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She watched Sherlock walk away, dejected. She should have invited him in, or let him hold Rosie or something. John was lashing out and it was cruel. She had heard from John what had happened at the aquarium, yes, but she'd heard from Greg, too and there was so much blame to go around. Yes, Sherlock had goaded, but they hadn't had to just stand there and watch Mary die.
She shut her eyes and pulled Rosie closer, nestling her nose in her hair. She couldn't be angry. It wouldn't do to be angry. Someone among all of them needed to keep their head.
When she opened her eyes, though, she saw something on the ground, something that hadn't been there before. A coin. She hesitated, then bent down and picked it up, balancing Rosie on her hip, and it all came back in a flash as one minute the two of them were in London and the next...
Atlantis.
There was a flurry of activity when she arrived, and soon she was seeing familiar faces, and people were shocked to see her, especially seeing her with a child. She didn't let go of Rosie at all, especially when her goddaughter started crying, and she went through the intake routine, punctuating it every few moments by asking could she please be taken to Dr. Leonard McCoy as soon as possible, if he was still here. Was he still here? He was still here? Good. Take me to my boyfriend, please, it's urgent. No, I know the medical suites like the back of my hand, thank you.
Eventually she made her way to his office, not at all sure what she was going to find. She had hoped she could approach quietly, prepare him for the shock of not arriving alone, but Rosie hadn't really stopped crying in quite a while, and finally she just couldn't handle it. She opened the door and hoped her stash of formula in his office was still there from when Rosie had been there before. "I'll explain in a minute," she said over Rosie's wailing.
All Leonard could do when she came into the office was stare. The baby in her arms wasn't the surprise - he'd met Rosie in the brief time she and her parents had been in Atlantis and he recognized her easily - but he'd imagined Molly coming back so many times over the past two weeks. Two weeks had felt more like two months, in all honesty and while he'd dreamed about he coming back to him, he hadn't really believed it would happen.
“Are you really here?” he asked, standing and crossing the room until he was standing right in front of her. He lifted a shaking hand to her face, pressing his palm to her cheek. She felt real, her skin warm and soft under his touch and he nearly sobbed with relief. Either this was a really realistic dream or this time he wasn't just imagining she'd come back to him.
She stopped and cursed at herself. She should have known better than to just waltz in as she pleased, baby in tow. She’d apparently disappeared without a word to anyone. Jim too. Leonard had to have been absolutely devastated and she just…
She shifted her hold on Rosie and leaned in, kissing him softly, but with all the love and meaning she could muster. When she was done, she reached forward and gripped the front of his shirt tightly. “Yes, I'm really here, and I'm so sorry I left, Leonard. I would never have chosen to leave. Never.”
Closing his eyes, Leonard just breathed in her scent for a moment and reveled in the feel of being able to kiss her again. Even after the pulled apart, he stayed close, threading his fingers through her hair as he rested his forehead against hers.
“I know,” he assured her. “I know you never would have left, not without telling me.” He knew she’d thought about it once, but they’d talked and promised each other they wouldn’t even leave without saying goodbye, without talking about it first. He’d never for a moment believed leaving without telling him was something she’d wanted.
“You don’t have to apologize,” he murmured, lifting his head to brush his lips over her forehead. “I’m just glad you’re back.”
For some reason she felt like crying. So much had happened for her back home, and then to come back and be reunited with this man she’d crossed universes to find and hear he knew she’d never have left without telling him if she’d had the choice? She’d made the right choice in Breckenridge, she had.
She sniffled a little. “Oh, your birthday! Oh, no, that must have been awful. I wanted it to be perfect, too. Like you make so many things perfect for me.” She let go of his shirt and wrapped that arm around him, burying her face in his chest and trying not to bawl like a baby.
Damn, he wished they were alone right now, because all he wanted to do was wrap both arms around her, pull her close and reassure her it was all alright night, but it was hard to really hug your girl when she was holding a baby. He gave it his best try, bringing her as close to him as he reasonably could.
“It’s alright, Molly,” he reassured her as he kissed the top of her head. “You’re here now. That’s what matters.”
She nodded, glad that Rosie had seemed to quiet down some instead of getting louder. She stayed close to him for a long while until she felt more composed, and then pulled away from him, but not without leaning in and giving him another kiss first.
“I...didn't mean to bring Rosie back with me,” she said, going to where the tins of formula had been from just scant weeks before with her own daughter. “I didn't even think about her being on my hip when I saw the coin. I just...Mary had just died and I’d had to tell Sherlock those awful things and then I saw the coin and I remembered everything and I wanted to see you again so badly...” She trailed off as she looked for a bottle.
“I’m glad you did,” he answered honestly. “I remember how much you missed her when they went back.” He was surprised to realize he actually meant that and more than being happy for Molly, he liked the idea of the three of them and their Mary forming their own little family.
“Although,” he added, smirking a little bit, “if you wanted to call Christine and get her to babysit for a few hours, I could show you just how much I missed you these last two weeks.”
She nearly felt her heart burst at his first words. She knew before that unless John or Mary was in Atlantis that was the only way she’d ever get to know her goddaughter. Having gotten to meet Rosie and then lose her had been devastating, and knowing Leonard wanted her here...that pleased her so much.
She found the bottle just as he spoke the second time and she laughed. “Only a few hours? I'm just a tad disappointed in you. Do I need to ask one of the magic users for something to improve your stamina?”
“Well, I would ask for a few days, but I thought that might be a little selfish,” he drawled, grinning back at her. “Maybe even a few weeks.” Truthfully, there was a part of him that just never wanted to let her go again, but he knew that wasn’t realistic.
“Maybe we could ask for the rest of the weekend,” she suggested. “I think we have quite a bit of catching up to do.” She honestly would rather have the rest of the month, or the rest of the year, but knowing that she hopefully had the rest of her life to spend with the man she loved was enough.
Moving over to where she stood, he wrapped his arms around her from behind and pressed a kiss to the side of her neck. “I’ll text Christine while you feed Rosie,” he murmured. “And then I’m taking the rest of the weekend off and I’m taking you home and if these people are lucky, I might be willing to let us leave the apartment again at some point on Monday. Maybe.”
She laughed, feeling happier than she had in an age. “I do love you, Leonard. Very much. And I completely agree with those plans.”
Leaning in again, he pressed a kiss to her cheek before stepping back to pull out his phone and start making the arrangements, feeling happy again for the first time in two weeks.