Chapter 9
It had been a long week. Skye had stayed in bed, under orders from Bruce, while she recovered from chickenpox. This had left Ward alone with the children. For the first couple of days he had been running around after all of them, as the children were still recovering as well. However, once they had got better he was left alone to try and entertain four children on his own. Having been stuck in bed for a few days they had more energy than ever, leaving Ward feeling completely drained. It didn’t help that he was also checking on Skye every 5 minutes to make sure she was ok and didn’t need anything. It had got to the point where Skye had ordered Mel to keep him from going into their bedroom, which she managed, quite successfully. Skye was grateful for his attention and care, but didn’t want him to wear himself out trying to do too much. Bruce and Maria tried to help: both were busy during the day but they both came every night, giving Ward a break and reassuring him that Skye was recovering.
They also brought news of the investigation into what had happened to the team. Bruce and Tony were still having no luck finding a way to reverse what had happened. They had hoped that the footage of the bus would give some answers but apparently it had yet to yield more clues.
Maria brought news of what was happening at Shield, informing Ward of the latest developments as she unpacked whatever takeaway she had picked up for the night’s tea. After they had all eaten Maria and Bruce would play with the kids for a while, giving Skye and Ward a welcome hour off. Ward normally retreated to the bedroom and caught up on reading, with Skye lying beside him surfing the web. Both had come to enjoy the time away from the kids just to themselves and the kids loved playing with the other adults and had begun to call them auntie and uncle, which Bruce and Maria loved.
One day Ward had woken up with such a headache that he couldn’t cope with dealing with boisterous children. Skye was still under orders to stay in bed so she couldn’t help look after them. Sighing Ward quickly made a plan. Gathering all the children he ushered them into his and Skye’s bedroom.
“We’re having a pyjama day.” He announced.
Leo ran over to Phil and lifted him from the cot before jumping onto the bed. He had been very concerned since Phil had been poorly, spending a lot of his time sitting beside his cot reading to him. Skye was sat in the middle of the bed with the two girls sat in front of her. Ward quickly selected a DVD to watch before climbing back into bed. Propping himself up he took the coffee that Skye offered him, smiling as the boys reclined against his legs. Almost as if they had planned it all the kids were lying between him and Skye. Phil was practically lying on Leo and kept pulling Jemma’s hair but she didn’t seem to mind. Skye smiled at all the children and began eating her breakfast that Ward had brought her. He hadn’t had chance to eat as Mel had moved so she was lying in his arms. When it became apparent that she wasn’t going to move, Skye started feeding him being careful not to drop porridge on his shirt. She couldn’t help but grin when it dribbled down his chin. He glared at her over Mel, but she simply smirked back at him and wiped it away.
The kids enjoyed watching Frozen, happily singing along with the songs. Skye even managed to catch Ward grinning and enjoying the film. She had being trying to convince him to watch it for a while but had yet to convince him. Maybe this was a way to get him to watch other things. She knew he would enjoy the film but he had objected saying it was a kid’s film. Like that mattered. It was a good film no matter who it was made for.
As Ward couldn’t be bothered to get out of bed after that, they continued watching DVD’s the rest of the day. When Maria arrived and brought pizza for tea she found them all still in the bed. She couldn’t help taking pictures with her phone before any of them noticed. She needed to show Bruce this later. Upon noticing her hovering in the doorway Skye beckoned her in. In order to fit Maria on the bed Skye moved so she was practically lying on Ward, which gave Maria enough room to sit where she had been lying. Jemma quickly moved onto Maria’s lap and Leo moved into Skye’s arms. Mel lay beside Ward’s legs with propped up against her. The pizza was passed around with Ward now feeding Skye, as she couldn’t move due to Leo. He seemed to be attempting to get it all around her face, much to her annoyance. At first she thought it was an accident but it kept happening and she knew he wasn’t that uncoordinated. She glared at him but he simply brushed away the tomato sauce from the face.
“Idiot.” She mouthed.
He just grinned mischievously at her. She didn’t know what had caused this change in him, but she liked it. Maria stayed to watch the end of Bolt, which they had watched while eating tea. Skye loved the film but the end always made her cry. She couldn’t help but cry at the end when Bolt stayed with Penny during the fire. She knew everything would be fine but it always made her sad. Tears started flowing down her cheek as it got to that part. A tender hand caressed away the tears. Turning she saw Ward looking at her, his hand drying her tears. Once he had caught all of them he pulled her so she was cuddled into him, her head resting on his chest.
For all they had all been poorly recently today had been a good day.
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As Skye had finally been allowed to get out of bed and it was a beautiful day they decided to celebrate in the garden. Maria had snuck off from work; bring with her some folding chairs. It meant they could enjoy the beautiful weather and keep an eye on the kids. As she wasn’t allowed to over exert herself Skye was sitting in the chair enjoying the warmth of the sun on her skin. It was made all the better knowing she wasn’t going to have to put sun cream on any of the kids. That was Ward’s job. Initially he had allowed the older ones to put it on themselves, but it quickly became apparent that they weren’t doing a proper job of it. This had led to a 10 minute screaming match. Skye had no idea Mel hated her face being touched that much. Phil, who everyone expected to be the most difficult, had been a complete angel, quite happily allowing Ward to cover him in cream. He was now sat playing with Leo with some building blocks. Leo was trying to build some sort of structure, which Phil was trying to knock down. Both were giggling and it had turned into a competition between them. Mel and Jemma were doing handstands on the grass with Maria timing how long they could stay up for. Ward was sat beside Skye, alternatively reading his book and keeping an eye on the boys. That left Skye to just relax and sunbathe.
“Hi again.”
Skye turned and saw Clare waving at her from across the drive.
“I haven’t seen you around for a little while.”
“No. We had a case of chickenpox so everyone was kept in doors.” Explained Skye.
“Ouch. Glad you all seem to be better now. Chickenpox is worst. Unfortunately, if one gets it they all do.”
“Yeah, that happened with us.”
“Auntie Maria! Did you see?” Yelled Jemma.
“Yes sweetie, I did. It was very good.”
“Oh, Clare, this is Maria. She’s… Grant’s sister. Maria, this is Clare.”
Skye skin prickled as she felt Ward’s gaze on her. They had to explain her appearance some how. Plus she looked more like Ward than Skye.
As both women were exchanging greetings a car pulled up at the side of the road. It immediately caught Skye’s attention, as it was completely black, with tinted windows. Skye’s instincts were screaming at her that this car could cause trouble. A sideways glance at Ward told her he thought the same. His posture had become more rigid, with his feet firmly planted on the floor. He looked like a coiled spring, ready to take on what ever danger was coming for them.
As the car door opened, Skye was plotting the best route to the children, knowing that Ward would meet whatever danger was coming and buy them a few crucial seconds to get the children safe. As the person stepped out the children all noticed a change in the adults and went quiet, sensing there was danger.
“Grandpa!” Yelled Phil, throwing himself across the yard.
That boy could move when he wanted to and he didn’t stop till he was clinging to the black clad leg of Nick Fury. Fury who was currently looking down at Phil as if he was a foreign object that he didn’t know what to do with.
“Grandpa?” Clare puzzled.
“Oh! He’s my father. He adopted me when I was just little.” Skye supplied.
It was the first thing she could think of. She didn’t exactly expect Phil to throw himself at Fury, never mind call him Grandpa. She more expected him to behave like the others, who were currently cowering behind Maria while she looked at Fury in horror. Clearly she hadn’t told him she was coming here. She couldn’t blame the kids; Fury gave off an aura of fear.
“Grandpa!” Insisted Phil, gripping onto Fury’s leg tighter.
‘Oh no.’ Thought Skye. ‘I recognise that face.’
As expected when Ward stepped forward to prise Phil from Fury’s leg the toddler gripped tighter and began to cry.
“Eh Sir. It might be easier if you just hug him.” Ward suggested tentatively.
“Hug him?” Fury seemed incredulous.
‘Maybe he has never had a hug before.’ Skye wondered. The thought made her incredibly sad. Everyone deserved to be hugged.
“He calls your dad sir?” Wondered Clare.
“Oh it has something to do with being married to his baby girl. I think he threatened him.” Skye supplied.
Fury was going to kill her when he found out about that. At least the threatening part was believable. Fury threatened everybody he met by just standing there. Skye couldn’t help the smile when one of the most feared men in the world bent down and gingerly put his arms around the crying toddler. A clicking noise made Skye turn. Maria was quickly putting her phone away in her pocket having snapped a picture of the scene before them. Seeing Skye looking at her she pressed her finger to her lips. Fury pulled back quickly and Ward swooped in and plucked Phil from Fury’s leg.
“Shall we move inside?” Ward asked, looking at the women and kids.
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“Sir” began Ward.
Fury simply held a finger up to silence him. Ward sat back in the chair and held onto a struggling Phil. He kept trying to escape Ward’s grasp and head toward Fury. Ward didn’t want to let him go, he wasn’t sure what Fury would do. His face when he had to hug Phil had been bad enough.
“I arrived at the base to find that my Deputy Director is missing. Not only that but she has kept disappearing for the past week!”
“Sir” began Maria.
“Not only that but my two best scientists are busy going gaga over these kids. When I sent them to you I meant for them to find a cure, not become babysitters.”
“Grandpa,” wailed Phil.
“Why does he keep saying that? I’m not his Grandpa!”
“Sir, he likes family. He calls me Dad, Skye, mum, and Maria, auntie. I think he just likes having a family. We allowed it as it helps our cover.”
“Get him to stop calling me Grandpa.”
“I’m not sure I can, sir.”
“Never mind then. As you have commandeered my staff you might as well keep them. But if something urgent comes up I need them back. Understood?”
“Yes Sir.”
Ward lost his grip on Phil who immediately headed towards Fury. After a quick staring contest with the toddler, Fury sighed and picked him up, sitting him on his knee. Looking at his agents he warned.
“Not a word about this!”
“No sir.”
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