Work Text:
John eased the bedroom door closed and backed away slowly with all the caution of a bomb squad agent. He padded down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he found Sherlock holding a light blue worksheet John recognized as Rosie’s homework assignment.
“She’s finally asleep,” John whispered.
Sherlock turned halfway toward John, but didn’t take his eyes off the paper as he said, “My parents must be back from their safari, or at least back at their resort with email access. I’m glad she got their answers in time to finish the assignment.” Sherlock’s voice was gentle, almost distant, as he finished reading and set the paper back on the table.
John picked it up and followed Sherlock to the sofa, watching as the detective began his weekly violin polishing. “Her teachers really do like these things, don’t they? Last year it was the fanciful gift question, and now it’s ‘happiness.’ I wonder what your parents said…”
John began reading the completed paper in earnest.
Holiday Homework:
List five things that make you happy. Then ask ten more people the same question and record their answers. Don’t let them see each other’s answers until you’re finished.
Your Name: Rosie Watson-Holmes
Your answers:
- Doing experiments with Dad
- Reading with Daddy
- Dancing to violin music after dinner
- Bubble baths, especially at Nana Hudson’s
- Going to the park with Aunt Molly
Other people’s answers:
1. Dad (Sherlock Holmes)
- Reading bedtime stories with Rosie
- Solving cases with John
- Working quietly alongside Molly in the lab
- When I get to partner with Mycroft on a case (don’t you dare show him this list)
- How different this list is from what it would have been 10 years ago
At that last answer, John shot Sherlock a quizzical look, but saw that he was absorbed in his work. John resumed reading.
2. Daddy (John Watson)
- Going to the park with Rosie
- Helping Sherlock with cases
- Grabbing a pint with Lestrade
- Chatting downstairs with Mrs. Hudson, especially if she’s baked fresh biscuits
- Waking up from a peaceful night’s sleep
3. Aunt Molly
- Curling up with a pumpkin spice latte and a good book when it’s snowing outside
- When an interesting case comes to the lab because I know it will make Sherlock smile
- Shopping with Rosie, especially for frilly dresses and things her dads don’t understand
- The peaceful quiet of the lab on a routine day
- Cooking from a new recipe and sharing it with friends at dinner
4. Uncle Greg
- Cases with happy endings
- Coming home to a long hot shower and a cold beer
- Evenings at the pub with friends
- Being with my daughter no matter what we’re doing
- Watching Sherlock show off to the rest of the team (don’t you dare tell him I said so)
- Getting to celebrate my customers’ birthdays and anniversaries with them
- Quiet Mondays at home with Andre
- Walking through Lew Gardens with my new camera
- Watching documentaries about all the places in the world I’d like to visit some day
- And anytime your dads bring you into my restaurant, of course, my dear, because I know my staff and I will be all smiles the rest of the evening
- A quiet afternoon at the D. Club
- Intelligent conversation for its own sake, without geopolitical ramifications
- Dinners with Greg, then reading by the fire together
- Seeing Sherlock so happy and stable (please don’t inform him I said so — not that he’d believe it anyway)
- Indulging my favorite niece
- Anytime I get to see you :)
- Knowing John is finally happy and content in life
- Almost-but-not-quite-winter days when it’s cold enough to really appreciate a caramel latte from my favorite place around the corner, but just warm enough to enjoy it outside at the park
- Reading and writing fan fiction
- My 5-year chip
- Baking treats to share with others
- Spending time with my precious granddaughter
- Meeting with my book club ladies every other week
- Visiting my sister in Cambridge
- Seeing Sherlock and John so happy
- My beloved wife of fifty years
- A good book by the fire when it’s cold outside
- Traveling the world now that it’s not for work
- Seeing both of my sons so happy, each in their own way
- Spoiling the granddaughter I never thought I’d have
- My family, knowing they’re happy and thriving
- Going to the ballet with Siger
- Anything narrated by David Attenborough
- Keeping up with scientific journals even though I’m retired
- Spending time with Rosie and seeing the world anew through her eyes
5. Angelo
6. Uncle Mycroft
7. Aunt Harry
8. Nana Hudson
9. Papa (Siger) Holmes
10. Nan (Violet) Holmes
Those last three lists extended onto the back of the worksheet. In the blank space at the bottom, John saw another large section of Rosie’s neat handwriting where she’d added her own addendum to the assignment. His sudden burst of laughter drew Sherlock’s attention.
“She chose to add that part entirely on her own,” Sherlock answered before John could ask.
“Naturally,” John chuckled. Below the lists of responses, Rosie had outlined a lab report, as if the assignment had been a scientific experiment — complete with hypothesis, methodology, a table and graph of the observational data, noted experimental limitations, a conclusion, and questions for further study.
He read aloud, “Conclusion: To borrow one of Aunt Molly’s favorite quotes, ‘People are what matters.’” John couldn’t help the proud grin that spread across his face.
“She is a Watson through and through, John,” Sherlock said fondly.
“A Watson-Holmes, you mean. She did write the thing as a scientific paper and backed her conclusion with numerical data.” John paused, then flipped the paper over to look at the first lists again. “Hey Sherlock, what did you mean by that last answer? About how different your list is now?”
Sherlock’s eyes flicked down to the paper, then carefully away, gazing out the open window into the middle distance. “Well, look at the list, John. Ten years ago, I probably would have said something like, ‘Serial suicides, locked-room mysteries, showing off my genius, playing the violin, getting high.’ I surprised even myself when I heard my answers this week to such a simple question — because every one of those answers is centered around a person I care for. I never even had friends until I met you, and now? Now when asked about the sources of my happiness, my first answers are all about people. 100% of the credit for that goes to you, by the way.” Sherlock’s gaze returned to the present, a small self-conscious smile flashing at John before he continued. “And then to find that that change in and of itself makes me happy — thus listing it as my fifth response — was a remarkable discovery. In the past I would have been horrified to admit such sentiment even to myself, let alone aloud to anyone else. But now? Now I find that I’m happy to have people in my life who make me happy. It’s something I never saw coming.”
John tipped his head so it rested gently on Sherlock’s shoulder beside him on the sofa. “Well, it’s not often I hear the World’s Only Consulting Detective admit to being surprised. You’re not the only one, though — this is a life I never saw coming either, but I wouldn’t trade you or Rosie or any of the rest of it for anything in the world.”
“Nor would I,” Sherlock whispered, closing his eyes and tipping his head gently onto John’s. “Nor would I.”