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Irene was pacing. Irene never really paced; it wasn’t her style. She was usually never this nervous, and thus had no reason to pace. But here she was, pacing in the living room of her home, waiting for Holmes to pick up his phone. “Please answer,” she murmured at the second ring.
He picked up on the fourth ring. “Irene.”
“You need to come to my home now.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know, but I need to talk to you and its important.”
“Are you in danger?” he asked.
“No.”
“Have your enemies made any overtures that they have found you again?”
“No,” she said with a slightly exasperated sigh.
“Are you ill?”
“Not really, but I’m…” She paused. If she didn’t tell him he might not come over, and really, while it was a conversation they should have face to face, she wanted him here, and if that meant telling him over the phone then that was what she would do. “Sherlock, I’m pregnant.” There was a long pause. “Sherlock?” she asked tentatively. No response. “Sherlock!” she said after that, nearly shouting.
“I’m sorry, I’m just…I’m stunned,” he said after a moment.
“Now you know how I feel,” she said wryly.
“I’m in Manhattan right now. I’ll be there shortly.”
“Are you happy with the news?” she asked quietly, the uncertainty evident in her voice.
“I’m not upset, but I do not know if happy is the word I would use to describe it.”
“At least you’re being honest,” she said as she stopped pacing. “How long do you think it will take you to get here?”
“Twenty minutes. I’m at a crime scene fairly close to you. Joan can stay and finish observing.”
“If you’re sure,” she said.
“I am. I will see you soon, Irene.” He hung up then, and she pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it. Two months. They had only been in each other’s lives again two months and then this happened. In all her years, both before the first time with Sherlock, her liaison with Sherlock and then her time as a dominatrix, this had never happened. She had been careful, oh so very careful. This was all her fault for not taking the necessary precautions. With a sigh, she began to pace again until she heard the knock at her front door. She ran to it and opened it quickly. “How far along are you?” Holmes asked before she could say a word.
“A month and a half,” she said as she moved out of the way for him to come in. He came in and they made their way to the living room. “I am so sorry, Sherlock. This is all my fault, for not taking better precautions. I am so so—“ He stopped her stream of apologies by pulling her close and kissing her. She melted against him, as she did every time he kissed her, and when they were done she pulled away to see a slight smile on his face. “You really aren’t upset?” she asked quietly.
“It has come as a shock, and I am not sure as to what we should do next, but I am not unhappy with the news,” he said, framing her face in his hands and running his thumbs along her cheekbones.
“Oh, Sherlock,” she said, putting her arms around his waist and holding him close. He moved his hands away after a moment and held her. “What are we going to do now?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “But I am bound and determined to be there with you each step of the way.”
She shut her eyes and relaxed against him for a moment before stiffening as an errant thought crossed her mind. “Oh, God. Do we need to get married now?” she asked as she pulled away.
“I would like to marry you,” he said as he looked at her. “But not now. It is simply far too soon for that.”
“You wouldn’t mind having a child out of wedlock?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“If you are not ready for marriage then I do not want to force you into it, and if that means waiting until after you have had the child, so be it.” He looked at her closely. “Do you want to marry me, Irene?”
“I’ve thought about it,” she said. “But I’m not sure. I don’t know if I’ll ever marry you, Sherlock.”
“That is fine,” he said with a nod. “If it never happens, I will be fine with that.”
“I don’t deserve you,” she said with a small smile.
“Don’t ever say that, Irene,” he said quietly but intently. “I spent so long without you, wondering how my life would have been different if we had not had that fight, if we had been honest with each other. I have made many mistakes since then. I do not deserve you, if we’re going to be truthful about things.”
“Look at the pair we make,” she said, shaking her head. “So what do we want to do next?”
“We have decisions to make,” he said as they sat down on her sofa. “Living arrangements, mostly. I do not want to be living away from this child once he or she is born.”
She nodded. “I’ve never lived with anyone I’ve been with before,” she said. “I don’t know if it would be a good idea. And where would we live? I have room here, but what would happen with Joan? Where would she go?”
“I suppose I can talk to my father about letting her stay where she is, even if I am no longer there,” he said. “In the few conversations I have had with him since she became my assistant he seems to have taken a favorable view of things. He might be inclined to let her stay.”
“You want to move in here?” she asked, surprised.
“This place is very you,” he replied. “It is your home. I do not want to take you away from your home.”
“This place has felt more like a prison than a home,” she said quietly. “I have barely left. I believe I would much rather reside someplace else, and I suppose I could stand a roommate.”
“Are you saying you would rather move in with me?”
She nodded. “Yes. I think that would be best.”
“You would need to meet Joan first, see if you like her. See if you could stand sharing a residence with her.” He looked at her closely. “Are you really sure you want to do this?”
“Yes, Sherlock, I am. I have a house. You have a home.”
“Very well, then. We’ll begin to make plans for you to move into my home, after you have met Joan.”
“Did you tell her about the baby?”
Holmes nodded. “She asked why I had to leave in such a rush. I told her you were pregnant. She was just as shocked as I was.”
“Do you know if she’ll even want to live with a baby?”
“If she doesn’t, this will at least give her time to find a place of her own, seeing as how she lost the other place. Perhaps I can help.”
“All right,” Irene said with a nod. “What else do you need to do?”
“I probably need to prepare my family. My cousins know the truth about you, but my father does not. And it will come as a shock to all of them. I do not know how they will react.”
“I hope that your cousins will be happy for you.”
“Sherlock will be, I suppose. Mycroft not as much. Mycroft doesn’t like you very much, according to my cousin.”
“He wouldn’t,” she said with a sigh. “Trust me, when he hears I will be a permanent part of the family I think he will be very displeased.”
“Well, then that will be his burden to bear,” he said with a shrug. “I personally don’t care what Mycroft thinks. He’s my least favorite member of the family anyway.”
“Are you sure we’re going to be all right?” she asked.
“Yes, Irene. I think we’ll be fine.” She leaned against him and he put an arm around her shoulders. "There will be a lot of changes in store, but I believe we can weather any complications that come up.”
“I hope you’re right,” she said quietly as she shut her eyes. This was all a complete surprise, but at least now she had hope that things would be all right in the end.