I don't own Agents of SHIELD nor will I ever. No copyright infringement intended.
Tasked with baby-sitting six year old Diana while Skye and Grant went on a mission, Lance and Bobbi knew they had a rough road ahead of them based on past experience. Skye kneeled down and kissed her daughter's forehead. "You be good for Aunt Bobbi and Uncle Lance, okay? Daddy and I don't want to be disappointed in you."
Diana nodded. "I promise I'll be good, Mama."
Grant opened his arms and laughed when she ran into them. "We're going to miss you while we're gone, sweetheart, but we'll be back before you know it. I love you."
"Love you too, Daddy." She sighed contentedly and refused to leave his embrace so Grant had to pry their daughter out of his arms.
Grant wrapped his arms around his wife and they watched their daughter dart to the couch to sit next to Lance. "It's getting harder and hard to leave her," he murmured to Skye.
She nodded her head in agreement before leaning up to kiss him. "We should go so we can take care of this and come back as soon as we can."
"Sounds good to me."
Bobbi called Diana over. "Say bye to your mama and daddy," she told the little girl who jumped up and down vigorously before hugging both parents.
After Skye and Grant departed, Bobbi joined Diana and Lance on the couch. "What you watching, Uncle Lance?"
"A movie," he answered, looking down at her warily and wondering what she was planning. Diana was always up to something, which they blamed on her parents because of their own behavior in the past.
"Can we play a game?"
"Yeah, Uncle Lance, can we play a game?" Bobbi needled and she laughed at the look of mock outrage on her husband's face.
Lance protested with a loud (fake) sigh and turned off the TV. "If we must," he teased.
Diana jumped off the couch (they were seriously beginning to wonder if she could teleport at this point) so hard it looked like she catapulted and squealed. Bobbi and Lance cringed. "Come catch me!" she screamed and then took off.
"This is your fault," Lance whispered as they headed off to find her. Diana knew she wasn't allowed in certain parts of the base so it most likely wouldn't take too long to find her.
"No, we were just lucky enough to be stuck on base without any missions this time around. Poor Fitz is still exhausted from the last time he and Jemma baby-sat her. And hey, we both love that kid like she's our own so quit your whining, Hunter."
Lance put a finger to his lip and motioned towards the kitchen counter. Bobbi let out a snort when she saw Diana trying to hide on the other side of it and clearly failing. "Wow, I wonder where Diana disappeared to! Maybe she's invisible?"
They both stopped when they heard giggles. Lance grinned. "I don't know, love. She's doing a great job of hiding from her aunt and uncle, isn't she?"
Diana jumped up and it was a testament to their training that neither jumped when she somehow startled them. "Here I am!" she cried excitedly.
Bobbi placed her hand above her heart and gasped dramatically. "We thought we lost you, Diana Mae! It's nice to see you've returned unharmed."
Diana ignored her aunt for a second and charged towards Lance who grabbed her and immediately started tickling her. Her laughter echoed through the kitchen, warming their hearts. "Can we play a game?"
"What game do you want to play?" Lance questioned after setting her back down, suddenly exhausted. He didn't know how Skye and Grant did this all the time (and were willing to do it again).
Bobbi already wanted to nap but she didn't want the six year old to overwhelm her husband so she pushed down the exhaustion. "Any game you want, within reason," she promised.
A grin lit up her face. "School!"
Lance groaned. "School?"
Diana nodded. "Yes. I'm the teacher and you are my students. This is going to be so much fun!" She took off towards her room after making sure Bobbi followed her.
Upon the girls' return, Bobbi and Lance were forced to sit down on the floor and be "taught" all about adding and subtracting. "I'm having war flashbacks," he stage-whispered to his wife.
"It's cute so just deal with it," Bobbi whispered back as she filled in the answers on the "test" Diana decided to give them.
Diana peered at them from her position on the couch and glared. "No talking!" she barked.
"Bossy like thing like her mother," Lance mumbled.
Diana got off the couch. "Can I see your test?" she questioned sweetly.
He looked at her suspiciously but handed it over. "Why do you want to see my test?"
"So I can grade it, Mr. Hunter." She grabbed her pen and quickly started scribbling on it, looking at so seriously that Bobbi nearly started cracking up.
He finally couldn't take it anymore and decided to be brave (which, why was that a thing with a six year old? He's older than her!) and ask how he did. "I'm pretty curious, love."
Diana threw the paper down on the floor dramatically (Bobbi admired the action and wondered if she had inherited the overdramatics from Coulson) and sighed sadly. "You failed. I'm sorry."
Lance scoffed. "I don't think I failed, Miss Diana Mae Ward."
"Are you questioning me?" the six year old screeched.
"I think someone's been watching too many grown up movies with her aunts and uncles." Bobbi needed to remind herself to warn the others about it even though this was fucking hilarious.
"No?" Lance didn't know where this was heading but he didn't like it.
"Go to time out now!" she bossily ordered. Diana was deadly serious about this and she was going to make sure her uncle listened to her.
"I'm an adult! You can't put me in time out!"
She glared at him, stomped her foot on the floor, and pointed towards the corner. "Go!"
Bobbi lost it and doubled over with laughter at her seriousness and the look of outrage on Lance's face. "Listen to your niece, Hunter."
He stood up, glared at both of them, and headed over to the corner, grumbling the entire way. "How long do I have to do this?"
"Fifteen minutes, Uncle Lance." She didn't really know how long that was but it seemed like forever to her.
"And how did I do?" Bobbi didn't want to end up in time out like her husband so she continued to seriously play along with the little girl.
Diana grabbed her test, bit her lip, and scribbled on hers too for a few minutes. "You passed, Aunt Bobbi!"
"Great news. Are you hungry? I think it's time for dinner."
"Yes!" But she waited until Lance's time out session was over to grab both their hands and skip to the kitchen.
After eating hot dogs and macaroni and cheese (one of Diana's favorites), the three settled in to watch a movie. "I had lots of fun today," the six year old mumbled as her eyes started to flutter shut.
"We did too, baby," Bobbi assured her.
"Aside from the longest half hour of my life because my darling niece can't figure out time yet, so did I," Lance admitted.
She snorted. "Are you ever going to let that go?"
"Unlikely, and I know you took pictures so thanks for that, Bob."
"You're welcome."
Diana hushed them and they turned their attention back to the screen. When she fell asleep halfway through the second movie, Lance scooped her up and took her back to her bedroom before heading to his and Bobbi's. "I'm fucking exhausted," he complained before yawning.
"I am too. It's been a long day."
"But hey, practice makes perfect doesn't it? Isn't that the saying?" Lance yawned again as his wife slid into bed next to him.
"You think about having a kid?" They had discussed it briefly in the past - during the first time they were married actually - but hadn't brought it up since their reconciliation.
"All the time. I want a baby with you, Bob," he admitted nervously. "I think we should start trying to have one."
Bobbi smiled at him nervously. "That's good to hear because I'm already pregnant."
Lance's eyes widened in shock for a split second before he crashed his lips against hers and the splayed his hand across her abdomen. "I am desperately in love with you, Barbara Morse, and I already love this little one more than I ever thought possible," he whispered brokenly. Damn it, why the fuck was he crying?
"I love you both too," she tearfully whispered back.
Diana had taught them both a lot today, and Bobbi and Lance knew they had a rough road ahead of them but they were too excited to care at the moment. And hey, at least they had some practice now.