There are those defining moments that either make you who you are, or show you who you are.
Unknown quote
Mycroft Homes never forgot the defining moment that contributed to making him the man he is today. It was the day he watched his elder brother, Sherrinford Holmes, leaving the Holmes ancestral manor, disowned and banished in disgrace abroad by their Father, never allowed to set foot in England again.
Politicians come and go in the western world. The real power in any western country was not elected political party the voters had chosen. In the United Kingdom, the real masters of the country were collectively known as the Elites. The true identities of the Elites were never known to the general public. The unassuming civil servant occupying some obscure minor position in the British government which no one would give a second glance, could actually be the actual master behind the elected Minister they allegedly served. Almost all the Elites were from the Noble Families, regarded as a quaint and antiquated curiosity from the past where Kings and Queen actually had true power to rule the country centuries ago. As for the titles held by the various members of the Noble Families? Something to impress the foreigners, especially the Americans.
Mycroft preferred to be known as Mr Holmes rather than Lord Holmes although he had inherited the title upon his Father's death. At the tender age of 22, he had taken on his Father's position, protecting the traditional Holmes power base as the sharks surrounded him, eager to take a nip at the pie, seeing an opportunity to expand their power base. It took him 5 years before he took control of the Omega Protection Association and became the true puppet master behind the elected Chairman of the Omega Protection Association. It took him another 5 years and the annihilation of three Noble Family Heads (one plane crash, one of 'natural causes' and one suicide) to emerge victorious and became THE British government.
His Mother was the second Lady Holmes. The first Lady Holmes had died of heart attack at the tender age of thirty, a tragic early end of an Omega with a family history of heart ailments, leaving behind a 10 year old son, Sherrinford Holmes. This match with Father is an alliance between two Noble families. It was not a love match but a match based on power and genetic compatibility. From all accounts, she seemed to be a gentle and fragile Omega, contented in her role as a homemaker.
There have been whispers that the lady died of a broken heart. Sherrinford Holmes was an Alpha but the blood test revealed that he has only 69% in the Alpha Purity Index. It was illegal to discriminate based on gender and upon widespread protests in the streets, the law had deemed that prospective employers cannot demand the potential Alpha job candidates to reveal their Alpha Purity Index score. It was a widely spread belief, backed up with Alpha Supremacy Group's 'scientific findings' that the higher an Alpha Purity Index score, the more intelligent and powerful the Alpha. The Alphas in the Noble Families typically ranged between 70% and 85%. Mycroft's Alpha Purity Index score was a staggering 91%, which was a source of pride for his Father. Mycroft had to admit that his high Alpha Purity Index score had helped in impressing his potential allies and intimidated his enemies, especially in the early days where he struggled to protect and expand the Holmes power base.
Mycroft Holmes was not a scientist but he had studied enough to conclude that the Alpha Purity Index Score was not a measurement of intelligence or strength. Several Alpha Supremacy groups, secretly backed by several Noble Families, had lobbied for special concessions into letting the Alphas with a High Purity Index score to have priority and first rights in getting an Omega mate. Mycroft had ensured that Omega Protection Association would not bow to the pressure from the Alpha Supremacy groups in matching the Omegas in the Omega Register with the Alpha applicants. In the end, the consent of the Omega would be the deciding factor in any Alpha/Omega match and not any based on genetic compatibility or Alpha Purity Index score. The Noble Families had a vested interest in perpetuating the myth of superiority in high Alpha Purity Index score. While they would not opening espoused the superiority of high Alpha Purity Index score, many had funded the Alpha Supremacy groups. The Noble Families had breeded almost exclusively with Alphas and Omegas over generations. As a result, the average score of the Alpha Purity Index score would be much higher than the general population. And the final piece of evidence for Mycroft in the fallacy of the superiority in high Alpha Purity Index score? His elder brother, Sherrinford Holmes. Mycroft had rubbed it in to Sherlock that he was 'the smart one' of the Holmes brothers but he was truthful enough to admit that his elder brother, Sherrinford Holmes, was as intelligent, if not more intelligent than Mycroft although he scored only 69% in the Alpha Purity Index (which was still 15% higher than the general Alpha population).
Ever since Mycroft became THE British government, he had taken the threat of the Alpha Supremacy groups seriously. While some had seen their rants of superiority as harmless, Mycroft knew that if not kept in check, the extremist elements in the Alpha Supremacy groups could reared its ugly head as seen in the Omega Persecution War in 1939. It started with the gradual erosion of Omega rights in Germany such as mandatory bonding for Omegas three months within their first heat. More and more stringent rules were then introduced such as forbidding relations and marriages between Omegas and Betas. By December 1939, the facade of an egalitarian civilized world was torn off. Germany rounded up the entire Omega population and placed them in breeding camps where Omegas were forced to mate and breed repeatedly with different Alphas. Omegas who managed to escape from the breeding camps had painted a picture of hell on earth where the Omegas were injected with experimental serum so that the Omegas would be in heat continuously. Omegas were forced to mate with up to ten Alphas every day until he or she was impregnated. The madness in Germany started to spread across the world rapidly where Omegas were seen as resources and not humans. Smaller nations like Japan in the Far East even invaded China and started to massacre entire cities of alphas and betas while rounding up the Omegas to be placed in the breeding camps in the occupied territories. It took the combine power of Britain and their Allied countries six years to end the Omega Persecution War in 1945.
Many had seen Mycroft's move in controlling the Omega Protection Association as a means to consolidate and strengthen his power base as control over the Omega population meant that he had at hand to 'reward' his allies with unlimited access to Omegas, an irresistible and almost impossible reward to reject. The truth is that at the bottom of his heart, he has a true desire to protect the Omega population where Omegas were seen as baby making machines and property of their Alphas. Despite the fact that there were laws which gave Omega rights to choose their own mates, there were ways to 'persuade' an unwilling Omega to bond with an Alpha not of their own choice. The simplest way was to lock the Omega in the throes of heat with an Alpha. Omegas, especially within the first two years after their first presentation, had little self-control over their biological instincts during their 3 monthly heats. It was tempting for a family with an Omega to choose an Alpha who could offer the highest dowry to bond with the Omega. An unbounded Omega could change the fortunes of an impoverished family. Mycroft was not omnipotent but he had ensured that Omega Protection Association would watch over the welfare of the Omega population and kept the worst abuses in check.
Mycroft was ruthless in his quick ascension of power, his hands stained with blood. While he had never killed anyone with his own hands, he had given orders which led to the death of several people, several inconvenient who stood in his path for power. Mycroft had never regretted and had not lose any sleep over his actions which directly or indirectly led to the death of people, several of them innocent collaterals who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He had to be ruthless. For the Noble Families, a loss of power could potentially mean the death of all the Alphas in the family (either through assassinations or unfortunate accidents) and the distribution of all the Omegas in the losing families to the victors as breeders through forced bonding.
His Mother, the second Lady Holmes, was one of the war trophies after a particular vicious power struggle which her family lost for supporting the wrong side. His Father found himself given a 14 year old Omega as his bride. A frightened child, who had been pampered all her life, married to a man old enough to be her father. Lord Siger Holmes was a power-hungry man. His thirst for power could be stemmed back to 700 years ago where the Holmes family suffered a defeat with the betrayal of a trusted ally. The Holmes line was almost annihilated with the Alphas killed and the Omegas given to the rival families as breeders. The Betas in the Holmes family were stripped of lands, properties and money and were left as destitute. The Betas in the Holmes family had proved their worth and through careful plotting over hundreds of years, revived the fortunes of the Holmes family. The Holmes Family was the only Noble Family to treat the Betas as equals, having equal rights in inheritance as it has proven that Betas with their calm and logical minds plotting the revival of the Holmes line, were as good as the Alphas. The painful history of the fall and the subsequent revival of the Holmes family was a constant reminder to every successive Head of the Holmes Family that the power and wealth accumulated by several generations of Holmes could be lost in the blink of an eye. The Holmes Family was fortunate. Several Noble Families who suffered defeats never recovered, their name forever lost, their proud history forgotten, fortunes given to their enemies and their Omegas distributed among the victors.
Lord Siger Holmes was appalled that he was given a 14 year old child as his second wife. Most of the Omegas would only be presented and go into their first heat when they turned 18. Violet Colangelo has come into her first heat when she turned 13. In olden days, the Colengelo family would have easily gained a kingdom just by offering her hand in marriage as it was believed that the earlier an Omega comes into his or her heat, the more fertile the Omega would be. To Lord Siger Holmes's disgust, the myth linking the first heat of the Omega to the age has persisted to this day. Even modern laws allow the bonding of underage Omegas as long as Omegas had their first heat. Even though most countries, including United Kingdom, had proclaimed egalitarian rights for all irrespective of gender, modern laws still stuck to the archaic thinking of 'old enough to go into heat, old enough to breed' even when the Omega in question was still a child.
It was with great reluctance that Lord Siger Holmes had taken his child bride to the marriage bed as a rejection of a bonding with his child bride would be perceived as a weakness for his enemies. Mycroft Holmes was born one year later after the marriage. As far as possible within the norms of the society, Siger Holmes had shown kindness to his child bride, who was only 4 years older than his eldest son. He had indulged her whims for clothes, jewellery and any material things she desired. He had even allowed the Betas of her remaining family to retain their properties and businesses although it was within his rights to take all. It might take decades or even centuries, but the Colengelo family had every opportunity to revive their position as one of the Noble Families. After all the Holmes family did recover their seat of power and they were in an even dire position when they first lost power centuries ago, leaving the family destitute and scattered throughout Europe.
Father and Mother had a tacit agreement. Father would allow Mother every entitlement accorded to Lady Holmes and even freedom to travel overseas alone if she desired (under heavy protection, of course), a freedom not normally given to an Omega from the Noble Families. In return, Mother would perform the public role expected that of Lady Holmes, by the side of the Lord Holmes in public events and private parties. There was no love between the couple. Each had their own lovers although Mother has promised, upon the death of the remaining Colangelo family that no love child would be born out of wedlock.
His Mother was still a young child when Mycroft was born. She had no maternal instincts and did not want to deal with a crying baby, leaving Mycroft to a succession of well trained nannies to take care of Mycroft. He never had the traditional bond between an Omega Mother and child. While his Mother was casually affectionate, petting his head when he is in front of her, she had not taken any additional interests in him as long as he was quiet and kept out of the way. There was little interaction between the mother and child. When they were forced to spend time together, there was complete and total awkward silence, save for the few meagre attempts on his Mother's part and meagre ones to keep it going on his part until Mother finally dismissed him with a kiss. As he was older, he perfected the mask of blank attentiveness as his Mother started to use him as a sounding board and talked of parties and the latest society scandals. This was where he started his political training and perfected the mask of attentiveness. He was thankful of the skill his Mother taught him as he dealt with tedious politicians puffed with their self-perceived importance, enabling him to put up a pleasantly attentive and slightly flattering mask for the speaker while his mind plotted their downfalls.
While Mycroft found the company of his Mother tedious, he adored the time he spent with his Father. His Father would spend time alone with him, teaching him the Holmes Family history and politics, teachings that he found intellectually engaging and exciting. It was through his Father's teachings that he developed an interest and the thirst to be an Elite, to be one of the puppet masters of the country.
If Mycroft adored his Father, he idolized his elder brother, Sherrinford. He could never quite understand why Father was so cold and formal with his elder brother and he was upset with the malicious whispers that Father would cast aside Sherrinford as the heir as his Alpha Purity Index Score was low for a member of the Noble Family. Despite the lack of warm relations between Father and the elder son, Mycroft got along well with his elder brother. Sherrinford ensured that he kept an eye on his younger brother's studies and upon his first day in school, had sent out warnings that there would be dire consequences if Mycroft was bullied. In short, he was the perfect elder brother. Mycroft on the other hand, was the perfect younger brother, listening (but not following) to the advice given by an older brother in all areas of life including the right type of friends to make, the correct type of clothes to wear and even the amount of food one should eat per day to maintain a perfect physical figure (which Mycroft never listened to this day even though it was perfectly apt advice).
Sherrinford was a very charming man, always surrounded a group of fawning admirers. Appearance wise, he was very different from Mycroft, who as a child, was plump with dark hair. Sherrinford, on the other hand, is the image of a young Apollo with his golden hair and with cheekbones to die for. He was a popular man, winning friends easily and parents who despaired of their own children, whose sole goals in life were to drink to an early and to engage in a promiscuous lifestyle, was held up as a paragon of virtue who should be emulated. However, it was a known fact that Father was not bowled over by Sherrinford's easy charms. The relationship between Father and his eldest son, the future Head of the Holmes family was distance and cold. Some had speculated that Father was sorely disappointed and humiliated over the 69% Alpha Purity Index score. But even so, most cannot comprehend Father's distance with his heir and obvious favouritism with his younger son. Sherrinford, despite his Alpha Purity Index, had one of the keenest and sharpest mind, on par if not surpassing Mycroft's own astonishing intellect prowess. Father had taken a personal interest in Mycroft's upbringing and has bought him to be present during political discussions, a place traditionally reserved for the heir apparent and not the younger son. Political enemies have slyly tried to create resentment between the two brothers but the relationship between the two remained close as two brothers could be.
Sherrinford was seemingly unaware of the whisperings behind his back that Father would be casting him aside as the heir apparent. And from all appearances, it seemed that he would not be overly upset if he was to be cast aside as the heir apparent. Instead, he seemed to have devoted his entire energy in the pursuit of science and is on the way to become one of the top scientists in Omega Biology. To anyone who asked, Sherrinford had shared that he is saddened by his Mother's early tragic death and wanted to dedicate his life in ensuring that the Omega population would not decimated further.
The Omega population has never recovered from the Black Death which decimated the Omega population in the 14th century. One of the reasons for the 1939 Omega Persecution War was over the handling of the Omega population. In the last 150 years, several disturbing trends had emerged. The first ominous sign the declining number of Omega children born. Although the Beta was capable of bearing children, the number of children borne by the Beta couple had dwindled and most Beta couple would be lucky to have one child. And out of the children born out of Beta-Beta couple, the number of Omega children borne dropped from 1 every 10 children to 1 every 1000 children. The next ominous sign was the decline in the female Omega population. For every three female Omega born, only one would survive to adulthood. Many female Omegas have died at childbirth, killing the child they carry as well as their own. The natural lifespan of female Omega had reduced from 67 years to 55 year. This was in stark contrast to the other genders whose lifespan had increased due to leaps in science, medical care and better living conditions. The first published data on the decline of the Omega population had caused an uproar worldwide and doomsday predictions of the beginning of an end for the human race. The male Omega population was so far unaffected by the gradual decline of the female Omega population. However, as scientists were at a loss to understand the reason for the decline of the female Omega population and there were concerns that the male Omega population would suffer a same fate.
The official data on the decline of the Omega population was officially released by the Omega Protection Association in 1898 which led to the finding of several Alpha Supremacy groups. The more extreme and militant groups advocated that the Omega population should be controlled and to breed with as many Alphas as possible to ensure the survival of the human species. Omegas, especially male Omegas, had been targeted by the extremist Alpha Supremacy groups and forced into breeding programs. The majority of the population, however, was outraged by the blatant disregard for the rights of the Omega population. The ending of the Omega Persecution War in 1945 led to the disbandment of several militant Alpha Supremacy groups. However, up to this day, Alpha Supremacy extremism was never fully eradicated although their activities had went underground.
After the Omega Persecution War, great leaps had been made in science which contributed significantly to the Egalitarian Omega Movement which was dedicated to guaranteeing civil, political, economic and social rights for the Omega population. In 1952, Cornelia White, a nineteen year old unbonded Omega, committed suicide after being gang raped by a group of Alphas. Cornelia White had an unexpected heat on her way home after trying out her wedding dress at the Bridal Shop. She was alone without any Alpha family member as her escort met an accident while on the way to fetch her home. She decided to walk home alone, a 15 minute walk from home when she had an unexpected heat. She was dragged off the streets and gang raped by 5 alphas before taken into one of the Alpha's place where she was continually raped throughout her 3 day heat. Despite the fact that it was caught on camera at the street where she had her unexpected heat that upon the realisation of her impending heat, had said no and begged for mercy and that throughout the brutal mating, she kept screaming and begging the rapists to stop. The judge ruled that it was clear from the evidence that her body was clearly receptive of the Alpha's touch, she had given consent even though she begged for mercy. The Alphas were acquitted and walked off scot free from the court. Unable to live with the shame, Cornelia White committed suicide leaving behind her heartbroken fiancée, a childhood sweetheart whom she was to marry in one month's time and her grieving father.
The non-guilty verdict and the tragic suicide of Cornelia White led to a series of street protests in London and started the Omega Liberation Movement which spread to the rest of the world in three months. The Chairman of the UK Omega Protection Association resigned and as the Omega Protection Association had stopped all matchmaking services for Alphas as a sign of protest. After 3 long years, the Cornelia White Act was passed which made it a crime for Alphas to mate with Omegas during involuntary heats. This was a landmark victory for the Omega Liberation Movement as the rest of the world soon follow suit with similar laws to protect Omegas against involuntary heats.
Heat suppressants for Omegas and the Beta serum have been hailed as major discoveries which had given Omegas their freedom from being ruled by their biology and rights to reproduction. The Alphas had their condoms to prevent any unwanted children but the Omegas have nothing to protect against impregnation on their own in the throes of heats. Even in today's civilized society, there were some who would take advantage of Omegas during their heats as their biology dictated them with an uncontrollable overwhelmingly urge to be mated and knotted. While an Omega has on average has a heat once every 3 months, it was not an exact science and Omegas could have an unwanted heat at any point of time. This had curtailed the personal freedom of Omegas as none would have walked the streets alone without an Alpha family member and job opportunities were limited requiring them to work in an all Omega or Beta environment. Mating and knotting with an unbonded Omegas by the Alphas during their heats was not considered a crime even if the Alphas concern are strangers and no implicit consent has been given. As long as the Omega was unbonded, it was considered fair game for any Alpha who was simply obeying their biological instincts to mate triggered by the pheromones released by the Omega during his or her heat.
The discovery of the Omega heat suppressant known as O-Heat was named as one of the most important discovery in the history of Omega. When taken, an Omega's heat cycles would be stopped for up to three years. When taken continuously, an Omega could hold off their heat cycles indefinitely. In the past, Omegas who wished to suppress their heat cycles would have to turn to the black market for illegal heat suppressants which were untested and when taken over a long period of time, would inevitably kill the Omega. O-Heat had been tested rigorously in laboratory conditions and had proven to be safe to Omegas. Professor Andrew White, the inventor of O-Heat was awarded the Nobel Prize (Omega Chemistry) for the landmark discovery. In his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize, Professor Andrew White dedicated the award to his daughter, Cornelia White, a poignant reminder and tribute to generations of Omega sufferings, stripped of their basic human rights as a result of their biology.
The 20th century would be remembered as the century which would see the Omega population casting aside their shackles, prisoners of their own biology. The discovery of O-Heat was soon followed by the discovery of the controversial product known as the Beta Serum which would suppress the natural pheromones of the Omega. This meant that an Omega could boldly walks among the crowd with no one any wiser of his or her true gender. The Beta Serum was expensive and effects only lasted for 3 years before the Omega needed another very expensive dose. The Alpha Supremacy groups across the world had called for a complete ban of the product which they considered as 'cheating' as Alphas could no longer seek out their mates through smell. The Omega Interest Groups hailed the product as a breakthrough for all Omegas as the Beta Serum would enable to leave their traditional roles which confined them to bearing children and homemaking. Omegas entered the workforce like never before and it was no longer a rare sight to see an unescorted Omega down the streets alone and confidently. The Beta Interest Groups supported Omega Interest Groups as the Beta Serum would allow them close proximity to the Omegas and an equal footing to courting Omegas. They pointed out that the Omega Association provides matchmaking services only for the Alphas. The Betas is in a vast disadvantage as they have little or no access to Omegas. With the Omegas entering the workforce en masse, wooing an Omega was no longer a dream. The Omega Protection Association had wisely stayed out of the whole debate, refusing to publicly comment on the usage of Beta Serum by the Omegas although they offered a 50% subsidy for the purchase of O-Heat and Beta Serum for all Omegas registered at the Omega Register.
Mycroft was proud that the Holmes Family had supported the Omega Liberal Movement which other Noble Families had seen as a threat for their continued unlimited access and control over the Omega population. Sometimes he had wondered why his Father was so driven to ensure the success of the Omega Liberal Movement. He had all the power in his hand but he had devoted large amount of time in promoting Omega rights to the extent that he gave concessions to his enemies to ensure that certain oppressive Omega laws were removed. It was only when he was older that Mycroft believed that it was a result of his Father's guilt, a slur to his honour for bringing an underage Omega to his marriage bed because the laws allowed him to do so. Yes, he could have rejected the bonding but it would be detriment to the interests of the Holmes family interests so he had bowed to the decision and had taken his Mother to his marriage bed. And as for his elder brother, Sherrinford, he had followed their Father's footsteps in another way. After his graduation, Sherrinford has joined the Cambridge University as an Omega Biologist and from all accounts, he would be the next rising star in the study of Omega Biology and had made great strides in solving the mysteries of the Omega DNA. All in all, Mycroft was proud to be a member of the Holmes family and is sure that he would be following the footsteps of his Father and brother.
Mother became pregnant with Sherlock when he turned 7 years old. His Mother returned suddenly from France after leaving the Holmes ancestral manor for three months and announced that she was pregnant. This was the one of the defining moments that he learnt the important lesson to observe and just not see. There was a strange tension in the manor. His Father had stayed away from the manor, leaving behind Sherrinford and Mycroft to look after his pregnant Mother. His Mother was radiant throughout the pregnancy, although his Father is hardly around her to provide the support for the unborn child. By then, Sherrinford had already graduated from the Cambridge University and had moved back from the student hostel to the Holmes Manor permanently. He could have his pick of choice postings in any of the elite Universities or private research laboratories as an Omega biologist but he had chosen a little known private research laboratory near to the Holmes Manor so that he could commute daily and be home every night. Mycroft would not know how to deal with his hormonal mother whose mate is not around most of the time. Sherrinford had taken the role and have been infinitely patient with Mother, escorting her for the routine check-ups and ensuring that she would have the best maternal care to the extent of monitoring her intake of vitamins.
For the first time, Mycroft was resentful of his Father, his hero. He was sure that his Father's absence has caused Mother to go into a sudden early labour. It was a known fact that the health of the unborn child is dependent on the pheromones of the Father. His Father was hardly around his Mother and the lack of exposure of the pheromones would have taken a toll to the health of both the Omega and the unborn child. Mother went into a sudden labour 2 months before the baby is due in the middle of the night while Father was away. Calmly, Sherrinford organised the panicked servants in the household and called for the ambulance. They boarded the ambulance with Mother and Sherrinford held Mother's hands, murmuring words of comfort during the long ride to the hospital.
Mycroft had fallen asleep in the waiting room and by the time he woke up, the youngest Holmes brother, William Sherlock Scott Holmes, is born. Sherrinford, the responsible brother, has settled all the paper work and even the test results of Sherlock's gender is ready and printed on the birth certificate.
"Wakey, wakey, Microft." Sherrinford said as he gently woke Microft. "We have a new brother. Little William Sherlock Scott Holmes. "
Mycroft grabbed the birth certificate Sherrinford was holding and studied it.
Name: William Sherlock Scott Holmes
Father: Siger Holmes
Mother: Violet Colangelo
Sex: Male
"Is Father here? He named our little brother?"
For a moment, a strange expression flickered
Mycroft thought he saw a strange sile on Sherrinford's face.
"No, Father is not here, Mycroft." Sherrinford said. "I named him. Since Father is not interested, I think he hardly deserves to name our little Sherlock."
Mycroft blinked. His mind hardly registered the impact of Sherrinford's words. Sherrinford had always stayed out of Father's way and this was the first time he saw Sherrinford challenging their Father's authority directly.
Confused and not knowing what to say, Mycroft looked down at the birth certificate he held in his hand when his eyes saw the gender on the birth certificate. It was optional whether the baby would go through a gender testing which had a 99.99% accuracy rate at birth. It was against the law to discriminate against gender but many choose not to opt for the public gender testing as the results would be automatically entered into the public registries which everyone would have access. Babies who were Omegas would be automatically registered at the Omega Register, not accessible to the public. Once registered at the Omega Protection Association, almost every aspect of the Omega's life would be supervised from birth to death. And upon presentation, the Omega's potential mate would be chosen by the Omega Protection Association based on genetic compatibility. Although the Omega Protection Association declared that the Omegas would be free to reject the chosen mate, there were dark allegations that the Omega Protection Association that the Omegas were forced into bonding with Alphas especially if the Alphas came from a powerful or rich background.
Many parents chose to go for private testing as they did not want to make public if their precious baby turned out to be a Beta rather than the Alpha they wanted. Despite the laws against gender discrimination, schools and companies were known to screen the potential candidate at the public gender registries. Both Sherrinford and Mycroft's gender were tested at an exclusive private laboratory known for its discretion which also provided Alpha or Omega Purity Index testing if the baby was an Alpha or Omega.
Mycroft blinked and rubbed his eyes again and stared at Sherlock's birth certificate.
Gender: Beta
"You opted for public testing?" Mycroft asked. "Father would not be pleased." Members from the Noble Families were normally not registered at the public registers. Omegas born in the Noble Families were only registered upon their arranged bonding with a suitable mate from the same social class.
Mycroft was not sure how Father would feel about having a Beta son. There were Betas in the Holmes Family lines but they were normally from the other branches of the family. Sherlock would be the first Beta born in the last hundred years in the main Holmes Family line.
"Don't worry too much. The worst Father could do was to ignore Sherlock. The most important thing is that Sherlock would be safe." A bitter look momentarily flashed through Sherrinford's eyes. "There is no Beta Purity Index score Father could use to compare with others."
Safe. In the event that the Holmes family lost their power base, both Mycroft and Sherrinford would be purged in the guise of various unfortunate accidents. But Sherlock would be safe as it was the unwritten rule that the Betas would be spared from purging.
"Mycroft." Sherrinford lowered himself and looked into Mycroft's eyes. "A person should be proud of what he is irrespective of his gender. It does not matter what Sherlock's gender is. He would be given opportunity to excel and make his own mark in the world. Our baby brother would be loved by us."
Sherrinford then led Mycroft to the hospital's nursery.
"He is so tiny." Mycroft whispered as he looked into the incubator. "When can we take him home?"
"Soon, Mycroft. We would taking baby Sherlock home soon." Sherrinford said.
It was at this precise moment that Mycroft knew that it would be his lifelong duty to protect baby Sherlock.