Hello. Sorry for the long wait. That's how it is when summers over and works begin. BUt I haven't given up! My stories will continue and I hope you can handle a some longer wait between the chapters because frankly I don't have the time I used to have.
Anyway, I want to thank all of my readers! Without you there wouldn't even be a story in the first place and you are the one who keeps me going!
Lynn was over the moon when John checked in on her, still a bit high on all the drugs but still completely alert to understand what was going on around her. She just smiled brightly at him while sucking the straw dipped in juice and John felt like an idiot when he started crying in front of her. He couldn't thank her enough for what she'd done for them and he held her hand lovingly to sooth them both in loss and gift. He praised her like he'd never praised a human before and pressed a kiss to her brow before leaving her for her sleep. It was like walking on clouds as he left the ward to meet his family by the reception and saw the wonderful scene. Sherlock was leaning over the counter signing some important papers while Hamish crouched in front of the small carseat sitting on the floor containing their sleeping daughter.
"Hello." he murmured and closed in on his son until he was squatting beside him. "What are you doing?" The boy turned to him while holding onto Alice's little hand and the big smile going only wider on his lips.
"D'you think she'll like my present?" he asked and looked very eager indeed.
"Of course she will." John chimed and tucked the blanket a little closer to Alice's pink face. "She'll love it, I'm sure. " Hamish giggled and stood up straight when Sherlock suddenly called his name and held out the pen. With curly letters, but not even close to be as beautiful as Sherlocks, he signed the small space at the bottom of the paper and were giver a small book in plastic binders. The first few pages were filled with Alice's current, and first, weight, hight, blood type and other measurements that would be updated every month. John giggled and pointed at the square with a blood type and his husband gave a proud smile. Type O-neg. Their daughter was an universal donor.
"She and Hamish had the same and both Sherlock and John knew very well from witch side of the family that was from. John looked down at his daughter, tears prickling the corner of his eyes as he understood. Alice came from him. This was his daughter and she was a beautiful creature.
"Let's go home, shall we?" he quaked happily and wiped his tears before lifting up the carseat. "I think all of us needs a big cuddle now."
Said and done John thought as all four of them laid in their bed. Baby Alice laid on her stomach on John's chest with one had from each person petting her. Hamish laid between them, head resting on John's shoulder as he studied the little creature that in less that a second had grabbed hold of his heart and after that never released. He held the little hand, played with the small fingers and touched the little nails. Sherlock played with her curls, rubbed his thumb back and forth over her tiny ear while smiling without end.
"She lies like a frog." Hamish murmured after a long hour of almost complete silence and Sherlock giggled when he understood what he was referring to. Her legs was still drawn tight to her body and arms tucked under her chest and chin, all crawled up like a kitten or as Hamish said, a frog.
"Kinda." he chimed and touched the bow of her lips which made her fidget as it tickled. "Or like now when his cast is off. She sound like him sometimes, doesn't she."
"Yeah." Hamish giggled as he remembered the mewling sound she's uttered when they lifted her from the carseat earlier.
"You haven't given her your present." John gasped as it came to mind and turned to his son with just as eager eyes as him. "It's on the mantlepiece, why don't you go get it?" Quick as his cat the boy was out of bed, running down the hall and leaving the parents alone for just a few second which they decided to value. The detective crawled as close as he could get and kissed his John deeply.
"She looks just like you." he whispered and nuzzled his cheek. "She's got your nose." John giggled and tilted his head back to capture another kiss.
"I know." he murmured in pride. "At least she's got curls like you. She looks just like us both." Sherlock beamed and nodded as he looked down at his daughter again.
"She does, doesn't she?" he sighed and heard the quick little feet hurrying down the hall again. Hamish stormed in with the green and yellow present in his hands, waving it happily as he jumped up in bed again.
"Look here, Alice." he cheered and stood on his knees beside John on the thick mattress. "I'm gonna open it for you so you don't get any paper cuts." John gave him a little laugh and looked as he tore the paper apart, bit and pieces of yellow and green flew through the air until the black cat appeared in his little hands. With proud eyes he gave it a last look before tucking it close to little Alice who cooed tiredly. "It's for you, I picked it out myself." Her little pink hand wrapped around the cat's paw and squeezed tightly with made the boy feel more pride.
"I think she loves it." John smiled and fixed the blanket so it was folder around both her and the cat. "I think it will always be her best friend." Hamish looked up at him with worried eyes and gasped.
"But I wanna be her best friend!" he exclaimed hurriedly and crawled down until his head rested on John shoulder. "D'you hear that Alice. I'll be ten times better friend that that cat." His fathers laughed and Sherlock crawled in close.
"Of course you are." he smiled and kissed his cheek. "A thousand times better. She knows that. A stuffed teddy can't ever beat you." Hamish sighed loudly and rolled over until he was wrapped tightly in Sherlock's arms.
"Good." he sighed and made himself comfortable in his arms. "I'm gonna sleep a little now." Sherlock chuckled and kissed his forehead.
"Go ahead." he whispered. "It's been a long night for us all." The little boy, who wasn't that little anymore, buried his nose in Sherlock's sleeping shirt and murmured incoherently as Sherlock tucked them both in the cover.
"Goodnight." he whispered and closed his eyes for the rest of the night.
"Goodnight, love." John murmured and rubbed his arm lovingly. "We'll see you in the morning, alright." The boy only hummed in response and it wasn't until then that his fathers realised how long the little boy had actually fought to stay awake. He's been up for countless of hours with only two hours of rest before this little miracle arrived. It wasn't really a surprise that all this cuddling led to him passing out after all the excitement.
Two minutes after he'd made himself comfortable little Hamish was already snoring and Sherlock smiled happily before looking up at John again who was facing the same fate any second.
"Put her in the cot, John." he whispered and reached out to stroke the soft curls on his daughters head once more. "She's not going anywhere."
"I know." John murmured as he held onto her little hand, feeling his heart beat ever so warmly for her. How could he possibly let her go? "Just a few more minutes." Sherlock chuckled and adjusted Hamish on his chest so he could crawl closer.
"Your on the edge of collapsing." he whispered and kissed his shoulder. "Just tuck her in and she'll demand our presence in an hour or two once more. We should get some sleep before then." The doctor hummed in contempt as he had to agree and stirred on the bed.
"You're right." he sighed and sat up as carefully as he could so he wouldn't wake her. He hushed her gently as he made his way over to the cot and ever so slowly he lowered her onto the mattress. "There we go. Nice and cozy." The little girl whimpered as the warm hands left her and John rubbed her tummy before tucking her in. "Get some sleep now, love. We'll be right here when you need us." His daughter mewled in protest for a second before finding herself comfortable under the blanket and John stood there to study her for a minute more. "It remarkable how much she looks like us both."
"I agree." Sherlock murmured with his nose buried in Hamish's hair. "I think we found a perfect woman for the job." John giggled and gave Alice a last caress over her hair.
"I can't believe she's got curls." he smiled happily and made his way over to the bed again. "She's quite something." He landed beside his husband and crawled under the cover. Sherlock murmured and turned his head to capture a deep kiss from him
"She's remarkable." he confessed. "We'll cuddle more in a couple of hours."
"Indeed." John sighed and turned off the light, carded a hand through Hamish's hair. It was finally his turn to fall asleep.
Alice didn't even have time to utter her first sound before she was scoped up in a pair of warm arms and soon held close to a silky robe. Sherlock looked down on her and swayed back and forth where he stood, traced two of her fingers over her cheek while smiling joyfully at just the sight of her.
"Good morning, Alice." he whispered and made his way out of the room before she got the chance to wake her brother and father. "May I tempt you with some breakfast before we start the day?" She cooed to his chest and caught two of her fingers between her lips and sucked away like there was no tomorrow and the sight made Sherlock all fuzzy again. He'd missed these small little things. Seeing someone so small be so depended on him was what he'd been longing for the most these last couple of months and he kissed her little nose as he reached the kitchen just make sure she was really there with him and knew very well how ridiculous he was being.
The little girl cooed tiredly and opened her deep blue eyes tried to focus on the new surroundings in the daylight. Everything was new to her, exciting and interesting and it was like she didn't let anything slip her by. Sherlock wondered what the world would be to her when she could actually start to explore it. Suddenly she let out a small squeak of impatience and Sherlock chuckled as he started the boiler for her formula.
"We're getting there, little one." he smiled and rocked her back and forth. "Any moment now." Then a little voice was heard from the end of the kitchen and Sherlock looked up to find his son rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"I'm hungry too." Hamish murmured and looked up at him with a big yawn.
"Of course you are." Sherlock chuckled and padded across the floor to take his little hand. "C'mon. Let's put you and your sister down on the sofa and I'll bring you both some breakfast." Hamish followed him like a small duckling out to the sitting room and climbed up on the sofa before wrapping himself in the blanket. Sherlock put the little girl down on the seat and propped her up with the pillow to keep her from falling off. "Will you keep an eye on her?" Hamish nodded and crawled close to the little girl beside him until his head rested on the pillow and Sherlock smiled brightly at the sight as Hamish shared his blanket with her.
"Hello there, Alice." he smiled and kissed her little cheek. "Did you sleep well in our home?" The girl smacked her lips and stirred on the seat and Hamish giggled. "You're a silly girl, Alice. I like you." She squirmed in her blanket and squeezed her little hands under her chin before slipping two of her fingers into her mouth. He placed a hand on her little tummy and smiled as he felt the same warmth as yesterday. It wasn't until now that he started to understand how hard his fathers had worked to raise him from the stage that Alice was in now to what he was today. Five years was a long time, he believed, and he'd gone far during those years.
"When you're older.. " he started and crawled so close the tip of his nose touched her soft cheek. "I'll teach you about the constellations, the different species of dinosaurs. And in a couple of days I'll help you decorate the christmas three in all the glitter and I'll show you the angel I made in school last week."
Sherlock listened to the sweet words from the kitchen, smiled to himself as he imagined Hamish's disappointment when Alice would look impressed by his paper angel when there was a sound of soft footsteps coming from the hallway. John padded into the kitchen, robe and arms tightly wrapped around his body and squinting tiredly in the light.
"Morning." he croaked and smiled as Sherlock filled up the bottle, he'd almost forgotten.
"Good morning, John." Sherlock greeted formally and looked up at him with a genuine smile that John hadn't seen in a long time. "D'you wanna feed Alice or should I?"
"Oh I'll leave you and Hamish to that." the doctor smiled after he'd heard the small voice in the sitting room. "I'll make us some tea and get him some cereals." Sherlock didn't argue with that but hurried out to the sitting room where Hamish still played with the little girl, kissing her little cheek over and over.
"D'you wanna feed her with me?" The boy jolted up on the seat when he heard the question and nodded eagerly. "Okay." They cuddled up on the sofa and Sherlock helped little Hamish level small Alice on his arm and pillow while he sat beside him. "Just like that. Good." He gave him the bottle and taught him how to get the girl to latch on and their son had never looked so proud when he for the first time fed his sister. "Very good." Sherlock praised but kept a steady hand under her head. "Don't let her slip."
Hamish hummed and gazed upon the little life in his arms. She was so pretty and cuddly and Hamish could easily give away every toy in his room for her. He had never felt so proud about something and he looked up at Sherlock with big eyes that made the detective's heart take a jump.
"Can I bring her to show and tell this friday?" he asked and was absolutely glowing with eagerness and pride. "Please!" Sherlock laughed and held them both close to his side.
"Maybe daddy can bring her over some day. You can't really bring her in you bag." It was Hamish's turn to laugh and he looked down on his fragile sister again. That's when Sherlock noticed something and his eyes slimmed as he pondered upon it. Their son had never really spoken about school before. For these past four months they'd taken him there and five hours later picked him up, what happened between those events where unknown so far except the informative letters his teacher sent them every day.
"Hamish..." he started but was suddenly interrupted by a humming John that brought a tray of breakfast essentials for them to enjoy.
"Here we go, some cereals, tea, milk and sandwiches." he said and then continued to hum on a song that Sherlock identified as a Simon and Garfunkel melody. The humming man sat down beside Hamish and gave the top if head a soft kiss. "Good morning, handsome." he whispered and looked down on little Alice that ate with all she might. "Good morning, sweetie" He touched the curls on her head and sighed happily. "Did you sleep well?" The girl let go of the bottle and squirmed in the blanket before letting out a small cry and Hamish stiffened on his seat.
"Daddy, take her." he hurried and let the bottle fall into Sherlock's hand.
"Hey." John murmured and wrapped his hands around her to take her. "What happened?" He brought her close to his chest and hushed her gently. She mewled unhappily and squeezed her little hands into hard fists.
"She's fussy." Hamish implied and crawled up on Sherlock's lap to get a cuddle. "And I want a hug."
"Of course you do." the detective chuckled and wrapped his arms around him while Hamish's short arms snaked around his neck. "I thought that you and I could go down and fetch granny later. She needs to meet her too, doesn't she?"
"Yeah." Hamish agreed and tugged his neck a little harder. "I think she'll love her just as much as we do."
Alice settled in John's arms and said man smiled happily at the little creature in his arms. He knew it was impossible but she actually seemed to be prettier today. She was like a little angel in her dark curls and smooth skin and John was so proud he thought his heart would explode from being overfilled by it. Their family was complete, he was complete. He had a loving husband, two wonderful kids and for the first time he actually had a family that worked. A family worth fighting for.
"John." Sherlock murmured and the doctor tore his gaze from the girl to look at up at his husband. "When you're done bathing in her beauty I suggest you join us over here." With a small chuckle he scooted over and Sherlock wrapped his arm around him, held him as close as he could. Their son giggled and placed his head on Sherlock's shoulder while he watched his sister. They were gathered and complete and the detective sighed loudly before kissing John's temple.
"I love you." he murmured and nuzzled his hairline. "I really do."
"I love you too." John beamed and turned his head to catch a deep kiss. "You have no idea."
There. Hope you liked it! :) New chapter soon enough. So leave a review and I would be forever grateful!