I would miss imported clues like that!” Sherlock smiled at Johns played offended face, “Prat” “Hey, you wanted to marry me! You knew exactly what you were in for!” “That’s true! Still the best decision of my life!” John kissed Sherlock and stroked his hand through his dark curls, which had gotten significantly lighter in the past few years. “We’re going to be grandparents… I bet even you couldn’t see that one coming 30 years ago!” “Hmm, no. But I still hoped that if I ever got the courage to kiss you, we would grow old together and start a family.” He looked John deep in his eyes and kissed him. “But I never even dared to dream I would ever be this happy…” John reciprocated the kiss and let himself be drowned in an entanglement of limbs, curls, and kisses. “Me too, Sherlock, me too”
*** 5 months later ***
John sat on the couch, while Sherlock laid with his head in John’s lap. Sherlock had his eyes closed, while John was reading his book. Sherlock opened his eyes when they heard the door open. “That will be Rosie” “Hmm, right, I should probably put the kettle on.” “Probably”. Sherlock still didn’t move. “Love?” “Yes, John?” “I will have to get up if I have to put the kettle on…” “Oh, well, she probably won’t want any tea anyways.” John laughed, “Right”
“What are you two laughing about?” Rosie stood panting in the doorway, “Why are there so many stairs?” “Rosa Mea! Here, sit down. Do you want a cup of tea?” Sherlock leapt to his feet quickly so Rosie could sit on the couch. “Tea would be nice, thank you, father.” She sat down next to John. “This baby has to be really cute to make up for ruining all my bodily functions!” John laughed: “Are you feeling that bad? At least your father will get up to make you tea, he never does that for me.” “I make you tea all the time, John! Don’t tell our daughter lies!”: Sherlock yelled from the kitchen. “I wouldn’t dream of it, love! How did the appointment go, Rosie?” Rosie was silently laughing at the bickering of her dads. “It was great, the baby is fine and healthy. Tim was with me, but he had to go back to work after. We have a picture; I can show it to you”
Sherlock came back from the kitchen with three cups of tea and gave one to Rosie, one to John and sat down in the chair next to the couch with his cup. “Let’s see…” Rosie pulled her phone out and opened the picture. She gave the phone to Sherlock who inspected it intensely. Both of them knew what that look meant, so John and Rosie carried on chatting about the nursery and Rosie’s job. After 10 minutes, Sherlock gave back the phone to Rosie with a smile. “Thank you, Rosa Mea.” “Did you put it in your mind palace?” “Of course. I have to capture every moment of your life.” Rosie gave a soft smile as she looked at the sonogram. “I love you too, father”
“He means it, you know?”; John said, “He has memorized every single moment of your life. He made room by completely forgetting the entire solar system!” “If you still insist the universe is more important than our daughter, John, I will point out to you how…” but John had already interrupted him. “I don’t think the universe is more important than our daughter, I’m saying you forget relatively important details of physics to make room for our daughter, which is incredibly sweet!” “Sweet? I’m not sweet!” “Yes, you are!” Rosie and John said at the same time, which made them laugh at Sherlock’s disgruntled face. “You are my very sweet and soft husband, accept it, love!” John laughed and stood up to kiss Sherlock. He sat down on the armrest.
“Did you really remember every single moment of my life, father?”, Rosie was now curious. “Of course, I did, Rosa Mea. I still remember how you had the same face as John when you didn’t like something. I remember every single time you sat on John’s lap as I read your bedtime story. I remember every time you came home crying and I remember how you laughed when I deduced people on the streets. I remember you lost your packet of raisins at our wedding and I remember how Mrs Hudson held you until I found it. Everything is important when it comes to you.” Rosie looked at Sherlock with tears in her eyes, smiling. “Thank you, father. I love you so much!” She stood up to hug him. “I love you both, this baby is going to be so lucky with two amazing grandfathers” John smiled and said: “Don’t forget about the amazing parents, darling…”
*** 2 months later ***
The phone had rung about 6 times before Sherlock was finally able to reach it. After John’s retirement was final, they had a lot of time to ‘enjoy’ themselves, if you wished to phrase it delicately. Of course, Sherlock himself would phrase it a bit more explicit, but then he had never been one for sugar-coating the truth. He was still catching his breath when he answered the phone. “221B, Sherlock Holmes-Watson.” “Sherlock? Hey! So, Rosie has gone into labour and we’re at the hospital and they say the baby could arrive either really fast or really slow but I don’t know, and I just wanted to call you before Rosie will yell at me again and she is yelling at me now and…” In the background, Sherlock heard Rosie shout “Tell my dads they have to come right now or they will miss the birth of their first grandchild!” “Well, yes that was Rose so, I guess…” “Tim?” “Yes?” “We’ll come, but please stop rambling!” “Right, thanks, bye, I have to go!”
“Sherlock! Whoever is calling best be worth it because…” Sherlock interrupted John, “Rosies went into labour!” “Shit! Right, I’ll get dressed!”
*****
“They are having a boy”, Sherlock looked at John, who sat in the hospital waiting room chair next to him, nervously fidgeting with his thumbs. “How do you know? How could you possibly deduce that!?” “I can’t. But I think it’s going to be a boy.” John smiled. “The great Sherlock Holmes can’t deduce if his own grandchild is going to be a boy or a girl?” “Holmes-Watson nowadays and how could I possibly deduce the sex of an unborn child?” “The shape of her belly? The nature of her cravings? The way she walks? I don’t know!” “Well, I am, unfortunately, not all-knowing, although I come close.” John laughed. Sherlock looked down and saw he had stopped fidgeting. “She’ll be all right, John. That I do know for sure.” Sherlock took John’s hand and kissed his palm. “I love you, Sherlock, but stop lying.” “I have never lied to you!”
Before John could answer, Timothy ran in. “She did it! It’s a boy!” They both jumped up and hugged and congratulated Timothy. “Can we see her?” “Oh, right, shit, I didn’t ask! Completely forgot!” “Don’t worry, Tim, go ask her first!” Tim ran away again, practically jumping from excitement.
“See?” John laughed and kissed Sherlock. “God, I love you!” “Close but still not god!” Sherlock smiled and John shook his head and said: “Git”, before giving him another kiss.
*****
“He’s beautiful, Rosie!” John smiled at Rosie and looked at his grandson again. “Hello, little fellow.” Rosie smiled and looked at Sherlock. “Father, are you crying?” “I… I just never thought I would ever be lucky enough to have such a beautiful daughter, healthy grandson, and amazing husband. I love you, Rosa Mea.” He kissed her on her forehead. “I love you too, father.” John smiled at Sherlock who was still crying happy tears. “Do you have a name yet?” “Well, we thought a lot about names the past few months and we decided to name him Charlie Sherlock John Durling.” Timothy put an arm around his wife and smiled at her. John had never seen him so happy and proud. “You named him after us?” Even John was now close to tears. “Yes, well, and my grandfather. But we felt that it was only right to name our son after the two greatest men we know.” “Come here, Tim”, John hugged Timothy. “Thank you. For everything. We love you too.” Timothy looked a bit awkward at first, but then he relaxed to hug his father-in-law, “Thank you, John. And Sherlock of course.” Sherlock was still enchanted by his daughter and her son, but gave Tim a small nod, with a smile. Rosie smiled. She knew her dads would always keep teasing Tim, but she also knew they had welcomed him into the family long ago.
*****
“So, I guess we really are old men now, aren’t we?” Sherlock leaned against the counter while John was putting the kettle on. They had left Rosie to rest and to spend time with her new family. Tim’s parents lived across the country and would arrive separately tomorrow morning to meet their new grandson, but they definitely didn’t want to be there when Tim’s mother would yell at his father. “Yes, I guess we really are.” John turned to face Sherlock. “Although, I still feel pretty young.” He smiled. “Hmmm, really?” Sherlock licked his lips. John hooked his fingers through the loops of Sherlock’s trousers and locked him in between the counter and his hips. “Yes really.” John’s lips were now mere inches away from Sherlocks. “We never got to finish this morning.” “Oh well, we can’t have that…” Sherlock’s lips twitched into a mischievous smile and he closed the distance between their lips. Even after all they had been through, even after all these years, even after all this love, every kiss they shared still felt like that very first kiss on that cold night they had finally gotten the courage to comfort each other…