Queen of the Mind Palace // Sherlolly ✔️

Chapter 10

The first thing Molly noticed upon waking up was that the smell of peppermint and firewood was unusually strong, she could practically taste the scent on her tongue.  Realization struck Molly when she noticed the increasingly familiar press of Sherlock curled up again her.  Molly sighed in irritation, refusing to be embarrassed.  Sherlock could stay if he wanted because she no longer cared. 

Molly, finding herself no longer able to fall back asleep, slipped out of Sherlock's grasp and sat on the edge of the bed.  Sherlock grumbled lightly yet almost instantly fell back asleep.  Molly rolled her eyes. 

She stood up, leaning down to Sherlock and whispering, "you really need to stop doing this."  Sherlock grumbled again and rolled over on his other side.  Molly sighed and shrugged, making her way to the drawers.  Molly grabbed some clothes and quickly ran to the bathroom.  The silence that enveloped the flat was unnatural, lit up dimly by the bright light that was beginning to peek over the rooftops of apartment buildings.

Molly quickly changed and was beginning to pour herself a box of stale cereal when she heard light footsteps on the floor creaking throughout the flat.  Molly looked back and saw Sawyer shuffling her way through the halls.

"Good morning," Molly said, pouring milk into the bowl and offering it to the girl, "cereal?"  Sawyer shrugged and took the bowl, sitting at the kitchen table with a tired yawn.

"Thanks," she mumbled.  As Sawyer began to eat she cast a suspicious look towards Molly, flicking her gaze of Molly's apparel.  "Where are you going?"  Molly looked down at her clothes, then back up at Sawyer.

"Work."  Sawyer's face scrunched up.

"Shouldn't you go on a maternity leave or something?"  Molly let out a small laugh.

"Well I'm not your mother I don't see..." Molly's voice trailed off and her eyes widened.  She fell into silence and stared into her empty bowl.  Oh.  They both were silent for a while when Sawyer spoke up quietly, her voice merely a whisper.

"Close enough."  Molly's eyes snapped to Sawyer, who was shoving a spoonful of cereal in her mouth, though Molly could see her cheeks beginning to tint red.  Molly's mind whirred, searching for what to say.  The words suddenly left Molly's mouth before she could even think about them.

"I can be your mother, Sawyer.  Would you like me to be your mother?"  Sawyer froze mid-bite, staring at Molly with wide eyes.  Slowly she gulped the bite down. 

"I... I guess... if you'd want to."  She grumbled in forced nonchalance, pretending to be suddenly very interested in her cereal.  Molly felt herself smiling softly.

"You know what?"  She said, "I wouldn't mind that."  Sawyer kept her eyes on her cereal but Molly could see the smile creeping upon her lips.

"Hey, why don't you come to work with me today?"  Sawyer's eyes snapped towards Molly, her eyebrows shot up. 

Molly shrugged, "you could probably help me out a lot."

Sawyer opened her mouth to speak but another voice interrupted from the hallway, "nope.   She's working with me today."  Sherlock stepped into view, fully clothed and his hands in his pockets.  Sawyer's eyes flicked from him to Molly. 

Molly smiled, "yeah, detective work is probably much more interesting than dead people.  They don't tend to be murdering many people with their situation."  Sawyer smiled softly, shrugging and returning to her cereal as Sherlock made his way next to Molly, tiredly fixing himself a cup of tea. 

"You got up early," Sherlock mumbled next to her.  Molly raised an eyebrow.

"You really have to stop doing that," she remarked.