Fight for Me

Chapter 72

Lydia stirred from her sleep, mindlessly reaching over to where Sherlock had been in hopes that she could cuddle up to him, but finding his spot had gone cold. Her eyes fluttered open so that she could confirm that he was indeed no longer there. With a sigh of disappointment, she rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling for a moment, trying to muster the will to crawl out from under the warm sheets.

Remembering that John had to work at the clinic that day was what finally encouraged her to get out of bed, excited to have the day to spend alone with Sherlock. She was hoping she'd be able to coax him out to lunch given that he wouldn't receive any cases before then, which, thanks to his increasing fame, would probably not be something to cling her hopes to. Still, she climbed out of bed, slipping one of Sherlock's dressing gowns over her pajamas before trotting out of the bedroom.

"Hey, Sherlock, what time did John say his shift was going to? I was thinking we could pop out for lunch if there's a lull in cases," Lydia called out as she made her way into the kitchen, turning her attention to the fridge in search of food to cook up. She assumed Sherlock wouldn't have already had anything for breakfast so she added, "and what are you in the mood for for breakfast?"

At this last question, Lydia lifted her head out of the fridge to look over to where she assumed Sherlock would be seated, not surprised to find him fully dressed in his chair. However, while glancing up at him, she also noticed two older people seated on the couch, no doubt clients despite the early hour.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realise you already had clients," she quickly spoke, a blush creeping up on her cheeks.

Sherlock cleared his throat and corrected, "these aren't clients. Lydia, meet my parents."

"Your-" Lydia broke off with her eyes widening, suddenly feeling ten times as flustered. "I didn't know your parents were going to be visiting."

"Yes, well, they are. Mum, dad, this is Lydia," Sherlock introduced as Lydia tried in vain to fix herself up the best she could. But considering that she just rolled out of bed, she wasn't sure there was much she could do to fix her appearance.

With an attempt at a kind smile, Lydia stepped behind John's chair and greeted, "it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Holmes."

"Oh dear, there are no need for formalities. You can call me Violet," Mrs. Holmes spoke up, her face lighting up with delight when she caught a glimpse of Sherlock's girlfriend. "It's such a delight to finally meet you, I still can't believe little Sherly has finally gotten himself a girlfriend."

"Violet, we just found out about her, it's not like were finally meeting her," her husband corrected as Lydia noticed a bit of colour tinging Sherlock's cheeks as his mother used his nickname. "But it really is a pleasure, Lydia, and please do feel free to call me Siger. I'm sure it wasn't your fault that Sherlock never told his parents that he had begun to see someone."

Lydia flashed him another nervous smile, "thank you, Siger, I just, er, I should still probably get Sherlock a spot of breakfast, he can be a bit picky. Sherlock, would you mind joining me in the kitchen?"

With a sigh, Sherlock stood and adhered to Lydia's request, knowing that it had little to do with breakfast. As soon as they were out of earshot of his parents, Lydia turned on Sherlock in a hushed voice, "what the bloody hell is this all about, did you know they were coming?"

"They called last night, but I wasn't expecting them this early," he answered, vaguely looking in the cupboards as though actually considering food.

"Sherlock! You should have warned me that they were coming down, I could have been more prepared!"

"No, you would have just stressed out about meeting them, I thought it would be better if it were to come as a surprise."