1Cookies and Deduction
A Sherlock Fanfiction
by Molly Rob
'Hamish, no,' John said without looking up the moment Hamish silently tiptoed to the kitchen and laid his hand on the glass cookie jar.
'Aww! Just one more, dad,' Hamish pleaded, his hands still grasping the jar tightly.
'No. You had already had five,' he raised a finger when Hamish begin to protest,'I have been checking, Hamish. Cookies aren't healthy. Also, you will spoil your dinner.'
Seeing Hamish's adorable face scrunched up with annoyance, John smiled softly and walked to the kitchen sink, where he deposited his dirty mugs. Then, he ruffled Hamish's blond curls affectionately. 'Maybe next day, Hamish,' Hamish replied with an exaggerated sigh. Taking this as a yes, John walked out of the sitting room, then out the front door to get some groceries.
Hamish was briefly contemplating whether to just grab a cookie (John wouldn't know anyway) when Sherlock walked out from the bedroom, having had a long nap after the all nighter he pulled yesterday because of a triple murder. He quickly withdrew his hands from the cookie jar, and beamed brightly but nervously at Sherlock.
'I see John had decided you have had too much cookies for the day,' Sherlock spoke as he, feeling slightly peckish after not having eaten for a day, reached for the cookie jar. Hamish's envious eyes followed his every move as he took out a double chocolate cookie - both Sherlock and Hamish's favourite. Feeling Hamish's fierce gaze, Sherlock looked down at the boy, and for a moment, Hamish thought happily that he was going to offer him the cookie in his hand. His smile, however, quickly disappeared the moment Sherlock put the whole cookie in his mouth, finishing it in one bite.
Smiling at Hamish's dejected face, Sherlock, still holding the cookie jar in his hands, knelt down so he was level with Hamish. Smiling conspiringly, he held the jar towards Hamish. 'Just don't let John know. He will say we are going to spoil our dinner.' Hamish giggled, knowing how true it was.
Hamish was just nibbling on his sixth cookie for the day when John returned, two Tesco bags in hand. He looked down guiltily as John narrowed his eyes. 'Hamish,' John scolded, more exasperated and amused than angry.
'John… What is your favourite cookie?' Sherlock suddenly asked and both Hamish and John were surprised, not because of how out of the blue the question was (Out of the blue behaviour was almost expected from Sherlock, to be honest), but because Sherlock didn't know.
'Umm… Peanut butter flavoured,' John stammered, confused.
'And when was the cookie jar refilled?' Sherlock asked again.
'Just yesterday night. It was already empty at that time,' John shook his head, smiling exasperatedly. 'We run out of cookies even quicker than milk.' Sherlock grinned.
'According to my observation of 30 bags of cookies from the same brand, I can speculate that there are on average fifteen peanut butter flavoured cookies in each bag. Both Hamish and I hate this flavour, which means if the peanut butter cookies disappear, it will be because of you. Now, I only see three left in the jar, and no one other than us has had access to the cookies since yesterday night, which was when you last refilled it. My deduction, John, is that in under twenty-four hours, you have consumed at least twelve cookies, making you an unsuitable candidate to criticise Hamish's cookie eating habits.'
John's face froze, then he smiled embarrassingly at being caught out. 'Well… I… I am older so…' Sherlock grinned at John's speechlessness, and John laughed, his face still red from embarrassment. Putting down the bags, John reached for the cookie jar out of habit, the way he usually did after whenever he came home, but Sherlock quickly covered it with his hand. 'No, John. You will spoil your dinner,' he spoke with a tilt of his head, as though he was talking to a small child.
Hamish giggled at his father's startled face, and was about to dip his hand into the cookie jar for one last piece of snack. Before he could do that though, Sherlock also took the jar out of his hands. 'You too, Hamish.' Then, he walked back to the room, and the cookie jar went with him.
Today is what tumblr Sherlockians would call a 'Fluffy Friday', and since I just finished this little story, there isn't a better time to share it! You can imagine John and Sherlock as a couple or not, it is up to you. I hope it makes you smile, at least a little bit! And also, Happy Friday! :D
~ Molly Rob xx