Hey babes! Happy almost 2019! Hope you're all doing well and enjoying some time off with your loved ones. I realize it's been a little while since I've updated this story, but I've been busy with work, and then my sister and her husband were in town for the holiday. But I'm here now to update.

Enjoy!

Covering her mouth as she lets out a heavy yawn, Skye makes her way down the hall away from her bedroom and toward the lab. It's been a few days since she told FitzSimmons the news about her baby and she really wants to try and smooth things over with the Brit as best she can. She hoped that giving the other woman a few days to process the news might help things. She also needed a few days to herself to calm down after her meltdown from Simmons' reaction.

Reaching the lab, her brows furrow in confusion when she sees Fitz standing at the far end of the lab, mumbling to himself and fumbling around with different pieces of small machinery. And he's alone.

The fact that he's alone actually unsettles her a little. He's never alone. Ever since he woke up, Simmons has always been right at his side, helping him recover from everything that happened.

"Hey," she says, reaching a hand out to a lab assistant passing by. "Do you know where Simmons is? She never leaves Fitz's side."

The man shakes his head. "Sorry. I don't. She just disappeared the other day. She was upset about something and then she just left. No one knows where she went."

She gives him a small smile. "Oh, okay, thanks."

"No problem."

Casting one more glance in Fitz's direction, she lets out a heavy sigh and turns away from the sad sight. How could Simmons just leave him alone like that? He needs her. She's his best friend. Why would she just leave him high and dry when he probably needs her more now than he ever has before?

"Skye."

Turning her head, she gives a tight smile when she finds Coulson slowly approaching her. "Coulson, hey."

"Hi. How are you feeling?"

"Okay. Still a little nauseous more than anything else, but it comes and goes."

He nods once. "Right. Well, I hope you get over that quickly."

"Me too. And hey," she says before he can get too far away. "Have you seen Simmons anywhere? One of the lab assistants said that she basically disappeared the other day. Do you know where she is? I really wanted to talk to her."

"Uh...Agent Simmons is...unavailable at the moment."

Her brows furrow. "Do you know where she is that makes her so unavailable?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you much more than that."

"Is it above my pay grade?" she questions with a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

"Something like that," Coulson says with a small nod.

"Do you know why she left?"

"All I can tell you is that she came to me a few days ago in a pretty bad mood and said she needed to get away for awhile."

Gears start to turn in her head as she begins putting the pieces together with the information she got from the assistant and now Coulson. "Did she say why she was in such a bad mood?" she asks after swallowing the building lump in her throat.

Coulson shakes his head. "She didn't. And I figured it'd be better if I didn't pry. If she wanted to tell me then she would."

Skye nods, her heart starting to race beneath her chest. "Right. Uh, thanks."

Coulson gives her a tiny hint of a smile before turning and continuing down the hallway.

As he leaves, she backs up against the wall closest to her and slides down until she's sitting on the ground, her knees pulled to her chest.

"It's all my fault," she mumbles when everything clicks into place in her head. Simmons left a few days ago. Right after she told her about the pregnancy. Simmons was upset that Ward is the father. Simmons was in a bad mood when she left. It all makes sense. It's all her fault. She's the reason why Simmons left. Her baby is the reason why Simmons left.

"She's gone and it's all my fault."

The dam breaks, once again, and tears begin falling from her eyes, trailing down her cheeks and landing on the fabric of her pants. Her body shakes as she cries. She would hate for anyone to see her in a mess like this, but she can't find the energy to move.

A familiar warmth encircles her a moment later and she looks up to find a blurry Trip sitting next to her, his arms wrapped securely around her. A blurry Fitz is standing just behind the man, a concerned frown on his face as he mumbles and rubs at his left hand.

"Hey, you okay?" Trip asks her.

She shakes her head as more tears escape. "She left because of me. Because of my baby. My baby is tearing this team apart, Trip. How is it possible that an innocent little baby can cause such a huge disruption inside the team?"

"P-people are idiots," Fitz speaks up then.

She looks up at him and smiles. "Yeah, they totally are." She looks back at Trip. "But was keeping this baby really a good idea if it's just going to drive the team apart?"

"Don't talk like that," Trip tells her. "You are your own person and if other people can't handle the fact that you're going to be having a baby, then that's their problem."

"It's not the fact that I'm going to have a baby, Trip, it's the fact of who the father is. People don't like the fact that I was with Ward and that this is his baby. But what they don't seem to understand is that it happened before we knew he was Hydra, before he turned on us. This baby comes from that good part of Ward, however small it actually is."

Trip nods. "And I believe that, completely. So don't listen to what anyone else says, okay? You've still got me, just like I promised. And I'm pretty sure Fitz is down for the task of being here for whatever you need."

"Um, yeah," Fitz answers awkwardly, shifting on his feet.

She smiles up at both of them. "Thanks, guys. Really."

"It's no problem," Trip tells her. "Now why don't you go get yourself cleaned up a little in your room then come and find me in the lounge. I'll make the three of us something for breakfast since I'm pretty sure Fitz hasn't eaten anything yet."

Fitz opens and closes his mouth, gesturing behind him. "Been working."

Trip chuckles. "Exactly, man. You need to eat something." He turns back to Skye and rubs her back soothingly for a moment. "You gonna be alright if I go to the lounge right now?"

She breathes in deeply and nods. "Yeah, thanks."

"Alright. See you in a bit, then." He stands from his spot and gently grabs Fitz by the shoulder, guiding the man down the hallway toward the lounge, despite the protests of needing to work.

Skye smiles after the two, glad that she has at least two people in her corner through all of this. Neither of them seems to care too much about what she did. And it's not like she can go back and change it. And she really wouldn't if given the opportunity. She loves her baby. She doesn't regret what she did. Or who she did it with. She just wishes circumstances were different.

.

.

.

Running a hand through her hair as she yawns, she trudges into the lounge and heads straight for the kitchenette, her hands reaching immediately for the coffee pot.

It's snatched off the counter before she can grab it and her head whips up to find Trip standing next to her with the coffee pot in one hand, held high above his head.

"That's rude," she says, narrowing her eyes at him. "You're using my height against me, and I don't appreciate that."

"You're pregnant, Skye. I'm pretty sure coffee is a big N-O, for pregnant women."

"And I did my own research, thank you very much, and one cup a day is alright to have. So please do not deny me this sweet nectar that I need to function in the morning."

Trip eyes her carefully before slowly lowering the coffee pot back onto the counter. "One cup."

She nods, already reaching for a mug from one of the cupboards. "I know. Don't worry. The last thing I want to do is mess up my child, so I won't do anything purposefully to do that."

"So you're not torn anymore on if you should keep the little one or not?" he asks her carefully.

She takes a deep breath and nods, taking a small sip from her coffee. "I'm definitely keeping it. I've always known that. I just...I don't know. I guess I was worried. But I love my baby, Trip, and I can't even imagine getting rid of him or her. This baby is its own person, they're not their father. I love them and I'm going to raise them right."

"Well, I'm glad to hear you're not getting rid of it anytime soon."

"You are?"

He nods. "Absolutely. I've always wanted to be an uncle. This is my chance."

"Ah, right." She takes another sip from coffee. "Hey, you busy right now?"

"Uh, I was gonna go work out for a bit. Did you need something?"

She shakes her head. "Not really. I've just been getting kinda bored lately. Since I told Coulson about the baby he hasn't been having me do anything for missions. I don't mind not going into the field, but it's like he thinks I'll hurt myself or the baby somehow if he so much as asks me to hack into something."

"I'm sure he's just looking out for you."

"Yeah, maybe…" her voice trails off, her brows furrowing when she spots a few agents walking past the lounge doorway, peering inside and then whispering before walking away. She looks back at Trip. "It's just a little frustrating. I mean, the whole reason I joined this team in the first place was because of my skills as a hacker. And now he doesn't even want me to do that anymore."

"Then maybe you should talk to him."

"He's been avoiding me."

"Would you like me to talk to him for you?"

She sighs. "No, thanks. That's okay." She breathes in deeply. "So, you're going to go workout. Mind if I come and watch so I'm not completely bored out of my mind for a few hours?"

"Sure you don't want to work out with me?"

Her nose scrunches up. "I'm too exhausted to work out."

"Didn't you just wake up?"

She quirks a brow. "Your point?"

He shakes his head. "Nevermind. Yeah, you can come with me."

"Cool." She makes sure she has a secure hold on her coffee and then follows Trip out of the lounge and through the base toward the gym.

As they walk, she can't help but feel the eyes from various other agents practically glued to her backside. Then the quiet, crispness of whispered voices comes. She glances out the corner of her eyes to see a few agents she doesn't recognize standing along the wall, huddled together as they watch her and whisper.

Tears spring unwillingly to her eyes and she takes a small step closer to Trip. They're nearly at the gym, she can survive a bit more of a walk.

Unfortunately, once they reach the gym, none of the staring and whispering stops there. As soon as they step foot inside, the few people who are already in there stop what they're doing and look directly at her. Then the whispering starts.

Trip sighs and turns to face Skye. "I am so sorry about this, girl." He gently grabs her arm and pulls her back out into the hallway. "I didn't want to have to tell you this. But when Simmons left, she may have let it slip to a few people about you being pregnant with Ward's baby. And obviously everyone here hates him, and Simmons didn't help matters much by talking so harshly about him and your baby. I was hoping everyone would be over the whispered comments by now. Guess I was wrong."

"It's fine," she tells Trip, fighting to keep her tears at bay. That's the last thing she needs right now. "It just sucks, you know? They haven't met my baby yet but they're already thinking the worst about them."

"They're all just pigheaded," Trip tells her. "Can't think for themselves."

"Do you know where Simmons went?" she asks him. "Coulson wouldn't tell me and I don't think anyone else would know. Fitz might, but I don't want to open up that wound for him."

Trip takes a deep breath and places both of his hands on her shoulders. "Listen, girl, you need to stop worrying about Simmons, alright? She was angry and she left. It's as simple as that. All that you should be focusing on right now is staying healthy, for you and your baby. You don't need to be stressing out about stuff that doesn't matter."

She sighs, her shoulders sagging. "Yeah, I guess you're right. And apparently the cat's out of the bag now, so there's no use in trying to hide anything anymore."

Trip nods. "Exactly. You wear that eventual baby belly with pride, girl. You're working hard to grow an actual human inside you. People should be worshipping you, not criticizing you."

She smiles and quickly wipes at her eyes. "You're going to make me cry, you jerk."

He chuckles. "You good now?"

She takes a deep breath and nods. "Yeah, I think I'm good. I just really want everything with the pregnancy and the baby to go well. I don't want there to be any unnecessary hiccups along the way. I just want a smooth, easy ride."

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

Also, tomorrow is New Year's Eve, which means I'll be doing another Q&A video on my YouTube channel. So if there's anything you guys have ever wanted to know about me, or my writing, feel free to ask. I'll post the link to the video in my profile once it's posted. :)