Skye's grin got even bigger when she saw Melinda. She ran to her and jumped up with Melinda catching her and swinging her up. Melinda smiled as the little girl pressed her body into hers and circled her arms around Melinda's neck. She nestled her head into Melinda's shoulder and hugged her tightly. Phil watched as his wife cuddled Skye and as her smile grew brighter. He had noticed the concerned expressions on Maria and Akela's faces when they had all walked into the room. Whatever it was, he hoped one of them would talk to him later. For now, he watched as Skye squealed as Melinda let her down and his wife knelt on the floor next to her.

"We got so much candy. Look." She thrust the plastic pumpkin toward Melinda. It was practically overflowing.

"Great Skye. But remember the rule."

"I know." She ran over to Maria and handed over her prize. "You're not gonna mix it all together are ya?"

Melinda looked at the little girl who had suddenly gotten a little anxious. She was bouncing back and forth on her feet and looked up at Maria expectantly. Maria looked over at Melinda, who raised her eyebrow, and then spoke to Skye, "no I don't have to. We can keep all of it separate to check over."

Skye nodded very seriously. "Well this one is mine so don't forget."

Phil opened a drawer and pulled out a marker. "How about we mark all the pumpkins Skye?" He handed the marker to Maria who promptly wrote Skye's name on it. Bobbi walked over then and took the marker and started writing everyone's names on their pumpkin. The other kids didn't seem to notice the exchange as they talked among themselves, except for Natasha. She was clinging pretty tightly to the handle of her own pumpkin and she watched closely as Bobbi wrote her name on it.

She spoke softly to Bobbi. "It's not that she doesn't want to share. She just hasn't ever had..."

"I know Tash. I think we all get it. It's okay." She smiled and touched her on the shoulder. "Just don't eat too much at once cause it'll slow you down at practice.'

Natasha smiled at her friend as Victoria made her way over to her. "So you have fun?"

Natasha nodded as Vic put her arm around the girl's shoulder and pulled her in for a hug.

"Okay guys, it's Sunday and you all have school tomorrow. So while Maria and Akela are checking your candy go gather your things and if you want to change out of your costume do that too," Phil said still in his Batman costume.

Bobbi nudged him as she walked by. "You might want to change before dropping the kids home, Batman."

"Yeah you too Izzy. It's getting pretty chilly out there." Vic chimed in as Natasha ran over to Skye.

"Okay babe. I can help these guys while I'm up there. Come on Lance you help the boys in the bonus room and Tash and I can help the girls."

Melinda spoke up. "Hang on everyone. One more picture with everyone. You too Izzy and Phil.

Over there by the fireplace."

Phil pulled Bobbi next to him while Lance stood between Bobbi and Natasha with Izzy on the other end. Skye stood in front of Phil and Bobbi with Lincoln next to her and Jemma and Leo next to them Just before Melinda took the picture Skye reached over and took Lincoln's hand and they smiled at each other. Melinda snapped the picture with Phil's surprised, 'caught in the headlights' face and Bobbi's wide smile as Lance had put his arm around her and pulled her closer to him.

Melinda was laughing at him.

"This isn't funny. Skye just showed lovey dovey eyes at that boy and grabbed his hand of which he was more than willing to give her. And Lance, he – he - he – grabbed Bobbi and put his arm around her while I was standing right there."

Melinda laughed harder. They were in their bedroom and Skye and Bobbi were already asleep as Phil was going on and on about his girls and those grabby boys as he put it.

"While I was right there Melinda. A foot away. It's not funny. Bobbi's too young to have a boyfriend."

At that Melinda howled louder shoving her face into the pillow. Her dorky husband was being so over dramatic. His affront at poor Lance cause Bobbi preferred to be closer to him and his faux outrage at little Lincoln was so cute. Melinda was in her shorty pajamas and Phil was getting undressed.

"You're cute when you go all over protective daddy."

"She's only fifteen Melinda. She's a child."

Melinda shook her head. "In many ways yes, she is. And in many other ways she is not Phil. She's almost sixteen and will be driving soon. In just shy of three years Bobbi will be leaving for college."

"Or special forces in the Army like you." It was almost an accusation.

"Hey Phil. She is going to do what is right for here and both of us are going to support her. Honestly, you need to give her more credit than you are doing. She gets great grades, she's a damn good athlete, she can defend herself with her numerous martial arts belts she's earned, and she is a great big sister and wonderful daughter. She is kind, compassionate, giving, bright, articulate and a bit of a troublemaker with a wicked sarcastic bite. She can also take care of herself and she is wise enough to know that doing something so stupid like getting pregnant at will hurt her future."

"I know. I know. But I also remember hormones. And being a sixteen-year-old boy."

"Well Lance has been nothing but a perfect gentleman so far, and honestly between Izzy's warnings and your dirty looks – he well knows to never try anything that Bobbi is not ready for."

"That's the trouble. What if she's ready?"

"Then she will be wise enough to tell me. Or Maria. Or Akela. She has enough aunts to go to if she deems that conversation with me to be too weird."

"You mean birth control." Phil made a face.

"Yes. Whatever she decides is right for her body. I'm sure some of her friends are already at that step and she's most likely talked to them. Phil, she's already talked to me about it. She promised she would do something if she got to that stage. Right now she isn't."

"What if he pressures her?'

"Phillip. He's too afraid of me to do that."

"You? You the one who seems nonchalant about their whole relationship."

"Do I now?"

He gave a confused look.

"Phil remember that picnic at Izzy and Vic's?"

He nodded. "When Izzy was talking up foster care for us?"

Melinda nodded. "I may have reminded a certain young man how many black belts I have in my various disciplines and mentioned that Maria and Akela loved Bobbi as much as we do."

"Oh."

She smiled. "Young Lance is a quick learner Phil. He quite understood my meaning. It's impressive that he continued to see Bobbi after that. I figured he was a good one based on that fact. Plus, he is a polite and kind young man. He seems to have taken Natasha under his wing and even Skye. I am fairly certain he would step up to protect not only Bobbi but also Natasha and Skye. He dressed as Flynn Ryder and let Bobbi put make up on him Phil. He played dolls with Skye and Bobbi at our party."

"So he's completely smitten with Bobbi then."

"Oh yeah. He's a goner."

"You think she's fallen for him, like in love fallen?"

"Probably. At least in what passes for love at that age. But she's also very wise and knows it may not last."

"Well considering most teen romances don't, I should probably back off is what you are really saying."

She smiled. "Exactly."

"Well okay. But I'm not gonna stop giving him dirty looks."

"Yeah I know. But you can stop trying to scare him Phil. I've got that covered. Oh," She paused and raised her eyebrows, "you know then again there we do have Jane and Don."

"I think you mean Donny Moonbean and Jane Brightdawn."

They both burst into laughter.

"Yeah they met on that show with Maria and they were both younger than Bobbi."

"Not helping Melinda." Phil's face had become had somber and was now pacing again.

"Oh Phil. You know they didn't date then and were all just friends. It wasn't until later on when Maria started working with Don that Jane re-entered his life."

"Yeah and they started back up right where they left off some fifteen years later."

"Well if that happens the Bobbi and Lance, at lest they will be in their thirties. I think by then you will be fine Phil. By then Skye will be done with college and probably living on her own as well."

"Yeah." Phil got a wistful look in his eyes. "You think by then we will have grandkids?"

"So you just went from not wanting to let your daughters out of the house to hoping they give you grandkids?"

He smiled. "Twenty years ago I never thought I'd have kids let alone grandkids."

"Well yeah you were kind of nerdy."

"Just your speed though right? I mean I remember you were always drawn to us intellectual nerds. Like Andrew."

She made a face at him. "Andrew was not a nerd Phillip. He just talked too much."

"So glad about that. Otherwise I never would have gotten to date you after Audrey left. You guys were pretty serious there for a while. Though I was gonna have to suck it up and be your maid of honor, being your best friend and all."

"Ha. You'd have had to fight off Maria and Akela for that job Phillip."

"Yeah. So glad we eloped."

"We yeah I mean you do know how much I like Vegas."

The following Monday passed by rather quickly. There was no session with Dr. Campbell because she was still out of town at a convention. Bobbi had basketball practice while Phil took Skye to McDonalds for dinner, much to Melinda's chagrin when she found out. Melinda had stayed very late at work to go through resumes of potential employees which had come through online over the weekend. One had particularly caught her eye and she had called and set up an interview for that coming Thursday. Melinda had fallen asleep rather quickly from her exhausting day.

Melinda sensed the little girl and then heard her little sigh. She wanted to grin, but she kept her face still and her eyes shut. She felt the bed move as Skye climbed up next to her. She knew Skye was staring at her. She also knew it was still dark out and far too early for the girl to be up, but here she was. Melinda had barely been able to calm Skye enough to get to sleep last night after coming home from her long day at work. Skye had managed to stay awake long enough so that Melinda would be able to tuck her in. She had also gone on and on about the zoo trip once Melinda had appeared and Melinda ended up stroking her face and singing to her before the girl finally succumbed to sleep. But now she could sense the bundle of energy beside her and Skye's dismay that both she and Phil were still sound asleep. Well Phil was sound asleep, while she was pretending to be. Skye sighed again and Melinda felt a little poke in her side and then a whisper.

"Melinda."

She laid still and waited.

Another small poke, this one on her leg. Melinda stayed perfectly still. She felt Skye shift and then sensed the little girl's face closer to hers. After a few seconds a puff of air blew over her face and a giggle. Melinda nearly laughed but caught herself. Skye leant down and whispered in her ear.

"Melinda I think I'm gonna explode if you don't get up."

That did it. Melinda burst into a giggle and opened her eyes. Skye startled for a second and then her smile lit up her whole face. Melinda grabbed Skye and pulled her in for a hug. Skye's giggles grew louder.

Melinda spoke quietly. "You're excited huh?"

Skye pulled away and looked at Melinda with a serious face. "Aren't you excited Melinda."

Melinda grinned. "To spend the whole day with you. You betcha."

"I think this is gonna be the best day ever."

"Hmmm...you've been having a lot of those lately."

Skye nodded. "But this one is gonna be even betterest."

Melinda laughed. "Hey let's go do a little Tai Chi so you can calm down and then get ready and by then Phil will have breakfast made, okay?"

Skye nodded. Melinda sat up and pulled the girl with her as she got up hugging her close. She poked at Phil and called his name till he turned and looked at them. "Early day remember. Zoo. We're gonna do Tai Chi, get ready and then we will need breakfast."

"Kay," Phil mumbled still half asleep. "Eggs and bacon coming up."

Melinda went to leave still holding Skye but turned around to see Phil had turned over and gone back to sleep. She walked back to the bed and let Skye down on it and nodded at her. Skye started jumping up and down. Phil sat upright startled. Melinda laughed as Skye continued to jump giggling her head off. Phil gave Melinda a dirty look before reaching over to try to grab Skye who dodged out of his way and then jumped back up at Melinda who caught her.

"Early day Phillip. We need to be there by seven – thirty. Gonna be a long day too. Skip the bacon, I think we'd be better off with scrambled eggs and fruit today."

He nodded and smiled at them as she walked out of the room with Skye still clinging to her.

Melinda and Phil stood in the back of the classroom with the other chaperones. Jane was in the front of the classroom talking to the students. Melinda glanced around the room and then her eyes settled on Skye. Skye's desk was on the other side of the room from where she remembered hers being that first day so long ago. Well technically it wasn't that long really, but just seemed long with everything that had passed since then. Melinda saw that Lincoln was next to her and she bit her lip to keep from saying something snarky to Phil. Skye kept sneaking looks back to them even though she was supposed to be paying attention to Miss Foster. Next to Phil stood Jane's husband, Don, with his blond hair shorter then she remembered but his huge biceps still as huge as ever. Next to him were two of the school's aides who were chaperoning and on Melinda's left were two others, moms of two of the kids. Melinda had already counted the kids and that meant she and Phil would be responsible for five or six including Skye. The two other third grade classes were also going but they had their own chaperones and once at the zoo it was planned that each teacher and class chaperones would separate rather then try to keep seventy or so children in one large group. There were three buses and each class would be on its own bus. That was a ride that Melinda was not looking forward to. She had packed everything she could think of in her backpack, from both Jane's list and her own knowledge of necessities to get her, Phil, and Skye, and the rest of their group through ten hours together. It was seven- forty-five now and the buses were set to pull out at eight-fifteen. It was around a seventy-minute drive by bus to the zoo. The plan was to arrive and actually be inside the zoo by ten o'clock sharp, their class was breaking for lunch at one-thirty and then the plan was to get to the buses to leave at six in the evening. They were to arrive back at the school at seven-thirty to be picked up by parents. The children had all brought bag lunches, either from home or those supplied by the school cafeteria which had already been dropped off. The lunches were going to be placed in three large containers that some of the zoo workers would bring to them at the picnic area at lunchtime. Jane was giving instructions now to make sure their lunches and backpacks had their names on them. This must have been a clue to the aides who started walking around the room checking all the backpacks and lunch packs and bags. Lincoln took the opportunity to whisper to Skye about something and both turned to look back to Melinda at the same time. She smiled and waved which garnered a huge smile from Skye and a wave back from Lincoln.

Jane spoke just then. "Okay everyone please look up here." A guilty Skye and Lincoln turned their attention back to their teacher. "I'm going to place you with your chaperones now and when I call your name please go stand with them. Now pay attention please". She motioned to her husband. "This is my husband, Don Blake. He is going to be standing up here in the front on the left. If I call your name, please go stand with him." She proceeded to call off six names and the children did as they were told. "Next over here on the right, could I have Phil and Melinda Coulson stand by the area near the door? Phil and Melinda moved to the front and waited. "Okay this group is with the Coulson's. Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons, Skye of course, Lincoln Campbell, Robbie Reyes, and Alphonso Mackenzie."

The six children practically jumped and ran over to Melinda and Phil. Melinda didn't know Robbie and Alphonso but has already intently looked over their permission forms. She wanted to be as prepared as she could be. Neither had any medical issues or allergies. Good so far. She already knew Jemma had some food allergies and that Leo had asthma. She had already put his extra Albuterol inhaler in her bag along with children's Tylenol and Benadryl which all her charge's guardians had signed allowed on their medical waiver forms. She also had bandaids and antibiotic cream and hand sanitizer and sunscreen, and baby sanitizing wipes and tissues. She also had a small first aid kit, a flashlight, and snacks for all the kids. She had also made sure that in Skye's backpack that Skye had a hat and sunglasses and an extra shirt and extra socks just in case she spilled something or walked into a puddle. Melinda also had also stuck a rain poncho and a burner cell phone in Skye's backpack that she had bought and had her number, Phil's number, and Maria, Bobbi, Akela's numbers all programmed into it as well as having a tracker on it. Not that she was planning on letting Skye or the others out of her sight.

She had endured Phil and Bobbi's teasing while packing the backpacks figuring that it was well worth it to be completely prepared. Phil bumped her shoulder and then as if reading her mind leaned over and said, "you could teach the boy scouts how to be prepared."

Melinda nearly growled back at him and rolled her eyes. Jane was now handing out wrist bands to all the kids and the adults. Each group had its own color.

"Now remember to keep these on all day. On the inside they have your chaperones cell numbers as well as mine. So if you get lost, which you won't – this is just a precaution, you go to the nearest zoo worker or a guard and ask him or her to call one of those numbers. Everyone understand?"

A chorus of 'yeahs' and 'yeses' filled the room. One girl's hand went up.

"Yes Grace?"

"What if we can't find a zoo worker or a guard?"

"Then you find a nice woman with children and ask her to help you find a worker or guard. But you should be able to find a worker just fine, Okay?"

Grace nodded as did most of the other kids. Melinda put her pink band on her wrist and shook her head at the color. Probably Skye's doing. She watched as the kids in their group peered at the wristbands. The one boy named Robbie sneered at it. Yes that was definitely a sneer. He grumbled quietly and then shot up is hand.

"Why do I have to wear a pink bracelet?"

"Because that's the group you're in Robbie. Just put it on for the day okay." Jane answered quietly hoping to stem off a battle.

The other boy frowned at Robbie and slapped his band on. "Real men wear pink Robbie. It's no big deal. Just put it on."

Phil squeezed Alphonso's shoulder and laughed as he joined in encouraging the boy. He knelt down next to him and put his own pink band on. "Indeed, they do. See Robbie." He looked over at Leo and Lincoln who obliged by quickly putting theirs on too.

Then Skye walked over to the boy who was still just standing there holding the band. "Please Robbie. It was my idea and it's cause pink is my favorite and it's such a beautiful color. And see it's dark pink so it's nearly reddish."

The boy smiled at her and nodded. "Okay Skye. Only cause you like it." She smiled bigger. Meanwhile Lincoln pushed his way over to stand on the other side of Skye. Melinda raised her eyebrows at Jane who simply shrugged. Phil's eyes were huge as he watched the interchange.

Melinda turned toward him with a grin and whispered just loud enough for him to hear. "They look cute together."

The sound that came from Phil sounded like a dying whale. He tried to cover it up with a cough as the other adults stared at him while Melinda's body shook in silent laughter.

Honestly, she probably should just dump the entire bottle of Advil in her mouth. As she looked around checking on 'her' kids, she gave a fake smile to the little girl across the isle from her bus seat as the kids sang "The Wheels on the Bus" song for the hundredth time. At least a hundred, maybe more. She was sitting with Phil on the bus, and the seats being bus seat size, she had her left leg jutted out into the aisle. In front of her were Skye and Jemma and behind them were Robbie and Mack. Phil had quickly learned to use the boy's nickname and not call him Alphonso. Unsurprisingly the name fit him well since he was the size of a ten-year-old and built like a Mack truck. He had struck up a conversation earlier with Phil, before the dreaded songs started being sung, about football and basketball and how he liked both a lot. After the singing started, Phil had asked Melinda to switch seats so he could be near the window and a crack of air. Across from Robbie and Mack sat Lincoln and Leo. Robbie and Lincoln were actually talking up a storm about cars and seemed to have no animosity to each other in spite of the little crushes they both obviously had on Skye. Who could blame them Melinda thought, as a picture of Skye came to her mind, momentarily making her forget the singing that surrounded her. Skye was beautiful both inside and outside with her dark brown doe eyes, little pug nose and slight dimples when she smiled. She was adorable. She was definitely going to be turning heads when she got older. Ugh, Melinda grabbed onto the top of the seat in front of her. The school bus seemed to hit every bump on the road. Phil tapped her arm and offered her a tums which he had been scarfing down after the last twenty minutes of the ride. He didn't get car sick per se, but the constant shaking and up and down motion worked on his stomach. She shook her head and pointed to her head instead indicating her issue was a full- blown headache. He nodded and smiled in sympathy and went back to staring out the window in hopes of not vomiting on his wife.

They finally pulled into the zoo parking lot. The driver swung the big vehicle to the front entrance so the kids could get off instead of walking across the entire parking area. They were in the last bus and were waiting for the second one to unload. The kids were looking out the windows and seemed to be all talking at once. Melinda got up and waited at the front of the bus. Finally, the bus pulled up to the front entrance and Melinda stepped down the bus steps first, taking in a huge gulp of fresh air as she turned back to help gather Phil and hers six charges for the day. The kids stepped down one by one all with huge smiles on their faces.