Chapter IV: An Awful Lot of Running

A/N: This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth…" by Pika-la-Cynique of Girls Next Door fame.

Transcript by Ariane DeVere aka Callie Sullivan.

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The next day, the couple told Sherlock.

"A baby?" Sherlock said.

"Yes," Sarah said, "But we aren't telling a lot of people for some time. Mrs. Hudson, Scotland Yard, and my siblings won't know."

"Right. Most miscarriages happen within the first trimester," Sherlock said.

"Sherlock," Jareth growled.

"Jareth, I know about the statistics. Being reminded of them will not hurt the baby," Sarah said.

"Don't women need… pre… baby… something… things?" Sherlock said.

"I am going to be seeing an obstetrician as soon as I can make an appointment. Jareth and I are going shopping for various items. I have been taking prenatal vitamins pretty soon after Jareth and I got married, which is what I think you were trying to say earlier," Sarah said.

"Okay," Sherlock said. He was starting to drift off into his thoughts.

"Sherlock?" Sarah said.

"Hmmm," Sherlock said.

"Thank you for being concerned about me and the baby," Sarah said.

"I'm not," Sherlock said.

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When Jareth and Sarah returned from their shopping trip, they found Sherlock with several piles of books and printed articles surrounding him. "I… um… just some research I came across. What food did you get?"

Jareth slung the two paper bags onto the kitchen counter. "Sweets."

"I am having massive sugar cravings," Sarah said.

Sherlock thought for a moment and went to rummage for something in the kitchen. Sarah sat down in the red chair and stretched. When Sherlock came back, he had a mug of milk in one hand and a spoonful of honey in the other.

"What's that?" Sarah asked.

"An idea," Sherlock said as he made Sarah eat the spoonful of honey.

Sarah closed her eyes. "That's it. That's it. That's what I've been craving."

"Fairy creatures like honey and milk," Sherlock said as he gave Sarah the milk to wash down the honey.

"A few more spoonfuls of that honey and I think I'll be set," Sarah said.

Jareth sighed. "Then what are we supposed to do with all of this!"

"You and Sherlock are kind of skinny," Sarah said.

Jareth banged his head against the refrigerator.

&%&%&%

When Sarah was almost eight weeks along, she woke Jareth up from his sleep. She kissed his neck and whispered in his ear. "Jareth, wake up."

"What's wrong? Baby safe?" Jareth asked groggily as he tightened his hold around Sarah's waist.

"The baby is fine. He's safe," Sarah said.

"He?" Jareth asked. He pushed himself up on his elbow so he could lean over Sarah. "Did you just say the baby was a he?"

"Yes. I could just… tell? I know that I can't possibly know, but I do. I can sense him."

Jareth kissed Sarah's forehead. "Fair Folk can sense things about their pregnancy because of magic interaction. Jo knew the sex of both Dante and Christiana around this time. Of the few other pregnancies I know of, the same happened."

Sarah nodded. "Are you happy that you will have a son?"

"I'm glad that the baby is healthy, boy or girl. You know that neither I nor the Goblin Kingdom even needs blood ties for an heir, let alone a male one. It is actually unusual. Three of the last four Goblin Kings have been by blood and the fourth by marriage. Two has been the record before."

"But you are happy?"

"I am ecstatic," Jareth said as he grinned. He whispered in Sarah's ear, "Of course, we will have to work on having girls as well. We should practice on that."

Sarah laughed as Jareth began kissing her neck. "Oh, we should definitely practice."

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In late June, Sherlock was in full wedding planner mode. The crime wall was covered with wedding plans. He had even made a 3D model of the reception venue that was sitting on the dining room table. Mary sat in front of the model with a list of attendees. John sat in the red chair on his phone. Sarah was sitting on the black couch eating honey as she was unable to go to work that day from nausea.

"Need to work on your half of the church, Mary. Looking a bit thin," Sherlock said.

"Ah, orphan's lot. Friends – that's all I have. Lots of friends," Mary said.

Sarah raised her spoon of honey. "Yay! Friends!"

"I really hope that whenever I get pregnant, I do not get as bad of food cravings as you," Mary said.

"Honey is not weird. What is weird is that Sherlock's honey helps the most," Sarah said, "Jareth says that it is because Sherlock loves us."

"That is not what he said!" Sherlock said, "He said that as I care about your well-being, that it may be sensed by the baby, making it aware that it is safer than ordinary honey."

Sarah mouthed to Mary, "He loves us."

Sherlock rolled his eyes. "Schedule the organ music to begin at precisely 11:48."

"But the rehearsal's not for another two weeks. Just calm down," Mary said.

"Calm? I am calm. I'm extremely calm," Sherlock said in a slightly panicked voice.

Mary motioned for Sherlock to come over. "Let's get back to the reception, come on."

Sherlock stood by Mary as he looked at a card given to him by Mary. She said, "John's cousin. Top table?"

"Hmm. Hates you. Can't even bear to think about you," Sherlock said.

"Seriously?" Sarah said.

Sherlock sniffed the card. "Second class post, cheap card bought at a petrol station. Look at the stamp: three attempts at licking. She's obviously unconsciously retaining saliva." He finally sat down.

Mary said to John. "Ah. Let's stick her by the bogs." She looked at Sherlock. "Who else hates me?"

Sherlock passed her a piece of paper with a long list of names on it.

"Thanks," Mary said.

John started listing off various cases while Mary and Sherlock worked on the tables. "Priceless painting nicked. Looks interesting."

Mary looked at the paperwork. "Table four..."

"Done," Sherlock said.

"My husband is three people," John quoted.

"Table five," Mary said.

"Major James Sholto. Who is he?" Sherlock said.

"Oh, John's old commanding officer. I don't think he's coming," Sarah said.

"He'll be there," John said.

"Well, he needs to RSVP, then," Mary said.

"He'll be there," John insisted, "'My husband is three people.' It's interesting. Says he has three distinct patterns of moles on his skin."

"Identical triplets," Sarah and Sherlock said at the same time.

Sherlock looked over at Sarah with surprise.

"What?" Sarah said, "You and Jareth aren't the only ones who can figure things out. I know stuff about multiple births because my sisters are twins and they wanted to know more."

Sherlock made a noise of agreement. "Now, serviettes." He pulled out from under the coffee table a tray with two napkins folded into different shapes. "Swan or Sydney Opera House?"

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Sarah asked.

"Many unexpected skills required in the field of criminal investigation..."

"Fibbing, Sherlock," Sarah and Mary said at the same time.

"I once broke an alibi by demonstrating the exact severity of..."

Mary said, "I'm not John. I can tell when you're fibbing."

Sherlock sighed. "Okay. I learned it on YouTube."

"Opera House, please," Mary said. She pulled out her phone. "Hang on. I'm buzzing. Hello? Oh, hi, Beth! Yeah, yeah, don't see why not." She left for the kitchen.

John stood up. "Actually, if that's Beth, it's probably for me too. Hang on."

Sarah put aside the honey and closed her eyes. She enjoyed the moment of quiet. When she opened her eyes when John returned from the kitchen, Sherlock had at least twenty napkins folded.

"That just sort of... happened," Sherlock said apologetically.

He's like a puppy with separation anxiety.

John walked over to speak with Sherlock so Mary could not hear them. The detective stood up. "Sherlock, um... mate... I've..." They both sat down at the table. "I've smelled eighteen different perfumes; I've sampled nine different slices of cake which all tasted identical; I like the bridesmaids in purple..."

"Lilac," Sherlock corrected.

"Lilac. There are no more decisions left to make. I don't even understand the decisions that we have made. I'm faking opinions and it's exhausting, so please, before she comes back..." he passed his phone, "...pick something."

Sarah could not hear the rest of the conversation. John and Sherlock had picked something by the time Mary had come back from her call.

John tried to think of an excuse. "We're just going to... I need, um, Sherlock to help me choose some, er…"

"They need to pick out accessories," Sarah said, "The boys forgot about socks and ties in all the fuss over the bridesmaids."

"I'll get my coat," John said.

Sherlock said quietly to Mary, "Just going to take him out for a bit – run him."

"I know. You said you'd find him a case!" Mary said with approval.

John said from the living room door. "Come on, Sherlock."

"Coming," Sherlock said. He stood in the kitchen.

John and Sherlock gave the thumbs up to Mary without realizing what the other was doing. Mary was grinning as she gave a double thumbs up before the boys left.

"You, Mary Morstan, are an evil mastermind. You should have been a spy or something," Sarah said.

Mary laughed. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You got Sherlock and John to think it was their idea to take each other out. You don't even have a friend named Beth. I have no idea how Sherlock hasn't realized it yet," Sarah said.

Mary sat on the couch with Sarah. "It's best to let the boys think they can pull one over on us."

Sarah made a noise of agreement. She rubbed her flat stomach as her face became more and more weary.

"What's wrong?" Mary asked.

"Nothing just… tense."

"Is it the baby?"

"The baby is fine! Stop asking!" Sarah snapped.

Mary did not flinch, but concern was on her face by Sarah's outburst.

"I'm… I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. You were just concerned. Everyone is just concerned. That's what they're supposed to do."

"You are happy that you are pregnant, right?"

"I already love the baby. I know he will be wonderful. I can already tell that he is going to be like Jareth."

Mary nodded and put her arm around Sarah's shoulders. "But?"

Sarah shrugged. "I… something a patient said. She said as soon as she got pregnant… I feel stupid just talking about it."

"Then let's get all the stupid out."

"Titania, I mean the patient (you never heard me say that name), said that when she got pregnant, her husband lost interest in her and would only talk to her about the baby and he didn't care about her anymore. We've already discussed that Jareth is not like her husband, but… he has been baby crazy like Sherlock has been wedding crazy. I am nowhere near that level and just… ugh. It's stupid. I know he isn't going to..." Sarah bit her lip.

"Sarah, you need to talk to him," Mary said.

"I'm fine. Talking with you has helped. It's stupid and it will go away. Do you want to go do something? I think I can go and do something for a bit. Come on."

&%&%&%

Sarah and Mary went to the movies before coming back to 221B. Jareth came back before Sherlock and John did. After removing his coat and jacket, he sat down next to Sarah and wrapped his arms around her. He rubbed her stomach.

"Rough case?" Sarah asked.

He nodded and kissed Sarah until Mary had to clear her throat. "Hello, Mary," Jareth said wearily.

"Do you need some tea?" Mary asked.

"I should make some," Jareth said, ignoring Mary's offer to make it himself.

"Thanks for the offering of tea, Mary," Sarah said.

"He looks awful," Mary whispered.

"I know. All I can do is make him sleep sometimes," Sarah said, "It's not just the Mycroft stuff. He is doing research on a possible case, but it is too early to bring me in on it. Apparently, he is still trying to decide whether to take it or not."

"How much does he sleep?" Mary asked.

"Sometimes he gets a full night, but most nights he sleeps for a half hour, works for a couple of hours, and just keeps repeating until I get up for work," Sarah said.

Sherlock and John came up the stairs. "Well, that was unexpectedly violent," John said.

"What happened?" Mary said, "Are you two alright?"

"We're fine," John said as he gave Mary a kiss.

Sherlock spoke rapidly. "We were dealing with a stalking care. Our client was a royal guard. We tried to contact him at work, but he was still on duty. I snuck into the barracks while John tried a more direct route. Somehow, our client was stabbed in the abdomen in a locked bathroom stall."

"Oh my god," Sarah said.

"The client is alive," Jareth said.

"How did you know that?" John said.

"Sherlock does not have his scarf and you do not look like you are going to punch someone. I assume you stopped the bleeding long enough to save the client," Jareth said.

"You stole my story!" Sherlock said.

Jareth brought in a tray of tea and set it on the coffee table. "It isn't your story. It's John's. That's why you are upset that I spoiled the ending." He gave a goblin grin. "You are a proud mother hen, Sherlock."

Sherlock threw himself onto the black chair and sulked. "Am not."

Jareth chuckled and kissed Sarah's cheek. "Are so."

&%&%&%

Over the next two weeks before the wedding, Sherlock began dealing with "problem" guests. Sarah understood dealing with Mary's ex, but she was not quite sure how Sherlock would deal with children. Archie was the ring bearer and known to be a troublemaker.

Sherlock and Archie looked at each other, sizing the other up in 221B.

"Basically it's a cute smile to the bride's side, cute smile to the groom's side and then the rings," Sherlock said.

"No," Archie said.

"And you have to wear the outfit," Sarah said.

"No," Archie repeated.

"You really do have to wear the outfit," Sherlock said.

"What for?" Archie asked.

"Grown-ups like that sort of thing," Sherlock said.

"Why?" Archie asked.

Sherlock thought about the question, looked back at Sarah, and then back at Archie. "...I don't know. I'll ask one."

Sarah smiled and relaxed. This could be going worse.

"You're a detective," Archie said.

"Indeed he is," Sarah said.

"Have you solved any murders?" Archie asked.

"Sure. Loads," Sherlock said.

"Can I see?" Archie asked.

Sherlock paused. "Yeah, all right."

Sarah smacked her head against the dining room table as Sherlock went to set up his laptop. "You can't show a little boy crime scene photos."

"Why not? I did and look how well I turned out," Sherlock said with a smirk as he sat down, "Besides, he has probably seen worse from watching crime shows."

"If that kid gets nightmares, I am blaming you entirely," Sarah said.

Sherlock shrugged and pulled up some photos. Archie leaned over his shoulder.

"What's all the stuff in his eye?" Archie asked.

"Maggots," Sherlock said.

"Cool!" Archie said.

Sherlock looked at Archie and made a noise of approval.

I now know what Sherlock was like when he met Jareth. God save us… Actually, it's kind of sweet… and disturbing. Mostly disturbing.

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A/N: Glitter covered Buckingham palace hats to anyone who can guess where the title of the chapter comes from.

Facts dealing with this chapter. A baby's sex starts developing around 6-8 weeks, but the earliest ultrasounds can tell is around 16-20 weeks (though many times the ultrasound is unable to show the sex). As an American, it was very helpful for Ariane DeVere aka Callie Sullivan to mention in the transcript that 'bogs' is a slang word for 'toilets' as I found that line very random in the episode.