Mrs. Holmes [Book III]

Epilogue:: Eight Years Later {Susanna}

"Mum!! Rose stole my beaker!!" William shouts from the chemistry lab, which used to be 221C. The shout is followed by two sets of feet running up the stairs. I'm sitting at the piano with Victor, mine and Sherlock's six year old son, playing scales. Rosie, now nearly fourteen, runs in first.

"He took my headband for an experiment!" William stumbles in.

"It's not like I was going to disintegrate it! I wanted to melt it and then remold it! It's just plastic!"

"Daddy said no more melting things." Victor -appropriately Victor Gregory Daniel- states. He's almost a carbon copy of William, although his eyes are distinctly Sherlock's and he has softer curls like mine. William gets a look of betrayal.

"It's not like he's around to say no! He melted Mummy's bracelet yesterday-"

"What?" I finally speak. All three freeze, "He did what?"

"He melted your bracelet." Victor answers and I look at him.

"Which one?" Rosie and William pantomime for him to be quiet but Victor continues.

"The green one." Okay, so he didn't melt one that I actually liked.

I hum, "I was wondering where it went. Thank you, Victor," He beams. The other two groan, "Rosie, return the beaker. William, return her headband."

"But-!" I give them a look. Rosie sighs, "Yes Ma'am." They head back down to exchange the culprit items and resume their experiments. I gave up a while ago trying to keep them out of the lab so there is a mutual understanding between us.

A cry comes from upstairs and I look at the time before hurrying up the stairs. Victor follows me into Kimberly's room; Missus Hudson remarried and moved out a couple years ago, so we moved the boys into her bedroom. I walk to the crib and coo, "Hello, honey, did you have a good nap?" I pick our two year old daughter up and kiss her cheeks. She stops crying immediately and smiles, "You did, didn't you?"

Kimberly gurgles when she sees Victor, "Vic!"

"Good day, Kimberly." He greets with a light smile. I quickly check and change her as he keeps her entertained.

Kimberly Brooklyn Molly, out of our three children, is the only one to have my red blonde hair- we can't get enough of her peachy waves. She is also a huge daddy's girl and the boys adore her. Even her five year old cousins Makaio and Siger, Mycroft and Leilani's twins, like her. She knows it too, which is amusing and scary at the same time.

I carry her back downstairs and into the kitchen for a quick snack. Victor sits back down at the piano and resumes playing scales and arpeggios. I grab a box of crackers and sit at the table with Kimberly.

Sherlock and John arrive a little later. They no longer bound up the stairs, although they haven't slowed any, and I look up to greet them as they enter the living room, "Welcome back, Darling." Sherlock smiles and pecks me on the lips.

"Hello, Love," He replies and then scoops up Kimberly, "Hello, little one." She giggles.

"Daddy!!" He kisses her on the cheek and gives her a little tickle. I look over at John as Sherlock greets Victor.

"Hello, John. Fun day?" He nods.

"Oh yes. Tracking a poisoner is always fun." He replies and sits back in his chair with a small grunt.

"Sherlock still running you hard?"

"Yep." We both chuckle.

John has grayed more than Sherlock and me, but he's still the blogging doctor able to keep up with our favorite detective. He has done well with Rosie as she has entered her teens, with a lot of help from me, and he's even got a lovely girlfriend from Japan named Kiyoko whom Rosie loves.

Sherlock's chocolate curls have gotten gray too- mostly on the sides although he wears it well. His hairstyle has changed to accomodate the incoming silver and grey hairs- still as handsome as ever. Even I have started getting gray- though it's actually the lightening of my hair color to white. I attribute this to having three kids; I love them with all of my heart but it is hard work to love them and keep my sanity. They're Sherlock's kids too, after all.

Mycroft is adamant that he won't have white or silver in his hair so he has Leilani help dye it brown again. It's funny because she likes the natural silver coming but can't get him to realize that.

Rosie and William walk back in. Rosie greets John, "Hey, Dad."

"Hello, Rosie," He looks her over, "What experiment did you and William get into?"

All the children, minus Kimberly, fall silent. Sherlock clears his throat, "You got into the corrosives."

"Dang it!" William and Rosie burst in unison. Victor jumps up.

"They were using the same liquid that you did to break Mummy's bracelet!" This time Sherlock blanches.

"I told you three to say nothing about that. And I also told you not to melt anything elsw." He and William get into a debate and John and I just exchange looks.

We've had our fair share of bad, but the good we've had far outweighs it. I wouldn't trade my family for the world and I know that Sherlock wouldn't either.

Stay tuned for when I release my next book! This series is over so I am starting the next one and should publish it this week!