Authors Note: Here be chapter three much to your glee for all of you to see and all of you to read! I don't really know what made me break into a rhyme there, lame as it was, but c'est la vie! Reviews, reviews, reviews! I love them, and there are very little for me to look at right now! There's a bit of a plot twist at the end; hope you enjoy. I think it sets up what could (I stress that word) happen later on. Many thanks to Jack of all Suits for the beta!

Chapter Three

It had been a week since Beth had been notified she would be regulated to desk duty. She wasn't about to admit it to Holmes or to Grayson, but as she flew home from work, Lestrade was a little grateful that they'd forced this new assignment on her. Her 17th week of child bearing had just ended and her 18th was beginning tomorrow, and she couldn't help but think back on the conversation she'd had with her boss seven days ago and remember what he'd told her.

Sure enough, the ankles were beginning to swell, though not heavily, her back was complaining a little more at being moved at all, and various aches in her calves manifested themselves at all times of the day and night. None of this was extremely painful, but it was just annoying enough to make her want to spend the duration of her pregnancy lying in bed.

But today was a day that she was going to grin and bear the pain and the exhaustion. It was nearing noon now, and she and Holmes had an appointment at 12:30 with her obstetrician, Dr. Novak. As Beth piloted the cruiser down and landed somewhat roughly in front of their flat, she couldn't help the giddiness that was bubbling up inside. She'd had ultrasounds before, and they were amazing to look at, but this appointment would mark the first time she and Holmes would be able to see their son or daughter actually look like little human being!

Lifting up the hatch, she stuck her foot out of the hover cruiser and made to get out, but the shutting of a door caught her attention. She looked up and over the roof of the vehicle and was surprised to see her husband bounding down the stairs in all due haste. "Where's the fire?" Beth laughed, greeting Holmes with a kiss on the cheek as he walked over to her.

"I didn't want you to climb the stairs needlessly, so I came to meet you. Come now; get in the cruiser, on the passenger side if you please. I shall fly us there."

"Holmes, you can't pilot a police cruiser, you don't have the sufficient license; it's against the law!"

"Pure poppycock my dear, I have my superior officer with me." He guided her to the other side and opened the hatch for her. "In you go like so, and let us be off!"

Within minutes, Holmes and Lestrade were joined with the rest of the New London lunch traffic as they headed to the New London Memorial Hospital.

"You know, I've been thinking of names lately." Beth rested her hands on her slightly swollen stomach and glanced at her husband. "But I like too many of them. I can't decide."

"Perhaps we should wait and see what the gender of the child is first before beginning the tedious task of name selecting names." Holmes smoothly bypassed a few hover vehicles before easing back into his chosen lane and continuing the conversation. "We have more than enough to worry about for now besides picking and choosing names that may or may not be used when he or she arrives."

"Maybe, but I want to be doing something. Thanks to you, I get to think about this all day at my desk." Beth nudged him playfully. Her only response was a casual roll of the eyes. "If it's a boy, we could name him after your brother…"

"Can you imagine a child being named Mycroft in this day and age?" Sherlock snorted and shook his head. "I have a healthy respect for my brother, Elizabeth, but I shall not inflict such torture upon my first born. He would be laughed out of the school house…which, come to think of it, may not be such a terrible idea. The children are all packed into their study rooms like sardines; perhaps one less pupil would do the school system good?"

"The kid's got to attend school, Sherlock." Beth looked at him wryly. "Unless you want to home school them?"

"Good heavens, no. My idea of educating a child would most likely have the New London Social Services knocking on our door. Remember, Beth; I am of Victorian schooling, the old and incomplete way of thought."

"And yet you still have reporters calling you up asking for interviews, not to mention you're the one Grayson calls when he gets stumped on a case."

"Perhaps," Sherlock exited the main thoroughfare, descending with more than normal care to ensure his wife was comfortable throughout the entire flight, "but those statements, true as they maybe, would be less amusing to the current education boards of the day."

"What if it's a girl?" Beth meandered back to the original discussion. She could have sworn she'd heard Holmes gulp and she glanced at him. "Sherlock?"

"Would it be inconvenient for you to say I desire a boy?"

"Not at all, since medical studies have confirmed it's the male's sperm that determines the sex of the child, and not the woman's egg." Beth smiled sweetly. "What's wrong with having a daughter?"

"Nothing, so long as you don't mind the fact that she would never see the light of day and would be under my constant care and vigilance until she reached the age of thirty."

Beth had no choice in the matter; she exploded in laughter, dissolving into giggles and shaking her head. "You have to be joking; you can't be one of those fathers!"

"And why ever not?"

"Because your sense of fairness and equality would never allow it. Plus, I'm going to be her mother, and if you think I'm gonna let my daughter grow up sheltered and naïve to the world, you've got another thing coming."

Holmes sighed as he piloted the hover cruiser through the entrance barracks of the New London Memorial Hospital and into the landing bay. After pausing to pay the guard, he directed the vehicle forward until he found a suitable spot and parked. "It is not so much the world that I am worried about. Better to say I am more concerned with the men in this world and all the problems, pain, and tribulations they can cause."

Husband and wife removed themselves from the cruiser and locked it down, moving towards the entrance. "That won't be a problem," Beth assured as they walked into the hospital and headed for the elevators. "We'll raise her right, just like we'd raise a boy right. You're worrying about nothing, lover." She grinned at Holmes' obvious discomfort as they stepped into the lift. "With any luck, if we do have a daughter, she'll find a guy like her father."

She didn't miss the red hue growing over her husband's cheeks as they rode the lift up to the obstetrics wing of the hospital. After checking in and waiting for a few minutes, they were called back to their room.

"I think I get another ultrasound today." Beth hopped on the patients table, pointing out the equipment in the room and gently kicking the base of it with her feet. "They'll probably draw some blood too..."

"That must be delightful, I'm sure."

She snorted at him. "Y'know, for all of your brains and loveable arrogance, I really don't think you'd last one week as a woman."

"Quite right…those bodies of yours; I don't know how you deal with them."

"It's not like we have a choice."

At that moment, the door slid open in a way that always denoted a doctor was about to enter the room, with self importance and haste.

"Ah, Beth," Dr. Rose Novak smiled in greeting at both her patient and Holmes, a data pad in her hands as she closed the door. "How have both of you been?"

"Just fine, thank you, and yourself?" Holmes replied, settling down in the chair beside the examining table and crossing his legs. The doctor glanced at him wryly. "I was actually referring to Beth and the baby, but sure, you too!" She set down the data pad and motioned for Lestrade to lie back against the table and place her feet on the pads. "So…we're into week 18 now, correct?" She rested her hands on Beth's pelvic area and began to press lightly around the stomach area. "Any pain starting yet?"

"A little bit; I've felt worse though. There's just some discomfort in the back and my feet are starting to hurt more. I am getting more tired though."

"Perfectly normal. If you weren't in such great shape before your pregnancy you'd be feeling it a lot more." The doctor stepped back from Beth and wheeled the ultrasound over. Being that it was the 22st century, the machine had made a lot of progress since its 20th century inception. Gone were the black and white smudged pictures; replaced by pure, clean, perfectly pictures of a growing life. There were now features which allowed the ultrasound to magnify to the point where the actual embryo could be defined. Gone also were the days of being unsure if there were one or two babies to be had. Gender misidentification was a thing of the past. Unfortunately, the ridiculously cold gel was still something that had to be contended with. Beth winced as the clear substance connected with a slightly warmer-than-normal stomach and sent a chill down her spine.

"And….there we are…" Instinctively, she moved her head to see the picture on the screen, and she felt Holmes drag the chair over next to her. There he was…or she, whichever one it turned out to be. She felt a strong grip on her hand and Beth returned it, as mesmerized as she had been with the last three times the little life had been shown to her.

"Coming along very nicely," Dr. Novak smiled, the elated and simultaneously shocked grins of first time parents-to-be never ceasing to warm her heart. "Your last few blood samples have all looked normal; I expect this one will be no different. Feel free to admire the view while I take a little bit, yeah?"

There was no vocal response, but the doctor wasn't offended in the slightest. She prepared the hydro needle and was slightly amused when Beth didn't so much as flinch at the prick. "I'll be back in a moment. You two…enjoy the view."

Chapter Three

"All I'm saying is, she could have told us the gender of the baby, and we wouldn't be worrying about what color furniture or sheets to buy." Beth crossed her arms and looked out the window as Sherlock was in the pilot's seat once again. "Parents find out the sex of their babies all the time before actually having them. It's a smart thing to do."

"It also takes all the fun out of it," Holmes argued, rounding a bend carefully, "I would rather be surprised when the child is delivered."

Beth looked at him, arms still crossed as she smirked. "If it's a girl, you could spend the next four months getting prepared for her arrival."

"Beth, if we have a daughter, I promise you it will take me much more than four months to be adequately prepared for another female that, no doubt, will be a carbon copy of you." He placed a mark on his internal score card as his wife's jaw dropped.

"You're insufferable, you know that?" she finally muttered.

"I do know that Beth."

"Where are we going?" She glanced around the atmosphere outside. They weren't heading home, that was for sure. In fact, they were heading into the business district of New London.

"I thought perhaps we would drop by the store I was perusing last week."

"Last week?"

"Yes, remember that day when you came home from work rather disgruntled at the prospect of doing nothing but reports for the next few months?" As he spoke, Holmes passed over what Lestrade knew to be a very large and popular shopping mall and circled the cruiser dock. "I took the liberty of coming here and pricing some essential furniture that the child may need. I believe I have found exactly what we requirethat is both of good quality and value."

"You went shopping for baby stuff on your own?" Beth chuckled as they both got out of the cruiser and headed into the mall, which was still quite noisy even though it was after the lunch hour. "That must have been a sight for the paparazzi. I can hear the headline now; 'Famous Detective Searches for Well-Priced Crib: Details on Demand."

"Oh, more, please, I should like to hear this story," Holmes guided her onto what was literally called the 'people mover' and they rode the level escalator across the great corridors and throughways of the mall until Beth felt a tug on her shoulder, signaling to her that the store Holmes had picked was up ahead. She raised her eyebrows in approval as they entered. "Not too shabby, Holmes. Can't help but notice the 'old world' influence though."

"It's never too early to begin instilling culture in the little one." He guided his wife further into the store and very quickly, Beth realized she was being shown to a particular section of the shop. "I didn't figurewe would need anything terribly technological. A simple crib with a matching rocking chair and dresser was all I was raised with when growing up." He stopped in front of a set and displayed it proudly with a sweeping hand gesture. "However, as this is a child of two worlds, I know that he or she will eventually be exposed to wonders I never had the chance to experience when I was younger. I thought this particular set would be a good compromise."

To begin with, the crib was made with actual wood, not the synthesized plastic or cool metal that most were made of nowadays. However, it had been fused with late 21st century wiring to allow for a motorized mobile which, upon closer inspection, allowed for videos and music to be shown to the child that were no doubt educational in nature. For the display, soft cotton fabric covered a down pillow and various other cushiony objects, and there were the few old loved stuffed bears lounging around as well.

Holmes watched Beth carefully as she scrutinized the set before her. "If you don't like it we can continue to look, of course-"

"No. No, I like this," Beth smiled softly, running her hand along the soft wood, a far off look in her gaze. "I gotta say I'm a little surprised you've taken such a lead hand in all of this."

"Am I not supposed to be finding things for the child on my own?"

"No, you should be!" Beth rounded the last corner of the crib to stand next to him. "It's just that most men don't, that's all. It's kinda nice, having a hands-on husband."

There were so many things Sherlock could have said to that innocent compliment, but being the gentleman that he was, he kept them firmly in his head and mouth, simply offering his arm to wrap around his wife's shoulders. "Shall we buy it today or wait?"

"Where would we put it?"

"In the room we have set aside for the child, of course."

"Oh, great, so all the dust and cobwebs can fall all over it." Beth stepped back up to the crib again and rested on its railing. "We can buy it and then have it delivered, yeah?" At Holmes nod, she grinned and slapped the wood lightly. "Let's do it then!"

In no time at all, Holmes had paid for the furniture set and both he and Lestrade were walking through the mall once more, hand in hand. Business had picked up considerably for the stores as the local schools let out and the kids, as they often did, descended upon the shops for after class meet ups and shopping extravaganzas.

"'ey! Mr. 'Olmes!"

"Seriously?" Lestrade grumbled as she heard the familiar cockney tones of one Baker Street Irregular Deidre.

"Ah, Deidre…and Wiggins!" Holmes greeted them warmly while Beth held back. It wasn't that she didn't like Deidre, but she found that she had to be in a particular head space to deal with her rather spunky, prying, peppy nature. She was nowhere near that head space currently. She and Holmes had an appointment with the doctor, she and Holmes were probably going to grab an early dinner soon, she and Holmes had just bought the baby's first set of furniture. Beth wanted a day with her husband so they could do baby things. Together. Alone.

Alone together. Yeah, that makes sense, Lestrade.

"Inspector!"

"Huh? Yeah, what?" Beth looked down at Deidre's expectant face. "I asked 'ow the baby was comin' along!"

"Oh, fine, he's fine," Beth nodded her head and smiled.

"It's a boy?!"

"What? Oh, no, no, no! No, I was just referring to the baby as a 'he' for…you know….oh forget it." She ran a frustrated hand through her hair and looked around. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Deidre wanted to get the scoop on some guy that's been sending her love notes, wants me to go with her so that it doesn't look like she's tryin' to get the scoop on him." Wiggins answered, and both Lestrade and Holmes couldn't help but notice the rather large scowl on his face. Beth wasn't sure but she could have sworn she saw just the hint of jealousy behind Wiggin's dark eyes and skin. If he was feeling such an emotion however, the young man didn't let on anymore than that, and Deidre was completely oblivious to anything her friend was saying or doing at the moment.

"-so cute, really! 'is fashion sense is wild, the drawin's he does are fantastic, and he's got such a head for what's cool!" Deidre was practically a puddle on the floor right in front of the married couple.

"Well, I must say, that is marvelous news, Deidre. I'm sure you will let us know the moment your courtship begins with this young man?"

"Oh, I hope I get tha' lucky, Mr. 'Olmes!" With that, Deidre grabbed hold of Wiggins' hand and began pulling him away towards a music store just across the corridor. "C'mon, mate! We got a date with Mr. Handsome!"

"I'm thrilled, really…too much for words," Wiggins grimaced and, with a sympathetic gaze from Sherlock and Beth dutifully followed Deidre away.

"Ah, young love."

"And jealousy," Beth added shaking her head as they began walking again, her arm tucked into her husband's.

"You noticed that as well?"

"Uh, yeah, it wasn't that hard to notice the glare he was burning into the store front right across from us." Beth chuckled. "Who would have thought Wiggins would ever be interested in Deidre?"

"And why ever should he not be? Our young Deidre is quite intelligent for her age, vibrant, and an exceedingly happy soul. In my humble opinion, their two personalities would meld wonderfully together."

"Maybe, but Wiggins is kinda shy when he's around the girls—oh! Ice-cream!" Beth pointed at the hover stand a few feet away from them. It was a circular platform with at least a dozen long pipe-like stands protruding out of it. Atop the pipes were baskets filled with various flavors of ice cream and standing in the middle was an employee, dutifully handed out cones and bowls of the sweet treat.

"I need that," Beth decided out loud and headed over to the stand, coming back moments later with a bowl of what Holmes knew to be double chocolate fudge and a small dish of something else as well. "Ah, only the best flavor in the world; pistachio nut. Excellent, my dear Beth. I thank you."

"Yeah, well, seeing as you've been busy getting the baby's furniture set and carting me around all day, I figured you could use some kind of reward." Beth grinned and pecked him lightly on the nose, living a small dab of sticky chocolate on it. Holmes arched an eyebrow.

"And here I thought no one could ever accuse me of being a…what is the word, 'brown noser'."

His wife's laughter followed the joke as she tried to wipe the treat off his nose with a napkin, and as she was doing so, Holmes just happened to look up and. When he did, his eyes, which had been filled with happiness a second before took on their narrow and pointed featuresas they normally didwhen he saw something which perplexed him. Lestrade was still busy trying to get the ice cream off his nose, and unfortunately, her helpful hand was in the way of his sight. Holmes reached up and steadied her, stopping her from blocking his view. Beth frowned.

"What is it?" She followed his gaze carefully and her eyes wound up where his did. A young woman, younger than Beth for certain, with long brown hair that curled at the tips waswalking with two rather bulky men at her side. Lestrade had a hard time believing that either of them was her boyfriend, but she couldn't understand what had captivated her husband so. She shook her head and glanced back up at him, both of their deserts completely forgotten. "Who is she?"

At that moment, the girl must have gotten the impression she was being watched, because she looked up, and her eyes locked with those of Holmes. Her step faltered somewhat, but not enough that the men by her side noticed, and she recovered quite well. She bent down, appearing to tighten the boot that clad her foot and as she did so, long heavy hair spilling over her shoulders, she glanced up at the couple, smirking confidently. Neither Holmes nor Lestrade could miss the pompous malevolence that lurked there.

Quickly, finishing with her boot, she stood up and continued on, her chin raised a little higher in the air as she passed them across the hallway, the men by her side not even noticing the couple she'd been glaring at.

"Sherlock?" Beth stood looked back up at him. "Who was that girl?"

"That, dear wife, was Annabelle Wilson."

"Annabe-you mean the girl Moriarty kidnapped to…oh." Suddenly the ice cream she'd gotten didn't seem so appetizing, and she tossed it into a trash receptacle droid that meandered by.

"Well, I suppose that's enough for one day," Holmes also threw away his dish and took Beth by the elbow. "Come my dear; I'll take you home."