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It's after dinner, after dessert, after stories, but Peggy is now reading Mickey the last few pages of her book on the couch. She finishes off that final page and looks down to her daughter with a bit of a smirk, "I told you one extra story. That has been two. It is now bed time, young lady, without complaint. That was our deal. Cookie can sleep with you tonight, if you wish… But up. Come now. Up to bed." Peggy insists, not looking forward to doing the stairs, still feeling somewhat exhausted, but if she needs to carry her daughter up to get her to sleep, she will.
*
"Nooo…" Mickey starts to whine as she snuggles against her mother's side. She's been her shadow from the time she gets home from school until she closes her eyes at night. With her gone for two months and change, she doesn't want to let Peggy out of her sight. When she mentions that Cookie can sleep in her bed, however, the young girl pulls reluctantly away and sort of slides off of the sofa. There's a dramatic reluctance and dragging of her feet as she shuffles towards the stairs.
It's about that moment when Daniel comes inside from walking Cookie. The dog gives a shake, rattling the leash chain even as Sousa tries to unclip it from the dog's collar. Mickey perks up as Cookie bounds towards her and the two end up running up the stairs into the girl's room.
Watching them for a moment, Daniel then puts the leash on it's new peg by the door and limps over to where Peggy is seated on the couch. "I don't know why I thought that I wouldn't be taking care of that dog…" because more often than not, he's the one walking Cookie. He leans over the back of the sofa to plant a kiss on Peggy, "Feeling ok?"
*
Hearing her husband and the canine coming back into the house, Peggy looks up, pressing one last kiss to her daughter's hair, "Go now. Tuck your pup in, yes? I will check on you when we come up…" But she truly wasn't doing those stairs twice if she didn't have to. And Mickey seems content enough to chase her dog up the stairs. The canine was still getting used to Peggy, so she wasn't it's favourite thing yet and she seemed fine with that. There had been enough changed without her. She then shifts on the couch, lokoing over to her husband with a more tired, but earnest smile, "I know, darling… but you made the decision. And clearly you are able to manage it far better than you thought you could so… perhaps it is a lesson for all of us?" She offers gently, reaching one hand out for him, to tug him towards the couch with her.
*
"Well, at least he's not that big of a dog…" Sousa offers as he takes her hand and collapses onto the sofa next to his wife. An arm lifts in an invitation for her to come even closer, "I didn't make the decision. Mickey made the decision. I just found the dog who needed a home." So he has a little say in it at least. And he had to do something special for a Christmas without Peggy. "When you're feeling better, you'll get to take the dog for a walk…" eventually. Maybe. At least they have a yard.
*
A warmer smile crosses her lips as he collapses down onto the sofa next to her. That was far better than the hospital bed she'd been stuck to for days. Peggy actually felt she could be comfortably close to her husband here, instead of climbing around wires and a too small matress. She leans in a bit closer to him, shifting her legs to rest across his lap as she actually reclines in a manner that may be relaxing, swollen ankles and all. "I feel fine. Just… lazy. I'll take the dog in the morning, I promise. Can't put it all on you. I'll accept that half the dog is my fault for being kidnapped in the first place." She states, deadpan flat.
*
Sousa slides a glance to Peggy, "No, it's your fault for promising a dog way back when. Or have you forgotten?" There's 'baby brain' but he doubts she forgot that she was the catalyst for all of this. "You can be as lazy as you want. Coulson seems to be doing fine until you feel you're ready to go back…" and he'd rather her just rest at home for now. "I have to be up early anyhow, so I can take Cookie out. You can do it during the day." He won't let her do even that yet.
*
A small sound, almost a protest, comes from her throat, "Once I see Mickey off to school, I'm heading into the office. There's too much clean up to do and I'm perfectly fine. What good will laying about do?" Peggy asks him with a slightly pointed look. She still isn't getting up right NOW, however, quite happy to be half draped over him, near to his warmth and scent. That is more relaxing than anything, especially now. She shifts to the side so the part of her right next to him is tucked a bit more against his chest and hip.
*
Sousa pretends to think a moment even as he just sits there with Peggy curled up next to him. "Well, resting gives your body a chance to adjust from being frozen for over two months and lets you get your stamina back. And it will let the baby rest and grow despite being frozen in stasis with you so that there are no dangerous complications. It lets you get back into the swing of things without being thrown everything at SHIELD. They can call you here if they need you." He then looks at her and asks quietly, "Don't go back until Monday?"
*
"… Monday…" Peggy gives a little groan, but she doesn't immediately tell him no. She just sighs, turning her head to press a few kisses against the edge of his jaw. "…they did plenty of tests, you know? The baby is fine… I am fine. There is utterly no reason that I should be on bed rest at all." Except that is what the doctor recommended. Granted, the doctor has been recommending such things for a few months. Pregnant and her age? It seems to be a fall back generalization.
*
"Except for the reason that the doctor said that having a child at your age is risky and you should really consider bed rest as much as possible. I was there too, remember?" Despite society frowning on such things. He's tried to be as involved as Peggy lets him be. "This isn't about the tests. It's about the fact that you're still exhausted." He leans over and presses his lips to the top of Peggy's head, "Do you think I wouldn't notice? That I had forgotten?"
*
And, despite society, Peggy happily has him there every appointment. Even if it weakens her arguments to him, when she tries to insist she's fine, she can work as much as she pleases, and there is nothing to worry about. No matter how fiercely independent Peggy is, she trusts and loves him madly. She'd never box him out. So, he has that ammo to use against her and Peggy just sighs a bit, leaning closer to him and grumbling a touch under her breath at his protests. She gives him one last kiss and then sinks her head to tuck into the crook of his neck. "…I think all this laying around is making me exhausted." She mutters into his throat.
*
Sousa rests his cheek against her hair, "Or you actually needs the rest and your body is telling you that. Even before all this, you weren't letting yourself rest." He was part of that as well…not that he gets much rest, but now they're not both being kept up by the same issues. Now, at least, it's different issues. Maybe that's better? "Are you really that bored?"
*
A small sound echoes from her throat as he asks about her being this bored. "… A little, in truth. And stir crazy. And.. guilty. I've been not at the helm, not working… not helping things… for months. The few weeks they kept me awake there? I… I was going crazy. I felt so useless. I hated it. I… just want to be useful again." Peggy admits, the aching need to be useful quite clear in her tone. She's a woman who would go mad without work, even no matter how much she loves him. She tilts her head up so she can kiss the side of his throat. "…and I rest enough. I am not out in the fight every day."
*
"You're not useless. Never useless," is offered as he turns to try and meet her kiss lips to lips. "Do what you have to do," is offered with a sigh, "Not that I could really stop you." There's a little smile then; it's all these little things that just confirm that they have the real deal back. "Just be careful, all right? I can't be there to keep an eye on you…"
*
"…I know. Though you always have a space again with us. It… it's not going to be the same without you. I'm going to keep looking around the corner, listening for your voice." Peggy admits quietly, clear love still in her voice. She will miss him. They'd built the entire organization together. It would be awful without him.
*
"I'm a phone call away and just uptown," Sousa points out. He'll miss her too…but even though it wasn't -her-, there was some truth in how his departure played out. "But I bet you won't miss the hushed murmurs about how I should be running the place over you," merely because he's a man. "This way, that argument is null. And we can support each others' organizations. Although I still think I could have helped if I took that job at the FBI." Did he tell her about that?
*
"…The…FBI? What all did I miss?" No, Daniel didn't tell her about that. Peggy picks up her head enough from on his shoulder to actually look up and over to his eyes, so they can meet gaze to gaze instead of her staring into the distance or just shutting her eyes and remaining completely tucked in against him. She still seems skeptical, just a bit worried, but she doesn't push it further. She does ask, though, quiet and curious.
*
"That was the position I was initially offered…when I went to…well, not you, to discuss my resignation. In that…fight," he'll call it that even though that's putting it a little mildly, "You…although, not-you brought up some valid points and I rethought the offer. That's when I got in touch with a buddy of mine in the NYPD and he got me in to discuss the position I now have." It's simple, really. "But I think I could have done something there, too. Either gotten us all to somehow work together or gotten the FBI off of SHIELD's back."
*
"…The FBI." This Peggy isn't any more thrilled than the other Peggy was about it, so apparently he made the right decision. She sighs a bit more, "…it… It's good. What you did. I think you made the right decision. And if you are happy there I… I won't bother you about it. I'll accept it. I just… miss you. I'll get over it." Peggy admits quitely, a touch more of an ache behind her voice. She missed so much.
*
"I think it's for the best, Peg. I really do?" Daniel watches her, noting the sadness behind her words. "Look beyond the personal connection. How many positions have I held in the last year alone trying to find a way for me to fit in? SHIELD has outgrown me." He gives a little smile then, "It's like letting go of your adult child. Sending them out into the world. You're no longer there with them every day, but if they need you, you'll be there in an instant." He watches Peggy at that, noting her reaction and body language. "Besides, in this position, I can try to help smooth some of the tension between those who have powers and those who don't."
*
It still hurts, no matter how much better it might be. Peggy is quiet a long moment, tucking her head back in against his throat. Her hand slips over, off of her stomach and around his waist instead. "…if you are happy, that's all that matters. I'll get used to it." SHe admits quietly, even if her heart isn't entirely in the last half of the words.
*
Sousa wraps his arm about Peggy's shoulders as she wraps her arm about his waist, "I feel like I can be useful there." Unlike at SHIELD…even before the switch. "I'm sorry if you're disappointed. I guess…it must be strange. If you were there when we…the other and I fought though," maybe she'd understand. "It was bad. You…she…hit me. Although to be fair I may have deserved it."
*
Sousa wraps his arm about Peggy's shoulders as she wraps her arm about his waist, "I feel like I can be useful there." Unlike at SHIELD…even before the switch. "I'm sorry if you're disappointed. I guess…it must be strange. If you were there when we…the other and I fought though," maybe she'd understand. "It was bad. You…she…hit me. Although to be fair I may have deserved it."
*
Hearing that news just makes Peggy wince, that ache in her chest only growing deeper. It was certainly not what she wanted to hear. "…No wonder you don't want to work with me. God… Daniel… I… I'm sorry. If you ever, ever think I would ever do something like that to you…I… I wouldn't. No matter how she acted, how close she seemed to me… It wasn't me. I swear." Peggy affirms, sitting up even straigher, looking hard into his eyes to try and show that he has to know how honest she is.
*
"I know she wasn't," Sousa answers easily. "After you…she went two days without talking to me or seeing Mickey…I knew that something was wrong." He reaches to hold her close, "It's not about working with you or not. I promise. It has -nothing- to do with you and everything to do with me…" and the fact that he doesn't feel that he has a place in SHIELD anymore. He has a place at the NYPD. "I'm sorry if it hurts you. It really isn't personal. I swear."
*
"…I'm… tired. Not just physically. I… fought so hard for… weeks. Then there was nothing. Only to come back and realize I missed two and a half months? Christmas? Your quitting, or being fired… everything that happened to SHIELD? Mickey getting a dog? I… I feel like I missed half the world. And I have a million pieces to pick up. Professionally and personally. I'm not physically tired. I'm… emotionally exhausted. I… don't know what to do about that." But it's true. Peggy's hurting, far worse than anything that could have actually injured her. And it's not the sort of hurt she knows how to cope with.
*
Sousa moves to place a kiss on Peggy's forehead before reaching a hand to caress her cheek, "I'll help you pick them up. So will Heather and Coulson and Skye. We all will. I took plenty of pictures, Pai took some film…so you can get caught up when you feel like it." When she feels she can. "We're ok, here. Work will be harder but here, we're ok. We'll get it done and you don't need to worry about it. Ok?"
*
The kiss is accepted with a tired closing of her eyes. Peggy hasn't cried since that first night, in relief and shock about it all. Her eyes sting just a bit, throat tightening, but she takes in a slow breath and tries to swallow it all back. "…I know. It will be fine. Sorry. We… We should go to bed. You said you have an early morning."
*
"You know it's ok," Sousa offers as he pushes himself to stand. He holds out his hand to help Peggy up, bracing himself against the arm of the sofa so that they both don't go toppling. "You've been through a lot and I'm not going to tell anyone or use it against you…" there's even a slight smile. "Did I tell you I cried like a baby when I got the call that they found you?"
*
While Peggy's pride isn't all that happy about it, the rest of her certainly accepts the help up. While she should be further along, she's still getting to the point of round enough that moving isn't all that easy and her hips are complaining at most dramatic motions. So, Peggy takes his hand and awkwardly pulls herself into standing, stomach brushing against the side of his hip. "…You.. did not. I… I am sorry to have put you through that."
*
"Stop, Peggy. Please," he pulls her close for another kiss to her cheek, "I don't blame you. You couldn't have helped it. It happened and I am over the moon that you're back and you and the baby are fine. Tired and frustrated, but you're both ok. I'm just happy to have you back. Let's just bask in that, ok?" He'll even lean in for a long kiss to her lips, "But you're right. We should get to bed. I'll just lock up…" and meet her at the stairs so they can climb them together.
*
The woman leans up and over, returning the kiss deeply, Peggy lets her lips linger against his for a good few heartbeats and then she finally lets him go. "Alright, darling, I love you. Bed. Yes." Peggy reassures, her expression a touch more gentle as she lets him go. She then moves about the room, killing a few of the lights before she joins him up the stairs and to their bed.