Archive of Our Own

Mrs. Hudson shook the rain off her coat as she fluttered into The Muffin Man. “Sorry I’m late. Sherlock set fire to some unknown liquid in my best pots.”

Mrs. Holmes rolled her eyes with a knowing, “Not to worry. I’m sure it’s not the first time.”

They sat down in their usual spot and waited for tea and pastries. It wasn’t long before Hrs. Holmes noticed the couple a few tables away.

“Isn’t that, umm, that nice young lady who works with Sherlock?”

Mrs. Hudson turned to look. “Oh yes! Molly! Let’s go over and say ‘hello’.” As they approached the table, Mrs. Hudson started to notice that the woman with Molly looked very familiar.

Molly looked up and blushed. She let go of companion's hand and pulled her hair behind her ears out of habit. “Oh Mrs. Hudson! Oh, gosh, umm, you remember Sally?”

Sally looked up and smiled slightly; feeling unsure about whether or not Mrs. Hudson would approve. During her visits to 221B she had never seemed to be the most pleasant of people, but she had been genuinely trying to do her job. She only recently got up the courage to ask Molly on a date last week.

Mrs. Hudson smiled and nodded toward Sally, “Yes, you’re the one who works with Mr. Gorgeous.”

Sally let out a little laugh and replied, “I’ll tell him you said that,” before looking toward the other lady and holding out her hand, “I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure.”

“I’m Mrs. Holmes, Sherlock’s mum. It’s so nice to meet you. I hope we weren’t interrupting. We should probably be on our way, Martha, don’t you think? Our tea’s arrived.” They said their goodbyes and nice-meeting-yous and headed back to their table.

“I didn’t realize they were together,” Mrs. Hudson whispered to her companion.

Molly apologized to Sally and took her hand again.

“It’s fine,” Sally grinned. The moment their skin touched, Molly's eyes came into sharp focus while everything around them blurred and Sally's grin became a content smile. “I didn’t expect to see anyone we knew either. I’m just glad to be with you today.”

Molly smiled and looked up at her, replying, "And I'm glad to be with you, too."

Their trance was broken when a plate of cakes was placed on the table. “Compliments of the ladies over there.” Sally and Molly looked past the waiter to see Mrs. Hudson and Mrs. Holmes both with wide smiles and little waving. Mrs. Hudson threw in a wink while both Molly and Sally mouthed thank yous.

Molly looked back at Sally and raised her eyebrows. “Can’t decline complimentary cake.”

“Absolutely not,” agreed Sally.