Parentlock:
Sleep for Mrs Molly Holmes had become tedious of late. Comfort could not be obtained from any position she was capable of arranging her body in at the current time. It was all down to large baby bump protruding from her stomach. The wind outside increased in strength and whistled as it passed by the bedroom window. Any hope of gaining slumber was obliterated with the brewing storm outside and the shape of her body.
For the time being she simply lay on her back staring at the bleak ceiling as she listened to the growing howl of the night. London had undergone some of the most horrendous weather ever known to Britain. After a duration of two weeks a large part of the country was subject to flooding. Molly had hoped the storm would end, so she could visit her parents in law, but the weather showed no sign of change. She sighed and turned her head on the pillows to appraise the sight of her husband snoring lightly to her right.
Sherlock lay face down with fatigue after slaving away on a triple homicide case. The case ranked at least an 8, and had demanded his and former room mates, John Watson, attentions for the past three days. Only this evening had the culprit been caught after a chase entailing Sherlock to out run a London taxi- something he had done many times before.
She smiled at the sight of him sleeping, oblivious to her gaze. His cases often aged him, but in these rare moments he seemed reduced to a young man who is carefree and is not troubled from his past experiences. She wished she could take away his pain from the events that took place after his supposed death, but she couldn't however, no matter how hard she tried those memories would not fade. But he seemed so much happier after she married him. He now had an air of hope around him when ever he looked at his family.
Just as Molly turned her head to look at the clock sat on the nightstand, the rain began to drizzle down the glass of the window. She glanced at the said window seeing she had neglected to close the curtains. She gently rose from her horizontal position on the bed and stretched her arms above her head. Groaning as her back adjusted to the strain of the baby inside of her, she moved forward to pull the curtains closed, before exiting the bedroom and heading in the general situation of the kitchen.
Molly swiftly entered the kitchen and stretched up into the cupboard above the sink to retrieve a glass. Only to her dismay, all the glasses on the lower shelves had been used, and being a short woman, she was at loss to reaching the highest shelf upon which the clean glasses resided. She was about to abandon the prospect of reaching a glass, but an arm reached above her head and grabbed one for her. She turned to see Sherlock stood with the glass in his hand.
"Sorry, I forget that you're quite a lot shorter than I am." He murmured, his voice thick with sleep. She smiled at him, whilst taking the cup and turning to run the tap. "It normally wouldn't have bothered me! I could have stood on a chair to reach them, but I can't do that at the moment can I?" He looked down at her with a pointed gaze and said, "Not unless you wish to get yourself and our unborn baby killed." She hummed in agreement, "Anyway, I thought you were sleeping." She turned and walked into the living room, with Sherlock trailing behind her.
"I was, but I felt you leave. You know I'm a light sleeper, and more so now that I'm constantly listening out for you. Besides, it doesn't feel right sleeping in a bed when you're not by my side." He responded. She dropped down onto the sofa, but not before crossing her legs and placing a pillow on her lap. He took this as an opportunity to lie on the sofa next to her with his head in her lap. Routinely she ran her fingers through his messy curls. It was his turn to hum in satisfaction. After a moment she whispered, "You don't need to listen out for me, you know I'm fine." His eyes had drifted shut and he grumbled, "Of course I do, I know you haven't been sleeping well because of the pregnancy. What sort of a husband or father would I be if I didn't worry about your well being?"
She sighed as she continued to knead his skull with her finger tips. They sat there for approximately 40 minutes before the rain had rapidly increased, until there was a torrential down pour outside. Only minutes after the rain reached it's heaviest, a growl of thunder struck the air. At this Molly flinched. Sherlock opened his eyes and looked at his wife. There was a flash as lightening struck through the storm adding to the weathers chaos. Sherlock sat up as his wife whimpered. "Molly." He whispered as she turned to face him. He took her in his arms, and she buried her face in his chest. Even as a child Molly had always been afraid of thunder and lightening storms. She had an aphobia of extremely loud noises, and detested flashing lights at the best of times.
After the fourth clap of lightening, Sherlock could hear the distinctive sound of footsteps on the stairs. He turned to look at the door to the living room as it creaked open. In the dim lighting of the hallway, there stood his four year old son Felix. Felix stood there for a moment staring at his mother in his fathers embrace. "Daddy I'm scared." The little boy muttered. Just then another strike of lighting caused Felix to jump, resulting in him hurling himself over to the sofa where he jumped into the little space created when Sherlock moved to comfort Molly. The four year old buried his face in his favourite blue rabbit he had brought with him from his room. Molly pulled back from Sherlock's chest to look down at her little boy.
"Come here Felix." She murmured. The little boy responded to the sound of his mother and sat up to look at his parents. Sherlock seized the opportunity to wrap a long arm around his sons waist and haul him in between himself and Molly. Felix rested his head on Molly's chest, carefully avoiding leaning on her very large stomach. Sherlock leaned in to wrap his arms around both of the people currently sat on his lap.
"Mummy, do you not like the storm either?" Felix whispered after a moment or two of silence. Molly hesitated before answering a brief response, "Not really." Felix considered his mothers response before asking another question. "Does the baby like it?" He queried, prodding her belly lightly. Molly raised her head from where it had rested on Sherlock's shoulder. Sherlock returned the gaze Molly had just laid upon him, as he also felt curious whether or not she could feel the baby's opinion on the storm. She considered it for a minute, feeling the slight twinge in her abdomen as her response was scrutinised by both of her boys.
"I don't think he/she does." Molly finally said. "How can you tell?" Sherlock asked beating Felix to the mark. Molly suddenly pulled back and grabbed one of Sherlock's hands and one of Felix's. "See for yourself." She remarked, placing both hands on her belly. Mother, father and son waited in unison for the next clap of thunder. When it finally sounded (after a longer period of time signifying the storm was receeding) the baby gave a resounding kick from the inside of Molly's womb. Both boys looked at each other upon feeling their child or siblings presence. "I don't think she likes storms." Felix stated. "No, I don't think she does." Sherlock replied to his son.
Molly looked puzzled. "What makes you think the baby's a girl? We don't know the gender." She inquired. Felix was the one that answered. "She doesn't kick very hard, girls are weaker than boys so she is more likely to be a girl." Sherlock looked down at his son and added, "Female babies alter the shape of the baby bump. Male babies tend to only form bumps at the front of the mothers body but the shape of the baby bump for a baby girl is spread more evenly around the front and to the sides. The shape of your baby bump would suggest we have a girl on the way." He said turning to Molly. She smirked at him. "How long did you spend researching that? If you wanted to know the sex we could have just requested the gender be specified at the ultrasound."
"We don't know it is a girl but I suspect it is. I wanted to be surprised, and may still be. We shall just have to wait until the birth." Sherlock responded. Molly leaned forward and placed a soft kiss to his lips. "I guess we will." She murmured before he reciprocated the kiss. "Eww no! Stop it!" Felix cried as his parents kissed above him. Molly broke the kiss and looked down at her first baby. She chuckled and Sherlock joined in, as the expression Felix displayed on his face was almost comical. "Sorry Felix." Sherlock stated before his leaned over and kissed Molly once more.
FIN. -Jess