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English
Series:
Part 1 of Between the Three of Them
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Published:
2014-01-06
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1,349
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1/1
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If you'll have us

Summary:

Three weeks after their wedding, they give Sherlock a ring.

Notes:

** MAJOR SPOILERS **
For series 3 of Sherlock (BBC) episodes The Empty Hearse (not really, though) and The Sign of the Three

After the episode, all I could think about was what a great triad Mary, Sherlock and John made. This is all feels and possibly non-sense. Unbetaed and not at all brit-picked. It just sort of happened.

Work Text:

Three weeks after their wedding, they give Sherlock a ring.

They come over 221B for a visit, planned over emails sent during a lunch break at the clinic. It’s been quiet, their life. There have been no cases which have required John’s (or Mary’s) assistance and they quite simply miss each other’s company. So John and Mary come over for tea and biscuits and it’s the stupidest excuse any of them could think of to see each other.

John is, it seems, nervous. His composure is off, when he isn’t distracted by what Sherlock or Mary is saying, he’s drinking his tea rhythmically. Mary sits them down and says “Sherlock, we have a question for you.” And she seems happy to have it. John goes “Ah, yes, that.” as if it wasn’t the sole purpose of their visit, and gets up from his chair to fetch a small box from the jacket he left on his chair in the living room.

He sits back down with them and Sherlock doesn’t understand what is going on.

“Sherlock,” Mary starts, “at our wedding, you made vows to us. And we never addressed that, but I think it was clear that we both appreciated them. You were a part of John’s life before I was and you’ve become important to me and not only for that. You’re part of us, now. If you’d like to be, I mean.”

John interrupts her, smiling widely and thumbing the small box in his hand, “What she’s trying to say is, Sherlock Holmes, if you would have us,” John clears his throat and grins at Mary, then Sherlock, “If you’d have us, we’d love to have you as part of our family and part of...us.” And that’s when he sets the box on the table and slides it over to Sherlock.

 Inside is a ring. It’s a simple ring, a single golden band with their initials inside.

Sherlock doesn’t know what to say. He never expected this. He- He knew they reciprocated his feelings in some way, in some form that made sense to them as a couple, but this. This is something else. This is them, all three of them, as something, together.

“Yes,” he chokes out, finally, teary eyed, “Yes, of course I’ll have you. Both.” And John hugs him and Mary kisses his cheek and holds his face and he’s glowing, so happy, and relieved of a weight he hadn’t felt until it lifted. He’s theirs now. And they’re his.

*

There is no second ceremony, as Sherlock was present at the first and made his vows then too. They don’t make it official, their arrangement, outside of the three of them. Of course Mycroft works it out and Mrs. Hudson already knew at the ceremony when Sherlock had made his speech.

*

John and Mary live in their apartment near the clinic and Sherlock continues to inhabit 221B Baker Street. When John has clients over his lunch hours, Mary rides across town to Baker Street to have lunch with Sherlock. And when Mary is out with girlfriends, John spends the evening at Baker Street with Sherlock. And when either of them invites Sherlock over for supper or tea or, on one occasion, breakfast, Sherlock comes to their apartment. The places stop being “John and Mary’s” and “Sherlock’s” to become “theirs”, accordingly.

*

Neither John nor Mary has sex with Sherlock, but there are plenty of touches. Sherlock is learning about touches and affection and that, contrary to what Mycroft always told him, it's okay to need it and to demonstrate it. He starts with the little ways he already knew and which he likes; a peck on the cheek or forehead, a squeeze of the arm or hand. Small gestures and being in another's personal space. Sherlock will let his hand lie on Mary’s when he’s sitting on the sofa reading the paper. John will tuck his feet in Sherlock’s lap and massage Mary’s nape. It’s simple. Easy.

Sherlock stays over at the apartment sometimes. He has his own bed in the guestroom he repossessed, where half of his experiments and papers find themselves a few months into their arrangement. He sleeps in there sometimes, but most times, or when he feels the need to, he sleeps with Mary and John, between them, in their bed.

They’ve told him time and time again, both of them, that he is always welcome to their bed. It still takes Sherlock a few weeks to understand that they mean he can always ask them for affection when he needs it.

He lies between them, sometimes, when he’s tired enough to sleep at their 10 to 6 schedule, and either will hold him while he holds the other. Sometimes, both of them will hold him, making up for the time when he had no one, for the two years John grieved him. The first time it happens, the first time Sherlock makes his way into their room in his pyjamas and Mary beckons him to their bed, he asks “Is this okay?” and John tells him “’Course it is, Sherlock.” and puts an arm across his waist. Mary faces Sherlock on her side and she smiles tenderly at him, a hand on his cheek. She asks “Is it okay, Sherlock?” and he doesn’t know if she means the physical contact or the bed sharing, but he finds he’s comfortable with both and nods, kissing the palm of her hand and eventually falling asleep to their heartbeats.

*

Sherlock is nervous about the baby. He researches a lot, but he mostly doesn't have to. As the pregnancy progresses, they all three of them talk about it. Mary keeps them both up to date with the changes her body is experiencing and she lets Sherlock ask every question he has. John answers the more medical questions and Mary answers when, surprisingly, Sherlock asks her how she feels. It’s not that John forgets to do that, but that he’s so in tune with Mary that sometimes he takes it for granted that he knows how she feels. Sherlock is more comfortable with people telling him how they feel than deducing it, nowadays, as he sees how wrong he’s been in the past.

They redecorate the guestroom in the apartment and add a crib to it. There is also one in Baker Street, which is now baby-proofed in most areas. John almost cried when he saw the dining room kitchen empty of experiments, the sharp corners of the table rounded off with cushioning.

*

They name their child Meredith. They choose Watson as the last name, not because John is the child’s biological father, but because if they are all in this together, raising Meredith together, it’s because of John.

Meredith is a healthy baby and she has Mary’s habit for laughter. Baby giggles erupt in Baker Street within Meredith’s first month of living between the places, following her parents wherever they go, one of the three always with her. She’s lain on Sherlock’s lap and he’s making faces at her and she burst into a bright little smile that takes up her whole face and Sherlock grins at her, that same genuine, happy smile he gave John and Mary at their wedding.

Mary squeezes his shoulder and John smiles fondly at Sherlock and Meredith as he does the dishes in the kitchen.

*

There are cases, and babysitters, because Mrs. Hudson is not always up to taking Meredith in and Molly has other things to do. There are family dinners with everyone; Sherlock’s parents, Mycroft and Lestrade, Molly and Tom, who, surprisingly, is amazing with babies, Mrs. Hudson and Janine, a new friend of Sherlock's.

There are nights of sleeplessness and nights of tender touching and of murmured “I’m glad you made it out in time”. There are nights of worrying if one of them, either of them, will make it out in time. There are fights and insecurities and there is sometimes jealousy, but they work it out. They talk. Because there is also love. So much love between the three of them.

 

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