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The team was a family and they all acknowledged it. However, the first time Skye referred to Coulson as "Dad" was by complete accident. "Dad, have you seen that bowl I was using yesterday?" She froze and crinkled up her nose. "Wait, what? Where did that come from?"

Coulson teared up and hugged her. "You don't have to call me that if you don't want to but I wouldn't mind if you do. You're my daughter, Skye. Genetics don't matter."

Damn it, now she was crying. "Really?"

"Of course, Skye."

Skye chuckled. "Then I guess it'll stick, Dad. Okay, that's going to take some time to get used to."

"It'll come naturally eventually," he assured her. And no, he did not skip off towards the cockpit to tell May about the new development in his relationship with Skye.

She was only the first. And then Skye purposely referred to May as her mother just a few days later, after she finally worked her way up to it. "I love you," she explained when May stared at her.

A smile lit up her face. "I love you too, Skye. And it is an honor that you consider me to be a good enough mother for you. I guess Phil and I accidentally adopted all of you kids."

Skye laughed. "Guess you did, Mom."

And that was that.

Fitz stepped up next. "You're the closest thing I've ever had to a father to me since mine was never around while I was growing up." Damn it, he refused to let the tears in his eyes fall. He had promised himself before this happened that he wouldn't cry.

"I'm honored, Leo. And I am so happy you've recovered. You've come a long way since that day you woke up in the hospital." Nobody liked to think about that horrible time in their lives – Hydra had nearly been eradicated now so it was easier to talk about – but it was important to Coulson that he bring it up during this conversation.

Fitz literally ran up to him and hugged the older man. "You hug nice."

"Thanks, Fitz?" Coulson honestly didn't know how to respond to that but it was okay. Fitz didn't hold anything against anybody (except John Garrett).

"You're welcome, sir. Why don't we have a movie night tonight? I'll gather everyone up and then we can decide from there. Hope there's not too much fighting over what to watch." Fitz frowned at the thought.

He was right – that was too much to hope for. Ward was agreeable to anything Skye wanted to watch, but the others weren't hopelessly in love with her. It took them over an hour to decide and the only reason they did so was because May finally told them she'd throw all the DVD cases into the ocean if they couldn't figure it out.

The next one who slipped was surprisingly Ward. "You think Skye will like this ring, Dad?" he asked.

Coulson grinned at him and ignored the slip just in case the specialist didn't want to talk about it. "She'll love it. And you didn't have to ask for my blessing but I appreciate it, Grant."

Grant tried not to panic about the slip. Maybe he was spending too much time around Skye. But then he thought about it and realized that wasn't a problem. "You're Skye's father, sir. Of course your blessing is important to me. And uh, I didn't mean to call you that."

"Don't worry about it, Ward. It's an honor to be your father but I understand if you have some problems with it. Just call me whatever makes you the most comfortable – I won't hold anything against you. You know that I'm not like Garrett." Coulson glanced at the ring again and then left, hoping to make plans to eavesdrop on the proposal with May.

On Mother's Day, the whole team gathered around the kitchen to cook something for May. "You're really trying again?" a skeptical Trip asked Skye.

She glared at him. "I'm getting better!"

"You set off the fire alarms last time you attempted to bake cookies!" Jemma pointed out.

Trip hid behind the counter as he started laughing and wasn't surprised when Skye playfully punched him in the shoulder. "You got burned. And oops, that's exactly what you do to food!"

"Be nice. She doesn't fuck it up all the time," Ward tried.

"Aw, honey. You're cute but you suck at defending me." Skye leaned across the counter and kissed him anyway.

"Why are you all standing around here talking?" Coulson hissed as he walked in. Distracting May wasn't going as well as he had hoped.

"We're trying to figure out what she'll like and who's cooking." Fitz hoped Skye and Ward stayed far away from the kitchen but that seemed unlikely.

Coulson sighed. "Just hurry up, will you? And don't burn anything again." He went to hunt down May again and left the group to their own devices.

Skye and Ward got kicked out of the kitchen a few minutes later (they retaliated by having a quickie in her bunk) and everyone else took charge of the meal. Half an hour later, they met up in the common room to serve May.

"We love you and want what's best for you," Skye told her.

"I appreciate all of this even though you didn't have to go through all this trouble." May was touched and they all could tell, however. She loved the hell out of all of them (in different ways, because she couldn't consider Ward one of her kids).

It was one of the best holidays she had ever celebrated.

Two years later, Coulson and May earned new titles. Jemma beamed as she handed over her three hour old daughter to Coulson. "This is Violet Skylar FitzSimmons. Violet, meet Grandpa." She and Fitz had both changed their last names to FitzSimmons upon marrying.

Coulson melted the instant his granddaughter – his first grandchild – was placed in his arms. "Hi, Violet." She was the most beautiful baby he had ever laid eyes on (he hadn't interacted with many. The only one he had spent a long period of time with was Clint and Natasha's son).

The baby cooed. "Okay, I'm going to want one of these soon," Skye murmured. Damn it, she knew this was going to happen the moment she found out about Jemma's pregnancy. She shifted in Ward's lap.

He was terrified of the thought but it also sent a warm feeling flowing through his body. "I want to have babies with you too," Ward informed his wife.

She laughed and kissed him. "Don't start on making them now. No one wants to see that." The two swirled their heads around and glared at Trip. He stepped back in fear.

"I'm going to love having this little one the baby." Coulson didn't want to give the baby up but then Violet started crying so he handed her over to Fitz.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong? This is a big, scary world isn't it? Well, you don't have to worry. Look around because this is your family. And we'll be home soon, and it'll be amazing there. The Bus is filled with love and laughter, and that's never going to change."

"Can I hold her?" May asked after Jemma managed to calm Violet down.

"Of course. She needs her grandma too." Jemma nudged Fitz and he carefully placed the newborn in May's arms.

She shifted the baby around a bit and sat down in the nearest open chair. May took ahold of one of Violet's tiny fingers and practically radiated with happiness. "I've never held someone as young as you, but I promise we're going to try and make the world a better place, Violet Skylar. Grandma loves you so much." She kissed the baby's finger and held her for a few more minutes.

Violet FitzSimmons grew up surrounded by love and ended up joining SHIELD the first chance she was able to. She, along with her cousins and brothers, carried on her rather large family's legacy.