The baby slept incredibly well through the night. She woke every three hours wanting a bottle and once woke wanting nothing more than to be held. Phil thought it was because Leia was out of her normal environment. Melinda's brows had furrowed, still tired and not catching on to his meaning, so he further explained that their daughter probably had a home outside of the playground in this other universe.

She blinked at him, trying but failing not to imagine her and Phil living a normal civilian lifestyle. Images flickered through her mind for the rest of the night after that. As did all the questions that came with them. Questions like, did they have an apartment in the city or a house in the suburbs? Were they the couple who took time off and went to the movies? Did they have dinners and nights at home? Was Phil the director of S.H.I.E.L.D in their other life? If he was, were they able to set work aside and choose them every once in a while?

Something inside told her they did and were, but as wonderful as that life had been for them, something had come and stole that happy life away.

Phil got dressed and left early that morning wanting to get the paperwork out of the way before they went out for the day. She had the morning to herself so she did Tai chi in his room while the baby slept trying to get her mind in the right frame of mind before she called her mother.

She decided sometime during the night while gazing at her daughter and listening to Phil's soft snores beside her; she needed to get away. Not from Phil or the baby but the Playground and work. Away from alternate realities and forces threatening to kill them and just live like a new mother for a while.

Because when it came down to it, that's what she was now. A mom. And that terrified her more than she would ever admit.

With Leia asleep on the bed, she took her phone and laid down beside her. For a while, she let her phone rest between her and the baby and ran her fingers over the soft, dark hair of her newborn. It amazed her how long and thick it was. Leia had gotten her hair, her eyes, and maybe even her nose from her, but those cheeks and that smile, that was Phil.

The baby stirred as she caressed her cheek, but didn't wake. With a smile, she wondered if the two hours Leia was awake earlier that morning had worn her out. She had been so enthusiastic in wanting to be held and talked to, kicking her feet and waving her hands in the air. Melinda had to remind Phil three times of the paperwork that was waiting for him.

He had been procrastinating then, just like she was doing now.

Taking her phone, she brought up her mother's number before she could change her mind and pressed call. She only had to wait three rings before her mother picked up. "Hey, it's me."

"Qiaolian, it's about time I heard from you," her mother's quiet voice replied. "What's wrong?"

Melinda frowned, slightly offended. "I don't only call you when something's wrong."

"Oh, alright then."

The line was silent as her mother waited for her to continue. Melinda held in a sigh. Alright, maybe she only called her mother when things went to hell, but this wasn't that. Not for this version of herself, anyway. "I was thinking of coming to see you. Phil and I, we…" she trailed off, biting her lip. We what? Had a baby? She might not want to start like that.

"Has he finally asked you to marry him?"

Her eyes widened, and she sat up so she could move across the room away from the baby before she sputtered a, "What? No, Mama. It's… not like that."

It was kinda like that. Sort of.

She rolled her eyes at herself.

"Yes?"

Melinda looked over at Leia, who raised her arms above her head but stayed asleep. "It's a long story."

"Lucky for you I had a free morning."

The urge to let out the most hysterical laugh almost overwhelmed her. Where did she even start? Taking a deep breath, Melinda started at the beginning and told her everything.

Walking into the kitchen an hour and a half later, Melinda was on a mission to grab a tea and a Lara bar on her way to see Phil. Her mother had quietly listened as she recounted her time with her other self and all that had taken place after. She listened patiently as Melinda admitted her fears and cast doubt on her abilities. In the end, it was decided that she, the baby, and even Phil would go stay at her mother's.

She shifted Leia in her arms so she could reach for a cup just when she heard a gasp from behind her.

She turned to find Simmons coming at her with a worried frown. "There you both are. How was everything? Did she eat? Did she sleep all right?"

"She's fine. She woke every three hours, drank an ounce and a half each time and went right back to sleep." Her tone may have been abrupt and matter-of-fact, but if Simmons minded it didn't show it.

"I'm so glad to hear that," she told her, then reaching into her back pocket, pulled out a slip of paper. "I couldn't sleep much thinking about everything that happened, so I prepared you a list of things you may need for her." She pointed to the first item on the list and explained, "This formula here is the next best for her after the milk you have. But if it upsets her stomach, you may need to try a more lactose sensitive version, which would be this one here."

She pointed them to the one underneath, then handed her a list with the names of the different formulas with a note under each about the ingredients and why each was important to Leia. Along with the formula, there were items like pacifiers, teething rings, infant Tylenol, diaper rash cream… the list went on and on.

Melinda swallowed, a small lump forming in her throat being touched and feeling guilty for not taking the time to look up things like this up herself. A day into being a mother, and she was already failing.

Simmons must have taken her silence for annoyance because, in the next moment, the young girl was stammering an apology. "I'm sorry, May. I hope I didn't overstep-"

She shook her head. "No, you didn't. Thank you, Jemma. I appreciate this," she said, offering her a small smile.

Slipping the list into her pocket, she took a bag of green tea from a container on the counter. Simmons was still hovering close by, making Melinda think she wanted more than just to give her the list. "Did you want to hold her?"

Jemma positively beamed at her. "May I?"

Melinda nodded, then let Jemma take her from her. Leia cooed softly, her gaze unsure about the switch until Jemma began to talk to her.

"Good morning, lovely. Aren't you wide awake? You've got the prettiest eyes." She ran her finger over her brow, then down her cheek. "You look a lot like your mum, did you know that?"

Melinda smiled and used the time Simmons had Leia to finish making her tea.

"Morning, everyone."

"Oh, good morning, Sir," Jemma said brightly, looking over Melinda's shoulder.

Before she could turn, she felt Phil's hand warm and pressing on her lower back. "Good morning," he replied to Jemma, then for Melinda he gave her a crooked smile. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," she said in return, making his smile widen.

Thankfully, Jemma was oblivious to their obvious flirting as she rocked Leia from side to side, looking down at her with adoring eyes. "I was just telling Leia how much she looks like her mum."

Phil's hand slid from the small of her back to her hip. His eyes were bright and proud when he replied, "She does, doesn't she?" then adding, "The most beautiful baby I've ever seen."

At that moment, Fitz walked in and saved Melinda from anyone noticing the blush that had risen in her cheeks.

"Fitz, you should hold her," Jemma said, walking over to him.

Holding his hands in the air, he backed away. "I dunno, Jemma, I'm not that good with babies."

She shook her head despite his protests. "Nonsense, you won't hurt her." Melinda opened her mouth to suggest Jemma wait until another time when he was more comfortable, but the young girl was already putting Leia in his reluctant arms. "There you go."

Phil must have felt Melinda tense. His hand moved from her hip to caress her back.

Fitz stood rooted to the spot, awkwardly holding Leia. To his credit, he at least didn't look like he would drop her, but his facial expression set like he was holding a bomb. "All right, she's cute. Can I be done?"

No doubt sensing how uncomfortable the man holding her was, Leia began to cry. Melinda wasn't the only one at the end of her rope and thank God Phil chose that moment to take her. A second longer and Melinda would have walked over and taken her herself.

"I'll take her," he said. "I have to steal her and her mother away for the afternoon, anyway."

Melinda breathed a sigh of relief as Phil lifted her onto his shoulder. She watched him as he swayed her gently, patting her back, telling her he had her now. Her cries lessened significantly, helping Melinda relax. She and Phil left, and Melinda thought whatever baby phobia Fitz had, he could get over it with his own baby and not hers.

—

They made their way to his office in silence. Melinda noticed there were less confused, curious glances and more smiles than before. Word about Leia must have spread overnight.

Once inside, he closed the door after her and as he made his way over to his desk, he told her, "I got an SUV all gassed up and ready to go whenever you're ready."

She took a breath and sat her tea on his desk. They had joked about her mother's reaction the night before, but she hadn't told him about going to see her. Then again, she hadn't fully committed to any plans until after Phil left that morning. She hoped he took it well. "About that..."

His eyes rose to meet hers. "Uh oh, I see a plan forming. What do you want to do?"

He wasn't going to like this. It was last minute and asking a lot of them both. "I want to take Leia to my mother's."

"Oh." His face fell and she could tell he was on the verge of taking her leaving personally if she didn't explain.

"Just for a week, maybe two? If the other me doesn't come back for her…" she paused, not wanting to go down that road again. "I want some time to figure out how to do this. How to be a mom without everyone we work with watching. Until we decide what we're going to do on a more permanent basis, I just want to have some time alone with her." She turned her gaze out the window. If she looked at him he'd be able to see how deep her insecurities went and she didn't want that. When she had her emotions under control, she looked over at him. He was studying her thoughtfully. She went over to him, gentling her voice as she said, "Come on, Phil, this is no place for a baby."

"I don't know, it's safe and secure," he said with a wistful look around the room. She leveled him with a hard stare. He cleared his throat and looked down at his desk, shuffling papers with the hand not holding their child. "Except from other universes, apparently. I get what you mean. We should consider other options."

She crossed her arms and gave a single nod. "We should."

"And you think the best place to do this is at your mother's?" he asked, his face set in a slight cringe. "You don't by chance still have that cabin in Australia?"

"Here we go, Phil, my mother doesn't hate you."

"She does. She absolutely does. She's told me many times with her eyes."

Melinda rolled hers. He was so dramatic.

"You were all I talked about when we started working together, she thought you were distracting me," she said by way of explaining her mother's less than warm feelings for him. His brows rose as his smug look from the night before returned full force. Narrowing her eyes, she added, "Don't let that go to your head."

"Oh, it's far too late for that. I'm starting to think I was right about the other us happening after the academy. Why am I only hearing about this now?"

Heat once again rose in her cheeks. God, she hated herself for letting him get to her. She tried hard to keep from smiling, but oh, that smile of his… she hated him. "Because of this reaction right here."

"What's wrong, Mel? You're looking a little flushed."

His teasing her, flirting with her while holding their sleeping daughter against his chest was doing things to her. Fatherhood was a damn good look on Phil Coulson and she suspected he knew it. `

"I'll show you flushed," she murmured, taking a step towards him.

"Yeah?" he challenged, with a step towards her.

She eyed him, crossed her arms and took a step that had them standing so close she could feel the warmth of his chest on her skin. "Yeah."

His eyes fell to her lips, and she suddenly felt hers doing the same as they drifted closer together. Her heart pounded in her chest so hard she was sure he could hear it. Just as her eyes drifted shut, as soon as she felt the whisper of his lips on hers, his phone chose that moment to ring, startling them away from one another. He picked up the phone, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Go ahead," he said to the caller.

She bit her lip and took a breath while dropping her gaze to the baby. Her heart still pounding in her chest. Phil almost kissed her. If he hadn't been holding Leia, she probably would have turned on her heel and left, disappearing for the rest of the day while she figured out what it all meant. However, her daughter's presence kept her grounded in a way that didn't make her want to run out the door. Melinda realized right then that she wasn't as afraid of what it might mean because she knew. It meant the beginning of a future with him.

His call ended and after hanging up, he smiled softly at her. "When do you want to leave?"

"I called her this morning. She'll have a car here in a few hours. Things are quiet here right now. I thought maybe you could come with us?"

"I can't let you go and have all the fun," he told her. She held out her hands, wanting her baby back in her arms. He carefully transferred Leia from his chest to hers without waking her. "Three hours, eh? I guess I better go pack a bag... and maybe a vest."

She watched him walk away, shaking her head. Dropping a kiss to Leia's brow, she whispered, "Should we tell him năinai won't be there?" Leia stirred against her, stretching and yawning. She blinked up at her a few moments before letting her eyes drift shut once again. "Nah, it's more fun like this."

A little over three hours later, she and Phil stood outside as her mother's driver pulled up. The car was a large black SUV with tinted windows. It was as large and imposing as one of their own. She and Phil shared an amused look. He opened one of the passenger doors and turned back towards her.

"Wow, your mother goes all out. Complete with a driver and a car seat. I'm impressed she thought of it."

"I told her about Leia. You're lucky she didn't drive here herself."

He snorted and handed their bags to the driver. "I can imagine her disapproving look staring at me in the rearview mirror for the entire two-hour trip."

She smiled when he winked at her before turning towards their team, who had come to see them off. "We'll be back in a week," he told them, "while we're gone, Mack's in charge. Report to us if you find anything or-"

"Or if anyone shows up from a multiverse." Daisy's lips tipped up into a knowing smile. "Got it." She went over to May, bent down and kissed Leia's cheek. "Bye, kiddo."

Next up was Simmons. She went over, mirroring Daisy and kissing her cheek too. "Goodbye, little one."

They said their goodbyes, and Melinda turned away first. In the car, she gently eased the baby into the rear-facing seat, then went through the painstaking process of finding all the buckles. The baby had woken with Daisy's kiss goodbye and was looking up at her with her dark eyes, patient as could be.

Once she found all the straps, she buckled in Leia while Phil got in and put on his seat belt. Satisfied it was secure but not too tight around her baby, she nodded to the driver they were ready and put on her own.

Normally, she would relax back into her seat and shift her gaze out at the view, but the baby's soft coos kept her attention solely on her. She was awake and happy. Eyes shining up at her like Melinda hung the moon.

Though they only had her a day, Melinda couldn't imagine life without her now.

Phil reached over to put his hand over hers where it rested on the side of the car seat. She looked up; He was smiling at her. She smirked, and turning her hand over in his, laced their fingers together.

"It'll be alright," Phil said as though reading her thoughts.

Her smile widened. "Shouldn't I be saying that to you?"

He groaned. "When we get back, we're opening that bottle of Haig. Lord knows I'll need it."