Mrs. Holmes [Book III]

Date Night {Susanna}

Sherlock helps me out of the SUV and I smile, taking in Ritz's lavish exterior.  He managed to delay our reservations by an hour and more than spoiled me with the extra time he had- I haven't felt this squeaky clean, relaxed and romantic in months. Of course in the back of my mind I'm just waiting for John and Molly to call saying something happened with William- ready to run back to the Watson's at a moment's notice. He wasn't happy at all when we left.

Molly and John had to all but shove us out of the door. Sherlock almost cancelled the reservations when our baby boy started whimpering and it was a tough challenge for me to walk away. But once we got into the SUV, Sherlock and I were okay knowing Mycroft had the house and streets wired and that John has military and medical training. Even Molly is lethal- she knows her way around blades.

We enter the building and have our coats taken. Sherlock reserved our favorite table in the main ballroom. My jaw goes slack when I see the flower arrangement and ice cooler with two bottles of sparkling cider, "Oh, Sherlock..."

"To your tastes?" He asks, already knowing my answer. I see him smirking as I sit down and have my chair pushed in.

"Yes, Sherlock. This is excellent. Thank you."

"I wouldn't normally have gotten the flowers, seeing as Ziva would eat them, but they seemed to be the right touch." I nod and smile brighter, admiring the selection of blooms. Deep red roses, mostly, with a variety of others.

"They're perfect, Darling." He smiles.

We give our usual orders to the waiter and I have a couple of pieces of the appetizer bread. Sherlock does the honors with the cider and we sit for a while, chatting as we wait for a song to catch our attention.

Within five minutes a catchy quickstep comes on and I look at Sherlock, "Shall we, Love?"

"Of course, Darling," We get up and make our way out onto the dance floor, seamlessly joining the other couples. While I can't do as many complicated steps as I could, I'm more than able to keep up. I smile and giggle, "I missed this."

"As did I, Love. Dancing the night away with you is one of my favorite activities," He twirls me around, "It is very pleasing to see you looking so happy and relaxed."

"It's a funny feeling, I suppose."

He chuckles a bit, "William is safe with Molly and John, Love, and Mycroft and Niles have the place tapped and secured. If he were with any other person I wouldn't be this relaxed."

"Yes, I know. But still, I've just gotten so used to William that it feels weird to not have him within arms reach," I sigh gently and smile again, "But we both needed this."

"Indeed." He says and steals a mischievous kiss as the song changes to a Lindy Hop. When our dinner is brought out some time later we return to the table and dig in.

We remain at the table until we've finished dessert, as a larger dinner party arrives and takes up a lot of the dance floor. By the time we're done and our stomachs have settled the floor has cleared up a bit and so we return to it.

At several points we steal sneaky kisses and I giggle while Sherlock whispers witty deductions about our fellow diners. After a long while and several rigorous dances I find myself leaning into Sherlock from exhaustion. He doesn't say anything about it, just braces me up and keeps leading us around the polished floor. Yet, as all things must, the night comes to an end and we pay the bill before slipping out to head home. Sherlock has to hold me up a bit and once we're in the SUV he has me scoot over and lean into him, throwing an arm around me, "Mmm, Sherlock?"

"Yes, Susanna?" He replies as the chauffeur starts towards the Watsons' suburban home.

"That was great... Thank you, Darling."

"You're welcome, Love. That was a night well spent." He presses a kiss against my crown and I smile, cuddling up to him.

Thank you for reading! Please vote and comment below!

Also, I am considering writing another series and finishing this one up soon! Stay tuned!