Life, Death and Love
Chapter 2
By the time Mycroft had finished on the phone and returned to Greg, he found him sleeping peacefully on the sofa. He looked lovling at his boyfriend and wondered to himself if it would be the last time. He knew he had to tell Greg what had just transpired, but he thought it could wait at least until morning, over a nice breakfast and a cup of tea.
He bent down and gently shook his lover's shoulder to wake him. "C'mon love, it's late. Time for you to go home and go to bed."
Greg opened his sleepy eyes and gazed up sleepily, yet happy at Mycroft. His gaze quickly shifted to one of worry as he took in Mycroft's current state. He looked exhausted and slightly pale, like he had just come from one of his high stress meetings. He remembered Mycroft going to take a phone call and him being gone for a long time.
"Hey Myc, everything alright? Sorry I fell asleep on you, I meant to stay up and wait for you to get back."
Mycroft smiled at him sadly "Yes, everything is perfectly alright. I can arrange for a car to take you back to yours if you feel too tired to drive. Then tomorrow morning I can have one bring you back so you can have breakfast with me and pick up your car."
Greg couldn't miss the pain in Mycroft's voice as he spoke. He assumed that the phone call had been a difficult one and that Mycroft was in his own head stressing, as he so often did after being faced with problems from work.
"Do you wanna talk about it? You seem upset, I don't want to leave you here alone." Greg said, concerned.
Alone. That's exactly what Mycroft expected to be after he told Greg the truth about June. It was too much to bear. He didn't want to be alone, he wanted Greg. He wanted Greg to help him through all of his problems, to reassure him that everything would be ok.
"Oh Gregory." He said and he burst into tears. Greg immediately got up and pulled Mycroft into a hug. He held him tight as Mycroft sobbed into his shirt.
"I don't want you to leave me!" Mycroft said in between his tears. Greg was taken slightly aback.
"Leave you? Why would I leave you?"
"Because! Because my ex girlfriend called and told me that she's pregnant! I got her pregnant Greg. And now you're going to leave because it's all too much!" He sobbed.
Greg froze. He had known Mycroft had been with women before him, they'd talked about it before.
"What?" Greg said, still stunned by the news. Mycroft looked into Greg's eyes, tears still streaming down his face.
"I'm so sorry Gregory. We haven't been going out for very long so I understand if you want to leave. It's selfish of me to ask you to stay with me through this, but I love you."
"You… love me?" Greg said. This was the first time either of them had said those words. It was true, they had only been going out a month but he felt like he'd known Mycroft forever. Mycroft simply nodded miserably in response.
Greg pulled Mycroft in for a deep, passionate, emotional kiss. "I love you too Myc, and that's enough for me. Anything else that's going on, we can deal with it. I'm not going anywhere.
Mycroft and Greg's relationship continued to grow stronger in the coming months. It wasn't long before Greg spent most of his nights at Mycroft's place with him. Mycroft went to doctors appointments with June, and Greg was supportive and even excited about the baby. All was well in Mycroft's life until another unexpected phone call disrupted another of his evenings…
Mycroft and Greg were sat in the dining room just finishing dinner when Mycroft's phone rang. He looked down at the number and was instantly filled with dread: The Royal London Hospital. He had received many calls from the hospital over the years, usually it was Sherlock who had overdosed or gotten himself shot. Anytime he saw the number of the hospital he always thought the worst. Sherlock was a reckless individual and Mycroft constantly worried if the phone call would be to inform him that his brother was dead.
Mycroft took a deep breath to calm himself and he picked up. "Hello?"
"Hi, is this Mr Mycroft Holmes?" a friendly sounding female voice replied.
"Yes, this is he."
"Hello Mr Holmes. I'm calling from The Royal London Hospital. I'm so sorry to have to tell you this, but June has suffered a second trimester miscarrige. I'm very sorry for your loss."
Mycroft's blood ran cold in his veins. "She.. what?" He stammered.
"I'm sorry Mr Holmes. Unfortunately miscarrige happens to lots of women, there wasn't anything that could've been done to prevent this. I know this is hard to hear. I can provide you with numbers for counselling services if you need them." The female voice said, sounding sympathetic. Mycroft had stopped listening midway through. His mind stuck on the loss of the baby. His baby. Then he thought about June. June! Why wasn't she the one calling?
"June! Is she.." He couldn't bring himself to put his worries into words.
"June is doing alright, physically speaking. She's recovering right now and asked for the message to be delivered by the staff." The female operator stated.
"Oh.. Alright. When can I come see her?" Mycroft asked. He wanted to see June, to comfort her. He already felt the loss weighing heavily on him, and he wanted to be there for June.
"I'm sorry Mr Holmes. June has requested that you not be allowed to visit her. Hospital policy dictates that we not allow for any visitors that the patient has denied. I know that this will be difficult for you, but please keep in mind that this kind of tragedy is very difficult for everyone. Everybody grieves differently, but we must respect the patient's wishes."
Mycroft was filled with grief. He was devastated over the loss of the child that he never even had the chance to love. He was crushed that June didn't even want to see him. He wondered if she blamed him. Even if she did, he would never hold that against her. He just wanted to be there for her, to tell her that he would still support her.
"Oh… I… I understand. Thank you for informing me of the situation." Mycroft said formally, if not sadly to the poor woman on the other end tasked with delivering such terrible news.
Greg had been watching Mycroft discreetly through the whole conversation. He knew something was terribly wrong by the expression on his lover's face, and the pained tone in his voice. He wanted to hold Mycroft's hand through the whole conversation, to reassure him that he was there even though he didn't yet know the situation. Greg managed to control his protective instincts, he knew that his boyfriend was a private man, and would appreciate distance during his clearly difficult conversation.
Mycroft hung up the phone and stood motionless in the middle of the dining room.
"Myc?' Greg tried, slowly moving towards him.
Mycroft just stood there, processing the news as the reality of it all came crashing down on top of him. He would never meet his son or daughter. This could've been his only chance at having a biological child. He had begun imagining spending time with his child, taking them on all sorts of outings to the playground, the zoo, anything they wanted. He had imagined walking hand in hand with Gregory, his child running ahead of them, excited for their day of adventure. He had pictured Christmas morning; June, Gregory and himself sitting on the sofa watching the little one opening gifts from the three of them. None of that would happen now. The woman he shared this horrible loss with didn't even want to see him. His heart ached and his stomach turned. He felt like he was going to vomit.
Greg approached Mycroft carefully, aware that he wasn't in tune with what was happening outside of his thoughts. He was anxious about what was happening, but determined to give Mycroft any comfort he could. He walked slowly up to his lover and ever so gently laid a hand on his shoulder.
Mycroft startled, suddenly jarred back to the present. He looked up at Gregory, his face was pale and full of concern and compassion. I was all too much to take. He collapsed into his lover's arms, sobbing so violently he couldn't support his own weight.
Greg tried to hold them both up for a moment, but quickly decided to lower them to the ground. They sat on the floor of the dining room, Greg practically cradling Mycroft in his lap, holding him tight as he came undone.