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“I can’t believe you talked me into doing this,” Holmes grumbled towards Ms. Hudson as they walked out of the brownstone with Irene and Alfredo behind them.
“Oh, it will be fun,” she replied. “When have you ever gone to Times Square for New Year’s Eve?”
“Never,” he said. “But there will be crowds and it will be loud and hectic,” he said, glaring.
“I really want to go, Sherlock,” Irene said quietly as she locked the door behind them.
His glare softened. “Well, considering this will be our first actual date, I suppose I should stop complaining.” He looked to the car waiting for all of them, with Marcus leaning next to it. “I’m surprised you are not working crowd control tonight, Detective Bell.”
“That post is for patrol,” he said with a grin. “It’s a perk of being a homicide detective. And,” he added, opening up the passenger side for Ms. Hudson, “I get to use this vehicle to go wherever I want.”
“This is the only time I want to be in the back of a police car,” Alfredo said with a grin as he went around to the other side of the car. “You know, in all the years I’ve lived here I’ve never did the Times Square thing for New Year’s.”
“I want to do it at least once in my life,” Irene said as she opened up the side closest to her. “I’m used to fireworks being shot over the Thames, but I always watched that from some building where an exclusive party was going on.”
“I suppose I can handle the tedium of the crowds for one night,” Holmes said with a sigh.
Irene turned without getting into the car and kissed him softly. “I’ll make it up to you when we get home,” she murmured when she pulled away. Holmes grinned at her as she got into the car and he followed.
“Too bad Joan isn’t here,” Marcus said as he got in and buckled his seat belt. “Would have been nice if it was all of us.”
“Knowing her she is quite enjoying herself in London,” Holmes said as he got settled. “Lestrade would have made sure of it.”
“It’s strange knowing it’s already a new year for her and we’re still in the old year,” Ms. Hudson said. “Has anyone tried calling her yet?”
“She called me yesterday and said she was going to a gallery opening,” Irene replied. “If she was smart she left her phone where she’s staying.”
“Oh, a gallery opening,” Ms. Hudson said with a smile as she turned to look at Irene. “You and I should go to one soon.”
“That would be nice,” Irene said with a nod and a smile.
“I know the perfect one to attend, too.”
“It’s nice to see you leaving the house,” Holmes said as Irene leaned her head on his shoulder. “Perhaps tonight can be the start of many more dates.”
“Perhaps,” she said. “But soon I will be more visibly pregnant and it might be awkward. I never thought I would get pregnant, so I never bothered to think about how it would affect me.”
“When her feet get swollen you should definitely offer foot massages,” Marcus said, looking at Holmes in the rearview mirror. “That’ll win you some brownie points.”
“And when she gets strange food craving you need to go get the food,” Alfredo said. “No sending Joan to do it.”
“I have to do all the work, don’t I?” Holmes said sourly.
Irene chuckled. “As long as you flatter me when I feel fat and ugly I’ll let you off the hook.”
“I can do that. I could compose sonnets about your beauty,” he said.
“Oh, he’s definitely a keeper,” Ms. Hudson said brightly.
“I think so myself,” Irene said, squeezing his arm slightly.
They continued to chat until they got towards Times Square, and Marcus flashed his badge and got them into an area cordoned off to the public. He parked his car and everyone filed out. “Okay. In case we get separated, meet back here at…one A.M.,” Marcus said. “If you’re not here by then, good luck getting a cab home.”
“Yes, Detective,” Alfredo said with a grin. He looked over at Ms. Hudson and offered her his arm. “Shall we?”
“Ooh, dashing and gentlemanly,” she said with a smile, taking his arm. “I like that combination.”
Irene smiled as Holmes rolled his eyes slightly, watching the two of them and Marcus walk ahead of them. Irene grasped his hand and laced her fingers through his. “Oh, don’t do that,” she said.
“Do what?”
“Roll your eyes.” She began to move forward and he kept in step with her. “It’s a new year, a new start. You should be happy.”
“I am,” he replied. “I just…”
“You wish Joan was here,” Irene said sympathetically.
“Yes,” he said with a nod. “I know she is happy, and that she would like to spend as much time as possible with her new paramour, but it has not been the same since I came back.”
“I thought you enjoyed having the brownstone to ourselves,” she said with a frown.
“I did. I do. But I miss her.”
Irene stopped and he took a step before he realized she had stopped. He turned to look at her. “She is your best friend, I think. It is only right that you would miss her.” She smiled after a moment. “I miss her, too.”
“Good, then it’s not just me,” he said with a sigh of relief.
“No, it is not. But I’m taking advantage of my time alone with you, because soon Joan will be back, and then the child will be here. This may not happen again.”
Sherlock looked at her intently, then back at the others, who were walking farther away from them, then back to Irene. “Why don’t we explore Times Square on our own for a bit?” he suggested.
“I would like that very much,” she said, her smile widening even more. “As long as I get to watch the ball drop, that’s all that matters.” She stepped close to him and squeezed his hand. “Let’s be off.”
He grinned at her and they began walking again, chatting easily even when they began to encounter the crowds. It was nearly midnight when they found they couldn’t push past anyone anymore. “I suppose this is where we’ll have to stay,” he said.
“We only have three more minutes,” she said. She turned to stand in front of him, and she put her arms around his neck. “I like having to be this close to you.”
“You are rather close, aren’t you?” he murmured.
She nodded. “And tonight, when we get home, just remember that I promised I would make this up to you.” She leaned up slightly, putting her lips towards his ear. “I’ll do whatever you want, within reason.”
“Whatever I want,” he said with a grin as she pulled back again.
“Within reason.”
“I think perhaps this time you should have the handcuffs on,” he said.
“That could be interesting,” she said with a nod. She looked over towards where the ball was. “Two minutes now.”
“I could always start kissing you before midnight,” he said.
“Then I would miss the ball dropping. That’s the whole reason we’re out here.”
“Very well,” he said with a sigh.
“Oh, don’t look so disappointed. You get your wicked way with me tonight,” she said, looking at him again and removing one hand to swat at his shoulder. “I don’t think this will ever happen again, us being here. I want it to be memorable.”
“I can make it memorable,” he said, sliding his hands inside her coat and settling them on her lower back, pulling her flush against him. He inched her shirt up slightly.
“Oh, Sherlock,” she said with a smile. “Don’t do anything that will get you arrested. That would ruin the evening.”
“I won’t do anything,” he said. “It’s just that my hands are cold, and your skin is so warm.” He slid his hands up higher and stopped in the middle of her back. “There. I’ve stopped.”
“You’re incorrigible,” she said with a laugh. She turned back towards the ball, resting her head on his chest. Soon the countdown started, and Irene joined in. Sherlock joined in at five, watching the ball go lower and lower. Finally the countdown ended and everyone cheered. Irene pulled away and looked at him. “Happy New Year, Sherlock.”
“Happy New Year, Irene,” he said, and when she leaned up and kissed him he forgot for a moment that they were lost in a sea of people and it was loud and cramped and cold. He enjoyed the kiss and the promise of what this new year held for the both of them, and that was all he needed right then.