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When John woke up, he felt like something was wrong. The clock said 9 a.m., but it seemed a little too dark. Getting up, he opened the curtains of the bedroom window.
"Oh dear."
"John?" said Sherlock sleepily.
"We appear to be snowed in," John informed him.
Sherlock got up, getting his cane and slowly making his way over to look outside. Snow was piled about three quarters up the window.
"Well... this could be a problem."
John laughed. "I'll go see if the front door is blocked."
"I'll go check the back."
John opened the front door to find himself looking a chest-high white wall. Sighing, he closed the door and headed towards the kitchen, where the back door was. He came in to see Sherlock sitting at the table.
"Well?"
"Snowed in," said Sherlock.
"I wonder if Henry can help us out," John mused.
"No," Sherlock replied, "he's on holiday."
John sighed. "I suppose we should call Arthur. Is he busy?"
"Not that I know of."
John nodded. Going to the bedroom, he got his mobile from the nightstand and came back into the kitchen as he made the call.
"Hello?"
"Arthur? It's your dad."
"Hey, dad! What's up?"
"Care to take a trip out to the country?"
"Ooh, sounds fun," said Arthur. "What's up?"
"We're snowed in. We could use some help here, if you can manage."
"Sure! I'll get some of my mates and we'll be out there in a few hours. Can you hold out that long?"
"Yeah, we're fine," John replied. "The electricity's working, so we've got heat, and we've got plenty of food and whatnot... we'll be okay for awhile."
"All right, I'll be out as soon as I can."
"Thanks, Arthur."
"No prob. We'll be right out."
"Okay, we’ll see you soon."
Sherlock got to his feet. "I'm going to go start a fire."
"Okay," said John. "I might as well make us some breakfast."
John cleared the breakfast dishes, then headed into the living room. Like the bedroom, the living room was darker than usual. Sherlock had a light on as he read a book about historic uses for honey.
"Hey, honey," said John, giving him a kiss, then sitting next to him and opening up his laptop.
"I hope you didn't have any plans outside today," said Sherlock.
"Nothing that can't wait until we get dug out," John replied.
Sherlock nodded. Then he smiled. "It's a good excuse to see Arthur again, anyway."
"Yeah, true," said John, smiling as well.
It was nearly noon when they got another phone call from Arthur telling them that he had arrived to dig them out. Opening the front door, John could just see above the snow, and saw Arthur and his friends with their shovels.
"Oy, Arthur!"
"Hey, dad!" He waved and smiled. "We'll have you out in no time!"
"Thanks!"
John walked into the kitchen and was surprised to see Sherlock standing over the stove. He walked over and saw that he was stirring a pot full of cocoa.
"That smells absolutely lovely," John told his husband, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you," said Sherlock. "I've made enough for all of us."
He spooned out some of it into a small cup, then sipped it.
"Needs a little more milk," he commented. He took the carton and poured some into the pot.
John laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"You've always said cooking is like chemistry, but I can't imagine you just casually pouring chemicals together without measuring them."
"The wrong amount of milk won't make the kitchen explode, either," Sherlock countered with a grin.
John laughed again. "Fair enough."
"Get out some mugs, would you?" said Sherlock as he lifted the pot off the burner and set it on a trivet.
John had seen four men, including Arthur, so he got that many extra mugs off the shelf. He got his own RAMC mug, then turned to Sherlock.
"Bart's or the Met?"
"The Met."
John got Sherlock's New Scotland Yard mug down.
There was some noise from the front hall, then the sound of Arthur shouting, "Dad!"
"We're in the kitchen! Come on in!"
Arthur and his friends entered the kitchen. They were all large men; John suspected they were Arthur's fellow rugby players.
"Hey!" John hugged Arthur. "Thanks."
"No problem, dad." He smiled and turned to Sherlock. "Morning, father."
"Good morning, Arthur," Sherlock said as he poured out cocoa for everyone.
John took the mugs and began handing them out to the boys.
"Thanks!" said one of them, taking the offered mug and moving out of the way.
"Yeah, thanks, Mr..."
"Doctor Watson," Arthur corrected. "And Mister Holmes," he added pointing to Sherlock.
"Thanks, Dr. Watson, Mr. Holmes."
After their cocoa, Arthur's three friends left. They had arrived in two cars so that Arthur could stay behind and visit with his parents.
"It's good to see you two. I'm sorry I haven't been to see you much lately."
"Don’t worry about it, Arthur," replied Sherlock with a dismissive wave of his hand. "John has made plenty of friends out here, and you know how anti-social I am."
Arthur laughed. "Yeah, okay," he said, sipping the last of his cocoa.
"Would you like some more?" John asked, starting to get up.
"Yeah, thanks."
As John got them all more cocoa, Sherlock smiled at his son.
"How is school going?"
"Good. I'm so glad this term is almost over though... it's been a real bear."
Sherlock smiled. "I'm sure you'll do fine."
"Thanks, father."
"How's Lisa?" John asked as he handed him his cocoa.
"She's great! Oh, she said to tell you 'hi' next time I saw you, so... Hi!"
John sat down next to Sherlock, both of them sitting across from Arthur.
"So," said John with a twinkle in his eye, "when are you going to pop the question?"
"Dad!"
John laughed.
Sherlock rolled his eyes. "Don’t mind your dad, Arthur. After all, he didn't get married until he was in his fifties, so he has no room to talk."
"Hey!" John turned to Arthur. "It's just that Lisa seems like a great gal, and I don't want you to let her get away."
Arthur laughed. "Relax, dad. Like father said, we're both still young, and we'd like to at least graduate before we get married. In fact, it'd be nice if we had good jobs so we could pay for the wedding ourselves."
"So, you have discussed marriage?" Sherlock asked.
"Only vaguely," Arthur replied. He shrugged. "We're both just enjoying the ride for now."
"Well," John conceded, "I guess as long as you're happy."
"I am, dad." Arthur looked between his two parents. "How are you two?"
John turned to his husband, who raised a questioning eyebrow. Smiling, John gave Sherlock a kiss.
"We're amazing."
Arthur smiled.
"Well... I need to be going."
"We'll walk you out," said John.
"So," Arthur said as he stood on the walkway, "You'll be coming to London for Christmas?"
"Yeah, we'll be there," said John.
"Good," Arthur replied. Then, for no apparent reason, he let out a chuckle.
Sherlock looked at his son curiously. "What's so funny?"
Arthur pointed to the door. "Look..."
Sherlock started out the door; John took his arm and helped support him on the slippery walkway. They walked out and turned, looking at the door. Arthur and his friends had inadvertently shoveled the snow in a half-circle. John stepped forward and closed the front door; it now looked circular, at least at the bottom.
"It kind of makes it look like a Hobbit hole," said Arthur.
"Hmmm," said Sherlock. "I think I'm bit tall for a Hobbit..." He turned and looked at John. "You-"
"Oh, don’t start..."
Arthur laughed.
"Maybe a tall, well-shaved dwarf," Sherlock observed softly.
"Funny," said John. Then: "You deleted the solar system, but you remember Tolkien?"
"Tolkien is more interesting than the solar system," replied Sherlock.
Everyone chuckled at this.
"Well, I'll see you two soon," said Arthur, stepping forward and hugging John, then Sherlock.
"Thanks again," said John.
"Yes, thank you, Arthur."
"Anytime, dads."