holmes_minor | Fic: The Gift of Luck: G (Reply)

Title: The Gift of Luck
Rating: Gen
Length: 300
Content Notes: Holmes & Watson, Mrs. Hudson, Bessie the maid, fluff
Summary: Christmas 1894. Mrs. Hudson makes a miniature plum pudding for the gentlemen upstairs. Who will get the bachelor's button and who will get the ring?
Author's Note: For the monthly prompt: gift

Holmes and I waited in the darkness.

The door opened. A blue flame appeared.

We sprang to our feet, clapping.

“Well done, Mrs. Hudson!”

“Thank you, Doctor. I told Bessie that I wanted to do something special for you and Mister Holmes this Christmas. It’s so good to have you both back.”

“Plum pudding for two,” said Holmes, “is a most thoughtful home-coming gift.”

The lights were turned up. Bessie swooped in with plates, spoons, and knife. In swift order, the miniature dessert was divided and tasted.

“Excellent!” I exclaimed.

“Indeed,” agreed Holmes. “My dear girl, would you mind lighting that lamp?”

“Certainly, Mister Holmes.”

What followed next was celebratory in its own way. The lamp sparked festively. The curtain began to smolder like ‘dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly.’ Bessie screamed and fled the room. Mrs. Hudson and I quickly responded.

With order restored, I returned to my pudding.

“Oh, my,” I said, pulling a round object from my mouth. “The bachelor’s button! Well, my future’s decided. I suppose that means you have the ring.”

“On the contrary, my dear man, Mrs. Hudson is astute and kind-hearted.” Holmes put two fingers to his lips and produced a second button.

I laughed. “Shall we remain tethered to one another as the years pass?”

“If it suits you.”

“It does. Admirably,” I replied.

“Happy Christmas, Mrs. Hudson.”

She flushed. “Happy Christmas, gentlemen.”

---

“…so the Doctor got the button?”

“Yes, my dear.”

“Oh, too bad. He’s such an unlucky fellow. Wait, Mister Holmes got the ring?” Bessie giggled.

“Mister Holmes fashions his own luck,” said Mrs. Hudson, “which he is out of if he supposes that I am going to sew that button back on his trousers. We’ll see the ring soon.”

“Where?”

“In a pot beneath his bed.”