Sherlock skipped down the steps happily, the tails of his dressing gown trailing behind him as he swung into the living room of 221B Baker Street. "Oh, what a beautiful morning!" He exclaimed to the occupants of said room. "The sun is shining, the birds are singing, I have a wonderful daughter and a handsome son and a gorgeous husband!" He circled around John and kissed him firmly on the lips "Hello dear" He whispered as he sailed by. "What an excellent time to be alive!" He finished, plonking himself into his chair and snapping open the paper. The room settled again, and Sherlock seemed to have lapsed into silence for the time being. John glanced at his daughter, who shrugged and padded to the microwave. She opened the door and stared inside blankly for a while, as though in deep contemplation. Irene blinked to clear the image ingrained onto her eyelids, and flicked the little door shut again absently, continuing to stare vacantly at the cross hatched glass. A moment passed.

"There's a toe in the microwave." She muttered to herself, and wandered off to brave the contents of the grill.

John shook his head and frowned before turning to face his husband. "Why are you in such a good mood today then?" He hazarded a peek at the washing up bowl before plunging his hands into the greasy water with resignation. Sherlock didn't respond for a moment, pretending to study an article in the paper dutifully. "Sherlock?" John tried again.

"Hmm, what, me? No reason dear." He replied with a smirk.

"Sherlock..."

The younger man shrugged absently. "Mummy is hosting a little get together this weekend; I thought we could all go." He said eventually.

"Fine, sounds great." John said, drying his hands on a tea towel. "Why are you so excited about it? I mean, your mother is a lovely woman but I thought you didn't like visiting your family..." The detective blushed,

"Well, she hasn't met the children yet and I was sort of looking forward to showing them off..." He said quietly. John grinned.

"So you should be, God, I hadn't even realised that she hadn't met them yet." He said, startled by his own revelation.

"Mummy knows it's been quite busy here lately, and she wouldn't want to rush us. Although I admit that after she met you a few years ago she had given up hope of having any grandchildren." Sherlock said thoughtfully.

"What about Mycroft? He might surprise you, bring home a pretty girl, get married, settle down." Sherlock threw him a look.

"No. My brother is certainly not one to settle down. Plus I'm quite sure he's gay. He hasn't told anyone yet though, he knows he doesn't have to tell me."

"Oh" Was all John could say. A thought struck him, "Sherlock,"

"Hmm?"

"She does know you're a father doesn't she?" Sherlock said nothing, he didn't even move.

"You haven't told your own mother you have children?" John exclaimed in disbelief.

Sherlock looked guiltily down at his feet "The conversation never arose." He pointed out.

"Sherlock, you're married to a man, I'm pretty sure it didn't occur to her that you might be announcing that we were expecting a baby any time soon!" Sherlock sighed dramatically,

"You're right, let's keep it as a surprise though. Anyway, you haven't taken the children to meet your mother."

"My mum lives in Bristol, that's two hours travelling with a young child and a bored consulting detective. Your mum only lives in Oxford!" Sherlock scowled.

"Fine" He bit out, "but your mother has to come and see us soon as well." Sherlock reasoned. John groaned.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Anyway, there is another reason I'm in a good mood this morning" Sherlock purred.

"Oh yeah?"

"Hmm, thank you for last night" He whispered, sauntering over and kissing John's neck tenderly. John blushed and melted under his husband's lips. "It was...fantastic" He added between little touches of his lips against John's skin. The doctor smiled to himself,

"Just keeping the spark alive" He replied, closing his eyes as Sherlock leant into him and wrapped his arms around John's waist.

"Oh I don't think we have any issue with that" Sherlock murmured, letting him fall suddenly backwards and catching him inches from the floor, dipping his husband in one fluid, theatrical movement. John gasped in surprise and frowned at Sherlock, who grinned at him ruefully, and pulled him up for a gentle kiss.