Hamish Holmes was very young when his mother died, but her memory is very much alive in his mind. He remembers how she would tell horrible puns that made everyone laugh, even Dad. He remembers how infectious her smile was and how her laugh bubbled up slowly before erupting in a burst of joy. He remembers sitting on the floor and listening to his mother and father create beautiful music, the room filled with a harmonious melody of a violin and a piano. He remembers how angry his mother would get when Sherlock wouldn't clean up his experiments, but then she would give a world weary sigh and hold Hamish close to whisper softly in his hair, "I fell in love with a stupid genius. But oh, he's still wonderful."

There are many things Hamish remembers about his mother, but what he remembers most vividly was his father's heartbreak.

Sherlock Holmes was not a man of great emotion; there were no grand declarations of love nor were there heartbreaking sob stories about minute tragedies throughout the day. Yes, things were often blown far out of proportion (a drama queen is a drama queen), but Sherlock was never a man who liked his emotions put on display. Therefore, his eventual marriage to Hamish's mother was a surprise to everyone who knew the hard-hearted man. In the public eye, Sherlock Holmes was still Sherlock Holmes, but in the privacy of 221B, Sherlock Holmes could be gentle, caring, and utterly human.

There's a picture on the mantle of Sherlock on his wedding day. He's standing alone in a well-cut suit and his cold and calculating eyes are staring directly into the lens. The picture next to it is of Sherlock's young bride, Rebecca. Her brown hair is loose and slightly wavy, illuminated by the wedding veil perched on her head; and her dress is simple and elegant, adorned with a striking blue sash. Her eyes are not focused on the camera, but instead staring off into the distance and perhaps to some wonderful future. Her smile says that that future is as wonderful as it looks.

The third picture is placed artfully between the other two. Sherlock's hair has fallen in front of his eyes, but his gaze is certainly fixed on his laughing bride. He's hugging her tightly from behind, perhaps whispering some horrible joke in her ear, and she's smiling and laughing as she tries to keep her veil from tipping over. The portrait is candid, and it is the culmination of two strong souls being truly happy.

Hamish wasn't even in school when his mother became very sick. He remembers sitting down in Sherlock's lap facing his mum, and he remembers crying when she said she had cancer. Hamish couldn't quite grasp the gravity of the situation, but he knew it was bad.

As his mother underwent chemotherapy, her smile faltered. She didn't laugh as loudly and she couldn't move so quickly. The immense pain caused her to take medication every six hours, leaving her listless. She stopped playing the piano, so Father's violin pieces sounded oddly lonely. Hamish remembered his father tucking him into bed when his mother was too tired, and Hamish would have to sing his own lullabies and tell himself his own stories.

On December 4, 2007, 21 days before Christmas, 221B Baker Street stopped feeling like home.

The night after his mother's funeral and burial, Hamish couldn't sleep. He didn't want to tell himself another story or sing himself another lullaby, but his father...his father barely looked at him tonight. Slowly, Hamish slid out of his bed and tiptoed across his room, slipping into the hallway silently. He carefully avoided all of the creaks in the floorboards and made his way to the kitchen, aiming to pour himself a glass of water and return to bed.

Hamish didn't see his father at first, because the flat was still shrouded in darkness. When the clouds shifted outside and allowed the moon to illuminate the night, Hamish tensed at the sight of his father curled up on the couch. Hamish had known he shouldn't see him like this, that his father doesn't want to be seen like this, but Hamish can't look away. He noticed the center picture is missing from the mantle, the candid shot of his mother and father that everyone loved so much. Hamish then saw the picture clutched in his father's hand, and he saw his father's body trembling and his face stained with tears.

Hamish abandoned his mission and returned to his room to tuck himself back into bed. It was that night that Hamish Holmes decided he would find someone who loved his Dad just like his mother had, because Hamish couldn't bear to see his father cry again. He would find someone to make his dad happy again.