Distraction - Sherlock Fanfiction

Parents and Bomb Plots

Beth woke the next morning, unexpectedly, to the sounds of Sherlock falling over his own feet.

"Am I allowed to ask what is going on?" Beth sat up, cracking her back in the process.

Sherlock mumbled under his breath and fumbled on the floor attempting to shove his left shoe onto his right foot.

"Sherlock. Wrong foot."

"I knew that." He quickly removed the shoe and slipped it easily into his left foot.

"So, what's going on? Are the Royals coming?"

"Almost. My parents." Sherlock stumbled up off the floor and thrusted his shirt tails into his trousers and then crouched in front of my desk mirror to mess with his hair.

"Your parents? Sherlock! I haven't even showered. When are they coming?" Beth dragged her fingers through her soot ridden hair.

"I estimate two minutes and seventeen seconds."

"Why didn't you wake me up?!"

"Well, I wasn't going to wake you at all."

Beth paused at the bathroom door, "Why not?"

"They're ridiculously embarrassing." Sherlock mumbled, following Beth through the hallway.

Beth huffed out a laugh, walked into the bathroom and switched on the shower. When she emerged from the bathroom, clothed and nursing her now semi wet hair, she could hear a distinct elder female voice which she could only assume was Sherlock's mother.

"...Which wasn't the way I'd put it at all. Silly woman. Anyway, it was then that I first noticed it was missing. I said, 'Have you checked down the back of the sofa?' He's always losing things down the back of the sofa, aren't you, dear?"

"'Fraid so."

Beth paused beside the fridge, out of sight from the parents but in direct sight of Sherlock who had his hands together under his chin in their usual prayer position. He was looking over at her with a 'please come in and save me' gleam slapped onto his face.

"Oh, keys, small change, sweeties. Especially his glasses."

"Glasses." Beth heard a man's voice confirm.

"Blooming things. I said, 'Why don't you get a chain, wear them round your neck?" And he says, 'What? Like Larry Grayson?'"

"Larry Grayson." The voice confirmed again.

Sherlock continued to stare over at Beth with the same expression, only it looked more pained the more the two spoke. Sherlock inhaled sharply and Beth took that time to step out from the kitchen and into the main room before Sherlock said anything mean.

"Oh! Hello, dear. You must be Elizabeth." The silver haired woman greeted with a smile. Mr Holmes beside her sent Beth a large smile too.

"And you must be Mr and Mrs Holmes." Beth smiled back, tucking a damp strand of her hair behind her ear.

Sherlock huffed out the air he had inhaled then lifted himself from the armchair, making his way over to the couple sat on the sofa. Beth stepped more into the room and sat herself into Sherlock's armchair.

"So did you find it eventually, your lottery ticket?" Sherlock stepped onto the small coffee table then onto the sofa, between his parents who both leaned away in shock.

"Well, yes, thank goodness. We caught the coach on time after all. We managed to see, er, St Paul's, the Tower ... but they weren't letting anyone in to Parliament. Some big debate going on."