Anonymous said: Our children are best friends au. Sherlolly. On ff.net here and AO3 here. Rated K. Enjoy!
âLydia really loves playing with Simon.â
Sherlock Holmes, single father and unwilling playground chaperone for the day, glanced over at the woman whoâd just spoken. A single parent as well, the husband unfaithful and tossed out for good a year ago. Medical professional, confident of her skills but socially awkward as evidenced by the fact that she had yet to look at him although he was the person she was speaking to. Also by the way her hands were nervously twisting the hem of her white cherry-patterned cardigan, which showed signs of having been previously abused in the exact same manner.
Lydia was the four-year-old currently helping his son (whose mother had left the two of them after deciding that marriage and parenting werenât for her when Simon was almost a year old) get himself into the rocking-bee-on-a-spring ride. As soon as he was perched on the metal saddle, she clapped her hands and jumped up and down, encouraging him to rock back and forth and set the ride into motion.
Her mother started speaking again, the words coming out fast and nervous, probably due to his lack of a response to her initial overture. âShe says heâs her best friend, that heâs very smart and once made an older boy cry when he was picking on her because of her lisp. She tells me something about him every day after school, itâs hard to get her to talk about anything else!â She gave a nervous laugh. âEvery other word is âSimon says thisâ and âSimon says thatâ. Itâs like sheâs playing the game constantly, I tease her about it and she just rolls her eyes and says âMummy donât make jokesâ and IâŚâ
She ran out of breath as he turned to look at her, absently noting that it had taken far longer for that to happen than heâd calculated. She was blushing now, her cheeks pink. âIâm sorry, I tend to ramble. Iâm Molly Hooper, by the way. Lydiaâs mum.â She thrust her hand at him, then started to withdraw it almost immediately, as if she expected him to ignore it.
He reached out and took her hand firmly in his. âSherlock Holmes, Simonâs dad, but you already know that. He talks about Lydia all the time, too, seems very fond of her â but has assured me he doesnât want to marry her,â he added with a twinkle in his eye. âApparently Lydia doesnât like bees, which is a deal-breaker for him as he is currently determined to be an apiarist when he grows up.â
She scrunched up her nose, the pink receding a bit and some confidence showing itself. Interesting; most people became less confident around him the more he spoke, especially when it was about his sonâs eclectic interests. Was Ms. Hooper about to express her distress over such an unusual career choice, as others had done, or was she merely going to offer her (incorrect) opinion about bees?
Neither, as it turned out, much to his surprise. âLydia was stung a few weeks ago, so I canât blame her for not liking bees. But I told her that bees are important to the ecosystem and that if she wasnât trying to make it fly to a different flower â apparently they both wanted the same blossom â then it probably wouldnât have stung her. Also, sheâs already told me she marrying her paediatrician.â Her eyes twinkled and a small smile curved her lips and Sherlock found himself reevaluating his initial dismissal of her as too shy and mousy to be interesting. Glancing at her hands, he raised an eyebrow as he caught the tell-tale signs of a medical professional in the calluses and ridges. âWhatâs your specialty, Doctor Hooper?â he asked before he could stop himself.
âPathology,â she replied. âI didnât realize Lydia had told Simon that much about me.â
âI didnât get that from Simon,â Sherlock corrected her. He nodded at her hands. âThe storyâs clear to the trained eye.â
âImpressive.â Molly grinned at him. âNow tell me what hospital I work at and Iâll owe you a dinner.â She turned a bit pink, as if embarrassed by her own audacity â was she flirting with him now? Hmm, interesting.
âHardly a challenge; it canât be St. Barts or Iâd have run into you before now, and if it was a smaller hospital you wouldnât have offered me the challenge, as youâre the type to believe that would be unfair on your part. So Iâll have to sayâŚthe Royal London, yes?â
âYes,â she replied, sounding surprised. âHow did youâŚâ
âSimon and I live on Baker Street,â he interrupted her to say, quite to his own surprise. Was he inviting this woman over to his flat?
Apparently he was, as he reached for his mobile. âYour numberâs on the class phone list for emergencies, before you ask. Iâm messaging you with my contact information and the number of DI Lestrade at the Met so he can confirm that Iâm not a serial killer.â
Molly blinked a few times, glancing down automatically as her mobile dinged from somewhere deep in the depths of the oversized handbag she had slung over one shoulder. âUm, Mr. Holmes, I wasnât angling forâŚthe Met? Scotland Yard?â she interrupted herself to exclaim. âSo I guess itâs true, then? Lydia told me that Simon says you work with the police.â
âConsulting detective,â he replied absently, his eyes once again on his son and her daughter, who were now struggling with the swings. Anticipating a call for help, he began walking briskly toward them, calling over his shoulder, âWeâre usually home on Sundays. Bring Lydia for dinner, my landlady will be thrilled. Martha Hudson, you can have her investigated as well, but I assure you, sheâs the perfect surrogate grandmother. Weâll see you at three, yes?â
He grinned as he reached the children, helping first Lydia and then Simon onto the swings and giving them each a push to help them get started. Their little legs were pumping and they were laughing and singing some nonsense song. Molly had finally come out of her daze, blinking rapidly before moving over to join them. âSunday at three,â she said, a small smile hovering about her lips.
He smiled back at her, a genuine smile. Getting to know Lydiaâs mother, he predicted, was going to be quite the interesting experience.