Author's note: Apologies for not getting this up sooner. Had some unexpected household issues that needed attention and publishing had to take a back seat.

Anyway, I hope you think the conclusion is worth the wait and also worth your time to leave feedback on the piece as a whole.

Sherlock glanced from Molly to Christina and back several times until he was satisfied that both had fallen asleep.

He had been totally blown away by the way Molly had coped with the delivery of their child. He could see how much pain she had been in, yet she had not done what all those women in childbirth said to their partners when in labour in all those television shows and films. Molly had not yelled "You did this to me!" or screamed bloody murder the way he still remembered Mary had done. Yes, Molly's grip on his hand had been rather tight and she had groaned with the effort of pushing in a way she had not done with Victoria. This time there had been no epidural to block the pain and Sherlock had seen the tears in Molly's eyes each time she experienced another contraction. He couldn't even imagine the excruciating pain associated with pushing a baby out of her body.

Sherlock looked down at the tiny face of his new daughter and marvelled at it. She was absolutely perfect. Every now and then her tiny mouth moved as if she were still suckling which he found rather fascinating.

As Sherlock watched his daughter, he reflected on the events of the past year. It had certainly been a year of change and transition. Besides the many milestones he had observed with Victoria, there had also been the move from Baker Street to their home in Harringay. Then there had been the purchase of a vehicle which he had never contemplated as a single man. As a man with a family, however, having a car definitely made things easier transportation-wise.

He and Molly had mounted a successful venture in performing a play about the life of Jesus, as a fundraiser for cancer research. It had been a huge undertaking, especially in light of the fact that Molly was pregnant, but the results had certainly made the effort worthwhile.

There had also been a talent night put on by the hospital in order to raise money for the renovation of the Oncology Appliances Room. The date for that happened to coincide with the weekend before Sherlock and Molly's second wedding anniversary. Sherlock and Molly had used the opportunity to remain overnight at the Leonardo Royal Hotel, where the talent night was held, to enjoy a private wedding anniversary celebration, while Molly's mother took Victoria home with her for the evening.

Yes, it had certainly been a busy year and Sherlock expected 2020 would be just as busy, especially with two children. He raised his free hand to touch the silver cross necklace he always wore that Molly had given him to mark the second anniversary of when he became a Christian. When they had been discussing baby names initially, Molly had suggested the name Christian for a boy or Christina for a girl. Sherlock had liked the idea. He was a different man since he had opened his heart first to Molly and then to knowing and accepting Jesus as his Saviour. The names felt appropriate.

Sherlock's reverie was interrupted as Christina's eyes opened and she blinked at him. For the first time Sherlock looked at her eyes. They were a deep, dark blue but seemed to have a hint of brown in them. Sherlock suspected her eyes might change to the coffee colour of Molly's own eyes as time passed. Victoria's eyes were so like his own and the idea of a little Molly "mini-me" was extremely pleasing.

The baby blinked at him. She opened her mouth as if to let out a cry and Sherlock put his finger gently against her lips. "Shh, little one, he said softly. "Go back to sleep so your Mummy can have a little rest." To his surprise and pleasure, the baby's eyes closed again and she returned to sleep. Perhaps she had recognised his voice from when he talked to her while she was still in the womb, he thought.

Sherlock was still observing his daughter in fascination about fifteen minutes later when there was a soft knock at the door and a nurse entered. He recognised the woman as Erika, a nurse he had seen on a couple of occasions during trips to the hospital for scans during Molly's pregnancies.

"Oh, hello, Mr. Holmes!" she exclaimed in her slightly German-accented English, recognising him. "I was going to see if Mrs. Holmes wanted me to take her baby to the nursery for a while so she could rest."

Sherlock smiled. "As you can see, my wife is currently sleeping and I am looking after our baby so that will not be necessary, Erika, but thank you."

Erika smiled back, obviously pleased at his use of her name. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to get some rest as well?"

Sherlock shook his head. "I'm accustomed to long periods of little to no sleep. I am quite enjoying this quiet time with my daughter."

"She's quite the Christmas present isn't she? I'll leave you to it then."

"Indeed she is," responded Sherlock. "Fröhliche Weihnachten, Erika."

Erika beamed. "Fröhliche Weihnachten, Herr Holmes."

She exited the room and Sherlock resumed gazing at his newborn. A Christmas present, the best one ever, he thought.

Another hour passed and the baby stirred again. This time Sherlock was unable to prevent her from letting out a little wail which woke Molly immediately.

Molly sat up and held out her arms for the baby. Sherlock was relieved to see she looked alert and rested even with only a couple hours of sleep.

This time Sherlock returned to the chair and he allowed himself to doze a little.

He woke with a start to discover it was six in the morning. He looked over at Molly to see her eyes were still open and the baby was nestled in the crook of her arm, sleeping once again.

He stood a little stiffly, rolled his head to loosen his neck and walked over to the bed. "Would you like me to take her so you can get some more rest?" he asked, then dropped a soft kiss to Molly's mouth.

"I'm fine, but I'm getting a bit hungry."

Sherlock rummaged around in the overnight bag and pulled out a packet of smoky bacon crisps, his and Molly's favourite. "You can have these until it's time for breakfast," he said, opening the bag for Molly.

He took Christina so Molly could eat the crisps and poured her some water from a jug on the table beside her bed.

A little later, while Molly was again breast-feeding their infant, he took the time to send an email to Pastor Briggs with information about Christina's birth and he also sent off a text to Mrs. Hudson and Greg Lestrade as well as several other colleagues of Molly's and friends from church.

At around ten in the morning, a midwife came into the room to palpate Molly's abdomen and make sure her womb was retracting the way it was supposed to.

"Looks good." she said.

"Do you think I can be discharged already?" Molly questioned. "I'm ready to go home and my other daughter is there as well."

Sherlock was not surprised. Molly had mentioned a couple times that she was missing Victoria and didn't see why she was stuck at the hospital when she already knew what the procedure was following birth.

"If you are sure you are ready to return home, I can arrange to have you discharged," responded the midwife.

"Yes please."

Within an hour, the discharge papers were ready for Molly to sign. Sherlock called her mother to tell her not to worry about coming to the hospital with Victoria, that they were coming home.

He left Molly and Christina at the inside entrance of the hospital and went to get the car, then got them both situated and drove home.

As soon as they entered, the pitter-pattern of little feet rushed to the front door and Victoria wrapped her arms around his legs as Molly's mum hurried to the front as well.

Sherlock lifted Victoria into his arms so she could look again at her baby sister. Victoria reached out a hand to the baby's cheek. Christina's eyes were open and she blinked curiously at Victoria.

"I've made some sandwiches for you," said Molly's mum, beckoning them towards the kitchen.

As soon as lunch was over, Sherlock texted Mycroft to let him know that they were home.

Shortly thereafter, his phone rang. It was his mother.

"Sherlock, I'm sure you don't want a whole lot of people coming over to see the baby, but Daddy and I would like to visit just for a little while, if that is okay?"

"Of course," responded Sherlock. "When did you want to come over?"

Mycroft's cook has already been working hard on the food for today and we would like to bring some for you as well afterwards. We are planning to eat at around five so could be there around six-thirty. We will also bring food for your mother-in-law seeing as she will not be joining us either today."

"Thank you," responded Sherlock. "It is rather a relief to know I will not need to go out and purchase something at the last minute for our dinner."

He informed Molly and her mother of the arrangements for the evening and carried the baby upstairs for Molly, then waited as she got into bed. He handed Christina to her and brought the Moses basket next to the bed. It had been in the corner of the room, awaiting the baby's arrival.

He left the bedroom quietly and closed the door, hoping Molly would be able to get Christina to sleep so that she could have some more rest herself.

Back downstairs, he entertained Victoria and read her a story until she too became sleepy. His mother-in-law was dozing in the armchair by the fireplace. She had told Sherlock that Victoria had not slept well and had spent the morning asking "Where's Mama?" despite being told over and over again that Mama was in hospital with the new baby. Sherlock was glad they had been able to come home earlier than expected.

As he carried Victoria upstairs to her cot he reflected they would need a second baby monitor for Christina at some point.

By the time his parents arrived in the evening, the household was awake once more. Even Sherlock had managed to get in a little more sleep in the other armchair. It was definitely a quiet Christmas Day.

He stood up from the sofa where he had been sitting with Molly. Victoria was on her lap and Christina was being held by Molly's mother. Molly had insisted that Victoria sit on her lap because she knew she would not be able to carry her for a little while.

He opened the door to admit his parents, half expecting to see Mycroft.

Noticing his look past his parents, Violet Holmes said, "The chauffeur brought us and is going to go to a pub nearby until we call him. Mycroft sends his greetings. He decided he should stay behind with the rest of the family."

Sherlock remembered then that Elizabeth's son and wife as well as Mark would have been at Mycroft's home for Christmas dinner. "Of course."

Mrs. Holmes thrust a huge bag at him which presumably contained food to be heated and said, "The food should still be warm enough for you to eat without reheating. where's my new grandbaby?"

Sherlock pursed his lips. "I don't even merit a kiss for Christmas?"

She reached up and planted a kiss on his cheek. "I'm sorry, dear. Merry Christmas. I've just been so anxious to see your new daughter."

William Holmes said, "I can certainly attest to the fact your mother has been talking of nothing else all day. Merry Christmas, son."

"Merry Christmas," responded Sherlock.

He pointed in the direction of the front room as he prepared to take the food into the kitchen. "Molly, her mum and the girls are in there. Guess I'll get this food onto plates. Thank you."

In the kitchen, Sherlock pulled out insulated containers with turkey and stuffing, Yorkshire pudding and roasted potatoes and vegetables. Sammy had obviously wanted to make sure they were well fed because there was much more than three adults and one 19 month old could manage. There were also mince pies for dessert. No Christmas pudding this time, noted Sherlock. Undoubtedly that was because it was one of his mother's specialties and she wasn't the one preparing the meal this year.

He put on the kettle and set the food on plates, cutting meat and vegetables into small pieces for Victoria. He then took the plates to the dining table.

"Food's ready," he called and watched as his family made their way to the dining table. William Holmes was holding Victoria, and he put her in her high chair. Sherlock's mother of course was holding Christina. "She's so precious!" she said when she reached his side.

Sherlock smirked. "Of course she is. Molly and I make beautiful babies." Molly dimpled at him and he held out her chair so she could sit.

Sherlock's parents sat at the table as well although of course they did not eat. His mother continued to coo over the baby until Sherlock noticed Victoria's frown at her lack of attention from her grandmother, "Mummy," a quick jerk of his head towards Victoria, "someone is not happy about being ignored."

His mother was instantly contrite. She passed the baby over to her husband and went over to Victoria's high chair and kissed the top of her head. "How are you doing, my little angel? Grandma has some Christmas presents for you when you come over to Uncle Mycroft's house."

Victoria's eyes lit up at that. She knew the word presents from Sherlock pointing them out under the tree a couple days earlier. Such a beautiful little girl, Sherlock thought to himself, then suddenly understood what Molly had meant about dividing her attention. He didn't know which daughter to look at, both were so precious, not to mention Molly herself.

Sherlock's parents didn't stay for long after dinner. Arrangements were made to do the gift exchange at Mycroft's on Saturday instead and his mother called the driver to say they were ready to be taken back to Mycroft's. Sherlock was pleased that his mother also took charge of changing two dirty nappies. That was a task he was very happy to relinquish as often as possible, particularly as he would probably be the one to take care of it for a few days at least until Molly was properly recovered.

Molly's mother also made her departure soon afterwards, leaving Sherlock and Molly alone with their two girls.

"What do you think, love?" Sherlock looked at Molly. "Should we open the presents under the tree so Victoria can have a nice Christmas?"

The baby was sleeping in her bouncer that Sherlock had brought down from the spare room and Victoria was in her play pen hitting the musical notes on the xylophone Sherlock had bought for her several months earlier which she loved. He was rather amazed that the baby could sleep through the racket.

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Molly rested her head briefly against his shoulder.

"Oh, wait, there's something I forgot." He tugged Molly up from the sofa and pulled her to the doorway of the room.

Molly frowned slightly. "What did you forget?"

He smiled and pointed to the mistletoe he had placed in the doorway secretly the day before and had not had an opportunity to take advantage of. "Merry Christmas, my love." He bent his head to give her the first proper kiss they had exchanged in more than a day. He wrapped his arms around Molly, enjoying the fact that her belly had diminished greatly in size so he could pull her closer.

Molly put her arms around his neck and kissed him back with ardour. Eventually their lips parted and Sherlock sighed a little. It was going to be a long month being unable to enjoy his usual intimacy with Molly. Oh well, at least they could still cuddle at night.

"Right then," said Sherlock, taking Molly's hand and kissing it before ushering her back to the sofa. "I'll get the presents out from under the tree. Let's do ours first and then we can help Victoria open her presents and those for her sister."

First he took the small gift he had wrapped himself for Molly; they had promised one another to only buy one gift. Fortunately, there was no price limit mentioned and he had spent several hundred pounds. It was a small price to pay for the woman who had just endured so much pain in order to give birth to Christina.

He picked up his own gift from Molly, beautifully wrapped as usual, sat beside her and set hers on her lap.

"You go first," she told him and Sherlock opened his present. He was delighted to find his favourite eat de toilette spray, Eau de Monsieur, by Annick Goutal. It was by no means a cheap gift either. He knew the cost of the cologne was around £100 and he had been wondering whether he should switch to a cheaper scent, thinking the cost a little frivolously high. But it was a different story to receive it as a gift.

"It's not much," Molly apologised, "but I did notice your bottle was almost empty and I do enjoy it when you wear that scent."

He smiled at her. "Thank you, sweetheart. It's a very thoughtful gift and and I appreciate it." He gestured at the present on her lap. "Go ahead."

Molly unwrapped her gift and opened the square box to reveal a gold tennis bracelet. She gasped. "Oh, Sherlock, this is lovely! But tennis bracelets are so expensive."

Sherlock frowned at her. "This isn't about the money, Molly. I wanted to buy something special for my beautiful wife to show how much I appreciate her and the fact that she has not only given me so much love but two beautiful daughters as well."

Molly blushed, whether from embarrassment at his censure or his compliment, he wasn't sure. "I'm sorry, honey. I just wasn't expecting something like this. Thank you." She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

He wasn't satisfied with that so raised his hand to her face and turned it towards him for a lingering kiss instead. It was so like Molly though to be careful with money. If she hadn't been the type of woman to save as much as possible over the years, they would not have been able to afford this house. Yes, they would have to be more careful with money in future as well with a mortgage to pay and Molly no longer working full-time, but he estimated they were more financially stable than most London residents.

"Would you put the bracelet on my wrist?" asked Molly once their lips parted.

"Of course." He slipped the bracelet around,her wrist and fastened the clasp.

Molly lifted her arm and waved it around like a little child. "It's so sparkly," she enthused and Sherlock grinned. He loved seeing his wife so happy.

"I'm going to bring over the presents for Victoria and Christina now," he said, returning to the Christmas tree and bringing over the pile of presents. Molly had wrapped them in different wrapping papers so that he knew which presents were for each daughter.

Then he lifted Victoria out of her playpen. She protested initially, having still been happily making "music" on the xylophone, but she quickly settled down when Sherlock set her on her mother's lap and added a present for them to open together. Of course Molly ended up doing most of the unwrapping, but Victoria seemed to enjoy herself and her eyes widened at the array of new toys, puzzles and books for her to enjoy. Sherlock in the meantime pulled out his phone so he could take a video and photos.

By the time Sherlock cleared away the wrapping paper, Christina had awoken from her nap and had begun to grizzle. Sherlock picked her up from the bouncer and carried her over to Molly. Victoria had scrambled off of her mother's lap to play with her new toys.

Molly pulled up her jumper and unfastened her bra, then took the baby and settled her to her breast for yet another feeding while Sherlock placed a cushion beneath her arm for support. He had forgotten just how frequently newborns needed to feed.

"Why don't I have Victoria help me open Christina's presents?" he suggested and Molly nodded.

"Victoria, do you want to help Daddy open your sister's Christmas presents?" he asked, bending down to meet his older daughter's eyes.

Victoria shook her head, "No, Daddy." She was obviously too engrossed in the new toys.

Sherlock shrugged and set about opening the presents himself. Most were baby clothes but there were some baby toys as well. Then he took some video again. This was definitely a Christmas he wanted to keep a permanent record of, and he was used to whipping out his phone these days to take photos, most of them candid ones. Occasionally, he would allow Molly to take a photo with him in it, or they would snap a selfie, but Sherlock much preferred being behind the camera.

Sherlock took a picture of Molly and Christina and she frowned at him. "You had better keep that one private. I don't particularly care for the world to see my breast on display."

"You really can't see anything, Molly. Christina's head is in the way."

Molly rolled her eyes. "Even so, promise me you aren't going to post that one on Facebook. I don't mind you putting up some of the other ones though."

This time it was Sherlock's turn to roll his eyes. "Give me some credit, love. I promise to post only Molly-approved photos. You will also need to choose one for me to send to John to put on his blog. There have been a few comments on the blog lately from people asking when they are going to see pictures of the new Holmes baby."

"People are so sweet. I love that they are interested in more than just your cases but you as a person too."

Sherlock's lips quirked. "Well, at least a few. I'm sure the majority of people are only interested in my detective persona and reading John's blog, rather than me as a person. That's one of the things that stood out to me with you, the way you never just saw me as a detective. You always saw the man and wanted o know me, the real me."

Molly looked thoughtful. "I guess that's a good way to determine whether a person is really a friend or not. You have a certain amount of fame, but can you imagine how it must be for famous people like actors and other really big celebrities? It must be so difficult to separate who is only friendly with you for the reflected glory, and who truly cares about you."

"To be honest, I would prefer complete anonymity, but as that is not possible, at least I can use my position to show my Christian faith publicly. Perhaps it will draw others to Christ."

He began to gather up the wrapping paper. Once it had been cleared away and new presents for Christina were stacked neatly to Molly's satisfaction, Sherlock resumed sitting beside his wife and took out his phone once more.

"Come here, Victoria," he called to his daughter. "Daddy wants to take a photo of us as a family." By this time Christina had finished feeding and Molly was holding her in her arms.

Victoria, who loved getting her picture taken, stood and clambered onto Sherlock's lap.

Sherlock set the camera into selfie mode and stretched out his arms on either side of Victoria, making sure the four of them were in the frame. "Say cheese," he said. And as Molly and Victoria complied, Sherlock took several memorable photos, then put his phone away.

This certainly was a Christmas to remember, even as the two before it had been. Sherlock had never felt more content. He slid an arm around his wife and held Victoria close to him with the other, even as he looked at the newest addition to his family. Thank you for my family, he prayed silently.

Christmas Day was almost over but there were still celebrations to be had in a few days time and after that, a new year to look forward to.

What would 2020 bring? Only time would tell.

Author's note: I was quite amazed at how quickly new mothers can be discharged from the hospital in England, as little as six hours, from what I read! I felt that Molly would be impatient to get home, seeing as she missed Victoria.

There are some significant differences between England and America that I discovered when researching childbirth for this story. Even though I did write a story for Victoria's birth, I did more research for this one.

In England, you need to pack everything you need for the baby and yourself - pads, nappies/diapers, snacks. Those things are provided for you in America (at least I assume that is the case throughout the country.) However, the cost for those things is added to your bill and depending on insurance, it will cost different amounts to have a baby. In England, it doesn't cost anything to have a baby, so it is understandable that you need to bring along your own items.

If you are from a different country, I'd love to know how things are done there - do you incur any costs in having a baby or is it free?

By the way, Sherlock's eau di toilette spray is the one favoured by Benedict Cumberbatch. I thought, why not? Wish I could smell it for myself.

Did you like Sherlock's gift for Molly?

So for now we say goodbye to Sherlock and Molly. I cannot say whether I will be doing much in the way of 2020 continuing story for them. I have several WIP's that take place at varying times in the timeline already, both past and distant future. Do you want to keep seeing glimpses into their future that correspond with "real time"? If enough people are invested in my characters I will really try to at least take a peek into their life every now and then next year with a short story here or there. I am also contemplating a 20 years post-Sherrinford short story - anyone interested in seeing the Holmes family so far into the future?

Wishing you all a peaceful, safe and happy new year!