A/N: My first attempt at a full length SkyeWard piece, requested by 15hernakaymI, Operative CG16 and guests. Apologize for spelling/grammar mistakes I wrote this on a plane, on an IPad. This is 'technically' the third in the series of "Laugh". The first two can be found in this archive, Laughter Lines (team fic) and Smile Laugh Love (FitzSimmons) but not nessary to read since this one is set before the first one (Laughter Lines). Hopefully you'll read them anyway. Another one should be coming soon, this one a May/Coulson one, requested also.
Enough of my ramblings. Enjoy :P
Terrified. It was something he'd never admit out loud but that's what he felt right now. The great Agent Ward was terrified. Terrified of a baby.
Oh how hard Fitz would be laughing right now if he knew.
But the little face that was staring at him from May's arms was as scary as the monsters that he thought lived under his bed. Granted he was tiny and Ward would win in a fight, not that he was thinking that cause Simmons may just murder him if she knew. And she could he was sure of it.
Crafty short person.
Crafty short British person who knew how to kill someone with every element on the periodic house who was also friends with a slightly taller, but shorter than him, Scottish version of Tony Stark. With the ego to match. Plus a 50+ year old ninja who could kill him with her bare hands, who over the years had developed a peculiar friendship with the Scottish Tony Stark. Meaning that all three of them could think of very interesting ways of kill him, if he was mean to this baby. Plus they could probably get away with it too, damn Coulson's favourites.
Now he thought about it, they should be more terrifying than the 2 hour old baby boy happily playing with May's hair. But they weren't.
It was tiny. With brown eyes, tiny hands, tiny feet and a tuff of dark brown curly hair. Now he thought about it, it looked exactly like him when he was a baby.
No, not it. Him.
Michael Phillip Ward. Born 17th July 2016.
His son. His and Skye's. Their child.
His son. Part of him, half of him and half of the woman that he loved. Not that he'd ever admit it. He wished he could but there was no way she could ever recuperate the feelings. He was just a robot, her SO, the guy who taught her how to shot and become an agent. The man who happened to be infected with the same pollen that she had been resulting 9 months later with the terrifying creature in their pilot's arms. The man who had pretty much bolted as soon as she'd told him.
After than Skye hadn't really interacted with him. Fitz and May had found in him a nearby bar in Santa Monica, they'd brought him back not necessarily sober and put him to bed. The next morning he'd been confronted with not only Skye not talking to him but also Simmons ignoring him. He knew the girls were close but when he'd asked the biochemist a question she gave him a cold look and looked away. Fitz who was also in the Lab at the time gave him a sympathetic look and apologized for his partner. Which had succeeded it putting him in the dog house as well. Simmons didn't talk to either of them for a least a week, till Coulson had dragged them to his office and yelled at them for a good hour and a half, saying that he didn't care if they didn't speak to each other in their own time but they needed to get their acts together when working on a case or he'd reassign them. Both Fitz and Simmons looked terrified at the prospect of being split up and sorted it out. Fitz begging his partner to at least hear Grant's side of the story, which she agreed too and when he finally admitted to not knowing what to do, Simmons simply shrugged and said "Does anyone?"
God she was frustrating when she wanted to be, he didn't know how Fitz lived with her. He'd probably pay for that one day.
But while Simmons had come around quickly, Skye had not.
She had discovered she was pregnant around the 3 month mark and May had refused to fly a pregnant woman around after she reached her 5 month. So Simmons had offered to let her stay with her own family till the baby came, then at least she would have company. The Simmons family were nice, Elizabeth and her other daughters Eleanor and Lauren both of whom had their own families, were glad to take in Skye, all three of them knowing what she was going through. William Simmons reminded everyone of Coulson so everyone had joked that she wouldn't miss their leader at all.
In the two months she was still on board she remain aloft and mad at him but after she had been placed with the Simmons family in her 5 month, she had a long talk with Simmons's mother Elizabeth who was also a psychologist and had decided to talk to him. They had sorted out some differences after that, becoming sort of friends again. The next 4 months passed without incident, daily conversations through Skype from various team mates and when ever May could swing stopping in England for 'refueling' either the whole team or just him would visit.
As the 9 month mark had approached, he had gotten the same feeling that he'd gotten over 6 months ago. That uneasiness that he wouldn't be a good father. He didn't have a good father himself so why would he be any better with his own child. Even Fitz was better than him, he'd seen the engineer interacting with Simmons's nieces when they visited. The clumsy not coordinated at all scientist was fine with kids. But Grant Ward he never was, the one time he'd held little Amelia, she'd cried and he'd nearly dropped her. He declined the offer of Coulson to stay with Skye in her last month of pregnancy, hating the questioning and disappointed look in the older man's eyes. Instead he stayed on the BUS with Fitz, May and Coulson, while Simmons decided to stay with Skye.
They were leaving Italy when Mrs Simmons called to notify them that Skye had gone into labour. May had turned to plane around and at frightening speed has returned to England were they had been a week earlier. The airfield near the Simmons residence was by now used to having the BUS parked there, simply allowed them to land and May once again drove at speeds to get to the hospital. Though thankfully slower than the plane ride.
That's where he currently was. Standing outside the delivery room family area doors. He could see the through the window situated to the side of the doors, the other doors that led to the actual delivery room. He was standing on the other side of the door, watching the rest of the team cuddle his son watching through the window. He'd been in there for the 6 hours it took to deliver his son, but as soon as the baby boy had been brought out by the nurse he'd bolted again. Though this time not as far, this time it was just outside the door. But he'd still done it, he still wasn't ready.
The little boy was being past to each of the teams arms and by the look on Simmons's face at the sight of the baby, Fitz was in trouble if the two of them ever got their acts together.
Even the robot in him agreed that Michael was darn cute. But saying he was cute, wasn't enough.
Could he look after him? Could he care for him? Could he love him?
He could protect him that was for sure. Michael would be forever looked after by the members of his extended family. One of the top SHIELD agents that everyone was afraid of, The Cavalry, two slightly evil scientists, a mother who could make anyone's life hell through her ability to hack just about anything. She still couldn't hack Fitz's phone, a thing that bugged her to no end.
And him. A father who could protect him from anything, accept the concept that his father might not show him love.
He did love the little tiny baby. Just looking at him, made him get such a warm fuzzy feeling inside, he guess it was love, it was the same feeling that he got when he saw Skye. Never had he a reason to feel this emotion. But he was a robot, a person who was trained not to have emotions, emotions comprise situations, emotions are dangerous. How many people would come after his son, if they knew Michael was his? How much danger had he put Skye in, letting into his heart?
Could he live with the guilt if they were injured?
He already had a hell of a time if either one of the teams beloved scientists got hurt. Granted most of the time it was their wayward engineer and usually because he was not at all coordinated, but he couldn't help but feel guilty every time one of them was injured, and the other one would always stubbornly stay right beside the injured party. They were like the younger siblings that he didn't completely screw up, unlike his brother. What would happen if Skye or Michael got hurt?
Turning he looked at the stark white walls around him, walking further down the hall he stopped at the window showing the rows and rows of newborns dressed in either pink or blue. He spotted the empty crib that read Baby Ward on its white board located at the far back. He noticed one that looked exactly like Simmons, if the photo hanging on her mother's mantle meant anything. Footsteps approached on his left and a small Bo of 6 appeared at his side. The younger boy with a mop of curly blonde hair that reminded him on Fitz, peered closer to the glass his nose almost touching it. More footsteps approached at a man appeared that he assumed was the boy's father reached down a picked him up and pointed to the little Simmons look alike.
"What do you think Danny?" said the man "That's your new sister"
The boy crinkled his nose as he peered at the little girl through the glass, he looked her up and down assessing her "She's tiny" he said finally
"Yes she may be a tiny, but she'll still be fun" said the man
"Will she play with me?" asked Danny
"When she's older, yes" said the man "Do you remember her name?"
"Of course Daddy, Mummy let me name her" he looked at his father proudly "I named her Jemima, after my best friend"
"Danny your best friends name is James"
"Mummy said I couldn't name her James so we looked up girls name similar to it" the boy gave his father another proud smile "Do you like it?"
"I love it. Jemima it is" the man leaned over and kissed his son on the cheek.
Ward smiled at the interaction. He turned back to the glass and the 10 babies lines neatly in rows of 5 all moving around or sleeping.
"First time dad?" came the man's voice behind him
Ward turned, his mind assessing the danger the man could be before answering "Yeah"
The man smiled "It never gets any easier, you freak out for the months before hand but nothing compares to the moment you first hold your child in your arms" he put Danny back down "Don't worry about failing or not feeling like you can, Jemima is our third child and I still get fearful about not being able to be the best dad I could be"
"Right now I don't know what to think" admitted Ward "I never really had a good father growing up"
The man smiled "Don't worry about it, I didn't either. And don't worry about not being ready. No one is" he picked up his son again "I should be getting back to my wife. My advice go in, see your child and it's mother and tell them you love them"
The man walked off cradling his son on his hip. Ward watched him go, a slight smile on his face.
More footsteps approached from the right this time and he turned to see Fitz standing there. He could see Simmons further up the corridor poking her head out the door.
"Skye's asking for you" Fitz said simply
Ward nodded and turned back to the door that the other man and his son had disappeared into. He turned back to the engineer and nodded. They both walked back down the corridor, Ward pausing slightly at the door before walking through. Both May and Coulson nodded in greeting before returning to their conversation. A nurse meet him at the door and led him into Skye's room.
Skye was sitting up in the bed, her hair messy and face completely void of makeup. But to him she looked beautiful. In her arms was Michael, his left hand wrapped around her pinky finger the right entangled in her hair. She smiled at him and beckoned him to move closer to the bed. He moved to sit on the side of the bed facing her and watched as she gently stroked her son's head. Reaching out with her left hand she grasped his hand in hers and squeezed it gently.
"Have you held him yet?"
Something made him shake his head against his wishes and before he knew it Michael was being placed in his arms. Something changed inside him, now longer did his mind think was he going to protect him. Now it was thinking how to protect the little boy in his arms. How to keep him and his mother safe whether it was going to be real or imaginary he was going to protect them from all those monsters.
He looked up to see a bright smile on Skye's face as she watched her two boys meet for the first time. Ward turned back to the little boy in his arms, that warm fuzzy feeling returned as identical brown eyes matched his. Michael stared up at the man who was holding him before wrapping his hand around the older man's pinky.
"He's beautiful" said Ward "Just like his mother"
Skye smiled grasping his hand in hers again. Ward lent over and a rare moment kissed her cheek and forehead.
The sound of a camera made them turn to see Fitz standing there, a cheeky grin on his face and a camera in his left hand. Simmons, May and Coulson all stood behind him with smiles on their faces.
"You owe Fitz and I, 20 bucks Coulson" said May smugly putting her hand out.
Coulson pulled a face before handing both the engineer and the pilot 20 bucks. "I'm never betting with you two again" He ignored the smiles of the rest of the team before turning towards the door "Anyone want coffee?" the others got the hint and slowly followed him out the room closing the door behind them.
Ward turned back to Skye and the little boy in his arms "You've got a strange family to get used too, buddy" he looked up into Skye's eyes "A very strange family"
A/N: Finished, hopefully that wasn't too pathetic and if it was I apologize.