A/N: Ok so I watched a few episodes of Agents of SHIELD and imediately started shipping Skimmons! Now my head is teaming with Skimmons feels and fic ideas! This was supposed to be a little cute drabble but it kind of ran away from me!
Please let me know what you think :)
Skye loved being an agent of SHIELD; she loved the thrill of going on missions, the challenge of trying to solve a case, the idea that, despite her initial opinion of the organisation, she was doing some good with her skills. There was just one thing about the job she hated and that was the paperwork. The seemingly endless stream of paperwork. Between mission reports, after action reports, equipment acquisition and requisition forms and many other official documents she was required to fill out because the suits upstairs had decided to make it their mission to keep her knee deep in paperwork at all times; at least that was her theory and she would not be convinced otherwise. Skye had developed a system for dealing with this paper bullshit and that was by doing the bare minimum and then doing her own thing. The only drawback of this system was that every now and again the work she was ignoring would creep up on her and she would be forced to spend an entire day catching up. Today was one of those days. Yesterday both Coulson and May had reminded her of the backlog which was usually code for 'get it done ASAP'.
That was why she was spending her Friday holed up in one of the many offices at SHIELD HQ frantically typing on her laptop. She hated working in the office almost as much as she hated doing paperwork but if she didn't get this finished by the end of the day she would have to work at the weekend and working this weekend was a big no! They had been on a mission last weekend so this weekend was earmarked for family time. Ordinarily she would be working down in the lab with FitzSimmons jabbering in the background, ever since she joined SHIELD she had preferred to work in the lab rather than in a stuffy, albeit very hi-tech, office. She was such a regular feature there that when they were designing the lab for HQ the wonder twins had insisted that there was a special area incorporated just for Skye to work at. Giving her a designated work space was the best way to stop any arguments over whose side of the lab she was invading. However working in the lab wasn't an option today; she needed to get this paperwork done and when given the option of doing boring paperwork or watching Jemma at work she knew the paperwork would lose every time. She loved watching Jemma work; she could pass entire hours watching her bit her bottom lip when she was concentrating or listening to the snappy back and forth between her and Fitz as they tried to find a solution of a problem or the happy little dance she would do when she figured something out. She would be happy when today was over and she could go back to working downstairs again. Luckily her hard work and dedication was paying off and she was about halfway through her stack of paperwork.
"How's it going in here?" a soft, lyrical and oh so familiar voice pulled her attention from the screen in front of her. Skye looked up into the hazel eyes of her wife of seven years and felt a beaming smile tug at the corners of her mouth; Jemma never failed to bring that smile to her face.
"It's going well actually," she said happily, feeling rather pleased with herself.
"I hate to interrupt progress but I don't suppose you could take a small break?" she asked, raising her eyebrows hopefully while chewing her bottom lip nervously. "Well, a large break actually," she admitted.
"What's going on, Jem?" Skye was slightly concerned by the tone in the scientist's voice.
"Edith's school just called, they need us to come down there..."
"Is she ok?" Skye was out of her seat and had one arm in her jacket at the mere mention of their daughter's name.
"She's fine," Jemma assured her wife quickly. "Or rather she's not sick, I should say. The school's receptionist just called and asked if we could come in as soon as possible to speak with the principal."
"Oh," Skye breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled her long, wavy hair out from the back of her jacket. "They didn't say what it was about?"
"No, they said they'd rather discuss it in person," Jemma sighed, feeling mildly frustrated; she wished they'd just told her what this was all about, she really hated not knowing things. Skye tapped the speaker phone button on the desk phone and hit number 1 on speed dial to reach Coulson.
"Director Coulson."
"Hey DC, me and Jem have to leave for a little bit, we've been summoned to your granddaughter's school."
"Is everything ok?" he asked quickly, slight panic audible in his voice. Jemma couldn't help but roll her eyes. She thought it was incredibly sweet that Coulson had taken on a paternal role in Edith's life but when it came to being overprotective he was almost as bad as Skye.
"Edie is fine, they just want to talk to us about...well we're not really sure what they want to talk about but we'll fill you in when we get back," she promised him.
"Please do."
"And Skye," he called out just as she was about to end the call. "Please hurry back, you still have reports to file."
Skye ended the call with gritted teeth while Jemma couldn't help but laugh at how well their boss knew her wife.
"I wonder what this is all about," Jemma mused, as Skye drove towards Edith's elementary school. Skye chuckled softly because she knew not knowing must be driving her wife crazy.
"I don't know...maybe they want to move her up a grade?" she suggested. "Or give her a special award for being the smartest 6 year old in the history of the school!"
"Be serious Skye," Jemma shook her head, "Besides I highly doubt they'd call us in urgently in the middle of the day for something like that."
"She can't be in trouble," Skye laughed at the very thought. "She's too much like her Mummy to get into trouble."
"Hmm there's a great deal of her Mama in her too though, which is precisely why I'm worried!" Jemma pouted thoughtfully.
Edith Rose Simmons came into their lives 6 years ago when Jemma powered through 12 hours of labour like a champion to bring her into the world. Jemma had meticulously vetted the donors to find one whose genes best matched Skye's features because she wanted their baby to resemble both of them. Much to Skye's delight their daughter was very much Jemma's double, she had her fine features, big doe eyes and full lips but she wasn't quite as pale as the Biochemist and her hair was a shade or two darker. She had inherited Jemma's brains which meant she was already able to read around 50 words before she even started school. They often found her nestled in some nook in the house reading stories to her stuffed toys, making up the parts of the stories she couldn't read. When it came to her personality though she was definitely a mix of them both; maybe even slightly more like Skye. She was a little joker just like her Mama Skye. At 6 years old she already had a grasp on sarcasm beyond her years and enjoyed using it to torment her Uncle Fitz. She also had Skye's temperament and was prone to fits of pouting like her Mama. Jemma's biggest fear was that she'd inherit Skye's uncanny ability to think on her feet and lie on the spot. Yes, Jemma was definitely worried about this sudden trip to the Principle's office.
The corridors of the elementary school are lined with noticeboards filled with pictures drawn by the pupils, class photos and other examples of the students best work on display for any visitors. Skye and Jemma hardly had time to even glance these as Jemma power walked towards the Principle's office from the moment she got out of the car leaving Skye to trail behind her.
"We're here to see Principle Garcia," Jemma informed the receptionist after bursting through the door. "Ah yes, Mrs Simmons...and Mrs Simmons," she greeted Jemma and Skye when she appeared behind her wife, slightly out of breath from rushing, and instructed them to take a seat.
Two minutes of Jemma incessantly tapping her foot while Skye tried her best to soothe her later the door to Principle Garcia's office opened and their daughter came running towards them.
"Mummy, Mama," she cried excitedly when she saw them, rushing over and enveloping them both in her tiny arms.
"Are you alright, Edie?" Skye asked, rubbing the child's back soothingly. She felt Edith nod into the hug.
"Why don't you take a seat Edith, I just need to talk to your mummies for a little while?" Principle Garcia suggested with a warm smile. The middle aged Latino woman led the Simmons' into her office.
"What's this about?" Jemma asked before the principle had even had a chance to settle in her seat. Skye placed a placating hand on her wife's knee, a signal for her to calm down.
"There was an incident involving Edith in the playground at recess..."
"An incident?" Jemma repeated sharply, she didn't like the sound of that; eight years at SHIELD had conditioned her to believe that incidents always meant trouble.
"What happened?" Skye demanded. She wanted to know what was going on with their daughter right now!
"I'm told some kids in the grade above were teasing her...well because she has two mothers."
"What?" they demanded in unison. They knew this might be an issue one day but they hadn't quite expected that day to come so soon.
"We try to monitor the playground but we also try to give the kids a chance to work things out themselves before we intervene," she explained. "The playground assistants said they overheard the older kids teasing her because her parents were gay and Edith asked told them they were being rude and asked them to leave her alone. The kids wouldn't let up and then Edith responded with, and I quote, 'My parents might be gay but they went through a lot of trouble to have me because they love me, so at least I know I'm not a mistake unlike most of you.'"
"She said what?" Jemma screeched, her eyes widened with shock and her voice rising two, maybe two and a half octaves above normal; a personal best.
"One of the older kids pushed her, by the time the playground assistants reacted to split them up Edith had floored two of them with strikes to the chest." Principle Garcia finished. Jemma was leaning forward in her seat, shaking her head and wondering what had gotten into her little girl. Skye sat beside her fighting hard not to let the pride show on her face because she could feel her wife giving her a death glare.
"That really isn't like her," Jemma insisted, immediately defending her baby. "Edith is kind and gentle and generally not violent."
"Yeah, she was totally provoked!" Skye argued on her daughter's behalf. How dare anyone hurt her daughter, physically or verbally? "Where are those bullies parents?"
Principle Garcia held her hands up in a placating gesture.
"I know this is completely out of character for Edith. I've been told by many staff members that she is a delightful and polite child. I understand that she was defending herself but still we can't let this behaviour go unchecked. And I can assure you, Mrs Simmons, the other children's parents have been notified and the children punished appropriately."
"Good!" Skye gave a grunt of satisfaction, crossing her arms across her chest.
"I assure you that we do not tolerate any kind of prejudice in our school. I called you in today because I wanted to tell you what happened myself; I know this is a sensitive issue and thought it would be best if you maybe talked to her about it. We can accept that this is the first time we've ever had to reprimand Edith and that she was acting in self defence this time but if it happens again we won't be able to let it go so easily."
"Of course," Jemma nodded, understanding the Principle's position and grateful to her for letting them deal with it themselves.
"Edith is a great student, remarkably clever and I'm sure this is a one off," the headmistress smiled kindly at them. "I really don't want this incident to upset her."
"Can we take her home with us now?" Skye asked.
"Of course."
"Thank you for everything, Principle Garcia. We really appreciate your understanding." Jemma stood up from her seat and held her hand out to the woman.
"No problem," she shook both their hands and walked them to the door. Edith was sitting on one of the chairs in the reception, her little legs swinging as she studied the many posters on the notice board facing her. Her face lit up with a huge smile when her mother's reappeared.
"Come on sweetheart," Jemma held out her hand to the little girl. "Let's go!"
"But school's not over yet," the child furrowed her brow thoughtfully.
"No, but since we're here we thought we'd spring you early and take you back to HQ with us," Skye said, picking the little girl up and setting her on her hip.
"Really?" she squealed excitedly; she loved visiting HQ and seeing all her aunts and uncles at work.
"Yes," Jemma nodded enthusiastically.
They headed out to the car together and strapped Edith into her booster seat.
"Hey Jem," Skye grabbed her wife's hand before she got into the car. "Don't be too hard on her."
"Oh, Edith's not the one in trouble," she smirked as Skye's face fell when she realised that she was the one who was in trouble.
"Me?" Skye gasped. "What did I do?"
"You said you were going to talk to her about bullies, Skye, I didn't think you were going to arm her with an arsenal of cutting, not to mention highly inappropriate, remarks to dish out to elementary school children!"
"Did you not hear Principle Garcia say that she told them they were being rude and asked them to leave her alone? Because I taught her that. Deflect before engage," she argued.
"So you expect me to believe she came up with that mistakes line on her own?" Jemma snarked.
"Well I had to tell her what to do if the deflecting didn't work," she shrugged defensively. Better their baby be ready for the world than hurt by it.
"I know why you did it I just...Let's talk about this later?" she suggested, not wanting to get into this discussion in the school car park. She gave her a kiss on the cheek and a smile to let her know she wasn't in too much trouble and climbed into the car.