Well, here we are readers. I can't believe we're at this moment. This is the final chapter! I had a tough time at first, but then things really started flowing, since it was a fun chapter to write. So, happily, it didn't take me long to get this to you. I hope that this last installment leaves you feeling satisfied. I tried to make it so. It may not be exactly what you were expecting. This last one is actually a bit of an epilogue. But it offers a bit more than that too...anyway, I'll let you read and see for yourself! Without further ado, I give you the chapter 25! Get reading and I'll see you at the bottom of the page for my goodbye notes! :'(

Molly opened her eyes and stretched a little. She woke feeling so incredibly rested and relaxed that she didn't even have the desire to go back to sleep. She actually felt like hopping right out of bed...especially since she really had to pee...but she quickly became aware of the arm that was draped across her middle. She turned her head carefully and saw that Sherlock was still peacefully sleeping next to her. He looked so lovely and still. She really didn't want to disturb him.

Molly carefully slid his arm off of her and placed it onto the bed, then slid her body over and got up, doing her best not to disturb the covers. She crept out of the room, picking up Sherlock's navy silk dressing gown on her way out.

Molly came out of the bathroom to the quiet flat and went to the kitchen. Toby had followed her and was especially happy to see his owner since he'd been completely shut out of the bedroom all night. He wasn't pleased about that. Molly tried to appease him by giving him lots of scratches and petting, then she gave him some food...which was what really won him over again.

After she'd done that, Molly got some coffee going. She took a couple of bites of one of the muffins that Mrs. Hudson had so nicely left for them the day before. Molly had grown very attached to the older woman, and really appreciated her kindness over the past few months...

It was really hard to believe that it had been almost six months since the day that Sherlock had marched into Bart's hospital and kissed her till she felt the pieces of her heart fitting back together again.

A lot had happened since then. A lot had happened right after that actually. After a bit of distance had been achieved between her's and Sherlock's mouthes in the back of that cab, she had learned even more from him...

"By the way, Molly," he said against her neck, "I'll most likely be flying out to France in the next day or two."

Molly pushed him backward enough to look at him, with concern. "For how long? And why are you going?"

Sherlock shrugged slightly. "Not long, I'm sure. A couple of days at most. And it's just a...terrorist plot...involving Moriarty." He proceeded to dive quickly back into her neck.

"Wh-what? Terrorist plot involving Moriarty?! Sherlock, that's serious!" she said in a slightly unsteady voice, working hard at speaking in complete sentences.

"Mmm, it's nothing, really. I'll have it taken care of and come straight back...promise."

"But I'm- I'll be nervous...a-and you can't let anything happen w-when we only just...mmm..."

"Hmm, who's the one worried about safety now, Molly?" When he chuckled deeply against her neck, the reverberations went directly through the skin. She couldn't think straight like this, let alone have a conversation.

Molly gripped the hair on the back of his head, pulling him back again to look at her.

"Ah! All right, fine!" he conceded and sat up again, now rubbing his scalp.

"Honestly, what are we going to do?" she asked, fixing her jumper and coat.

"The same thing I've been doing...I'll keep chasing him, Molly. I realize now that it doesn't have to be one or the other. We do our best to be careful, but I can't just let him go on being the criminal that he is."

"Well, I know. I wouldn't want you to let him have his run of the world. I was just meaning, how do we be careful?"

"Actually, I spent considerable time thinking about that while I was on my way over here today. I won't sacrifice being with you anymore, so I decided to come up with some new options for keeping you as safe as possible. Especially at times when I'm away. Hopefully these are things you're willing to try."

Molly smiled and touched his face. "I'm willing to try a lot of things, Sherlock, if it means being with you."

He smiled, and shifted his gaze a bit nervously. "How about trying...staying with my parents?"

Molly's eyes widened as her hand fell from his face. She quickly tried her best to soften her expression and appear more relaxed than she was. "Oh, um...sure. That's...an idea," she said with a nod.

"I realize that may not seem like the most logical safety procedure, but believe me when I tell you that the security and surveillance that is put into place for my parents' home is second only to that of Buckingham palace itself. My brother does not take chances."

"Well then, I'd be willing to do that, I suppose...if they'll have me."

Sherlock raised his eyebrows. "Trust me, Molly, you'll most likely be smothered. It's really just trading one nuisance for another."

"I'm sure they're lovely...I hope they like me." She chewed her bottom lip.

"It's not possible that they won't," he said, with an added kiss on her lips...

Things had actually worked out wonderfully. As discussed, she didn't move back into Baker Street right away, but they did set some general safety measures in place after that day. Sherlock, of course, demanded of Mycroft that Molly have a permanently high level of surveillance. And Molly did indeed begin staying with Mr. and Mrs. Holmes during times when Sherlock was out of town on cases. She came to be incredibly fond of those times.

Molly had lacked the experience of being in the company of both a father and mother figure for most of her life, so it was like a breath of fresh air. And of course, the Holmes parents fell completely in love with her. It became a bit of a joke, because after that initial instance, whenever Sherlock would announce he was to be out of town for more than a day, Molly's face would brighten and she'd get a bit excited. Sherlock would then pout and mutter something about how she used to be concerned at the prospect of an out-of-town case. Molly would usually just kiss him till he stopped complaining.

The tabloid gossip and internet excitement went on of course. It went crazy for a while, once the public got wind of the fact that Sherlock and Molly really and truly were Sherlolly now. Anderson's blog became even more popular, which he was profoundly proud of. And Mary was just as excited as the first moment she had seen a video of the scarf toss pub kiss. And of course, she never let Sherlock live it down that it was her compilation of Sherlolly findings that had flipped a switch in Sherlock's brain, making him see the truth. Though John would argue that his speech to Sherlock was equally, if not more convincing.

Things had fallen into a nice pattern, and it worked for everyone. Life changed...but it didn't change. And it made everyone happy in all the very best ways; in exactly the way that a good love should. And it progressed as well.

Sherlock was gone for a particularly long case a few months after they'd become a couple. It took him almost two weeks to find a missing person. Molly could tell that something was different when Sherlock came back that time. Though she wasn't immediately aware of exactly what Sherlock was thinking, it was abundantly clear that he was very glad to see her again...

Molly opened the door of the Holmes cottage when she saw Sherlock coming up the walk. He saw her and wordlessly rushed inside, picking her up in the process. Molly leaned in to kiss him and he met her kiss with a fierce passion she wasn't expecting...at least not in his parents' entryway.

Sherlock walked a couple of steps forward, till Molly's back hit a wall, then he continued snogging her like crazy.

Molly suddenly heard Mrs. Holmes' voice coming down the hall. "Is that Sherlock back already? I thought I heard the door- Oh honestly, Sherlock! Would you please try to control yourself?!"

Molly pushed Sherlock away till her feet hit the floor again. "Sorry, Mrs. Holmes," her voice cracked.

"No apology necessary, dear. I think we both know who's at fault." She pointed an accusatory finger at her son.

Sherlock rolled his eyes.

"Welcome back, son, and dinner will be ready soon," Mrs. Holmes said, and she looked sternly at Sherlock again. But Molly saw her smirking as she walked away again.

When she was out of view, Sherlock immediately cradled Molly's face again and pressed his lips to hers. He pulled away slowly and whispered, "I missed you."

"Really? I couldn't tell," Molly teased as she laughed. She ran her fingers through his hair and his eyes drooped shut. "Why'd you miss me so much?"

Sherlock shrugged, still not opening his eyes as he relaxed under the touch of her hands. "Don't know. I haven't stayed away this long since we've been together. I just...missed you." His eyes shot open and he looked at her intensely as he reached up to caress her face and asked in a low whisper. "We don't really have to stay, do we?"

Molly giggled a little and had to look away to maintain her composure. "Um, yes, we do have to stay. You know we do. Now, come on, we can...talk later." She squirmed away and pulled him by the hand toward the kitchen.

Sherlock followed with a loud groan of frustration...

Molly turned over her left hand that held the little blueberry muffin, and she smiled for the millionth time. The rose gold band with embedded diamonds smiled back at her by sparkling in the morning sunlight. And, as of yesterday, it was now accompanied by another thinner, plain band of rose gold.

Molly set the muffin down and went to prepare a cup of coffee for herself. She was looking forward to the hot liquid. It was a little chilly that fall morning, and Sherlock's dressing gown did little to keep her warm, with only the white silk nighty underneath. She smiled in amusement to herself, thinking of how much care she'd taken in choosing it...and how little it ended up mattering. She'd only been able to put it on to sleep in! And that reminded her...

After she'd made her coffee and taken a sip, she set the mug down and walked into the main room. There were a few things that still needed picking up. Her dress for instance!

Molly bent down and picked up the satin tea length gown. She frowned to herself, thinking that it wasn't really a good idea to dump your wedding gown on the floor in a messy heap. She decided she'd take it to be professionally cleaned and packed away as soon as possible. Molly laid it carefully over the back of John's chair to be hung up later. She picked up her shoes that were each at separate ends of the room. And then there were Sherlock's clothes!

She located his shoes, trousers, and suit jacket; all of which were strewn about the room. She picked up his white shirt from the hallway as well. The shine of his cuff links on the ground caught her eye too, and she made sure to scoop them up and put them carefully on the table. She covered her mouth to stifle the giggling when she noticed one of the buttons from Sherlock's shirt was in the hallway. Well, no one could claim she wasn't thrilled to be married!

And she hadn't expected it either. Molly genuinely didn't imagine that Sherlock was thinking of getting married...maybe ever.

But one day, a couple of months ago, she'd been at work having a very normal day, and Sherlock had come in to visit. She was just about to set up a body for an autopsy, and he had waltzed in smiling...

"Oh hi," she said after taking the kiss he offered. "Didn't know you were coming in."

"Just thought I'd drop by. This an interesting one?"

"Probably not. Looks like a heart attack, but I guess I'll find out for sure in a minute."

Sherlock strolled around the body, looking things over carefully. "Why don't you get me some gloves and I'll help you?"

"Um, ok, I suppose." Molly turned and walked away for a moment to get him the gloves, then came back. He looked a little suspicious when she handed the gloves over.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"Well, it's just that, I see you didn't notice a personal item on the body."

"What? No, I packed everything up. She's clear of all personal items."

"Mmm...I don't think so. You'd better check again," he said confidently.

Molly made a little huffing noise of frustration. She was sure she'd checked. And it did irk her a bit when Sherlock came strolling into Bart's and immediately pointed out what she was doing wrong. It had been the cause of some of their very few arguments as a couple.

But she began circling around Mrs. Harold's body and examining it. She came to the woman's left hand and saw a ring on her finger. Though it was perched on the top half of her finger and clearly didn't fit.

"Hmm, I didn't see this before," Molly said, mostly to herself. "Better clean this up."

She went over to the sink and washed it with antiseptic soap, then she took her gloves off and dried the jewelry item, examining it as she came back over to where Sherlock was. She loved the understated diamonds that were embedded along the top of the band in a swirling pattern.

"It's really nice...really nice. I can't believe I would have missed this. And it looks brand new!"

"Mm, it is brand new," he said quickly.

Molly looked up at him. "Oh, you can tell?"

The corner of Sherlock's mouth turned up a little in a smile. "Actually I don't need to deduce that. I know it's brand new...because I'm the one that bought it...for you."

Molly froze and she realized that her mouth was hanging open. She stared back at Sherlock, then looked at the ring again, then looked back at Sherlock. She finally shut her mouth and swallowed hard. Was this really happening?

Sherlock took a few steps toward her and spoke again.

"I...hadn't been planning this for long. But a couple of weeks ago, when I went away, I was struck by how badly I missed you. I wanted nothing more than to be back with you again. I spent so long making sure that this...us...didn't happen. And when I was away and I didn't have you, I thought about how stupid that was. Even after I knew I was in love with you, I still believed that we shouldn't be together. I believed that I had to prevent Moriarty from taking you away from me. But of course I was, in reality, allowing him to do just that. I was allowing him to keep us apart."

Sherlock reached out and took her left hand before continuing. "I don't want anything or anyone to keep us apart, ever again. Now you and I both know that things can happen sometimes...bad things. So I don't imagine that the two of us will literally never be parted again. But...I do believe that if we do this, in a way...this is something that cannot be separated. No one can take this bond from us."

He reached out and took the ring from her now trembling fingers. "I do love you, Molly Hooper. I love you, and I want to be with you. I want to be there for you, and I want you to be there for me, just as we've been doing these past few months...and even long before that. Except I never want it to change. I know it hasn't been long, but I'm never going to love another woman like this. And forgive the lack of humility, but I think it's been rather conclusively proven that you will never love another man as much as me. So...I see no point in wasting any more time. I'd very much like for you to be my wife."

He stopped talking then and the two of them stared at each other. Sherlock was smiling at first, but it slowly began to fade. Molly's mouth had fallen open again and she was looking mutely back at him.

"How do you...feel about that idea, Molly?" he prompted, with a nervous frown.

Molly's eyes rapidly began to fill with tears and she worked to blink them away as she drew a shaky breath and tried to form words again with her trembling lips. She sniffled and wiped her eyes, then began to let out some sputters of laughter mixed with tears. Sherlock began to smile again, seeing her more positive reaction.

"I- I- Yes! Yes, of course, yes! Yes! I will marry you! Yes!...You need to start kissing me now, or I'm going keep saying yes like an idiot!" she laughed.

Sherlock grinned and slipped the ring quickly on her finger so that he could wrap his arms around her...and kiss her, he did.

When he finally pulled away a bit, Molly sighed happily. "God, I'm glad you felt the need to prove a point because of Anderson's theory all those months ago!"

Sherlock narrowed his eyes momentarily. "Forgive me, I'm about to sound like John, but...bringing up Philip Anderson in the midst of my proposing marriage is a bit...not good."

Molly laughed again and held him tighter while she pressed her face into his neck. "I love you...I love you so much." She lost count of how many times she said those words to him that day, against his neck...it was all a bit of a blur...

Molly was disturbed from her memories when she felt a pair of arms, and a sheet, wrap around her from behind. A pair of lips nestled themselves into the crook of her neck.

"Mrs. Holmes, why exactly are you up?" Sherlock murmured near her ear.

"Well, I don't know, I just woke up feeling so refreshed and rested." Molly leaned back against his chest. "Don't mind me though, I was just picking up the mess we made."

"Mmm, I recall that being mostly you...you seem to have a problem with buttons!"

Sherlock turned her around and began kissing her. Molly pulled away a moment later though.

"Oh, I made coffee! You want some?"

Sherlock pouted a little. "Why would I want coffee now? I want to go back to bed...with you."

Molly smiled and gave his sheet a tug. "Ok, ok...soon. I just wanted to get Toby fed, and make my coffee, and-" Molly let out an excited little gasp. "Oh my goodness! I just remembered!" She went back into the main room and came back with the decorative box. "I just remembered we have all our wedding cards to open!"

Sherlock's face fell. "You cannot be serious...we aren't actually going to open all of those, are we?!"

"What else do you do with cards?" Molly laughed.

"You keep them in the box! You keep them in the box, and get back into bed with your husband! That's what should be done with them."

"But we have a lifetime together, and the whole wedding experience is so short! We have to enjoy it!" Molly clapped her hands together excitedly.

Sherlock rolled his eyes and yawned. "Fine, give me coffee," he said with a sigh.

Molly bounced into the kitchen, giving him another kiss on the way.

Sherlock smiled, despite himself. He watched the small woman making him a cup of coffee and his heart swelled to an almost uncomfortable degree. It was difficult to imagine his life without her now, even though she hadn't been in it to this degree for very long. And he wondered how it was possible that he didn't think that this was "his area."

No matter what he had to do, or where he had to go, or who he had to face...this was home. This was where he came back to. She was what he could always come back to. And now, he wouldn't have it any other way. Sherlock was more than happy to be married to Molly Hooper...now Holmes.

The process of getting married though...that had been a different story. When Sherlock had asked her to be his wife, he hadn't really thought about all that it would entail. He should have, seeing as he was involved in the Watson wedding...but he didn't. Sherlock, as usual, didn't really think the rules applied to him. So when Molly began talking about where it would be, and when it would happen, and what everyone would eat, and what she would wear, and what he would wear...he got a little overwhelmed. He imagined that he would wake up one morning with a wife next to him. It would just sort of...happen.

Eventually though, compromises were made. Number one, they decided on the location and date. They moved fast, planning for a wedding only a couple months after Sherlock had proposed. They both just didn't see the need to wait. And as for a location, Sherlock's parents insisted that it be held at their country home.

This worked to Sherlock's advantage in keeping it small, which Molly didn't mind either. And it was also, thanks to Mycroft, an incredibly secure location. They hoped to avoid any surprise guests and reporters showing up.

One of the biggest hurdles Sherlock had to deal with was the wedding party. Molly had a couple of cousins she really wanted to include, and there was Mary, and then there was a friend from Bart's that she'd known for years. This posed a bit of a problem for Sherlock...

"There really has to be equal numbers of bridesmaids to groomsmen. It works best that way. Mary will of course walk with John, Cheryl from the hospital will walk with your brother, my cousin Laura will walk with Greg, and then that leaves my cousin Donna with nobody! You know what you need to do, Sherlock." Molly gave him a look and raised an eyebrow.

Sherlock shook his head slowly, with a grim look on his face. "No...no! I said I won't, and I meant it. I will not, I cannot, it is not an option!"

"Oh come on, Sherlock! It's one day...and you know it would mean the world to him."

"Precisely! I will not do it...I refuse!" Sherlock crossed his arms dramatically and turned away...

That didn't last though. Molly wore him down rather quickly. And John also took part in convincing him this was the best, and nicest, solution. Sherlock was loathed to agree, but in the end...he did...

Sherlock walked into the police station and found Anderson doing some filing in Lestrade's office.

"Oh hello, Sherlock! Greg's just stepped out. He should be back in about an hour."

Sherlock stepped into the office and cleared his throat. "Yes, well, I'm not actually looking for Lestrade at the moment...I was actually looking for you," he said with deep discomfort.

Anderson stood up from the file cabinet drawer immediately and his eyes widened. "Oh...something I can help you with?"

Sherlock was already resisting the urge to make snide remarks. "Yes...as a matter of fact, there is. It has come to my attention that it's not the thing to do to have uneven numbers of bridesmaids and groomsmen. It happens that Molly has four women on her side. I, at the moment, have three men on my side. So here you see the problem. I am apparently in need of one more groomsmen. This leads me to the reason for my coming to see you..."

At this point Sherlock looked at Anderson and saw that he was smiling and looking a bit emotional. Sherlock narrowed his eyes and looked around uncomfortably. He continued cautiously.

"So anyway...it would be rather helpful, numbers wise, if you were to be the fourth groomsman. If you're willing, that is..."

By this time, Anderson was trying not to become a blubbering mess. He walked over to Sherlock and held out his hand. Sherlock took the handshake hesitantly, and Anderson shook firmly.

"It would be my...honor," he said dramatically, "to be part of this joyous occasion, Sherlock! I couldn't be any happier to be a part of the big day!"

"Oh...excellent," the detective replied, shifting his gaze nervously. "Molly and I appreciate-"

But Sherlock's words were cut off when Anderson pulled the handshake forward and captured him in a bear hug. Sherlock grimaced the whole time, and tried not to involve his arms in the process. He repeatedly reminded himself that it was only one day...

Sherlock sipped his coffee while sitting in his chair. Molly had opened the box and dumped the pile of cards onto the floor in front of her. He was distracted by the fact that he could see the white silk on Molly's thigh peeking out from under his navy dressing gown.

"Exactly how long is this going to take?"

Molly shrugged. "I dunno...there are lots, aren't there?" she smiled.

"Unfortunately yes. I'm not sure why we need to open these. We already opened the Watson's card and gift. Not many more important people left!" he pouted.

"They're all important, Sherlock. They all love us and they're happy for us."

Sherlock looked over at the wall where the Watson's gift was hung. They had professionally enlarged and framed the shot that John had taken of the evidence wall covered with all of the Sherlolly items. Molly had been moved to tears of course. Sherlock had complained about the silliness, but in reality, even he would admit it was a clever gift.

And then there was the gift the groomsmen had given Sherlock...the gift of a stag night. Sherlock groaned inwardly when he thought about it again. Mycroft had refused to personally join in, on reasons of propriety, and said he'd pay for the whole night instead. In hindsight, Sherlock was glad that his brother bowed out...because he never would have heard the end of it. As it was, he would still have to do a lot over the course of his lifetime to make sure that the video footage Lestrade had taken was never shared!

He hadn't realized that John and Lestrade made a pact that Lestrade would not get drunk. They wanted him sober enough to take lots of video moments of the evening. So when Sherlock woke up the next morning, on the Watson's couch, he had half a dozen videos in his email...and they were terribly enlightening...

"What'r you doing here anyway? Are you in the wedding too?" Sherlock slurred, as he grabbed Anderson's shoulder. "This's the pub where I kissed Molly, y'know!" He gestured over to the bar where they had a framed picture of the 'scarf toss pub kiss.'

Anderson shook his head and pressed his lips together, clearly getting emotional. "Most...beautiful thing...I've ever seen."

Sherlock's face contorted briefly and he drew in a slow shaky breath. "You always...shhhhipped us...didn' you?"

Anderson nodded and slapped Sherlock on the back affectionately. "Always...shipped you two...ssso hard!"

Sherlock's head then shot up and he began gesturing to Anderson and looking around the pub, loudly announcing, "He knew...first thing he's eeeever deduced correctly!" Then Sherlock gave a short round of slow clapping in Anderson's honor, which nobody else around them actually paid attention to.

The entire video was punctuated by Greg's snorts of laughter behind the camera on his mobile. And then it cut to the one where Sherlock bumped into a random man as he was coming out of the loo.

"Whoa! You," he said poking the man's shoulder. "Be more careful! I'm getting married in..." He stopped to count in his head carefully. "Three days!"

The man, who was also clearly under the influence, nodded and shook Sherlock's hand ungracefully. Then Sherlock began to look at the man more carefully.

"Why'd you take that woman's number over there?" He lifted the man's left hand and pointed to the ring finger. "You're married! What's the matter with you?!"

Sherlock reached in the man's coat pocket and pulled out a paper with a phone number written on it. He pointedly ripped up the paper directly in front of the man's face and then sprinkled it over the man's head, causing it to fall like confetti.

At this point, John came over and began dragging Sherlock away from the scene of the crime. But Sherlock continued to talk over his shoulder at the man.

"Go! Go home and you say you're ssssorry! I hope she slaps you...three times!" he said while holding up the incorrect amount of fingers to indicate the number three...

Sherlock smirked to himself as he thought about that. In truth, that was some pretty entertaining footage...even if it did involve him making an idiot of himself.

"Oh look, how lovely! Mrs. Hudson gave us a gift certificate for that nice bedding store!" Molly exclaimed, and held up the card and accompanying gift.

Sherlock gave a dramatic sigh. "Mm, yes...bedding store, lovely. You know what bedding goes on? Beds...and they are best when there's people in them."

Molly gave him a weary look. "Point taken, Mr. Holmes. Just a few more, I promise. This is good stuff, you know, if you'd bother paying attention! And once again, we have our whole lives!"

"Yes...but I only have three days off till I need to go stop Moriarty from robbing a bank in Scotland! I had hoped to do little but sleep, eat, and...not sleep." His voice dropped at that last part and he added a heated glance for emphasis.

Molly blushed a little. "It's getting warmer than it was when I first got up." She took Sherlock's dressing gown off and tossed it over a chair while giving him a sly smile.

Sherlock smirked as he felt he was making some progress at getting his way. "Mm, I think you're right. Definitely getting warmer." He decided to discard his sheet...

Molly raised her eyebrow as she looked from him, back to the card in her hands. "I see you're actually wearing pants," she laughed.

Sherlock shrugged lazily. "It's a special occasion."

He looked down at the pile of cards again. He supposed it was...nice...that all these people had thought to give them cards or gifts. Though he was pretty sure that none of them would come near to moving Molly the way that his surprise gift had.

Molly had chosen the song "Can't Help Falling In Love" by Elvis Presley for them to dance to. He certainly didn't object to it, and he could see the logic in the lyrics and how they fit...though he was pretty sure that he would have been much more of a fool to keep running away from Molly.

But almost right away, when she had decided on the song, he had come up with a slightly different plan of his own. And he had to admit that he was pretty excited when the big moment finally arrived...

"Let's get the bride and groom onto the dance floor! It's time for the first dance!" Sherlock's father announced into the microphone.

Molly grabbed Sherlock's hand and they walked out together. He took her hand and placed his other hand around her waist, and only then did he give her a playful little grimace.

"Sorry, Molly, you should know that there's a slight change of plans with our wedding song."

She looked surprised and nervous at first. "What? What happened? When did this happen?"

"Oh, don't worry...I took care of it." He gave her a little wink.

Molly frowned in confusion...then the music started playing...and her face almost immediately crumpled up in tears.

The sounds of "Can't Help Falling In Love" filled the air, but it was a violin that played the notes. And it was by far the most beautiful and moving version of the song she'd ever heard.

"Oh...oh my God! Is- is this you playing?" she managed to ask through sniffles.

Sherlock smiled down at her. "I hope you don't mind that I did my own rendition. I think it came out rather nice."

"Rather nice?!" she blubbered out. "This is amazing! Though I'm going to kill you for making me ugly-cry on the dance floor in front of everyone!"

He chuckled against her hair as she lay her head on his shoulder. "You're welcome," he whispered.

Molly knew that most of the pictures from that dance wouldn't even show her face, since most of the time she had it pressing into Sherlock's shirt. But she didn't care. It was the most beautiful experience for a first dance that she could ever imagine. And it meant all the more that Sherlock had actually come up with the idea on his own...

All in all, Sherlock knew he'd look back fondly on that day...even if weddings weren't exactly his area. He certainly would have been content to go sign a piece of paper, say a few words in front of a few people, and head back to Baker Street. But a small gathering consisting of family and close friends wasn't bad. And he knew that Molly appreciated the event. Not to mention his parents! His parents, or more accurately his mother, had practically threatened his life if he were to run off and get married without involving them.

Mycroft, on the other hand, had almost paid him to do just that. He was not thrilled with the idea of a wedding, let alone being a groomsman. But again, mummy Holmes had made a few choice threats, and Mycroft caved quickly.

Since he'd begun seeing Molly, his brother had warmed up to the idea of them together. And he took Molly's safety seriously, which was what Sherlock most wanted from him. Sherlock had given Mycroft explicit instructions to put Molly's safety above his own. And surprisingly, his brother had agreed with a solemn shake of Sherlock's hand. An understanding passed between the two men that day. From there forward, Sherlock didn't see the same cynical mocking attitude from Mycroft that he had before. He respected the love that Sherlock had for Molly.

Sherlock had finished his coffee now and was only half paying attention to the ten or so more cards that Molly had gone through since reading Mrs. Hudson's. He drummed his fingers impatiently on the arms of his chair as he watched Molly put aside another card with some money inside. It was as if these people thought he didn't make money being a consulting detective!

Sherlock's suddenly heard his mobile alerting him to a text and he looked around, wondering where it was. Molly jumped up.

"I think it's still in your trouser pocket!" She grabbed the trousers she'd picked up and set aside and pulled out his mobile. "It's a text from John."

She came back over and gave the phone to Sherlock and he opened the text.

MORNING. HOPE I'M NOT INTERRUPTING ANYTHING...DON'T ANSWER THAT PLEASE...JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT THE WEDDING NEWS GOT OUT. SO YOU'LL PROBABLY BE HOUNDED NEXT TIME YOU LEAVE THE FLAT. DID YOU GIVE ANDERSON PERMISSION TO POST ABOUT IT ON HIS BLOG? -JW

I GAVE ANDERSON STRICT INSTRUCTIONS TO SAY NOTHING TILL TODAY. HE MUST HAVE TAKEN ME SERIOUSLY AND POSTED FIRST THING THIS MORNING. NOT EXACTLY SURPRISING. -SH

HE'S PRETTY EXCITED THAT YOU INCLUDED HIM, SHERLOCK. HE'LL PROBABLY NEVER STOP TALKING ABOUT IT. -JW

THANKS FOR THE WARNING...NOW, I'VE GOT TO GO. YOU'RE ABOUT TO BE INTERRUPTING SOMETHING. -SH

NO...NO NO! SHUT UP, NOT ANOTHER WORD! MARY SAYS CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN, AND NOW I'LL SAY GOODBYE! -JW

Sherlock laughed to himself as he set his mobile down. "The word is officially out, Mrs. Holmes. Looks like the world knows we're married."

"Oh good!" she said cheerily. "Anderson's blog?"

"Obviously. He wasted no time."

"Well I think it's sweet...Oh speaking of which, look! Here's Anderson's card!" she announced, opening up the envelope and looking inside.

Sherlock rolled his eyes and sighed loudly. "All right! That's enough! I'm putting an end to the cards!" he said, jumping up.

Molly giggled as he came over to where she sat on the floor. "No look, it's really nice! He had everyone at the station pool money and they got us passes to the best museums in London!"

"Oh yes, lovely, very nice, how thoughtful...and I think we're done here!" he reached for the card, but Molly stood up, now moving about the room, trying to avoid him.

"I was enjoying the card!" she giggled as he wrapped an arm around her and took the card, tossing it back into the pile.

"Mm, not anymore," he said quickly before effortlessly picking her up and kissing her.

Molly melted into the kiss and let her hands drift happily into Sherlock's hair. She didn't have the strength or the desire to fend him off any longer. She was actually pretty relieved when he made his way through the kitchen and down the hallway to the bedroom.

Sherlock took them both down onto the bed, never breaking the kiss. He held Molly tightly as they both lay on their sides, and he used one hand to grab the blanket and pull it up over them. After a while, it was Molly who pulled away from his lips.

"Mmm," she sighed against his mouth. "I didn't get to tell you what Anderson's card said," she whispered.

"Not sure...that's...what I want to be hearing...right now." He punctuated every few words with warm kisses to her neck.

"It only said one thing inside...don't you want to know?" she asked with a little laugh.

Sherlock lifted his head again to face her. "Only if you insist on telling me," he whispered.

Molly grasped her husband's face between her palms and closed the distance between them, nuzzling her nose against his. She brushed her lips against his and Sherlock's eyes closed for a blissful moment, then she pulled back and whispered, "the card just said..."

"I TOLD YOU SO."

THE END

Ah yes! I do so love bringing things full circle! And I can totally imagine Anderson being cheeky enough to do something like that too. So there you have it, the tale has been told. I have massively enjoyed this writing journey. Mostly because this was just so fun to write, but also due to the kindness and support from the readers and followers I've acquired. The stats I've ended up with have blown my mind! I'm extremely grateful for those of you who stuck with my all this time. A special thanks to Sherlockedinseattle for the spelling/grammar checking she did the past few chapters. Much appreciated! I SO need it!

*9/19 EDIT- A massive thank you to my real life bff and the closest thing I have to a sister, fanfiction name, Pillowslave! She helped me to figure out the way Sherlock would propose, and she was also the one to suggest the Elvis song "Can't Help Falling In Love." When I looked up violin covers on YouTube, I knew that was perfect! So thank you, my friend, and very first fan. You have read and enjoyed my writing long before anyone else did. The fun we've had reading each others written word over the years, dwarfs a lot of other good times. I raise my proverbial pen to you!...and hope that you'll take very little time to get over the fact that I forgot to put this note in at first! ;P ;D *

I'm kinda not done gushing about this whole experience, so just fyi, I'm planning to do a post on Tumblr in the next day or so. Included in the post will be my writing agenda for the near future. A few people on Tumblr and here have asked me what I plan to do next. So I'll kind of answer that question in the post. Check it out if you're interested. :)

And now I'll say goodbye, readers and followers, at least for now. This has been amazing, and I've had the best time. And I really hope that I Told You So can continue to entertain you. I know I'll be thinking about it fondly for quite a long time. Thanks again a million times over! Bye guys! :'D