The Baker's Detective

| The Bakery and the End |

Sherlock smiles when he finishes reading the book, and his smile grows when he sees Lily's hopeful face. "It's lovely."

"Thank you," she says.

"I wanna read it!" Rosie shouts.

John laughs. "I'll help you," by which he meant he'll read it to her. Sherlock hands John the laptop and turns back to Lily.

"Now that your book is done, are you going to focus on your bakery?" he asks.

Her smile drops a little. "I suppose I should."

He sits down on the couch and gently pulls her with him. "What's the matter?"

"I don't know." She sighs. "I still want to — open a bakery, I mean. I've just been putting it off for so long and it seems like such a monumental task. My fund isn't replenished yet, besides. I don't know if I could afford it."

"Yes, but... Well, Speedy's is the perfect place, right? How long will it be available?"

"And what about my job in the fall?"

"We could help, while you're there. It's just downstairs."

She smiles at him again, then hugs him. "Thank you, Sherlock. I'll keep that in mind while I'm thinking about all this."

They sit and watch John read to Rosie for a bit, laughing at his voices and Rosie's reactions. When he's done, Lily says goodbye and goes back downstairs. Sherlock sits in his chair, and Rosie comes over with one of her dolls. "Beatrice needs a diaper change. Can you help?"

Sherlock refrains from sighing. Beatrice hasn't been around for a while, but she must've found her somewhere in her room this morning. Lestrade bought her the awful thing that cries, wees, and poos likely to laugh at Sherlock and John having to clean up after it. At least if they got a dog, it would love them in return.

He grabs a dish towel, lays the doll on top of it, and helps Rosie change the thing's diaper, while the thing cries. Rosie puts the pacifier in its mouth to shut it up. "She cries so much."

"So did you," John says, coming into the sitting room.

"When I was a baby?"

"Yes, when you were a baby."

"Wouldn't Marcy be much more fun to play with?" Sherlock suggests, referring to her doll that doesn't need batteries — or fed or changed. "Or your trains?"

"Trains are boring right now," Rosie replies. "And Marcy's name is Daisy now. Like a flower."

"When did that happen?" John asks.

"When Lily came. We have flower names. Daisy does, too."

Daisy, Sherlock thinks, is not a bad name for a dog.

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Lily cleans her flat while on the phone with everyone about the book. She calls her parents first —her mom, who's at the store, then her dad, who's working with Uriah. She tells them both at the the same time, and as Uriah celebrates, she hears something crash to the ground, as he knocked something over in his excitement. He's using his published book character as his fun fact about himself for the rest of his life, apparently.

Next, she calls Raven, who is also very excited to have a published character named after her. Then, she's able to call Gabby to discuss more about illustrating it. She assures everyone that their names will be on the book to give them credit for their help. Finally, Liam calls her back, now on lunch. He asks her to read him the email, which she does.