Chapter 22
The next morning Skye’s head was banging. She knew she would regret those shots with Nat, hell she couldn’t even remember what she’d said for part of the night. She really hoped she hadn’t admitted how much she liked her SO. She’d already noticed Clint, Nat and she suspected Tony had been pushing them closer together. She didn’t want to encourage them; she knew it would make Ward uncomfortable. Rolling over slightly she found a warm body lying next to her. Raising her head slightly she peered under the covers, finding a very sleepy Leo lying cradling Ward’s pillow.
“Hey sleepy.” Skye gently brushed his hair from his eyes, wondering how long he’d been in the bed with her. “You ok?”
“Hey Mummy. I miss Daddy.”
“That why you’re hugging his pillow?”
“It smells like him.”
“I know baby. Come here.” She lifted him and the pillow holding him close to her. “He’ll be back soon. Then you can cuddle him.”
“Yay! Daddy smells nice.”
“I know baby, I like it too.”
There was something soothing about Ward’s smell. Working out with him she’d been in close contact with him frequently, allowing her to memorise his smell. It was now something she associated with home, comfort and safety. He would always look after her and protect her. She knew the kids would miss him but hadn’t counted on how much it would affect them. The appearance of Nat had been a good distraction but the kids were still very aware their ‘dad’ wasn’t here.
Lying for a little longer Skye eventually got up, lifting Leo onto her hip. He was getting a bit big for this but she wanted to keep him close for a little bit longer. Dressing him she headed downstairs finding a subdued bunch of kids sitting around the table.
“What’s up guys?”
“When’s Daddy back?” Jemma asked.
“Daddy!” Phil wailed.
Putting Leo down in Tripp’s lap, who immediately began cuddling the younger boy, she scooped up Phil rocking him to try and stop his crying.
“He should be back soon guys.” Skye tried to comfort them.
“Clint says they should be back soon.” Nat walked into the room examining her phone. “They need to make a stop somewhere first.”
“You’ve heard from them?”
“Just briefly. Just to say when they’ll be back.”
“Yay!” Came voices from around the table. Leo, Jemma and Tripp began dancing around the table. Skye winced slightly at the noise level but didn’t object it was nice to see them happy.
Having managed to calm the kids down to eat breakfast they asked what they wanted to do. They all wanted to make some gifts for when Ward got home. Tripp, Jemma and Leo were in charge of making a cake while Mel and Phil were making cards from them all. Tripp insisted that they didn’t need help but Skye insisted she deal with the oven, she didn’t want to deal with any burns. Mel insisted she was fine and would watch Phil with the glitter. As the kids were fine on their own for a bit, Skye and Nat retreated to the living room so as to avoid watching the mess unfold.
“So it’s got to have been interesting suddenly having to look after loads of kids. How did you manage?”
“With difficulty. Grant was actually brilliant with them, even though he was initially terrified. I just tried to treat them, as I wanted to be treated when I was a child. It seems to work. Plus Grant and I wanted them to have a good time, neither of us had great childhood so we wanted to ensure our teammates do.”
She smiled remembering one night sat talking about it with Grant, cuddled up on the sofa. She’d eventually fallen asleep on him, waking when he gently lifted her. She’d pretended to be asleep, as he’d carried her back to their room gently pressing a kiss to her forehead as he placed her so carefully in the bed. It was the little things that he did that made her fall even harder for him. Smilingly she focused back on Nat, a knowing smile on her face.
“What?”
“You really don’t realise do you?”
“What?!”
“I noticed even more last night. You normally talk about him as ward, but as soon as you start talking about feelings he becomes Grant.”
“Really?” She hadn’t noticed that. She knew in her mind she was beginning to use his first name but hadn’t realised she’d been doing it when speaking out loud.
“Yeah. It’s really cute. You clearly care for him. It became very apparent last night.”
Skye frowned slightly trying to remember what she’d said. She had a slight image of them laughing, discussing the boys and deciding who they thought was hotter out of various teammates. Every time Grant had come up she’d picked him. But hey her SO was hot!
Cheeks burning slightly she replied;
“Well he does look after me. Plus he is my SO.”
Nat simply glared at her, seeing straight through her lie. A crash from the kitchen sent her scurrying that way, escaping what was about to become an awkward conversation. She wasn’t quite ready to talk about her feeling yet.
Entering the kitchen she coughed as she walked straight into a cloud of flour. Laughing slightly she took in the sight of the three of them covered from head to toe in flour and batter but looking very proudly at a filled baking tin.
“You’re tidying this up later.” She warned as she placed the tin in the oven.
Heading back into the living room she saw the table covered in glitter with Phil sucking on a felt tip. Sighing she carefully detached it from him, swapping it with a dummy. It looked like he had more glitter on him than the card he was making. Well at least that was the afternoon’s activities taken care of.
**************************************
Ward slipped back into the house, wincing as he shifted his shoulder. The medics had put it in a sling as a precaution. It had taken a little while to fix his cuts and bruise which was why he was no sneaking back into the house, trying not to wake any sleeping kids. Clint followed him; he’d driven him home after the others had left having seen him safely taken care of. There was still a light on in the living room and he wasn’t surprised to see Nat and Skye still up. He knew Clint had told Nat when they were getting back, though from the look on her face he hadn’t said why they were going to be so late. Striding towards them she gently took his face in her hand, examining his injuries before turning to Clint. Grabbing him by the ear she pulled him towards the stair scolding him as she went.
“I told you to keep him out of trouble and safe. Not bring him back injured! I’m borrowing you’re room for a bit, I need to talk to my partner.” She glanced briefly at Skye before dragging a protesting Clint out with her.
Skye waited until they were gone before taking his hand and leading him to the couch. Tugging him down she examined his injuries without comment though he could see the pinching of her eyebrows, a clear signal that she wasn’t happy.
“I’m fine Skye. Just a few scratches.” As she looked pointedly at his shoulder he found himself rambling for some reason. “It’s just a strain and bruising. The medics were just being overly cautious.” He would have continued but she began gently running her hands across his temple, one of the few places that was only slightly injured. He felt himself relaxing, breathing in her smell, the fact that she was in front of him, healthy and hale. His tired muscles began to unknot, her touch better than any massage.
“Are you alright?” She began gently running a hand through his hair.
“I’m fine Skye. Are you and the kids?”
“We’re fine. They missed you. Oh while I remember don’t go in the kitchen without them.”
“Oh?”
“They’ve made you some stuff but they want to be there when you open it.”
“That’s very cute. I think that’s easy done. I just want to sleep.”
“I think that can be arranged. We may get some visitors in the morning though. They really missed you.”
“You keep saying they. Did you miss me?” It was extremely important to him. His tiredness had made him more blunt than usual.
“Of course I did. It’s not as fun without you here.”
His face fell slightly though he tried to keep a mask in face. Taking his face in her hands she pulled him so he was looking directly at her again.
“Of course I did idiot.” She whispered, moving nearer to him. Deciding to take a risk, wanting her to know how he’d felt, as he hadn’t been able to show it before he’d left, he gently pressed him lips against hers.
***********************************