"Oh yeah, oh right
Are you going to be in my dreams
Tonight?
And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love
You make."
…
It only took Cleo three weeks of nagging to break Leo and Jemma down, and soon enough Jemma had moved back in. Not that anyone minded, anyway.
"I'm ready, I'm ready!" Cleo exclaimed as she rushed out of her room, where Leo and Jemma were waiting at the door. It had been one of those mornings when nothing had gone to plan, so Leo now had to drive both Cleo to school and Jemma to the diner.
After dropping Cleo off, Leo pulled up outside the diner and walked in with Jemma. Skye stopped scrubbing tables at the sight of the pair and her face lit up.
"Look who's here! Brad and Angelina themselves!"
"Skye, I love you, but shut up." Jemma chuckled.
"Well I'm sorry if I'm excited that it's almost your one month anniversary! Romance follows you wherever you go as you stay tightly in the honeymoon phase. If I'd have known Leo would take you to that ridiculously expensive restaurant downtown after only a month I'd have gotten there first." Skye chuckled.
Jemma turned to look at Leo in shock as he lowered his head.
"…Which was meant to be a surprise. Crap." Skye sighed.
"Well, colour me surprised, just four days early. But still surprised!" Jemma said as Leo glared at Skye, who 'mouthed' sorry and handed him a cookie from a nearby table apologetically. Jemma took Leo's hand in hers.
"You are too sweet." She smiled as she kissed him.
"…Yeah…" Leo blushed.
"Well, good luck today. You're gonna do great." Jemma smiled.
"I hope so." Leo sighed.
"Oh! It's your meeting with the book publisher dude today, right?" Skye asked and Leo nodded.
"You'll smash it, Leo." Skye added.
"Okay, well, I better go. I'll pick you up when you're finished, okay?" Leo said.
"Absolutely." Jemma smiled sweetly as she wrapped her arms around Leo and passionately kissed him. Skye rolled her eyes as she returned to cleaning the tables. The pair broke apart slightly, their noses slightly brushing.
"I love you." Leo said.
"I love you too."
…
SIX MONTHS LATER…
Leo sat on the couch staring at the door. They were due to arrive today. He's been anxious and excited and petrified for weeks as the wait took its toll. It hadn't fully sunk in yet.
The first copies of his first book were on their way to him, He was soon to be a published author. He was living his dream.
And to think, if it wasn't for his girlfriend he's still be stuck in that wasteful job and nowhere near as close to his daughter as he was.
Jemma and Cleo were in Cleo's room, wanting to give Leo his space in this tense moment of his life. Jemma smiled as she watched Cleo draw avidly, constantly admiring how she never got bored of drawing.
"I love drawing because you never know what you're going to end up with. You make your own adventure", Cleo always said.
On the occasion, it was a picture of Leo reading his book to her with a huge smile on his face.
"A nice family portrait." Jemma observed with a smile.
"It's not a family portrait." Cleo stated.
"Isn't it?"
"No, you're not on it." Cleo smiled. Jemma, touched, playfully rubbed Cleo's head as there came a loud knock on the door.
"DADDY'S BOOKS ARE HERE!" Cleo exclaimed as she stood up excitedly and headed out of her room. Jemma followed swiftly behind her.
"Come on, mum!" Cleo said as she ran to greet Leo. Jemma stopped in her tracks and watched Cleo run on ahead of her.
Mum.
After a moment, she smiled and walked on.
…
Cleo had already started reading Leo's book as she sat on the couch, completely engrossed in every word her father had written. Leo, meanwhile, was still sat down holding a copy in his hands with emotion in his eyes, a smile on his face and pride in his heart. Jemma shared his pride and smile as she looked at him happily.
"Leo, you haven't even opened it up yet. Cleo will have read all 278 pages before you've turned to the contents page." Jemma teased. Leo chuckled slightly.
"I know, I just…part of me had given up on the dream. Look at it." Leo smiled.
Jemma did as Leo said, observing the crimson cover of the book with a beautiful image on the front of an expensive looking house and a magnifying glass lying by it (one of Cleo's drawings had been the illustrator's inspiration). On top of the image was the title.
"FROM OUT OF THE RAIN".
And below, the author's name.
LEOPOLD FITZ.
Her boyfriend was an author. Take that every guy she'd ever been with.
"I'm so proud of you." Jemma smiled as she rested her head on Leo's shoulder.
"I couldn't have done this without you, you know. I wouldn't have done this without you. If I hadn't have met you this would have been a dream I never reached. Thank you." Leo said passionately as he wrapped an arm around Jemma and kissed her.
"You wrote the damn thing, take some of the credit." Jemma said and Leo laughed.
"So…do I get a signed copy?" Jemma added cheekily. Leo looked at her and smiled, tapping her nose with his finger as he opened the book in his hand and grabbed a nearby pen.
"Okay…that's Jemma with a G, right?" Leo teased.
"Shut up." Jemma giggled as Leo scribbled a message and handed it to her with an almost nervous smile.
'Jemma,
Even if I could have done this without you, I never would have. I love you more than Doctor Who.
(So, a lot.)
Leo xxx'
Jemma laughed as she read the message and kissed Leo once more.
"My most treasured possession." She said.
"Good. And now there's a message for you at the start and the end." Leo said.
"…What?" Jemma asked, confused. Leo took a deep breath, confusing her further.
"Look at the afterword." Leo whispered.
"Oh no, you haven't rambled on about me have you?" Jemma asked sarcastically as she flicked to the end of the book.
"Nope. Kept it short and sweet. I said just what I wanted to say." Leo smiled.
"Well, that's good then. I wouldn't want to-"
Jemma stopped as she reached the page she was looking for and read the message printed in the middle of the page.
'Jemma Simmons,
Will you marry me?'
…
ONE YEAR LATER…
"I'm sweating like a pregnant nun." Skye whispered in Jemma's ear.
"Me too, but I think that's just…oh, never mind." Jemma replied in a hushed tone as she looked around the room nervously. They were stood in a large conference room filled with people in suits and fancy dresses. The group of them, sat at the back of the room, were all quaking with fear and nervousness. Cleo sat in between Skye and Jemma, holding both of their hands, while Juliet and Wilfred sat on the other side of their daughter nervously chewing on breath mints.
"Thanks for coming, all of you. This means a lot to Leo." Jemma said to the group, who all smiled.
"It's not that long of a drive for us, not for out son-in-law." Wilfred smiled happily, leaning over and giving Cleo a high five.
"We wouldn't have missed it for the world." Skye smiled, looking behind her and seeing Grant and Lincoln in the corner of the room (there weren't any seats left), smiling and waving at everyone.
Leo and Jemma had moved back to the UK eight months ago to be closer to their parents and because Leo's publishing company had opened a new branch there, close to a highly rated school for Cleo to attend. Also, Jemma had soon found another waitressing job that she excelled at.
So much so, she was now the assistant manager.
It came as a wonderful shock for Leo's book to be nominated for the Booker Prize, but it was an even bigger and even more wonderful shock for him to make the shortlist. So now, they had all driven (or in Skye, Grant and Lincoln's case, flew) to the ceremony.
Leo was sat off to the side of the room with the other nominees, praying to anyone above that he wasn't sick all over the event organisers. He looked over to the group, where Cleo was waving at him with a huge grin. He coyly waved back with a small smile while Jemma gave him a wink, mouthing 'I love you'. He mouthed it back as the announcer took to the stage.
A smile spread on Leo's face. He couldn't believe he was there, nominated for the prize he'd only ever dreamt of winning.
He wouldn't win, he's read most of the competition's books and they were phenomenal, but he was proud to just be there.
"It gives me great pleasure to announce the winner of the Man Booker Prize this year, and the award goes to…"
It's gotta be between 'Mourning Sun' and 'Kree', those novels were fantastic.
"…'From Out Of The Rain' by Leopold Fitz!"
Leo's head shot up as the room erupted into applause, looks of joy spreading on his loved one's face.
"WOOHOO! YOU GO, LEO!" Two loud voices screamed in unison.
The room fell silent as everyone turned to face the source of the noise; a red-faced Grant and Lincoln.
"…I don't think we were supposed to do that." Grant whispered.
"No, maybe not." Lincoln replied, gently clapping again.
Soon the room returned to its buzzing atmosphere and everyone clapped as Leo took to the stage and shook everyone's hand as he accepted the award and was directed to give a speech.
It was madness. He's just won £50,000 and the prize he'd only daydreamed about.
Leo looked over to his friends and family and saw they were all still hugging excitedly. Cleo gave Leo a huge wave and blew a kiss while Leo's eyes met Jemma's. Tears streamed down her face and she smiled wider than she ever had before.
You probably look like an idiot, Leo! SPEAK!
"Oh, um…wow. Thank you so much, I…I'm shocked, I…wow." He mumbled.
There was a short laugh from the crowd.
"…Well, to just be nominated was an honour, and to be listed with such fantastic works as all these other authors have written…just…wow. I'm struggling to comprehend this. Okay, okay…don't cry, Leo. Be cool." Leo laughed, and the audience laughed with him.
"Okay…I'd like to thank my parents. They couldn't be here, but uh…thanks for, you know…making me. And to my friends who travelled from New York just to be here, you guys are wonderful and mean the world to me. My in-laws, Wilfred and Juliet, who welcomed me into their family before I'd even started dating their daughter. Also, I need to thank my beautiful little girl, Cleo, sat over there. Sweetie, ever since the day I first held you in my arms you have spent every day since inspiring me with your talent and optimism and your heart of gold. I'm so proud of you and how far we've come after a rough few years a while back, and I love you so, so much." Leo said emotionally. Cleo waved at him again as Skye snatched a tissue from Jemma's hand.
"Crap." Skye whispered, wiping her eyes. Suddenly, a hand grabbed the tissue from hers.
"Crap." Lincoln whispered, wiping his eyes.
"And then there's you." Leo chuckled, his eyes fixated on a crying Jemma.
"My gorgeous wife, Jemma. Jem, I…I've never been good at finding the words to describe what you mean to me. Ever since the beginning. It took all I had to even ask you out on that first date, so I'll try and muster that strength again now. I've only ever dreamed about two things in my life that really meant something to me; winning this prize and being with you. So, to stand here now having them both…knowing I get to wake up to the sight of this and to wake up next to you every morning for the rest of my days…I couldn't ask for a better way to live."
"Crap." Grant whispered, snatching the tissue from Lincoln's hand and wiping his eyes.
"I thought I'd lost everything when Cleo's mum and I split up. I thought I'd end up old and alone with no one caring for me and no one to care for. Then I hired you as a babysitter. Someone as random as that brought us together. I just so happened to decide I needed a babysitter on that day and you just so happened to buy the paper that day. Or maybe it didn't 'just so happen', maybe it was fate. From the moment we met, from the moment you revealed your shared love of The Beatles…I was hooked on Jemma Simmons. So, to see you standing there as beautiful as ever but now as Jemma Fitz…you are the love of my life. Those four years I went through of hurt and pain and tears, all of those dark days…it would've been worth it for just thirty seconds of being with you. So knowing I'm gonna be with you forever makes me the happiest guy alive. And it takes a lot to make a Scotsman smile…" Leo said passionately and the crowd laughed again.
"…Yet you've always done it with ease. I'd had most of the love in my life taken from me but when I took a risk and gave what I had left to you, you returned it to me and then some. I'm so incredibly lucky to have you, Jem. I love you so much, and thank you for making my life one hell of an adventure. And I can't wait to see where we, all of us, go next. Thank you for making my dream come true. Because they do. Dreams really do come true, so thank you."
The room erupted into noise for a final time as Leo rushed off stage and pulled Jemma into his arms, with the rest of the group soon joining in.
The love in that room was immeasurable.
…
That night, on the best day of Leo Fitz's life (he never thought he'd have a good day ever again years ago), Cleo was in bed while Leo and Jemma sat out in the back garden of the house gazing up at the stars.
"Does every star have an individual name?" Jemma asked. Leo chuckled.
"I don't know, why?"
"I was just wondering." Jemma smiled.
"I'd just call them all Jemma." Leo grinned. Jemma laughed and took his hand.
"Yeah, yeah."
"No, I would. You're my shining star, Jemma Fitz."
"Well, you were mine first." Jemma replied, sitting on her husband's lap and kissing him passionately.
"I love you."
"I love you too, Leo. Especially after that speech. Mum recorded it on her phone." Jemma grinned.
"Oh, bloody hell." Leo moaned.
"Ah, there's the grumpy Scotsman." Jemma teased.
"Shut up, you." Leo chuckled, kissing Jemma again.
"This is the life. One big happy family. Best day ever." Leo added as Jemma looked up at the sky, her smile growing wider at Leo's words.
"One big happy family, just the four of us." Jemma whispered in Leo's ear.
"Four of us? But it's just us and Cleo, how is that…?"
Leo stopped as Jemma stood up and grinned.
"…We're getting a pet?" Leo asked. Jemma laughed.
"Think about it, Leo."
Silence for a moment.
"…OH MY GOD!" Leo exclaimed, pulling Jemma close and gently lifting her into the air as he kissed her.
"I thought it'd either make the day better or cheer you up if you didn't win." Jemma said.
"You're…?"
"…I am. Baby…yeah." Jemma smiled. Leo cried tears of joy as he kissed her again.
"Cleo's always wanted a little brother or sister." Jemma noted happily.
"This is…wow. If it's a boy can we call him John? Or Paul? Or Ringo? Or George?" Leo asked excitedly.
"Leo, calm down. We have time." Jemma chuckled, kissing her husband's hand as she held it close to her cheek.
"…What did I do to deserve you? To deserve such a happy ending?" Leo asked.
"You were Leo Fitz. That's all you needed to be." Jemma smiled, closing the gap between her lips and his again.
"I'm so happy." Leo whispered.
"Me too." Jemma replied.
"…You know, when the baby comes, a few months later I'll be busy writing and you'll be back at work. We're gonna be swamped." Leo said.
"Well, we could always get a babysitter." Jemma suggested with a grin.
"…It did work out pretty well last time." Leo smiled, happier than ever.
Leo and Jemma giggled as they held each other close, dancing to no music at all into the night.
For the rest of their lives, not a day went by where they weren't laughing.
"And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love
You make."
…
A/N: And…the end! I'm so proud of this story, and I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for your lovely comments on this story; they all meant the world to me. I'll be back with more Fitzsimmons stories for sure, so don't forget about me! I'm on Twitter and Tumblr both with the username ComicKid99 if you want to keep in touch and up to date. Thank you so much, and goodbye for now!