Sherlock cleared his throat and the chatting ceased as everyone looked at him, except for Rosie and Victoria. Rosie was now explaining in her high two-year-old voice the names of the farm animals on the wooden blocks to Victoria, who had cocked her head to the side and seemed to be paying close attention. Kayla had laid a sleeping Adam in the Moses basket. "Yes well, seeing as everyone is here together, Molly and I have some news."

"Oh my God," breathed John. "Molly is pregnant again, isn't she? I thought she looked a little paler than usual."

Sherlock pressed his lips together in exasperation. Why couldn't his friend keep his mouth shut? John had guessed Molly was pregnant the first time around because she had been sick, but at least there had not been an audience at the time. Then he remembered that he had been the one to blurt out the news that Mary was pregnant, and that had been in front of a crowd of people at their wedding reception, even if those people were not aware of his slip. "Yes, Molly is pregnant again," he said, reluctantly confirming John's deduction.

He noticed Greg and Lori exchanging a look and wondered if they were thinking about having a baby of their own. They had married the previous November. Greg was a little long in the tooth, to be sure, but Lori was certainly still young enough to have children if they wanted them.

Mrs. Hudson chose that moment to pipe up with, in one of those chiding tones of hers that she had employed with him back in the days when he had deserved to be spoken to like a child, "Sherlock, how could you get Molly pregnant again so soon? Your baby has just turned one. Now you will have two children under the age of two, and that's no picnic." So much for receiving warm congratulations all around, he thought, rather annoyed with the elderly woman. And how would she know anyway? She had never had children of her own.

Sherlock's lips tightened and he was about to make an angry retort, when Molly laid a hand on his arm and spoke instead.

"We didn't exactly plan things that way, but rest assured, Sherlock and I are very happy about it. I think it will be lovely that Victoria and her sibling will be so close in age." She squeezed his arm, and Sherlock was glad Molly had spoken instead of him. She always knew the right things to say.

Fortunately, Mrs. Hudson seemed satisfied with Molly's words. "Well then, congratulations, my dears."

"Congratulations to both of you," said Lori also, smiling at them, then addressing Molly. "Do you know your due date?"

Molly nodded. "We weren't exactly sure, but we just had a scan done and the official due date is December twenty-first."

Mrs. Hudson clasped her hands together and exclaimed, seemingly to have completely forgotten her earlier words of censure, "Oh, a Christmas baby, how lovely!"

Sherlock's lips quirked. "Before Christmas, if the scan is accurate." Then he added, "However, seeing as only five percent of babies actually arrive on their due date, I suppose that is a possibility, although I would not wish it upon Molly to spend her Christmas in labour."

"It would make for a hell of a Christmas present though, wouldn't it?" commented Greg, and the small assembly laughed.

"I'm so happy for both of you, well, all three of you," said Kayla warmly. Then her brow furrowed. "I don't mean to pry , but how are you going to have room for another baby here? Will you move Victoria back upstairs?" Sherlock knew Molly had spoken with Kayla about the way they had moved their daughter's cot into their own bedroom on New Year's Eve.

Sherlock and Molly exchanged glances and they communicated silently with one another for a few moments, he, putting a twist to his lips and raising a questioning brow, she, biting her lip and then nodding.

With Molly's silent permission, Sherlock cleared his throat again, nervously this time. "Actually," here he settled his gaze on Mrs. Hudson, whose negative reaction he feared most, "we have put in an offer on a house, and are just waiting for it to be accepted. We are...hopeful."

There was a stunned silence and Mrs. Hudson, as he had expected, didn't take the news well. Sherlock watched her face drain of colour, before she said in a quavering voice, suddenly sounding like the elderly woman she actually was, "You're leaving Baker Street?"

Molly rushed in to explain. "Not completely, Martha," and Sherlock couldn't resist the tiniest of smiles as Molly used the name. She had acclimatised much more easily to their landlady's request to address her by her first name, than he himself had. "Sherlock was hoping you would allow him to continue to use the flat as his consulting rooms for cases. We will continue to pay rent for it, of course - unless you would wish to have new tenants?"

"New tenants?" Mrs. Hudson queried, as if Molly had been speaking a foreign language she didn't understand. Then she blinked. "I couldn't bear to let it out to anyone else..."

He saw Mrs. Hudson swallow as she tried to process things and hastened to assure her, "Of course, we would still visit you often as well, even if I am not on a case. Victoria needs her Nanny Hudders, after all, as would our new baby."

Mrs. Hudson gave a tremulous smile. "I understand, Sherlock, and I knew this day would come eventually, once you started having a family of your own. I guess I just wasn't expecting it quite so soon."

Molly walked over to the elderly woman and hugged her. "You're an important part of our lives, Martha, and you always will be."

"Thank you, dear," responded the elderly woman with tears in her eyes. "And I wouldn't think of charging you the same amount of rent when you will also be paying for a house of your own. I will reduce it by half. It isn't as if I need the money."

"That isn't necessary," responded Sherlock immediately. "You've done more than enough for us already, in allowing me to use the basement flat for my experiments at no extra cost."

Mrs. Hudson folded her arms in front of her and spoke in a tone that brooked no argument. "I own an Aston Martin and property in central London. My late husband was a drug dealer who left me an enormous sum of money. If I wish to help out a man who is as close to a son as I will ever have, I shall do so." She sniffed imperiously and Sherlock knew he was beaten.

"Very well, Mrs...Martha, when the time comes, we shall be happy to continue renting the flat at the terms which you negotiate," he responded with a sincere smile.

"That's settled then," his landlady announced, and with her decisive nod, Sherlock knew the conversation was ended.

"So," asked John, looking at Sherlock, "where's the house then?"

Sherlock couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "You're not going to believe this, John. Remember that house we visited together, shortly after Molly and I became engaged, the one where the little boy had asked for my help in finding his missing cat?"

John's brow furrowed for a moment, then his expression cleared. "I remember. I was amazed that you would choose a case that offered such little reward in the way of excitement. It was one of the first indications I saw of how you had changed after Sherrinford."

Kayla looked with interest at her husband. "Did you find the cat?"

"Sherlock figured out the cat had given birth to kittens, and it was in the cellar of the house, having gone through the coal scuttle opening in order to find a dry place in which to give birth," John explained. "I had nothing to do with discovering the solution, it was all Sherlock," he added honestly to Kayla. Then he looked again to Sherlock. "So, you're saying the house went on the market?"

"Indeed it did," answered Sherlock, with a nod of assent. "Apparently Mr. Fisher has been promoted to a position in his job that requires relocation, and they are anxious to sell as soon as possible. Molly and I have put in a reasonable offer and are hopeful for a favourable response." He linked his fingers with Molly's, who had returned to stand beside him.

"So much for you both to look forward to, and so many changes," remarked Lori, glancing at Greg in a way Sherlock did not miss. What is going on between those two? he mused thoughtfully.

Rosie, apparently having had enough of talking to her younger playmate, stood in the playpen at that moment and proclaimed, "Wanna go home, Daddy."

Baby Adam also chose that moment to let out a great wail from his position in the Moses basket.

Even Victoria pulled herself up in the playpen, apparently wanting some attention of her own as she said, "Up."

While John lifted Rosie up and out of the playpen, and Kayla picked up Adam, discreetly putting him to the breast, Sherlock rose and picked up Victoria, then set her down on the floor. She had taken her first steps a few days earlier, and he decided it would be nice for the gathering to see his daughter using her new skill.

Seeming to understand his intentions, Molly called to her daughter, "Come here, Victoria. Come to Mama."

Sherlock raised his daughter to her feet and then let go. Victoria promptly sat back down. With a little coaxing however, she finally made a halting journey of the few steps to Molly.

When she reached her mother and everyone applauded, Victoria turned her head and looked a little startled. Then she gave a big toothy grin and Sherlock was overwhelmed with love for his daughter. She looked so much like Molly when she smiled.

"She is simply darling," commented Lori. Her gaze was soft as she looked at Victoria, and Sherlock wondered again if there might be a baby in Greg and Lori's future.

"I can walk too," proclaimed Rosie rather crossly, with her hands on her little hips, and she proceeded to walk around the room, demonstrating that fact. Sherlock thought with amusement that it would be interesting to see whether the two girls would be best friends or rivals as they grew up. He sincerely hoped it would be the former.

Soon afterwards, the little party broke up. Kayla had finished feeding Adam, and both Rosie and Victoria were beginning to get sleepy.

It had been a fun evening, spending time with their friends, reflected Sherlock as he got into bed after kissing his now-sleeping daughter good night on the forehead, as Molly held her in her arms.

Molly settled Victoria in her cot, then undressed and got into bed beside him, and Sherlock pulled her close. "Did you notice how Lori was acting this evening?" he asked. "Has she ever talked to you about wanting a baby of her own? There is this look in her eyes, this longing..."

Molly thought a moment before responding. "She hasn't said so in so many words to me, but I know what you're saying. I've seen that look in her eyes as well. Personally, I think it would be lovely if they had a baby of their own. I've always felt sorry for Greg that he never had the opportunity to have a child of his own, and I think he'd be a wonderful, loving father."

Sherlock smiled and pulled her closer. "Do you think I'm a wonderful, loving father?" he asked in a deep voice.

Molly's hand came up to stroke his curls in the way she loved to do, and he enjoyed because it was her doing it. "You are an amazing father, Sherlock. But not only that, you're an amazing husband, lover, detective and so much more. Happy Sherrinford anniversary, darling." With that she pressed her lips to his and kissed him.

And feeling thus validated, Sherlock kissed her back and allowed himself to be swept up in the sensations that always overwhelmed him when he was with his wife. He had come such a long way in the two years since he had fully acknowledged his love for Molly.

His hands moved along the curves of Molly's breasts, enjoying the fact that for a while they belonged to him again, now that she was no longer breast-feeding. She had weaned Victoria as soon as she had discovered she was pregnant again, not wanting to risk any nourishment being taken away from the new baby growing within her.

Sherlock was aware from his research on it that risk to the growing baby was minimal, but he was not about to dissuade his wife from her decision. He had, after all, given up his exclusive rights to her womanly curves for almost eleven and a half months, which was quite long enough, thank you very much. Also, her insistence on wearing a maternity bra to bed had been a constant source of irritation, much as he tried to be understanding. In any case, by the time Molly discovered she was pregnant, she had only been breast-feeding Victoria just before bedtime anyway, and feeding her in the middle of the night if she woke, because it made the baby settle down and sleep more easily. In any event, the initial plan had been to wean Victoria when she reached a year old, so they were only a couple weeks ahead of schedule.

For several days, Sherlock had taken care of getting their daughter ready for bed, while Molly removed herself from the bedroom so that Victoria would not look for the comfort of her mother's breast. He also picked her up and rocked her back to sleep on the occasions when she woke during the night for the same reason. Victoria still woke during the night at times, but now she returned to sleep within a few minutes of being held and sung to by Sherlock or Molly. The soft singing of Brahms' lullaby or the humming of other soft melodic classical tunes by Sherlock, or nursery rhymes by Molly, had the same effect as when Molly would feed Victoria to get her to sleep.

Now, Molly's hands made their own path along his body, as her soft sighs of pleasure invited him to continue his exploration. His hand skimmed her belly, not yet showing the signs of her pregnancy. Boy or girl? he wondered, not for the first time, then he made his own deduction. Girl, he decided. Molly's symptoms were exactly the same as they had been with Victoria. He supposed some men would be desperate to have a son, but he would be content with another daughter. After all, that would mean he and Molly would not stop at two, at least, not if he had anything to say about it. The idea of seven children, like in The Sound of Music, had long been quashed from the realm of possibility by an adamant Molly, but two did not seem enough either. Oh well, only time would tell.

Finally, he let those thoughts drift away as he concentrated fully on the woman in his arms and the delights of her soft body. And when Molly, in her more assertive manner that she had been demonstrating lately, took control of their current activity, he did not complain, but enjoyed it fully. She demanded, and he gave her willingly what she wanted, and afterwards, they settled into the peaceful bliss that always followed their union.

"I love you," he whispered, in the same soft, wondering tone of voice he had used on the second time he had said those words to her two years earlier.

I love you," she whispered back, also in the exact way she had done on the fateful night that had changed their lives forever.

They both fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms, with matching smiles upon their lips.

Author's note: So there you have it, the chance to see how my Sherlock and Molly are doing 2 years after Sherrinford. It pleases me to think of them like this, progressing their future in a way I know the show certainly won't do.

I like the idea of Rosie and Victoria growing up together and being friends. You may not see anything beyond this timeline-wise for a long time, because[ I have about 10 stories that are already on my iPad awaiting publishing that pre-date this one. There may be a story sometime this year I plan to co-author with another reader which will continue this timeline. In addition I have one story begun that is set in 2027, involving a trip to DisneyWorld in Florida with Sherlock, Molly and their children, so yeah, I have a timeline for their entire family.

Please continue to read my stories as I publish them and support me with your feedback. I work tirelessly to keep to a regular publishing schedule, but I will be out of town for the next week, and will begin two new stories after that - Molly's diary (which begins shortly after the honeymoon), and another I am excited to share that is a dream Sherlock has shortly after he becomes a father for the first time. If you like the "secret relationship through the canon of the series" idea, check it out when I start publishing it.

If you review this and it takes me time to respond, please know I will do so as soon as I am able. I would love to come back from my trip and have dozens of reviews to respond to!