Mrs. Holmes [Book III]

The Married Detective

The Next Morning

Sherlock woke up with Ziva in between his head and the headboard, with the suspect feline nuzzling against his curls. His face contorted and Susanna, who had woken up and been snapping cute pictures of the scene, laughed. Sherlock looked at her, "Is this normal behavior for her?"

"She doesn't normally get up around my head."

Sherlock sighed and sat up, "Pictures again?"

"Wallpaper?"

"No." She chuckled.

"Alright. No wallpaper," Ziva stepped off of Sherlock's pillow and climbed over into his lap, meowing for attention. The detective obliged the cat and Susanna leaned over for a kiss, "Good Morning."

"Good Morning. I admit this will take a few days of adjustment."

She smiled and pecked his cheek before rolling out of the bed, "I imagine Lestrade is going to be by soon?"

"Oh naturally."

Susanna turned, "You can move her, Sherlock, you don't have to sit there like that all morning."

"Mmm," Sherlock gave a few more pets before relocating the cat and getting out of bed as well, "You have that interview today, correct?"

"Mm-Hm. I have a very good feeling about it too." She replied as she retrieved her clothes.

"Remind me, this is the company that was looking for researchers?"

"Loman-Bullard has been wanting me for almost a year now as a Forensic Scientist and Psychologist. It's the Government backed one that my Dad has been nurturing for the better part of a decade. They work with the Military, Mi5 and Mi6, among others."

"So you finally went for it?"

"Yeah. I just wanted to make certain that there wasn't a better position elsewhere before formally applying."

Sherlock came up and hugged her from behind, setting his chin on her shoulder, "It is good to see you're excited about it."

Susanna twisted and planted another kiss on his cheek, "It feels as good as when Mycroft interviewed me to be Rosie's nanny," She laughed, "Wasn't that a life changer?"

"Indeed it was, Love." He left a series of soft, peppered kisses from her earlobe along her jawline. She giggled.

"Sherlock! We need to get ready!"

He chuckled and left a longer kiss at the corner of her mouth, "Then I'll go make tea and check on cases. You freshen up." She turned around to face him.

"You sure?"

"You take longer by virtue of your long hair and slightly higher standards of appearance and hygiene. In addition, you have an interview and my inbox is undoubtedly bursting," Susanna gave him a look that silently commended him for not saying 'you take longer because you're a girl', or something else along those lines. Sherlock laid another kiss on her forehead, "So go get ready."

"Okay then." She grabbed her stuff and headed to the bathroom, Ziva prancing behind her. Sherlock then threw on his blue dressing gown and exited the bedroom.

As always, Missus Hudson had brought up morning tea. So he sipped his cuppa while opening his laptop and perusing his case inbox. It was mostly the usual, so he counted on Lestrade showing up with a proper homicide in no more than an hour. The brunette also kept track of Susanna's status by way of monitoring the sounds coming from the bathroom. She had a distinct pattern in the morning, running like clockwork.

Once he knew she had transitioned from her hair to makeup, which wasn't a long process since she didn't apply much, he got up to make another kettle of tea. Sherlock almost applauded his timing, as she emerged from the loo as he was pouring her cuppa.

"Here you are." He handed it to her and she smiled.

"Thanks, darling."

Sherlock looked her over. Susanna had dressed in a dark red skirt suit, the form fitting skirt of which coming down to her upper calves, and matte black pumps. She'd pulled her hair into a gibson tuck as well, her damp curls already giving it an elegantly messy look. He gave her second look, "That suits you."

"Thank you. Normally I wouldn't wear red to an interview but I project myself better when I do," She sighed and finished her cuppa, "You need to go get ready now. I'll make some breakfast."

"Very well."

Sherlock freshened up, dressed in his black trousers, blazer and white shirt. He didn't button up his blazer until he was walking back into the kitchen, where Susanna was sitting with eggs and toast ready. Ziva had gone into the living room and perched regally on the windowsill, despite her size. Her eyes flitted to his fingers as he finished with the buttons, "I envy you for being able to get ready so fast."

He chuckled, "I applaud that you condense your prep time so that you take less time than you could getting ready."

That earned a light smile and he sat down with her, "Thanks for understanding."

"Please. John takes forever getting ready too."

This time she laughed, "I bet he does. Especially to keep that pompadour maintained." It was his turn to chuckle.

"So that's what it's called?"

"It could be a quiff but it's closer to a pomp."

They finished breakfast in quick order and on cue, Lestrade stumbled into the flat, "Aye, Sherlock, Susanna."

"Double or Triple Homicide?"

"Er, Double."

"Not a moment to lose then," Sherlock got up and Susanna stood as well. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and then her lips, "Stay safe on the road and have a good interview, Susanna."

"Will do. You stay safe and keep out of too much trouble," She straightened his blazer, "Love You, darling."

"Love You too." He bade and followed Lestrade out, leaving her with a final wink. She giggled and sighed.

"Now to organize my bag and get going myself."

Thank you for reading!