These Days

Snow Days Are Just as Fun For Parents

John POV. Even though it had only been a week, it felt to John like he hadn't seen Sherlock in a lifetime. The whole break up thing really shook him mentally, but now it was like he was counting down the seconds until it was socially acceptable to be by Sherlock's side once more. Hamish hadn't brought up this wedding of his since breakfast, but once in a while he would look at his father as if he knew something that John didn't. So he went about his business, staring hatefully at the golden ring on his finger, wishing he could just chuck it into some lake and forget about Mary forever. Unfortunately though, he couldn't, considering they shared a house, a family, and a bank account. But John always made sure he was able to pick up and drop off Hamish, purely for the fact that Hamish was his son and he was ever so happy to be of assistance to aid his struggling wife. Or, you know, the fact that he could see Sherlock again, whether it be a wave, a smile, or even a glance, it was worth every second. Even though it was only October, John and Mary were rudely awakened by a phone call at six o'clock in the morning. School was canceled, and it only took one look outside their now frosted windows to see why.
"Did anyone even check the weather lately?" John asked as he opened the door, pushing the foot of snow away with his foot.
"I knew it was supposed to snow, but I didn't think we'd get more than an inch." Mary decided, pulling her robe tightly around herself to block the chilly air that was being let in.
"No school!" Hamish exclaimed, jumping down the stairs three at a time and running around excitedly, still in his pajamas. John checked his phone to see, to his delight, that work had been called off as well, considering the building sight would be covered with this snow as well. Whatever, it will melt, and now that John had a free day... As soon as Hamish and Mary were seated at the counter, planning on what types of waffles they wanted to make, John scampered up to the bedroom, locking himself in the adjoining bathroom and dialing Sherlock's number. It rang a couple of times, but when Sherlock finally picked up he sounded as if he had just woken.
"Hello?" he asked, sounding generally confused about who was calling him at this time.
"Hey Sherlock." John said with a smile, feeling his body fill with happiness at the very sound of Sherlock's voice.
"John." Sherlock breathed, sounding relieved.
"Yes, it's me, rejoice." John joked.
"Well, it's certainly nice to wake up with snow on the ground." Sherlock decided.
"Of course. I was wondering if you wanted to meet up, get some coffee, lunch or something." John suggested.
"Yes, of course." Sherlock agreed happily.
"I'll meet you at the coffee shop then, is ten okay?" John asked.
"Of course, yes." Sherlock decided.
"Sounds good." John agreed, he couldn't help but smile as he anticipated their meeting.
"John, there might be kids from school; parents even, what if..." Sherlock started.
"Sherlock, even though you're stunningly attractive, I can handle myself in public." John insisted. He could almost feel Sherlock blushing over the phone.
"Well, I suppose we'll be nothing than two mates going out for coffee then." Sherlock agreed.
"To the public eye, I suppose we will." John agreed.
"Alright then, see you at ten o'clock." Sherlock decided.
"Likewise." John agreed. The phone beeped, and he knew Sherlock had hung up. He ended his call as well, stuffing his phone in his pocket and quickly changing into clothes as an excuse for being up in his room so long. The smell of waffles was intoxicating enough to drive even John down to socialize with his so called family, and he was not disappointed. Hamish was enjoying a large stack of chocolate chip waffles, the chips melting in small piles of goo around his plate.
"Oh, this looks heavenly." John decided.
"Why are you dressed already?" Mary asked, flipping two more onto a plate and sliding it in John's direction.
"Oh, I'm meeting Greg, might as well right?" John shrugged, buttering his waffles and digging in.
"Kind of a cold day to meet him." Mary decided.
"Not cold inside is it?" John pointed out.
"I suppose not, just bundle up, it looks like it's still coming down." Mary insisted.
"Of course, frost bite seems quite inconvenient." John decided with a smile. After about a dozen waffles John was off, pulling on a jacket and walking out the door. Unfortunately the plow was being a bit lazy, and their housing development hadn't been plowed, so John trekked along through the snow, not letting cold feet get in the way of him seeing Sherlock. Finally, when he was able to reach the coffee shop there was a trench coated figure leaning against the snow speckled brick wall.
"Hello Mr. Holmes." John said with a slightly sarcastic smile. Sherlock smiled at him behind his bunched up blue scarf, his breath coming in clouds in front of him.
"Hello John." he said with a smile. There were snowflakes stuck in his beautiful black curls, looking so perfect together that John thought he was some picture in an art gallery. Surely this man was too gorgeous for life. There were small puddles of water on his cheeks and skin, the snowflakes that had melted against his warm skin.
"Why are you waiting out here, it's frigid." John pointed out, feeling like his fingers and toes could snap off.
"Well I was making sure you got here okay." Sherlock insisted.
"Which I did." John decided.
"Which you did." Sherlock agreed. "But I see you walked all of this way, I'm not worth hyperthermia am I?"
"You're worth much more than that." John insisted. Sherlock just smiled and blushed, looking at the ground as if ashamed to get a compliment.
"Let's go inside." John decided, shivering from head to toe as a chilly gust of wind brought fresh snowflakes sailing into them. Sherlock nodded, leading the way and holding the door for John as they entered. For such a miserable day it was evident that they weren't the only ones taking advantage of the day off. Many adults as well as children and teens wandered around the shop, drinking coffee, eating muffins or simply enjoying the heat and free Wi-Fi.
"Two large coffees please." Sherlock decided.
"Hey wait a second..." John started, but Sherlock shushed him with a wave of his hand and handed the man the money.
"You didn't need to do that." John insisted as they walked over to find a chair with their two steaming cups of coffee in their hands.
"It's my treat. I suppose it's an apology for breaking up with you, for those dreadful ten minutes." Sherlock decided. They got squishy armchairs in the back corner, so they were free to discuss what they wanted, if not in hushed voices.
"Not that it matters now, but why did you end it?" John asked. Sherlock sighed, looking a bit exposed now.
"Because I was terrified. I didn't want to hurt you more than I already had." Sherlock decided.
"But your landlady, she seemed terrified that I was there, you told her didn't you?" John guessed.
"I had to, I was so scared, I didn't know what to do." Sherlock admitted.
"It's fine Sherlock, if you trust her then so do I." John decided. Sherlock nodded, looking relived to finally get that out of him.
"I'm sorry about the whole thing; I shouldn't have been so weak." Sherlock sighed.
"Sherlock don't be sorry, to actually end something like this, just to protect me in your own way, that was something I could've never done." John assured.
"I don't want you to think I'm having second thoughts either, I assure you, every single piece of my soul belongs to you." Sherlock insisted.
"That's something Mary never told me." John sighed with a smile, looking on his newfound love with adoring eyes. He felt like a lovesick teenager, but maybe that was better than being a married man.
"I'm sorry it had to all be this way." Sherlock muttered.
"Be what way?" John asked.
"That you had found Mary before me, that I am a wedge in your normal, happy life." Sherlock sighed.
"My god Sherlock, don't be so modest. If we weren't in a public coffee house I'd kiss you right here, just to make sure you understand how much I want you to push Mary out of my life for good." John assured with a little smile. Sherlock nodded, blushing and just sipping his coffee without another word.
"Has Hamish said anything to you?" he asked after a moment of slightly awkward silence.
"Yes, in fact. He didn't want to school, afraid that you'd yell at him." John said with a small laugh.
"Why would I do that?" Sherlock asked.
"For accusing you of wanting to marry me." John shrugged. "I talked him out of it of course, convinced him that it would never happen."
"Won't it?" Sherlock asked quietly, being nervous and awkward and adorable.
"If all goes well I think Hamish and Archie will owe a big I told you so to everyone." John agreed. Sherlock just laughed, looking flustered at the very thought.
"I hope all goes well then." Sherlock decided. John nodded, looking out the window with a bit of a sigh, watching the snowflakes coming down on the windows.
"So almost Thanksgiving time then?" he decided.
"I suppose so." Sherlock agreed.
"I consider Thanksgiving just pre-Christmas." John smiled.
"I don't usually celebrate either, Mrs. Hudson is the one to cook a turkey or a ham or something, but I won't go out of my way to put up something like a Christmas tree or lights." Sherlock shrugged.
"You mean you don't celebrate Christmas?" John asked with shock.
"What am I supposed to do? It's not like Santa is coming or that I have family who would willingly accept presents from me. And I'm not religious either." Sherlock added.
"Well that doesn't mean you can't be in the Christmas spirit. I'll tell you what, every Christmas we have a party, a little get together with the family and friends and all that, how about you attend this time?" John suggested.
"Oh that can't be a good idea." Sherlock insisted.
"Why not?" John asked.
"Not only do I get to see Mary once again, but her parents, her friends, your son, his friends, your parents, and all they'll ever know me as is the teacher." Sherlock sighed.
"Maybe for Christmas I'll get Mary a divorce." John suggested with a small laugh. Even though he found it a bit humorous he wasn't lying, he was quite keen on dropping the axe sooner or later.
"I'm terrible at parties anyway." Sherlock pointed out.
"Well, it doesn't mean you have to socialize. Just get out, so we've got an excuse to celebrate together." John suggested. Sherlock smiled sadly, as if imagining that to be true.
"I'll see what I can do." He decided.
"I'm sure you can make time in your busy schedule. I mean, between your friends, your coworkers and your family I can't believe you even make time for work." John declared sarcastically.
"I have no friends, hate my coworkers, hate my family. What exactly are you getting at here?" Sherlock asked.
"It's called sarcasm, you should try it sometime." John suggested. John drank the last couple drops of his coffee, sighing but not getting rid of the empty cup, simply sliding whatever that paper hand protector thing is around and around.
"What else do you do for Christmas?" Sherlock asked.
"Well, we have the family over, exchange presents; get a tree, of course 'Santa' comes." John shrugged. "Sounds terrible." Sherlock decided.
"You know, out of my already pathetic life, Christmas isn't the worst." John shrugged.
"That's good." Sherlock muttered.
"What do you do?" John asked.
"Oh, you know, same old same old." Sherlock shrugged.
"So nothing?" John laughed.
"Nothing at all." Sherlock agreed.
"So you've never had anyone to celebrate with?" John asked.
"Not since the parting of the ways." Sherlock sighed.
"Not even a simple girlfriend, or boyfriend?" John asked. Sherlock simply shook his head, not looking sad but more proud. Maybe because he hadn't dated until he was sure he had found his soulmate, which he evidently had.
"I'm new to this; surely you must've picked up on that." Sherlock guessed.
"Nothing wrong with that, nothing at all." John assured.
"Should I go get some refills?" Sherlock asked.
"No, I've got it don't worry." John assured.
"Oh come on, you don't actually think that's going to work?" Sherlock asked with amusement, pushing John back into his chair before could protest.
"Okay, but I'm buying lunch." John insisted.
"Whatever you say Watson." Sherlock laughed, disappearing into the line of costumers. John sighed with a small, lovesick smile at that idiot of a man. He tossed the empty cup in the trash, a relatively good shot from where he sat. Maybe he should quit his job and become a professional coffee cup basketball player.