"Sherl-" Mycroft began

"No. I know we can keep him. He's an unknown, secret baby who isn't on the records, and ultimately does not exist. Am I right?"

"Yes Sherlock, bu-"

"Then we can keep him. I'm sure John and I are capable of looking after a child, Mycroft." He said sarcastically, sending him a glare

"You. Capable of bringing up a child?" Mycroft said with a disbelieving half smile.

"Yes. Of course I can. I'm not an idiot!" Sherlock retorted, continuing to glare at Mycroft, who half closed his eyes, let out a big sigh, and then turned to John.

"How would you feel about this sudden... How shall we put it...'fatherhood' John?"

Sherlock looked over to John and stared intently, trying to subliminally get him to take his side.

"Mycroft! You can't actually be considering this!" John said ignoring Sherlock's glares directed at him.

"I have little choice in the matter as you well know John." He said looking pointedly at Sherlock.

"But, what? How? I mean, we couldn't, could we? We have school! We're 16 for Christ's sake!"

"Age is irrelevant John." Sherlock said picking up the child and standing up. His eyes fixed on Mycroft who gave an equally intense look back.

"Sherlock, be serious! Come on, how could we possibly take care of a five month old child wh-"

"Four." Mycroft and Sherlock said simultaneously without breaking their gaze with one another.

"Okay, a four month old child, who needs constant attention!" Said John, feeling like the only rational one in the room, and like he was being blatantly ignored by the brothers.

Sherlock spoke, playing to John's emotional side by flashing him a sad and wounded look.

"It is possible...You just don't want to."

"Sherlock, come on... You know we couldn't really!" He said, breaking slightly under Sherlock's emotional blackmail, He turned to Mycroft. "We couldn't, could we?"

"Well. I could arrange things to make it possible. If you have to act like such a child about this Sherlock."

"I am not acting like a child." He said stonily, continuing with their staring game.

"If I must." Mycroft said, sighing again.

"Yes." Sherlock said decisively.

John looked at him for a moment.

"Okay, well, I mean, I guess we-"

Before John had even agreed. Sherlock's face grew into a smug smile, feeling the glory of winning the competition against Mycroft, and he held the baby out at arms length to talk to him.

"You are staying with us now! Whether Uncle Mycroft likes it or not."

"Uncle, dear god." Mycroft said rubbing his head.

"So what do we know about the child Mycroft?" John asked, a little windswept by the rapid decision that had just been made.

"He is the son of two (now) deceased secret service officers who informed nobody of his existence but a select few, meaning that he is not on the records and officially does not exist. The father was on leave when he was shot this afternoon, but no doubt felt a moral obligation towards continuing with the case he was currently working on. The boy is 4 months old, we have no information on his whereabouts for his lifetime, but at birth he was completely healthy, he hasn't been checked since, so his health is unknown at this point."

"Okay good, thanks." John said reaching over to rescue the child from Sherlock who was holding him in a strange position and looked as if he was about to drop him.

Mycroft gave John a nod of acknowledgement and headed for the door. Pausing only for a moment to say one final thing.

"He has no name which we are aware of. Perhaps the parents named him something, but this is unknown. We only know the number he was issued which is '191218'."

Upon saying this, Mycroft left.

John looked at Sherlock.

"Sherlock."

"What?"

"What the hell! Was all that?"

"All what?"

"You know what!"

"No."

"Sherlock, we have a child now! If you hadn't noticed!"

"Of course i've noticed John. I'm not an idiot."

Sherlock went to sit in his chair and picked up his phone and started texting. John looked at him narrowing his eyes.

"That was a silly, bloody feud between you and Mycroft!" Said John, "And now we have a child out of it!"

"Well we can't give him back."

"Sherlock!"

"That would mean Mycroft would win."

"Oh great. Brilliant! Now we are stuck as 16 year old parents because you won't give in to a stupid, childish argument! Just let Mycroft win for god's sake!"

"No. I'm sure the child won't bother me. 'Parenting.' It can't be that hard, most of you idiots in this world do it."

"Oh for god's- Look if you want to look after the child, be my guest. I would like to see you try to cope with him! You know, feeding, changing, waking up in the middle of the night..."

Sherlock looked up, suddenly panicked at the reality of the thought of John leaving him alone with the child, believing fully that John would have just helped him willingly.

"John? But Joh- You can't actually leave him!"

John put the baby down on the floor and started to head out of the door, talking over his shoulder.

"Oh, but I thought that if even idiots like me can take care of children so, of course the great Sherlock Holmes can!"

"John, I didn't mean yo- that- John!" Sherlock jumped up and grabbed his arm as he walked away.

"What? Sherlock. What?" He said angrily shrugging off his hand.

"I need you John." Sherlock said in a small voice, looking to his feet.

"And...?"

"I'm sorry." He said even quieter.

"Okay,"

They looked up at each other.
John was slightly amazed and bemused at actually getting an apology out of Sherlock, usually this was only used if he really wanted something! Maybe he'd panicked him. 'Good.' He thought.

John sighed.

"Sherlock, the baby isn't an experiment you know."

"John. Think of this instead, as a chance to record a life of another individual, from as early as four months old!"

"He's not going to be an experiment!"

"Think of the medical studies you could build. Universities might be impressed..."

"Not an experiment!"

"He's not- not- only an experiment!"

"No, he's a real live human child. Not an animal or a pet either. Remember that! Anyway, Sherlock what about school? Have you thought of that?"

"We can manage."

"How?"

"We will have frees at different times we can take care of him then, leave him in our dorm room the other times."

"What if he starts crying when we aren't there?"

"He won't."

"No, he might. What would we do then?"

"He won't."

"Sherlock. I know you feel this sudden need to try and bring up your new child prodigy, and also for you to not have to admit to Mycroft that you can't do something, god forbid! But I just don't think that this is possible!"

"John do you like the baby?"

"Of course I like the baby, he's one of the cutest I've ever seen!"

"Then what is the problem?"

"There is more to it than that!"

"Bu- Oh. -Do you like me?"

"Oh, don't be a dick! Of course I like you!"

"Then I cannot see a problem!"

John sighed, picking the child up again and hitching him onto his hip as Sherlock continued.

"Of course you would have to live here in the holidays and we would have to have the same dorm room this year, but you barely leave here anyway, it's just a matter of getting you ke- oh- yeah, you already have keys."

"Sherlock you are ignoring the fact that we don't know the first thing about bringing up a child!"

"We can learn."

"All because you don't want to say 'I can't' to your brother."

"And in the name of medical research."

"Mmm."

"Is that a yes?"

"I don't know. You can't leave it all to me you know!"

"I won't!"

"This is crazy you know that?"

"I don't see a relationship between our mental state and bringing up a child?"

"No but this is insane! Am I actually agreeing to this? Why am I agreeing to this?"

"Because I want you to."

"Oh so now I'm doing everything you want then? ...Actually that's not too different to normal."

Sherlock gave a half smile at John, and then sat back in his chair, John put the baby down on the floor, between the two chairs and sat in his own. They both looked down on the child, who looked up with blue eyes back at them. John turned his face up to Sherlock, and spoke.

"Well if we are really doing this... He needs a name."