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Christmas Eve. London, 8 pm. The streets are shining with the colorful lights hanging everywhere you look, the typical Christmas songs are sung by the choirs next to the mall, where people are still rushing to get the last-minute presents, the cold weather makes them rush, wishing to get home soon and sit next to a fire and drink a cup of hot chocolate. But we are not here to talk about Christmas itself. I’d like to show you a special Christmas for one person. Not one, two actually.
221B Baker Street. Someone knocks on the door and it opens after a short time.
“Molly!” The old lady says “Come in, dear. We were waiting for you.”
“Thank you Mrs. Hudson” she answers getting inside the building “Could you please hold this for me?” she hands two bags with the name of a famous shop written on it.
“Sure” The older takes the bags while the other takes off her coat.
“Thank you” Molly takes the bags back “Oh! Before I forget…” she takes a little box from one of the bags “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Hudson”
“Oh dear! You shouldn’t have bothered” Mrs. Hudson says while opening the little box carefully “Oh Molly, a bracelet. Thank you so much!” she smiles.
“You’re welcome” she smiles back.
“Yours is upstairs. Come on. The boys must be wondering why we are taking so long.”
They go upstairs and walk straight through the first open door.
“Auntie Molly!” a boy’s voice is heard across the living room and Molly sees the little one with blue eyes and black hair, resembling so much one of his fathers, running with open arms to her.
“Hello Hamish!” she opens her arms receiving the hug and hugs back, lifting him up “How are you, dear?”
“I’m fine, auntie Molly” he replies “I thought you wouldn’t come.”
“Just got stuck at the Christmas traffic, but I made it in time, at least” she puts him down “Where’s your father?”
“Which one of them?” a blonde man comes from the kitchen, smiling at her.
“Oh, you can do” she chuckles “Good evening, John.”
“Evening, Molly. Please, let me take these” he takes the bags from her hands.
“Thank you” she replies watching as he puts them under the tree “Where’s Sherlock?”
“Oh, picking something in the bedroom. He will be here in some minutes.”
“Okay. Do you need any help at the kitchen?”
“Oh, me and Mrs. Hudson are already finishing the dinner. Please, have a seat. Would you like something to drink?”
“No, thank you” she sits on the sofa.
“Okay. So, if you need anything I’ll be in the kitchen.”
“Right. Thanks.”
He goes back to the kitchen followed by Mrs. Hudson who asks something about turkey and wine. Molly looks at the living room, all decorated for Christmas, the tree next to the bookshelf lightened with the colorful little lamps, and even the skull has a Christmas hat, matching the decoration. She feels the cushions of the sofa next to her shifting and sees Hamish sitting next to her.
“Hey there little one” she smiles to him.
“Hey…” he replies “Auntie, would you mind if I ask you something?”
“No. Never, dear. Go on.”
“These are…presents?” He looks at the bags under the tree.
“Yes. There’s one for you, one for John and one for Sherlock.”
“Hm… Can you tell me what you bought for my fathers?”
“Well, that’s a surprise and I don’t want to spoil it” she winks.
“Okay. Auntie, can you keep a secret?”
“Hm... Yes, I can.”
Hamish pulls something from under the sofa. She sees a shoe box.
“What is it, Hamish?” she asks.
“I saved some money and bought these for my dads” he opens the box and shows two wraps, one blue, the other brown “But I don’t know if they will like it.”
“Why do you think they won’t like it, sweetie?”
“Because I didn’t have money enough to buy what I wanted for them, so I bought something cheaper…”
“Oh, Hamish. They won’t mind if it’s the most expensive or the cheapest gift, if you bought or if you made it. They will be happy just to know it’s from you. Don’t think of that, okay?” she caresses his head.
“Thank you, Auntie Molly” he smiles.
They hear steps from the corridor and Sherlock comes through the entrance.
“Oh, good evening Molly” he greets.
“Good evening, Sherlock” she smiles.
“Dad!” Hamish smiles at him while he hides the box under the sofa again.
“Where’s your father, Hamish?” Sherlock asks him.
“Kitchen, with Mrs. Hudson.”
“Great. Would you like to help me to set the table?”
“Of course, dad!”
“I’ll help too” says Molly getting up.
“I’ll pick the plates. The towel is inside the cupboard. Could you pick it?”
“Okay.”
Sherlock enters the kitchen leaving Hamish and Molly alone again. The boy pulls her sleeve and she looks down.
“Remember. Our secret.” he whispers.
She gestures pretending is locking her lips and smiles at him.
“Thank you” he smiles.
“You are welcome. Now, let’s go. We don’t want to make your father wait.”
They enter the corridor together.
---//---
A cold wind blows outside. The snow gently falls on the street. A little girl with red hair runs trying to catch the snowflakes that are falling in the garden.
“Ana!” a woman’s voice calls.
The girl turns around and looks at her mother, a tall woman with red hair just like her.
“Don’t run too far, darling” her mother tells her “Come here. It’s getting colder. Put your hat on.” She takes a fluffy pink hat from her purse.
“Okay mom!” Ana comes back running to her mother.
Her mother puts her hat and combs her hair with her fingers.
“Perfect.” She smiles at the little girl “Is it warming?”
“Yes” the child smiles “Thanks mom.”
“Come on” she takes her hand “Dad is waiting for us.”
They walk to a tall man that is talking at the phone. The mother clears her throat next to him, making him notice their presence. He looks at them and smiles.
“I need to go now, Mr. Turner” he talks to the person on the phone “We’ll call you after the holidays. Thank you. Merry Christmas and happy new year for you and your family.” He hangs up the phone and puts it on his pocket. “Look what we got here!” he smiles picking up the girl “Who’s this pretty girl with this beautiful hat?”
“It’s me, dad” Ana giggles “And that’s the hat you gave me.”
“Oh, you look so pretty, my princess” he kisses her cheek then turns to the woman “And you look beautiful, darling” he kisses her briefly.
“Thank you” she smiles “Who was on the phone?”
“Oh, Mr. Turner again.”
“On Christmas Eve?”
“He’s an old man. The guys from the office will call him when we open again after the holidays. Now, where were we? Oh, right. Dinner at your favorite restaurant.” He smiles
“Are going to Angelo’s?” Ana asks
“Yes, sweetheart.” Victor smiles
“Yes!” she celebrates “But can we see the chords first?”
“Of course, dear” the mother says caressing her head “What do you say, Victor?”
“I say that’s a wonderful idea” he puts Ana on the ground and holds her hand “Let’s go then.”
Ana takes her mother’s hand too and they walk together. Soon they are near down town. There are still some people walking at the streets, the restaurants are full with clients, an old man dressed as Santa Claus rings a bell and there’s a bucket next to him with a sign written “Help those children that are cold this winter. Merry Christmas”, and music can be hear near.
“The chords!” Ana points.
“Yes, let’s go there.” Victor says
They find the chord that’s singing near a closed store. There are some people gathered around, listening to them too. They stop near the crowd, being able to see the group singing. The melody is calm, sweet, and everybody stay quiet, listening carefully. Victor slowly starts to recognize the song, and it brings back some memories that he thought he locked away deep in his mind. That Christmas’ Eve years and years ago.
---//---
Victor finishes setting the fireplace and Sherlock puts the plates on the little table in the middle of the living room.
“So, the fire is okay, the dinner is finishing in the oven… We just have to wait now.” Said Sherlock
“That’s great” said Victor “And thank you for letting me stay here tonight.”
“Thank you for accepting the last-minute invitation” he chuckles.
“I thought you would spend Christmas with your family.”
“Well, my parents travelled to some of my relative’s house that is abroad and Mycroft is at some fancy party with those government and business people. He invited me, but I would end up bored. And you said you wouldn’t travel to your parents’ house, so I thought it would be good to invite you to stay tonight here.”
“I’m grateful you thought like that and invited me tonight. And I have something to thank you.”
“Oh, Victor, you didn’t…”
“Yes, I did. Now, sit on that sofa while I pick it up. And don’t you try to run away” he smirks.
“Not going anywhere” Sherlock replies sitting on the sofa.
Victor goes to the kitchen and Sherlock waits patiently. Of course he knew Victor would do something like that. It was Christmas. People want to please each other at this time of the year. But he anticipated what Victor would do, and he prepared himself too for that situation. Victor came back and sat next to him.
“Here” he handed a black wrap with a red bow to Sherlock “Merry Christmas, Lockie.” He smiled.
“Thank you very much, Victor” he smiled back and took the wrap from his hands “I thought you would do this, so I have something for you too.”
“Oh no, you didn’t, Lockie” he laughed
“Yes, I did” Sherlock picked a red wrap from near the sofa “Merry Christmas, Victor.”
“Thank you” he picked the gift from the other’s hand.
They opened almost simultaneously, revealing the gifts.
“Oh my… Is this…?” Sherlock looked astonished.
“Oh Lockie… This…” Victor whispered.
“That’s the book I was looking to. How did you…?”
“I have my ways to find things.” He smirked “And this scarf… So beautiful! And also in my favorite color. Green” he smiled “Thank you very much, Lockie”
“Thank you, Victor…”
“Well, I think we need something to cheer up” Victor stood up and walked to the little radio on the shelf, turning it on.
“What are you doing, Victor?” Sherlock laughed.
“Cheering up” he puts on a calm Christmas song. “That’s perfect. C’mon. Let’s dance” he raises a hand to Sherlock.
“Dance? Victor, I don’t know how to dance.”
“I will lead and don’t be afraid to step on my feet. C’mon, we don’t have the whole night” he smirked.
Sherlock sighed with a little smile on his face and stoop up, taking Victor’s hand. The music filled the room while they adjusted their bodies to their positions.
“Are you ready?” Victor asked.
Sherlock nodded. Slowly, they started balancing to one side to other. The melody filled completely the room, and it led them carefully, gently through the small space for them.
---//---
“Dad?” a whisper next to Victor brings him back to reality.
He looks around and sees himself at the same spot as before: near the choirs, holding his daughter’s hand, who now is looking worried at him.
“Dad?” she called him again “Did something happened?”
“No, nothing. Why?”
“You seemed so far away…”
“Yes… I was kind of... I was remembering…”
“What did you remember, dad?”
“A happy moment I had years ago.”
“It must have been very happy to you. Sorry for bothering you.”
“You didn’t bother at all, darling.” He picks her up “Now, I think it’s time for us to go to the restaurant. What do you think, Eleanor?” he turns to his wife.
“Hm?” she blinks turning to them “Oh, the restaurant. It would be great. This little girl here must be starving.” She tickles the girl’s belly and she giggles in response.
“Yes, I can hear it from here.” Victor chuckles.
“That’s not true!” Ana replies and laughs.
“I know it’s true” he kissed her cheek “C’mon. We better arrive at Angelo’s soon or there won’t be food enough to feed this girl.” He snuggles her face.
“Dad!” she laughs
They start to walk back again to the way of the restaurant.
---//---
Back to 221B, the flat is in complete silence, except the sweet melody coming from Sherlock’s violin. Everyone there gathered around in the living room to watch him playing. Hamish looks at his father fascinated with his ability to play. John sees his little boy’s eyes shining and smiles to himself. Years ago, he would sit alone at his old apartment and watch Christmas’ movies on TV, with the company of his favorite beer and some salty snacks. Now, there was him: surrounded by his dear friends, his love and their child. He always wanted to start a family, but that was better than he imagined. Even after all the troubles and problems he and Sherlock got through since the day they met, and even after the time he thought he would never forgive Sherlock for faking his death, he would go back to his arms, to his beloved detective. And now, with Hamish, they were happy, completely happy. The worst was left behind.
Sherlock finishes playing the violin and everyone applauds amazed. He bows his head and blinks one eye to John, who replies with a small smirk.
“Now…” Mrs. Hudson starts “Time for the presents.”
“Yes!” Hamish says enthusiastically “Who’s going first?”
“Visits first.” John says “Molly, go on.”
Molly stands up and picks the bags next to the tree.
“Here I have a present for Sherlock…” she gives him a green wrap with a red ribbon “John” she hands him a red wrap with a white ribbon “And Hamish” she gives him a box wrapped in blue paper.
“Thank you very much, auntie Molly” Hamish smiles and carefully tears the wrap “Oh my god… Tin soldiers!” he picks one little soldier from the box and watches it fascinated “Look, dad!” he hands the tin soldier for John “His uniform is exactly like the ones from British Army!”
“It is indeed, Hamish” John picks the tin soldier carefully “That’s beautiful, Molly. Thank you”
“You are welcome” she replies “Now, open yours”
He and Sherlock open their wraps.
“A green jumper!” John takes the jumper and puts on his chest, analyzing if it will fit him “It’s lovely. Thank you, Molly. What’s yours, Sherlock?”
“A blue shirt.” Sherlock unfolds the shirt“Cotton, good to use at summer, light enough to use during cases, and exactly my size. Thank you very much, Molly.”
“Now…” John stands up and picks a bag “My turn”
He gives a little box wrapped in red and white paper to Mrs. Hudson, a pink wrap with a white bow to Molly and a tall box wrapped in blue paper.
“Go on.” John smiles “You can open them.”
Mrs. Hudson, Molly and Sherlock start to rip the wraps and John sits next to Hamish, who sits on his lap and looks at the other’s reaction to the gifts.
“Oh, John!” Mrs. Hudson says looking inside the box “A teapot!” She takes off the white with gold and pink details from the box “Is it porcelain?”
“Yes, it is.” He replies “Did you like it?”
“I loved it! It’s so beautiful! Thank you.”
“You are welcome.” He smiles
“Whoa, a bag!” Molly says unfolding the brown bag and turning it to analyze its size “Now I can carry my stuff more comfortably.” She chuckles “Thank you, John.”
“Oh my…” Sherlock gasps as he opens his gift.
John bites his bottom lip trying not to smirk. He loves to surprise Sherlock. His eyes would go bright, his mouth would be half-opened, and a small smile would appear in his face. Sherlock took the white microscope from the box and looked up at John.
“Merry Christmas” John chuckles.
“Thank you very much, John” Sherlock replies smiling at him “Well, my turn now.” He carefully puts the box on the floor, next to his seat, and stands up, taking the bags from next to the table.
He gives one white wrap to Mrs. Hudson, one red with green drawings to Molly, a large box wrapped in green paper to John and other large box wrapped in colorful paper to Hamish. He picks the boy from John’s lap and sits with him on the sofa.
“Oh, Sherlock, that’s lovely!” Mrs. Hudson unfolds a purple cardigan from the wrap and puts it on “So soft and warm. Thank you, my dear boy!” She stands up and kisses his cheek.
“I’m glad you liked it, Mrs. Hudson.” He replies with a smile.
“Oh my god…” Molly stands up and unfolds a pale pink dress and puts in front of her, analyzing it “It’s beautiful, Sherlock! Hopefully it will fit me.”
“Obviously it will fit you; maybe it will even be a little large.”
“Oh” She smiles “Thank you very much, Sherlock. It’s really beautiful.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Sherlock…” John calls him.
“Yes?” He turns his head to him.
“A… Laptop?” John puts the slim grey laptop on his lap.
“Yes. Now you can work on your blog properly.”
“Wow…” He opens and closes the laptop, still amazed. Sherlock smirks. It was always like that: John surprised him, but he always surprised him back. “Thank you very much…” He smiles at him.
“You’re welcome, John.” He purses his lips to a little smile.
“A chemistry set!” Hamish says as he opens the large box on his lap “And it’s complete!” He picks one small test-tube and looks at it amazed.
“Your father and I bought it to you.” Says John “And when you need help or more ingredients, you can ask your father.” He smiles.
“Thank you very much” The boy puts the box aside and hugs Sherlock then stands up and hugs John. “Now, my turn!”
John and Sherlock look at each other confused and Molly chuckles. Hamish picks the box from under the sofa and gives the brown wrap to John and the blue to Sherlock.
“What is it, Hamish?” John asks.
“Open it.” He replies with a smile.
They open their gifts and look at each other amazed. John unfolds the red with some white thin stripes scarf and Sherlock carefully picks the silver pin with a blue little stone at the end.
“Hamish, these are beautiful!” John says “How did you…?”
“I’ve been saving money since the beginning of the year” He smiles “I hope you like it.”
“We loved it! Come here.” John stands up and opens his arms to him.
Hamish runs to John and hugs him tightly. John wraps his arms around the boy, lifting him up, and kisses his cheek.
“Thank you very much, little bee” He smiles at Hamish.
“Let’s see how it looks on you” Sherlock takes the scarf from John’s hand and folds it around his neck, in the same way he does with his scarf, and picks Hamish from John’s arms. “Beautiful. What do you think, Hamish?”
“Dad’s handsome with it” He smiles.
“Now you” John picks the pin from Sherlock’s hands and fixes it on his shirt collar “You look really sophisticated.” He smirks.
“Seems like someone here has a great taste for gifts.” Sherlock plays with Hamish’s hair, who laughs.
“Thanks, dad.” He smiles
“Now, let’s put your presents in your room so you can play with them tomorrow, okay?” John says.
“Okay”
Sherlock puts Hamish down and he takes his presents from the floor.
“Merry Christmas, Auntie Molly, Mrs. Hudson.” He says.
“Merry Christmas, Hamish” They say.
Hamish goes to his bedroom. John sighs and sits down on his chair again.
“I’m going now” Molly stands up “Need to finish packing my things to travel tomorrow.”
“Where are you going?” John asks.
“To the countryside. Some of my relatives are going to do a Christmas party and I’m going.”
“Alright. Have fun there. And thank you for coming and for the presents.”
“You’re welcome. Thank you for inviting me and for the wonderful presents.”
“You don’t need to thank. So, see you soon?”
“Yes. I’m coming back before New Year’s Eve. Good night and merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas for you too, Molly. Give us a call when you come back.”
“I will. Bye.” She takes her bags with her gifts and walks out of the flat.
“Well, I think it’s time for me to go too.” Mrs. Hudson says.
“Oh, it’s early, Mrs. Hudson.” Sherlock says “Stay a little more. John can make you a cup of tea.”
“That’s lovely, but I will decline this time. Thank you for the wonderful dinner.”
“Thank you for your help, Mrs. Hudson.” John says.
“Good night, boys, and Merry Christmas” She kisses John’s cheek then Sherlock’s and lefts with her bag with presents.
John and Sherlock sit silently on the living room for some minutes. They look at each other and smile.
“Another wonderful Christmas Eve” John says.
“Yes, it was” Sherlock says “And Hamish amazed us again.”
“Last year he made our gift. This year he bought. I don’t know what to expect for the next”
“He will amaze us again. I don’t doubt it”
“Our little bee is growing up” John sighs “Time goes by so fast…”
“Yes… Soon he will be in high school.”
“I don’t like to imagine this. Probably my hair will be white or maybe I won’t have any hair at all” he laughs.
“Oh, c’mon John, don’t be silly!”
“But that’s true!”
“If you get bald, you can wear a wig.”
“A wig? Seriously?”
They look at each other seriously for a few seconds than start laughing loud. They stop laughing some minutes after and look at each other with silly smiles on their faces. They hear a creak coming from Hamish’s bedroom.
“Seems like someone is having trouble to put the presents on the toy’s box” John stands up “I’m going to help him. Can you clean here for me?”
“Of course. Go and help him. I will meet you in our bedroom.”
“Okay” John stands up and walks to Sherlock “I’ll be waiting” He kisses him softly “Merry Christmas, Sherlock”
“Merry Christmas, John” He smiles at him.
John smiles and leaves, walking to Hamish’s bedroom. Sherlock sighs and stands up. He picks the plates, knives and forks in the kitchen sink, puts the ripped paper wraps on the garbage and places the gifts under the tree. He then walks to the window and looks outside. It’s snowing and the colorful lights from the city shine bright. He looks to his shelf and sees an old book there. He picks it up and looks at its cover. The book he received years ago in that Christmas Eve night.
---//---
Victor leads Sherlock while they are dancing.
“You learn quickly” Victor smirked.
“Maybe because the teacher is good” Sherlock laughed.
“Oh, thanks, Lockie”
They continued to dance slowly in the center of the room. The music changed, but it was still a calm, sweet melody, only instrumental. Victor pulled Sherlock closer, who rested his head on Victor’s shoulder.
“Thank you for this, Victor” Sherlock said.
“A little dance is almost nothing next to all you’ve given to me, Lockie”
“It’s not only the dance. It’s the gift, yesterday, last week… This whole year next to you. You made it…special.”
“It’s because you are special. I just wanted to see you smiling. Truly your smile is the most beautiful thing I’ve seen since my childhood.”
“Oh, Victor, c’mon. This way you will flatter me” Sherlock laughed.
“If it makes you laugh like that, then I will continue”
Sherlock looked up at Victor and smiles. Suddenly, he stumbled on the rug and lost his balance, falling on the floor, taking Victor with him, who fell on him.
“Are you all right?!” Victor asked lifting to his elbows, looking down at Sherlock.
“Yes, yes. I am.” Sherlock answered “Bloody carpet… Are you okay? Sorry about that.”
“That’s okay. I’m fine. I think you should change that carpet to other room.”
“I’m going to throw it out. It can kill someone.”
“Almost got killed by a carpet on Christmas Eve. How poetic” Victor laughed.
“Brilliant, almost” Sherlock laughed too.
They laughed for a few minutes then stop and looked at each other, still on the floor. Victor leaned closer and kisses him softly.
“Merry Christmas, Lockie” Victor whispered against his lips.
“Merry Christmas, Victor” Sherlock smiled.
Victor smiled back and leaned to kiss Sherlock again.
---//---
Victor looks at the sky, seeing the little snowflakes falling. He sighs and a white smoke escapes his lips. He looks at his scarf and takes it on his hand. The scarf Sherlock gave him years ago. He wonders where now his old friend must be. So much changed in those last years. He hopes that Sherlock is happy somewhere, maybe with a family, like him now.
“Merry Christmas, Lockie” he whispers looking up.
“Dad!” He hears his daughter calling him.
He turns around and sees her with Eleanor, walking to him. She carries something behind her back and has a bright smile on her face.
“Hello, sweetheart” He smiles at her “What do you have there?”
She hands him a green wrap.
“Merry Christmas, dad!” The little girl says.
“She bought it with her money” Eleanor says “It’s her present to you”
“Oh dear…” He opens the gift and unfolds a black with silver thin stripes tie from it “That’s beautiful!”
“Did you like it, dad?” Ana asks.
“I loved it!” He picks her up and kisses her cheek “Thank you so much, darling”
Eleanor laughs and kisses her daughter’s cheek.
“Told you he would like it” She says to the girl.
The girl smiles and hugs her mother, still in Victor’s arms. He puts her down and takes her hand.
“Time to go home” He says.
“When we get home, can we have hot chocolate?” Ana asks.
“Yes. I will make you one large cup of hot chocolate and we will sit by the fire and wait for Santa Claus. What do you think?”
“Great!”
“I think we should go now, so we won’t miss Santa’s arrive at our roof” Eleanor says taking the girl’s free hand.
“So let’s go home!” Victor says.
“Yes!” The little girl laughs.
They walk together down the street, under the colorful lights and snowflakes.
---//---
Sherlock looks outside the window and sees a couple with a little girl walking down the street together. He opens the book in his hand and reads the small message on the front page.
“For my favorite violinist,
Love, Victor”
Sherlock smiles to himself and looks outside. He wonders where Victor might be. Maybe still working on an office, but travelling and painting in his free time, or maybe living in another country, with someone by his side, making him happy. He just wishes he’s happy wherever in the world he might be.
“Merry Christmas, Victor” he whispers to himself as he watches the snowflakes falling delicately outside his window.