John stared at the little bundle in his arms, the beautiful newborn that took his breath away. She was only maybe a couple of hours old, but he could tell she would rule his life until the end of his days. The little, soft covering of fine brown hair sat on top of her head perfectly, and if she hadn't been asleep he'd have been staring into those bright, every-changing eyes of her father. The baby in his arms, the girl with no name, was going to be more like her father than they'd probably both realised, he could tell just by the look she had given him when he'd first picked her up out of her plastic, hospital-issue cot. A quick look over, a roll of her eyes and she went back to sleep. The exact reaction he could imagine Sherlock giving his father when he'd been born. Not that he was her father or anything, but, you know... Uncle John had a lovely ring to it, didn't it?

"Uncle John..." He whispered to her dozing form, glancing over at her mother with a silly smile on his face. She was currently propped up on her pillows, eyes closed. It had been, he'd been told, a relatively easy labour. To him that seemed a gross understatement by the doctor, and Faye had sworn blind that she was going to kick his arse for dismissing the worst ordeal of her life so breezily. Since then all she'd done is sleep, but the little girl was fussing and soon she'd need feeding.

"Are we hungry?" He asked quietly as she opened her bright, multi-coloured eyes to blink at him, "'Of course I am, Uncle John, you idiot.'" He replied in a baby voice that was slightly too posh, "'But you'll have to wake mummy up'."

"Mummy is awake." Faye grumbled, "The pair of you shut up." John watched her gingerly roll onto her side, wincing in pain.

"I think she's hungry." John told her as Faye closed her eyes.

"Then feed her." She retorted and John frowned.

"I would but I don't have the... you know..."

"The nurse said there'd be some formula ready for her. Close the curtains on your way out." She told him before pulling the cover over her. Obviously going back to sleep, then. Not really knowing how to proceed, he did as she said. Holding the girl with no name in his arms, he left her little area and headed towards the doorway. Mycroft was outside and even he managed to let his lips tilt ever so slightly upwards. It wasn't pleasant, John hoped he wouldn't do it again.

"Little one's hungry." John offered, "Have you seen the nurse?" Mycroft frowned.

"Is she not breastfeeding?" John shrugged gently.

"I don't know what to tell you." John replied, "She won't look at her, hell, she won't even name her. She keeps insisting I have to come up with a name." Mycroft frowned, making John feel slightly less uncomfortable, and looked at his watch.

"Our darling niece has been alive for six hours and twelve minutes." Mycroft replied, "She could just be very tired." John nodded.

"It's a possibility." John agreed, however reluctantly.

"However, both you and me know Faye well enough to know it was going to be very black and white on this subject." Again, John nodded. A nurse walked passed and John reached out, halting her in her tracks.

"Hi, I'm looking for some formula. Her mother said that there'd be some ready for her." The nurse smiled pleasantly.

"Of course, what's the name?"

"Holmes." John offered and the nurse nodded, leaving the two alone again, "What do we do?" He asked Mycroft, "If we bring it up with her, she'll just flat-out deny anything's wrong."

~0~0~0~

"If you put it on me, I will drop it on the floor." Faye swore venomously at the nurse who held her daughter, "Now, either give it to John or take it away, I don't care which but do not put it on me." John smiled aetiologically at the well-meaning nurse as he took the baby off her, who had just wanted to see if 'mummy' had wanted to feed her daughter.

"Mary..." The nurse began gently and John winced as Faye's face turned red and she glared furiously at her.

"My name is Faye!" She exclaimed, "And I don't want you near me or my daughter. Mycroft!" She yelled. A few moments later Mycroft appeared at his side.

"Perhaps it would be best for you to leave for now." He told the nurse with the air of authority John assumed he used on all his staff. The nurse, flustered and upset, readily agreed and scuttled off. The girl with no name in his arms had started crying at the shouting and John began to gently rock her.

"Faye, that was entirely unnecessary." Mycroft scolded and Faye glared at him next.

"No, that pathetic excuse of a nurse was unnecessary." She snapped back, "If she can't even listen to basic instructions she should not be in the medical profession." The other occupants of the ward, Mycroft still not able to procure her a private room without moving her and she refused to leave St Bart's, were all trying to watch the on-going argument.

"You are making a scene." He warned her and John had to congratulate him on his courage, because he was certain that if she could, Faye would have struck him down with fire.

"I don't care!" She screamed, before sighing, "John, will you just feed her? I can't stand that wailing anymore." He nodded, picking up the discarded bottle on the table and began gently coaxing the baby to feed. The fact that she had gone back to the child was obviously a sign she was calming down, because Mycroft sat down on the chair near the head of the bed.

"Have you thought of a name yet?" He asked her casually and she shook her head, leaning back on the bed, all the tension leaving her body.

"John has to decide." She declared and John shook his head.

"Oh no, I'm not naming her." He protested.

"You didn't like my name, so it's your turn." She replied.

"For the last time, Little Bastard Holmes is not an actual name." John insisted.

"It seems apt. After all, she is a bastard, and a Holmes." Mycroft replied, "And one cannot deny her size, given that she is barely a day old."

"It's still not a name!" John exclaimed, "What about... Caitlyn?" Faye shook her head.

"Nope." She replied simply.

"All right... What about Josephine? You could call her Jo?"

"I do not have a 90 year old baby." She snapped and he shrugged, a smile on his face as the little one continued to feed in his arms, "You'll just have to keep trying." He rolled his eyes, exasperated as they fell into silence once more. Then, Faye giggled to herself.

"If Sherlock was here, he'd suggest his own name." She stated with a wistful smile, "Sherlock Holmes Junior. He'd call her that even though it's a terrible boy's name, let alone a girl's name." John chuckled and even Mycroft cracked one of his, creepy, smiles.

"I think we can agree; Sherlock is off the table." Mycroft drawled and she nodded.

"Definitely." They fell into silence, then Mycroft stood up, stretching.

"If we're all calmed down, I do have a country to maintain." She smiled warmly and took his hand, placing a kiss on his knuckles. With a nod of his head to John, he left them alone. Seeing that she seemed to be in a better mood, he sat down where Mycroft had been.

"Would you like to feed her now?" He asked gently and her face hardened.

"Did you not hear me?" She snapped, "If you put it on me, I will drop it on the floor."

"Why?" He had to ask, despite knowing she would likely erupt in anger, "Is it because she has Sherlock's eyes?" She shook her head.

"Believe it or not, not everything has to do with Sherlock." She snapped, frustrated, "Do you know how many people were in that delivery room, John?" He opened his mouth, but she didn't let him answer, "Apart from me and Mycroft, there was four other people. Four other people staring, and prodding and poking and it by far was the worst thing I've ever been through, and that includes the pain I was in. And it's all because of her."

"It's perfectly natural, though." He reassured her and she shook her head.

"I don't care." She retorted, "I feel disgusting. My skin won't stop crawling, I just want to curl up and sleep. All these people just... looking at me. I feel defiled." She rubbed her arms, falling quiet and he saw how shaken up she was. He looked down at the little girl in his arms, who was coming to the end of her bottle.

"It might go away." He offered, "You'll forget, because look how beautiful she is." She glanced over, seeing the bright eyes staring up at her uncle.

"She is." She admitted, "But I can't have her. All them thoughts in my head... I don't want to hurt her." He smiled at her, glad she wasn't outright rejecting the baby. They could work from there, get her the help she needed to overcome her own personal barriers that she'd created in her mind.

"We'll get through this." He promised her, "You, me and... Mycroft, I suppose. He won't leave you now."

"I don't want to." She told him firmly, "I don't want her. I don't even want to name her because then she's real, and I don't want her to be. I want this all to be in my head."

"Well, unlike Mycroft, I'm not going to let you live in denial." He replied, before looking down at the girl in his arms, "No more hiding, for any of us. And we're going to start by naming this little girl."

"John..." He shook his head, cutting her off as he settled on a name.

"Bella." He stated, "Bella Holmes." Faye stared and he shrugged, "I know, I know. I heard it off that teenage vampire movie advert, but it's very pretty and she's... well, she's gorgeous." He blushed slightly as Faye smiled, her gaze never wavering from him. He seemed so content, so natural with a baby. Much more than she had felt at any rate.

"Okay." She agreed quietly, "Bella Holmes it is." But she never made a move to take her daughter from John.