Iunctio ut Redimio - Book Two - Part 1
by Kay

Feedback: kay101342@gmail.com
Time Span: Post IWTB; April 2008 - November 2008
Disclaimer: Characters that are not mine do not belong to me.


Thursday, April 3, 2008 
6:20 p.m.

Fox Mulder started to hit a pop fly to his left fielder, who was staring off
into the distance. "Claire, heads up. You're going to get hit."

William yelled from center field, "I got it." 

Mulder watched as the ball changed direction in mid air and flew  right
into his son's glove. "William, that's a nice trick, but you can't  cheat.
And you can't keep snagging balls meant for Claire."

Claire waved her hand at him. "S'okay. I don't mind." A car turned  into
the driveway. "Mom's home!"

"You promised I could bat before dinner, Dad," William ran to
where Mulder was standing. "Now Mom's home and she's gonna make
us wash up."

Scully reached the house and got out of the car. "Hey, Scully, wanna
play?" Mulder looked down at William. "Your mom played baseball
with me once. I taught her to bat."

William smiled. "Really? Hi, Mom. Watch me hit the ball."

Scully stood there and waited for William to get a hit. "That's great,
William. Hi, Claire. How was your day?"

Claire ran in to greet her. "Fine. Today, I studied about the sodium
potassium pump. How was your day?"

Scully smiled at the girl, who was already almost as tall as she was. The
idea that she was her daughter still hadn't completely sunk in.  "Long.
Very, very long. I am certainly glad to be home with you guys, though."

Claire gave her a shy smile. "Well, at least you're home a little early
tonight. Dad made dinner already. It's on the stove and just needs to be
heated up."

William threw his arms around her waist about that time. "Did you see
me, Mom? I hit it all the way to the fence almost!" Laying his head
against Scully's stomach, he smiled. "The baby likes it when you get
home, Mom." He rubbed his hand around on his mom's belly.

Scully shuddered. She still had not fully accepted William's powers. She
was getting to the point where his ability to control the movement of
objects did not scare her as much. The way he could "hear" the unborn
baby freaked her out the most. She also suspected that he and Claire
could communicate silently, and William claimed that Claire could talk to
the baby as well. Claire, however, refused to talk about it.

Twenty minutes later, they were all sitting down to dinner when
the intercom buzzed. "That's probably Kate." Scully had asked Kate
to handle her pregnancy since she wanted to keep it as much a secret
as possible. The only people who knew besides Mulder and the kids
were Scully's mom, Kate, Skinner, Reyes, and Doggett. Kate had
finally agreed to be her doctor and make all appointments as house
calls, though somewhat reluctantly. She hadn't seen Kate in a couple
of weeks, so she was coming by tonight to check Scully's progress
before heading back to D.C.

Mulder buzzed her through the gate and opened the front door.
Kate had an armload of stuff, but she dropped most of it in the
living room before coming in to sit at the table with them. The kids
were happy to see her. Kate usually came by at least once a week,
but she'd been out of pocket a lot lately. She had brought a new DVD
for each of them. They all listened as William and Claire told
lively stories from the past few weeks. Mulder noticed that Kate was a
lot quieter than usual. "What's wrong with you, Carter? You've not
even insulted me tonight AND you aren't eating my cooking," he
lamented from the other end of the table.

Kate shook her head and yawned. "Just tired. I have a lot going on this
week." She looked over at Scully. "Dana, listen, next week is my last
week in Richmond. I'm turning over my last few patients to another
doctor. I can't keep driving back and forth two or three days a week.
I'm too exhausted to keep it up. I put my house there on the market a
couple of weeks ago."

Scully widened her eyes. "Wow. You've been driving back and
forth for, what? Over eight years?"

"I know. I can't even imagine what it'll be like not to spend that many
hours driving each week. Anyway, I wanted you to know since it won't
be like I can just stop by as easily as I do now." Normally, she came
over to see the kids or check on Scully any time she was working in
Richmond or heading back from Richmond.

Claire wrinkled her eyebrows. "So we'll see you even less?"   "Claire, I'll
still come to visit you guys. And I promise I'll do better than I have the
last couple of weeks. I'll try to get here at least once a week, and if not,
definitely every other weekend." Kate wasn't sure why the girl had
bonded to her so quickly when they first met. "Besides, it won't be long
and your mom will be staying home full time until after the baby is born.
That will be fun, right?"

The little girl nodded. "Well, yeah."

After dinner, the kids went to play upstairs in Claire's room and Scully
and Kate did dishes while Mulder worked in his office. Scrubbing a pan,
Kate asked, "So, what did you guys decide about the house? Are you
going to add on to this one, or find something closer to D.C.?"

"Well, we probably should be closer to D.C. now that Mulder is
consulting for the Bureau. I guess once I stop working in Richmond, it
won't matter where we live. I really like this house, but I know we can't
fit another kid in it for very long."

Kate laughed. It was pretty close quarters already. "Anything new with
Claire?"

Scully nodded. "Actually, Mulder told me earlier that Skinner has some
information he wants to discuss. He's coming out later."

"Oh? What time?"

Scully shrugged. "I don't know. Probably around eight. Are you still
avoiding him?"

Kate glared. "Dana, we've already been through this. I need time to sort
through things."

"It's been two months already. Mulder said he asks about you almost
every time they speak; you could just say hi when he gets here. Besides,
how long can you 'sort'?"

"I have ten years of issues to 'sort', Dana. It's going to take a little while.
I did sit down with Nic a couple of weeks ago, though."

Scully made her famous wow face. "You're kidding. How'd that go?" 

 Kate lifted a shoulder. "Not bad, actually. I feel okay about him. I can
say I am definitely over Nic Cruz. I don't have hard feelings towards
him, but I don't want to be close friends, either. We want two very
different things in life. Anyway, I think I can see him now in passing,
though, and not get upset. That's a start."

"Indeed it is."

"Dana, listen, I've been thinking. You're about to quit working and stay
home for at least five or six months, right? Well, I'm really trying to
simplify my life right now. I have several research projects in the works -
some with pretty big grant money attached to them. But I'm also in the
middle of trying to open a free clinic in D.C. The timing is bad for me
personally, but the money and facility situation are perfect...it's something
I've always wanted to do...and I have a few other doctors on board. I
can't really pass it up. So...what I was thinking was this. You're not
going to be happy sitting and doing nothing for several months. I have to
hire another doctor to do one of two things: some of my work at
the practice right now or someone to help with research...but some of
my research I don't trust just anyone with. I could pay you what I would
pay another doctor or researcher and we could bring the equipment you
need here. You could work completely from home. I know it wouldn't
be as exciting as what you've been doing, but it would keep you
occupied and paid for a while - at least until you're ready to start
practicing again."

Scully was nodding. "Kate, that would be...phenomenal. I've
been worried about being home with no...medical work...or work
period...to do.  Also, I know we need a bigger place, so it would be
great to keep making money. But I don't want you doing this just
because you think we need the money or because you feel sorry for me
sitting out here in the middle of nowhere going slowly mad."

Kate rolled her eyes. "I desperately need someone I can trust to work
with me. I can't oversee the running of my father's company, my private
practice, my research, and the new clinic by myself. I'm basically
begging YOU to help ME. But, Dana, if I realized you were worried
about money, I would just make you take the money." She saw the look
on Scully's face. "Look, I have no family and have made very few real
friends through the years. You're the closest thing I have to family.
I've never had to worry about money, and I don't want you to have
to either. You have enough to worry about without that. You
decide what you want to do about the house situation, and let me worry
about the upfront money. It will help both of us because when my house
in Richmond sells, I'll need to reinvest it, and you won't have to
worry about interest on a loan. This way, you can be sure the house
will be big enough to get all three of the kids all raised up
without stepping all over each other. Plus, you really need a guest room
for when your mom stays. I'm serious. I'll hire someone else if you won't
be reasonable about it and accept the offer."

Scully hesitated. She knew Kate was serious. Either she took
the monetary offer or Kate wouldn't let her work with her at
all. "Okay....but do you really think that I can handle the research
you're talking about?"

Kate scoffed. "You're kidding, right? You have no idea what the medical
community is saying about you these days, do you? You're like, Wonder
Scully. Anyway, you saw your share of weird viruses and genetic
mutants through the years. I think you're more than qualified. If you like
the work, you can stay as long as you want. Then, you'll still have a
flexible job when you have three kids to take care of."

Scully lowered her voice. "Kate, you know how we talked
about studying William's genetics in more detail? About how maybe
his genetic makeup was important to unraveling some of the
mysteries? Well, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense to
me. If he does possess immunity, then the answer has to be inside him.
But I don't want anyone else studying him....who better than us? No one
- not even Mulder - even needs to know about it right now. Do
you think I can work on that from here, too? I also was thinking
that when the baby comes, we can study her as well - maybe her stem
cells will hold new information. I've actually been thinking about this
a lot, Kate, and I just wasn't sure how to approach the situation since I
knew I couldn't afford the equipment to do it. I'd feel okay about it as
long as I could control the shots."

Kate nodded, surprised Scully had come around so quickly. She
had hoped her friend would see how necessary it was to study William
- and the other kids - in greater detail. "Dana, wouldn't it be amazing if
we could beat the impending colonization quietly with science? If that
day four years from now could just pass by without everyone else having
so much as a hint about what almost happened?"

Scully raised an eyebrow. "You have no idea how much I would like to
believe that's possible."

Kate pursed her lips. "I do know. Mulder's going to search for a solution
in his own way. If the day came where he had to go out there and play
superhero extraordinaire, I have no doubt he would be up to the task.
However, if there is even a chance that we can avoid the infection of the
mass population with that virus, we have to try, right? You told
me yourself that at one point there was a vaccine. What if we could find
it?"

Scully closed her eyes. "Kate, slow down. I'm in this one hundred
percent, I promise. But I don't want to get my hopes up too high. I
mean, even if we could find it, how would we figure out a way to
vaccinate the entire population in less than four years? And even then,
that may only slow them down, not stop them."

"I've thought about it a lot, Dana. Think about this: how are the scariest
viruses spread?"

Scully rubbed her forehead. "They're airborne."

"Exactly...what if we could not only find the vaccine but figure out a way
to administer it through the air? If viruses can spread through the
air...why couldn't we engineer a vaccine to do it?"

"Whoa, Kate, that's a big, big what if. I'm not even sure a vaccine CAN
work that way." But Scully was quickly warming to the idea. Kate could
see it in her eyes - there was a new spark there, an excitement that a
scientist got when they truly believed in the cause they were fighting for.

"I know how it sounds, Dana. It's just an idea. But if you can suspend
your disbelief momentarily...it COULD be possible, right? Hell, the
government's probably already doing it in some form or fashion."

Scully bit her lip. They both knew that advances in science occurred in
leaps - one day an idea was absurd, and the next, everyone was
wondering why they didn't think of it. "Well, it could be possible." Scully
also knew that while she was meticulous enough to conduct any
research, Kate had the imagination and foresight necessary to push
beyond the current scientific frontier. Together, they may just be able to
succeed. And if they didn't, at least she would know she had done all
she could. "Okay, we'll start working.  But we don't tell Mulder yet.
We'll let him think - just for now - that I'm only helping you with your
research. He doesn't tell me everything about his cases, anyway, and I
don't want him getting his hopes up too high." 

Kate nodded, relieved and excited. She knew that Scully would be
more comfortable if she could keep it a secret and control the research
herself. "I'm going to let you deal with Mulder. You talk to him. We'll
figure out where to put your makeshift lab as soon as you're ready."
Kate looked at the clock. "Okay, ready for me to do your checkup?"

Scully nodded. "Bedroom?"

"Yeah. Hey, I brought a portable sonogram machine. I'm going to just
leave it here so I don't have to lug it back and forth. I figured now would
be a good time to do one. Do you want to let the kids see?"

"Sure. I'll get Mulder if you'll call the kids down."

As they all gathered around the bed, Claire was clearly beside herself.
Kate let her try to find the baby's heartbeat as she measured Scully's
stomach. "Dana, you aren't going to make it much longer without people
realizing you're pregnant. I don't know if you'll make it two more
weeks."

Finally, they hooked up the sonogram equipment. Kate told Claire
she could move the lens around to find the baby. William pouted, so
they let him put the gel on his mom's stomach. He laughed when she
sucked in because it was cold. The machine was a new one, so it was
pretty high definition. Mulder looked amazed. "I can see tiny feet."

Scully smiled at the look of wonder on his face. "Claire, can you find the
baby's head and face?" The little girl stuck her tongue between her lips
as she moved the lens around.

"Oh, there's a hand. There! I see the baby's head!" 

Mulder crowded in to look. "I didn't think they were this
realistic looking. I thought they were just blurs."

Kate shook her head. "Well, these things have come a long way in the
eight years since Dana was pregnant with William. Want to know the
sex?"

William looked at her like she was crazy. "I already TOLD you it's a girl.
You are so silly, Kate."

Scully looked at Kate. "Is he right?" 

Kate nodded. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure." 

Claire was in heaven. She had recently decided she wanted to be a
doctor like her mom and Kate, and she studied all the time. Scully,
however, was getting restless just lying there. "All right. Let's wrap this
up." 

Kate wiped the goo off of her friend's stomach, then shooed the kids out
and upstairs. "Come on, guys. Let's visit for a little while before I have to
head out." 

Mulder leaned over and rubbed Scully's stomach before she pulled her
shirt down. He looked so full of wonder that Scully couldn't help feeling
closer to him than she had in a while.  "You're really excited about this
aren't you, Mulder?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Aren't you?" Sitting down beside her on the bed,
he put a palm on her belly. It amazed him that his hand could still wrap
around the entire swell of her abdomen. "It's not tight like William was
when I first felt him."

"Mulder, when I'm eight months like I was then, believe me, it will feel
like a basketball."

He was suddenly serious. "So, are you all right, Scully? Really? I worry
about you a lot."

She shrugged. "I guess I'm just...nervous...all the time. Even if this were
a normal pregnancy, forty-four is a scary age for having a baby."

He nodded. "Anything I can do to make it easier, just tell me, Scully."

She put her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. "You already do
more than your share around here now. Cooking, cleaning, kids..."

He kissed her cheek. "I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Her lips curved upwards. "Happy as a clam, huh?"

"You know it."

"Any idea what Skinner's going to say?" She was still worried about
Claire's situation, even though she had finally settled down about William
- who was legally theirs again, thank God.

He heard the intercom buzz. "Guess we're about to find out." 

Mulder opened the door to let Skinner in. "Come on in to my office."

Skinner looked around. "Where are the kids?"

Mulder rolled his eyes, certain that Skinner had recognized the car out
front. "Upstairs playing with Kate, I think." 

Scully joined them in the office. "So, what did you find out?" She noticed
that he was carrying a file folder.

He sighed. "All right. Here's what has happened: someone has basically
come forward claiming that Claire ran away from a residential home for
orphans." He saw the look Scully was giving him. "I know. It's crap but
just hear me out. Basically, you're being offered a deal...and given the
circumstances, I think you should jump at it."

Mulder cut in. "What deal?"

Skinner worked his jaw.  "They're willing to let you 'adopt' Claire if we
stop looking into the facility where she was raised as well as how she
really came to be."

Scully scoffed. "That's absurd. She's our biological daughter. We have a
right to know how and why she was created. They can't take her from
us if we don't play by their rules."

Skinner shook his head. "They can, and they will, Scully. Think hard
about this. Right now, you don't have any rights at all to that child. I'm
not sure what will happen if we don't agree to their rules. I know
you won't be allowed to keep her, you would probably never see her
again, and in all likelihood, they would kill her. You're being given
more of a chance than I ever thought you would. I don't see how you
could do anything but take it."

Mulder looked at his former boss for a long moment. "So we'll never
know what went on in that facility - exactly what they were hiding.
They're only willing to let us keep her on their terms - and probably only
because they don't believe she has any special powers." He was so sick
of dead ends and cover-ups and almosts.

Skinner nodded. "Yes. It's a very thinly disguised threat. You get out of
line, they'll kill her. You do things their way, and maybe they'll let you
keep her."

Scully narrowed her eyes. "How can we agree to that?"

Mulder shot her an incredulous look. "How can we not? She's our
daughter. We have as much responsibility to keep her safe as we do
William."

"I have the 'adoption papers' with me," Skinner told him, noticing that
Scully still seemed to be holding out.

Mulder gave a flick of his chin. "Can we discuss it for a minute?"

Skinner nodded. "Yeah, sure." He went out into the living room and
stood at the end of the stairs, listening to the sound of a television
upstairs and William giggling every few minutes. He heard Claire shush
the boy a time or two. Quietly, he crept up the stairs and peered into the
room where the sound was. All three were on the bed watching a movie
on the desktop computer. Claire was stretched out on her stomach,
propped up on her elbows; Kate was curled up on her side; William
was leaning back against her, using her as a pillow. William's little dog,
Togy, made a snuffing noise at Skinner.

Claire looked over at him in the doorway and put her fingers to her lips.
"Sshh. Kate's sleeping," she whispered.

Skinner looked at Kate's back for several seconds, smiled at Claire, and
whispered, "Okay. Sorry."

William looked back at him and waved. "We're watching a movie
she brought us, but we don't mind if she sleeps cause she already
saw it," he said in a stage whisper.

Skinner walked over to the bed and looked down at Kate's hair
spread out on the pillow, her fist tucked against her cheek. He
reached down and touched her hair gently. William grinned and copied
him by patting Kate's hair. The little boy then dropped a kiss on
his godmother's cheek. She stretched and wrapped one arm around
his midsection, rubbing his tummy lightly. He giggled and turned
his attention back to the movie. Afraid Kate would open her eyes and
see him there, Skinner backed away quickly. Downstairs, the door
to Mulder's office was open again, so Skinner walked to the
doorway. Mulder looked at him. "Okay. We'll sign. We want her to
legally be ours any way we can get her."

"How safe do you think she'll be?" Scully asked quietly.

Skinner shrugged. "Well, I can't say for certain, but I feel like she'll be all
right as long as we don't pursue the search for the other kids who were
at that facility."

Claire claimed that Scully was not listed as egg donor for any of
the other kids who had been at the facility through the years, and
Scully desperately hoped that was true. She hated to think there could
be other children out there she'd never know about. Shaking off an eerie
feeling, she turned to Skinner. "So, what's going on upstairs?" Her too
casual voice let him know that she knew why he went up there.

He looked a little embarrassed. "Well, the kids are watching a DVD, but
Kate's asleep."

Mulder laughed. "Yeah, our house seems to knock her out every time
she comes here. She likes to snuggle down with William."

Scully nodded and yawned. "Who doesn't? I think I'm going to take a
shower and steal him away from her. See you later, Walter."

Mulder walked the other man out. "Listen, thanks for all you've done to
help us with Claire. I owe you."

Skinner shook his head. "No, you don't. I'm just glad it worked out as
well as it did." He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "So, does Kate seem
okay to you, Mulder?"

"Well, you know, the excellent judge of women that I am...she just
seems a little run down. Scully's the one you should ask, you know.
Kate and I aren't exactly BFF's." Skinner glared at him and got into his
SUV. Mulder couldn't get used to this personal side of Skinner, no
matter how hard he tried. He shook his head as he watched his former
boss head back down the driveway. 


Thursday, June 12 
5:35 p.m.

"I was in the building, and I thought I'd stop in to see if you were still
here."

Skinner looked up from a file he was reading when he recognized
the voice. Kate was leaning against the doorway of his office. Other than
that one brief moment at Scully's when she was asleep, he hadn't seen
her in four months. Even though she was wearing long flowing pants, she
somehow looked thinner to him than she had back in the winter. Her
dark hair was longer than the last time he had seen her, and he noticed
that the reddish highlights the summer sun always made in it were already
present. Today she was wearing it wavy and a little wild, which would
probably surprise most people to know was his favorite. Sunglasses sat
on top of her head. "Hi," he said softly.

Kate had her arms crossed over her chest. For some reason, she
was nervous at seeing him. She noted that he looked tired and a
little pale for this time of year and then she smiled at him, not sure
what to say. "Hi." The silence lasted so long that it was starting to get
awkward. She took a deep breath. This was a lot harder than
she thought it would be. For some reason, though she hardly ever
cried, she felt tears fill her eyes. Mortified, not wanting him to see
that she was upset, she backed up. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come."
Turning quickly, she started back towards the hall. 

"Kate. Wait, come back." Skinner stood up and caught her at the outer
office door. She wouldn't give him her eyes, and he knew then
that something was very wrong. Kate always made eye contact; that
was one of the qualities that made her personality seem so electric.
"It's okay. I'm glad you came." He squeezed her elbow gently.
"Kate, look at me." Finally, she looked up at him. A single tear
had escaped one eye. He gently wiped it away. "What's wrong?"

She blinked and several more tears rolled down her cheeks. "Oh,
damn it," she muttered, covering both eyes with her hand. She
took several deep breaths, finally getting herself under control.
"It's okay. I'm all right." Embarrassed, she wiped the tears away. "I
am so sorry." 

He let go of her arm, and they stood in silence again for a long time.
"Are you on your way out or in?" he finally asked.

"Out. I've been down in Monica's office."

He nodded. "Then I'll walk you to your car."

She gave him a small smile. "That would be nice." Once outside,
her head cleared a little bit. "Would you like to walk a little? I
know you're not really dressed for it, but..."

"Sure." For about fifteen minutes, they walked, neither saying anything.
They headed towards the Mall since he knew Kate liked walking down
there. Finally, he broke the silence. "So, what's been going on with you?"

"Well, I sold my house in Richmond."

He was surprised. "Really? You always liked that house. Did you get an
apartment for the nights you're there?"

She shook her head. "No. I'm not practicing there at all anymore. Now,
I just have my office here. I don't know if you've heard or not, but I've
also been working to get a free clinic open. We just opened the doors a
couple of weeks ago. There are three other doctors who also volunteer.
So, I guess I've been pretty busy."

He had no doubt she had been keeping busy. It was like she
wasn't happy unless she was occupied all the time. "You look kind of
thin. Are you making time to eat in between all of this science
and humanitarianism?"

She laughed it off. "Believe it or not, I have a lot more free time now that
I'm not running back and forth between Richmond and D.C. all the time.
How about you? What have you been up to?"

He shrugged. "Just the usual. Nothing new or different."

She looked at him with a critical eye now that they were out in the
sunlight. "You look good, Walter, but you look really tired. I can tell
you're not sleeping well. Maybe you should see someone." She knew he
wouldn't, though, no matter how many times she suggested it.

"All a doctor will do is give me drugs for it."

Kate touched his arm. "I didn't mean that kind of doctor. I meant maybe
you should talk to someone. You always slept fine with me, so it's not
a physical issue."

A little angry at her for suggesting he see a shrink, he muttered, "Just
leave it alone, Kate."

"Fine. Whatever." Near the Washington Monument, she kicked off
her shoes to feel the grass on her feet. "So, I heard down in the bullpen
that you've been dating someone."

He cut his eyes over to her. "Yeah. Just in the past few weeks."

"Well, that's good. Anyone I'd know?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so. She's a CPA. Her name is Elena." 

"Ah. Is it serious?"

"Kate, I've only known her three weeks." He sucked in a breath. "What
about you? Are you seeing anyone?"

Kate stopped abruptly and looked at him strangely. "Walter, I told you
back in February that I was going to take some time to be alone and to
figure out what I needed. That's what I've been doing. Being alone."

He looked into her green eyes, surprised to see the tears back. "Kate,
what is it?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing. I'm just not having a very good day. I
have to go, okay?" She slipped her shoes back on and started heading
back. When they reached the Hoover building, she turned to him
awkwardly. "Thanks for walking with me. I needed the fresh air."

Skinner stopped her by putting a hand on her side. "Aren't you going to
tell me what your four months of soul searching turned up? Have you
figured out what you need in life?"

Kate looked at his familiar brown eyes and felt like throwing herself into
his arms. She doubted he would appreciate that, though. "I can tell you
one thing."

He kneaded her side gently, not wanting to let her go for fear he may not
see her for another four months. "What's that, Kate?"

She stepped a little closer to him, and crossed her arm over her
midsection so that her hand rested on top of his. "For almost ten years,
you were in my life - in some form or another - on an almost daily basis.
Rarely a day went by when I didn't at least talk to you, or send you a
message. I know you've moved on, and I do respect that, but Walter,
I...I need us to be friends again. I don't want to spend the rest of my life
without talking to you. I know we can't be as close of friends as before,
because that wouldn't be fair to the woman in your life...but...I..."

He cut her off. "Kate, I just don't know if I can be your friend."

She was at a loss for words. "Oh. Well...I'm -"

"Walter," a voice interrupted. 

Kate looked up to see someone coming towards them on the
sidewalk. The woman had sleek blonde hair, just above the shoulders.
She was tall, had a nice, curvy figure, and was wearing a perfectly
tailored pantsuit.

"Walter, hi!"

Kate wrinkled her nose in distaste, watching the other
woman's approach. She would rather walk barefoot through snow than
wear a suit. "Is that Elena?"

Skinner looked uncomfortable. "Yeah. We're supposed be going to
dinner. She's a little early."

Kate nodded. "She looks like your type. I'm glad you're happy, Walter.
Have a good evening."

He took her by the arm. "Kate, wait."

She pulled away. "I have to go. Please. I really don't want to meet her -
not today, okay?" She hurried back towards where her Prius was
parked. From behind her, she heard a woman's voice say, "Who was
that, Walter?" And she could have sworn she heard him reply, "No one."

7:45 p.m.

Skinner smiled as Elena recounted her day. Truthfully, he was
having trouble paying attention tonight. Seeing Kate had put him
off center, but there was something else. Something was nagging in
the back of his mind, and he just couldn't place it. He felt his
phone vibrate and checked it discreetly. When Dana Scully's name
showed up on the caller ID, he panicked a little. He looked up at Elena.
"I'm sorry. I need to take this." Walking briskly towards the door,
he answered, "Skinner."

"Walter, hi, it's Dana. Listen, I just wanted to make sure Kate was with
you. I've been trying to reach her for the past couple of hours, but she's
not answering."

Confused, Skinner replied, "Well, she showed up at my office a
couple of hours ago, wanting to take a walk. She's not with me now,
though. I'm in the middle of dinner, Scully. Can I call you back?"

There was silence on the other end. "Um, no. That's okay. I tried to
get her to come out here, but she said she had always spent this
evening with you ..."

Finally, realization dawned on him. All day something had felt like he
was forgetting something. Now he knew what. "Oh, my God. I forgot
what day it was." He shook his head. "I'm sure it really threw her off that
I didn't remember. She was really upset for the hour I was with her. I
thought it...never mind. Listen, I have to finish up here, and then I'll find
her." He looked up as Elena stuck her head outside. 

"Walter, is everything okay?"

Scully was taken aback on the other end. "Are you on a date? Tonight,
of all nights? Jesus, Walter. Just forget it."

"Scully, just let me call you back in a half hour, please. I'm sure
everything is fine." 

She cut him off. "No. Seriously. Leave it alone. Just leave her alone."
She hung up on him.

Skinner looked down at the phone that had gone dead. He looked
back at Elena. "No. Something has come up. I have to take care of
it." He saw the look on her face. Too many times in only three weeks,
he had brushed her off for something else - usually work. This
dating business was not easy. "I'm so sorry. Let's finish our dinner
first, though, okay?" Back inside, he tried to focus and give her
his attention, but his mind kept wandering to Kate. How could he
have forgotten? That explained the tears. Well, it really didn't.
She usually didn't cry, even on this day...well, at least not in front of him.
But that did explain the silences. June 12th. Her daughter's birthday.
Emma would have been thirteen today. Ever since Emma
had disappeared, Skinner had spent the evening of the twelfth with
Kate. No matter how far apart they were living, he had always made
sure his calendar was free and that he was with her, wherever she was.
He couldn't believe he had forgotten. Emma Carter Cruz had
disappeared from her paternal grandparents' house during the night ten
years earlier. It had been her third birthday, and the first one she hadn't
spent with her mother. He had been asked to head up the search
because Emma's father was a fellow agent. The case had never been
solved, the little girl had never been found, and Skinner had always
somewhat blamed himself. He looked up to see Elena giving him a very
impatient look.

"Walter, you haven't heard a word I've said." The perfectly manicured
woman tucked her bobbed hair behind one ear.

"Elena, I'm sorry. The phone call rattled me." He patted her hand gently.
His heart just wasn't in this right now.

"Talk to me, Walter. You never talk to me about work. You're
always being called away, and I never know what's going on." He didn't
like her wording - if you'd only known each other three weeks, should
you really use words like always and never?

"Elena, most people at the Bureau learn to leave the work at the office
or the crime scene." When he had been married, he had never talked to
Sharon about work.  Of course, that hadn't worked out so well. He
realized, though, that he had never felt the need to protect Kate from
work related topics. They had always talked about cases like colleagues
instead of lovers. Maybe that had been the difference. Since she
consulted for the Bureau, he never felt like he had to protect her from
the gory details. She could handle the details impartially. Also, she
knew how important his job was to him - that he would drop everything
for a case if he had to. Likewise, he had seen her walk away in
the middle of lunch if the hospital called her. They both understood that
about each other's career. He supposed that most people just didn't
grasp the urgency, the commitment. Of course, that didn't explain why
his and Kate's relationship had never progressed beyond weekly lunches
and him sleeping over at her house a couple of times a week. Maybe,
though, that was all people like them were capable of. He shook his
head as if to clear it.

Elena pursed her lips. "So you're saying this is how it would always be."

He sighed and signaled for the check. He was just too old to be going
through these motions again, trying to be someone he wasn't to make
another person happy. He couldn't mold himself to fit into someone
else's life. "Yes. And you deserve something more normal than this, I
know. But I don't know if I could ever give it to you. I'm just trying to be
honest with you, Elena. This is how my life is much of the time." He left
out the fact that this time he was leaving for personal reasons. He
remembered overhearing Kate telling someone about the investment
banker she had dated a couple of times after they had called off the
physical part of their relationship. Kate had been bored to tears by him,
and he had not understood her need to answer her phone even during
dinner. He suddenly thought Elena would be perfectly suited for
someone like that. He was starting to understand why divorce was
rampant among law enforcement officers. Skinner didn't know what he
had even been thinking in the first place. "I'll call you tomorrow, all
right?"

8:15 p.m. 

Scully hung up the phone. "Monica says she went by Kate's and
that she's not at home."

Mulder looked up at her. "I'm sure she's fine. Maybe she needs the time
alone, Scully."

She pushed her long red hair off of her shoulder. "She's already spent
too much time alone the past few months."

The intercom beeped, and Mulder went to answer. When he came
back, he rubbed Scully's ever expanding belly. "Kate is coming down
the driveway now, so you can stop worrying."

William hopped up from where he was playing Lego's in the
floor. "Kate's coming?" He danced around happily.

Scully swatted at his bottom as he twirled by her. The little boy threw his
arms around his mother, hugging her impulsively. "Kate is not having a
good day, man, and she probably didn't bring you anything. So don't
pester her."

William ignored her, flung open the door, and ran out onto the
porch. They had put a dead bolt high up where he couldn't reach it, but
it hadn't really helped. It hadn't occurred to them at the time that
he could flip it easier than Scully could. What a waste that had
been. Kate always brought him something when she came to visit. It was
a never ending source of contention between her and Scully.
Kate ignored her friend's protests and continued spoiling William
every chance she had. As her car came to a stop, William raced out
to greet her. He jumped into her arms. Kate dropped raspberry
kisses all over his little face. His giggles made her heart ache. "Oh, that is
just what I needed tonight, big guy." She put him down and pulled
something out of her pocket. "Check these out." She showed him the
sizzler magnets she had brought him. They made noise as they bounced
against each other.

"Awesome," William tried it, making a lot of noise. He laughed
when Kate took them and stuck one on each side of his nose. He took
them off and tried it on his hand, too. "That's cool. Thanks, Kate."

Kate looked up to see Scully on the porch. "Hey. That belly has grown
in just a week. Maybe we should check again to make sure there aren't
two in there after all," Kate teased. As she got to the top of the stairs,
she rubbed the stomach gently. It drove Scully crazy, but she didn't
complain since Kate was now her doctor. The baby was due in
September. Since Monica Reyes had delivered William all by herself,
they had decided she should also be present for this one, too.

Scully rolled her eyes. "Please don't joke about that, Kate." Although it
was a little awkward, she put her arms around her friend and hugged her
tightly.

Kate pulled away. "What was that all about?" She noticed tears
in Scully's eyes.

Scully shrugged. "I worry about you, Kate."

Kate smiled wanly. "I'm going to be just fine, Day. Walter was busy, and
I knew you wouldn't like it if I spent the evening alone...so here I am.
Entertain me." She walked into the house and was greeted with
mouthwatering smells. "Oh, I smell cookies." Mulder had a radio apart
on the table, trying to put it back together. "You've got the wires
crossed," Kate pointed out as she walked by. "That's why it won't
work."

Mulder glared at her from over his glasses. "Know it all. Cookies are on
the stove."

She smirked as he switched the wires when he thought she
wasn't looking. "Maybe later. Where's Claire?"

"Where do you think? Upstairs in her room." Kate started up the stairs.
She knocked on the door and pushed it open a little. Claire was lying on
the bed, listening to her iPod and thumbing through a magazine.

"Hi." Kate sat on the bed beside her. Claire smiled and sat up. 

"Kate! I didn't know you were coming." Kate looked at the pretty little
girl, reaching out to touch the reddish brown curls.

"Well, I was out driving and my car just made its way here," she told the
child. "Tell me what's new with you." Kate listened contentedly as Claire
told her all about what she had been studying that week, about how her
Gramma Scully was teaching her to use the sewing machine, and how
Mulder was teaching her to play basketball.

Kate talked to the teenager for a half hour. Her heart ached
knowing that had things gone differently ten years ago, Emma and Claire
could have been sitting here together talking to her right now. Her
eyes teared up without warning. Claire stopped and touched her face,
as if she were the adult and Kate were the child. Kate was
always amazed by Claire's empathy. "I'm sorry. Is talking to me making
you too sad tonight?"

Kate shook her head. "No, sweetie. Talking to you was just what
I needed. I was just thinking how great it would have been if Emma
and you could have been friends like your mom and I are. Speaking
of your mom, how are you guys doing these days?" Scully and Claire
had gotten off to a rocky start. In fact, Mulder had developed a
rapport with the little girl a whole lot quicker than Scully had.
Things were working themselves out now that Scully felt fairly secure
that the little girl was going to be a permanent part of her life.

Claire broke into a big smile. "Really good, Kate. I think she's really
starting to like me." 

Kate nodded and kissed the top of her head as she stood up. "That is
wonderful, Claire. But I think she has always liked you - I think she is
just now starting to relate to you. Oh yeah, I brought you something."

"You don't have to bring me something every time you come like you do
William. I'm old enough to understand." 

"Well, I have thirteen years of spoiling to make up for." She winked as
she tossed the little girl an iTunes gift card and a new tube of lip gloss.

Downstairs, Mulder was helping William build Lego Atlantis.
Scully looked at Kate. "Walk?"

Kate nodded. "Sure." They walked out towards the woods and the
pond. Kate finally spoke. "Walter's seeing someone. He's with her now."

Scully nodded. "I know. I called him earlier to check on you because
you weren't answering and realized I interrupted a date."

"Yeah. My phone died, and I can't find my car charger." She kicked at
the ground. "We did walk and talk a little earlier, though." Scully waited.
"I told him I needed us to be friends again. He said he couldn't." She
took a deep breath. "Then, when we were saying goodbye, the girlfriend
- or whatever - walks up." Kate's voice cracked. "And I don't think he
even remembered today was Emma's birthday."

Scully rubbed her friend's back. "I'm sorry, Kate. I know how much he's
always meant to you, especially on days like today. In time, you can
probably be friends again."

Kate shrugged miserably. "It's my fault. I brought it all on myself."

Scully couldn't really argue with her on that point. "Well, I'm always here
for you."

Kate nodded. "Yeah, I know; and I do appreciate it. Believe it or not, I
also stopped by to see Nic today. He seemed really down, but I
couldn't handle being with him for very long. I felt like I should invite him
to do something, but I just couldn't."

"I'm sure it helped him just to see you today. It's hard for me, on
Missy's birthday, to be around mom a lot...but I think it always helps her
to see me for a little while." No matter how many years passed,
Scully still always felt as responsible for her sister's death as Mulder
did for his sister's disappearance.

They finished skirting the pond and headed back towards the
house, silent for most of the walk. "Have you had dinner? We have
some leftover lasagna."

Kate shook her head. "No thanks. If you don't mind, I think I want to
head out." She went inside to say goodbye.

Mulder looked up from Atlantis after Kate left. "Skinner called."

Scully nodded. "What'd you tell him?"

"That Kate was here and that she was fine. He still wants you to call him,
though."

Scully took the phone into the kitchen. Skinner didn't greet her at all
when he answered. "Can I talk to her?"

"Walter, she left already. Just leave her alone. She's hurt that you forgot,
she's bewildered that you had a date tonight, and she's devastated that
after ten years she still doesn't know what happened to her daughter."

He sighed. "She's not answering her phone."

"The battery died. That's why I couldn't get her earlier. I'm asking you to
leave her alone tonight. Between you and me, Kate's not doing all that
great, Walter. She has finally gotten over Nic, and now she needs to
get over you. She said you told her you didn't want to be her
friend anymore, and while I understand your side in this, Kate didn't
need that today of all days." Scully's temper was rising out of
concern for her friend.

"I didn't realize what day it was. And I didn't tell her I didn't WANT to
be her friend; I said I didn't know if I could be her friend." Skinner was
aggravated, too. "Besides, you're only seeing things from her side."

"Walter, you of all people should realize that friends - true friends - are
more important than anything else. If you're seeing someone who comes
between you and your friends, that person isn't worth the effort."

"She walked out on me, Dana. Look, I'm not going to argue with
you about this right now."

"I don't want to argue, either. Just leave her alone tonight. Let her see
that she can get through this night without you."

His voice sounded husky. "I can't leave her alone. You have no right to
ask me to. She sought me out today. That must mean she needed
me tonight." He hung up, not wanting to hear anymore. He gave
Kate time to get home, then called her phone again. Still no
answer. After an hour and a half, he gave in and went over to her house.
She lived in a three level brownstone in Georgetown. Her car
was outside, but she didn't answer the door or phone. He debated for
a while, giving serious thought to letting himself in, but something told him
not to. Not knowing what else to do, he sat down on the steps outside
her front door. After another hour, an SUV pulled up.

Kate got out of the passenger side, while Reyes hopped out of
the driver's side. Skinner noted that Kate looked sleepy and
wobbly. When she noticed him on the stairs, she said, "Oh, brother.
Please don't tell me that your new girlfriend and I are neighbors."
She unlocked her front door and went inside, leaving him standing
outside with Monica.

Reyes looked at him, cutting off the lecture she knew was coming.
"I swear she only had two glasses of wine. I don't think she's eaten much
today, though, so it went straight to her head. Why don't you call her
tomorrow? I'll make sure she gets settled tonight."

Skinner shook his head. "No. I'll take care of it." Reyes
looked uncertain. "Go home, Monica."

Finally, Reyes nodded. "Okay, but I'll call to check on her in an hour."

Skinner waited until she drove away, then he went inside and closed and
locked up the front door. He could hear her shower running upstairs. He
looked in the fridge. Almost empty. That was weird. Kate always had
food. She loved to cook. He managed to scrape together some pasta
and made a quick sauce to go on it out of olive oil, garlic, and basil.
When he heard her come out of the bathroom, he went up to the edge of
her doorway. "I made you pasta. Come and eat." Kate looked shocked
to see him there, like she didn't remember him being outside.

"I'm not hungry." She paused, "Could you close the door so I can
get dressed?" 

For some reason, that made him sadder than anything. Even after they
had stopped sleeping together, Kate had never been shy about changing
clothes around him. He knew it wasn't normal, but he had always liked
that she was that comfortable with him. Gently, he pulled the door
closed. He waited twenty minutes, but she never came out of the
bedroom. He knocked lightly. "Kate, can I come in?" He pushed the
door open and found her standing at the window wearing cotton sleep
pants and a Georgetown t-shirt. "Please come and eat something."

"I'm just not hungry." She felt him come to stand behind her.

"I'm sorry, Kate. I can't believe I forgot. It's the worst thing I think I've
ever done."

Kate shook her head. "She wasn't your daughter, Walter. You never
even met her. It's not your place to remember."

He sighed. "But I care about her mother. That makes her important to
me. It was my place to find her, and I failed. I think of her every morning
when I open my eyes, Kate. I think of you every morning when I open
my eyes."

Tears dropped down Kate's face. "Stop. Please stop."

"No, Kate. I need you to hear this. I look for her every chance I get.
I've never told you. I follow every lead, no matter how tenuous. I still fly
out there any time I think there may be some new evidence, no matter
how remote the chance it could break the case." He took her by her
arms. "Kate, I would give anything to bring Emma home to
you. Anything. So the last thing I would ever do is cause you more
pain where she is concerned. I'll never forgive myself for
not remembering today."

She shook her head, hair spilling over her shoulder and into her face.
"Walter, it is not your fault. More than likely, Emma is dead. Until now,
I've not even been able to say it. But I can now. I will probably never
know for sure what happened to my daughter. I will probably never be
able to put her body to rest. It is not your job to bring her home to me -
alive or dead. I appreciate that you've tried all these years, but I
don't blame you." She patted his arm gently. "Let yourself off the hook."

The flatness in her voice frightened him, even though it was good to hear
her finally able to talk openly about her daughter's likely fate. "Kate,
don't do this to yourself. Not tonight."

She waved him off. "I have to. That's what these four months have
been about. I had to quit running from and start facing up to all the things
in my life I've avoided for so long. Emma is one of them. I've also come
to terms with Nic." She looked up at him. "That just leaves you. And I'm
getting there. Today helped me see things more clearly, believe it or not."
She paused. "Thanks for coming by to check, but I'm going to be fine. If
you still have your key, can you let yourself out and lock up? I'll get the
key from you some other time. I don't want an awkward goodbye. I've
had enough awkward today to last a lifetime." 

"I was planning to stay with you, if you'd let me. I always stay...I don't
want you to be alone tonight."

Kate turned back to him. "No. I'd really rather you didn't. I need to get
through tonight by myself. And I'd like to start fresh this year as I intend
to go on. You made it clear today that you don't think we can go back
to being close friends. Let's not make exceptions for one night, okay?"

He looked very unhappy. "Well, I could stay downstairs. You wouldn't
even know I'm here."

"I would know. Please don't make this any harder. Just go." When she
heard the front door open, she went up to the third floor balcony, leaving
the double doors open behind her. She stretched out on the chaise there,
looking up at the sky. The breeze felt good, making it easier for her to
breathe. After a few minutes, she heard footsteps echoing in the empty
space behind her.

When she looked back, he was standing in the doorway. "What'd
you forget?"

He ignored her question. "Kate, why is the third floor practically empty?
You loved that space. Where is everything?"

She lifted a shoulder. "Oh. I'm having the upper floors renovated,
starting with the third. That's all."

He knelt beside her. "Tell me you're not planning to leave D.C., Kate."

Sitting up, she looked at him. "Of course I'm not leaving. Didn't I tell
you today that I just helped open a new clinic?"

He breathed deeply. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Yes, I'm positive. Why did you come back?"

He touched her face gently. "I know you said you want to be alone
tonight, but could I take you to breakfast in the morning? Or lunch? I
really would like a chance to talk to you."

Kate shook her head. "I can't. I'm leaving for Hilton Head early in the
morning. I'll probably be gone until Monday. I'm having some work
done there that I need to oversee."

Skinner sighed. "Are you going alone?" She nodded. "I don't like the
idea of you there alone for three days, rattling around in that big old
house."

She gave a half laugh. "Walter, I'm not a crazy spinster. I don't rattle
around." His hand slid from her cheek down to her neck. Impulsively,
she said, "If you really don't want me to be alone, come with me. We
could finally talk about all the things we avoided..." He hesitated for a
moment too long. "Never mind, Walter. Please just leave."

"Kate, it's not fair of you to ask me to drop everything for three days.
Twelve hours ago I hadn't heard a word from you in four months.
Besides, it wouldn't be fair to Elena." He knew it wasn't what she
wanted to hear, but he had to be honest with her. "I'm sorry. Can we
talk later in the week?" He ran his hand down her shoulder and arm.

She pushed his hand away. "What more is there really to talk about?
Just get out of my house, Walter. I'll have Monica pick up the key from
you next week. I've been meaning to get her a copy anyway for when
I'm out of town." She turned away from him, pointedly ending the
discussion.

Skinner kissed the top of her head as he stood up. He debated
saying something else to her but changed his mind when he saw the tears
slip down her cheeks. Sighing, he walked back through the empty
rooms. At the bottom of the stairs, he remembered the pasta he had
made. In the kitchen, he put it into a plastic container and stuck it in
the fridge. As he was rinsing the spoon, he noticed a set of plans lying on
the granite countertop. They were for the upstairs renovations.  The third
floor was on top, and he looked more closely when he realized she was
planning to put up walls up there. That was odd. She had always liked
the open space on the top floor. In fact, she loved that her house had
very few walls and that it was at the end of a row and had windows on
three sides. He couldn't figure out what the rooms were supposed to be,
but the corner of one room's plan caught his eye. He squinted at it. In
her handwriting, he saw written 'Walter's desk'. Unsure what to make of
it, he thumbed through the rest of the plans. As realization dawned, his
heart beat loudly in his chest. He stood in the kitchen, lost in thought.
When he heard her coming down the stairs, he started. 

Kate padded into the kitchen in her bare feet. "Christ, Walter, you
scared me. What are you still doing he-" She saw the plans in his hand.
"Give those to me. They're none of your business." She snatched them
out of his hand. "Besides, they're not the final set."

"Why were building me an office here, Kate?"

She looked at him with pleading eyes. "I can't talk about this tonight,
Walter. Besides, none of it matters now."

He looked at her clear, sea green eyes. "It matters to me."

"Walter, when I left Hilton Head, you said I could decide what I needed
and what I wanted from you. I thought..." She sniffed. "I thought I had
more time...I didn't think you'd replace me in four months. I thought I
was close to working it all out when I heard about you and what's her
name." She finally made eye contact again.

"Kate, you left me confused when you walked away that day. I've
been trying to work through it these last few months, too, you know.
And when we talked that day on the beach, you told me I needed to go
on real dates. After a couple of months, I figured you weren't
coming back. And yes, I started dating like you suggested. But you
haven't been replaced. I could try for the next ten years and never
replace you. You will always have a special place in my life." He
rubbed his thumb against her cheek.

She closed her eyes. "Go home," she whispered softly. Leaving
him standing there, she went upstairs, got into her bed, and waited
to hear him go out the front door.


Friday, 5:45 p.m.

Kate was napping on her stomach underneath a beach umbrella.
The workmen had left for the day, Godfrey was in Charleston, and she
was content to be alone until tomorrow morning. The only sounds were
the ocean lapping at the shoreline and the intermittent sound of
gulls flying overhead. She needed this time. Tonight, she would begin
to sort through all that had happened in the last couple of days, but for
now, she just wanted to lie there and let the ocean soothe her.  When
she opened her eyes twenty minutes later, clouds were rolling in from
offshore and she saw someone coming around the corner of the house.
Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes. It took her a few seconds to process
what was going on. "Walter, what are you doing here?" She looked
frightened. "Is something wrong?"

He shook his head. "No. Everything's fine."

She wrinkled her eyebrows. "How'd you get here?"

"I flew to Charleston and rented a car." He saw the question forming on
her lips. "You invited me here once five years ago, Kate, and I turned
you down. I didn't want to make the same mistake twice. When you
asked me last night to come here with you, I should have
dropped everything and come. I'm sorry that I didn't. But I'm here
now." Thunder rumbled in the distance. She made no effort to stand up,
so he pulled a chair close to her and sat down. "I've thought all
day about those plans I saw in your house, Kate."

She grimaced. "I never intended for you to see those. Can't you just
pretend that you didn't?"

"You know I can't."

Feeling uncomfortable, she put on her swimsuit cover. "You
know, yesterday made me think about some things I'd never really
considered before." She noted the questioning look on his face. "I guess
it just made me wonder if maybe you stayed with me all those
years because of guilt you felt about not finding Emma. I don't know
why it never occurred to me before now."

Skinner looked at her. She still had her sunglasses on, so he couldn't see
her eyes. "Kate, we would probably never have met if I hadn't worked
Emma's case, but I promise you what we were to each other all those
years was not out of obligation or guilt on my part. I will admit that the
way you handled Emma's disappearance made me want to get to know
you better all those years ago. The way you still managed to enjoy life
when other people in your position would have shut down or just gone
through the motions...that's what drew me to you and that's what made
me unable to walk away from you even at times when I probably should
have."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Of that I'm certain. Now, tell me about the office, Kate."

She stared out at the waves. "When I left here in February, I don't think
I had ever been in so dark a place as I was then. I had never dealt with
my feelings for Nic, I had never dealt with my feelings about Emma, and
I had never even tried to work through what you really meant to me. I
don't think it ever occurred to me that maybe you were the one thing that
helped me keep it all together for all those years. When suddenly you
weren't there, it's like I couldn't function." She looked over and saw the
look in his eyes. "No. I'm not blaming you. I know I walked away from
you. And I needed these months alone, even though they almost
destroyed me. Walter, for the most part, I have answered only to myself
my entire life. I realize now that it was my unwillingness to consider Nic's
needs that made me a terrible wife. Perhaps some of what he thought he
needed was unreasonable, but I refused to consider anything other than
what I wanted at the time. He wanted me on his terms, and I wanted him
on mine...and the two did not overlap in any workable way. With that
kind of history, I can't tell you how much it terrified me that I
didn't know who I was without you after all those years. I kept thinking
- this will get better tomorrow - but it never did. A teenage patient said
to me, 'You look like you've lost your best friend, Dr. Carter.' And that's
when I realized - I had. And it was my own fault. The problem, though,
was that I missed you most at night. The year we spent as just friends
was tolerable because at least I could see you during the day. When
suddenly I didn't see you at all, I realized that I missed the physical as
much as the friendship. One day, I woke up and thought - this is
absurd...why am I doing this to myself?  And I guess the office was my
way of saying...I need you as my friend, and I want you as something
more...and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make things work
between us. It seems stupid now, I guess." Afraid to look at him, she
continued, "Walter, I really can handle that you've moved on, but it's
going to take me a while to be all right if we can't be friends."

He reached over and tucked her hair back so he could see her
face. "Kate, I didn't mean I couldn't be your friend because I had
moved on; I meant I didn't know if I could be JUST your friend because
I hadn't."

Confusion clouded her face. "What?"

"You know, I didn't date at all that year we were apart. I know that after
a while you did, but I couldn't even find the energy. Then, this time, I
knew I had to try to date and have a normal relationship because that
was the only way I would know for sure what I wanted."

She looked up at the clouds rolling across the sky. "So, how'd you like
normal?" she asked distastefully.

He laughed out loud, a rare sound. "It was awful, Kate. I don't have a
clue what most women want. It was like constantly fighting the same old
battle Sharon and I fought over and over again. I don't open up. I'm
never around. My job is more important than anything else."

She nodded. "I know. Those are the same things I heard over and over
when I was dating last year."

"But you never said those things to me. Not once in ten years. Even
when I flipped out when you were pregnant, you never criticized me.
You always accepted me for who I was, not who you wanted me to
be."

Kate looked over at him. "So did you. That's why we were such good
friends." Finally, she took off her sunglasses and rested them on top of
her head. "So...what now?"

He took a deep breath. "Can I still have that office, or are you turning it
into a Yoga studio or Zen garden as we speak?"

She broke into a smile. "I'm putting in an exercise room, too, since
there's no gym like the one at your building."

He started to smile a little himself. "How about a closet? Do I get my
own closet?"

"Walter, can't you just share my closet? How many suits could you
possibly have?"

He shrugged. "I guess we could try that." He reached for her hand. "Are
you sure about this? You don't think I'm too old for you?"

She gave him a wide eyed look. "Well, you're not going to turn into a
couch potato and stop exercising, are you?" He gave her a look of
disdain. "Then I'm sure." She paused for a minute. "We can get a new
house, you know. I don't want you to think it has to be my house we live
in. It's just...your condo is too small."

He shook his head. "I love your house. Really."

She looked back out at the waves for several seconds. "Oh, my God."

"What?"

"I'm terrified."

He laughed nervously. "Me, too." Raindrops started to fall. "Ready to go
inside?"

She shook her head. "No, I like the rain."

He gave her an impatient look. "You're wearing a swimsuit. Wet dress
pants aren't all that comfortable, Kate."

She reached for his belt buckle. "So let's take them off." The rain was
coming down harder now.

"Kate...we're out in the open air here."

"And the nearest house is a quarter mile down the beach, Walter. Live a
little." She slipped off his shoes and chunked them towards the house. 

"That chair will not hold both of us and the patio does not look all that
soft." She grabbed a beach blanket from the cabana and spread it out in
the sand. "Kate, please."

"The wind isn't blowing much; it'll be fine. Wait. About you and what's
her name. Did you sleep with her?"

"You know her name was Elena, and no, I did not sleep with her. Don't
you want to go inside?"

She shook her head. "No. I want you right here in the rain."

He sighed and looked up and down the beach as she stripped out of
her swimsuit, but he did shed his shirt on his own. "You're going to kill
me, Kate." 

She laughed as she pulled him down on the blanket. "But you are going
to love every minute of it."

7:15 p.m.

They were both dressed now, and she was heading back downstairs
when she heard her cell phone ringing. "Walter, could you get that?"

When she got to the kitchen, he grimaced and covered the
mouthpiece. "It's Scully. And I don't want to play twenty questions
with her."

Kate laughed and took the phone out of his hand. "Hi, Dana.  Everything
okay?"

"Yes, Kate. Everything's fine. I was just checking on you, since I felt
sorry for you there all alone..."

"Well, I'm not alone, so don't worry."

"So I gathered. What the hell even happened? Why is he there?"

Kate rolled her eyes at her friend's protectiveness. Since she'd been
pregnant, Scully had played the part of mother hen obsessively. A few
weeks ago, Kate watched her lick her thumb and wipe something away
from Mulder's face. That had been hilarious. "He met me here so we
could talk through things."

"Do you think that's wise, Kate?"

Kate waggled her eyebrows at Skinner. "Well, it seems to be
working out pretty well, Dana."

There was a long sigh on the other end. "Your idea of talking through
things usually lands you in bed with him, Kate. I don't want to see you
set back several months."

"Dana, I promise you we haven't been anywhere near the bed. Stop
fretting. I'm okay. Oh, tell William that the pool is going to be all set
for the week you guys are coming down here. It's being filled up as
we speak. Give both kids a kiss for me, okay?"

"I will. Oh, listen, you know those samples I was running? There was
something really strange about Rebecca Cordon's. I ran it three or four
times. Will you be out here before you see her again?"

"I'm not seeing her until Thursday, I think; so yeah, I'll be out before
then."

"Okay, let's talk about it then. I guess tell Walter I said hi. And make
him feed you a good meal."

"I will. You tell Mulder I said he has to rub your feet for fifteen minutes
every night so they don't swell."

"I don't think that will help the swelling, Kate."

"He won't know that."

Scully laughed. "True. I will definitely tell him."

When she hung up, the Chinese takeout Skinner had ordered
had arrived. Since the rain had stopped, they sat out on the patio. Kate
ate more than she had in a long time, but still not as much as she
normally did. Noting the look on Skinner's face, she defended herself.
"Stay off my case, all right? I've been really stressed, and it's just going
to take a little while for me to get back to normal." Sitting back, she
looked at him. "Walter, I've wanted to talk about this for a while, but I
also wanted to wait until I was sure how I felt before we did. Do you
think we could talk about the pregnancy?" They had never spoken of the
miscarriage she'd had a year and a half ago. Kate could see the dread in
his eyes. She knew he didn't want to talk about it. "If it's too much, we
can talk about it later."

He looked down at his lap. "It's not that it's too much. I just don't know
how to talk about it. It's hard to explain."

She nodded, understanding exactly what he meant. "Well, we
don't really have to talk about it. It's just...the way you reacted at
the time really upset me, even though I didn't let on. And I guess I worry
now what would happen if we found ourselves in that position again."
She saw the look of raw panic on his face. "Christ, Walter, calm down.
It's extremely unlikely. For one thing, the older I get, the harder it would
be for me to get pregnant if I wanted to...much less have another
accident while on birth control. For another, I've stopped taking the pill
and have switched back to an IUD. That said, no birth control is one
hundred percent effective.  I just...I want to know we've discussed it and
that we'd be okay IF it were to happen again."

Skinner felt almost nauseous. Children were not something he had ever
wanted. The idea of a baby had terrified him eighteen months ago and
still frightened him today. At the same time, when he watched Kate with
William and Claire, or even with children elsewhere, he could see that
she was made for motherhood. He fidgeted. He knew that he would
probably adore any child that was hers. If watching her with Scully's
kids made his heart hurt, he couldn't imagine what watching her with
their baby would do to him.  Sometimes, though he would never admit it
out loud, he thought about what it would be like if she hadn't had a
miscarriage. The baby would be almost a year old now. "Look, I'm not
cut out to be a father. I didn't exactly have a great role model, you
know."

He never talked about his father much, who died when he was a
teenager, but she knew the story wasn't a happy one. She reached over
and played with his fingers. "You would have been a great father,
Walter. Just because you didn't have much of a father doesn't mean
anything. I don't even remember my mother, and I think I did okay for
the two and a half years I had Emma." For a minute, she sat silently
with him, tracing the outline of his hand with her fingertips. "Listen, I'm
pretty sure that I don't want to have another baby. I had a lot of mixed
emotions when I found out I was pregnant. The fear and guilt were
almost paralyzing, to be honest. It felt disloyal to Emma to even consider
bringing another child into the world. That's why I was so upset with you
afterwards. I needed you to be the strong one, and you bailed out on me
for a month."

"I didn't know, Kate. You seemed okay to me at the time. I am sorry."
When she stood up, he tugged her towards him and pulled her into his
lap. "Look, if history does repeat itself - I can handle it."

She smiled at him, happier than she'd been in a long time. "That's all I
need to know."

He fiddled with her hair. "I just don't want to be away from you again,
okay?"

Kate pressed her lips to his neck. "Okay." Her eyes drifted closed as he
traced circles on her back. When his cell phone startled her awake, he
gave her an apologetic look.

"Skinner." He covered the phone. "I have to take this. I'm sorry."

She dropped a kiss on his lips. "It's fine. Really." Her lips curved
upward.

As he went back to his conversation, he watched as she cleaned up the
food and headed upstairs. When he went looking for her almost two
hours later, he found her curled up on her side in bed. Fifteen minutes
later, though it was only ten o'clock, he slid into bed behind her. She
turned towards him and threw her leg over the top of his. "Night," she
whispered sleepily.

"Good night." He slipped his hand under her shirt so that it rested on her
ribcage. For the first time in months, he slept all the way until morning. 


Saturday, 11:20 a.m.

They were exploring the shops around Hilton Head and the
outlying areas. Skinner had seen a framed painting he liked and wanted
to put in his new office. Kate was waiting for the shopkeeper to wrap it
in plastic and paper when her cell phone rang. She was surprised to hear
John Doggett's voice on the other end.

"Listen," he said after a brief conversation. "I wanted to surprise Monica
and come for a visit in the next couple of weeks, but I wanted to see if
she already had plans for the Fourth before I made plans.  You got any
idea what she's planning?"

"Actually, Mulder and Scully are bringing the kids to Hilton Head earlier
that week, and Monica and I were going to come down and spend a
long weekend with them for the Fourth. That's actually why I'm in town
now - I had a few things to take care of here after the winter."

He paused. "Oh, well, since she's already got plans..."

"John, no. She would love it if you surprised her. Why don't you come
here instead? You guys can stay in the guesthouse off to the side of the
main house if you wanted more privacy. It was out of commission from a
hurricane last time you were here, but it's ready again now." 

He mulled it over. "All right. That would probably work. You promise to
have her there?"

Kate nodded. "Sure. We're flying in on that Thursday around lunch. It
would be great if you could come." They coordinated a little more
before hanging up. "Just finalizing plans for the 4th of July weekend." She
saw the look on Skinner's face and laughed. "You don't have to come
down here every time I do, you know."

He shook his head. "It's not that I don't want to. It's just going to take
some time for me to get used to this kind of thing. I'm really used to
being alone."

She stuck her arm through his and grasped his upper arm.
"Well, whatever you decide. You can let me know, even at the last
minute.  I just have already promised William and Claire I'd be here for
the Fourth."

They put the picture in the rental car and then walked down the street
looking for a place to have lunch. "Kate, I need to head back tomorrow.
I wanted to stay until Monday, but it's just not feasible."

She nodded. "It's okay. I think I'm going to go back, too. I have some
stuff I need to do before Tuesday. Everything here should be okay for
me to leave a day early. You can hitch a flight back with me if you'd like.
I think Godfrey is going to be ready to fly out around nine in the
morning. We can return your rental car locally."

"Yeah, that sounds good." He took her hand, feeling awkward with the
public display but trying to overcome it.

She laughed out loud at how strange it felt and pulled her hand away. "I
don't think public hand holding is our thing."

He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and smiled. "I am so glad you
agree." They went back to walking side by side, her shoulder barely
touching his arm. "In the shop, the man asked if my wife saw anything
she liked." The look on his face was really strange.

"I didn't see anything in there I couldn't live without."

He shook his head. "That's not what I meant."

Confused, she looked at him. "Then what?"

He sighed. "What do I say when people refer to you as my wife?"

She shrugged. "Correct them; don't correct them. You know it doesn't
matter to me, Walter." 

"I don't feel comfortable referring to you as my 'girlfriend'."

Cringing, Kate gave him a look. "Well, I don't much care for that, either,
Walter. Why can't you just refer to me as Kate and not worry about
what other people think I am to you?" The whole conversation was lost
on her. She just didn't feel the same need to categorize and stipulate
relationships the way he did. 


Sunday, 5:15 p.m.

Mulder met Kate on the porch. He had car keys in his hand and
looked really aggravated. "She is all yours for a while. I'm taking the kids
down to the diner."

Kate raised her eyebrows. "What's wrong with her?"

Mulder shook his head. "Who the hell knows? She's holed up in that
damn lab." He stuck his head back in the door. "Claire, William, move it
if you're going with me."      The kids came down the stairs shoving
feet into shoes as they hopped. Claire looked like she'd been crying.
William launched himself at Kate. She scooped him up. "Hi, man.
What's wrong?"

His chin quivered. "Mommy told Dad to leave. And Dad said fine, he
would, but he was takin' us with him. And I don't wanna leave Mom, but
I don't want Dad to go either. And Mom threw a glass at Dad and
it broke and it scared me and Togy and Feather. And they both said
a lot of swears." Feather was William's myna bird. He'd named it after
the bird in the Judy Blume books.

Kate met Mulder's eyes. He shook his head. "William, why don't
you and Claire go with Dad to get dinner and ice cream? Let me talk
to your mom. Sometimes, parents fight. That's normal. And your mom
is pregnant; that makes her get upset more than usual. Everything's going
to be fine, okay?" She kissed his little cheek and put him down. "Maybe
Mom just needs a break." She gave Claire a long hug.  "We'll talk when
you get back, sweetie." Claire nodded and went to get in the car.

When both kids were in the car, Kate looked at Mulder. "What the hell
happened?"

"I don't even know. She's been picking little fights all day. I don't know
what's going on with her. I know she's going nuts out here, never getting
away from the house or the kids.  But today was really crazy. You
should see the gash on my shin where the glass she threw popped up
and cut me. And that damn bird is going to have to be brainwashed to
make him forget all the colorful phrases he learned today."

Kate smiled. At least Mulder never lost his sense of humor. "So, you
didn't do anything to set her off?"

He looked really embarrassed. "Well..."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Mulder..."

He sighed. "Okay, look. We haven't had sex in like, three and a half
months. And that's okay," he said quickly. "I swear it is. She's pregnant,
and I'm not going to push her. But I mean, come on, she can't expect me
not to...you know, take care of business."

Kate tried to figure out where he was going with this. "Wait, she got
upset because she caught you...huh." 

He glared. "It's not funny."

"I didn't say it was funny, did I? I'm not laughing. I just don't know why
that would upset her." She glanced at the car.  "Look, take the kids out;
I'll see what's going on with Dana...try to defuse the bomb. Maybe the
kids could come home with me tonight, okay? I'm not working
tomorrow."

He nodded, grateful. "Okay."

Kate blew kisses to the kids, then went through the house to the
room where they had set up lab equipment. "Hey, Dana. Why are
you working so late and on a Sunday at that? I don't think you have
to be that diligent..."

Scully looked up at her. "It's my only refuge." She studied Kate's face.
"They told you about the fight, didn't they?" Kate nodded. "I can't do
this, Kate. I'm going crazy out here."

"Well, look. I'm going to take the kids home with me tonight, all right?
Take a night drive, get out and walk in the dark. Just do what you need
to do tonight, okay?"

Scully put her face in her hands. "I'm sure he didn't tell you what we
fought about."

Kate shook her head, "Well, not all of it. Something about getting caught
in the act of servicing himself?"

Scully widened her eyes. "Oh, my God. He TOLD you?" She looked
mortified.

"Dana, it's no big deal. Men masturbate even when they're getting sex
regularly. I'm sure men with pregnant wives masturbate ten times more
than most men. Why did it upset you?"

Scully didn't like talking about this. "Well, he hasn't touched me in
months." 

Kate stared at her friend. "Whoa. I think he's under the impression
you don't WANT sex right now." She puffed out her cheeks,
thinking. "And some men are afraid to initiate sex when women are
pregnant. I mean, I think they're afraid of doing something wrong." She
paused. "Have YOU tried to initiate sex?" Scully shook her head.
"Then maybe you've just got your signals crossed. After I leave, have
a glass of wine and seduce him. You'll both feel better."

Scully glared at her. "Sex doesn't fix everything Kate. Except maybe for
you."

"I resent that. However, sex matters a lot, Dana. Don't pretend that it
doesn't in a long term relationship. Okay, so you're sexually frustrated
and you're going stir crazy in the house. Tonight, take a blanket, find a
deserted spot, and make out under the stars." Kate looked at her friend.
"What else is bothering you?"

Scully shook her head. "You'd think it's stupid." 

"Tell me anyway. We don't have to agree on things to talk about them."

"Well, I'm about to have another child by this man, and we have never
talked about what we are to each other."

Kate wrinkled her forehead. "What?"

Scully shook her head. "Early this morning, the kids and I are having
breakfast, right? And William asked me why Mulder and I weren't
married like his other parents were."

"Ah. So...what'd you tell him?"

"What would you have told him?"

Kate shrugged. "I would have told him that you don't have to be
married to love each other and that you don't need a piece of paper to
tell you that you, Mulder, Claire and he are a family." She saw the
look on her friend's face. "What DID you tell him?"

Scully looked at the ceiling and sighed. "I told him we weren't married
because his father had never asked. And then I went into our bathroom
and found Mulder..."

"Oh."

"Yeah. And I just kind of blew the whole rest of the day even further out
of proportion."

"Dana, I never knew you WANTED to get married. Maybe Mulder
doesn't know either."

Scully kept looking at the ceiling. "Well, it shouldn't matter, and maybe
really it doesn't. I don't know. But I'm about to have another baby, and I
don't know how committed he really is to ME. I wonder if he's just
committed to the kids. And I'm not saying I'm dying to get married, but
it's funny we never even talked about it."

"He has chosen to be with you for years. He's still here because he
wants to be. Not because of the kids, Dana. Marriage wouldn't really
change anything, would it?"

Tears formed in Scully's eyes. "You don't know what it's like. It's easy
for you to say that it doesn't matter, but you were married when you had
Emma.  My family doesn't understand. We have William here again with
us now, and we're about to have this one." Scully put her hands on
her stomach. "And they don't understand why Mulder and I are
still living like we're in hiding. I've never been married, Kate.
You, Skinner, and Mulder all have."

Kate hugged her friend. "Dana, I'm really sorry you had a crappy day.
Why don't you talk to Mulder about all this?" 

Scully lifted a shoulder noncommittally. She knew she probably would
be more likely to talk to him about the sex issues than the emotional
ones.  "Tell me about you and Skinner. I'm sure YOU had sex
last night."

"If you're going to be bitchy, I'm not going to tell you about it."

"I'm sorry. Tell me what happened." Kate gave her a short recap of the
last couple of days. Scully lifted her eyebrow. "You're moving in
together? You weren't even speaking a few days ago and now
you're moving in together?"

Kate scowled at her. "I was hoping for something more like, 'Hey, I'm
happy for you guys'."

Scully sighed. "I'm sorry. I am happy for you. I just worry about you
when you make decisions like this so suddenly."

Kate shook her head. "It wasn't really that sudden, Dana. I'd
been kicking it around for a while. If it doesn't work, you can say 'I told
you so' while you console me. What else are friends for?" She looked
down at the samples Scully was working with. "Anyway, tell me about
Rebecca Cordon and then fill me in on what you've been looking at with
William's and Claire's samples."

8:11 p.m. 

After Kate left with the kids, Scully walked to the doorway of Mulder's
office. He was scanning the day's newspapers from around the globe,
clipping articles here and there. "Mulder, I need to get away from the
house. Could we go for a drive?"

He did not turn to look at her. "Why don't you go by yourself? I
don't think we need to spend more time together today." 

"Look, I'm sorry about the way I was earlier. Please come with me."
Her voice shook a little. She waited a few minutes for him to respond.
"Mulder, I need to talk to you." When he still didn't answer, she sighed
and went out onto the porch.

After a couple of minutes, he joined her. "Do you want to drive or do
you want me to?" 

She exhaled and took the keys. They drove further into the rural area as
darkness settled around them. Finally, she pulled into a clearing and
looked around. "Let's sit and look for shooting stars."

He followed her reluctantly. "What if we get shot at by hunters?"

Scully gave him a look and spread a blanket out onto the ground. "It's
dark and it's not hunting season. Just come and sit with me." She
stretched out on the blanket, lying on her back and looking up. Finally,
he came and sat beside her. "This morning upset me because when I
saw you there...I realized you hadn't touched me in months, Mulder. I've
thought about it a lot, you know. About how maybe you just
aren't...attracted to me like this." She motioned towards her stomach. "I
do understand, believe me. Who would want anyone with a belly this
size? But for some reason, this morning just...sent me over the edge.
And it shouldn't have."

Mulder turned on his side to look at her, propping himself up on his
elbow. "Scully, I am very attracted to you like this. You're beautiful to
me. You were beautiful to me back when you were pregnant with
William, too."

She turned her head to look at him. "You never made an attempt to
touch me then, either."

"Scully...I was just back from the edge of death. I don't think I was in
full working order those first few weeks. Then, you were less than
two weeks from giving birth. I sure wasn't going to make the first
move. I was content to just lie there and hold you the couple of times
you let me sleep at your apartment during those weeks."

Her eyebrows wrinkled. "What about this time? You quit making love to
me as soon as I started showing."

"That is not true. I even read books about pregnant sex. I read that the
most important thing was lots of foreplay...but every time I tried, you fell
asleep before I even got going. I eventually figured you weren't
interested and stopped trying. And I certainly wasn't going to push you.
You're the one carrying the baby around. I figured if I had to, uh, take
care of business by myself for a while, it was no big deal. I did it for a lot
of years before you."

Scully looked sheepish. "I'm sorry. I was so tired those first three or four
months. When you started rubbing my back or neck or feet, it just lulled
me right to sleep...I am sorry. It was never rejection."

He put a hand on her stomach. "Besides, why didn't you make a move if
you wanted sex?"

"Mulder, I felt fat, ugly, and undesirable. I still do. I wasn't about to risk
being rejected because you were repulsed."

He sighed. "I'm not repulsed by you. This morning, I watched you get
out of the shower and wanted you. That's why I was..."

"Oh. Well, sorry I interrupted. If I were better at these things, I
would have joined you instead of throwing a tantrum." Still lying on
her back looking at the stars, she took his hand from her stomach
and placed it on her inner thigh. He watched as she unbuttoned her
shirt and let it fall open. After a few minutes, she lay there naked, though
he was fully clothed. Turning her head towards him, she whispered.
"Maybe I could help you finish now?" She reached over to unbutton his
jeans. 

He gave her a look. "Scully...are you sure?" When she nodded, he
stripped out of his clothes in record time. She reached for him as he
started kissing his way down her body. Scully offering him her naked
body in the open night air was a long time fantasy of his, pregnant or not.
After a few minutes, he whispered. "I feel like an idiot, but I don't know
how to...what position would be good for you?"

She laughed and rolled onto her side away from him.  She urged him
closer to her until he was spooning her. "This should work," she
whispered as she reached between her own legs and guided him inside
of her. The fullness she felt from not having had him in a while and the
pressure from the baby in her womb put her over the edge quickly.
"God, Mulder." She could tell he was having trouble moving enough to
come, though. She managed to get up onto her hands and knees. That
position suspended her belly and allowed her more freedom to move.

As he moved over her and pressed into her again, he whispered,
"Are you sure this is okay? It's not hurting you?"

She threw her head back. "No. God, no." She came again as he rocked
gently and soon felt him start to shudder. 

"Scully. Oh. My. God." They both collapsed onto the blanket. He kissed
her neck, and then looked startled as her stomach bowed up and out.
"Whoa. Did that hurt? What's it doing?"

She laughed. "No. I think when I came, it...I don't know. I think it
tightened the stomach muscles and made her mad."

Mulder put his hand over the belly. "I can feel her moving all around.
Poor kid's probably traumatized."

Scully laughed. "I doubt that." She sighed as he pressed his body against
her side. "I feel better already."

Rubbing his face into her neck, he laughed. "Well, if it will keep you from
throwing glasses at me, feel free to ask for sex any time. Horny women
are usually every man's dream, but pregnant horny women are
apparently dangerous. Let's not let you get that way again."

She elbowed him. "I thought you liked unraveling the mysteries of the
horny beast, Mulder."

"Horned, Scully. Today, you were definitely horned."

She elbowed him harder. "Don't make me go beast woman on
you, Mulder." When he leaned over and kissed her, she bit his bottom
lip gently. For a while, they lay in the warm night air looking for shooting
stars. Mulder kept his hand on her stomach the entire time.

"Scully, about you working so much...I know you can't stand to be
idle, but you're spending an awful lot of time out in that lab. It upsets the
kids, especially Claire. She thought you were going to be home and
could spend more time with her. Why are you hiding out there? I know
Kate didn't intend for you to work that many hours a week."

Scully reached for his hand. She knew her working so much was causing
friction between them. "Mulder...I'm not exactly hiding out there. I don't
know if I should even tell you this yet, but I'm working on William's
genetic makeup. I'm trying to use his samples to find the vaccine. And if
not the vaccine, then to figure out what exactly it is that makes him
different."

Mulder looked shocked. "You're not working on Kate's research?"

"Well, I'm doing that, too. Mulder, I know there have to be answers
inside William. I have to try to find them."

He nuzzled her neck. "Why didn't you tell me, Scully?" Her recent
behavior and state of mind made a lot more sense to him now. She had
always been terrified of what she may find out about William. This was
probably taking a major toll on her both physically and emotionally. 

She shrugged. "What if I fail, Mulder? I didn't want you to get
your hopes up and then me not be able to deliver."

He rubbed her side gently. "I don't expect you to save the world alone.
Now that I know, that makes your recent work habits
more understandable, Scully, but I want you to limit yourself out there.
No more ten or twelve hour work days. It's as important that we spend
time as a family as it is that you and I keep searching for a way around
colonization."

She nodded. "Okay. Mulder?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you really think of us as a family?"

He squinted at her in the dark, moonless night. "Of course I do. We are
a family, Scully." He ran his fingers through her hair. "We finally have the
normal home and family you've always wanted, right?" He rubbed her
stomach. "Two parents with two point six kids living the good life."
He sighed. "Okay, well maybe we aren't completely normal since
there are agoraphobics who get out more than we do, but we're
definitely a family. How can you not know that?"

She kissed his fingers. "You're right, Mulder. I just..."

"What?"

She shook her head. "Never mind. Let's go home, Mulder."

Back at the house, she did something she almost never did. After her
shower, she stayed naked and crawled into bed. It was too hot for
clothes, anyway, and the kids were gone for the night. Mulder wrapped
an arm around her and kissed her cheek. He knew something was still
bothering her, but with Scully, sometimes it took her a while to work up
the nerve to tell him. "Good night, Scully."


Monday, 4:22 p.m.

Mulder looked at William in the rearview mirror. "So, did you have fun
with Kate?"

William nodded. "Yeah! She took us to see the planes and to the zoo."
He yawned and licked around his lips where there was chocolate stuck.
He was asleep before they even got on the interstate.

"Claire, what was your favorite part?"

"I liked it all. I've never even been to a museum before today. Or a zoo."
She looked over at her dad. "Did you know that Mr. Skinner is moving
in with Kate?"

"Yeah, your mom told me that. Was he there last night?"

"No, but she's renovating the upstairs, so he can move in, I think.  I
overheard her talking to him on the phone about it. She let us put on
socks and sprayed furniture polish on the bottom and let us slide around
on the floors because the third floor is empty right now. It was really
fun."

He chuckled at the mental picture, almost certain that Scully would have
a fit had she seen them skating around on the hardwood floors like that.
"I bet that was fun. Claire, you know that when Skinner moves in with
Kate, he'll share her bedroom, not stay upstairs, right?"

Claire rolled her eyes. "Of course I know that. I understand all about
sex, Dad. Mom talked to me about it, plus I already knew some. I
meant Kate's renovating so he'll have an office and space for his things.
She said that I can still stay with her any time, though." Claire had stayed
with Kate several times in the last few months, but this was the first time
William had gone with her. "So, are you and Mom still fighting?"

"No. We're okay, Claire. Listen, I know yesterday scared you, and I
would like to tell you that it won't happen again. But sometimes adults
fight, Claire. Even adults who love each other."

The young teenager nodded. "It was scary because I thought you were
going to leave and not come back."

He reached over and tousled her hair. "No matter what happens, I will
always come back, Claire."

She shook her head. "At the facility, people left all the time and didn't
come back. And you're not married to Mom. So you don't have to stay.
You could leave any time and not come back."

"Claire, even married people can get divorced. Where is this coming
from? Even if your mom and I weren't together anymore, I would still
always be there for you and William and the new baby. But that's not
going to happen."

"Well, why aren't you and Mom married?"

Mulder set the cruise control for 73 so he wouldn't be tempted to drive
over 80. "Well...I don't guess I've ever really thought about it, Claire.
Being married just means..." he struggled for the right words. "It just
gives you legal rights."

"That's not true. I read online that marriage was about a lifetime
commitment. Aren't you committed to mom for life?"

Mulder was feeling a little interrogated and hot under the collar.
"Well, yeah. Of course. I love Scully. I can't imagine being without her."
He didn't mention that he couldn't imagine being married, either...

Claire lifted an eyebrow at him. When he caught the small
facial expression out of the corner of his eye, he could really see
Scully in her. Sometimes, he couldn't. Usually, Claire reminded him a
lot of Samantha, believe it or not. "Well, William asked Mom why
you weren't married and she told him it was because you had never
asked."

Mulder almost swerved off the road. "Your mother said that? When?"

Claire nodded. "Yesterday morning. I swear she did. You can
ask William."

He drove in silence for a while. Was that where the family questions
came from last night? His head started to hurt and his mouth felt dry. The
longer he knew Dana Scully, the more of an enigma she became. God.
Finally, he looked over at Claire. "Does it matter to you that your mom
and I aren't married?"

"Well, not really. I don't care as long as we can all stay together."

When they finally got back home, Scully's mom's car was in
the driveway. William popped up in the backseat. "Gramma's here!"
He was out of the car before it even stopped all the way.

Mulder grabbed the backpack he had taken with him from the
backseat and followed the kids inside. He saw Scully's face as she took
in the chocolate all over William and watched him pull one toy
after another out of his backpack. "Ask him what they did
for entertainment at Kate's house."

William grinned at her. "Kate sprayed our socks to make them slippery
and we skated around all over the place."

Claire scrunched up her face. "You guys shouldn't have told Mom about
it. You know she doesn't like for us to have fun inside like that."

Scully looked offended. "That is not true. I just don't want anyone
getting hurt, Claire."

Claire snorted. "Mom, how bad can you get hurt skating in SOCKS?"
She turned to her grandmother. "Gramma, can you come to my room
and let me show you what I've been working on with the sewing
machine?"

Mulder grabbed Scully around the waist from behind and nuzzled
her neck. She was too awkward to hug from the front anymore. "I
missed you."

She lifted her eyebrows. "You were only gone a few hours." Secretly,
she was pleased with his words, though. "They really seem to have had a
great time. We have to get them out more when the baby comes." 

He nodded. "Yeah. I think Kate really enjoys having them, too. Claire
said she's renovating her whole house for Skinner." Scully laughed at the
look on his face. "What?"

"Mulder, I just don't understand why you can't get over that they're
together."

He shuddered. "Scully, they just don't go together. She's all, hey, let's
skate around on the hardwood floors and go to the zoo,
and he's...Skinner - all paperwork and business. And besides,
Scully, Kate's...hot."

Scully narrowed her eyes. "Mulder, they are no more different
really than you and I are. And I hate to tell you this, but lots of
women find Skinner hot."

He made a face like he was choking. "You're joking, right? Skinner's
bald. Yeesh. Wait, I bet you think Skinner's hot, don't you? Unh-huh.
You always did like older men." He dodged the throw pillow that Scully
chunked his way. "Aw, man, is Skinner going to have to come on
vacation and to birthday parties and stuff now? I'm just getting used to
Kate."

"You know you enjoy Skinner's company, Mulder. Listen, I was on the
phone with Kate earlier, and she said we should ask Mom to come with
us to the beach for the Fourth. Do you think that would be okay?"

Mulder nodded. "Yeah. I think that would be great." He tapped the
folders he had brought in with him.  "Do you mind if I work for a couple
of hours?" She shook her head.

Scully looked over at William, who was playing with the planes he had
gotten at the Air & Space Museum. They were orbiting around near the
ceiling. "William," she hissed. "Stop that while Gramma's here. You
know she doesn't like it."

He giggled and landed them gently near his mother's feet.
"Okay, Mommy. I'm going to check on Feather." He ran off towards
his bedroom.

Scully shook her head at the mess they had already left in the
living room. She honestly wasn't sure whether her old life or this was
one more complicated. Sighing, she looked down at William's little
brown and white dog. "Let me guess. You need to go out, right?"


Saturday, June 28th   
10:13 a.m.

Kate watched as the moving van finally pulled away from her
steps. Everything had happened so fast. Walter's condo had sold much
more quickly than she had ever anticipated, so they had moved up
the move-in date. The man who bought the condo needed to be moved
in before the first of the month. The renovations to her place had
only been completed a day and a half ago. She'd felt a little sick
all morning from nerves. Plus, she had worked until three a.m. at
the clinic, so she'd only gotten about three hours sleep. Then, just as the
moving van had pulled up this morning at seven, Skinner had been called
out. Now she was standing hip deep in boxes, not realizing he had this
much stuff, and not knowing what to do with any of it. At least the big
furniture had been put away. The door still open behind her, she
muttered, "Shit."

"Rough morning?"

Kate wheeled around to see Mulder coming up her steps. "You could
say that. Walter's not here right now."

"That's okay. I came to see you."

She raised her eyebrows. "Did I forget something you guys need for the
trip?" He, Scully, the kids, and Maggie were leaving tomorrow for Hilton
Head.

Mulder shook his head. "No, we're set. Thanks again for arranging the
vacation. Scully and the kids desperately need it." He rocked back and
forth on his heels, surveying the damage to her first floor. "Why didn't the
movers take all this upstairs?"

She made a face. "No more room up there, either."

"Damn."

"Yeah. I feel like I'm about to have a panic attack. He's been sleeping
here consistently for several nights now, but this is...really permanent
feeling." She kicked a box out of her way and headed to the kitchen. "I
swear. What is IN all of these boxes anyway?" She poured coffee into
a mug.

Mulder laughed. "Want me to help you put something away?"

"No. I'm not going through his stuff. I'm going to leave it for him to sort."
She sat down at the bar. "So, what's going on? You look even more
nervous than me. I bet if a stranger walked through that door right now,
they'd think we were a couple of junkies trying to find our next fix."

He ambled between the boxes. "All right, listen. Scully's been acting
all...I don't know...out of sorts, you know? And I heard her talking to
her asshole brother..."

Kate interrupted. "I take it that would be Bill."

Mulder gave her a look. "Has anyone actually ever even SEEN the other
one?" He scoffed. "So, anyway, it seems like she's always defending me
to him. I don't know. You know what I'm saying?"

"Not really. You're not making much sense." She wrinkled her
eyebrows.

He ran his fingers through his hair. "A couple of weeks back, that night
you brought the kids home with you? On the way back to the house,
Claire was telling me that William asked Scully why we weren't married.
And that Scully said because I had never asked."

Kate spun her mug on the bar. "Ah."

"You already knew about that?" She shrugged. "Why didn't you say
anything?"

"Mulder, it's not my place to interfere."

He rocked on his heels some more, then continued pacing through the
maze of boxes. "Do you think she really wants to get married?"

Kate sighed. "Well, I don't know. You live with her. I think she probably
feels conflicted about whether she should want to get married or not.
Although certainly not as conflicted as you apparently are." He gave her
a dirty look. "Mulder, what would it even change if you were married?"

He shrugged. "Nothing, I guess.  I was married once, you know."

Kate nodded. "So I've heard."

"I wasn't very good at it."

She gave him a look. "I guess we have that in common, then. I bet I was
worse than you. I moved all the way across the country, took our
daughter with me, and never thought to consult my husband. I just told
him I was going."

He gave a small smile. "You're right. You sucked more. Why would she
want to get married now?"

"Why can't you just ask her, Mulder?" Kate muttered under her breath,
"Can you not take one look at the chaos I call my life and tell that I am
probably not one from whom you should be seeking this kind of
advice?" Finally, she looked at him again. He did look pretty pitiful.
"Okay, I'll give you my take, but it may not be right. I do think she gets
pressure from her family. I think she still has conflicting emotions about
that normal life she never actually had - you know, the one she believed
her father wanted her to have - the one like she thinks her parents had.
And I think that while it's obvious to the rest of us that you are
committed to her, it is not always obvious to her. I think you are a
wonderful father, but you are not exactly the relationship guru. I think
Dana trusts you in every way but one."

"What's that?"

"To stay with her if the kids weren't a factor."

"That doesn't make sense. I was with her for years without kids.
And she was the only one who ever threatened to leave."

"You were a fugitive, Mulder. A hermit. I don't really think that
proved anything to her. Besides, I didn't say it made sense. I said
that's how I thought she felt. Does that help you any?"

He nodded. "I guess." He peeked into a box that was half open in front
of him and pulled out a really ugly sweater. "So, you and Skinner
planning to get married?"

Kate rubbed her neck. "Mulder, I'm barely holding it together
just cohabiting. And we haven't actually started yet."

Skinner came through the front door about that time, almost tripping
over boxes.  "What the hell? Why are all these boxes all over the place?"

Kate looked at him as if he were nuts. "Where should they be?"

"Stacked neatly and orderly, against the walls, by room and by content."

She glared at him. "You have a box stacking system? Really? I have
one, too. Anywhere there's space. Unbelievable. You should have been
more specific if you had a system in mind, Walter. Christ." To Mulder
she said, "In answer to that last question, HELL NO."

Mulder cracked up. "Kate. You have made my day. Seriously. See you
when? Thursday?" He gave her a quick pat on the back. "So, Skinman,
congratulations and good luck." Mulder slapped his shoulder. "You're
gonna need it, pal. I'll let myself out."

Skinner gave Kate a look. "What's with him?"

She rolled her eyes.  "Gamophobic."

"He's afraid of games?"

Kate snorted. "Just one." She rubbed her eyes. "I'm exhausted. Wanna
take a nap with me?"

"I have a thousand boxes to unpack, Kate."

"Walter, they will still be here after a nap. Besides, why don't you just
unpack them as you need something from them? If it's not unpacked in
the next six months, throw it out."

Skinner shook his head, wondering how he ever thought this could even
remotely work. Just as he was about to panic, Kate wrapped her arms
around his neck. "They're just things, Walter. We'll find places for all of
it later, I promise." She kissed his neck, and he finally hugged her back.
She surprised him by wrapping her legs around him so that he was
holding her completely. "Now, take me to bed. You know how cranky I
get when I don't get my sleep."

He breathed in deeply, smelling her faint perfumed body wash,
calming down a little. "Well, we can't have you cranky, now can we?"

2:10 p.m. 

Kate made lunch as Skinner started unpacking. She had suggested
he unpack his office first; at least then he would have a place to go in the
house that was neat and organized until the rest of the boxes were
unpacked. When a knock came at the door, she wove her way through
the boxes to answer it. "Hey, Monica."

Reyes looked at the damage behind her. "Whoa."

"Yeah. Come in. I've hardly seen you at all these past few weeks. What
gives? Everything okay with you?"

"Just swamped at work, I guess. That's why I came by. I don't know if
I'm going to make it to the beach next weekend."

Kate looked at her unhappily. "How many terrorist threats could there
be, Mon? You have almost a month's vacation saved up. I'm not letting
you back out. You can bring paperwork and your computer with you,
but you are going. End of discussion. Be ready Thursday morning at
10:00."

Monica sighed. "I just...I don't want to feel out of place."

"What?"

"Well, if Skinner is going with you...and Mulder and Scully are there..."

"Monica, Walter probably isn't coming down at all. He's certainly not
coming on Thursday. Please come with me. Dana's mom is going to be
there, too." Kate was cutting chicken into chunks for Caesar salads.
"Want one?"

Monica snagged a crouton. "I'm actually starved, so yeah, if you don't
mind." She hated cooking for one and was actually looking forward to
Skinner living with Kate because that meant there would be food here a
lot more frequently.

Kate grinned. "Good. Stay and eat with us. You're looking pale, thin,
and tired these days instead of me. We must put meat on your bones."
She yelled up the stairs. "Walter, lunch is ready." Turning back to
Monica, who was clearing off the table, "So, you're coming with me
Thursday, right?"

Monica nodded. "Okay. But I really will have to bring work with me."

"That's fine. You want white or red sauce with your tortellini?"

"Red."

Skinner made his way through the boxes. "Monica, I didn't know you
were here." He looked a little uncomfortable. 

She smiled at him. "I came by to talk to Kate about next weekend and
managed to get a lunch invite. Hope you don't mind..."

He smiled. "Not at all." They ate for a while, Kate and Monica talking
back and forth. Skinner butted in when they were talking about Doggett.
"I talked to him last Friday. He's going to be in town towards the end of
this week." He nodded towards Monica. "He asked me about
you, actually."

Kate gave Skinner a pointed look. "You're confused. I think he's going
to be in town the NEXT weekend, not this one coming up. This is the
Fourth, remember?"

Skinner caught her look. "Oh. Yeah, I guess you're right." He cleared his
throat. "Anyway...he wanted to know how you were. Don't you two
keep in touch?"

Kate sighed; the man was clueless. "Walter..."

"What? I'm just making conversation."

Monica interrupted. "No, it's okay. We email sometimes. He's called a
couple of times since I saw him at Hilton Head this past winter."

Skinner looked confused. "Oh, well..."

Kate changed the subject quickly. After Reyes left, she went upstairs to
survey Skinner's progress. The office looked neat and orderly already.
"Hey, about Doggett. He's coming to Hilton Head on Thursday to
surprise Monica."

"Well, I didn't know."

"It's okay."

"Whatever happened with the two of them?"

Kate shrugged. "Well, she wanted to have a baby. He didn't. He left
D.C. so she could get on with her life. I guess it's complicated."

Skinner nodded. "Well, he's transferring back from Denver, you know.
That's why he's coming through here, I guess. He's taking care of
some paperwork."

"Really? He didn't mention that yet. That's good. I wish they would work
things out. Maybe that's why he wants to surprise her. Are you going to
make it down to the beach at all?"

He looked hard at her to see what she wanted the answer to be. "Well,
maybe I'll come down for a day or two."

She sat on the edge of his desk as he hung the framed print they had
bought when they were on the island. "Don't come on my account. I
know vacations aren't your thing."

He sighed and put the hammer down. "Kate. This is all going so fast for
me. Were it just you and me there, I'd feel better. It's going to take me a
while to get used to being with other people like that."

"Walter, it's fine. Really. Don't worry about it. I'm only going down to
play with the kids anyway. I promised."

Skinner wanted to do better than this. He just wasn't sure he could take
a vacation with four of his former agents. "You really aren't mad?"

She shook her head. "I'm really not. You'll spend Thanksgiving and
Christmas with me, though, right?"

He nodded. "Of course. So, do you like the office?"

She surveyed their surroundings with a critical eye. "Well, it's very you.
And I like you...so yes, I like the office. I would have added more
color, but..." The look on his face made her grin. "I'm kidding. I want
it to be your space. It's perfect for you." She patted the top of the desk
she was sitting on. "So...how long have you had this desk?"

"It was my grandfather's, if you can believe it. I've had it since I got my
first apartment."

"Really? You and Sharon ever have sex on it?"

"Uhhh...No. Can't say that we did."

"Why not? It feels pretty sturdy. You and anyone ever have sex on it?"

"No, Kate. I don't think that desk has ever seen any action."

She laughed lightly. "We should remedy that. Then, you can think of me
when you're working late in here." She pulled him between her legs and
untucked his shirt. She couldn't believe he was wearing a collared shirt,
tucked in, on moving day. She was wearing an old Stanford t-shirt
and running shorts. She guessed that opposites really did attract
and shoved all of the items on the desk behind her out of the way.

"Kate, you're messing up my desk. I just put everything where I wanted
it." Rolling her eyes, she unbuckled his belt and pants. "I'll put it
all back when we're done. Come on, Walter, I promise to make it
quick." She saw the look on his face change when she reached inside
his boxers. "Isn't shacking up going to be fun?"

Exactly twelve minutes later, she put her t-shirt back on and stepped into
her shorts. Hair all over the place, she rummaged for her cell phone in
the pile of stuff she had thrown off the desk. "Kate Carter," she
answered, a little out of breath, trying to put the stuff back the way he
wanted it.

Scully's voice came from the other end. "Kate? You sound
funny. What's wrong?"

Kate tried not to laugh. "Nothing, I swear. It just took me a minute to
find the phone. What's up?"

"How's the move going?"

"Oh, it's coming along nicely." She smiled as she watched Walter slip on
his boxers. Heading down to their bedroom, she talked to Scully for
several more minutes while she made her way through the boxes
everywhere.

"Thanks for the quickie," Skinner whispered into the ear not cradling the
phone when he came into the bedroom. "I'm gonna shower and
head back down to the office. I'm sorry, but I have to." 

Kate cringed, knowing her phone had probably picked that up. "It's
okay. You know I'm working down at the clinic for a few hours tonight,
right?" He nodded and went into the bathroom.

"Did he just say what I think he said? Eeew, God, Kate." But Scully
remembered back when she and Mulder had first set up housekeeping
together. Kate would probably not eat dinner at their table if she knew
the Christening it had gotten when they moved in.

Thursday, July 3rd 11:00 a.m. 

When Kate and Monica finally made it to the airstrip, they both fell into
their seats exhausted. Monica looked at Kate once they were in the air.
"So...how's the cohabitation experiment going?"

Kate gave a small laugh at her word choice. "Better now that everything
is pretty much put away. What's new with you?"

Monica shrugged. "I don't know. I don't really like my life these days."

"So, what would you change if you could?"

"I keep oscillating back and forth. I miss John, but then I think I want a
child more. I don't care much for the cases I'm working, either. I know
that counter-terrorism is important, but..."

"But that doesn't mean you have to be the one to deal with it."
Kate looked over at the other woman. "Hey, Monica? Would John be
willing to adopt a baby? I mean, rather than you guys having one?"

"Why would it matter?"

"Well, I don't know. When I think about it, the idea of raising someone
else's child doesn't scare me nearly as much as having another of my
own."

Monica raised her eyebrows. "Really? Why is that?"

Kate shrugged. "I don't know. But maybe he would feel the same way
about it. Would it matter to you? If the baby were just yours, yours and
John's, or one you had adopted?"

"Well, it's funny you ask that. If I had one myself, I would really only
want it to be John's, not an anonymous donor's. But the idea of adopting
a child doesn't bother me."

Kate nodded. "See, here's the way I think John may see it: he may not
want to bring another child into the world, but maybe he wouldn't have
any problem taking care of one that was already here. He is very good
with both William and Claire."

Monica shrugged. "Well, it doesn't matter. I hardly hear from him these
days."

"Hang in there, Mon. I have feeling it's all going to be okay."

At the beach house, William and Claire were happy to see them.
Kate changed into her swimsuit and a pair of board shorts and played
on the beach with the kids, while Monica visited with Scully and her
mom on the patio. 

After a couple of hours, someone came around the side of the house.
"So, what? You havin' a party and didn't invite me? I'm hurt."

Monica looked up to see John Doggett standing over her.
"John...what are you doing here?" 

He shrugged. "Just thought I'd surprise you." He grinned at her
expression. "So...you surprised? Do I get a hug or what?"

She stood up and wrapped her arms around him. "Yes, I'm surprised."

"Good. Then the plane ticket and rental car were worth it. Kate says we
get the guest house for privacy. Whadda ya think?"

She nodded. "Sounds good to me. Why don't you change and let's go
for a walk?"

After everyone had visited, he and Monica headed down the beach.
Kate was now in the pool with the kids rather than the ocean. Mulder
was back from town and inside making dinner with Scully's
mom. Finally, Kate dragged herself out of the pool and away from the
kids to visit with Scully. "I can't believe how cold that water still is for
July." 

Scully smiled. "Well, you were in with them forever.  They have had
such a good time. We desperately needed this. I think Mom has really
enjoyed it, too. We actually have gone out and done some things in
nearby towns, but for the most part, the kids have really enjoyed the
pool and the beach."

Kate smiled. "No more flying sand ships?"

Scully rolled her eyes. "Well, we had one incident where the damn dog
was out in the water, and William thought he was drowning. So..."

Kate threw her head back and laughed. "Seriously?"

"Oh, yeah. He beamed the dog right out of the water and back onto the
sand. Mom almost lost it." Scully patted her stomach. "And this one has
been all active here, too. Oh, you'll never believe this. Mulder wants to
pick out her name all by himself."

"Tell me you agreed only under the provision that you approve of
the name he picks."

Scully shook her head. "I couldn't, Kate. I have to let him do this."

"Wow. You do like to live dangerously." She leaned back and
closed her eyes under the umbrella. "I mean, Christ. What are you gonna
do if he wants to call her Bambi...or, uh, what was Detective
White's first name?"

Scully shot a nasty look her way, wishing she'd never shared
those stories with her. "You seem even more exhausted than the last time
I saw you. And you seem kind of...strung out."

"Well, living together isn't as easy as I thought it would be. I guess I'm
just not adjusting as well as I thought I would. It seems like
Walter's always aggravated over something that I see as trivial."

"Like what?"

"Like...I don't know. Like me not coming home early enough or me
not calling and telling him that I'm going to be late. Or like leaving the
dinner dishes until morning. Or like me not making up the bed perfectly.
Or me going out for a run at midnight. Just stupid stuff. I mean, does it
really matter whether you mate the socks when you do laundry? Who
cares if your socks match each other perfectly? I mean, who even looks
at your socks?"

Scully lifted her eyebrows. "Wow. That's a lot of aggravation for just
one week living together."

Kate rubbed her eyes. "Tell me about it. Do you think I made a
mistake? I mean, you can tell me if you do."

"Don't you enjoy having him there?"

"Well, yeah. When he's not bitching at me. Oh, and when he's asleep."

Scully stood up and stretched. "Time, Kate. Give it time. However,
Mulder still doesn't make the bed well."

"Yeah, well, I don't care if the bed is made at all, you know."

Laughing, Scully motioned for the kids to dry off for dinner. "Maybe we
have our men mixed up, then. Because I know Mulder only attempts to
make the bed for me."

Kate sighed. "No, no. If we traded men, you and Skinner would be
terribly efficient and have, like, perfect children and perfect
Christmas cards...whereas Mulder and I would never manage to even
find our keys in the morning and even our hamsters would die. I think we
better keep it the way it is."


Continued in Book Two, Part 2