Mrs. Holmes [Book III]

Craving Run

Late August

Susanna groaned, unable to get her mind off of her growling stomach and strong cravings. It was about one in the morning and she wished she'd been able to sleep a little longer, but she couldn't feel as bad as she wanted to when she finally lifted her arm and felt for Sherlock, "Darling..."

He was still sound asleep, with one arm draped over her right hip and his hand resting on the baby bump. He'd put his other arm up on the pillows, cushioning his and Susanna's heads as they'd slept. When he didn't show signs of response, she tried again, "Darling?"

Still nothing.

"Sherlock?"

Nope.

Finally she gave up and swung her arm around, shaking his frame, "William Sherlock Scott Holmes!"

He jolted awake and bolted upright, "What's the problem?!" If she wasn't so suddenly ticked with her husband, she might have calmly told him not to worry.

Unfortunately that logical thought process was lacking. Susanna groaned, "You don't normally take that long to respond, Sherlock." The anger that had momentarily reigned over her quickly subsided. These Mood Swings are the worst. She internally bemoaned.

"My apologies, Love. What is it?" Sherlock inquired, sleep lingering in his voice.

"... Cravings. I'm really hungry right now." Sherlock instantly shook off any residual sleepiness. If he got lucky, it could be as simple as scrambled eggs cooked with pepperjack cheese. But that was normally closer to breakfast time, so he doubted his chances.

"Alright, what do you want?"

"Chips with garlic." He knew she would have normally said Garlic fries, but said nothing of her word choice. He knew she wanted crisp fried potatoes- salty and, of course, with plenty of fresh garlic.

"We don't have any here. I'll have to go pick them up. I'll be as quick as I possibly can."

This time, Susanna felt a wave of guilt and sadness crash over her. She broke down, "I'm sorry I woke you up I know you've been working cases and need to rest!"

Sherlock could handle her fits of anger, the extreme bouts of happiness, and almost every other hormone-induced emotion that Susanna sent his way. But when she got upset and started sobbing, it was a very different playing field. If he played right, her tears would subside and she'd cheer up. If not, she'd swing from sadness to anger because he'd somehow managed to piss her off in one way or another.

"Susanna, there's no reason for you to apologize for waking me up. I'm glad you did because obviously you need the extra sodium at the moment to help the baby grow, and I'd rather have you relax then get up when you need to rest. " Normally he'd try and persuade her to try a substitute for the chips but right now she wasn't going to listen and it would surely make her more upset.

"Still..."

"It's fine, Love. I'm not upset and you shouldn't be either," He bent down and gave her a few kisses before getting out of bed and throwing some clothes on, "As I said before, I'll be as quick as I can."

Susanna nodded, still sniffling, and he rounded the corner of the bed to give her another quick kiss, "Thanks, Sherlock."

He turned on the TV for her and hurried out, grabbing his coat before leaving to get the chips. He called his usual vendor on his way and stopped at Molly's place for the fresh garlic. She had been confused to find him scavenging in her kitchen but fully understood the second he said "cravings". She gave him a few heads of garlic and he went on his way.

Without much trouble the vendor was able to mince the garlic and add it to the salted chips- two large orders, one for Susanna and one for Sherlock, sans garlic. The chips were wrapped in foil paper and Sherlock paid quickly before hailing another taxi. This time he bribed the cabbie. He texted Susanna that he was on his way, then checked his inbox again.

Susanna had sat up in bed by the time he walked in with the chips and a bottle of ketchup and she beamed, "I thought it'd take longer!"

"I'm Sherlock Holmes. I know exactly where to go for chips at this time of night." She chuckled and he handed her her portion.

"Thank you, Darling."

"You're welcome, Love." Sherlock changed back into pajamas and joined her. Susanna had turned on Netflix and was watching NCIS, so Sherlock alternated his attention between her and the screen.

When he focused on her, his eyes would target her swollen tummy. She wasn't all that big yet, but she was approaching the end of the second trimester and her middle had definitely rounded out. She still wore her normal clothes, granted that they were soft and stretchy, but Sherlock deduced that it wouldn't be too long before she officially graduated to maternity apparel.

Sherlock reached over and placed his hand on her tummy in time to feel the baby turn over, probably wondering what was going on. He smiled when the baby continued to move, "Does it ever hurt you when they move?"

"No. It just feels sort of funny. It is quite uncomfortable, though, if they get right under my ribs or next to my spine."

Sherlock ran his fingers over the bump again, "Little One, I don't think Mum appreciates it when you dig into her skeleton like that." His statement merited a kick and he chuckled.

Making a late, or early, run for chips and garlic was worth it when he could spend some quality time with his wife and unborn child.

Thank you for reading!!