A/N: Hello lovely readers. I am so sorry I haven't updated sooner. I'm trying to get ahead of myself for future chapters and stories and may have gotten a little distracted. It is a little shorter than normal, but its setting up some big things.
Quick disclaimer, this is purely non-profit and for fun, all recognisable characters belong to their respective owners. Angie belongs to naturerocs and Percy belongs to me.
Chapter 47 - Secrets of the Best Kind
The snow had receded temporarily to be replaced with grey skies and rain; it was miserable, wet and cold. Sadly that also meant going back to work. Of late I'd been office bound and even working more regular hours, I was usually home by 8pm if not earlier and I felt like a somewhat normal human being, it was refreshing. I had an inkling that Jim may have said something to Mycroft, oh well, I wasn't complaining. Jim had relaxed some and sorted the whole Irene Adler issue out. She was still alive and I frankly couldn't be bothered to mess with her, if I ever come face to face with her or catch her near my husband, I may change my mind, but for now she can cause other people problems and leave us in peace.
I had agreed to cover a night shift for someone whose wife was about to give birth and had gone into labour that morning. So I had the day to myself until 7:30. I sat in the kitchen with a large mug of tea editing a composition I was working on. I'd had a lullaby style tune floating through my head, it would've been perfect to play or sing to a baby. My hand rested against my abdomen, a tingle of electricity sparked where my scar was. I smiled sadly. It wasn't meant to be. I sighed and went back to my music. There was a section in the middle that was causing me problems. I couldn't get it right, no matter what key I put it in. I heard the front door open and close. Angie came into the kitchen looking a tad furtive.
"Hey Sweetie!" I smiled brightly.
"Uh, hi, Percy." Angie says nervously.
"What's up?" I ask, looking her up and down. She's being evasive; I decided not to deduce what it was I'd let Angie tell me in her own time.
"Nothing." She smiles a little nervously.
"Miss Watson what are you hiding?" I ask firmly. Angie glances at and looks away, avoiding all eye contact.
"Nothing." She replies again.
"Are we seriously doing this?" I asked with a sigh. Did she really want me to pull a Sherlock and tell her every minute detail?!
"What?" Asked Angie looking taken aback.
"You being all evasive and then making me guess what's wrong with you, it's easier and more polite for you just to tell me." I said, gesturing at her. I really would prefer her to tell me. Recently I'd gotten less fond of knowing so much about the world around me. Ignorance is apparently bliss and I slowly starting to agree. Angie looked at me and sighed.
"It's nothing, just..." She paused and muttered. "My cycle's a little late."
"Okay, not the end of the world. How late, a couple of days or longer?" I asked casually. It could be a number of things, stress, illness or a change in hormones. It wasn't a reason to panic.
"Uh...a week." Angie replied. I nodded in response. Okay, a week late is slightly worrying, but not unheard of.
"But that doesn't necessarily mean...I mean, stress can cause that, too, right? I've definitely had a lot of stress lately." Angie rattled off quickly. Her breathing had sped up and she looked rather tense.
"A week, okay. It could be stress. It's unlikely considering your um...recent activities." I said calmly. Sherlock had been gone for three weeks now. It wasn't beyond the realms of possibility.
"That's what I'm afraid of." Groaned Angie. I was shocked by Angie's reaction.
"Why? It would be Sherlock's?!" I asked, a flash of doubt ran through me.
"Well, yeah! But...I mean now?! Not married, with Sherlock off running around who knows where?!" Angie cried. She placed her head in her hands and her shoulders slumped. She's always been more morally inclined, but attitudes had caught up with the times and Sherlock wasn't conventional in any sense of the word.
"It's not a problem you're not married. I agree the timing isn't great but we don't know for sure yet." I said gently.
"Right, I don't even know yet. I've just got to...just calm down." Nodded Angie, still looking like a rabbit caught in the headlights.
"Yes you do. Do you want me to go down to the chemist and get you a test? If it's positive we can go see a Doctor." I offered.
"I guess..." Angie asked skeptically. I decided for her and grabbed my keys and wallet.
"Right, I'll be back shortly, stop fretting. It's going to be fine." I said with a smile and hugged my best friend.
"Thanks." Angie said quietly. I nodded and kissed her cheek.
I grabbed a coat on my way out and headed down the street; oh the joys of living near the centre of London, everything was conveniently placed. I walked swiftly to Great Portland Street and turned down onto Oxford Street and into the nearest Chemist. In fifteen minutes I'd got what I needed and was nearly home. The moment of truth was looming and I found myself oddly excited. I really hoped Angie was pregnant; I wanted to be an aunt. Sherlock would be a brilliant father, if a little eccentric. It's not like Mycroft would be having children anytime this century.
"I'm back." I called as I reentered the house.
"Hi." Angie greeted meekly. She still looked a little shocked.
"You are going to be absolutely fine. We are going to face this together and if I have to personally drag my brother back from Antarctica, I will." I grinned. This baby would have two loving parents and an awesome aunt and uncle. My brother would be facing this head on and loving Angie and his baby, he might just need forceful persuading.
"Okay. Thanks." Smiled Angie.
"Let's not prevaricate any longer, here's the test, go do what you need to and I'll be right here waiting for you." I said bluntly. I smiled as I handed Angie the pregnancy test and let her get on with it. She didn't need an audience and she knew all she had to do was call if she wanted me. I got back to fiddling with my score and waited for Angie.
"Right. Thanks. Be back in a minute." She replied timidly. Ten minutes later and rather pale and shaky Angie came back into the kitchen and slumped into the chair opposite me.
"It's positive." Angie said firmly. She stared off into space a little as she tried to comprehend it all.
"Okay, congratulations." I smiled.
"Uh, thanks." Angie nodded, still not back in the room.
"What do you want to do?" I asked gently.
"I don't know." Sighed Angie.
"How do you feel?" I asked.
"Scared." Angie admitted. I took her hands in mine.
"Why don't we book you an appointment at the doctor's and get you checked out then we can decide what to do from there?" I offered. I would stand by her side every second she needed me.
"Yeah." She nodded.
"You are not alone in this Angie. I'll be right by side through every second." I said passionately.
"Thanks, Percy." Angie said with a small smile.
"Anything for you Ang." I replied with a grin.
"I am not going to Bart's, though. I don't want to risk running into John." Angie decided. I agreed with her. Trying to explain this to John would be interesting and force Sherlock's hand at coming back to life.
"Alright. We'll go to my doctor. She's really nice. Her name is Doctor Wingfield." I smiled. She was a great doctor and really easy to talk to. Which made life easier. John was a great doctor, but his hatred of Jim and that whole mess made being around him rather difficult and it made me not want him knowing about my medical and personal life.
"Okay." Nodded Angie. She had started to calm down a little.
"I'll book you an appointment when I get home tomorrow morning, is that alright?!" I said.
"Yeah, thanks." Smiled Angie.
"Is there anything I can do?" I asked. I remembered that early feeling of being pregnant and how strange it is.
"Uh, I don't think so. I'm not going to bother with Sherlock until I'm 100% sure." Said Angie. She sounded a little sad by that fact.
"Okay." I agreed. We chatted for a while longer, but Angie decided she wanted to head home and process her news. I gave her a tight hug before she left. I text Jim telling him I was working all night and not to worry. He was in Paris on business, but still if he called and I didn't pick up he would start to panic.
My shift at the office was uneventful, in fact so boring I managed to catch up on my paper work and sort out the filing cabinets. It was utterly thrilling. Okay so the easy boring life wasn't that great and was quite dull. I could do with a little more excitement, not much just a little bit. I made my way home as the commuters were all heading to work. That was a refreshing change. I got in; kicked off my heels, even though there was no one there I still had to be smart, just in case something happened! That had Mycroft written all over it, that man who lived and breathed fine tailoring. He was actually worse than Jim who was a label addict. Before I forgot I phoned my doctor's surgery and made an appointment for Angie.
Later that morning Angie came over again. She did make me jump a little, I was rather engrossed in my book and didn't hear the front door open.
"Hey, Percy." Greeted Angie. I put my book down and smiled.
"Hello! How are you doing?" I asked.
"Uh, fine. I saw the doctor this morning." She said as she sat next to me on the sofa.
"Everything okay?" I asked. I couldn't tell if Angie was happy or about to freak out. Angie nodded.
"Uh, yeah. I mean, nothing's wrong, it's just...a bit of a shock." She said.
"That's understandable." I agreed and took a breath before asking the million-pound question. "Have you thought about what you're going to tell Sherlock?"
"Uh...all I can think of is just the direct approach, but I don't just want to leave a message or text him and say it, I want to tell him sort of in person, but that would work better if he actually answered his phone." She groaned.
"Finding out your going to be a father via text isn't that great. Although, that might suit Sherlock!" I smirked. For Sherlock he'd probably be fine finding out via text, although really I think even he would want to be told in person that he was going to be a father. Angie just looked at me like I'd grown a second head.
"No, not this time. I wish he were here in person, but..." Angie said sadly.
"I know sweetie, would you like me to try and guilt him home?" I asked to no response. I tried another tactic.
"I can be very persuasive!" Said cheekily.
"If you can get through to him, then be my guest." Angie said glumly. She needed him and he was going to hear about it.
"I'll try." I smiled. I would move continents if I had to. Sherlock was coming home.
"Now I get to tell John that I'm pregnant and that the father is his dead best friend." Said Angie, panic in her voice again. She frowned. "That is not going to be fun." She groaned again. Nothing about this situation was straightforward.
"Just be straight about it. You have to admit to your self first." I offered. I was given a withering look.
"I think the trip to the doctor pretty much took care of that." Angie said sarcastically.
"Okay, but you know what I mean." I said defensively.
"No, I don't, actually." Angie said snarkily.
"Right fine." I sighed.
"No, tell me what you're talking about." Insisted Angie.
"I'm trying to, this is what I think you should say..." I paused. If only I had been this brave and bold when I'd been pregnant. I'd be five, nearly six months along by now.
"I've got something to tell you and it will be hard to believe, but I can promise you it's true. I've seen doctor, it's been confirmed, but I have to tell you I'm Pregnant." I said confidently. That had weirdly felt good. Angie was looking past me at the living room door.
"I'm sorry, did you just say you were pregnant?" Asked Jim.
"Darling, eavesdropping is not attractive. Yes I said it." I answered without missing a beat.
"You're pregnant, how?" Asked Jim again.
"The normal way." I replied. I caught Angie's raised eyebrows, she looked very disapproving and Jim's rising panic and I instantly felt bad.
"What?" I mouthed at Angie and received another pointed look. "Oh fine, Jim you can stop panicking, I'm not pregnant, but Angie is." I said coolly.
"You're...not...right. Um...congratulations Angie." He said shaking his head. I caught a glimpse of something flash across his features that looked almost disappointed. No. I had to be wrong. "I'll be late tonight." He said as he left the living room, slamming the front door. I wanted to go after him, but I was kind of scared too.
"Don't look at me like that Angie, I'll talk to him later." I huffed. I felt like a naughty school child under Angie's stare.
"Fine. It's none of my business if you want to pull mean pranks on your husband." She replied disapprovingly.
"I do feel kind of bad. He was probably panicking at the idea of a child. Anyway, that's what you say to John." I said, pushing the issue of Jim and children out of my mind.
"Right. And then when he asks who the father is...that's the part I'm more worried about." Angie said, she sounded frustrated.
"It's Sherlock, if he won't believe it get a paternity test done?!" I asked. It worked on TV and in those annoying chat show things, which Sherlock weirdly likes.
"Yeah, that's probably what it'll take to get John to believe me." She said scathingly. Oh, her and John are still arguing then.
"Well if it's necessary, then that's what we do." I said simply.
"So I have to go back to the doctor's every two weeks. You're welcome to tag along, if you want." Angie said with a very cute grin.
"Would you like me to come with you?!" I asked smiling.
"Yes, please. I don't really want to go alone." She said quietly. I understood and had asked her the same thing when I was pregnant.
"Of course I'll go with you. You did the same for me." I smiled at her.
"Thanks." Nodded Angie, she was looking calmer and more confident. If I had to reassure her everyday for the next nine months that she wasn't alone then I would.
"Of course. I'll call Sherlock tonight and see if I can bring him home to you." I said comfortingly. My brother was in for a world of pain if he didn't get home soon.
"Thanks. Good luck." Smirked Angie. She knew I'd have a challenge on my hands.
"If you have to, if he's too stubborn, you have my permission to tell him." She smiled. She really wanted him with her, and rightly so.
"Thank you. If it resorts to it, like I said, I'll drag him home." I threatened playfully. Although dragging him home tied up in a sack was an option.
"I'm sure you could." Angie smirked again.
"It's just weird." Blurted Angie randomly.
"What is?" I asked.
"Being pregnant. And I know, I've been pregnant before, but...it's different, maybe because it's with Sherlock instead of Jesse..." She tailed off. She sounded conflicted.
"You loved Jesse and now you love Sherlock, you'll get used to it again. You'll be glowing soon enough." I smiled. I was excited to be with Angie this time, I'd missed her last pregnancy and marriage with her being in America and me being stuck in Wales then moving in with Mycroft. Angie grinned at me.
"I'm going to be an auntie!" I squeaked excitedly. I was really excited about this prospect.
"And a very good one, too." Angie smiled widely.
"You're going to be a brilliant Mum." I grinned. She was already a Mum in so many ways.
"Thanks." She beamed back.
We sat chatting about life the universe and everything. We moved into the kitchen to have some lunch, well Angie ate and I had an apple. I wasn't hungry. It was relaxing and Angie was feeling happier and more confident about the baby. I looked up when I heard the front door open, I saw Jim walk past. I stood up quickly and looked at Angie, the guilt I felt was probably written across my face.
"I'll be right back, I think I need to apologise to him." I said quietly. Jim saw me come out of the kitchen and walked into the formal living room. It was less personal; it was only the picture of perfection.
"You're home early." I said, trying to sound cheerful.
"Finished early." Jim said tersely.
"Good day?" I asked, trying again.
"Normal. Nothing interesting." Jim replied, again his tone clipped and angry.
"Right. I'm sorry about earlier, I shouldn't have said it." I sighed.
"Not really, no. It's a little hard for me to believe that you can make jokes like that." He replied disbelievingly. This comment irked me.
"Really, it's not like you want kids anyway, you never have." I snapped.
"Hence the shock." He said sarcastically.
"I was pregnant and too terrified to tell you. Got a quick answer for that?" I spat back I was getting quite irritated.
"We're over that. It's in the past. Quick enough for you?" Jim sniped. I felt like he'd slapped me.
"Wow. Thanks; I'm so glad that losing our child is so easy for you to forget. Not that you were particularly interested." I mocked.
"Like you said, I've never really wanted kids. I thought you were over it?" He asked like it was a minor issue. No more important than the weather. I wanted to scream and yell and cry. I knew it wouldn't do any good. So I bottled it up and pushed it down. It wasn't an issue. Just unneeded sentiment.
"Sure. Like you said, it's in the past." I agreed quietly. We fell silent. I kept myself as far away from Jim as I could. I couldn't stand the idea of him touching me at the moment in time.
"What were you two really talking about before you pulled that little prank on me?" Jim asked scathingly.
"How Angie is going to tell John she's pregnant with Sherlock's baby." I said quickly. I was putting all my effort into keeping my voice from breaking.
"No, really." He asked, looking somewhat gleeful.
"Seriously." I nodded.
"Oh, come on. You do know the two people you're talking about?" Jim laughed. I tried not to frown.
"Yes. It's not that hard to believe. Didn't you notice all the tells when they both came over for dinner?" I asked. It was as obvious as day to me. Maybe Jim was losing his touch.
"Well, I knew they were dating, but going that far? The Angel and the Virgin?" He laughed again. I turned to face Angie as she entered the room she caught my eye roll.
"You know, I would appreciate it if you laid off the nicknames." Angie said firmly, her arms crossed defensively.
"They are a normal couple just like the rest of us. Please don't give them that nickname, it sounds like some awful movie." I said quietly.
"Sorry. It's just a little hard to believe." Jim smirked.
"Yes, well, it's none of your business anyway, so..." Angie frowned at my husband.
"She has a point, Jim, leave them be." I looked at him.
"Alright, sorry." He put his hands up defensively.
"Thank you." I said with mock civility. "Ang, do you want me to come with you when you tell John?" I asked.
"That might be helpful, thanks." Nodded Angie.
"Sure!" I smiled.
Angie glanced at Jim, who still looked like he was trying everything not to laugh. I wanted to leave with Angie.
"I think I'll head home. I'll see you later, Percy." Angie said. She had obviously had enough of Jim. For once I didn't blame her.
"Okay, call me if you need anything." I nodded understandingly.
"Thanks, I will." Angie agreed and headed home. I turned back to Jim.
"I'm working tonight. I'll be home in the morning." I said quietly. Before he could say anything, I went upstairs, changed into the suit I wore the night before with a clean blouse. I pulled my hair into a low ponytail and left for the office. I was changed and out of the house in ten minutes.
Another lonely and quiet night in the office, I gave the person already there the night off, saying it was a schedule mix up and let myself just sit in the darkened office. A stray tear fell, marring my cheek with hot salty liquid. I wiped it away angrily and distracted myself with searching for my brother. I may as well use the department's resources for something useful.