Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Skye tore the paper away mercilessly, letting the festive-printed scraps fall to the floor, joining their already fallen friends. Once freed from the wrapping, she lifted her gift – and let out a laugh.
"Oh, no, you didn't…" she heard Bobbi sigh, which was followed by a slap to the back of Hunter's head right away (the offended party let out an indignant "hey!" at the assault). "Forgive him, Skye, he's always lacked tact."
Skye stared at her gift for a moment longer, still grinning, then shook her head, remembering that she was supposed to react somehow.
"No, no, I like it," she said, slipping her new shirt on. "I think it's funny," she continued, smoothing the material down, and running her hands over her abdomen in the process. "Thank you."
She really did find the gift amusing – it was a simple, long sleeved, black T-shirt, with "Does my tum look big in this?" emblazoned in bold, white letters on the front. Considering she really was sporting a baby tummy by now, she thought it was kind of self-ironic and hilarious.
True, she didn't have that much of a bump yet – at seventeen weeks (well, almost seventeen – officially, she was turning seventeen weeks the next day), she had more of a gentle curve, something that was not so flashy yet, but still a definite sign that there was a baby in there. Not that her teammates (let alone Grant) allowed her to forget that – these days everything seemed to be centered around her pregnancy, even Christmas. Most of the gifts she and Grant received were baby-themed: picture books from Coulson, onesies with funny stuff written on them from Trip, a stuffed monkey from Fitz, which Skye could swear was bigger than her baby would be upon birth, a baby blanket from May, and there was even a box, shipped straight from Scotland, containing hand-knitted items, sent by Mama Fitz – and now this shirt from Hunter.
(It might have been her stupid pregnancy hormones, but she was so touched by their teammates' sweetness, she felt close to crying.)
"Well, it does look great on you," said Grant, slipping an arm around her waist as she leaned back against him on the couch. She turned towards him, grinning.
"Yeah, and I hope you know what the appropriate answer if I ask you this," she teased, pointing at the inscription and sticking out her tongue at him, making everybody in the room laugh.
"Don't worry," he answered, pressing a kiss to her forehead, "I know – I have good survival instincts." This triggered another round of laughter, and earned him a playful slap on the bicep.
The gift exchange soon continued, with the next package carelessly tossed by Mack to Hunter (who could barely catch it, making the people in the room chuckle again). The attention momentarily shifted from her, Skye settled back, burrowing herself into Grant's embrace, intertwining their fingers together, and pulling his hand forward, until his palm rested on her bump.
A year ago – even half a year ago – she would have never guessed she would be here today – making jokes and sharing laughs, her family intact, sort-of-happy and ready to get bigger. They had been through a lot, a lot of heartbreak and a lot of mess, and although she wished they could have avoided some if it, right then she wouldn't have traded places with anyone.
Using Hunter and Mack's snickering banter as a cover, Grant nuzzled his nose against the side of her neck, and whispered into her ear, "I love you," punctuated by a small kiss.
Skye smiled, not taking her eyes off the scene in front of her.
"We love you too," she answered, and, almost as if she wanted to join the conversation, their baby nudged against her palm.