This is the sequel of "Us Against the World". You might need to read that one to understand a few things here, but here you have a little summary:
Basically, after Jane got pregnant of Sam Sawyer's child (who ran away) at the age of 17, Sherlock told everyone it was his child and married Jane so she wouldn't have to give her baby up for adoption. But some time later they fell in love and moved together to Baker Street. Even though they were happy, Sherlock did drugs and hurt Jane several times until she almost lost her baby. Mycroft took him away to get him clean and three years later Sherlock came back. Jane gave Sherlock a second chance; he met her child, Hamish, and adopted him and became his father. They were married and expecting a baby when Jim Moriarty made Sherlock fake his own death and the young detective had to leave Jane, Hamish and their baby alone.
I'm not an English speaker and this is unbetaed. Apologies in advance for my mistakes. Thanks for reading and please, review!
People that are meant to be together always find each other in the end.
"I wanna stay 'ere," whispered Hamish softly, as his baby brother had just fallen asleep in his mother's arms. "With Nan Hudson."
Jane got to her feet and placed baby Sherlock on the small cot in the living room. "I don't know, Hamish. I'll think about it."
A month after Sherlock was born, Jane started looking for new houses and flats. The money was not a problem, however, Jane was not looking for any expensive, posh place to live in but all the opposite in fact; the only place Jane was looking for was a place good enough for her children to live in where they could grow up being happy.
Elizabeth and Richard tried to convince Jane to move in with them as their house was far too big for themselves and they had enough rooms and space for her and the children. Her parents-in-law assured her they would hire all the nannies and maids that could be needed to make things easier for her. Jane thanked them for their offer but she rejected it from the beginning. Jane knew Sherlock's parents wanted the best for her, the woman Sherlock had loved and for their children, Sherlock's children who were therefore their grandchildren, but Jane was convinced she was the only one who would always give Hamish and baby Sherlock everything they needed - they didn't need big rooms, nannies or maids. They only needed her.
Mrs Hudson tried to convince Jane as well but not because she wanted Jane to live there for the rent but because she loved her as if she had always been her daughter and Hamish and baby Sherlock were like her grandchildren. Mrs Hudson was not only very fond of Jane but also she was fond of Hamish and Sherlock. The landlady loved to look after the children when Jane needed to go to the shops, run some errands and go to uni. Hamish was a very calm, peaceful boy and baby Sherlock barely cried unless he was hungry or when his nappy needed to be changed. He was a very lovely baby.
"But I like my room..."
Jane smiled fondly to her eldest son. "You'll have your own room if we move."
Hamish stood on tip toes close to baby Sherlock's cot. "And Lock?"
Hamish was the one who gave baby Sherlock his first nickname: 'Lock'. Everyone called little Sherlock 'Baby Sherlock', 'Lock' and sometimes 'Locky'. Mycroft once said those were the same nicknames Sherlock had been given when he was just a little child.
"Lock will sleep in my room."
"Why?"
Jane placed her books on the table, getting ready to revise for the exams she had missed at uni because of her pregnancy and because of the whole Moriarty episode. "Because he's still very little."
"When Lock talk?" asked Hamish pouting.
"In a few months, I hope."
"Mummy?"
"Hmm?" Jane didn't looked at his son and continued reading.
Hamish got close to his mummy and rested his head on her shoulder. "I miss daddy."
Jane felt her heart breaking - again. But she didn't feel like crying anymore. Jane knew she hadn't got over Sherlock's death, his absence, his cold, empty side of the bed, the silences left. But somehow, now every time Hamish mentioned his daddy Sherlock, every time someone mentioned his name or every time Jane read something about him on the news or on the papers - which was strange now after so long - Jane felt she didn't have more tears to cry anymore.
Jane hugged her eldest son tightly. "I miss him too... Why don't you go to your room and play with the new toys your grandparents gave you for your birthday?"
"Okay!"
"But don't make too much noise! Remember Lock's sleeping."
Jane thought about it the whole afternoon. Baker Street had Sherlock everywhere she looked at, but even when she wanted to move out, she knew she couldn't. 221 B had been their first home, the place Sherlock had chosen to be their home, where they wanted to raise Hamish and then baby Sherlock. Within the walls of that flat they had suffered, they had cried, they had made promises and they had loved each other. Within the walls of that flat they had dreamt of a life together, of more children, of birthday parties and lullabies, nappies and bottles and growing old together.
It hurt, but Jane knew it was for the best to stay there and raise her children in Baker Street, in the place their father, Sherlock, her husband, had loved so much.
Jane looked at Lock's peacefully form sleeping on a small, modest cot next to her in the sitting room and bit her lip. Her baby looked one hundred percent like Sherlock; he had dark, curly hair, pale skin, gray eyes and full pink lips and a perfect nose. God, Lock even had Sherlock's ears. What hurt Jane was not seeing her baby looking like a carbon copy of her deceased husband.
What hurt Jane the most was knowing her baby would never meet his father - that Sherlock had never got to meet their baby.
Baby Sherlock's first months had been peaceful, quiet, without much to say. Every moth, Jane took Sherlock and Hamish to the paediatrician to make herself sure her children were healthy and during those months they readjusted into a new routine: now Hamish attended to nursery school in the mornings and some days Mrs Hudson or Elizabeth would look after Sherlock so Jane could go to uni. Jane was now more than ever very focused on her studies because she wanted to become a doctor to help people and make her children feel proud of her.
In the afternoons, while feeding Sherlock or just holding him in her arms, Jane studied and read and Hamish played with his toys. Studying was not easy with two children - one small baby and a toddler, but Jane managed. Surprisingly enough Hamish and Sherlock were very quiet children. They were a blessing for their mother.
However, time passed by and Sherlock turned six months old when Hamish started feeling jealous. It had not happened until that moment and Jane had to repress a smile or a giggle when Hamish threw himself into the sofa, turned to face away and sulked just like his daddy Sherlock used to do. Suddenly, Hamish got jealous if Jane kissed Sherlock, whenever his grandparents or Mycroft visited them and all their attention was focused on Sherlock instead of him and even if Jane decided Sherlock had to get a bath first before him.
It was a rainy afternoon. Baby Sherlock was crawling on the floor in the living room while Hamish was laying on Sherlock's armchair watching telly and Jane was preparing milk for her eldest child and tea for her in the kitchen. Sherlock found Hamish's favourite teddy bear on the floor and clung to it. Hamish did not notice this until Jane called him to sit down to have his milk and biscuits when he saw his little brother holding his stuffed bear - the very same one his daddy Sherlock had got for him when Jane was pregnant and expecting him.
"Mummy... it's my teddy bear!"
Jane sighed and glanced at baby Sherlock who was sitting over a cushion on the floor, holding Hamish's favourite teddy bear - "Hamish, Lock just want to play with it for a few minutes..."
"No!"
Hamish got to his feet and took the stuffed bear off Sherlock's little hands, sharply and this made Sherlock cry. Jane knelt to take her baby into her arms and cuddled him trying to make him stop crying. "Hamish, go and drink your milk."
"I don't wanna milk!"
"Sit and drink your milk," said Jane, feeling a bit tired as baby Sherlock wouldn't stop crying. "Let your brother play with the bear just for a few minutes, please?"
"It's mine!" screamed Hamish and ran to his room upstairs.
Baby Sherlock, still crying, curled his little fingers around Jane's shirt and she knew he was hungry. She undid the first buttons of her shirt and started to feed him. She looked at Hamish's empty chair and at his forgotten mug on the table and shook her head. She was very tired. Studying and raising two children together was not easy. They were good children and Jane didn't need to work to give her children a safe life, and she lived in a good place, but there were days in which Jane felt alone and sometimes she felt like running away or jumping off some rooftop, just like Sherlock had done. Jane was tired and she needed Sherlock.
"Hamish loves you, Lock," whispered Jane, running her fingers over her baby's dark, wild curls. "He's just a bit jealous."
Baby Sherlock had the most beautiful curls Jane had ever seen. His hair was dark, very dark and curly. No matter how hard Jane tried to comb it, his hair was very soft and wild - just like Sherlock's. Baby Sherlock had gray eyes too, and sometimes they changed their colour and they were blue, like Jane's. His skin was very pale and sometimes Jane thought he was ill, but many doctors assured her baby was very healthy. He had round cheeks and full pink lips, like his father's. Even his nose was like Sherlock's.
Baby Sherlock was the carbon copy of his father.
Jane was placing baby Sherlock on his cot in her room when Hamish silently made his way into the room and stood close to his mummy. He placed the teddy bear next to Sherlock's form.
"I can get him a new teddy bear," said Jane.
Hamish shook his head. "I wanna 'Lock to keep it. 'Cos daddy giv' it to me."
For the first time in months, Jane cried thinking about Sherlock. And about how alone she felt and how much she needed him.
"Don't be jealous, Hamish. I love you both."
"But... you like Lock best."
Jane frowned. "No, that's not true. I love you equally."
"No! You-you-you're with him... all the time!"
"But that's because he's very little, Hamish. Sherlock can't drink his milk, go to the loo or put his clothes on alone like you do," explained Jane. "You were very little like him too. And I was with you just as much as I'm with him now."
Hamish cried in his mother's arms for long minutes until Jane managed to calm him down. "Don't be jealous, Hamish. You and Sherlock are my two babies and I love you equally. I don't love him more than I love you," whispered Jane.
"You sure?"
"Yes," Jane smiled. "And if daddy were here he would want you and Sherlock to love each other. You're brothers and brothers love and look after each other. Remember you're the big brother here and you'll have to protect Sherlock."
Her own words reminded Jane Mycroft was the big brother and he had to protect Sherlock.
But he didn't.
Hamish looked at his mummy. "I love Lock."
"I'm sure he loves you too."
"You sure?"
"Of course," Jane assured her eldest son.
The following day, Hamish spent the whole afternoon playing with baby Sherlock and both shared their favourite teddy bear. And Jane knew she had nothing to be worried about.
Everyone was looking at the small baby crawling over the expensive, soft carpet of his grandparent's living room. Elizabeth was already holding a camera and Richard was happily smiling. Mycroft had Hamish sitting on his lap while Jane was looking proudly at her small son who was now trying to get to his feet. Baby Sherlock was eight months old and he was trying to get to his feet for the first time.
But Locky, as his grandparents liked to call him, fell to the floor on his bum. Elizabeth, who was very close to him, tried to take the baby in her arms before he could cry, but Jane gestured her not to do it. Everyone looked how baby Sherlock pouted and little tears started to fill his grayish eyes, but Locky didn't cry. He crawled back to his mummy's legs repressing his tears.
"Aww," Elizabeth smiled fondly.
Jane cuddled baby Sherlock and kissed the top of his wild, dark curls. "He barely cries. And he's pride; he won't let me help him."
"My, that child is the carbon copy of his father," said Mycroft.
Richard nodded. "But he's too little..."
"Locky's very brave," explained Jane.
Jane visited her in-laws every Sunday religiously. Every Sunday morning Mycroft would send a black car to take Jane and the children to the Holmes' to have breakfast, then lunch and tea - basically spend the whole day with them. Richard and Elizabeth loved to spend almost the whole day with Hamish and baby Sherlock. They had already prepared a special room for them with a bed and a cot and toys - all of them had belonged to Sherlock.
As it was Mycroft's free day (or at least he convinced everyone of it) he spent most of the day with Hamish. Mycroft loved both of his nephews, but Hamish occupied a special place within his heart but that was because Sherlock was still very little. Mycroft read Hamish stories and sometimes he would tell him stories about his daddy Sherlock when he was a child.
"And one day, your father tried to catch a butterfly on the garden so he climbed that tree close to mummy's roses," said Mycroft, pointing at the tree on the garden. "He was very close, but the butterfly flown away and he fell over mummy's roses."
Hamish looked amazed. "And what happ'ned?"
Elizabeth joined his son and his eldest grandchild. "He got his hands hurt trying to fix them."
"You angry with daddy?"
"Yes. But I was not angry because he ruined my roses but because he didn't tell me he got hurt," explained Elizabeth.
Hamish loved to hear stories about his daddy and he said he was going to tell them to baby Sherlock too.
Baby Sherlock liked to be in everyone's arms but Mycroft's. As soon as Mycroft's safe hands tried to held Sherlock, the baby would either cry or stir. Certainly, baby Sherlock, or Locky, as his grandparents liked to call him, didn't like Mycroft at all.
"Buuuaaahhhh!"
Mycroft handed him back to Jane. "He doesn't like me."
Jane giggled. "Sherlock would be so pleased."
Mycroft couldn't help but smile, genuinely smile.
It was still very early when Hamish woke up after having another bad dream. In those dreams, he always found himself alone in a dark room in where the screamed for help. Hamish had told his mother about them, about those dreams in which he was lost, alone and neither she or his daddy were there.
Forgetting all about his dream, Hamish found his slippers and took his teddy bear with him and went downstairs to the living room. The sun was shinning through the windows when Hamish realised it was still early and that his mother wouldn't be up until she had to go to uni or unless Sherlock cried.
On tip toes, Hamish made his way into his mother's room. Jane was still sleeping when Hamish got close to the cot next to the bed. Baby Sherlock was wide awake and sucking his thumb. When Sherlock looked at his older brother, he extended his arms. Being very careful and using all his strength, Hamish lifted Sherlock and took him to the living room. Once in the living room, Hamish placed his baby brother Sherlock on a cushion on the floor and handed him his teddy bear. He sat across Sherlock on the floor. "Locky... I miss daddy," said Hamish.
The toddler looked how Sherlock bent his head to one side, making his dark curls bounce to one side. "Ddddaaa."
Hamish pressed a hand to his hearing aid. "You talk?"
"Ddddaaa," repeated baby Sherlock.
"Mummy says you can't talk yet."
Sherlock crawled off the cushion until he was sitting just inches from his big brother.
"Daddy's hair was dark too," Hamish caressed Sherlock's dark curls, softly. "Daddy's hair was funny."
In her room, Jane opened her eyes and glanced at the watch on the bedside table; it was six in the morning. She knew it was too early, but she could do with a shower before Sherlock and Hamish woke up. Jane sat on the edge of the bed and looked for her slippers. She wrapped herself with Sherlock's blue gown and yawned.
Jane's eyes were as wide as saucers when she looked into the cot and found it empty. She immediately thought of the worst; that maybe Sherlock had crawled off the cot, which was impossible, but it was the only thing she could think of until she heard some noises coming from the living room. Jane's heart was pounding hard within her chest; she was fearing the worst, that maybe someone had broke into the flat and that maybe that someone had taken her children when she went to the kitchen and stopped at the doorway, where she found Hamish holding Sherlock's violin and showing baby Sherlock how their daddy used to play.
"And daddy did this," said Hamish, moving the bow delicately over the strings of the violin but not producing any sound. Lock was looking at his big brother with his big, curious gray eyes. "And daddy liked esperimens too."
Jane wanted to giggle at Hamish's trying to say 'experiment'. His speech had improved lots but he still had problems to pronounce some words.
Hamish placed the violin very carefully on its case and sat next to baby Sherlock, placing an arm around his little shoulders, making himself sure his little brother was safe. "Daddy said I 'ave to protect you."
Jane felt some tears falling down her eyes.
"Look, daddy!" said Hamish pointing at a picture of Sherlock, unaware her mother was watching him and Lock. The baby looked at it and then at his brother. "He was very very tall."
"Ddddaa..."
"'Daddy', Locky. Say 'daddy'."
Baby Sherlock pressed his lips together. "Ddddaaa..."
"I miss daddy..." whispered Hamish and kissed baby Sherlock's cheek. "Mummy says he's an Angel!" Baby Sherlock clapped his hands together and giggled. "Angels have wings! And daddy has two wings and he fly on the sky and he's lookin' us!"
Jane wiped the tears off her face and stepped into the room.
"Hey," said she, with a smile.
Hamish looked up at his mummy and smiled too. "Mummy!"
"Couldn't sleep?"
"Bad dream, mummy,"said Hamish and Jane rubbed his back reassuringly. "Locky was awake too."
Jane smiled and sat across her children on the floor. "What were you doing here?"
"I was tellin' Locky 'bout daddy," explained Hamish. "And he can talk!"
"Can he?"
"Yes! Look," Hamish turned to Sherlock. "Locky, say 'daddy'"
Baby Sherlock pressed his lips together. "Ddddaaa!"
"No, Locky. It's 'daddy'!"
"Ddddddddaaaaa!" repeated Sherlock.
Hamish looked disappointed. "I wanna Locky to talk!"
Jane smiled. "He'll speak soon."
"I wanna tell Locky all 'bout daddy too."
"You can tell him," Jane got to her feet and took Sherlock in her arms. "I'm sure Locky will love to hear everything about daddy." Hamish nodded. "Now you and Locky will have a bath and then I'll make pancakes for breakfast!"
Jane looked at her children happily playing together that morning and realised she felt alone, but she certainly wasn't. Hamish and Sherlock were her children and the two little things Sherlock had left.
And the two little things Jane loved with all her heart.
