Author's Note: Hey everyone. Thanks for the kind reviews last chapter. They were very sweet. I am actually really, really pleased how this chapter turned out. I had an image of it in my head and it came out really close. I like it when that happens. I really hope you like it as much as I do. So 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 Anthea Told Her Family

Anthea was staring at the text message on her phone like it was the most terrifying thing she'd ever seen written down. It was soul sucking, it was life destroying. It was one of those things that made the hairs one the back of your arm and neck stand up on edge.

Hi Ali. I'm just checking up on you. Are you well? – Rose.

Goddamn it, Rose. This was the worst thing she could do to Anthea right now. The absolutely worst.

Anthea looked up from her phone across the room. Siger was holding Margot in her arms. He had a subtle smile on his face as he looked at his granddaughter, his book lying open and discarded by his side. Violet was over him asking him questions, making sure he remembered how to hold a baby as if he hadn't already held this specific tiny being.

Antea felt sick to her stomach.

She never even told her Uncle and Aunt that she was pregnant. She was going to, she had all intentions in her heart of hearts of telling them. She just wanted to work up the courage to do so first. As it turned out working up to it the entire pregnancy was not enough courage. When it came to them Anthea was a hurt teenager who didn't want to open up to adults who'd broken her trust.

Anthea looked up again to observe the scene. Violet caught her eye and smiled. Despite all her molecules and cells being in a negative mood Anthea forced herself to smile back. If Violet noticed the obvious intensity of Anthea's morose attitude – which given her intellect she probably did – she said nothing. She left Anthea to her thoughts and continued to fuss over her husband and her granddaughter.

Anthea should tell Rose. There was a difference between telling Rose and telling him. Neither of them cared, neither of them wanted children, sure. Both of them failed hormonal Anthea but while Anthea's Uncle was lost in his own grief and blocked Anthea out for the most part Rose tried. It would be harder to tell Marlon because his disinterest would hurt more. Him not caring about his sister's granddaughter – now effectively his granddaughter through guardianship – would hurt way more than Anthea's aunt not caring about her husband's great-niece.

Violet and Siger were so blissfully happy. They saw Margot for the beautiful gift she was. Anthea couldn't stand another disappointment.

Anthea closed the message. She sent a quick photo of Margot to Jamie, who would love it and gush over it, then closed messenger completely. She locked her phone and discarded it on top of the piano. She left Margot with the grandparents who loved her and went to find Mycroft in his office. She just really needed to hear his voice right now.

It was the next day and Anthea was staring at her phone again. This time she was staring at a blank composition screen. She was determined to answer her Aunt. There was no point leaving her in the dark anymore, not when she'd reached out like that.

Yet part of Anthea really didn't want to do this. She'd barely heard from them since they organised that deal with Anthea's grandmother's house. She got the occasional text or email and Anthea did the same but there was nothing. It could be argued that Anthea could put in more of an effort too, but that bitter late teen in her told her it wasn't her responsibility. If they wanted to talk to her then they needed to make the effort.

She should close the phone and not answer. That's what seventeen year old Alice was telling her to do. Screw them. They don't deserve to know Margot. But then there was that voice that sounded like Mycroft.

How can you expect someone to reach out for you when you keep swatting them away?

That's what the Mycroft voice said. And he was partially right.

Anthea took a deep breath and exhaled shakily.

What would Margot want? What was best for her? Maybe this was all too hard on Anthea but did they deserve a chance to start fresh with Margot? Anthea's uncle was fantastic before her mum had died. He was funny and as a little girl she thought he was amazing. He just didn't do kids full time and he didn't do well with a teenager that looked like his dead sister. Maybe he'd be okay with Margot or maybe she'd look like Grace too and it would cause more pain and withdrawal.

Secrets and withholding information from family never works out.

The Mycroft voice in Anthea's head was speaking from experience… Well, from real Mycroft's experience.

It was right again.

Anthea rubbed her forehead. Her thumbs began typing.

Hi Rose. I'm well. I just had a baby. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I've been busy with work and stuff. Her name is Margot.

Anthea frowned. She didn't like that. She was trying to be informal with her aunt and uncle but Margot deserved better than that.

Hi Rose. You have good timing. I just had a baby with Mycroft. She was early, she had to make a dramatic entrance. It's in the family. You know about her uncle faking his death and all. Margot Audrey Grace. She was born on the first.

That was a good start but it needed more.

I was going to tell you earlier but I never found the nerve. I think you know how it is. If you want to meet her next time you're in London let me know. Please tell Uncle Marlon for me. – Alice.

Hmmm.

- Alice x.

No.

- Ali.

Better.

Anthea hit send and then buried her face in her hands.

Anthea didn't get an answer right away. While a part of her might have been hurt by that she had to be honest in the fact that she hadn't answered Rose right away either. This is how it went with them. It was like neither party really wanted to talk to the other and after days of obligatory feelings sinking in they would do something.

Except what if there was a reason for having no answer? What if Rose, not so much Marlon, had been hurt at only hearing now about Margot? Well not Margot herself but the entire pregnancy. What if Anthea was actually somewhat the bad guy here and had done something terrible? Actually, what if Marlon was hurt? That his niece that he had taken in hadn't told him she had a kid?

What seemed more likely to Anthea was that they didn't particularly care. Like they saw the message, thought 'oh yeah' or 'okay' and didn't deem it worthy of a reply? Would that be better or worse? Better for Anthea, worse for Margot. She deserved to be loved by everyone. Anthea could handle the unintentional ignorance and rejection but she didn't want it for her daughter.

Violet and Siger were leaving. The week was up. Margot had now been alive for a week and after seeing that Anthea wasn't going to kill her daughter with ignorance the grandparents were going to leave. If it were up to Anthea they'd stay longer. She didn't know if she was ready to be solely responsible for her daughter's life. Mycroft, however, was ready for them to go. He was bristling with near agitation so often and he wanted his home back. He loved his parents dearly but Mycroft was a solitary creature. He needed to feel at peace again.

He also told Anthea not to worry about Margot. There were mutterings of more time off that he had refused to go into.

"It's not finalised. I don't want to promise you anything until I know for certain." He had said, waving a hand dismissively.

This brought many questions to mind. The first being why would he want time off the help Anthea out with a baby all day every day? The second being what the hell was going on at work? Because he still hadn't told her. Finally to brought to question Mycroft's attitude towards Margot and if he was going to stay. Anthea was beginning to suspect that it was very hard for him to drag himself away from Anthea and Margot these days even though there was an underlining terror ever present in him.

But all that didn't matter immediately. What mattered was that Margot's grandparents were leaving.

Violet was eager to get to her home, being quite similar to her children in needing her own recharge place, but she did not want to leave Margot. They were supposed to leave half an hour ago but Violet had picked Margot up to give her a kiss and had yet to let go of her. She was making promises to see her again real soon with talks of spoiling her with presents and love. She was cooing over how perfect she was. Mostly she was just cuddling her. Siger wasn't complaining. In fact he looked quite happy to stand there and watch Margot as his wife fussed over her. It was like the exact opposite of before.

The love Violet and Siger had for Margot was incredible. It could probably come very close to how Anthea felt for her little girl herself. The way they looked at each other when talking about Margot, it was that look Mycroft now gave Anthea. This is what Margot deserved. She deserved family who loved her and cherished her. She was better than an ignored text message.

After Margot had been sufficiently fussed over and Mycroft had his goodbyes with his parents it was Anthea's turn. She expected that it would be more involved than the usual hug goodbye and promises to see each other soon. She was not wrong. Violet gave her the usual warm hug and when the hug was finished she took Anthea's hands in her own and held them close to her chest.

"Alice dear," Violet said. There was such affection in her sky blue eyes. This must be the way she looks at her kids. "I know it's your job to look after my son, but you're on maternity leave." Her mouth twisted into a knowing smile as if she knew something about Anthea she didn't even know about herself. "You need to focus on looking after our precious little girl. Let Mycroft look after you for once." Anthea laughed and looked up at the sky.

"I will." She said, smiling wryly and looking back at Violet. "I promise." Violet squeezed her hands.

"I mean it, dear." She said. "He's a big boy, he can handle it." Anthea felt herself soften.

"I promise." Anthea repeated but with an entirely different inflection.

Violet brought Anthea in for another hug. It was tighter this time.

"We love you, sweetheart." She spoke softly near Anthea's ear. Anthea's heart fluttered. It almost missed a beat but at the last second gained control of itself. Anthea melted into the hug. Any strange feelings she had for the Holmes parents after the whole Eurus thing seemed to melt away with those simple words.

"I love you, too." She said. Violet let her go and patted her cheek.

When it was Siger's turn he gave Anthea the obligatory hug.

"What Violet said goes for both of us." He said. "She's the official mouthpiece for us as a couple." Anthea smirked. Siger took a breath and looked a little concerned before adding. "Unless she says something controversial in which case I take over." Anthea laughed.

"Isn't that the case for any normal partner of one of these geniuses?" Anthea crinkled her nose. Siger widened his eyes, still smiling.

"Wait until you have to start apologising for things Margot says." He teased.

"We don't know if she's a genius yet." Anthea pointed out. This did nothing to change Siger's mind. He hummed.

"I had three children and they all turned out that way and I think you're far more brilliant than I am." He said. Anthea had to hug him again after that.

The next day she got a reply. Specifically her phone went off in the morning while she was trying to fall back asleep after feeding and changing Margot. It was a human time to be awake, nine in the morning, and Mycroft was downstairs drinking tea and reading news but he functioned better on less sleep and Anthea had been woken up multiple times in the night. She was planning not to get up until ten thirty. Her phone apparently disagreed.

Anthea made a very loud noise of displeasure as her hand fell heavy onto her bedside table to scoop up her phone.

Are you living with Mycroft? Could we have the address? We'd like to send you something. – Rose.

And as Anthea was trying to comprehend the words in front of her tired eyes a second message pinged through.

Oh and could we see a photo of her? – Rose.

It was strange what Anthea was feeling. It was a weird concoction of emotions and one she didn't entirely trust. She didn't trust the part of her that was happy or pleased to see this but then she was so weary of being suspicious and purposely expecting the lowest possible outcome. She wanted to be happy and at the same time she didn't want to read too into it.

The photo she could do. Even if they were humouring her she could do that. She already had too many photos on her phone (yes, she was that kind of mother). So she sent her favourite. Then spent another five minutes trying to decide how she felt and what she should do.

Anthea got out of bed and padded downstairs silently. She came into the kitchen and sat down next to Mycroft without a word. After a few minutes of letting her sit there clearly confused Mycroft finally glanced at her with suspicion.

"Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?" He asked, lowering his newspaper onto the stack of two others he had already read. Anthea nodded.

Mycroft pursed his lips.

"Is there a reason why you are not sleeping?" He tried again to prompt conversation from Anthea. She took a breath, paused, and tilted her head.

"My Aunt answered." She said.

"Oh?" Mycroft's interest increased.

"They want our address." Anthea said, her brow furrowing. "They want to send Margot a gift." Mycroft hummed, his own eyebrows raising.

"That's an improvement." He said. Anthea bit her bottom lip. Mycroft lowered his eyebrows. "No?" Anthea looked at Mycroft.

"What if I give it to them and they don't send anything?" She asked him. Mycroft exhaled, eyes looking over Anthea's face. "What if it's not an improvement?" Mycroft considered this.

"Then," He hummed. "We'll expect nothing from them in the future and we won't let that effect Margot." Anthea nodded. "For now, my dear," Mycroft continued. He placed his hand on top of Anthea's. "You're allowed to be optimistic." Anthea smirked despite herself. She quirked an eyebrow.

"Don't you think unfound optimism is foolish?" She asked.

"Do you think it is unfounded? Given the improvement since I met you?" He asked. Anthea looked down. Well no. Maybe it wasn't entirely unfounded… Maybe they wouldn't be so unreliable by the time Margot started making permanent memories. "And humans, as a race, are allowed to be foolish from time to time anyway." Mycroft added, his own impish smile on his face.

Anthea nodded again. She looked down at her phone and with her fleeting confidence in her emotions and bravery she sent off the address of the estate. After she pressed sent she felt herself relax like after completing an impossibly hard task. She half expected Mycroft to laugh or make fun of her but he didn't.

"Here's to human foolishness." Anthea said.

"And to acceptable optimism." Mycroft said. Anthea leaned forward and rested her head against Mycroft's shoulder. He was so steady and firm.

"I'm so tired." She sighed.

"I know." He answered.

Author's Note: So so so? Was it okay? I hope so because I really like it. There's juxtaposition and lots hidden context and it makes the drama nerd AND writer in me happy. Thanks to our guest reviewers last chapter; Guests x2, Lady of Sign, and Observant Potato. Thanks to all of you who read and especially those of you who review. It means so much to me. I'll try to get the next chapter up in five days.