Work Text:
The Fitz-Simmons family were in town for Mack and Elena’s wedding, spending an entire two weeks helping out and spending time with everyone. However, as lovely as the time spent with their old S.H.I.E.L.D team was, they also thought it would be nice to explore the town with just their family for a day.
The trip to the lake was supposed to be a fun affair with Jemma packing a picnic full of everyone’s favorite type of sandwich (honestly, did they know how inconvenient it was for them all to like a different kind of sandwich?) and Fitz sneaking sweets into the basket as well as a thermos of Jemma’s favorite tea. They had brought games and warm blankets and all the ingredients for a nice family outing. And yet, Jemma could sense the trip slowly dissolving into chaos, the defining moment being Maisie announcing to the car Uncle Deke’s story of their being a monster in the lake.
“A monster! You didn’t tell us there was a monster” James cried, looking at his father in the car’s rearview mirror, his wide blue eyes searching for his father’s denial of the idea.
His sister in the seat next to him rolled her eyes. “It’s just an urban legend, James.”
“Maisie’s right, monkey,” Jemma cooed, turning in her seat to face her son, “Just a silly urban myth. Like Loch Ness back at home.”
“Nessie’s not a monster, though,” James whispered, his little five-year-old voice distressed and indignant for the creature of the loch.
“She’s called the Loch Ness Monster. It’s in her name,” Masie muttered to the window, the words peeking through her nearly closed mouth.
Jemma, not having heard her daughter, tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as she turned back around to avoid getting car sick. “Well, maybe this one isn’t either,” she suggested brightly.
“Yeah, James. For all we know they could be friends.” Maisie’s voice was teasing and the tone earned her a quick glare from her father through the mirror. “Sorry.”
When they arrived at the lake, Maisie was out of the car and heading towards the beach before everyone else had even unbuckled their seatbelts, leaving Fitz to call after her from out the car’s open window. It didn’t take very long, however, for everyone else to join Maisie on the lake’s beach. While Jemma set up their beach gear, Fitz joined their daughter in the water, Jemma admonishing him after he let out a loud stream of curse words when the icy water hit his skin.
“Fitz!” she called from the beach, her hands stopping on James’ small shoulders as she applied sunscreen.
“What? Jems, it’s bloody freezing!”
“Yes, but now everyone is looking at us!”
“So?”
“So, it looks like they want to award you the prize for most f-words said in a row.”
“And I’ll accept it gladly. Thank you, everyone, thank you!” Fitz crowed, waving his hand in the air, his daughter laughing and giving him a round of applause. Jemma rolled her eyes and Fitz smirked, an idea coming to him in a stroke of mischievous genius.
As Jemma turned back to apply sunscreen to her son’s back, facing away from the water’s edge, Fitz scurried up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Fitz! What are you doing? No no no, put me down! Fitz!”
She began to scream-laugh as he heaved her towards the lake, her hands only half-trying to unwrap his goosebump covered arms from around her waist. As her feet touched the cold water, however, she quickly held tighter to him, her feet shooting up into the air to avoid the frigid stones glossed with lake water.
With a massive grin on his face, Fitz propelled them into the lake. With his arms wrapped around her, they tumbled into the water, their heads both dunking under into the depth of the lake for a moment. The two of them broke through the surface of the water, Fitz wiping his hand down his face and shaking his wet hair from his eyes as Jemma spluttered and sprayed curse words towards the clear blue sky.
“Jemma! Language,” Fitz gasped overdramatically as he ran his fingers through his hair.
Jemma let out a fierce scoff that transformed into a giggle. “Oh, don’t you dare!” She shoved a wave of water his way and he warded off the splash with his arm, his buoyant laugh breaking into the atmosphere as well.
Called by her father’s laughter and her mother’s splashing, Maisie swam over to her parents. She came up from behind Fitz, surprising him when she wrapped her arms around his neck and hung off his back.
Fitz gave a playful gasp as his daughter hung onto him like a baby monkey. “Oh! Look Jems, I’ve found a water monkey! I’ve always wanted one, you know.”
Maisie’s laugh was so sweet it made Jemma’s heart soar.
“I’m not a water monkey. I’m a doctor-princess-super-spy.”
Fitz slapped a palm to his forehead. “Of course. I’m so sorry Princess Maisie.”
“It’s okay, daddy. Now, let us go on an adventure!” she declared, her little pointer finger directed further into the late.
“As you wish, Dr. Princess Super-Spy Maisie May Fitz-Simmons.”
As Fitz made a show of marching into the lake, Jemma couldn’t express how much she loved her family. How much she loved her husband; her wonderful, stubborn, brilliant, incredible husband; and their wonderful, stubborn, brilliant, incredible children. At the thought of her children, Jemma turned towards the beach, her son flashing to the front of her mind. She had expected for him to jump after them like he normally did when they went to the pool, but then she remembered the monster.
“James!” she called to the shoreline, spotting her son standing at the water’s edge with his arms slightly out and away from his body due to his yellow, fish covered floaties.
“It’s alright, James,” Jemma assured, calling to her son from waist-deep in the water. Even though his parents had assured him there was so monster lurking in the water, it appeared that James was refusing to so much as step foot into the cold blue lake. He simply stood on the rocky beach in his swim trunks with his thin, floaty covered arms trying to cross over his chest and his bottom lip between his teeth.
“Is not. There’s a monster in the water… plus it’s cold.”
Jemma couldn’t help but giggle at the way her son’s cheeks pinked with his admission but she quickly stopped when he shot her a self-conscious glare.
“Mum!” he whined, “Don’t laugh at me.”
“I’m sorry, monkey. I wasn’t laughing at you, I promise.”
She looked carefully at her son, noting his fidgeting feet and his wide analytical eyes scanning the water. He normally loved the pool and was rather a good swimmer for his age, so Jemma knew his sudden fear of entering the lake was based solely on the legend that Maisie had brought up. He had always been rather afraid of the idea of monsters, terrified of things that had no basis in science, their potential threat a mystery.
“There’s no monster in the water, darling,” Jemma said, walking up out of the water. Though the day was warm, the slight breeze sent her shivering. When she reached him on the beach, she kneeled down so she could meet him at eye-level, her hand falling gently on his arm.
“But what if there is?”
Jemma scrunched her nose in thought, her eyes going up to the corner like she was looking into a thought bubble. “Hmmm. Well, if we look at it scientifically, then we will just have made a new discovery. Which would be rather fun, wouldn’t it. We might even be able to name it, though I’m not sure exactly what name we could give it. Do you?”
James wiggled his nose as he thought, his eyes looking down to the ground like he’d find the answer in the smooth pebbles of the shore. “If we do find the monster,” he began quietly, “then we probably wouldn’t call it a monster anymore. We could call it a Fitz-Simmons fish, since it lives in the water!”
His eyes went bright blue as the thought came to him, his young face so innocent and excited that Jemma wrapped him in a hug.
“That’s a great idea, monkey. How about you go run and get the goggles and you and I can look for the Fitz-Simmons fish.”
“Okay!”
He was off in a flash, running towards their beach bag and coming back just as quickly with two pairs of goggles and an exuberant smile.