Resilience

Genre: Family; Angst

Pairings: Greg and Molly

Main characters: Greg, Molly, Greer

Greer stood in the doorway, unseen, listening in. She knew it was a bit naughty, but her mummy and daddy looked so sad and so worried, she just couldn't help herself.

Greer also knew, because observing and watching and thinking about it all – what she would in the coming years learn was simply analyzing it – and were just things she did almost instinctively, that something was wrong with her schoolmate, Melissa. Missy, as she was known by her classmates, had been absent a lot lately, and when she was there, she was tired, and seemed a bit pale. Greer had had a sad and ugly feeling about the whole thing, ever since the last time Missy had managed to return to class.

Greer didn't believe in ghosts, thanks to Uncle Sherlock's influence, but if she ever saw a ghost herself, she imagined, sadly, that she would look an awful lot like Missy did that day.

"I don't even know how to start," Molly said quietly to Greg. At this, Greg took a breath, letting it out with a shake of his head, his face downturned. "So young… DAMNIT, Greg, how can I look at our beautiful girl and not think how easily this could be her instead, US, instead?"

Greg said nothing for a few moments, choosing instead to hold Molly's hands and let their foreheads rest against each other.

Finally, his eyes still closed, still clutching Molly's hands, his forehead still resting against hers, he said, a bit louder than they'd been speaking, "Little Love, you might as well come in. I'm afraid we've some bad news…"

Greer blinked at this – not so much at the fact that Daddy had known all the time she was there, but at the ominous promise of bad news. Instinctively, Greer knew it was about Melissa.

She watched as her daddy rose his head up, and closed his eyes for a few moments. When he opened them, it was with a sad, reassuring smile to mummy. It would take a few years, but Greer would one day come to recognize that look as saying, "No worries Love, we've got this."

"It's about Missy, isn't it, Daddy? Mummy, what's happened?" she asked in a small voice, looking to both her parents. "It can't be good, oh I just KNOW it can't… she's looked so ill…" Greer said. Suddenly, unexpectedly, she found her voice breaking and her composure cracking.

Molly reached out, pulling her small daughter towards her and Greg. "You're quite right, my darling girl. It IS about Missy. You're a very clever girl, and not much gets past you. Oh, I'm so SO proud of you for that," she said. "Missy HAS been very ill… and she's been absent because she's been in hospital. Her doctors have been trying to get her set to rights again."

"She's been at St. Bart's," Greg said softly, resting his hand on her back, "and mummy has been able to visit her and keep an eye on things, Little Love. So no worries, she's been well looked after."

"Just… not well enough, has she?" Greer asked. She was quiet for several moments as she considered. "I'll never see her again, will I Daddy?" she said, suddenly. "I mean… she's… she's like we thought Toby was that time… but he wasn't… but… Missy actually IS…"

"She is, Little Love," Greg finally said. "Now it's a bit hard to explain, but Missy had cancer. Do you remember when Sergeant Ambrose was ill?" he asked, wondering if his little girl had been too little to remember that far back.

"Oh, YES, daddy, I remember him. Oh he was SO nice, and smart and clever! But suddenly he was gone, and you looked SO sad and… tired. Like you and Mummy looked when we thought Toby had died."

"Well, Greer, it's just like that," Molly said gently. "Missy fought just as hard as Sergeant Ambrose did, but in the end, it wasn't quite enough."

"Are YOU okay?" Greer suddenly asked, a look of deep concern passing over her face. Greg and Molly shared a look with caught breaths.

"We will be, yes, my girl," Molly finally said, with a hesitant smile. "Not today, maybe not tomorrow, but we will be. ALL of us will be okay," she replied.

Later on, when Greer, sad but determined to be strong, had been tucked in by Molly, and sung to by Greg, they had joined each other in the living room, in front of the fireplace.

"WHERE does she get that… resilience? She's just so strong. Certainly stronger than I could ever be," Molly said, as she settled back into the comfort of Greg's arms on the couch.

"Honestly I've no idea, but I suspect it could be a collective influence… I reckon it chiefly comes from Mrs. Hudson, though," Greg said, as he brought his hand up to absently stroke her arm. "Do we know a stronger woman than her, really? I mean, think of the sheer bullshit she put up with before we moved here with the boys," Greg pointed out. "If she could survive Sherlock's earlier years she could bloody well survive anything."

Molly laughed softly at this, grateful for her husband's darker sense of humour, dispensing itself in just the right dosages at just the right times.

"You have a valid point, darling," Molly admitted, with a small relieved giggle. "Several factors tamed that rogue upstairs, but thank God he wasn't completely reined in. Sherlock adds his own influence to the children. A zest for life, don't you think? A sense of adventure, wanting to make the most of every single moment and live it all to the fullest. We could learn lessons from him now, I think."

Greg tightened his embrace briefly. "Hmmmm, yes," he murmured, sleepily. "We absolutely could. Perhaps we already have. From him, and Mrs. Hudson certainly. Compassion and a sense of duty from John, no doubt. I see that in all of them as well. I think perhaps our girl is going to be something of a rock, a shoulder to lean on, for her classmates, yeah?"

Molly sighed at this, wondering in the back of her mind if it was worth disturbing the both of them to arise from the sofa to relocate to their bedroom, before remembering that her hip would hate her in the morning, and Greg's back would be even less forgiving of his folly. "It would surprise me more if she wasn't just that," she admitted. "Oh yes, darling, our Greer is resilient. I think we could take lessons from her as well."

Greg took a bracing breath, before shifting himself, rising from the sofa and taking Molly in his arms from behind as she rose. Gently, he guided them both to their bedroom, knowing they both desperately needed respite and slumber from this long and taxing day. "Indeed, we could," he yawned from behind her.