Author's Note: Hi guys! Whoa! I didn't update as soon as I wanted did I? It's my fault because after the last chapter I committed to doing Nanowrimo so between that, this, and exam study I've been a little crazy. Also I had the hardest time structuring this chapter. I was blank on it for days and days. So needless to say this isn't my favourite chapter. I do hope you like it though. 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.

Hope's First Best Friend

Anthea and Mycroft sat in the back of the town car after work. Walter was driving them to pick up Margot from Jamie's house. A normal day following normal routine and really Anthea and Mycroft were mostly back to normal too. There was no awkwardness between them and it was great. It was just comfortable. It was almost like that failed proposal had never happened.

Of course there was another subject of conversation that was making them feel awkward. At least this one wasn't their fault, not entirely. Mycroft sighed at his phone in his hand.

"Mummy is still bothering me about having Margot for a week." He said. Whenever this topic came up Anthea felt her whole body tense up. Mycroft always got a black cloud over his head. Anthea sighed, too. It seemed to be the scripted response. She tucked a curl behind her ear and looked out the window.

"I'm sure Margot would love some time with her grandparents." Anthea said.

"Indeed." Mycroft uttered back. He sounded about as pleased as Anthea. It's not that they didn't mean it. Margot absolutely would love it. She adored her grandparents because they spoilt her more than Anthea and Mycroft did.

It's just…

"And the time alone would do us well." Mycroft added soberly and apprehensively. "You could catch up on lost sleep."

"That would be nice." Anthea glared out the window as she said this. Mycroft hummed his agreement. So convincing. Anthea turned back to look at the genius. He was still staring at his phone. "If work allowed we could even go on a trip somewhere." Mycroft scoffed and turned to smile at Anthea.

"Oh, work would allow." He boasted. "They owe me enough." Anthea smiled somewhat sadly at him. He always had that little bit of distaste when talking about colleagues these days.

"We could read all day somewhere nice." She actually meant that. The idea was lovely. Someplace warm with a book and Mycroft. It would be almost perfect. Almost. Mycroft gave Anthea an adoring look.

The problem was Anthea had never spent extended time away from her daughter like that. She didn't know if she could do it yet. She didn't know if she wanted to. No that's not it. She wouldn't mind it at all if the thought of being away from her daughter didn't terrify her.

Mycroft looked down at his phone and all that warmth was gone. He pursed his lips. He locked his phone and put it away in his jacket.

"Remind me to organise it with Mummy another day." He uttered coolly. "I seem to forget about it regularly." Anthea nodded and looked out the window again.

"I'll try to remember to remind you." She said.

Only moments later they pulled out in front of Jamie's house. Anthea and Mycroft both seemed relieved at the chance to completely end this conversation (even if they had technically already sort of… slid out of it). Anthea let out a sigh of relief as she opened her car door. Mycroft, who was going to wait in the car, relaxed in his seat. Anthea smirked a little at the sight of it. It was nice when they were on the same page even when that page was insecurity and nervousness.

Anthea walked up the driveway and knocked on the door. Her smile faltered a little when Jamie answered the door. She was wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

"Hey." The blonde woman forced herself to smile at her best friend. Anthea cocked her head to the side.

"Are you okay?" She asked Jamie. Jamie let out a single breathy laugh. She rubbed her nose and nodded.

"I'm fine." She said with that lifelessly laugh and waved Anthea off. "Hormones and stuff." That wasn't a good enough answer to Anthea. She folded her arms across her chest and waited for a better answer. Jamie sighed and waved her hand again. "James has to go away for work for a few days and my hormones are just making it harder to deal with than usual." She said then shrugged. "It's silly." She shook her head and smiled again. Anthea bit her lip. She looked back at the town car waiting in the driveway and then back to Jamie.

"You sure you're okay?" Anthea asked. She gestured back at the town car with her thumb over her shoulder. "I can send Mycroft home and stay here for a while to talk." You could tell Jamie appreciated this. Anthea could see it in the warmth behind her eyes and the sweetness in her smile but she shook her head.

"It's nothing." She insisted again. "I want to save my favours with you for something bigger than a silly little cry." Anthea opened her mouth to argue, to insist there were no favours between them considering how close they were, but she stopped herself. She closed her mouth and took a deep breath.

"If you're sure." She said. Jamie nodded.

Jamie let Anthea into the house so she could grab all Margot's things and Margot herself.

The two little girls were playing together on the floor. Well they were playing next to each other but Mycroft insisted to Jamie when she was worried about this that playing next to each other was socially stimulating for very small children. It had worked so far. Today Hope was colouring and humming while Margot was playing with an empty tissue box and a Tupperware container Jamie had given her to play with. Occasionally Hope would join in only to quickly lose interest.

They really were cute, these girls. Anthea had been worried that for the first couple of years Hope might be put off by the baby who was so far behind her but here she was happily playing by her side. Rosie was great with her too. Maybe it's James' and John's DNA in them responding to the Holmes DNA. Maybe they were drawn to help the strange little child from the very start. Either way, it was nice for Anthea and (secretly) Mycroft that the two older girls not only tolerated the younger baby but appeared to enjoy her around.

"They're so cute." Anthea didn't even mean to say that aloud but she did. Jamie laughed. It sounded better this time – more natural.

"You think they're cute now, you should have seen James playing with them earlier." She said. Anthea would love to hear about it but she got the sense now was not the time. Instead she laughed and nodded. She made a note to ask either of the blondes about it at a later date or at least see a repeat session.

"Hey sweetie, ready to go?" Anthe said to Margot. The baby looked up at her and smiled. She clearly didn't understand the words but she was happy to see her mother.

"Say goodbye to Margot, Hope." Jamie said as Anthea approached the girls in order to pick Margot up. Hope looked up at her mother and then suddenly appeared to comprehend her word. The little girl frowned. She leaned forward and grabbed Margot by the arm.

"No!" She defied her mother. Anthea stopped approaching. She silently laughed. She was going to tell Jamie that it was sweet when she looked over and saw Jamie pinching the bridge of her nose and sighing.

"Yes, Hope." Jamie argued. "It's not for long. We're seeing Aunty Ali and Margot on the weekend, remember?" She tilted her head at her daughter. Hope, with a cute little pout and still holding onto Margot, just stared at her mother. "Say goodbye to Margot."

"No!" Hope said. The grip on the arm changed to a full on hug. "My 'Got." She said. Anthea placed her hand against her hand and awed at the kids. This was not the first time Hope had said Margot's name but it was definitely the best time. She didn't want her little friend to go home. It was so sweet. Anthea hoped it was a sign of things to come. She hoped her and Jamie's daughters would be best friends just like they were.

"Okay." Jamie said. She gestured to the girls. "No, that is the cutest thing I've seen all day." She was smiling again. Anthea nodded.

"Hope doesn't want her best friend to go home." Anthea said, crinkling her nose. That made Jamie smile ever brighter. "But she does need to go home." Anthea sighed, approaching the girls again.

"My 'Got." Hope said again as Anthea crouched near them.

"Actually it's Ali and Mycroft's Margot." Jamie said. Hope just blinked at her.

"Hope." Anthea said. Hope looked at her, brown eyes full of sadness. She clung to Margot who appeared like she couldn't care less as long as she had that tissue box. "Margot's a baby. She needs to get home to her routine. Okay?" Hope still just stared at her. Anthea put her hands on Margot. "Say bye to Margot." She said.

"Nooo." Hope whined softly.

"Hope, say bye bye." Jamie reinforced as Anthea picked Margot up and stood up, taking her out of Hope's reach.

"Bye bye." Hope uttered.

"Good girl." Jamie said, sounding relieved. Anthea picked up Margot's little hand and made it wave.

"Bye Hope." She said cheerily. "We'll see you on Saturday!" Anthea turned to Jamie and laughed. "Thanks." She said.

"No problem." Jamie laughed back.

Anthea was prepared to get Margot ready in her car seat by herself but as always Walter got out of the car and insisted on doing it himself. Once the baby was ready Anthea and Walter got back into the car and they started heading in the direction of home.

Mycroft, who had been on his phone again, abandoned the electronic device to share a greeting with his daughter and have one of his strange one sided conversations with her. Anthea waited for it to die down before she spoke. It was so sweet and so special between them that she dare not interrupt.

"Hope was really sad about Margot leaving today." Anthea told him once he was back to leaning against his seat, umbrella in hand, looking bored. At this his eyebrows rose but he still looked bored.

"Oh?" He questioned in a lithe tone. Anthea smirked and nodded.

"She hugged her and said 'My 'Got'." Anthea told him. Mycroft let out something between a laugh and a hum.

The car fell into silence.

Then Mycroft looked across to Anthea.

"Oh, you do know what this means?" He said. Anthea frowned at him, absolutely confounded by this sudden energy. Mycroft began his explanation. "If Hope is so attached to Margot right now we couldn't possibly send Margot to her grandparents for a week right now." Now Anthea was the one to perk up.

"Yeah!" She breathed. "Poor Hope would be devastated and probably behave badly for James and Jamie."

"And we might ruined the development of a deep friendship that could continue throughout their lives. That would be detrimental to both girls." Fighting the urge to smile, Anthea pouted and nodded sternly.

"It doesn't make sense right now." She insisted. "We'll have to wait another week or two." She said.

"Or a month." Mycroft said. "If schedule allows at the time." Anthea outstretched her arms.

"If we can't leave London to enjoy ourselves then what's the point of being baby free?" She asked rhetorically.

"Precisely." Mycroft nodded.

They settled back into their seat for the remainder of the car ride, both far more relaxed than when it started. They both chose to ignore Walter chuckling under his breath.

Author's Note: I hope that chapter was okay despite everything. Let me know please. Next week I have two exams so the best way to get back to updating on Thursdays will probably mean waiting until Thursday and then every update will be weekly again. Thanks to last chapter's reviews: Bear, Guests x4, Observant Potato, B, and Valkyrie. Thanks to all of you who read, I really appreciate it. See you next week!