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"Hey girls! You left barely a scoop of strawberry! Come on, finish it!" Carol was standing beside the table they'd installed in the garden. They'd taken out every single one of the bowls they owned to serve ice cream to all 16 members of the basketball team. Big tubs of ice creams had been left to melt in the late afternoon air, most of them empty by now. They'd taken all the chairs they could find to accommodate the girls and the parents who had accompanied them to the Rambeau house. Maria's workshop had been hastily cleaned to hide any potential hazards and Monica and her friends were still playing basketball on the small concrete platform, using a bucket for a hoop. Carol was glad Maria didn't have a plane parked under there. She walked up to the small groups of girls spread all over the garden, proposing the bottom of the tub to each of them. "Monica? Ice cream?" Her daughter passed the ball to one of her friends and looked up to Carol, taken out of the game by her question. "No thank you." She looked back to the others and saw her friend scoring for their team. Monica fist-pumped, and was back into the game, Carol's half-melted ice cream forgotten. "No one? It's strawberry!" She turned to the porch of Maria's office, where three moms were talking about one thing or another. "Ladies? Some ice cream?" They all shook their heads. "No, thank you, Carol." Carol shrugged. "More for me I guess." She picked up the spoon she'd discarded earlier and sat back in her chair, tub on her lap. She tuned out the women's conversation once again. Truthfully, she would rather be playing with Monica and her friends. It was a wonder they still had so much energy after winning an intense match as they had. But she was an adult, and in Maria's absence she had to entertain the mothers, she supposed. "It's really a lovely property you have here," one of the mothers – Carol couldn't remember her name, Emily maybe? - said. "Yes, it's so nice," another one – Karen, she was pretty sure – added. "So close to nature too. It must have been expensive." Carol shrugged. The previous owner had been a friend of Maria's father. When he'd moved out to get closer to his son, he'd basically given it to her. "I don't know. I wasn't really there when Maria bought it." "What do you mean?" Carol stopped pelting ice cream in her mouth, her spoon frozen in mid-air. So, maybe she'd never mentioned it wasn't technically her house. Well, it was, but not in any legal manner. "Oh, it's Maria's house. I just..." She just lived here, with her girlfriend and their daughter. "Well, it's a bit complicated. When I relocated here Maria said I could crash. You know, so one of us can take care of Monica while the other is at work and all..." She shoveled more ice cream in her mouth, hoping it would stop her from staying more weird, possibly incriminating things. She could already see it from here: these moms figuring out their secrets, Monica not understanding why all of her friends suddenly weren't allowed to hang out with her anymore. Maria would hate her for it. She would hate herself for it. It made her stomach churn. Suddenly, she didn't really want to eat ice cream anymore. It was only her very strong stomach, used to take a lot of Gs, which prevented her from running behind the small wooden cabin and puking her guts out. "It's very nice of her," the third woman – Nellie, right? - replied. "That's what best friends are for, I guess," Carol replied with as much fake chipperness as she could muster. "You're a bit like Monica's second mother," Karen said. Carol awkwardly laughed. "Yeah, you could say that." "It's good for her to have someone stable," Karen continued. Carol frowned. "What do you mean?" "Well, with her mother always at work, it must be hard for her. At least with you around, she has someone." Carol's entire body went from a panicked wreck to a boiling volcano, as she felt compelled to defend Maria: "She has someone, she has Maria. Sure, she works a lot, but she was a single mother for almost six years! She had to take care of Monica on her own, and she worked hard to make sure she never wanted for anything! And what about when I'm at work? When I leave for months? Maria's there for her! She's the only mother Monica ever needs and I'm not a replacement, at all." She crammed more ice cream in her mouth, exhaling through her nostrils. She almost regretted having invited everyone. She looked away from the women, and to Monica who was having fun with her friends. She sighed. She could suffer another hour for her. She could. It wasn't so bad. It was better than the annual aerial department meeting at SHIELD. It was. She looked back toward the women and saw a glint of something in Emily's eyes. Oh, that didn't seem good. "So, Carol, do you have someone in your life?" She choked on her ice cream and almost bit the spoon in half. She threw the tool out of her mouth and into the tub, and it hit the bottom with a rousing ting. After coughing out the ice cream she'd inhaled, she asked: "Hmm, why?" "I don't know. You're the only unmarried woman here and we need gossip. So, a man in your life?" Carol couldn't hold her chuckle. This was the kind of conversation she'd never thought she would have. Even her mother had never asked her a question like that. "Hum... no. There is no man in my life," she replied, trying to sound natural and uninterested but coming off extremely embarrassed. She must have sounded suspicious because Emily continued to stare at her with hope in her eyes. "Oh, come on! A beautiful woman like you must attract all the guys at work." She did indeed. But after the fourth rebuttal, the word must have spread that she wasn't interested because they'd stopped. Or maybe they'd seen her teasing Fury and they'd thought there was something between them. Had Fury become her accidental beard? The idea made her smile. Before Emily could jump into conclusion, she said: "Yes, all the guys are after me, but I think they're tired of me kicking them in the shin every time they bother me." Emily huffed. "You're no fun. How about Maria then? She doesn't have a hidden boyfriend either?" I hope not, Carol thought jokingly. "Nope. We've become expert at fending off coworkers." "Well it's really sad," Emily said as she crossed her arms. "Hum, Carol?" They turned to Nellie who pointed toward the ice cream table. "I think your cat is eating the ice cream." Indeed, Goose was seating on the table, nose deep in the tub of chocolate mint ice cream. Under normal circumstances, Carol would have let her do. Goose had eaten the Tesseract, there was nothing her stomach couldn't cope with. But for the sake of keeping up appearances, and also to get away from this conversation, she jumped to her feet and shouted: "Goose! Goose don't!" Goose looked up at her in confusion, but instead of scampering away, she stayed exactly where she was and plunged into the tub once again. Carol had to walk all the way to the table and pick up the flerken, taking her away from the table. "Bad Goose!" she said loudly. Then, she whispered in the cat's ear: "Thank you, Goose. I'll let you have the rest of the tub later if you go back in ten minutes and do it again." She placed the flerken down and hoped she had a sense of time. Then, she returned to seat with the ladies and she prayed Emily had dropped the subject. Before she could even ask what they were talking about, Karen declared: "Your cat is still on the table." Carol whirled around, and indeed, Goose was back in the tub of ice cream, placing her little paw in the treat and then licking it clean, before doing it again. Well, it wasn't ten minutes, but it was better than nothing. "Goddamn it. I'll put everything back in the freezer before she starts pawing the caramel swirl." "Do you need some help?" Emily declared. All three women were on their way to getting up but Carol gestured for them to stay put. "Oh no, don't worry, I got it! I'll be back in a flash." She rushed to the table once again, putting Goose down, and began pilling the tubs on top of one another. She must have looked ridiculous, with a pile of half a dozen almost empty tubs piled up on top of one another. She nimbly and hastily made her way to the kitchen. She placed them all on the kitchen counter and let out a long sigh of relief. Free from horrible women conversation for at least ten minutes. She began closing each tub with the first cover she picked up, not really caring whether it was the right one. Soon enough, she felt a ball of soft fur rubbing against her leg. She smiled. "Thank you again, Goose. Here." As promised, the placed the tub of ice cream beside Goose's food bowl, and Goose instantly went to lick the treat avidly. She was about to place the other tubs back in the freezer when she heard the front door opening. Maria walked in, dropping her traveling bag in the entrance and placing her jacket on the coat hanger. "I'm home." Carol looked behind her. If she closed the dining room door, no one in the garden would see more than a blur. She went for it. She walked quickly past the door, securely closed it behind her, then turned around. Maria had watched her do with confusion. In two strides, Carol closed the distance between them. She grabbed Maria's waist and pulled her closer, crashing their lips together. Maria was surprised at first, and even a bit worried about Carol displaying her affection so overtly when Monica could be just around the corner. She kissed her back eventually. They parted, and Maria asked: "Did you miss me?" Carol replied: "There are sixteen girls in our backyard and three very nosy mothers. Can you keep them company, I need a break." Her head came to rest against Maria's shoulder as she sighed. Maria rubbed her back affectionately. "So you didn't miss me, I see." "You're not funny." "You invited two dozen people for the afternoon while I was gone, and now I have to deal with it?" "Please. Pleeeaassee! I'm begging you! There are only so many times I can use Goose as an excuse to go away..." Maria sighed with a smile. "Fine. But you owe me, Danvers." "Anything. I will be your slave for as long as you want." "Well, maybe not a slave, but I'm sure I can find something." Carol straightened and wagged her eyebrows. "Something, hum?" Maria rolled her eyes and pushed her playfully. "Let's start by dealing with the guest in the garden, okay?" They walked back into the kitchen. Goose had almost finished the ice cream, and she didn't even bother looking up when the doors were pulled open. "How was the match anyway?" Maria asked. "They crushed them, obviously. Monica scored almost every single points!" "Really?" "Well, it's what I saw anyway." Maria assessed the damage quickly. Five big tubs of ice cream on the kitchen counter, plus the one Goose was finishing. A glance through the curtains told her everything she needed to know about the situation outside. "You have five minutes to come back out after I'm out. I'll try to pull the 'I'm tired and I want some time alone with my daughter' card, we'll see how it works." Carol nodded. It sounded like a fine battle plan. "Five minutes, and I come out saying 'Your parents call and they want us over for dinner'." Maria nodded. "Good idea. See you in five." They nodded once again to each other and Maria walked out, her seriousness washing away and being replaced by slight tiredness, which was probably just as real as Carol's. Carol placed the tubs back in the freezer quickly, barely having to shift around to make it work. She then watched through the window with a smile as Monica saw her mother and dropped the ball without a second thought to run hug her mother. The other mothers came to greet her as well, and they started talking, probably about where she'd been or what she'd done. Carol looked at the clock, counting the minutes down. She could see Maria slowly and subtly trying to make her point come across. Precisely five minutes later, she walked out and called out: "Maria, your mom just called. She wants us over for dinner!" Maria smirked at her, then asked: "What did you say?" "What was I supposed to say? It's your mother! She wants us over by seven and not a second later." Maria turned to the three mothers and said: "I'm sorry, I hope you don't mind, but my parents live a bit far and..." The other mothers shook their heads, and Emily replied: "Of course not, it's not a problem. We'll bring the girls home." "Thank you so much." Maria and Carol's eyes met, and Carol struggled not to smile maniacally.