Hey babes! Back again with a new chapter for ya! I think this one's a bit longer than the previous chapters, but I don't think you guys will mind. :)

Enjoy!

Taking a deep breath, she steps into the lounge, finding Trip relaxing back on the couch with a book in his hand and a bottle of beer on the table in front of him.

"Hey, Trip, can I talk to you for a second?"

He looks up from his book and smiles at her. "Yeah, girl, what's up?" He shifts on the couch so he's sitting up better and facing her a little.

She slowly sits down next to him and runs her sweaty palms over the fabric of her jeans. "Um, I have something I need to tell you, and I really hope you react a certain way because so far I haven't had too much luck."

Trip's brows furrow together. "What are you talking about? What's going on?"

She breathes in deeply, closing her eyes. Third time doing this and it's not any easier than the first two times. "I'm pregnant," she tells him. "And Ward's the father."

Before she can open her eyes, a strong pair of arms wraps tightly around her and Trip's laugh rings through her ear. "Congrats, girl. This is amazing." He pulls back and she feels the tears rush to her eyes when she sees him grinning like an idiot. "You're gonna be a mom."

"You're actually...you're happy about this?"

He gives her an incredulous look. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because of who the father is," she says quietly.

He waves her off. "Please, I woulda been upset if it wasn't him. From the moment I met you two, I could tell there was something there. Now you're having his kid, it's like a little piece of the two of you all smushed together and despite everything that's happened and what he did, this is gonna be awesome for you."

She chokes on a sob, one hand covering her mouth and the other resting on her still flat stomach.

Trip frowns. "Whoa, hey, what did I say? Did I say something wrong?"

She shakes her head, breathing in deeply to try and contain her tears. "No. You...you said everything right. Your reaction is the best reaction I've gotten so far and I kinda don't want to tell anyone else because I have a feeling this is as good as it's going to get and now I wish I had told you last."

"Who else have you already told?"

"Coulson and May. Coulson wasn't exactly thrilled. He tried not to let it show, but I could tell that he was disappointed. And May...I never know what she's thinking. She was just super straight-faced." She sighs. "And then there's Simmons."

"Have you decided when you're going to tell her?"

She shakes her head. "No. Not yet. I'm kind of...trying to hold off on that for as long as I possibly can."

"Scared she's going to react badly?"

She scoffs and nods. "Oh, yeah. She's probably been the most vocal one around here about how much she hates Ward. He dropped the pod that she and Fitz were in out of the Bus and into the ocean. It sunk to the bottom and now Fitz has brain damage because of what he had to do to get them out of there. So she's not exactly his biggest fan."

Trip nods. "Right. I remember hearing about that. And you don't need to worry, I've got your back."

"Really?"

He nods again. "Absolutely, girl. I'm here for you. I'll be your moral support when you go tell her. And I'll be here for whatever you need throughout all of this."

She lets out a relieved sigh. "That would be...fantastic. You're the actual best, Trip."

He laughs quietly. "Girl, you know how I do."

She laughs with him. "That I do."

"So tell me about you two."

Her brows furrow. "About who?"

"You and Ward," he clarifies, leaning back on the couch and looking at her with a small smile. "Tell me about you two."

"Uh, what do you want to know?"

He shrugs. "Whatever you want to tell me."

She shifts on the couch, relaxing a little. "Okay. Well, um, we had kind of a rough start, since we have two very different views on the world. But uh, we eventually came to some kind of an understanding, and he became my SO."

"That must have been fun. I know how tough of a regimen Ward had on his own training."

"He definitely did not go easy in any aspect of it," she says with a small laugh. "He really pushed me. I uh...I didn't want to admit it after everything that happened, but a lot of the agent that I am today is because of him. He pushed me to be better than my best."

"He wanted you to be able to protect yourself."

She nods. "Yeah. I think he felt guilty when I got shot, though. Because he was my SO and he wasn't there to stop Quinn from pulling the trigger. I think...I think that's when things started shifting. Kind of one of those...life flashing before your eyes type of moments. At least, that's when it happened for me."

"When you started feeling something for him?"

"When I realized I was feeling something for him."

Trip nods. "Right. But nothing happened until you were at the Providence base."

She nods. "Yeah. We'd kind of been dancing around each other, I don't think he wanted to get involved with his trainee. But then...I guess whatever tension was between us finally snapped when we were at the Providence base. We were finally having that drink we'd been talking about." She smiles a little at the memory. "And then he kissed me...and everything changed...and then this little one happened." Her smile widens as she places both hands on her still flat stomach. She looks back up at Trip. "Despite everything that happened, I wouldn't change a single second of it. He hurt me, that much is very true, but I love this baby so much already and I just...I really can't wait to be a mom. It's something I never thought I'd get to experience with the kind of life I had growing up, but now it's actually happening."

"And I'll be right here the whole way. Whether or not you decide to tell Ward, you can count on me to be here for whatever you need. I'm gonna do what I can to keep you two safe. Gotta protect that little nugget in there."

She frowns. "You did not just call my baby a nugget."

He shrugs. "Can't keep calling it an 'it'."

"Hence why you call it a baby."

"I'm gonna stick with nugget for now."

She sighs. "Fine. I guess it's better than some of the nicknames I've read online that people have given their children. And hey, I just...I really appreciate you being here. Like I said before, you're the first one to actually be genuinely happy about this baby and I'm really glad because I don't think I'd be able to get through this if everyone on this base hated me and oh gosh...stupid hormones." She's unable to hold back as the tears fall from her eyes. "I swear I'm not doing this on purpose."

Trip chuckles and pulls her in for a hug. "It's all good, girl. I've got you, you don't need to worry about a thing, alright? I'm gonna be the best damn uncle this kid has ever seen."

Skye laughs as she pulls out of the hug, wiping at her eyes. "I'm going to hold you to that. Just try not to spoil them too much, okay?"

"Hey, no promises. And I was thinking, if you're up for it, we could go find FitzSimmons and tell them right now. That way you're not stressing over it anymore and can get it out of the way and then just worry about keeping yourself and the lil nugget safe and healthy."

She takes a few, slow breaths to calm herself down again. "Um, I think...I think I might be okay to go."

"Are you sure?"

She nods. "Yeah. Like you said, better to get it done now than keep stressing out about it."

He gives her a small smile. "Alright. Let's go then." He stands from the couch and holds his hand out to help her up from the couch.

"I can stand just fine on my own, you know," she says, still accepting his help.

"I know. But my nana raised me to be a gentleman."

She laughs quietly. "Alright. Then you can take charge of teaching my kid how to be a gentleman if it's a boy."

Trip smiles. "I would be honored."

"Good. Then I'm just going to go and—"

"Nice try," Trip says, gently taking her hand to keep her there. "But you already agreed to this, so we're going to do this right now to get it over and done with. No more stressing or putting it off."

Skye sighs. "Fine, you're right. Let's go."

"That's the spirit." He gives her a reassuring smile and then they're on their way out of the lounge and down toward the lab.

She knows that's where the two scientists will be. Since Fitz woke from his coma, Simmons has been doing everything she can to help him recover. She truly does wish for Fitz to get better as quickly as possible. She knows how much the man relies on his mind and his hands and without those, he probably feels like he can't do anything.

They reach the lab quicker than she wanted them to. She was so lost in her own head that she didn't realize they were there until she heard the familiar voice next to her.

"Knock knock," Trip says, rapping his knuckles against the metal framing of the doorway. A small smile is on his face as he watches Fitz and Simmons turn away from whatever project they'd been working on.

Skye stays as close to Trip's side as she possibly can, wringing her hands together as she watches the two people across the room.

"Skye? Are you alright? Is that stomach bug still bothering you? I may have something to help with that if you'll just give me a moment to find it."

Skye shakes her head but remains silent, pushing a little closer to Trip.

"Hey," Trip whispers to her, "it's okay. I'm right here. Just tell her. Like you did with me. Just tell her the truth."

Skye nods. "Okay," she whispers back. She stands up a little straighter and faces Simmons, taking a few small steps into the room. She notices Fitz lingering in the back, caressing his left hand as he mumbles to himself. She takes a deep breath, not closing her eyes this time, choosing instead to look Simmons directly in the eyes. "I'm pregnant. That's why I've been so sick. And Ward's the father."

Simmons blanches before her eyes and she almost wants to laugh at the idea of the other woman getting sick when that's all she's been doing herself for the past few weeks. But this is definitely not a laughing moment.

"Oh. Well. That's...um…"

"What's going on?" Fitz speaks up, taking a step forward and looking between Skye and Simmons. "What did she say?"

"Nothing," Simmons says quickly. "It doesn't matter."

Her stomach flips. Simmons hates her. And her baby. She knew it. She knew it would happen like this. This is why she didn't want to tell her in the first place. There's a part of her that would have been perfectly fine with not telling her.

Thankfully, Trip notices the obvious look of nausea on her face and decides to take charge of the situation. "Skye's pregnant, Fitz," he says directly to the Scotsman. "With Ward's baby. The two of them were together at the Providence base, before any of us knew he had ties with Hydra, and she got pregnant. She's going to keep the baby and raise it."

"A baby?" Fitz asks with furrowed brows. "Babies are loud. They cry a lot. At night."

Trip laughs quietly. "We'll make sure the nugget doesn't keep you up at night."

"You're calling it nugget?"

Trip shrugs. "For now. If I find a better nickname, then I'll use it, but for right now I'm calling the baby 'nugget'."

"Cute. And uh...um...con...congrats. On the baby."

"No," Simmons says sharply before Skye can respond to Fitz. She whirls on him. "This is not a congratulatory matter, Fitz. We should not be congratulating her on carrying a monster's child."

"The baby won't be anything like Ward," Skye says in a slightly shaky voice. "I won't let them turn out like him."

Simmons shakes her head. "Unfortunately, that's out of your control. Grant Ward is an evil man, and that will most likely be passed down to any offspring of his, including the one you're carrying. If you're really choosing to go through with this, then I suggest we all take precautions for the day it turns on us all and follows the same path as its father."

Skye's left standing with a gaping mouth, hot tears stinging at her eyes as if she'd just been slapped.

"Alright, I think we're done here," Trip speaks up, grabbing Skye by the shoulders and guiding her out of the lab. Her head is numb as she walks, the tears continuing to fall.

"I get that she's upset," Trip says to her once they're out of earshot of the lab. "But that was uncalled for. People aren't born evil." He leads her into the lounge and gets her to sit on the couch. "Hey, you okay?"

Skye's lower lip trembles and then she's sobbing, more tears trailing down her face as she hugs her knees to her chest and leans back into the couch.

Trip rushes to sit next to her and pull her into his arms. "Hey hey hey, shh. I've got you. Just let it out. I've got you." He continues to hold her as she cries.

Once she's managed to get all the crying and tears out, Skye lets go of her legs and relaxes into Trip's hold, resting one of her hands over her stomach in a protective nature.

"I knew she'd be mad," she says quietly after a moment. "But I didn't think she'd verbally attack the baby like that."

"Which was completely uncalled for," Trip reminds her. "That baby has done nothing wrong. She's just upset because Ward's the father and the guy's done a lot of bad stuff."

"What's he going to say if I tell him?" she wonders aloud. "If I actually decide to tell him, will he react as badly as Simmons did? He told me at Providence, he said that he's not a good person. How will feel about having created another human being? Is he going to hate his own kid because he doesn't like who he is himself? I don't think I'm ready to find that out yet."

"So don't," Trip tells her.

"I haven't seen him since he got locked up. I'm just...I'm afraid," she admits. "The thought of telling him completely terrifies me."

"So don't tell him yet," Trip suggests again. "Just wait it out a bit. Especially so you can recover from today first."

She nods, her eyes slowly drooping and a yawn escaping. "You're right. I'm just...I'm gonna lay here for a bit. If that's okay."

He smiles. "That's perfectly okay. I told you I'm here for whatever you need. Even if that includes being a human pillow on the concrete so you can get some shut eye."

"You're the best, Trip," she slurs out in her half-asleep state. "Thank you."

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

I know Ward hasn't shown up yet, but you can't really expect it to be so easy, can you? He will appear, I promise. But this is a slow burn Skyeward fic, so be patient.

Also, for those who were around last year, you're hopefully familiar with my annual New Year's Eve Q&A video that I post on YouTube. If you're interested, you can send me questions to answer in that video, either on a review here, or through a PM. Whatever floats your boat. :)

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!