Title: White Horse
Chapter 02: Grant
Author: snarkysweetness
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Skye/Grant with some Mel/Phil
Summary: Grant returns from an eleven-month mission to find everything's changed.
Warnings: Cavity-inducing fluff.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Notes: This is so cute and that's all I'm going to say.

Grant wasn't sure what Skye was up to. With her it could be anything. He'd expected a bigger reaction from her when he came home. Sure, she'd been excited but…well she looked beat to hell to be honest. He wondered how hard S.H.I.E.L.D. had been working her lately. And she was…he couldn't place his finger on it but there was something different about her.

You've been gone for almost a year, jackass, of course she's different.

He'd made it clear the Russian mission was his last long-term undercover op. He was done. Being away from Skye had been hell. He'd almost called it quits after the first month but he couldn't do that to Skye. The only thing she loved more than him was S.H.I.E.L.D. and he'd already betrayed them once.

The moment he stepped onto that plane home was the happiest in his entire life second to the day he'd somehow managed to get the universe's most perfect being to marry him.

He hoped this surprise didn't take long because he planned to keep her occupied for the next week.

"Okay, you can open them."

Grant opened his eyes expecting one of Skye's silly surprises and was met with something that knocked the wind out of him.

"Surprise?" She said nervously as she held the small bundle in her arms closer to her chest.

He took three steps forward, his eyes never leaving her arms, and enveloped her in a tight hug. "I'm never leaving your side ever again."

Skye let out a shaky sob and sighed in relief. "You're not mad?"

"Why would I-" He pulled away and searched her face. "Why would I be mad?"

She shrugged. "I could have found a way to get a message to you or talked them into pulling you out-"

He took her face in his hands and kissed her. "Don't think I believe for a second you didn't try," he whispered as he pressed his forehead to hers. He could feel the emotion welling up in his chest as he glanced down at the baby in her arms.

"Happy father's day," Skye whispered with a cheeky grin.

"Is that today?"

She laughed and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"Grant this is our daughter, Ellie." He smiled. After his grandmother. "She uh…" Skye closed her eyes and fought back tears. He ran his thumb over her cheek and realized this was why she looked so worn down, she was exhausted. "It's a miracle she's still as-" Ellie fussed and Skye shook her head. "There we go, that's more like it."

"Let me," he whispered as he took the baby. It'd been a long time since he'd done this with one of his siblings but he remembered it well enough. Skye looked relieved to have the help and moved into the small rocking chair near the crib. He looked around and realized this was the old spare bedroom.

He preferred it as a nursery.

Grant glanced down at the beautiful princess in his arms and rocked her gently. "Hi, baby girl, I'm your daddy. I'm sorry we're just meeting but daddy had a dangerous arms ring to help bring down."

She whined and Skye cleared her throat. "Hand her over, that's her 'I want the tit whine'."

He grinned. "Yeah, how do you know that?"

"Because it's just like yours."

He hid a smirk and handed her back and watched them both in awe.

"When?"

Skye sighed. "I didn't figure out I was pregnant until you'd been gone a month. I thought I was just depressed because you were gone but you know Jemma, she thought I was dying or something and-" She shrugged with a smile before pressing a kiss to Ellie's forehead. "Anyway, seven months later she was here and now you're here and maybe I can get some sleep, yeah?"

Grant ran his fingers through Skye's hair before pressing a kiss to her temple. "God, you're both miracles." He was sorry he'd missed everything but this was the reality of working for a spy organization. Skye was the strongest person he knew. She bled and breathed S.H.I.E.L.D. and now this?

"The team, they've been helping?"

"Yeah but…" she shrugged. "No one tells you how hard it is to do this alone until you have to."

"Skye-"

"Don't," she said as she met his eyes. "I know what the job is, Grant. If you'd known you'd have come home, I know that. And I could have…begged and we both know Coulson would have given me what I wanted but the job is more important than us. And besides, your home now, that's what matters to me. I don't think I could have handled you not coming home. That's the part I hate, not you being gone, the danger."

He pressed his lips to her forehead again and wrapped his arms around the two of them. "I love you so much, Skye."

She leaned into him. "We love you too."

After both of his girls fell asleep he carried them to bed where he held Ellie to his chest with one arm and Skye against his side with the other. All of his best memories were because of Skye but this one was by far the best.