Happy Tears
Title: Happy Tears
Author: Diane
Pairing: Grant Ward/Skye
Rating: Teen Rated
Disclaimer: I don't own a thing!
Spoilers/Warnings: This is a sequel to my (Adult Rated) story “Only Time Will Tell” so it might help to read that first.
Summary: “I wasn't calling you a baby, sweetheart.” He felt her tremble in his embrace and he hugged her a little tighter, pressing a kiss onto the top of her head. “Tell me what's wrong. I can't help you if I don't know what's upsetting you.”
Author's Notes: The second of my ficlets for The Ficmas Challenge 2014.
“Right, are you ready to put the angel on top of the tree?” Grant asked his daughter.
Maggie shrugged. “You can do it.”
He frowned at her response and the dejected tone he could hear in her voice. Walking over to her, he took a seat beside her on the couch where she was sat cross-legged toying with a loose thread on the cuff of her purple sweater, and he gently tugged on one of her curls. “What's up?”
“Nothing.”
“C'mon, you were so excited about decorating the tree, baby... Is it because Skye's not he—”
“I'm not a baby!” she interrupted.
When she made to move away from him and get up from the couch, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. “I wasn't calling you a baby, sweetheart.” He felt her tremble in his embrace and he hugged her a little tighter, pressing a kiss onto the top of her head. “Tell me what's wrong. I can't help you if I don't know what's upsetting you.”
Maggie's lip quivered. “When the new baby comes she's gonna call Skye mommy, right?”
“Uh... yeah. She has to learn how to talk first though,” he teased, hoping to elicit a smile from the six-and-a-half-year-old. It didn't work. “Are you upset about the new baby?” When they'd found out Skye was pregnant just six months after they'd gotten married, they had decided to tell Maggie straightaway, wanting her to hear the news from them and no one else. She'd been so excited at learning she was going to be a big sister but the way she was talking now... he was starting to worry that maybe everything had been happening too fast for her to cope with.
“No,” she stated. “I can't wait for her to get here.”
Grant breathed a quiet sigh of relief. “Okay. So wha—”
“I want to call Skye mommy, too!” she blurted out, her big brown eyes filling with tears.
“Oh, baby. C'mere,” he soothed, cuddling her close. “Of course you can call Skye mommy,” he told her. “We should've talked about it with you before but... well, we didn't want you to feel like you had to call Skye that if it wasn't something you were ready for.”
“Does she want me to call her mommy?”
Grant smiled. “Yes... she already thinks of you as her little girl and she would love for you to start calling her that.”
“Really?” she asked, smiling through her tears.
“Really.”
Maggie wrapped her arms around her father's neck and hugged him.
“Do you feel better now, sweetheart?”
“Uh huh...”
“You want to go ahead and put the angel on top of the tree?”
She shook her head. “No. I want to wait for mommy to come home,” she said, testing out the word.
The smile he wore threatened to split his face in half. “I think that's a great idea. Now, if mommy bursts into tears when you call her that for the first time don't get upset. They'll be happy tears, I promise.”
“Okay,” she said.
* * * * *
Letting herself into the house, Skye smiled when she heard Maggie singing “Let It Go” at the top of her voice. Shrugging out of her coat, she hung it up in the closet under the stairs and then kicked off her shoes before making her way into the living room to join her family.
Today had been the day they'd promised her they would put up and decorate the tree but at the last minute a close friend of Skye's had called needing a shoulder to cry on. Not wanting to upset Maggie any more than she had already by having to leave, she'd told her to go ahead and she would try and get home as soon as she could.
“Wow, the tree looks gorgeous. You two have done an amazing job,” she told them before noticing a particular decoration was missing. “Wait, I think you've forgotten something.”
Running across the room to where Skye was standing, Maggie wrapped her arms around her as far as she could reach given her considerable bump. “I-I wanted to wait for you... Mommy.”
“I tried to get home as fast as I cou—” Cutting herself off, her mouth dropped open as she suddenly registered what the little girl had just called her. Her eyes met her husband's and she noticed he was looking a bit teary as he gave her a small nod.
Lacing her fingers with Maggie's, Skye led her over to the couch so they could sit together and be at eye level. “I have wanted you to call me that for so long, honey. Thank you,” she whispered, embracing her daughter. She may not have given birth to her but she loved her every bit as much as she did her unborn child. “It's the best Christmas present you could've given me.” Brushing her hand over Maggie's hair, she leaned forward and pressed a kiss onto her forehead. “I love you so much, baby.”
“I love you, too, Mommy.” Rising up onto her knees, the young girl bounced excitedly on the couch. “Now we can put the angel on the tree. Daddy, can you lift me up?”
Crossing the room to stand beside the couch, he ducked his head and touched his lips to his wife's while his hand caressed her protruding stomach. “I love you,” he whispered before retreating and picking up their daughter along with the silver and white angel that was on the coffee table. Handing it over to her, he then boosted Maggie up into his arms, holding her securely as she leaned in to place the angel on the very top of the tree.
Skye clapped and cheered. When, a moment later, Maggie was back beside her on the couch, she suggested, “How about we get Daddy to make us some hot chocolate with marshmallows to celebrate this awesome day?”
It was Maggie's turn to cheer. “Yay! Can I have a cookie, too?”
“Sure,” Grant said, nodding as he shared a smile with Skye. “Why not?” In that very moment, hearing his wife and their daughter's laughter, he would do anything to keep them looking that way for as long as he possibly could.
Fin