Sherlock: His Enigma Called A

Unexpected Guests

Two Weeks Later

"Tea?" Sherlock asked Adelaide as he got up out of John's chair to fix another cuppa for himself. She looked up from the case file that he had given her and smiled.

"Um, if you wouldn't mind."

"Of course not," He gave her a subtle wink and stepped into the kitchen, retrieving the kettle, "As long as we keep it a secret that I actually know how to make it."

Adelaide giggled, "Alright, I won't tell, Sherlock." He stole a glance at her from the counter. While it still felt sort of strange to allow someone else to sit in his chair, he couldn't help but take pleasure in knowing that his girlfriend was the one currently occupying it. Girlfriend. I'm still adjusting to calling her that. He remarked to himself and spared another glance once the tea was on.

Adelaide looked quite different sitting there, mainly because she was shorter than him. To reach the back cushion of the chair, she had to scoot all the way back and sacrifice having her feet on the floor, so she'd pulled her legs up beside her and curled up against the armrest. What set it off nicely was the yellow file in her lap. It was an old case that she'd seen on John's blog and asked him about, so Sherlock had given her the entire folder to look through.

Sherlock paused his musings as the tea finished steeping. He poured them both a cuppa and added extra sugar to hers, then walked back and gave her hers, "Here."

"Thank you, Sherlock." He hummed in response and sat back down, sipping his tea and looking through his inbox. It was pleasantly calm that day in 221B Baker Street and he actually didn't mind it that way for once.

Then came Missus Hudson's voice from downstairs, "Sherlock, you've got visitors!"

"Not now, Missus Hudson!" Footsteps, two sets, could be heard coming up the stairs..

"Sherlock, they're coming up!"

"Hudders!" And before he could say anything, the door opened and in peeped none other than Violet Holmes. Sherlock faltered as he stood up and blocked his parents' from seeing Adelaide by blocking the door, "Mum-"

"Oh there you are, Sherlock! Missus Hudson said you were up here! Mycroft said-"

"Mycroft?  What did Mycroft say?"

"He said that you had a surprise for us of sorts. So here we are, besides wanting to see our youngest son!"

Mycroft. You will pay.

Sherlock wasn't one to contact his parents often, thus he had neglected to tell them he had gotten a girlfriend. And of course Mycroft had to have his fun. He internally groaned as his mother continued, "So what is this surprise you've got, Sherlock? Won't you go ahead and let us in?"

"Sherlock, is that your mother?" Adelaide asked. The brunette sighed as his mother lit up.

"Is that a girl, Sherlock!?!"

He restrained from groaning, "Yes."

"Then let us see, Sherlock! Move!" He reluctantly moved aside and let his parents in. Adelaide had gotten up and straightened her clothes and hair up, "And who is this?"

"Mum, Dad, this is my girlfriend Adelaide Cavanagh. Adelaide, these are my parents; Violet and Mark Holmes. All the way from Oklahoma."

The elder Holmeses were dumbstruck. Adelaide smiled shyly and stepped towards them, "H-Hello, Mister and Missus Holmes. I'm pleased to meet you. Sherlock is wonderful- I'm sure you're proud to have such an intelligent son."

Violet hugged her and then turned back to Sherlock,  "How long were you planning on not telling us!!? How long have you been dating Adelaide!?"

The rest of the afternoon was spent calming Violet down and introducing her and Mark to Adelaide. Similarly to Finley, they sat down and talked with her about almost everything to get to know her. Sherlock was also asked to step out and he did, going downstairs and pestering the landlady while he waited for his parents to finish interviewing  Adelaide. When he came back up it was very clear that Adelaide had totally won his parents over, and he was happy that they approved and supported their relationship too. It made it easier as he would only have to continue worrying about Mycroft.

Eventually the elder Holmeses left and 221B was silent again. Adelaide chuckled and he hummed, "What?"

"Your parents seem so... normal."

"My burden to bear."

"I think they approve."

"Of course they do."

Cheers!!