The Baker's Detective

| The Compliment and the Family |

Sherlock came down later in the day, after dark, and told Lily that Hayley was found; she was on the streets, and one of Sherlock's contacts found her, brought her back to the Holders, where she's staying again. The only loose end is Robert, which not even Sherlock has found. But Lily's sure he will, and hopefully soon.

In the meantime, she'll be preparing for her parents' and Liam's arrival at the flat, now set for next week. She needs to clean, go grocery shopping, and bake something before they get here. Her garden needs tending as well, and her laundry needs done.

In this week of preparation, she receives an email back from her publisher. To make a long story short, her story idea was rather basic and her publisher expected more creativity out of her considering the last book. Lily knows that she's right, and she's grateful for the assurance that she can take more time on figuring it out. Because of that, she resolves to not worry over it until her parents and Liam are gone, instead focusing on prepping her flat.

In the middle of her day of deep cleaning, Lily gets a call from Raven. She tosses off her rubber gloves and moves away from the sudsy sink to answer the phone. Usually, Raven would just text, so this is concerning. "Hello?"

"When were you going to tell me you've been detecting with Sherlock Holmes?" she says.

Lily shakes her head. "Is that really what you're calling about? I thought something awful happened!"

"It almost did; that guy could've killed you."

"Yes, but he didn't."

"He could have."

"You sound like Liam."

Raven chuckles. "Has Mr. Overprotective already gave you an earful about the whole thing?"

"No. At this point I'm hoping he doesn't find out."

"He will, if he sees this. Dr. Watson omitting your last name isn't going to keep people from knowing who you are. At least, the people who already know you."

"I know."

Raven pauses, and there's some rustling, then she asks, "So... was it fun?"

Lily laughs. "Yeah, apart from the murder and getting a gun pointed at me part, it was pretty fun."

"Tell me everything."

Lily only sees the 221B crew once during that week, when she brings them the extra crème brûlée she made, along with the small batch of chocolate chip cookies for Rosie's enjoyment.

She takes a créme brûlée to Mrs. Hudson first, expecting her dish back at some point tomorrow, when she's actually in her apartment. Then, she goes up to 221B, where Sherlock is on his laptop, and John is — or was — watching TV with Rosie, all three of them in the sitting room. John answers the door.

"Hello," Lily says, walking in when John steps aside, and she makes a beeline for the kitchen counter, worried about dropping all the food in her hands. "I need you boys to be my guinea pigs, if that's alright with you. And Rosie-" Rosie is already there, standing next to her, ready to eat whatever Lily's brought "- I just need you to eat these chocolate chip cookies. Can you do that?"

Rosie nods her head excitedly, then looks to John, who's behind her. "Can I have one now?"

"Sure. But you can't eat them all at once," John reminds her, handing her a cookie. She thanks Lily and hugs her quickly, then runs back to the sitting room, past Sherlock, who's now next to John. Thomas and Friends is on.

Lily looks at the both of them. "You two are having créme brûlée." She hands them the bowls, already torched and with a bit of melted chocolate and berries on top, then hurries into the kitchen and grabs them some spoons. "I just need to know if they're any good. My parents are coming later today with my brother to see my flat, and this is one of my their favorites, but I hardly ever make it."