A/N: Super sorry for the late update! :( here you go, Chapter 10!
After having been discharged from the infirmary, Melinda passes by Victoria's office. "Hand, I'm going home." she says. Victoria looks up from her desk and stands up.
"No matter what, I'm always here, May." she assures her. Melinda smiles and nods as Victoria pulls her in for a hug. They pull away a few moments after.
"Thank you." With that, she exits her S.O.'s office and goes down and exits the building.
She hugs her coat tighter around her and adjusts her beanie as she walks down the streets of New York City. She lets out a breath and rubs her hands together to warm herself in the cold November breeze. She stops by a coffee shop and orders some tea as she sits down on one of the farthest booths. She suddenly hears a baby screaming, and her eyes widen. She scans around the room to find a baby when she does see a woman cooing and carrying a little baby girl. The woman turns her back to Melinda, so the baby faces Melinda with wide innocent eyes and a balled fist in her mouth. Melinda smiles softly at the baby who coos and gives her a gummy smile.
She looks back at her mug of tea. She can see scenes in her head wherein she'd be the mother in a matter of months, calming her baby when she's crying, patting her back and singing her lullabies before she goes to sleep—
Melinda doesn't even know if it's a boy or a girl yet. Melinda looks back at the baby girl whose head is now resting peacefully on her mother's shoulder. She'd want a baby girl. She'd want a little girl whose eyes are wide and innocent, and who looks like her but acts like her father. If her baby's a boy, then she hopes her son will have his mother's fighting skills and his father's looks. Melinda rests her hand absentmindedly on her abdomen. Either way, her baby will receive a whole lot of love from his or her mother.
And hopefully, father.
Melinda knows there'd be nothing wrong with Phil being a father. He would make an amazing father. He would teach their child when he or she is having difficulty in school, would always be there for his or her extracurricular competitions, would always cheer him or her up whenever their kid feels down. He would tell him or her about his favourite hero, Captain America, before tucking their kid at night. But there could be something wrong about Phil being the father of Melinda's baby, when they're not even together anymore. Phil's in love with someone else.
Phil Coulson is in love with someone else.
How would he take the news when Stoner tells him first? How would he take the news when she tells him first? How would he take the news that he is having a baby with his ex-girlfriend and colleague. Their shot a normal life was there when they settled down in Portland, and both had thrown the chance away by leaving each other and joining S.H.I.E.L.D. Melinda had accepted the fact that she will never have a chance to have a family of her own when she agreed to join S.H.I.E.L.D. six months ago. But now, here she is, five weeks pregnant with Phil's child, just as the thought of having a normal life may have escaped the both of them.
Thank you, universe, Melinda thinks to herself, you've done it again.
She finishes her mug of tea and stands up as she walks back to the busy and cold streets of New York. She stops her tracks when she finds herself in the street of Phil's apartment building. She turns and enters his apartment building without any hesitation. She climbs up to his apartment floor and stops in front of his unit. She slowly and quietly leans over the door.
She can hear his muffled voices and a woman's muffled laughter. Melinda swallows down her throat. It's her. She closes her eyes and leans over, listening to his muffled laughter. God, she misses him; his voice, his stories, his laughter, his dorkiness, his quirkiness, everything about him. Hearing his voice and laugh, no matter how muffled it is through this door, it warms her heart but at the same time, it aches. She sighs and lifts her weight off the door. She doesn't want to disturb any quality time with Phil and his new girlfriend. Whoever she was, she's making him happy, and she had no right to interfere with whatever that makes him happy.
She turns and leaves. She is about to reach the stairs when she hears a door open and close. She looks and saw Phil in the hall.
"Mel." he greets. She does not say anything, and she watches him approach her. "Hey, are you feeling fine? Are you hurt?"
She had to chuckle at his concern. "I'm fine, Phil, I…" This was her chance to tell him.
She couldn't.
"What are you doing here?" Phil asks. Melinda raises an eyebrow.
"I, uh, I was visiting an old friend," she lies. "Her unit's downstairs, I, uh, got one floor up wrong." Phil raises his eyebrows and nods.
"Uh, Mel, I just wanted to ask," Phil starts, tucking his hands inside his pockets. "Earlier during the mission, what happened?"
Your baby had to make sure his or her mother knows that he or she exists, Phil. "Fatigue, I guess," she tells him. "I haven't slept much last night, and I've never really had the appetite these days." Phil nods.
"If something's wrong, you'd tell me, right?" he asks. Melinda sighs. "A-as a friend, of course." he adds tentatively. Melinda smiles.
"Of course, Phil." she says. "Good night."
"Good night, Mel."
Melinda goes down the stairs and Phil watches her go down the stairs. He sighs and leans against the railings. He goes back to his apartment unit to see Audrey getting water from his fridge.
"Who was that?" she asks casually, taking a sip from the water in her glass. He sighs.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. agent," he answers. "She's uh, visiting a friend."
"Was she the one in our door earlier?" she asks.
"No, no one was at our door earlier."