Before You Go

Epilogue

Well, here it is!!! I'm astounded that this is the last chapter . . . I'll save the sappy stuff for the end note XD

Enjoy!
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The tea mug warmed her hands through and through, the steam wafting up to tickle her nose and calm her senses. A fluffy sweater clad her in a veil of warmth she hadn't yet become accustomed to, the sleeves just that much too long and the hems frayed and soft.

Jemma sighed softly, slipping back further into her sofa. She's have to remember to thank Fitz one day for insisting on buying these exact models; as a child, she would have compared it to lying on a marshmallow.

The snow outside their cottage was fluffy and the stuff of dreams for her daughter. Lizzie ran squealing around the yard, Monkey the mutt on her heels. They tumbled into snowbank after snowbank together, her cheeks and nose all flushed cherry red and Monkey's usually inky black coat now more similar to a Dalmatian.

Her lips found the rim of her mug, taking another soft sip. Earl gray swirled into her senses, her mouth parting in a quiet, contented sigh.

Fitz's hand landed on her upper thigh, next to where her legs curled up underneath her. It was apparent he'd done it unknowingly; his brow line was still furrowed adorably as his tongue rested between his front teeth. A blueprint was nested in his lab, a notebook on his knee and a pencil in his palm.

Gently, Jemma covered his hand with her own. "Tough day?" Her voice broke their comfortable silence softly.

He sighed, rubbing at his forehead. "Bit. Just can't figure out where we're going to put the little one's desks,"

She leaned gently over his shoulder, her warm tea scented breath tickling his ear lobe. A fingernail traced one of the lines on his blueprint of their basement's lab. "There. We can keep an eye on them and perform our experiments."

Fitz slowly nodded, fingers tapping his lips. "Might work. We'd have to move the emergency shower, and the Bunsen burners . . ." He scratched a few things out quickly in his note book before passing it over to Jemma. ". . . but I think it's doable."

She let out a soft sigh, watching him sketch in three square school desks. "There should be four," she murmured softly.

His sketching froze, his posture tightening, but Jemma plowed on.

"He should be here with us, Fitz. He'd still be too little to be out with Liz right now, but he could be sitting here between us and -"

Fitz gently took her hand, giving it a squeeze. "Stop, Jems," he murmured. "Just don't,"

His palm was hot and comforting, so much like her mug of tea still poised in the other. Nearly a year and a half had passed since the loss, and yet there wasn't a day she didn't think about him. Would he have had the same blue eyes as his father? Would his wisps of hair have curled? Could he have had his first steps by now? His first tooth?

Regardless, he was gone. She'd become accustomed to the fact that it wasn't her fault, that there wasn't anything else she could have done. But still that silent empty gap in their lives lingered. It was a constant reminder that a piece of their puzzle was missing and could never be replaced.

She was stumbled out of her thoughts by a fluttering in her stomach. Her lips parted in a soft "oh."

Fitz's eyes turned to hers, and despite her underlying sadness, she couldn't help but give him a breathless smile. Her hand twisted so their interlaced fingers broke apart, her palm guiding his to her swollen belly.

"Jems?" He asked.

"Shh . . ." She hushed him, waiting. Less than a moment later they were rewarded with a flutter of tiny kicks against their shared palms.

She whipped to face him, a wide smile on her face. The only way she could describe him was awed.

"That's - That's them in there?" He asked wondrously. "Do you know which one?"

A giggle escaped her. "Sorry, kind of hard to keep tabs on two of them,"

He laughed lightly, waiting. Another flurry of tiny feet assaulted his palm, making him grin even wider.

"I'm getting Lizzie!" Fitz jumped up like a school boy, tossing his designs to the coffee table and running for their sliding door.

Jemma watched from the window as her husband ran out into the powder in his socks, scooped up their daughter, and hauled her back inside.

And maybe, she decided, just maybe, as her daughter's icy palms excitedly felt around her bump, life really did have happy endings after all.

The road to them wasn't easy, and nothing lasted forever, but the moments like these made them all worth it. It was worth it, all the pain and confusion leading up to this very second. Every single bit of it.

"The road is worth it," she whispered softly, watching as Fitz and Lizzie drew like children on her belly with markers.

Her two unborn children seemed to agree, kicking enthusiastically and ruining Fitz's carefully drawn monkey.

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This is the longest thing I've ever written . . . I'm still in awe that it's over.

I'd like to thank each and every single person who ever commented, voted, favorited, followed or left kudos on this story.

Special shoutout to Fitz_like_a_Jem, AKA Adrienne. It's something else to have you pump my Tumblr up with messages as well as your constant comments :D Love ya! ／(=⌒x⌒=)＼

Wanna chat? Tumblr - WhenTheSkyeQuakes <3

See you all soon!

- Kayla