That evening, Melinda landed the Zephyr in her Mother's backyard. Exchanging a glance with Phil before she opened the ramp, May stepped down the metal slope, leaning back to keep balance.
Lian May was a short woman, shorted than even May, and she stood with a menacing look from the patio. Phil decided to focus on the large assortment of potted plants instead of her, not willing to admit that he was low-key terrified of the former CIA agent.
"Māmā." May greeted her mother. Lian starred up, and back down at her daughter's stomach. "You weren't lying." she observed.
"No, Māmā." Melinda said, walking forward. Phil following. "Phillip." Lian regarded him.
"Mrs. May." Phil ventured. "Thank you for letting us stay in your home."
Lian looked up at May. "At least he says 'thank you'." She squints.
"Xie-xie." May starts.
"To late." Lian turns, leading them inside. Phil carries Melinda's bag for her. There was no way in Hell he was going to appear as nothing short of a gentleman to Mrs. May.
"When will you meet with your doctor?" Lian asks once they are inside.
Phil has been here before, recognizing marble counters, the iron circle wrap around stairs that held the ancient bamboo plant upwards. The floors were wood, well word. Spots in the carpet showed the wear and tear of a younger Melinda.
"Tomorrow at eleven." Melinda answered her. Phil set down their bags. "You may stay in the guest room, Phillip. Melinda, your bedroom is just as you left it." Lian challenges them.
"Māmā, I'll stay with -" Melinda starts.
"You are not married." Lian squints her eyes again in warning.
"Wō ai tā." May glares back.
Phil wants to ask 'what happened to english for Phil', but chose the safer option when he was in a house with two deadly women.
"Fine." Lian glares. The evening has set in, the sunset melting into twilight. "Phillip, take the bags upstairs to your room."
"Melinda, stay with me." Lian says.
"Yes, Māmā." Melinda eases herself down on the couch. Lian waits. "Tell me how this happened." She says, then turned too look behind herself, down the hall. "All the way upstairs, Phillip!"
"Yes, Mrs. May." Phil guiltily responds, his voice growing fainter.
"He forgets I was once a spy." She mutters. "Now, Qiaolian, tell me the truth."
"We were serious. The 0-8-4 was some kind of kree fertility enhancer. The amazon leader used it to force conception and speed up the process seven months."
"You are too skinny." Lian says.
"Nothing that I eat stays down. We think that it's because of the FSH I was on is fighting the pregnancy hormones and synthetic Estrogen and Progesterone that the Amazon cult gave to us women."
Lian nods. "Phillip should have done more research before sending his agents into a cult." She pokes Melinda's side. "You need to nourish this kid. That or she-"
"He." Melinda corrects.
Lian pauses. "-He will strip you of yours."
"Mrs. May?" Phil tests the waters, hoping for permission to come back down.
"Phillip." Lian sighes. "Have you feed your child's mother tonight?" Lian calls.
"Well, we-"
"Yes or no, Phillip."
"Not well enough." Phil pauses, "No."
"I will feed her." Lian rolls her eyes. "It is a good thing I made extras. Phillip is starving his child's mother." she mumbled the last part.
"Māmā, he isn't starving me. I refused to worry about supper plans because I was expecting that you would feed us weather we'd already eaten or not." Melinda folds her arms, first beckoning Phil over with a pat to the couch for him to sit next to her.
He joins her, Leaning back. "Just, try not to mess this up, Phil." Melinda whispers.
"Yeah, I'll just be over here, trying to survive your mom." Phil smiles.
"Well, if we do this right, it won't be a problem. My mother loved Andrew, and I think she loves you deep down. You two just need a little work."
"You kidding, your mother hates me."
"She just has high expectations."
----- -:x:- -----
Parking the car in the parking lot to the address Agent Murphy had sent them, Phil winced as Lian beat him to opening Melinda's door for her, and the look the woman gave him when he slammed the door a little harder than she thought proper.
Walking next to a wadling Melinda, the trio approached the building. It looked like any doctor's office, and they entered, the desk worker looking up and saying, "Agent May, Agent Coulson. We've been expecting you." She smiles. "Here's the paperwork for doctor Murphy."
"Thank you." Melinda answers, taking the clipboard and walking into the waiting room. Phil claimed her left side, Lian her right. Both offered suggestions, Lian answering the family complications for the mother's side, and Phil for the father's, although he never knew much, considering that he never really knew this kind of thing before his mother passed.
Sandra Murphy was bright and peppy, exactly the kind of person Coulson and May could imagine Fitzsimmons hanging out with.
Agent Murphy had already been explained approximately what happened to cause this, and she guided the three people back to a room where she examined Melinda, took a blood sample, and asked some question, and left. She returned again, this time taking them into a dark room.
"Alright, Agent May. If you could pull up your shirt, I'd like to perform an ultrasound and get some pictures, check out the baby." Sandra said, grabbing a tube of gel and spreading some of the gunk on the tight skin of Melinda's stomach.
The computer was turned away from Coulson and May, Lian insisting on standing behind Murphy.
"Alright. . ." Murphy concentrated on the screen, moving the wand over Melinda's belly before she continued.
"You want the good news or the bad news first?"
YOU ARE READING
Something to Fight For
Fanfiction"It's a female only cult. If any of us guys go in, they will slaughter us." In other words, a canon divergence where Coulson doesn't study up and sends the women into a cult going after a Kree fertility 0-8-4, and the SHIELD ladies all end up pr...
