Chapter 19

Molly took her time but she finally agreed to come to Sussex for vacation. She was supposed to stay four days. She never left.

She fell in love with the place almost instantly. It was a lovely Victorian cottage, which had been recently renovated. The garden was a bit abandoned but she could take care of it. Sherlock had also bought another piece of land nearby where he had installed his hives. The first floor was composed of a living room, with a fireplace for the long winter evenings, a kitchen and a study where Sherlock had installed his books and his science equipment.

There were three bedrooms upstairs. The messy one obviously belonged to the retired detective and Molly settled in one of the guest rooms. They didn't really discuss the status of their relationship and lived as flatmates for a few weeks. Until one night, when she silently crept into his room and joined him in bed claiming that she was cold. They didn't make love that night but there were a few kisses exchanged in the dark. When it happened the following day, they felt almost shy, like two teenagers. He confessed her that he didn't have anyone since their last time, just after his breakup with Irene.

They didn't need to hide themselves anymore, but living together wasn't always easy at first. Clearly Sherlock wasn't John and it was complicated to get him to respect basic rules such as regular meal times. They had some fights, after which he would generally disappear for a long walk in the countryside. But when he was back, she would find a bunch of wild flowers left on the kitchen's table. She knew it was his way to say sorry.

With time they settled into some kind of routine. Molly enjoyed cooking, gardening and also joined the local chorale. Even if it wasn't a proper shelter, she had a group of cats that she would feed every day. There was a particularly mischievous little black one that they adopted and named "Jim".

Sherlock would generally start his days by a morning swim, as the beach was only twenty minutes away. Then he would divide his afternoons between beekeeping and chemistry experiments. He published several monographs, including a "Practical Handbook of Bee Culture, with some Observations upon the Segregation of the Queen". Molly knew he didn't like to be disturbed in his study, but she liked to have a look at his papers when he was away. This is how she discovered that he was also writing poetry. He never showed it to her, but she knew he was probably aware that she was secretly reading it.

The word had spread that a celebrity was living in the village and some children would sometimes knock at their door to ask if it was true he was the famous Sherlock Holmes. He would generally deny it at first, to end up showing them his collection of memories and accept to pose for a picture with the infamous deerstalker.

It was a simple but happy life, far from the Londonbustle. Audrey came to visit them several times. Even if she still sorely missed her dad, it was a joy for her to see her parents reunited and obviously in love. It took more time for Jack to accept the situation, but he realised that his mother was happy again.

They also received the visit of Mycroft and Anthea. The older Holmes had retired from his position at the government but his brother didn't doubt that he was still the most influential man in England. However, he was now able to officialise his relationship with his former PA. They even decided to adopt a little boy from South Korea. Sherlock mocked him, saying that he was old enough to be the child's grandfather. But Molly knew that he couldn't wait to be called "Uncle Sherlock".

^/^

Sherlock didn't celebrate his birthdays anymore, because the date also marked the anniversary of John's death. It had been three years and that day was still filled with a mix of tension and melancholy. Molly went to church and lighted a candle in his memory. Sherlock spent most of his time in his study, going through his old case files.

When Molly joined him in bed at night, he was silently staring at the ceiling.

"Happy Birthday", she murmured to his ear.

"There's nothing happy about it", he answered mechanically.

"It's still your birthday."

He finally looked at her. She noticed a red mark on his neck and ran her finger on it.

"What is this? Did you get stung by one of your bees?"

"Don't touch it."

"Does it hurt?"

"No, but don't touch it."

She leaned and placed a gentle kiss on the sting.

"What are you doing?", he asked.

"It's a magic kiss. It usually works with children."

He smirked and kissed her. She settled in their favorite position, her head resting on his chest while he was stroking her hair.

"Should we get married?", he suddenly asked.

"What?"

"Do you want to be my wife?"

Molly blinked in surprise. He was always unpredictable but this time she was completely thrown off guard. Becoming his wife was something she had dreamt about many times, especially during the first years they had known each other. But she had stop hoping for it long ago. She was already happy with what they had, actually she even felt like teasing him a little.

"Aren't we a bit old for that?"

"Old? The average life expectancy for English women is 81.6 years, you're only 52 and are in perfect health which means that you can count on at least 30 more years. Probably not that much for me since men average is 77.2 and I consumed hard drugs but overall I have a good constitution. Definitely not too old then… So? What do you think?"

"I don't know…. I mean we're already together, why do you want to get married?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it what people do?"

"Do when?", she insisted.

He rolled his eyes and sighed. She knew how hard it still was for him to talk about his feelings.

"When they want to be together, when… they want to show other people that they chose each other. I want everybody to know that you're the only woman who counts for me…"

Her heart was pounding and she knew that she was about to surrender.

He continued: "…and of course because I still have the ring."

"What ring?"

"The one I had bought for Irene. It's from Tiffany's…"

She abruptly released from his embrace and looked daggers at him.

"Sherlock Holmes!", she exclaimed, "Are you seriously thinking about giving me another's woman ring?"

"She never wore it, technically I never even proposed."

Molly wondered if he was also playing with her or if he honestly though there was nothing wrong with it.

"You can keep it. I'm not interested!", she answered defiantly.

"Alright Scarlett, you shall have the biggest and the most vulgar ring in Sussex."

This time she couldn't help smiling. She had forced him to watch "Gone with the wind" a few weeks before but she had no idea he had actually been paying attention.

"So?", he asked impatiently, "Will you marry me?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

"I'm a detective, I need answers."

"Ex detective", she corrected.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"Ex detective, amateur beekeeper and… very much in love with you."

She kissed him, closing her eyes to savour this perfect moment.

"The answer is yes", she whispered.

"Elementary, Mrs Holmes."

THE END

^/^

So yes… this is the end. I hope you enjoyed it!

It feels kind of weird since I started to write "Missing Him" about 10 months ago! It was my first fic ever and I never imagined it would end up being so long.

Again, I want to thank all of you who took the time to review. I realised that writing isn't easy, it takes a lot of time but reviews are so rewarding that once you start it is hard to stop !

I always loved Sherlock/Molly and it is amazing that what was just a mere fantasy in season 1 is now "almost canon" (at least in my head) after season 2 !

Since we still have a lot of time to kill before season 3, I will probably write more. It won't be a sequel and probably not such a long story, but our favorite pathologist will certainly be in it!

See you soon !