Epilogue

"Skye let's go! We're going to be late." Grant called out impatiently from the living room. He was standing by the door holding the car keys in one hand and Skye's coffee in the other, tapping his foot idly as he waited for Skye to finally come out of the bedroom.

When Skye finally walked out she was grumbling. "It's before nine in the morning on a Saturday, Grant. You know I don't do well early in the morning, especially on a weekend and before I've had my coffee." She took the cup of Starbucks from his hand and took a sip. "Aww, you even got me extra foam." Skye said affectionately, kissing his cheek.

"Your husband wakes up extra early and walks a half mile to wait in line fifteen minutes to get you your decaf grande salted caramel espresso with extra foam and all I get is a kiss on the cheek?" Ward asked with a raised eyebrow.

Smiling she reached up on her tiptoes and whispered, "Thank you hubby." She leaned her head forward and kissed him softly, her fingers running through his hair like she knew he liked. He purred a little and she pulled back smiling. "I love you Grant."

"I love you too Skye." He replied with a smile giving her one last kiss. They walked out together holding hands as Skye sipped on her coffee.

"Morning Linda." Skye said with a smile.

"Good morning Skye, good morning James. How are the little ones doing this morning?" Linda asked from behind the desk.

"They're doing great." Skye said with a smile meeting Ward's eyes.

"Enjoy your day you two!" She said cheerily with a wave as Skye and Ward made their way to the door.

"Thanks Linda!" Ward called out with a smile and wave as they walked through the door.

They walked together to the parking garage beside the big apartment complex excited for who they were going to be seeing in just an hour.

It had been two years, eleven months, and sixteen days since they'd began their new life together. They'd been married almost two years to the day and only eight weeks ago they'd found out that Skye was pregnant. She was twelve weeks along with twins. It was now a noticeable sized bump but still small. Life had proved interesting since the two of them worked. Skye was a computer technician while Ward had become a high school history teacher. They'd managed to balance their life out well between dates and Ward having to grade papers or stay after school. Of course every Tuesday and Thursday night they would sit down together on the couch with their dinner and Skye would grade his quizzes while he graded essays. They would sometimes make it a game but it always ended the same way. One of them would play dirty and it would result in a trip to the bedroom. It was a wonderful life but it was by no means perfect. They still fought occasionally but they could never stay mad for long. Skye would either give in and make him dinner by candlelight or Ward would give in and surprise her at work with Tropical Smoothie and Lindor truffles. They loved their life together even though it did come at the price of distancing from family.

The calls had been consistent at first but as time went on they began to grow more and more sparse. Trip had said that Coulson and May wanted to talk to her on the phone but she refused to talk. Finally two days ago they had gotten the call from Trip that the team was going to be in Chicago on a mission and would be staying a few days. Last night Trip had called saying they were free and would be leaving the next afternoon. Trip was the only one who knew that Skye and Ward would be meeting the team at Waffle House for breakfast at ten.

"Hey Grant." Skye spoke up over the radio as he drove.

"Yeah Skye?" He asked glancing sideways.

"When I take maternity leave how are you going to be able to keep up with your classes?"

"What?" Ward asked confused.

"I'm just worried. We're gonna have twins to take care of. People already don't sleep and fall behind with one baby but we're gonna have two. How are you going to keep up with your classes and all the grading?" She asked him worried.

"That's what you're worried about?" He asked with a chuckle. "Skye, don't worry. I'm sure my students will understand just fine why they aren't getting grades back immediately. Even when you're the one who's going to be doing all the hard work you still worry about me. I love you."

Skye gave a smile and set her coffee down to take his hand in hers. "I love you too. I can't believe we're going to be parents." She said softly putting a hand on her stomach.

"I know. I never thought I'd be this kind of guy. That I'd be lucky enough to find someone who I'd want to be with for the rest of my life. But I really never thought this was even a dream I could have after what happened all those years ago."

"Grant…we've talked about this. Hydra is in the past now, for the both of us."

"I know Skye." He said with a smile squeezing her hand. "I'm just…grateful." He sighed happily.

"Me too." Skye smiled. "I'm gonna nap babe."

"Okay." Ward replied turning the music down a little.

Skye reclined the seat back and closed her eyes falling asleep within a minute.

XxxxXXxxxWard'sRedemptionxxxXXxxxX

"Skye…sweetheart…wifey." Ward said softly shaking her shoulder.

"Are we there?" Skye asked yawning.

"Yeah. We're here. I can see the team from here." Ward said his heart beating a little faster.

Skye's eyes snapped open and she looked inside the restaurant excitedly. "Come on Grant! What are you waiting for?" She said getting out of the car quickly. Ward chuckled and rolled his eyes getting out of the car and offering Skye his arm.

They opened the door and walked into the restaurant stopping at the door. Simmons was the first to see them and gasped. Her gasp stopped the conversation between Coulson, May, Fitz, and Trip as they turned to look at what made Simmons gasp and a mix of smiles and dropped jaws were the reactions when they saw Skye and Ward.

Simmons jumped up from her chair and began to run toward them. Ward stepped up in front of Skye with a smile. "Careful Jemma, you wouldn't want to hurt your godchildren would you?"

Simmons gasped again as Ward moved away and saw Skye's stomach. "Oh my God. Skye you're…you're…"

"Pregnant." Skye said supplying the word Simmons couldn't seem to say. Simmons nodded furiously and Skye beamed a smile holding out her arms to hug Simmons. "Oh I'm so happy to see you Jemma." Skye said hugging her tight.

Simmons smiled and pulled back from the hug going to hug Ward next. "I'm so glad to see you both. I thought I'd never see you again." She said with a few tears in her eyes.

"I missed you too Jemma." As Ward hugged Simmons, Fitz and Trip came over hugging the both of them.

There were wide smiles on all their faces and once all the greetings had been given, they walked to the table Coulson and May were standing at waiting for them. There were tears in Coulson's eyes.

"Skye, Ward…I'm so sorry. Please forgive me." He pleaded. As Skye and Ward looked into his eyes Ward could see the fatherly love he had for Skye in his eyes. He saw the regret, the pain, and deep sadness present in his eyes.

Skye looked to Ward and they shared a look before looking back to Coulson. "We forgive you Coulson." Skye said with a soft smile. She walked closer and gave him a hug. Tears fell from his face and he kissed Skye's head.

"I'm so sorry Skye." He said, again kissing her head before pulling away and going to hug Ward. Ward was in shock at first at the display of affection from Coulson and was stiff for a few moments. After a couple seconds Ward hugged him back and began to smile. "I'm really sorry for the way I treated you Ward and I hope you can forgive me for that."

"Yeah, I forgive you." Ward said softly patting Coulson's back.

May walked up to the two of them and there was clear remorse in her eyes. "I'm sorry for trying to tear the two of you apart and for letting the past cloud my vision."

"I forgive you." Ward and Skye said simultaneously. There was a brief hug between Skye and May but it was heartfelt and warm. May just nodded at Ward and gave him a small smile.

"Alright, now that we're all good, let's sit down and eat. I'm starving." Trip said clapping his hands and rubbing them together excitedly. Skye and Ward sat down beside each other at the table in between Simmons and Trip as May, Coulson, and Fitz all sat on the other side of the table.

"What's been going on in your life? How far along are you? Do you know the gender? What have you been doing?" Simmons asked in rapid succession. Skye and Ward looked to each other with a grin and laughed. They had their hands laced together sitting on her lap.

"Well…" Skye began unsure where to start.

"We've been married two years come next Tuesday." Ward said happily.

"Awww." Simmons and Trip cooed.

"Happy early anniversary." Fitz said with a smile.

"Thanks." Ward and Skye said simultaneously again looking at each other and laughing.

"Well, Grant is a history professor at a high school now and I'm a computer technician." Skye informed.

"You teach history?" Coulson asked. There was surprise and shock written on everyone's faces.

"Yeah, I love it. I think it's fascinating." Ward smiled. "Skye always helps me grade the papers too so I don't spend too much time outside of school working."

"Grant Ward as a teacher, who would have thought?" Simmons said with a smile.

"Oh and to answer your other question Jemma, I am twelve weeks along with twins and we don't know the genders yet."

"You're glowing." May spoke up with a proud smile.

Skye blushed a little and Ward squeezed her hand giving her a wink and look that said, 'I told you so'.

"Oh! Trip has a girlfriend." Fitz announced suddenly. Trip glared at Fitz and Simmons just giggled.

"Girlfriend? Congrats buddy. Took you long enough." Ward teased slapping his shoulder.

"She's not my girlfriend. How many times do I have to say that?" Trip said frustrated.

"She's your girlfriend Trip." Coulson spoke up.

"Who is she?" Skye asked with a grin.

"A specialist we recruited, her name is Kara." May said with a fond smile. It was clear she liked this Kara.

"She's just a friend." Trip tried to say to defend himself once again.

"A friend that you flirt with and flirts with you." Simmons said.

"And that you cook dinner for." Fitz added.

"And talk to everyday even when you're away." May jumped in.

Ward grinned and shoved Trip's shoulder. "She's definitely your girlfriend."

"I think it's nice that you have someone like that Trip." Skye said smiling at him.

"Okay, moving on." Trip said loudly.

"I missed you guys, I missed this." Skye smiled with a tear in her eye.

"I think I speak for everyone when I saw we've all missed the both of you. And that if it wasn't for my stubbornness and bitterness I wouldn't have missed out on three years of your life." Coulson said with a sad smile.

"I've had a normal life, a life I never thought possible and I love it. So something good did come from all of this." Ward said with a smile trying to make him feel better.

"Yeah. It's been a strange new world but it's a great one and I never want to give it up. I like being Mrs. Skylar Blake." Skye added looking at Ward and gazing at him lovingly.

"Aww." Simmons and Fitz said.

Ward smiled and kissed her. "And I like being Mr. James Blake." He replied rubbing noses with her. Skye giggled and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear like she always did whenever he eskimo kissed her.

Trip made a fake barfing noise. "You two are making me sick. What did you do with Grant Ward?"

"I agree. You were never the public affection type." Fitz said looking at him strange.

Ward grinned. "I got married to the woman I love. That's what happened."

"It's weird." May spoke up.

"I like it." Skye smiled kissing his cheek.

"It's the cheekbones." Coulson muttered.

Simmons and Skye laughed as May snickered.

The waitress came over and handed them more menus letting them take their time to order. As they waited for their food everyone began to share stories of things that had happened over the past three years. Skye and Ward shared the story of his sweet proposal and of the wedding. Ward shared stories of things students asked him in class and of his first time trying cotton candy when he'd taken Skye to Busch Gardens. Fitz and Simmons shared stories of their prank war with Trip. May told the story of the Koenig Brother's prank on Trip that she'd helped with while Coulson regaled them with the tale of how Lola was brought back into action. There was laughter that filled the air throughout the entirety of their breakfast together.

They had been in that Waffle House for nearly two hours just enjoying each other's company when Coulson got a call. Ward could tell by how his face fell that it was urgent and was calling them away immediately.

"We have to go." His tone was serious and his eyes were sad. "There's a situation we have to deal with in Africa."

"Oh." Skye said her voice dropping. Ward could tell she was upset that everyone suddenly had to leave and squeezed her hand.

"We could always use the two of you back on this team." May spoke up.

Ward and Skye looked to each other and shared a nod and a small smile. "Sorry guys, but this is our new life now and it works for us." Ward answered looking around at everyone.

There was sadness and disappoint written on everyone's faces but at the same time they all seemed genuinely happy that Ward and Skye were happy together. "I promise we'll come visit once the twins are born." Simmons said as she stood up.

"Yeah, me too." Fitz added.

"We all will." Coulson corrected walking over to Skye to give her a hug.

"I'll pay for breakfast. You all need to leave." Ward said with a smile. "Trip has a direct line to us if you'd ever like to talk and catch up."

Everyone began giving hugs to Ward and Skye before all gathering together. "We'll see you soon." Skye promised with a smile. "Go save the world."

It was clear that no-one wanted to walk out the door and leave but once Coulson pushed the door open and waved goodbye everyone else began to follow. Ward wrapped his arm around Skye as they stood and waved goodbye to their friends. Skye sighed once they were out of sight.

"I wish we could have talked longer." She said sadly.

"Me too. But at least everything is good with Coulson and May, besides you heard them. We'll definitely be seeing them in about six months when our little rugrats come into the world."

Skye grinned and kissed him. "You just made a reference. I'm so proud of you Grant." Ward grinned and pulled out Skye's chair for her as she sat back down. "I'm actually hungry again. Can we stop at Tropical Smoothie on the way back? I'm craving one of those kiwi quencher smoothies and the chicken cordon bleu sandwich."

"You're always hungry." Ward quipped grabbing the check and his debit card and going up to pay as Skye sat and waited. When he came back he helped her up and wrapped his arm around her as they walked out together. He helped her into the car before going around to his side and paused before starting the car. "I love you Skye."

"I love you too Grant." She beamed at him as he leaned over the seat to kiss her.

"So a quick stop at Tropical Smoothie and then back home?" Ward asked to clarify.

"Sounds good to me. We can watch a movie and grade some quizzes."

"You mean you'll watch the movie and fall asleep in my lap while I try to grade papers?" He corrected with a knowing, playful smile.

"Exactly." She replied with a wide smile. Ward chuckled and shook his head. "Come on baby daddy and start the car already. I'm hungry." Grinning he started the car and pulled away heading back toward their shared home.

XxxxXXxxxWard'sRedemptionxxxXXxxxX

Well guys...this is it. It's officially over. Thank you all so much for reviewing and for reading this story. I truly hope you have enjoyed this.