A Gift and A Curse
Chapter 18
Where Love Reigns…
20 weeks (5 months)
It had been too peaceful, too quiet. He knew it had all been simply too good to last. He had hoped, he had almost deluded himself into believing that they had been safe. Never in his entire life had he not wanted to be proved wrong more.
The small, almost weightless box felt indescribably heavy in his pocket as he held the package in his hand. He was shaking, he actually shook as he slipped his hand through the paper thin seal and allowed the contents to fall onto the table.
When he saw, his heart froze in his chest.
Everything he had worked for, everything he had sacrificed…now someone dared to try and take it away from him…
"Why?" Jane asked as she leaned against the bedroom door frame, watching Sherlock adjust his blue shirt for the umpteenth time.
"What?" He glanced at her in the mirror, taking in the black one shoulder strap silk chiffon gown and kitten heels and smiling slightly.
"You heard me. Why?"
"Isn't it what people normally do?" He said as he sat down on the bed to put his shoes on.
"Yes, but we're not normal people."
"Ah…touché." He smiled briefly as he stood up. "In answer to your question, you enjoy social events and it is widely accepted to that to broaden a child's social skills, one needs to induce social stimulation as early as possible."
Jane pushed herself up from the doorway and crossed the room, placing a chaste kiss on Sherlock's cheek. "That is a fair point but you normally tend to wait until the baby is born, still…I am extremely pleased and…somewhat intrigued." She turned on her heel and picked up a pair of ruby earrings from her dressing table, putting them in gently.
"So?" She asked, twisting to look at him. "Are you going to tell me where we're going?"
Sherlock moved behind her and picked up the matching necklace and put it on for her, his fingers gently brushing against her neck. "The whole point of a pleasant surprise is for the person receiving it to be pleasantly surprised. Now, we don't wish to be late do we?"
Jane growled teasingly at Sherlock's lack of compliance but Sherlock chuckled softly as he put his jacket on and slipped Jane's black cashmere coat over her shoulder. They walked down the hallway steps, Sherlock in front.
At the bottom, Sherlock pulled his coat from the off the banister and Jane glanced at Mrs. Hudson's door. "Isn't Mrs. Hudson joining us?"
"Yes, but she's making her own way." Sherlock answered, offering her his arm. She wrapped hers delicately around his and smiled. The smile disappeared from her face when she saw a classic black Jaguar Mark IX waiting outside the doorstep. She stared in awe at the beautiful machine and back to Sherlock, whose face had melted into a gentle smile.
"Really?" She asked, still not believing what was happening to her.
In reply, Sherlock stepped forward and opened the car door. Jane sat down onto the leather seats as gracefully as possible and moments later Sherlock jogged round the other side of the car and climbed in next to her.
Jane couldn't suppress a grin at the look of triumph on his face. "Where are you taking –" She cut herself off with a gasp when she saw the light bulb illuminated sign above her head. "The Ritz? You've taken me to The Ritz?"
As she got out, Jane linked her arms through Sherlock. They walked up to the carpet together and as the doorman opened the door Jane felt as if she was thrust into a James Bond film.
She looked around her, somewhat in awe at the beautiful décor and the beautiful people around her. Almost everyone was in tuxedos and evening gowns. All the women being 6ft, blonde and as thin as a rake and all the men looking like international spies.
"So…this is Mycroft's world…" Jane leaned over and whispered into Sherlock's ear as they climbed up the stairs.
"Ha! I am sure he would have you believe it but trust me when I say his world is much duller." Sherlock whispered back just before the maitre d welcomed them at the entrance to the restaurant.
"Mr. Holmes! Good evening, sir. Your table is just over here. Some of your guests have already arrived but I believe we are awaiting the arrival of two more. May I show you to your table?"
Sherlock nodded curtly and the maitre d weaved through rows of tables and towards an enclosed area, away from the mindless chatter on the other tables. There were several people already sat around the almost Arthurian table, talking quite happily away to each other.
Mycroft was sat next to Lestrade, both men looking sharply dressed; Mycroft wearing an impressively tailored grey three piece and Greg in what Jane assumed to be his Sunday best, which was a dark navy suit.
Both men were speaking intently to each other and absorbed in their own little world. What topic of conversation two men from almost two painfully different backgrounds could have was beyond Jane, but from the way they were chatting it seemed quite riveting none the less.
But, the two men stopped abruptly when Molly, who was sat the other side of Lestrade, saw them and squeaked in delight that was joined seconds later by a very glamorous Mrs. Hudson. Both Mrs. Hudson and Molly stood up to greet them.
Both women looked astounding. Molly wore a stunning red evening dress, which hugged her figure slim figure. She wore her hair down with it curling around her shoulders. She had a subtle shade of red lipstick and deep black eyeliner that brought out her chocolate brown eyes beautifully. In essence, she looked breath-taking.
Mrs. Hudson, in Jane's opinion, looked just as spectacular wearing a black chiffon dress, similar to Jane's but with a purple streak running down the centre. Her hair was straightened and she wore a black pillbox hat, with feathers protruding from a broach on the side of her hat.
Both women hugged Jane warmly. Then, Molly turned to Sherlock and in a fit a mirth, flung her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug. Sherlock's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he gingerly placed his arms around her and patted her back awkwardly.
Mrs. Hudson followed suit practically seconds after Molly let go but added a quick kiss on his cheek for good measure. Sherlock flushed; momentarily overwhelmed by the physical attention.
In that time, both Mycroft and Lestrade had risen and Greg moved to hug Jane, it was somewhat awkward due to fact that it was over the table but she appreciated it none the less. His display of affection was much less reserved for Sherlock; they shook hands.
Mycroft shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot and Jane felt a pang (dare she admit it) of fondness for the man. So, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek and suppressed a giggle when she saw his features flush.
But, oddly enough, Jane wasn't the reason for his discomfort. It was the fact that he now had to face his little brother.
"I do believe I haven't congratulated you. Well then, allow me to do so now." Mycroft said as he extended his hand to his brother.
Sherlock looked down at his brother's hand, the seconds feeling like hours, and Jane was just about to stamp the heel of her pumps on his foot when he grabbed Mycroft's hand, completely of his own volition.
There was a palpable relief that spread across the entire table at the Holmes brothers' temporary truce.
When Jane and Sherlock finally sat down that was when Harry arrived, accompanied by Carl. Jane beamed at Harry and rose with surprising speed, ignoring the pain in her legs and feet and pulled her brother into a spine crushing hug.
Then she turned her attentions to Carl, who stood only inches away from Harry. Her heart leapt when she saw how close the two men were to each other and how close their hands were to one another.
Carl stepped forward and kissed her timidly on the cheek and whispered in her ear. "Congratulations. You look wonderful."
Jane smiled as she squeezed his hand tightly. "Thank you."
Carl was undoubtedly a handsome man with his sharp features framed by a mop of light brown hair with friendly soft brown eyes. Carl was a naturally timid man but around Harry he seemed to relax, it was almost as if he allowed himself to loosen up.
Harry settled himself next to Jane and Carl sat in between Harry and a cheerful Mrs. Hudson who would, no doubt, yap Carl's ear off.
Conversation flowed easily from everyone, including Sherlock. The atmosphere was cheerful and everyone was at ease; no crimes or crisis. The food was excellent – not that it would be anything less and, in all honesty, so was the company.
Jane couldn't remember the last time she'd enjoyed the company of others quite so much; it had probably been around the same time she wore neon skirts and six inch heels
Throughout the meal, Sherlock stayed close; their hands brushed but never quite touched, it was pleasantly reassuring. That was until Jane noticed that at increasingly regular intervals his hand would disappear under the table and into his pocket.
Their eyes met at a glance and Jane raised an eyebrow at him. Of all the things they'd…explored…exhibitionism wasn't one of them and she wasn't about to explore it now.
But, the only response she got was a quite innocent smile. Ten minutes later she saw his hand disappear again and this time she decided to take action. She pressed down on his foot; hard. His reaction was a momentary wince. He cocked his head questioningly at her and blinked;
S-O-M-E-T-H-I-N-G_T-H-E_M-A-T-T-E-R?
She replied;
A-R-E_Y-O-U_H-A-_N-O_E-X-C-I-T-E-D?
He frowned at her, his eyebrows visibly joining together.
N-O_W-H-Y?
Jane resisted the urge to whisper, so whilst the waiter brought their fifth or sixth course, she blinked hurriedly.
T-H-E-N_W-H-A-T_A-R-E_Y-O-U_F-E-E-L-I-N-G_F-O-R?
Sherlock visibly paled at Jane's message and swiftly turned his attention to Mycroft and Lestrade's conversation about rugby – of all things. Jane frowned but decided to drop the issue – for a while, at least.
So she turned her attention to her brother, who was discussing how there was always a ridiculous amount of football on and then only Midsomer Murder repeats on other channels.
As their dishes were cleared away, Jane felt Sherlock fidget beside her and she was just about to have stern words with him through blinks when he stood up. The entire table stopped conversing and turned to look at him, who seemed pleased with the reaction.
"As you are all fully aware, Jane and I are having a child, and as unexpected as its arrival is, we are no less happy and as is customary…we have asked our closest friends and family here to celebrate. But I also wanted to make another unexpected –"
That was as far as Sherlock got due to the fact that the maitre d tapped him on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Sherlock merely blinked for a few moments, processing what he had been told.
A package? What package? Who would send him a package and why here? Why now?
"You will have to excuse me for a moment, please. There is something that needs my attention, I won't be long." And then Sherlock walked out of their enclosed area to where the maitre d waited for him; the maitre d wringing his hands nervously.
"Please accept my sincerest apologies for disturbing you sir but a gentleman is waiting with a package and he is most insistent you take it now. He is waiting in the foyer, sir."
"Yes, yes, sir." Sherlock said rather dismissively and the maitre d led him out into the foyer and down the stairs.
Sherlock looked around at the people still lingering, he scanned them quickly; none seemed suspicious or posed any sort of threat. The maitre d coughed beside Sherlock and handed him the package.
"I am terribly sorry, sir. The messenger seems to have gone but here is the package he left. Would you like to open it in privacy, sir?"
"Uh…yes, yes, thank you." Sherlock allowed his tongue and legs to work in autopilot whilst his mind was solely fixed on the package.
Thin but strong. Standard issue Royal Mail. Can be bought anywhere. Adhesive lining. No writing on the package. Damn it.
The maitre d led him to a suite that currently wasn't in use and Sherlock in a fruitless attempt to calm his emotions, placed the packaged down on the table and paced up and down.
He scolded himself for his ridiculous show of emotion and he needed to get a grip; he couldn't assess the situation unless he opened the packaged and found out what was inside that bloody package.
"I know, I should probably wait to give you this but I'm going away tomorrow and I may not be back for some time so…could I-I mean we possibly give it to you now?" Harry announced suddenly about twenty minutes after Sherlock had left. Jane stared at her brother in confusion.
"Give me what?"
"Your presents!" Harry grinned and out of the corner of her eye, Jane saw Carl reach under the table. "We all agreed that we would get you something, so is it alright with everyone if I give it now?" Harry explained to Jane then looked around the table for everyone's approval.
"Oh thank goodness you said! I couldn't possibly wait any longer!" Mrs. Hudson smiled broadly.
"Yes, I think now would be around the right time." Mycroft agreed. "It would be wise to take an interval before dessert…just let me go and get Sherlock, Gregory, would be so kind as to give Jane my gift if I'm not back in time?"
Greg nodded, "Course."
"Excellent, thank you. I shall go and retrieve my bother." He said before rising gracefully and leaving the table.
Carl handed Harry three small bags, one red, one blue and one gold. He handed Jane the red one first.
"This is from Carl and I. It's your present – ah, no. No, don't say anything just…open it, please."
Jane pinned the lump in her throat down to her rollercoaster hormones and because she was getting emotional at the fact everyone was being ridiculously supportive and kind. It had to be the hormones, it wasn't emotion. She wasn't. Well…slightly.
"Oh Harry…it's beautiful." Jane's voice cracked as she opened the leather box to reveal a beautiful silver and rose gold bracelet; the decoration on the bracelet also being roses.
Harry leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "Shh…it's alright, there's no need to cry. It's fine."
She slapped him lightly on the arm before pulling him into a hug. "I'm not crying you silly sod. Shut up. Thank you, you too Carl, come here." She said when she pulled away from her brother, wiping away the tears quickly, "Thank you Carl." She pulled into another hug, Carl blushed slightly as he sat down.
"The blue bag is Sherlock's present." Harry said and Jane swore she could see moisture in his eyes.
"Ooh, what is it?"
"It's a Baroque gents watch." Carl piped up. "Is that alright?"
"Oh that's wonderful!" Jane reassured him. "It's perfect timing as Sherlock spilled acid over his other watch last week."
"Finally, the gold one is for the baby, since it is the whole reason why we're here, I thought it should have gold." Harry smiled down at her stomach and Jane laughed.
"Yes, I suppose you're right. Let's see what Uncle Harry and Carl have got you, you lucky thing." Jane pulled out another leather box similar to her own and opened it.
She nearly burst into tears again when she saw the silver bracelet and the rose gold heart pendent dangling off it; it had the word Cariad inscribed on it.
"Cariad." Jane whispered. "Mum would be pleased." She turned to Harry and Carl once more. "It's wonderful, thank you so much. You see, you're not even born yet and you're spoilt rotten, you lucky thing." Jane smiled down at her stomach.
Mrs. Hudson rose from her seat and made her way over to Jane and sat in Sherlock's seat and took her hand.
"When I was younger I was quite adventurous. I know you wouldn't think of it to look at me now –"
Greg snorted at that. "Oh yes I would. I remember the time you attacked me with a frying pan because I brought Sherlock home late one night and he didn't have his key on him."
"What? When was this?" Jane asked.
"Oh, a couple of years back," Mrs. Hudson replied. "I think you were in Dublin at the time…or Belfast. Oh, I can't remember anyway, in my younger years, I was a bit of a traveller and I was in India for a time. I was walking along the road to Agra when I was stopped by a beggar.
"He grabbed my wrist and thrust a pendant into my hand and touched my stomach. He then mumbled something in Hindi but before he let me go he said, and I will remember this until the day I die, he said, 'Where love reigns the impossible may be attained'. Two days later I found I was pregnant with my eldest. I've kept it with me ever since but I want you to have it."
Mrs. Hudson took a necklace off, that Jane hadn't even noticed was there and placed it in her hand. The pendant was quite large; it was made of a flat pale blue Indian agate gemstone with a silver elephant trapped in the middle.
"Also, I've cut the rent in half, that's for Sherlock and there's another present, which will come in more use for the baby. It's back at home but I couldn't exactly carry it…it's a pram and one of those carry-things, dear."
Jane looked slightly lost at Mrs. Hudson's words; she simply stared at the pendant in her hand. "I can't accept this –"
"Oh hush!" Mrs. Hudson scolded lightly. "You can accept it and you will!" She rose and bent down and kissed Jane on the cheek. Jane whispered in her ear;
"Thank you, for everything."
"Oh shh. You'll start me off in a minute." Mrs. Hudson brushed her fingers against Jane's cheek and returned to her seat.
Jane put the necklace on and moments later, Molly scampered over to her, handing her a light blue gift bag.
"I-I know it's not much, and in light of what everyone else has given you it's really insignificant and it's mainly centred around the baby, sorry, but I thought about the things I really treasured when I was small and the two things were my Ambrose and blanket." She passed the gift bag to Jane. "I've made sure they're unisex."
Jane opened the bag and pulled out a wonderfully soft and absolutely gorgeous blue teddy bear with a bow tied around its neck. The teddy bear's bow was brown to match the inside of its ears, paws, nose and feet and also had blue polka dots along the bow.
Jane then pulled out a knitted blanket; it was dark navy with white stars all over it.
"Molly…did you make this?"
"Well, it's just blue was always my favourite colour when I was little because it reminded me of the sky and –" She tried to justify but Jane stopped her by pulling her into a hug.
"Oh, sweetheart, it's wonderful. Thank you so much. Has anyone ever told you, you have excellent taste." Molly blushed slightly but looked very pleased with herself as she returned to her seat.
Then Greg placed a package wrapped in brown paper and tied up with string in front of her.
"Greg you didn't need you to, you're gift was the room –"
"It's for all of you, I'd say. I'll be honest it didn't cost much but believe me, in later years, it'll be worth it."
Jane was intrigued by Greg's words and so was everyone else. Jane opened it to find a heavy black leather book. As if to answer an unspoken question, Greg spoke,
"Open it." He said in a rather low voice, as if to conceal an unusual amount of emotion.
And Jane did.
Inside was the photograph of the first scan with a message written underneath by Greg. He wrote;
Your first beautiful child.
How do I know it will be beautiful?
Because it'll have the brains of Sherlock Holmes and the heart of Jane Watson.
That was when Jane really started to cry.
When he saw, his heart froze in his chest and tears began to sting his eyes.
On the table was…everything.
A photograph of all of the baby's scans. A photograph of Jane outside the door of 221B. A photograph of the baby's bedroom that could only have been taken inside 221B.
And a ring.
A white gold engagement ring with an encased sapphire stone on top. The exact same engagement ring that rested quite comfortably in his trouser pocket.
"Sherlock? Are you alright? They have decided to give the gifts. Apparently there are some gifts for you, so I do ask you to be civil towards them, they have put quite a bit of thought into it – Sherlock?" Mycroft ground to a halt when his baby brother turned around, tears spilling down his face, holding up two identical rings.
"What has happened?" Mycroft said slowly. The real meaning behind it being 'How can I fix this?'
In reply, Sherlock gestured to the table as he turned towards the bed and sunk onto the mattress, his head in his hands. Mycroft walked slowly over to the table, internally dreading every step.
His mind running through a million and one possibilities as to what could upset his little brother quite so much. None of them were pleasant.
When he saw the photographs, he held his breath. This…this was shocking. Truly…shocking. This was bold, crass. This was gloating; this was showboating of the worst kind. This was subtly telling a man that he could quite easily bring down his entire world in seconds.
This infuriated Mycroft.
Mycroft turned on his heel slowly and towards his younger brother. "Are you frightened, Sherlock?"
Sherlock ran his shaking hands through his hair slowly and he nodded. The action was small and looked almost indistinguishable from a mere twitch but Mycroft knew the signs.
"You really shouldn't be, brother mine."
"Oh?! And why is that?" Sherlock snapped, glaring at his brother in distrust, daring him to convince him otherwise.
With a grim, almost sadistic smile and what Sherlock could only describe as an evil look in his eyes, Mycroft said in a voice of silk that made shivers run down his spine;
"Because, Sherlock…you have me."