Premature

"So, what are we watching tonight, TV or a movie?" Mary asked, drying up the last plate, as Molly let the water out of the sink. They had done the same the other 2 nights this week that their husbands had been in Bath; dinner, washing up and then TV or a couple of movies, until the men came home and found them both asleep on the sofa.

"I looked through the TV times earlier, there's nothing I particularly want to watch on." Molly answered.

"Film it is then." Mary agreed, digging through Molly's cupboards for the popcorn they had stocked up on, as Molly lowered herself awkwardly onto the sofa and picked up the remote, opening the film library on the Smart TV to search for a film. Thankfully both women had similar taste in films, and they soon settled on an old 90's chick flick, that neither of them would have been able to get away with watching if their husbands were home.

They were about halfway through when Mary noticed Molly tense up, arms wrapping around her belly, and eyes squeezed shut.

"Molly? Are you okay?" She asked, pausing the film and turning to her friend in concern.

"It's fine, I'm fine." Molly gasped "It's just a Braxton Hicks… false contraction. I get them quite a lot, the baby is so close now. It'll be over soon just… carry on."

Mary still looked concerned, but nodded, and pressed play again. She only relaxed when Molly did, a few minutes later. They kept watching the film for another half hour, with Molly tensing again every 10 minutes, until Mary couldn't bear to do nothing about it anymore.

"Is there anything I can do to help? Did you want some water? Or I can give you a massage if you like, I'm good at massages. " She offered.

"No no it's fine…. It's fine." Molly insisted, "It sometimes help if I move…" She pushed herself up and started shuffling forward on the sofa to get up. As she put her hand down behind her on the sofa for leverage her eyes went wide, lifting her hand back up and looking at the dampness on her palm. Mary looked from her hand back to the seat, where the wet patch was clearly visible on the sofa and on Molly's skirt.

"Molly is that… did your waters just break?"

"No no no, not now… it's too early, it's not supposed to be until next week. And he's not here, Sherlock's not here." Molly cried, giving up on getting up and just rocking slightly to ease the pain of the contraction.

"It's okay, just stay calm." Mary told her, trying not to panic herself. "Early births happen, and if that's what it is we'll just have to deal with it. We'll phone Sherlock, he'll come back. He'll be here in time, okay? You call him, I'm going to call the hospital to let them know you're gonna be coming in early."

Molly nodded and grabbed her phone from the arm of the sofa, selecting Sherlock's number and pressing it to her ear, eager to hear his voice. As the phone kept ringing without an immediate answer, Molly began to worry, and when his voicemail kicked in she let out a wail of distress before redialling and trying again. This time it went straight to voicemail.

"Molly?" Mary asked, having finished her brief phone call to the hospital.

"He's not answering. Dammit, he's supposed to answer!" Molly moaned.

"He'll never change…" Mary muttered, "Try John, John will answer."

Molly nodded, and after leaving a quick voicemail for Sherlock, she scrolled down to John's number instead. She breathed a sigh of relief when he picked up on the second ring.

"Hello Molly, everything okay?" he asked with doctorly concern.

"Nonotreallyi'mgoingintolabourandSherlockwon'tanswerhisphone." She explained so quickly it all rolled into one "Can you pass me over please?"

"Oh! Okay… hang in there, I'll just go get him, and then - "

"Go get him? You mean he's not with you? You weren't supposed to let him out of your sight!" Molly exclaimed, exchanging a look with Mary.

"Just relax, okay Molly. Don't get worked up. He just went to the toilet is all, I saw him less than 5 minutes ago." John reassured her, in full doctor mode. "Just hold on a sec…. Sherlock! Sherlock are you in here?..." The sound of his calls were distant, as he held the phone away from him while shouting for Sherlock. Then there was a rustle as he tried to cover the speaker, but not successfully enough for them not to hear his rather loud cursing.

"He's not there, is he?" Molly groaned, closing her eyes in weary defeat.

"Molly, I'm so sorry, I don't - "

Mary snatched the phone out of Molly's drooping hand and cut off her husband's excuses.

"You listen to me, John Hamish Watson. I'm taking Molly to the hospital now. You find Sherlock, and you get him there before this baby is born, or you will be sleeping on the sofa for a month, you understand?"

"Yes Ma'am." John replied, the soldier in him reacting to the command in her voice.

"And do be careful. Love you."

"Love you too."

John allowed himself a brief smile for his wife, before hanging up the phone and refocussing his attention on the issue at hand. He took a big breath, shook his head angrily, and ran back across the banquet hall, eyes scanning for any sign of Sherlock. He took the doors out onto the terrace, onto which the party spilled, but there was still no sign of him. He stopped for breath by a window looking down onto the Baths, and that's when he saw them. Two men, dragging an unconscious form, which could only be Sherlock, towards a side gate. After letting another swear word fly, and apologising to some ladies nearby for it, John raced away again, heading down to the Baths to rescue Sherlock.

Sprinting out into the courtyard John saw a van, with the two men who had been dragging Sherlock getting into it. Putting on a last burst of speed he ran to the back of it, pulling on the handles, but finding them locked. The van pulled away under his hands, and John tried to run round the side to the driver, to stop him, but couldn't keep up as the van gathered speed. It was all he could do to memorise the number plate, before trudging back to the party, where the other half of the band had started their act. He settled himself at a table near the front and waited. When the show was over, he was getting some answers, and getting Sherlock back.

AN: Well done to ThouArtPenguin for correctly seeing that one coming, even if she and Empress of Verace were impatient madames and went and peeked at the reviews to find out what the baby would be :p Not like superlc529m who is being good.

And Yes to CreamoCrop, Enpress of Verace and RockingtheRedhead, Molly will not be happy with him, when he finally gets there. :)

And thankyou to everyone else who commented, or followed or favorited, it means a lot to me :)