John realizes some things when he gets cake with Sherlock and Molly. AKA The cake scene that needed to happen. Sherlolly. Slight spoilers for The Lying Detective.

There's a lot of John but I think sometimes it's easier to see their relationship through his eyes.

I don't own BBC Sherlock or the characters.

"As I think I have explained to you many times before, romantic entanglement, while fulfilling for other people-"

"-would complete you as a human being… Do something while there's still a chance… That's what you're missing. She taught me to be the man she already thought I was. Get yourself a piece of that."

"So Molly's going to meet us at this 'cake place'."

"Well, it's your birthday. Cake is obligatory."

John Watson balanced baby Rosie in his arms, holding onto a vanilla cupcake in his right hand as he walked to an empty table. Sherlock and Molly were still picking out their cupcakes at the counter. He placed the cupcake on the circular, blue table, then pulled out a metal chair. He smiled at his daughter as she reached for the cake as soon as they sat down.

"Not yet, Rosie," John gently reminded her, keeping her at a safe distance from the food. He looked over his shoulder to see if Molly and Sherlock were done yet. He had left money with Molly to pay for Sherlock's since Rosie was getting all wriggly. The baby giggled as she nearly touched the cupcake, but John was watching his two friends. Molly was looking playfully stern while Sherlock was wearing a smile that John had rarely seen. It was genuine and there was something there he couldn't quite place. He felt Rosie pulling herself away from him. He looked away and gave in to giving his daughter a little bite of cake.

"I'll gladly bring you, if that's what it takes, Sherlock Holmes," Molly was saying as they walked toward the table. John noticed a candle in Sherlock's cupcake as the two sat down.

Molly placed herself near Rosie. "Looks like someone's already had a little bit of cake," she said in a sweet voice, using a napkin to wipe a tiny bit off the baby's face.

John smiled. When he looked up, a worker was stepping toward their table with a lighter. A grin broke out over his face (the first in a while) as he watched Sherlock roll his eyes at all the grandeur. It was hard to take seriously though as he was still wearing his "Sherlock Holmes" hat.

"Happy Birthday…" John started and him and Molly sang while Rosie made gurgle noises.

"Thank you," Sherlock said, sounding exasperated, but they all knew he was secretly pleased.

"Blow out the candle, mate."

"Don't forget your wish, Sherlock," Molly chimed in.

Sherlock did as told before picking up a fork and cutting into his strawberry chocolate cupcake. He seemed content, John noticed, which was kind of odd when he thought about it. A lot of things had just happened. Raw emotions which he didn't think Sherlock was too fond of or could handle well, but here he was acting as if it was totally normal for him of all people to be getting cake with his friends on his birthday.

However, as John watched his friend, he noticed Sherlock was watching someone else. While most of the time, he ate his cupcake looking down or at the table, John caught his glances toward Molly Hooper eating her strawberry vanilla cupcake. Was it strange behavior? No, most likely not, but it got John's mind working. Mary might not be there with him anymore, but he could imagine what she would whisper to him or say when they got home.

"Hmm, does Sherlock look at people like that a lot?"

And when John would give a non-committal answer, she'd roll her eyes and go, "Does he look at Molly like that a lot?"

What was the answer to that question? Maybe so. Suddenly, he felt more observant than ever. He remembered when he told Sherlock he was going to call Molly after he showed up high at his house in the boot of Mrs. Hudson's Ashton Martin. And Molly was already there. He remembered Sherlock looking back as they went in to see Culverton Smith. He remembered Molly telling him off at the Christening. And after the Opium den. And even years ago at the Christmas party. He nearly groaned thinking of that moment but looked at his two friends, seeing their comfort and comradery even when they weren't speaking. Something had happened between them. Something had happened a long time ago when Sherlock had come back from the dead. He was kinder to her. His smiles were no longer fake and manipulative. John knew Sherlock had changed in the time he knew him and he knew some of their friends attributed the change to himself, but seeing them now, he knew he couldn't take all the credit. Molly was the one Sherlock had asked for help to escape Moriarty. Molly was the one who tried to slap some sense into him when he was back on drugs. Molly was the only one John had really heard Sherlock apologize to. She saw past his cold façade in ways John couldn't. Almost all the times Sherlock Holmes seemed entirely genuine were with Molly.

Someone who makes him human. Someone who teaches him to be his best. Someone who doesn't take his crap. Was that person Molly Hooper?

"May I?" Molly asked, referring to Rosie.

"Oh yeah, of course." John handed over his daughter to her godmother. He noticed how she placed the baby between her and Sherlock. She knew. Knew Sherlock would want to see Rosie after so long. He smiled inwardly at the behavior and picked up his fork to eat his cupcake.

"So how are things going, John?" Molly asked after Rosie was settled and given a tiny bit of strawberry.

"Fine. They're fine. Getting better actually." His smile still seemed pained. John and Sherlock shared a quick glance.

"That's good!" Molly said, always caring. "When my dad passed…well," she looked between her two colleagues, "well, I didn't mean to bring the mood down. I'm sorry." She looked slightly uncomfortable.

"That's alright, Molly," Sherlock stepped in before John could. "You were only trying to help. There have been many emotions today, and neither John or I are equipped to handle them."

Molly gave a small smile. "Okay then, let's talk about something else. Any past cases I haven't heard about?" She smiled at them both.

"Yes, John, what hasn't been published on the blog?" Sherlock asked him. It didn't take much prompting from John to remind him of a case and off he went. It was strange to hear Sherlock recounting their adventures. It was a more scientific approach, but with Molly being a scientist, he supposed she didn't mind. In fact, she seemed quite interested, even in the little grisly details like the number of maggots found on a victim post mortem. He saw her deducing with Sherlock, inferring some things before he even got to that point.

Molly was a smart woman. Smart enough to get Sherlock Holmes' attention. He wouldn't work with anyone else in the morgue and whenever he needed help with an experiment, Molly was the first person he went to. She was much more simple in her cleverness. She wasn't a drama queen like the Holmes' brothers. She was humble in her deductions. She was a strong contrast against The Woman. The Woman who not moments before John was telling Sherlock to take a chance with.

John looked at Sherlock and Molly, now fawning over Rosie together. How pleasantly surprising it was to think of the two of them that way, to even imagine a baby of their own sitting between them. Annoyed with how "romantic" his thoughts had wandered, though Sherlock did refer to him as a romantic, he wondered if he should have pushed Molly towards the detective, and not Irene Adler.

John could see Sherlock and Molly as a couple fitting much better than the detective and dominatrix. It wouldn't be without some work. He knew how difficult Sherlock was to live with, especially after another drug fiasco, but marriage was work. He knew that too, and God knew he wished he had done a better job at it. Life kept changing for him and Sherlock, and who knew when all three of them would be sitting like this again, if ever?

Molly Hooper could complete Sherlock as a human being. John knew it. She always encouraged him to be better than he was. She understood he wasn't going to change very easily and she loved him anyway. She did. John could see it in her eyes. Molly loved Sherlock Holmes. How? He would never know; he barely understood his own friendship with him. But Molly loved him, and if Sherlock had any feelings for the pathologist like John was sure he did, then maybe things could work out. Maybe Sherlock could have a happiness that his life had been deprived of until now, something John had had taken away. Molly Hooper could make Sherlock Holmes happy; it was right there on his face.

"Have you ever thought of having one?" John asked. He purposely directed his question to no one in particular. All or nothing, right?

They both looked up at him in surprise.

"That would normally go under romantic entanglement, John and as I explained at the flat-"

"I think I would. One day," Molly said quietly, looking back to Rosie. Sherlock stopped.

John watched, wondering if Sherlock would continue. His face looked like it had when John had asked him to be his best man. He came out of it a lot quicker however, but he only continued to finish eating his cupcake. The conversation moved on and soon they were leaving the small café.

TO BE CONTINUED…

P.S I'm only planning on this being a two-shot so don't expect too much more. Thanks for reading! ^_^