Lemon
Hours later, Deke anxiously paced outside of the med bay. “How long does this take? How big is the kid going to be? I’ve never really seen a baby, like a new baby.” He mumbled. “What are they doing in there? How does the kid get out?” He winced when he heard Melinda cry out in pain.
“I don’t know how long it will be.” Daisy looked at him and rose an eyebrow. “It all depends. As for what they’re doing in there...May’s pushing the baby out.” She said awkwardly. “I thought you knew all this.”
“Things are different where I’m from and I didn’t want to ask May.” He defended himself and continued to pace. “I know how it works, I just don’t know the specifics.” He shrugged.
“Well, I’m not going to explain it to you.” She leaned against the wall as they waited. “Why are you so stressed out? This whole time you’ve been obsessed with the baby.”
“I’ve never seen someone pregnant before.” He told her and looked down. “It’s exciting. My mom always told me about it and it was always so foreign to me. Where I come from babies were given out if you were good and they thought you deserved it. This is so different from that and I know I was probably annoying but I liked watching the baby grow.”
Daisy nodded slightly. “I think May liked having you around.” She admitted.
“I hope so.” He said and paced until the door opened.
“Is the baby here?” He asked before Jemma could shut the door and he tried to look into the room. “Is May okay? Can I see them? Did the baby come out okay?”
“The baby is here and healthy. I figured they would like a little privacy for a bit.” Jemma smiled. “Coulson said that he’d come out when they’re ready for visitors.”
Deke sighed relief and leaned against the wall. “That’s great.” He smiled widely.
Daisy smiled happily and hugged Jemma. “I’ll go tell the others!” She said excitedly.
“I’ll go with you.” Jemma looked at Deke. “Are you going to stay here?”
“Yeah.” Deke murmured and looked down. He wouldn’t admit it but he wanted to be one of the first people to see the baby.
“Okay.” Jemma squeezed his arm lovingly and went with Daisy to find the others.
Deke watched them go and sighed. A few minutes later, the door opened again and Coulson stepped out. He looked tired but he still had a huge smile on his face. “Deke, where’s Jemma and Daisy?” He asked.
“They went to tell everyone.” Deke stood up from where he leaned on the wall. “I can go get them if you want.”
Phil shook his head. “No, they’ll come back soon I’m sure.” He looked at the younger man. “Melinda said you could come to see them before they get some sleep.”
Deke nodded quickly. “I would love to see them.” He smiled.
Phil pushed the door open and walked in with Deke following him. “You should feel lucky. She said she only wanted to see you, Daisy and Jemma before she fell asleep.” He told Deke. He led him to the small medical room and opened the door letting Deke in before he followed going over to stand by his wife’s bed.
Deke followed nervously and pulled a lemon from his pocket. He was hesitant to walk through the door but he did. He looked up and smiled when he saw a tired looking Melinda sitting up on the bed holding a small bundle in her arms. “I um brought a lemon. I know it’s dumb but..” He blushed and set it down on the counter with a shrug. “I can take it back if you don’t want it.”
Melinda looked up at Deke and smiled tiredly. “Thank you.” She said sincerely.
Deke stepped closer slowly and looked at the baby. “It’s still a girl, right? What’s her name? You get to name her right? There isn’t a list or anything?” He asked and smiled widely when he saw her face. “She has chubby cheeks.” He mumbled.
Melinda laughed a bit and nodded. “She is still a girl.” She murmured and moved to stroke the baby’s cheek. “Madelyn. Madelyn May Coulson.” She told him and looked at Phil happily.
Phil smiled proudly and leaned forward kissing her gently before kissing the baby’s forehead.
“May Coulson?” Deke asked. “Why not just Coulson?”
“May is her middle name.” Melinda said and closed her eyes for a moment.
“Oh...” Deke nodded pretending to understand. “I don’t have one of those. I don’t think. It’s different than a last name?”
“It’s like a second name or an initial like mine is J and Melinda’s is Qiaolian.” Phil tried to explain.
“I don’t really understand but okay.” Deke shrugged still staring at the girl.
“Do you want to hold her?” Melinda asked quietly.
“No, no, I don’t...I don’t think I can. She’s so small.” He said quickly and stepped back.
“You can sit down and do it. Just cradle her in your arms and make sure her head is supported.” She said and nodded to the chair next to the bed.
“Okay…” He moved and sat down deciding that now wasn’t a good time to fight her.
“Phil, can you hand her to him?” She looked at her husband.
Phil nodded and carefully took the little girl in his arms. He smiled and kissed her cheek before carefully placing her in Deke’s arms.
Deke looked down at the baby and tried to relax a bit. “Hi, Madelyn May.” He smiled. “My name is Deke.” He introduced himself. “I’m glad to finally meet you. You’re smaller than I thought you would be.” He told her as if she understood everything. “You’re brand new though. I’ve never met a brand new baby before. I had no idea what you would look like. You looked like an alien from the ultrasound pictures. I didn’t think you’d have hair.” He admitted and tensed when started to squirm. “Did I upset her?” He looked up at Melinda and Phil.
“She’s probably hungry,” Melinda assured him. “Jemma made up a bottle for her.”
Deke nodded slightly. “Okay. What do I need to do?” He asked.
“No offense, Deke, but I’ll do it,” Phil said as he walked over grabbing the bottle from the counter.
“Of course.” Deke nodded and let Phil take the little girl back. “I should um..probably go then.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Thank you for visiting.” Melinda smiled softly and looked at Phil as he started to feed the little girl. “We’ll see you tomorrow, Deke. If you see Daisy and Jemma send them in.”
Deke nodded and walked out of the room not even trying to hide the big grin on his face. He definitely liked Madelyn May.