So this fanfic was a result of a very late night, gossip and John Green. This is a collab with Watson_To_My_Holmes on Ao3, and she is writing the corresponding Johnlock parts to this fic!

Hugs once more to Kanika, Jessie and Bobs who are a constant source of ideas, amusement and fangirling xo

For the first seven years of his life, Mycroft Holmes loved his birthday, and for good reason as it was one of few days where his parens stopped working and focused all of their attention on him. At the time, Mycroft was an only child, so to have someone dote and cherish you for the sake of it was one of the best feelings. Everything about his birthday had to be perfect: the cake, the presents and the music. Birthdays were something to celebrated then, however, this all changed when Mycroft was in his 7th year, his parents had given him a baby brother as a late birthday present, since then, every birthday was shared: when Sherlock was a baby he had to be fed, burped and changed; when he was a toddler, the younger Holmes would get praise for speaking; when he was a young child, Sherlock would open all of Mycroft's presents before he had woken up.

Since then, birthdays were anti-climatic, they were a chore like everything else in life; it was something that was no longer cherished, but begrudged. He still celebrated his birthday until his was 18, then his birthday would come like every other day, without the excitement or the anticipation, no presents or cards, except maybe from his parents. Birthdays were cancelled, and that was that.

It was not often that Greg had moments of realisation since he was dating, in his opinion, the smartest man in the whole of Britain, so there was no need to think about anything, which gave him more time to plan: birthdays, Christmas, Valentine's Day, anniversaries... Etc.. It wasn't until he was buying a Christmas present for Mycroft that he had a moment of realisation, (which is all well and good, but not in the middle of debenhams), he never knew when Mycroft's birthday was. As ludicrous as it sounds, it never really came up in conversation and they were both too busy to realise what was happening, but two years had gone past, and Greg realised he never knew the date of his partner's birthday, which is ridiculous, he mumbled to himself, I know everything about that man except the day his was born..

The moment of realisation dawned on him, causing him to drop the bottle he was holding in his hand, causing the liquid to spill all over the floor, "Fucking Hell" he exclaimed staring at the shattered pieces of glass scattered across the floor.

"Sir," The shop assistant said calmly, trying to catch his attention, "but we do not tolerate that kind of language in our store, especially in front of children"

Greg sighed, "I will stop fucking swearing when you bloody give me advice. I've been dating my partner for two years this February, and I'm yet to find out his birthday, and I dropped his fucking present on the floor. So wipe that patronising smile off your face and help me plan!"

An hour later, and Debenhams had closed early, with a large proportion of it's staff helping the detective inspector with the plan's for Mycroft's birthday. It was two hours later when they finally departed, Greg was armed with two things: Mycroft's Christmas Present, gift wrapped especially by the store assistants and the plan for the younger man's birthday, and Greg was sure it was going to be the best one yet.

The day had finally rolled up, the big day, March 28th, in which Greg had planned the most kick-ass birthday.. Ever..

They day dawned on them, bright as ever, the sun blaring through the windows on to their bed, and Greg rolled over to Mycroft and kissed him on the forehead.

"you're up to something" Mycroft groaned as he woke up from a sleepy haze, he rolled over to his boyfriend and smiled, "You haven't been this mysterious since you got promoted"

They both smiled at the thought, that was a bloody good night: champagne, shenanigans and a hangover to complete the next morning, and it would certainly stick in Greg's mind.. For a very long time..

"I'm never mysterious" Greg replied, smiling cheekily, "come-on slow coach, it's time to get going"

"But it's so early.." Mycroft replied, who even in his late 40s struggled to get out of bed, "..Need coffee"

The two sat down to breakfast in Greg's flat, happily munching on pancakes as they chartered and slowly drained their coffees. "Right," Greg said finally, "I have a surprise for you tonight"

"Gregory, I hate surprises, and you know I'll guess it, so please, just tell me" Mycroft pleaded. He hated surprises, it was the fear of the unknown, what if Greg left him?, what if someone died?, what if his life was just a sick jok-

"Myc, relax.." Greg kissed him softly, interrupting the thoughts of panic running turmoil in his mind, "We're just going to dinner"

Mycroft breathed a sigh of relief, and slipped his jacket on, ready to leave, before snatching another kiss from Gregory. He grabbed his briefcase and swiftly exited the door.

Greg grabbed his laptop and poured himself another cup of coffee, he had decided to stay at home for several reasons, and dedicated the day to planning and paperwork, because who said life in your 40s couldn't be exciting?

From:

To: Staff .uk

Subject: Ready Set Go

Plan is in action.

Would you be able to drop the banners to my address? I'll text it to Sarah.

I'll let you know how it goes,

Greg

From: staff .uk

To:

Subject: RE: Ready Set Go

Good luck Greg, we can't wait to see the pictures!

Sarah and the sales team

The evening had arrived, and they met each other at their favourite resteraunt. They quietly chatted about their days, filling the gaps of conversation with gossip and chitter-chatter, whilst eating the most delicious meal. When they finally got to the end of their desert, Greg had scootched closer to Mycroft, his eyes dancing with excitement.

"There's a reason I bought you out to dinner tonight, Myc" Greg said quietly, "And before you panic, it's not to propose and I'm not leaving you. Whilst I was in Debenhams a few months ago, I realised that I never knew your birthday, so naturally I wanted to plan the best birthday you could ever imagine, but that's not you, Myc. You want things calm and simple, and I love it that way, as much as I love you"

Mycroft leaned back, in shock, but his eyes were filled with anticipation, "Gregory" He started, "I'm speechless, I never imagined any of this"

Greg smiled, "I may be an idiot, but did you really expect me to believe that you didn't have a birthday?"

"You're not an idiot, Gregory," the younger man replied, slowly closing the gap between them and kissing him, as he pulled away, he rested his forehead against Gregory's, "You are the man I love, forever and always"

"I'm glad you said that," Greg beamed with delight, "because you need this", the detective inspector passed the package over to Mycroft, whose face was full of emotion. "happy birthday, Mycroft"

Like an excited child, Mycroft ripped open the present excitedly to discover a plain black box, decorated with a gold clasp. The government man looked over to the detective inspector, who nodded and smiled, "Open it" He said quietly.

Mycroft carefully opened the box to discover a picture of them on Valentine's Day, where Greg was affectionately kissing Mycroft's cheek, he turned it over, to discover a date, time and place. "Greg," He asked, "What's happening?"

"lift the picture"

Mycroft lifted the picture to discover a pile of confetti, which read "Happy Birthday" and underneath was a tiny figure of an open umbrella cast in silver, and on the handle it read, "Mycroft Holmes, Made in Britain, 28.03.67", a small tear dropped from Mycroft's face and a smile quickly followed it, he tried to speak but all that came out was words that anybody would mistake for a man in shock. Greg guided him to the car, and they shared a passionate kiss before driving off.

"I called your parents" Greg explained, "they said you had lost the love you had once had with birthdays, and you had never really celebrated them since. Apparently, you had never forgiven your father for not turning up for a drink on your 18th birthday, so you condemned the whole day, it no longer carried sentiment, it was just another day. But when I had my moment of realisation, I realised how much you truly loved spending the day with me on my birthday, and how you smiled the whole day, even when Sherlock was put in jail" He sat back, "actually, I think we were both smiling after that. I want you to have the best birthday you deserve"

The car pulled up to 221b Bakerstreet, where the door was slightly open, with a note, "come up, birthday party in progress"

They walked up to the flat to see great banners across the room, with "happy birthday Mycroft" emblazoned on every one, each banner with a different colour. He looked around the room and smiled to see his parents, his brother and John, and Gregory smiling proudly.

"Happy birthday, Mycroft" they all cheered and smiled, party poppers exploding with confetti, all over the tiny apartment.