A/N: Many thanks to Phish Tacko for helping me to beta this story!
Ch. 10
It had taken a few days for the soreness to finally go away, but when it did, Sherlock immediately went back to working cases. The latest one had been a real doozy.
Someone had been killing off the male members of a particular family. Lestrade and the others thought it was the youngest brother of them all – with everyone out of his way, he would be heir to the family fortune - but it ended up being the maid.
Sherlock had pursued her for several blocks, something which normally would not have been a big deal. Now, he was breathing heavily by the time he captured her, and he felt like he was going to keel over.
"We'll take it from here," Lestrade said, helping Sherlock up. He had pinned the maid down after capturing her.
Donovan and Anderson stood nearby, ready to put the woman in handcuffs. As they did this, they occasionally glanced up at Sherlock.
"You alright?" Anderson called. "You look a bit winded. Maybe you ought to cut back on the extra pastries, eh?"
Donovan elbowed her partner.
"Oh, come on. You know it's because he's pregnant!"
Sherlock and Lestrade both sighed at the same time. Why was this happening again?
"Stop it!" Lestrade admonished the two. "You're acting like four year olds."
Donovan rolled her eyes but said nothing. Anderson kept his mouth shut as well. Meanwhile, Lestrade pulled Sherlock over to where they were out of ear shot. Once the consulting detective caught his breath, Lestrade spoke up.
"Sherlock, I have to ask you… what's going on? And be honest with me, please. I won't tell anyone, I just need to ensure your safety. If you've just put on some weight, that's one thing, but if you're… Well, if you're pregnant, like the others have been suggesting…" He trailed off.
Sherlock frowned.
"The rumors are true. I'm with child." Sherlock replied quietly.
Lestrade took a moment to process this before speaking again.
"From the Williams case, I presume? How far along are you?"
"I contracted the virus from DaShawn Williams, yes. I'm almost five months along now."
"Five months." Lestrade repeated.
Sherlock stared at him. He knew what the older man was going to say next and he braced himself for it.
"Sherlock, I don't think you should continue taking cases. We can get by without you for a few months at least. I can't have you hurting yourself or the baby chasing down some criminal."
"I can't stop taking cases," Sherlock answered. "I'd be bored out of my mind!"
"Come on, there's got to be something else you can do. Don't you have hobbies?"
"This work is my hobby. I can't imagine how I'd get by without it. Either way, you can't stop me from working. I'll find my own cases, if necessary. People come to me all the time asking for help!"
"Sherlock, don't do that. You could really get hurt!"
"Either you let me stay on or I'll work by myself."
Lestrade's shoulders slumped. He knew Sherlock was serious. He'd absolutely go find his own cases to handle. At least if he stayed with Scotland Yard, Lestrade could help keep an eye on him.
"Can we come to some type of compromise, then? How about you continue working with us, but the physical stuff – the running and such – we make Anderson and Donovan do that. You do the deduction, they do the legwork."
"They're idiots. They'll never catch anyone."
"Actually, Donovan runs marathons. She's in decent shape. You, of course, would be our most valuable asset nonetheless."
"Trying to kiss up to me?" Sherlock joked before reassuming his serious demeanor. "If the chase isn't too physical, I want in. I'll agree to let Donovan do the running if it's long distance."
"And if there's any chance that the perp is armed, you can't go in, either."
Sherlock let out a loud sigh.
"Are you serious?"
"I am. Come on, Sherlock. Think of your baby! What if you were stabbed, or shot?"
Sherlock glared at Lestrade.
"…Fine," He finally agreed. "I don't like it, but fine."
"And just think," Lestrade added. "In a few short months, after the baby is born, you can go right back to doing the scarier stuff."
Sherlock huffed, but said nothing. He didn't like it, but he knew that Lestrade was right. He had to keep the baby in mind, even if it meant his own boredom.
00
Even though Sherlock understood Lestrade's perspective, it didn't stop him from complaining to John when the returned to their flat.
"And he just expects me to sit around like… like you do! On a computer, looking up information, doing research!"
"Oh, yes. I know how awful that is," John replied sarcastically.
"It'll be so boring! How can I endure that for another four months?!"
"Lestrade's right, though. You know that."
"I didn't come to you for a lecture, John. I came here to vent!"
"Well, go vent to someone else. You're being selfish, Sherlock. Your baby should be your first priority at all times."
"Fine," Sherlock said, grabbing his coat. "I'll go talk to Molly. Maybe she'll be more sympathetic."
00
It turned out that Molly was not more sympathetic, but she was nicer to talk to than John, who had, in Sherlock's mind, simply brushed him off.
"Sherlock, I know it'll be boring for you, but think about the child." Molly spoke as she injected something into a test tube.
"I know, but still–" Sherlock stopped mid-sentence. As if on cue, the baby had kicked.
Molly looked up from her experiment.
"You alright?"
"She… she kicked!"
Molly grinned.
"Did she, now?"
Sherlock's eyes grew even wider.
"She… She just did it again! Ow!" He looked down at his abdomen. "Not in the ribs, child!"
Molly's smile broadened even more.
"It's a girl? Oh, how lovely! Is this the first time you've felt her?"
"Felt her? No. I've felt her move before. It always was gentle, though, like butterflies in my stomach. Now she's– bloody hell!"
"She kicking you in the ribs again?"
"My God, DaShawn must've been a football player!"
"That's the other parent, right?" Molly tried to get all the facts straight. She'd heard some details about the whole thing from John, but hadn't talked to Sherlock too often recently.
"Yes..." Sherlock grimaced as the baby kicked yet again. "He's the other parent. I met his family a few weeks ago."
"That sounds lovely. Were they nice?"
"Very. Ah…" Sherlock relaxed a bit. "She's calming down now. Yes, they were very nice. DaShawn seemed to have been a good man. He was a social worker who helped troubled youths in the foster system."
"Wow."
"All considering, I'm quite lucky that the other parent was an upstanding citizen."
"That's true. It could've been someone worse, that's for sure."
Sherlock now looked much more relaxed.
"Feeling better now?"
"Yes. I suppose that you, and John, and Lestrade are all correct. She should be my top priority."
"I'm glad that's sinking in," Molly said. "Oh, by the way, Mycroft sent me this. Said to give it to you the next time I saw you." She reached into her lab coat's pocket and pulled out a flash drive.
"What is it?"
Molly shrugged.
"I'm not sure. I didn't look. He said something about helping you take precautions at work."
"Hmm." Sherlock tried to figure out what that meant. "I'll take a look when I get home."
Molly nodded and returned her attention to her work.
"I suppose I'll be going now," Sherlock announced.
"Alright. See you soon, Sherlock."
"See you later, Molly."