The Gifts Of Life- FIRST BOOK

Chapter 22: Years ago

It's Phil's POV so yeah... enjoy.

I waited for Melinda and Maria to come into the restaurant, my eyes on the door. If I wasn't being so subtle, people would think I'm a weirdo. Of course those people did not include Daisy.

"Stop staring, Dad. They'll come."

I sighed and let go of the menu I was pretending to read.

"So why don't you tell me about your date here and how you asked Mom out?"

"Ok.."

"Hey, Melinda!" I caught up with her in the hallway.
"Phil, were going to be late for the briefing."
"I know, but-but I had to uhm ask you something."
She stopped and nodded. "Yes?"
"I was thinking how we almost died. How you almost died. And of course that wasn't the first or last time that would happen." I took a sharp breath, "That made me realize a whole ton of things I didn't realized before and,-"
"Phil! You're rambling. Get to the point." She smiled.
"Right. I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me."
"Like a date?" She raised her eyebrow as I turned a shade of red.
"Uh, maybe?" I fiddled with my thumbs.
"Yes." I looked up at her and my eyes widened.
"Yes, you'll go to dinner or Yes, you'll go on a date with me?"
"The second one." She gave me a bright smile and turned, "Now come on, we're going to be late."

"Wow, you really were rambling, weren't you?"

"I was young. And Naive. And Really really nervous."

"And she was fearless."

I grinned, "She was."

I opened the door for her, "M'lady."
She rolled her eyes but stepped out of the car. She was wearing a black dress that ended a little above her knees, showed enough cleavage and she looked beautiful. She was wearing black heels and silver earrings to match with the dress. And I couldn't help but say, "You look beautiful."
She looked at me and smiled, or blushed, "Thank you. You don't look too bad yourself."
I smiled and held out my hand for her to hold, which she did. We entered the small restaurant, which had a calming vibe to it. "I booked us a table bu the window. Away from the prying eyes of others. Thought you'd like that." Unknowingly, I was rambling.
"Phil, stop. You're rambling." I took a deep breath and looked at her.
"How are you so calm? I'm freaking out. And thanks. For telling me to stop. Let's eat." We walked over to the table in the corner, beside the window.
I pulled out the chair for Melinda, and she rolled her eyes at the action.
"You're a dork." I grinned and pushed the chair back in.
"You love this dork." She softly smiled.
"So what do you like from the menu?" My eyes hovered over the menu.
"How about any kind of pasta and wine?"
"Okay. That sounds good. Anything specific for pasta or should I choose?"
"Whatever you're taking, I'll take."
I nodded.
"Let's order, then."I buzzed the buzzer on our table, letting the waiter know we're ready to order.
We ordered our food and started eating. The food was great. Of course, I liked my cooking better, but this food was the closest I'd felt to home. Maybe it was the girl sitting infront of me. Or maybe it was the soft music in the background. Who knows? For now, all we could do was enjoy each other's presence. I reached out and hesitantly placed my hand on top of Melinda's. She smiled and turned her hand so our palm's were facing. We entertwined our fingers and looked at each other. More like stared. I don't know how much time had passed but the trace was broken when we heard a glass shatter. Our gaze went to the origin of the sound and we realized that it was probably just an unexperienced waiter.
I cleared my throat and took a sip of the red wine. The rest of the dinner was spent in silence.
"Do you want dessert?" I looked up as the words fell out.
"Ice cream sounds delicious." I grinned.
"It does, doesn't it?"

"That's it?"

"Yes. That's it."

She grinned, "Tell me about the night I was made."

"Nope. Not doing that."

"Fine." She paused, "Wait, was I born on a plane?!"

I smiled, "Yes. You were. Well, you were supposed to be born on the nearest S.H.I.E.L.D base, but Melinda went into labor earlier than expected."

"Oh, well,-"

The restaurant door opened and Mel and Maria stepped in. They walked over to our table and sat down.

"All good?" I looked at them.

"Mhm."

"Well let's eat shall we?"

"Yes. God, I'm starving." Mel looked around, "Actually Phil, order mine. I'm just gonna go to the washroom first."

"Okay. The same?" I smiled.

"Yeah. The same." She smiled back.

After the ordered our food, Melinda came back to the table. She smiled as she sat back into her chair beside me.
The rest of the time in the restaurant was spent in silence as we enjoyed our meals. We finished paying for our food and Daisy yawned.

"You tired?" I looked at Daisy.

"Mhm." She lazily smiled.

"You know what, we can stay at the apartment. There's room for four and it'll be nice."

Daisy and Maria shared a sheepish look, "Okay, what's going on?" Mel stood there with her hands on her waist.

"We were thinking if you and Dad wanted to spend some time together. You know, before the baby. Just to talk things out and hang out. I know it's been a couple of hard days for all of us. So we think it would be nice for you guys to have some couples time together." Daisy explained.

"Daisy, that's,-" Mel smiled, "That's awesome. Thank you."

I nodded in agreement as Daisy smiled back.

"Aww, love you guys." Daisy walked over to us to give us a hug, surprising Melinda as she did. Maria cleared her throat, obviously feeling a little left out. Me and Melinda opened our arms, welcoming Maria to the hug. What a family. We broke apart after a few minutes, getting annoyed glances from people around us.

"We should go."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

After that, we said our goodbyes and Maria and Daisy went back to the base.

I placed my hand around Melinda's waist and pulled her closer.

"Sooo?"

"Let's go sleep, Phil. I'm tired."

"Good idea."

And then, we walked to Lola.