"Look, until we settle more, I don't think we should tell him."

"But he's my dad, Bayley. I can't not tell him!"

This debate had been going on from the moment the ring slid onto my finger. Of all the things, and this was what Bayley wanted to focus on: keeping our engagement a secret, for now.

I wanted to throw the couch pillow I hugged at my fiancé. I had to say, this was our biggest challenge. And that beat me finding out that Bayley Redding was in fact the man a psycho consulting criminal ordered to shoot me when I had been a hostage in London. Somehow that hurdle could be conquered, but the idea of telling my biological father about his only daughter getting married...

"Besides, it could distract him," I protested, biting down on my thumbnail. "I'll bet his plate is full with Mary and the baby, and Sherlock, and..." I couldn't even bring up the last reason. It chilled me to my very core.

For the longest time, I suppressed the worry. Since Bayley proposed, the wedding was all that I could focus on. I was separating my life from my dad's, and his best friend's. But thinking about who was around now...it was bringing me back to some awful bad memories.

"Sherlock will take care of him," Bayley said adamantly.

"Who are we talking about?"

"Both. He'll protect your father and end that rat bastard."

I licked my lips. "I'm glad you're so sure. Remember what it took for Sherlock to beat him?" I shuddered. "I'll bet the new game is far worse than that. Sherlock might actually die next time around."

Bayley reached across, grabbing my other hand. "Sherlock can handle himself. Besides, they're in London. We are here in America, where we need to start figuring out our wedding details." He offered me a calming smile. "What do you say? Back to planning?"

I sighed, glancing at Bayley. "Where would I be if I didn't have you?"

"Hmm, not sure I want to think about that." He crawled along the length of the couch to peck me on the mouth. "So let's not do that, eh?"

"Yes, sir." I mock saluted him. "So...where are we having this?"

"I was thinking church. Traditional."

I nodded. "I like it. Got any in mind?"

"We'll have to look into places. Reception venue?"

"Undecided. We need to look into it." I looked down when my phone buzzed on the table. I sighed through my nose. A message from my dad.

You doing okay?

Briefly ignoring Bayley, I typed: Fine, dad. We're both fine. Why? What's wrong? I kept my phone in my hands even after I sent the message.

"I could just tell him now," I told Bayley. "Save us the surprised look on his face and the annoyed, biting comments from Sherlock about how dismal a wedding is, or something to that effect."

"But you want to surprise them! It's better to do it in person," Bayley said, repeating what I had told him initially.

"Well, I'm not flying out to London; we can't afford it. Skype or Facetime will have to do." I shrugged.

"Just until we set a date."

"Wait...we never set a date?" I frowned slightly.

"I didn't think we did."

"I thought we discussed it?"

"Did we?"

"I thought so. Didn't we decide a fall wedding? Like September or November?"

"Darling, there's a difference between the two. One's colder than the other."

I rolled my eyes. "So, you want a September date? And what does it matter? We'll be inside a church! No weather to deal with."

"For pictures we do."

"Okay, well, let's settle for September. The weather will still be a little warm, or a little cool. Do you want to randomly pick a number from one to thirty now?"

Bayley elbowed me playfully. "The twenty-third."

"That was surprisingly easy." I made a note in my phone about a potential wedding date. Just as I saved it, Dad's message came through: Everyone's fine. Just wanted to make sure.

Dad, I know when you're lying. He's back, things aren't okay there. You don't have to lie to me.

...He hasn't made any moves yet, but we're real on edge. Scotland Yard is aware. Sherlock isn't sleeping, or eating.

So he's back to his normal self?

Rachel, that's not funny.

I rolled my eyes as I typed out the next message. If something does come up, tell me immediately. We don't want any surprises on our end.

We don't, either. But I will. Be safe.

You too. And Sherlock. How's Mary, and my...step/half-sister?

She's a good baby. Just...tiring.

Got any new pictures for me?

"Everything all right?" Bayley asked, interrupting my text session.

I looked up from the screen. "Yeah, he's just checking in."

"Nothing serious yet?"

"No moves yet, no. Which is good." I bit down on my lower lip. "Do you think we should invest in private security or...witness protection?"

Bayley's blue eyes widened. "You're serious?"

I shrugged. "This is him we're talking about, Bay. If he's really back, he'll want to come after all of us. He'll want to play different little mind games. We may be in America, but that doesn't guarantee us safety." I gave him a wide-eyed stare. "What, you don't want protection?"

"Weddings are supposed to be fun. Having police around doesn't give off a happy vibe, Rachel."

"I would rather be safe than sorry. That man has killed people, Bay. I don't want our guests to remember the reception as their last day on Earth. I certainly don't want our wedding to become bloody, either." I waved my hands. "Let's refocus on the wedding itself."

Even though we buried ourselves back into wedding details, my lingered on one man. A name. The snake. The man who used me to do minor dirty work for him. The vile excuse of a person who tormented people I cared about.

Jim Moriarty.

"Rach." Bayley snapped his fingers in front of my face. I nearly swatted at him. "Okay, what's going on? You're not here with me."

I groaned. "This is overwhelming."

"That's the understatement of our lives, darling. We've been through far worse."

"That we can agree on."

"Is it about him?"

I bit down on my thumbnail. "Are you a good lie detector, Bayley?"

"Depends on my day."

"Hmm, I won't take my chances." I sighed. "Yes, it's about Moriarty. My life and his have been tangled up, and now that he's back...He's going to tie up loose ends, I can feel it." He'd even said so, once upon a time: Once I'm done with Sherlock, I'll come for you. And if you think for one second that you can hide from me, you don't know me as well as you thought. I was never going to tell Bayley that, though, that I had danced with my psychotic ex-boyfriend because I felt that if I didn't he was going to kill me at Baker Street in Sherlock's apartment. That would only give my fiancé all the more reason to want Jim Moriarty dead.

"Well, let's hope that Sherlock ties his loose end up before Moriarty can even work on his," Bayley said firmly. "Now, please, let's get back to wedding planning."

"I definitely never expected to hear you beg to do so," I chuckled.

"It's because you're fixated on a man who convinced the world that he's not dead too." He scowled. "I personally don't want to admit it out loud that that spider is alive until I see him with my own eyes, but I can't write what we saw off as some childish prank, either. If our worst fear comes true, I want to be able to be alert and ready to protect my family, whether that's just you or you and our children."

I looked at Bayley with admiration. The way he sounded so sure, so ready to protect the Simpson-Watson-Redding family (gosh, I'd have three last names associated with me once I got married), it sent a wave of relief through me. Through it all, I'd found myself a hell of a partner to live in this world with.

"What?" he asked.

I shook my head. "You remind me every day that saying 'yes' was the best decision of my life."

"Hmm, I think forgiving me for my past might beg to differ."

"To each their own." I raised my head. "Now, like you said, back to planning."

**So, yes, our Watson girl is all grown up and engaged! No, you're not missing a chapter. Things have happened between Moriarty's alleged return and what you're reading now.

Like I mentioned before, this plot is all mine. I'm not following season 4 in any way, so you can't possibly guess what's going to happen!

I mean, you could, my little detectives ^.^**