A/N: Okay guys I was really encouraged by all of the lovely reviews I received so I thought I'd carry on as quickly as I could! I'm not sure how long this story will end up being as I'm worried about dragging it out for too long but we'll see. As always feedback is welcomed greatly. Enjoy!
It was only a mild surprise for Molly when she walked into the lab next morning to find that Sherlock had already made himself quite at home in front of a microscope to check on the petri dishes he was growing various cultures in. At the sight of his stitched head Molly could barely hide the quirk of her lips, amused that she could be the cause of an injury to the great Sherlock Holmes.
"I don't know what you're smirking at Molly Hooper, I am most certainly not amused by the fact that I had to go to A&E late at night for some incompetent nurse to stitch me up. The kind thing would have been to do it yourself since you seem so adept at sewing up dead bodies a live one should have been fine." Sherlock's tone was sharp as he addressed Molly, not taking his eyes from the viewer of the microscope.
"Oh Sherlock I'm sure my sewing up of your dead body can be arranged if that's what you want. Anyway you brought it on yourself, what kind of idiot zips themselves into a body bag on a slab after calling a pathologist to come in to work? It's a good job I didn't just stick the blade into your skull fully or I really would have had a corpse on my hands." Molly replied lightly, shrugging her lab coat on and putting her things in the office.
"Well since you appear to be trying to finish me off I took the liberty to make my own coffee, lest you slip me some poison. Although this coffee is bloody awful it tastes like poison on its own, arsenic might improve the flavor." Sherlock sipped the coffee, moving to face the pathologist as he pulled his face and spat it back in the mug. "That is vile, how do you drink this rubbish?" Molly took this as a sign for his forgiveness and smiled at him as she settled at a bench with some papers and her favorite pen.
"I don't, I bring my own tea when I want something warm. You could try something from the vending machine but the prices are incredibly inflated so I wouldn't bother myself." Molly realised she was rambling at Sherlock's unimpressed look.
"Do be quiet Molly, your rambling isn't conducive to my working environment." And with that he turned back to his microscope, dismissing her.
"Why don't you do some bloody work then?" Molly muttered as she signed off release forms for some of her autopsies that were due to go to the undertakers.
The rest of the morning slipped by in a companionable silence as Molly worked methodically through her paperwork and the finished off the autopsy from the previous day, the cause of death which finally came back as being a few contributing factors from an underlying heart condition to a sudden aneurysm of the brain from a knock to the head sustained weeks before the woman's death occurred that had been building up in the following weeks. It wasn't until Molly was about to get her lunch from her handbag that Sherlock finally addressed her again.
"So I didn't realise you and my brother had so much in common. If you really are becoming that bored of me you could always tell me and I'd attempt to be more grateful or at least John could prompt me to be kinder." Sherlock linked his hands together on his knee staring Molly down.
"I don't have that much in common with Mycroft, we just agree that you can be abrasive and we had tea." Molly shook her head at Sherlock, of course he wouldn't understand how normal friendship worked, how you didn't always go running off into the mouth of danger to get the adrenaline rush you craved and bring your friend along into the dangerous situations you deemed as interesting.
"But he gave you his number, that's practically a marriage proposal from Mycroft. I'd be careful, his sweet tooth might influence you to indulge in the same cravings for cake and biscuits and you might get as fat as he is. In time of course, he comes from a lifetime of self-indulgence." Sherlock's voice was filled with scorn as he spoke, eyes glimmering with vindictive happiness at insulting his brother on a topic he knew he was sensitive about.
"Your brother is not fat Sherlock and neither am I, just because you skip meals for fun doesn't mean we all want to have such an unhealthy diet, a little indulgence is good for you but you wouldn't know that since you barely eat without coercing after days of self-imposed starvation." retorted Molly, folding her arms over her chest angrily. "I am a medical professional and I know how to take care of my body and your skipping meals is not taking care of your body."
"You deal in the dead Molly, it hardly means you're a real doctor." Sherlock stood gathering his things to leave.
"You know very well that you have to do your doctorate before specialising, you did it Mr Graduate Chemist and so did I so don't give me that rubbish, you're just trying to get a rise out of me so I'll talk about your brother but it wont work, I know you Sherlock and as clever as you are you aren't very sly when it comes to worming information out of people." Molly raised her eyebrows at Sherlock, a slight smile creeping onto her face. Sherlock returned her wry smile and threw his coat over his arm.
"As always it has been lovely to indulge in camaraderie with you Molly, next time I will try to bring you a real case just in case you decide to hack at me again with that scalpel of yours." And with that Sherlock stalked out if the morgue and towards the lifts up to the entrance to the hospital. Molly knew that Sherlock was trying to get information out of her but one thing stuck out to her from the rest: "But he gave you his number, that's practically a marriage proposal from Mycroft." was what he had said. Surely that couldn't be right though, people gave out their number all the time, especially if they were going to have tea together and she was connected to his brother so obviously he'd keep in contact with her to check up on Sherlock. He was just trying to get under her skin with that comment, it seemed like the childish type of thing he would do. Shaking her head at his antics, Molly sat down at her desk to have her lunch before she needed to get back to work. It did seem rather morbid though eating around dead bodies and it used to bother her a bit but after all of these years it was just habit; it wasn't as though they could stand up and complain about her salad sandwiches or eating her crisps too loudly.
Another two autopsies filled Molly's afternoon until she went to meet Mary at reception so she could come to her scan that afternoon since John was working at the surgery and Mary had wanted company. The two women wandered up to the maternity ward where the ultrasound would take place since it was easier for Mary to get it done where she worked than have to travel over to the birthing centre for her checks. It wasn't a very long wait to get in to see the ultrasound technician as there were very few people waiting to go in this late in the day; soon Mary was laid out on the couch, cold gel coating her stomach as the wand pressed against her belly to see her daughter. The bean-like fetus now had a very distinct head and limbs, Mary gasped surprised by how much the baby had developed, even though she knew what to expect.
"Oh Mary, she's waving at us look! She's saying hi to her mummy and her auntie." Molly pointed at the flailing arm on screen that looked as though it was waving at them.
"I always knew what to expect but its surprising seeing it right in front of you." Mary sounded a little breathless in her awe at the child growing inside of her. The technician smiled at the two before printing out some photographs and wiping Mary's belly clean of the gel.
"Baby is doing very well and is clearly very active. Its growth spurts from now on for you so make sure you get enough rest or the little one will be exhausting you before she's even here." The technician handed over the photographs and waved the two women out of the unit as they poured over the images. The pair reached the entrance of the hospital and parted with a hug and promises to meet at a coffee shop at eleven the next morning for their Saturday shopping trip. Mary pressed one of the sonogram pictures into Molly's hand just before she left.
"Her auntie needs a copy, I've already got enough for myself, John and Mrs. Hudson." Molly smiled in thanks and wandered off back home, the picture in her coat pocket.
That evening in her apartment Molly felt strangely lonely after her good day. It wasn't unusual for Molly to feel low after her bad days but to just come out of the blue especially when she had got the pleasure of seeing Baby Watson's sonogram was odd. Even curling up with Toby and a good book wasn't helping her, which usually did the trick to chase away the blues. Removing herself from the real world and into the fantasy worlds of Shadowhunters or wizards or hobbits made her feel light as though she was observing the magic from inside the pages themselves. Sighing Molly bookmarked her book and placed it down on the arm of the sofa and reached for her mobile. Scrolling through the contacts for somebody to talk to she paused over Mycroft's name wondering if she should dare try him. Deciding to give it a go, Molly took a picture of the scan image she had and sent it to Mycroft with the caption 'Baby Watson at 20 weeks. Thought you might want to see.' It took surprisingly little time for Mycroft to reply since he had such a busy job, only twenty minutes later Molly's phone buzzed. 'Developing well I see, very healthy little girl there. I remember when Sherlock was on the way, he was a menace even then.' Molly sat smiling at her phone, trying to decide what to reply. She hadn't expected much of a reply back, especially not another insight into the childhood Mycroft and Sherlock shared as she had been made privy too the other day with the information about the dog Redbeard. 'That doesn't come as a surprise, your poor mother coping with him! I'm sure he gave her quite a kicking.' Molly tapped her reply slowly before sending it off. Another prompt reply came through minutes later expanding on his comment. 'Oh yes he was quite the pain, out mother barely slept when she was expecting him. I suppose it was a sign of things to come really since the only issue with me was she developed a rather potent sweet tooth.' Moly laughed to herself at the image of a pregnant woman surrounded by mountains of chocolates, cakes, sweets and pastries and much preferring it to walking around all night sleeplessly with her second child.
'I'll have to remember to make you my famous chocolate cupcakes, the best you'll ever taste I guarantee it! Maybe we could have them with tea next time we meet?' Molly wasn't one to boast but if she hadn't gone into pathology she probably would have opened a bakery. She had loved cooking up breads and sweet treats with both of her parents from a young age, fascinated by how a few ingredients could make something wonderfully tasty. Her chocolate cupcakes really were her best though and unsurprisingly her favorite thing to make and eat since they were her specialty. 'That would be a treat but for now you should go to bed, you have a long day ahead of you with Mrs. Watson and her ever-changing mind. Goodnight Molly.' Molly's eyes widened, she had forgotten that he has eyes and ears everywhere but strangely it didn't make her nervous, she knew it was an important part of his job so it must be for everybody's safety. 'Goodnight Mycroft.' Shutting down her phone and setting it to charge for the night, Molly lounged to her bed, taking her time to change and get comfortable between her soft cotton sheets and drift off into a peaceful sleep.