Saddened that Meena and her family had to go home early due to another predicted storm, Molly sighs and seems to enjoy work a bit less today. As it is with every Christmas season, there is a large influx of deaths that she can just barely keep up with. That only adds stress to her bad mood. Not only does she already miss having her friend and second goddaughter around, but she is missing her brother as well. Granted, she misses him all the time, but it's always harder during the holidays, knowing that the Christmas season was always their favorite when they were little. Their dad had shared many different traditions with them, and when he died Molly took over as the parent since Matthew was only about ten at the time.

Matthew has been deployed for about three and a half years this time, and the constant worry really begins to nag at Molly around Christmas. Other times she can happily distract herself with work, Sherlock, and Rosie.

As she breaks for lunch, she slips her phone out of her lab coat to check if she has any unseen messages. Her notifications show a few texts from Sherlock, but nothing else. Opening her messages, she smiles softly at the sweet texts that she received from him.

{Molly I'm BORED! When will you be home tonight? Please say early. SH}

{Molly? Molly I need you! I'm going out of my mind with boredom! John is busy with Rosie and Greg only has stupid cases that are nothing more than a three. A THREE, MOLLY. Can you imagine a case that idiotic!? Please come home, I need you SH}

{Oh and I love you SH}

Molly giggles gently and replies to him.

{Sherlock, you know I'm not checking my phone at work until lunch. I'm slammed today, like usual in December. I'm also starving, so if you don't mind, I'm going to get some food from the caf. I will see you around seven okay? I'm sure you can survive until then! I love you to Molly}

A moment later, Molly feels hands on her shoulders, and she gasps, spinning around and nearly kicking him. He grabs her leg gently and grins. "Molly, it's me! It's me. I'm so sorry I scared you."

"Christ, Sherlock! You know not to sneak up on me like that! I could have hurt you."

"I know, I'm sorry." He cups her face and kisses her lovingly, which she eagerly returns, melting into him, needing the comfort. Sherlock almost immediately senses that there is something wrong that needs to be addressed. Pulling away, he searches her eyes. "Molly, what's wrong? I know it's a stressful time of year for the morgue, but I can see that it's more than that.

Moly sighs deeply and looks down. "Same as every year. I just miss Matty. He's the only blood relative that I have, and you know…he's my baby brother. Yes, he may be twenty-five, but I raised him half his childhood. It's not only that I miss him, but I- I don't even know if he's safe. He's been in combat for over a year now and I've rarely heard from him and it's killing me. And with the terrible record my family has of getting hurt I-…I'm so worried." Molly tears up and hugs him tightly, sniffling.

"Ohh, Molly." Sherlock holds her close and rubs her back comfortingly. "I should have realized that. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. It's just…it really sucks not knowing. I just wish I could hear from him, just to make sure that he's okay, that he will be okay. I sent out his Christmas package this morning and I probably cried in my car for fifteen minutes before I even made it into the post office. I miss him so much. I know he's a grown man, and I know he's taller than me, and stronger than me, and just…you know, a grown man. But to me, he's still my baby brother, and he always will be. I don't want him to get hurt, and I worry constantly about the worst possible thing…"

Sherlock cups her face with his large hands and strokes her tears away with his thumbs. "Molly, I know it can be easy to think of the worst possible outcome, but you shouldn't. Matthew was trained well, right? He's strong, and capable, and intelligent, going by everything you have told me about him."

Molly nods softly and looks up at him. "I know that. It's just difficult. You know how John's sister handled him going into the military…that did not end up very well. I know they are on better terms now, which is great, but it really does take a toll on both the person that is serving, and the person left behind at home."

"I can understand that, in a way. Can I tell you a secret, that I have never told anybody in my entire life?"

She strokes his cheek and smiles softly. "You know you can. I won't tell a soul. Plus, you already know how good I am at keeping secrets."

"That I do." He smiles vulnerably, his eyes shining with trust and love. Molly can't help but melt at the sight of the adorable crinkles on the corner of his eyes. The ones that only shine through when he's genuine.

"Well...when I was young, around the age of seven, Mycroft went to a special boarding school. It was very prestigious, and of course he got accepted. Anyway…er…when he moved out, I…", he trails off.

"You…what, Sherlock? You can tell me."

"Well, at the time I suppose it was only a couple years after Eurus got taken away and my home was burned sown, and it had been a couple years that we had been living in the new home, and everything was finally beginning to feel normal again. As normal as could be expected, in my family. And then he just up and left. Mum and Dad were proud of him, but saddened to lose another child, even though they knew it wasn't forever. And I lost my brother…or rather, he chose to leave me behind. I was furious at him for so long. There were nights I vaguely remember crying myself to sleep. I didn't have many friends at school. Again…I suppose that was due to the trauma of losing Victor. The thing is, he knew all of that. He knew about all of it, he brainwashed me to forget, and then he left me too. Knowing everything I had already lost. I was a child. I needed him, and he left. The only time I really saw him after that was when I was a teen and he was a government intern, and he'd be dragging me out of drug dens and forcing me into rehab. Can you imagine? HE did all of that to me, and he acted like I was the crazy one. He still does."

Molly swallows and pulls him close into her arms, stroking his hair. "Wow…we are so messed up, huh?"

Sherlock chuckles brokenly. "Yeah. I suppose that's a good thing at this point in life though. That just means that we will be extra careful to make sure that our kids have better than we ever did."

Turning red, Molly nods and nuzzles his nose. "That we will. Also, I believe that you and Mycroft have made a lot of progress. I hope that everything will work out with Matty too. The thing is, I have hope that everything will be alright. I'm just a worry-wart."

Sherlock holds her close and sways gently. "I'm glad that we can trust each other like this, with our traumas, and worries. I love that we can come to each other when we are dismayed. I love you so much, Molly Hooper. My fiancée", he grins.

"Me too. I love you so much, Sherlock. My fiancé", she giggles softly. "Wow, fiancé. Imagine that. I'm still shocked."

Sherlock winks and pecks her lips. "Good surprise though, right?"

"The best, of course!"

"Good. Now, how about some lunch. I believe you said something about being starving, and if I'm not mistaken, I believe the cafeteria is having grilled cheese today. One of your favorites."

Molly smiles brightly and nods, lacing her fingers in his as they walk down the dim hallway to the elevators. "You're my favorite."

"You're my favorite", he smirks and rolls his eyes. "Clearly."