Hey babes! Back again with the FINAL installment of 25 Days of Skyeward. I figured that this would be a pretty good one to end on for this little collection we've got here. :)

I hope you've all had a good holiday with your respective families, and if you don't celebrate any holidays, then I hope you've just had a good month in general. :) Thank you all so much for reading these stories, your love and support has been great.

Enjoy!

"She's been like this for almost a week."

"Can you really blame her?"

"No, I guess not."

"Auntie Jemma, why is mommy still sleeping? It's almost dinner time."

Jemma looks down at the four-year-old brunette in front of her and sighs heavily. She reaches down to lift the young girl into her arms and holds her tightly, trying her best to come up with an explanation that will satisfy the child. "Your mum isn't sleeping, sweetheart. She's still in bed because she's very sad about your dad."

The young girl tilts her head and furrows her brows. "Because he's away fighting lots of bad guys?"

Jemma nods and swallows. "Yes. Because he's away fighting a lot of bad guys."

"But daddy's a good guy," Jessica states. "So why is mommy sad?"

"She's sad because she can't see him while he's away. Your mummy loves your daddy so much that it makes her really sad when she can't see him or talk to him for a really long time."

"Oh."

"Jessica?"

"Yeah?"

"Why don't you go take Uncle Fitz into the living room and show him how tall of a tower you can build with your blocks?"

Jessica smiles wide. "Okay." She slides down out of Jemma's arms and grabs hold of Fitz's hand, leading the older man into the living room as she starts talking about anything and everything that comes to her imaginative mind.

Letting out another deep sigh, Jemma watches the scene for a moment before turning and making her way into the master bedroom. She frowns immediately at the sight of Skye curled up underneath of the covers, quiet sniffling coming from beneath the heavy blanket.

She takes a small step into the room. "This is getting ridiculous."

There's no response.

"Skye, I'm serious here. I know you're hurting, and I completely understand, but you have to—"

"You don't."

"What?"

"You don't understand," Skye repeats, still buried underneath the blankets.

"Then help me understand," she says softly.

There's movement from beneath the covers and then Skye emerges, her hair a tangled mess and tear tracks stained to her cheeks. "My husband is gone, Jemma."

"He's only missing," Jemma replies.

"Missing in action is as good as dead, and you know that. More than likely I'll never get to see him again and grow old together. Jessica will never really get to know her dad, he'll be just a faded memory for her, an idea." Her voice cracks, "He's gone, Jemma. And he's not coming back."

Jemma frowns and quickly moves further into the room, sitting down on the edge of Skye's bed and pulling her best friend into a tight hug.

Skye instantly returns the hug, burying her face in the Brit's shoulder, letting the dam break and the tears fall, soaking through Jemma's t-shirt.

"I just want him to come home."

Jemma rubs what she hopes to be soothing circles on her best friend's back. "We all want him to come home again," she speaks softly in her ear. "But in the meantime, you have a beautiful little girl out there who needs her mother now more than ever."

Skye pulls back and breaths in deeply, wiping at her face with the sleeves of the sweatshirt she's wearing. It's one of Grant's old college sweatshirts that she stole from him not long after they started dating and she just kept as her own, never bothering to give it back to him.

"I know," she tells her friend. "I just...I need a little more time, okay? I promise I'll go out there and see her soon, though."

Jemma nods. "Alright. Fitz and I can keep watching after her for you, but we can't do this forever."

"I know. And you won't have to, I promise."

"Good. Do you want us to feed her dinner and put her to bed?"

"Would you mind?"

"Of course not," Jemma tells her with a soft smile. "She's my niece and you know I'd do anything for her."

"And you're an amazing aunt. Really. I can't think of anyone else who would so willingly take care of a four year old who isn't theirs like this for a week straight."

"Then I guess you're very lucky that I'm your best friend."

Skye gives her a small smile. "Yeah, I guess I am." Her smile falters. "Don't let her come in and see me tonight, okay? I know she wants to see me, but I don't want her to see me like this."

Jemma sighs. "Alright." She leans forward and kisses Skye's forehead. "It will get better," she whispers. "In time, it will get better."

Silently, Jemma stands from the bed and moves back toward the door, giving Skye one final smile before stepping out and closing the door behind her.

Shuffling out of her bedroom the next morning, Skye takes a deep breath as she makes her way further into the open area of the house, running a hand through her hair to get out any tangles.

As she walks through the hall, she lingers for a moment when her eyes catch on the family photos framed on the wall in front of her.

There are some of the three of them all together, some of just her and Grant, a few of either of them with Jessica, and some of just Jessica by herself. A lot of them are candid shots, of the three of them just in their element as a family, while some of them are posed photos, like their family portraits.

Each picture brings back another painful memory to the forefront of her mind, knowing deep down that she may never get to make any more memories with the love of her life. All she wants is for him to come back home so they can be a family again. She doesn't care about any other presents, she just wants her husband back.

"Mommy!"

A small smile pulls at Skye's lips when she looks over to see her daughter jumping up from her spot on the living room floor and running over to her, still dressed in her pajamas.

Skye bends down to return her daughter's hug when the little girl wraps her tiny arms tightly around her legs, dropping a kiss to the top of her head.

"Hi, angel. Good morning."

"Are you done being sad, mommy?" Jessica asks, leaning back to look up at her mom. "Auntie Jemma said you were sad cause daddy is away fighting bad guys."

"Well your Auntie Jemma is a very smart woman. Who apparently thinks letting you watch TV in the living room while you eat cereal is a good idea," she comments when she sees the small bowl of cereal sitting on the coffee table.

"I'm sorry," Jemma speaks up as she enters the room. "I just figured it'd be a good way to keep her occupied."

Skye smiles appreciatively at her friend. "Thanks, Jem."

"Anytime. Though, I'll try to remember not to let her watch TV while she eats."

"She can sometimes," Skye tells her. "But I usually have her at the table with my tablet."

Jemma nods. "Right. Duly noted." She takes a deep breath. "Well, I'm assuming that you can handle things from here?" She raises an eyebrow at her friend and then gives a small nod when Skye gives her a nod of her own. "Excellent. I'll be off, then."

"Bye, Auntie Jemma," Jessica says, running over to hug her aunt.

"Goodbye, sweetheart," Jemma replies, leaning down to hug her niece. "Thank you for letting me take care of you all week."

"You're welcome."

Jemma smiles once more at the girl before standing up, giving Skye a small smile and nod, and then making her way to the front door and out to her car.

"Alright, my little angel," Skye speaks up, breaking through the silence that surrounded them when Jemma left, "are you all done eating?"

"Um, yeah."

"Good. Go take your dishes to the sink, then, please. And don't spill."

"Okay, mommy."

Skye watches for a moment as he daughter grabs the cereal bowl and then carefully walks with it into the kitchen. She honestly can't believe how big her daughter is getting already, and she hates the thought of her husband never getting to see her grow up.

Stepping further into the living room, Skye grabs the remote control for the TV and hits the power button, setting it back down in its rightful spot on the TV stand.

Lingering in the room, she slowly walks over to the mantel above their fireplace, her eyes roaming over the photos sitting there.

There's one from her and Grant's wedding day, wide happy smiles on both of their faces as they dance their first dance as husband and wife.

There's another from their first anniversary, a nice evening out just the two of them at a fancy restaurant, taken by the waitress who served them their food that night.

And then there's one from the day Jessica was born, all three of them squished onto the hospital bed, exhaustion on hers and Grant's faces after a very long labor. She'd yelled at him angrily for getting her pregnant but apologized many times over afterwards once they had their beautiful daughter in their arms.

"Mommy? Why are you crying?"

Quickly wiping away the tears she hadn't realized fell from her eyes, Skye breathes in deeply and turns to face her daughter.

"I'm fine, baby. I'm just still a little sad about daddy."

"He's only away for a little bit, though," Jessica says. "Daddy said he wouldn't be gone for forever and ever. He said he'd only be gone a little bit and then be back with me and you."

Skye chokes back a sob and moves to the couch, sitting down on it.

"Come here, baby girl." She holds her arms out to her daughter.

Jessica immediately moves toward her mom, climbing up into her lap. She shifts a little to get comfortable and then looks up at her mom with a small smile.

"Hi, mommy."

"Hi, angel. I want to talk to you about something."

"Okay."

Skye takes a deep breath, steadying herself for this conversation that she's absolutely dreading. "So, you know how daddy's away fighting bad guys?" Jessica nods. "Well, sometimes, people go missing while they're fighting and they can't be found. Daddy's one of those people who went missing. His friends can't find him anywhere." She brushes some of Jessica's hair back out of her face. "Baby girl, daddy might not be coming back home."

Jessica frowns. "Yes he is."

"He might, baby girl, but he also might not come back to us, and so we'll have to learn how to live without daddy being here."

"No!" Jessica shouts. "Daddy's coming home! He promised!" She pushes her mom's arms away from her and climbs off Skye's lap. She runs out of the room, down the hallway, and into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

Skye sighs as she looks up to the picture of her and Grant on the mantel, muttering quietly to herself, "Damn it, Grant."

.

.

.

Knocking softly on her daughter's bedroom door, Skye pushes open the door and peers inside to see Jessica sitting up in the middle of her bed, her kneels pulled up as she stares down at a picture of her and her dad together.

Her heart breaks at the sight.

"Hey, angel," she speaks up quietly, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. "Are you still mad at me?"

"No," Jessica replies quietly. "I miss daddy. I want him back."

Skye sighs and moves to sit on the bed, pulling her daughter into her lap, the little girl instantly curling up against her. "I miss him too, baby girl."

"Were you crying cause daddy might not come home again?" Jessica asks her after a quiet moment.

Skye nods her head. "Yeah, I was. I love your daddy so very much that it made me really sad that I might not ever get to see him again. And that he won't get to see you again either and watch you grow up."

"I'm sad too."

"I'm sure you are. But you know what I just realized?"

"What?"

"Daddy wouldn't want us to be so sad all the time."

"Really?"

Skye nods. "Really. It's Christmastime so he'd want us to be happy and listen to Christmas music and make cookies and have the best Christmas that we can have."

"Can we decorate the tree?" Jessica asks after a quiet moment. "It still looks all boring cause we didn't put stuff on it after we got it."

Skye smiles and nods her head. "Yeah, baby, we can go and decorate the tree. And you know what else?"

"What?"

"I think we're going to spend all day in our jammies."

Jessica beams. "Really?"

Skye laughs quietly. "Really. I think it would be perfectly acceptable to spend all day in our jammies today while we decorate the Christmas tree. And then maybe we can make some cookies for Uncle Fitz and Auntie Jemma to say thank you for taking such good care of you."

"With lots and lots of sprinkles?" Jessica asks.

Skye smiles. "I think we can make that happen. And then maybe tomorrow…we can go see Santa."

Jessica's eyes light up and she bounces in her spot. "Santa!"

Skye laughs quietly and presses a kiss to her daughter's head, pulling her closer. This is what Grant would want, he'd want them to be happy and continue on with their holiday. So that's what they're going to do. To the best of their ability.

Sitting on the couch in the living room of her house, the only light illuminating her coming from the Christmas tree in the corner of the room, Skye stares ahead into the darkness of the unlit fireplace, a cup of hot chocolate with crushed peppermint cradled in her hands.

It's late at night on Christmas Eve and all she can think about is how there's one person missing from the holiday this year, somebody that should be there but isn't.

It's been two weeks since her world was completely turned upside down and shattered, and a week since she made the decision to pull herself back together for the sake of her daughter. She can't let her daughter suffer just because she's hurting from not having her husband there. She has to be strong for her daughter.

But sitting there in the dark, alone, with only her thoughts, it's hard not to imagine how difficult life is going to be without him there with her. Nothing is going to be the same. And she hates it.

A quiet shuffling from behind her pulls her out of her own head and the thoughts she was drowning in. She lets out a sigh without turning around, clutching her cocoa a little closer. "Go to bed."

"Only if you come with me."

Letting out a sharp gasp, Skye whips her head around to look behind her, a choked sob escaping past her lips, one hand coming up to cover her mouth as tears immediately build up in her eyes.

Quickly standing from the couch, her hot chocolate landing on the carpet, she moves around the piece of furniture, not caring about the mess she's going to have to clean up later in the day, and slowly walks toward the man standing just a few feet in front of her.

His hair is a bit longer than she's used to, a thick beard growing on his chin, and he's still wearing his military fatigues, a matching duffel tossed over one shoulder. He has a small smile playing at his lips, his dark eyes glossed over with the beginning of tears.

"Grant?" Skye manages to get out.

He nods his head. "Yeah, honey, it's me. I'm home."

Letting the dam break, Skye rushes toward her husband, jumping up into his waiting arms, her own arms wrapping tightly around his neck, burying her face in the crook as she cries.

Grant drops his bag to the ground when Skye runs at him, catching her easily and holding her around the waist, burying his own face in her hair, breathing in deeply.

"I missed you so much," he whispers in her ear, tightening his hold just a little, wanting to have her as close as he possibly can.

"I thought I lost you," she tells him through her tears.

"You're never going to lose me."

"They told me you went missing."

"I did. But some really nice people found me and helped me get to the nearest military base. They wanted me to stay there longer but I just wanted to get home to you and Jess. I'm sorry I didn't clean myself up more. I know you're not a huge fan of the full beard on me."

Skye pulls back and shakes her head, running her hands over his beard. "I don't care, babe, I don't care. You're home. That's all that matters. You could have two heads and I wouldn't care. You're back home, where you belong, and that's all that I care about. I'm so glad to have you home."

Grant smiles and cups her cheek in his hand. "This is all I thought about while I was missing," he says. "You and Jess are what kept me alive and fighting to get back to you."

"How come nobody told me you were found?" she asks, her hands still on his face, not quite believing that he's actually back in front of her.

"I wanted to surprise you," he admits, running his hand through her hair. "I know I probably should have called first to let you know I was coming back, I just…I wanted to see the look on your face when you saw me for the first time. And I have to admit that it was so worth it. I've missed everything about you, Skye. Every single thing." He takes a deep breath. "I've missed your smile, your laugh, the way you hug me and kiss me, how amazing of a mother you are to our little girl, how you—" He reacts instantly when he feels Skye's lips against his, kissing her back and holding her closer.

Skye's hands run up behind his head, tangling themselves in his hair. "You need a haircut," she says against his lips, making him laugh quietly.

"Duly noted," he tells her. "But first, I just want to be with you and Jess. Where is the little angel?"

"She should be sleeping. Key words there: should be."

Grant laughs quietly again.

Skye smiles and runs her hands affectionately through his hair. "I've missed your laugh. I've missed everything about you. For a while there I didn't think you were coming back and I—"

"Daddy! You're home!"

Pulling apart just enough, Grant and Skye turn their heads to see Jessica running into the room, immediately attaching herself to Grant's legs as tightly as she can.

"I missed you so much, daddy."

Grant leans down and pries Jessica off his legs and lifts her into his arms, hugging her tightly and pressing a kiss to her cheek. "I missed you too, angel. So much."

Jessica leans back from hugging her dad and smiles wide. "I got my wish, daddy."

"What wish, angel?"

"For you to come back home. Mommy taked me to go see Santa and I asked him for my daddy for Christmas, and he brought you home."

"Jess, did you really ask Santa to bring daddy home for Christmas?" Skye asks her daughter.

Jessica nods proudly. "Uh-huh. I asked him to bring daddy home so you would stop being so sad all the time." She looks over at her dad. "Mommy cried for a long time cause you were away fighting the bad guys and not here with me and her."

Grant looks at Skye with a concerned frown.

"It was after they told me you went missing," she tells him. "I kept telling myself that if you were missing you were essentially dead and it really hurt knowing that Jess would never get to know you or have you around as she grew up."

"Well I'm here now," he tells her, one hand cupping her cheek. He leans forward and rests his forehead against hers, both their eyes closing at the contact. "And I'm not going anywhere for a long, long time."

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!