Drabble 35: Love and Lucky

A/N: So here's the second part of that Fitz family fic I promised! I'm sorry it took so long. I may write more about the Fitz children, but we'll have to see. My goal is fifty drabbles. I can't believe we're already at 35! But anyway, here it is! Review please!

The boy watched him with wide brown eyes, worry clear in his expression. "Am I good?"

Fitz felt his forehead and smiled at his son. "Perfect."

Benji sat up and pumped a fist into the air. "Yes!"

Fitz chuckled and stood from his position on the bedside. He'd told Benji that as long as he was feeling better, they could do what Fitz had planned for the family. Now he had to tell Jemma exactly what that entailed, and get everything set up before the kids were on him. They could be very impatient sometimes, especially when they were promised a surprise; not that he could blame them. He had been the same way when he was their age.

"Get dressed, then. We'll do something fun in a bit, but I need a little time first." Fitz said. "I'm going to talk to your mother about it. In private." He said louder, so the children standing outside the door could hear him.

He walked out of the boy's bedroom and down the hallway, into the room he shared with Jemma. He found her just exiting the bathroom, freshly dressed in jeans and a cardigan. Some things never changed.

"Have a nice shower?" he asked.

"It was perfect." She replied. "Is everyone healthy?"

"I checked all of them over. It looks like we're back to normal."

She grabbed a brush and started combing through her wet hair. "So you told them what you have planned?"

"Nope."

She stopped brushing and just looked at him for a minute. "You can be quite evil sometimes."

He half-smiled, and she mirrored his look, going back to fixing her hair.

Fitz grabbed a duffel bag from the closet and put in a pair of clothes for him, and one for Jemma, and a blanket that fit inside it. "I just hope everything works out right."

"We did the calculations together, Fitz, and we've checked them over plenty of times. I'm sure we'll see the comet tonight."

They piled everyone into the car and set off an hour later. Benji was glued to a book, as he usually was, and Anna was staring out the window, humming. Andrew held his bag in his lap, lost in thought. Every now and then his hands would move over the bag, but he never did anything with them.

Fitz knew that to be a sign. His oldest was getting in one of his restless moods, when he felt like he had to do something with his hands. Luckily, Fitz planned on letting him help set things up as soon as they got to the site.

He had expected to be attacked with questions, and complaints about how he was withholding information, but there was nothing of the sort.

He even turned on the radio, to the eighties station. Still nothing.

"Something weird is going on." He whispered to Jemma. "Our children are acting like angels."

She looked at him from the passenger side and smiled. "I wouldn't question it, Fitz. I'm sure they'll be back to normal when we get to camp."

"We're going camping?" Anna asked.

Fitz hadn't noticed that her humming stopped while he was speaking. She was so quiet sometimes.

"That's our surprise?" Andrew asked. "Really?"

"That's part of the surprise." Fitz said. "You'll have fun. Coulson gave me this idea."

That interested them. Coulson was like family, and Fitz knew they usually liked whatever he planned for them. Anna went back to her humming with a smile. Andrew looked at him in the mirror, clear blue eyes searching for more information.

This is for you, Fitz thought. Just trust me.

They reached their destination about forty minutes after leaving the house. If the children had been expecting a typical campsite with tons of families and RV's, they were disappointed. They were isolated here, on private property Coulson had given them access to for the weekend. The grass was vibrant and thick, the land gently sloped and clear in every direction.

"Oh, Fitz, this is beautiful." Jemma said, looking around.

"It's nothing too special, but I figured it would be a good change of scenery." Fitz said. "Much bigger than our backyard, right?"

Anna giggled and ran ahead of them, excited, brown curls bouncing. Benji looked up from his book and Fitz watched him, wondering how he would react. It was his first time camping. Then the boy closed the book and walked after his sister, transitioning to a sort of skipping as he caught up with her.

"Coming Andrew?" Jemma asked, smiling.

Andrew was standing next to the car, his backpack set on his shoulders. He was studying the area carefully, as he always did with new places. He nodded and started walking with them.

They walked up the gradually sloping land until they reached a hill, which they climbed.

"This looks like a good spot." Fitz said, setting down his bag. "We can sleep up here."

"What do we do right now?" Anna asked after they dropped all their bags and spread a blanket on the grass.

"That's up to you." Jemma said. "Today is for the three of you, so we can do whatever you want."

Anna looked to Benji, and they smiled to each other. "Let's play tag!"

Jemma looked at Fitz. "Tag you in in a bit?"

He grinned. "Of course." He watched as Jemma chased after Anna and Benji, acting like a monster, much to their amusement. "You don't want to play?" he asked Andrew.

The boy met his look and shrugged. "I'll play with them later. Tag is their favorite game."

Fitz thought for a minute. "How would you like to help me set something up?"

He saw a flicker of interest in Andrew's eyes. "What is it?"

Fitz started walking back towards the car, and Andrew followed. "A telescope. I was going to set it up later, when it was getting dark, but there's no harm in doing it now."

Andrew smiled. "How much does it need to be built?"

"It shouldn't take too long to set up, but it's definitely something you can help me with. You could even do it yourself if you really wanted to. It's not hard. It just has to be done carefully."

They retrieved the bag with the parts and walked back up to the hill. Fitz laid out the parts and grabbed the instruction sheet. "Let's make this interesting." He said. He folded the instructions and stuffed them in his pocket. "Let's see if we can do it by ourselves. We've built telescopes before, right?"

Andrew grinned and started looking at the parts. There weren't many; just a stand, tube, two lenses, and a piece that could be used to adjust the focus. Fitz had bought a pretty basic model on purpose. First, it would be easy to set up at the camp. Second, he wanted his family to view most of the effects that night with the unaided eye. They could look through a telescope any day. This was the only night in a long while they would be able to see everything clearly just by looking up.

Andrew set up the telescope without a problem, with only minor help from Fitz. Which meant holding the tube steady while he connected the lenses.

A few minutes after they had it set up Jemma ran back up the hill and touched Fitz on the arm. "Your turn." She said.

"I've got it." Andrew said. Then he ran down the hill, dashing up to Anna and tagging her before she had a chance to run. Benji laughed, and stumbled when Anna started chasing him. When she tagged Benji she quickly ran away. Benji tried catching both her and Andrew for a while, but eventually he stopped and just looked at them.

"I'll go help him." Jemma said.

But she didn't have to. Andrew ran towards him and grabbed his hand, and then together they ran after Anna.

"Would you look at that." Fitz said. "Jemma, I think our kids are looking out for each other."

"It must be something in the air." She said. She reached for Fitz's hand and held it for a moment. "This was a fantastic idea." She said.

He applied pressure to her hand and then released it. Then he touched her arm and looked at her… and smiled mischievously. "You're it." He said.

She opened her mouth in mock outrage, but her eyes were laughing as she chased him down the hill.

The children watched their parents in silence, not knowing what to do. At least, Andrew did. Benji ran towards Fitz and Jemma immediately, Anna only a moment behind him. Andrew shook his head softly and felt the trace of a smile on his lips. "There must be something about this place." He said to himself. Then he chased after his siblings.

Hours later the Fitz family lay on a large blanket spread over the grass on the top of the hill. The sky had darkened, and the stars shone steadily on them, the moon a small crescent. They were all tired, but even Benji managed to stay awake, with enough prodding.

Andrew lay on one end, next to Fitz. Anna was against Fitz, pressing against his arm. Benji was next to her, nestled against Jemma, who kept stroking his hair periodically and whispering to him, to keep him awake.

Fitz watched the sky, waiting for the comet. Eventually he saw a flash of red, right on the edge of his vision. "Here it is!" he said.

They watched as the streaks of red flew across the sky, glowing against the blackness of space. Fitz looked over and saw the reflection in Andrew's eyes, and the smile on his face.

A few minutes later, when the comet had completely passed and the sky was once again calm, Andrew looked at his father. "Thanks dad." He whispered.

Fitz smiled lightly. "No problem."

He sat up a bit and looked over at Jemma, who smiled for him. Fitz carefully stood up and retrieved the extra blanket they'd brought and laid it over Jemma. Benji was already fast asleep, still pressed up against Jemma, but he'd taken most of the blanket they had been sharing. He kissed her forehead and smoothed a hand over Benji's head, and then moved quietly back to his spot. Anna was just drifting off, but Andrew was still staring into the sky, seemingly wide awake with his hands behind his head.

Fitz still felt something incredible when he looked at Andrew's eyes. They weren't the eyes of a child, but neither were they the eyes of an adult. They were ageless, with a wisdom behind them that made the boy much older than he truly was. They were just like Fitz's father's eyes.

"You should probably sleep." He whispered to his oldest son.

"I will." Andrew responded. "I just need another minute."

Fitz nodded and readjusted himself, getting comfortable. After making sure Andrew had closed his eyes he closed his own, knowing sleep would come to him in an instant. It had been a wonderful day. And his children had enjoyed themselves as much as he and Jemma had. Even Andrew had played like he was the same age as Benji, without a worry or care in the world. They would have to make it a tradition, to come here at least once a year.

It felt too perfect not to.