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It was just Skye at first. The girl had a tough upbringing and had found herself craving the childhood she never really got to have, as well as needing comfort from nightmares and generally scary times within their line of work. It started when Phil had found her crying in the kitchen in the middle of the night and made an effort to look after her. He had treated her like a father would treat his young daughter, with kindness and compassion Skye had never had before, and she couldn't help but crave that again. It was something she had always wanted but never truly experienced until that moment. He had told her if needed she could come back any time she was scared. Eventually she had taken him up on that offer, turning up to his room after a bad nightmare, and after the next time he'd explained the concept to her. He would look after her as his little girl, if she wanted which she truly did. He could let her just be a child while she was in a little state.
"C'mon Skye, bedtime" Mommy told her as they sat on the floor of her room, having just played a round of a board game. It had been a slight shock at first. Coulson needed to go away on a mission, Skye was crying and begging her daddy not to leave when Melinda walked in. The girl had gone as white as a sheet, she worked hard to hide her little side as much as possible from the others and here she was sat in a diaper on the floor of Coulson's room with a soft toy gripped in her hands in front of her badass and slightly scary S.O. However, she'd been shocked when Melinda said "I'll look after her while you're gone" and moved forward to gently move some hair from Skye's face. It was such a tender motion, she hadn't ever seen May like that or thought she could be that way. From then on, she'd had both a Daddy and a Mommy.
"I'm not sleepy" Daisy sulked, though an involuntary yawn let the game away and she sighed. Melinda tucked some hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. "Let's get you ready for bed baby"
She helped the girl into the bathroom, glad that she'd been able to make a changing area as she lifted Skye up and began to change her on the little table. Thankfully her room had a private en-suite, only the S.O's rooms did so plus Coulson's of course since he was director. "There, all clean baby" May said with a soft smile, one reserved only for her little girl. They brushed their teeth, May gently told Skye off for sucking her thumb afterwards. The girl let her thumb drop, May simply popped in her pacifier and practically carried her sleepy little one back to the bed, brushing out her hair before they would settle down for the night.
Skye felt like the luckiest little girl ever, she thought as she lay there the next morning waiting for May to wake up so they could go do some morning training. She loved her family but felt there was one more member of the family who was missing. A sister.
Bobbi supposed she didn't mind working in the lab too much, it was kinda interesting and at least as Coulson had commented she was finally putting her biology degree to good use (plus as Fitz had deduced she'd studied forensics too before Shield came knocking so it was nice to use that too). She pushed herself through the corridors on her crutches, finally reaching the common room she practically flopped down on the couch. It took a moment for her breathing to settle again, the effect of now having half a lung after the bullet she'd taken for her ex husband. Guess she couldn't kid herself about not still having feelings for him now. Bobbi surveyed the room, making sure it was safe before slipping her thumb into her mouth. It was a very secret habit, one she didn't want anyone else finding out about. She was supposed to be Bobbi the badass spy and exemplary shield agent, not a girl who still sucked her thumb, though she felt even more exposed and vulnerable now with her injures keeping her away from field missions for a while. The blonde decided it was safe for her to close her eyes a moment to fully immerse herself in the self soothing behaviour. "Just five minutes" she told herself as her eyes closed.
Skye and Coulson had found her like that a full hour later. Daddy had cleaned her up from an accident she'd had that morning, she wore pull ups during the day and was generally good at keeping herself clean but it was just one of those moments. He then took her into the kitchen to grab some food, knowing Bobbi was about but maybe she was still in the lab he'd thought. Everyone else was off on a mission, and nobody really knew about Fitz, Coulson just let him be for now though in his mind once Skye was asleep tonight he'd go down to the lab to have a talk with the young scientist and try to help him refocus on their priorities. He kept putting it off, not really wanting to let go of hope Simmons could be found but it was time now. It had been long enough and he really needed Fitz's expertise on their new project. Skye had noticed the sleeping blonde and at first didn't see anything different, then noticed the thumb. She also spotted Bobbi had something small, a small soft toy pressed into her palm which had clearly been stored in the pocket of her coat. The sight reminded her of how she looked and acted with her comfort toy, wondering if this was Bobbi's. Coulson noticed too and quietly moved to grab a blanket, spreading it over the sleeping blonde before taking Skye's hand to lead her over to the kitchen counter. He placed a special plastic plate and a sippy cup full of juice in front of her.
"Daddy, do you think Bobbi might have a little side? Like me?" Skye asked, keeping her voice quiet not to disturb Bobbi and also because her big side was still a little scared of anyone finding out
"I think so, but she'd have to tell us or if something happened for us to look after her" Coulson said, he knew that pressuring someone into revealing a little side was bad especially if they might not know what that was, though he did have a feeling that Skye was right about Bobbi.
"You're a smart little one" he said fondly, kissing the top of her head as she ate her sandwich which made her giggle softly.
They then sat to watch the TV for a little bit, bigger Skye was still scared of Bobbi waking up any minute and making fun of her for watching cartoons so she made a mental note of the fastest way to change the channel and excuses she could come up with as to why she was cuddled up to Coulson with kids shows on. Her little side eventually won out as she sat in daddy's arms watching the TV. After a bit they heard Bobbi stirring and looked over, the girl was there still with her thumb in her mouth now staring over. She noticed them staring back and instantly pulled her thumb out her mouth, spluttering out some sort of excuse though completely ignoring the fact Skye was pretty much sat on Coulsons lap and the tv was blaring which he turned off. They all sat in silence for a minute before Skye spoke up.
"Mommy won't let me suck my thumb" Skye said, getting up and moving towards Bobbi "You can borrow a paci if you want" Bobbi now looked incredibly confused. First off, who was Skye referring to when she said Mommy? It wasn't her, Simmons was MIA, that only left.....May? Surely not, Bobbi thought. It occurred to her that the whole "Skye acting like a child" thing didn't actually seem weird to her. A surprise, sure, but watching the girl and the way she went back to cling to Coulson it just felt like a family even though she didn't know a lot about families. Coulson was walking over to her now, crouching down in front of her though Bobbi was quite tall anyway.
"Me and Skye, I look after her as my little girl. May does too" he explained "She's very selective and secretive about who she wants to know, so we'd appreciate it if you don't spread it around to the others"
Bobbi nodded, looking over to Skye again she realised the girl looked slightly adorable when she was sucking her thumb and acting little, shyly hiding behind Coulson only to peep her head out occasionally. She felt a slight pang of jealously, part of her wanted to be like that too.
"Can I?..." Bobbi began to ask, though the words caught in her throat. Skye was stood next to Coulson now and she could just make up the top of a pull up peeping out from under her shirt. That whole part didn't really appeal to her, she had her little side and she knew that but it was maybe not just as little as Skye. For her it was more about comfort and being looked after, what she hadn't been able to get just on her own. It felt surreal to know she actually wasn't alone in this. Coulson rested a hand on her shoulder.
"We can trial it. Skye would love a sister" he said. This made both girls smile and he heard Bobbi's tummy rumble. She blushed slightly and Skye patted her arm in sympathy "Daddy, can we make sissy some lunch?"
It should have felt strange to hear Skye refer to her as sissy, and perhaps it did a little bit, but an overriding wave of happiness washed over her at that remark. Growing up an only child, she'd dreamed of having a sister and she couldn't think of a better one than the girl currently stood in front of her. Bobbi smiled warmly at both Skye and Coulson. He tenderly patted her head and kissed Skye's cheek before going to make some more food, she was glad he was just testing the waters for now though it felt nice and right to have that fatherly affection from him.
Bobbi and Skye chatted about tv shows and fairy princesses (something they had realised that they both liked) until Coulson called them up to the table. Skye had been helping but she'd managed to spill stuff everywhere and generally make a mess so she'd been sent back to sit with Bobbi. He'd made a little treat for her though, some chocolate chip pancakes, and another sippy cup but just full of water this time. Bobbi had sandwiches on a plastic plate that was an old one of Skye's she didn't really use, along with a matching sippy cup of juice. Skye was already sat eating her pancakes rapidly, Coulson warned her to slow down before going to hand Bobbi her crutches and make sure she could get over to her food. She looked down at it a moment, he wondered if she was going to say something and encouraged her to look up. "Hey, Bobbi, part of the deal here is that if anything makes you uncomfortable you just say and we won't do it, okay?" He said. She nodded.
"Thanks. I want to try it, it's just...different" she said. She picked up the sandwich and ate it slowly at first before she settled in. Coulson really did know how to make nice sandwiches. It was the same with the sippy cup, lifting it tentatively to her lips for a moment before settling down and drinking the juice contently.
Bobbi went back to the lab after lunch, Coulson went to work in his office and Skye headed to his room to play. Bobbi promised to join her there once her work was done. It felt strange being back to work like nothing had happened, when in reality everything had changed. After a couple of hours, she was finishing up when she heard Coulson over the tannoy.
"Agent Morse, please report to the directors office"
She knew what this was about, he'd asked her to stop by so they could go over the arrangement in more detail and sort out things she did want from anything that made her uncomfortable. She passed the others just getting back from their mission on her way to the office, it took her longer with her crutches and still having to stop every once in a while to catch her breath but the team seemed in good spirits which she gladly realised meant it had been a successful mission.
"Hey love, you been getting into trouble while I was gone eh?!" Hunter joked with her, stealing a kiss as she approached where he was stood
"Something like that" She joked back. Her feelings for Hunter were completely different, separate. She loved him as her ex but hopefully someday current again husband. She did worry what he would think of her little side, it was a completely non-sexual craving to be cared for in the way Coulson did, but for now she didn't worry. She could be Agent Morse, in love with Hunter, and just Bobbi, loved by her sister and parents.
Coulson and Bobbi talked for a little while. They established the foundations and rules and really all the girl was uncomfortable with for now was stuff revolving around diapers. She liked to be held, even though she was significantly taller than Skye. She was worried she might squish him or her which made Coulson laugh a little. "I'm sure cuddling will still work, if you're wanting that" he told her "We're still on trail and error. Remember if at any point you want to stop and don't want to do this any more, you can just say"
"You already feel like my family" she told him, and he knew then that she was serious and wanting to stick around.
Nightfall came and true to his word, once Skye had been changed and Bobbi had changed herself into her beloved Star Wars pyjamas, Coulson arranged the three of them on the bed in a perfect way so they could all cuddle. He was in the middle with the two girls either side watching a movie. When asked for suggestions and Bobbi had, of course, said Star Wars Skye admitted she'd never seen it. The blonde gasped and said that simply wouldn't do for her little sister, teasing her gently though the younger girl knew that. She hadn't quite expected Bobbi to turn up after with a clearly well loved copy of Episode IV and her little Chewbacca comfort toy from earlier in hand, enthusiastically commenting though the film though her commentary slowed down as she tired out. By the time Luke and Han were receiving their medals from Leia, the two girls were close to asleep. Coulson tucked them both in with a big blanket spread across the two, smiling at how natural it felt and looked watching his two little girls sleep soundly next to each other. He heard the door and May entered, walking over to greet her.
"Finally done for the day, I missed her bedtime though" she told him, looking over to see Skye she smiled for a moment before realising Bobbi was there too, turning back to Coulson with a slightly confused look on her face. He smiled and shrugged.
"We've adopted another one now. Her name is Bobbi"
May gave him a small chuckle and a smile, going over to see her little girls.