Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks for the nice feedback last chapter. I know I say this a lot but it makes me happy whenever people start to appreciate Tim as a character more than as just the ex. I think this chapter we're finally back to a topic you all were worried about. I hope this is good and meets expectations. Please read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Clearly I don't own Sherlock. The show is the baby of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, while Sherlock Holmes itself is the creation of Arthur Conan Doyle.

The First Time She Told Violet and Siger Off

Anthea hated work right now. It wasn't what it was supposed to be. It wasn't what she was promised and it certainly wasn't what Mycroft had earned after all these years. The pair had dedicated their lives to basically running this country and this was how they were treated after one –albeit big – mistake.

First – Sherrinford responsibility was temporarily removed from Mycroft. Sure, that made sense in terms of punishing the behaviour. It had involved the prison it made sense to remove it from Mycroft for the time being.

Then there was that meeting. Which, apparently, was more of a formal apology than a meeting. Yeah, okay. Sure. The power balance between those four was so delicate and alliances to each other stronger in some areas and weaker in others. It was natural that someone in there demanded an apology.

Then the email from Lady Smallwood's assistant arrived, full of attachments arrived in Anthea's inbox. The attachment was a time sheet. Lady Smallwood was asking Anthea to log her actions every hour. She didn't have to be specific but they wanted to make sure all her activities were official and legal. Initially Anthea hit reply and wrote a strongly worded email.

Scott,

Listen here you little twat, unlike you I am not hired by the government. I am a private employee under Mycroft Holmes. I actually don't have to listen to any of you. So tell your boss to shove these forms where the sun doesn't shine, okay?

Have a nice day,

Anthea.

And then she deleted it. She attempted to write a professional reply but instead didn't answer at all.

When she brought it up with Mycroft he smiled sadly and informed her that it was just another regrettable action taken against them to make them behave like the model government workers they were supposed to be. He promised it should only last a month as it was only a slap on the wrist. It certainly felt like worse than that – it felt like purgatory.

"This is just for work for them, right sir? You don't have to do this for any of your freelancing or international clients?" Anthea asked, her arms folded fiercely across her chest, practically fuming with anger. Mycroft looked amused and maybe touched.

"That's right." He nodded once, slowly.

"Then quit." Anthea blurted out. Mycroft gave her a look of incredulousness. "You make enough money on your freelancing to keep your lifestyle. Let's do it. Teach these people who really is keeping the British Government together. Make them miss you." Anthea swears she's never seen Mycroft look at her with such adoration as he did then, a low chuckle escaping his lips.

"It does indeed sound quite tempting." He admitted. "Let's wait out the month before we go through yet another life changing event though, shall we?" Anthea begrudgingly agreed.

But he was right, there were too many things going on. Too many life changing things happening at once. Every time it felt like they'd found a chance to rest something new would happen. Work was now a mess. There was the Eurus mess and everything that came with it, putting Baker Street back together, Mary, and now Anthea's baby. It was still just Anthea's baby at this point – they'd barely even talked about it again since that first time. Except the once when there was an unruly child in the café on a bad day at work and Mycroft muttered something to Anthea about hoping she'd train her child better than that. Hers.

So everything was out of Anthea's control and she didn't like that. She couldn't fix all these problems and that was her job – making things easier. If she could just fix one thing than maybe they could finally catch their breath. But what would that be? What could Anthea fix? With her power now limited and having to give Mycroft time on the baby thing, what could she do?

Violet.

She could try to talk to Violet.

At the very least she could attempt to talk to Violet. Mycroft's relationship with his mother, despite years of trying to argue the opposite, was very important to him. The grown man called her Mummy, after all. If that didn't mean he cared deeply than nothing did. It was destroying him and hurting Sherlock too that big brother was being iced out. If Anthea could fix that issue or even put a Band-Aid on it… Well, life would begin to feel at least a little normal again.

Anthea waited for one of her days off where Mycroft still went into work, or to the club, or to see Sherlock, or anything. She didn't want him to hear her making this phone call. It was okay if he found out after the fact – he could be as moody and as put out as he wanted to be. She didn't want to risk him finding her before she called or mid-call and finding a way to intervene and end it before any progress was done. It wasn't that he didn't want her interfering, at least she didn't think so, it was that he was so set on letting his parents feel the way they did. After the first week of Violet not answering Mycroft's phone calls the genius just accepted this as the new reality and stopped trying.

A silent rule she had set for herself was to not mention the baby at all. When she'd stopped thinking of the little thing as cells and instead a baby, she wasn't entirely sure. Probably around the time she decided, not chose, but completely decided to keep it. She didn't want to use it as a cheap way to fix this issue without anything being solved. She also knew that given Mycroft's feeling about the whole thing it could quite possibly just get him into even more trouble with his parents and that was the last thing Anthea wanted. She also wasn't prepared for another family who'd pushed her aside to gush over her like she was always special. She wasn't prepared to do it with her Uncle, and she wasn't going to do it with the Holmes after their comment and then just leaving her and Mycroft alone. It was very private news right now while Anthea still looked normal, and she wasn't going to share it with anyone who didn't have her full trust right now.

Anthea sat down on the couch, prepped with a water bottle and a cup of tea on the coffee table in front of her in case this took a while. She was prepared to argue Mycroft's case for as long as possible. For his sake and for her need to fix something. Anthea pressed dial and listening to the dialling tones and ringing in her eat like it was a hypnotic tone.

"Hello?" Siger answered the phone. Anthea closed her eyes and held her breath in annoyance. She had hoped to avoid him all together and go straight to the mother. She didn't want to have the conversation twice when you could just have it with the more talkative and in control one and let her explain it to him.

"Hi Siger, it's… Anthea." Even though Anthea was alone she couldn't bring herself to use her real name right now. Like it belonged to those who deserved it. Which was an entirely stupid way to think of your own real first name.

"Hello dear." His tone was both warm and sombre. Like it was almost nostalgic. "How are you?" He asked. Anthea scrunched up her features. How to answer this?

"I'm okay." She shrugged even though he couldn't see it. "I've been better but I've been worse." That seemed about right.

"And how is Mycroft?" Siger's question sparked a fire in Anthea's gut.

"You would know if you called him." The words came out sounding as passive aggressive as could be. Leaving a silent sting hanging in the phone line.

"Not well, then?" Siger eventually asked in a far more melancholy tone. A breath escaped Anthea's mouth that was somewhere between a sigh and a scoff.

"He's doing great, actually." Anthea sighed. "Imagine your life falling down around you and still dealing with it all with the dignity and grace of a gentleman. That's your son right now."

"That's good to hear." Siger answered.

"If he didn't have Sherlock in his corner I don't think he'd be doing so well. It's nice to see Sherlock looking out for his brother for once." She was continuing to be passive aggressive. This technique won't work so well on Violet so it was good to get it off now.

"Sherlock's a good boy." Siger answered hesitantly.

"I'm so proud of how they've stuck together as family. Even with me and John." Anthea jumped on the end of Siger's words.

A pause.

Anthea heard Siger inhale.

"I know Mycroft would do anything for his brother-"

"Siblings!" Anthea cut Siger off. "Mycroft would do anything for both his brother and his sister. He has dedicated himself to looking after them. Being a big brother is all he's ever tried to do for both of them. Sherlock knows it, Eurus knows it and tried to abuse it, it's just you two who can't see it."

"Alice…"

"Sorry Siger, I actually called to speak to Violet." Antea sniffed her nose and blinked her eyes. "Could you please get her for me?" There was hesitation on the other line.

"I'll go get her for you." Siger eventually say.

"Thank you." Anthea used all her fake politeness as she prepared herself once more. The break between one voice and the other was just long enough to shake off any feelings that Siger had stirred up.

"Hello?" The female voice sounded guarded. She had been warned who it was, obviously she had her walls up the way her son did.

"Hi Violet, its Anthea." Anthea said in her personal assistant tone. Violet exhaled a breath.

"Look Anthea, love, it's lovely to hear from you but if this is about Mycroft I really don't want to hear it right now." It was all said in one fast breath, and she sounded world weary. The dramatics came from somewhere after all.

"You have to hear it now." Anthea spoke with force. "Because if I don't do something neither of you will fix it. You're too angry and he's too hurt."

"He's hurt?" Violet repeated Anthea's words in disbelief. Anthea could imagine the appalled look on the matriarch's face. "Alice," Anthea clenched her jaw. "My daughter was hidden from me for years. I thought she was dead."

"So did Mycroft!" Anthea rose her voice and almost jumped out of her seat, scooting forward, as she did. "He thought she died too. It was your brother's idea." Violet laughed dangerously.

"Oh believe me, I am not talking to Rudy either." She said through the laughter. If that was supposed to calm Anthea it wasn't good enough.

"Then why are you taking it out on Mycroft if you can see that it was Rudy?" Violet was one of the smartest women Anthea knew. Is this what Sherlock and Mycroft meant when they feared being blinded by emotion. Anthea heard Violet take a breath.

"Dear, he's known the truth for years. I understand not telling Sherlock but what about us? We're her parents." It was the same anger mixed with pain that Violet had expressed at the office but it had died down by now. It was a softer emotion.

"He knows that, and he feels bad. So bad, he doubts every decision he makes." Anthea said. She heard Violet make some motherly cluck noise before Anthea continued. "And I get that she's your daughter but he's your son and we're going through a lot right now. I understand with Eurus back that I'm not a forethought but Mycroft should be." Anthea finished. Violet stuttered and stumbled over her words.

"What's this?" She eventually asked, exasperated. "What do you mean 'with Eurus back'?" The questioning was turned on Anthea. The brunette felt her insides restrict and crumple together.

"You wouldn't let me join in the family conversation..." Violet had the strange ability to turn anyone into a nervous child who had done something wrong. Was it an ability all mothers had? Would Anthea get that power? Violet clicked her tongue and scoffed, sounding a lot like Mycroft.

"You two and your finding hidden meanings..." The chastising comment sounded more like it was to Violet than to her. "You know I was very emotional at the time. You know that?" The genius prompted Anthea for an answer.

"I know." Anthea replied.

"And I know how you must feel, sweetie, with your history, but by no means did I ever try to use you as a replacement for Eurus. You were perfect for my son and I adore you." She paused. Anthea did not reply. "Eurus was... is my little serious scientist. Always analytical. You are bright and breezy. Always ready to laugh and smile. Why would I ever trade one of you for the other?" A faint warmth filled Anthea. It wasn't like the furious fire from before, it was soothing and nice. Violet had calmed her own worries. But this wasn't about her, this was about Mycroft and his relationship with his mother.

"What about the boys?" Anthea asked, purposely dragging the conversation in that direction. Violet took a deep breath.

"Well Sherlock has always been an adventurer, hasn't he? Doing his detective work now, or finding buried treasure back then." The mother remembered fondly. Anthea smiled. "And Mycroft was my little bookwork." Violet continued. "Always had his nose in a book, that boy. It had nothing to do with who was smarter or what have you, he was impressed by Eurus, not jealous. Even when it was just him he always wanted to learn. He was like a sponge that needed to absorb as much information as possible." Anthea subconsciously placed her hand on her abdomen as Violet talked fondly of young Mycroft. The care was still there, it was right there in her tone as she spoke about her son. Mycroft was wrong about his parents not loving him.

"You should call Mycroft." Anthea spoke quietly. Violet made a noise in return that Anthea couldn't place.

"Alice, dear, you know just as well as I do that Mycroft won't learn his lesson unless he knows he needs to apologise. If I call him first he'll think he's won and forget he did anything wrong." Anthea closed her eyes again. This family. What had she gotten herself into?

"He's not going to think he's won, Violet. He already thinks he's lost at everything." Anthea rubbed at her forehead. She had to say it. "Violet, he thinks you don't love him anymore." The words fell out of her mouth and landed on Violet like a lead weight. She made a noise like the wind was just knocked out of her. The she scoffed, inhaled, sighed, and made a few attempts to speak.

"Of course I love him!" Violet exclaimed. She sounded distraught. "He's my first born child. I held him as a baby, I looked after him when he was sick. I'm upset with him but I love him." She said. Anthea pursed her lips.

"He doesn't feel that. He thinks he's finally disappointed you enough to make you hate him. He thinks you think he's the Ice Man now." Anthea said.

"That's absurd." Violet scoffed, her words were shaky. It was possible that she was tearing up. Part of Anthea felt bad for that but part of her felt satisfied by that for Mycroft's sake. "He's got a wonderful heart, he just needs to learn to stop listening to his stupid brain and start listening to that heart of his." Anthea chuckled and her laugh made Violet give a shaky, breathy laugh in return. "I cannot believe he feels that way. He's my little boy, my first… Of course I love the idiot." Anthea had to blink he eyes again to keep them dry. She pressed her hand firmer against her abdomen.

"Maybe you need to tell him that." Anthea tried to softly encourage Violet. The lack of answer worried Anthea so she added more. "This is a difficult time for all of us right now, and Sherlock and Eurus aren't the only ones who could probably use their Mummy."

"Really?" Violet asked. Anthea sniffed and smirked.

"I mean good luck getting him to admit it but, yeah. I think it's you and Siger who have devastated him the most."

Silence again.

Prolonged silence.

Anthea thought that maybe it hadn't worked.

"I don't want you to feel like we don't love you, too." Violet said sweetly. "You and John have been guardian angels for my boys and I know Myc worships you." Anthea looked down at her feet. She took her hand off her abdomen.

"Eurus likes me too." She added, going for the teasing comment she always went for at times like these. "She thinks I'm funny. She doesn't laugh, but she thinks I'm funny."

"She's always done that, dear. It's a little unsettling at first but you get used to it. She's not feeling humour as much as she recognises that you said something humorous."

"Well I get that now I know who she is and her problems with emotions and feelings. Before when she was just a random girl it was weird. Now she's just another Holmes dialect to translate."

A few days past and there was nothing from Violet and Siger. Anthea was beginning to lose faith in her conversational skills and that perhaps she hadn't gotten through to the Holmes matriarch at all. It didn't make sense, Violet obviously loved her son. If she knew what pain he was in, and how much she didn't like not talking to him, why wouldn't she just fix that. It was a simple phone call that was all Anthea had asked for. She had been so close to fixing one of their problems.

Then one day, after getting home from freelance related errands the security passed Anthea the day's mail. Within the mail was a little package. It wasn't big so it couldn't be much but it was too large for an envelope. The hand writing on the address was definitely Violet's. Anthea smirked to herself. A package. Of course. Violet was the source of the Holmes sibling's dramatics. Obviously she wasn't going to do something as simple as a phone call as her peace offering. Anthea was a fool for thinking that.

Anthea walked into Mycroft's private study. He had chosen to work on private contracts where he didn't have to report to the rest of PALL. Anthea held the small package playfully in her hands and sauntered up to his desk.

"Something personal arrived for you today." Anthea hummed coyly. Mycroft looked up from his work. He looked at Anthea and catalogued away the way she looked – he'd been doing that a lot lately – then looked at the small package in his assistant's hands. The genius held out a longer, slender hand. Anthea propped the package down in his hand. The genius immediately looked at the handwriting. He eyed Anthea from above the package, also recognising the writing. Anthea impishly shrugged.

Carefully Mycroft opened the box. Out of it he pulled out a photo framed in a simple silver frame. Anthea could see the photo from this side of the desk. It was a snapshot of a very young Holmes family out the front of what Anthea presumed was Musgrave Place. Eurus was a baby, maybe slightly older than Rosie. Which placed Sherlock at one or two, and Mycroft at eight or nine years old. It looked like such a bright, happy family. A symbolic gesture. Now who had hidden meanings?

Mycroft also pulled out a small folded note. He unfolded it and wearily read it. After he had finished reading he read it again. His thumb stroked the paper as he took a deep breath in. The eldest Holmes held the note, folded again, between his index finger and middle finger and outstretched his arm to Anthea.

"I suspect this was your doing." He said. Anthea took the note and opened it.

Mycie,

It doesn't matter who you are or what you do. You can make all the mistakes in the world. It won't change that you are our first child and we will always love you.

Love,

Mummy and Daddy

Anthea's heart burst into sparkling pieces and she had to try her best not to break into a huge smile. She bit her lip and ran her fingers over the sides of the paper.

"Maybe." She answered Mycroft. He hummed at her.

"And I suppose you expect me to call my mother now, don't you?" He asked. Anthea hadn't said anything of the sort. But if that is what he needs to hear to follow his heart then that's what he needs to hear.

"Would you?" She asked coyly. Mycroft sighed. He pushed his chair back, pulled his phone out of his breast pocket, and stood up. Anthea watched as he searched his contacts then pressed dial, walking towards the door.

"Hello, Mummy?" He spoke in his polite neutral voice, pulling the office door open. "Yes, I did." He walked through the door. "Yes, I know." Anthea walked up to the door to watch Mycroft's back fleeting down the hallway. "I know." He repeated in a soft tone, the fake politeness disappearing as did he through another door.

Anthea let her giant smile escape. She put the note down on the desk and sat in Mycroft's office chair. It was only a start to fixing the hurt between the family but Anthea had managed to kick start it. She'd managed to get control of the situation and fix something in their life. Most importantly, she'd gotten one of the most important things in Mycroft's life back to him – his family. Anthea mentally patted herself on her back, placing her hands gingerly on her abdomen once more.

Author's Note: So? How was it? What you expected it to be? I really hope you liked it because I was looking forward to writing this chapter for a while. Thanks to our guest reviewers; Tadaa, Madalina, and Christie. Thanks to all my reviewers, you make me so very happy. See you next chapter.