Hey babes! Back again with another chapter for ya. Thanks for all the love so far. And I had a couple people point out (one on here, one on Ao3) that I used a wrong form of a word in Spanish on the last chapter. That is now fixed. Guess Google Translate isn't always the most reliable. :)

Quick shoutout to AgentLunaA for agreeing to be my proofreader for Spanish phrases and sentences within this story. You're the best. :)

Now for the chapter. Enjoy!

*July*

Feeling her phone buzz next to her on her bed, Skye turns her attention away from her laptop to pick up the device. She unlocks it and goes into the shell program to find a new text from Grant containing only a photo. The picture shows Jessica sitting up on the couch with a smile on her face. There's a sign propped up next to her that reads HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM. I LOVE YOU.

Skye smiles and types back a reply Thank you, that's very sweet. But how did you know that it's my birthday?

You told me, remember?

Vaguely. The majority of that pregnancy was one giant blur full of the constant need to pee and eat.

Alright. Well it was about a month or so after you got to the house. I think we were just sitting in the living room watching TV and you asked me if I wanted to hear about when you met your parents.

Ah. It's all slowly coming back to me now.

You told me the whole story about finding out Jiaying was your mom at Afterlife and then the dinner with your dad and finding out when your birthday is as well as hearing the story about the night you were born. It was a pretty interesting story.

Yes it is.

But I don't think I expected you to actually remember my birthday.

How could I not? I remember all the important things about you. Then again, everything about you is important to me, so…

Stop that.

Stop what?

Stop being so sweet to me.

I thought you'd be used to it by now.

I never said I wasn't used to it. I just told you to stop.

Why?

Because you're making me blush.

Alright, I'll stop.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

So, any big plans for your birthday today?

Not really. I'm probably just going to eat some extremely unhealthy food and watch a cheesy chick flick with Simmons if she agrees to it while simultaneously, yet secretly, wishing I was at home with you and Jess.

Sounds like a pretty fun night. Maybe the next time you're here for your birthday we'll have to celebrate someway.

This coming from the man who doesn't like celebrating or even acknowledging birthdays.

Correction: I don't like acknowledging or celebrating MY birthday. I never said anything about not helping you celebrate yours.

Right, well. I don't really know how to celebrate my birthday properly because I never knew when it actually was.

So does that mean you don't ever want to celebrate your birthday?

Maybe not in a huge way. Probably something small with just the three of us.

I'm sure we can arrange something like that the next time you're here for your birthday.

I'm looking forward to it. :)

I have to go now, but thank you very much for the photo.

You're welcome. And okay, I'll talk to you later.

Yeah, bye.

Bye.

...

"You know what I really wish we could do right now?" Alisha speaks up from where she's lounging back on one of the couches in the common room. "Go to the beach. I really wish that this secret base was near a beach instead of a town, even though it still doesn't really make much sense to me why we're near a town full of people seeing as how we're supposed to be a secret organization and whatnot. But still, it's the middle of the summer; I'd really like to get out and work on my tan. Because as much as I love being here and working with you guys, I'd really rather put on a bikini and go lounge around on the beach and have guys hit on me."

"That's always fun," Skye smiles. "I for one never pass up an opportunity to wear a bikini and get a tan."

"And you've got a great body for it too," Alisha tells her. "Especially as of late."

Skye stiffens and her heart starts beating faster, "What do you mean?"

"Just that you obviously worked out a lot while you were gone and since you got back, making your body super toned which would look absolutely amazing in a bikini."

Skye relaxes her shoulders and lets out a breath, "Oh, yeah, thanks. I guess I have been working out a lot more lately. Just stress, I guess."

Alisha nods, "Understandable. And I'd still love to go wear a bikini outside to get a tan at this time of year."

"Well not only is it the middle of the summer, it is also the Fourth of July," Skye smiles at the small group.

"We should do something to celebrate," Joey tells them all.

"And how exactly are we going to celebrate?" Alisha asks him. "We live on a secret base miles and miles away from civilization."

"Doesn't mean we can't celebrate somehow."

Skye drowns out the light arguing to pull out her phone after feeling it vibrate in her pocket.

She unlocks it and goes into the shell program to see a new text from Grant with a photo attached Happy Fourth of July, mom. Wish you were here with us tonight to watch the fireworks. The picture shows Jessica dressed in a white sun dress with blue and red stars all over it, and a white headband with a blue and red bow.

Skye smiles at the photo and types back a reply I miss you both so much. Wish I could be there to celebrate with you too. Things have been getting pretty crazy around here so I couldn't get some time away, but I promise I'm going to come by next month.

I'm going to hold you to that. Jess is pretty excited to see the fireworks tonight, even though she most likely doesn't know what fireworks actually are and is probably going to fall asleep before they start.

Just make sure she's bundled up enough, please. I know that it's the middle of the summer but she's not even six months old yet. I don't want to risk her getting sick or something.

I know. Don't worry about it. I'm going to go now, but I'll talk to you soon.

Okay, bye.

"Oi, what has you so distracted over there?"

Skye looks up from her phone to see everyone looking at her. "Sorry, what?"

"You have that smile on your face again," Simmons tells her. "It's the same one you've been getting whenever you look down at your phone for the past couple months. What's so interesting in it?"

"Oh, um, nothing. Just uh, just some personal stuff."

"Good," Joey nods his head from the other couch. "Then you can weigh in on our little discussion that we're having."

"I think a party would be fun," Skye smiles. "A barbecue, to be exact."

Alisha smiles, "A barbecue sounds perfect. There's plenty of space around this entire building where we can set everything up."

"Sounds like a plan," Skye smiles. She stands from the couch, "I take it you all can handle the details about the barbecue. I'm going to my room and take a nap. I'll see you later." She turns around and walks out of the room, making her way down the hallway towards her bunk.

*August*

"I'm home," Skye calls into the house as she walks through the front door, dropping her duffel bag on the living room floor and shutting the door behind her.

"We're back here."

With a smile on her face, Skye toes her shoes off by the door and then makes her way further into the house and down the hallway towards the bedroom.

Stopping in the open doorway to the room, her smile grows wider when she sees Grant lying on one side of the bed, one of his arms tucked up underneath of his head and the remote for the TV in his other hand. Jessica is lying next to him, propped up and surrounded by pillows and blankets to keep her safe.

Grant looks up and smiles when he sees her, "Hey, beautiful. Safe trip?"

She nods her head, "Mm-hmm."

"Jessie," Grant looks down at the baby next to him, "mira quién está aquí."

Skye grins and makes her way closer to the bed. "Hey, baby girl," she sits down on the bed and lifts her daughter into her arms, planting kisses all over her face. "Oh I missed you so much, my angel."

"What about me?" Grant asks her with a small smile. "Did you miss me? Or just the baby?"

Skye smiles and scoots over on the bed to get closer to him, "No, I missed you too." She leans down and gives him a quick kiss. She pulls back and then scoots even closer, moving the pillows and blankets out of the way so she can lie down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. She sets Jessica in her lap, letting the baby lie back against her chest.

"Well," she speaks up, "I see you're still holding firm to your plan to teach our daughter Spanish."

Grant nods, "Yes I am. It never hurts to know another language. Just you wait and see, Skye. Once she's old enough, she's going to be speaking Spanish so fluently it'll be like she grew up in a place where Spanish is the first language."

"If she's learning English and Spanish as she grows up, does she really even have a first language?" Skye questions.

Grant furrows his brows, "I think English would be considered her first language. And Spanish would be considered a second. But I'm not positive. It might work differently when you grow up speaking two languages. I don't know for sure though."

"Right," Skye nods. "Well, that doesn't really matter. All that matters is that she's a happy and healthy baby girl who's going to be very well educated because of her super handsome daddy."

Grant smiles, "And her very beautiful mom."

Skye smiles, ducking her head slightly due to the blush slowly creeping up her cheeks. She clears her throat and looks back up at Grant, "So, what have you two been up to so far today?"

"We've just been having kind of a lazy day," Grant tells her. "However, Jess has a play date tomorrow afternoon with a kid in the neighborhood."

Skye raises an eyebrow, "A play date, really? Isn't she still a little young for one of those?"

Grant shrugs, "Maybe."

"How did you even meet the kid she has a play date with?" Skye asks him.

"I took Jess out for a walk the other day and met this really nice family who lives just a few houses down. They have two boys; the oldest boy, Trevor, is three and the youngest, Ian, is about a week or so older than Jess."

"Well look at you," Skye smiles. "Making nice with the locals."

Grant chuckles, "I'm just trying to be a good dad and do what's best for our daughter."

"You're a great dad," she smiles at him. "I'm also very impressed that you've been managing to dress our daughter properly, despite how most of your wardrobe when we met consisted of blue jeans and black or grey t-shirts."

He smiles, "Well thank you. Though Kara does insist on taking over in the clothing department whenever she comes by."

"Somehow I am not surprised by that," Skye laughs.

"So do you want to come to the play date with Jess and I tomorrow?" Grant asks her.

She nods her head, "Of course."

"Good," he smiles, dropping a kiss to the top of her head and then turning his attention to the TV screen.

...

"This is their house?" Skye asks Grant as they stand on the front porch of a two story house. She bounces Jessica lightly on her hip, adjusting the strap of the diaper bag on her shoulder.

He shrugs, "I guess so, this is my first time here. But they're nice people; I think you'll really like them."

"I better," Skye tells him.

"You will," he smiles.

A second later, the door opens to reveal a short woman with shoulder length blonde hair and bright green eyes standing on the other side.

"Grant," she smiles up at him, "I'm so glad you could make it."

"I am too," he smiles back. "Kendra, this is Skye."

"Oh it's so great to finally meet you," Kendra smiles over at Skye. "Grant has told me a lot of really great things about you. Come on in," she steps back and opens the door to allow the both of them inside the house.

Grant and Skye step inside, toeing their shoes off by the front door.

"Wow," Skye says as she looks around the room, "you have a really nice home."

"Thank you," Kendra smiles. "We moved here when Trevor, my oldest, was just a baby and we've been here ever since."

"That's nice," Skye smiles. "Grant's had our house set aside for a while, but we didn't actually move in until I got pregnant."

"Well we're glad to have you three in the neighborhood," Kendra smiles.

"Thanks," Skye smiles back.

"Well, Ian's already in the living room if you want to follow me."

"Lead the way," Skye asks as she and Grant follow Kendra into the living room. She sets the diaper bag down on the end of the couch.

"So Grant tells me that Jessica is your first and only," Kendra speaks up.

"Mm-hmm," Skye nods, bending over to lie Jessica down on the blanket next to baby Ian. She stands back up and looks at Kendra, "She was a complete surprise for us, but we love her so much more because of it, I think. She's our little angel," she smiles down at her daughter.

"That's so great to hear," Kendra smiles. "Please, have a seat," she gestures to the couch in the room. "Can I get either of you anything to drink?"

"Just some water would be fine," Skye says, sitting down on the couch.

"Same for me," Grant smiles, sitting down next to Skye.

"I'll be right back, then," Kendra says, turning and making her way into the kitchen.

Grant leans back into the couch and wraps his arm around Skye's shoulders, letting her lean into his side, "So, what do you think of Kendra?"

Skye tilts her head in thought and then looks at Grant, "She's sweet."

"Yeah?"

Skye nods her head, "Yeah. I like her. I think she and I are going to become really good friends."

"I think so too," Grant nods. "I also think I might get to know some more of the neighbors around here, see if there are any other kids around Jess' age for her to hang out with as she gets older. And I might possibly make some friends for myself while I'm at it."

Skye turns her head to look at him, "Is there some new programming upgrade for your model that I don't know about? One that makes you actually want to interact with other people?"

Grant sighs and shakes his head, "You think you're pretty funny, don't you?"

She smiles, "Oh I'm not just funny, I'm hilarious."

"I'll let you keep thinking that," he presses a kiss to her temple and then leans back into the couch, turning his attention to the two infants lying together on the floor.

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

Alright, so we got a couple new characters in there at the end. You might see them pop up again at some point down the line.

Also, some of the people are starting to get suspicious about Skye. Anybody want to take a guess at who might possibly be the first to find out Skye's secret? Because I can definitely say that it won't stay a secret forever and someone will be finding out about it. Any guesses?

*Look who's here*

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!