Chapter 2

After the plane stopped in an undisclosed location in Wisconsin, I managed to wrangle a ride to a local bus station that happened to have a bus to Stevens Point. From there I can catch a greyhound to Waterloo, Iowa. With just a backpack and sports bag to my name, I knew that this could officially go on my list of times when life spit me out. With a sigh, I boarded my bus and called Laura to let her know of my expected arrival in Waterloo. With transportation sorted out, I looked out the window and my mind continued to circle around how angry Clint would be at me if he knew what I did. The cool window on my forehead felt soothing for the quickly forming headache.

During the long overnight ride, I wrote lists. Lists of my failures. Lists of my few achievements. Lists of what I had yet to complete. Lists. My life boiled down to lists. As the sun started to rise that morning, I wrote a new list. A list of priorities, things that I wouldn't screw up and things that I would improve. I can't keep letting Clint and Laura worry about me.

1. I will never do anything that will hurt my current family.

2. I will stop making impulsive decisions and think through my options.

3. I will help Laura with this pregnancy.

4. I will start to learn a new skill to get a job while I freeload.

5. I refuse to be a burden.

6. I will get through this.

It wasn't complete. But the words stared at me like a new mantra. I could do this. By the time the bus pulled into the station, the cloud looming over me felt a lot smaller. As I stepped off the bus I saw Laura, my niece, and my nephews. I put on my biggest smile, it would do me no good to be glum in front of the kids. After a few steps I put my bags down, and the kids took off to tackle me. Nicole being the smallest and following her brothers was the last to reach me. I quickly grabbed her, and spun her around much to her delight and the disappointment of her brothers. Once her feet were safely back on the ground, I laughed at the upset faces of Callum and Lewis and opened my arms. The quickly grabbed on.

"Aunt Skye, Aunt Skye." The two voices trading off.

"What do you rascals want?"

"Can we see your phone?" Callum, the bolder of the two, quickly asked.

"And let you message all my friends? Never first mate Callum." He grinned hearing his nickname from the last time I visited and he wanted to be one of black beards pirates.

A small voice piped up nearby. "Aunt Skye, can we make cookies when we get home?"

"Of course. And I am sure our fellow pirates will help."

"I don't make cookies, I just eat them." Callum boldly declared.

Lewis, the quieter of the two, decided to disagree. "But I can help Aunt Skye."

"Well Mr. Callum, only boys who help make cookies get to eat them. Looks like Lui and Nicky will have to help your mom and I eat all them."

"Well given this new information, I think I can be persuaded to help with this cookie batter." The kid was just like his father. He was going to be a handful as he got older.

"Of course."

"Skye, how are you?" Laura came over to pull me into a big bear hug. I almost broke down in new tears then. Key word: almost.

"Better than earlier this week and definitely ready to take a shower." She responded with a laugh as she went to grab a bag. I quickly scooped up both.

"Skye, I can carry a bag."

"Laura, didn't you hear the new recommendation by the general surgeon. Pregnant women shouldn't be carrying heavy bags."

"Really, must be new. You know these recommendations. They need testing before they can be fully trusted."

"But better safe than sorry." I stuck my tongue out. She rolled her eyes as she went to unlock the van.

"Thanks for coming."

"Are you kidding? You guys are my only family. And what else am I going to do? Stew in my failure? No. The way I see it, you are doing me a huge favor by allowing me to freeload for a while so I can figure out a next step."

"Skye, we talked about—"

"I know, I am not a failure, blah, blah, blah…"

"Don't worry." She quickly lifted my bags off and stuck them in the trunk.

"Thanks."

With that we grabbed the trio and buckled them into their safety seats and rolled out. The entire drive to Waverly, I couldn't help but be grateful to Laura. Clint and I met in foster care and immediately hit it off. He became my older brother in every sense of the word. I would have done anything to repay him for his protection and help. But no matter how much we helped each other heal emotionally and mentally, Clint was desperate to improve his life and get out of the hell we lived in. He started preparing to enlist in the military. I was terrified that he would leave me and forget about me. He promised when I was 18, he would pick me up and I could live with him while I figured my life out. When he met Laura, he began talking about a family. Again, I was worried that a new family meant there would be no room for his loser foster sister. But Laura stormed into the apartment one day and dragged me out to go to lunch asking me everything she could think of. She refused to let me even contemplate the idea of not being welcome. And no matter how many times I messed up, she was there to help pick up the pieces.

A few years after Clint became a full-time agent, he brought back a sister: Natasha. When he went to introduce us, Laura was uncertain and Clint seemed uneasy but determined to give the assassin a chance. I being the dumb 14 year old I was and desperate for a family all my own, latched onto another member of the family. To this day, I am unsure if Clint just wanted to show Natasha that family is what you make of it or if he genuinely intended for us to become sisters. But, I charged forward with a plan for another sibling, ignoring the danger signs a sensible person would have noticed. I pulled Nat (my new name because, duh, family has nicknames). And set to doing everything 14 year old me thought would make an older sister feel comfortable. Which was admittedly pretty lame. Nat said it was endearing.

But after a few months, Nat was just as much a part of our hodge podge family as anyone else. And now, if someone so much as looked at Laura or I the wrong way it was double the assassins on the doorstep. At this point, Laura managed to get custody of me thanks to Clint and Nat pulling strings (and maybe the threat of one or two deaths).

In Junior high Jason Bateman asked me out for a bet, knowing I had a crush on him, then proceeded to embarrass me in front of the whole school. I was crushed. Laura helped me work my way through multiple pints of ice cream and keep attending classes even though I wanted to curl up under the covers to cry some more. At that point, it wasn't the heartache, it was sheer embarrassment for being an idiot. Nat and Clint got home in the middle me sobbing about how two 'friends' of mine had ditched me and how the whole school hated me. Nat and Clint cuddled with me while I cried, then ordered pizza while they helped me with my homework. Well, they tried to help me with my homework, but I was a genius. The next day, no one said a word. Jason had suddenly transferred schools. No one mentioned a word about the incident.

Clint, Laura, Nat, Callum, Lewis, and Nicole. They were my family. I wanted things to work out with Coulson's team, but family comes first. Family always comes first.

As I looked over, I made another promise to myself. I will do everything in my power to make sure this pregnancy, no matter what complications, would go smoothly.