Author's Note: Hello dear friends! Look! I got the chapter done before I said I would because I got the assignment done DAYS before I thought I would! YAY! I was going to wait and post tomorrow but then I remembered I'm seeing my favourite band of all time tomorrow night so you get it now. Thanks for the kind words last chapter – Varya was a cool character to come up with. It was a little worrisome though coming up with someone to fit into that family but you all seemed to like her. This was one of those chapters that was hard to start but once I did it came quite easily. I hope you like 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 He Attended An Appointment

Anthea's next prenatal appointment came scheduled with another ultrasound in the same facility straight after it. Immediately after hearing this, Anthea's friends all got excited. Apparently at this point she should be able to find out the gender.

"You're going to tell me as soon as you find out, right?" Jamie had said on the floor of her living room as she and Anthea played with Hope. Anthea's shoes were removed and placed to the side and her ankles were cross. She pursed her lips and lifted her shoulders.

"I don't want to find out." She said nonchalantly. Jamie froze, toy in hand, and stared at Anthea in horror. Anthea laughed silently at her best friend's face. "I'd like one good surprise in my life. Everything is either knowledge I can't share or a bad surprise." Jamie turned to Hope with the same wide eyes and shook her head.

"Auntie Ali is weird." She cooed at the baby who smiled and reached out for her toy. Then Jamie spoke to Anthea once more. "But like… what if it's not what you want and then you're disappointed? Better to have time to get over the disappointment instead of taking it out on the baby." It was Anthea's turn to pull a face at her.

"Would you have been devastated with a boy?" Anthea asked.

"No." Jamie pouted. She turned back to Hope and smiled at her. "But I wanted a girl just a little bit more. I didn't want my baby picking up on that and creating… I don't know… attachment issues or something-or-rather." Anthea watched silently for a moment as Hope and Jamie played. Motherhood fitted Jamie better than anything else ever could. She was a fantastic makeup artist and an amazing friend but to see her with this kid… She totally would have pouted had she not got her girl first but no way she wouldn't be this fantastic either way.

"This is the only kid I get, Jay." Anthea put her hand on her small, growing bump. "I really don't care what it is because it's it. You and James might have another in a few years, or do the big age gap thing. I'm not, this is it and I want to meet the whole person at one time." Jamie looked her over with big, kind, hazel eyes. Her gentle face nodded solemnly.

"I get it." She spoke softly. "Hope and I still think you're weird, but I get it." Anthea scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"I needed to know." Carol sipped on her coffee at her desk. Anthea loved the scent, it smelt like her lifeblood. Right now she'd kill Carol in cold blood for a good cup of coffee. Instead she had water… Maybe it wasn't a good idea visiting the agents and all their coffee. Anthea cocked her head to the side.

"Oh?" She asked. "I'd take you for needing some mystery in your life too." The agents were in a similar boat to Anthea where everything was common knowledge and a surprise was never a good thing. Carol's stern features scrunched up and she shook her head.

"I needed to know what to buy." She said. Anthea frowned at her and the woman immediately cracked a smile. "Just because I don't wear pink doesn't mean I don't want to dress a baby girl all in it." Anthea leaned back in her chair and smirked. "What?" Carol asked. Anthea shook her head. "What?" The agent prompted further.

"I never took you for dressing up your kid in pretty outfits." Anthea crinkled her nose. Carol looked lightly embarrassed. "It's so not you."

"It's not you either." The agent said. "But you'll do it, mark my words."

A pause.

"So you didn't want the surprise for the sake of shopping?" Anthea summarised the conversation. Carol looked off to the side and inhaled.

"No…" She breathed through her lips. "I needed to know because I needed to know." It was vague but for some reason it made a lot of sense.

"I wouldn't find out either if I were you." Varya had turned up at the office to bug her cousin one final time. She'd taken the most winding way through the building as possible to avoid her dad.

Varya was leaving to visit her brother and her nephews. Mostly for the nephews, apparently. He was still dull to her but she loved him. She adored his wife and was enraptured by her nephews. It reminded Anthea of how a certain detective was so invested in her pregnancy.

"Where is the fun in that?" The artist continues as she tucked her hair behind her ear. Between the visit at the house and now she'd chopped her hair off to her jawline. "Of course Oscar just had to know with his boys." Anthea peeped up in her seat.

"Your nephews?" Anthea asked. Varya beamed the brightest smile.

"Twins." Varya sung. "The funniest eleven-year-olds in the whole word!" She swiped out her hands to the side, gesticulating her words. Anthea held back her smile at Varya's enthusiasm and chose to stay on topic.

"Why did he have to find out?" She asked.

"He said it was buying two of everything that took the fun out of the surprise." She sighed dramatically, her enthusiasm deflating. "And if one was a boy and one was a girl they didn't want to do the matching everything thing. Something about nappies too but I can't remember that conversation, I wasn't sleeping at the time, I was trying a technique to come up with watercolour designs." A surrealist and related to the Holmes, that not sleeping for work suited both of these.

"Why couldn't they match clothes with both genders?" Anthea asked, her bottom lip jutting out ever so in a small pout.

"Gender roles." Varya explained. "People would assume and Oscar is a little insecure thanks to Daddy. He won't say so but he is." Anthea chewed on her lip and nodded. "It's safe and boring if you ask me." The artist sung.

All these people sticking their two cents in had muddied up the waters so to speak, and Anthea was unsure of herself. A confident woman who usually stook by her decisions, Anthea now doubted that waiting was a good idea. They all had good points and her only point was that she wanted a good surprise and to meet everything about her child all at once. It was close to the appointment now and she didn't know what she wanted to do anymore. There was only one person left to ask.

Mycroft and Anthea sat in the side by side armchairs in what Anthea teasingly called the sitting room. They liked to read in here. Mycroft liked to think in here too in the winter with the fire light, but it was just a cosy place to read and enjoy each other's company in silence. Anthea couldn't be silent today. She hadn't been reading much at all. Instead she was staring at Mycroft as he read. His long nose was buried in some foreign book and he was deliberately ignoring her stares.

"Everyone thinks I should find out the gender of the baby." She blurted out. Mycroft quirked an eyebrow but kept reading.

"Sex." He sighed into his book.

"What?" Anthea said.

"Sex of the baby." He turned a page. "There are two sexes. Gender is more fluid and far more complicated." Anthea had to stop for a moment to smile at him. Some people would find that annoying and consider it him correcting them as a way to seem more important. Not Anthea. To her she could see it was just his brain automatically correcting something it heard wrong and she loved him for it.

"Sex, then." She hummed teasingly. "Everyone says to find out the sex."

"And who is everyone?" He still wasn't looking at her. He was more focused on his book than on her. Anthea closed her own book on her lap.

"Jamie, and Carol." Anthea said. "And your cousin Oscar found out, too." Mycroft sniffed into his book.

"Oh yes, that small group of people is a perfect sample population for everyone." He glanced up at her briefly with steel eyes shining of mischief and after she pulled a face at him he looked back down at his book.

"They're all parents and they all found out." Anthea defending them even though Mycroft's teasing had helped her a little. "Buying stuff, not being disappointed, gender roles, lots of good reasons why they all found out." Mycroft clicked his tongue.

"Buying items in accordance of gender roles?" He scoffed. "Honestly, why impose such outdated ideas on newborn baby? They don't care if they look like the other girls or boys." Again Anthea found herself smiling at the weird genius.

"That's what I thought." She shook her head, curls dancing. "What's wrong with just buying greens, and whites, and yellow, and stuff?" There was a rustle as Mycroft turned another page.

"So what is the issue?" He asked. Anthea looked down at her fingernails and began chipping away at the nail polish on her thumb finger.

"What if we're wrong and they're right?" She asked.

"Alice, dear, I don't believe there is such thing as a wrong choice in your particular predicament." He said into his book. "It's a choice. Left or right, black or white. One is not inherently wrong." That's not exactly the answer she was hoping for. She deflated into her chair. Anthea spent a few minutes staring at the cover of her book in thought. She knew there was nothing wrong either way but it felt like a loaded decision none the less.

"What would you do?" Anthea turned to Mycroft once more. He looked up from his book with a frown landing firmly on his face.

"What would I do?" He asked, sounding offended. He was looking at her like she'd forgotten who supplied the other half of the baby's genetic makeup. Anthea sighed. She looked up at the roof and shook her head. That's not what she meant.

"If you were into the idea and hands on." She tried to clear up to misunderstanding by elaborating what she meant. Mycroft's mouth twitched. His eyebrows were no longer furrowed but his mouth was still drawn downwards.

"If I were into the idea," He mocked her words. "I'd let my partner decide what they wanted to do." Anthea looked flatly and darkly at him. Was he just not helping her on purpose now? Was this his revenge for the hurt feelings? The genius smirked. "In case you haven't noticed my dear, I am very apathetic towards a great deal of things."

"You don't say?" Anthea widened her eyes and pretended to gasp. Mycroft chuckled.

"And if my partner say, wanted to have a good surprise in their life, I would feel inclined to let them as their enjoyment would be more important to me than the sex or gender of anything." Anthea felt as if her whole body sighed. Those were mighty sweet words from the very apathetic genius. As she smiled lovingly at him he returned it with what looked like one of his small honest and sweet smiles. "So what do you want to do sans any influence?" He asked. Anthea tucked a curl behind her ear.

"I want to find out on the day I meet them." She said. Mycroft spent a few seconds looking over Anthea's face. He then pursed his lips and turned back to his book.

"Good." He hummed. "That's what you'll do."

"Will you come?" Anthea asked, distracting her boyfriend from his book once more. "To make sure I don't give in?" Just as much as she was his rock; he was hers. They kept each other steadfast. Mycroft cocked his head to the side so faintly you could have easily not noticed it. He pouted his lips together.

"I thought I was already invited…" He muttered.

"Yes but that was a 'if you feel like it' invite." Anthea shrugged her shoulders. "This is a 'please come otherwise Jamie or Sherlock will talk me into finding out' invite." She crinkled her nose and laughed a little bit at herself.

"Oh, well now I have to go, don't I?" Mycroft hummed.

"Absolutely." Anthea answered. Mycroft was smirking into his book.

Now Anthea could finally pick up her book and enjoy it. Her mind was made up and she had her back up coming with her. They made a fantastic team.

Anthea expected it to be a little strange having Mycroft join her for her prenatal appointment. She expected him to look out of sorts or at least a little uncomfortable while they were sitting in the practitioner's office. He wasn't at all. His stony mask was in place, absolutely, but all outwards signs that would usually give away his discomfort to Anthea weren't there. That was good, it made her a little uncomfortable but it was good. He even shook her doctor's hand and he quite often avoided shaking hands with anyone who wasn't on his level or above him. The doctor had heard enough about Mycroft from Jamie and Anthea to know better than asked him if he was excited. She conducted herself nothing but professionally and Mycroft responded well to that.

Before the ultrasound they had the usual list to go through.

"Are you still getting morning sickness?" She asked Anthea. Anthea nodded.

"I am but I think it's settling down a little bit. It's supposed to go away by now, isn't it?" Anthea asked.

"Not always." Mycroft muttered. The doctor looked at him and smiled.

"It depends on the person." She nodded in agreement with Mycroft. Anthea looked at Mycroft and he lazily shrugged.

"Any movement yet?" The doctor asked. Anthea could feel Mycroft's steel eyes land on her. Anthea swallowed her breath.

"Not yet." She said. "Is that bad?" She asked.

"Not yet." Mycroft muttered once more, echoing Anthea's own words at her. She would have shot him a look saying she wasn't talking to him but she didn't want to discourage him so instead she rolled her eyes at the doctor. The doctor laughed.

"No, it's not bad. It takes longer to notice for most women on their first pregnancy. They don't know what to look for." She told Anthea. The personal assistant sighed in relief and nodded. Mycroft crossed one leg over the other and folded his hands on his knee and Anthea knew that meant he was going to say something.

"I assume Alice has told you about the spotting?" Anthea couldn't tell if he was asking the doctor or telling her.

"Ah, yes." The doctor directed her attention from Anthea to Mycroft with a more serious look on her face. "She has." She had probably learnt over the years how to deal with individual personality types. "I received the documentation from the hospital, also." Mycroft's shoulder's relaxed as the doctor spoke. "And last time we spoke it hadn't gone away but it had lightened up." Now her eyes were back on Anthea. "How is it this time?"

"I'm eighty percent sure it's gone." Anthea announced happily. She'd been hanging out with Mycroft and Sherlock too much – she was using percentages. The doctor nodded.

"That's good, that's very good." She said as she typed this new information into Anthea's file on the computer. "After we check your blood pressure and your weight we are sending you for another ultrasound." Anthea nodded while Mycroft appeared to lose interest once more. "At this point you can find out the sex if you want." Anthea caught the little hints of a smirk on the corner of Mycroft's mouth at the doctor using the correct term. Anthea took a deep breath in.

"Yeah." She expelled the breath in a single airy word as she tucked a curl behind her ear.

"Do you want to find out?" The doctor asked. Anthea looked over at Mycroft. He was already looking at her by the time she turned her head. Her eyes held onto his as she silently asked for backup. He pursed his lips and lifted his chin up a little. Anthea nodded three small sharp nods. She turned back to the doctor.

"I don't think so." She said. "I want to wait."

"You'd be surprised how many people tell me that." The doctor said. Really? Then how come Anthea hadn't met any? How come all her friends with kids found out? Anthea looked at Mycroft sharply, a little annoyed by this information. He found nothing but amusement in her annoyance, smirking like a devil. The doctor was certainly getting a sense of what their relationship was like.

Mycroft barely spoke a word during the ultrasound and Anthea hadn't expected him to. He sat in the chair next to Anthea and watched the screen silently. She had asked the technician to say if it was obvious to her what the baby was just by looking at the image so she could tell Mycroft to look away. He had scoffed and muttered under his breath at that. Anthea had to explain that he was a certified genius and that had excited the technician – he asked if Anthea was scared of having a genius baby. No, she said. She could handle this brand of genius, even the disturbed ones fell into the same behavioural patterns.

The pair left the clinic and took the town car to the Diogenes Club. They were working out of that office for the rest of the day since there was no point going back to the main office with only a few working hours left. Or rather there was a reason to but two good reasons not to a) no one would disturb Mycroft to talk to him or ask questions at the Dungeon and b) they could leave at any time they wanted. They were walking up to the front doors of the club and Anthea wanted to say what she had to do before they entered the club and she'd have to shut up until they made their way into the dungeon.

"First thing I've got to do is burn a copy of today's ultrasound." She tapped her purse with her hand as she spoke, indicating where the disc was. Mycroft nodded to indicate he was listening as they walked. "They I'm going to take the copy to Jamie's and drop it off before going to Baker Street, giving Sherlock the original and picking up the files we requested back off him because Jamie doesn't care as long as she sees it but Sherlock will act slighted if I don't give him the original to return after he's seen it." Anthea rolled her eyes. See, she knew what to do with this breed of dramatic genius. She had it all worked out. "Then I'll come back, make sure nothing is missing from the files, and sort them away." Mycroft nodded again.

Mycroft came to a stop right in front of the doors into the club and faced Anthea. She stopped too. With a moment of deep thought passing and with no hesitation Mycroft placed his hands on either side of Anthea's face and leaned in to plant a kiss on the top of her head. He took a moment to smell her hair before he let her go. Anthea resisted the shiver that attempted to run though her body.

"What was that for?" She asked him, cocking her head to the side. The genius humpfed a single laugh at something unspoke.

"You deserve it." He hummed.

"I know that." Anthea toyed. "But that's not a good enough reason for you." She wanted him to elaborate. Mycroft pushed open the door into the club officially silencing the conversation. He nodded inside, gesturing for her to enter first. She looked at him suspiciously before entering.

What was that kiss for? Certainly not for her work agenda.

Author's Note: I really liked writing this one so I really hope you like it. Please let me know what you thought! Thanks to last chapter's single unnamed guest reviewer. The rest of you I got to thank personally. And once again, thanks for reading! I look forward to reading your reviews and seeing you all again in five days!