AN: Hi I'm back like I promised yesterday. This is a lighthearted but long chapter. I thought of splitting it into two, but then one would be too small and other big. So I let it be as one big chapter itself. Anyway I have drawn a line in between to help you catch a break. But don't know how helpful that is going to be...

Well anyway hope you have a fun time reading it. And yeah don't forget to review. :)

NOTE: There was Chapter-7 : 'Mrs Hudson's gift' after Chapter-6: 'Surrogacy', which was posted yesterday. Just wanted to inform anyone who missed it. :)

CHAPTER - 8

MORNING SICKNESS

After six weeks:

Sherly was well into her 6th week of pregnancy, when the most dreaded morning sickness kicked in. The name of which by the way was genuinely a misnomer as it never stuck to its timings.

Sherly it seemed was always nauseated. Atleast that is what John and Mrs. Hudson thought. While the reality may be slightly different... Sherly may or may not be doing a fine act of being nauseated every time someone offered her some boring nutritious food to eat... She ofcourse would deny it until her dying breath though.

...

But then there were some genuine moments when she actually felt terribly sick. And more often than not, it was triggered by the smell of John's flavoursome tea. She really didn't have a heart to say John that she had deduced the reason long ago when everytime John wondered what her trigger could be.

John would help her with her vomiting bouts in the morning by holding the stray strands of her hair (which had escaped her clumsily tied knot) from falling onto her face. He then always patted her back to ease her discomfort and gave her clean water to cleanse her palate. He would then proceed to mother her by offering a variety of food and drinks at every possible chance he got, saying that she must be dehydrated.

...

John was always considerate person and everyone who knew him as a doctor would say without an ounce of doubt that he was born to be one. But now it seemed he had become even more so. It seemed now as though he had become an over-considerate, over-protective daddy bear with an alternate split personality of a Mother hen pitching in sometimes!

Sherline ofcourse was quite annoyed by this attitude of his, but then she bore it... well atleast to an extent, because he really did not seem to be aware of his attitude change. But when he offered to stay at home to care of her instead of going to work, she had enough of it. She was almost about to yell at him, but somehow stopped at the right time seeing his genuine concerned face. She then tactfully convinced John that they needed money for all this and also touched his doctor's heart by telling him that all his dear patients would miss their dear doctor. Even though the last part was said in jest, John somehow seemed quite convinced by her explanation; making her smirk with evil satisfaction. She revelled at her success in rightly deducing a way to convince John. John may be a simple, honest and humble man, but he surely was proud his profession!

But Sherly's problems didn't end with succeeding to send John to work. Because as soon as he left, Mrs. Hudson had taken over his job like some change of guard!

And that was the first time she thought of the question; which later it seemed had passed through everyone's mind atleast once from then on, with only slight differences in the wordings, depending whom the subject was. The ubiquitous question was, "Why the hell did I agree to this?"

But saying that the pregnancy sickness was totally useless was unfair. It did have its own advantages... Like for example say chasing away annoying guests?

...

Mycroft had been out of station for few weeks now. He didn't want to confront her as soon as things had been finalized. He thought meeting her a little later would be good.

Even though he had opposed to Sherly's idea at first, the things his mother had said to him that day on phone had convinced him to allow it to take place. But he still had his doubts as to whether this was all going to completely successful. Because he knew his sister and somehow he doubted that she would ever mature enough to be a mother to that baby than being an over–grown child herself.

But he surely was in for a surprise.

...

When Mycroft at last decided to meet Sherly, it was on a fine Monday morning. He came bearing gifts from both from his parents and himself.

It was John who opened the door when Sherly who had recently been using every chance to move around the house, refused to move an inch from the sofa. She had just muttered something that sounded like, 'tutti-frutti' or 'fatty Crofty' under her breath. But when John found that it was Mycroft on the other side, he thought it must have been the latter and gave a snort.

Mycroft it seemed as usual had guessed it must be something Sherly had said that made John snort right at his face like that; just gave an exaggerated eye roll for John's benefit. He then came inside and settled himself on what was supposedly the 'John's arm chair' in the house. On which Sherly who was still lying on the sofa staring at the ceiling said, "Next time dear brother bring a plush chair with you when you come here. I don't think John's chair can bear it anymore. It is falling apart in the seams."

Mycroft just smiled thinking his thought about his kid sister still being an over-grown child was true after all. He simply said, "I would certainly bring a new chair and a new sofa too dear sister. After all your flat would certainly need new furniture to fit you if the baby keeps up this growth rate."

Mycroft was rarely ever been wrong in his life. So when he was expecting Sherly to scoff at him saying that he was still the fatter of the two, he was almost stunned when his playful younger sister sat up suddenly and put her hands protectively onto her belly and almost snarled, " Crofty don't you dare say anything about my baby!"

For a moment it was hard to say who was more stunned; Mycroft, John or Sherly herself! Because none of them had expected her to react in such a manner. Everyone knew that Mycroft was just joking and was not intending to say anything bad about the baby who was actually only the size of a small berry by then. Sherly then felt suddenly ashamed at her misplaced show of her protectiveness. Ofcourse once everybody were back to their senses, they all knew enough medical science to know that it was the result of raging pregnancy hormones in her body. It seemed no matter how much one had evolved from the animals, the innate animal instinct to protect one's offspring from perceived threat was always there and at times like these even though quite misplaced, it was unavoidable.

...

The awkward moment was broken when Sherly tried to snatch the gifts from her brother's hands saying, "Were you planning on giving this to me or did you just bring it to show–off?" No one was expecting a reply and so silence remained although the atmosphere was more relaxed now.

Sherly immediately knew which was whose gift. Mycroft ofcourse had given her a made to order tin of chocolates and biscuits with all the nutrition added in the right amount to aid a pregnant mother. She had no doubt that they were made keeping in mind that the main taste of the product wasn't changed due to the nutritious additives. It also had a card detailing the product's names and a number for ordering them. She also had no doubt that whoever these bakers were; they were under strict order to deliver her whatever she likes whenever she asks with no questions or for that matter money asked.

As a token of thank you, she just opened a box and popped one delicious looking chocolate directly into her mouth without bothering to ask anyone else, earning a head-shake from John and slight hint of smile from Mycroft.

...

Her father's gift was an exquisite leather bound diary with her name imprinted in gold letters on it. And an equally expensive pen set to go with it. Her father was always intuitive in that way. He somehow always knew when she wanted to be left alone and when she wanted to be around company. Like for every daughter her father was her hero. He may not be like the hero John wanted her to be, but her dad was hero in his own sense...

Sherly knew this gift was meant for all the times she would want to be alone but still have company. A personal journal was the only thing that could accomplish such a complex goal.

...

Next was her mother's gift. And admittedly her favourite because it was exactly what she wanted then. Her dearest mother had given her a way to alleviate her now seemingly eternal boredom.

Her mother had sent her a temperature controlled transport box containing a whole set of non- virulent bacteria* and other microscopic organisms. Some colonies even seemed liked they were glowing...

It also had a small note along with it.

"Dear Sherie,

Me and your dad are extremely happy with your decision and fully support it. But then I also know how much bored you must be because of all the restrictions. So I'm sending you few of the nice ones I had lying in my lab. There are also few phosphorescing* ones in the set. Thought a little bit of glitter and glamour would brighten your days.

Love Mummy"

Sherly gave a hearty chuckle at her mother's geeky sense of humour. She had got her experimenting genes from her mother, no doubt. Her mother was a much respected microbiologist. She had been a visiting professor to many of the country's prestigious institutions for many years. Though at present she was dedicating all her time for research.

...

Sherly then suddenly realised that both John and Mycroft's eyes were glued on her. And she knew that her brother could read every thought that had passed through her mind unlike her friend.

She was extremely annoyed by that. And for a moment she pondered whether this was how other people like Sally and Anderson felt, when she said their secrets out aloud. Well if she had been somebody else, she would have done a thorough purview of her thoughts right then and would have mended her ways. But then, she was not somebody else. She was Sherline Holmes and she didn't have time for all that petty nonsense sentiments. So she conveniently deleted that thought then and there and proceeded to plan revenge on her brother for deducing her.

...

Sherly then got up suddenly such that she was almost directly above Mycroft and pretended to feel sick. Mycroft's whose reflexes were extremely good as it was supposed to be for a man in such a dangerous position like his, moved back suddenly, almost hitting John who was right behind him with a tray containing three cups of tea. The whole thing toppled and Mycroft's three thousand pound suit and trousers were spared merely by an inch!

Sherly then played innocent and said, "Oh! I'm so sorry brother. I hope your new suit is not spoiled. But you know this morning sickness, right? It doesn't seem to mind the time or place. It just comes when it finds something very annoying. Anything could be a trigger you know? Sometimes even few annoying people can trigger it, it seems." She batted her eyelashes innocently.

Mycroft who ofcourse knew exactly what she was doing, gave her a mildly irritated huff and eye-roll and left the flat after apologizing to John for the mishap. But he surely had a genuine smile on his face as he descended the seventeen steps of 221B as he thought that no matter how much she changed because of this pregnancy, it seemed there would be a part in her that would never grow up. And he would always cherish that playful little sister part of her.

Inside the flat, John just huffed and started picking up the broken cup pieces from the floor. He then said in a straight voice, "You almost actually ruined his coat you know?". He paused dramatically and then added,"Remind me not to annoy you when I'm wearing a nice shirt, okay? Because unlike your rich prat of a brother, I can't afford get a new one each time your morning sickness feels like getting triggered because of me."

For a moment there was complete silence and then both of them burst out laughing so loudly that even Mycroft could hear it outside on the street.

* Non-virulent bacteria: Harmless strains of bacteria which do not cause any disease.

* Phosphorescing /Phosphorescent: Glowing due to certain chemical compounds present in them.

AN: Your thoughts? o.O

Also if you guys have any prompts regarding any craving that you think Sherline would likely have, well other than interesting murders; you can tell me. I will try to incorporate it if I can, or if not, I will post all the interesting prompts at the end of the story (which isn't far behind), so that whoever wants to write them, they can.