"Mister Holmes..."

Sherlock hummed in response and Cynthia cleared her throat a little louder, drawing his gaze to her, "Has she regressed?"

She shook her head, still focusing on the examination, "No, not at all. She's dilated to eight centimetres actually, and she's had a bloody show."

An alarm bell went off in his mind and he ventured, "Cause for concern..?"

Cynthia shook her head again, "No. It's nothing to worry about. It's normal at this stage, really. But we need to keep getting fluids in her."

Sherlock reached onto the nightstand and grabbed the handheld Fetal Doppler, handing it to the midwife, "Even so, check them both."

"Of course, Mister Holmes."

He really didn't need her to take Adelaide's pulse since he could monitor it himself, but he wanted to make sure that the medical experts were confident that both she and Mirabella were still okay. While Cynthia checked the baby's heart rate, he leaned closer to Adelaide and whispered,  "Eight centimetres, Love. We're nearly there!"

Adelaide gripped his hand and let out a short growl as another contraction began building. Sherlock pressed a few kisses onto her cheek and resumed helping her with the breathing exercises. Once the contraction ended, he picked up the glass of ice chips he'd brought and offered one to her. She accepted it wordlessly and he gave her another one before turning his attention back to Cynthia. She smiled reassuringly and explained, "Both of them are doing just fine, Mister Holmes. Their vitals are normal. From the looks of it, Mirabella should make her appearance very soon!"

His nerves calmed and the detective took a short breath of tentative relief. No need to panic. Just stay focused on assisting Adelaide. Cynthia and Jocelyn will alert us if they pick up on anything wrong, He reminded himself and glanced at his watch, Eleven thirty at night, making her labor approximately twenty eight hours long. Mirabella might be born by one AM.

Sherlock relayed his deductions to Adelaide as he helped her slowly sit up and stand so Jocelyn and Cynthia could clean up the bed and prep Adelaide for delivery. At this point, he let them take the reins so he could call and update the anxious grandparents-in-waiting, or great-grandparents in Iona and Charles' case, per their agreement. He stepped back out into the kitchen and grabbed his phone, punching in Mycroft's home phone.

As he expected, Violet answered on the first ring, speaking so surprisingly coherently he was certain she had been rehearsing the words; "Oh, finally, Sherlock!! How is Adelaide? How's Mirabella- is she here yet?! Any complications?!"

"Mirabella hasn't arrived yet but there have been no indications to complications and Adelaide is doing fine, Mum. I just called to inform you that Mirabella should arrive within the next two hours."

"Well, we're happy to hear they're both okay! We've all been sitting up anxiously awaiting news of Mirabella's birth," He heard Iona's voice in the background and then Violet continued, "Iona asked me to ask you whether Adelaide might benefit from putting her on the phone."

Sherlock considered it and replied, "Not right now, but when she's ready to start pushing I think Adelaide would benefit to hear from Iona. She deserves as much support as we can give her."

Violet communicated the info to Iona and then answered, "Very well. Just give us a call if she wants Iona, Sherlock! Now get off that phone and get back to Adelaide!!"  He didn't need to be told twice and quickly hung up, dashing back into the bedroom where he immediately resumed his duties.

However at that point, the most he could do was let Adelaide squeeze the life out of his hands and feed her ice chips whilst Jocelyn and Mary took over coaching after she forbade him from talking. The detective couldn't keep completely silent, but he did his best to let Mary say what needed to be said in his stead.

And it paid off. An hour and a half later, the stars seemed to align perfectly as Adelaide reached full dilation with Mirabella in the perfect position. Sherlock eagerly reclaimed his role as her birth partner then, blissfully ignorant to his blueish hand. 221B seemed to hum with anticipation, with even Teddy picking up on it and taking up a post outside the bedroom door, nose almost glued to the hardwood and ears perked upright, twitching with every noise.

In the midst of the buzz, Cynthia finished her latest examination and beamed, "Okay, Adelaide, everything's in tip top shape! Whenever you're ready, you can start pushing with the next contraction."

She let out a heavy puff of air, let her head fall back for a moment and then tucked in her chin once more, taking another deep breath. Sherlock leaned over and planted a loving kiss on her temple, and as he pulled away she grit out, "Don't you dare leave, Sherlock..!"

He shook his head and replied gently, "I wouldn't dream of it. I'm right here. You can do this, Angel." A few moments after that, the next surge began and Adelaide let her instincts take over as she bore down.

And so began the final sprint of the months' long marathon.

Thank you for reading!!! Love y'all!! 😘😘

Stay tuned!!