Author's Note: Thank you for the kind reviews last chapter. I'm glad you all seemed to like it. 201! A start on the next lot of chapters, and to be honest I think this chapter is a great choice for 201 and I hope you feel the same. It's not written like other chapters so it could go either way but you guys often like my weirder chapters. Excuse the full stops used to make it easier to read. Also stay tuned at the end for POV news! *cough* new one posted now *cough*. Please read, review, and enjoy!

Oh! And it's August 12th. According to my phone, that is Hope's birthday! Yes, I put those dates in my phone so I don't forget them. Shhhh.

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 Chose Baby Names

Have you ever met someone and had an immediate like, or more commonly a dislike, to them due to their name? You know or once knew someone else with that name who you hated so much that the name alone leaves a bad taste in your mouth? As Anthea was discovering, all those ideas and attributes that you attach to names comes into play when you're thinking of names for your baby.

Since Sherlock had brought up naming the baby after him she had begun doodling a list on possible names for both genders. She added a few pros and cons to both. Turns out the people you know in your life can be big cons or pros.

Boys.
Charles/Charlie.

Pros:
1. Charlie is a cute name for a little boy.
2. Charles is a sophisticated name for a man.

Anthea thought back to eons ago. She remembered the first year she worked for Mycroft and she found out about his birthday. It was a Charles that had told her it was his birthday. She knew the man well. He had a fantastic smile. He was also one of those people in the government who understood Mycroft without judgement. He was funny. Anthea always appreciated funny.

3. Charles from work is kind of cool.

Cons:
1. Charlie Clarke sounds gross.

Then, as she tried to think, a cold shiver went down Anthea's spine. It was the likes of which she hadn't felt in a long time. It was like the room had completely frozen over and her suspicious were on high alert. She remembered this feeling. She would never forget this gross feeling.

2. Charles Augustus Magnussen.

So Charlie was out of the question now.

.

David.

Pros:
1. Sounds sweet.
2. Not easy to make fun of.

Cons:
1. Kind of boring.

Oh, but she had forgotten about the accountant. David. David Kiernan had been a wonderful guy. If Mycroft hadn't sabotaged the end of her date she might still be with him. No. That is completely wrong. Eventually Mycroft would have come forward with his feelings and with all Anthea felt for him, all those deep emotions, she would have left David for him. They would have had a few months together, maybe a year tops depending on Mycroft's fortitude. Surely, if someone was a representation of their name then David was an exemplary example of David's all over the world. Tall, handsome, and a great date. There was just one issue.

2. Naming Mycroft's son after an ex? Not a good idea.

Not David Then.

.

Michael.

Pros:
1. I like it.
2. Sounds presentable.
3. Same nickname as Myc.

Cons:
1. Same nickname as Myc.

Mycroft did not appreciate his nickname, and if things went sour maybe hearing her son called Myc all the time wouldn't exactly be fun. Okay. Not Michael. Too many emotions.

.

William.

Pros:
1. Will is an adorable name!
2. Sophisticated, too.

There was a real reason she had put this name on the list. She loved the name Will but it wasn't for her. Mycroft's brother meant the world to him. So much of Mycroft's life and decisions revolved around Sherlock. If there was ever going to be a family name at all added to the list of possible names it was this one. It was Sherlock's first name but not the name her went by.

3. For Mycroft.

Anthea thought of Sherlock. She thought of all the years of Not-Anthea. She thought of all the pain he'd caused Mycroft. She thought of how absolutely smug he'd be if he got his brother's kid named after him.

Cons
1. It would make Sherlock smug.

She smiled at she wrote it, though. Did that make it a real con if it made her want to laugh?

Sherlock had been family to her for a while. Sherlock had been so supportive, with John, about this child. Sherlock was invested in this and really cared. And it would mean so much to Mycroft, even if he didn't want anything to do with it.

She wasn't going to cross Will off yet. Only if something better came up.

.

Stephen.

Pros:
1. Can't think of a way to make fun of it.

Was that it? Why did she add it to the list? Carol's husband was named Stephen. Jamie's brother was also Stephen. It was one of those names that followed her around. Like Jamie complaining that she knew five different Jessica's; two from work, two from high school, and one from her home town. She guessed that might be why she thought of the name…

2. I guess I know so good Stephens.

Cons:
1. Not a fan of "Steve". Stephen is better.

Then she remembered Tim's boss. Stephen Burgundy. A short, rotund man with more grease in his black hair than in Mycroft's cars and Anthea's car combined. He wasn't even worthy of being called a shark. Tim likened him once to a leech feeding off others. Tim hated him, and Anthea hated him from Tim's descriptions alone.

2. Tim's boss.
3. I know way too many Stephens.

.

Owen.

Pros:
1. Super cute.
2. Kind of uncommon.
3. Sounds okay with both surnames.
4. Don't know any Owens.

Cons:
1…..

Was there any cons that existed for the name? Not that she could think of. It was a nice name and she really liked it. If it had no cons then it was the winner, right? That was the name? But if that was the case why wasn't she excited about it? She wanted to be really happy with the names she chose. What was the problem?

Anthea sat staring at the page for a long time before she noticed what the problem was. Her eyes kept drifting back to a name. She finally had a con that cut Owen out of the running.

1. it's not William.

.

So there it was. If her child was a boy it would be William. Despite everything, a boy would be William.

Moving on…

Girls.
Anne.

Pros:
1. Anne of Green Gables.
2. Sweet.
3. Anne Bronte.

Why was Anthea not surprised to find her first name on the girls list was influenced by literary creations and creators?

Cons:
1. Boring name.
2. A name – would be confusing.
3. A name that I use sometimes. Would be very confusing.

A sweet name with nice thoughts attached to it. Ultimately it would be confusing so it was off the list.

.

Charlotte.

Pros:
1. Beautiful name.
2. Elegant.
3. Charlotte Bronte.

Cons:
1. the name of the young princess.

Anthea didn't want people to think she named her daughter after the princess. Particularly with Mycroft's connections to the crown. That would be awkward.

Anthea did always think the name was beautiful. It was a name that made her smile at the thought of it. That was once upon a time. Now she thought of a tall, elegant, drop dead beautiful woman. A woman who made Anthea's flame erupt out of coals. She had ruined the name for Anthea, absolutely ruined it. She scowled at the mention of it. That was just as bad of a con as Magnussen had been.

2. Charlotte Cunningham!

Why had she even written that name on the list? How dare Charlotte ruin such a lovely name?

.

Dahlia.

Pros:

There was only one reason Anthea had written this name on the list.

1. Flower theme.
2. Know no Dahlias.

Violet was a flower. Anthea's aunt Rose was a flower, too. Flower names appeared to accidentally run in both families. As a nod to Violet in particular but also to her own family Anthea had searched for a reasonably unique flower name. Thing was, Anthea didn't really want to go down that route either. It was just for Violet.

Cons:
1. Flower theme.
2. No strong feelings for the name.

.

Penelope.

Pros:
1. Adorable.
2. Penelope Clarke sounds nice.
3. Poppy's real name.

James' older sister who was the youngest of the girls in the family. Poppy was a sweet girl. Being the closest to James' age he adored her. Jamie liked her, and Anthea liked her. She was quiet but giggly and impossible to hate. She had been at the birth of Hope with Anthea. She was Poppy and not Penelope, but she was a good example of the name. But did she want a kid with the same name as James' sister? James would make jokes about it forever.

Cons:
1. James.
2. Penny Dreadful.

Anthea would always think of Penny Dreadfuls. That wasn't too bad for her but she could just picture her daughter growing to hate that the way she hated Alice in Wonderland.

.

Margot.

Pros:
1. So beautiful.
2. Don't know any Margot's.
3. French.

It was no secret that Anthea loved visiting France. There was also the little extra love for it due to memories. Mycroft had given her that French copy of The Phantom of the Opera all those years ago because she loved it and she could speak the language. To her the language was a special connection between the two. Mycroft also had a bigger connection to the country. Vernet. Violet and Rudy Vernet. He had French heritage on his mother's side, meaning Anthea's child would have French heritage on her father's side. It would be a nice little nod to all those good things.

4. Margot Holmes sounds like a princess.

She hadn't allowed herself to think about that with any other name, it had been off limits. She didn't want to think of her child with that last name. She was doing well to be as independent mentally as she could be and imagine this child as hers and hers alone for Mycroft's sake… But Margot Holmes…

Anthea could picture this Margot Holmes. A brunette with blue eyes and a sharp wit. She would impress everyone. She could be amazing.

Anthea had a feeling the initials are what set her off. That was going on the pros list too. That might not be the only list it made it onto.

5. M.H.

Cons:

1. Too uncommon?

Uncommon like Mycroft? Not quite.

2. M.H.

.

Emily.

Pros:
1. Emily Bronte.

The writer of Wuthering Heights. All the Bronte sister had made it onto Anthea's list but this one was special. The author of her favourite book. She had considered putting Cathy on it too but decided against it. She'd rather honour the author.

But this was another of those names that just rubbed her the wrong way. Eurus had used it to Anthea and Jamie as her disguise. She'd chosen it carefully too, with all those hints about the Bronte sisters to Anthea. She had chosen something specifically to appeal to Anthea, or set her off, it was hard to say. Anthea was prepared to forgive Eurus for Mycroft's sake, for his family's sake, but Emily had always creeped Anthea out. Had she ruined the name?

Cons:
1. Eurus.

.

Looking at the list it was obvious Anthea had a favourite. Once again it was something full of emotions. While the boy's name was about family though, the girl's name was mostly about the connection between Anthea and Mycroft. Sentiment. It's a defect found in humans, and apparently it had chosen the names for Anthea and not her mind.

Her child was going to be either Will or Margot.

Wow.

That made it real. That cemented it in concrete. Her little thing had possible names now. Anthea was going to be a mother of a kid named Will or Margot. She'd be calling out that name for the rest of her life. It was one of those moments that made you feel the rotation of the Earth and need to steady yourself.

Of course, it wasn't set in stone yet. There was just one person she wanted to run the names past. She had thought she'd be choosing the names of her possible children with their father but that wasn't in her cards. It did mean she got to do it based on her likes and dislikes alone and didn't have to pretend to like or consider any names she hated. Yet she still just wanted Mycroft to see the list. Anthea wanted to see if he had any strong positive or negative opinions. He had said it was his child after all, no matter what she didn't want to give it a name he hated, hence getting rid of a few of them for him. She wanted to encourage him coming around as lightly as possible. Giving him a chance to veto the names might be a good nudge.

Anthea and Mycroft had been home from their vacation for two days but they still had plenty of time, as far as they were concerned, before they went back to work. Now Mycroft was back in London and able to use his office at home again he'd spent the last few days working on freelance to calm down his mind. He was going crazy.

Anthea wasn't. She missed work, absolutely, but her mind was elsewhere. Mostly on the list of baby names but she was feeling a little out of it for a few days now. It reminded her of how her mother was always off with the fairies. How she could live like this, Anthea had no idea. She hated promising Mycroft to get him a file from the bedroom and forgetting which file he meant because she was busy chewing on whether or not to entirely cut Owen from the list of names. Maybe when they went to work that would clear up. At least she had done the list.

And she knew exactly where to find Mycroft to get approval for her choices. He had been in his study for the last three hours. He'd be done soon and Anthea could wait but she'd rather go now.

She didn't knock this time like she usually preferred to. She creaked open the door and stuck her head in with a cheeky smile. Mycroft glanced over. He quirked an eyebrow and broke into a similar smile.

"Hello." Anthea sung.

"Hello." Mycroft replied in the same singsong voice. He had relaxed a lot being able to work again. Anthea was his grounding point again. "Can I help you, or are you doing the worst covert operation to spy on someone that the world has ever seen?"

"Ah, you caught me." Anthea huffed as she pushed open the door completely to allow herself access into the room. She stopped and leaned on the door frame, playing with the piece of paper in her fingers. "The only reason I ever agreed to work for you was because I actually spy on you for someone else." She pursed her lips and rested her head against the doorframe. "I'm a double agent."

"Unlucky for you, dear, I've been lying to you this entire time." Mycroft replied with a straight face. "I'm not actually Mycroft Holmes. He died in the Musgrave fire." Anthea was the one who broke. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, unable not to smile.

"You win." Anthea crinkled her nose.

"Obviously." Mycroft muttered, turning back to his work. Anthea approached the desk cautiously, stopping in front of it facing Mycroft. Sensing her coming closer, Mycroft stopped working once more to watch Anthea.

"I have a personal project I just completed." Anthea told him. Mycroft rose both eyebrows.

"Oh, really?" He asked. She nodded, still playing with the list in her hand.

"I thought I'd have someone of your intelligence look over this draft before the final version is due." She continued to talk like it was something from work. Mycroft's raised eyebrows turned into a frown. He wasn't following her. That was always a little fun for Anthea.

"What is it?" He asked seriously. Anthea held out the piece of paper. Mycroft took it from her.

You could see the moment her realised what the list was. It was like a little bit of life drained away from his face along with some of his colour. Anthea could see him clench his jaw to keep from looking up at her with a look she might not appreciate. It didn't matter, Anthea was used to those knee-jerk reactions and he'd stopped being so obvious about it since their fight. He was trying not to upset either of them with his own flippant thoughts. If he wanted to pull a face that was okay.

But then the face changed. In fact, Mycroft's exterior as a whole changed. His face softened. He did not smile, but he didn't look stern, he looked contemplative, surprised, and dare she say it?.. He looked touched. His eyes had that look normally reserved for Anthea and his siblings. His shoulders had relaxed and he had leaned towards the desk just a touch. It was one of those lovely looks into the real Mycroft, at his big and ever so melancholy heart. It had to be a good thing to get this reaction.

He was spending a long time reading over the list. He was taking in all the details and reading all Anthea's markings and scribbles. He had read it once quickly. His demeanour had changed when he got about half way. He was on his third or fourth time going through it. Anthea knew he didn't need to do that. He barely needed to look at it to absorb the information. Why was he doing this?

Mycroft finally put the paper down on his desk. He folded his hands together and placed them directly on top of the list. He did not look at Anthea right away. He cleared his throat and looked contemplatively over at his bookshelves. When he did look at Anthea his eyes were still open to the true him behind all the ice. Deep grey-blue instead of fierce steel.

"I can see you put a great deal of thought and effort into this little personal project of yours." He nodded down to the list. "And while you don't need my approval I do know that is what you're searching for." He swallowed his breath, his lips twitched, he cocked his head to the side, and he smiled. "So I will indeed tell you that I approve." Anthea's heartbeat picked up a little. She subconsciously stepped closer.

"You do?" She asked. Mycroft nodded.

"Neither is abhorrent and both a pleasing to the ears and the eyes. The female choice is beautiful. However," His hands separated and he placed the fingertips of one hand on the list. "I feel the male choice was made with not simply a consideration towards me but rather deeply thinking about me and if you don't like it I should suggest you revise." Anthea exhaled her breath and smiled sweetly at Mycroft. She shook her head twice.

"No, I like it." She said. "I did, you know, choose it for you, but I really like it. I really like both of them. I'd be happy with either of them." She really would. The names were both so special and Anthea would love to call her child either. Mycroft looked down to hide his expression momentarily. He looked back up and as he looked at Anthea she felt like he was in awe of her.

"Thank you." He said sincerely. "And you have my seal of approval." Anthea felt a little giddy, she liked to blame the hormones for that. She looked up at the roof and let a single giddy laugh escape her mouth.

"Thank you, sir." She continued the game to the very end but she hoped Mycroft knew she meant it. Mycroft sniffed. He looked down at the list again.

"You're very welcome." He replied honestly. Then he went back to typing.

Anthea was going to ask for the list back but Mycroft's left elbow was resting on it as he typed away and he looked more than a little focused on the project. Maybe she'd just leave it there on his desk, under his arm, while he was working. She'd come get it later.

"I'm going to order an early dinner tonight." Anthea said. She might as well cover that while in here. He wouldn't come down for at least half an hour yet by the looks of it and she was planning to order the food soon so it would be here by an hour's time.

"Not Italian please, and I'm not in the mood for anything with too much cheese in general." He muttered.

"Everything else fine?" She asked.

"Order from wherever you like, my dear." He took a moment to look away from the screen and offer her a half-smile. Even with enough focus free to talk to Anthea and even look at her he forgot to give her back the list. That wasn't really like him. He hadn't handed the ultrasound back straight away but he had handed it back, and he always gave documents straight back too. Oh well. She'd have to wait.

Anthea walked over to the other side of the desk to place a kiss on Mycroft's cheek before she left the study. He might not like it, but he deserved it.

Author's Note: See what I mean about being written in a different style than the norm? Because of that I had a lot of fun writing it. I had AFTFE open in a tab while I was writing this and I was using the search function to look for names and stuff. It was really cool. I can only hope you guys liked it too. Let me know! I'd love to hear! Thanks to our guest reviewers; Guest, Madalina, and Hazel! Thank you to all of you. See you in five days.

New Mycroft POV up now! It's called The First Ultrasound Video – Mycroft's POV. I posted it just before posting this. Go give it a read. It's my gift to you guys for 200 awesome chapters. Thank you!