Author's Note: Thanks for the kind reviews last chapter! I don't know why people like Robbie so much but I like him too so that's cool! Sooo…. I made a calculation error. I kept thinking my birthday was Sunday but my mum corrected me, it's Saturday (tomorrow). I didn't want to post on my birthday and I managed to get my assignment done by Tuesday night so here I am, home from my dinner with my friends, posting a chapter before bed! Since so many of you wanted to see the meet up with Cate, here it is. 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 Robbie and Cate Came Over

It took some negotiation and bartering but Anthea got Mycroft to agree to meet with Robbie and Cate before they returned to Liverpool. Particularly when Anthea revealed that it was going to be at their house to avoid being interrupted again. Mycroft had to be ensured that Cate was not a punk and if she ever was she had settled down to at least Robbie's level. He also said that if she spoke too much scouse she was getting kicked out. Dramatic of course and not at all what he would do, he was more likely just to get annoyed and passive aggressive, but a warning none-the-less. Now Anthea didn't know if Cate did or did not use much slang so she warned Robbie and was told she didn't originally come from Liverpool so they were safe, even if she had picked up a few things. Mycroft seemed less concerned by the idea when it was announced that Cate wanted to cook for them. As Jamie always said Anthea couldn't cook and Mycroft never wanted to so they should never turn down good food entering their house.

Anthea was nervous about this. So many things could go wrong. Robbie had already established that he could be patient to the many quirks of the Holmes family but would Cate have a personality that clashed? Or would she be just as nice? What about the house? It could be intimidating even though Robbie was aware that they lived in a big, empty place with too many unused rooms as Anthea had often put it. Anthea knew she was being needlessly nervous. Robbie and Mycroft were fine around each other – Robbie even liked Mycroft – and Cate seemed like a lovely girl. An IT teacher who loved to cook and bake. Maybe Anthea was just nervous about spending extended time in her home with Robbie's fiancé. She didn't want to look like she was bragging about her life or intimidate her. Girls got strange around ex-girlfriends and Anthea's sarcastic humour could cause her to look catty rather than trying to be funny.

"Don't try to be funny, then."

Yeah, thanks Mycroft. Great advice.

"Then cancel."

A well of good ideas, that man.

Anthea made a conscious decision to not dress to show off her features too much. Not that she had to worry as much as she used to with this big bump in her middle. She borrowed one of Mycroft's stupidly expensive Gieves and Hawkes sweaters that he never wore unless he was spending the day at home. Knitwear that was a dark teal colour. She wore it with a pair of checkered black and white slacks that were cut low enough (and were comfortable enough beforehand) that they still fit. That could be partially due to the elastic waistband… Letting her hair have its natural waves, Anthea tied the front few sections back and left the rest out. She was satisfied that she looked pretty suitable. She didn't look overly sexy or overly pregnant, just a little stylish.

Mycroft was in his usual uniform wearing a dark grey bespoke suit with a black and white tie. He frowned when he saw Anthea wearing his jumper. He looked her up and down and turned back to reading an email on her phone.

"Don't like me borrowing it?" Anthea asked.

"That's not it." Mycroft hummed, looking at his phone. "I was wondering how that unflattering sweater can suit you perfectly." Anthea laughed.

"Women always look good in menswear" She answered. Mycroft cocked his head to the side and hummed.

"No." He said. "Generally those with big breasts have an issue fitting into the cut of men's clothing." Anthea's smiled turned into a wry little grin as she stared at Mycroft. He cocked an eyebrow, questioning her expression.

"If you weren't so not interested in people I'd accuse you at looking at other women."

"Oh, I look at other people." Mycroft muttered. "I'm still not interested but you can learn a lot from a person by sizing them up." Literally apparently. Leave it to Mycroft to unwittingly distract her from her nerves just by being himself and saying something so… Holmsian. She wondered if her kid would say things like that. Inappropriate by profound things.

The gate called ahead to announce visitors the way they always did so Anthea was prepared to answer the front door when the bell rung.

Robbie was dressed like Robbie. He'd done his hair since Anthea saw him last, no more lighter regrowth. He wore pants not dissimilar to Anthea's and a black t-shirt with a black dress shirt as a makeshift jacket. Her red hair was out and cut at her shoulders. She wore a sweet sleeved yellow dress with black stockings. It was strange to see Robbie with someone so sweet looking. Anthea would have to remind him how out of his league Cate was. They were carrying bags of groceries even though Anthea had been bugging Robbie by text message to give her a list of things Cate needed tonight so she could buy them. Immediately Anthea glared at him.

"Don't look at me like that!" Robbie laughed at his ex. "Cate wanted to bring the food. Said it would be nice of us." Yeah some ex-punk he was.

"But you're the one who ignored my text messages." Anthea sneered playfully at Robbie. Cate gasped.

"Robbie, I told you to tell her." She chastised him, her green eyes wide.

"But I know her and I kind of know Mycroft. If I had told her outright that we were buying stuff they'd have gone out and bought like everything possible. Then this one would send me a photo of the stocked pantry and tell us not to bother." He explained. Anthea felt smug at even the suggestion of that because that probably would be precisely what they did. Cate pouted and shook her head.

"It's still rude." She said softly.

"We were gonna lose either way, babe." Robbie explained. "This way we at least get to bring the food." Cate sighed but she was smiling at her fiancé. Anthea laughed.

"Good to see you twice in a short time, Robbie." She said.

"Back at you, Alibear." He winked. Anthea turned to Cate.

"I've wanted to get to know you better for ages."

"Right? Me too?" She said. "It's hard when all your social media is in codenames. I have to go through that Jamie girl." Robbie rolled his eyes at the mention of Jamie, making Anthea laugh.

"Myc's inside." Anthea stopped and blinked. "But uh, don't call him Myc." She winced. "He doesn't like that."

"She knows." Robbie breathed. Cate giggled and nodded. Anthea ignored her ex.

"So I should stop talking and let you guys in." Instead of stepping out of the way she stepped forward. "Let me take one of your bags." She said to Cate, reaching for one of the shopping bags. Robbie slid past Anthea to go through the doors.

"Nope!" He sung. "Don't do it. Don't give the pregnant woman the heavy bag. She's trying to go all assistant one you. Don't let her." Cate laughed again while Anthea's face fell.

"He's like this with every pregnant woman." Cate explained, smirking. "He didn't let my sister-in-law do anything when she came over ours."

"Well you're going to hate that if you guys decide to have kids." Anthea muttered, her top lip pulling into a slight sneer. She hated people trying to fuss over her like this.

"He's just trying to be a good lad." Cate cooed lovingly as Anthea gestured for her to walk into the house. She did so. They walked into the living room and placed all the groceries on the counter. Robbie had done so and was back in the entrance hall looking up the stairwell. He whistled.

"What the hell, Ali? This place is massive!" He exclaimed.

"Is that a compliment on an insult?" Mycroft's voice came from around the girls. He had still been loitering in the living room when they got here. Cate was caught off guard and turned around, Anthea however knew he was around. Robbie came back into the room in search of the source of the voice. When he saw Mycroft he smiled.

"Bit of both, I guess." The dark haired man shrugged. Right on cue he held his hand out to shake Mycroft's and the genius took it. "It's nice to see you again, Mycroft." He said. Anthea could just kiss him for how well he spoke to Mycroft.

"I wouldn't allow just anyone in my house, I assure you." Was Mycroft's strange way of telling Robbie he was welcome here.

"Cate," Robbie turned to her. "This is Ali's boss and partner, Mycroft Holmes." Cate blushed and looked at the floor.

"Nice to meet you." She said. "I'm a huge fan of Dr. Watson's blog and now I know who you guys are I can fill in the blanks to see where you helped out on the cases." Anthea, already knowing that Cate liked the blog, smiled proudly. Mycroft clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes.

"I've told my brother once, I've told him a thousand times; his need for fame accidentally thrusts everyone around him into the spotlight." He moaned.

"I think it's cool." Cate insisted. "I show my students the blog as a good example of simple website design and storytelling online."

"Yes, well…" Mycroft paused to purse his lips. "Better that than Sherlock's website."

"Yes!" Anthea laughed. "Have you guys seen that? It's so dull."

"It's the perfect antidote to insomnia." Mycroft added.

The conversation didn't last too long, although it did remain pleasant. There was cooking to be done after all. Deciding to make herself look even more nice and friendly and, well, pleasant, Anthea decided to help out – or watch so she didn't mess up – Cate in the kitchen. Leaving Mycroft completely unsure as to what to do with Robbie. They could handle it. All Mycroft had to do was bring up Robbie's recent vacation in Japan and they'd have plenty to talk about. Robbie's creative streak made him notice finer details that Mycroft preferred to talk about. Hopefully Anthea and Cate could handle each other.

It started vaguely on an uncomfortable not, Anthea not knowing what to say and Cate was probably feeling the same way. It was all kitchen talk. Anthea would ask what pots and pans Cate needed for the lamb and accompaniments. Then it was Anthea asking how she needed vegetables prepared in order to help. After they were on the stove Anthea was left with nothing to do as the redhead continued with the rest of the cooking.

Anthea sat on the other side of the counter with her glass water. She was wracking her brain for something to talk about when she came up with the obvious. Elbows on the counter, Anthea rested her head on hers.

"How did someone as together as you end up with Robbie?" She asked teasingly. Looking down at the pan she was using, Cate laughed.

"Probably the same reason you liked him." She said. Anthea winced and cocked her head to the side, and hummed.

"He was this waif with a bad dye job and dirty clothes so he looked like an actually attractive Sid Vicious. I doubt that's the reason." She sung. Cate laughed again.

"Yeah, guess not." She said, agreeing with Anthea that it probably wasn't the same reason.

"I don't know. He donated some computers to the school and he was acting a real beaut it was obvious he fancied me." Anthea snickered. "Thought he must be sweet to hand off those computers like that so I let him ask me out. And he was a real gentleman, not at all what he looks like."

"Yeah, that's him." Anthea smiled fondly. That was why Anthea could never let herself lose him completely. It's why she had to keep him as a friend and why he wanted to be friends. Bless the fool for putting up with neurotic university aged Alice and everything that came with it. Bless her for putting up with his major dislike for Jamie.

"You guys really love each other." Cate's words pulled Anthea back into reality. "It's sweet. I thought it was just a sort of distance friendship until he came back from the time he met your boyfriend and he was all excited about how happy you were. It's the same way he talks about his brother." Anthea, trying her best not to blush, looked down at her water.

"I think I did the same to Mycroft when I heard about you." She muttered, playing off the sweet words. Cate smiled as she watched the food. A few seconds of silence passed.

"So what about you and Mycroft then?" She asked, looking over at Anthea with her green eyes. "I hear you work for him but how did this start." Anthea leaned back in her seat, placed her hand lovingly on her bump and rolled her eyes.

"Don't get me started." She sighed. "It's a long and very stupid story."

"Can't give me an abridged version?" She asked. Anthea looked up at the roof and bit on her bottom lip. What was the abridged version? She had never really thought of that. She took some time to carefully consider this until she came up with a decent answer.

"We became best friends." She shrugged as she began. "And not long after realising how unique he was I realised I loved him. It took him a lot longer to get there but he realised he couldn't stand the idea of me with anyone else. We tried to keep it casual but what we have is too strong for that." Cate looked quite impressed by this. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was soft in a gentle away. "Thing about the Holmes brothers is they're very loyal even if they really don't want to be. Casual can't stay casual." Cate laughed softly.

"Kind of got that from the blog." She answered. Anthea nodded.

"They're pains but I wouldn't trade them for anything." Anthea said, tucking a curl behind her ear.

They lulled back into silence. Cate attended to the food. When she was done she turned back to Anthea.

"Did you ever meet Moriarty?" She asked.

"Did I?" Anthea asked. She leaned in and quietly said "I was present for an interrogation of him." Cate gasped.

"Oooh. Was he as twisted as they say?" She asked. Anthea thought about this.

"I've met worse." She hummed. "But he was real out there."

Dinner was incredible. Robbie wasn't kidding when he said Cate was a good cook. She was better than James and Jamie when they worked together and they were pretty decent. It was a wonder she wasn't a chef. Surely someone in her family had some culinary training because this was no amateur.

"I went to culinary school first." Cate admits bashfully, hiding behind her fringe as she looked at her plate. "But I realised I didn't want to make something I love into a job."

"That is entirely understandable." Mycroft politely agreed with her. So far the night had been going well. No one had annoyed Mycroft yet and that was fantastic.

"Yeah." Anthea nodded. "I bet that's why Sherlock doesn't do music professionally or Mycroft never went into acting." She says. Robbie's eyes widen. He looks up from his food and looks from Anthea to Mycroft.

"No kidding?" He asked. Anthea was about to answer him when Mycroft spoke.

"That is not at all similar." He hisses at his partner. Anthea smiles wryly and nods.

"You're right, you didn't go into acting because you can't stand relying on other people." Mycroft grimaced which only made Anthea smile more.

"You're both into that kind of thing?" Robbie asked again. Anthea nods.

"Didn't he show you the theatre room?" She asked Robbie.

"Theatre room?" Cate asks. Anthea nodded and Mycroft lazily shrugged.

"Yeah. Its got a projector and everything, babe." Robbie sounded excited as he told Cate about the theatre room.

"Wow!" She had a look of genuine awe on her face.

"Myc likes to watch black and white films in there." Anthea boasts a little, proud to share something human about her partner.

"It's the only way to do them justice." Mycroft sounded like he was defending himself as she shakes his head.

"It is pretty cool." Anthea admits.

"Cool? Dude, imagine the movie nights!" Robbie exclaimed.

"That room is not for visitors." Mycroft mutters. Cate looked like she was worried that someone had said something wrong but it disappeared after Anthea rolled her eyes and Robbie laughed.

"No worries." He said. "I get it, it's your man cave but posh."

"That would be the Diogenes Club, actually." Anthea sneered at the name as it came off her tongue.

"Isn't that that famous mens only silent club?" Cate asks. Anthea's face crumpled up more as she nods.

"If you have something somewhat decent to wear I could take you for lunch on your next visit, Robbie. The food is quite remarkable." Robbie gawked. He looked from Mycroft, to Anthea, to Mycroft, to Cate. Cate nodded her head in fast tiny nods.

"Uh, yeah!" Robbie shrugged. "Got to try the dandy lifestyle at least once to get why I hate it." He frowned at his own words like the confused him. Cate smiled at Anthea. "I think I have a suit or two lying around. I'll bring one next time."

"Excellent." Mycroft said sounding pleased. Anthea had to stop herself from smiling like an idiot. She loved this more than she could express. The night had been going smoothly and now this was happening.

"I mean, look at it this way." Robbie rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke. "I can't embarrass you if I can't talk."

"Oh please." Mycroft scoffed. "As long as you're dressed appropriately there's nothing to worry about. If my brother or Doctor Watson embarrass me there then you certainly can't."

"You're so going." Cate sung to Robbie. "And you're taking photos." Robbie beamed a huge smile at Cate, loving this side of her more than Anthea has seen him look at her all night and he'd looked pretty in love with her.

"You got it." He winked at her.

"Please use the Stranger's Room." Anthea pleaded with Mycroft. "It's better than have the staff leering at poor innocent Robbie."

"The Stranger's Room?" Cate peeped up, her eyebrows high disappearing into her fringe. "That sounds awesome."

"It's not." Anthea muttered, her face flat.

"It's awfully fascinating to the uninitiated." Mycroft argued with Anthea, his velvet tongue sounding as intoxicating as ever. He'd be a great recruitment officer for a cult. In fact that club was a cult.

"Man, I really want to go." Robbie whispered, shaking his head and looking impressed at Cate. She looked just as eager.

"It's just a room they can take visitors to without everyone else around." Anthea laments appeared to fall on deaf ears. "Just like sounding mysterious. Mycroft goes all bond villain over there. It's an ego trip."

"It's an ego trip I want to see." Robbie said. Anthea sighed and turned back to her food.

"Thank you." Mycroft intonated, looking mighty pleased with himself. "I assure you, you won't be disappointed."

"Ten quid says he is." Anthea opposed, speaking to her plate.

"I'll take that bet." Cate peeps happily. Anthea looked up from her plate to meet Cate's smiling face.

"You're on." Anthea held her hand out. Cate shook it.

"Honestly." Mycroft sighs is exasperation. "And you call me the dramatic one?"

"I can be dramatic." Anthea nodded. "But you're always dramatic." Mycroft looked at the room like the conversation was exhausting him and when he looked back Anthea crinkled her nose at him.

"Now, I'm not fluent in their relationship lingo but I do speak Ali's language." Robbie said, leaning over as close as he could to Cate. "And I'm like eighty-five percent sure this is how they say I love you."

"This isn't how we say that." Mycroft pulled an over the top face. "In fact I rarely say anything of the sort." He looked at Anthea. "Why do I need to say it every ten minutes when she knows it? It's just a waste of time." Anthea pointed her index finger at Mycroft and looks over to Robbie and Cate.

"No, that is how he says I love you." Anthea laughs. "That and flowers." Mycroft's brow furrowed.

"Don't do that." He said. "Don't point at me like that or I won't send you anymore flowers."

"I'm just being funny." Anthea crinkled her nose playfully at Mycroft. She touched his hand lightly.

"And once again you fail to do so." Mycroft exhaled. Anthea laughed. She was so tempted to pull her chair closer to Mycroft's and rest her head against his shoulder but he probably wouldn't appreciate that right now. So she patted his hand again.

"Whatever you say, sir." She teased.

"See?" Robbie said. Cate nods at his words.

"You're right." She said. Anthea looked between the pair.

"What?" She asked her ex-boyfriend.

"I told Cate last night that Mycroft was just as crazy as you and somehow it works out perfectly." Anthea didn't know whether to laugh or be insulted.

"If your girlfriend hadn't lovingly crafted this food I'd throw it at you." Anthea threatened Robbie light heartedly with her fork pointed in the air.

"Stop threatening to throw food in my house." Mycroft sighed. "This is why I hate having James over for dinner. You two are children together."

"Yeah, Ali." Robbie smiles proudly. "Grow up." Anthea dropped her fork and raised her hands palms up to the roof.

"The people I surround myself with." She exclaimed, shaking her head.

"It makes life fun." Cate said, smiling brightly. Anthea pouted her lips, thought about it, and nodded. She had some pretty interesting people in her life. There was hardly a dull moment. She could only Hope that Cate saw it as a good kind of interesting.

Author's Note: So what did you think? Was it okay? I did warn those of you who asked for it that it might not be an exciting chapter. But given my expectations I think it was alright…. Still, your opinion matters a tad more in this case. Thanks to our guest reviewers; Christie and Holly Golightly. Thanks to all my awesome reviewers. I think my next assignment isn't due for two weeks so I think I shall see you all again in five days.