Tuesday, 13th August 2019
Molly checked her watch and picked up the changing bag. "Sherlock?" she called. "Are you going to take Victoria out to the car? We don't want to be late for the appointment."
Sherlock appeared in the front room, tucking his phone into his trouser pocket and scooping up Victoria. "Sorry, sweetheart. Lestrade left me a message about a case he'd like my help with, and I was texting him to say we are heading out to get your scan, but I should be available tomorrow. I'll have to see if your mum can watch Victoria again or ask Martha so I can go to the Yard."
Molly smiled as she followed him to the car where it was parked on the street in front of their house. She could see the spring in his step as he walked. "You're looking forward to sinking your teeth into a juicy case, aren't you?"
He opened the car door for her, then opened the back door to get Victoria settled into her car seat as he responded. "Absolutely. I haven't had the opportunity to utilise my deductive skills properly in weeks. A nice murder investigation is definitely the ticket." He paused. "That is, if it is a murder and not an accident, as the husband claims."
They got into the car and Molly asked, as Sherlock started the engine and moved out into the street, "I suppose the postmortem has already been done on the victim?"
Sherlock flicked a glance at her briefly. "Unfortunately. If you hadn't been off yesterday and today because you worked over the weekend, you would undoubtedly have been the one to do it." He let out a frustrated huff. "I suppose I will have to examine the body myself and see that the person doing the postmortem didn't make any glaring errors. I can always count on you to catch everything. I suppose at the very least I can get you to wheel the body out for me tomorrow, and you can check for any potential mistakes that could have been made."
Molly's lips tilted upwards. It was always nice to hear Sherlock's praise of her work. "Actually, we don't have a bad team these days at Bart's. There were some promising students too in the last batch, Mike told me. He said one young man, Jamie, showed particular promise."
Sherlock glanced at her again. "Well, once we have finished with the play, we will have to discuss your maternity leave and what you want to do regarding working after the new baby arrives."
Molly bit her lip. "I hadn't even thought of that. You're right though, once we're done with the play, we'll have to start making those decisions."
When they arrived at Ruth Hooper's flat, Sherlock parked the car, but left the engine running. "I know we are running a little later than planned because I was on the phone, so I'll just take Victoria in to your mum. We can have a longer chat when we come back later. I know she will want to see the ultrasound picture."
Molly nodded. "Good idea."
Sherlock extracted Victoria from her car seat, opened Molly's door so she could give their daughter a kiss goodbye, and strode to the front door with Victoria.
Molly looked through the window as Sherlock handed off their daughter and the changing bag, speaking with his mother-in-law for a couple minutes.
He returned to the car and said, "Your mother has invited us for dinner this evening, and I accepted. I know you and she will be anxious to talk about the scan."
Molly grinned as Sherlock eased the car into traffic. "Oh, that's lovely. It's been ages since I've had a meal cooked by my mum, and you're right. I know she will love hearing all about the scan. Last time, after my second scan, I was on the phone with her for over an hour because she wanted to know everything that happened."
Sherlock rolled his eyes. "You women and your need to hear every little detail on things." He paused, then added, "By the way, she has also agreed to look after Victoria tomorrow so I can work on the murder investigation."
"That's good."
Molly had been drinking some water at home to make sure she had a full bladder, and she pulled out her water bottle from her handbag. She remembered how desperately she had needed the loo last time, and was hesitant to find herself in that position again, so she wanted to make sure she finished her water just before they got to their appointment.
This time, with Sherlock driving, rather than taking a taxi, there was a walk of several minutes from the car park to the hospital entrance, and Molly finished drinking her water just before they entered the hospital, throwing the empty bottle into a rubbish bin outside.
They checked in for her appointment and sat down to wait.
"How is your bladder doing?" asked Sherlock, obviously mindful of how uncomfortable she had been on the last occasion.
She smiled at him. "Well, I could definitely use the loo, but I'm not desperate like I was last time. As long as we don't end up with a long delay, I should be fine."
"Good to hear. Guess I'll try to get a few more details about the case from Greg while we wait." He pulled out his phone and sent off a text.
He didn't get much opportunity though to be on his phone, because apparently things were running fairly well on time, and they were called within a few minutes.
Molly vaguely recognised the nurse who led them to the room where they would be having the scan. She frowned slightly, trying to think of the nurse's name. She had not caught her name tag. It was the German accent that reminded her that her name was an unusual spelling, and Molly remembered just before the nurse opened the door to the room where the sonographer awaited. Erika, that was it. Molly really liked the unusual spelling of her name. She saw her name tag just before they went into the room, confirming it was indeed Erika.
Being her fourth scan between the two pregnancies, Molly was familiar with what to do. She immediately walked over to the bed and unzipped her shorts. She had considered wearing a skirt, with the warm weather, but figured pulling her shorts downwards would be easier than lifting her skirt.
Sherlock pulled up a chair to sit beside her on the opposite side of the bed in a place from where he would have a good view of the screen.
The sonographer, Rachael, Molly noted, placed the gel on Molly's belly as usual and began the scan. She pressed the probe to Molly's belly in the familiar way that gave Molly that uncomfortable urge to wee.
Within a few seconds, a black-and-white image appeared on the screen, significantly larger than the image of a few weeks earlier. Now, the probe could not show the entire baby at one time, and Molly remembered reading that at this point in time, the baby was approximately the size of a banana.
At times, Molly could see the baby's head and torso, sometimes the rest of the body as Rachael moved the probe around to do her measurements.
Molly tried to stop her tears, but was unsuccessful. Every child growing in the womb, perfectly formed by this time, including all their organs, was miraculous. She wondered how anyone could consider taking the life of their baby. If a woman contemplating abortion saw an image of the baby moving inside them, would it make a difference? She remembered her conversation a couple months earlier with Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn had had an abortion at the age of nineteen. Molly didn't judge Kaitlyn for making that decision, but it did make her sad at the lost opportunity for life outside of the womb. But she believed that baby was also in heaven, as were all the unwanted babies and miscarried ones.
She looked over at Sherlock, whose hand was lightly resting on hers. He was blinking away tears of his own, and Molly felt such tenderness for him. She loved the way he was able to show his emotion these days. To Molly, that emotion made him more of a man, rather than the misconceived notion so many men had, that crying would make them seem less manly.
He smiled at her, his voice hoarse with emotion. "She is tiny, but still beautiful, and we made her."
Apparently, Rachael caught the comment, because she said, "Are you seeing something I'm not? Your baby is not in a position right now to tell me if you are having a boy or girl."
Molly and Sherlock chuckled before he responded. "It is just a deduction at this point, but I do hope you will be able to confirm it."
Rachael moved the probe again to take some other measurements. "Well, we might have to give Baby a nudge then, because I think he or she is sleeping right now and is in a position where I will not be able to determine gender."
Sherlock frowned at that. He said softly to Molly, "I would rather Mike not take the pot in his bet that we will not be able to find out."
Molly repressed a giggle. "I hope not either, but more because I want to know whether we will need to buy new baby clothes."
"We will need to buy some warmer baby clothes anyway for a newborn, seeing as this little one is due to arrive in winter," he pointed out.
"True, but I'd prefer to know, anyway. I've been looking forward to this for so long."
Rachael looked up and ventured another comment. "Well, hopefully, we'll get your baby into a more accommodating position. It isn't uncommon for Baby to be sleeping during the scan, and most of the time I've been successful in getting the baby to move. We like to check for the gender as well, as part of the scan."
Sherlock and Molly watched the screen. Molly could see the black blob that was the baby's heart. She was looking forward to hearing the heartbeat again at the end of the ultrasound.
After several minutes of quiet, except for the tapping of the keyboard in which Rachael was entering results, she stood. "Let's see if we can get Baby to wake up," she said. "Are you okay with me putting a little pressure on your abdomen with my hand?"
Molly opened her mouth to reply, but Sherlock beat her to it. "Of course. It is imperative we discover the gender of our baby today if at all possible."
Molly rolled her eyes slightly, but she had to admit she couldn't disagree.
Rachael cleaned the gel from Molly's abdomen, then placed her hand on it, jiggling it in a rhythmic motion. "Come on, Baby. Time to wake up," she coaxed in a soft voice. She kept up the motion for about one minute, moving her hand to different parts of Molly's abdomen and pushing it a little.
Molly felt once again the pressure on her bladder and was relieved when Rachael stopped and said, "Alright, let's see if it worked."
She picked up the gel and reapplied it, saying, "By the way, if you want to have any more children, sometimes people say that having a fizzy drink or coffee before the scan can get Baby active."
"We'll keep that in mind," Sherlock said.
The sonographer pressed the probe onto Molly's belly again and began to move it. "Looks like Baby is awake and moving," she said, smiling. "Come on, Baby, move a little bit more so we can have a peek between your legs."
Molly stifled a giggle. She loved the friendly way Rachael talked.
"Ah, there we go," said Rachael after a few more moments of moving the probe.
Molly stared fixedly at the screen. She couldn't for the life of her see anything that would indicate whether they were having a boy or girl.
Apparently Sherlock was also having the same trouble. "Where? What do you see? Is it a girl?" Molly heard the eager note in his voice.
Jessica pointed to the screen and indicated an area. "See those three little lines?"
Molly squinted. She had to admit, she didn't see anything except shadows, and her honest husband spoke up.
"Not really, but we'll take your word for it. What do three lines mean?"
Jessica smiled. "Looks like you were right in your guess. There's always a very small margin of error, but it's pretty clear to me that you are having a little girl."
Sherlock whooped with delight, and Molly had to laugh as he declared, "I knew it! I knew it was a girl!"
Oh boy, she was gonna be hearing him brag about that for the rest of her pregnancy, she was sure.
Rachael, who had been typing the names of various organs during the ultrasound, now typed out "baby girl," and Molly felt a fresh wave of tears clog her throat. Seeing the words made it more real. On the previous occasion with the second scan for Victoria, the sonographer had not written the gender, because Sherlock had not wished to know.
Rachael removed the probe and beamed at Molly. "It's lovely to see a husband so excited about having a girl. I've seen a few disappointed faces over the years from parents desperately hoping for a boy."
"As long as the baby is healthy, we don't care. It will be nice for our older daughter to have a little sister to play with," said Molly, as a tear trickled down her cheek.
Rachael picked up the Doppler monitor. "Well, things are looking good, and now we'll just have a listen to the heartbeat." She placed the Doppler on Molly's belly and asked, "How old is your older daughter? Victoria, isn't it? I remember reading in the papers when she was born, but you've done a good job of keeping her out of the public eye."
Molly hadn't really thought about it before, but she suddenly realised that most people would be familiar with them as a couple. She was quite impressed that Rachael had not shown any outward recognition before or acted like a fan, so she was happy to answer the sonographer's question. "Yes, her name is Victoria, and she is fifteen months old."
Rachael nodded. "Nice and close in age then for the siblings," she remarked, moving the Doppler, and Molly heard the rapid whooshing sound of the baby's heartbeat. The sound was stronger than the time before, which made sense, as the baby was much bigger, and she looked up at Sherlock.
He was smiling broadly, evidently still proud of himself for accurately determining that the baby was a girl.
Molly was very glad that this time she wouldn't have to deal with a pouting Sherlock begging her to tell him the baby's gender. It had been both annoying and amusing that they had no sooner left the room following her second scan with Victoria, that he had changed his mind on not wishing to know the baby's gender. But she had made him wait until Christmas Day a couple weeks later, when she had revealed it in a special way, not only to him, but to his parents and Mycroft as well.
A few minutes later, they departed the room with a picture of their daughter that Rachael had printed during the scan. Once again, Sherlock put a donation into the donation box, and Molly saw he had put in a £10 note, as he had done on each occasion. It was obviously far more than the picture was worth, but they could afford to be generous, knowing the donations went towards childhood cancer research.
Molly made a quick trip to the loo to finally relieve her bladder, and they exited the hospital.
Settled in the car once again to go back to Molly's mum's place, Sherlock said in a casual tone, "Another girl. I'm glad I was correct."
Molly placed a hand over her belly. "Oh, I know how smug you are feeling, Sherlock. No need to continue bragging about being right. I suspected we were having a girl too, you know."
He shot her a glance, then said, "I do have another reason for being glad I was correct in my deduction."
Molly furrowed her brow. "What reason?"
She saw the smirk on his face as he answered. "Well, seeing as we are indeed having another girl, we will need to continue procreating."
Molly rolled her eyes. "I never made any promises about making certain we have at least one child of each gender."
He took a hand from the wheel so he could clasp hers. "You aren't seriously saying that this is it for us, are you?"
She tilted her head slightly, looking at that aristocratic profile. She had to admit, she still liked the idea of having a son with him, one who would potentially share many of his wonderful features, like that dark curly hair. "Well, I think we should see how things go after this little one comes along. You might decide that you can't handle more than two children."
Sherlock snorted. "I'm sure it won't be a problem. How hard can it be, really? It's not like I will have to be a full-time stay-at-home father. We do have Martha and your mother to help, and we still need to discuss your own future at the hospital. Besides," he flashed her a sultry glance before focussing once again on the road ahead, "we bought a house big enough to accommodate several children. It would be a waste to not make use of those extra rooms."
"You were singing a different tune yesterday when you said you wondered how we would cope with two children," Molly pointed out.
He released her hand to wave dismissively. "That was yesterday. I'm over it."
Molly couldn't help laughing at that. He had an answer for everything. She refused to commit, however, to having any more children. "Guess we'll see what happens."
He made a discontented huff, but didn't say any more about it.
Sherlock dropped Molly off in front of her mother's flat and went to find a park on the street, while she knocked at the door.
When her mother opened the door, her first words were, "Well, how did it go? Did you find out if you're having a boy or a girl?" She was holding Victoria at her hip and stepped aside to let Molly enter.
"Hello, princess," Molly said, giving her daughter a kiss on the cheek before responding to her mother. "Well, the baby didn't want to cooperate at first, but a little jiggling on the part of the sonographer got her moving, so we were able to find out."
Ruth Hooper beamed. "Another girl? That will be lovely for Victoria to have a playmate so close to her own age." She looked at Victoria "Did you hear that, darling? You're going to have a baby sister!"
Victoria merely looked at her. She was definitely not old enough to understand what that meant.
Sherlock appeared at the front door, and Molly opened it for him.
He went over to Victoria immediately and extracted her from Molly's mum. "Did Molly tell you?" He sniffed the air. "Something smells good."
"It's the first thing she asked," Molly responded, before her mother could reply.
"Well, you can go and sit down while I finish getting dinner ready."
"Do you need some help, Mum? I can set the table, if nothing else, while Sherlock takes care of Victoria."
"Alright, dear. You can tell me all about your scan and show me the picture I'm sure you got of the baby. I want every detail." The corners of Molly's mouth lifted as she recalled Sherlock saying almost the same thing to her earlier about women wanting to know every detail about things. So, Molly showed her mother the photo first, then set the table and chatted with her mother, recounting the afternoon. "Of course, Sherlock was very smug when we found out we were having a girl. He was so sure about that."
"Really?" asked her mother with interest, as she began dishing out the food onto plates and putting some roast beef onto a plate for Molly to cut up for Victoria. "Why was he so sure?"
"Well, my morning sickness followed the same pattern. That's pretty much the extent of it," said Molly with a grin.
Her mother looked a little sad suddenly. "I was always sorry your father and I couldn't give you a sibling. After three miscarriages before you, it was a miracle I carried you to term."
Molly placed a hand on her mum's shoulder. "I know, Mum. It isn't your fault you had complications with me and had to have a hysterectomy immediately afterwards. You and Dad always spoiled me." Her lips quirked. "Sherlock has told me on occasion that he sometimes envies me being an only child, seeing as he always felt he grew up in Mycroft's shadow."
Her mother shook her head. "Your husband is such a brilliant man. It's hard to think of him being overshadowed by anyone." She picked up two plates to take to the dining table. "Why don't you tell Sherlock dinner's ready so he can put Victoria in the high chair?"
"Alright."
Molly called Sherlock for dinner, and soon the four of them were eating a delicious roast dinner.
Victoria did a good job in picking up her pieces of meat, potatoes and peas. Her manual dexterity had really improved over the last couple of months, although she still hadn't quite mastered using a spoon properly.
Molly's phone dinged during dinner, but she didn't bother looking at it.
Her mother said, "You can look at your phone, dearest, if you want to."
"No, it's okay, Mum. I think I know who it is."
"Who?" asked Sherlock, raising a brow.
"It's probably Kaitlyn, anxious to find out whether we're having a boy or girl. I'll just tell her tomorrow at work. I think we should let your parents know before anyone else, and our other close friends."
Sherlock nodded. "I agree."
The rest of the dinner conversation consisted mainly of Molly's mum asking about the play and how things were going with rehearsals.
"I hate to eat and run," said Molly, once dinner was finished, "but we should get going as soon as I've helped you with the washing up. I'm sure Sherlock's parents are awaiting our call."
"Don't worry about the washing up, Molly. I'll take care of it. It has been a pleasure to have you here with me for once. I had such a lovely afternoon with Victoria, and I am so glad I will get to see her again tomorrow."
"Thank you for the lovely dinner, Ruth," said Sherlock, as he headed towards the kitchen. He brought back a wet paper towel and wiped Victoria's face and hands.
While Sherlock disposed of the paper towel, Molly extracted Victoria from the high chair.
Molly kissed her mother goodbye and Sherlock said, "I will see you tomorrow morning, Ruth."
"See you then." Ruth kissed her granddaughter goodbye and stood at the door to watch them leave.
Within half an hour, they were home.
Molly changed Victoria's nappy while Sherlock phoned his parents and then hit the speaker button so she could listen in.
"Well, it's about time you called," said his mother in a chiding tone as soon as she answered. "Your father and I have been waiting for hours to find out about your appointment. Are we to have another granddaughter or a grandson this time?"
"Mummy, I apologise for not calling earlier, but we went back to Molly's mother's place after our appointment to pick up Victoria. She had invited us for dinner as well. We only just got home."
"Oh, I see." Her tone was apologetic. "So, were you able to determine gender or not?"
"Yes. I hope you will be pleased to know we are giving you another granddaughter."
There was a short pause, and then his mother said, "That's lovely. We're very happy for you."
Molly noticed the distinct lack of enthusiasm in her mother-in-law's voice. She had obviously been hoping they were having a boy. Tears pricked her eyes as she cuddled Victoria on her lap, noting that with her expanding girth, that wouldn't be possible for too much longer.
Sherlock glanced at her, and his expression darkened. Molly wondered if he was upset with her until he spoke again into the phone. "Mummy, I am thrilled to be having another girl. She will be a good companion for Victoria, and I am glad that the scan showed things are going perfectly with the pregnancy. I will not have you thinking any less of Molly for not giving you another grandson courtesy of my loins this time. If anything, you should consider me at fault for providing the x chromosome rather than the y that determined our baby's genetic makeup."
Molly smiled at him gratefully for being so quick to support her.
His mother sounded chastened. "Of course, you're right, Sherlock, and I am sorry for not being more enthusiastic. I suppose I thought Molly was having a boy, because I dreamed of you having a boy the other night. I was sure God was giving me a sign, but apparently that was not the case. I was just a little surprised."
"I told your mother not to read a dream as a sign," put in Sherlock's father from the background. "Tell your wife I am delighted to hear we will be having another little granddaughter to spoil."
Molly couldn't help smiling at her father-in-law's words. Though soft-spoken and not one to talk often, when he did speak, he always said the kindest things.
"Thanks, Daddy," said Sherlock. "Well, we have a couple other phone calls to make, so I'll say goodbye for now."
"Alright, dear. Give us a ring again soon," said his mother. "And give Victoria kisses from Grandma and Grandpa."
"Will do. Goodbye."
Sherlock disconnected the call, then he pressed the home button on his phone. "Siri, call John Watson."
"Calling John Watson," came the voice of Siri.
John's response to the news they were having a girl was much more positive. "That's wonderful, you two. I'll let Kayla know. She's just giving Adam his bath. Never know, maybe one day Adam and your new daughter will get together."
Molly giggled, and Sherlock's eyes widened. "Now that would certainly be interesting," he said, then changed the subject. "Did you hear from Lestrade about that murder case by chance?"
"Oh yeah. He said you would be going to the Yard tomorrow. Need my help?"
"If you are available. Once I have spoken with Greg, I plan on taking a look at the body in the mortuary first, then heading out to the crime scene to search for any clues that might have been missed. I could let you know when I'm done at the hospital, and we could meet at the crime scene."
"Sounds good to me," answered John. "I'm sure you'll have the case wrapped up before rehearsal tomorrow night."
Molly suppressed a smile at her husband's confident response of "Probably." She didn't doubt it herself.
After he disconnected the call, Sherlock made one last call, to Martha, of course.
She too was just as excited at the thought of another little girl as John had been, and Molly felt a lot better. It had stung to feel her mother-in-law wasn't happy about it, even though she knew it hadn't been intentional.
"Make sure you have the photo of the baby with you at tomorrow's rehearsal," she said sternly.
Molly piped up with, "Don't worry, Martha. It's in my handbag. There are a few people who want to see the picture."
After Sherlock hung up the phone, Molly remembered she hadn't checked the message from earlier on her own phone. She pulled it out and saw, as she had expected, it was from Kaitlyn.
Well? Don't keep me in suspense! Is it a boy or girl?
Molly texted back a reply.
Sorry I didn't respond earlier. I was at my mum's for dinner. You'll have to wait until tomorrow morning.
Spoilsport! was the reply a few minutes later, but it was followed with a winky face emoji, so Molly knew Kaitlyn wasn't really upset with her.
After Victoria was in her cot for the night, Sherlock and Molly retired to their own bedroom and undressed before getting under the duvet.
Molly sighed with pleasure at the way Sherlock kissed her passionately, then laid a trail of kisses down her body until he reached her abdomen. Then he spoke. "Hello, my little daughter. Your mummy and I are looking forward to meeting you properly in a few months."
Molly was quite sure she felt the fluttering sensation that indicated the baby was awake as he continued. "Now that we know you are a girl, your mummy and I are going to have to discuss baby names. We'll do that soon, I promise."
Molly felt that flutter again, as if the baby was listening to her father's voice. "I think she heard you," she told him, and he looked at her, then slid upwards once again.
His kisses became more passionate, and she lost herself in the love of her husband as he made her forget everything except him for quite some time.
Oh, it had really been a memorable day, she thought, blissfully sated afterwards, just before she fell asleep in Sherlock's loving embrace as usual.
Author's note: For my regular readers, I know the gender reveal was a foregone conclusion, but I hope you enjoyed reading how it happened! And I was quite interested to do some research and find out that the "three lines" are what usually show it is a girl. I looked at ultrasound pictures where those lines are marked and for the life of me, I couldn't see them, therefore, I had to have Sherlock say the same thing!
So, another little detective case is looming for Sherlock. He has to work once in a while haha.
I used my own ultrasound experiences to describe Molly's. It really is incredible to watch that tiny baby on the screen. Life is so precious, and each time I saw my baby on that little screen during an ultrasound, it was an emotional time for me that reinforced to me the greatness of God and creation. Life, and the creation of it, is always a profound miracle.
If you are curious about how Molly did the gender reveal for Victoria, that story is in Christmas in Sussex.
My eagle-eyed regulars might notice a little foreshadowing in Sherlock's claim of not having to be a full-time, stay-at-home dad. I confess, I wrote this chapter last September, well after I began publishing my Covid-19 series that showed Sherlock being forced to be a full-time stay-at-home dad for months thanks to the pandemic.
Anyway, I hope you find this chapter worthy of leaving a comment about it. By all means, if you've had children of your own, share your own ultrasound experiences! I always look forward to hearing from my readers.