Gentle Waves

It was a sight Skye didn't think she would ever get tired of – Grant standing at the edge of the water, with a huge, blissful grin on his face, holding Haylie's hands, making sure the toddler wouldn't fall, while she squealed excitedly whenever the gentle waves lapped at her tiny feet. It was her daughter's first time at the beach, and so far she seemed to love it.

Grant took a step forward, so when the next wave came, the water went up to Haylie's knees, making her baby girl squeal again. She even pulled her hands free from her father's grasp to follow the retreating sea, but almost soon as she was on her own, she fell on her butt – walking was still a rather new thing to her, after all. For a fraction of a moment Skye was afraid that she'd start crying, and there was even a moment of silence from her, but then she started laughing and splashing at the water. A second later, just before the coming, slightly bigger wave could have gotten her, Grant picked her up and twirled her around in the air, prompting delighted laughter from the girl.

Fatherhood suited him surprisingly well – he doted on Haylie. From the moment she was born, she was the center of his universe, his sun and stars. Haylie was a surprise baby, a result of Skye's new, Inhuman biology not agreeing with human birth control. When she had first found out that she was pregnant, she was terrified – they both were. She worried what her genetic status would mean for her baby; Grant worried whether he could live up to the role waiting for him. She wouldn't lie, there were bumps on the road, but they got over them and they didn't matter anymore; the only thing that mattered was what they had now.

With the still giggling little girl propped up on his hip, Grant walked back to their blanket laid out on the sand, from where Skye has been observing the scene until now. As soon as he sat down, Haylie started stretching her arms towards Skye, calling "Ma, ma!", asking her mother to hold her. Skye reached for her almost instinctively, taking Haylie from Grant, and hugging the squirming little girl close, pressing a kiss against her dark curls. Haylie's hair was just long enough to be pulled back into two tiny pigtails. Grant refused to have it cut, and Skye had a feeling that if it was up to him, their daughter would waist-length hair until the day he died.

Skye buried her nose in Haylie's hair, inhaling her soft baby scent, humming contently, getting lost in a moment. Her daughter was something she had never realized she wanted until she had her; now she couldn't even imagine her life without Haylie.

The feeling of somebody watching her brought her out of reverie. Raising her head, her gaze met Grant's. He had that gentle light in his eyes he always had whenever he looked at them.

"Be careful, Tin Man, in the end you'll make me believe you have a heart!" she teased him, making him smile even wider.

"Maybe I have one. And maybe it just beats for my girls."

Skye laughed out loud, throwing her head back.

"Oh, my God! You are terribly corny!" She nuzzled Haylie's neck. "Isn't daddy awfully corny, baby?"

Grant just chuckled, then leaned close and kissed her, embracing Skye and sandwiching the giggling baby between them.

Her life might not have been always perfect – sometimes it was far from that. But she wouldn't change what she had now for the world.