The drive to the Avengers Tower is quiet. But Skye didn't expect anything else, she has basically told her dad that she is knocked up. She considers herself lucky Coulson hasn't kicked her out of the Bus and back to the streets.
I would never do that. He told her when she voiced her concern and placed a kiss on her forehead. Coulson filled her in on the fact that the Avengers have no idea he is in fact alive and this will probably be a little awkward at first. He led them through the underground garage to the elevators and before she knew it they were riding up. "Good afternoon Agent Coulson." Skye jumped a little surprised as the AI addressed Phil. "How's your day so far?"
"It's alright, Jarvis. Thank you." He smiled a little to himself and turned to face her. "Face recognition system. Glad to know that I'm still on the data base." He hummed happily as they reached the top floor. Coulson walked in front of her and Skye followed him like a lost puppy. This was not how she wanted to meet Tony Stark!
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Much to Skye's disappointment their first stop isn't Tony's lab. Coulson leads them down a hallway full of offices and work desks until they reach the big wooden door of doom; Or at least that's how Skye took to call it. He knocks softly and a woman's soft voice calls them inside.
As soon as he walks in all hell breaks loose. Pepper, as Skye would later learn, looks like she just saw a ghost which is pretty much true. There's a brief moment of silence and then tears and yelling. Skye blends into the background and let's them talk it out.
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Pepper calls Tony up and Natasha Romanoff joins him too. There's some more yelling and explanations are demanded and after Coulson gives then what they want both Romanoff and Tony seem to back off.
"So what brings you here?" Pepper is the first to voice what's being eating them all along.
"Must be something very important for you to break protocol." Romanoff adds handing them a glass of vodka each. Skye places her own on the table and pushes it away. It doesn't go unnoticed by the Russian spy. "We all know how much you love protocol." Her tone is teasing and Skye just can't imagine why someone would think Romanoff was dangerous or at least the Romanoff that's in front of her right now. But then again she has seen the videos from the battle of New York. The woman can probably end them all before they can even blink.
"It is." He explains smiling softly, his gaze locking with Skye's and she bows her head in shame. She shouldn't have put him through this. "My daughter found herself into a situation she shouldn't." Tony throws his head back and laughs.
"You don't have children, Phil." He says wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. "I would know!"
"I have now." Coulson grabs her hand and squeezes lightly. "And that's not the only thing I'll be having."
Coulson fills them in about what they need to know. About the team, her relationship with Ward and most importantly about the baby. "Are you sure about this, kiddo?" Tony asks placing a hand on her shoulder. "You could always-"
"I'm not having an abortion." She hisses defensively, her hands shooting down to curve around her still flat stomach protectively. Only a few hours a mother and she can feel that bond women always talk about. That little creature that's barely a baby inside her has already crawled each way inside her heart. She just can't imagine her life without it. She's scared of course, out of her mind really. But it's her baby. "And giving it up for adoption is not up for discussion either." Tony is taken aback by her words and Romanoff steps in quickly to save the day.
"Tony is an idiot, sweetie." She says and wraps an arm around Skye's shoulder, leading her towards the couch. Skye likes her, she feels safe with Romanoff around. "What he meant to say was that you are young. Have you thought everything through?"
"She has." Coulson is the one to cut in. "She's not alone, she has me too in this; and I was hoping you too. I'm asking this as a personal favor. Skye and the baby have to stay away from Shield. Or at least within it but under protection." Tony looks at Romanoff and then both look at Pepper like the blonde holds all the answers.
"What are families for?" She smiles and shrugs. For the first time in days Skye feels somewhat calm.
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It takes them less than two days to put a plan together. Something about a house on the suburbs and proper security system. She doesn't get to listen much of it because Tony has banned her from every physical task claiming that she's pregnant and she needs rest.
So just to annoy him she messes with every single electronic device in the tower. Jarvis is very happy to help her along much to her delight. But even that gets old after the first three hours. She goes online to check on her social network accounts and a few forums and somehow she ends up googling about baby stuff.
She's lost between baby cribs, strollers, car seats and baby bottles. Is there supposed to be someone that helps you? Different sizes, different shapes and she feels a migraine forming. Not even born yet kid and you give me a hard time. She thinks smiling to herself. That's how Romanoff finds her as she walks in the living room carrying a tray with some snacks and tea.
"Agent Romanoff, please tell me you have something for me to do." She whines and then scowls to herself because she's going to be a mother, she has to let go of those habits. "Anything!"
"Please call me Natasha." The other woman smiles as she places they tray on the table and takes a seat beside Skye. "We are going to be spending a lot if time together and 'Agent Romanoff' is kind of a mouthful." She laughs and it's a sweet sound, like wind bells.
"We are?" Skye raises and eyebrow questionably. This keeps getting better and better and helps her keep her mind off of the fact that a human is growing inside her. The mental breakdown is gonna come after she has taken care of things.
"I own it to Phil to make sure that you and the baby are safe." She hands Skye a cup of tea and their hands brush for a moment. She taken aback by how warm Natasha's hands are; you would expect that someone like her would be cold as ice. "Besides you are family and we take care of our people."
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Three days into her meeting with the Avengers -well half of them- Tony finally moves them to a huge house just two hours outside New York. It looks like it's been pulled out of a Hollywood movie, with its white picket fence and the patches of grass. It's like a small heaven.
There are loud voices and bickering and Tony gets into a fight with Clint until Natasha threatens to do that thing with her thighs and they both shut up. Skye makes a mental note to ask her about it later. Coulson stays with her until they are settled in, they talk about her future in Shield and Tony lets her know that if she doesn't want to go back he'll always have a place for her in Stark Industries. Minds like hers are hard to find in today's job market.
Two days later Phil has to return to the Bus because a mission has come up. He promises to not let anyone know what's going on and of course to send her some of her things.
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Three weeks into her stay and away from the team Clint finds her crying in her room. She misses her friends, and she misses Grant too and she knows she decided to not talk to him about it but she loves him. She loves him so much it physically hurts to be away from him.
"You know you could always send them a letter or a text, I don't know." He offers giving her hand a comforting squeeze. It's obvious that he's not really good with comforting pregnant and hormonal women. But Skye likes Clint, he's a lot like her in so many ways and he seems to get her. They tease each other, they laugh, they have inside jokes, they pull pranks on the others. He's making her feel like she's home. "I'm dropping by the Bus to leave something to Coulson if you want to send anything. I'll take it there personally."
"Will you?" She asks and sniffs, holding back tears.
"Of course I will." He smiles warmly and Skye sighs.
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When she finally meets Captain America she tries not to scare him. Because 'omg Captain Steve Rogers is sitting on my couch' and take a deep breath Skye! Take a deep breath! Steve is such a sweetheart though. He doesn't comment about her situation nor about the fact that's she's been staring. A lot! Instead he makes small talk and drinks tea and jokes around with Natasha. Skye can't even find the words to describe him. He asks her how she feels and tells her that he's happy Coulson had someone to look after him when they couldn't. She remarks that she's happy to have Coulson in her life too.
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She doesn't know how to go about it but the curiosity has been eating her up. So Skye brings it up a late afternoon when they are just the two of them. Natasha is sitting curled up on one end of the couch with her book while she's sitting at the other with her laptop.
"So..." She starts putting her computer aside. "Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot!" Natasha doesn't even take her eyes from her book, that doesn't mean all her attention is not focused on her though. Skye can appreciate a good multitasker.
"Is there something going on between you and Tony?" The words leave her lips hesitantly, it's a sensitive subject she know but she likes to have an idea of what is going on in her house. She can see the way they move around each other. It's like gravity pulls them together.
"Would that be a problem?" A smile ghosts over Natasha's face as her gaze meets Skye's.
"If Pepper is okay with it. What with her being his girlfriend and all. Whatever floats your boat!" Natasha's laugh fills the room and Skye smiles.
"Pepper is just a front for the both of us." She explains finally closing her book. There's not going to be anymore reading anyway. "We wanted to keep it under wraps and Pepp was kind enough to help. I would appreciate it if this stayed between us though." It makes sense now, apparently magazines do lie to you about celebrities after all.
"Scout's honor!" Skye replies, giggling.
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She swears to herself that she won't embarrass Coulson or the others in front of Thor. She won't scream or do a happy dance and most certainly won't try to touch his biceps. She doesn't have time to do any of that though, because as soon as Thor steps inside the house she faints. She blames pregnancy for it!
Later Natasha tells her that it's alright, it's not every day you see a god up close and personal. Skye's has the faintest idea that the older woman is teasing her but she can't be sure.
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Clint brings a letter back for her from Jemma. What's inside doesn't really make her mood better. Simmons writes her about the missions they are on and about Fitz and what comes next makes her heart clench inside her chest.
Jemma writes her that Ward looks lost without her. She writes that he doesn't sleep much and that he keeps asking for news of her but Jemma has nothing to tell him. She won't say a word about the baby, she swears. Even though she knows, Jemma believes that Skye should be the one to break the news to him.
Eventually Skye takes pity on the poor guy and sends him a text telling him that she's fine. She comes up with some stupid excuse about a mission and her having to be here. She doesn't realize she's holding her breath until his reply comes back 'be safe'. She wants to write him that she misses him, that she's pregnant and they're going to be parents but she holds back. He's not ready for something like this. He's not ready to hear that she loves him either.
'I will.' She writes instead. Some things are better left unsaid.
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Bruce is a very sweet and considered guy. He runs his check ups without putting her through much pain. Tony has set up a mini lab for them on the basement just so she won't have to drive all the way to the city. Natasha had said that it would be impossible to have something like that in the house but Skye has learn by now that nothing is impossible for Tony.
At four months they have her first ultrasound where there's actually a baby to look at. Bruce prints out three photographs, one goes on a photo frame and rests on her bedside table. The second takes residence on the fridge door so everyone can look at it and the third? The third is send to Coulson with a small note on it.
'Hello Grandpa!'
Coulson is going to be so happy when he sees it! Unaware to her he won't be the only one.