Party Time! - Parentlock fanfic

Hi! I just shared this to my fanfiction.net , but I'm sharing it here, too! Written under encouragement from a friend.

Sherlock and John help Rosie get ready for a birthday party! Light Johnlock, parentlock fluff. Kept it short and sweet. This is an un-beta'd, unedited first draft, so the writing isn't super, but it will do. Enjoy!

Party Time!

"She takes after you, you know."

Sherlock looked up from where he was busy applying glitter across Rosie's nose and cheeks, the sparkles complimenting the little freckles scattered there.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He responded, continuing with his very important job, lest Rosie get impatient and start ruining his work by wriggling about. He already had glitter all over his suit and the bathroom sink. Rosie, always conscious of when she was being talked about, twisted her head round to look at John, and Sherlock had to pull away quickly to not smear glitter up to her forehead as well. He gave John a pointed look, which John just countered with an amused smirk.

"I think I take after both of you!" Rosie piped up. "But I'm also mostly me." She added, then turned back to Sherlock. "Carry on, please."

"Actually, you're pretty much all set to go. One final touch, though." Sherlock replied, and produced from behind his back a black headband with two little yellow antennae attached to it. Gasping, Rosie grabbed it from Sherlock's hands and placed it in her hair, then twisted to look in the mirror excitedly.

"Oh! It looks beautiful!" Rosie exclaimed, then wrapped her arms around Sherlock's middle in a squeezing hug. "Thanks, Daddy!"

Sherlock hugged Rosie back gently, then eased her off by her shoulders. "Anything for you, trouble. Go on, go get your shoes on. We need to leave in 5 minutes if we want to get there on time." He said, and Rosie stepped off the bathroom stool to hunt down her party shoes – sparkly converse to match her glittery cheeks. Stepping aside to let her , John moved from the doorway to brush glitter off Sherlock's jacket.

"You have to see what I mean, Sherl. She's going to the party as a magic princess bee pirate, for God's sake." John grinned. Sherlock, for his part, looked suitably amused.

"Are you saying that I'm a magic princess bee pirate?" he returned, slipping a hand to John's waist to tug him closer.

"No, but you can't deny if, for some reason we were invited to a fancy dress party despite us both nearing 50, you'd choose to be one part of Rosie's costume compilation." John pointed out. Sherlock couldn't argue with that.

"Pirate, most likely, although possibly a bee." He agreed, then grinned at John and gave him a little peck on the lips. "She looked marvellous, didn't she?"

"Absolutely." John said with a nod. Rosie hadn't exactly informed either of them what the entirety of her costume was to be for this party. It was an amalgamation of some costumes she already possessed – a plastic wand with little pink tufts, a cute purple tutu, and a pirate eyepatch. She had told Sherlock that she was in need of some bumblebee wings, and told John that she needed a sword, which they both provided helpfully. With the addition of the glitter and the headband, her costume was complete. And Sherlock was right. She looked absolutely marvellous.

John seemed about to say something more, but the sound of Rosie's feet hitting the floor and pounding down the stairs lead him to changing what he intended to say. "Sounds like it's time to go." He said, pressing a quick kiss to Sherlock's lips as Rosie barrelled into the room.

"I'm ready! Let's go, c'mon! You said 5 minutes and that was 3 minutes ago!" Rosie grabbed hold of John's hand and gave it a tug. Chuckling, John nodded and held onto her hand, then took Sherlock's, too.

"Alright, I'm ready. Coats first, though – I don't want you catching a chill." He said, earning an eye roll from Sherlock and Rosie simultaneously. John was struck with an affectionate pang of warmth in his chest at that. Rosie may have nothing in common biologically with Sherlock, but they couldn't have been more alike. He loved them both fiercely, tenderly, and it left him fit to burst sometimes.

"Fiiiiine." Rosie conceded, and lead her ridiculous Papa and Daddy out of the bathroom to the coat rack. "But if we're late because you made me put my coat on, you're going to be the ones that explain it to Lucy's mum, not me. I don't wanna get in trouble." She insisted, holding her wings folded against her back while John helped her into the coat and zipped it up nice and warm for her.

"That's fair. Got Lucy's present?" John asked. Judging by the way Rosie's eyes widened, she had not thought to pick it up. Sherlock, however, was there to save the day, and fetched the neatly wrapped gift from the living room table.

"No need to panic. It's right here." Sherlock assured her, and Rosie breathed a big sigh of relief.

"All set? Everyone got everything? Okay! We're ready to go. Sherlock, what time are we on?" John asked.

"Quarter to 12. Exactly on schedule. Let's go."

And that is just what they did, with all the usual bustle of a small family taking their young child to a fancy dress birthday party.