Author's Note: Hi guys! Thanks for the awesome reviews last chapter. I'm so happy you liked it and it paid off. I'm a bit worried about this chapter because of my writing style. I focus more on people than action and that really came out here. It could be good or it could be bad. I like it but I mean… it's my style so I probably should. Let me know your thoughts. Please read, review, and please 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 Time Anthea Was In Labour

For Anthea to say she could recall that… whole ordeal vividly would be a lie. It was too long for that to be true. How she remembered it was a few substantial memorable moments and events intermingled with hours full of panic and pain. What time did the contractions start? Anthea couldn't tell a soul. What time did she start pushing? She really didn't care. When was the baby born? Oh that was easy; 5.04 am on the 1st of June. Considering she had gone to the hospital on the 31 of May time didn't exist in the hospital where Anthea could literally say a month passed.

The first memorable moment was after they checked into the hospital. It was while they were waiting for Anthea's doctor that Jamie decided to call Mycroft. Anthea had told her not to bother him until after they were told the baby would be born today (or tomorrow, as it turned out), but Jamie didn't listen. In fact Anthea was just in the middle of explaining why today's meeting was so important when Jamie found the number in her phone, pressed dial, and put the phone against her ear. Anthea sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Hi-" As Jamie got cut off she rolled her eyes and huffed out a heavy breath. "Well yeah, it is important, hey?" She sneered into her phone but then almost immediately her face fell serious again. "Ali was at my place and her water broke. We're at the hospital." Jamie explained to Mycroft. She rolled her eyes again at whatever Mycroft was saying. "Yeah I know it's early, I have reproduced you weirdo." She said. "Oh, no. Um, Ali doesn't want you to leave unless you have to. We haven't seen her doctor yet. I just wanted you to know. I'll call you after we." Jamie stopped midsentence. She brought the phone away from her ear, stared at in incredulously and scoffed. Anthea, both hands on her stomach, quirked an eyebrow at the blonde woman. "Your weirdo hung up on me!" Anthea sniffed a small laughed.

"To get back to his meeting or to come here?" She asked. Quite frankly with him it could go either way. That meeting was important for his job security after all and he so loved that job.

"Well," Jamie plonked herself down on the corner of Anthea's bed, sitting next to her. "The last thing he said was 'I'm on my way'." She tried to do her best stuffy Mycroft impression. "So you be the judge Miss 'Let's not interrupt him, he'll be ever so upset'." Anthea kicked Jamie's leg. She said nothing of the sort. At least it didn't sound that way to her.

Next the contractions started. Any woman who had ever had menstrual pains would begin to have an inkling of what that might feel like only multiply it by ten and then multiply the answer by ten at random intervals to increase the pain. The uterus contracting felt a lot like her insides trying to rip itself to pieces. Maybe it was trying to return to its natural size and her organs were trying to go home with the issue of a baby still being in the way. They were evicting the baby too soon.

It's a good thing Mycroft won't want another child, Anthea thought to herself, because she wasn't going through this again. They say that women slightly forget the pain of childbirth so that the idea of having another child seems more appealing. During the whole event Anthea thought there would have to be some sort of miracle drug to make her forget the pain she went through.

That child better be worth it.

Finally the doctor got there. She gave the all clear. It was early, yes, but labour would have to go ahead. The baby was a late preterm baby and had better odds than most premature babies. There could be some issues post birth but it would unlikely be something serious. All Anthea heard were issues. She shook her head, taking a deep breathe in.

"No." She said. "No, it's too soon." She smiled despite herself. "There can't be any complications with this baby, it's my only baby." The doctor looked at Anthea sympathetically but Jamie widened her eyes and sighed.

"Ali," She said, rubbing Anthea's back. "Minor complications, like being a little light."

"Or breathing issues!" Anthea responded in a harsh voice. "No, it's not allowed to do this." She stroked her bump protectively.

"I understand how you feel, Alice." The doctor tilted her head to the side. "But I've delivered numerous babies between thirty-four to thirty-six weeks gestation and I can say confidently your baby will be okay." Anthea's baby was thirty-four weeks. This was no comfort to her, however.

"You don't understand." Anthea said through a heavy breath. Her heart was being squished by her lungs again like it had felt before she went to Jamie's. "Everything in our lives is dramatic, and ridiculous, and never well timed." She said. She looked up and shook her head again, sending her chocolate curls to fall on her back. "The baby can't do this, too. I can't have another Holmes come into my life being dramatic, and dangerous, and over the top. That's not how it's going to work this time. This one isn't going to cause anyone heartache. This one is going to be good, and know that not everything has to be theatrical." Jamie laughed. She leaned into Anthea and gave her a side hug.

"You picked the Holmes family." She said.

"But I'm in there too! I'm precise and on time-"

"And you love theatrics." Jamie added.

"Don't start with me." Anthea said, pointing her finger at Jamie's face. It was so close it was almost touching Jamie's nose. She just smiled lovingly.

"Now, I've met your Mr. Holmes, Alice." Anthea's doctor said. "But by that description would he be any relation to the detective who came back from the dead?" She asked. Anthea rolled her eyes while Jamie bounced up and down on her seat.

"That's Myc's brother!" Jamie peeped happily. "Myc helped him with that." She was about to start another sentence when Anthea elbowed Jamie in the ribs then glared at her to shut up. The doctor was nodding.

"I can see why you're worried about family genes then." She said to Anthea.

"You don't want to get me started on their sister." Anthea muttered darkly. "She's the worst of the lot." Thinking it was a joke the doctor laughed. Jamie faked a smile to go along with it but it wasn't a very good fake smile.

"The nurses will be in to check on you. I'll come by in a few hours." She said before walking to the door.

"A few hours?" Anthea called out. The doctor nodded.

"It'll feel like more than that to you, sweetie." Jamie said as she stroked Anthea's back sympathetically.

No one had taken her seriously when she refused to have the baby early. They just made Holmes jokes. Anthea realised she had no say in the matter. It was all the baby, the stupid Holmsian baby.

The next memorable moment was the arrival of the biological father himself. It would be easy to say Mycroft looked fine. To the hospital staff he probably looked impeccable. Not a hair was out of place, his suit was crisp – the only complaint possible is that his tie was a little crooked but that probably had to do more with work than now – and as usual he held his umbrella loosely to his side like a strange statement piece and not protection. Anthea, and even Jamie at this point, could see better. He was a little out of breathe from rushing, that was the first thing. He had that tragic troubled look in his eyes that he was so good at that was usually reserved for lamenting about his brother and sister. The most obvious one was the little bit too tight grip he hand on the handle of his umbrella, like it was the thing keeping him in touch with reality, like letting go would make him loose his demeanour.

"I received your message in the car." Mycroft said breathlessly to Jamie. Anthea figured that meant Jamie told him that the baby would be born today (still tomorrow at this point). Mycroft stepped further into the room. "Have they checked the baby's position since it is early? Have they checked the vitals? How dilated is she?" He fired off questions so fast Anthea could even catch them all. She was focused on baby and how baby was supposed to get out. She and Jamie had been walking around the room so Anthea put one hand on her back and used the other to rub her forehead, eyes closed.

"Whoa!" Jamie held her palm up to Mycroft. "Calm down, you didn't miss that much. You ask the nurse that when she comes in next." She said. Mycroft's colour drained a little. It was as if his brain did not like the idea of asking the staff. Why? Did that make it too real? Did getting involved in the process disgust him or was it beneath him? He always did strike Anthea as one of those old fashion men. The kind who didn't go in but waited outside and handed out cigars like a weirdo.

Anthea might have made a joke about it had a contraction not decided to hit her at that very moment. She blindly grabbed for the foot of the bed to hold on for support as she balled her other hand into a fist and silently braced herself through the wave of pain. Afterwards she still held to the bed as she caught her breath. It was like Mycroft had only just noticed Anthea's presence in the room when she had doubled over in pain. His steel eyes were now on her with a mixture of shock and fear swirling in them.

"Alice." He said. He walked over to her side. He moved his arms towards her and froze. His hands balled into fists and then fell to his side. Really? Today of all days he was going to start being a baby about hugs again? A baby was about to be born because they had sex in the Diogenes Club but now he was worried about hugging her in private? If it was one of his mental things Anthea really had no patience for it today. If it was about the baby then Anthea was even more fed up about it. If it was about her then she really didn't care. She was sure there was a sour look on her face as she shook her head but when she was in this much pain and worried for her baby she wasn't worried about being careful for any Holmes' sake but her baby.

Mycroft looked her up and down silently.

Whatever had Mycroft being, well, Mycroft, Jamie seemed to have the luxury of excess brain power to determine what it was. She bit her lip and hummed, her song full of awkward laughter.

"Hey Mycroft, you know what I couldn't do without you?" She said. She sounded like a mother giving a child a meaningless task and making it sound really important. The genius turned to her silently. "Call your family." She held hands out and shrugged. Really? Because she could have gotten the numbers from Anthea's phone. "It would be really awesome and super helpful if you could call your parents and your brother… or something." Ah she was so close. Mycroft would see it now for what it was; a task for him to do to get him out of whatever headspace he was in. A busy Holmes is a happy Holmes. Jamie ruined it with that last 'or something'. He'd just sneer and retort her.

"Oh, yes, okay." Mycroft replied softly and slowly. He nodded three times. He scratched his eyebrow with his ring finger. "Mummy in particular should receive a call." It was hard to believe he was going for this. Jamie smiled sweetly and nodded.

"Totally!" She humoured him.

"I'll go outside and make those calls." He muttered to no one in particular. As he reached the door Anthea looked up to the roof. She looked at the roof and intended to let out a sigh. It sounded more like a sob or a strange groan of pain. Residual noises from her silent reaction to the contractions? Her body reacting to Mycroft when her mind refused to? Its hard to say but it made Mycroft stop in his tracks. He turned around slowly, looked Anthea up and down, and pursed his lips. Then he walked over to her. He didn't take her into a full embrace, that's not him. He put one arm around her shoulder and rested his forehead against the side of her head. Her body in control, Anthea relaxed and leaned into the warmth of Mycroft's body. They stayed like that for a minute. Mycroft said nothing. Silently he pulled back and walked out of the room to do the task given to him. Jamie watched him go and sighed.

"Bless him." She cooed. "He's worse than James was." She really did see something Anthea didn't.

After that Anthea did begin to see what Jamie could see; Mycroft was clueless. Well that was a lie, he'd been present for the birth of siblings and family members and theoretically he knew everything. The correct thing to say would be that Mycroft's brain was refusing to respond correctly or give him the answers. He really didn't know what to do. He was walking in and out of Anthea's hospital room without saying a word. He'd go to speak and then not. He'd watch the nurses like a hawk but not even speak a word to them either.

Poor Jamie, poor talkative Jamie, Anthea wasn't doing much talking either. She was doing a lot of sighing and a lot of sharp breathing but only the occasional bit of talking. Jamie didn't seem to mind at all. Really, Jamie seemed to understand both Mycroft and Anthea in ways they didn't even understand themselves today.

It got easier once one of James' sisters became available to take Hope for the night. Liz, the eldest one, was happy to take her for as long as possible. And when James arrived at the hospital he had regained composure and was probably the most excited. He was happy and talkative and texting anyone Anthea wanted texted. He was also taking photos must to Anthea and Mycroft's dismay. Of course it gave Mycroft someone to yell at when he took one without notice and the flash went off. Anthea will remember that as the first time she laughed during that hospital stay.

What James being there meant that Jamie could also kick the boys out into the waiting room whenever she decided that Anthea just needed time to breathe and relax. Mycroft was not a comforting presence at this time. You could feel the nerves radiating from him. You could hear his concerns and fears for the future whirling around his brain. That added with James being James and it was a bit too much.

It was late night when Sherlock somehow got into the hospital and let himself into the ward. Apparently a case had just finished and he had nothing better to do for at least twelve hours so he thought he'd come wait around here. Apparently. The real reasoning didn't matter. It was sweet to see him but he was just another bouncing Holmes brain that wouldn't stop.

They hadn't seen Mycroft in half an hour, they'd told Sherlock. He'd disappeared somewhere and never returned. Sherlock frowned at this and muttered something to himself, no one else caught it.

"I'll find him." He said, turning up the collar of his coat. He whisked around, coat fluttering dramatically, and strutted out of the room.

Half an hour later James popped his head into the room to say that Mycroft and Sherlock were back and talking about a case in the hallway. According to Sherlock he had found Mycroft on the roof – which was restricted access – smoking. Instead of bringing him right back, Sherlock smoked with him for a while. It was good, actually. It meant that Mycroft could calm down and Sherlock could focus while Anthea lay in her bed with her eyes shut for that hour in total. Even Jamie had popped out for some of it to give her best friend some space.

May turned to June.

Anthea didn't actually get any sleep but she did keep her eyes closed for the good part of another two hours. She was aware of Jamie sticking her head in. She waved when Mycroft came in and stood by the door. He came to stand by the foot of the bed when a contraction hit and he stayed there for twenty minutes. When he left he patted her foot. Anthea humoured James when he came in and asked her if she needed something and sent him to get something to drink even though she had water and ice. She even smiled to herself when she heard Sherlock raise his voice somewhere in the hall. The quiet was nice when trying to deal with a lot of pain but it was also nice to know people were around.

When it was time for delivery Jamie disappeared immediately. Apparently she went to find Mycroft because the only glimpse of her after that was her hands as she shoved Mycroft into the room. The man was as pale as a ghost and at a loss for what to do with his hands as his umbrella had apparently been snatched away – by Jamie no doubt. As annoyed as Anthea had been by his whole presence at attitude during this whole thing as soon as she saw his face she felt safer.

"Mycroft." She called out. He looked over to her, again like he suddenly realised she was in the room. He briskly walked over to her and found something to do with his hands as Anthea reached out for him and he took her hand in both of his. "I've changed my mind." Anthea breathed, looking deep into his ocean blue eyes. "I don't want to do this anymore. You were right this is a terrible idea." She was in pain and her whole body felt tight with fear. Mycroft patted Anthea's hand.

"Never regret your decisions, my dear. You just have to own it." He said. She was sure it sounded calming in his head but to her it wasn't.

"That's easy for you to say." She scrunched up her face. "You don't have to get a full grown baby out of your uterus!" Mycroft looked away.

"Well, not full grown. It's quite small, actually." He muttered. That too might have meant to be comforting or it was just a Holmes' automatic need to correct people. Either way it sent a pain into Anthea's heart.

"Mycroft!" Anthea both hissed at him but called for comfort from her fear at the same time. Mycroft's face light up as he realised why that might not be a good thing to say.

"Sorry, sorry." He squeezed her hand. Lucky or not, it was then that the nurse told him to put scrubs over his suit while they finished the prep. For those few moments without Mycroft Anthea was afraid. She was afraid for obvious reasons; giving birth is never described as pleasant, and she was afraid for her little one, her really little one as Mycroft reminded her. Not only for the poor thing being early but because none of Mycroft's behaviour had given Anthea any indication to what he was thinking. Somewhere she had thought that at this, the real event, he might suddenly change. Although Mycroft did tend to detach from emotional responses in emergencies. This wasn't an emergency but it was spontaneous and probably like Anthea he had yet to mentally prepare for it.

Still, he was here. He loved Anthea and he was here.

Case in point; as soon as he returned in the ugly hospital covers Anthea reached for him and he immediately placed her hand between his two hands. He had her and he wasn't going to let anything happen, that's what it felt like for Anthea.

Throughout the delivery he did not move from Anthea's side despite the dark and sombre expression on his face. He barely flinched when Anthea dug her nails into the flesh of his palm. When she told him she hated him the top hand moved to stroke her hair. He remained silent but he did in fact remain.

For the most part Anthea remained silent during delivery. She pushed in silence and only sobbed or cried when she stopped pushing to catch her breath. Also that time she decided to tell Mycroft she hated him. He helped do this to her, he helped create this life, and he didn't talk her out of keeping it. It was his fault. At this time it was completely his fault she was going through this. The kidnapping wasn't but this was.

Making a dramatically early entrance was the baby's only issue. Other than that it was in position and fine. A birth free of complications should have set them at ease but Anthea couldn't imagine how this pain was a good birth and Mycroft would have been as tense as a board regardless. No way would he be there if it wasn't Anthea in there.

Anthea had made Mycroft's hand bleed by the time the final push for the baby came. She only squeezed his hand ever harder as she pushed, willing it to be over. She finished and leaned back in the bed exhausted. She knew it wasn't complete, afterbirth and all that, but the hard part was done.

But the room was silent.

That wasn't right.

Anthea looked up at Mycroft with fright. The genius was frowning and holding his breath as he watched. The doctor wasn't speaking either. Anthea couldn't look, she could only bring herself to look at Mycroft. The worry on his face did nothing to calm her. The air was sucked out of her lungs.

Then the cry filled the room. The most beautiful and painful wail of a newborn baby. Anthea closed her eyes and thanked the heavens. Mycroft began breathing again and blinked multiple times, looking into space.

"Congratulations," The doctor said. "It's a girl."

Author's Note: So you're going to have to wait until next chapter to see everyone's reactions; even Anthea's! Please don't hate me. I warned you that this would take a few chapters: P. But what did you think of it? Was it okay? Are you okay I focused on people? All the labour scenes in movies are always the same. It's more fun looking at the people waiting and the parent's feelings. But yeah, I'm a theatre trained person and I love dramatic tension so that's why I feel that way. Let me know what you thought. Thanks to last chapter's guest reviewers; Marie, Guests x2, Guest217. Thanks to all of you, I love you all! Let me know what you think. I'm going to aim for five days but if it takes six it takes six. Hopefully see you in five days!