Author's Note: Hello! Thanks for the lovely reviews last chapter. I'm so pleased you liked it. I'm very surprised I got this done in time because I've been extremely lazy this week. Just crashing from exams, you know? Let me know what you think. 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 Official First Day Back At Work

Going back to work. The idea should be exciting to one as bored during her waking hours as Anthea. The few days she had spent helping Mycroft with the leak from Rudy had been the most mentally stimulating in quite some time. And it was, exciting that is, but it was also horribly terrifying to the new mother.

Every time Anthea was thinking about work while holding Margot or attending to her the woman was filled with a deep guilt that hit her not only in the heart but also deep her in stomach. The little helpless being would look at her with the beautiful grey-blue eyes and Anthea felt like she should be there with her always. Margot needed her. Margot should come before her own selfish needs right? Violet let everything go to focus on being a mother, like Mycroft talked about the other night. Anthea should do the same thing, right? That would be the right thing to do, right?

But she needed work too. She loved being Anthea and not just mum.

Just another reason she was probably not an ideal mother, right?

Mycroft wasn't helping or hurting the situation which… as can be assumed was both good and bad to Anthea. Sometimes if he voiced his opinion it would help so when he began to become restless Anthea was at least pleased to start being prompted to make a decision even if the conflicting thoughts caused her heart to race in her chest.

"You maternity leave, although flexible, is almost up, my dear." He'd said in bed one night. Anthea was plugging in her phone while he was sitting up, head against the headboard and looking at the wall rather than her.

"I know." Anthea replied, almost choking on it.

"We need to discuss your plans sooner rather than later." His eyes flickered over to her for half a second.

"I know." Anthea said again. She got into bed and pulled the covers up. She and Mycroft exchanged a quick look and they both dropped that conversation to go onto something lighter before bed.

"Working from home some days will make the transition easier." Mycroft said over dinner one night. It came out of the blue. Anthea smirked at the non-existent Segway from vegetable quality to this. "It will allow for us to be present for Margot more often than not." His eyes had a hopeful glisten to them, eyebrows raised, as he tried in his awkward way to soothe Anthea's anxiety about it all."

"I know." Anthea said. Again. At least she was smiling this time. She nodded at the genius while she cut some food and ate it.

"And," Mycroft continued. Anthea sniffed a silent laugh. "I don't say this type of thing often so you know it's true." He nodded his head to emphasise it. "Jamie's offer to take Margot on office days is wonderful for us given that I can't trust just anybody." Anthea smiled pinched.

"She's not always going to be available." Anthea said, being the realist here. Mycroft lazily shrugged a shoulder.

"There are other viable options and as long as we don't have anything dangerous on the schedule I don't see the problem in Margot joining us at the office." They'd both said something similar before but now, when she had to seriously consider it, it seemed less reasonable.

"Really?" Anthea snorted. Mycroft nodded sincerely. "Do you think Lady Smallwood would find that appropriate." Mycroft's expression grew dark and yet more jovial.

"I'd like to see her stop me." He said. His fingers tapped on the table. He'd hardly touched his food. "Quite frankly at this period of my life, given everything I have done, it's either allow me some courtesies or I walk." Anthea knew how serious he was when he said that. His attitude towards work had not been the same since his punishment over Eurus and the healing had begun between him and his siblings. Margot becoming something that he actually cared about did nothing to fix the work thing either. Anthea sighed.

"Mycroft." She didn't know if she said his name in exhaustion or sympathy. The genius gave a guarded smile.

"I'm merely pointing out how flexible I am willing to be for you to come back to work." He said. Anthea rolled her eyes. She put down her knife and fork.

"If you need an assistant back right away just tell me." She said. Mycroft held up his hand and shook his head.

"No, no." He hummed. "Merely giving you more facts to alleviate the stress that rises whenever you think on the subject." She wasn't surprised he could feel it. People outside could probably feel her stress level. Anthea crinkled her nose.

"I thought you missed me." She teased.

"I do." He replied. "But I don't need the help." Anthea chuckled. She picked up her knife and fork again.

"Wanting to work doesn't make you a bad mother." Mycroft said suddenly, catching Anthea off guard. Her hands froze in place. "It makes you a person and a good role model for a young woman in a world that hasn't quite achieved equality." Anthea closed her eyes and moved her head to the side. She gave herself a moment to breathe. Then she laughed playfully and faked a smile for Mycroft.

"You're so weird." She said.

"So you weren't thinking that?" Mycroft asked with that stupid Holmsian level of detached curiosity that made you feel like an experiment.

"You're still weird." Anthea replied, avoiding the question.

"I do need the help." Mycroft said early one morning. He was drinking coffee and read news on his laptop at the kitchen bench. Anthea had just fed Margot and was getting a glass of water before maybe having a shower. It stopped Anthea. She put her glass down and came to stand facing him on the opposite side of the counter, her hands folded together on the surface of the bench.

"Go on." She said gently. Mycroft's nose twitched as he looked at his coffee mug like it just insulted him. He hated doing this. Blue eyes looked back up at Anthea.

"Work is falling behind and I'd rather not have to stay back late to sort through video files and achieve them all to the right locations." He scratched at his eyebrow with his ring finger. Anthea smiled knowingly. "The thing is, my dear, if you don't want to come back soon that is fine but I'll need to find a replacement. Those aren't easy in my line of work and they're harder to get rid of if, say, in a year your old assistant wants her position back." Anthea mined an 'ah' as she raised her head for a slow nod.

"You should have said so the other night." Anthea said to him. Mycroft ignored her.

"I want you back," He said, leaning in. "But if you don't want to then I need to know." Anthea sighed. She looked down at her hands, then at Mycroft's hands, then at his coffee mug. Her chest was tight again; aching as she breathed.

"I want to come back too," She huffed. "But…" Her eyes glanced over and upwards to where about Margot's bed was. Where she'd be waiting for her Mummy to come play with her after she had a shower.

"Come in for one full day at the office without Margot." Mycroft offered. "We'll monitor how you feel during the day and if you have a good time and the guilt is negotiable then we'll know our answer." Anthea took a moment to try and imagine Mycroft being this understanding when she first began working for him. It would be impossible. He wouldn't do this for anyone other than family. She had to keep in mind that it would only be like three days a week that she'd be completely away from Margot unless there was a trip. And she loved work. She adored it.

Anthea clenched her jaw and nodded.

"Okay." She said. "Okay." She said again. "That's a great idea."

"Friday, then." Mycroft offered a real smile.

Work was…

Well, it was great.

Anthea loved it.

Nothing exciting happened. It was quite an average day in the office. The first thing Anthea did was check up on her filing system and make sure everything was still labelled correctly and even that rather boring weekly chore was wonderfully thrilling to do again. It gave Anthea pause to consider why she was enjoying filing and set her up for the fact that she was going to enjoy the hell out of a monotonous day.

There were meetings set for Mycroft. None across the building or any other location, just those ones where people turned up to talk to him. Anthea got to see a lot of faces she hadn't seen in a while and make the shadowy assistant version of small talk. Again the only interesting thing that happened was when one official asked Anthea what the baby was and when she said it was a girl he stated that his secretary owed him twenty pounds. Anthea had laughed and brightened her smile more than she would have any other day.

Lunch with Mycroft.

A visit from James – who knew because Jamie had Margot.

It was a normal work day and Anthea loved it. She missed Margot with all her heart but she loved this place too.

"So?" Mycroft asked Anthea in the back of the town car. He was looking at his umbrella with that bored expression. Anthea glanced over at him and hummed for him to elaborate. "Do you feel as though you wish to return to work?" Anthea's mouth twitched into a smirk she instantly tried to hide due to feelings of guilt. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she thought of her baby daughter that they were on the way to pick up.

"It depends on how Margot handled it." Anthea said honestly. Mycroft looked away from his umbrella and over to her. "If she was okay today then I'd love to." Anthea said thoughtfully. "If she's not ready then I don't think I can be ready."

"Naturally." Mycroft replied with a curt nod. "She is our top priority after all." He said. He looked back at the umbrella and twirled it into the car's upholstery. "Regardless of the outcome it was quite refreshing having you in the office once more." He hummed. He was trying not to sound sweet or overly emotional and it came across as disjointed. A breathily laugh escaped Anthea's mouth.

"I liked it too." She said. Mycroft fought a smile.

Jamie answered the front door with Margot in her arms. Thatch barked happily at the appearance of the familiar faces. Anthea leant down to pat the little black dog on his head and scratch his ears.

"Hey." Jamie giggled brightly. Mycroft tapped the tip of his umbrella on her welcome mat.

"Hello." He replied coolly. Thatch satisfied with his greeting wagged his tail all the way back through the front door and probably went off to find Hope or food. Anthea stood up, wiping her hands on her skirt. Jamie gasped and bounced Margot.

"There's Mummy!" She said. The little girl obviously completely missed Anthea while she was busy playing with Thatch. He blue eyes landed on Anthea and she squealed with delight. She held out a pudgy little arm and balled her hand into a fist as if she could hold Anthea. Anthea made a noise somewhere between aweing and laughing. She reached out for her little girl who Jamie passed over gladly.

"Hello, little one." Anthea cooed. She stroked Margot's head and then kissed it. Margot smiled gleefully. Mycroft was smiling down at his hands on the umbrella handle.

"Yeah," Jamie gave a knowing sigh. She had her hands folded across her chest now. "That's James' favourite part of the work day, too." She looked at Mycroft. "I think James makes a bigger deal now than Hope does."

"That sounds like James." Mycroft said with a disapproving (or approving?) click of his tongue.

"Tell me about it." Jamie laughed. Anthea wasn't listening to them, she was focused on Margot.

"How was Margot's temperament today?" Mycroft asked. Anthea saw Jamie pull a face.

"You can ask if she's good in a lot less syllables, Myc." Jamie said through her screwed up features. Mycroft's umbrella tapped.

"Answer the question." Mycroft muttered back. Anthea rolled her eyes at Margot. The girl had no idea what her mother was doing and frowned quizzically.

"She was good. She's quiet and I like that." Jamie looked between the two parents as she spoke. "Hope was more demanding and um… harder to work out than Margot is at this age." Jamie paused, frowning. "Or maybe I just get babies better now. Practice and all." Mycroft looked at Anthea with fatigue from the conversation already. Anthea smirked.

"Makes sense." She said, taking over for Mycroft. Jamie didn't care or make a point of the look and the switch.

"Do I get her next week?" Jamie asked. She and Mycroft both looking at Anthea. Anthea stroked Margot's head again.

"Maybe two days." She said. Already she was forgetting that Mycroft's office idea sounded absurd. She just wanted to ease herself into it. Two days next week, and maybe all three the following week. Both Jamie and Mycroft rose their eyebrows.

"Cool." Jamie chirped.

"Indeed." Mycroft hummed. Mycroft hooked the umbrella on his elbow and gestured to take Margot. Anthea relented and gave him their little girl. She went inside to get Margot's things.

Author's Note: So Anthea is going back before you officially have to go back but she did take it off early too and given their work… Also it gives us more to play with if we can use the office and the club again. Please tell me your thoughts. Thanks to last chapter's guest reviewers; Observant Potato, Guest, Guest217, and B. Thanks for being awesome to all my readers. I hope to see you again in five days!

Extra Note: I don't answer guest questions in these Author's notes. I do, however, answer questions on my Tumblr.