26 October 2012

We'll Never Be Lonely Anymore

Woke up bright and early this morning (I say that as if there's a choice, with a tent full of boys and dogs.)

I'd sort of promised Sherlock we'd have a big breakfast, but he really wanted to use the stove, so Mycroft said they'd do it and treat John and me.

Bacon and fried egg butties - perfect camping food! Anyway, it was getting toward sunrise (No, the boys don't sleep until it gets light. Far too much excitement for that!.) so John and I took a walk to the beach to welcome the day.

It was completely beautiful - here's a photo John took that I've nicked to make my blog look good :)



Stunning, right?

Anyway, some of you'll know that camping makes John go a bit soft in the head - I mean, last time he asked if I'd move into the madhouse flat.

This time, we were sitting watching the sunrise, with the waves lapping quietly and the world appearing in front of us in the milky dawn light...

He asked me to marry him.

I don't think I made a very coherent noise at first, but I did manage to squeeze him half to death and say 'Yes', once my heart had finished exploding inside my chest. You know when there's just so much emotion in you it feels like you'll burst?

So...I still can't quite believe I didn't dream it all. Have to keep grabbing him or squeezing his hand or catching his eye and just...yeah, sharing that feeling.

He is everything to me. He's seen me at my worst, but what he finds within me and draws out is the best of me. He is so...caring, so honest. He's my best friend, my conscience, my biggest cheerleader and most constructive critic.

He makes me happy.

So, well, been quiet today because we needed to tell other people, so they wouldn't find out here.

Mycroft said he wanted a new suit anyway. Sherlock wants to be best man to both of us. And jump out of a cake.

And thank you, to all of you, who've supported us, offered your advice to us, helped us to understand one another when we've been too close to see the full picture, and assured us, like the tag says, that love is thicker than blood. I can honestly say our relationship is stronger for having all of you as friends.

116 comments:

ryo said...

Congratulations!

ryo

pandabob said...

OMG that is the best news ever.

Congratulations you make a perfect couple and this is just so amazing :-)

Going to smile all day now :-)

Greg Lestrade said...

Thank you. Honestly, the smile in the little picture of me on here - looks like a frown compared to my smile today. :)

pandabob said...

I bet but my god do you two make a perfect match :-)

Sherlock said...

There's going to be cake and flowers and it's going to be THE BEST.

John H. D. Watson said...

I am so happy, Lestrade. Thank you. :)

pandabob said...

Is Greg the florist doing the flowers Sherlock? and are you making a really sparkly cake?

The four of you all done up in your suits will be so lovely :-)

Congrats John and I hope you have a very long and very happy life together because no two people deserve it more than you two :-)

Greg Lestrade said...

No, thank you, husband-to-be. You are amazing. And just...yeah. I am unbelievably happy.

Anthea, buy a hat ;)

Sally said...

Congratulations John, and you, Sir. Couldn't happen to two nicer blokes. Everyone here at the yard is really happy for you both.

REReader said...

MAZEL TOV! *flings confetti*

(That literally translates to "it's a good sign"--I can't think of anything more good than this!)

REReader said...

There's going to be cake and flowers and it's going to be THE BEST.

You got that right, Sherlock. :)

Kholly said...

That's fantastic news. Congratulations.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations you four. I really can't say how happy I am for you and John, Greg, that's the best news I've heard in ages! I'm sure you'll have many fantastic years!

Lancs. Anon

Small Hobbit said...

Congratulations - that's wonderful news. I shall have to buy a virtual hat.

Desert Wanderer said...

Congratulations! i can't think of a more well-suuted pair. Sherlock, can you train tje Degus to be ring bearers?

Sherlock said...

YES! I DEFINITELY CAN, Lestrade can I, I mean may I?

Kestrel337 said...

"He's seen me at my worst, but what he finds within me and draws out is the best of me."

This is the single best qualification for a life-mate, EVER.

Congrats and best wishes!

Anonymous said...

Hooray! Congratulations!

rsf

Greg Lestrade said...

Sherlock, we haven't even talked about it yet! John might not want a ring. Bit I fear the degus might be...overwhelmed on the day.

Perhaps you or Mycroft - or both - might take on a role like that, though?

Sherlock said...

Why wouldn't he want a ring? That's stupid, there have to be rings. You want one don't you?

Anonymous said...

Everyone is different Sherlock. I don't think I could wear a wedding ring. Every time I wear a ring at all, even a flat one I tend to catch it on the edges of things and hurt my finger. The last thing I would want is to associate a sore finger with my beloved.

But then again he might. You'll have to wait and see.

Greg Lestrade said...

I do very much want to wear a ring as a symbol of my union with John, yes. But not everyone does. And some people have rings, but don't wear them most of the time, or wear them on a chain. Lots of people just don't have them at all. It's not compulsory! Everyone can choose.

John H. D. Watson said...

I'd like one too, very much.

Greg Lestrade said...

Matching?

John H. D. Watson said...

Yeah. Is that all right with you?

pandabob said...

you two make me laugh, not in a bad way I promise but you really do :-)

Greg Lestrade said...

More than all right. It's...what I hoped for.

This still doesn't feel real...

Anon Without A Name said...

Fabulous news, congratulations!! I'm so happy for you both, you deserve a lifetime of happiness together :-D

Sherlock, I'm quite sure it will be the best thing ever :-)

Mycroft - a perfect excuse to buy the perfect suit! And I'm sure that your sartorial advice will be essential for the big day :-)

*grinning like a fool, here*

REReader said...

It's real! :)

Also, a toast!

(Or for those who like more sparkle, here. :))

Greg Lestrade said...

(would like to point out, given my track record for agreeing with John's crazy plans whenever we go camping, that I still don't think I should be the one who has to get pregnant, and I won't agree to it on our next camping holiday, no matter what!)

;)

pandabob said...

but a baby Lestrade-Watson (Watson-Lestrade which ever you decide) would be so cute!

Maybe you should ban yourselves from camping for a bit ;-) (until science advances)

REReader said...

:D

(Better ask him now, then, John!)

Greg Lestrade said...

AnonyBob - we've got so much to decide on... but I'd quite like to become Gregory MFW Lestrade. Althought I'll probably do without the hyphen.

RR - He's driving, and wondering what we're laughing about...

REReader said...

:)

Then I guess it will just have to wait until the camping trip after next. ;)

Anon Without A Name said...

Blimey Lestrade - that would make you an even bigger mouthful than you are now...

pandabob said...

Excited planning is so much fun and so much stress but whatever you call yourselves in the end will be just perfect like you two are :-)

Greg Lestrade said...

Oh, Nameless, I wouldn't want to brag. And really, it wouldn't make me a bigger mouthful... it would make a combination of John and I into a really very large mouthful indeed ;)

I don't know - is it silly, wanting to share a name? I'm all for people not doing it...but I think I'd like to.

John H. D. Watson said...

I don't think it's silly. I'd like that very much. John HDL Watson isn't quite as much of a mouthful as yours, but it's not bad.

pandabob said...

why is it silly? families are tied by such things, you could go for something totally new and save the whole how to put them together argument?

Greg Lestrade said...

AnonyBob - right. So Gregory Martin Finchley Hotson-Lestallion it is. And my husband, Doctor John Hamish Danger Lestallion-Hotson.

I would actually love to attend a posh evening thing, one where the butler announces you, like in films...

"Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen - presenting Detective Inspector and Doctor Lestallion-Hotson."

Anon Without A Name said...

I'll take your word for that :-)

And of course it's not silly. It's perfectly valid choice either way. I can understand why people do it, I can understand why they don't. It's like wearing a ring; it means, or doesn't mean, exactly what it does or doesn't mean to the person involved.

Also, because there's less social expectation on either of you to change or share your names than if either of you were a woman, you have much more freedom to make exactly the choices that work for you :-)

pandabob said...

that sounds perfect Greg but not quite what I meant ;-) it would be great to be announced that way though you are right

Anonymous said...

"Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen - presenting Detective Inspector and Doctor Lestallion-Hotson."
OMG that would be perfect.

Anonymous said...

I've got access to an actual keyboard, so I'll expand on the congratulations and add that I'm not sure Sherlock should jump out

But he could play his violin for your wedding or reception, couldn't he?

And whatever you decide to call yourselves... Leston? Watrade? Hottallion? I'm sure it will be perfect.

rsf

Anonymous said...

Argh! Half a paragraph vanished! I was contemplating Sherlock inside a cake and how long the cake would last under those conditions... Not very long, I think!

Anyway, I'm really happy for all of you.

rsf

REReader said...

Sharing names, wearing rings--they're all symbols of a union, yeah? So you should choose the symbols that appeal to and mean something to you. You can't go wrong!

Bestides, "Detective Inspector and Doctor Lestallion-Hotson" would make for an awesome presentation! :D


rsf--That would be an original way of bursting out of a cake, to be sure... ;)

Greg Lestrade said...

I...won't be giving up 'Lestrade'. Had to fight very hard to keep it as my name when I was younger, so I won't let it go now. But would be more than proud to have Watson in my name too.

pandabob said...

That makes perfect sense Greg its a union not a takeover after all :-)

You shouldn't have had to fight for it but I know people change kids names without much regard for their feelings :-(

REReader said...

*nods* Yes. I think adding a name is a really lovely, meaningful symbol.

Anonymous said...

I don't think you should give it up, to be honest, L. Especially since its the name you've gone by to people as diverse as Sherlock and your colleagues at work. But portmanteau names and words are kind of fun to fool around with, and I couldn't resist trying. Even if the results ended up looking like captchas!

rsf

Greg Lestrade said...

AnonyBob - I get my mum's reasons for it. She didn't want a reminder of him. But yeah, my grandparents meant a lot to me, and the name was my only connection with them, so I really wanted to keep it. Anyway, if I'd changed my name every time Mum got married, I wouldn't ever have remembered what it was that week ;)

RSF - Lestraston? Watsotrade? Oddly, they're two names that sort of don't go together that well...unlike their owners ;)

REReader said...

Maybe not so great in pieces like that--but "Watson Lestrade" and "Lestrade Watson" both sound really good together! :)

Mazarin said...

OMG! CONGRATULATIONS! I actually punched the air at my desk when I read this (Thank God I have a cubicle and noone could see me flailing at my screen.) I'm so, so excited for both of you - well, for all of you, really!

*actually sort of teary over here*

I know this all just happened and time to enjoy, etc., but since noone has asked yet who am I to break with tradition?

WHEN'S THE WEDDING??

pandabob said...

I went to school with a girl who had four different surnames in the time we were at primary school!!

I won't be changing my kids name and for that reason I won't ever change mine eventhough somedays I think it would be a good idea ;-)

It seems kind of strange that the conversation is about names when there is so much other far more exciting stuff to think about but I guess the name is the bit that lasts for ever :-)

Greg Lestrade said...

Maz - thank you. Honestly, we don't know yet. Probably Spring or Summer next year.

And I wasn't teary right up until Mrs Hudson started crying down the phone at us! Then I might have welled up a little...

AnonyBob - I feel like I can only think about one little bit at a time - discision-wise - or it'll all seem a bit...daunting. I mean, there are so many things to think about.

Anthea sent me a text saying she'll think about getting a hat if I think about wearing a tie... hah.

REReader said...

I mean, there are so many things to think about.

Fortunately, you know one of the best organizers anywhere. What do think, Mycroft, are you up for it? :)

pandabob said...

excitement can turn to panic rather easily I would agree Greg.

most things aren't really that important though in the grand scheme of it all!

piplover said...

Congratulations!! I'm so happy for you two.

Nicky said...

Oh, you two! I am so, so happy for the two of you. I've been smiling all day!

John, future brother-in-law, the change you've made in my big brother has been miraculous. You are just so good for each other.

I don't think any of us here have the words to express how happy and excited we are for you - so we need to come and visit soon to express it in hug-form!

Lots of love to all four of you.

Greg Lestrade said...

Cheers Nicky, and yeah, fancy some London Christmas shopping, if not sooner?

Anonymous said...

So happy to read this. Good luck to you both.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, just stopped by and saw this...congratulations both of you, that is wonderful, wonderful news...and I can just see Sherlock jumping out of a cake :) and Mycroft in a new suit....You're a fantastic couple, so obviously good for each other, I'm all smiley now...so many good wishes to all four of you....

Calliope said...

Congrats!!!!!

I just stopped by to check in and now I've got a huge grin on my face and I keep flailing with happiness.

\o/ Yay!

Greg Lestrade said...

Thank you, it really is so nice that you're all so happy for us. It's...well, it just makes a great feeling even better, knowing you're all out there offering your friendship and being so...yeah, it's just brilliant, anyway.

Greg Lestrade said...

Music on, oven on, rock n roll, baby!

(Is it rock n roll to make your fiancé heart shaped biscuits??)

pandabob said...

It might not be rock and roll but it is kind of perfect to have heart shaped biscuits attached to the f word :-)

Greg Lestrade said...

..depending which f-word you mean! ;)

pandabob said...

You know which F word and don't pretend you don't love using it now you can :-)

I hope the biscuits were nice and you're all having a good evening.

Greg Lestrade said...

Ha, I really do. I'm not sure any of you have noticed how much, yet ;)

They were - are - and we are. Hope you are too.

pandabob said...

I'm glad you're having a good evening.

I love it when you're all so happy :-)

Greg Lestrade said...

Been trying to persuade Sherlock we can't actually get married tomorrow. Or next weekend. He's just so excited, wants us to make every decision right now, and get very frustrated when we say we'll have to talk about it. Poor boy.

I think Mycroft will be quite glad when we do fashion-consulting-via-Skype and he's out of the debates about confetti and flowers and cake that Sherlock wants to have.

pandabob said...

I can understand Sherlock's excitement it is an exciting thing and to small people waiting is just sooooo hard.

Does Mycroft roll his eyes and shake his head at the suggestions or is he actually enjoying being able to see the mad crazy excitedness of you all?

Sherlock said...

Is it true in America you can get married as soon as you want and if it is we should all go there and then we could have a holiday too

Greg Lestrade said...

It's true that you were in bed twenty minutes ago and are now somehow out of it again!

Go to bed! Stay in bed!

Sherlock said...

I don't need to yet because the clocks go back tonight and I get a whole extra hour so I don't have to go for an hour!

pandabob said...

are you not panicking about tomorrow morning Greg? I thought you might be doing the split the difference thing with bedtime not that I have we'll just be up when the clocks are scary!

pandabob said...

obviously not if he's behaving like that though.

Greg Lestrade said...

Not panicking... just accepting that, as usual, we have very little control over what time we'll be woken :)

I don't mind with it being the holidays - the boys want to maximise the time they have together.

And I'm both walking on air and entirely fuelled by happiness right now - who needs sleep? ;)

pandabob said...

Who needs sleep and who needs food and who needs anything when you have Love :-)

When's Mycroft off back to school?

Greg Lestrade said...

He goes back tomorrow - so I've managed to swing tomorrow off. Or...well, you wouldn't consider it 'off' because I'll be working, but from home...

And in answer to your earlier question, Mycroft does quite a lot of smiling indulgently while shaking his head. And some straight-out "Don't be ridiculous Sherlock"'s. Or the occasional very sarcastic addition to a Grand Plan :)

pandabob said...

You're right I wouldn't consider it off but I would consider it a great bonus to be able to work from home and have time with all of you together. Working from home days are cool :-)

I hope you all manage some sleep before Sherlock is awake and have a lovely day tomorrow :-)

(I'm sure mycroft will actually miss the planning while he's busy with his studies. ;-) )

Anonymous said...

Short holiday, or it seems it, but then he's got one more exeat this term and will be off for a long while at Christmas, won't he?

Enjoy your day tomorrow even if you have to do some work!

Lancs. Anon

REReader said...

Reading all the happy planning/discussing/enjoying all at once, from both blogs, is such a huge lift--thank you so much for sharing all the excitement!

(We don't change clocks for another two weeks...I think I'm jealous. :))

Greg Lestrade said...

Lancs - it's only half term, so yeah, short holiday.

And then exactly as you say - exeat weekend and the long Christmas break.

AnonyBob - better to work from home than get the nightshift on the longest night. Done that a few times. It's no fun!

REReader said...

better to work from home than get the nightshift on the longest night.

Eep! Do they at least work it so that whoever has to work that extra hour gets something back--maybe work the shortest night in the spring or something? (Although I don't know that working a night could ever seems like getting something back... :))

Greg Lestrade said...

No. You just hope you're not rostered on again the next year.

REReader said...

Boo!

Thinking about wedding plans--or engagement party plans--or even extra-long nights ;)--has to be nicer than thinking about extra-long shifts!

Greg Lestrade said...

The only really depressing bit of the night - as a bobby - was the radio message at 2am telling you it was 1am...again, and reminding you to record everything correctly.

Worse now that all the pubs and clubs have late licence anyway. Used to only be a few clubs...not everywhere like now.

REReader said...

I guess people do take that extra hour as an excuse to party extra long and, no doubt, get extra drunk.

(Me, I think of it as a chance to sleep a little more...could I be getting old?!?!)

pandabob said...

A work from home day is definitely a step up from that Greg! I'm a fan of working from home just not working on holiday ;-)

Extra hours sleep every time RR or at least I try for it :-)

Greg Lestrade said...

I'd be entirely happy with an extra hour...in bed.

But like AnonyBob, I fear smaller people in this flat won't see it quite the same way.

(And come to think of it, Mrs Hudson has been so excitable about the entire wedding thing that she's been nearly as bad as Sherlock! And we're all having Sunday roast together tomorrow, so she might be waking us up at 5, too...although probably not by jumping on our bed...maybe.)

REReader said...

Working from home is good enough that I do it every day! :D

I know getting that extra hour's sleep is harder to do when you live with smaller people who insist on waking up on their internal clocks instead of the official clock. :)

REReader said...

Ha! Great minds... :)

(You go, Mrs. Hudson!)

Greg Lestrade said...

right, I need to sleep before getting to the yard tomorrow to pick up work, to bring back, to get done around cooking a pork belly.

Night all. Don't forget to change your clocks, if it applies to you.

REReader said...

Night night!

pandabob said...

You're right I hadn't noticed just how much you loved the f word but I have now and yay for being a bad influence ;-)

Have a good work from home day and great day together and enjoy your roast :-)

(Mine slept until just now :-) well apart from a little interlude but less said about that the better. I hope the boys weren't up too early.)

Greg Lestrade said...

:)

Thanks. And that's good! Sherlock was up horribly early, but was bribed to go back to bed and read.

Mycroft came with me to the yard on the bike to fetch my paperwork, and therefore witnessed the fact my door and office have been tampered with... which I shall deal with tomorrow, because I don't think it's exactly fitting to have a MIT office covered in hearts...but behind all the eye-rolling I think he found it quite funny really.

pandabob said...

You have the best team, they really do put on a good impression of the force :-)

I find myself wondering if Mycroft knew about the hearts and wanted to see your reaction, it strikes me as something he would find quite funny in his own way.

have a good day.

Greg Lestrade said...

Mycroft came with me, I think, to escape Sherlock. And because he's interested in what we do.

He does have a brilliant sense of humour - dark, sarcastic and dry as a bone. He frequently makes me laugh with his observations.

Anon Without A Name said...

Lestrade - I've just noticed the change to the blog title :-D I presume I've been a bit slow noticing - when did you update it?

I suspect we only see a tiny bit of Mycroft's sense of humour on here, but it's always makes me laugh :-)

REReader said...

Heh, Nameless, thanks for pointing that out!

Hearts, huh? Well, you knew there was gonna be something, L...hearts are not bad, really! :)

Greg Lestrade said...

Nameless - AnonyBob is the only one who did notice, I think. Changed it yesterday, when I realised Danger and I were indeed the F word.

Mycroft said...

because I don't think it's exactly fitting to have a MIT office covered in hearts

It would be more fitting if they were real hearts...but probably less romantic. And considerably more difficult to clean up.

Greg Lestrade said...

Ha, yeah, and we'd never get Sherlock out of there.

Greg Lestrade said...

...and think of the smell, a few days in. Yuck.

REReader said...

have to let Molly keep them for you. :)

(sorry headache)

Mycroft said...

Far more logistically difficult to transport as well.

Greg Lestrade said...

And possibly obtain. Although perhaps not if they're animal hearts.

You know, when I was a kid I thought the beating of your heart you could feel in your chest was a heart-shape on a stick that was swinging back and forth - like a pendulum, but the other way. I wonder why a heart-shape is universally recognised as being a heart, and how it came to be.

Sherlock said...

That's stupid!

John H. D. Watson said...

Like a metronome?

John H. D. Watson said...

It's not stupid, Sherlock, it was just a way to explain something that he didn't know about yet. No one's born knowing everything, we have to find it out.

Greg Lestrade said...

I know Sherlock - but I didn't have a very knowledgeable and kind doctor to lend me his medical books, so I didn't know any better!

Danger -yeah, sort of, except it hung down, like a pendulum, but went back and forth from your back to your chest, not side to side. I thought you could feel it hitting the back and front of your body... The 'stick' part went inbetween the top two bumps of the heart-shape. It was all clear in my mind....wrong, but clear!

John H. D. Watson said...

Oh, right, I see what you mean. When you said the other way, I thought you meant upside down. Did you have a theory on what bit of you it hung down from?

Greg Lestrade said...

err...no. My thoughts on how the human body worked stopped before anything got too complex :)

REReader said...

fits with how it feels, esp when angry or scared, so makes sense.

surely them as transported hearts in could manage reverse trip. :) (but paper nicer and prettier.)

REReader said...

(iirc, no one knows where heart symbol came from but lots of different ideas. don't know if universal but def widespread.)

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