There were few things in life that brought Sherlock true comfort. Oh there was the thrill of the chase, solving crimes and proving everyone else wrong. But not one of those things really brought peace to his life; at least not the kind that he had experienced since he had finally seen what was in front of him and married Molly Hooper.

His married life was nothing like he had expected it to be. He had thought being a husband would cut into his work, somehow slow his mind. Instead he found that having Molly around only helped. When John wasn't around or available, Molly would join him on cases and he found that they worked perfect together. Of course that was until she had informed him of her pregnancy.

He would admit that he hadn't taken it very well; childishly if you were to listen to John. He had congratulated her and then just left. He had wandered around London for hours until his brother had found him and driven him to John's; incidentally where his hysteric wife was crying on Mary's shoulder.

John had tried to talk some sense into him, but he was in full on panic mode. He was going to be a father, someone's daddy and he found that he was scared out of his mind. He had watched little Lizzie from time to time, but watching your Godchild every now and then was different than being a full time father.

A fight between him and Molly had broken out, ending up with Molly rushing out of the flat. It had taken Mary, who had sat him down after slapping him upside of the head, explaining that he would be a wonderful father and that he wouldn't be alone, to finally calm him. Later that night he had found Molly at Bart's, apologized and explained to her why he had reacted like a complete dick; again according to John.

From that moment on Sherlock had devoted his energy to Molly and their unborn child. He still worried, but he tried not to show it around his wife, even though he was sure she had known. It seemed though that his worrying had been for nothing.

Sherlock had never felt happiness like he had when his daughter had been born, looking down at her wrinkled and red little face had made a part of him ache he hadn't even known existed. Dawn had become everything to him in that moment, and through her he had found true peace.

Sherlock turned off the tap, dipped his hand into the tub and swirled it around until he had achieved the perfect volume of bubbles. Giving the tub a smile, he stood and went to the kitchen where his two year old daughter was still slapping around in her plate of pasta.

"Dawn, if your mother sees what a mess you've made." Sherlock shook his head. While Molly had been pregnant he had thought he would end up being the disciplinarian of the two of them. It turned out he had been wrong, so very wrong. He couldn't seem to say no to his daughter, or stay mad at her for more than two seconds. All she had to do was turn her bright blue eyes up to him and give him that goofy smile and he was done for.

"Oopsie!" Dawn giggled, and giving her father one of her patented ornery looks, smacked her had down in the plate of pasta with tomato sauce. She knew her daddy wouldn't scold her, and she was proven right when he shook his head and laughed.

"That is only going to work for so long. Come on now, bath time." Uncaring of his own clothes, Sherlock picked Dawn up and cradled her to his side. Since she had been born he had lost more shirts to stains, but he couldn't care less.

Dawn giggled and tried to squirm away from her father as soon as she was on the bathroom floor. This was routine for the two of them, many times Sherlock had ended up chasing her all around the flat after she had undressed. Of course he had started to shut the bathroom door when once they had been caught by a client. A rather nosey, prude of a client that had decided he was an unfit parent and had told so to Molly. Sherlock would never forget the woman's face when his wife had laid into her, practically running her out of 221B with threats that she could make it look like an accident. That had ended up with a rather amusing visit from Lestrade later that day.

"Oh no you don't!" Sherlock curled an arm under Dawn's belly as she tried to run across the room, and lifted her up and back down into the tub. Dawn laughed and started splashing around, her little hands gathering up the bubbles into little iridescent castles.

Sherlock sat on the floor, leaning against the side of the tub as he watched his daughter play. He would never tire of this, seeing his daughter so happy and care free. He reached out and cupped his hand under the water, bringing it up to pour on top of Dawn's head. She shrieked and shook her head, making a raspberry noise as she tried to get the bubbles from her mouth.

Dawn gathered the quickly popping bubbles in her hands, brought them up and blew them into her daddy's face, giggling like mad when they stuck to his nose and chin.

"You think that's funny?" Sherlock leaned over more, taking a handful of bubbles and setting it on her head, lips and chin. Dawn just sat up and placed a hand on each side of her daddy's face before pressing a kiss to his nose.

"Lov' you." Sitting back down in her bath, Dawn didn't see the watery smile on her daddy's face.

"I love you too." Deciding that she had played long enough, Sherlock proceeded to clean her off before helping her out of the tub to dry.

Later on he sat in his chair by the fire, Dawn curled up in his lap as he absentmindedly played with her dark curls. He would look down at her sleeping face every now and then, and he would smile. This was peace, this was happiness.

Author's Note: So… a short Daddy!Sherlock Oneshot, I just can't resist. Not the best, but I had to get it out so I could work on my other stories. Anyway this is sort of inspired by a gif set that came up on my Tumblr dash earlier, and in honor of my sister that just found out she is having a girl today.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.