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The movers brought in the last box around noon. Irene had kept very few of her belongings, saying they reminded her of her time spent holed up in a prison, so there was very little to unpack. Holmes had said he was going to be there, but Tobias had called him and Joan in on a case just as the movers arrived. Thankfully, Irene was not at the home alone; Miss Hudson was there with her. The two of them had hit it off just as well as Irene and Joan had, and so it was hoped that would make it easier for all four of them to reside under the same roof.
“How many of these boxes are heading upstairs?” Miss Hudson asked.
“Anything marked bedroom,” Irene said, going over to the stacks of fifteen boxes. “At least the movers sorted everything by room. That will make it easier.”
“There is that,” she replied with a smile, going over to join her. “And don’t you think of lifting any of these.”
Irene smiled slightly. “I’m only two and a half months pregnant. I can carry a few boxes up the stairs.”
“No, I insist. I know it probably is not a big deal, but better to be safe than sorry, right?”
“I suppose. There’s only seven boxes going upstairs, and most of them are clothes.”
“At least they took the dresser and vanity upstairs. I don’t think even the two of us could have moved them,” Miss Hudson replied, taking her heels off and setting them by the boxes. “I’ll take the boxes if you take the garment bags.”
“I can do that,” Irene said with a nod, grabbing two of the bags that were draped over the shortest stack of boxes. The two of them made their way upstairs, and once the first round of belongings was upstairs they went for the rest. After Irene brought up all the garment bags she began to take her clothes out and hang them in the closet.
When Miss Hudson had brought up the fifth box she saw Irene staring at the closet. “Irene? Are you all right?”
“I don’t even know why I brought all these clothes,” she said quietly. “Soon enough I’m not going to be able to fit into any of them.”
“Pregnancy is only a temporary thing,” Miss Hudson said with a smile. “In six months you’ll be flat as a board again. And who knows? You may even have a few extra curves.”
Irene smiled. “I haven’t really thought about after the pregnancy. I suppose it’s just now hitting me.”
Miss Hudson chuckled. “It happens to everyone. Well, except maybe me, though some day I would like to be a mother.”
“Well, if my opinion counts, I think you’d be a fantastic mother some day,” she replied, going over to the other woman and giving her a hug. “I suppose I just needed some reassurance.”
“Oh, Sherlock should be providing that, but I am glad I could help,” she said as she hugged Irene back. “I’ll just have to practice with your child.”
“I can use all the help I can get,” Irene said as she let go. “I’m not sure if I have what it takes to be a good mother.”
“You’ll do fine,” Miss Hudson said. “Let me bring in the last two boxes and then I can finish helping you unpack.” She left then, and brought up the last two boxes quickly. Irene had already opened one of them, pulling out a vanity set. “Oh, that’s exquisite.”
“It was one of the few things of my mother’s I was allowed to keep,” Irene said quietly. “My former assistant kept it for me until I settled here in New York. She kept a few other mementos for me as well.”
“When did your mother die?” Miss Hudson asked gently.
“When I was ten,” she replied. “After she died my father tried to wipe away her existence. My grandmother kept some of her things, since she was her daughter, and then when I turned eighteen she gave them to me.” She pulled out a framed photograph and showed it to Miss Hudson. “This is my mother.”
“No pictures of your father?”
“My father was a bastard,” Irene said with a shrug. “It was one of the things that connected Sherlock and I when we were young. Neither of us felt our fathers deserved us.”
“I see,” Miss Hudson said with a nod. “Is he still alive?”
Irene shook her head. “He drank himself to death when I was twenty. I’m rather glad he wasn’t alive to see how I turned out. I’m sure if my mother had lived I wouldn’t have gone down that road, but I did and I suppose I brought shame to the family name of Adler before I stopped being Irene Adler.”
“Oh, dear,” Miss Hudson said, putting an arm around Irene’s shoulders. “You’re doing well now. You’re out of the business, out of the secret’s game, and you are in love with a man who loves you very much. I knew that long before I ever met you.”
“Oh?” Irene asked.
Miss Hudson nodded slightly. “When I first met him, he was drinking, among other things. One night he had too much wine with me and the whole story spilled out. It was painfully obvious he loved you and he’d thought he lost you forever.”
“Was this before or after I faked my death?”
“Before, I think. It only got worse after he got that news.”
“I am so sorry I put him through that,” she said quietly.
“He put himself through it. You did what you needed to survive.”
“I never would have survived had it not been for his cousin,” Irene pointed out. “Without the other Sherlock I would have been beheaded by terrorists.”
“Well, one day I hope to meet the other Sherlock Holmes,” Miss Hudson said with a smile, taking her arm from around Irene’s shoulders. “He sounds just as fascinating as our Sherlock.”
“I think he’s changed quite a bit since the last time I saw him. I would like to see this new and improved Sherlock as well,” Irene said with a smile of her own. “I need to thank him properly for saving me. I never really did thank him.”
“I’m sure he would like to hear it. It’s not every day a man gets to be a hero and save a damsel in distress.”
“Yes, I certainly was in distress,” she said with a slight chuckle. “And he certainly was a knight in shining armor, so to speak.”
“Then I definitely want to meet him now.” Miss Hudson straightened up. “Let’s get back to work, shall we? We still have eight other boxes to unpack downstairs.”
“All right, let’s get to work,” Irene said with a nod, going back into the box. This was a good place to be, she thought to herself. This could really be a real home, something she’d wanted since she was a little girl. She could be happy here, with the man she loved and good friends. As long as she had that, she could deal with anything.