Author's note: Welcome to my Easter 2021 story. This is not the usual happy Easter celebration story. I am giving you a heads up that there will be some difficult reading in the second chapter that may cause sadness. But sadness is a part of life, and this story has been rattling around in my head for months. My regular readers will probably guess what is ahead. The only reason this story is rated M is because of the difficult situation during the second chapter. I don't want to clarify further. You'll find out as you read.
It was the evening of Palm Sunday, and Sherlock and Molly had just put the girls to bed. Molly was looking a little tired and down, and he was glad that as of this week, she would be switching to only two days a week for eight-hour shifts, on Mondays and Thursdays.
"How are you feeling, love?" queried Sherlock, placing a hand on Molly's abdomen as they sat together on the sofa with the telly on, but not really watching anything.
"If you're asking whether I've been experiencing any nausea, the answer is no," Molly said in a rather tired voice that matched her expression. "Maybe we are having a boy this time."
Sherlock's lips curved upwards. "I do like the idea of a son, but you know I'd love another daughter just as much."
"Even knowing that I have no intention of going through this again?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
He brushed his lips lightly against hers. "Never say never, Molly."
If he'd been hoping to lighten her mood, he was unsuccessful, and she merely sighed.
"Tell me what's wrong, love. It's not like you to be so quiet." He took her hand and raised it to his lips, then continued to hold it.
She sighed again, and he saw her eyes fill with tears. "Maybe it's the hormones, but I'm just feeling a little depressed lately. I'm so tired of this virus dictating our lives and preventing us from seeing loved ones. You know how disappointed I was when we had to change our plans for Christmas and your parents couldn't come to visit us. And then two weeks ago, I was thinking how lovely it would be to have our family here so that we could announce my pregnancy at Easter, but now it doesn't look like it's going to happen. We can't possibly have an Easter meal outside when we don't know what the weather will be like."
Sherlock heard the defeated tone in Molly's voice and made a command decision. It was time to do something for her, and to hell with the stupid rules and regulations. He knew plenty of people who had floated the rules anyway, and if he had to pay a fine for having his parents over for Easter dinner, so be it.
"Molly, I'm going to call my parents and tell them to come here on Easter Sunday. They've been vaccinated, you've been vaccinated. The risk of anyone in our family contracting the virus is minimal. I am not going to watch my wife be disappointed yet again."
Molly bit her lip. "But the guidelines say..."
He cut her off. "I don't give a damn about the stupid rules of only meeting outdoors. You're pregnant, Molly, and I know that you were excited about revealing your pregnancy in person to my parents. Don't you want to see them?"
"Of course I do, Sherlock, and the girls haven't seen their grandparents in over a year, but-"
He cut her off again. "I'll have no more discussion, Molly. I'm calling my parents right now and telling them that they are coming for the day on Easter Sunday, and that we are having our celebration indoors, against the bloody rules. And of course, we will have Martha here as well because she is part of our support bubble and family anyway. Maybe we should invite your mother and flout the rules a little further."
For the first time that day, he was pleased to see a smile from his wife. "I don't think you need to go that far. At least we got to see my mum at Christmas, and I don't mind giving her our news over the phone. I just don't want to get in trouble for disregarding the guidelines."
He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed. "Molly, I seriously considered doing that for Christmas, but now you're pregnant, your mental health has to come first. Anyway, you and my parents have been vaccinated, so there is minimal risk for contracting the virus. The only reason we will not do this is if my parents are not comfortable with it. Do you agree?"
Molly leaned her head against his shoulder. "I agree."
A short phone call later, and the plans were made. Sherlock was pleased that his mother was of the same opinion that vaccination should count for something, and she could see no reason why they could not be together for Easter. Of course, he suspected that the prospect of seeing Victoria and Christina was the biggest factor in her agreeing that they would come up for Easter.
"Right," said Sherlock, once he got off the phone. "Mummy and Daddy will be here at around eleven o'clock on Easter Sunday. That will give us time to go to church and pick up Martha afterwards. We can have an early dinner so that my parents can head back home before it gets too late." He remembered what else his mother had said. "Oh, and Mummy said she will bring the stuffing for the turkey, and she will make her Yorkshire pudding before dinner."
Sherlock was pleased to see Molly looking excited at the prospect. It had been a good decision to do this. "At least we don't have to worry about you making those dreadful Brussels sprouts," he added.
Molly pouted playfully. "I tried to make them palatable."
He kissed her cheek. "I know you did, love. Unfortunately, bacon doesn't always make everything better."
She giggled, as he had hoped she would. "I guess not."
The week of holy week began with beautiful weather, unseasonably warm, and Sherlock and Molly enjoyed spending some time in the back garden and outdoors with Victoria and Christina, enjoying the sunshine.
On Wednesday, Molly remarked, as they were taking a stroll with the girls in the double pushchair Sherlock's parents had given them for Christmas, "It's a shame that the weather is going to cool down again for Easter. If it had been this warm, we could actually have sat outdoors for the meal without breaking the guidelines."
"It is what it is, Molly. I'm not going to feel guilty about our plans. I'm sure we are not the only ones who are making some adjustments to their Easter arrangements."
"Actually, I know we aren't the only ones," confided Molly. "Kayla told me that her parents are coming over for Easter dinner as well, and they aren't going to restrict themselves to being outside either."
"A wise idea."
On Friday, Sherlock and Molly attended the evening service. There were a good number of people there. Even though they were back to being in-person, things were definitely not the same without hymns, as congregational singing was still not permitted indoors, and the service was quite short. Nevertheless, Pastor Briggs spoke about the "seven last words of Christ" and it was a moving service that encouraged reflection on all Christ had done for humanity..
Sherlock saw Molly's eyes fill with tears as the pastor talked about the brutality of the flogging endured by Jesus, and how he still asked God to forgive those who had put hum on the cross. Sherlock himself felt close to tears as Pastor Briggs talked about the thief on the cross who acknowledged Jesus as Saviour and who received the gift of salvation as a result. It highlighted the fact that even the worst of criminals was worthy of redemption if that person put their trust in Jesus before they died.
As was the custom for the Good Friday service, it ended with the organ playing the mournful sound of a bell that tolled 39 times to represent the 39 lashes of the whip undeservedly endured by Christ. Sherlock would have liked to greet the Watsons, but good Friday was always a solemn service, and people departed in silence as they contemplated the crucifixion and Christ's atoning sacrifice.
As Sherlock drove them home, Molly commented, "What I'm going to really miss on Sunday is that we are not allowed to sing. There are so many wonderful Easter hymns. It just won't be the same."
He glanced over at her briefly. "It's still better than last year, where we didn't have a service at all. Remember, we just got to watch a recorded Easter message from Pastor Briggs."
"That's true," agreed Molly. "Did you tell Martha we aren't exactly sure what time we will pick her up on Sunday? It's hard to judge the length of the service. Tonight was quite short, so I suppose without singing, it will be shorter than usual on Sunday as well."
"I told Martha I'd let her know when we are on our way from church to pick her up."
Molly nodded. "We're all set then."
The next night, Molly called her mother after dinner.
"Hi Mum," Sherlock heard her say, as he watched Victoria hand Christina pieces to assemble a block puzzle in the playpen. "Happy early Easter. Sherlock and I wanted to share some news with you before we told anyone else." She paused for a moment, then said, "We're expecting another baby."
She listened for a few moments before saying, "I told Sherlock that if it is another girl, we are not going to keep going just to try for a boy."
He darted a glance at her, and she poked out her tongue at him.
Molly's mother then presumably asked about the due date, because Molly responded with, "Early November, and no, I haven't felt any morning sickness yet. I know I was already experiencing it by this point last time, so perhaps that means we're having a boy. I've heard that symptoms can be different depending on the gender of the baby."
Sherlock wondered if that was the case in this instance. He had been expecting her to feel at least some symptoms of pregnancy, but so far, if not for the absence of her period, there was no sign of it.
Later that evening, Molly said, "Can you get the girls ready for their bath? I want to do a little tidying up before your parents come tomorrow."
"Of course." He quite enjoyed bath time with Victoria and Christina. He liked to let them play in the tub for a little while before he washed their bodies.
Once the bath was ready with the rubber duckies Mark had given Victoria as a first birthday present, and the Grandpa Pig's Bath Time Boat from Molly's mother for Christina at Christmas, Sherlock took the girls upstairs and deposited them in the bath after rolling up his shirt sleeves.
Although Christina could sit independently in the tub, he preferred to keep his arm behind her to support her as she played with her boat.
"Quack, quack," said Victoria, pushing two duckies towards the boat and Christina.
"Toot, toot, out of my way, duckies, or I'll run you over," said Sherlock as he helped Christina move the boat around, bumping it against one of the duckies.
"No, Daddy!" Victoria shrieked and giggled, moving the ducky safely out of reach.
"Sorry to break up the fun," came Molly's voice, and Sherlock turned his head to see Molly smiling at him. She knelt beside him at the tub and looked at Victoria. "Time to wash your bodies, I think."
"No Mummy, wanna play."
Victoria pouted, and Molly relented. "Alright, just a couple more minutes, but then you need to finish your bath and get to bed. Do you remember who is coming to visit us tomorrow?"
Victoria nodded. "Gwamma and Gwampa!" she said enthusiastically.
"That's right, so you must be good girls and go to sleep soon so you won't be tired when they arrive."
"Not to mention that the Easter Bunny will only come once you are fast asleep," interposed Sherlock, knowing this, more than anything else, would convince Victoria to obey. This year she had eagerly been anticipating the visit of Easter Bunny.
Victoria contemplated their words and then said, "Okay."
Fortunately, Christina was already looking sleepy. Persuasive methods were a bit beyond her.
With that settled, Sherlock and Molly soon had their daughters tucked into bed for the night.
Then they hid some Easter chocolate for Victoria and Christina for the next day.
Sherlock also brought out a large Ferrero Rocher egg with little Ferrero Rocher chocolates he had spied at Sainsbury's whilst buying the eggs for the girls. He presented it to Molly after they had hidden the other eggs.
Molly beamed. "You bought me the same thing last year." She lifted her face to his, and he accepted her sweet kiss.
"Anything for my Molly."
Molly put her own chocolate egg into a cupboard, and they retired to bed.
"Are you looking forward to seeing my parents tomorrow?" Sherlock asked Molly as he held her in his arms as usual after they made love.
She grinned at him. "I am, but shouldn't I be asking you that? They are your parents, after all, and you haven't seen them in over a year."
He chuckled. "I suspect their eagerness to visit is to see our daughters, not me. But it is understandable. Babies and little children grow so much in a short amount of time. Can you believe last time they saw Christina, she was only a few weeks old?"
Molly reached her hand to clasp his. "Of course they want to see their son, but yes, I agree, the girls are the main attraction. As you said, children change so quickly."
"Well, let's get some sleep. It's going to be a busy day tomorrow. Goodnight, sweetheart, I love you."
She pulled his hand so that he turned his body to spoon with her, and she burrowed into him. "I love you too, Sherlock. Goodnight."
The alarm woke Sherlock. He'd woken several times during the night, feeling Molly change her own position, apparently having issues with sleep.
"Time to get up," he whispered.
Molly made a sound low in her throat and opened her eyes. "Already? I had a really hard time sleeping. I got to sleep okay, but then I woke up and kept tossing and turning."
"I noticed," he said with a wry expression on his face.
"Oh, I kept you up too? I'm so sorry, honey." He saw her wince slightly. "Plus, I've had a pain or two."
He gave her a concerned look. "As in cramps?"
"Just twinges. But don't worry, a little cramping is quite normal in early pregnancy."
He frowned. "I don't recall you having cramps with Victoria or Christina."
Her lips quirked. "Probably because I was sick so often it overrode any other pains I might have had."
"Are you sure you want to go to church, seeing as you didn't have a lot of rest?"
Molly sat up at that. "Of course I want to go to church. I want to show off the Easter dresses I have for Victoria and Christina."
He had to chuckle at that. "Sound reasoning my love. Much more important than celebrating the resurrection of our Lord."
She swatted his arm. "You know that's important to me as well, but I can't help wanting to show off our daughters in their matching dresses."
"I hope you will convince Victoria to wear those tights she despises so much."
She made a face. "Me too." Then she added, "Let's get them up to eat breakfast first before we get them ready for church. I don't want to risk a mess on the dresses."
"Wise idea, but perhaps we should get dressed first ourselves."
Molly nodded.
He helped Molly slip her sleeveless sundress with orange flowers over her head and tug it down. She had especially bought the dress to complement the orange tulle skirt of the girls' Easter dresses, which had bunnies and flowers on the bodice.
"Not really the best weather for a sundress," Sherlock noted. The expected high for the day was only supposed to be 15°C.
Molly's lips twisted. "It would have been perfect if the weather had remained the way it was at the beginning of the week. Oh well, at least the sun is out, and I have a cardigan." She gave him an admiring look. "Even if I couldn't convince you to find a matching orange shirt, you do look very handsome."
Sherlock bent his head for a quick kiss. "And you look beautiful. At least my cream shirt matches the background of your dress and your cream-coloured cardigan."
He picked up the jacket that went with his trousers. He would put it on after breakfast. Molly did the same with her cardigan.
While Molly went into Christina's bedroom, Sherlock woke Victoria.
They met up with Molly and Christina in the passage. "Mummy looks pwerty," commented Victoria.
"Thank you, princess," responded Molly, ruffling Victoria's sleep-tousled hair.
"Easter Bunny come?" queried Victoria.
Sherlock and Molly exchanged glances. He supposed there was no harm in having the girls look for eggs before breakfast.
Apparently, Molly was of the same mind-set. "Why don't we go take a look?"
They went into the front room.
Victoria immediately started looking around. Christina, of course, had no clue what was going on. Sherlock allowed Molly to deal with helping their youngest, while he guided Victoria until she had found her four eggs and chocolate bunny. The eggs had originally been in boxes, but Sherlock and Molly had removed them from the boxes to make them a little easier to hide.
"Chocolate," said Victoria happily.
Christina had a chocolate bunny of her own and some smaller eggs.
"You can have a little piece of chocolate after breakfast," said Molly, "and then we have to get ready for church."
Breakfast today consisted of toast and cereal.
After breakfast, Sherlock and Molly went back upstairs to get the girls ready for church. Sherlock volunteered to dress Christina, although that meant a nappy change. He didn't want to fight with Victoria about putting on tights. Christina kicked a little as he put hers on, but at least she didn't push his hands out of the way as Victoria usually did.
With Christina successfully dressed in her - he had to admit - adorable little dress, Sherlock went into Victoria's bedroom, expecting to see Molly still struggling to get Victoria's tights on.
He was surprised to see Victoria meekly allowing Molly to put them on without a word of protest.
When Victoria was ready, Sherlock asked, "How on earth did you manage that? I expected to hear Victoria kicking and screaming like she usually does."
Molly smirked. "Remember how we discovered the art of bribery a few months ago with chocolate? Today we have plenty of chocolate. I promised her another piece of it before we leave for church."
He nodded. "Ah yes, we do need to keep a ready supply of chocolate on hand in the future for bribing purposes, seeing as it is such a successful method of ensuring the cooperation of our daughter."
"Definitely."
"Want my chocolate now," demanded Victoria, looking just as adorable as Christina in her dress, Sherlock thought. In fact, all three of his girls looked adorable.
Fortunately, he had his phone in his pocket. He set down Christina and extracted it. "Let Daddy take a picture of his three girls first," he said.
"Mummy's not a girl," said Victoria promptly. "Mummy's Mummy."
"My mistake," responded Sherlock amiably. "Now go and stand by Mummy."
Molly was still on her knees, and she scooped up Christina before she could wander away, bringing her to her other side.
Sherlock smiled. The three most important people in his life, how he adored them. He took several photos.
Then Molly said, "Let's get a selfie with all four of us."
Sherlock looked at his watch. He was relieved they were still on schedule. "Very well."
He knelt beside Molly and extended his arm out to capture the four of them. It wasn't perfect, even with his long reach, he couldn't capture them perfectly in the frame, but it was better than nothing, and he figured he could ask Martha to take another picture later.
As they stood, Sherlock noticed Molly wince slightly. Was she having more pains or was it her knees? He gave her a concerned look. "Okay, love? More pains?"
Molly shrugged. "Just twinges, like I said earlier, Sherlock. I'm fine."
He wasn't completely convinced, but then again, he was probably just being paranoid. "If you say so."
Finally, wearing shoes and jackets, they left the house to attend the Easter service.
As they headed towards church, Sherlock asked, "Molly, when should we make our big announcement to my parents and Martha?"
There was a short pause, as if she was pondering his words. "Let's wait until after dinner," she finally said. "We already have so much to catch up on, and I don't want the day to be all about me and pregnancy questions."
That was typical of his wife, Sherlock thought fondly. "Alright, love, after dinner then."
Fifteen minutes later, Sherlock found a park not far from church, and he and Molly extracted Victoria and Christina from their car seats. Molly slung the changing bag over her shoulder.
It was a relief to get inside the church and out of the chilly air.
They went to their usual pew and removed jackets because it was warm in the nave. Even if it had been cold inside, Sherlock suspected that Molly would still have wanted to remove their daughters' jackets to show off their dresses.
He was not surprised when Kayla commented on how pretty the girls looked as she and John passed their pew with Rosie and Adam to take their usual spot two rows ahead. Sherlock noted that Rosie too was wearing a floral dress although Adam was dressed more casually.
Caleb and Abigail Hunter also passed by, their daughter Grace in an Easter dress of her own. Their son, Josiah, like Adam, was in casual clothing. Dressing little girls up for Easter was definitely popular, he noted, but boys seemed to be exempt from it.
A few minutes later, Pastor Briggs went to the pulpit and said, "He is risen!"
The congregation made their usual enthusiastic response. "He is risen indeed!" and the Easter service officially began.
With the absence of congregational singing, the service would obviously be an abbreviated one again, and Sherlock understood Molly's feelings on missing the singing. On a day where they were celebrating the resurrection of Christ, it was a time when joyful singing was warranted.
There was one solo, however. Elisabeth, whom Sherlock had not heard sing before, aside from her participation in the Hallelujah Chorus Zoom performance for Christmas, sang a song called, Was it a Morning like this?
He could see Timéo beaming from his pew, obviously enjoying his girlfriend's performance, and Sherlock remembered the pride he had felt when Molly had sung solos at church on several occasions. She had sung an Easter solo whilst 8 months pregnant with Victoria, he recalled.
When the solo finished, Sherlock leaned over to Molly, who had Christina on her lap. Victoria had her colouring book on the pew between them and was colouring a picture from the Bible-themed colouring book they had brought from home. It was a scene of the empty tomb with an angel to either side of the enormous stone. "Are you familiar with that song?" he whispered.
Molly nodded, whispering back, "Yes. It's another song by Sandi Patty. Elisabeth did a lovely job, didn't she?"
He smiled. "She did, but your voice is still better."
Molly beamed at him.
They returned their attention to the service as Pastor Briggs talked about the empty tomb and conspiracy theories brought forth to try to prove Jesus had not really died or risen from the dead. It was amazing how ridiculous some of them were. The notion that Jesus himself might have survived and escaped the tomb and run away, was preposterous. Another theory was that the disciples or religious leaders had removed the body somehow. Also preposterous, and if that had been the case, those against Christ would have paraded his body around the streets to prove he was still dead.
Yet another theory was that the women had visited the wrong tomb, and that Jesus's body still remained in an alternate tomb. It was beyond ridiculous how stupid people were, thought Sherlock, as he listened to these claims, and how easily they were disproved by logical discussion. The only viable explanation was that Jesus really did rise from the dead. There had been hundreds of witnesses who had seen him after his resurrection as well. Almost all of the early disciples had suffered torture and death as a result of their faith. People didn't die for something they knew to be a lie.
Sherlock thoroughly enjoyed the sermon, and he saw many heads nodding as Pastor Briggs spoke.
Although people were not really supposed to mingle, Sherlock wanted to speak a few words to John. He noted that others were spending time exchanging words of Happy Easter as well. Some things were more important that observing the rules of social distancing.
"It will be so good when we can meet together again and the girls can play. Rosie asks about Victoria constantly. She's so bored with only her little brother to play with," John said, watching as Rosie and Victoria exchanged their usual hug.
"I know Victoria would like that as well. Fortunately, she manages to keep herself occupied with trying to teach Christina things. According to the proposed lockdown changes, the seventeenth of May is supposed to be the date when people will be able to gather together as two households indoors. Perhaps we can have a late birthday celebration for Victoria, and your family can come over to our place."
John nodded. "At least it is something to aim for. Happy Easter, Sherlock, and have a good day with your parents."
"Happy Easter, John. I hope you too have a good day with Kayla's parents - outdoors of course." He winked. He didn't think any two families would actually be gathering outdoors today with this weather.
John chuckled. "Of course."
Sherlock headed back to where Molly was waiting, and they left the church to go to Baker Street and pick up Martha.
Author's note: This story required some re-writing when I became aware of some ongoing UK restrictions due to COVID. I discovered that the two-family gatherings were supposed to be outdoors only, so I ended up having Sherlock decide to bend the rules a little for Molly's sake.
Did you like the little bath time scene? I do adore writing Daddy Sherlock.
The church service talk about conspiracy theories regarding the empty tomb was inspired by the latest chapter of my friend Aslan's Princess in her story, The Question of Faith in Baskerville. She goes into far more detail about those conspiracy theories, and I highly recommend her story. Don't forget, if you read, leave her feedback too. She deserves it. Her story is also Christian-themed, with John as the Christian.
My oldest daughter and I sang Was it a Morning like This? as a duet this morning for our Easter service!
Wishing my readers a blessed Easter! I don't know about you, but I am really glad we can gather with family this year, unlike last year!
Don't forget to review in the box below!