Author's Note: Thanks for the awesome reviews last chapter guys. I took that extra day because I got pneumonia… But I won't ramble up here today and you'll see why. 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.

250th Special – A.K.A. A Bit of a Gamble

I realised this is an important chapter, but the thing is I was not prepared for it. Between being busy and being generally lost in my own head the number 249 last chapter hit me out of nowhere. It was like suddenly being surprised by a deadline of an assignment or an exam. Or buying concert tickets then forgetting for months that you did until suddenly its next week. Naturally, I had nothing planned. Had I known I would have detailed Hope's birthday by a chapter. James and Jamie have often been the bookmarks of important chapters. Why wouldn't they? That's their role. They stand to hold the rest of the story up. It's not my fault they're also just really fun people. But I didn't do that and instead the little ball of sunshine that exists in this world, little Hope, is relegated to 249.

So what was there to be done? Obviously something could be done with Margot but she's so young that nothing interesting is happening yet and we have so much to go that will focus on her in the future. Anthea's parents were considered also – another dream sequence again. But I so hate repeating myself – verbally or creatively. We had that when Anthea got shot. The idea might be played with but not now, maybe in the future. I did like the idea of dreams or alternate realities. I am a specialist in Absurd, Epic, and Surreal theatre training after all. I live for the strange and the unexplored. It's why I do things like tell you about the coffee table incident – knowing full well as our omnipresent narrator what happened – and then rarely mention it again.

That's when I began to think about 249 again. What was the point there? Well, obviously (unless I am far vaguer at expressing myself than I give myself credit for) it's that Mycroft and Anthea are at the centre of all this. Mycroft and Anthea have been effected by each other but so has everyone else. James and Jamie would never have met without them so there goes all that precious life they've lived together. But it's not just Mycroft and Anthea being there – it's the choices they make. One of Mycroft's mantras in this is one of those times you'll see me slipping through the characters; never regret a decision because it leads you to where you are now. We are the summary of our choices; mostly our own but also those who have brought us up and surrounded us. This story wouldn't be here if my best friend of now 9 years didn't spend years begging me to watch Sherlock until I finally relented because I just wanted to leave my house.

So? Anthea spends lots of time thinking about where her choices of lead her. Yeah, she does. But she does it in this format. In long lamenting or blissful paragraphs where she waxes poetically about this that or the other. Quite frankly it would be mind numbingly boring to sit through that for a whole chapter. We hear her voice all the time – we know how she thinks by now.

Instead I give you my more informal voice and versions of what could have been. We'll explore some little scenarios in which one decision could have shaped their lives very differently – or not that different at all as it so happens. What big choices are we looking at? Robbie is the farthest back, then we're skipping forward to Tim, and then Mycroft.

Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

Robbie is well liked. Obviously. I like Robbie. He's one of those guys who could probably make friends with a rock. Despite how much Anthea likes him and how many ways on paper they may look like they'd be good for each other I hope it's obvious all the ways they would have been bad for each other too.

What if Alice had ignored all the reasons she said no to Robbie. What if after his multiple proposals her fear of settling down dwindled. What if she reasoned with herself that university age wasn't too young as long as you loved each other? Did she love Robbie the way you're supposed to? Did Robbie love her the way you're supposed to? You don't know if it's your first love.

The way I see it happening is very simple. They were at a party at university – the type Alice was getting sick of at this point. Robbie and Alice were actually not together at this point but he was leaning on a table, resting his head on his thin spindly arms watching as Alice gave a man (boy?) a dressing down. The topic is not important, it wasn't to Robbie, but as he was inebriated and watching this beautiful young woman destroy a know it all man he just broke out into the biggest grin. His already oversized heart was swelling.

"Alice, marry me." He said with that huge smile on his dizzy face. Catching her attention, Alice looked over at him prepared to say no. There he was with his big goofy smile. This cute boy straight out of a punk rock poster who adored her for being her. Why would she keep saying no to him? He'd never be unkind to her and he'd never doubt her. And her need for constant companionship would be filled. So, drunk herself, she sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine." She said with a straight face. As the realisation of her words fell of Robbie she smiled. More at his reaction than the actual marriage.

They were happy together. In a way. They had a lot of fun together. They went to concerts and theatre and all sorts of fun things together. They laughed together every day. But were they actually happy the way they didn't realise you were supposed to?

After Alice insisting she wanted to live in London Robbie never moved back home. Instead of setting up his own business he had that job Alice had at the beginning. You remember the one – the one she hated. He hated it too. It drained him of all his energy when he was there.

A fact that has not been shared about Robbie is that he planned not to have kids. Not because he hates kids – he's pretty great with them when he can curb some of his habits. It's his habits that makes him not want kids. He likes to go out all weekend, he still smokes pot semi-regularly, and some of his friends are very dodgy. He made a decision that he wasn't going to be selfish and bring a kid into that because he wanted to. Now Katie works with teenagers and gets her fill of all that there. Alice…

Well Alice and Robbie got married young. Very young. They were having all that fun and were very stupid. By the time the story with Mycroft was supposed to begin they already have that one accidental child Alice is pretty destined to have and he's already walking and talking.

This means no full time fulfilling work for Alice who desperately needed it for so many years to satisfy so many parts of her. The parts that she doesn't have in common with Robbie. They don't have a lot of money so it's cheaper to spend more time at home than it is to send the child to childcare.

Occasionally they talk about swapping. Robbie would be better with the kid and Alice could be happier working. But Alice has no experience to her degree and Robbie thinks that if given too much free time he'll fall into a pot habit far closer to uni Robbie than semi-responsible adult Robbie.

Their daughter is still named Margot. Alice loves that name. But it's not our Margot.

Robbie was sitting on the couch with Alice laying across it so her legs rested on his lap. They were both wearing his clothes, of course. She only wore hers if she had to leave the house. He still found it extremely cute. It was nice to come home from that job to see her dressed in just his shirt.

But as often happened when they watch telly together both of them were restless. Alice shook her hair out of her face and stared up at the ceiling. Robbie kept watching the telly, ignoring this.

"Lately on the phone Jamie has been talking about IVF." Alice said. Robbie pulled a face that turned into a smirk at the telly.

"By herself?" He questioned. Alice was always annoyed by his attitude to her far away best friend but she let it slide off her most of the time.

"Yeah." She said a little strongly. "She's dated pretty much everyone there and she can't find someone but really wants a kid before it's too late." Robbie shrugs.

"Why doesn't she move? Widen her fishing net." He said. Alice tries to kick him with one of her feet but he catches it. Laughing as he holds it close to his chest.

"Leave her alone. It's brave. It's cool." Alice said. Robbie's teasing faded away. He shrugged.

"I guess we can't all find a badass when we're still young." He said. He kissed the top of Alice's foot and she doesn't know if it's sweet or gross so she pulls her foot back. "Good for her." Robbie said. Anthea nodded but her soul was sore.

"Yeah," She said. She was looking up at the ceiling again and Robbie was ignoring it again. "I just kind of had this funny idea that we would have kids together and they'd grow up being best friends, but…" As her eyes drifted to the floor so did her words. She shook her head. Robbie sat up with a serious face.

"You don't want another kid, do you?" He said. Alice scowled.

"God, no!" She said, pulling her legs right off him and sitting up straight. Robbie relaxed.

"Good cause then I'd have to work more and…" He shook his head. "I hate those people Ali-bear. I can't do them." Bitterly Alice thought that she could do them. She could deal with anyone as long as she got to do something a bit more stimulating than helping Margot with homework.

"I know." She said quietly and the subject is dropped.

The next day Alice is walking down the streets in the city. She just wanted to get a new pair of shoes to pick her up and with her secret savings she might get something nice. Even if that nice is just a new pair of converse as opposed to even more expensive heels she'll never wear. Her phone buzzed and she looked down into her handbag to grab it.

Bang.

She ran into what felt like a tree. Tall and firm. An immovable object.

Clack.

A phone landed on the floor but it wasn't hers. It was a brand new iPhone. Whoever had dropped it was talking to a contact listed as M. A blonde head bobbed down to pick it up. Alice followed the head back up to a very tall handsome blond man. He was dressed in a suit and was indeed a tree.

The blond man put his hand on her shoulder as the other brought the phone back to his ear. He wore a ring but not on his wedding hand. How was a man like that still single? There had to be a catch. What was the weird thing about him? Was he a pimp?

"Hey sorry, cutie. Don't think we saw each other." He said, flashing her his teeth in a practiced smile. It was not charming but it wasn't perverted and gross like it might have been if someone less… whatever that man was, said it. Alice was about to answer him with something, anything, when the man frowned at his phone.

"No, sir, I wasn't talking to you." He said. As he began walking away Alice's gaze followed him. "I ran into a pretty girl."

Alice smiled wistfully. Somewhere that man's boss had just thought he'd been called cute by his subordinate and by the tone of the blond man that was not a good thing.

Then there's our boy Tim. Dear Tim. A lot of people won't like hearing this but in all the ways Robbie would be wrong for Anthea; Tim would be right for her. Vice versa of course. Robbie is a lot of fun but Tim has ambitions and he gets needing more. Tim, for all his faults and – completely validated – jealousy did understand Anthea.

The good news is also that Tim was met after Anthea met Mycroft. That would mean so much more satisfaction in her life. She'd already have her only friends in her life; James, Carol, Molly, Mary, Sherlock, and John. James and Jamie would still find each other and Hope would be the sunshine girl she was destined to be.

Would it have worked between the two? Not after the whole Ross and Rachael thing went down, no. That was a death sentence. Before then? Well, let's see.

What if instead of flipping out about the idea of moving in together – a common theme for our girl – Anthea was rational about it or Tim had a response closer to our Mycroft's and gave her time to think. At this point in time the feelings for Mycroft were considered strange and in the way. After calming down and feeling that hole in her heart Anthea might have agreed to move in together. At her place, of course.

They'd never get married. That's a step Anthea could never do with Tim and he would be hurt, sure, but get it. She struggled to move in with him – it would be nigh impossible for her to marry him. He would think it was the commitment thing. She would know it was because she didn't feel for him the way she thought one should feel for a partner you love so much you want to commit to like that.

Instead of getting married she would give him a child. Just one. For multiple reasons. She knows how good he is with his much older brother's son, and she knows he wants it. Mostly because she's trying to fill that hole again that she is certain a marriage can't fix.

They have a boy, born around the same time Margot would be, and they name him Eliot. Mycroft scoffed, hiding a smile, as he tells Anthea they clearly named after T.S. Eliot. She laughed as she proudly told him he was right.

When Eliot is born Mycroft doesn't visit Anthea in hospital but he does send flowers and a card.

When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

I do hope you picked one he despise you for.

- M.H.

Anthea laughed so hard it hurt her stomach. Tim never pretends to get their sense of humour together and why poetry can mean something to them that it doesn't mean to anyone else.

"You know how you said you're going to miss Eliot when you go back to work?" Tim asked from his spot on the couch. They were both reading on opposite ends on the couch, the gap between them filled with empty space. Anthea bit her lip and nodded. "I was thinking, I make good money and you have good savings… You could take some extra time off before going back to work."

Tim's forest green eyes were filled with nothing but hope and pride at his idea but it just filled Anthea with dread. The same dread that filled her the night Tim talked about moving in. The same dread that filled her whenever he so much as mentioned marriage. Anthea swallowed nothing hard and shook her head.

"I can't." She spurted out. The pride left Tim's eyes.

"Okay." He said. He touched his glasses by the rim and adjusted them. "Why?" He asked. It wasn't pushy, he just sounded kind of disappointed. It was hard to put into words really. She just wanted to go back there. To those familiar offices, to those lovely smells. She wanted to occasional flowers on her desk and she wanted those meetings full of snide remarks and secret sarcastic glances shared.

"I miss… work." She breathed. She turned her head to the side and her mouth pulled into a lopsided smirk as a deep fondness fell into her heart at the memories. "I really miss Mycroft."

Boy, was that the wrong thing to say. Tim's entire demeanour froze over. He scoffed and sneered and he wasn't the sneering type – Anthea once joked that he didn't have enough personality to sneer.

"Yeah of course." He said. His eyes rolled right into the heavens. Anthea sat up, her back firm and straight against the couch. "That's where you'd go." Tim continued. "It's always Mycroft."

"He's my boss." Anthea defended, her voice rising before she remembered her infant son in the old spare bedroom. Her following words were softer but harsher. "Of course missing work I would miss him."

"But you could have gone anywhere else first!" Tim held his palms to face the roof. "You could miss the challenge – yeah I could understand that Ali, I love that we have that in common." He said. Anthea rolled her eyes this time though not as fiercely as Tim did. "You could have said friends. Friends includes Mycroft but also has James and Carol added. That would have been fine. But no," He folded his arms across his chest. "Your mind went straight to Mycroft." Anthea looked at Tim like he had just put a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Get off it, Tim." She chided him. "There is nothing between Mycroft and I."

"I'm a lawyer, Ali. I can see things, too, not just your favourite family can do that." At least he was talking quieter now. "Don't pretend like I can't see all that connection between the two of you." Anthea's heart panged but her face held strong and defiant.

"He's asexual, Tim." She whispered sarcastically. "Good observations." Tim adjusted his glasses again.

"Asexual doesn't mean never feeling emotions, Ali." He replied in the same tone. "Good deflecting." Anthea scoffed. She ran her hands through her hair in sheer desperation and loss of words. She shook her head and scoffed again.

"He's not interested!" She exclaimed. Funny how her own feelings were not coming up at all. Did Tim notice that? "He has Charlotte and Lady Smallwood sniffing around him and they're so much more his type. If he wanted a lady friend he could have one easily."

"You hate Charlotte." Tim said calmly. He was building a case and Anthea hated it.

"I like Lady Smallwood." She argued. The only reason she didn't like Charlotte was because of how Charlotte treated her. Lady Smallwood knew Anthea's worth – to the government and to Mycroft. Tim folded his legs so that his ankle rest on his knee. He squared off and looked at Anthea carefully – cross-examining her.

"So you'd be completely okay if Mycroft had asked you to set up that date when Lady Smallwood left her personal number on his desk?" He asked completely calmly.

Anthea fidgeted. Her heart burst with so many things. Her brain wasn't thinking straight so her body reacted. She stood up and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Tim asked her.

"To bed." She said bitterly, her back to him. "I'm not talking about this with you." She slammed the door behind her.

Our last one might take some more imagination, and you'll have to bear with me just a little bit. Mycroft. Now there are so many decisions with Mycroft we could change – his or Anthea's. They've been through so much that it's really impossible to do this effectively and only change one thing so this is going to be a bit of an exercise in imagination. We're going to have to pretend that there wouldn't have been a breaking point for Anthea where she would have up and quit her job. Quite frankly, if James had given her that offer he gave her a chapter or two ago, she probably would have.

Because what we are doing now is imagining that Mycroft never got the nerve to finally start dating Anthea. Not everything else changes – they still have all that connection and bond after all – but they never officially date. That means she never moves into the house either.

Does that mean nothing ever happens? No. I'd like to imagine that they still end up having sex. Not that long awaited first time or all the moments that came after but only that time at the club. The adrenaline always ruins their carefully constructed walls. And you can all guess what that means.

Margot.

Assuming they're not together would take a lot of pressure off Mycroft initially – and Anthea actually. She would want the baby and give him the option to be involved or not. He'd turn her down for all the reasons he's mentioned before but offer all the financial support in the world. She'd be an idiot as always and keep that job.

Mycroft turned up at the birth, to support his friend. He has that same moment where he sees Margot and it sends him into a little bit of a spin but it's not so obvious. It's quiet and to himself because he lives by himself where it's safe.

Sherlock still claims Margot as his niece and expects the world of her.

Anthea is… Pretty happy.

But she gets bored on maternity leave. Border than she is now. And by herself she's less confident in her abilities as a parent – calling Jamie. Carol, and John a lot. So many times she would be tempted to call Mycroft but doesn't. He does visit though. About once a week in between meetings or heading back to the office. It's not for long, about a minute or two. He asks if she needs anything, maybe takes a quick glance at the baby, and leaves.

Then one day… Let's give it a time frame… Let's say a week or so before Hope's birthday, Mycroft turned up at Anthea's door.

Anthea was not prepared. She was dressed in pyjamas. Ones she put on after getting out of the previous pyjamas she was wearing and showering. Her hair was tied in a messy bun – but that always looked good on her – and she looked like she hadn't slept in a week. If Mycroft noticed any of this she couldn't tell when she opened the door. His eyes were bright and though carefully hidden behind his walls there was a faint smile on his lips.

"Oh." Anthea peeped. "Hello, sir." She said.

"Hello, my dear." Mycroft hummed. His eyes looked her up and down and then passed her. With the handle of his umbrella he pointed to the inside of her flat. "May I?" He asked.

"Oh yeah, sorry." Anthea stepped out of the way and let him in.

She asked him if he wanted a coffee or a tea but he turned her down. He surveyed the room and stood awkwardly in the living room past the bookshelf partition before Anthea told him to sit down. In which he did awkwardly in a chair. He didn't look out of place to Anthea but he certainly looked it. Anthea sat on the couch and faced him, her hands gripping to her knees.

"If you want to see Margot she's asleep." She began speaking. Mycroft held up his hand and shook his head.

"No, no." He said. He stopped, frowned, and took a breath. "By all means I'll have a glance at her before I leave but that is not why I'm here." He corrected himself like he didn't like the sounds of what he said before. Both his hands were on top his umbrella. "I was actually here to see you." He spoke in that singsong voice. It almost made Anthea blush. It absolutely made her smile.

"Work?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"No." Mycroft replied smoothly. Anthea crinkled her nose.

"You missed me?" She teased. Mycroft lets out a silent laugh and looks down at his hands.

"Unheard of, isn't it?" He said in a quiet voice. Anthea shrugged.

"I don't know." She replied. "I've seen you do a lot of things I once thought were impossible for you." He was a lot more of a bleeding heart than he'd ever want anyone to realise. The reason he had so many walls around him was because he wore his heart on his sleeve.

Mycroft's mouth twitched and he chose not to answer that. Silence fell in the room for a good five minutes. Anthea was just about to find something to say – anything – when Mycroft looked up again.

"Well the point is, I do indeed miss you." He said with an honesty Anthea was not used to. She was caught aback by it. "And I was hoping you'd consider going to lunch with me tomorrow." Anthea's heart stopped beating and got stuck in her throat. Her body was getting carried away and she knew it was. It was hoping for something in this that wasn't there and would never be there. She scratched the side of her forehead with a shaky hand since there was no curl to tuck behind her ear for something to do.

"As friends?" Anthea asked as casually as she could.

A long pause.

Mycroft gave her a poignant look.

"No." He said as seriously.

Anthea's heart leaped out of her throat and began beating again at an intense speed. She felt like her whole body was covered in Goosebumps.

"Oh!" She said. She blinked a few times. She tried to kick her brain into gear. "Sure!" She said casually like some sort of idiot. Like this wasn't a huge deal, like this wasn't everything she had ever wanted to hear from this man. Like the father of her child wasn't finally opening himself up. Anthea rubbed her neck with both her hands. "I'll have to find a babysitter for Margot first." She said.

"Ah, no." Mycroft's eyes were back down to his umbrella as he spoke. He was trying to sound casual too, Anthea realised and she began to smile. "That young lady is welcomed to attend. She is, after all, partially to blame for this."

"Is she?" Anthea said. Mycroft looked up with those steely blue eyes.

"Oh yes." He said so seriously. "She's quite the marvel." Anthea closed her eyes and began laughing. She wasn't entirely sure why. It just felt like she needed to laugh. Out of happiness? Out of sheer absurdity? Because of their whole backwards way? It could be all of them. When she recovered Mycroft looked more than a little concerned.

"She's incredible." Anthea told him. "And I think she'd love to be a third wheel on… our date?" Anthea question the use of that word. Mycroft nodded.

"Yes." He said. His fingers tightened on the umbrella. "Date."

Anthea smiled. Mycroft smiled back.

"I'll have to find something nice for her to wear." She said, not really talking about Margot.

"She looks like her mother," Mycroft replied. "She'd brighten up a room even dressed in rags." Anthea had to look down to stop herself from blushing.

Thus concludes our little thought experiment. A strange and very skippable chapter in A First Time For Everything but something I thought appropriate for this ridiculous milestone. What was the point of this? What did it teach us about these people? Well, that's really for you guys to decide.

Next chapter we return to the world as we know it. Margot and Anthea live in that house of Mycroft's. Hope's birthday ended with Hope saying something like Mycroft's name, and Sherlock thinks his niece smiled gave her first smile to him. We return to the status quo and continue our story of firsts. I look forward to continuing it with you all and I look forward to seeing where the three little girls take us. Of course there will be other trials along the way – we have a work mystery to solve right now after all – but this will always focus the characters.

Thank you for accommodating my flight of fancy here. Happy 250th chapter, let's make the rest of this story just as fun for us all.

Author's Note: GAH! *Dies of a combination of fear out of the reactions that this chapter could bring and you know, asthma too*. Thanks to our guest reviewers last chapter; Singing Ferret (who wrote an adorable story I the reviews that you should all read), Observant Potato, Guests x2, and B. Please be kind this chapter. I'll see you in five days for something normal and not terrifying. Thanks for being so supportive of all this.