The Gifts Of Life- FIRST BOOK

Chapter 23: Hugs

I smiled as we stepped inside the house and Melinda yawned. It had been a long day and it would be more than nice to have some tiem for ourselves.

"Let's get to bed, okay?"

"Hmm. Not now."

"Why?"

"We have some time to ourselves." She lazily said.

Oh. "Mel, we will have tomorrow morning to ourselves too. Let's go to bed, shall we?"

She grumbled, "Fine."

I nodded and led her to our room. The sleep from out eyes was long gone when we saw the room. We hadn't been here for years. It still had pictures and memories.

I heard soft sniffles beside me, turning to look at Melinda, I saw her eyes glimmer with unshed tears. I pulled her closer to me and patted her back, "Shhh, it'll be okay. She's okay." I held her while she sobbed, silently crying myself, for the next few minutes.

After we silenced down, I gently led Melinda to the bed in the middle of the room. I was about to walk away to my side when I felt her hand grab my shoulder.

"We can't sleep here." She whispered. What she said was definitely true. For both of them. I nodded.

"We can sleep on the couch or we can book a hotel room nearby."

"Let's get a hotel room. We're too old to sleep on the couch." I smiled and took my phone from my pocket. I spent a few minutes until I found a decently prized hotel nearby. The name sounded very familiar. Far Away?.

"Far away?" I said out loud.

"Hmm?" Melinda looked up from her tea.

"Uhm, it sounds familiar but I can't remember why."

"Well we don't stay at hotels much so just sort out which one it is."

I nodded and thought of every time we stayed at a hotel. Our wedding night. Not that one. For that painting mission. Nope. That wasn't even in the same state. Bahrain? Nope. I dropped my phone on the table as soon as I realized. Far Away!
Melinda looked at me in surprise, she had flinched when I dropped my phone.

"Uhh, sorry. It's just that,-" I sighed, "Far Away. 28 years ago."

She looked back down and sighed, "Oh."

"Is that okay for you? To stay there a night?"

"Yes. Of course." She looked up and smiled, "It's just different now, we found her. Well, more like she found us. Things are getting better. So yeah, I can handle a night at the hotel where we 'made' Layla if you can."

"Of course, I can! You can't get pregnant again, because you already are. So no need to worry about that."

Melinda smirked, "I am, aren't I?"

"Yeah. Yeah. You are."

"Don't worry, Phil. Don't try to hide from me."

"No, it's just,-" I sighed, "I know how much you wanted a child when you were with Andrew. Then Bahrain happened. Everything with Daisy happened. I remember how broken you were after Bahrain. I,- I don't want you to go through that again."

Melinda sighed, "Phil, the past is gone. The future is in our hands. All we can do is hold on to the present. I know how broken I was. I know that. It wasn't because of S.H.I.E.L.D, it wasn't you, it wasn't Andrew. It was me. I could've gotten the help I needed but I didn't. I believed that 'The Cavalry' can't get help. Can't get therapy. Hell, I lived with a therapist. "I opened my mouth to speak but Melinda shook her head, "Don't tell me it wasn't my fault. I know it was."

"Mel, stop blaming yourself."

She sighed and looked up at me with glimmering eyes, "What I'm trying to say is we'll be okay. Always have been. If I have a miscarriage. Or we loose the baby. We'll stick together." She wiped a tear from her cheek, "Even if we separate after that, or even divorced, I won't leave you like I did with everyone in the past. I'll stay."

"Mel, you're my best friend, before everything else. You're my boss, even if you're not. I don't care if you left because you felt suffocated or trapped. I don't care about that as long as you're happy."

"You sappy idiot."

I grinned "Your idiot."

"That you are."

I softly kissed her and smiled, "So, Hotel?"

"Yeah." She smiled, "That's good."

I booked the hotel and we grabbed a pair of clothes to change into tomorrow. Room 314. The hotel was nearly booked due to the tourists in the area.

"You ready, Melinda?"

"Just a sec!" She called our from the bathroom. She stepped out after a few minutes with a bag over one of her shoulders.

"Let's go."

We drove in silence, only answer the others questions with a hum or a nod.
We walked inside the hotel once we reached. Melinda yawned and I followed.

Melinda went up to the customer service, "Hi, we booked a hotel room. Under the name of Heidi and Charles Martin." She grinned.

"Uh, yes. Here's your key. Enjoy your stay!" Melinda took the key and walked back to me.

"God, I'm tired."

I scoffed, "I can tell."

We walked to our room and fell onto the bed. Soon falling asleep.
__________________________________

I woke up to sounds of throwing up. Getting a hold of myself, I walked to the bathroom, to see Melinda leaning beside the toilet. I bent down and held her hair back, rubbing her back.

"How are you feeling?" I asked once she sat down beside me.

"Like shit."

I sighed, "We should go to a doctor. Hopefully, a trusted one."

"Phil, I'm old. I'm 52. There's a chance to loose the baby." She looked at me, "I wanna wait."

I nodded and checked the time. 6:45.
"Well, do you want to sleep some more or do you want to get breakfast first?"

"How about a shower and then breakfast?"

"Sounds good. Join me?"

"Obviously. "

We took a 20 minutes long shower and got dressed.

"So, we can either get room service or go to the Cafe downstairs."

"I feel like the Café right now."

"Then, Café it is."

We grabbed our phones and wallets and headed downstairs to the Café, getting people as we did. Once we reached, Melinda touch my forearm, "I'm gonna go order. You want anything except coffee and a muffin?"

"Nope. That's it. Thanks."

She nodded and walked away. I started looking around for an available seat, eyes stopping at a tall brunette with reading glasses. Oh shit.