10th May 2021

"See you after work," said Molly, bending down to give Sherlock a kiss goodbye.

He watched her go and decided to rise himself, rather than go back to sleep. He wanted to be already up and ready to wish Victoria a happy birthday when she woke.

Sherlock dressed and took the video monitors downstairs with him so he would be alerted when either of the girls stirred.

Victoria always enjoyed a scrambled egg as a treat for breakfast, and this was something Sherlock could do well by now, so he pulled out eggs and milk from the fridge. It was her birthday, and he intended to spoil her. It was hard to believe his daughter was three years old today. He was only sorry they couldn't have the Watsons over for her actual birthday. If only the government had chosen May 10 to lift the indoor restrictions, rather than the 17th. Oh well, it couldn't be helped. He knew Victoria would enjoy spending time with Nanny Hooper and Nanny Hudders. Undoubtedly his own parents would want to FaceTime at some point during the day to also add their best wishes for their oldest granddaughter's birthday.

Sherlock had just brought out the frying pan and set it on the stove when he heard a whimper from Christina's monitor. So, she was the first to awaken today. There was no rhyme or reason to which daughter woke first. He went upstairs and collected her from her cot. With no noise from Victoria, he changed Christina's nappy and dressed her, then went with her into Victoria's room.

He placed Christina gently on the bed and she crawled up to her sister.

Victoria opened her eyes and immediately sat up, then reached to draw her sister into an embrace that made Sherlock wish he had his phone on him to take a picture as he looked on fondly. "Baby Chwisty."

After a few moments, Sherlock gently disengaged Victoria's arms from around Christina. "Time to get up, princess. What day is it?"

Victoria beamed. "My birfday!"

"And how old are you today?" Sherlock lifted Christina to his hip again and waited. Victoria had been learning her numbers, and he was curious to see if she remembered how old she was today.

She thought for a moment, then said triumphantly, "Fwee!"

"Good girl." He walked over to the wardrobe to find clothes for Victoria for the day.

He was downstairs later, when he heard Alexa's indistinct voice talking, and realised it was the reminder he had set to call John at 9 o'clock.

Victoria and Christina were happily occupied in the playpen, and he used the opportunity to call John.

John answered on the third ring. "Hey mate, if this isn't an emergency, can I call you back? I'm just finishing some paperwork at the hospital, seeing as I'll be finishing up at the end of this week."

"It's not an emergency. Just call me when you are free."

"Okay. I should be done with this in about half an hour, and I'm sure I can spare a few minutes after that."

"Alright. I'll talk to you then." Sherlock put his phone away in his trouser pocket and observed his daughters for a few moments before turning on the television.

It was only twenty minutes later when his phone rang.

Sherlock withdrew his phone and answered. "Hello, John."

"Finished a bit quicker than I expected. So, what's up?

"I wanted to speak with you, to invite your family over next week on Tuesday, when officially we will be able to gather indoors again, unless something out of the ordinary happens and Covid restrictions are changed."

"Oh, I'll have to ask Kayla to make sure, but I don't think we have anything planned. After this week, I'll be officially footloose and fancy free until we start taking cases together again. I can't wait!" John's voice was enthusiastic.

"I too am most anxious to resume regular investigations in-person." He continued. "I know Victoria is excited to see Rosamund again, to play with her, and I look forward to seeing some interaction between Adam and Christina."

"Matchmaking already, Sherlock?" John's voice was teasing.

Sherlock sniffed. "Indeed not. But I would certainly hope they will develop a friendship even as our older daughters have done."

"I'd like to see that happen too. Well, give me a time and I'll check with Kayla and get back to you."

"Let's say three-thirty, seeing as you will not have a schedule to work around. That way the girls will have time to play before dinner."

"That sounds like a good plan. I'll text you later. Bye now."

"Goodbye, John."

A short time later, John sent a text message.

Kayla says next week is fine. We will bring a dessert to share with you, and we already have presents for Victoria for her birthday. We will also bring along our portable feeding chair for Adam.

Sherlock was pleased. He had not thought that far ahead. The feeding chair he had purchased a few years earlier for Rosamund's use when he and Molly had been at Baker Street had been given to Martha for use when babysitting Victoria.

Another text came in.

And by the way, wish our goddaughter a happy birthday from us.

Will do. I shall look forward to us spending time together again in a social setting.

I couldn't agree more. Laters.

Sherlock's lips quirked as he remembered using that ridiculous term for fun many years earlier at Buckingham Palace.

Laters.

After lunch, Sherlock was not surprised to see a FaceTime call coming in from Molly. She was obviously at lunch and wished to say happy birthday to Victoria, seeing as she had left for work before their daughter was awake. "Hello, love."

"Hi, honey, can I speak to Victoria for a minute?"

"Victoria," Sherlock addressed his daughter who was working on a puzzle, "come and sit on the sofa and talk to Mummy."

Victoria obediently climbed onto the sofa, and Sherlock positioned the phone so she could see Molly.

"Hi, Mummy!"

"Hi, sweet pea. Mummy just wanted to tell you happy birthday. I'm sorry I had to go to work before I could see you this morning. Are you having a good day?"

"Yes," said Victoria. "Daddy made me a scwambled egg for bweakfast and cwumpets for lunch. And I'm doing a puzzle."

Sherlock was impressed. Aside from her adorable lisp, Victoria had an excellent command of language already.

"That's good. And don't forget who is coming for dinner," Molly said.

"Nanny and Nanny Huds." She paused and asked, "And I'll get pwesents?"

Sherlock smiled as Molly laughed. "Yes, you'll get presents."

For Victoria, that was apparently good enough to end the conversation. "Bye, Mummy." She slid off the sofa to resume her task.

Sherlock looked at Molly's image. It was a rare treat to see her rather than just talk to her during her workday. "I think you should FaceTime me more often when you are at work," he said. "I miss you."

She put her fingers to her lips and made a kissing motion. "I miss you, too. See you when I get home." Then she made an exclamation and added, "What's Christina up to?"

Sherlock stood and flipped the camera image to display Christina putting together her animal block puzzle. "Quite content, as you can see."

He flipped the camera view again to display himself as Molly said, "Good. I love you. See you later."

"Love you too. Bye now." He hit the disconnect button.

He spent the rest of the afternoon tending to his daughters' needs, doing activities with them and giving Victoria a violin "lesson". When the girls were otherwise occupied, he spent some time reading his Bible. He and Molly were a few days behind in their Our Daily Bread reading, but he also liked to just re-read portions of the Bible. Today, he found himself reading through the book of James. The words spoke to him in a way they had not done before, where they talked about Christians being put through trials and temptations. He reflected upon Molly's miscarriage. That had probably been one of the most challenging times they had faced together since they had been married. Despite how short the book of James was, Sherlock could see there was a lot of common sense and practical purpose to the book. It really challenged Christians to actively live their faith.

Sherlock fingered the silver cross necklace he wore. He hoped he was doing enough. His hands had been tied over the past year when it came to doing public investigations and offering the glory to God for any success. Covid had kept him away from doing much investigating. Hopefully that would change soon. In the meantime he would continue his endeavour to bring up his daughters to know Jesus as their Saviour.

The sound of the front door opening and a call of "I'm home!" roused Sherlock from his contemplation, and he set down his Bible on the coffee table, then rose to offer Molly a welcome home kiss.

Christina stood in the playpen and said, "Mama. Up," even as Victoria grabbed a leg of each parent, forcing Sherlock to discontinue his embrace.

Molly leaned down to give Victoria a kiss. "There's my birthday girl."

She then reached over into the playpen to haul out Christina. Sherlock felt a little twinge of envy. He looked forward to the time when he would be the one away from home so his daughters could welcome him back later with as much enthusiasm as they did Molly.

Seeking to regain a little attention, Sherlock said, "Victoria, would you like to come for a ride with Daddy when I go and pick up our dinner in a little while?"

Molly's lips twitched in amusement, and he knew she was aware of his little attempt to shift the focus to himself.

Victoria gave an enthusiastic nod. She loved going for car rides. "Yes, Daddy."

He smirked, realising how silly he was being, competing for attention when he had had the sole attention of his daughters all day. But he was only human.

When Sherlock left the house with Victoria shortly after half-past five, Martha and his mother-in-law had not yet arrived. He buckled Victoria into her car seat and got into the car, easing out of his usual parking spot directly in front of the house.

By the time he got back, it was just after 6 o'clock, and he noticed a familiar Aston Martin parked in the spot he had vacated. He felt a flash of irritation. Sometimes it was such a trial not having a driveway of one's own. What a nuisance! Why couldn't Martha have parked a little further up the street? She knew this was his normal spot. Even as these thoughts crossed his mind, he caught himself, feeling ashamed. For one thing, he did not own that parking spot, for another, anyone else could have taken the spot while he was gone. Besides, Martha was elderly and had hip issues, which sometimes hampered her mobility. A few extra steps would not kill him, and he'd been annoyed about his lack of opportunity for exercise recently.

He parked further up the street, thinking he was possibly displacing another person from their usual spot. When Martha went to leave later, he'd probably be able to reclaim his usual spot after he drove Molly's mother home. She had insisted she could arrive by Tube, despite the fact she was bringing a cake, but Sherlock had no intention of allowing his mother-in-law to return home by the Tube at night when he was perfectly capable of driving her.

He released Victoria's hand to open the front door, which Molly had left unlocked, and entered with Victoria.

The front room was empty, so he proceeded along the passage to the dining area, where he immediately saw Christina already in her high chair. Molly, her mother and Martha were already seated, and he heard Martha say, "Once I learned about Frank's philandering with other women, even though I was upset about losing my baby boy, a part of me was relieved as well."

Ah, thought Sherlock. Apparently, the women had been talking about the topic of miscarriage. he'd have to ask Molly later about Martha's. He knew a limited amount of Martha's history, that she had met Frank during her days as an exotic dancer, that he had swept her off her feet. And then, of course, she had discovered he ran a drug cartel. But he didn't know anything about why she had never had children with him, and her revelation to Molly on Easter Sunday that she had had a miscarriage had been a surprise which had led to him wondering why she had never had a family of her own, why she had treated him like a son.

He saw the fondness in Martha's eyes as she spotted him. "Hello, dear." Then her eyes dropped to Victoria. "And how's the birthday girl?"

Victoria went over to Martha to receive a hug from her surrogate grandmother, who was the closest to her, then accepted a hug from Molly's mother, who stroked her hair fondly and said, "I can't believe my granddaughter is three today!"

While Molly's mother took care of getting Victoria settled in her chair, Sherlock and Molly took charge of getting the food onto plates. Molly had already placed glasses of water, with the crushed ice she prized so much, on the table.

They were just cleaning up after eating when Victoria clapped her hands and asked, "Pwesent time?"

Sherlock gave her an indulgent smile. She had been a good girl. He had told her in the morning that she must wait until after dinner, and she had remembered. "As soon as the dishes are cleared away, princess," he told her.

A few minutes later, they congregated in the front room. Presents from Martha and Molly's mother already awaited, and Molly ran upstairs to bring down their bags of wrapped presents for Victoria.

Victoria eagerly tore off the wrapping paper from Nanny Hooper's presents, which included clothing, books and the board game, Home Run. From Martha she also received clothes and the board game of Snakes and Ladders.

And then Victoria opened her presents from Sherlock and Molly. When she saw the plush octopus, she had to turn it from one side to the other several times before Molly managed to convince her to open the rest of her presents.

By the time she was finished, there was quite a pile of discarded wrapping paper.

"Oh, Sherlock," said Molly as they worked to clean up the paper, "I forgot to tell you that your parents FaceTimed too while you were out getting dinner. They said just to FaceTime them back later this evening."

Sherlock nodded. "We can do that once we've thrown this paper away." He snatched at a piece of paper, which Christina was about to put in her mouth. "No, Christina. We don't eat paper."

When Christina looked as if she was about to cry, Martha stretched out her arms and said, "Come here, lambie," and Christina toddled to her.

With the wrapping paper successfully thrown away, Molly brought out her iPad to FaceTime Sherlock's parents. Martha relinquished Christina to Molly as Sherlock held Victoria on his lap so his parents would be able to see both of their granddaughters.

His mother answered the FaceTime call and beamed. Sherlock's father was seated beside her. "Happy birthday, Victoria," she said, even as Sherlock's father added his own birthday congratulations.

"We will be coming to London next month and we will bring your birthday presents with us," Sherlock's mother told Victoria.

Sherlock immediately deduced the reason. "Are you planning to be here for Mycroft's birthday, seeing as we were unable to celebrate it together last year?"

His mother beamed. "I see your powers of deduction have not lessened despite this past year making it difficult for you to utilise them. Yes, we are planning to come up to London perhaps for a week. We thought we might stay with Mycroft for several days and then if you are willing to have us, we thought we would spend some time with you and your family as well."

"That would be lovely," said Molly before Sherlock could respond.

"Yay!" said Victoria, clapping her hands.

They conversed for a few more minutes, and Victoria insisted on showing her grandparents some of the presents she had received.

After they finished the FaceTime call, Molly asked, "Well, should we go and sing happy birthday to Victoria now and have some cake?"

This merited another enthusiastic response from Victoria, and they all returned to the dining area.

Molly brought out the cake on which she had placed three candles, which she set alight. She put the cake in front of Victoria. Sherlock was pleased to see it was a chocolate cake his mother-in-law had brought.

They sang happy birthday and Victoria blew out her three candles then looked around, waiting for acknowledgment.

"Well done," said Sherlock, giving the top of her head a pat.

He placed Christina in her highchair, and Molly's mother situated Victoria at her spot while Molly cut pieces of cake.

After cake, Sherlock asked Victoria, "Would you like to play one of your new games now?"

He was pleased when she nodded and said, "The piwate one."

They sat at the table and played a few rounds of the game, and Victoria shrieked with laughter each time the pirate popped out of the barrel. Molly's mum did not participate, but instead watched while holding Christina, who was getting sleepy.

Sherlock found it amusing that Victoria was happy when she made the pirate pop out of the barrel, even though technically that meant she was the loser. To her eyes, it was a win.

Finally, when Victoria had been the one to cause the pirate to pop up three times, she said, "I'm done," and they packed up the game.

"Well," said Martha, looking at her watch, "I think it's time for me to leave."

"If you're ready, Ruth, I'll take you home now as well," said Sherlock.

"Sherlock, don't trouble yourself with that. I'd be glad to take Ruth home," said Martha.

Molly's mother smiled. "I'd be delighted to take a ride in your Aston Martin." She looked at Sherlock and Molly. "I saw her arrive in it. Thank you both for such a lovely evening. It's so wonderful to feel like things are returning to normal at last." Her eyes rested on Sherlock. "Molly told me you had your first vaccination last week."

"I did. I hope soon to resume taking cases regularly in person," he looked at Martha briefly to include her in the conversation, "so we may be soliciting both of your babysitting services once again very soon."

"That will be no problem at all," said Molly's mother, even as Marha echoed the sentiment.

Sherlock grabbed his car keys as they all headed outside to say goodbye.

As soon as Martha had driven off, Sherlock strode up the street to his car and was able to secure his usual parking spot once again. He did like being able to see the car from the front bay window. It made him feel more secure that nobody was going to steal it.

Back inside, Molly was setting up the Disney Princesses version of the Memory game on the dining table with Victoria. "I told Victoria we could play one more game before we give her and Christina their bath," she explained.

Sherlock scooped up Christina, who was watching whilst sucking on her Pusheen toy. Victoria was now able to play with the entire 64 cards in the animals version, so Molly used all the princess cards as well.

Victoria had excellent memory recall already, and Sherlock wondered if he'd manifested his own memory skills at such an early age. It was something he'd have to ask his mother. Yes, next month when they came to visit, he would make sure they witnessed Victoria's skill, and he would ask the question about himself.

Sherlock himself at this point in his life had perfect recall on the position of any upturned cards in the game, but he sometimes deliberately hovered his fingers over the wrong card before choosing a match, and more times than not, Victoria would point to the correct one and say, if he selected the wrong one, "You're silly, Daddy," or other words to that effect.

Even Molly's words of admonishment to Victoria couldn't prevent Victoria from showing off her own skill. She was definitely her father's daughter.

With Christina on his lap, Sherlock would give her a card to look at, but he took care to make sure she didn't try to place any in her mouth. Any blemish on a particular card would make it unusable in the future, because he would have an unfair advantage in knowing what picture the card contained.

They had a fun game, and Sherlock allowed Victoria to win, but not by much. Molly lagged way behind in her number of pairs as always. He was never quite sure whether she deliberately made mistakes or whether she just wasn't particularly good at the game, and he was not going to ask. He didn't much fancy one of her famous slaps for having the gall to ask such a rude question. Of course, he knew quite well that wouldn't actually happen. That day in the lab had been the first and last time she had exhibited any physical display of censure, but she knew how to give him "the look" which was almost as bad. Oh yes, he still recalled that look when he had scoffed at the notion of that train guy having a girlfriend. But he preferred not to think of the day he had discovered Molly was engaged to another man, even though it had been a few years.

Sherlock pushed his cards towards Molly, who was putting them away, and he released Christina, who was struggling to get down. Without volition, his thoughts turned in the direction of Molly's ex-fiancé. He knew they had continued to keep in contact, with his blessing, and that Tom had sought help for his drinking problem, but it had been a long time since Molly had mentioned him, and he wondered if they were even still in contact.

Apparently noticing his pensive look, Molly said, "What has you so thoughtful, Sherlock?"

He looked over at her. "I'll tell you later."

The girls were both getting very sleepy. Christina had not had her usual nap, and they didn't even want to splash about in the bathtub as they liked to do. In fact, Molly put Christina to bed immediately, while Sherlock got Victoria into her pyjamas.

"Did you have a good birthday, Victoria?" he asked, after he had her situated in bed, as Molly entered the room to also say goodnight.

Victoria gave him a sleepy smile. "Yes, Daddy."

"Goodnight, sweetheart." He bent forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead, and Molly said goodnight as well, then they left the room together, closing the door softly behind them.

A short time later, Sherlock and Molly were settling themselves under the covers when Molly asked, "So, tell me what it is you were thinking about earlier."

Sherlock smiled. Molly might not have the best memory in playing the Memory game, but she remembered he had said he would let her know later what he'd been thinking.

He slid an arm around her. "My thoughts were just wandering, and I happened to think about your ex-fiancé. Have you heard from him lately?"

A crease formed between Molly's brows as she considered his question. "Actually, it has been a few months now. I know he had met another woman and they were engaged. They were planning their wedding but didn't have a date set because of the Covid restrictions. For all I know, they might be married by now. He seemed really happy and settled though. I was glad about that. Did I tell you he joined AA?"

Sherlock shook his head. "You did not. But that's good news. I'm glad to hear he is doing well. I did feel a measure of guilt for some time with my return to London and how it was the eventual cause of your breakup."

Molly snuggled against him. "I still thank God for that timing. Tom was not the right man for me. It was always you, Sherlock."

He pressed his lips to her forehead, much as he had done with Victoria. "I'm grateful for God's timing as well." He suddenly recalled what he had overheard upon his return from getting dinner earlier. "By the way, when Victoria and I got back from Nando's, Martha was saying something about losing her baby boy. I assume she was talking about her miscarriage?"

"Oh, yes." Moly lifted her face towards him. "I found out something I think you will find very interesting. My mum had asked how I was doing since the miscarriage, and she shared with Martha how I was her miracle baby, and then Martha told us how she had a miscarriage many years ago. She was far enough along that she even experienced labour, and found out it was a baby buy." Molly paused, and Sherlock knew she was building up to something big. "And then she told us that if her baby had lived, he would have been your age, Sherlock. She said that she feels as if God gave her a son to replace the one she lost - you. She loves you so much."

Sherlock's mouth dropped open in astonishment. He knew Martha treated him like a son in many ways, but he'd never realised the depth of her feelings for him. It was truly humbling. "You know, I don't think I've said it, but I do love her too. She took good care of me when I was at Baker Street."

Molly's hand moved to clasp his own. "Well, you should tell her that. I'm just happy to know she believes in God, even if she isn't a Christian. Maybe one day she will come to know Jesus as her Saviour, as we do."

He squeezed Molly's hand back gently. "We'll keep showing her our faith in the way we live, and we'll keep praying for her too. Only the Holy Spirit can soften her heart to the truth."

Molly's lips curved upwards in a tender smile. "I love you so much, Sherlock. It has been a good day, hasn't it?"

He dipped his head down to brush his lips against hers. "Yes, it has, my beloved."


Author's note: A happy, busy day! The game Home Run is, I am guessing by looking at the image of it on Amazon, the same thing as the one we call Trouble in America and Australia. Also, for those who do not know, Snakes and Ladders, which is called the same thing in Australia, is like the American Chutes and Ladders, except that they use images of snakes for the players to slip down, rather than chutes. Bit of trivia for you all! I love seeing the little differences between England and America, even when it comes to games. I use the UK Amazon site to check for items I use in my stories.

So, this chapter gives a little info about Tom that follows up on his character after I last talked about him in my initial story. It keeps consistent with my personal backstory for him. I always find it fun to add little glimpses of how various people are doing in my personal Sherlolly universe.

And what did you think about the revelation of Mrs. Hudson's miscarriage and one of the underlying reasons for her attachment to Sherlock? Does it seem plausible to you?

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Just one more left to complete this particular story, but don't worry, I have plans to still continue their journey further in future stories, including a second honeymoon for Sherlock and Molly.

By the way, if you are not familiar with the book of James in the Bible, I do recommend it. My family has experienced a year filled with trials and tribulations already, but, as it says in the book of James, as Christians, we should expect to be tested in our faith. I know I can rest on the Word of God and His promises to get me through even the worst of times.

Don't forget to spread some love and review!