Beautifully Stormy Skies (Johnlock mpreg)

Chapter 16

"This is quite...weird."

John noted, sitting rather uncomfortable in the sitting room. Sherlock and Peyton sitting side by side on the couch as the army doctor was studying the uncanny resemblance between them. Sherlock rolled his eyes, rising from his seat and buttoning the sole button on his suit before going to his bedroom to collect something he hadn't seen in years.

The detective arrived back with a dusty navy blue box that has seen better days. He set it on the coffee table then sat next to Peyton, catching himself giving her an admirable smile.

"What is this?" She asked, sliding the box closer to her but not opening it.

"It's everything I owned of yours before I gave you away. I saved as much as I could before my parents decided to take everything down in what would've been your nursery. Just the important things I saved, nothing much but it's enough." Sherlock smiled, telling her to open it.

She lifted the lid off to see little trinkets that held great meaning to Sherlock. The detective felt a wave of distress and sadness, seeing that his little girl who he'd barely known for less than a day the day she was born all grown up. He didn't know how to explain how his heart was being ripped in two and sewn back together in the same moment.

Inside, on top of everything, was a small pink blanket that was covered in little ducks. The blanket that the nurse wrapped her in when she was born. The same blanket Sherlock played with the hems of when he got to hold her to his chest for the shortest time.

He was just a kid.

A teenager.

But he'd never felt more grown up and alive than in that moment. Holding his child in his arms and whispering that everything was going to be alright, no matter how far she'd might go. All kept safe in that little pink blanket.

She set it aside to reveal ultrasound pictures, binkies, small stuffed animals, and a couple pressed flowers towards the bottom of the dingy box. Sherlock smiled, taking the blanket into his hands and running his fingers over one the ducks. He remembered the blanket being larger, but that was years ago. It was larger to him when he was just a little younger. He set it on his lap, lacing his fingers together over it.

"You saved all of this?" Peyton asked, sifting through the fragile pictures and toys with care before looking back to Sherlock.

"I figured I could never let go of my past. Believe me, I've tried all throughout my life to forget about the mistakes I've made. But you were it. You were the thing that kept me going and what tied me to the past. I greatly appreciate you for that. You were the one good thing I could never let go of." Sherlock gave a genuine smile before receiving a hug from Peyton. Shocked and a little surprised, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer.

"Tea anyone?" John asked, coming in from the kitchen with a tray of small snacks and the kettle with three cups.

"I think that'll be great John." Sherlock separated from Peyton as he helped John set the tray down on the table in front of them. The detective poured everyone a cuppa before sitting back and watching as she dug through more of the memories in the box.

The whole flat was silent except for the occasional small talk made between the detective, his blogger, and Peyton. Laughing and carrying the conversation on. A muffled cry came from upstairs while Sherlock looked to the area of where the cries came from.

"Sounds like somebody is up." Sherlock set the pink blanket back on the coffee table as he excused himself from the group to go get his daughter in distress.

Entering her room, he heard Joan stop crying when he came into her view. She smiled a toothless smile as she gnawed on her fist, a string of drool dripping from her lips. The detective chuckled. Picking Joan up and holding her against his chest, he kept her quiet with small sentences of loving trust like 'I've got you' or 'daddy's here baby girl'.