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Life together was treating them quite well. After a year and a half in space, they had fallen into some sort of a routine as a couple, and coming back from a mission they were met with an unexpected proposition from the Director. SHIELD was back to being the agency it once was, out in the open, growing day after day, and with that new offices were required to exist in order for everything to run as smoothly as possible. When Mack called them into his office, they expected him to want details about the mission, but instead he wanted to offer them the opportunity to run the new California base together.
“You both have plenty of experience in a lot of different areas that combined could do real good work”, he said. Of course, they asked for some time to think, but ended up accepting the offer after a long talk which led them to decide that it would probably be nice to settle on Earth for a while. As well as how it could give them the chance to take their relationship to a next level, a little more serious one. It felt right.
Two years later they knew they had made the right choice. At first, they lived on base, running everything from very close, but once their team started to become stronger, they found that they could actually have a little bit of time for themselves outside of those walls. Married for a little over a year, they now had their own house and were preparing to start a new adventure together, one that had come as a surprise, but was welcome nonetheless.
Four months of pregnancy and up until that very point Daisy hadn't gotten sick a single time. She really had feared having to try and conciliate life in SHIELD with morning sickness and when that didn't happen she was relieved, to say the least, but in counterpoint to that, her emotions were all over the place.
Proud as she was to be a strong agent, and most recently being in charge of a group of newbies’ training, Daisy never imagined herself getting so emotive about, well, pretty much everything. From getting offended about comments that weren't meant for her to having her heart melt at the mere sight of baby items, pregnant Daisy was a whole new version of Daisy. One might even say she was a little dramatic at times. Of course, she refused to acknowledge that as being true. Another thing she refused was letting people see her being sentimental over things that could be considered silly. For a while she even tried to hide it from Daniel, but her husband knew her better than she wanted to admit sometimes. So, at one point she just stopped trying altogether and decided to take advantage of the situation, using him for comfort instead.
That night, on her way home, all Daisy could think about was how she had made a fool of herself in front of the new agents she was mentoring. A simple pair exercise on basic combat skills, for crying out loud! And still she had managed to trip over her own foot and fall on her butt on the mattress in front of all 8 newbies. Wasn't it enough that she had to pretend to not have seen how surprised they were when she showed up 4 months along, belly starting to show, on their first day of training? As if she couldn’t handle them just because she was expecting. Just remembering that made her roll her eyes in annoyance. She had fake-laughed, thanking the agent who helped her get up a little too politely, and instructed them to continue, all the while watching closely and, of course, pretending everything was fine.
Everything was most definitely not fine and she still felt bad about it as she approached her home street and wondered how long she would have to wait until Daniel arrived. Relief didn't even begin to describe the feeling that washed over her the moment she spotted their house and saw that the lights were on. He was already there. God bless the days that man would be able to get home before her.
Gentleman from the 50's, a well raised man, like he once said himself, Daniel would more often than not have something ready and waiting for her every time she would get home after him. Whether it was dinner and music playing softly in the background to take their minds off of spy mode and back into domestic life – at least while they were both home and could not think about work – or maybe a bath and scented candles, he never ceased to amaze her.
Once inside, she disposed of her keys on top of the table by the door and hung her coat, and walking further into their house smelled what seemed like pasta sauce just as she spotted her husband sitting on the couch in front of the TV, watching something with his feet propped up on the coffee table - a habit he at first didn't approve of, but ended picking up from her - already having changed into stay-at-home clothes. The cat they "shared" with the neighbors sitting comfortably on his thighs.
"Hey, honey" He greeted her with the same loving smile he always did, "look, they're doing another rerun of that show we like."
Daisy looked at the TV for a moment and saw that an episode of Friends was on, but instead of saying something about it, she sighed audibly and made her way to the couch. Only half sitting in it she hugged him, depositing her weight on his side, pushing him all the way down into the cushions and laying on top of him. Daniel was caught by surprise, but quickly adjusted himself under her and returned the hug. With her head laying on his chest, she said, "They lost all their respect for me".
Confused would be a good word to describe the look on his face, but even though he had no idea what she was talking about, somehow he had the feeling it wasn't as big of a deal as she thought. Not to make less of her feelings, but that had happened a couple of times now.
Running one hand slowly on her back while the other sat still on her hip, he spoke softly, "What happened?"
She lifted her head from where it was to look at him and he noticed she had the slightest pout when she told him about that day's 'disaster'.
"I went to demonstrate how to switch from one position to the other correctly, tripped over my own foot and fell on my ass." Seeing worry growing on his face, she quickly added, "We were on the mattress, I didn't get hurt. Just my pride." He had to fight the urge to laugh at that.
"I'm sure they still respect you, Daisy." He assured her as he raised his hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and caress her cheek with his thumb, "These things happen to everyone, you don't have to feel bad about it. Everything will be normal tomorrow, you'll see."
She only looked at him for a moment, as if considering what he said, then added, "I'm supposed to be the one they look up to. May never tripped when she was my S.O., she never even wavered. I made a total fool of myself in front of them. There's no turning back from that." At that, she buried her face in the crook of his neck and he, again, held back a chuckle.
After feeling Daisy snuggle a little deeper into his embrace, Daniel heard what sounded like a muffled question. But no, he couldn’t have understood right, she wouldn't ask that, would she? Well, considering that her emotions weren't really as before, maybe she would. With a very puzzled look, trying to get her to say it more clearly, he asked, "What?"
Daisy lifted her head a little from where it was, just so her mouth would be closer to his ear, and repeated her question, "Do you still wanna be married to me?"
That was the breaking point for him, there was no way he could resist anymore, so the next thing that could be heard coming from their living room was the laugh that escaped his lips. He caressed her hair trying to stop laughing - and slightly failing - to reassure her, “Of course I still wanna be married to you” Oh, Daisy.
“Hey, come on, look at me” he told her, managing to stop and simply smiling now.
Once she was looking him in the eyes, he said, “I’ll still love you everyday, no matter how many times you make a fool of yourself.”
It worked. She wasn’t as upset anymore, instead she had that I-wanna-laugh-but-gotta-keep-my-tough-face look on.
“Gee, thanks a lot.”
He laughed again and this time she followed, thinking I can’t believe I married this dork.
Once the laughter died, she gave him a brief kiss on the lips, saying, “I love you, too” right after. They smiled at each other for just a second before Daisy rested her head on his chest once more, turning her attention to the TV.
“I guess we’re watching Friends tonight, then.”
“Sure, but maybe we should go eat dinner first?”
“Oh, yeah, right.” She completely forgot about that. “I’m actually starving.” Getting up, she took his hand and pretended to make a great effort to pull him out of the couch. “Come on, old man.”
Shaking his head at her joke, but still chuckling, he followed his wife into the kitchen.
“What would I do without you?” Daniel asked.
“I ask myself that everyday.” She replied as she turned her head to look at him while walking, and smiled.
Honestly, neither of them wanted to ever have to find out.