A/N: Inspired by a Tumblr prompt.

"What's the word for that infestation of tiny creatures over there?"

Molly looked up from her salad and over at the building her companion was pointing to. She rolled her eyes. "Those are children, Mycroft. That's a school." She went back to her lunch.

The two of them started having the occasional shared lunch (Mycroft would never deign to call them "lunch dates") after Sherlock's fall. They would meet at a café far from either Bart's or Whitehall to lessen the chance of someone they knew running into them. The lunches were never romantic but Molly enjoyed the companionship.

Mycroft, still keeping a wary eye on the school kids, sniffed in that dismissive, disgusted way of his. "Such noise. If I ever had children, they would be better-behaved than those … hooligans."

She gave him a half-smile. "You'd need a significant other first – no child could survive having you as a single father."

He turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"You'd be the disciplinarian but you'd need someone to coddle them too. The two roles balance each other."

"I suppose," he said, looking thoughtful.

Molly smiled to herself. "I couldn't be a single mother – I'm a coddler, I'd spoil my child rotten."

Mycroft smiled a bit, a rare sight. "Perhaps we should have a child together." At her raised eyebrows, he added, "For the sake of balance."

It took her a moment to get over her shock. "I hate sounding so clichéd, but if both of us are still single and childless two years from now, I will take you up on that offer."

Mycroft held out his hand and she shook it, deciding that the sparks she felt when she touched his hand were her imagination.

"Do you recall the pact we made two years ago today?" Mycroft asked as he leaned against the doorway to the sitting room.

Molly chuckled. "Yes. Completely unnecessary now." She inclined her head toward their fifteen-month-old daughter, Violet, who was playing with Toby on the floor.

"I was thinking we could honor the pact in a slightly different way." He approached her then leaned to murmur in her ear, "The Watsons are coming by in a bit to pick up Violet. They'll have her all night. What do you say to trying for a second child, Mrs. Holmes?"

She grinned at him. "I'd say we're well on our way to our own pack of hooligans, Mr. Holmes."