Title: Valentine's Day
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (ACD)
Rating: G
Length: 505 words
Summary: It has snowed in Sussex on Valentine's Day.  (Retirement era)

When I awoke the sun was only just rising.  I then realised Holmes was out of bed and looking through the window.

“It snowed last night, quite heavily,” he said.  “I shall go and check that nothing untoward has happened to my bees.”

I grunted and rolled over.  There was no need for me to get up, since any plans I had had for the morning would now be delayed, as I would not risk going far from the cottage.  I did not expect Holmes to be out for too long, we had been expecting some snow, (although from the sound of it the fall had been heavier than had been thought), and Holmes had already prepared his hives.

I dozed for a while, only waking properly when I heard noises from the kitchen which indicated Holmes was preparing breakfast.  I would therefore need to get up.  In the past he might have brought me breakfast in bed, but we have agreed that for either of us to carry a tray up our steep and narrow staircase is an accident waiting to happen.  This is one more sign of growing old.  At first Holmes had protested, but he was forced to concede my point that a fall resulting in spilt tea and broken crockery was not in the least romantic.

I put on my dressing gown and went to look out of the window.  There, in the pristine snow of our back lawn, Holmes had carefully trodden the shape of a heart, one foot in front of the next to form a perfect shape.  I smiled for it seemed Holmes had still managed to provide some romance for the day.

I was halfway down the stairs when I realised that, unless the snow began to melt, we would need to change the shape before Mrs Maiden, our housekeeper, arrived.  A few more stairs and it occurred to me that Holmes had better not have tramped the snow inside.

A quick glance towards the back door confirmed my fears on the latter point were entirely warranted.  However, I joined Holmes for breakfast without comment.  We ate our breakfast in a leisurely fashion, porridge sweetened with honey courtesy of Holmes’ bees and toast with Mrs Maiden’s excellent marmalade.

When we had finished, Holmes said, “I suggest you go and dress.  Edward and James will be here soon, I suggested to Annie they might like to make a snowman on our back lawn rather than trample all over Hopkins’ vegetable garden.”

I chuckled.  Clearly Holmes had already considered the problem of the heart.  The two young Hopkins’ boys would quickly destroy any evidence in their enthusiasm at building a snowman.  However, there was still one item to be dealt with.  “And while I’m dressing,” I said, “you had better take the broom and sweep out the snow which came in on your feet earlier.”

He grumbled, but as I dressed, I heard first the sound of sweeping, and then the enthusiasm of childish voices as our neighbours arrived.