Hey babes! Back again with a new chapter for ya. Sorry for the wait, I was a little stuck on this one and wasn't quite sure where to take it. But I've figure it out and since it's still the beginning of the week, more or less, I've decided to post it for ya. It's not as long as I would have liked, but at least it's something. :)

Enjoy!

"Skye Coulson, I've got a major bone to pick with you today."

Skye groans internally, closing her eyes briefly before opening them and turning around, plastering a fake smile on her face toward the small group of women standing before her. "Teresa, Pamela, Angela, Brenda," she addresses each woman. "So good to see you all again. What can I do for you?"

"Well, a little birdie told us that you know Grant Ward a whole lot better than you initially led all of us to believe," the woman at the front of the group, Teresa, says to her.

"By little birdie do you mean Iris West's talk show?" Skye questions.

Teresa shakes her head and waves off the question. "Never mind how we know. Why didn't you tell us that your past relationship with that man was more than just a one night fluke that ended up with you being pregnant with his child?"

Skye quirks a brow. "Maybe because it's really none of your damn business what happened between me and Grant," she replies. "Other than PTA meetings and various school functions, we don't socialize, we're not friends. I know you four have some weird, slightly creepy, obsession over Grant, as do a lot of women I meet, but that doesn't mean I have to tell you all the intimate details about our relationship."

"You told us about him being Jessica's father," Teresa says.

Skye shakes her head. "No, I didn't. You guys found out through Instagram after Grant posted that photo of him and Jess on Thanksgiving when he was here."

"Well that bit of information is old hat now," Teresa tells her. "We all just assumed it was one of those little one-night stands people tend to have and you ended up pregnant with his child and never even bothered to tell him." Skye opens her mouth to speak when Teresa keeps speaking. "No, the bigger news around here now is that apparently, you were once married to Grant Ward way back when. I honestly don't know how you could have let such a fine specimen like that go. I mean honestly, what were you thinking?" She lets out a small laugh, trying to play her comment off in a joking manner.

"We were young," Skye tells her, growing more irritated with the woman standing in front of her. "Things happen, people change, I left. End of story."

"Oh I'm sure there's more to the story than that."

"There is," Skye admits. "But the rest of it is, like I said earlier, none of your damn business. So you can stop pestering me about it."

"Well I'm sure the others will agree with me when I say that if we had managed to land ourselves someone like Grant Ward, we'd have done everything to keep our hands on him."

"Yeah, well, what makes you think I wouldn't have too?" Skye asks sharply. "You don't know anything about what happened, Teresa, so don't act like you do. Like I just told you, there's a whole lot more to the story than what Grant said in that interview. And for the last time, none of it is your business. I'm with Miles and I'm going to marry him because I love him and he'll be a great stepfather to Jessica. Grant and I are in the past, it'll never happen again. But he will still be in my life because of the daughter we made together and he's a great father to her, like I always knew he would be from the moment I found out I was pregnant. Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere else I need to be right now." Turning around, Skye makes way across the pavement away from the women, letting out a frustrated huff of air as she walks.

"Hey, everything okay?"

Skye looks up to see Miles standing in front of her, concern etched on his face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just annoyed."

"I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Help me bury the bodies?" she suggests.

Miles frowns. "Skye."

She shrugs. "What? I'm just kidding. Obviously I'm not going to actually kill anyone. At least not until Jess is out of the house, she's too young for me to go to prison right now. There's a possibility it could mess her up psychologically and I can't do that to her."

Miles' frown deepens as he looks at her.

Skye sighs. "Relax, Miles, I'm kidding, I promise. I just needed to imagine that for a minute because those women really grate on my nerves. But I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Miles asks her.

She nods. "Yeah, I'm sure. I just need to get away from them for as long as humanly possible."

"Isn't there still more left of the meeting, though?" he asks. "I thought this was just a short break. Shouldn't we stay to hear whatever else there is?"

Skye sighs. "Do we really have to, though? It's usually just the same stuff that's at every other meeting."

"It's important, though, right?" he asks. "So that you know what's going on in school and all of that."

She shrugs. "I mean, I guess so. But do we really have to stay? They're just going to give me weird looks the rest of the time, now that it's out that Grant and I used to be together."

"Wasn't it already out there because of Jess' mere existence?" he asks.

"Well yeah. But according to them, it could have just been a one night stand and we were never even in a relationship. I mean, I know it didn't end well between us, but what Grant and I had was special, he was the first guy I ever really loved like that, and it really irritates me that someone could just play it down so easily as a meaningless one night stand; it was so much more than that. Even if we were fighting those last few months, there was still some amount of love there." She takes a deep breath and lets it out on a sigh, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm sure the last thing you want is to hear me talking about my ex husband."

"It isn't, but I understand. You and Grant have history, and a daughter together."

She nods her head. "Yes we do. But you and I have a future together. I've told you that before and I'll tell you it again. I promise you have nothing to worry about with any of that."

Miles nods. "I know. And I trust you completely."

"Good. And because I love you, and you seem to be so invested in staying for the rest of this meeting even though it's going to be completely boring, we can stay."

Miles gives her a smile and then leans down to kiss her. "Thank you."

She rolls her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Let's just go back inside before I change my mind and drag you to the car."

"Hey Jess," Skye greets her daughter when the young girl walks into the apartment, Jemma right behind her. "Did you have fun with Rachel?"

Jessica nods. "Yeah."

"Good, I'm glad." She looks up at her friend. "Thanks for picking her up for me. I got kind of swamped with stuff for the shop."

"Oh it was no problem," Jemma tells her. "Do you need anything else before I head back out?"

Skye shakes her head. "No, I think we're good."

"Great. I'll see you later, then."

"Yeah, see ya."

"Bye, Jessica," Jemma calls to her niece with a small wave.

Jessica doesn't look up from where she's sitting on the couch. "Bye."

"So, what are you thinking for dinner?" Skye asks her daughter once the door closes.

Jessica shrugs. "I don't know."

Skye's brows furrow. "Hey, what's going on with you? Is everything okay?"

"Did you love dad?" Jessica asks, looking up from her hands.

"What?" Skye asks. "Why on earth would you ask me something like that?"

"Rachel and I went to the park today and some of the other kids were talking about the interview dad did on Iris West's show. They said that you didn't really love dad because you left him and didn't tell him about me."

Skye sighs and stands up from her seat, crossing over to sit down next to her daughter. "Jessica, I want you to listen to me very carefully, okay?" Jessica nods. "Because of how popular your father is, people like to talk about him and the people in his life. Unfortunately, it seems like you've started to become somewhat of a target for people's jabs about him. And that's never what I wanted."

"But they were talking about you, mom, not dad."

Skye nods. "I know, angel. And I wish you wouldn't have to hear any of that, I really do. But because people know now that I used to be in a relationship with your dad, they're going to say things. Things that I really, really wish you wouldn't have to hear."

"They were saying really mean things about you, mom," Jessica says, tears shining in her eyes.

Skye frowns, tears starting to build up in her own eyes as she hugs her daughter close to her. "Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry you had to hear what those kids said. Most of them probably didn't even know what they were talking about, they most likely heard it from one of their parents who just running their mouths. None of what any of them are saying is true in the slightest. I loved your father so much. And because of that love, I got you. Nothing that anyone says is ever going to change that."

"I know. I'm sorry."

Skye pulls back and wipes at the few tears trailing down her daughter's cheeks. "Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for. Nothing at all. This is not your fault, and you shouldn't have to worry about what other people are saying about me or your father. Anytime anyone says anything else about my relationship with your father, I just want you to remember what I told you the last time we talked like this. Your dad and I love you so much and no matter what happens between the two of us, our love for you will never ever go away. He'll always be in your life, and there's a part of me that will always care about him and be grateful for what I did have with him because he gave me you," she says with a soft smile.

Jessica sniffles and nods her head, wiping the remaining tears from her eyes. "Okay. Can we have fried chicken for dinner?" Jessica asks, changing the subject.

Skye smiles and laughs quietly. "Of course we can, baby. Go on and wash up and you can help me."

"Okay." Jessica stands up from the couch and turns to make her way down the hall. "I love you, mom," she says over her shoulder.

Skye smiles. "I love you too, angel."

So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!