A/N: Hope you enjoy this. Thanks for reading!
Melinda was waiting for the metaphorical other shoe to drop.
Things with Skye were going far too well, which she knew sounded ridiculous, and when she had voiced this fear to Maria, the woman had laughed in her face and told her to make the most of the proverbial honeymoon period. But it was difficult.
Skye had been living with them for almost a week, and although they'd had their bumps in the first few days, since starting school, the little girl had barely been a bother.
With both Bobbi and Nat, the first few weeks had been the hardest. Every single day had been a battle of two extremes; silence with Bobbi, and the opposite with Nat. Melinda had needed to work constantly to gain their trust and get them to a healthy place. Bobbi refused to speak to anyone, and Nat, well the little English she did speak was picked up in a crack den so it was less than helpful to anyone unless they wanted to be screamed at and verbally abused.
Melinda could do difficult. She could make things better.
Skye, though, things were going really very well. Their little girl was being anything but difficult. She had her little mood swings and was fiercely protective and secretive about some of her 'special things' hidden in her bedroom (Melinda was determined to find out what they were without being a snoop), but really she seemed to be okay. It just all seemed too good to be true.
Mel said as much to Phil in the car after dropping Skye off at her fourth day of school with no problems. She had hugged them goodbye, kissed her toys, and ran off to join Grant Ward in the playground. That first little speed bump on her first day was long forgotten and Pepper assured them that every day that Skye was settling in to the school and making friends really well, that neither of them should be worried.
"I'm worried." Mel said, ignoring Phil's frown and putting her feet up on the dash anyway. "I just feel like something's got to give, Phil."
"She's doing great." Phil sighed, evidently having given up hope of ever getting his wife to stop treating the car like a lounge. "This is the best time we've ever had with a kid. I know Skye's moods can sometimes be a little…sporadic," Mel nodded in agreement and thought back to the few times Skye had gone from happy-go-lucky to moody and quiet in five seconds flat for no apparent reason. "But she's doing great." Phil said. "What's there to worry about?"
Melinda sighed in frustration. "Everything. There's everything to worry about. You just don't get it."
"You're right, I don't. Please for the love of God explain it to me." Phil said, pulling into the space at the front of the gym. He turned off the engine but made no move to leave the car.
Melinda blew some hair out of her eyes and kept them trained forward on the automatic doors of the entrance. Each time they opened for someone to enter or leave the building, she got a glimpse of Maria lounging by the front desk with Steve, laughing at something one of the receptionists was saying. They would all pretend to have been working as soon as she and Phil went inside. They may be their best friends, but she and Phil still paid their wages.
Mel could probably insist they talk about this later, perhaps in one of their offices, but she knew all too well the workload that would be thrown on both of them as soon as they entered through the doors. Their staff were the best, they only hired the best, but even then, being the boss meant being very involved and therefore very busy. It was rare they got more than five minutes to themselves in the gym. Stark was due to come in at some point in the day and coping with him was like a three man job and she'd probably get roped into it.
Melinda sighed and pulled her knees up to her chest. The motion reminded her of Bobbi when she was little, and a new wave of anxiety washed over her as she thought of her eldest all he way across the globe. "I could handle Trip." Mel said. "He was ten and cried non–stop for days, but we helped him and then he was fine. No problems."
Phil reached over and laced his hand with hers.
"And Bobbi. Twelve and tiny and so shy she wouldn't even speak to usin the house. But we helped her and, God Phil, look at her now." Melinda smiled to herself as she thought of her eldest little girl, not so little or quiet anymore. "And Natasha."
Phil squeezed her hand and took a deep breath. "God, Natasha. Yeah."
"Yeah." Mel said. "She was, well…it took a while but we got there."
"We did." Phil agreed. "So why are you so concerned about Skye. She's doing great."
"Exactly." Mel looked over to him with a sad smile. "It's going too well, and you know just as well as I do that the other shoe will drop."
"We don't know that for sure, Mel. Skye just might not be as challenging as we were led to believe. It could be a good thing?" It came out as more of a question, and Mel wished she could agree.
"Even if only half of the things in Skye's file are true, we're up for a difficult time." She said. Phil nodded. "I think…" Mel looked back out of the window. "…I think that maybe our baby is going to be a slow burner. And we need to be prepared for her catching."
Melinda gripped Phil's hand and brought it up to her mouth to press a kiss to his knuckles. "I'm scared I'm not going to be enough for her. And…and I cannot fail her, Phil, I just can't."
Phil pulled his hand away from her and reached around to rub her neck gently. "Look at me."
Mel looked up at her husband.
"Don't you dare ever think that you are not good enough for that child, or any of our children, okay?" He said, tone leaving no room for argument. "I know I've done good for those kids. For Bobbi and Tash and Clint and even Trip, but you've changed their lives, Melinda."
"Phil-,"
"No, Mel. Listen. I know how you're feeling." He sighed. "I won't lie and try and tell you that it's all going to be plain sailing from here on out. I can't promise you that. Skye is a kid who has had more bad experiences than I've had hot meals, but I have every confidence in you, and you're not alone in this."
She shook her head. "You think too much of me, Philip."
"No I don't." He said, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "I could never, ever have cared for the kids without you. Never. I can do stories, and I can hug away nightmares, but I can't do that thing you do. That's special."
Melinda frowned at him. She had absolutely no idea what the hell he was talking about. "You're amazing with the kids, Phil. It was your idea to start taking them in."
"But Mel," He laughed, "how can you not see what you do? You put these broken kids back together piece-by-piece. And sometimes I hand you the glue, or hold a couple of pieces until they're dry, but you're the sculptor."
Mel snorted. "Nice metaphor, you idiot." She made fun of him, but she was well aware that he knew what 'idiot' really meant.
"I love you, too." Phil smiled, and tugged her forward to kiss her gently. "Please don't worry about Skye." He said, bumping her nose with his. "I'm worried too, honestly. But we'll be fine. She'll be fine."
"Yeah." Mel kissed his cheek.
"We can do this, together we can do this." He smiled. "And lucky for Skye, she's getting the two best big sisters in the business."
Melinda laughed. "You're not wrong, there."
"Skye's going to be okay. You believe me?"
"I believe you. And thank you for letting me have that mini-breakdown." She laughed, composing herself enough to go to work. "I feel much better." And she did. As always, her husband had managed to soothe her fears with a few kind words and some kisses. Phil may have thought that she had a gift with the kids, but he always had a special power when it came to making Melinda feel better.
"No problem." Phil unbuckled his seatbelt. "You can repay the debt when it's my turn to have the freak-out."
"Give me the time and place, and I'll be there." She laughed.
…
School wasn't so bad, Skye thought.
Monday morning had been a little traumatic, especially when Phil and Mel first left, but then she had met Grant Ward and they had become best friends. After that, the week was much better.
On Tuesday Miss Potts taught them all about the continents, and Skye even put her hand up to tell the class how polar bears lived in the Arctic, where penguins lived in the Antarctic, so they never really met unless they were at a zoo. She got a sticker from Miss Potts for doing that with a happy bumble bee on it, and Skye got to wear it all day and even take it home and stick it on her bed, right on her headboard in the middle.
At recess, Agent Skye and Agent Ward teamed up with Captain America to defeat the red skull, and even though Ward didn't really know who Captain America was, he still played the game really well.
On Wednesday, they did reading in class in groups with Miss Potts. She moved the tables around and split them all into groups (Skye was with Grant so that was okay) and they each had to read sections from the book Miss Potts gave them. Skye liked hearing everyone else in her group read, especially when it was Ward's turn, and each time someone needed help with a word, Miss Potts helped and never sounded mad or shouted like her old teacher, but Skye still didn't want to. She would never cry in front of the other kids in case they teased her, but when Miss Potts asked Skye to read the next part of the story, she felt like it.
Then she got a bit mad, and she wanted to tear the stupid page out of the stupid book and leave the stupid school and just go home. But she didn't get the chance, because Miss Potts said it was okay if she didn't want to read in the group, and she didn't have to. Instead, she got to read her own special choice of book from Miss Potts' shelf, and read it only to Miss Potts so none of the other kids could hear. That was good.
This morning, Thursday, Skye had gone into school on her own, and hadn't even felt scared. May and Phil watched from the gate, and she had kissed Mr. Snow and Charlotte before she left, but Skye went into the playground and found Agent Ward next to the jungle gym, all by herself. And then the rest of the day had gone just as well; learning about the animals in Africa, singing a song with another of the classes, and playing spies with Ward. School was pretty good.
Miss Potts finished the story about the four children, five minutes before school ended, so she said they could all just sit and talk until the bell went. Skye and Grant sat in their usual spot (and Skye loved the fact that she had a 'usual' spot now) on the carpet and talked.
"Tony said he was going to see your Mom and Dad today." Grant said to Skye.
"He did? Why is he seeing them?"
"He's made some new treadmill and he wants them to buy it." Grant grinned at her. "It's awesome. He let me play on it until Pepper saw and got mad."
It was still a bit weird to hear Grant call Miss Potts 'Pepper'. Skye turned to look at her teacher, sitting by her desk. She couldn't imagine her ever being mad.
"Did she shout at you?" Skye asked, concerned.
"Nope." He shrugged.
Skye dropped her voice to a whisper. "Did she hit you?"
Grant looked scandalised. "No. No, Skye. She doesn't ever hit."
"Oh." Skye said, relieved. "Good."
"She was mad at Tony, not me. But she would never hit me, or him. Neither would Tony." Ward frowned. "Do…do your mom and dad ever hit you?"
"No." Skye said immediately. "Mel and Phil are good. They don't do that."
"That's good, then." He flicked a little rolled up piece of paper at her and she began batting it around by her feet. "How come you don't you say 'mom' and 'dad'?" Ward asked curiously and Skye's stomach dropped.
She'd been avoiding discussing her lack of parents with anyone, and had been exceedingly grateful to realise Miss Potts hadn't said anything about it to Grant.
Skye didn't know what to say. She didn't want any of the kids to know she was an orphan. It was that sort of thing that kids always felt the need to bring up over and over until it turned into some sort of joke between her and whole class that was funny to everyone except Skye. Maybe Ward would understand, maybe, but he wasn't an orphan and Skye didn't want him to find out, so she just continued looking at the paper ball on the floor and pretended not to have heard him.
"Skye?"
"What?" She glanced up. Grant was watching her curiously.
"How come you don't say 'mom' and 'dad'?"
"How come you don't?" She snapped viscously, and squished the paper ball with her palm.
Grant Ward shrugged his shoulders. "Because Pepper and Tony aren't my mom and dad."
He said it so easily, and Skye supposed it was easier for him because everyone in the school knew he was living with Pepper and Tony, and they didn't seem to care. But Skye still felt bad for snapping at him.
"Mel and Phil aren't my mom and dad." Skye said quietly. "But don't tell anyone, okay?"
"Oh." He said quietly. "Okay. I promise I won't tell." Grant said. He scooted closer to her so that their arms were pressed together and he could whisper without any of the other kids hearing. "But why did you say they were your mom and dad when I saw them the other day?"
Skye frowned in thought. "They are my mommy and daddy. Kind of."
Grant looked thoroughly confused. "Huh?"
"Um" Skye wracked her brain for the best way to explain it.
Back at the orphanage, lots of the kids spent much of their time asking questions about their family, and the nuns wouldn't be much help, but Abby the social worker would always answer them. Skye thought back to Abby's answers. "Well, it's like this." She said, and looked over to Grant, he was listening with rapt attention.
"I don't have biological parents." Skye explained. "I never knew them and they didn't want me, so I lived in an orphanage with other kids like me."
"Okay." Grant said.
"So, then I sometimes lived with families- foster parents- who were meant to be my 'forever family'." The phrase left a bitter taste in Skye's mouth as she thought back to the nine foster families before Mel and Phil who Abby had once claimed to be a 'forever family'. Apparently Skye and Abby had different definitions of the word 'forever'.
Grant, too appeared to be familiar with the phrase, but he was smiling brightly. "Pepper and Tony are my forever family." He said. "When my mom couldn't take care of me anymore, I stayed with a nice lady for a few weeks, that was when I first came to this school, but then Pepper and Tony said I could live with them." He looked over at Miss Potts. "That was what the social worker said they were. My forever family."
Skye wanted to tell him that he shouldn't hold his breath. Just because he was being fostered, that didn't mean it was for forever, but that would be mean, so she just bit her tongue.
"So Mel and Phil are your forever family?" Grant said.
"Yeah. My tenth." Skye tried to keep the spite out of her tone but didn't succeed.
Grant Ward touched her arm. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay." Skye said, shrugging him off, and it was. For now, she was happy, at home and at school. Life was pretty good today, and if Skye had learned anything throughout her short life, it was not to think too much about tomorrow. "Anyway, Mel and Phil are the best mom and dad I've ever had, so that's good."
"Well then." Grant said. "Maybe they could be your 'forever family'? Like actually for forever."
The bell rang, and Miss Potts told them all to line up by the door so Skye didn't have to answer Grant. They stood together at the back of the line and Skye faced away from him, but Grant nudged Skye.
"I know I'm going to be with Pepper and Tony forever. Don't ask my how, I just do. And that's awesome." He smiled. "But I have a mom, and a dad…somewhere, and even though she can't take care of me, I can't really replace her. And I don't want to."
Skye felt a little jealous that technically Grant had two sets of parents, but she reminded herself not to be. The grass wasn't always greener.
"But," He continued, "your mom and dad could be Mel and Phil. You've got a family now, we both have, and you have to make sure it's going to be forever."
Skye shook her head. "I want it to be forever but I can't make it be forever. I try to be good, but-,"
"You should tell them you want to stay." He said, as if it were that simple. "When I tell Pepper and Tony that I love them forever, they always say 'love you too, forever and ever'. Do you love Mel and Phil?"
"Yes." Skye said with a certainty that surprised even her.
"You should tell them that. Then they'd know you wanted to stay, and they would keep you forever." He clapped his hands together. "Forever family."
Skye did love Mel and Phil. She did. And that was pretty scary, because they could kick her out of the house at any time. Natasha was coming back home tomorrow and when she did, Melinda and Phil might realise they only wanted Bobbi and Natasha, and kick Skye out. It was the main reason she had been trying so hard to be good, so that they would love her too, like Miss Potts loved Grant, and so they would want to keep her. They kept Bobbi and Natasha around, so if Skye were extra good like them, maybe she'd have a chance, too.
When she left the school, and Grant stayed inside with Miss Potts, Skye ran over to where Melinda stood by the school gates. She opened her arms for Skye, and Skye jumped so that Mel had to catch her mid-air, but Melinda was amazing so of course she caught Skye. Skye didn't even mind that the other kids could see her cuddling May, because as good as school was, that talk with Grant had made her miss Mel and Phil an awful lot.
"Good day?" Mel asked as she kissed her cheek.
"Yeah." Skye said, and let Mel put her back on the ground.
"What did you learn about today?"
"Africa. And all the animals." Skye said, walking hand-in-hand with Mel. She told her all about the elephants and the pictures of the lions they saw, and even san the little part of the song she could remember.
When they reached the car Melinda opened the door for Skye to get in, and she climbed over the middle to hug Phil from behind the driver's seat.
"Hi, Phil."
"Hello, sweetheart." He laughed, and reached his arms backward to hug her back awkwardly.
Charlotte and Mr. Snow were still strapped into her booster seat from the morning, so Skye unbuckled them so she could get into the chair and have them on her knee.
They drove home with the radio on, and when Phil sang along with some of the songs, Melinda would tease him and tell him he was terrible, but even Skye could tell she was just teasing him. Phil wasn't that bad. It was nice. Skye hugged Mr. Snow and Charlotte and pushed her nose into the bear's fur. Both toys had been sleeping in her bed and his fur smelled like home.
Home.
Having Mel and Phil as her forever family seemed like the best thing in the world. She loved them a lot. And it was too scary to tell them out loud, so instead, Skye looked at the back of their heads and screamed it as loud as she could in her head, over and over again.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
And maybe, somehow, they would hear her.
…
Although her file contained incident report after incident report pertaining to 'night-time trauma', Melinda hadn't yet had an issue getting Skye peacefully asleep in bed. Really, the only issue was waking her up in the morning, but even then she hadn't been putting up too much of a fuss.
That being said, Skye liked having company at bedtime, Melinda had noticed. She had no arguments when either Mel orPhil said it was bedtime, but she became rather clingy, especially towards Mel. Tonight was no different.
Phil bid his goodnights to Skye downstairs. He was on the phone with Steve, apparently work-related, although Melinda could hear bursts of laughter every few minutes so she suspected there may have been a change of topic over the course of a phone call. Tony Stark had been attempting to get them to buy a new fleet of high-tech treadmills that had functions that even Melinda was unsure of. His methods for getting her and Phil to approve the sale had apparently consisted of hanging around the gym and the offices for hours on end annoying everyone. She was a little ashamed to admit that it had worked and SHIELD gyms were now the proud owners of twenty new Stark Industries treadmills.
Mel was snuggled next to Skye on her bed, arm around her little girl as she waited for her to drift off. Every parenting book out there probably reprimanded this behaviour, saying Mel was getting her into a bad habit or something, but she didn't care. This nightly cuddle time wasn't just for Skye. It was a new practice that Mel had never really had the opportunity to experience, having taken care of mostly older kids, and she loved it.
"Are you excited?" Skye asked her out of the blue, looking over at Mel with sleepy eyes illuminated in the blue light from her star lamp.
"What for, honey?"
Skye turned onto her side, pulling Charlotte the spider under her chin. "For Natasha coming home."
"Oh, I'm very excited." She said. "Do you know how long it's been since I've seen her?"
Skye seemed to consider it for a second, and Mel reached out to brush some of the baby hair wisps off her head.
"Three weeks?"
"Longer." Mel said.
"Four weeks?" Skye guessed.
"Longer."
"Five weeks?"
"Two months."
Skye's mouth fell open. "You haven't seen your daughter in two months?"
"Hey, I haven't seen Bobbi since June."
Skye gasped. "Oh my gosh. It's October!"
"I know. They're busy you see. Bobbi has work and Nat's been at school since the end of August. She and Clint have been too busy to visit." Mel said. She felt a little tightness in her chest at the thought of her daughter and Clint. She really did miss them.
"Do you think...?" Skye trailed off, looking down and rubbing her fingers over Charlotte the spider's feet.
"What, baby?"
Skye spoke quietly enough that Mel had to strain to hear her even in the quiet bedroom. "Do you think Natasha will like me? What if she doesn't like me?"
And didn't that just tear open Melinda's heart.
"Oh, my baby girl. Your big sister, Nat, she's going to love you. And so is Clint." Mel cuddled Skye close, nuzzling into her temple."What makes you think she won't love you?"
Skye pressed her face into Melinda's shoulder. "Dunno."
Mel rubbed her back. She had spoken to Nat earlier that day. Just a fleeting phone call to clarify the time for airport pickup the next day, but the teenager had been very vocal regarding her excitement at meeting her new younger sister. For years both Nat and Bobbi had asked for a younger sibling, but Natasha had always been the most dedicated to the cause.
"Are you excited about meeting Natasha and Clint?" Mel asked Skye.
"Yeah." Skye said. A little smile appeared on her face. "She's nice?"
"Natasha is very nice." Mel stroked Skye's cheek. "Did you know Natasha lived in St. Agnes' for a little while?"
Skye blinked at her. "Really?"
"Yeah. You know Nat came to live with us when she was fourteen?" Skye nodded. They had explained that to her the other day, although she and Phil had left the details out, not wanting to give Skye a bad impression. She was a little too young to understand some of the things, most of the things, Mel corrected herself, Nat had been through. "Well, before that Nat lived with some not very nice people."
Skye listened to the story, concern written all over her face, and Melinda thought about how much certain elements of this story would resonate with little Skye and her spotty past.
"And those not very nice people she lived with did some very bad things, and the police took them away."
"To jail?" Skye asked.
"Yeah." She said out of ease. Skye could learn about deportation and fire fights when she was older. "But the police saved Nat, and they took her to St. Agnes' to stay." Mel did the math in her head. "That was about five and a half years ago. You might have been there."
"I can't remember." Skye frowned.
"Well," Mel smoothed out the frown with her thumb, "you wouldn't. You'd have been too young to remember. But Nat wasn't there for very long anyway."
"How long?"
"About eighteen hours."
"Oh. I was there for eight years." Skye said. "How comes she got out so early?"
Melinda debated not telling Skye the real reason for Nat being moved from the orphanage so early, but she saw no point. She would find out eventually. Natasha had a habit of introducing herself to their acquaintances as 'the Russian one who punched a nun'.
"Abby called me." Mel said. "Because she needed someone to take care of Natasha for a little while, because she got scared."
"What was Natasha scared of?" Skye asked. "You said Natasha was brave."
"She is, baby. Nat's one of the bravest people I know, but even brave people get frightened. And Natasha, couldn't tell anyone she was scared, because she didn't speak very much English."
"Huh?"
"Nat spoke Russian, you see. And no one at St. Agnes' speaks Russian, so Nat felt scared." Mel rubbed her fingers through Charlotte's fur. "Imagine if you were somewhere where no one spoke English."
"I'd be scared." Skye breathed. "Natasha's very brave."
"So are you, you know." Mel kissed her head. "But now, it's time to sleep."
Mel made a move to get off the bed, but Skye grabbed her arm and kept her where she was.
"You can't go." Skye said. "You never told me the rest of the story! Why did Natasha leave St. Agnes'? She was scared, then what?"
"Oh," Mel said, "She punched one of the nuns."
Skye grinned. "No. Way."
"Yes. Way." Mel laughed at the pure glee on Skye's face. "But it was a bad decision and she felt really bad about it afterwards." Admittedly, that part was a little exaggerated. Nat still admitted to being proud of that particular punch, and Mel would be lying if she said she wasn't a little bit proud of Nat for the punch.
"Natasha's awesome." Skye said wistfully, snuggling back down in her blankets and sucking her thumb.
"She'll be thrilled to know you think so." Melinda smiled. "Now, baby girl. You've got school tomorrow. Sleepy time."
Mel kissed Skye on the cheek and climbed off her bed. "Sleep tight, little girl." She tucked the covers around her little body, Charlotte the spider and Mr. Snow the polar bear peeking out of the top. "Sweet dreams." She said. I love you. She said in her mind. She didn't want to freak Skye out with an admission of love too early on in their relationship.
Skye looked up at her sleepily, sucking gently on her thumb. "Night, Mel." She said. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
It came out like a question, Mel thought. "Of course." She kissed her again. "I'll always be there, okay?" Mel said. She wasn't sure Skye had ever had anyone she truly believed was always going to 'be there', and Mel wanted to be that person. "I'll see you in the morning, baby."
"See you in the morning."
…
Skye went to school in the morning without any problems, as usual, and they picked her up a little earlier than usual so that she could come with them to the airport to get Clint and Natasha. She hadn't stopped talking since Phil had gone into the school to get her, chattering constantly about Grant Ward and his part in their little spy game.
"And then," Skye said from the back seat, "Agent Ward shot the bad guy and we were safe."
Phil turned in the passenger seat to look at his little girl. "Grant shot someone?" He asked.
"No." Skye said exasperatedly. "Agent Ward shot someone."
"Oh, I see." Phil smirked.
"But it's okay." Skye assured him seriously. "He didn't use bullets. He used the night-night gun. So the bad guy just went to sleep."
Phil shook his head. A child's imagination was a fascinating thing.
"Night-night gun?" Mel said from the driver's seat as they pulled into the airport parking lot.
"Yeah." Skye said, getting distracted by a plane flying overhead and pressing her face against the window. "It might need a better name."
Melinda found a space and pulling in, and switching off the engine. "Ready?" She said, looking at both Phil and Skye.
"Yep." Phil said. Skye nodded, still looking out of the window.
He and Mel got out of the car, but Skye made no attempt to move. Phil opened the back door and poked his head in.
"You coming, Skye?" He asked.
Skye looked up at him with a little frown. She held Charlotte and Mr. Snow to her chest. "They can come see the planes, too?"
Phil smiled at Skye's concern for her toys. He heard Melinda laugh somewhere behind him. "Of course, honey." He said.
Skye's face relaxed and she got out of the car, a toy under each arm. She sidled up to Mel and rearranged the toys in her arms until she had a free hand to hold Mel's. Phil closed the car door and took Melinda's free hand, leading his girls towards the airport.
"Have you ever been on a plane?" Skye asked, walking with her head tipped towards the Skye.
"Yeah." Mel said.
"Lots of times." Phil agreed.
Skye looked at both of them with wonder. "Wow. You were in the sky?"
Phil grinned at Skye's absolute shock. Flying was one of those things that he took completely for granted. He'd flown all over for various business reasons, and both Bobbi and Nat were flying to and from home all the time. Too little Skye, being in up in the air in a plane seemed unbelievable.
"I was in the sky." Phil said. "One day we'll go on vacation and take you on an aeroplane, Skye. How does that sound?"
She looked around Mel to peer at him dubiously. "Sounds a bit scary."
"Well," Phil shrugged as they entered the airport, "it's pretty exciting, too."
"Whatever you say." Skye shrugged.
…
They'd arrived at the airport early enough that Phil had been able to and get him and Mel some tea and coffee, and Skye some juice, and Skye had been allowed to sit by the floor-to-ceiling windows and watch the aeroplanes take off and land. From what Melinda could make out from Skye's 'ooohs' and 'wows', she was having a good time plane spotting. Charlotte and Mr. Snow sat on the floor by Skye as she pointed out various planes taxiing on the runway.
Melinda and Phil sat next to each other in the uncomfortable airport chairs. Nat's flight had landed about fifteen minutes earlier, Phil having pointed the plane out to Skye. Ever since, the little girl had been eagerly asking 'how long?' Her eight year olds' patience quota being tested and pushed to the limit.
"How long now?" Skye asked almost on cue, turning to Mel.
Melinda took another sip of her tea. "About two minutes less than when you last asked." She smiled.
Skye pouted. "But how long? You said the plane landed ages ago." She sighed dramatically.
Phil laughed next to her. "Just a few more minutes. They have to get their luggage and that can take a while. There were lots of people on the flight."
"'Kay." Skye tucked her toys under her arm and shuffled back on the carpet until her back was against Melinda's legs. She leaned her head on Mel's knee, still looking out of the window.
"You okay?" Mel asked, stroking the top of Skye's head.
"Mm." Skye's thumb worked its way up to her mouth, a sure sign she was getting tired. She didn't suck it, but she rubbed her thumb against her lips.
Mel continued to stroke Skye's hair. "Sleepy, baby?"
"No." Skye said far too quickly.
"Me neither." Phil said through a yawn and Mel rolled her eyes.
They sat quietly for a few minutes, Phil doing some 'work' that looked suspiciously like Tetris on his phone, Skye watching the planes out of the window, and Mel stroking her hair. Melinda turned away from the window at the sounds of commotion coming from one of the gates. People began filing through the revolving door, pushing trollies of luggage and wrangling small children.
She nudged Phil. "I think this is their flight."
He turned around and looked towards the gate. "Yeah, I think you're right. Come on, we'll go wait over there."
It had seemed as though Skye had been eagerly awaiting Nat and Clint's arrival, but when Melinda stood and waited for Skye to follow, she seemed a little reluctant to do so. Skye looked up at her from the floor, cuddling her toys close to her chest.
"What's the matter, baby?" Mel crouched down beside Skye.
Skye pressed her face into Mr. Snow's fur and mumbled something Melinda couldn't make out. She turned back to Phil who was watching with badly masked concern.
"Go wait for the kids, Phil." She said. "We'll catch you up."
He nodded and walked towards the gate, leaving her alone with Skye.
"Now," Mel said, coaxing Skye's face out of Mr. Snow's fur, "are you going to tell me what's wrong?"
Skye shuffled forwards on her knees and hugged Melinda, wrapping her arms around her tightly. Mel picked her up best she could with two cuddly toys also taking up room in her arms. She rocked Skye for a moment and kissed her head.
"Tell me." Mel said. "Tell me what's the matter, baby." Skye said nothing but sat up in in her arms to look over to where Phil was standing by the gate. Skye tucked Charlotte the spider up under her chest.
"Are you a little nervous?" Mel asked, and the look on Skye's face answered the question for her. Melinda mentally berated herself. Of course Skye was feeling apprehensive. She had taken all of Skye's apparent excitement at face value and failed to see the nervousness masked behind it. This was her fault. She should have been more sensitive to her little girl's feelings. Guilt bubbled up inside of her.
"Oh, honey." Mel said. "It's okay. You can be nervous."
"Yeah?" Skye looked over at Phil again and Mel began walking them over to where her husband stood, watching the passengers enter the terminal.
"Of course. You don't have to be, but you can be." Melinda kissed her again.
The sea of people coming from the gate meant that Mel had to keep a constant eye on Phil's position in order not to lose him among the jet-lagged passengers, but as an arguing family with way too many suitcases obscured her view of him, Melinda could no longer see her husband.
"Where…?" She was about to ask Skye if she could see Phil, when an unmistakeable flash of red caught her eye, and Melinda watched as Natasha launched herself at her dad, Clint following behind with her luggage. Skye's arms tightened around her shoulders as she approached them.
Natasha was still hugging Phil enthusiastically, so it was Clint who actually spotted them first. Melinda grinned as his face lit up and he abandoned the suitcases to rush over and hug her, and by proxy, Skye.
"Hey, Mel." He kissed her cheek as he pulled back. "How the hell are ya'?" He smiled at Skye and gave her a little wave, then didn't seem in the least offended when the little girl shied away.
"I'm very good, Clinton." Mel teased him with his full first name and he groaned.
"God, you're so embarrassing." He huffed with a smirk.
"I love you, too." Mel laughed, hitching Skye further up her hip. The little girl had curled up awkwardly in her arms, head tucked into Mel's neck. "Now, as much as I love you, my dear boy, I want to see my bubba." Clint stepped out of the way to reveal Natasha eventually releasing her father from what appeared to be a death grip.
Melinda laughed. "Hey! Middle-child!" She called, and Nat turned around, beaming. "Get your butt over here and give your mama kisses."
Nat's smile could have lit San Francisco for the next twenty years, Mel was sure of it. Her eyes landed on Skye, who was still tucked against Melinda.
"Mama," Nat said, "is this my little baby sister?"
Skye lifted her head at the mention of her, and Melinda pecked her cheek.
"You ready to meet Natasha, Skye?"
A/N: I'm so sorry! You have every right to be mad at me for ending this chapter at such a frustrating time!
Review please! xxxx