Author's note: As usual, my thanks to Elizabeth Robello for her title cover image. How many people are blessed enough to have someone who is willing to make these images exclusively for their stories?

January 2019

"I'm home!" sang out Sherlock as he entered the flat on Saturday, a few days into the new year. "I even brought dinner." He held up a bag containing Chinese take-away.

He was in a great mood. He and John had had a rather enjoyable day, successfully chasing down a thief who had broken into several houses in the same neighbourhood. It was like old times.

Molly looked up from the sofa where she was breastfeeding Victoria and smiled. "That was rather good timing. I was just trying to think of what to make for dinner. I already fed Victoria a pouch of baby food but she insisted on some milk from the milk machine as well, even though I had just breastfed her before I gave her the baby food."

Sherlock laughed at that. He set the bag down on the coffee table, then bent to kiss his daughter's head as she suckled at her mother's breast, followed by a more lingering kiss to his wife's mouth.

"I'm assuming the case went well?" questioned Molly once their lips had parted.

"A simple matter of deducing where the man would go to make his next move," responded Sherlock. "Greg was on standby with back-up, but John and I cornered him and er...convinced him to turn himself in without a fight. It seems so many people turn to crime to get money to fuel their drug habits. I felt a bit sorry for him, really, quite a young lad too. Hopefully, he will get clean in jail and turn his life around afterwards."

Molly sighed. "Yeah, well, at least by getting him sent to jail you are keeping him off the streets. One less potential body for me to have to do a post-mortem on." She winced suddenly and looked down at the baby. "Victoria, don't bite Mummy!"

"Teething again?" asked Sherlock, raising a brow. When Victoria had got her first tooth she had tested it out on Molly's nipples more than once.

Molly nodded. "I noticed this morning that her first top tooth has just peeked out from her gum and I think the next one won't be far behind. She's been so grizzly lately."

"I am aware," he responded dryly. "Keeps me up half the night with it."

Molly frowned at him. "Do you wish we had left the cot upstairs so you wouldn't have been disturbed during the night, and only I would have had to deal with it?"

"No, no," he assured her hastily. "I don't regret moving her cot into our bedroom, even if it does make it slightly crowded." He sat beside Molly and brushed her hair back from her face so he could plant a little kiss on her neck, and he felt her quiver slightly. "Anyway, I much prefer you bringing Victoria over to the bed to feed her, to leaving me alone at night while you go upstairs and sit in the rocking chair with her."

"Yeah, I must admit, it's much nicer not having to put on a dressing gown to go upstairs every time as well. It's a bit chilly up there." Molly lifted the baby up to her shoulder and patted her back. Victoria turned her head towards her daddy and gave a satisfying little burp, gazing at him with her bright blue eyes that matched his. He could never get over the beautiful combination of Molly and himself they had created together.

"Let me hold her for a bit. I haven't seen her all day," he said, reaching out his arms.

Molly quirked an eyebrow as she passed Victoria over to him. "Aren't we going to eat dinner?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Perhaps you could get the plates ready and put the take-away boxes on the table?"

Molly bent over and kissed Sherlock's cheek before getting up. "Of course. I don't begrudge you spending some quality time with Victoria. I've had her all to myself today anyway."

She took the bag of Chinese and headed into the kitchen while Sherlock spent a little time holding her and stroking his thumb along her cheek. Suddenly, she grinned at him, and it reminded him she had just cut a new tooth. He gently put his forefinger in her mouth, and she immediately closed it over his finger. He could feel those two bottom teeth making quite an indentation against his finger. Turning it, he felt her top gum. Sure enough, he could feel where the first top tooth had cut through, and her gum felt swollen on the other side, as if the next tooth was ready to erupt. Gently he rubbed along it and she made a soft cooing sound; undoubtedly his action soothed her sore gums.

"Food's on the table," called Molly, and he rose with Victoria, continuing to hold her on his lap as he ate. She watched with interest as he brought the food to his mouth. At one point he popped a couple grains of rice in her mouth. They were soft enough, he figured. If Molly noticed, she did not tell him off. Victoria experimented with the new texture, at least until her little tongue pushed it back out. Apparently she wasn't quite ready for it, he reflected.

After they had finished dinner, hearing a rumble followed by a noxious smell emanating from his daughter, Sherlock relinquished Victoria to Molly. He had fulfilled his New Year's Eve booby prize obligation of changing the next five dirty nappies and did not feel at all inclined to continue doing so unless absolutely necessary.

Molly rolled her eyes at him, but changed their daughter's nappy without protest. By that time, Victoria was looking very sleepy, and Molly settled her into her cot for an early night for once. Because of her teething woes, the baby had not had her usual afternoon nap, so it wasn't surprising she was tired earlier than usual.

Of course, Sherlock was not about to pass up the chance for some quality alone time with his wife.

As soon as Molly returned to the sitting room, Sherlock invited her to sit on his lap by patting his knees.

She obligingly did so, curling sideways and winding her arms about his neck. "Alone at last," Sherlock murmured, placing his own arms around her waist and kissing her.

After a few minutes of eminently satisfying kissing, they finally broke apart and Molly rested her head against Sherlock's racing heart. "So, how was it being out on a case with John again, knowing you will be able to work together whenever you want now that he's sold his share of the doctor's practice?" she questioned, linking their fingers.

"I must admit, it was more enjoyable than I had expected," responded Sherlock. "I guess I owe my brother a debt of thanks for making it possible."

Molly tilted her head upwards. "I was thinking, Mycroft really has been remarkably generous where John is concerned. He even took care of most of the arrangements for Mary's funeral when John was in such a bad state. I guess he must consider John part of the family."

Sherlock's brow furrowed. "Mycroft is not known for being philanthropic, but you are right, he has shown a remarkable amount of it with John. Perhaps it was because he knew John was good for me, helped me to improve myself. As for helping with funeral arrangements for Mary, perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he knew Mary during her years as an assassin."

Molly's lips curved into a smile. "What I find remarkable is how your brother knew Mary back then and never thought to tell you about it when you came back to London to find she and John were seeing one another. Extraordinary really."

And suddenly, a cog shifted in Sherlock's brain; long dormant wheels stirred into motion. "Oh, my God, Molly." His tone was hushed. "What if Mycroft somehow had a hand in bringing Mary and John together in the first place? I wouldn't put it past him. Great way to keep himself informed on what John was up to. He tried the same method when John and I met, to have John spy on me."

Molly's mouth opened in astonishment, and she twisted in his lap to face him more fully. "You're not really suggesting Mycroft might have enlisted Mary as his own personal spy?"

Sherlock chewed on his lower lip and absently reached for Molly's hand again, stroking her palm with his thumb. The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. "Why not? Mary got a job at the clinic where John was working some time after I left London. I never thought about it before, but that seems decidedly convenient when you consider that during the Magnussen case I became aware of the fact that Mycroft already knew about A.G.R.A. and that Mary was part of it. When I returned to London, Mycroft knew exactly what John had been doing since I left, even as far as being able to tell me the name of the restaurant where John would be with Mary when I decided to seek him out. I feel like an idiot for not having thought about this before."

Mollys eyes were round with wonder. "It all makes sense, Sherlock, but you shouldn't feel bad about not thinking about the potential connection before. You did have a rather full plate when you got back to London."

"Yeah, the planned attack on Parliament, and the way John was furious with my deception." He stroked his lip, remembering the way John had reacted to the revelation that he was, in fact, not dead. Being punched and head-butted had not been a pleasant experience.

He looked into Molly's eyes. "In addition, I needed to process the unwelcome information that my pathologist had become engaged to another man in my absence, and I had to come to terms with that."

Molly leaned against his chest once more. "I must admit, I admired your restraint in not trying to deduce Tom the way you always did in trying to sabotage any other relationship I might have been interested in pursuing."

Sherlock's right hand that had remained at Molly's waist while they had been talking moved upwards to rub small circles in her back, and she emitted a soft sigh of contentment at the gesture. "I still shudder to think that you even went out with my nemesis, before I knew who he was."

Molly's lips quirked. "I wasn't truly interested in him, and you know it. I was just trying to make you jealous."

"I did rather act like a territorial arse to you in those early days, didn't I? Aside from Moriarty, it really was completely unwarranted, but I felt no man was good enough for you. I didn't think Tom was either, but you had agreed to marry him, and I had to respect that. It would not have been right for me to try to drive a wedge between you, so I kept my thoughts to myself."

"I'm glad you said nothing," Molly admitted. "I needed to realise for myself that Tom was not the right man for me. I still can hardly believe that only a year after John and Mary's wedding, I ended up marrying you instead. Thank God you came back before it was too late."

Sherlock dropped a kiss to her head. "God's timing, love. I believe our conversation has veered somewhat off-track, though. I don't particularly care to revisit memories of the time when you had another man's ring on your finger."

"You're right, let's get back to this talk about your brother and his connection with Mary," agreed Molly. Suddenly she stiffened and sat upright, then looked at him again. "Remember how you told me Mary left London after you confronted her about that Ajay bloke? You told me she must have still had some connections to her former life to get fake passports in order to leave the country."

"Indeed I did." His tone was thoughtful as he added, "I never considered with whom she might still be in contact."

"What if-" Molly hesitated a moment then blurted out, "What if Mycroft was the one who helped her leave London?"

This time it was Sherlock's turn to open his mouth in astonishment at Molly's words. She was brilliant. "Perhaps you need to change your job description from pathologist to detective, my love," he said admiringly. "I believe you've hit the nail on the head. It's like the puzzle pieces are all coming together."

"I suppose it doesn't really matter now, does it?" said Molly, and he heard the sadness in her voice. "Too much time has passed."

Sherlock stared at her in disbelief. "Do you really think I can just let the matter rest without knowing for sure what the truth is? Oh no, I will visit Mycroft and demand a full explanation from him as to the exact nature of his relationship with my best friend's late wife."

"You aren't intending to see him tonight, are you?" questioned Molly, curling her arms around his neck as if to prevent him from leaving her.

"No time like the present," declared Sherlock, moving his left hand to beneath Molly's legs as if to push her off his lap. At her squeak of protest, he chuckled. "Just kidding, love. Of course I'm not going to see him tonight when I have the rare opportunity for some quality alone time with you because our daughter is sleeping for once. I'll text him later and arrange a meeting for Monday."

He was rather gratified when Molly beamed and removed her hands from around his neck to start undoing his buttons. Apparently they were on the same page about how to spend their quality alone time, even if the bedroom was off-limits due to their sleeping baby. Well, it wouldn't be the first time they had had to find an alternative venue, he thought as he waited for her to finish unbuttoning and followed it by his own actions of removing her blouse and running his hands along her bare skin, save for the ever-present maternity bra. It was a constant thorn in his side that she only allowed him to remove it on special occasions. Of course, he thought as an idea hit him, she would remove it if they had a shower together.

"Fancy a shower together?" he asked, giving her a suggestive wink.

She gave him a knowing look. "You're only suggesting it so you can take off my bra."

He didn't bother denying what was obviously true, merely cocked an eyebrow.

She laughed and pressed her lips to his briefly, then got off his lap and held out her hand. "Shared shower it is."

A smug smile adorned Sherlock's lips as he allowed himself to be led to the bathroom.

Later, once they had tiptoed into the bedroom to retrieve and put on dressing gowns, then situated themselves on the sofa, Sherlock sent off a text to his brother.

Need to meet with you about an important matter. Monday morning, okay?

As he waited for Mycroft to respond, Sherlock brushed out Molly's still damp hair, then braided it for her while she read the Bible passage and daily devotion from Our Daily Bread. Usually Molly insisted that he do it, citing her enjoyment of hearing his speaking voice. It was nice to be absolved of that responsibility for once and listen to her doing the reading instead. Her soft, melodic voice enthralled him as much as she claimed his voice did the same for her.

He was just finishing the braid when his phone chimed with a text alert. He twisted the hair band into the end of Molly's hair and then leaned forward to retrieve his phone from the coffee table.

What's so urgent, brother mine? Care to elaborate?

Sherlock showed the text to Molly. He thought the element of surprise would be better, to catch his brother off-guard, but he liked to confer with Molly because she was his calm voice of reason, and her advice was always sound. "Do I tell him or not?"

Molly thought a moment. "No, I think your best option would be to just confront him and demand answers so he doesn't have time to make up some kind of sugar-coated explanation. When you see him you can tell him you want the truth, that you are quite certain he placed Mary into John's path to begin with."

Sherlock nodded. "Agreed. Glad we are on the same page."

He tapped out a response.

Would prefer to wait until we are face to face. What time would be convenient? It might take some time.

Mycroft's response came almost immediately.

Very well, I am intrigued. Ten o'clock. I'll let Anthea know to expect you.

Thank you, Sherlock responded, then set down his phone.

A smile crossed his lips as he looked at Molly. "You know, I'm rather looking forward to finding out some answers and making Mycroft a little uncomfortable. I still feel somewhat resentful that he never bothered to inform me of Mary's past until after Ajay came into the picture to expose it properly. If he had, I would not have found myself in a position where she surprised me in Magnussen's office and ended up shooting me."

Molly sighed. "It still hurts me to think she did that to you, but sacrificing her life to save yours does redeem her a lot in my eyes."

"I know," Sherlock agreed soberly. "If Mary hadn't been there, I would most certainly have been a dead man."

Molly's lips twisted. "Of course, if it weren't for Mary and her past, you wouldn't have been involved in the case to begin with, so I suppose it's a circular argument."

Sherlock took her hand. "I'm just glad things didn't play out like that dream I had last year where you took the bullet for me and nearly died."

Molly rested her head against his shoulder. "Technically, it was the year before." He rolled his eyes at her correction as she continued. "At least it still had a happy ending for us."

"I must say, I am grateful that all those dreams we have had as a result of me reading through your diary ended up with happy endings. They are eminently preferable to the occasional snatches of nightmares I've had that involve Moriarty and him succeeding in killing you."

Molly shuddered. "He truly was an evil man, and the world is definitely a better place without him."

A wail erupted from the baby monitor. "I'll get her," said Sherlock, preventing Molly from rising. "At least she slept for a while. Let's hope you can feed her, and she goes back to sleep."

He went to their bedroom and picked up his grizzling daughter, noting that her nappy was wet, undoubtedly the reason she had awakened.

He returned to the sitting room with Victoria and changed her (wet nappies were not really an issue, after all), and handed her over to Molly.

Once Victoria had finished feeding, she seemed alert rather than sleepy, and Sherlock and Molly spent some time entertaining her with tickles that prompted giggles, as well as playing pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo.

Some time later, Sherlock placed Victoria in the baby swing that had been a Christmas present from Mrs. Hudson. The gentle rocking motion served its purpose, and once the baby had fallen asleep, he gently unbuckled her and headed back to the bedroom to return her to her cot.

Soon afterwards, he and Molly also retired for the night. As Sherlock drifted off to sleep, with his arm looped over his wife as usual, he thought that Monday couldn't come soon enough; it was definitely time to get some long overdue answers from his brother.

Author's note: One thing I enjoyed showing in this chapter is how, contrary to popular belief, it would be possible for Sherlock to be a family man who is happily married even as he is still involved in his detective work. I've always thought that Sherlock and Molly complement one another, and I hope you can see that when I write, particularly when she is able to come up with ideas to help him. He's an even better detective with her as a sounding board.

Additional note: The dream where Molly is shot instead of Mary is one that has not yet been published. It is part of the diary timeline, and I will begin publishing that one soon. Stand by for Confronting Evil and the Truth.

So, the game is on, and the story is set for the confrontation - are you looking forward to it? The review box below awaits your response.