She smiled at that, if a little sadly. Joan wasn't the cynic that Sherlock was about marriage, she just hadn't had the best of personal experiences with it. Her own father had cheated on her mother, and although she took him back, their marriage was pretty much hollow. Joan herself had never been married. Had never really gotten into a relationship that managed to be something that was stable enough to last. The closest she might have come was Liam, and that was before the drugs. Before he chose heroine over her.

If she were being honest, there was only ever one person she could possibly see spending the rest of her life with, and Sherlock wasn't even close to a romantic partner.

Still, she had seen her friends in happy marriages, seen marriages in trouble where the parties were sincerely working to stay together, because they sincerely loved each other. She had deep respect for it, even if it might never be for her.

"I think marriage is a good word for it."