September

September signalled both the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, but also the start of a new term for Phil and Lola.

As the month dawned, things were about to change.

In his opinion, one of the best things about being a teacher, was that Phil got to spend all of the school holidays at home with Lola. He knew he was lucky, getting so much more time off than pretty much everybody else he knew. He'd been able to watch Lola growing up right in front of him, and now his little girl was about to start her next adventure.

That morning, as Phil raced around the house trying to get himself ready for his first day back at work, he was on a double mission.

Lola was beginning her first ever day of school. Her clothing had been chosen the night before, her bag was packed, and everything she would need was ready.

They had all woken early, and whilst Lola dressed herself, and Melinda made her some lunch to take in with her - Phil caught her sneaking a few cookies into the box alongside a sandwich - Phil had to take several deep breaths to remind himself this was really happening.

How could he be more nervous than his own daughter?

Phil grabbed a piece of toast as he hurried through the kitchen, on his way to finding where on earth his car keys had gotten to. As he passed the dining table however, Melinda reached out and took hold of his arm, bringing him to a stop.

"You should get a picture of her" she told him softly, nodding her head towards where Lola stood waiting at the front door, twisting her hands in front of her, and looking a little more anxious than she had been for the past few weeks. "First day of school and all that."

He grinned at her in response, before pressing a kiss against her forehead. "Do you know where my camera is?"

"Wherever you left it."

He kissed her again with a small shake of his head, before moving into the next room to look for that as well.

Melinda turned back to Lola, and headed out into the hall.

"You excited?"

Lola nodded in silence, hair falling into her face, and Melinda crouched down in front of her, brushing the strands back behind her ears. "Do you want me to plait your hair for you? So it's not in your eyes today?"

Again Lola just nodded, but Melinda smiled, pulling a bobble from her wrist and leading Lola into the living room by the hand. She proceeded to sit on the sofa, pulling Lola to stand in front of her, facing away, and reached up, trailing her fingers through her hair.

"What are you looking forward to most?" she asked quietly, as she split Lola's hair into three strands and began passing them over each other. She could hear Phil upstairs hunting for the camera.

Lola shrugged in front of her.

"How about making new friends?"

"Yeah," Lola paused, but Melinda waited for her to continue. "And painting class" she seemed to add as an afterthought.

"You'll be so good at that" she replied honestly, knowing full well how long she had sat with Lola whilst they painted space and oceans and dragons together.

Melinda tied the band around the end of Lola's hair, before turning her around to face her, and pulling her plait carefully so it rested down the front of one of her shoulders. Her fringe was left untouched, and Melinda smiled.

"There you go."

She didn't miss the shy smile she received in return, or the way Lola reached out and held onto her hand once more; she could tell she was nervous, so she squeezed her hand back gently in support.

"Thank you Melinda."

"Okay Lo," Phil announced from the doorway, making both of them turn in his direction; Melinda had no idea how long he'd been stood there. "Can I take a photo of you, for your first day at school?"

She nodded slightly, before Phil led her out into the front garden.

It took ten minutes, but after several pictures of Lola on her own, one of Lola and Phil, one of Lola and Melinda, and then one of all three that a helpful neighbour offered to take, Phil was bundling his daughter into the car, and off for her first day.

Lola waved as they drove away, and Melinda smiled to herself as she headed back into the house, closing the front door behind her and climbing up the stairs, off to get herself ready for work.

She really had found the perfect little family.

"So Maria," Melinda asked, pausing in the slicing of her seabass to look up at her friend across the table. "When the baby comes, are you going to stay at home full time, or come back to work after a few weeks?"

Maria chewed thoughtfully, her own cutlery resting on the table in front of her, as she contemplated her answer.

"We were thinking," she replied, swallowing and taking a sip of water from the iced glass beside her plate. "That for the first few months, I'll stay at home, and then when I want to start going back to work, Steve is going to drop down his hours and we'll both do a few days a week, whilst the other looks after baby."

Steve nodded next to her, seemingly perfectly content to just happily watch his wife enjoying her meal. He had always been attentive to her, Melinda knew that, but since they had gotten married and found out they were expecting, he seemed to look at her with more pride than she would've thought possible.

Melinda watched as Steve smiled proudly, and she couldn't help but feel the overwhelming sense of happiness at her two friends. Despite the fact they had not thought getting pregnant would happen so quickly, both had quickly not only accepted their future was changed for good, but had fully enveloped it, and were taking everything completely in their stride.

"I know what she's like" he added, elbowing Maria fondly, before looking back up to Melinda and Phil opposite. "She'll say she's happy to look after baby on her own, but I know she will be desperate to get back to work after a few weeks at home."

"Is Tony okay with you taking the time off?" Phil asked, referring to Steve's boss at Stark Industries. Steve nodded, and sliced another piece off the steak in front of him.

"I spoke to him as soon as we found out, and he was great about it. Said he knew what it was like trying to balance work, a wife, and a child, so I could take what I needed off."

Maria raised her eyebrows, and shook her head with a smirk, but didn't interrupt, and the four waiting patiently as the waiter refilled their water jug before carrying on with their conversation.

"So," Steve continued, after eating another mouthful before it went cold. "If we decide that Maria is going to stay at home for six months, I can either remain at work, or stay home and help her, but if she wants to go back after two months, I can take as much off as I need to look after baby alone."

Phil remembered how hard it had been for him trying to raise Lola on his own, so listening to Maria and Steve discussing how they were going to work together, left him with mixed emotions. He was confident that his niece or nephew was going to get a better upbringing than they could have dreamed, but he was slightly sorrowful that Lola had never had the chance to be raised by her mother. He wondered how differently she would have turned out, if Audrey had been there.

"Are you okay?" Melinda murmured, resting a hand on his arm, and bringing him out of his momentary journey to the past. He glanced up to meet her concerned gaze, before smiling back at her.

"I'm fine, honestly." He covered her hand with his own, gently stroking his thumb over her knuckles, before changing the subject. "How is your meal?"

She stared back for a moment, clearly debating whether to press him further or just let it go. She opted for the latter.

"It's lovely, yours?"

Phil nodded. "It's really good!" He glanced over at Maria, who was eating the same dish. "What about you M, you like it?"

"Yeah…" she paused, swirling a cherry tomato through the light dressing her chicken had been drizzled with. "And it feels so good to be able to eat something without wanting to throw it back up!"

Her morning sickness had lasted only a few weeks, but for many more after that, any mention of food had sent her queasy. Steve had been getting worried, anxious that both she and the baby would be doing without nutrition they needed, but their doctor assured him that the sickness was normal, and it would pass soon. They had been right, and now Maria was thoroughly enjoying eating for two.

"We're going to convert the office upstairs into a nursery" Maria continued, finishing the last of her meal and placing her knife and fork onto her plate. "We don't use it that much anyway, and it's a decent size."

"What are you going to do with all the things in there?" Phil asked, remembering all too well how much stuff a baby actually needed - he'd never have believed it unless he'd been there himself.

"We'll sell some things" Steve replied, also finishing his meal, and taking a drink of his own water - despite the fact Maria had told him it was fine for him to keep drinking alcohol even though she no longer could, he had insisted upon refraining himself, to support her. "My friend Bucky said he'll take the desk… he's just moved in with his girlfriend, Clara, and they're refurbishing the place. And then we can put the books and things into the attic if we need to."

"And then we'll just repaint it and sort out a cot and some storage," Maria finished for him, smiling over at her husband.

Melinda was pretty sure they were holding hands under the table.

They sat at the dining table facing each other, Lola attempting to twirl spaghetti around her fork, and failing. Melinda laughed when Lola picked up a strand with her fingers, holding it above her head and dropping it into her mouth, before turning to face her with a grin.

"That's cheating!"

"Not it isn't!" Lola shook her head quickly, picking up her cup of milk and sipping from it nonchalantly.

"Yes it is," Melinda grinned back, tutting as she twirled pasta around her own fork. "Here, watch how I do it, and then you try."

Lola sat and watched her swirling the strands around several times, copying her after each go. On the fifth attempt, she managed it, and she beamed with happiness when she managed to eat it without everything falling off the fork.

"I did it!"

Melinda smiled as Lola continued eating, loving how such a small thing could mean so much to her.

Once they'd finished their meals, Melinda cleared up, letting Lola watch an hour of her current favourite cartoon. She could hear the tv in the background as she washed the dishes by hand, and the occasional giggle from Lola at something that had happened.

Phil was working late, a staff meeting for the new term having taken up his evening. She knew he'd be back by around eight, but that meant it was just her and Lola until them, and it was up to her to carry out the bedtime routine.

The last time it had been the two of them had been a disaster, but based on current events, she had a feeling tonight was going to be a lot better.

Melinda joined Lola on the sofa ten minutes later, and they both sat curled up against the cushions, watching the mermaids on screen share their adventures across the oceans. The two of them nibbled on a packet of cookies Melinda had found in a cupboard, and before she knew it almost the whole pack was empty, and Lola was dozing off against her shoulder.

She woke her gently, sweeping hair from her face and murmuring her name, not wanting to scare her awake with any sudden movements.

Lola got ready for bed whilst Melinda waited downstairs, and after making sure she had brushed her teeth and washed her face, Melinda pulled out the bedtime story Lola had chosen, and perched herself on the side of her bed.

Before she had opened it however, Lola began to talk.

"Daddy said you're going to live with us… is that true?"

Melinda tilted her head to the side a little, her hair falling over her shoulder. "If that's okay with you?"

Lola nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, I like you being here now, and Daddy is so excited."

Melinda smiled at her, wondering what on earth Phil had been doing around the house recently to show his excitement.

He was such an idiot.

She also couldn't help but realise how far they had come in the last few months. It had less than a year since she had met Phil, and four months since Lola had screamed that she didn't want her in the house with them at all.

Melinda had spent so long worrying she would never be able to adapt her way of life to accommodate not only a serious relationship, but also technically a step-daughter as well, but here she was, reading Lola a bedtime story, like it was the most natural thing in the world for the two to be doing.

Before Melinda knew what was happening, Lola wrapped her arms around her waist, snuggling her head against her stomach, and closing her eyes. Melinda froze slightly, before gently pulling Lola closer into the hug, enveloping her own arms around the child and pressing a careful kiss to the top of her head. She could still smell the strawberry from her shampoo.

"Love you Melinda."

The words were quiet, but distinguishable, and an unfamiliar swooping feeling filled Melinda with joy.

"Love you too Lola" she murmured quietly, stroking through her hair absently with one hand, whilst her mind whirred slightly in the dim light of her room.

She knew tonight would go well.

Phil had thought that Lola asking where babies came from would be the most awkward conversation they would have that year.

He was wrong.

Because the words that came out of his daughter's mouth next, really were the cherry on the cake.

"Daddy?" she asked, looking at him carefully, her paintbrush paused over the cup of water she had been using to wash it in.

"Yes sweetheart?" he replied absently, scrawling his pen across the page, the blue ink adding a comment to the essay he was currently marking, before looking up to meet her gaze.

"Why don't I have a brother or sister?"

Oh god.

"Well," he frowned, placing the pen onto the table and moving the essay to the side. He figured it was best not to lie to her; yes, she was only five, but she was also a lot more mature than some of the children her age, and she deserved to know the truth about why she was an only child. "Your Mommy and I, we wanted you to have one, but because of what happened... we couldn't."

"Because the angels took her?"

"Yes."

Lola nodded in silence, putting the paint-brush down on her paint pallette, and Phil watched her, ready in case at any moment his words overwhelmed her or she became upset. But she simply stared back, seemingly contemplating something as she twisted her now free hands in her lap.

"What about Melinda?"

Phil was suddenly very glad that tonight was the night Melinda had opted to stay at her flat for one of the last times, and organise which of her things were coming with her when she officially moved in with them the next week.

He had a feeling she would probably shoot daggers across the room at him if she were here.

"What about Melinda?" he repeated cautiously, knowing exactly where Lola was heading. He loosened his tie slightly to let himself breathe more.

"Well," she said, picking up her paintbrush again and dipping it into the water. "She said that if two people love each other then they can have a baby."

"She did, didn't she." He recalled that conversation well; it was probably ingrained in his memory as much as this one would be. She'd probably regret saying that now if she knew her words were being used against them.

Lola nodded, swirling her brush across the red paint before sweeping it onto the page.

"That's true right?"

"Yes."

"And you love Melinda?"

"Yes" Phil watched her carefully, debating whether to distract her before she asked what he knew was coming up. He could ask what story she wanted, if she'd like a film on before bed, if she wanted some milk and cookies…

"So does that mean I can have a brother or sister?"

Damn. Too late.

"Ermmm..." Phil flailed around inside his head, wondering what the best response would be to such a question. He couldn't promise her things he had never even spoken to Melinda about, but he also didn't want to lie to her outright and say she would never get a sibling. He settled on the grey-ish middle group he knew full well he wouldn't get away with for long. "I don't know honey, Melinda and I haven't been together that long."

"You have!"

"Less than a year" he reasoned, wondering briefly how long a year would feel to a child her age.

"What if you got married?"

Back to reality.

"Then…. maybe" he conceded, smiling weakly as he mentally reprimanded himself. Lola beamed back at him, before Phil rose from his seat and took a calming breath. "Anyway, come on, you have school in the morning; it's time for bed."

As Lola put her paintbrush into the water one last time, clambering off the kitchen chair and skipping into the hallway ahead of him, Phil had only one thought on his mind.

Melinda was going to kill him if she found out about this conversation.

"I can't believe you're moving out and abandoning me here, all alone."

"Don't try and guilt trip me!"

"Why?" Natasha grinned suddenly, tucking a loose strand of vivid red hair behind her ear. "Is it working?"

Melinda simply glared in response, and turned back to her wardrobe, pulling out another dress she had forgotten she actually owned. She was sorting out which clothes to take with her to Phil's house when she officially moved, not wanting to clog his house up with things that she didn't really need.

She held it up.

"You want this?"

"Hell yes!"

The two were in Melinda's bedroom with Bobbi; Natasha was sitting cross-legged on the bed, occasionally taking possession of items Melinda deemed no longer needed, and Bobbi leaned against the windowsill, sipping coffee and occasionally inputting a comment or two into the conversation.

She was a lot quieter than usual, but she had her reasons.

Bobbi had just split up with Lance once more, their transatlantic relationship struggling after Lance's boss denied him permission to transfer to the sister company in the States. After several arguments surrounding the future and where they were actually going, the pair had called time on their relationship once more.

Nobody doubted they would get back together soon enough, but for now, Lance had returned to England, and Bobbi was trying her hardest to take her mind off things.

Maria had been invited to join them, in a kind of "end of an era" evening of clearing out, chatting, and eating crappy food - their takeaway pizzas were on their way - but she had declined, having already promised Pepper that she and Steve would be attending Tony's birthday meal that evening.

So it was just the three of them.

Natasha took the dress from Melinda with a smile, holding it up in front of her and checking out the label, whilst Bobbi shook her head at the two of them.

"You know you're both like sisters?" she asked, watching amusedly with a raised eyebrow at their easy banter and constant digs at one another.

"Yeah," Natasha agreed with a smirk, "I mean, Mel's in denial about it, but I've always known."

"We're nothing like sisters" Melinda retorted, throwing another garment onto the bed behind her, only for it to be snapped up by Natasha almost instantly. "Nat, you'll never fit all this in your wardrobe if you keep taking everything!"

"Well as soon as you've gone" she answered simply, "I can just fill your wardrobe back up again with my own things."

"Yeah, not like sisters at all" Bobbi muttered with a grin, popping her now-empty mug back onto Melinda's dressing table.

Melinda shot her a look over her shoulder, but Bobbi could see she was trying not to smile underneath the glower.

"So you're not taking furniture with you?" she asked instead, looking around the room at what Melinda actually owned. Half of her things were in boxes, piled up against the wall, but the larger items were still in place.

"No," she replied, standing up straight and turning to face her, brushing her hair away from her face as she glanced at her own room. "My bed is staying, as is the wardrobe, but I am taking the chair" she added, indicating over to the corner of the room where her grandmother's old carved chair stood. "I would never get rid of that."

"Yeah, definitely keep that," Bobbi smiled, before joining the redhead currently sorting through the pile of things Melinda didn't want. "So are you keeping this as a bedroom then, Nat?"

"Yes," Natasha answered, nodding slightly as Melinda resumed her clothing clear out, this time going through her shoes. "I'll make this a spare room, so if people stay over then they'll actually have a bed, rather than just being dumping onto the sofa or something."

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Melinda asked, frowning a little as she listened to Natasha. "What with paying the rent and bills and stuff on your own?"

Natasha smiled back, and nodded encouragingly. "I'll be fine Mel, honestly. I've got a few more tours coming up, so that's extra money, and if it comes to it I can always rent your room out."

"Feels weird doesn't it?" Bobbi asked Melinda, as she reached back to tie her hair into a ponytail. "That after tomorrow this won't be your room any more?"

Melinda just nodded. It was weird. After moving out of her mother's house, she had lived in only two places - her first flat, and this one. She'd lived with Natasha for over five years, and saying goodbye to her was going to be the hardest part.

Natasha seemed to sense her change of mood.

"We'll still see each other Mel," she smiled, folding up one of the shirts she had acquired. "All the time, we just won't live together."

"I know."

"Ever lived with a guy before?" Bobbi asked, cocking her head to the side as she eyed the boots Melinda had pulled out from the back of her wardrobe.

She shook her head in response. "No."

"It's interesting" she grinned suddenly, despite her mood, and Melinda was wary of what was coming. "You'll love being with him all the time, and you'll hate being with him all the time."

"Great" she rolled her eyes. "I'll look forward to it."

"You nervous?"

Melinda stared into her wardrobe, contemplating her answer to Bobbi's question.

Yes, in a way she was nervous; having never taken such a huge step with anybody before, this was definitely going to be both strange and exciting. But at the same time, she wasn't nervous at all, looking forward to moving in with them both, and beginning a brand new chapter of her life.

She'd also noticed recently, when at work and struggling with annoying clients or an overload of paperwork, that she found herself counting down until the moment she could leave, and go home. Melinda couldn't pin-point the exact moment she began to do it, but when she thought of "home" now, she thought of Phil's house, and not her flat.

Her lack of response seemed to answer her question anyway, and the three friends simply sat in a comfortable silence, until the doorbell rang a few minutes later. Bobbi jumped up from the bed, heading out to collect their delivery, and Natasha followed, grabbing plates and cutlery from the kitchen so they could eat in some kind of civilised manner.

Melinda remained in her room for a moment longer, looking around at how her life was being packed away into cardboard boxes.

She never would have seen this happening a year ago. But it was, and if she was being completely honest with herself, it felt more right than anything else that had ever happened to her, period.

She smiled, before closing the wardrobe doors, and wandered out to rejoin her friends.

The last Sunday of September arrived, and Melinda found herself awake long before her alarm rang out. She wasn't even in the mood to do tai-chi, which she knew in itself was evidence of her current unsettled nature.

This was it, the final time she would wake up in her room, in her bed, in her flat. It felt slightly… surreal.

She was happy, of course, but it also felt like the end of an era in some ways.

Clearly Natasha felt the same way, because for the first time in what seemed like forever, Melinda could hear her roommate up and out of bed long before nine am.

The gentle knock on her door a few minutes wasn't waiting for a reply, and Natasha wandered in anyway, bringing Melinda a mug of peppermint tea, whilst she opted for what looked like hot chocolate.

"You nervous?" Natasha asked quietly, keeping her mug in her hands as she came to sit on the bed next to Melinda.

Melinda nodded. She was, and she didn't usually get nervous.

"You know, Mel" Natasha murmured, looking down at her cup, and tracing her finger absently along the rim. "It didn't feel real until today."

"I know." Melinda glanced over at the boxes across the room. Her life. Everything she owned - clothes, books, toiletries, things..

Natasha stared at her for a moment, before placing her mug onto one of the bedside tables that adorned her bed. Melinda watched her move, and before she knew it, Natasha had leaned forwards, and wrapped her arms around her.

"I'm really going to miss you" she murmured, sighing a little as Melinda hugged her back.

"I know Nat," she replied, swallowing hard and breathing carefully. "I'm going to miss you too."

Actually moving in was a lot less hassle than she had thought it would be.

Phil came by in his car around noon, with Lola bouncing excitedly on the back seat next to the shark toy she had gotten from the aquarium.

They both helped Melinda pack all the boxes she had into the boot, alongside her chair - the dragon-carved legs of which Lola found completely fascinating - before leaving her along to say goodbye to the flat, and give Natasha one last hug.

Phil was pretty sure Melinda's eyes were slightly pink when she climbed in next to him, but she didn't comment on it, so neither did he.

When they got back to the house, the boxes were all lined up in the hallway, and as she had labelled them previously, it was a simple task to work out which ones were going upstairs, and which ones downstairs.

Phil helped Melinda put her clothing on hangers and into the wardrobe, and folded the rest up and placed them into one of the drawers he had already cleared out in preparation.

The bedside table received a snowglobe, and Phil smiled at it as the memories of their first dates came flooding back to him.

As she wandered out from his - no, their - en-suite bathroom, having added her toothbrush, shampoo and body wash to his shelves, Phil stole a kiss, brushing his fingers through her hair as he felt her smiling against him.

She moved onto the next box.

The living-room gained new books, the rack by the television acquired new films.

Her chair found a place to stand in the corner of the bedroom, where she could see it each day.

Melinda gradually emptied each part of her life into the house, including one of the fluffy cushions from the sofa that she and Nat had both picked out one time in Ikea. They had spent almost four hours in there, and left with so much crap that they had to go back again to collect the rest. Now they had a cushion each.

Lola skipped excitedly around the house, occasionally asking Melinda what things were and why she had them, but otherwise seemingly very happy with the new member of their household.

She tired after a while, and sat herself down in her bedroom, playing with her toys.

When the final box was empty, and the last box of fruit tea had settled in the kitchen cupboard, Phil smiled, looking around the room, before back to Melinda.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly, stepping forwards and linking their fingers together. He knew she was normally pretty quiet anyway, but for the last hour, whilst he had added a few baking books onto the shelf alongside his cooking guides, she had been even more so.

She nodded, smiling slightly and in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. "It just feels a little... strange."

"Good strange?" he asked, unlinking his hands from hers, and placing them around her hips instead, pulling her slowly closer. "Or bad strange?"

She leaned up onto her tip toes, and pressed a gentle kiss against his lips. "Good strange, Phil, good strange."

He smiled once more in response, before moving his hands from her hips, so they loosely linked around her lower back. Melinda wrapped her own around his neck, clasping them together lightly as the two stood together.

"Welcome home Mel" he murmured, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

Melinda smiled against him, and rested her cheek on his chest, feeling the gentle rhythm of him breathing, and taking comfort from each motion.

Home.

She was home.

Thank you once more to everyone who has favourited, followed and reviewed, whether as a guest or as a user!

Lola asking about getting a brother/sister is for bellapaige88, who thought it would be amusing for her to ask for a sibling and embarrass Phil some more :))

As usual, please let me know your thoughts! Only 3 chapters to go until the end... what are everyone's predictions?