Inevitable

Summary: Mistletoe will always be the cursed plant of the season, but Mary Watson will find a way to use it to her advantage and bring a detective and his pathologist together. Christmas Sherlolly.

Sherlock fingered the bright red bobbles on the Watson's Christmas tree. Another year had passed and he still wasn't fond of the holiday, though he thought, looking at little Elizabeth Watson crawling across the floor, maybe he could get used to the occasion.

"Consulting babysitter now, are we?" asked Detective Inspector Lestrade as he strolled into the room after greeting the others in the kitchen. Sherlock had brought along Mrs. Hudson who was helping Mary prepare the dumplings. Apparently they also needed John, which was why Sherlock was here in the living room with the baby.

"Hm. I suppose."

"I could take over if you'd like. You might want to interfere with what's going on in there; Mary's talking about hanging mistletoe all over."

Sherlock frowned, but before he could answer, the front door could be heard from the hall. The howling wind from the blizzard outside whistled into the house for a brief moment before the door was closed.

Molly Hooper came around the corner. "The sign said to come on in," she explained as both detectives looked at her. She was dressed simply in jeans and Sherlock suspected a sweater under the dark green winter coat. Possibly one that matched her white knit hat.

"Yeah, come on in," Lestrade smiled warmly at her. He took a step towards her with one hand held up to help her with her coat.

"Oh thank you, Greg," she said politely as she shrugged out of it and handed it to him. Sherlock watched the exchange quietly. He was right, white sweater. Lestrade walked back around the corner to hang up the jacket and Molly looked at Sherlock, tugging at the end of her sleeves. She smiled. "Merry Christmas, Sherlock."

Sherlock broke his distained façade then and smiled back. "Merry Christmas, Molly."

Some thought made Molly's smile twitch, but the look was gone in an instant. She strode into the living room, starting her away across to the kitchen door on the other side.

"Are John and Mary in the kitchen? I told Mary I'd help her with the dumplings."

"Yes, I'm sure they've nearly finished though. Mrs. Hudson wanted to come early and help."

Molly gave a short laugh. "Oh, well, I better say hello anyway."

He smiled and nodded to be polite as she walked through the dark teal door.

"Oh Molly!" Mary said, seeing the girl come through the door. "We were just talking about you."

"Nothing bad I hope," she joked as she saw the three grinning faces looking back at her.

"No, no of course not!" Mary was quick to dismiss those kind of doubts.

"We were talking about putting mistletoe up, dear," Mrs. Hudson said from the chair pulled out near the island.

"Oh," Molly giggled. She understood the correlation, but she wouldn't admit it.

"Anyway," Mary said as if wanting to change the subject before a secret got out, "the dumplings are in the pot. Poor Mrs. Hudson practically did all the work."

"Oh, it was no trouble dear."

"Oh, well, I suppose we'll all just be waiting for them to finish. Do you need the table set or anything?"

"Nope, all taken care of. Could you maybe go help with Elizabeth, though? And send Greg in here?"

Molly smiled. "Of course." She didn't question why Mary would need Lestrade and not her, but she loved when she got to see baby Elizabeth so she would do as asked. She was just happy to be with some kind of family for Christmas to be honest. The last Christmases had been difficult with her broken engagement, Sherlock being gone, and then of course that Christmas. The memory had come back when he had wished her a merry Christmas, but things were different now. She knew that. Sherlock had changed, become more human, though she had known he was human underneath that rough exterior the whole time. Every Christmas she had ended up alone, and she realized they were all somehow related to Sherlock.

"Greg, Mary wanted you in the kitchen," Molly informed him when she came into the room. Both boys had been sitting on the couches; Elizabeth playing at Sherlock's feet.

As the detective left, Molly watched Sherlock with Elizabeth. He was leaned over, his hands stretched out as Elizabeth held on to them. The baby and her godfather were looking into each other's eyes and Molly saw something there that was more human and more genuine than she had ever seen in Sherlock, even compared to the night he asked for her help. She realized it was love; Sherlock loved that little girl.

"Can I come play with her too?" Molly asked, walking over to sit beside Sherlock. He looked up at her, as did Elizabeth. Her excited wiggles, nearly made her fall.

"Yes, she always loves you," Sherlock commented, catching her and handing her to Molly.

Molly smiled at Elizabeth as she took her. She spoke baby talk to her, saying hi and talking about Christmas, then she turned to Sherlock. "What do you think they're talking about in there?"

Sherlock blinked. He had been watching Molly, not sure what he was thinking about, but he felt the fast beat of his heart. "I assume it has something to do with mistletoe," he said skeptically.

Molly made a funny face at Elizabeth. "When I went in earlier, they said they had been talking about me. And putting mistletoe up…"

"Yes, Graham also said I might want to interfere with Mary's plan for all this mistletoe… I can only deduce, since they also left us here, that they want to get the two of us under the plant."

"Oh, probably." Molly focused on Elizabeth, though she felt her face start to blush. There was an awkward silence. "Any new cases?" she asked after a moment. Easy enough, Sherlock started to describe a recent case with some excitement.

About 10 minutes later, Mary called from the kitchen. "Molly! Sherlock! Supper's ready!"

The two got up from the couch and headed toward the door that would lead to the kitchen and the dining room beside it. Sherlock followed behind, getting the door as Molly had Elizabeth in her arms. Coming in they were immediately stopped by Mary, holding out her arms for her baby. "Hello, darling," she spoke to her child as Elizabeth snuggled into her. "Thank you both for watching her."

Molly smiled.

"Of course," Sherlock said, realizing that they hadn't moved further into the room by how close he was to Molly's back. He scanned the room, Mary beaming, all the others were at the table… looking at something just above him. He groaned internally as he glanced up to see the infernal holiday plant. He should have deduced it, and maybe he had and not cared, but now here he was with Molly Hooper under the mistletoe.

Just as he realized this, Mrs. Hudson exclaimed as if actually surprised by the turn of events, "Oh, Sherlock!"

Molly looked confused for a moment, turning to look at him. But of course, in looking up at him, she saw the mistletoe. And their close proximity. She flushed and he felt his own face start to heat up in response. Better get it over with quickly so Mary and everyone else will be satisfied.

Sherlock gave a little smile, "Merry Christmas," he said and leaned toward her. She looked up at him with large eyes, then seemed calm again as she raised her head.

Just before their lips touched, he barely heard her whisper (and surely no one else in the room could hear it), "Merry Christmas, Sherlock Holmes."

Sherlock hadn't realized how fast his heartbeat was going until that moment. Hearing his name on her lips like that made it beat even harder. He captured her lips with his own, with more pressure than he had first intended.

Molly responded in kind. It's only because of the mistletoe. It's just a kiss, she repeated over and over in her mind. Why would Mary do this to her? She had shared her feelings in confidence, not so she could use them for amusement.

That was the farthest thing from her mind however when they separated. Sherlock moved away by only a couple of centimeters. Molly barely had time to comprehend his dilated pupils before he pressed his lips firmly to hers again. This was brief, softer. When he looked over her shoulder after they separated again, both of their faces turned red.

Molly slowly turned back around, trying to make it seem as normal as possible. John and Lestrade both had hints of smirks on their faces, Mrs. Hudson looked like a proud mother, her hands pressed together, and even baby Elizabeth was staring at them silently.

Mary looked like she was about to giggle and scream with joy. She kept her composer however. "Well, time for Christmas dinner!" Her smile was as wide as it could be as she hitched her daughter up to get a better hold of her.

As all three went to take a seat at the table, John coughed and everyone seemed to be focusing on behaving normally while straightening their napkins or silverware. Soon enough, Mary maneuvered the conversation and things went on as if nothing had actually happened. Sherlock noticed the quick glances that were directed at him and Molly throughout the evening though, and Mary noticed the blushes and looks between the detective and pathologist.

Later that night, when everyone had left the party, both Sherlock and Mary would say the same thing to their significant others.

"Oh, John-" Mary chastised when her husband tried to tell her that maybe what they had done wasn't such a good idea.

"I suppose…" Sherlock explained, holding Molly's hand as they walked in the snow outside the Watson's home.

"…it was inevitable."

So glad I was finally able to post this! I somehow wrote this is May and have been waiting to throw it in with all the other Christmas fic out there. It's just too magical a season to not write anything! Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!