Mrs. Holmes [Book III]

W.H.L.H.

"It's a boy!"

Sherlock might have fallen into the pool if he wasn't kneeling outside of it. He had been convinced they would have a daughter- but now they had a son and he was just as ecstatic to have them either way. Sherlock gently brushed over their son's head with a couple of his fingers, taking him in. He had a full head of dark hair like Sherlock- feathery soft to the touch- and was quickly turning the perfect shade of new baby pink. Susanna held him close and started talking softly to him as Evelyn checked his vitals and performed the APGAR test- giving a score of ten.

Lauryn stepped in and placed a towel over the little boy, patting him dry and offering words of praise. Susanna molded the towel over him, "Oh, he's perfect, Sherlock!"

"I know, Love," He replied, unable to stifle himself from choking with emotion and even shedding a couple tears, "You were excellent, Susanna, truly." He leaned over and they shared a sweet kiss. Then she angled their son so he could better see.

"He definitely got his looks from his Daddy," She exclaimed, nestling the babe under her chin and over her heart, "Especially his hair. I bet it'll be curly."

"Mmm, that'll be fun." Sherlock commented. Thalia came over to get a few pictures and videos and Evelyn brought a clamp and surgical scissors for the cord- it had been three minutes and the baby had gotten as much additional blood as he could. The midwife clamped the cord and Sherlock clipped it.

"Do you have a name for him?" Lauryn asked, bringing the birth certificate. Sherlock and Susanna exchanged glances, smiling.

"We do." Sherlock replied.

"William Hamish Luke Holmes," Susanna pronounced, "Welcome to the world, William." The newborn seemed to recognize his name and calmed a bit in response. Shortly afterwards he was able to latch for his first feeding. Sherlock didn't stray far if he could help it, staying by Susanna and William.

Finally it was time to clean up. Sherlock unbuttoned his shirt by a few, allowing for skin to skin when Susanna carefully placed William in his arms. Sherlock held him gently yet firmly to his chest. William, weighing just over three and a half kilos and measuring nineteen centimeters, could fit easily in just one of Sherlock's hands.

William extended and flexed his tiny fingers and toes, still rasping little lusty cries, "Shh, it's alright, little one," Sherlock crooned, gently swaying to try and soothe him. To his shock, he looked down in time to see William's eyes open for the first time. They were a deep shade of blue; pointing towards developing Susanna's violet-blue rather than Sherlock's gray-blue. Sherlock smiled and whispered, "There we go, little one. I knew you'd have her eyes." They remained open for another minute before slipping closed again.

After a while of pure skin contact and bonding, Sherlock carried William to Susanna. She had gotten cleaned up and changed back into the transition dress, retiring to the room's double bed. She was glowing, but it was clear she was spent after thirty eight hours of labor, including the sixty five minutes of pushing to bring William into the world.

Sherlock sat down next to Susanna and softly transferred their son back into her arms. She leaned into him, "Darling?"

"Mm?"

"Go ahead and let everyone know that William's safely here."

"Of course." He took out his phone and messaged their friends- since Thalia and Violet had informed the relatives already.

William Hamish Luke has joined the Holmes family. Born 03:40 AM. -SH

It took a few minutes but the texts rapidly came in, all saying congratulations and asking how William and Susanna were doing. John in particular made a point about Hamish being the middle name.

They got William into a diaper and swaddled him in the blanket and quilt they'd brought, putting on his little blue hat. The grandparents eagerly stepped up to take their turns holding William, who had stopped crying and was mostly silent, peering up into everybody's faces and looking around. Sherlock watched like a hawk to make sure they didn't drop or distress the newborn, despite Susanna's assurances that they wouldn't. Soon after they were moved to a postnatal suite for observation and thorough check ups. Susanna and William ended up falling asleep, tired out. By noon the resident doctor and Evelyn concluded that mother and baby were stable and could go home.

Instead of the normal sedan, the vehicle that waited for them was a sturdy luxury Crossover, "Mycroft is soooo going to be a doting uncle." Susanna mused.

"I doubt he'll let us travel in a sedan again now that William is here."

Sherlock helped Susanna into the back and then eased the carseat into the middle, facing backward as it should. Susanna anchored it and Sherlock made sure it was secure before getting in as well. William seemed pretty happy at the moment, waggling his fingers and making soft noises. These turned into adorable coos when Susanna started talking to him again, taking hold of his doll-like hands with her fingers and stroking them. Sherlock kept his hand on the carseat in case of a sudden stop or jolt, and smiled as Susanna interacted with William, "John is never going to let me live down all those times I teased him about his behavior around Rosie. I didn't understand why he did those things and now I see why."

"Paternal Sentiment?" She giggled.

"More than that, Love."

Thank you for reading!!