Notes: I am so sorry that it has nearly taken me a month to post chapter 3. I have been so busy with college work that i barely feel like i have had time to sleep let alone write. I had to write an essay which took a lot of time out of writing. The chapter I'm about to post is actually the first half of chapter 3. overall chapter 3 became around 5679 so i decide to split it up. The other part will get posted later in the week. anyway on with the story and enjoy :-)

Over the next couple of days, Sherlock spent a lot of time in his Mind Palace. John was used to his flatmate going into this state for days at a time, but the news of finding out he had a daughter, gave him more of a reason to be worried about how his friend was feeling. He didn't bring anything up until he came back from work three days after finding out about Sam, he saw Sherlock sat on the sofa with tons of books in front of him and 3 different laptops, one of which was his.

"New case?" John asked, dumping his work bag on his chair.

"Not really but you could say this is research," Sherlock said, not looking up from the book he was reading.

John walked over to one of the piles of books and picked it up. "Understanding Cerebral Palsy" John read out loud. He picked up a couple more. "Explaining Cerebral Palsy, Children with Cerebral Palsy, Cerebral Palsy A Complete Guide for Caregiving. What is all this Sherlock?"

"I told you research, John," Sherlock said in a frustrated tone of voice.

"Is this about Sam?" John asked.

"Obviously." Sherlock said, dropping the book down. "Though I don't see the point -every book says something different and everybody online has conflicting opinions. I need to know the right things."

John was completely lost, "Right things?"

"God, you really are slow. I need to know everything about the condition Sam has. I want them to know that ... I understand it but what's the point, when not all the information is the same?"

"Sherlock, you do know that it's different for each person that has it. Molly said that, remember? It's good that you're doing all this research mate, but I think it's better if you spoke to Molly about it or even Sam herself. Hearing first hand is better than trying to read all of this information that might not even be right for her."

"What if asking questions pushes them away?" Sherlock asked.

"What if asking brings them closer?" John countered.

"Fair point." Sherlock mused.

A couple of days later Sherlock was back at Bart's helping on a case for Lestrade. When he walked into the morgue to look at a body, he saw Molly there. It was the first time he had seen her since he agreed to go over for dinner.

The moment he saw her he felt instant anger fill inside him. "Ah, Molly have you got the body ready for me, or are you going to keep that from me for twelve years too?"

"What?" Molly asked, not believing what she heard.

"I said have you got the body ready for me?" Sherlock repeated.

Molly fiddled with the buttons on her lab coat. "Yes, it's … um all ready for you."

Sherlock walked right past Molly to examine the body. While he was leaning over the body he could hear Lestrade asking a question.

"Is John not with you today Sherlock?"

"Well he is not here now, is he? Use your inspector skills to work that one out," Sherlock stated bluntly.

"He's working at the clinic today. They're busy at the moment. Some bug going around; he's working overtime," Molly said to Greg before asking Sherlock a question. "Is John okay Sherlock? I haven't seen him since last week."

"John's completely normal. He wasn't the one who's been kept in the dark for all these years so he's fine."

"Is everything alright between the two of you?" Greg asked, sensing the tension. "I feel like I'm missing something."

Sherlock looked up from the body and gave one quick glance at Molly before turning his attention on Greg's question. "You see, the thing is, Gavin, I found out last week that I have a daughter, one I had with Molly. She is almost a teenager and I've only met her once and let's just say the family reunion wasn't exactly happy. She was kidnapped by Molly's ex-boyfriend, well he pretended to be at least. That psychopath, Moriarty, my brother contacted you about; well, he made her wear a bomb vest that almost killed us all. So yes, things are a little bit awkward between the two of us."

Molly felt her face go red and she could barely look at anyone in the room. "I did what I thought was best," she said to the floor.

"No, you did what Mycroft thought was the best thing," Sherlock said, walking over to Molly so he towered over her. "It wasn't the right thing though. You know I still can't work out why I didn't see it, the first time I saw you again after all these years. But it obvious now. Bags under your eyes that look like they have been there for years. The horrible baggy clothes, was that to keep me from noticing the change that pregnancy leaves your body with, even long after a child has been born?"

"Sherlock!" Greg tried to intervene.

Sherlock ignored him. "Though she was born early I can see that you never really lost the last five," Sherlock looked her body up and down. "no, six pounds after she was born. Hm, so it wasn't domestic bliss after all just lonely motherhood. What kind of mother hides a secret like that?"

Almost instantly Molly slapped Sherlock hard around the face. He looked shocked and hurt as he brought a hand up to rub where she hit. "The kind of mother who does what's best for the child protecting them, so they don't get hurt. Yes, it's hurting you now but it's a small price to pay knowing Sam's been safe all these years. You couldn't have been there then, and you know it. Sam is fine by the way, thanks for asking. I still want to know when you are coming over to see her. Don't forget that you promised to come for tea, so you can get to know her."

"She wants me there?" the detective asked.

"Yes. Though I will try to make sure she is on her best behaviour."

"I honestly can't get my head around this - Sherlock Holmes a dad. Wasn't a sentence I'd ever think I would say," Greg interrupted. "So, who is she most like?"

Molly and Sherlock had forgotten that they were not alone in the morgue. Molly smiled slightly as she thought of her daughter. "She's got a bit of both of us… I guess she's definitely got her father's tongue though."

"Oh, god help us all." Greg laughed.

"She's a good kid really." Molly smiled. "Can get into a bit of trouble but has a good heart."

"Well, as nice as this chitchat sounds, can we turn our attention back to why we are here?" Sherlock interrupted. "It was the brother in law. Injected her with poison but went through where she has this tattoo," Sherlock said, pointing to a tattoo on the woman's wrist. "It was done for the inheritance. I'm sure if you look again, Molly, you'll see that I am correct. Really, Gavin, you told me this case was at least a seven, it barely turned out to be a three."

Molly moved over to the body to see if Sherlock's deductions were right. After a few more checks Molly was able to prove that Sherlock was right.

"Molly?" Greg asked. "How old is your daughter?"

"Sam's twelve," Molly responded with a smile.

"Oh, that's the same age as my son. He's the oldest of mine. Maybe we could get them all together sometime."

Sherlock's head shot up immediately. For some reason, he knew he didn't want his daughter near this boy or any boy for that matter. "After you two have finished speaking, could we wrap up this case?" he questioned bluntly.

The detective inspector made a few calls after he was finished, then he turned back to Sherlock and Molly. "Donovan is going to go arrest the brother in law."

"Well, I'm no longer needed here," Sherlock said before he went quiet for a moment and stared into space, it was a few moments before he spoke again. "Tomorrow. Does tomorrow evening work for both you and Sam?"

"Oh, er yes, tomorrow is fine. Is five o'clock fine?" Molly questioned.

"Yes, that's okay. I'll see you then," Sherlock said before he walked right out of the lab.

Molly started to put the body away. "Are you okay, Molly?" Greg asked while he watched her.

"I'm fine, I guess. I knew Sherlock would have to find out about Sam one day and I knew he wasn't going to be happy with me. I … it's just still come as a shock to hear him say those things."

"He did cross a line, though that was a good slap you gave him back there. He had it coming if you ask me."

Molly brought her hand up to her mouth as she gasped. "I didn't mean to slap him. It just kind of happened. Please don't tell anyone I did that. I can't have it getting back to Sam somehow, she needs to see her parents getting along."

"Don't worry, Molly, I'm not going to say anything." Greg smiled at her. "Look, I better go and get on with the investigation. Hope tomorrow goes okay, yeah?"

"Thanks, Greg," Molly said to him as he went out of the morgue doors.

In the corridor, Greg found Sherlock stood against the wall staring into space. He knew from experience that the detective did this a lot. "It's always life changing having a child come into your life," Greg said as he patted the detective on the back.

"What?" Sherlock said.

"You might not think it now, Sherlock, but fatherhood is going to change you. You will want to do anything for her, believe me. Maybe buy her a gift or something, that would be nice. Just don't screw it up." Greg patted him on the back one more time and walked off once again, leaving the detective to his thoughts.

By the time Molly got home, she found Sam reading a book while David watched a movie on the telly. "I'm home," she called as she sat her bag down.

"Hi, Mum good day at work?" Sam asked as she put her book down.

"It was eventful, to say the least," Molly said as she kicked her shoes off.

"Someone's annoyed you today, who was it this time? Was it one of the new young interns?" Sam guessed.

Molly bit her lips then quickly mentally kicked herself. Sam knew this was one of her tells when she was withholding information from her. If she tried to keep this from her, Molly knew Sam would not drop the subject till she knew the truth. Better to get it over with, Molly thought. "You are right, it was work. Sherlock came into the lab today with Greg, that detective inspector I told you about, he had a case for your father. He said a few things that were hurtful, but I know that was to be expected."

Molly saw Sam's face quickly changed from happy to sad in a matter of seconds. She knew what her daughter was thinking. In a moment she walked over to the sofa and knelt in front of it taking her daughters hands in hers. "Oh honey, he didn't say anything bad about you. It was just about me, I promise."

"He is still coming over, right?" Sam questioned with tears in her eyes.

Molly wiped them away. "Yes. In fact, he will be here tomorrow. I was thinking we could get your favourite."

This made Sam's face light up. "Fish and Chips?"

Molly laughed "Well, what else would we have?"

Sam thought about it for a second. "Well, we could have a roast dinner."

Molly laughed once again. "A roast dinner on a weekday? We only do that at Christmas."

"I guess that's true," Sam said back.

"You okay now?" Molly asked as she got back up on to her feet.

"I am if you are, Mum," Sam replied.

"I'm just okay but even better now I'm home and have seen you," Molly said as she kissed the top of her daughter's head. "Has she been good?" Molly asked David, Sam's bodyguard.

"Very good Ma'am. Got all her homework done," David said. "Never in my training did I think I would be helping a client do homework, but I don't mind."

"Has she done her Physio?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mum, I have. I swear."

Molly looked at David just to make sure her daughter was telling the truth. "Yes, she has, Ma'am."

"Good, you'll just need to do it tonight," Molly said, turning to Sam.

"I know, Mum, I know the routine."

"If I'm no longer needed Ma'am, I'm going to head home."

"Oh yes, thanks for watching her."

"It's always a pleasure looking after her," David said to Molly. "Sam, behave for your mother."

"Don't I always?" she quipped back in a style that mirrored her father.

Molly snorted. It was times like this she knew without a doubt she loved her daughter and keeping her was the best decision she had made. For all these years Sam had been hers for so long, and as of tomorrow, Sherlock was going to get to know their daughter. Molly just hoped for Sam's sake it would all go okay.

Notes:I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Sherlock really said somethings to Molly but good on her for putting him in his place. I would really love to have your feedback for this chapter. It might make me add chapter 4 just that bit quicker.

Just wanted to also say this part of the story fits into series 2 just after everything at the pool but before Sherlock has met Irene I'm sticking to the series canon as closely as I can.

As always thanks to goodshipsherlollipop for beta reading this for me. Thank you :-)