Sherlock huffs, slightly overwhelmed, as his two younger daughters eagerly tug on his right arm and his even younger twin boys tug on his left. They're fighting over who gets to play with Daddy today. The girls of course are vying to play tea party, while the boys want him to play superheroes.
Molly sits on the sofa with their oldest, Cassidy Jade (Cassie), who is fourteen. Abigail Joy (Abby) is nine, Maddison Ann (Maddy) is eight, and the twins, Sherlock Scott (Hero) and William Gregory (Will), are five. Molly is currently very pregnant with surprise baby number six, who will complete their family once and for all. Funny thing is, both she and Sherlock believed their family was complete after the boys were born. After nine months they had settled on Calista May, whom they will call Callie.
Cassie mirrors her Mum, their bodies slightly slouched, legs crossed over one another up on the coffee table, and books clutched in their hands.
Sherlock opens his arms and scoops all four of them close into his chest, kissing their heads. "Hey, hey! No fighting over me, I'm not a toy. How about we compromise, hm? This is a good er...learning opportunity", he states, looking up at Molly. She peeks over her book, containing her giggles, and nods encouragingly. "You all look so sweet, I love you all so much, my lovies."
"Love you too, Mummy", the kids pipe up as they hang on Sherlock, giggling.
"Right, so do you guys know what a compromise is?", he asks, looking over at his boys. They pout a bit and shake their heads. Sherlock looks from them to the girls, and they shrug. "Well it's when you take an idea from one person or group, and an idea from another person or group, and you make both of them work together. So here's what I'm thinking. "How about we all go into the costume truck and dress up however we want, and then we can have a superhero and princess tea party hm? I'll even let you all have some real cookies."
"Yeah, cookies!", they exclaim excitedly and go over to the costume trunk in their playroom. Sherlock takes a deep breath and goes over to Molly as they are busy dressing up.
"How was that? Not too shabby for this old Dad, eh?"
Molly giggles and looks up at him, putting her book face down on her belly. "That was really good." Taking his hand gently, she brushes her thumb over his knuckles. "Thank you for playing with them so much now that my movement is limited", she chuckles. "This baby doesn't seem to want to be born, she's completely comfortable in there."
Sherlock grins and leans down, kissing Molly softly, then pecks her belly. "You've got to come out sooner or later, little girl. I know this house sounds totally hectic and maybe you're annoyed by that, but your brothers and sisters do want to meet you. I promise. Daddy and Mummy do too."
"Aww. You're a really great father, you know that, right? I appreciate you, Sherlock. You do so much for us."
He blushes a bit and rubs her belly softly. "Well, I love you. All of you. No matter what."
Reaching up to stroke his cheek, Molly smiles cutely at him before her attention is drawn back to the kids who are coming back into the room all dressed up as princesses and superheroes, arms full of tea set pieces.
"Wow, you guys have your hands full. Great job working together. I know things have been different lately because the baby is coming soon, but I'm really happy when you get along."
Abby goes over and hugs her. "I'm sorry for fighting with them...they're just so annoying sometimes."
Molly chuckles lightly. "Abby, little siblings are going to be annoying some days. It's okay if you get frustrated. Dad and I get frustrated sometimes too sometimes, but the important thing is that we don't stay frustrated."
She nods and kisses Molly's cheek. "Can I feel the baby kick?"
"Of course", Molly grins, taking Abby's hand and placing it over where the baby is. "Are you excited to have another little sister?"
"Well...it's better than having another little brother. I'm glad Callie is a girl.", she giggles.
Sherlock snorts and can't help but laugh quietly. "I think these two little troublemakers...", he grins and grabs the boys, play roughhousing with them, "...are quite enough for us anyway."
Abby gasps after a few moments, the baby kicking where her hand lies in Molly's stomach. She watches her hand move and marvels at the sight, grinning cutely.
Hero and Will laugh and wrestle with Sherlock playfully, climbing on him. Maddy sets up the tea set very particularly, nearly perfect. Once everything is set up, Sherlock goes to the kitchen and grabs them some cookies and juice to put in the teacups. As they sit around the little set, Abby puts crowns on herself and Maddy, and smirks, grabbing a third and putting it on Sherlock's head. "King Holmes!"
Sherlock raises an eyebrow and chuckles. "Oh, well thank you, dear princess."
Abby grins and kisses his cheek. Will pops up and runs to the costume chest, grabbing a blue superhero eye mask, and runs back over giggling, putting it on Sherlock's face. Hero grabs a cape and places it on his shoulders as well.
Molly laughs fondly and Cassie smirks. "King Super-Sherlock Holmes...I think", she snorts.
He grins and hands out the cookies and juice for the kids to snack on, enjoying every single moment with his big family.
Looking back, he wishes he had realized just how a relationship with Molly, a marriage with her, to be specific, would change the course of his entire life. His life. A beautiful, incredible, amazing life which is nothing like he ever could have imagined, and everything he ever could have needed. One that will be perfectly completed once the last addition has finally arrived.