While Emily remained with Alena back at the flat, John got in a cab and went over to 221B to see Sherlock. Knowing his friend, which he was pretty certain he did in many ways, John was sure that Sherlock's outburst was due to a form of fear of having a child. He probably never even expected Alena to have such a desire, and with this being just over six months after their marriage, maybe he thought she was asking to have a child right away. He must have misunderstood her and his violent reaction must have been a defense of sorts to keep those fears from being known. Sherlock was a very strong person, and the fact that he barely showed emotion to anyone, well except Alena, this must have hit a nerve.

Arriving at Baker Street, John climbed up the familiar stairs to the flat he once shared with Sherlock, finding his friend sitting in his chair in front of the fire, staring at the dancing flames with an emotionless look on his face.

"Hello, Sherlock," he greeted.

"Is she okay?" Sherlock asked calmly.

John nodded. "Alena is emotional, but Emily is looking after her."

Sherlock slowly nodded, not giving any eye contact.

John took a seat in his old chair across from Sherlock, just sitting with him silently for a few minutes, waiting to see if Sherlock would say anything about what happened. While he never expected him to, it just wasn't like him, he gave him the chance to before speaking.

"So, what happened?" John finally asked.

"You're already aware of what happened," Sherlock replied. "Or else you wouldn't have come here so quickly."

John nodded. "You and Alena had a fight. She presented the idea of having a child with you one day, an idea which you were not willing to accept. So what's the problem, Sherlock?"

Sherlock said nothing for a while, his pale-green eyes just stared into the flames. He didn't want to discuss this obviously.

"Sherlock, why did you get upset over the issue?" John asked. "Is it because you're afraid?"

"Afraid?" Sherlock almost hissed. "Me?"

John rolled his eyes. "Oh for God's sake, Sherlock. Don't try to hide the truth from me, I know you have to be afraid of this one if you reacted the way you did to Alena. There has to be a reason why you yelled at her. What's the problem?"

"It's none of your concern, it is purely between my wife and I," Sherlock snapped.

"Oh? And so the next time she brings up the subject of having a child you won't yell at her again and make her leave and come to my flat? Because if you're not even willing to tell your wife why you won't entertain the idea of children, then you're not treating her very fairly."

The small spark of anger in Sherlock's eyes diminished suddenly when John said that, as if it had sunk in and Sherlock came to a sudden realization of what he had done. His eyes closed for a moment.

"Sherlock, what is upsetting you about the subject?" John asked him again.

"Everything," Sherlock responded before opening his eyes again. "I never thought about having a child...not with my line of work. Yes I never thought about marriage or relationships before Alena entered my life, but this...this is too far out of my element. I don't know how to be a father, and it would completely interfere with my work, and then there is the danger of an enemy possibly harming the child...can you not see where I am going with this?"

John nodded. "I do see. But you're listing reasons which only apply to you. Don't you think Alena's opinion matters too? She would be the mother of the child and she would be doing plenty of the work in order to raise that child as well."

Sherlock shivered a little. "That's another thing...Alena...I can't bear the thought of losing her..."

John's brow furrowed. "Losing her?"

"Childbirth...complications...so much risk..." Sherlock said.

Now it was beginning to make sense for John. "Oh. Sherlock I wouldn't imagine that to be likely for Alena. She's a very healthy woman, and of course her health and the baby's would be looked after. But Sherlock, did Alena say she wanted a child right away?"

Sherlock shook his head. "She only said that the upstairs bedroom might one day become a nursery."

"I doubt she's looking to have a baby any time soon. I bet she was just putting that idea out there, but it's been six months since your wedding, and having a child takes time to plan. I highly doubt she would ask you to have a child immediately."

"But why does she want a child anyway?" he snapped.

"Did you let her tell you her reasons? Or did you refuse to let her say?" John asked.

Sherlock wanted to snap something back at him, but he couldn't. He knew he had refused to allow Alena to tell him why she wanted a baby. He had shouted at his beautiful wife when she was trying to tell him why she wanted this so much, and he hurt her enough to make her want to run away from him. This hurt like a knife to the heart. Sherlock sighed deeply and moved his hands through his hair, very upset with himself.

"What do I do, John?" Sherlock asked.

"You need to talk to her. Apologize for upsetting her. Then you need to listen to her, allow her to state her reasons for wanting to have a baby, tell her why you didn't want to have one in the first place. You both need to put your reasons out there, discuss this as a husband and wife, and then come to a decision. But there can't be any yelling, nor can you push her desires aside without hearing what they are first."

Thinking this over a little, Sherlock nodded. He knew what he had to do. Standing up from his seat, Sherlock moved toward the door to grab his coat and scarf.

"Where are you going?" John asked,

"I'm going to see my wife," Sherlock announced. "But I need to stop somewhere on the way, I think there's a florist that's still open at this hour."

Alena had changed into her pajamas and had already gone to bed. Emily had talked with her a little bit to try and comfort her, hoping that it would help her to sleep easier. While she awaited John's return, Emily sat on the couch and watched television, hoping that his discussion with Sherlock would be a good one. She was lightly dozing, almost falling asleep after a while, not noticing how late in the evening it was. Emily suddenly heard a knock at the door and got up from her spot on the couch. Rubbing her tired eyes a bit, she approached the door and opened it to see Sherlock standing there, John behind him.

"Sherlock? What are you doing here?" she asked, rather surprised to see him.

"I'm here to see Alena," he told her calmly, even though he wanted to say it was obvious why he was there.

"Alena is sleeping right now. I'm not sure that right now is the best time to see her."

Sherlock sighed. "She's my wife. I have every right to speak with her right now."

Before Emily could respond, she suddenly noticed what Sherlock clutched in his hand at his side. A bouquet of roses. She could suddenly see in his eyes that he had every intention of telling Alena that he was sorry for what he had done and said. From what she knew about him, he wasn't an over the top romantic, so for him to do this meant it was very important. He loved Alena, clearly he wanted her to know that if he was willing to come over at this hour. Glancing over at John, she saw him nod once telling her that it was all okay.

Stepping aside, Emily let Sherlock inside the flat and gestured toward the guest room where Alena was sleeping. Sherlock immediately approached the door to see her.

"It's all fine," John told Emily. "I talked it out with him, there's nothing to worry about now."

Emily nodded. "Okay then. I'm sure Alena will forgive him, she's always been such a kind hearted person. Sherlock is lucky to have such a wife."

Sherlock slowly opened the door and quietly stepped inside before closing it behind him. Sitting gently on the side of the bed, he looked down at Alena as she slept. There were many times when he worked late that he would come to bed and find her asleep, usually on her side as she was at that moment. He could just stare at her lovely features for hours, analyzing every detail which formed her beautiful face. Her long brunette hair swept over her shoulder and down her back in a gorgeous wave, Sherlock could not resist reaching out and stroking her soft strands. A few times he did this and she never stirred.

Finally Sherlock leaned in and gently kissed her forehead, an action which caused her to stir just a bit. Alena stretched her limbs a little bit as she woke from her slumber. Her eyes fluttered open a little, finding that she was not alone. Blinking a few times, she realized just who was there with her.

"Sherlock, what are you doing here?" she asked in a slightly tired voice.

He swallowed a little. "I had to see you."

Alena rubbed her eyes and sat up a bit. "I said I needed one night away, why can't you just give me that?" she asked with an annoyed tone.

Biting his lower lip he knew she was still upset over what happened earlier. He presented her with the roses.

"I came to apologize," he further explained.

Seeing the bouquet he held out for her, Alena's eyes were no longer tired. They opened to their normal state before widening just a bit. This took her completely by surprise. Sherlock had never done anything like this before. Now he had her attention. Alena took the bouquet of red roses, the aroma hit her nose in a very nice way, the fragrance was lovely. Looking back into his eyes, she waited for him to continue what he was saying.

"Alena...what I did earlier, ignoring your reasons for wanting to have a child and for yelling at you, was wrong of me to do. I never should have yelled at you, and I never should have been so harsh. You know very well how much I love you and that I would never hurt you, but I believe that I have hurt you and made you...fear me. I don't want that. I don't want my own wife to be afraid of me. I...I couldn't bear for that to be the case. I am sorry, Alena. Truly I am."

Sherlock spoke in a tone which she had never heard before either. He sounded so brokenhearted, so unbelievably upset and ashamed for what he had done. His eyes which usually held an emotionless stare were...pleading, begging her to forgive him. She may have been afraid of him earlier when he snapped at her, but now he was the one who seemed vulnerable and worried as to how she would respond. Her heart ached at that moment for him. If he really didn't feel sorry, he wouldn't have come to apologize.

"Oh Sherlock," she said calmly. "Of course I forgive you. I'm not afraid of you, my love," she said before hugging him, needing one.

Sherlock wrapped his arms around her tightly, clutching her to him and burying his face in the space between her neck and shoulder. A sigh of relief escaped his mouth, so grateful that she forgave him.

"Thank you, darling," he murmured.

For Alena, she was rather astonished he was acting this way. Apparently he was very upset and broken down by the way he had treated her before. She never thought she would see this side of him. Stroking his brunette curls, she nuzzled his neck affectionately, trying to further tell him that everything was okay. Eventually she pulled back enough to look her handsome husband in the eye, still keeping her arms around him.

"Sherlock, I do forgive you for what happened earlier. But, I have to know...why wouldn't you discuss that topic with me?"

Sherlock swallowed a bit, he had known that she would ask that. Sighing a bit he looked down for a moment, collecting his thoughts. She deserved to know.

"Alena...I have never thought about being a father. Nor did I ever think about being a husband, but you changed that for me. I fear that I wouldn't be able to do my work anymore because of the responsibilities of being a father. There are...so many concerns I have on this issue. I already mentioned the danger aspect, I could never allow my own child to be harmed by my work, especially if I encountered someone as evil as Moriarty. I also couldn't bear the thought of you being harmed if you were pregnant. I also worry that there might be...complications when you have the child...I can't lose you, Alena. If something happened and you died, do you know what that would do to me? You're the only woman in the world who I have ever loved, and I don't want to lose you, not after I was gone for three years and that was torture. Overall...I don't know how to be a father...I'm..."

"Afraid?" she offered.

Sherlock nodded his head slowly.

Alena had listened to everything that he had said. She knew this had to be very much out of his comfort zone, but he wasn't the only one.

"I understand your concerns, darling. But please hear my reasons. You already know that my parents are dead and I came here to escape what happened to me because I had no other family left. I haven't had much of a family since I was sixteen when my father was killed, yes I had my mother but I felt like it was an incomplete family and I yearned to feel like I had one again. With my mother gone as well, I came here alone and found wonderful friends, but that isn't the same sort of family I had hoped to one day have. Being your wife, I now have a new family because I am with you. However, part of me has been desiring to have a child, to complete our family. I see couples who bring their children to the library and it makes my heart ache a little, wanting to become a mother. It would give me a new purpose in life, not just being a librarian and a wife, but a mother to our child. After all, a baby would be a product of our love, and you know that I love you more than anything in this world.

As to your concerns, you must remember that you wouldn't be doing this alone. I intend to be here and take on the responsibilities of being a mother. And let me be very clear, I was not asking to have a baby right away. There are many things which have to be done first, so much preparation needs to be taken care of beforehand. I only wanted to suggest the idea of the nursery, and to let you know that having a baby was something I would eventually want. I am not prepared as of yet to try for a child, I would want to wait a while. But remember, we have wonderful friends who I am sure would be there if we needed help as well. As to your concerns for my health, I assure you that I will find out if I can have a child first, and I know that I will do everything to ensure that there were no complications. The doctors would help with that, and I am very sure John would be there when I had the baby. As to your line of work and the danger involved, you know that I would do everything to keep myself and our child safe. Everyone we know would. There are always risks in life, but this is one I am very willing to take. There is nothing I would love more than to be your wife for the rest of my life Sherlock, but I would like to ask you to at least consider the idea of a child. Will you at least do that for me?"

Sherlock listened to her intently, giving her the chance to voice her reasons like he hadn't before. Her reasons were good ones, and he knew that she would be there to help him get used to being a father, which now didn't seem quite as frightening. And at least she didn't want to do this right away. She needed time, just as much as he did. Hearing her final request after processing everything she had told him, Sherlock sighed and nodded sincerely.

"Yes, Alena. I will."

Alena smiled and hugged him again, a gesture he returned right away.

"I love you," she told him.

"I love you too," he replied.

Sherlock inhaled the smell of her hair, something he often did because it was such a lovely fragrance. He loved everything about her. Maybe...maybe having a child...a being which was created equally from their DNA, would be a wonderful experience. After all, it would be their son or daughter. But that would be discussed another time. They had discussed it and all Sherlock wanted at that time was to focus on Alena. He kissed her deeply as he held her close, soon inching her back so her head was against the pillow as he continued kissing her for a long while. Alena kissed him back just the same, holding him tightly to her as they continued this beautiful romantic moment.

"Come home," he said softly against her lips, almost begging her.

Alena opened her mouth to speak, wanting to protest saying that it was late, but she couldn't. The way that Sherlock looked at her, pleading with her to come home with him and looking like he was absolutely broken and lost without her...she couldn't refuse. He wasn't even manipulating the situation as he might do on a case, but this was different. Sherlock was being very honest, he loved her and now that they had patched things up, he couldn't bear to leave her here and go back to their flat alone. She nodded.

"Okay, darling," she replied before reaching out and delicately stroking his cheek.

Hey everyone! I finally finished this chapter and had to post it right away, I would have posted sooner but my family and I had to make a very tough decision and have our cat put to sleep so the last few days were a bit hard to get through, but I am doing okay now. I am sorry the last chapter was a bit sad and emotional, but I hope this one will make up for it and I did not want you guys to wait too long! Thank you so much to everyone who commented, and thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed as well! I really appreciate it! :)