Chapter Text
May and Coulson, without even talking about it, had made the collective decision that they would stay in the area for a while.
When he had been called, Coulson had been away in Dallas with Lola. He had heard that the Frontiers of Flight Museum might be interesting. Aircrafts and space vessels may have only had a fleeting similarity to Lola, but he was very interested regardless. Perhaps he would have more of an opportunity to see it at a later date.
May still had a couple of months before she had to go back to the Academy, so her time was all her own. It was a strange experience to her as the last time she had been able to take so much time off, she had been keeping an eye on her dad, and she had been so worried that it had been Ward who had targeted him that she had been constantly alert.
This is how they found themselves spending more time with Daisy and Daniel than they had previously. Neither of them had much experience in taking care of children as they had met Daisy once she was an adult and as they had never been the parents of a child, they had never had any friends who were parents either. Nobody had ever trusted them with a child before, and that was why they were surprised when they received a call about two weeks after their return.
“I’m so sorry guys. I know you must both have important things to do, but I promise I will love you forever!”
May scoffed. As if she didn’t already.
Daisy, Daniel and Tina had sequestered themselves away in an apartment a reasonable distance away from HQ as soon as it had become available. It was one reserved for senior agents who had families and May and Coulson secretly agreed that Mack had very likely diverted some funds, as the apartment was immaculate. They hadn’t been there since they had helped them to move in, and it already had the ambience of slight chaos they had come to expect from Daisy, magnified by the presence of a rambunctious five-year-old, while somehow having some of Daniel’s methodical orderliness. Tina had apparently taken the blank refrigerator as an open invitation, meaning that it was almost entirely covered in crayon drawings.
Daisy and Daniel were already clearly ready to leave, although Tina had other ideas.
“Tina, sweetie, we need to go!” Daisy said exasperated. “We can’t be late.”
“But whyyyyyy?” Tina protested.
“Well Tiny, Daddy needs to go to the dentist, and he’ll need someone to drive him back.”
“May and Coulson are here to take care of you. I’m sure you’re going to have a great time!” Daniel added.
Tina squealed when she saw them. Apparently, Daisy had talked about them all the time in the past, and she had cottoned on to the fact that Coulson had a flying car.
The next hour was filled with the sound of an enthusiastic five-year-old asking every conceivable question about the features, including but not limited to: whether it was able to fly to space, if it had a lid [sic] like nice Doctor Wilkes who had bought one as part of his mid-life crisis and whether it had weapons because Michael said Batman’s car didn’t. Coulson wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that she had associated the purchase of a 1962 Corvette specifically with a midlife crisis, but equally appreciated her knowledge of an old favourite of his. Apparently, she had tried to convince her parents to let her see it with Peggy, Steve & co when they went for showings when it was re-released, but her parents had raised objections.
“Everyone else at kindergarten went to see it. They all got to eat all the candy they wanted and stay up until 9 o’clock as well. I said I did too because I didn’t want to look silly, but I don’t know that they believed me.”
“I don’t know that they…” Started May,
“Are you going to say that they were probably lying too? That’s what Daddy said, but he’s really old so he doesn’t know anything. You two are really old as well. Even older than Mommy and Daddy. Does that mean you’re my grandparents?”
May and Coulson exchanged a look. They had discussed this previously in a way, but only to the extent of being Daisy’s pseudo parents. They hadn’t got as far as the idea of being grandparents.
“I suppose in a way…” Coulson considered, “…I wouldn’t exactly call it a precise science. If Mack is your uncle…”
“…but Daisy technically does have parents…” May considered,
“Daddy says that you co-opted her and that when he first met her, he thought you were her parents!” Coulson supposed that they had probably done that as well.
“You should probably ask your parents…”
“But you aren’t going to be their grandparents, are you? So, you could say that it’s up to me?”
By the time Daisy and Daniel arrived home, another crayon drawing had been added to the fridge, which was similar to the other ones on it. This one, however, featured two vaguely recognisable people holding hands with what was possibly a little girl, or a cat. Daisy could hear a conversation taking place and she wasn’t quite sure what it was about. She steered Daniel who was still a little unsteady on his feet, through the kitchen into the living room where May appeared to be instructing Tina and Coulson on something. She had a thermometer out and the other two were leaning over expectantly.
“Mommy, Daddy! Grandma is showing me how green tea is brewed. She says that coffee is awful and that she hopes I’ll be more cultured than you or Grandpa.”
“So, they’ve adopted you too then?” Daniel said knowingly, “I suppose it was inevitable.”
“Kinda…” Tina said before turning sharply to Coulson. “Can we have grilled cheese now?”