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Sherlock sighs and a puff of breath swirls into the chilling January air as his heavy feet drag to the front door of his home. He is not old, but no doubt getting older. For the first time while running after a criminal he had to stop not once, but twice to catch his breath. Luckily, he still caught the perp, but that still doesn’t make the lowly feeling in his chest go away. “Forty-six”, he grumbles. “Now I know what Mycroft meant when he said “middle age comes to us all”, all those years ago after my faked death.”.
Making quick use of his key in the door, he steps into silence, which could never be a very good thing due to the ages of he and Molly’s children. Hanging up his Belstaff and scarf, he furrows his brow at the empty foyer. “Molly? Cas? Abby? Maddy?”, he shouts. Suddenly those same four offending females jump into view.
“Surprise!!” Molly let’s loose a small confetti canon and Abby and Maddy run over with balloons. Sherlock can’t help himself from grinning.
“You remembered”, he quips, scooping up eight-year-old Abigail and seven-year-old Maddison.
“Happy birthday, Daddy!”, the two little girls squeal, kissing either cheek.
“Ohhh thank you, girls. I am very surprised.” He kisses both of their cheeks in kind and nuzzles their noses before setting them back down on their feet. Thirteen-year-old Cassidy rushes over and hugs him gently. She is a beautiful near replica of Molly, despite not being their biological daughter.
“Happy Birthday Dad...I know you don’t like big celebrations, but Mum said you were on a tough case today and we thought you could use some cheering up. Plus, you can tell me all about your case later, because I want to know”, she grins.
Sherlock chuckles and nods, kissing the top of her head. “I’m sure we can discuss it if Molly has no objections of course. It’s a bit gory, and sad.”
Cassie sighs. “Yes, but I’m a genius too. I’m not some baby, I can handle it better than other kids my age.”
“Hey…no pouting. It’s my birthday. We’ll see, hm?”, he winks.
She cracks a smile. “Alrighttt.”
As she goes to help the girls get their balloons which have floated to the ceiling, Molly goes over to him and hugs him close. “Happy Birthday, my love.”
Sherlock wraps his arms around her and sinks into her warm embrace, swaying gently. “Thank you...I don’t usually like a big fuss, but it did cheer me up a bit. But then again, you always do.”
Molly smiles up at him, small crinkles in the corners of her eyes and she leans forward to kiss him. Sherlock kisses back and strokes her cheek, eliciting two small groans and “ew’s” from the younger girls. He chuckles and pulls back softly. “Geez, I suppose we’ve been waiting to hear that for years.”
“Most definitely.”
Sherlock walks to the sitting room with her. He looks at the girls playing, Cas trying to teach them new things each day. “So how were the boys today? Hopefully not too destructive or crazy”, he raises an eyebrow.
Molly rolls her eyes. “Of course they were, they’re your sons”, she laughs. He chuckles and kisses her cheek, going over to the large area that is blocked off with baby gates, grinning at his twin three-year-old sons, Sherlock and William.
“Hi boys! Daddy’s home! Did you have fun with Mummy today??”
They run over to the side of the baby gate and giggle, holding their arms up. “Dada!”, they squeal in unison. Sherlock scoops them up onto both his hips, cuddling them close, even though they squirm.
“As energetic as always I see. Do you want to play, Hero?”, he looks at the squirmier boy. Hero looks up at him with his bright blue-green eyes and dark hair, grinning. He points at the blocks in the corner of the room.
“Dada, bocks!”
“Blocks? Alright, we can play blocks for a bit. Will, how about you? Do you want to play blocks with your brother and I?”
Will beams, his brown hair and warm brown eyes like his mother, looking back at Sherlock. “Ya!”
He sets them back in the gated area and grabs the bag of blocks, climbing over the gate and sitting cross legged as the boys try to climb him. He laughs softly and makes sure they don’t fall. “Hey, I thought we were playing blocks, not climbing me like a tree!”
Molly smiles fondly as she scans the room, watching her entire family be happy in one moment, which was not always easy. Chewing her lip, she worries about Sherlock’s unexpected birthday gift.
A couple hours later they sit down for dinner, Cassie helpfully setting the table and Abby and Maddy putting out napkins. Molly made Sherlock’s favorite: Shepherd’s pie, and some chips on the side. Sherlock smiles brightly at her as he clips the boys into their highchairs and kisses their heads, Will looking so much smaller than Hero. Molly carefully brings out dinner, warning the kids not to touch the dish because it’s piping hot.
“The girls and I made a special birthday cake for you earlier, too. If you’re a good boy and eat all your supper”, she smirks.
Sherlock smirks and nods. “I am a good boy. Also, it will be hard not to eat all of my food because it’s my favorite, especially the way you make it. I can’t wait for your cake either”, he teases and pecks her lips.
Molly blushes and nudges him, gaining a small groan and a chuckle. When dinner is over, she washes up the boys for the first time, knowing that they will be completely messy after cake as well. Cassie gets up. “I’ll do the dishes, Mum.”
Molly smiles softly. “Thanks sweetheart, that’s a big help.”
Sherlock watches his family work like gears, perfectly oiled and smooth-running. Of course, not all days are as great as this. Some days the boys are fussy, the girls are fussy, or Molly is in a bad state. But today they are all happy, they are all content. It’s one of the lovelier birthdays he has ever had, despite fretting over middle age earlier.
Maddy crawls over to his side, cuddling him. Sherlock smiles and signs to her. Since she was three, her hearing has been deteriorating and they have all done their best to learn sign for when it eventually leaves her. For the moment, she has hearing aids which are fitted and adjusted to her every year. “Hi sweetie, how was school today?”
Maddy grins and signs back. “It was good, Daddy.”
Sherlock smiles at her sparkling blue eyes and speaks up, as he usually does with her, to hear him a bit better. “You’re so good at sign baby girl. I’m proud of you, you’ve learned so fast.”
“Thank you”, she giggles and hugs him. He holds her close and strokes her dark, wild curls. She has been the only child cursed with the Holmes curls. Abby laughs and goes over, laying over his other side.
“Hug pile!!”
Sherlock snorts and wraps his free arm around her as well. Being only a year apart, a lot of people think the girls are twins because they look so similar. They have all of Sherlock’s features, including his colorful eyes and dark hair, but they have Molly’s nose. The only difference is that Abby’s hair is straight, while Maddy’s is curly. They are both smaller stature like Molly.
“Cas, wanna join the hug pile!?”, he calls out.
She rolls her eyes and smiles. “Later maybe, I’m busy.”
“Well, I just want to say I have the most beautiful daughters, and the most handsome sons in the entire world. Not to mention the most /gorgeous/ wife”, he winks at Molly and she blushes, shaking her head jokingly.
“Who’s ready for cake??”
“Me!!”, they all squeal, Sherlock joining in as he tells the girls to go back and sit in their seats. Molly brings out the cake with help from Cas, a “4” and “6” candle upon it, as well as a few single candles. Sherlock groans and rubs his face. “Noooo I’m not that old!”
Cassie laughs a bit and sits down as they begin to sing loudly to him. They even sign the whole song as well, surprising him. His eyes get a bit watery, but he holds it back. When the song is over, he gently pulls the younger girls to his sides and smiles. “Help me blow out my candles!”
The three of them blow out his candles and the girls cheer for him. Hero and Will squeal as a response to the excitement, motioning for the cake.
“Cake!! Cake!!”
Molly laughs and kisses their little hands and cheeks. “You will get cake, my little buddies. I promise.”
Sherlock looks at Molly, sharing a silent but loving smile before her cuts his cake. He passes out pieces to the girls and then to the twins. He goes to hand Molly a slice and she places her hand over his. “Darling, it’s your birthday. Everyone else will be finished by the time you take your first bite. I’m all set anyway, but thank you.” She kisses his cheek, lingering for a moment. He looks at her and gently strokes her hand under the table.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Sherlock. Very much. Happy birthday.”
“Thanks”, he smiles handsomely and takes a slice of cake, eating some. “Mmm…Molly this is divine.”
She giggles and hugs his arm. “Ooh I’m glad you think so, I did have a few helpers though.”
“Well you are all great bakers then”, he grins. Taking a bit with his fork, he holds it up to Molly’s lips. “Come on, just a little bit? It’s delicious.”
She blushes a bit and rolls her eyes, eating the bite. “Thank you.”
After dinner is over and everyone is washed up and in their pajamas, Sherlock and Molly bid the twins goodnight after their bedtime story. Of course, they were more interested in turning the pages and squirming around than actually listening, but they managed to get through most of it. Molly cuddles Hero and strokes his hair soothingly before placing him in his toddler bed. Sherlock does the same with Will, whose eyes are already drooping as he looks up at him from Sherlock’s chest. He gently kisses his head and tucks him in, stroking his tiny cheek.
“Hey Moll?”, he whispers.
“Yeah?”
“They all grew up so fast, huh?”
Molly nods and chews her lip. “That’s what kids do unfortunately. They can’t stay babies forever”, she whispers and wraps her arm around his back, hugging his side.
“I know...”, he trails off as they leave their room, carefully making sure the gate is in place and shutting the door. “Sometimes I’m just amazed.”
“Me too.”
“No...not just of them. But of you too. We have an incredible teenager, we have two amazing little girls and two amazing little boys. Despite everything that’s happened and all of the challenges they’ve brought at times, you are still as resilient as ever. Not only that, but you had a very busy day today, and you handled all the kids after work for a while and still made the time to cook dinner and a cake for me, plus all the freaking confetti and balloons...I’m astounded by your endurance, always.”
Molly blushes deeply and cups his face, kissing him on her tiptoes. Sherlock kisses back lovingly and holds her close.
Pulling away to look at him, she sighs contentedly. “We’ve both made sacrifices. We both are good parents. Today is your day, you only get one birthday a year and you’ve been swamped with cases all week. You needed something happy and light to just relax with for a while. I know you don’t particularly like your birthday. I get it...but I really wanted to do something special for you. Just to show you that I love you and appreciate you, even when some weeks are so crazy, we barely see much of each other. I’m glad your case got solved. Also, the girls and I picked out gifts for you.”
Sherlock hugs her tightly and nuzzles her neck, breathing her in. “You didn’t have to do that. You’re my present. You’re my gift every day because I know that it wasn’t an easy path to get us together, and I’m so grateful that you are mine, Molly. I adore you. We wouldn’t have any of this without you.”
She turns red and strokes his jaw gently. “I hope you feel that way later...”
Sherlock furrows his brow. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Nothing’s...wrong. But the girls are waiting for us to go downstairs and for you to open your presents before they go to bed for the night. I just…need to talk to you after.”
“That bad huh...”
Molly squeezes his hand. “No...it’ll be alright, I think.”
Sherlock nods as they join the girls who are eagerly pushing his presents towards him.
“Daddy open your presents!”, Abby beams. “I picked out the bestest one!”
Maddy frowns. “No, I did!”, she signs.
“Did not!”
“Whoa, girls. Settle down. I’m sure I will love all of them equally. Okay?”
They huff a bit, but nod, sitting next to him. Cassie sits cross legged on the recliner, watching him as well.
Sherlock opens his gifts one by one. Abby got him a lovely deep purple scarf, Maddy got him some new leather gloves, and Cassie got him a book on the world’s most difficultly solved murders. He grins and kisses the younger girls’ cheeks, thanking them. Molly smiles at them fondly and takes them up to bed.
Sherlock pats the sofa and motions to Cassie. “Hey, it got a bit crazy earlier. I didn’t get to talk to you much this week, and I’m sorry I’ve been so busy.”
Cas moves over to the sofa and hugs him gently. “It’s okay. I understand.”
He nods and smiles. “How has school been?”
“Boring like usual, everything we are doing is super easy, I don’t even have to try.”
Chuckling, he nudges her. “That’s my girl. How’s Jake doing?”
“He’s okay. His mom has been doing better, so I guess she’s stable for now. You don’t mind if he stays over sometimes though, right? Honestly sometimes I think we are more of a family to him than his mom is.”
Sherlock nods slowly. “Yeah, you know he’s always welcome. He’s a very polite kid, always respectful.”
“I’m glad he’s my friend. If he wasn’t...I wouldn’t have any friends. But I’m glad that I met him. Even though my real parents and my sister died, and I was sad and a bit scared, and moving here was completely different for me...you and Mum made it a little easier. Then when I helped Jake at school and we became friends, I finally felt like I belonged somewhere. Like I had someone to lean on, if that makes sense. I know he isn’t a genius, but…he doesn’t have to be.”
Sherlock nods and gently squeezes her hand. “I know what you mean and I’m really glad you have a best friend, Cas. I’m glad you have someone to talk to who is your age. Though you do know you can always talk to me and Molly too, right?”
“Of course I do.”
“Good.”
“Oh and...I know I’ve…never really said… but thank you for adopting me. I- I can’t imagine anyone else would have wanted a five-year-old genius kid. Normal people used to get kind of freaked out over me because I was so small but so smart. I’d still be an orphan I think...”, she whispers.
Sherlock hugs her and gently strokes her hair comfortingly. “Cassie...we love you so much just as you are. You don’t have to thank us. We’d do it again in a heartbeat because we connected with you. We immediately loved you and we’re lucky to have you.”
She tears up slightly and blinks them away, lying her head on his shoulder. “I hope you had an okay birthday. I know you work really hard.”
He smiles a bit. “My birthday has been fantastic because of all of you. Every day is good because I get to come home to you guys.”
“I’ve been teaching Abby and Maddy more BSL words. They learn pretty fast which is good. Mum too after school some days.”
“That’s awesome. Thank you. I...don’t particularly like to think about the day in the future that she’ll need it all the time of course, but I know we have to be prepared for it, even if we wish it’ll never come.”
Cassie looks a bit sad. “I know, Dad. But Maddy will be okay. She has all of us, and she’s still going to be able to do anything she wants. I know she will.”
“I know too”, he nods and kisses her forehead. “Is all of your homework done?”
“Yeah. I think I’ll er…head to bed too though.”
“It’ pretty early for you, no?”
“Well…yes…but…”
“Cas?”
“I just think you and Mum deserve some alone time. Plus I think she needs to really talk to you so...I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Oh”, he blushes a bit and clears his throat, still taken aback sometimes by how intelligent and intuitive she is beyond her years. “Yes of course. I’ll drive you girls to school.”
“Okay. Night.”
“Night.”
She goes upstairs, giving Molly a kiss on the cheek and a goodnight as she passes her on her way to her room.
Molly raises an eyebrow. “Isn’t it early?”
“Yeah, but she had a good feeling you needed to be alone with me.”
“Oh...”, she says softly.
“Molly, you know you can tell me anything, we’ve been through nearly everything.”
She nods slowly. “Well yes but...it’s different. Plus, I don’t want to ruin your birthday.”
“What’s different? Molly you could never ruin my birthday.”
Molly takes a shaky breath and tears up. Sherlock tips her chin and gently cradles her face in his large hands. “Moll...”, he whispers. “Hey...don’t cry...whatever it is, we can get through it.”
“I know…I know. It’s not bad bad…it just...it...is what it is.”
“Then tell me.”
A couple tears fall down her face and she wipes them away. “Sherlock I...”
“Go on, love.”
Molly hands tremble and Sherlock takes them in his.
“I-I’m…pregnant.”
Sherlock’s eyes widen a bit. “You’re...like…now?”
Tears spill down her cheeks and she nods a bit. “I know we said we were finished... and we were being so careful and I’m forty-three. I’m lucky I had the twins at thirty-nine before my birthday but...”, she covers her face and shakes.
Sherlock scoots over and pulls her into his arms, cradling her softly. “Shh...”
“I wasn’t expecting any more, y’know? With the other kids we were trying, and we decided the boys would be the youngest. I’m too old now...”
Sherlock cups her face and looks into her eyes. “I’m not angry. I’m definitely surprised, but you’re right. It is what it is. And sometimes life has different plans than we do. We know that better than anyone, yeah?”
Molly nods weakly and sniffles. Sherlock wipes more tears away from her cheeks.
“We can do this. We have done incredibly well with the five we have. Plus, you’ve always liked even numbers, hm?”, he smiles softly.
Molly cracks a chuckle, cuddling him. “I suppose.”
“Six children sounds pretty good to me. I know he or she was unexpected unlike the others, but that does not mean they’ll be any less loved or wanted. I love you so much, Molly. It’s not your fault. I love our little bean too, okay?”
Molly throws her arms around his neck and clings to him. “But Sherlock I’m so old...”
“Hey! I’m two and a half years older than you!”, he huffs dramatically.
She rolls her eyes and blows her nose with a tissue. “No I mean for carrying a baby...there’s so many risks and what if something happens to them...it would be my fault.”
“No it wouldn’t be. If anything happens, we will take it in stride like everything else. But I’m here for you. You know that.”
Molly kisses him gently and whispers “It’s a she...”
Sherlock grins. “Another little girl?”
Nodding, Molly rummages through her purse and takes out a piece of paper with the blood test results on it. “I-it’s too early for a scan so I had to get a blood test to make sure the home tests were right and, it confirmed them. It also can tell you the baby’s sex.” She point to the confirmation then to the point where it says “XX positive”.
“Another little girl...wow. Well this isn’t exactly a fair fight huh?”
Molly giggles and cuddles close. “Five to three, we win.”
“For God’s sake...”, he chuckles. “I’m just kidding. This is a pretty great birthday gift though.”
“Oi, a gift from you to you, through me?”, she jokes.
He laughs and nuzzles her temple. “I love you, Molly Holmes.”
“I love you, Sherlock Holmes. Also...I know it’s like, super super early. But I have a name, and I really think you’ll like it.”
“Oh?”, he quirks an eyebrow.
She nods and chews her lip. “Calista. It means fairest and most beautiful. It’s Greek.”
“Of course it’s Greek!”, he snorts. “I actually think that’s beautiful. Callie for short?”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.”
“Wonderful.”
“You’re really...fine with this?”
“Molly this is me and you. This is our child. I know we’re…older parents…but of course I’m fine with it. As I said, I know we had said the twins were the last, but I guess the universe had other plans. It’s rarely lazy.”
Molly smiles, albeit a bit worriedly. Sherlock captures her lips with him in a loving kiss. “No need to fret about things we can’t control”, he murmurs. “I have a good feeling she’ll be just fine.”
“I know, and I hope so. I hope I didn’t ruin your birthday.”
“Shhhh, you could never. I love our kids, but secretly you’re the best part of my birthday”, he purrs in her ear, sending a shudder down her spine. “Now shall I unwrap my favorite present?”, he wiggles his eyebrows and scoops her up carrying her up to their bedroom.
“Sherlock!”, she hisses quietly, turning beet red.
“Yesss?”
Molly giggles as he lightly kicks the bedroom door closed behind them with his foot and lies her down on their bed. “I will always be in awe of your stamina.”
“Ha, you should’ve seen me earlier. I was an old wreck. Though I suppose I’m still good as long as I’m revved up in the bedroom, hmmm?”, he strokes her curves.
“Oh my gosh, you are impossible!”
“Oh please, that’s why you love me”, he winks.
“Ugh God help me, I do.”
“Plusss...I have a feeling this year is going to be even better.”
“Oh and why is that, may I ask?”, she snorts.
“Well because we don’t have to prevent pregnancy, of course! We get the full effect, if you know what I mean”, he winks seductively.
“Oh my God!”, she slaps his chest playfully and laughs, her face flushing red. “Well you won’t see me complaining about that but…you are so…”
“So what?”, he teases, smirking.
“Ugh, who am I kidding, you’re still super fucking sexy, and I love you so damn much.”
“Awwww Molly. I love you so much too.” He takes his shirt off and draws her close, kissing her softly for a moment before it turns into breathless snogging and tugging at clothes.
Molly rubs his chest and looks up into his eyes dreamily, panting on his lips. “Happy Birthday, Sherlock Holmes.”