Chapter 14
“I am thinking of a character,” Bobbi announced.
“Is it from a book?” Leo asked.
“No.”
“From a movie?” Skye asked.
“No.”
“Comic?” Phil asked.
“Yes.”
“Is it human?” Natasha asked.
“Yes.”
“Does your character have any super powers or abilities?” Leo asked again.
“Yes.”
“Marvel Comics?” Phil asked, with a grin.
“Yes.” Bobbi grinned back.
“Is it male?” Melinda asked.
“Yes.”
“Does it have a costume?” Skye asked.
“Yes.”
“Captain America,” Phil said.
“Nope.” Phil pouted.
“Thor?” Melinda asked.
“Yep.”
Everyone cheered. They were on their way to a swimming center. Melinda was driving while everyone engaged in the games. She had taken Skye shopping on Friday to buy some swim suits. Skye had opted for a one piece in blue and another in purple. The day was planned. They would go swimming. Then lunch. Then some mani-pedi for the girls and massage for the boys and finally movie. Skye was looking forward to it. “Your turn Skye,” Bobbi told her, drawing her attention back to the game.
Okay…umm…I am thinking of a character,” Skye announced.
“Is it male? Bobbi asked.
“No.”
“Is it from a movie?” Leo asked.
“Oui.”
“What?”
“She means yes,” Natasha responded. “Does she have powers?”
“Yep.”
“Disney?” Bobbi asked.
“Yep.”
“Villain?” Phil asked.
“Nope.”
“Princess?” Melinda asked this time.
Skye grinned. “Nope.”
“Woah! A Disney female character with powers and not a princess,” Leo exclaimed.
“It’s Elsa,” Natasha said. “She was a queen, not a princess.” Skye grinned.
“That was clever,” Bobbi said thoughtfully.
“We are here,” Melinda announced, pulling the car into parking. Skye looked around. It was a big building. She followed Phil and Melinda inside and waited with the others while they made the payment at the reception. “Come on,” Melinda called them. She led them to an indoor pool. It was spacious and had clear water. A part of the pool had marked lanes for lap swimming. There was a shallow end for beginners too. Adjacent to the main pool was a splashing area for the kids. The pool was surrounded by a generous seating areas, with lounge chairs and tables.
Skye changed into her swimsuit and joined the others in the swimming pool. Bobbi and Natasha were running laps on the other end. Phil and Leo were in the middle. Skye could see Phil giving Leo some instructions. Skye herself walked to the shallow end where Melinda was waiting for her. Skye got into the pool with her. “Are you okay with putting your face in water?” Melinda asked. Skye nodded. She took a deep breath and lowered herself, kicking with her legs. She was soon floating on her back. “Very good, Skye,” Melinda said.
Melinda worked with her for over an hour, teaching her how to hold her breath and blow bubbles into the water. She also taught Skye how to float on her stomach. She had been there, supporting Skye’s body and not letting go of her unless Skye asked her to. It was not easy with the broken thumb - thankfully the cast was waterproof - but with Melinda there, Skye managed to float.
She did it for a while until she started to feel tired. She pulled herself out of water and went to showers. When she came out, she joined Bobbi on the lounge chairs - she had showered too. Leo and Natasha were playing with a pool ball while Phil and Melinda swam some laps. “You okay kiddo?” Bobbi asked. Skye nodded at her. She was still thinking about her conversation with Dr. Morgan. The doc had explained that seeing Melinda as her mom wasn’t wrong but could Skye call her that.
“Bobbi,” Skye said, lowering her voice a little. The older girl looked at her. “How did you decide you could call Melinda mom?” Bobbi had lived with her parents before she came here. She must have had similar thoughts. Right?
Bobbi looked surprised at the question and then chuckled. “I called her mom in my head for at least two months before I said it out loud,” Bobbi told her. “I fell from a tree and ended up breaking my arm. That’s when I called her mom. She still grounded me though.” Bobbi pouted, causing Skye to giggle. “You thinking about it?”
“I just - I don’t know.” Skye didn’t know how to explain it. She really didn’t. But Bobbi seemed to understand.
“When I came to live with them and joined the school, I instantly hit it off with Mack. And Hunter was always there. They knew what was going on. It was April. Then the session ended and next session Elena joined our group. She saw Phil picking me after school and next thing I know she called him my dad. I had no idea how to respond. He wasn’t my dad, you know? I tried telling her that and in true Elena fashion she shut me down. She wasn’t wrong.” Bobbi took a deep breath. “For two months, dad had sat by my bedside, reading me stories with all the voices. Mom had fed me with her own hands when I refused to eat. I had fallen sick, I had cried, I had screamed and they were always there. Like my parents used to.” She moved closed to Skye and held her hand. “I know you have lived with some fucked up people - and don’t tell mom or dad that I said that word - but these two people will not hurt you.”
“I know that,” Skye confessed. And she did but it was difficult to remember it sometimes when she was alone with Phil. Bobbi hummed and pointed at the others with her eyes. They were out of water and were heading towards the showers. Melinda walked to them.
“You two okay?” Melinda asked. She must have seen them in deep conversation. Skye nodded while Bobbi answered with ‘fine’. Melinda nodded and went to shower herself.
“You should talk to Tasha,” Bobbi suggested. Skye nodded. They sat their waiting for everyone to return before they made their way to the cafeteria. They ordered some burgers and fries and enjoyed the meal, chatting and teasing. Skye remembered one of the fosters telling her that she was to stay quiet unless talked to. Children should be seen and not heard. Phil and Melinda didn’t treat her like that. They wanted to listen whatever she had to say. Skye remembered how she had spent ten minutes ranting to Phil about Harry Potter. He had listened to her. Actually listened to her like she was talking about something so important.
Phil drove them to the salon. Skye followed Melinda, suddenly feeling nervous about the whole thing. She had never done this before and while Melinda had said that Skye could stop it whenever she wanted, it wasn’t helping Skye’s nerves. “Skye,” Melinda spoke, drawing Skye’s attention. “If you are not comfortable, we can go.”
“I have never done this before,” Skye whispered. There were people around. They must be thinking of her as a stupid, weird kid. “Will you stay close?” Skye asked.
“Of course, I will,” Melinda said. She held Skye’s hand gently and led her to one of the chairs.
It was relaxing, Skye realized. She could feel the tension flow out of her muscles. It felt so good. But her thoughts wouldn’t shut off. Dr. Morgan had told her that she could have two mothers. Bobbi had basically confirmed that. But this was different. Phil and Melinda already had three kids, why would they want a fourth one? You are my baby - my precious baby. And I love you. I love you so much. Skye thought of her room. It was exactly like others’. Phil even got her some stuff to decorate it - a hula doll, a starry night lamp. Skye thought of how willingly Phil left the room, so Skye could stay with Melinda. She remembered how nice it felt to cuddle with Melinda.
“Ready to leave, sestra?” Natasha asked and Skye nodded. She followed the others and soon got into the car. Phil and Leo were looking relaxed from their massage.
“Show me your nails,” Leo insisted. They all did. Melinda had opted for dark purple for her feet and nude color for her hands. Bobbi and Natasha had chosen dark maroon for their feet. Bobbi had light blue for her hands while Natasha had light green. Skye had chosen purple for her feet and pink for her hands.
Phil drove them to the movie theatre. They watched the movie with a lot of interest, although Skye found it a little scary. Bobbi and Natasha enjoyed it having played the game. Leo liked it too, though he did react to the scary scenes. Phil reacted to every scene and Melinda seemed bored.
That night, when they went to bed in Bobbi’s room like every weekend, Skye asked Natasha the same question she had asked Bobbi. “It felt natural, you know,” Natasha told her. “I mean, yeah, I have a birth mother but I don’t really know her. Melinda is the only mom I knew. The only woman who sang to me, fed me with her hands, kissed my scrapes and bruises, taught me how to defend myself - the only woman who would destroy the world for me. So I woke up one day and told her ‘hey mom’ and done.”
“And how did she react?” Skye asked.
“She tried to pretend it was normal,” Bobbi told her. “But she would get tears in her eyes and everything. I didn’t even realize I called her mom until later. And then I was confused. I thought mom hadn’t noticed. I told Leo and he told me that she had found a place to cry.”
Skye nodded. They chatted a bit more. Bobbi’s basketball games would start after Thanksgiving. She had practice three days a week. Melinda picked her up on those days. (Melinda had hired a new instructor for her training institute and her schedule was a lot flexible now.) Natasha told about her classes and Skye talked about her computer class. The teacher was very happy with her. It also reminded Skye about the parent teacher conference that was arranged for Monday. She and Leo had no classes that day. Melinda would take them for the conference, and Phil would meet them at school. A part of Skye was looking forward to it. For the first time in her life, she was at a place where she only had to worry about her studies and that made it a lot easier to keep the grades up. Another part of her was afraid too. Her grades always disappointed her foster parents. All we need you to do is your best. Not anyone else’s. Phil and Melinda were different from others, Skye reminded herself.
“All four of you be good for mom, okay?” Phil said to his kids. His mother had joined them for breakfast and was taking the kids back to her place. The team was visiting them to discuss the case and Phil (or Melinda) had no intention of doing this in front of the kids.
“I still don’t understand why we have to go,” Bobbi said. The kids knew that the case was to figure out what was wrong in Saint Agnes, and all four of them were interested in learning how they worked. Phil understood the curiosity, especially in Bobbi - she had been thinking about a career in law enforcement - but there was no way he could risk them finding out the details.
“Yeah,” Natasha supported Bobbi. “We could have stayed upstairs.”
Phil rolled his eyes. “I can practically see the innocence dripping of all of you,” he said.
“You don’t trust us, Phil?” Skye asked. Her eyes were a little wet, her lips turned down. Phil was at loss of words. He had never meant to imply that.
“Okay. That’s enough, drama queen,” Melinda said, lightly pulling Skye’s ears. Skye grinned and Phil narrowed his eyes.
“Not fair,” he muttered.
“You are so gullible, Phil,” his mom teased him. Phil rolled his eyes. He waved bye as the others got into the car and left.
“You really are gullible,” Melinda said as they walked back into the house.
“You could give me some lessons later,” Phil said, grinning at her. Melinda gave him the patented ‘Melinda glare’. They cleared the breakfast table and Phil began planning for the lunch. Melinda chopped the vegetables. By the time the doorbell rang, the vegetable lasagna was almost ready.
“Why do we have to chill the dough?” Skye heard Leo complain. “I don’t wanna wait.” She could hear him pouting. They had arrived at Julia’s house. Skye had begun working on science with Bobbi while Leo and Natasha had decided to help make chocolate chip cookies. She heard Julia explain that they the ingredients to settle together after the mixing stage.
“Focus, Skye,” Bobbi said, drawing her attention back to the topic they were studying. Skye looked at the various words in front of her and tried to remember what Bobbi had told her about them. They were studying photosynthesis.
“I don’t like this, Bobbi,” she said.
“I know, sweetheart. But unfortunately, you have to study this.”
“Why?”
“You need it for many careers.”
Skye didn’t say anything. She had never really considered having a career. Most of the older kids who lived at Saint Agnes didn’t go to college. Some of them never even finished high school. Skye had always thought she would be one of them. “You really think I could have a career?”
“Of course, you can.” It wasn’t Bobbi who spoke but Julie. “You are a smart girl, aren’t you? Phil is always telling me how proud he is. You can have whatever career you want. All you need to do is put your mind to it and work hard.”
Skye wasn’t really listening to her. Her mind was stuck on the fact that Phil talked his mom about her. And that he was proud of her. No one before had been proud of her. Skye wanted to make him more proud. She took a deep breath and focused on photosynthesis.
Phil was annoyed. They had been working on this case for a month now but they still had nothing to go by. The Robinsons were dead - car accident while they were leaving New York. Karen Wilson was nowhere to be found. Although Sharon had managed to find the last location, she had been seen. A massive fire had burned the place to ground. It was likely that Wilson was dead too. That left them with Rebecca Green and she was in coma. They weren’t getting anywhere. At least Catherine wasn’t involved in all of this.
“Look at this,” Melinda said and Phil immediately straightened up. Please God! “Read the two reports,” Melinda said thrusting the files into his hands. Phil began reading them. The first one was the report from Green’s accident and the second one was the report Fury’s contact had made about Robinson’s accident. Both were quite similar, Phil realized.
“Why attack Green?” Izzy questioned, once everyone had read the reports. “She was obviously working for them. Right?”
“Yes,” Phil confirmed. “Skye’s file has absolutely no information. She was either working for them or she was horrible at her job.”
“She found out something she wasn’t supposed to know,” Maria said. “Where are we with the ownership of Saint Agnes?”
“We have discovered four shell companies till now,” Vic answered. “I am not seeing an end to it though. We have interrogated the owners but they were not even aware that they own a company. We are investigating them, trying to find a link or something.”
“What about Sitwell and Garret?” Phil asked. He still couldn’t believe they were dirty. He had worked with both of them.
“Nothing jumps to the eye but both have been in situations where they were the only survivors,” Fury answered. “I am bringing in Gonzales for this. He is notorious for digging up some dirt. Hill, Carter, prepare a safe house. We need to move Green too. If she knows something, we need her to wake up. Coulson, May, work with Hand and Hartley. Find who owns the place.”
Just like that the meeting was over. They moved to the dining table. Phil brought the lasagna and the bread to the table, while Maria carried the plates. They settled down and began eating.
“So Phil. How do you feel about your daughter dating?” Maria asked. Phil glared at her. “Come on. You can’t tell me you didn’t date someone before Melinda.”
“I did. And I remember being a teenager,” Phil said. He knew Bobbi was responsible but he also knew that heartbreak was not something he could protect his daughter from. That didn’t settle well with him. Melinda gave him a teasing look and Phil vowed revenge. She was way too supportive in all of this. His thoughts wandered to his kids who were with his mother. He hoped they were fine. Leo and Bobbi were comfortable with her but Natasha was a still a little cautious, and this was Skye’s first time with her. Bobbi had sent a few pics - of cookies and balloon games - and he was glad they were having fun.
Phil still remembered his mom’s reaction when he had told her about their decision to foster and hopefully adopt a kid. She had been doubtful at first but had soon accepted the idea. Leo had occupied her heart quickly. She had pampered him and that had continued with the others too. He was sure the kids would return home with more than enough cookies.
He brought his attention back as the lunch ended and everyone began to leave. Maria and Sharon volunteered to do the dishes but Phil and Melinda shooed them off. The kids would be home soon and they wanted some private time.
“You were a little lost there.”
Phil sighed. “Just thinking about the kids,” he told her. She nodded. They cleared the table, putting the dishes in the dishwasher. Phil released a deep breath and plopped down on the couch. He reached for Melinda’s hand and pulled her onto his laps. She wrapped her arms around his neck. They didn’t often found the house to be so quiet, Phil thought as he kissed her lips.