Beauty and the High-Functioning Sociopath {#PFCC2k16}

Arguments

It had been almost a year since Vanessa had been born. Sherlock had taken time off to be at home with Alex and his daughter, but he was starting to get bored out of his mind. He spent most of his time playing with Rusty now. Alex was sending him on whatever errends she had, sensing he needed to do something so he didn't burn the house down or perform experiments on the dog. They were sitting at home one day, trying to get Vanessa to say her first word. Alex wanted it to be 'mama' and Sherlock wanted it to be 'dada.'

"Say Mama, sweetie!" Alex encouraged. "Ma-ma!"

"No, say Dada! Da-da." Sherlock said. Vanessa just gave them confused looks.

"Come on, say it! Ma-ma!" Alex said.

"Try it! Da-da!" Sherlock said.

"Ma-da...ma-da." Vanessa said.

"No, darling, it's Ma-ma!" Alex said.

"It's Da-da, actually." Sherlock said.

"Ma-da...mur-der...MURDER!" Vanessa shouted.

"What the..." Alex said.

"MURDER, MURDER, MURDER!" Vanessa yelled.

"...SHERLOCK!" Alex yelled. Sherlock was laughing so hard.

"It worked!" He said. "I've been trying to get her to say that all week!"

"I can't belive you!" Alex said. "She's going to ask what her first word was in a few years and I'm going to have to say, murder!"

"That's gonna be a funny story when she's an adult." Sherlock said.

"I guess." Alex sighed. Sherlock's phone rang. He picked it up.

"Hello? Oh, hello, Gwendeline." Sherlock said.

"Okay, now it's just getting offending." Lestrade sighed over the phone. "I called to tell you I've got a case for you. Triple homicide murder. We're pretty sure Moriarty is connected to this."

"Excellent!" Sherlock said. "I'll be right there!"

Sherlock hung up. He grabbed his coat. Alex looked up at him. Sherlock was grinning. He was very bored right now, but he was glad he was going to be getting some fresh air. Just him and Alex against the rest of the world again.

"Alex, I've been offered a case by Lestrade. Triple homicide murder. He thinks Moriarty is connected to it." Sherlock said.

"Great." Alex said, turning to her daughter again.

"Get your coat." Sherlock commanded.

"I can't." Alex said.

"Of course you can, you're not broken." Sherlock said.

"No, Sherlock, I mean I've got to stay with Vanessa. I'm a mother now." Alex said. "I can't go chasing bad guys with you anymore."

"But...I thought..." Sherlock's voice trailed off. "Don't you love me?"

"Of course I love you." Alex said. "But I need to stay with Vanessa. She's a baby, Sherlock."

"Fine." Sherlock said, anger gripping him.

"You're angry with me." Alex said.

"Brilliant deduction!" Sherlock said sarcastically.

"Sherlock, it isn't my fault!" Alex said, gaping at her husband.

"So, what, are you trying to blame me?!" Sherlock asked. "I'm the one who supports this family! I'm the one who makes money!"

"I make money too!" Alex yelled.