Chapter One- December

December came quickly after November. Anthony was doing well. By the time December was here he was four days old. His eyes were opening and he was looking up at us all the time now. He had deep brown round eyes like my fathers. He was eating and sleeping regualry and we were used to the 2am and 6am feeds. Daniel was the best father in the world. He would walk around the house with Anthony along one arm and a cup of coffee or something in the other. He would lie on the floor of the living room and play with him.

On the 6th December we put our Christmas tree up. I put Anthony in his Moses basket and he gurgled a bit but nodded off. I put some Christmas tunes on quietly in the background and began to decorate the tree. Daniel came in a few minutes later with the box of decorations. I had already done most of the tinsel. He came over and helped me to reach the top. He then reached and pulled the box of decorations over. We started to put baubles and little hanging decorations on. Some of them, we had made whilst being in primary school and were starting to fall apart. Two of them, had come all the way from Berlin when we went over on a sixth form trip. I smiled as I looked at them.

"We'll have to take Anthony to Berlin one Christmas when he's older." I said.

Daniel smiled, "I agree. Just so long as I don't have to work!" I laughed, remembering that Daniel was often over there on work.

"You won't have to work." I said, "It'll be a nice family holiday."

Daniel nodded, "Sounds like fun." He said, talking another decoration out. It was a bauble that had been painted by Phoebe Lestrade when she was 2. "Do you remember when Phoebe made these?"

I nodded, "It was our first Christmas together and the Baker Street Christmas tree had 3 of them on its branches because we all lived under one roof."

"And this year, we'll all be under one roof again." He said, hanging some more baubles on.

"Don't forget the back." I said quickly before adding, "Yes, even if it is Chichester, it'll be good to be with everyone."

We finished putting on the decorations and Daniel put the lights round the tree. I went over to the Moses basket and got Anthony out. Daniel got the star out of its box and gave it to me. Together, as a family, we put the star on top of the tree. Later that afternoon, as I was feeding Anthony, Daniel went and put the lights up outside the house. I couldn't get Anthony to wind so we wondered around the house.

"You know," I said to him softly, "Christmas is a very special time of year. You won't understand just now but in a few years you will." I looked down at him. He was looking up at me with his big brown eyes and refusing to burp! I sighed, "Two thousand years ago," I continued, heading upstairs, "A baby was born. A very special baby. A baby who would grow up to save us all. He wasn't born in a palace or a castle, just a stable with all the animals. His mum and dad loved him so much and cared for him until he was all grown up and they loved him until he died." I was walking into his nursery. "You are my special baby and I will love you forever and ever…" but then Anthony burped. I laughed softly, "Of course you would choose then to burp."

Just then, the doorbell rang. I sighed.

"I think your dad has locked himself out!" and I walked back downstairs again. Sure enough, Dan had locked himself out of the house and was looking through the glass at me. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't laugh at me Abigail Holmes." He said, smiling.

"Sorry. I couldn't help it." I said, stroking his face. "You can be so stupid sometimes."

He smiled at me, "I know. But you love me."

"Of course I do." And I kissed him softly.

3 weeks later, we had packed the car up with presents and clothes. Daniel was driving. Anthony was in his little car seat in the front, I was in the back and we were on our way to Chichester to be with everyone for Christmas. John, Mary, Amber and Joseph were on their way down on Christmas Eve and Sherlock, Molly and Hamish were there now along with Mycroft, Greg, Phoebe and Rory. Wanda and Timothy were coming down the day after us. It was a cold and grey day and the weather reports had been threatening snow. But we made it down to Chichester without too much trouble. We stopped once so that I could feed and change Anthony.

Upon arriving in Chichester, I was almost bowled over by my brother as he came racing out the front door.

"Careful Hamish!" called Molly, running after her son.

"It's ok, mum!" I called back. I patted him on the head and hugged him. "It's good to see you, kid."

"It's good to see you too!" he said, then he peered in through the car window, "Can I see Anthony?" he asked.

I chuckled, "Let's get him inside first."

Hamish immediately ran back inside. I got the baby seat out of the car and Dan got our bags. We could get the presents later. On my way in, I hugged and kissed Molly. She led the way into the living room where a roaring fire was lit in the hearth and everyone was gathered there. Sherlock got up and took the baby carrier off of me and placed it down. Phoebe and Hamish immediately went over and had a look. Rory crawled over to see what the fuss was about.

Anthony began to gristle. "Guys," I said to my brother and goddaughter. "Give him some space. There's a lot more people than he is used to and he just needs time to adjust."

Lestrade went and picked up Rory whilst Phoebe plodded off to do her puzzles. Hamish backed away a little bit. I went and sat by him.

"I promise you can have first cuddles," I whispered to him, "So just give him some space." Hamish nodded excitedly and went to wind up Mycroft.

We spent a lovely day as a family, talking and chatting. Anthony got bounced around a lot but once he had acclimatised he was fine. The next few days in the lead up to Christmas were manic and Daniel wouldn't let me help. So I spent a lot of time with Molly and the kids. I didn't mind. Hamish just wanted to hold his nephew so I let him and played with Phoebe and Rory. Phoebe was very independent as a 4 year old and Rory sat in my lap as we played puzzles.

Then it was Christmas Eve. Mary, John, Amber and Joseph arrived in the afternoon. We had lunch and then went for a walk. When we were out walking, it began to snow. I tucked Anthony up in his pram (Daniel was pushing him) and put my hand trough Daniel's. Soon, the snow got too heavy and we headed back to the house. Daniel, Lestrade and Sherlock went to make hot cocoa for everyone whilst I headed upstairs to feed Anthony. Molly and Mary came with me. I sat in the rocking chair in Rory's nursery and began to feed my son.

"Is he a good feeder?" asked Mary.

I nodded. "Usually. Sometimes it's harder at two in the morning so he usually has a bottle then."

"Yeah, we found that the early morning feeds were easiest with a bottle." She agreed.

"Also, it allows for Daniel to be able to feed him. He does the two o clock feed unless he's at work and I'm able to sleep."

"That's nice of him." Said Molly quietly. "Sherlock was like that with Hamish and Elizabeth. It was helpful when there were the two of them."

I smiled kindly at her. "Sherlock surprised everyone as a father." I said, "And Greg said that Mycroft is quite hands on with Rory and Phoebe."

"Who would have thought it," said Mary, surprised, "That the Holmes' Brother's would be such good fathers?"

"I'll admit, I was surprised when Sherlock said he wanted to have children." Said Molly, "And now he wants another one."

"Oh mum," I said rocking back and forth in the chair, "That's wonderful news!"

"Yeah," said Mary, "It'll be really good for you."

"Will it?" she said, "I don't know if I'm ready yet."

"Mum," I said, "It's been 7 years since Eliza died. I think you're ready and I think that this could help you."

She nodded, "You're right." She smiled, "I'm being silly."

I smiled, "No you're not, you're grieving and that can take a long time, trust me I know. You've got to move on when you're ready to move on. No one can make you or force you. It's a personal thing. Only you know when you are ready and now you are."

Molly just looked at me. "I forgot you lost your parents."

I laughed, "Lucky you could forget." I smiled, "Nah, its ok. I moved on. It's ancient history now. I have a new history to forge." I looked down at Anthony and smiled. Never in a million years would I have imagined that I would be a mum to a wonderful little boy with an amazing husband. I had been so incredibly lucky. The sad and lonely orphan was now a mum, wife, daughter, sister and godmother. If I had told my 7 year old self what my life was going to become I wouldn't have believed myself.

Christmas Day dawned sunny and snowy. The snow that had started that afternoon, had got heavier overnight and had settled. It looked as though someone had iced the entire grounds. I was up at 3 that morning and after settling Anthony back down, I went and watched the snow swirl and fall past the window. I then got back into bed and curled into Daniel who hadn't stirred at all.

I had woken up because Anthony wanted his feed and I was awake anyway. Now, my sleeping husband was about to wake up and Christmas would begin. I wondered out of the room and was immediately ambushed by Hamish Holmes.

"Happy Christmas Abi!" He said loudly. I put my fingers to my lips, looking around, hoping no one had woken up. "Oh, it's ok." He said, "Mum and Dad are up, so are Uncle John and Aunty Mary. And I believe Uncle Myc and Uncle Greg are awake too."

I smiled, "It's Christmas Day. Of course everyone's up."

A door opened along the hallway. Sherlock Holmes stepped out. He was wearing checkered bottoms and a plain khaki coloured top with his 'famous' blue dressing gown.

"Morning Dad." I said cheerfully.

"Morning Abi, Merry Christmas." He said sleepily, "I hope Hamish didn't wake you up."

"No. I've just fed Anthony so I was off to the bathroom. Needed the loo."

"Oh ok." He said.

"Merry Christmas Dad!" and I went off to the bathroom.

It took a while to get everyone gathered downstairs as people wanted to make themselves tidy and presentable. It took me a while to get Daniel up (he had been drinking with Sherlock, John, Lestrade and Mycroft last night and things got out of hand a little bit). But once he was up he was ok. He carried Anthony downstairs and showed him the snow outside the window. Lestrade was tending to the fire, Phoebe, Amber and Hamish were inspecting their presents in their stocking, Joseph was sat on John's lap, looking around at everything and Rory was snuggled into Mycroft.

Once Lestrade had sat down by Rory, we let the children open their stockings. The three big children rushed to tear off the wrapping paper squealing in delight whenever they got something they liked. Mary helped Joseph open his and Lestrade opened Rory's. Anthony had a little stocking that had some toys in it that Daniel opened for him. He wasn't all that interested, he was having more fun watching everyone else open theirs.

We then had breakfast which was scrambled egg and bacon off of the turkey. I had a bit of toast as well. The adults (and people who weren't breastfeeding) had some Buckfizz and myself, Mary, Amber, Phoebe and Hamish had lemonade and orange juice. Lestrade was a surprisingly good cook which surprised me as it was always Jess who did the cooking when Sally, Johnny and I were growing up. John promised to help in the kitchen this afternoon in return for beer and peace and quiet- the kids were already becoming hyper. We then got dressed and washed and were downstairs to do the presents under the tree. There were quite a lot to get through. Daniel bought me some new clothes and some jewellery, Dad and Mum got me some new books that I would try and find time to read. John and Mary had bought us some baby stuff for Anthony and Mycroft and Greg had got us some recipe books. Daniel and I had bought Anthony some new clothes, some new toys and some new books.

The rest of the day passed quite pleasantly. Lestrade and John got dinner going in the kitchen and the mums (Mary, Molly and myself) decided to take the children out for a walk to hopefully[Kevin Man1] tire them out and to stop them from winding up John. It was a pleasant but cold walk in the snow and we all came back sopping wet because Mary, Molly and Hamish decided to start a snow ball fight.

Dinner was an enjoyable affair as Wanda and Timothy made it through the snow to join us. I had put Anthony down before dinner in the Moses basket in the living room. We all sat round the big table in the dining room to enjoy the product of John and Lestrade's partnership. The food was fantastic. The veg was perfectly cooked and the meat melted in the mouth. John had even done my favourite Pigs in Blankets which I couldn't get enough of. We chatted and ate and chatted some more. When the main course had been finished, Mycroft chimed his glass and stood up.

"I would like to thank you all for joining us today. I know the weather has made it hard for some people to reach us but they are with us in spirit. I want to thank John Watson and my husband Greg for their impeccable cooking and for that lovely meal." Everyone murmured in agreement. Mycroft continued, "It has been wonderful to be with our family at Christmas this year and to get to spend it with the latest edition, my grandson Anthony." I smiled, "Thank you Abi and Daniel for giving up your quiet family Christmas and spending it in our mad house."

"No worries, Myc," I said, "It's been really nice."

"The last thing I wanted to say, was to wish you all a Merry Christmas!" and he raised his glass to us all.

"Merry Christmas!" We all answered.

"And a happy new year!" added Lestrade and we all laughed.

We had a quiet rest of the day, watching trashy TV and the kids played with the toys they had received for Christmas. I curled myself into Daniel and fell asleep for a while until Anthony woke up and needed feeding. Mum and Dad disappeared for most of the afternoon and I knew what they were up to. I smiled to myself, glad that they had managed to sort out what they had to sort out and glad that they were moving forward. Sherlock and Molly deserved each other. That was one of the things that struck me about my family, was how much love we all had for one another.

So that was my son's first Christmas- love and family.


[Kevin Man1]