Author's Note: Hello everyone! Thanks for the kind reviews last chapter, it means a lot. Rudy's a hard character to do for the sake of keeping the strange mystery alive. This chapter we're getting back to some pregnancy stuff. It's been a bit since we've focused directly on it so I feel like pacing wise its good timing. Though I'm sure you guys don't care about how I do my pacing :P. I really hope you guys like this one, I'm quite pleased with it. 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 She Had An Ultrasound

Anthea dreaded the day of the first ultrasound. Not because she was worried that there was something wrong, and it wasn't even because Mycroft wasn't on board. It was because she was afraid of looking like an emotionless robot to the obstetrician, or ultrasound technician, or whoever was looking after her today. She wasn't the type who got soppy over these early developments. She'd had said 'Aw, cute' to Jamie about Hope and been confused the entire time about how it even was supposed to look like a baby. In fact even newborn babies aside from Hope and Rosie looked the same to her. Then there was the whole trained to shut off thing. It was a good thing Mycroft wasn't coming, he and she there would have been awkward for the poor technician. Anthea feigning feelings that weren't there yet and Mycroft on his phone not caring. They would have looked like a pair.

That was why Jamie was coming today. Well, Jamie was coming for a lot of reasons. She was Anthea's best friend and wanted to be supportive in the absence of Mycroft, and if Anthea could bring anyone it was her. But then there was Anthea's devious plan. If she brought Jamie along the blonde would get emotional enough for both of them. Some of that emotion would transcend and maybe the technician or whoever would remember it as them both being excited and crying or whatever. When Anthea relayed this plan to Jamie, Jamie had laughed.

"I'm happy to help." She'd replied. "But I don't think you need it. It's way different when it's your own kid… almost kid." She'd blinked and pulled a face. "It's not a weird blobby thing anymore, it's your weird blobby thing." Anthea had rolled her eyes and hadn't bothered arguing with Jamie. Maybe she will be right and Anthea will have some immediate attraction to what will one day be her baby. Then she wouldn't have to fake it until she made it.

Turns out there were a few flaws in Anthea's plan. The first one was that Anthea had forgotten that Jamie would never entirely be an adult. Her excitement and bubbly personality would always spill over and make her say things that didn't suit Anthea's persona. The second was… that Jamie was right.

"Alright," Anthea sat down in one of the ultrasound rooms feeling awkward and uncomfortable. She felt way too venerable for who she was and she didn't like it. "Let's get this over and done with." Jamie pulled a face at Anthea as she pulled up a plastic chair to sit near her. "I have work to do." Anthea explained defensively. Jamie scoffed in her throat.

"Who cares? Your boss can't get mad." She rolled her dark eyes. She looked to the technician and smiled sweetly. "He's the father."

A beat.

"Oh no, no, I just heard that." Jamie held her hands up defensively. Anthea was shrinking into the protected seat. "No, she's not like the office slut or anything. It's official." She was rambling the way she did. "They were friends for years first. Then they dated for like an eternity before they did anything that could result in this." Anthea let out a controlled sigh. The technician laughed.

"Don't worry," She said to Anthea. "I'm used to hearing life stories. You'd be surprised how often it's the person accompanying the patient that does the talking." Anthea got images of Violet taking the kids to the hospital, or James accompanying Carol to a safe house.

"You know what? I don't think I would be." She smirked at Jamie. Jamie stuck her tongue out at Anthea.

The technician, with her gloves on, brought her stool over.

"Is this your first child?" She asked, asking in a nice manner if Anthea had done this before.

"Yes, but I know the drill." Anthea flicked a hand the way they did in the office and the… government world when they didn't need explaining. Lift shirt up, cold gel, use the instruments to find the baby thing. It was all good. Jamie looked at Anthea blankly.

"And you got upset when James called you bossy." She shook her head. Anthea pretended to be hurt. The technician smiled.

"No, it's fine." She said to both Anthea and Jamie in a very pleasant manner. "If you're more comfortable getting right to it, then I'm here to just make you comfortable."

"See," Anthea nodded to the woman as she spoke to Jamie. "She understands."

"Yeah because Frosty is probably paying top dollar to make sure people put up with you." Anthea didn't know whether to laugh or roll her eyes, so she shook her head and ignored Jamie.

She followed the few instructions the technician had to give her without making Anthea feel like an idiot. Much to Anthea's surprised they warmed the gel before they placed it on abdomen. They'd never done that when ultra-sounding an injury and she was surprised by how calming this little nicety was. Maybe these people were just kinder than those who worked for the agencies.

When they found the baby Anthea was surprised. Her face animated, eyebrows lifting and mouth turning into a little pout.

"Oh." She verbalised.

The baby had a large head and a similar sized body. What had caught Anthea buy surprised were the tiny little arms and legs she could see. It felt as her eyes grew wider in surprise her heart grew in unison, aching at the image. She lifted the hand that was holding Jamie's hand and moved a finger to point at the screen.

"Is that it?" She asked. The technician laughed again.

"That's it." She answered sweetly. Anthea blinked at Jamie. The blonde had a knowing – and excited – smile on her face.

"But it looks like a baby now. It's not a blob anymore. It's got arms and legs and… It's a tiny little baby." Anthea sounded breathless.

"You can't call it a blog or a collection of cells anymore, you weirdo." Jamie squeezed her hand. Anthea tried to laugh but it came out just as breathless as her speech. She was barely breathing, the baby had taken her breath away.

"No. I can't." She agreed, feeling her eyes grow heavy with unwanted liquid. "That's little… Will, or Scott, or Grace, or Violet, or whatever I choose to name it." She listed off family names other than her's or Mycroft as they were the first ones to come to her head. She hadn't even begun to think of names yet, just dealing with the whole thing. It had barely seemed real enough to do so. Jamie giggled. Her free hand came to land on Anthea's virtually trapping Anthea's hand in a sandwich.

"That's right." She squeezed again. Anthea laughed once more in excitement.

"We're going to listen to the heartbeat, then do all the measurements." The technician explained. Anthea nodded and hummed her consent.

Suddenly a loud thumping filled the room. The sound of blood being pushed in and out of an organ, working away, keeping a life alive. Anthea gasped. The noise encapsulated her entire being and she could just feel how real this was. How real her tiny little baby was.

She looked at Jamie. The two began laughing like excited little school girls. That water that was building up in Anthea's eyes escaped in one little tear on each side. Even though Jamie was sobbing, Anthea hadn't needed her to be emotional after all. She hated being wrong to Jamie. To be honest, she couldn't care less about Jamie being right right now. She was going to have a baby.

"The heartbeat is nice and strong." The technician said as she shut off the noise. Anthea wiped her eyes.

"Of course it is, it's a bloody Holmes. They're perfect at everything." She sniffed. Jamie laughed and sobbed at the same time.

"Can't be shown up by a normal baby." Jamie joked back, knowing it was the way Anthea handled these things. Just before the technician began measuring the image of the baby…. Anthea's baby, Anthea got her attention.

"Do you guys give videos out?" She asked as casually as she could and trying not to look like a desperate woman – she didn't know why maybe she was always the shadowy carefree assistant these days. The woman smiled warmly.

"Of course. It's standard practice here." She said. Anthea muttered something along the lines of good and settled down. Jamie gave her another of those knowing looks. But Anthea couldn't focus on Jamie right now, she was looking at her baby. Her tiny little Holmsian baby.

Anthea held the DVD cover in both hands as she walked into Mycroft's office. Both hands held it between the index finger and the thumb and she slid it around playing with it. Through the clear cover you could see the writing on the disc. Clarke ultrasound it read, with the date.

Upon hearing her footsteps Mycroft looked up briefly from his work and looked down.

"Hello." He greeted as he turned a page on a document and signed something. "Judging by the gait of your walk I trust all went well." He opened another document. Anthea knew better than to question him on how he knew that from her walk. It was all part of the parcel. Maybe one day her tiny little baby could do that, but it wouldn't matter if it couldn't either. She stopped in the usual spot past the chairs and in front of the desk.

"It did, thank you." She answered professionally and trying desperately to keep her smile off her face so it came across as a small coy smile instead. Mycroft hummed what Anthea presumed to be approval as he kept working. "I brought you the DVD." She said in the most neutral tone possible. Mycroft's eyes flickered up again as his hands paused mid-action. He looked at the DVD in Anthea's hands. He looked back down and stifled a groan in his throat.

"I don't know, my dear." He hummed, flipping a page with some extra force. "I have a similar attitude to these as I do to weddings and funerals; you've seen one and you've seen them all." He stopped and looked up again, cocking his head at Anthea. "And as I recall, you agreed with me this morning." Anthea crinkled her nose.

"I did." She agreed. "But as Jamie says; it's different when it's your own." It was like Mycroft was hit with cold water. His face fell before he looked away.

"I doubt that applies here." He muttered. "I appreciate your faith, however unfounded it may be." Anthea didn't even try to pretend she knew what was going on in Mycroft's head in this situation. She'd been proven wrong many times when it came to how he thought about the pregnancy so now she didn't try. She was giving him his time and space.

"Yes, sir." Anthea slid the DVD onto an open spot on Mycroft's desk. "But just in case you find yourself with some free time and some curiosity I'm going to leave it here." He eyed the disc then eyed his assistant with suspicious eyes. "No pressure, no judgement, no rush. If you feel like it, it's there, sir." Mycroft chewed his lip and hummed.

"Anything else, Miss James?" He asked.

"Nothing else, sir." She folded her now empty hands together in front of her. Mycroft went back to working.

"Then I believe you have some work to catch up on, my love." Miss James to my love without a break. It was so then. Since Mycroft wasn't looking she let her larger grin slip out.

"Very well, sir."

Hours passed without Anthea having to disturb Mycroft or even without him having to leave the office to deal with people. The time seemed to sneak by Anthea as the next thing she knew she looked at the time on her computer monitor and it read 4.30pm. Anthea had been working, she knew that and the checklist she had proved it, but where had her mind been? She must have been thinking about the little person growing inside her. It felt so real now.

Regardless of where Anthea's mind had been, she had almost finished all the work she had wanted to do this afternoon. Not to mention Mycroft promised she could go home at a decent hour now that they were playing by the rules of other people. If they expected Mycroft and Anthea to act like good workers then they'd only be in the office during office hours. Anthea would have to remind Mycroft otherwise he'd forget and continue working.

Anthea opened the door and popped her head in before entirely walking into Mycroft's inner sanctum. She found him with his elbows on the desk and hands placed together against his mouth as he watched his computer screen. His expression looked both pained and awestruck at the same time. Like watching an absolutely beautiful disaster unfold before your very eyes. The look itself was amazing and made Anthea wish she had a photographic memory to store this once in a lifetime look away. It was then that Anthea also realised she'd forgotten to knock like she usually did.

"Hello." She hummed quietly, announcing herself as she walked closer to the desk. Mycroft dropped his hands, raised his eyebrows, inhaled deeply through his nose, and leaned back in his desk chair all at once. He looked at Anthea in surprise like he had even forgotten she was in the building let alone just through a door.

"Oh, hello dear." He forced a polite smile on his face and tried to wipe of any of the surprise or any of that devastating awe. It didn't entirely work. With her thumbs, Anthea gestured back to the door sheepishly.

"It's 4.30. I'm leaving in an hour and wanted to see if you're coming with me." She stated rather than asking like she had attended.

"Oh." Mycroft cleared his throat and nodded three very small nods. "Yes, yes, of course." He answered. Anthea nodded in confirmation. She looked down at the desk to see if the DVD was still exactly where she left it. It wasn't. A quick scan revealed the empty cover sitting on top of the open files right in front of Mycroft.

Oh.

Anthea swallowed nothing. One hand grabbed at the thumb of her other hand, as if missing her phone and wanting to do something with her hands.

"Have you, um…" She pondered. "Had a moment to watch the recording yet?" Her voice went a little higher than intended at the end. Mycroft smirked despite himself. It looked like he was mocking himself, belittling himself, with that look.

"Ah, yes." He pressed eject and out popped the DVD. "I have." His eyebrows danced up and down. At least he found the timing humorous as he placed the DVD marked Clarke ultrasound back in its cover. Anthea could feel tension in her neck as she cocked her head to the side.

"And, any thoughts?" She inquired. Mycroft sniffed out some air through his nose in a silent laugh. He too cocked his head to the side as he looked at his now blank monitor screen.

"Well," He took a breath. "You know what they say." He uttered.

"You've seen one and you've seen them all?" Anthea crinkled her nose as she spoke. Again, a bemused expression passed his face and his eyes sparkled with something.

"That is one of the things they say, yes…" It wasn't a statement of agreement – Anthea knew him too well. What did that mean? Well certainly not every ultrasound her ever say made him look like he was watching something destructive and breathtaking. Then he must have been talking about the other thing that they'd been talking about. The one Jamie said. Was this a sign of hope for Anthea? A sign that this could end perfectly? Or just another push in the other direction? She was a realist but this didn't feel like a complete negative. She wouldn't continue to push though, that could be dangerous.

"Thank you for your… input." Anthea smiled wryly and normal sarcastic Mycroft returned to match her smile.

Anthea returned to her desk to finish one last thing on her checklist before she began packing up.

At 5.30pm on the dot Mycroft emerged from his office. For someone who usually stayed for hours on end he was taking this passive aggressive act of defiance very well. It showed how annoyed he was by the continued punishments. Anthea was ready too. She was sitting at her desk, legs crossed, texting on her phone. She was talking to Jamie about if it was about time to start telling some trusted people or not.

Anthea looked up at Mycroft and smiled sweetly as her greeting. Still texting with one hand, she picked up her handbag and briefcase with the other, and stood up. She was ready to follow Mycroft to the door two steps behind him as she finished this last message.

"I've organised for some groceries to arrive at the house when we do." Mycroft spoke in his professional, practice, careful tone. "I've decided to cook you dinner tonight." Anthea looked up from her phone. Mycroft was holding out the DVD for her to take. Slowly she took it in the hand also holding her phone. She looked at him carefully to see if he felt right. The reason they had no food at home went beyond Anthea not being able to cook. It extended to the fact that they were always too busy or too tired to cook and Mycroft hated doing it unless he really wanted something. Mycroft quirked an eyebrow at the way Anthea eyed him suspiciously.

"Why?" She asked. Mycroft clicked his tongue and rolled his steely eyes.

"Anthea, you are the one who has been talking incessantly about how you wish to start eating healthier for your health and your child's health. As someone with a history of weight issues I know a plethora of balanced food items that ca be prepared quickly and easily at home." That only made Anthea frown.

"I told you that, because we were talking." She said. "And it's my problem, not yours. I don't want to force you into anything you don't want to do." Mycroft looked to the side and then back.

"It's fine."

"You really feel like cooking tonight?"

"No." Mycroft sneered. "But I would like to do this for you." The annoyed look melted away. "Please." Anthea pouted her lips. What was this about? Was this a reaction to the ultrasound and the push in the right direction? Or was this him making as many good memories with his girlfriend as he could? It felt more like the first but Anthea didn't want to get her hopes up. She shrugged.

"Okay." She peeped. "I love when people cook for me." She took a step closer so she could smell the scent of Mycroft radiating off of him. "Especially when it's you."

"See? Was that so hard to accept graciously?" He held a hand up, and reached for her face. Then he paused, hand closing. After a quick mental battle he reopened his hand and with his thumb stroked Anthea's hair out of her face. Anthea subconsciously leaned into the touch.

"Everything with you comes with strings attached." She answered with a coy smile. Mycroft chuckled.

"Yes but sometimes those strings are mutually beneficial." He answered.

"You're so weird." Anthea rolled her eyes. "I love it."

Author's Note: How was it? Was it okay? Did you like it? I like it so I hope you at least somewhat enjoyed it! Let me know! Thanks to the guest reviewers; Guest, and Tadaa. The rest had accounts and I got to thank personally. Thanks to all my readers – I adore you all. See you in five days!

Next Myc POV: So suggest a POV chapter, two MAX, and then I'll make a poll of the top couple of choices to vote on. I'm trying to make it as fair as possible.