Hey babes! Back with a new chapter for ya. Had some time before work so I figured I'd update.

Enjoy!

Grant frowns as he stares down at his son lying asleep in the middle of the bed, a small wall of pillows surrounding him as a precaution. He'd debated whether or not to put the pillows there when the boy fell asleep because his son can't roll over yet. And it's not like he's going to take his eyes off his son the entire time he's with him, just in case something does happen. But still, he couldn't keep himself from taking every precaution he can to keep his son safe. He doesn't want to miss anything, whether it's good or bad. He doesn't want anything bad to happen to him though, hence the wall of pillows.

He sighs, hanging his head. "Some bonding time this is," he mutters to himself. He looks back at his still-sleeping son. "Are you sure your mom isn't trying to remain your favorite by sabotaging our so-called bonding time by giving you to me when it's time for your nap?"

He leans back against the wall behind his bed, running a hand down his face. "And even if you were awake, you'd have no idea what I'm saying or be able to even answer me. If there was any reason I'd wish you to be older, it's so that I could actually talk to you when you're awake and you'd understand and answer me."

He sucks in a quick breath when Adian starts to stir, his small head slowly turning and his face scrunching up tightly. He remains in his seat, but sits up a little, waiting to see if Adian will settle back down and continue sleeping or not.

Instead of settling back down, though, the rest of Adian's body joins in and he begins kicking at the air, his tiny face scrunching up even more.

He reaches out and picks the boy up as carefully as he can, bringing him to his shoulder and gently bouncing him. "Hey, you're okay, bud," he says softly, rubbing at his son's back. "You don't need to cry, daddy's here."

He continues to bounce the baby as Adian keeps crying. He runs through every possibility in his head of what could be wrong with his son. Every single little thing.

Nothing comes to mind immediately after running through all of the obvious ones, and he starts to panic. He keeps his face calm and neutral, but on the inside, his heart is racing, his head is spinning, and his gut is sinking.

He doesn't want to have to go to anyone else, especially Skye, but he doesn't know what else to do. He wanted to prove that he could take care of his son, but this one situation is showing him that maybe he doesn't have what it takes to be a dad.

Maybe it's time for him to admit defeat, that he can't actually do this.

"Guess it's time to find your mom, then," he says with a heavy sigh, bouncing the boy in his arms, hoping he'll calm down before he actually finds Skye. He doesn't want her to see him so frazzled like this.

Moving out of his room, he makes sure to lock the door behind him before heading down the hallway in search of his son's mother.

He knows she had some kind of meeting today, which is part of the reason for him taking care of Adian for a few hours on his own. He just can't remember which room her meeting was taking place in.

Adian's cries increase in volume by the time he reaches the lounge.

He sighs heavily. "I'm trying to find your mom, bud. Just hang on, okay?"

"What's going on in here?"

His head shoots up to find May standing in the doorway to the lounge, the same hard, expressionless look on her face that she always has. Her eyes instantly lock onto Adian. "He's crying."

Grant huffs. "Yes, I'm aware."

"How long has he been crying?"

"I don't know. He woke up from his nap and just started crying. He's not hungry, I don't think. I'd kind of need Skye for that if he was. He doesn't need to be changed either. I don't know what's wrong. And I can't find Skye. She's ten times better at this than I am."

"Give him to me," May says without any hesitation, moving toward them.

His breath catches and his hold on Adian tightens just a little. "What?"

She nearly rolls her eyes at him. "Do you want him to stop crying?"

"Yes."

"Then give him to me." She holds her arms out and quirks a brow when he hesitates.

Grant sighs before carefully transferring Adian into the older woman's arms, instinctively instructing her on how to position her arms.

"This may come as a shock to you, Ward, but I do know how to hold a baby."

He nods once. "Right, sorry."

"Don't be. It's not something I openly advertise."

A few seconds after being in May's arms, Adian's cries start to die down to small whimpers before silencing completely.

His jaw drops in amazement. "How did you...I've been holding him this entire time and I haven't been able to get him to be quiet."

"He wanted attention," she tells him.

"I was giving him attention," he counters.

"But you were scared."

His back straightens on a long ago instilled instinct. "I was not."

"Yes, you were," she says firmly, glancing up at him. "He could tell you were scared to hold him, so he was uncomfortable. That's why he kept crying."

"I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I was hoping Skye would know."

"You need to have more trust in yourself to take care of him on your own," she tells him. "There could be a moment where you have to, even if it's for a few hours or a few days. You need to learn to trust your instincts as a parent. Otherwise, you'll always be on edge and second-guessing yourself at every turn."

He blinks. "That's...that's actually good advice."

Before either of them can say anything more, Skye rushes into the room panting heavily, a slight sheen to her forehead that she quickly wipes away.

"What happened?" she asks, her eyes instantly finding him.

"What do you mean?"

She moves closer to him. "I was leaving my meeting and an agent came up to me and said they heard Adian crying, that you were wandering the halls with him. Is he okay?"

"He's fine," May answers before he can and watches as Skye registers that the older woman is holding Adian securely in her arms, bouncing him gently.

Skye's brows furrow. "May? Why are you holding Adian?"

"Because his father needed a minute to calm himself down."

Skye turns to him, her eyes shining with concern. "Are you okay? What happened?"

He shakes his head. "Nothing, really. I think I just got overwhelmed. I don't know how to be a dad."

She raises a brow at him. "And you think I know how to be a mom? Because I don't. I'm new to all of this just like you are. I don't have my mom here to help me through any of this."

He nods. "I know that. I'm just...I don't know."

"Worried?" she supplies.

He shrugs. "I guess."

"You are not your father," she tells him softly, one hand resting on his arm in a comforting manner.

He gives her a small smile. "I know. I just...I think it's going to take some time for me to actually believe that. But I'll get there. I promise." He takes a deep breath, trying not to let his disappointment show when she takes her hand off his arm. He looks at May. "Thank you, for helping me. You're really good with him. And it's only your first time holding him."

"I was almost a mother once," she says without elaborating and he and Skye both know better than to ask her to say more on the subject. If she'd wanted to say more, she would have.

"Personally," Skye speaks up, "I've always felt of you as a mother figure since I never knew my own."

May smirks. "And you used to annoy me like a child should. Still do from time to time."

"That is very rude. But I will let it slide if you agree to be an honorary grandma to this little guy."

"Grandma makes me seem old."

"Um...okay. Well, there are a lot of other options of what he can call you when he gets older, we don't have to decide right now. But just so we're clear, you're agreeing to be his honorary grandma?"

May nods sharply. "Yes. Just don't think that you can pawn him off on me whenever you want. He's still your son, you have to raise him."

"Oh, no, yeah, I know. But you'll watch him sometimes, right?"

"If you need me to, yes."

"Good. That's good."

"You might have to fight Trip for babysitting, though," Grant informs her. "He and Fitz are pretty determined to be Adian's favorite."

"I can take them," May says. She looks down at Adian and gives him a rare smile. "And I'll teach you all the ways to be as stealthy as possible so that you can get things past your parents every now and again."

"Really?" Skye huffs. "We're starting already with the corrupting of my child?"

May shrugs. "I'm not his mother. It's my job to teach him things you won't, and give him things you won't."

"Wow. I see you're already giving in fully to your new role as a grandmother."

"Might as well, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Silence encompasses them, none of them knowing what to say next. He shifts on his feet, watching as Skye coos over their son with May, the older woman still wearing a smile.

Adian begins fussing a few minutes later, his face scrunching up and his fists starting to hit at the air. His face turns toward May's chest and she chuckles. "Oh, there's nothing for you there."

"And that would be my cue," Skye says. "I had a feeling he was going to start getting hungry soon." She carefully takes Adian from May and holds him against her, laughing quietly when he starts nuzzling his face against her chest, his little mouth parting ever so slightly. "I better go and feed him before he gets too cranky. Thanks for your help, May."

The older woman gives the tiniest hint of a smile and nods. "Anytime."

He presses a quick kiss to the top of his son's head before Skye carries him out the lounge and back to her room to feed him. He watches with a small smile as Skye walks out of the room, talking in hushed tones to their boy as she goes.

"Fatherhood suits you."

He turns to find May still standing in the lounge, watching him with a careful eye. "Uh, thanks."

"Despite the fact that you couldn't get him to calm down."

He scoffs. "Yeah, thanks. Like I really needed to be reminded of that."

"Don't beat yourself up about it," she tells him, like she knows that's exactly what he'd been doing. "It'll take some time to get comfortable with being a parent."

"Skye doesn't seem to be having a problem with it."

"You're not seeing everything. I'm sure she's having her struggles, you just don't see them."

"I wish I could," he admits, both to her and to himself. "Maybe then I'd be able to help her out more and she wouldn't be so tired all the time."

"She needs some time, I presume. You both do."

He nods. "Yeah, I know. And uh, thanks, again, for helping me with Adian."

She shakes her head. "It was my pleasure." Her eyes narrow quickly and his breath catches. "But if you ever hurt that boy, I will not hesitate to hurt you right back. Do you understand?"

He nods. "Yes. But you'll probably want to get in line behind Skye. And Trip and Fitz. As well as a few other agents around here."

She nods once. "Good." She walks out of the room without another word, leaving him to his own thoughts again.

He sighs, running a hand through his hair, thinking about the fact that more and more people on base are starting to voice their lack of hesitancy in doing something horrible to him if he hurts his son in any way. He's not sure whether to be happy about that because his son has so many people that care about him, or upset that people still see him as an enemy of sorts.

Apparently, nearly dying for the cause isn't good enough to get people to completely change their opinions about him. He knew it wasn't going to happen overnight, but he thought he'd have made more progress by this point.

Guess he can only keep trying. That's all he can really do.

So? What did you think? Let me know in a review below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!