Prompt from Anonymous: Anything with Mama May and Skye/Daisy! The show has been pretty lacking in that department.
It happened on a Sunday. Melinda dumped yet another ruined cake into the trash with more force than necessary. She set the semi-warm pan in the sink and leaned against the counters. With her face buried in her hands she tried to swallow back the tears that were threatening to break lose. She wasn't typically an emotional person, but the last year had been so trying on her. She felt worn down. There was a time when her eyes would open at 5 am like clockwork, but in the last year she'd gone from getting up before the sun to literally dragging herself out of bed with a tired groan.
"Mel?" her husband's soothing voice pulled her from her self-pity. He was in front of her with eyes filled with concern. She felt guilt gnawing at her stomach. If anyone had the right to complain about being tired and worn down, it was him. His hands gripped her arms gently and began running up and down them soothingly. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," she gave him a fake smile. The look her gave her in return told her she wasn't fooling him. With a resounding sigh, she continued. "I keep burning the cake. I've burned three so far. The party is in 4 hours Phil. I don't know what to do."
He pressed a tender kiss on her forehead. "Don't stress about the cake sweetheart. I can just pick one up. I'm about to head out for ice and chips anyway."
Melinda glanced around the kitchen. There were animal cutouts and streamers all over the wall, on her kitchen table there were animal themed plates, napkins, and cups all atop little pieces of confetti. "The chances of them having a cake that matches the theme are slim Phil. I know how much you wanted this day to be perfect."
Phil let out a soft laugh and pulled Melinda closer. "It's already perfect Mel. And worse comes to worse, I'll get a plain Jane cake and put some of Skye's toy animals on top of it. It'll be great."
Melinda looked up at him. He was looking at her with a cheesy grin plastered on his face. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," he replied without hesitation. "Everything is going to work out. I'm heading to the store, I'll be back in about an hour. Skye just went down for her nap."
"You got her down without any screaming? Impressive." She teased.
"I can't take all of the credit. We were playing on her blanket in the living room and she just kind of flopped down out of consciousness. I didn't want to risk waking her so that's where she is. Is there anything you can think of that we need?" When Melinda shook her head, he grabbed his car keys and wallet. "I love you Mel."
"Love you too," she gave him a small smile and watched as he disappeared down the hall and out the front door. After a moment, she went down the hallway and looked into the living room. Skye was exactly where Phil said, passed out on her blanket with her pacifier in her mouth and dressed in the ridiculous tutu Phil insisted she wear.
She headed back into the kitchen and poured herself a small glass of wine. If she was going to survive the rest of the day, she was definitely going to need to be relaxed. She'd been dreading this day for weeks.
It wasn't that Melinda hated being a mother. That was not the case at all. Sure, she'd never planned to have kids, but then the two pink lines appeared. She was pregnant. Phil was over the moon when she told him. She fell even more in love with him during her pregnancy than she though was possible. Phil was there for every doctor's appointment, ultra sound, and test. When they found out they were having a girl, he cried. Every midnight craving and every case of morning sickness, he was there holding her hair back or driving to the store.
It wasn't an easy pregnancy. She suffered horrendous morning sickness for the majority of it and there were several times where she thought she miscarried, but after almost 40 weeks, Skye Lian Coulson made her way into the world kicking and screaming. From the moment Skye was place in her arms, she was in love. Her baby girl was perfect.
So no, it wasn't that she hated being a mother. It was that in the 12 months that Skye was in this world, Melinda had yet to form a connection to her. Skye was a daddy's girl and most days it seemed, to Melinda at least, that Skye wanted nothing to do with her. It broke her heart.
Melinda was always up out of bed and heading toward the nursery at the slightest whimper over the baby monitor. She'd pick Skye up, but unless she was hungry, Skye would scream bloody murder until Phil came in. It was only when she was in his arms that she calmed. Every time Melinda witnessed this, she felt more and more like a failure. She was positive that if Phil had breast and could produce milk, Skye would never be in her arms. She was a stranger to her own daughter.
Phil insisted that it wasn't true, but Skye's reaction anytime Melinda held her said otherwise. She was dreading today because all of her friends were coming with their kids. All of her very intuitive friends. There was no way they wouldn't notice Skye's aversion to her. That would lead to them cornering her in the kitchen asking questions and how could she even begin to explain that her daughter didn't like her?
With a heavy sigh, Melinda downed the rest of her wine before washing her glass-and the rest of the dishes from her failed baking attempt. Once everything was drying in the dish wrack, she made her way back to the living room to check on Skye. The scene that greeted her had her heart dropping into her stomach.
Skye was awake and standing on her own two feet. She was looking at the television when Melinda walked in, but her attention was soon on her mother. Melinda stayed, frozen, in the entry way and stared at her little girl with wide eyes. She'd never stood on her own before.
Melinda smiled brightly at her little girl. The tears were back with force. She let out a happy sob and gripped her chest. Skye gave her a toothy smile before turning and walking towards her. Melinda gasped as she watched her little girl get closer and closer. The only thing she could think to do was to drop to her knees and open her arms.
And if things couldn't have gotten any more amazing, Skye squealed "mama!" as her tiny arms wrapped around her neck.
Melinda stood up with her daughter clutched tightly to her chest. Skye squealed mama over and over again, her legs kicking in excitement. Each time sent Melinda's heart soaring "That's right," she cried. "I'm your mama and you're my beautiful big girl."
Skye nuzzled her face into her mother's neck as Melinda rocked her in her arms. Nothing ever felt more perfect than this. All the worry and self-doubt Melinda was feeling dissipated. When Phil returned home to a teary eyes wife and a baby clutched to her chest, he immediately panicked. When Melinda told him what happened, he was ecstatic. He was a little bummed that he didn't witness her first time walking and talking, but he was glad Melinda did.
Skye's first birthday went off without a hitch and never once did she leave her mother's arms. Even when she did the smash cake. More cake ended up on Melinda than it did Skye. It took two hours to get it all out of her hair, but she didn't care. It was worth it to see that bright, goofy grin on her little girls face.
Later that night- once everyone was gone and the party was cleaned up- Melinda snuggled with Phil on their bed.
"I told you she didn't hate you," he whispered into her hair.
"You were right," she admitted.
"I usually am," he teased. She pinched him gently, causing him to squirm.
"Don't push it." Phil just smiled and kissed her. They broke apart when the familiar cry of their daughter echoed through the monitor.
Phil slipped out of bed without another word. Melinda closed her eyes and listened as he entered the nursery. "What's wrong angel eyes?"
After a few moments, Skye's cries began to get closer and closer. Melinda opened her eyes and sat up on the bed just as Phil entered the room with their crying daughter.
"Mama!" Skye cried and reached for her. For the millionth time that day, Melinda felt her heart soar. The moment Skye was in her arms, her tearful cries grew silent. Melinda held Skye until she fell asleep and even then she kept her in her arms.
Her little Skye. Her beautiful, baby girl. Her little miracle. When the sun rose today, Melinda felt nothing but dread but now, well after the sun had set, Melinda tried to fight off sleep. She didn't want this day to end. Eventually, she fell asleep with her little girl sleeping on her chest, wrapped in Melinda's protective embrace.
So many amazing things had happened and they all happened on a Sunday.
Follow me on tumblr: warriorsquake
I'm taking prompts