Rain poured down from the skies almost the entire drive to her mother's. Melinda breathed a sigh of relief when she realized the car seat had a cover that would wrap around it. Tucking Leia's blanket around her, she covered the car seat, dashing for the porch of her mother's house while Phil got their bags from the driver. She took her key from her pocket and unlocked the door. Inside, she kicked off her shoes on the mat in the hall.

She was just inside the foyer taking off her coat when Phil came in dripping wet. She had to turn her head away to keep from smiling at the sight.

"Don't forget to take off your shoes," she reminded him.

He nodded, doing so while saying, "I'm surprised your mother wasn't on the front porch to greet you."

Melinda put the car seat on the floor, kneeling as she removed the cover. She smiled at Leia, and with a casual air, told him, "She's not home."

The sound of the door shutting but nothing else had her looking over to see a bewildered Phil standing in the hall holding their bags, attempting to toe-off his shoes. "What? She's not here?"

"I never said she would be," she replied, unbuckling Leia, deliberately not looking at him.

She heard him drop their bags on the ground. "Are you serious right now?" Her lips pulled up, and as they did, she finally looked over to see his lips pulled down into a deep frown. His hands were on his hips, his face set in a look she knew well. It called her a traitor. "That's cruel, Mel. Even for you. I had a whole speech prepared."

"A speech?" She raised a brow, intrigued. Lifting Leia to lie on her chest, she asked, "What kind of speech?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Now he was the one smirking at her. He had no intention of telling her either, the bastard. He was lucky he was cute.

She walked with Leia into the living room. Her mother, the minimalist, had only the most practical furniture. Two maroon armchairs beside the fireplace with a large, white linen sectional sofa. The floors in her home were all dark wood, but in the center of the living room were double champagne-colored rugs, and in the center, a simple wood coffee table.

The house was thankfully warm. They wouldn't need to turn up the heater or light a fire. Her mother probably controlled the temperature and adjusted it before they arrived.

Phil came to stand beside her. He'd been here with her once when he came to visit after a job overseas had Melinda on bed rest for three weeks. The house still looked much the same, even after all these years. "So how long do we have this place to ourselves?" he asked.

"She didn't say," she said, shifting Leia to cradle her in her arms. She was pleased to see her awake. "Hi, baby girl." To Phil, she said, "I'm going to feed her. Do you want to take the bags upstairs?"

"I can do that." Before he left, Phil leaned down and kissed Leia's forehead. "And afterward, I'll make us some lunch. I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Those donut holes we got at the store didn't exactly hit the spot."

"Sounds good," she called after him. She waited until she could hear his footsteps upstairs then told her daughter, "He's a good daddy, isn't he?" She kissed her again. "You don't cry a lot. Were you always this good?" Cuddling her close, she brushed her nose against the baby's tiny one. "I bet you were."

Leia kicked her legs and cooed softly. Melinda's chest clenched. She found it amazing how quickly this tiny little girl wrapped herself around her heart. A tiny fist made its way up to her mouth where she chewed on it enthusiastically.

"Is that a hint?" she asked, amused.

Making her way into the kitchen, she stopped and grabbed Leia's bag beside the car seat with the formula they picked up for her along the way. The directions were straightforward enough. She pulled the plastic from the top with one hand, impressed with herself, she'd quickly adapted to doing things easily with one hand. With a bottle from the bag, she went over to where her mother kept filtered water and filled two ounces. Taking the formula, Melinda brought the powdered substance up to her nose. Her nose wrinkled, and she dropped it back to the counter immediately.

"I'm not going to lie to you," she said looking down at her daughter, "it smells like crap." The baby only gurgled up at her in reply, making Melinda smile.

Filling up a scoop, she dumped it into the bottle and replacing the cap, shook it until it fully dissolved. She turned on the tap, let it heat and placed the bottle under it, waiting for it to warm just a bit. She wasn't sure how Leia would like it, but she was out of options. As soon as it was ready, Leia latched on to the bottle, sucking it down just as quickly as she had with her breast milk.

Melinda chuckled, the baby's satisfied hums reminding her of how Phil inhaled his food. "You eat like your father," she murmured, kissing her forehead.

"Hey, I heard that." He passed beside them, looking at Leia adoringly before leaning in and kissing Melinda's cheek so quickly she could have imagined it. "Okay, now while you're taking care of our daughter, let's see what kinds of food your mother has for us," he said while crossing the room to the fridge. "Wow, okay. It's pretty stocked up. What do you feel like having?"

He looked over at her, completely unaware his kiss had left her breathless. "Whatever you want to make is fine," she said when she realized he was staring at her.

"With all that's in here I could make us some great sandwiches," he told her looking hopeful. The man loved sandwiches.

"That's fine. If you want to wait, I can help after I feed her."

He shook his head, already grabbing vegetables from the fridge. "No, I've got this. Leave it to me. Take Leia and go relax."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely."

He hadn't lied. He made great sandwiches. Wheat bread with tomato, avocados, lettuce, cucumber, and ham with just a little honey mustard. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until she took that first bite. When they finished, he took their plates and cleaned up while she checked on Leia. The baby was sleeping soundly, but unable to resist, Melinda picked her up anyway.

Phil just came into the room holding two cups as she took a seat on the couch. "I made you some tea."

"Thank you." She smiled up at him. "Lunch was good. I forgot how good your sandwiches were."

He took a seat next to her, facing her slightly, putting his arm up on the back of the couch, propping his head with his fist. "I'll have to make us food more often."

"I won't argue with that."

The next moment, Leia grunted in her sleep, taking their eyes off one another and onto her. She stretched in Melinda's arms but stayed asleep.

"Do you want me to take her for a while?"

She probably should share her more, but she never had the chance to know what it felt like to carry her for nine months and was making up for that time by holding her every chance she could get. "Not really."

He chuckled, a knowing look on his face. She'd let him have her in a little while. "I'm still waiting for the frustrating part." She tilted her head at him, her brow furrowed. "You know, crying all night, both of us suffering from sleep deprivation," he explained.

She shook her head. "I don't think she's that kind of baby."

"She probably got that from me. Her temperament. Goes with the flow. Content to just be wherever you are."

She smiled and so did he. He really couldn't help himself. That's what these last few months had been. Even before Leia had come, there had been more of this. More looks, more touches, more shameless flirting. She loved it. It felt comfortable and new, but also them. "Lucky for us both."

"I've been doing some thinking and I think keeping her with us at the Playground wouldn't be a bad thing."

She appreciated the shift into the more serious and turned to face him. "Really?"

"I do," he said, "but before I get into why first tell me what you were thinking. This is why we're here to discuss. You, Leia, and her safety and whatever you feel comfortable with comes first."

She felt her chest warm. It touched her that he felt that he could be open with her and have this discussion, placing their family and her opinions at the forefront for once. It would make the talk she wanted to have with him a lot easier.

Taking a deep breath, she finally voiced what she'd been thinking. "In all honesty, I'm thinking of retiring."

He sighed, his eyes dropping from hers to the baby. "I thought something like this was coming. But retiring? I can understand taking some time off-"

"Time off is great, but then I come back and it's both of us out there, Phil," she said interrupting him. "Working together was fine before, but now we have her. We can't keep putting both our lives in the line of fire." She let him think about that a few heartbeats then in an attempt to lighten the mood said, "Besides, I'm sure there's a rule you can't work directly with someone you have a child with."

He looked confused for a second and then he realized what she was saying and he smiled. "You're thinking of fraternization and we haven't…"

"Fraternized," she teased, lifting a brow. She was pleased to see his neck and ears had gone pink. She smiled triumphantly. "You're looking a little flushed, Phil."

He shook his head, amused. "I know what you're doing. You're trying to soften the blow."

Tone softening, she said, "Think about it though, where would she be if something happened to us? It's not like we can drop her off at the next multiverse. She already lost one set of parents, Phil, I won't do that to her. Not again."

He dropped his hand and took hold of hers. "We both will then."

"No, Phil. I won't let you do that. S.H.I.E.L.D. means everything to you-"

"That's where you're wrong. Melinda," he said, his hand tightening around hers, "you mean everything to me, and I know we've only had her for a little while, I love Leia as much as if she were ours. I gave my life to S.H.I.E.L.D., literally, but that was when it was just me. I didn't have a family to consider like I do now."

She opened her mouth to argue with him, but another voice from the hall beat her to any response she could have had.

"I'm happy to hear such sentiments from you, Phillip."

Melinda's head turned towards the sound of her mother's voice. "Mama."

Phil turned his head and smiled, not at all surprised to see her standing there. "How are you, Mrs. May?"

"Eager to hear this story, and to see my daughter and granddaughter."

Melinda got to her feet, meeting her mother in the middle of the room. "I thought you might not be home until the weekend?"

"I won't be able to so I came back for the night." Her mother's gaze shifted to Leia. Her eyes softened as she reached out for her. "May I?" Melinda nodded, putting the baby in her mother's arm. "She looks so much like you, Qiaolian."

"They say she has my smile," Phil said, a proud smile on his face that Melinda returned.

Her mother wasn't as convinced. "Perhaps." Melinda frowned at her, but her mother ignored the look. After a few tense moments, she looked at them both then turned, heading in the kitchen's direction. "Come, let's make some tea and talk about things."

Talking about things turned out to be mostly about Melinda as a child. How hard it was for her mother to raise her while working, but how the sacrifices had always been worth it.

Melinda agreed with the majority of it but still harbored her doubts. Doubts that stemmed from her childhood and growing up without her mother around. If she were to still work, she'd do it differently. She'd make Leia more of a priority in her life. Not that she told any of that to her mother. What happened between them couldn't be changed. Her childhood was what it was.

"I am glad to see you're taking this seriously. You would have had this life long ago if you made better choices."

Melinda scowled at her mother. She hadn't missed her meaning. She resented her bringing up decisions she made after Bahrain and her failed relationship with Andrew, especially in front of Phil. It was low and uncalled for.

"I have the life I want, the one I've always wanted, and that's all that matters."

Her mother's eyes flicking to Phil who sat beside her holding Leia. If he reacted to her comment, he didn't let it show. Instead, he continued to talk and make faces at Leia while she cooed and hummed in response while reaching up to touch his face. She'd never seen Phil look more endearing, except maybe with Daisy.

Her mother didn't find it adorable. Her gaze lifted, slipping from Phil to her. "Tā shìgè zháng bù dà de háizi, Qiaolian."

Melinda sighed.

Phil looked over at her, brows raised. She shook her head at him.

Feeling like it was time to change the subject, she told mother, "Phil and I need to go do some shopping tomorrow. Would you mind if we take the car?"

Her mother took a sip of her tea. "It is yours to use while you're here, however, I have plans for us tomorrow."

"Oh, alright. Well, we'll need to make sure we stop by a store. We need some things for the baby."

"That is precisely why we are going out. My granddaughter will get everything she needs." Pushing herself away from the table, Lian rose to her feet. "It's been a long day, I'm going to bed."

"Goodnight, Mama."

"Goodnight, Mrs. May."

They waited for her to go and once Melinda knew she was out of earshot; she looked over at Phil. He gazed back, his look conveying the comfort she needed but felt she didn't deserve. It should be her looking at him like she wanted nothing more than to pull him into her arms and not the opposite.

Leia yawned, and Phil gently swayed her in his arms. The motion had her blinking heavily. "Should we go up too?" he asked.

"I think we better."

She followed Phil upstairs, where he stopped in Melinda's room to put Leia down on the bed. She needed to be fed once more before they went to bed for the night, but Melinda wanted to talk to Phil before then. When Leia's eyes closed, she put her hand on his back and gestured with a tilt of her head for him to follow her. The baby stayed asleep as they left, and she went with him down the hall into the guest room further away from her mother's room where they could talk without her overhearing or waking Leia.

"That was nice. I really felt the love," he said, walking over to where his bag rested on the bed, unzipping it and taking out a pair of cotton pants. "What was that she called me? My Chinese is a little rusty, but whatever it was… was directed at me."

Melinda sighed. "She called you an overgrown child."

"See that's…" he trailed off then hung his head, "not entirely inaccurate. Maybe a little fair."

Seriously? She'd suddenly had enough of everything. Pushing herself away from the door frame, she went over to him. He needed to know none of what her mother thought mattered. That a life with him was all she needed. "Would you stop? Phil, I'll admit you have your moments, but none of that matters to me."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. But she made a good point."

"You think so, too? Man, what a hit to my ego."

She licked her lips. She knew he was trying to make light of the comment, but she wanted to have a serious conversation. She couldn't do that with him being cute the entire time.

"Not about you, about work. That maybe retiring isn't the answer. Maybe," she trailed off, looking up into his blue eyes, "we can take it one step at a time? I could take a little while away from the base and figure out how to be a mom, then come back part-time. We're a damn good team."

"We are."

"I'll always want to be there with you, to have your back." She reached up, her gaze on a broken thread that hung from the seam of his shirt and how she had to get it before it annoyed her. Also, she found it hard to look at him. "There will always be something. Something that will force our hand and make us choose the greater good because that's what we do, I just…" He tilted his head, drawing her gaze. "I'm not tired of making that choice, but I'm tired of letting it rule my life. How many times now should we have opened that bottle of Haig?"

He smiled gently at her. "More times than I can count."

"We keep jumping from one crisis to the next without taking a moment for ourselves. Just this once I want to be honest and admit I want more. Leia is proof that we can have it."

"How do you know we weren't school teachers in this other life?"

"Because the other me knocked the gun out of my hand before I could react."

He smirked. "That's saying something."

"What do you want?" she asked him, finally.

He looked at her for a few long heartbeats, his eyes filled with so much affection for her she found it impossible to look away. "I want to stop dancing around what we have, especially now that we have so much." He took her hands, looking down at them. "I don't think the world will end if we stand still together for a while. Find our footing while we find our way through whatever comes next."

She swallowed. "Do you mean that?"

Again the surrounding air filled with tension. Only this time there would be no phone call to interrupt them. He leaned down, and her breath left her. His lips were soft against hers, and his hand came up to cradle her face before slipping back into her hair. After all this time, they were finally here. She couldn't believe it. These last few days felt like a dream. A dream she never wanted to wake up from. She felt him deepen the kiss and her mouth softened under his. There was a groan, hers or his she couldn't be sure, but just as their kiss grew more demanding the sound of their daughter's cries shattered the moment between them.

Leia.

Phil broke their kiss, dropping his forehead softly against hers. "Our daughter has impeccable timing."

She smiled and raised her hand to rest against his chest. "Once she goes back to sleep, maybe you can try that again?"

He lifted an eyebrow at her but said nothing in response. As she left the room, she took his hand and also his bag bringing them with her to her room where, if she had anything to say about it, he and it would stay for the rest of the trip.