BBC Sherlock - One In A Million, Epilogue

[verucasalt123]

“Emmeline! What have you got into now?”

Sherlock, of course, jumped to her defense immediately. “It’s just an experiment. Nothing to worry about, John.”

“Right, an experiment to see how long it’s going to take you to scrub those crayons off the wall in here. No wait, you don’t think it’s going to be you, is it?”

Emmeline looked up at her dad with a perplexed expression. “Pretty, Da!. Papa said pretty!”

John’s heart melted a little, and he found himself unable to be angry about the crayon markings all over the white walls of her bedroom.

She was beautiful the moment she was born, and now, just a little more than two years later, she was still absolutely breathtaking. Dark, curly locks framing her face (Sherlock), upturned nose (John), a determined and proud look on her face (both of them).

During those first harrowing months, they’d gratefully accepted the help offered to them by Mrs Hudson, who had clearly spent some time with babies even though she hadn’t had any of her own, and by Greg, who’d been through it twice and gave them some of the best advice they could have ever hoped for. With time, though, Sherlock and John settled into it, learning as they went along. Sherlock had stuck John with the recent development of potty-training, and John had pawned off diaper-changes and middle of the night bottles on Sherlock. They worked together well as parents, so it seemed. John arranged his shifts at the surgery around Sherlock’s work with the Yard – it wasn’t the same now that they weren’t working together anymore, but one of them had to be home with the baby. On the occasions when Sherlock required John’s assistance at a crime scene, Mrs Hudson or Molly happily volunteered to babysit.

So, some things had changed. After the birth of their daughter, Sherlock never went back to chasing criminals down alleyways and he avoided putting himself in dangerous situations whenever he could help it. John made sure his shifts were reasonable, no more doubles or all-nighters. They had something more important now, this sweet, precocious baby girl (not so much a baby anymore, talking and walking and voicing opinions) that was theirs to protect, to love, to care for. Emmeline had brought a balance to their life, and it wasn’t routine or boring, because there was always her. So maybe Sherlock let her get away with things that John would rather he didn’t, and maybe John was slightly more overbearing than Sherlock would prefer. No different than any other parents, they figured. It wasn’t really any surprise that Sherlock was the indulgent parent and John was the strict one, not to them and not to anyone who knew them.

The years ahead would be alternatively easier and more difficult for both men, as they would eventually find out. But it was nothing they couldn’t deal with. Sure, there would be arguments, raised voices, nights spent on the sofa, but honestly, even if they hadn’t had a child to argue over, that would have happened anyway.

Right now, though, at this moment, their precious little one was looking between her Da and her Papa, trying to figure out whether or not she’d done something wrong. The moment her bottom lip started poking out in the preamble to a good cry, John scooped her up and held her close.

“Of course they’re pretty pictures, darling. Your Papa knows pretty when he sees it.”

Emmeline’s bright grin was all it took for John to forget about the crayon on the wall.

Comments

[imaginecoolname.livejournal.com]

This was a lovely fic! I especially liked how Sherlock changed after discovering the pregnancy and during the course of it, somehow becoming more emotional, considerate and careful. I also liked the way you described their relationship, how solid and in love they were. I definitely could have read on for much longer about the little family. :) Thank you for this.

[verucasalt123.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it :)

[arcadii]

How lovely, I enjoyed it immensely! I wonder if Em had a little sister, do you think they'd fight like Mycroft and Sherlock? *Whistles and toes dust* Just wondering . . . :)

[verucasalt123.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reading and commenting!!! I enjoyed writing this story so much, I may think about doing a timestamp or two.

[acaranna.livejournal.com]

A lovely piece of work. It made my day so much better, after having a rough night.

Thank you for sharing it. :-)

[verucasalt123.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear that it brightened your day!! Thanks so much :)

[solara-karrde.livejournal.com]

*melts into a puddle* this was just lovely!

[verucasalt123.livejournal.com]

Thank you!! I don't have much experience writing mpreg or Sherlock so I am thrilled to get good feedback.

[acaranna.livejournal.com]

Don't ask me about how many times I've read this story by now. I could probably recite it in my sleep. I love it and it's one of the few that got printed out so I can take them with me to read when I need a pick-me-up.

Thanks, for creating it.

[verucasalt123.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you so very much! I'm flattered by the compliment and thrilled that you liked the story so much :)