Sherlock Holmes and John Watson had been together as a couple for about six months when the call from Mycroft came. He was heading a project to create a fully-functioning, growing child without the use of a womb or sexual intercourse. They needed Sherlock to be the biological father.

"We do not know if the brain functions of the child will be up to par, and we are not willing to create a human if it cannot function. We figure that if its parent has an above-average mind such as your own, it may compensate for other possible defects-"

Sherlock did not let his brother finish his explanation before yelling no and slamming the phone down.

"Mycroft, I'm guessing?" John sat with his laptop on the couch, blogging.

"Yes, he called to ask for my DNA. Some sort of cloning thing. They don't want to breed an idiot."

"Breed? Sure sounds interesting. Did he tell you much?"

"Living, growing baby who can function like a human being without a mother. That's as far as I let him get," Sherlock said with a bored sigh. "I'm not interested, as even you have probably deduced."

John looked up at Sherlock, and hesitated a moment before saying, "You should think about it."

"HAVE YOU GONE INSANE?!" Sherlock's volume nearly blew John backwards. "Cooperate with Mycroft? Participate in one of his silly little experiments?"

"It doesn't exactly sound like a silly little experiment to me," John sighed, and then murmured quietly, "and it may be our only chance to have a kid."

This comment softened Sherlock's voice a little. "I never thought having your own child mattered to you. You seemed perfectly happy with the idea of adopting in a couple of years."

"I never said anything because I never thought it was possible. When I fell in love with you I accepted that that dream of mine wasn't ever going to be realized."