July

"So, how was the honeymoon?!" Natasha was practically bouncing around with excitement. She was leaving for another ballet tour across South America the next day, so she was desperate to hear all the gossip before she left.

"Oh gosh," Maria replied, her eyes drifting into a dream-like state as she remembered. "It was so amazing!"

Her, Natasha and Melinda were at the latter two's flat, the three sat around on the sofas having a lazy night in. Maria had returned the week before, and Nat had been dying to find out all the gossip from paradise.

They'd lined up several action movies, bottles of various drinks, and a plentiful supply of snacks to keep them going. Unfortunately, Bobbi was on shift, so couldn't join them, but other than that, all three were thoroughly looking forward to the evening.

"Was it sunny everyday?"

"Yep." Maria nodded, taking a sip of her orange and smiling happily. "It was so hot, and the beaches were to die for."

"Clear seas?"

"Clearest I've ever seen, we went scuba diving on the reef which was just an incredible experience."

"Wow."

"Here," Maria bent down, and grabbed her handbag from beside the sofa, unzipping it and pulling out her phone. "I've got some pictures on here… the rest are on Steve's camera."

She loaded up the images and turned the screen to face both her friends, who were crowded around her in order to see.

Gradually she began to flick through them, visions of crystal oceans and untouched beaches filling the screen, interspersed with photographs of Maria and Steve smiling, laughing, and having the time of their lives.

"It looks like paradise" Melinda sighed, shaking her head at a photograph of the sun setting over the horizon, a multitude of crimson, coral and violet shimmering across the sky.

"It pretty much was."

"Are you ever going to go back?" Natasha asked, returning to her side of the sofa once the slideshow was over.

"Definitely, but only for a special occasion you know?"

"Like anniversaries, big birthdays, that kind of thing?"

"Yep." Maria finished off her orange, placing the glass onto the table in front of her, and dropping her phone back into her bag.

"Maria, you want another drink? Maybe… wine or a cocktail?" Natasha had a glint in her eye as she asked, and Melinda immediately knew full well what she was getting at.

"What? No, I'm okay thanks."

Natasha looked at Melinda pointedly, raising her eyebrows before turning back to Maria. "Are you sure? Not like you…"

Maria was clearly trying hard not to smile.

"Okay, there's something I need to tell you both."

"Go on" Melinda replied, smiling already; she knew exactly what her friend was about to say. They both knew, and it had been so hard not to say anything recently, not until she was ready.

"Well, I guess it's time you guys knew…" Maria took a deep breath, biting her lip in anticipation. "I'm pregnant."

Natasha practically leapt from the sofa, scattering cushions across the floor as she launched herself at Maria, pulling her into a tight hug. "I knew it!"

"You did?!"

Natasha grinned. "Of course, you weren't drinking and you and Steve couldn't stop smiling at the wedding -

"- We'd just got married."

"- And you were acting all maternal towards Lola and just…. I'm so happy for you M!"

"Me too" Melinda grinned, joining the two of them in the hug they were currently sharing.

They'd been right in their guesses, but now that she had actually admitted she was having a baby, it felt so much more real.

"So," Melinda said, after they had all sat back down, Natasha replacing the cushions and Maria wiping tears from her eyes - she totally blamed hormones. "How far along are you?"

"Just over three months."

"So… baby is due in January?" Natasha asked, mentally calculating the next six months of their lives as she sipped her drink once more.

Maria nodded in response.

Melinda grabbed a handful of pretzels from the bowl, and nibbled on them absently. "We're you guys trying?" she asked, tipping her head to the side slightly in question. She had to admit, they told each other pretty much everything, and Maria hadn't said anything about wanting to start a family so soon.

"Well," Maria almost laughed. "We talked about it a lot, and knew we wanted kids, so we decided to stop not trying if that makes sense?" she shrugged. "We just didn't think it would happen so fast! We thought it might take a few months but… apparently not."

"But you're happy?" Natasha asked, the smile permanently rooted on her face at her friends news.

"We're so happy, honestly, I've been dying to tell you all since like… April!"

Melinda wasn't sure she had ever seen Maria smile so much. Not even on her wedding day, and that was definitely saying something. She leaned over the couch to give her another hug.

"Have you been for a scan yet?"

"Yes!" Maria bent back down to grab her bag, and pulled out her diary. Slipped within the cover, was a small black and white scan of their baby.

"I know you can't really see anything at the moment, but that bean-shaped thing?"

Natasha and Melinda nodded in time with each other.

"That's the baby."

"Wow. Do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?" Natasha asked, staring in wonder at the ultrasound image.

"No, they usually can tell by around sixteen to twenty weeks, but I don't think we're going to find out anyway."

"Leave it a surprise" Melinda smiled. If she ever had a kid, she'd probably want to keep it a surprise too.

"Exactly."

Everything really was going to change.

"Did you hurt yourself?" Lola asked Melinda with a frown, and she glanced down to see what the girl was talking about. She realised pretty quickly that she meant her scars, the two on her stomach clearly visible in the afternoon sunshine as she lay in a bikini top.

She'd always been self-conscious of them, but the more Phil told her she was still beautiful despite them, the more confident she became, and wearing a bikini to the beach was a step she'd not taken for a very long time.

"I got hurt a few years ago," she explained with a sad smile. "But they're okay now."

The three of them had taken a weekend trip with Maria and Steve to the coast, hiring out a pair of neighbouring small wooden cabins along the beach-front in order to enjoy the summer sunshine.

Phil was officially on half term for the next few months, and he intended to spend as much of it as possible with family.

Maria and Steve seemed to be having honeymoon withdrawal symptoms, and the few days away had actually been Steve's idea; a way to get everyone together and have fun, doing something a little bit different.

They had invited Anne along too, but she had insisted "You kids go and have fun", to which Phil had responded something along the lines of "we're both around thirty years old mother, we aren't kids" and Maria had rolled her eyes with a grin, kissing her mom on the cheek before they left.

Melinda had automatically been counted as invited, both Steve and Maria already seeing her as a part of the family, and where Phil and Lola went, Melinda was going too. It was something she was still getting used to, but she definitely was not complaining.

"Are they scars?" Lola asked curiously, reaching out to touch one of them with a small finger. Melinda could sense Maria listening to their conversation, despite the fact she looked like she was asleep on the sand; she was one of the few people who had not only seen the scars fully, but who also knew how Melinda felt about them. Melinda unconsciously looked at her friend's stomach as she replied; her skin might soon be marked too, stretch marks were meant to be a common accompaniment to pregnancy.

"Yeah."

"Will my knee do that?"

"No, probably not," Melinda replied encouragingly, not wanting to worry her about the potential for her knee to be marked permanently.

Lola had fallen over in the playground the previous week when it had just been the two of them, and had cut both her knees open on the gravelly tarmac below. One was worse than the other though, and as Melinda had wiped away first the tears, and then the blood, bandaging the cuts gently, she'd felt so guilty that she'd let her get hurt.

They hardly ever went out the two of them, and Phil could tell she was feeling bad about it when they got back to his house later that afternoon. He'd kissed Lola on the forehead, promising her she would be fine, and then he'd kissed Melinda on the forehead too, promising her it was normal for children to fall and hurt themselves.

Lola seemed to accept her knee would be okay though, and stood up again, her small feet scrunching into the warm golden sand below.

"Can we go in the sea?" she asked Melinda, looking out to where the gentle waves were sweeping up the shore. She'd been learning to swim for months, and was desperate to show off what she could do.

"We'll wait for your dad and Steve to get back, okay?"

Phil and Steve had nipped over the supermarket across the road, aiming to purchase some bottles of cold water that would keep them all cool. They'd be back with them any minute, and Melinda didn't really want the responsibility of taking his daughter into the sea with her alone anyway, despite how often Phil told her he trusted her with Lola completely.

When he and Steve finally returned, they did indeed carry with them a supply of beverages to keep them all refreshed, but Phil was carrying several ice-lollies as well, and Steve handed Lola a brand new bucket and spade he'd picked up for her, to help her build castles in the sand.

They all sipped on the iced lollies, chatting lightly as the sun shone overhead, and when Lola managed to drop hers into the sand, Maria handed her the rest of her own, claiming it made her a little queasy anyway. She'd been unable to keep a lot of food down recently, and whilst the adults all knew the reason for it, Lola did not – yet – therefore it was an acceptable excuse to her.

Phil made sure Lola was completely sun-creamed up once more; double checking it was on her ears and nose, before he decided she was okay to play around on the beach for a few more hours. He didn't want her sunburned at all, knowing first-hand how much it hurt, so he made sure she promised to keep her hat and sunglasses on, which she did, grudgingly.

When she was completely creamed up, sat down on the sand with her new bucket and spade, building what she claimed to Steve to be castles and moats, Phil turned to Melinda, who was lying on her back with her eyes closed and looking for all the world like she was fast asleep.

"Do you need any cream?" he asked, as she peeled her eyes open, shading them from the glare of the sun with one hand.

"I'll need my back doing later…"

"Right, we'll do it now, up you get," he grinned, pulling her up by her hands as she grumbled about being comfortable. She was pretty sure he just was using sun-cream as an excuse to touch her skin, but decided not to complain when he moved behind her, and she felt his hands begin to caress her back.

"Have you actually put cream on or are you just massaging me?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, watching into the distance as she felt him press down into her muscles with dry palms.

"Maybe I forgot the cream," he replied with a murmur, his face a lot closer to her ear than she had realised; she could feel his breath against her neck, and he placed a kiss against the tattoo at the top of her spine.

"Phil" she warned quietly; he knew full well it would drive her mad, and being on a public beach was not the place for his teasing if he wanted to live.

"Mmm?" He placed another kiss onto her shoulder, and she physically turned around to face him, seeing the smug look on his face and rolling her eyes.

"Sun-cream, now."

Maria sat up from her sunbathing, and threw them both a glare. "Can you two not keep your hands off each other for one day?"

He smirked at his sister as she picked the bottle of sun-cream up from the sand. "Nope," he grinned. "Pass us that cream?"

Maria threw it at him with a roll of her eyes. He caught it with one hand, and proceeded to pour some out into his hands. "Mel, turn around?"

This time he did put it on… but his hands still lingered against her skin longer than they needed to. Not that she was complaining.

He let her get back to her relaxing after a while, but not before he'd trailed more kisses down her neck, partly to wind up Maria some more, and partly because he just couldn't resist.

When he joined Steve and Lola building castles, Lola begged him to let her go into the sea, and he agreed, Steve saying he would stay up on the beach and catch some rays for a while.

Phil held tightly onto Lola as they jumped the waves, the salt spray of water hitting them in the face each time they washed past. She squealed and laughed as a particularly large wave lifted them even higher than before, and Phil held her under her arms, picking her up out of the water and pretending he would throw her into the sea.

Melinda headed out to join them in the water a little while later, but not to play around; she floated on her back, star-fished out across the surface of the sea, and gently drifted back towards the shore as the tide went in. Something about water relaxed her, the combination of the warmth of the sun on her skin, the sound of waves crashing around her, and the scent of salt water overwhelming her senses, all lulled her into a calm she only usually achieved through meditation.

Her relaxation period was cut short however, when the sound of somebody swimming right next to her caught her attention, and she felt a pair of hands grab hold of her legs, pulling her towards them.

"Phil!" she growled in warning, watching his grin widen as she glanced over his shoulder and back to the beach, where Lola was now back to playing in the sand, this time with Maria. Melinda wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her just out of her depth, clinging onto him whilst he bent down, hoisting his arms under her thighs and lifting her up.

"Hmmm?"

"You know exactly what."

"Do I?"

"You're in a very… mischievous mood today."

"You love it" he said smiling, before leaning his head forwards, and placing a kiss into her right collarbone, the taste of saltwater lingering on his lips.

They stood together in the ocean for a while, simply holding one another as the cool waves washed past. After a while Melinda rested her head on his shoulder, sweeping her wet hair out of the way with one hand, and Phil lay his chin against the top of her head, sighing happily.

"Tonight," he said quietly, murmuring into her ear whilst they bobbed in the waves. "Maria has said she wants to take Lola to the kids disco under the hotel, so I was thinking we could go to that restaurant you wanted to visit?"

"The seafood one?"

"Yeah. Just the two of us for a few hours."

"I'd like that," she replied, looking back up to him with a smile. "I might wear that black dress you enjoy," she added, watching him suggestively. "The one with the cut outs down the side?"

He grinned at her idea, and lightly pressed his lips against her own.

"Yes please."

Melinda dressed herself in the one fancy outfit she had brought with her, and turned to look at her reflection in the mirror. She had to admit, the black dress she was wearing was definitely one of her best, hugging in exactly the right places and showing off her waist through elegant diamonds along the sides.

Phil loved it, so she always enjoyed wearing it more to see his reaction than anything else.

"Looking good Mel" Maria chimed, wandering into the bedroom without a knock and closing the door behind her. She plonked herself down onto the bed with a tired smile.

"You okay?" Melinda asked, frowning as her friend closed her eyes.

"Yeah, just… I'm exhausted and we haven't done anything today."

Melinda smiled, turning back to the mirror to sort her hair out. "That's because you're pregnant."

"I know, I just… I don't like being tired."

"Get used to it."

"I know, I know." She sat back up, and watched as Melinda pulled all her hair forwards, running the straighteners over it several times to ensure it was sleek. "Steve has taken Lola down to that little supermarket… I think he promised her she could choose a load of the ingredients for tea."

"Are you both okay looking after her tonight?"

"Of course," Maria laughed slightly, watching the sun setting through the bedroom window, "anyway, it'll give us practise."

"Lola doesn't know yet," Melinda added, "That you're pregnant?"

"No, we're going to tell her tonight."

It was a big thing, that she was going to get her first cousin, and Maria had asked Phil if she could tell her niece herself; he had only been too happy to let her, but they had been waiting till the right time. Just announcing it to her in their kitchen back home for instance, hadn't seemed right.

"So," Maria asked, stretching out and following Melinda around the room with her eyes."Where are you both going tonight?"

"There's a seafood restaurant along the front that I said looked amazing, and so Phil promised we could go."

"You both seem so happy," Maria commented genuinely, pulling her own hair out of the ponytail it had been in all day.

Melinda turned to face her friend. "We are."

"Can I ask you something?"

"...yes?" She wondered if she would regret giving her permission; the way Maria had worded her question right after discussing her and Phil made Melinda suspicious.

"You're in love with him, right?"

Melinda turned around fully, leaning against the chest of drawers behind her. "Yes."

"Do you think… this is it?"

"You mean -?"

"I mean, is he your one true love and all that?"

Melinda raised an eyebrow at her, but said nothing.

"Come on Mel, please? I just… I wanna know if we're going to be sisters or something one day."

"I've never felt like this, if that's what you're asking." She ignored the second half of Maria's statement. Because sisters meant marriage, and that was definitely not something either her nor Phil had even mentioned, let alone considered. It had been less than a year for goodness sake.

Maria nodded knowingly however, and smirked a little. "Yep, that's exactly what I meant."

Phil and Melinda stayed out until almost eleven, before deciding they should probably return and take Lola off of Steve and Maria's hands.

They strolled back slowly though, taking a detour via the beach, and walked barefoot in the moonlight, hand in hand.

At some point, Phil stopped them, and pulled her gently against him, kissing her softly as the waves crashed behind them. Melinda scrunched her toes into the sand as she tugged him closer, and the two simply stood watching the sea washing closer and closer, the scent of salt filling their senses.

It was a moment that would be ingrained into both of their memories for life.

"She's still up?" Phil asked, once he reached Maria and Steve's cabin, slightly, but not entirely surprised that Lola was awake; naturally, it was Maria's fault. It was normal really, and Maria thoroughly took advantage of being the "cool aunt". Lola loved her for it. Anyway, they were on holiday, so it didn't matter so much that Lola wasn't asleep by her usual bedtime.

From the sight of his daughter, he could tell she'd been laughing a lot. Her cheeks were flushed pink, and her hair was flying all over the place; he knew that look - somebody had been tickling her.

"Yeah, we were partying, weren't we kid?"

Lola nodded, but Phil could see in her eyes she was ready for bed.

"Partying! Wow, what do you say Lola?"

"Thank you for looking after me."

"No problem," Maria smiled, ruffling Lola's hair up a little bit and bending down to place a kiss on her niece's forehead. Steve, who was stood by her side, did the same.

"Okay munchkin, bedtime," Phil said once they'd done, picking her up with both arms and sitting her on his hip. She didn't fight it, and as he thanked Maria and Steve for looking after her for the evening – despite the fact it was late – he felt her begin to fall asleep on him where they were stood, and she snuggled into him, wrapping both arms around his neck.

"We'll see you both in the morning," he added, as he left his sister and brother-in-law to it for the night. "Bye!"

"See you tomorrow Phil" called Steve, before closing the door behind him.

Once Phil returned to their wooden home, Melinda opened the door to find a completely unconscious Lola being carried by Phil, who put her to bed as she was. There was no point waking her up now she was asleep, just to get her to clean her teeth and changed into her pyjamas.

Once Lola was tucked up in bed with her cuddly shark toy on one side, and her small dragon on the other – it had been a slight battle to get her to not bring the entire menagerie of stuffed animals with her on the trip – Phil headed back onto the balcony to join Melinda, who was reading a book on her e-reader in the calming breeze.

He sat down on the chair next to her, and looked out at the view from their room. He could see the ocean, the water now appearing like a still, dark lake, the occasional ripple across the surface the only indication it was in fact the ocean, and not a pond. The moonlight was reflected on the surface, a white glimmer amongst the dark of night all around, and he realised he hadn't been anywhere so peaceful in his entire life.

He spent the next ten minutes just watching Melinda reading by candlelight, the gentle glow of the flame illuminating her face.

When they went to bed an hour later, Phil spent half the night just watching her sleep, wondering how he'd managed to find somebody so perfect.

Phil had swung open his wardrobe doors, on the hunt for one of his favourite shirts, when he found them.

In fairness, he'd begun to realise a few weeks back, but had just brushed it aside. But there it was, another piece of evidence.

Next to where his grey suit was hung, was a row of several items that did not belong to him. Various shirts, with buttons or zips, mostly black, a red dress that certainly did not belong to him, and a leather jacket, with silver fastenings shining in the sunlight coming through the window opposite.

Phil smiled as he closed the wardrobe doors once more, the hinges creaking slightly in the silence of the room.

There were signs of Melinda all over his house. And he had been noticing them everywhere more and more frequently.

Her clothes in his cupboard, her fruit teas in the kitchen, shoes in the hallway, make-up and toiletries in the bathroom.

The lingering scent of her perfume that occupied the pillow on her side of the bed.

Paintings she had made with Lola, of planets and oceans and dragons, that now adorned his daughter's bedroom walls.

The books littering his living room shelves, which he could not remember buying at all.

She was at his house with he and Lola, more than she was at her own flat these days, and it hadn't escaped his notice. He loved her being there too, and the nights she returned to her own place left him lying awake at night, having gotten used to listening to the gentle rhythm of her breaths as she slept beside him.

Phil wondered what Melinda would say, if he asked her to move in with them permanently. After all, she was practically living there anyway...

Phil awoke slowly, the dream he had been having quickly fading from his mind, like water pouring away down a stream, mixing with his other thoughts and being lost for good.

He opened his eyes and rolled over onto his side, coming face to face with a softly smiling Melinda, who was propped up on her pillow with one elbow.

"Morning" he said croakily, the remnants of sleep still lingering in his body as he gradually adjusted.

"Hey" she replied simply, watching as he rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Happy Birthday, Captain."

Phil smiled, taking a deep breath as her words sunk in. It was true, it was his birthday.

He was officially thirty-three years old. That felt… old.

Well, it wasn't old as such, but to him, it was. It was almost five years older than Melinda for example, who was still enjoying the youth of her late twenties...

"Thanks."

Melinda wriggled forwards in the bed, refusing to relinquish the blankets she was currently in control of - she kept stealing them from him in the night, and no matter what he just couldn't bear to pull them back away from her again whilst she slept - and pressed a gentle kiss against his lips.

"Do you want your presents now, or later?"

He was unable to answer, because at that moment there was a creak of floorboards in the next room, followed by footsteps moving across the landing, halting outside of their room. Phil and Melinda both glanced towards the door, and waited until the sounds of timid knocking met their ears. Knocking when a door was closed was a rule Phil had implemented, now that Melinda stayed over so frequently; there was no chance in hell he wanted his daughter walking in on something she really should not be seeing at her age.

"Are you awake?" Lola asked quietly, Melinda having to strain her ears to actually hear her properly.

"Yeah, we are."

With that, the door opened slowly, and Lola bounded into the room, carrying with her two gifts, wrapped in red and white paper, with blue ribbons fastening them together. Phil couldn't help but smile at the choice of colours.

She jumped up onto the bed, and, having left both presents on the covers, launched herself into Phil's arms, squealing as he pulled her into a bear hug, growling at her as she tried to escape.

"Daddddddd!"

"Yessss?"

"Let go!"

Melinda watched them with a laugh, refusing to help when Lola looked at her helplessly, and simply moved Phil's presents out of harms way.

He eventually let go of his daughter, and she shuffled across the bed so she was in between the two of them. Lola grabbed one of the gifts from Melinda, and handed it to Phil.

"Happy Birthday Daddy."

"Thank you princess." He took the gift from her and opened it, letting Lola play with the ribbon after he had removed it.

"Oh wow!"

A new pair of pyjamas, with a white shirt and patterned bottoms, covered in the shield insignia of Captain America.

Lola smiled proudly at his reaction. "Melinda let me choose them, do you like them?"

"Yes, I love them, thank you!"

She thrust the second gift into his hands as he placed the pyjamas next to him, and he took it from her with a chuckle, making light work of the tangle of curled ribbons he had a slight inkling Melinda might have tied.

His face lit up when it turned out the box Lola had wrapped, contained a selection of homemade biscuits, each covered in rainbow icing and silver balls, and suspiciously in the shape of the cutters Melinda had bought Lola.

"Did you bake these yourself Lo?"

She glanced over to Melinda, biting her lip a bit. "Melinda helped…"

"She did most of it herself," she clarified, smiling at Lola with an encouraging nod. "I only helped weigh out ingredients and sort the oven out."

"Thank you sweetheart" Phil said wholeheartedly, pulling his daughter sideways into another hug.

" 'Welcome… can I have a biscuit?"

He nodded as she reached into the box, picking a star-shaped one covered in blue icing, and she jumped back off the bed. "Can I watch tv?"

"Yes, we'll be down in a bit."

Lola nodded happily, before skipping from the room, her feet padding down the stairs, and Phil knew full well he'd find a trail of cookie crumbs leading him to the front room when he finally left.

He turned to face Melinda once more, who was reaching over to her bedside table, pulling open a draw and taking something out. She turned back to him with a small smile.

"Here you go" she said simply, handing him a plain envelope made of thick white paper, with his named scrolled across the front. "Happy Birthday Phil."

He opened it carefully, attempting not to rip the paper, and pulled out a card from within.

Two tickets fell out and onto his lap, and he picked them up with a puzzled expression, before reading the card.

As his eyes scanned the page, they widened, and Melinda smiled properly as the grin broke out across his face.

"Is this for real?" he asked, staring at her in wonder.

She laughed and nodded. "Yes."

"So, you're telling me, that in two weeks from now, the two of us are going to New York, visiting a science-fiction/superhero exhibition at the Hall of Science, and then spending the rest of the weekend in a five star hotel?"

"Yep. Lola is staying with Maria and Steve for the weekend, and your Mom said she could look after her if we get delayed or anything coming back... I take it you want to go then?" she added, seeing his smile just keep on growing.

"So much!"

"Good, because it was a bitch to organise."

Phil laughed, re-reading the card once more.

"You're amazing, you know that?"

"I know" she grinned.

He placed the card onto his bedside table, and reached out for her, letting her rest her head against his shoulder as he held her close.

"Thank you Mel," he kissed the top of her head. "I hope you know, I love you so much."

"I love you too."

Okay, so maybe birthdays weren't so bad.

Please let me know your thoughts so far! Comments really help encourage me to keep writing :)