John, wake up. "Please"

"Are you-" "no!"

When Sherlock woke, he was lying in bed, not on a staircase or on the floor.

That had been a peculiar dream, it was a dream though wasn't it, must have been. John wasn't gay. And even if he was wired that way, he wouldn't be interested in Sherlock.

Sherlock was enough of a handful as a friend alone, boyfriend/partner/lover would just be hard work, and even if they managed around all of Sherlocks flaws would it be worth it.

In his dream, they had eventually had to stop clinging to each other when they heard Rosie's cries over the monitor. He'd brought Rosie into Sherlocks room for a bit and eventually had to take her back. Sherlock remembered falling asleep in the dream and it felt like no time passed when his eyes opened in the real world.

He slowly pulled himself out of bed, steadying his sleep heavy legs against the solid wood floor before heading to his dressing gown and slipping it over his shoulders, he pulled the gown closed and tightened it around his waist.

He went out to the living room and then towards the kitchen where John was setting up Rosie's bottle. She was fussing and not at all happy so when John saw Sherlock he took Rosie out of her high chair and handed her over where she began to muffle her crying.

"Morning Sherlock" John said cheerily as he turned to the fridge to pull out some ingredients.

"Morning John" Sherlock said gently as he bounced Rosie in his arms.

John then prepared their breakfast as well after handing the bottle to Sherlock to feed Rosie. Sherlock sat down in the kitchen chair opposite John's seat and let John serve out the toast and scrambled eggs.

John put away the pan before turning to Rosie and Sherlock, first he bent down to kiss Rosie and then pressed a gentle kiss to the corner of Sherlocks mouth. Sherlock gasped and then it all came galloping back, last night most definitely was not a dream.

Sherlock couldn't help but smile, his grin was wide as John ruffled his hair and then sat opposite him. They ate their breakfast in a comfortable silence, John's bare foot occasionally grazing Sherlocks. It was only when John very lightly stroked the instep of Sherlocks foot that he met out a small giggle to which Rosie began laughing too.

"Ticklish Sherlock?" John chuckled and ran his bare foot up Sherlocks calf before going back down again, feeling the goosebumps and hair prickle under his foot.

"I'm not" Sherlock said in a note drone but John read something in the mans eyes that said otherwise.

"I'll be testing that out later" John said casually as he stood up to wash the dishes and then put them away.

"Yes but there's no point if I've already given you the answer" Sherlock pointed out.

"Yes, but then every true scientist will perform their own experiments so they have first hand date not from a second person p.o.v" John insisted.

"I hate you sometimes" Sherlock grumbled.

"And I love you too" John laughed as he bent down to press a kiss to Sherlocks curls before heading into the living room and then up the stairs to his bedroom so he could change into suitable clothes.

Sherlock stewed over the conversation, even as he was taking Rosie back into the living room and sitting down on the carpet with her on the playmate in the corner near their chairs, he continued to think about John's final words. I love you too. Love. Did John love him, really?

John came downstairs to see Rosie laughing as Sherlock lay on his back being prodded at and used as a hill for a her toy animals, apparently being the perfect surface in her eyes. John couldn't help but smile as Sherlock attempted to lift his head making him look somewhat like a meerkat looking out for predators that was, in this case, John.

Sherlock was still in an old grey granite color tshirt with his blue silk nightgown lying fluidly around him, possibly in Rosie's eyes it looked like rocks and a river, perhaps his hair was just a big black rain cloud or a black sheep.

John was pushed out of his thoughts by a full blown giggle and it took him a while to realize that it hadn't come from Rosie. Indeed it had erupted from Sherlock. As it turned out Rosie had caught a very sensitive spot on Sherlocks stomach, and Sherlock had been trying to hold back the reaction.

Rosie had been staring in shock and awe for a few seconds before she too began to giggle hysterically with Sherlock letting out a small chuckle as he recovered.

"Bumble your going to be the death of me!" Sherlock gasped.

"Definitely ticklish" John said with a smile and Sherlock caught his eye, something mixed with humor and fear. Sherlock smiled crookedly and John smiled widely back.