Molly didn't give a fig about what John Watson, Mycroft Holmes, or even William Sherlock Scott Holmes had to say on the subject: just like the first cheek-kisses, that first exchange of 'I love you's' did NOT count.
"But I meant it," Sherlock protested. "You know I did. And I know you did as well. So how can you bloody well decide they don't count?"
Molly met him angry glare for angry glare. "Because we were both forced into it, Sherlock! Against our will! And I absolutely refuse to count that, no matter how much we both meant it!"
Instantly Sherlock's glare melted into a relieved smile. "So you believe me? When I say I meant it?"
Molly nodded, her own expression becoming somewhat puzzled. "Is that why you were pressing it so hard? Because you thought I didn't believe you?"
He nodded, meeting her half-way when she reached out to catch his hands in her own. "Oh, Sherlock, of course I believed you! How could I not, when I heard it in your voice the moment you said it? I can tell when you're lying to me, or when you're trying to humor me! You meant it just as much as I did, there was never any doubt in my mind."
"Then why are we fighting about it?" Sherlock asked as he drew her closer.
"Because we haven't said it without a gun being held to our heads, figuratively speaking," Molly replied. "Meanwhile you're going around telling anyone who will listen that I'm as good as moved into Baker Street, when you've never even asked me - and no, I won't, by the way," she interrupted herself to add firmly. "There is no way I'm giving up my kitchen for yours. Certainly not before we've discussed things!"
Sherlock laughed and held her closer. "That," he proclaimed when she tilted her head up to meet his gaze, "is one of the many, many reasons I love you, Molly Briana Hooper," he proclaimed happily.
"And one of the many, many reasons I love you, William Sherlock Scott Holmes, is because of the way you say my name," she replied, eyes gone soft with a sentiment she no longer needed to keep hidden from him. "No one else says my name the way you do."
"I'll do my best to keep saying it the way you like even after you become Molly Holmes," he assured her, leaning down to steal a kiss.
(The argument about whether or not she would take his name IF they ever got married – which eventually they did – lasted much longer than the one about whether those first 'I love you's' actually counted.)
(For the record, Molly Hooper-Holmes fell just as beautifully on her ears as 'Molly Hooper' ever had.)