I don't own Agents of SHIELD nor will I ever. No copyright infringement intended.
For the past three years, the team had been betting on which of the couples would be the first to slip up and conceive on Valentine's Day. The frontrunners were Skye and Grant and even those two thought they would be the first to have a kid.
And then Phil and Melinda came out of nowhere and surprised them all with the announcement they had a baby on the way, drunkenly conceived on Valentine's Day (of course). Melinda struggled to get comfortable and tossed and turned in the bed, accidentally kicking her husband in the process. "Sorry," she mumbled.
Phil turned to face her. "Melinda, look at me and tell me what's wrong," he pleaded. Ever since Jemma (and the six pregnancy tests) confirmed that she was pregnant, she'd be acting odd and it terrified and worried him.
She let out a breath and then turned back around. "Phil, I'm fifty-four years old and I'm pregnant. This isn't supposed to happen to women my age! And I'm excited because I never thought this would happen to me - I gave up hope of anything resembling a family after Bahrain. My marriage fell apart and it was my fault, and I felt so alone. And now we're having a baby but everything has gone to shit for us. We're spies. What kind of life is that to raise a child in?"
He laid a palm against her rounding abdomen and beamed. "Melinda, stop panicking because this isn't healthy for either of you." Fuck, there was a baby in there that they had both created. "I know you're terrified but you don't have to be. We have a family that loves us no matter and you know they'll be excited and ready to help, especially Skye." Fuck biology; she was their daughter no matter what.
Melinda tilted her head to acknowledge his comments. "But how can we tell them if I just end up miscarrying? What if something happens?" She felt herself vibrate with fear at the thought of losing this baby.
Phil shook his head and kissed her forehead. "Sweetheart, that's exactly why we should tell them. If worst comes to worst, God forbid, we're going to need their support and lean on them to help us through it. We don't have to grieve alone because those people in there love us."
She sniffled and then the dam finally finally burst as she burst into tears. "I'm sorry, Phil. I don't know what's wrong with me."
"What's wrong is that you're pregnant and scared; together, that's a lethal combination. But you're not alone and you're never going to be again. I love you and you're stuck with me."
Melinda snorted and then started laughing. "You always know the right thing to say. How?" she marvelled.
"Easy. I love you," he answered.
"And I love you too."
He kept his palm on her stomach and then leaned down to talk to their baby. Melinda rolled his eyes but Phil didn't pay her any attention. "Hey you in there. We're all rooting for you so you need to stay healthy, kid. You are so loved already and there's going to be more to spare once when your big sister and the others find out about you."
Melinda felt a fluttering and grinned. She wished Phil could feel this but he wouldn't be able to for a few more weeks, according to the OB/GYN Jemma consulted and insisted she go to as soon as possible. "Keep it up, kid," she whispered.
Phil kissed his wife and she moaned happily. "So we're in agreement that we'll tell the kids tomorrow?"
She sighed, still terrified that this was about to come crashing down on them, but nodded. "Yes, we'll tell them in the morning."
The next morning, they gathered the entire team in the living room area to break the news to them. "So what's going on?" a worried Skye questioned. She refused to let go of Grant's hand (he didn't mind all that much).
"Did something go wrong?" Grant hoped no - they didn't need another loss because it would break them for sure and they were all on thin ice as it was.
Melinda opened her mouth to respond but closed it when Bobbi and Lance's toddler tore across the room, giggling the entire way. "Sorry!" Bobbi called as she tried to grab Alice and failed. She huffed in frustration. "Lance, get your daughter!"
"I'm trying!"
And that's when Jemma swooped in and tickled the two year old. "An Jemma, no!" the little girl cried.
"Aunt Jemma yes!" she teased as she picked Alice up and handed her back over to Bobbi. She stared wistfully at the toddler as she headed back over to Fitz's side. She was also the only one not worried about this conversation since she knew what they wanted to reveal.
"We'll have one of our soon," he promised his girlfriend after seeing the look on her face.
"I'll hold you to that." She angled her head up to kiss Fitz and smiled happily as she surveyed the room.
"Somebody tell me what's going on!" Skye cried. The room shook a little but Grant put a hand on her shoulder and she immediately calmed down.
"Skye, focus. I'm sure it's nothing bad." He wished he could believe that but the past told him otherwise.
"It's nothing bad," Melinda assured her daughter.
She narrowed her eyes at her mother. "But it is something big," Skye surmised.
"Are we going to find out soon?" Trip just wanted to go back to playing video games with Fitz and Mack and they all knew it.
Grant grabbed his wife's hand, ran a hand through her hair, and then kissed her. "Love you, Skye," he murmured.
"Love you too, Grant." God, she adored this man so fucking much and was so grateful that he refused to back off when she pushed everyone away after her powers kicked in.
Bobbi looked up. "Guys, I think we're pissing them off because they haven't had the chance to tell us what's going on yet."
Melinda suspected Bobbi knew based on the twinkle in her eyes but she didn't call her on it because she didn't have the energy (no wonder she had been so tired for no reason lately. Suddenly a lot of odd things made sense and she cursed herself for not realizing sooner). She opened her mouth to finally tell them about the pregnancy but Mack interrupted.
"We should get pizza for dinner," he suddenly said.
Chimes of agreement from the rest of the team but Melinda glaring shut them all up. "Kids, shut up and let us talk!" Phil looked in every direction at their chagrined team members and then smiled in satisfaction.
"Nobody's sick are they?" Skye suddenly questioned in a small voice.
"Not technically," Phil hedged.
Melinda rolled her eyes and finally decided to say it because they had nothing left to lose at this point. "I'm pregnant. About four months along."
Skye's mouth dropped open. "Pregnant? Pregnant? Pregnant."
Grant stared at her in amusement. "You okay?" And then he looked up at Melinda and Phil. "Congratulations."
Phil stepped in then. "Because of her age, there are some concerns but as of right now, the pregnancy is progressing normally."
Lance jumped out of his chair and pumped his fist in the air. "I called it! Four months ago was February which means Valentine's Day. I won the bet then! Did I not fucking call it years ago! But no, everyone told me they were too old. In your faces!"
"Sit the fuck down," Melinda hissed.
Bobbi grabbed his shirt and pulled him back down next to her. "Now is not the time."
"Oh thank God everyone knows. It was killing me!" Jemma slumped in relief and Fitz patted her shoulder.
"This is pretty cool. And having another baby around the base is going to be fun." Trip looked forward to playing hide and seek with Baby May-Coulson like he did with Alice since invisibility worked pretty well for the game.
"We'll be around to help you any way we can," promised Bobbi. She was happy for them both and couldn't wait to see Phil Coulson with a baby he created especially since he spoiled Alice rotten.
Phil turned to face his wife. "Didn't I tell you, Melinda? No reason to worry."
"I couldn't help it, Phil." But she couldn't stop grinning, the worry and terror fading just a little in light of the team's happiness and excitement.
"Kiss!" Skye demanded, clearly over her shock. She had already vowed to spoil her little brother or sister and was looking forward to meeting the baby.
"You heard them, Melinda."
Melinda shook her head but then he gave her the eyes she couldn't resist (which was probably the reason they were in this position in the first place). So she quickly kissed them and sat down next to Skye and Grant.
Phil joined them, much to the others' protests since there was barely any room but they quickly shut up when they saw the look on their faces. Melinda finally gave up and sat down in her husband's lap. "We're so lucky," she breathed. Maybe accidentally "adopting" all these kids hadn't been Phil's worst idea.
"Yeah we are." He laughed when his wife playfully swatted the back of his head.
Phil and Melinda had been given a chance they definitely weren't going to waste and their whole family was there when she gave birth to Jocelyn May Schuyler Coulson (neither could decide on the middle name so they just went with both choices). And everyone pretended to be shocked when Skye and Grant conceived their first child the following Valentine's Day (Melinda won the bet that time).