Skye was pretty honest when it came to her unplanned pregnancy. If people asked about the father she'd tell them the truth; he was her childhood best friend that turned into more for the one night before he enlisted. And Ward was a great dad, he'd do anything for Skye and his son. But while he was deployed it was just the two of them muddling through the best they could.
Skye hadn't really made a conscious decision not to date once Luke was born, it just came along with the territory. Even when he had started elementary school Skye chose to spend her days creating programs to sell online and her evenings with Luke.
That changed when he started third grade. Triplett, Ward's army buddy who had been honourably discharged after being shot in the leg, had been back in the country for eight months and was already working on finding her a boyfriend. Or girlfriend. Really, any relationship that got her out of the house a little more often was an improvement by then.
"Why don't you wear that red dress? That always looks good on you," Trip stated as he stretched out on Skye's bed.
"It's a parent/teacher conference, Trip," Skye reminded him, pulling on a cream knitted sweater and straightening out her hair. "It's not like I'm going to find the one while eating stale cookies and cheap coffee at the back of the class,"
"You'll like Miss Simmons, mom," Luke called through the door as he sat cross legged on the other side. "And Mr. Fitz. They're both very pretty,"
Trip raised his eyebrows at Skye who simply rolled her eyes. "Did you put your plate and cup in the dishwasher yet?" She asked while taking a final glance in the mirror then wandering across the room to open the door. Luke glanced up at her with his father's chocolatey brown eyes and nodded. "You're gonna be good for Trip tonight, yeah?"
"Yep," Luke answered as he jumped up and hugged his mom around the waist. "Don't forget to look at the science projects by the snacks, mine came second this year,"
"We spent three weeks on that solar system, do you think I'd forget to see the finished product?" She teased while ruffling his hair and leading them to the door. "Alright, boys, usual rules for tonight. If you're ordering pizza leave some for me, I'll be back before bed," She kissed Luke on the forehead, quickly hugged Trip then stepped out into the front yard and closed the door behind her.
Luke was right when he said Fitz and Simmons were pretty. Well, Skye would have described them as kinda gorgeous but he was eight, she could let him off the hook for that. Miss Simmons had the typical elementary school teacher look, with the polka dot shirt, skinny jeans and high tops, but her pretty face had gained attention from practically every parent that had stepped into the classroom.
Skye's appointment was third to last which gave her plenty of time to scope out the new parents, try the surprisingly fresh cookies and browse through Luke's books and projects before she sat down at the desk with Miss Simmons. There was the usual explanation of how he was doing in class (very bright and social but occasionally holds back in group discussions), Skye's understanding of how he was doing with work at home (always leaving it till the last few days like his mom would but never late on an assignment) and family life in general ("Luke talks a lot about his father being in the army, is there any support we could offer you?").
And then when Simmons had closed Luke's book and was signing the attendance form Skye glanced around the parents that remained, mostly drifters who didn't look all that eager for their appointment, and sat forward in her chair slightly. "So, uh... this might be totally inappropriate but," Skye paused to see Simmons glance up and cock an eyebrow. "Could I get your number?"
There was a long moment of silence. Skye's palms started to sweat and the awkwardness of the question began to dawn on her.
"Yeah, that sounds great," Simmons replied so calmly it was like an elephant had been lifted off Skye's chest, paired with that wide smile and she was pretty sure her heart stopped for just a second. They exchanged numbers then Skye signed her slip, flashed a final smile to Simmons before she wandered two doors down to Mr. Fitz's room.
The classroom was empty apart from the man at the back of the room tipping plastic cups of cold coffee out of the window with a chocolate chip cookie hanging out of his mouth. He was humming something under his breath as he worked and it took a few seconds before Skye brought herself to interrupt him by knocking on the door.
"Oh, sorry, I thought that was the last of the parents," Fitz rushed to explain with a faint smile as he dropped his cookie and the stack of emptied cups on the back table. "Just, uh, take a seat," He continued, brushing the crumbs off his cardigan as he strolled forward to sit opposite Skye at his desk. "So, you must be Luke's mom, right?"
And once she was in the room without parents queuing behind her and neither of them had to worry about the fifteen minute rule the conversation quickly strayed from Luke's participation in class to the almost unbelievable stories of parent/teacher conferences.
"We're used to parents turning up in their work clothes so I didn't mind until he started trying to sell his CDs to the other parents," Fitz explained with an excited smile tugging on his lips with the hope Skye would find it equally entertaining.
"You're kidding me," Skye said while trying to contain her giggles. "And here I was thinking wearing a dress might give the wrong impression," She added with a grin.
"No, you would have looked great in a dress!" There was another silence just like the one in Simmons' class and Fitz blushed bright pink. "I- I mean, you would have looked fine, nothing wrong with a dress and, uh," He paused again, made eye contact with Skye then flushed a shade of red that matched Trip's suggested dress.
"Thank you," Skye finally said to ease the blush and stammering, even if it was kinda cute. "So, I can tell Luke he doesn't have much to worry about with his grades?"
"Yes, of course," Fitz agreed while quickly nodding, standing and straightening the papers on his desk. "He's one of the top in his class, you should be very proud," He added to which they both smiled. Skye shook his hand, tossed her plastic cup into the trash can and stepped toward the door.
"Oh, um, Skye?" Fitz called just as she was reaching for the door handle, running his own sweaty palms together. "It was nice getting to know you tonight and... I was wondering if you'd like to do this again, outside of school?"
Well, that threw Skye momentarily. She glanced to the door for a moment then to Fitz's face, nerves painted across his expression, before she smiled slightly and nodded. He wrote down his number on a scrap of paper, she promised to text him that night and with a final handshake they parted ways.
Trip and Luke had fallen asleep on the sofa with a box of pizza by time Skye arrived home. She couldn't quite bring herself to disturb the peace so she carefully scooped up her son and carried him down to his room, tucking him into his bed while brushing the hair out of his face and placing a soft kiss onto his forehead.
When she sauntered back into the living room Trip had already stirred from his sleep and was picking up leftover pizza crusts from the floor. "So how'd it go?" He asked as she took a bite out of one of the cold slices from the box.
"Fine," Skye stated with a shrug through her mouthful of food. "He's one of the best in his class, always polite and never late on any of his homework,"
"Same as always," Trip said with a slight smirk as he watched her doing everything to avoid a certain area of conversation. "C'mon, girl, you couldn't lie to me if your life depended on it... Did you get a number or not?"
"Two," Skye answered reluctantly then took another large bite from pizza in the hopes he'd think a full mouth excused her from questioning.
"Two? And here you were acting like dating single parents in Luke's class was above you," Trip teased with a smirk as they wandered out to the kitchen to clean up.
"Well, they aren't exactly parents..." Skye murmured, making Trip smile even wider.
"A teacher?" He questioned to which Skye squinted a little with amusement. "Teachers? Plural?"
"It's not that bad, right? I mean, they wouldn't have given me their numbers if they weren't interested... At least, I don't think they would have," Skye bite her lip in frustration, dating was a lot easier in high school.
"Of course they wouldn't," Trip reassured her, his muscles relaxing a little as he placed the leftover pizza in the refrigerator and dumped the box in the trash. "Trust yourself a little, I'm sure they think you're great, whoever they are. Now, go get some sleep. I'll let myself out,"
Skye resisted texting Fitz until she had brushed her teeth, pulled on a pair of pajamas and was curled up under the warm covers of her bed. She tried to play it casual even if she did feel like she was fifteen again and, really, it wasn't that long ago, right?
She mulled over the two lines of text for close to ten minutes before finally adding an 'x' to the end and forcing herself to press send before she could put it off any longer. She had her face buried in her pillow with embarrassment when the first text from Simmons pinged on her phone.
xxxx
She arranged a date with Simmons first, two Saturdays after they first met, but went on one with Fitz first, only one Saturday after the meeting. She had already arranged a sleepover for Luke at another boy's house so she took full advantage of having the place to herself.
He brought Indian takeout from a place his friend recommended along with a bottle of red wine and they sat at the dining room table making each other laugh for almost two hours. Then they migrated to the couch with bottles of beer, laughs turning to tentative kisses turning to bedroom antics. And yeah, for a guy that blushed bright red after saying she'd look good in a dress, Fitz really did know his way round the bedroom.
Skye almost cancelled the date with Simmons half a dozen times in the following week. It wasn't that she didn't want to go, more the worry that the guilt would swallow her whole before she even made it to the restaurant. But she'd call Trip and he'd talk her down every time, leaving her standing in front of her mirror with Trip one side and Luke the other.
"I still like the red one," Trip stated as he crossed his arms over his chest. "It's not too flirty but gives just enough suggestion for a first date,"
"Clothes don't need to suggest stuff, Trip. That's what mouths are for," Luke stated as he glanced up and down the purple dress. "Besides, I wore jeans on my first date with Jack and he still likes me,"
"I bet he does, kiddo," Trip said with a slight smirk and a shake of the head. "Leave the hair alone, Skye. Curls are fine," He added after catching her twirling a strand of it round her fingers. "You're gonna be late if you don't leave soon, anyway. Grab your jacket and get out of here,"
Skye did just that, albeit with a few extra whines thrown in for good measure. She knew after spending ten minutes in the restaurant she'd have to thank Trip big time for making her go. Once Simmons was out of her classroom she could make Skye's stomach ache with laughter and butterflies all at the same time.
Getting through the meal took longer than they both would have liked but they couldn't eat much faster with the constant giggling and flirting passing between them. When they finally did finish they split the check and strolled out into the car lot where Simmons had parked her car, both going quiet as they wondered whether this was reason enough for what they wanted to ask.
"So... My place or yours?" And with Skye's cheeky half smile they both hopped into the car and drove across town, Simmons being layered in kisses from Skye's impatience. Trip had told her she would have to compare their performances in bed but, honestly, there was no lack or gain in either of them. She lost her head a couple times and they both collapsed down onto the bed with a slight glaze of sweat on their foreheads.
It wasn't until ten minutes had passed that the guilt came creeping back. Simmons laid peacefully next to her, Skye's arm draped over her side so naturally she didn't even have to think about it. "S- Uh, Jemma?" Skye corrected the name then tucked a strand of the other woman's hair behind her ear.
"Mhm?" Simmons murmured as her eyelids slowly fluttered open and she turned over to face Skye. "Is something wrong?" She asked in a sleepy voice.
"No, I just, uh... I have to tell you something," Skye explained in a tone as nervous as Fitz was when he asked for her number. Simmons seemed to wake up a little as she scrutinised Skye's every word. "I know this is probably a really, uh, casual thing so it might not matter but... I slept with another teacher from your school," She continued and Simmons' face fell. "It's, um, Leo Fitz," Skye murmured finally, kicking herself for managing to ruin it with both of them at once.
"Oh, Fitz," Simmons said, her face instantly brightening and even a soft laugh passing her lips. "Don't look so worried, Skye. We, Fitz and I, we've been sleeping together for quite some time too,"
"What, really?" Skye's not the judgemental type, far from it in fact. So the surprise isn't disdain, more utter disbelief that she somehow managed to land two hot people that aren't just cool with her sleeping with both of them but are already sleeping with each other. Yeah, that's one in a million. Trip sure would be smug with himself about that.
"So... you're cool with it?" Skye asked with a cautiously excited smile creeping onto her face.
"Of course I am, sweetheart," Simmons replied so sweetly it could give someone toothache. Skye smiled and nodded but the nerves were still apparent in her tight muscles so Simmons dropped a soft kiss on her lips before jumping off the bed and strolling out of the room. The silence in the apartment was only broken by a muffled conversation Skye couldn't quite work out from her position on the bed, her knees pulled up to her chest as she waited to be kept company again.
Simmons returned a minute later but this time Fitz was behind her, his shirt slightly unbuttoned but otherwise very overdressed compared to the other two. Simmons slid in on the left side of Skye where she was before and Fitz took up the right side, both of them curling around her like cats.
Skye slowly let herself lie down while Fitz unbuttoned the rest of his shirt and pressed his chest to her back as reassurance. "Better?" Simmons asked while brushing the hair out of Skye's face and placing another kiss on her lips.
"Better," Skye whispered onto Simmons' shoulder, Fitz's breath already tickling along her neck.
And, yeah, it was a little strange having two other bodies in bed instead of one, having three sets of arms and legs to get tangled and laid on in the night. But it was nice when they woke her up with kisses and coffee in the morning and when she texted Trip to tell him she would be a little late and when they whined for her to come back to bed.
Yeah, a little strange, but really nice too.