Well hello there!
I have no excuses for this little thing. I just started thinking about it when I was at work, and I had to write it.

This is situated a few months after the season 7 epilogue, so spoilers ahead if you haven't seen it yet (and if you haven't... what are you waiting for?!)

this work is unbeta'd, and English isn't my first language. I apologize in advance for all my mistakes. xx

Fitz woke up to the wonderful feeling of his wife's fingers running up and down his torso, scratching his bare chest lightly. His body felt pleasantly warm still, the last remains of sleep stiffening his loose muscles.

"Good morning" Jemma whispered, her breath caressing the curve of his neck as she pushed her lips against his pulse point. "And happy 33rd birthday, husband."

Fitz giggled then, the sound reverberating through his chest as Jemma turned her head, pressing her ear against his heart. "Technically" he replied around a yawn, his arms tightening around her waist, "I'm 38." The shirt she wore to sleep had rolled up during the night, exposing the curve of her back, and he pressed the flat of his palm against her warm skin.

"Since when do you care about technicalities?" Jemma replied with amusement, her cold nose pressing right under his ear as she stretched. How she could still have cold body parts in the middle of summer, Fitz would probably never understand. "I thought you were a scientist, and only cared for proofs?"

Fitz took a small intake of breath, feeling himself shiver from head to toes at the feeling of her face against the sensitive skin of his neck. Without a second thought, he rolled them over, pressing Jemma against the mattress and caging her smaller body with his. Only then was he able to take a look at her face for the very first time of the day, feeling his heart leap in his chest as he did. He'd often asked himself late at night as he watched his wife sleep in their shared bed how he'd ever ended here, at this very moment, with her. Now that they'd gone through the unthinkable, and saved the world one last time, it felt only natural to wake up next to her every morning without worrying about their future. It was a scary thing, to be this comfortable, but Fitz was pretty sure the cosmos owed him one -or several, really.

"You want proof?" he slurred, kissing the tip of Jemma's nose. She wrinkled her face adorably, making his heart jump in his chest. "We've spent four years up in space with Alya. I spent an entire year with Enoch running around the galaxy trying to get back into my cryo pod. That makes five years in total, added to the 33 years I've spent on Earth... It might be hard for you to admit it, but you've married an old man."

Jemma laughed, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him against her to kiss him properly. "Alright old man" she whispered against his lips, nibbling at the lower one playfully, "don't you wanna know what your gift is?"

Fitz hummed, nosing at her jaw and peppering her neckline with butterfly kisses. Jemma could feel her entire body light up under his touch, the familiarity of his lips leaving small goosebumps on their wake. Being able to enjoy each moment with Fitz felt like a dream, and even after months, she still had to make sure she wasn't dreaming their newfound corner of happiness.

"Aren't you my present?" Fitz asked, sly, never stopping his caresses.

Jemma huffed in response, rolling her eyes. "Oh come on. You did not just say that!"

"No, you're right" he said, pulling back just enough to be able to raise himself on his hands, the length of his lower body still covering Jemma's but putting some distance between them. "My present is in the other room, sleeping unusually late, and probably about to barge in and jump on the bed with a giggle like every morning."

She chuckled. "Well tried, but that's not quite true still." Using her legs to roll them over, she switched their position, sitting on his thighs. "My present isn't actually there yet" she confessed, never parting from her smile.

His brows knitted in confusion. "Oh?"

"Yeah. You're gonna have to wait for a little while to get it, although I'm sure it's gonna be worth it."

Oblivious, Fitz nodded. "Yeah, sure. I mean, anything you could get me is fine, Jemma. You know I'll love it anyway."

"Oh I hope so" Jemma huffed, "I've worked hard on it, and so did you."

"I did?"

She nodded. "You did."

His fingers were drawing lazy patterns on her bare thighs, and with an amused sigh, Jemma caught one of his wrists. Fitz stared up at her in confusion as she slipped his right hand under the loose tee-shirt she wore -one of his, he noticed- to put the flat of his palm against the skin of her stomach. There were a few silent seconds of confusion for Fitz as he looked down at his hand, then back up at Jemma, his eyes wide as saucers.

"Jemma?" he asked, voice rough with emotion. "Are you…?"

"You had no idea how hard it was to hide this from you" simply replied with a shake of her head. "I hadn't realized just how much you knew me before you asked me why I was asking for pastas again."

"You always eat very healthy" Fitz countered automatically, his thumb rubbing at her stomach "and make us eat healthy, too. It was just weird for you to ask for bolognese for two days in a row."

"Well. Blame it all on this little one" she said, pointing at her belly.

His eyes were still comically wide as he looked down at her midsection again, fingers twitching against her skin. "But… you haven't been... "

"Sick? Yeah, I know. This little monkey might be a lot quieter than the first one."

"Which is a good thing" he said, remembering all those nights in the Zephyr Jemma had spent haunched over the toilets, vomiting miserably.

Jemma laughed. "Yeah, which is a good thing. If only I wasn't craving food all day long, though."

This time, Fitz's hand stilled against her. "Are you hungry? Should I make you something to eat?"

"Relax, Fitz. I'm fine, and the baby is fine. Let's just enjoy this birthday morning a little while longer, uh?"

Fitz had always been protective, something Jemma found incredibly charming, if not a little annoying at times. She'd been on the receiving hand of his protectiveness for a long time, but she wasn't quite prepared for how fussy he would become once she was growing their child. Her first pregnancy had gone incredibly well, all things considered, and Jemma was very grateful considering the very special situation they'd been in. But she also knew how stressful the circumstances were for Fitz, and she'd let him bustle as much as he liked back then. For this pregnancy however, she actually had access to medicine, doctors and midwives, something she was not about to let him forget if he got a little too protective again.

"I'm so happy" Fitz whispered, his eyes wet with unshed tears. "Jemma, I love you so much."

"I love you too" Jemma replied immediately with a fond smile. "And I'm so happy, too."

She bent down, taking leverage on her hands positioned on each side of Fitz's face to kiss him again. This time, their embrace was more tender, sole witness of their happiness.

"Mama? Dada?"

Jemma was the first to break their kiss when Alya's voice echoed from behind their bedroom door, followed by grabby hands twisting the doorknob and the door opening slowly. Alya was wearing her giraffe pajamas, a newfound obsession of hers since they'd gone to the zoo a couple of months earlier, and Jemma couldn't help but laugh when she saw the bird's nest on top of her daughter's head. If Alya had inherited from her straight hair genes, she'd definitely taken from her dad's when it came to the morning looks.

"Hey monkey" she said, her face breaking into a smile. "Remember what I told you yesterday, about how special today was for daddy?"

Alya's face lit up immediately as she paddled towards the bed, jumping on it easily. Jemma immediately made room for her to join the hug. Their daughter instantly jumped on Fitz like she did almost every morning, and he let out a small huff of breath as she landed on his chest without finesse.

"I think you're getting a little too big for that, monkey." he accused, his fingers immediately digging into her sides to tickle her.

Jemma's hand absently rubbed the still flat expense of her stomach as she watched the two loves of her life laugh together, rolling in the sheets of their bed.

"Happy birthday dada" Alya whispered once they'd calmed down a little, her little feet kicking the air as Fitz played with her hands and fingers. Jemma was reminded of all the times she'd seen him do that when Alya was but a few months old, fascinated as he counted her fingers and toes over and over again.

Fitz smiled. "Thank you, monkey. You know, I'm pretty sure this year's the best I've ever had" he said, looking up at Jemma. "And I cannot wait for the ones to come."