24-28th April 2021

Molly was sitting with Christina on her lap, and Victoria beside her, and she was turning the pages to one of the baby books.

When a picture of a ball appeared, Molly was about to ask Christina if she could say 'ball', but Victoria beat her to it.

"Chwisty, can you say 'ball'?"

Molly smiled as Christina said, "Ball," and put her hand on the picture. She had mastered this word now, and was starting to pick up a few others.

At the page that showed a spinning top, Christina pointed towards her top that was on the floor, which Victoria had been helping her to make it spin. "Top."

Molly kissed the top of her daughter's head. "Good girl."

As she did so, she heard Sherlock coming down the stairs. His NA meeting was apparently finished.

Molly looked at Sherlock as he appeared in the doorway with a smile on his face. "Must've been a good meeting," she commented.

His smile widened. "Quite good, it was nice to get the recognition for four years of being clean, but I'm smiling about something else."

Christina struggled to get off Molly's lap, and she let her go, even as Victoria also got down and returned to the spinning top on the floor to play with it.

Sherlock took the opportunity to come and sit beside Molly, and she looked at him enquiringly. "Well? Spill it, Sherlock!"

"At the end of the Zoom meeting, Matthias asked if he could give me a ring once the meeting was over, and of course I told him he could."

Molly waited for a few seconds, and when Sherlock didn't elaborate, she pressed, "And? What did he want?"

Sherlock rested an arm around her. "You're not going to believe this, but he wanted some dating advice. Taking advice from me, the man who wouldn't know the first thing about it."

Molly's lips twitched at this. "Well, perhaps you were not one for dating, but you certainly know how to take care of me, and I'm sure Matthias recognises that. So, he is interested in someone. Is it somebody we know?"

"As a matter of fact, it is. He's interested in Allison."

Molly's mouth dropped open slightly. Allison had been alone now for a long time, and she had been divorced for over a year by this point as well. Molly knew she was lonely, but she did the best she could with her son, Archie, and Molly knew that he brought her a great sense of purpose. And as she thought about this, she thought about how Matthias had been single for as long as she had known him, and she found she liked the idea of a potential romance between the two. Both were lonely Christians.

Sherlock was looking at her expectantly, trying to gauge her reaction, and she finally expressed her feelings. "I think the two of them could have a very lovely relationship, if Allison is ready for a relationship, that is."

Sherlock nodded. "I think so too. I told him he should go for it, and he said he plans to invite Allison and Archie for lunch after church tomorrow."

"I hope she accepts." She looked over at Victoria, who was too busy pressing the top of the spinning toy to allow her sister a chance at it. Christina was looking decidedly disgruntled. "Victoria, please let your sister have a turn. It's her toy. You can help her push down the part to get it spinning."

Victoria gave her a decidedly sulky look, but complied. She was a good big sister, for the most part, but Molly sensed an occasional hint of jealousy over not being the only one receiving attention. She'd have to get used to it even more when the new baby came, thought Molly, then caught herself as a twinge of heartache came over her. There wasn't going to be a new baby, at least not now.

She tried to push that from her mind. "Thank you, princess," she told Victoria.

The next day, Sherlock and Molly went to church as usual.

With Covid restrictions, there was still no congregational singing, but Pastor Briggs had announced several weeks earlier that this would be a good opportunity for various soloists to introduce new songs that would be used once singing as a congregation resumed. He had asked for volunteer soloists, and Molly had offered to do a solo. Hers was scheduled for next week. She really needed to start practising it. The piece she would introduce was based on The Apostles Creed, from Hillsong Worship, called The Creed (This I Believe).

Today's song, sung beautifully by Abigail, really ministered to Molly.

It was one by Matt Redman, called You Never Let Go, and it used words from Psalm 23.

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

Your perfect love is casting out fear.

And even when I'm caught in the middle of the storms of this life,

I won't turn back; I know You are near."

Yes, Molly thought as she listened to the lyrics, God was with them always, and she blinked back tears, feeling as if God was reassuring her of that fact. It was extraordinary how so often, when she needed that reassurance, it would come through a song or through a devotion.

After the service, as Molly got the girls ready to leave, her gaze drifted over to Matthias, and she saw Sherlock was also glancing his way.

They watched him approach Allison, and a few moments later, saw a nod from her. Even masked, Molly could tell that both Matthias and Allison were smiling, and Molly smiled as well.

As soon as they reached the car, Sherlock and Molly situated their daughters in their car seats and removed their masks.

As Sherlock set off home, he glanced at Molly. "I saw you too were looking over at Matthias. Looks like he was successful in his quest."

Molly smiled. "Yes. I'll be interested to see how their relationship develops. I'd love to see them both happy. Matthias is such a special man, it's amazing he hasn't married before this, but perhaps God was waiting for the right woman to be free."

Sherlock nodded. "God's timing is always perfect." He paused and then said, "I liked the song Abigail introduced. A little more upbeat than the usual ones. Nice lyrics." He directed another quick glance at Molly. "Aren't you introducing a song next week?"

Molly felt herself flush. "Yeah, I really need to practise. I've been a bit distracted lately."

His left hand reached to cover hers where it rested on her lap. "I understand love. Why don't you practise it after lunch? At least you still have a week."

"Good idea."

As Sherlock had suggested, after lunch Molly picked up her new iPad, which had been a gift from Sherlock. He had reasoned that it was time for a new one, seeing as her other iPad had been 3 1/2 years old. Molly would not have bothered purchasing a new one. She felt the old iPad was still perfectly serviceable, but she knew Sherlock had been trying to think of a good birthday gift for her aside from the black dress he had purchased, so she had not complained. The old iPad now stayed upstairs, while the new iPad travelled around with her when she needed to do things downstairs. And Molly had to admit, the new iPad had more storage and loaded websites faster than the old one.

Feeling still a little unsure of the melody of the song she would be singing, Molly found it on YouTube. She listened to the song twice, singing softly as she became familiar with it. Now and then, Victoria and Christina stopped in their playpen activity to look at her.

"Okay, Sherlock," Molly said, fetching the CD with the accompaniment track which Pastor Briggs had supplied her with and handing it to him, "Can you put this into your laptop now so I can practise with the accompaniment track?"

Sherlock had already brought his laptop downstairs for this purpose. He slid the CD into his laptop and increased the volume.

Molly began to sing, then stopped. "Can we try the other keys? Songs that have male voices are always a bit hard to sing."

Sherlock tapped a key to advance to the next track.

Molly settled on the low accompaniment track, which was actually a third below the original, or rather, a sixth above and more suitable for a female voice.

She sang a little tentatively the first time through, gaining confidence as the track went on. By the second run-through, Molly was singing confidently, and she noted Sherlock giving her a look of approval. Both Victoria and Christina were also listening attentively.

When she finished, Sherlock and Victoria clapped. "Pwetty singing, Mummy," she proclaimed. Christina, following her sister's lead, also clapped.

"Beautiful," said Sherlock, and Molly blushed at the praise.

"Thank you," she said to him and Victoria.

She felt more prepared for next Sunday, now that she had sung the song a few times. She would try to go through it at least twice more during the week.

The next day, when Molly arrived home from work, Sherlock informed her that he had received his invitation to book an appointment for his first Covid vaccination. Mycroft had offered to arrange an earlier vaccination for Sherlock, using his connections, but Sherlock had refused, saying he would not take someone else's place who had more need. But now vaccination appointments were available for people in the 42-44 age group.

"I booked an appointment for next Tuesday because you will be home, and in case I have any side effects, knowing you will also be home the next day."

"Good idea," said Molly. She hoped his side-effects would be as minimal as hers had been, but there were no guarantees. The second dose was more likely to have side effects, though.

Molly was excited when Wednesday arrived. She hoped Sherlock would like his surprise. She had purchased a large photo frame in preparation and had already wrapped it. She was also looking forward to giving him another gift, an Amazon Echo Dot, having thought of it after he had asked her to remind him about his NA meeting. It was expected to arrive today, and she had told Sherlock he was not allowed to look at the post. His own shipment of items for Victoria had arrived two days earlier, and he had shown her the gifts he had bought for their daughter. Molly was pleased he had been proactive in buying presents. All she would need to buy were some clothes.

After lunch, Molly dressed Victoria and Christina in their Easter dresses. At least they would get one more wearing out of them. She dressed in her new black dress. She didn't need to ask Sherlock to dress formally; he always did outside the home anyway.

Lori had sent instructions yesterday to Molly, recommending she bring a change of clothes for the girls if they would like some less formal pictures just for fun, so Molly carefully packed a change of clothes into the changing bag. She decided not to bring her own change of clothes. Sherlock would certainly not be interested in wearing casual attire, and if she remained in her dress, his clothing wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb.

Sherlock observed everything Molly was doing, then commented, "Getting dressed up in the middle of the day? You are certainly piquing my curiosity."

Molly frowned at him. "Don't start using your mind palace to make deductions about it."

His lips twitched. "I'll try not to."

When they were in the car, Molly gave Sherlock instructions whenever Sherlock needed to turn. She obviously did not want to tell him their destination. But of course, once they were only streets away from the Lestrade house, Sherlock figured things out.

"This is the way to Greg's," he noted.

"Is it?" Molly asked innocently.

He slid her a glance. "Most certainly. But why would we be going there in the middle of the day, all dressed up?"

Molly was very annoyed when Sherlock was obviously unable to prevent himself from turning things over in his mind, and in a matter of seconds he said slowly, "Lori is a photographer. Are we to get our photographs taken?"

Molly gave a huff of displeasure and smacked his arm lightly. "I'm not going to answer that, but I will say that you are very annoying."

Sherlock smirked. "I can't help myself. I'm sorry, Molly. I won't say another word until we reach our destination, except to ask if I turn right at the street ahead?"

Molly sighed. "Yes." There was no point in continuing to give direction street by street. "Just go to the Lestrades already."

The last time they had been there had been when Lori was pregnant with Joseph, but Sherlock had obviously retained the address in his mind palace.

Sherlock found a place to park nearby, and they went to the house and knocked on the door, wearing their masks.

Lori opened the door, Joseph in her arms, and Molly smiled at the toddler. She thought Christina was big for her age, but Joseph was even more sturdy-looking. "Come on in," invited Lori, opening the door. "And please, don't feel as if you need to keep on your masks."

"Baby," said Victoria, pointing at Joseph.

Sherlock and Molly removed their masks, Molly assisting Sherlock as he was holding Christina.

Greg appeared. "Have you guessed why you're here, Sherlock? I have a juicy case that needs your attention."

Sherlock looked confused for a moment, then shook his head. "No, you don't. If that were the case, my wife and daughters would not be dressed up. I am assuming Lori is to take our pictures."

Greg punched his arm lightly. "Always too smart for your own good, but as it happens, I do have a case that could use your eyes."

Sherlock's eyes sparked with interest. "Enlighten me."

Lori set Joseph down, as Sherlock did the same with Christina, and the toddlers eyed one another, even as Victoria repeated, "Baby."

"Love your dress, Molly," commented Lori.

"Thanks. It was a birthday present from Sherlock. Good to have an opportunity to wear it."

"And your girls look adorable in their matching dresses."

Molly grinned. "I put them in their Easter dresses." She looked down at Joseph. "Joseph is so big! I feel as if we all lost a year because of Covid." She looked over at Sherlock, who was talking animatedly with Greg.

Lori nodded. "I know what you mean. Thank God things will ease further next month. I've missed seeing everyone regularly. Your girls have grown so much too, and I'm sure it's the same with Rosie and Adam."

She looked over at Greg. "Greg, when you've finished talking with Sherlock, show him into the studio."

Greg raised a hand to show he had heard, and Lori led Molly, who scooped up Christina and ushered Victoria ahead of her, to a room that contained photographic equipment and different options for sitting. There was a double-wide leather armchair Molly immediately thought would be perfect.

As they waited for Sherlock to come in, Lori handed Molly a sheet with various package pricings. "Whatever you see there, take 20% off," she told Molly with a smile. "Friends and family discount."

"Are you sure?" asked Molly. "We don't mind paying full price. This is your business, after all."

"I'm sure," said Lori firmly. "Honestly, I'm still finding my way in the business, so you are helping me out. All I ask is that you spread the word that if anyone is looking to have family or other photos taken, that you know somebody who does it. I'll give you a few of my business cards as well before you leave."

Molly smiled. "I can do that."

Sherlock entered the room at that moment, and Greg, who was holding Joseph said, "well, I'll leave you to it. I'll email you those files to look at later."

Molly could see by Sherlock's broad smile that Greg had actually consulted him about a case, after all, and he was delighted about it. She'd have to ask home about it later. But for now, they were here for a photo session.

Lori arranged Sherlock and Molly on the armchair, each with a child on their lap.

Poor Lori had a hard time getting Christina to smile, although Victoria giggled at the funny faces Lori made, and the sock puppet she held up with her free hand that pretended to speak.

After twenty minutes and various positions where Christina had to be coerced each time into a smile, Lori stepped back from her camera. "I think we have some great pictures here. Did you bring along a change of clothes for the girls so that we can take some more casual pictures?"

"I did," said Molly. She pulled the clothes out of the changing bag. These were the clothes that her mother had given the girls for Christmas, including tights. They also had trainers to wear.

Molly dealt with a kicking Christina, while Sherlock used the usual bribe of future chocolate to get Victoria's cooperation in putting on her tights.

When the girls were ready, Lori gestured to the armchair. "Let's get some more casual pictures."

Sherlock walked over first and sat sideways, throwing his legs over the edge of the chair while he dangled an arm over the other side. "Casual enough for you?"

Molly rolled her eyes at her husband's silly antics, but, surprisingly, Lori said, "I love it! Molly, why don't you perch Victoria onto Sherlock, while you hold Christina and sit in front of the armchair?"

Molly did as she was told. Lori managed to make Victoria laugh again with the sock puppet, and she heard Lori say, "Come now, Victoria, put your hands away from your pretty face."

Molly struggled to hold Christina, who was not inclined to be cooperative, and finally, Lori said, "Well, I'm not sure if you'll like the photos., but I think your daughters look adorable."

She moved over to a table with a laptop. "I'm just downloading the photos to the laptop for you to look at," she said. "It should only take a couple minutes."

And indeed, even as Molly looked over at the laptop, images began to appear, one by one. She saw that Lori had taken a great deal of photos.

There were two chairs already in front of the table, and Lori indicated that Sherlock and Molly should take them.

"Let me just get a little snack for your girls. They did really well," Lori said. "Take your time looking at the photos."

Sherlock and Molly looked through the various photos, debating the merits of this one and that one. In some, Molly didn't like her expression. In others, the girls were not smiling enough. Sherlock was wearing a silly smirk in one picture. But there were several good contenders.

Lori brought some fruit shapes for the girls, and she showed Sherlock and Molly how to select photos and then compare them.

After some discussion, Sherlock and Molly chose their favourite poses and a package that included a CD with all the photos so they could print any extra they liked. By this time, having eaten the fruit shapes, Victoria and Christina were sitting on the floor, rolling a ball to one another.

"I don't want to keep you," said Lori, "so I'll print these out, and Greg can deliver them tomorrow morning. Oh, and don't worry about paying me until then. Remember to deduct the 20% too."

"That is very generous of you," said Sherlock, "but you do not need to give us a discount."

Lori folded her arms. "I already had that conversation with Molly, and I told her if she takes some business cards and recommends me, it will more than make up for offering you a discount." So saying, she picked up a small number of business cards that were on the table and handed them to Molly.

"Very well. Molly will be at work tomorrow, but I'll be home all day. And when Greg comes, it will have given me a chance to look over the case he is sending me the files for so we can discuss it."

Molly tried to suppress an amused smile. She knew Sherlock had been denied any really good cases to solve for months, and she could hear the enthusiasm in his voice. She was pleased Greg had something interesting for him.

Before leaving, Molly insisted on giving Joseph a little cuddle, even as Lori did the same with Christina. Cuddling the little boy, though, made Molly's mind drift towards thoughts of whether the baby she had lost would have been a boy or girl, and she had to blink back sudden tears. Fortunately, only Sherlock, with his keen sense of observation, noticed.

She kissed the top of Joseph's reddish-brown curly hair and handed him to Greg, as Lori gave Christina to Sherlock then bent to say goodbye to Victoria.

On the way home, Sherlock said, "Thanks for that, Molly. It was a very thoughtful early birthday present. A family photo is seriously overdue."

"You're welcome, Sherlock, but I can't take credit for the idea. It was Kayla who told me about it and recommended Lori."

His hand reached for hers. "Nevertheless, you made the decision to do it for my birthday, and I was able to get a new case to occupy my time as well."

Molly grinned. "That was definitely an unexpected bonus."

They arrived home to find the package from Amazon had been delivered, and Molly instructed Sherlock to watch the girls for a few minutes so she could wrap his present. She decided not to give Sherlock the photo frame she had wrapped earlier, seeing as they wouldn't have the pictures until tomorrow anyway.

She had also ordered a chocolate cake from the cake shop near Baker Street for tomorrow. It would be easier to get it if Sherlock picked her up from work, and they could get his favourite chips for dinner as well. Perhaps they could even pop in to see Martha.

After dinner, Sherlock told Molly he wanted to go to his upstairs office and spend some quiet time on his laptop, going through the pictures and other files Greg had sent him about the case they had been discussing earlier. Molly was happy to see him eagerly running up the stairs to do just that. She knew how much his work meant to him, and she hoped this would be the start of a return to normalcy.

Later that evening, as they were giving the girls their bath before bed, Molly asked, "Sherlock, would you mind picking me up from work tomorrow? I thought maybe we could get some chips for dinner from Joe's Fish Shop and see Martha, and there's also another quick errand I need to run in that area."

Sherlock shrugged as he lifted Victoria's arm to wash beneath it, eliciting a shriek of laughter from her. "No problem. The more time I get to spend with you on my birthday, the better." He said to Victoria, "You really are as ticklish as your mother."

Molly giggled, recalling the baths they had shared where Sherlock would insist upon washing her body, including her sensitive armpit area. She couldn't help being deathly ticklish there.

"Mama," said Christina, slapping her hand onto the water to regain Molly's attention. Water flew up and onto Molly's dress and she groaned.

"I knew I should have changed out of this when we got home. Now I'm all wet."

The words were scarcely out of her mouth when she saw the decidedly cheeky look Sherlock was giving her, and he opened his mouth.

She stopped him before he could speak. "Don't even think about using innuendo in front of the girls, Sherlock. I know what you are thinking."

He smirked. "Fine. But let me just say that I am glad you did not change, because I wish to remove that dress from your body later." Heat flooded her as he gave her one of those sexy looks, his gaze travelling up and down her body in a way one would expect only from a newly married man. It was quite validating to know how much he still desired her after four years. But of course, wasn't that what true love was all about? It was being devoted to the same person for a lifetime.

When Sherlock and Molly retired to their bedroom for the night, Molly felt a sense of anticipation wash through her. He had been very attentive to her, even as they entertained their daughters. There were butterfly kisses to her neck, caresses of her hand, more seductive looks.

What Molly didn't expect when they entered the bedroom, was for Sherlock to go to the wardrobe and withdraw something, saying, "When I ordered Victoria's birthday presents last week, I also bought you a little gift."

She smiled as he held it out to her, recognising it to be one of those little reversible octopus plush toys.

When she took it from his outstretched hand, however, she saw it was not the same as the ones she had told him about, which had a happy face and an angry face. Instead, this one had red hearts for eyes and a smile. "It's so adorable!" she exclaimed, wondering what would be on the reverse side.

She turned the toy inside out, to the slightly darker pink side, and saw a replica of the winking, blowing a kiss emoji. "Oh, I love it!"

Sherlock smiled at her. "I was going to buy you one of the other kind, then I found this and felt it would be more appropriate. You're almost always happy, and I thought you could just put it on that," he indicated the blowing kiss face of the plush, "side when you are in a romantic mood."

She giggled, gripping the plush with a few fingers while wrapping her arms around his waist. "I don't think it will ever return to just the heart eyes side, in that case."

He grinned and lowered his lips to hers, kissing her breathless, then moving his mouth to trace the line of her throat as his hands caressed her back.

A sigh of pleasure escaped her when he pushed her hair aside to reach for the zip of her dress, pulling it down slowly.

She threw aside the plush toy onto the bed and stepped out of the dress, her own hands working to unfasten buttons.

One by one, garments were removed until they stood together skin to skin, kissing passionately.

Then Sherlock propelled Molly gently backwards until they were both on the bed, where only the little plush toy observed their activity.

Sherlock's hands roamed along Molly's curves as he continued to kiss her. Molly loved the attention he lavished on her, and she did the same. They knew one another so well.

They basked in the passion of their union, and afterwards, Sherlock held Molly close and whispered, "I love you, sweetheart."

Molly sighed happily. Those words never got old, and she would never take them for granted. "Love you too, honey."


Author's note: I encourage you to look up the two praise and worship songs I mentioned. You can find them on YouTube.

The talk about Covid and vaccinations being offered to a wider age range are accurate. Incidentally, only days after the vaccines were opened to 42-44 year olds, they became available to 40-41 year olds, so I wanted to be accurate in showing the progression of availability. And of course, Sherlock would never consider "jumping the line". I hope you enjoyed the hint of having a new case to work on for him.

This chapter contains the photo shoot inspired by my title cover photo.

As for the octopus plushy, I discovered this alternate version on the UK Amazon site and had to use it!

Always happy to hear from my readers. The review box awaits your thoughts on this chapter :)