Prompt - This isn't the way I thought it would be

It was a cool autumn day and soon the holidays would be upon them. Daisy was lounging on the sofa at the house. It was a lazy Saturday and Daisy was spending a few days with Melinda and Phil. They had purchased the house, a farmhouse no less, years ago in anticipation of eventually retiring from Shield. They'd retired two years ago, and now lived full time at the farmhouse which was about three miles from the Shield Base. Daisy had been named Shield Director over three years ago and both Melinda and Phil had stayed on to help and guide her through the transition. After they retired, they stayed on as consultants, on their terms helping when they wanted to which was becoming less and less the last few months.

The house they'd purchased allowed them to be close to their team that had become a family to them. It had five bedrooms upstairs and off the main floor an adjacent suite that included a large bedroom, a smaller connecting bedroom, with a full bath. That one they had earmarked for Daisy and Robbie. Upstairs Phil and Melinda had their Master Bedroom complete with a fully remodeled bathroom with a jacuzzi. Melinda used it quite frequently, her joints and muscles that had taken quite a beating as an agent, relished the water therapy it provided. One of the bedrooms had been converted into a nursery and another into young kid's room for when the 'grandkids' visited with or without their parents.

They had an office on the main floor where both Melinda and Phil would work with Shield, consulting on cases and missions, usually helping Daisy or Piper, sharing their expertise. Piper had been promoted to Daisy's number two a while back, basically taking over Melinda's role. Robbie was currently on assignment with Mack working with Bobbi and Hunter on a political espionage case. Daisy didn't go on missions as much anymore, and since Shield was once again a legit agency of the government, they had a much larger pool of agents working for them.

Melinda walked in the room carrying two cups of chai tea and set them down in front of Daisy before collapsing to the sofa. She put her arm around Daisy and pulled her close. "I'm so glad you are here. I've missed you."

Daisy returned the hug with a grin. "I've missed you too." She picked up the cup and took a sip of the perfectly blended tea and sighed with satisfaction. "So good". She leaned back and laid her head on Melinda's shoulder. "My favorite tea with my favorite person in my favorite place."

Melinda Smirked. "Robbie might take issue with me being your favorite person. As would your daughter."

"Nah. They know a girl always loves her mama."

"So did you hear from Robbie?"

"Yeah he checked in this morning. They will be there another couple of days. Said it's going well, just slowly. And the kid is fine. Jemma said she's having a blast with her cousins."

"So Phil's outside raking leaves. He'll be back in soon. How about we get him to make us brunch. What are you hungry for?"

"Anything is fine."

"Come on Dais. What would you like."

"Waffles with strawberries and cream?"

"Sounds good to me. Bacon?"

"Yeah."

Daisy finished her fourth waffle and then leaned back moaning. "I always gain like five pounds when I am here."

Melinda laughed. "You say that every time you come home to stay with us."

"Hey I could use some help outside Daisy, if you want to work off those calories," Phil said from in front of the sink as he was washing up dishes.

"No thanks Dad. I'm not that desperate." She laughed at his face which pretended to be hurt. "I actually came here to talk to you guys. I mean if you both have the time. Afterward yeah I can help rake leaves or whatever later."

"Of course we have time Daisy. We want to spend time with you. It's been a pretty long time since you've been able to get away and come home." Melinda reached over the table to squeeze Daisy's hand.

"Okay so spill." Phil came over and sat back down at the table.

Daisy took a deep breath and then sighed.

"That bad huh?" Melinda face showed worry.

"No it's not bad. I mean I hope you guys don't think it's bad. Or get mad."

"Daisy just spit it out."

"Yeah tear off the bandaid and all that right? Okay so here goes. I'm stepping down as Director. I just don't have the passion for it anymore. In fact, I am retiring from Shield. I just, I need to do – I need to have a life outside of Shield."

Phil looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. Melinda, however, just smiled. Daisy looked from one to another searching their faces.

"So you mad?"

Melinda shook her head. "Of course not. Why would we be mad? You have to do what you have to do."

"You don't seem surprised Mom. But I think I blindsided Dad."

"Because I've seen this coming for a while. Robbie would rather work on cars then be an agent. Although he picked up on all the tech stuff really quickly the last few years. I've noticed you've been going on less missions yourself the last year. And you tend to push your paperwork to Piper and the agents under her. You like paperwork about as much as I do. But there's more to it isn't there?"

"Yeah. Mellie needs me to be there for her. I don't want her to grow up without parents like I did. I don't want to miss out on watching her grow up. Neither does Robbie. This is his last mission. He put in last month to leave Shield. His last day will be the end of the month. Monday when I go back to base, I'm sending in the official paperwork to retire. I'll stay on till the end of the year and help with the transitioning of the new Director. Plus Robbie and I talked it over and those two inhuman kids we found a couple months ago, we want to take them in."

"I figured. You spend a lot of time with those girls. You going to adopt?"

"Yeah, eventually. We filled for custody last week. Kyri and Jami need parents. Since both have already gone through terra-genesis, I can help them understand their powers and make sure they grow up with loving parents who guide them. Dad, I'm sorry. I know you fought like hell for me to become the Director of Shield after Mack stepped down. And I was good at it. I am glad I did it but it's time to – it's time for me to just be me. A mom, a wife. A daughter. Can you understand that?"

"Of course Daisy." He got up and knelt in front of her and took her in his arms. "You know we will support you whatever decisions you make. We are definitely not mad or sad." After a few minutes, the two separated and Phil sat back down at the table.

After a small pause Daisy spoke again. "Growing up, all I wanted was to find a family. For a while I thought that meant finding the people who were my blood parents. But what I found was a real family, parents that I chose. Back then I had a clear picture of what family was. This – this here - This isn't the way I thought it would be. But it is the way I want it to be. You guys are my family. You have been my family since I stepped foot on the bus all those years ago. You two, Fitz and Jemma, Bobbi and Hunter, Mack and YoYo and now Robbie and Mellie. And Jami and Kyri too."

"Oh Daisy." Melinda was full on sobbing now and both got up from the table as Melinda embraced her. "You saved my life. You gave me hope again. You gave me a chance to be a mom. A grandma. You may have chosen us, but we also chose you. You need to remember that. We chose you. You are all ours."

Phil got up as well and joined in the hug, wrapping his arms around his two girls. The two loves of his life.

Eventually Daisy pulled away. "Look at us super agents. Sappy as hell."

Melinda laughed. "I'm gonna make some tea. Daisy you want some?"

"Yeah."

"So I guess you're gonna find a new place of your own to live? Next year?"

Daisy stared at her powerpuff girl slippers that Melinda had bought her for Christmas last year. She stayed silent.

"I mean you can't stay on the base if you and Robbie aren't agents and with the two inhuman girls and Mellie, I just assumed..." He looked at his wife for help.

Melinda walked back over to Daisy. She lifted her chin and looked her in the eye. "We're not making you leave Daisy." Melinda knew Daisy's abandonment issues still came to the surface once in a while, even after all this time. "You can certainly continue to live here if that's what you want. You have the suite down here for you and Robbie and Mellie. We have four bedrooms upstairs not in use except when we have guests. Two can be Jami and Kyri's rooms."

"They probably would want to share a room."

"Melinda smiled. "Okay. We'll give them the biggest one."

"Or if you want Daisy, we can build onto the main floor and build a room closer to you guys. I can call a guy I know tomorrow."

"You really wouldn't mind us all living here full time. I was afraid to ask cause it's a lot to ..."

"You're our daughter Daisy. No we didn't meet you till you were an adult. No we don't have a piece of paper that says it. But here...," Melinda tapped her heart, "here it says so. Here is what matters. You're ours in every way that matters. That means that Robbie, Mellie and Kyri and Jami are ours too. This is your home. This will always be your home. You and your family. We are all family. We love you."

Melinda held out here arms, and Daisy embraced her. "I love you too Mama. You too dad." She held out her hand for Phil to join them in their second group hug of the day.

"Sappy for the win." Melinda said dryly as the other two laughed.