A/N: In case you missed the announcement, Graceland was renewed for Season 3! This last chapter is completely self-indulgent and I normally try to resist wrapping things up all nice and neat, but I couldn't get the idea of future scene out of my head, yet it somehow got scrapped because I picked this up a few years after that scene would've taken place. This is definitely the end of this fic.
"Remember what we talked about?" Mike whispered as his three year old daughter, Faith, squirmed in his arms.
"Want to see," Faith insisted, her lower lip trembling. She looked up at him with tear-filled big blue eyes and if he hadn't been ready to set her down, he would have. Those eyes were always his downfall. "Down."
Mike kissed the top of her head, lightly running his fingers through her silken blonde hair, "You can see, but you have to be careful. Remember?" He had a hard time denying his daughter anything. Paige teased him all the time about how much Faith was a Daddy's girl and how she had him wrapped around her finger, but he didn't mind. One day, she wouldn't run to him for every little thing, but until that day came he was going to cherish every moment with his daughter - with both of them.
"Kisses."
"That's right, kisses," Mike said as Paige beckoned them closer.
Faith pursed her lips, "Kiss, Daddy."
"I love you." Mike kissed his daughter and carefully sat Faith down on the edge of the bed.
"There's my big girl," Paige whispered as Faith scooted closer to her.
"Sleeping?" Faith asked, the disappointment evident in her voice as she looked down at her baby sister.
Shifting the baby to her other arm, Paige motioned for Faith to come closer. "She's tired sweetheart." Paige gently traced her finger along the baby's face, "Can you say hi to your baby sister?"
"Gwace."
"Yes, her name is Grace."
"Hi," Faith softly said.
"Mike, can you - "
"Yeah," Mike said, moving to take Grace from Paige's arms. He sat down on the edge of the bed, as Paige motioned for Faith to come closer.
"I love you so much," Paige whispered, her eyes filling with tears as she tightly hugged Faith. Mike scooted next to her, wrapping his arm around her.
Faith moved so she was leaning against the both of them.
"Love you," Faith said.
Mike laughed softly as Faith watched the baby with a laser like focus. It was clear that Faith wasn't going to take her eyes off her sister until she woke up. She had the same obsessive tendencies that he and Paige did.
Paige turned to look at him, "I never thought we'd be here."
"Former Undercover Agents, married with two kids?" Mike asked. "Definitely not that first summer. I almost didn't make it through my first day." As much as a connection he felt with Paige the first night they met, it wasn't until the second summer that he wondered if they had a chance at something real. But they fell apart just as quickly as they began. He went back to DC at Paige's request, but one phone call changed everything. They both made their peace with everything that happened with the buses and girls, but he thought they were over. Then the miscarriage brought them closer together. He didn't live his life based on regrets, but the one thing he would change if he could was not losing the baby.
Paige gently ran her fingers through Faith's hair, "You were so green."
"Hey, I wasn't supposed to even be in the field," he protested, shifting Grace in his arms.
"I didn't even want to be married or have kids until..." Paige's voice trailed off.
Knowing Paige was getting lost in the past, Mike pulled her closer, being mindful of his daughter in his arms and kissed her. "Thankfully, you changed your mind."
His heart sank as Paige tearfully shook her head. "If you don't like the ring - "
"The ring is perfect. You're perfect. I'm not cut out for marriage." Paige rested her hand on her stomach, "I'm not even sure I'm cut out to be a mom. We don't have to be married to be together and raise our baby."
"I should go." He started to stand, but Paige knelt in front of him so they were facing each other.
"Don't ," Paige whispered, kissing him. "I love you. Hold onto this for me."
"For as long as you need me to."
"I bet you thought I'd be a runaway bride."
"I would've caught you. I'm pretty sure I could outrun a pregnant woman."
"Where are you going?"
Turning, Mike grabbed his keys from the counter. "I'm going to meet up with Johnny later, but I'm going to stop by Headquarters first."
"You can't go to work."
"Is the baby okay?"
"She's fine," Paige promised, walking over to him and placing his hand on her stomach.
He smiled at the flutter of activity. "Then - "
"It was supposed to be a surprise. But my boyfriend is a workaholic and the last thing I want to happen today is to be left at the altar because you're doing paperwork."
"Altar? Do you mean - "
"Marry me," Paige whispered. "Today."
"Our wedding was perfect. Just us on the beach." Faith snuggled closer to Paige, and she adjusted the blanket over her. "Did she eat?"
"Johnny said she ate dinner, but he was a little sketchy on the details. I'm guessing she ate from a vending machine."
Paige continued stroking Faith's hair as she drifted off to sleep. "Perfect. Remind me to strangle Johnny later."
"I'm positive Faith either convinced Johnny that was what she was supposed to eat or flat out refused everything he offered."
"Wonder where she gets that from?"
It was true that Faith took after him. Faith was constantly trying to figure things out, always absorbing information and coming up with some pretty logical explanations as to why she shouldn't get in trouble. Paige was convinced she would be a lawyer. He couldn't keep the grin off his face as he watched his hours-old daughter sleep in his arms while his older daughter was nestled between him and Paige. It felt like yesterday that he and Paige were expecting Faith, and now it was nearly four years later and they had two beautiful little girls.
"Paige, have you seen my phone charger?"
"It's on the table."
"Why is my phone charger on the table?" Mike shook his head, wandering into the kitchen. His heart stopped when he noticed a stuffed animal on the table. It was the fawn Paige gave him after she miscarried. Picking up the toy, he turned to face her, "Are you?"
Nodding, Paige rushed into his arms and started crying. "I promise you, I'm going to do everything my doctor says."
His fear at losing another child echoed hers, "I love you," Mike whispered, hugging her tightly. "It's gonna be okay."
Mike lightly traced his fingers along Grace's lips, "She has your mouth. Her nose looks more like yours than mine."
"Seems fair since Faith is practically your mini-me."
"She's really okay?" Paige frantically asked as the baby was examined by the doctor.
"You have a perfectly healthy little girl."
The baby was carefully placed in Mike's arms and he walked the short distance to Paige's bed, "She's perfect," Mike said, his voice filled with awe. He gently set their daughter in Paige's arm and kissed her forehead, before kissing the baby.
"Mike, look at her, she's so beautiful," Paige whispered, gently stroking her cheek as her eyes slowly opened. "Hi Faith, your Daddy and I love you so much. We've been waiting a long time to meet you."
Paige motioned for him to hand over Grace and he carefully settled her in Paige's arms, being careful not to disturb Faith. He lovingly brushed Faith's hair back from her face. "Her hair's getting lighter and she's fearless like you."
"Ready to do this all over again? I was pretty wild as a teenager. We're going to have our hands full one day."
"That's a long way off." Faith was already a handful. She was a good kid, a great kid - but she definitely got her stubbornness from both of them. He didn't even want to think what she would be like as a teenager. Mike hugged Faith, pulling her closer against him.
"Not too far off," Paige said. "Look how big Faith is. Pretty soon she'll be in school. Meeting boys. Wearing make-up. Dating."
"Stop."
"Then Grace will be a teenager and they'll both be dating," Paige teased. "They'll be staying out all night with their friends. They won't even want to talk to us because we're not cool enough."
Laughing, Mike shook his head, "Shut up."
"Seriously, what do you think Grace will be like?"
"If she's anything like you - incredible," Mike whispered before leaning into kiss her.
"Okay, okay - enough of that, this is how you got into this in the first place," Johnny said, entering the room, with the rest of their former housemates trailing behind him.
"Do not wake those girls up," Jakes whispered, smacking his arm.
"I think Faith crashed out from a sugar rush, any idea why that would happen Johnny?" Paige asked.
"Hey, your kid, she's like a hostage negotiator! She vetoed everything Mike suggested except for apples."
"You're a trained FBI Agent! Carlito Solano put a gun in your mouth and you talked him down, yet you couldn't get your three-year-old goddaughter to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" Jakes asked. "Your kid is gonna own you."
"Have you seen this kid pout? With tears in her eyes?" Johnny asked. "I'm lucky I got her to eat her apples."
"At least she ate one healthy thing, now hand over that baby," Charlie said, approaching the bed and carefully lifting Grace from Mike's arms. "Hello, beautiful."
"Don't get any ideas - one is enough," Briggs warned and he moved across the room to shake Mike's hand. "Any easier the second time around?"
"Less anxiety provoking, that's for sure," Mike said. While and he and Paige tried not to freak out about everything while she was pregnant with Faith, they were definitely stressed - especially during the first trimester. Not that her pregnancy with Faith had been rough, but due to Paige's miscarriage they were over cautious and over anxious. They knew what to expect with Grace, so things went a lot smoother.
"Mikey, so let me ask you something. I mean, we all heard about that first night you saw Paige. Charlie's all dressed up and you're her date," Johnny began.
"Fake boyfriend. He grabbed my ass."
"You grabbed her ass?" Paige asked.
Mike held up his hands in surrender as everyone else in the room started laughing, "She told me to!" Paige wasn't jealous, he was positive she was mad that she had missed out on house gossip even though it happened years ago. "Besides, you slapped my ass - in the bathroom of a Korean Karaoke bar where we met. And this was after you peed in front of me." Paige elbowed him and he kissed her as a silent apology.
"That hand gripper thing - you're one lucky woman Paige," Charlie said.
Mike looked down at Faith, grateful she was still asleep, because with this group of people, things could go from innocent to scandalous in a heartbeat.
Paige laughed, "She's sleeping. You're so overprotective."
"So you see Paige on stage - what was going through your mind?" Johnny continued.
"You should've seen him, all lovestruck with stars in his eyes, like he got hit with cupid's arrow," Charlie teased.
"I saw you from the stage," Paige said. "The way you looked at me - no one has ever looked at me like that before."
"Nobody better," Mike murmured, his gaze softening as she smiled at him.
"That summer you and Mike you didn't hook up, like at all?" Johnny asked.
"Why are you so interested in my sex life from years ago?" Mike asked. "My wife just had a baby, can we focus on that?"
Jakes walked up to them and placed his arm around Johnny, "There may have been a few wagers placed. Johnny's trying to collect. Years later."
"Nope," Paige said.
"Nothing, no action?" Johnny asked.
Paige looked at Mike and smirked, "Not really any action."
"Hey, we kissed!"
"And then I turned you down."
"Are you forgetting that you seduced me?"
"The next summer!"
"You wanted me."
"A version of you," Paige teased.
Mike shook his head, laughing softly.
"Wait a second, go back to not really any action. What kind of action are we talking about? Because not really implies some," Johnny said.
"Are we really having this conversation right now?" Jakes asked. He leaned over the bed to give Paige a kiss on the cheek. "Congratulations to you both. Grace is perfect." He motioned to Faith, "Johnny never stood a chance against this one."
Mike laughed as the scene continued to unfold in front of him. Of course this conversation was happening, here - now, but he didn't mind. His daughters were healthy. Paige was by his side, and there wasn't a group of people he would rather be around. Although nowadays, they were more likely to be counting Cheerios than downing Zombie Virus. Charlie and Briggs had a four year old daughter. Jakes remarried and had a two-year old son, in addition to Daniel. And Johnny's girlfriend was expecting.
"The house isn't the same," Paige commented as she turned the chore wheel, gesturing to the names that had been crossed out.
"I haven't seen Jakes in almost two weeks." It had been about year since Charlie and Briggs moved out. New agents had come and gone. Some lasting a few months, others intending to stay longer.
"Johnny's talking about moving on," Paige said. "I don't want to be in a house full of strangers, Mike. The six of us - we were a family."
"We'll always be family, no matter where we are."
"Let's start looking for a place."
"What was the bet?" Paige asked. "All we did was kiss that summer. Next summer - well, let's just say that more happened."
"You think?" Mike asked.
"Okay, JT, you heard the lady - nothing happened. Pay the man," Briggs said.
Grace started fussing in Charlie's arms and she handed the baby back to Mike. "Okay Gorgeous, let's return you to your parents."
Mike gently bounced the baby in his arms, trying to lull her back to sleep. "Daddy's got you," Mike quietly said. Grace let out a loud wail and Faith stirred at the noise.
Faith opened her eyes slowly and when she saw the crowd in the room, she buried her face in Mike's shirt.
"I think she's hungry, hand her over," Paige said.
Faith sighed audibly, frustrated by her crying sister, but she happily snuggled up next to her father as he handed the baby over to Paige. "Are you tired?" Mike quietly asked, lightly running his hand over her back. Faith quickly shook her head no before rubbing her eyes.
"And that's our cue to leave," Charlie said, hugging Mike. "Want me to take this one now? Alexa is excited about having a sleepover."
"I'll drop her off later, I want to stop at home to shower and she's been waiting very impatiently for Grace to wake up."
"Call me," Charlie said.
"You two do good work," Briggs said.
"Your girls are gorgeous," Jakes added.
"We think so," Paige said, softly stroking Grace's cheek.
"They're beautiful," Johnny agreed.
Everyone said their goodbyes and filed out of the room one by one. Once the room was empty, Paige started breastfeeding Grace while Faith watched carefully. Paige gave him a tired smile and he shifted Faith slightly so he could wrap his arm around Paige. He sighed, content to have his family in his arms. "Thank you," Mike murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of Paige's head.
"Kiss?" Faith asked as she leaned over Grace and looking up to them for permission.
"You're gonna kiss your sister? I think she'd like that," Paige encouraged.
"Soft," Mike reminded her.
Faith softly kissed Grace's forehead and looked up at her parents, proudly smiling. Mike smiled at Faith, and pulled her back onto his lap.
"Remember when we were undercover and playing pretend was real?" Paige asked.
"Yeah." That seemed like a lifetime ago, even though he and Paige had only left undercover work about four years ago.
"This right here - our girls, this is real life and I wouldn't trade it for anything."
THE END