I'll Be By Your Side
"Are you okay?" John asked, almost laughing as Sherlock hesitated outside the door to Molly's room.
"I'm fine." Sherlock snapped, though his voice was a higher than usual and his hand, still hovering halfway to the door handle, was shaking. Then a cry of pain, unmistakably from Molly as another contraction gripped her, spurred him to action, and he flew into the room.
"Where the hell have you been!" Molly growled at him from the bed, doubling up and gripping Mary's hand hard in the pain of the contraction. Sherlock hesitated again in the face of her hostility, but Mary nodded him over with a jerk of her head, slipping her hand out of Molly's and stepping back so Sherlock could take over. The second he offered his still shaking hand to his wife it was snatched up in an iron grip.
"I am so very sorry. Though perhaps now is not the time for explanations, I promise I will tell you everything later." He murmured, stroking her back tenderly with his free hand. The tenderness behind his actions and tone doing more for his case than the apology itself.
With a big sigh, Molly slumped back against the pillows, the contraction over. "That bad huh?" She smiled tiredly, rolling her face towards him. Her mood swing was almost as scary as her wrath.
"Not really. I just figured you have enough on your plate at the minute." Sherlock told her, tucking some of her dishevelled hair behind her ear.
Molly let out a small laugh. "I could use the distraction actually. I'm getting a bit fed up of just lying here waiting for the next contraction to hit, and the doctors say it could be a few hours yet. Ever since John text Mary saying you were on your way back, we've been waiting to hear the story."
"Well then…" Sherlock's smile turned up at the opportunity, and he launched right into the story, with a few interjections from John along the way. He hesitated a little when Molly went into another contraction, but she gasped for him to keep talking, so he did, as his hand ran soothingly over her.
"So that's it now then?" Molly asked when the story concluded.
"The legwork is over, yes. I shall still need to contact the police regarding our thieves, but that can wait." Sherlock replied.
"I don't suppose there's any point setting new rules for the first year. You'll only break them all again." Molly sighed.
Sherlock's lip pulled up at the corner, but he tried to hide it, faking a cough and raising a hand to cover his mouth. Both Molly and John glared at him, as his attempts were fooling no-one.
"I'll promise to be careful, and to only take cases that will in no way endanger you or the baby. But I think that's all I can promise."
"And I wouldn't be too sure about the first bit." John commented.
"Close enough, I suppose." Molly sighed, her eyes drifting shut.
Sherlock tenderly stroked her cheek. "You should get some rest" He said softly.
"I'll never sleep with these contractions coming and going." Molly replied wistfully.
"That's why I said rest, not sleep. You two look like you could use some too." Sherlock looked over at John and Mary, who were sharing a seat over the other side of the room and looking like they might fall off any minute.
"You're probably right." John said, looking at his watch and getting to his feet, helping Mary up with him. Mary looked like she was going to say she was fine, but a tiny shake of John's head prevented her saying anything. When they were away he'd explain that Sherlock was asking more for Molly's sake than theirs, and so he could have some alone time with her. "We'll be back some time in the morning. Text us if the little one arrives before we do."
"Of course." Sherlock agreed, accepting a hug from Mary, and another from John (with lots of manly backslaps), before they also hugged Molly and left. Almost as soon as they left Molly had another contraction, and as soon as it was over, Sherlock was urging her to rest.
"What about you? You need to sleep" Molly whispered, her eyes closed.
"I'll be okay without. I'm here for you now. For it all."
AN: Okay, I know some of you guys are getting a little fed up of me delaying, but I promise the wait will be over soon, the baby is coming next chapter. Thanks to those who left reviews, and thanks to my now over 50 followers! Very grateful to have you all on board. :D