Iunctio ut Redimio - Book Two - Part 2
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.


Saturday, July 5th  
10:13 p.m.

Scully laid her tiles down on the Scrabble board, proud of
her sixty-two points. Kate laid out the word 'tilt', not caring at all about
her points. Maggie searched the board for a spot to play. Monica came
through the side door from the guesthouse. "Hey, what are you guys
doing? Kids in bed?"

"Scrabble. Yeah. They were exhausted. Where's John?" Scully asked.

"Oh, he went into town with Mulder for a couple of things." 

Kate got up to pour more wine for herself and Scully's mom.
"Want some?"

"Sure."

Scully rolled her eyes. "You're all a bunch of lushes."

"You're just jealous because you're pregnant. Besides, I'm your doctor.
You can have a glass of red wine, Dana." She shook the bottle at her
friend. 

"Well, maybe a small glass since Mulder's out."

Kate poured her one. "So...things going well with you and John? I
assume it is since we haven't seen much of you."

Reyes blushed a little but grinned. "It really is. He's transferring back to
D.C."

Scully smiled. "That's great!"

Kate drained her wine glass. "Yeah. Now we can play, like,
couples' Bunko or something. Maybe Bridge. God, Walter is going to
be ecstatic, I tell you."

Reyes snorted. "Yeah. Okay."

Maggie took a long sip of her wine. "Ah, to be at this point in your life
again. You three don't know how good you have it. Wait until you're
my age."

Scully wrinkled her eyebrows, feeling sad. "Mom."

Kate looked up. "Ah, Maggie. Don't be silly. You should be
dating, you know. Hey! You should meet my Godfrey! He adores
redheads. Seriously. He wasn't around when you guys flew down here,
but he's going to be here to fly us home tomorrow, you know."

"Kate, don't tell my mother to date. God."

"Dana, she's your mother. She's not dead."

Maggie sighed. "Yeah, but all of the older but not ancient men want
women who look like you all. And the ones who want me don't have
any teeth."

Scully choked on her wine. "Mother."

"Dana. I'm your mother, but I'm not dead. For instance. That former
boss of yours was quite the looker. What was his name?"

Scully snorted. "Skinner, Mom? Ask Kate. She's shacked up with
him."

"Hey! He is not THAT much older than me. And what about you and
Daniel?"

Scully shot her an intense glare and hissed, "Kate, do not go there. My
mother does not need to know that."

Reyes broke in. "All right, you two. Chill."

Maggie looked at Kate. "See what I mean? Older men want women
who look like you. Not me."

Kate covered her face with her hands. "Look, Walter's only sixteen
years older than I am. But Godfrey actually is only twenty-three years
older than I am. He has sexy hair. Let me show you a picture, Maggie."
She scrambled to find the photo she was looking for, hoping to draw
attention away from her and Skinner's relationship.

Maggie looked down at the man with the long, grey ponytail. "Oh, he is
alluring, Kate."

"MOM!"

"See? And he still thinks of me as twelve, with scraped knees, spitting
mad because Joe McGovern wouldn't kiss me while we were surfing.
He's amazing, Maggie. I'll introduce you guys tomorrow."

Monica laughed at the look on Scully's face. "Come on, Dana.
It's going to be all right. Surely, you must want your mom to have
a life."

"No, no I don't. I just want to think of her as a Gramma, thanks."

Kate looked up as the front door opened and Skinner came through
the foyer and into the living room. "Hi! You came." She stood up and
walked over to him, putting her arms around his back and hugging him
close. "You didn't have to, you know."

He looked down at her. "I know. But...this is what couples do, right?
Vacation together?"

She laughed and kissed his neck. "Come in. Drop your bag. We'll take
it up when we go to bed, okay? Come say hello to everyone."

He ventured further into the room. "Hello, ladies."

They all waved. "Hi."

"Where are all the men?" he asked helplessly.

Kate gave him a sympathetic look. "They ran into town. Are
you hungry? Want a glass of wine?"

He shook his head. "I'll help myself." He nodded at Scully's mom and
took her hand in his. "How've you been?"

She blushed. "Fine, thanks, Mr. Skinner."

"Walter, please."

She smiled and nodded. "Call me Maggie."

Kate and Scully looked at each other and grimaced. "Hey, Walter?
Want to come see the pool?" Kate tugged him out onto the patio.
Outside, she put her arm through his. "It means a lot to me that you
came. I know it's uncomfortable for you."

He rocked on his feet. "Well, I was worried you may get sick of
sleeping alone while you were here and find someone else to rub your
feet."

Kate stood on her tiptoes and kissed his lips. "I would never."

He kissed her back, though somewhat shyly. "Sorry I was so
grumpy this past week. Things are still so new."

"It's okay. Really. We'll figure it all out as we go, right?" She nodded
down by the beach. "Remember that last time we were here? In the
rain?" 

He gave her a look and shrugged. "That's so last trip, Kate. I
was hoping for something new and exciting."

She laughed out loud and pulled him after her. "In that case, allow me
to show you my favorite dunes."

"Kate, I was joking."

She threw a look over her shoulder. "Well, I wasn't. Come on. Grab
that towel."

Seated between two sand hills, Skinner leaned back and looked at the
stars. "I can't tell you how foolish I feel, Kate."

She sat up and straddled him. "Don't feel weird. Please." Dipping her
head, she kissed him for a long moment. "I like having you here. But
you really don't have to come here when there's a group if it makes you
this uncomfortable."

He closed his eyes, then opened them to look at the dark sky. "Well,
I'll survive." He pushed her hands away from his belt. "But not if you
keep doing that."

"Oh, come on, Walter. You think they don't all know we have sex? I
mean, really. Dana and Monica are two of my closest friends. I've
already told them both about the beach in the rain. "

"Tell me you're joking."

"Of course I'm not joking. What do you think we talk about? I have a
reputation, you know. My stories have to be better. I mean, Dana
already seduced Mulder on a grassy knoll not long ago, and Monica
has hardly come out of that guesthouse since John arrived...so you'd
better deliver tonight." She reached for his belt again and this time met
no resistance.

Inside, Mulder came back and finally made his way upstairs
with Scully. As he stretched out beside her on the bed they had
shared the last time they came here, he told her, "You seem so
relaxed here."

She smiled. "The ocean is like magic for me, Mulder. It makes me feel
so secure."

He brushed her hair away from her face. "Maybe we should sell our
house and just move here."

Smiling, she nuzzled his chin. "I think it might lose its appeal if we were
here full time."

"Well, maybe. I still love being here with you, though." Kissing his way
down her neck, then lifting her night shirt to make his way down her
breasts and stomach, he whispered, "I don't think you know how lucky
I feel right now. I don't deserve this, you know. Fifteen years ago, I
could never have imagined that I'd be allowed to touch you any time I
want. Or that you'd be walking around, carrying my child inside you."

She smiled as she ran her fingernails along his back. "Oh, Mulder. You
do deserve this. If you could see through my eyes, or even Claire or
William's...you'd realize how much you deserve this. Sure, you run off
half-cocked every now and then..."

"Hey..." He kissed the side of her belly.

"But..." She whispered softly.

"But what?" He prodded her gently, sucking at her hipbone.

"But, we always know where you most want to be at night," Scully told
him as he kissed her inner thigh.

"Do you really, Scully?" He lifted his head to meet her eyes.

"I really do, Mulder." She scooted down in bed and pulled his face up
to hers. Latching onto his lip, she sighed, "But you could suck up to me
one more time just to make sure I have a story to best
Kate's tomorrow."

He laughed, "Well, I do want you to win, you know..." As he kissed his
way down her body again, he thought, 'Thank you, Skinner, for letting
Kate seduce you in the sand.'


Saturday, August 2nd  
9:19 a.m. 

Kate taped the box she was packing and stacked it on the wall. "I don't
understand why we didn't pay someone to do this when we realized
Mulder and Walter were leaving town so conveniently for the weekend.
I mean, you're paying someone to move everything. I would gladly have
paid them to pack it all up, too."

Scully rolled her eyes. "I don't want strangers going through
my drawers, Kate. That's what friends are for." 

Kate glared at her. "Why are you folding all that? It's not going to stay
folded in the move. This is going to take forever if you keep doing that."

"Shut up, Kate." Scully folded another t-shirt. She jumped as
Feather flew through the room, William close on his tail. "William. You
put that bird back in his cage right now and go finish packing your
toys. Remember to leave out what you want for tonight and
tomorrow morning." William never even slowed as he chased the bird
back out of the room.

They were finally moving into the house they had bought. It was
less than thirty minutes outside of D.C. instead of the hour and
forty minutes out they were now. Scully was sad to leave the old house
she had come to love, but she was tired of stepping over children
and toys all the time. The new house was bigger and closer
to civilization, but it was still secluded enough to make Mulder happy.

Several hours later, while Kate packed away the breakables in
the kitchen, Scully went upstairs to check on William and
Claire's progress. Claire's room was empty, but almost all packed
away. When she stuck her head into William's room, she found William
and Claire both stretched out on the bed. She was about to speak
when she saw a toy fly off a shelf and into a box. Several more
followed in rapid succession, and then the box closed and stacked itself
against the wall. Claire giggled. "You're helping me finish my room after
this or I'm telling Mom."

He smiled and started on another box. "Okay."

"William?"

"Yeah?"

"You think we'll ever get to go to school and do stuff like normal kids?" 

"I don't know. Maybe. Do you want to go to real school?"

Claire shrugged. "Sort of. I mean, don't you wonder what it would be
like to have friends your age?"

William's concentration broke and several books fell out of the
air, narrowly missing the dog. "Oops. Sorry, Togy." The bird
squawked at the noise. "Well, yeah. I'd like to have friends, but I
don't want to go to school and sit in a desk all day. Home schooled
kids don't have to go for as many hours, you know. That's what Dad
told me." Scully listened to the kids' exchange, saddened a little
to realize that THEY even realized that their life wasn't normal. William
spoke again. "Besides, I'm not nearly as lonely now that you're around.
In Wyoming, I almost never saw anyone other than Mama and Papa.
Sometimes a kid from church would come over with his mother, but not
often because Mama was afraid I'd do something to scare them." He
dive bombed his sister, falling across her. "I bet you want to go to
school to meet boys. I saw you looking at that magazine you got Kate
to buy you."

Claire shoved him off of her. "Shut up, you little sneak. You'd better
stop spying. And I was reading about what their lives are like. Most
teen stars don't go to school, either, you know."

Scully cleared her throat finally. "You guys don't look like
you're working all that hard."

William ran over and rubbed her tummy. "We're bored. And I'm
hungry. The baby and I want cookies."

"Really?" Scully lifted a brow. "She told you that?"

He nodded. "Yep. Oreos. We both want Oreos. Come on, Mom." 

Claire rolled off the bed and bounded past them. "I want Oreos, too.
Beat you to the kitchen!" They skidded into the kitchen and
stumbled over the boxes Kate was packing there. "Beat you, Sneak!
Kate, we want Oreos."

She tossed them the package and set the milk on the counter.
Scully waddled into the kitchen behind them. "We are never going to
finish packing. And the movers are coming around eight in the morning."

Kate dunked an Oreo into Claire's milk. "We'll finish. Calm down.
Besides, Mulder will be home tonight eventually and he can stay up and
finish what we don't get done."

Several hours later, they had even the lab packed up and ready to
move. Kate loaded some of the delicate stuff into her car. Before she
left, she noticed a stack of transparencies. "Hey, Dana? What's this?"
She pulled one off the top.

"Oh, I was gonna show you that. It's from some of the testing I've done
on William's tissue samples. There's something strange going on that
I've never seen, but then, I'm no expert."

Kate stared at it, recognition niggling in the back of her mind. "Oh, my
God."

"What?" Scully asked her.

"I've seen something similar to this a few times before." She licked her
lips. "Dana, I think this same thing appeared in Emma's white blood
cells."

"What? How would you know that?"

Kate closed her eyes. "I'm about to tell you something that I have never
told another soul. Not even Walter. And I want you to keep it
to yourself. Dana, when Emma was little, she exhibited some of the
same tendencies William did. That's why I was always interested in
your cases. She could...move some objects. But not exactly like
William. I only ever saw her do it with metallic objects, and then she
could only move them towards her or away from her - not in a
controlled manner like William can. Anyway, I started running tests on
her. I did brain scans, and I did a lot of the same tests you're doing
now. Anyway, that's where I've seen that...pattern. In her white
blood cells. Which I always thought was a strange place to see
something anomalous in a healthy child. I saw something similar a few
other times through the years - in other children whose parents
contacted me because of similar...powers...they witnessed in their
kids."

The look on Scully's face was completely shocked. "Kate, why
would you keep that to yourself?"

"Well, I only saw it happen a few times before I lost custody of
her. And Nic never saw it. And I just...I don't know. I know it
sounds unbelievable, but it just never occurred to me that Emma's case
would have any connection to William's whatsoever. But what I saw in
Emma and those other kids made me wonder if some kids were
being experimented on through childhood vaccinations. By the time I
left the CDC, I had plenty of suspicions, no hard evidence, and I
was making enemies faster than my research warranted."

Scully shook her head. "Wait. You have to slow down. I'm confused.
Although, I certainly think the government has used inoculations to
disguise a whole lot of testing through the years."

"Dana, don't mention this to Mulder yet. Give me a chance to
dig through the things I've collected on this. Please? I'm going to bring
some stuff to you in the next couple of days that I want you to look at."

Scully couldn't figure out what had Kate so agitated; she supposed it
could just be the Emma aspect of it in general. "All right. Are you sure
you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll see you guys at the new house tomorrow, okay? I
just need to process and dig out some files. It's nothing major, I swear."

10:45 p.m.

Skinner walked into the house expecting Kate to be home. As far as he
knew, she wasn't working at the clinic, so there really was nowhere she
should be this late. After getting her voicemail, he called Scully, who
said she hadn't seen her since six but that she thought maybe Kate had
gone to her office to work for a while. At midnight, he called her office
because she still wasn't answering her cell phone but only got her
answering service. She had a direct line to her desk, but she didn't
answer that one either. After two a.m., he got worried and drove over
to her office. Her car was there and lights were on inside. After he
banged on the glass for several minutes, she finally came to the door.
"God, Kate. What are you doing? It's almost three in the morning." He
noticed that she looked upset.

"I'm sorry. I lost track of time. Why didn't you call?"

"I did. A dozen times."

"Oh. Sorry. Actually, I don't know where my phone is. And I was
in the lab some, so maybe I didn't hear the office phone." She was still
standing in the doorway.

"Are you going to let me in?"

She bit her lip. "Why don't we just head home, okay?"

Narrowing his eyes, he looked around her. "Okay. I'll wait for you to
get your things." He couldn't figure out why she seemed so nervous as
he followed her through to her office. It was like someone had trashed
the place. There were papers and folders strewn all over the place.
Every surface was pretty much covered. All of the light boards were
filled with strange transparencies and images. "Kate, what the hell are
you doing?"

She did not meet his eyes. "I'm looking for a connection between
some patients, Walter." She picked up her keys and started turning
out lights. She gathered five file folders full of stuff and shoved them into
her backpack. "I'm ready."

He looked at all of the things still scattered about. "You're just going to
leave it like this?"

Kate shrugged. "Sure. I can pick up where I left off tomorrow." She
forgot about the lamp behind her desk, so he walked over and pulled
the cord. When he looked down, a couple of brain scans caught his
eye. The name on the edge scared him.

"Why are you going through Emma's medical records, Kate?"

She fidgeted. "It...I don't want to tell you yet. It's probably nothing, but
I thought I came across something today that reminded me
of something I'd once seen with Emma." Tears stung her eyes. He
wanted to ask why she even had all of these records on Emma, but he
could tell her composure was slipping. "I just...Can we talk about
it tomorrow?" He nodded and started to put the images back on her
desk. She held out her hand. "Actually, I need to take those."
Skinner handed them to her and watched as she put them back in an
envelope and into her bag.

Outside, he waited as she got into her car. Following her home,
his mind wandered through the possibilities. As far as he had
known, Emma had been a perfectly healthy child. When they got home,
Kate went straight to the shower, not talking much to him. She was in
for a long time and when he stuck his head in to ask if everything
was okay, she didn't answer. Opening the door to the shower, he
found her sobbing silently into her hands. "Ah, Kate. Come out of
there."

She shook her head. "I can't."

He shucked his clothes and got in with her, wrapping his arms around
her. The water was so hot it practically burned his skin. "Tell me."

"I just didn't have a good day, Walter. I thought about her all afternoon
and all night. Something just set me off. It happens sometimes."

"I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear. Picking up a loofah -
Skinner couldn't believe he even knew what a loofah was - he lathered
it and washed her gently, then himself. After drying her well, he made
her get into bed with him. As he wrapped himself around her, he felt
her start to relax.

Face buried in his neck, she said, "I'm glad you're home. Sorry
I worried you." Truthfully, she just wasn't used to answering to anyone.
There had been many nights in the past years when she had watched
the sunrise from her office or from the lab.

"I worry about you out by yourself in the middle of the night, Kate."

"Walter, I've really been better about coming home at a decent
hour. Time just got away from me tonight, and to be honest, I forgot
you were getting back today. My days are mixed up." 

He rubbed her side and back until she fell asleep. A couple of hours
later when he opened his eyes, she was gone from bed. Sighing, he sat
up and went into the bathroom. There was a note taped to the mirror
that said, "Couldn't sleep. Gone for a run." She usually ran down by
the river, so he changed and started that way as well. It wasn't that
he didn't trust her to take care of himself; it was just that last night had
really bothered him. Back when he only saw her a couple of times a
week, he had never realized how much Emma still bothered her.
He knew she would never get over it, but seeing her hurt on a
regular basis was tearing him apart. As he ran, he cursed himself yet
again for never finding Emma. After a half hour, he was getting
tired. Running, even slowly, was not his thing anymore. He only did it
for the cardio, even though it hurt his knees. Just as he was going
to head home, he saw Kate running towards him. Kate loved running
and had told him once that the feeling of her feet hitting the
ground drove the demons from her mind.

"Hey," she said as they met up. 

Skinner realized she had to slow down significantly to match pace with
him. "You go ahead. I'll see you at home." 

She slowed down more. "That's okay. I've already been five or six
miles. Want to walk home with me?" While they walked, she started to
talk to him.  "I don't like to talk to you about Emma, Walter. It hurts me
more because I know it hurts you."

"Kate, that's crazy. If you can't tell me, who do you talk to?" 

"No one. There's nothing anyone can do to make it better."

"Just tell me. What's an average day like?  How much do you think
about her?"

Kate sighed. "When I open my eyes most mornings, it hits me all over
again. And even though I know it's not likely, I send a silent plea to
whomever or whatever may be listening that today is the day something
changes. Either we find her body or the pain gets easier for me. I hate
the not knowing. I think of her during the day, anytime I see a toddler
or a girl the age she would be now. It never really gets better. The only
time I don't think about her constantly is when I'm working and when
I'm with you. Believe it or not, the nights are so much better for me now
that you're there. I dread lying down at night because sometimes when I
doze off, I think I hear her crying for me. There are some nights when
nothing chases the demons away. The only thing that helps then is
throwing myself into my work. Like last night. I know this isn't what you
want to hear, but it's the truth." She shrugged helplessly.

Skinner stopped and took her arm. "You should have told me,
Kate. All this time, I've thought...that maybe you think of her off and
on throughout the day, but I didn't realize it was like this."

"I don't want you to worry. It's been ten years. Sadly, it's almost a way
of life. I still enjoy life, Walter. I'm able to compartmentalize. Please, it
will make it worse if you take this personally."

He nodded somberly. "Can you tell me about the medical records?"

As they continued walking, Kate told him everything she had told
Scully. Finally, she stopped talking and looked at him. "So, that's it. I've
studied four children over the years similar to what I saw first in Emma
and now in William."

"Kate, how could you not tell me this? What about the other children?
Have any of them gone missing?"

"Walter, you're scaring me. Why would you even think that?"

"How could you not?"

"There was nothing wrong with my daughter, Walter. A couple of
times, metallic objects moved in her presence. Even if she had received
altered vaccinations, why would that be connected to her
disappearance?"

He sighed. "It probably isn't, but we should at least look into it." This
made him understand Kate in a whole different light. She was single
minded and obsessive about her work and research in a way that he
had only ever seen topped by one person before. And it scared him to
think how right Scully had been when she compared Kate to Mulder all
those months ago. He also understood now why she'd taken an interest
in the x-files for all those years. 

Kate hesitated. "Walter...It's not true that I haven't thought about it,
especially after William was born. Most of her vaccines were
manufactured by Carter Pharmaceuticals. There's very little that I'm
scared of, Walter. But the idea that my father's company could be
responsible for any of this...that's something I don't know if I can
handle. I've checked every division of that company over the past
several years, you know. I can't tell you how many projects I've shut
down because of ethical violations. I know that a lot of biomedical
research pushes the envelope on ethics. I just..."

Putting a hand on her back, he told her, "Let me worry about this,
Kate. That's a big leap you're making. I can't believe you've been
looking into this alone for this many years. Even if a vaccine was
tampered with by Carter Pharmaceuticals, that doesn't mean that your
father knew. He couldn't have overseen every aspect of that company
himself. Right now, I just want to look into those children you were
talking about."

She didn't want to tell him how strong her suspicions were. He was
only looking at this right now from a standpoint of finding Emma and
leaving no stone unturned. She'd been turning stones in Carter
Pharmaceuticals for years and had hit a brick wall more times than she
could count. There was no doubt in her mind that someone in the
company was in bed with the people inside the government who
knew the truth about the aliens. There was also no doubt in her mind
that if they were responsible for Emma's disappearance, she would
never know the truth about her daughter. And she just wasn't ready to
face spending the rest of her life not knowing.

Back at the house, Kate got ready to head out to Scully's to help them
move in. She looked surprised when Skinner joined her downstairs
wearing jeans and a t-shirt - tucked in and wrinkle free, but still a
t-shirt. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"With you. I thought I'd help Mulder set up beds and move heavy stuff.
I told him on the way back last night that I'd help."

She smiled. "Well, that's nice." Finishing her glass of sweet tea, she put
a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think I've ever seen you quite this
casual." 

He gave her a dirty look. "You've seen me naked. I think that's more
casual than this."

Laughing, Kate hugged him. "Ready?"

He nodded. On the steps, she put her key in to lock the dead bolt and
when she turned around to go down the steps he was so close to her
that she ran into him before she realized he was there. The look on his
face was really strange. "What?" He was staring at her in a way she'd
never really seen before.

When he kissed her, she was too startled to respond at first. Finally,
she kissed him back. "Wow. I needed that," she joked as he broke the
kiss.

He leaned his forehead against hers and said, "I love you, Kate. I know
I've never told you, but I do. I've thought several times about telling
you; I didn't want the first time I said it to be in bed." He put his hand in
the back of her hair and pulled his fingers through it. Kate swallowed
hard. As she opened her mouth to speak, he kissed her again and
silenced her. "No, don't say anything. I don't want you to say it just
because I did."

"But I..."

"I know how you feel about me, Kate. You've shown me a
thousand times. I feel it in the way you touch my arm when I'm
aggravated, in the way you smile when you reach for me, in the way
you laugh when I say something that's not even that funny. I know from
the way you spend hours making a homemade cheesecake that you
barely even eat because it's my favorite. I was thinking this morning
how I don't show you enough."

Kate put her arms around him, her eyes stinging.  She let him drive her
car, mainly because her driving made him crazy, and they were silent
for the first half of the trip. "Did you know that you're only the third
person in my life who has ever said that to me?"

He gave her an astonished look from the corner of his eye. "I find that
hard to believe."

She shook her head. "No, it's true. Nic was the first person I remember
ever telling me that, and that was after sex. Now that I think about it,
that's about the only time he said it. Maybe my mother did when I was
very small, but I can't say for sure. My father never told me. Not once
in thirty-four years that I can remember. I never wanted Emma to feel
that way, so I made sure I told her all the time and that I hugged her
and kissed her and tickled her and snuggled with her. And the day she
looked up at me with those big green eyes and said, "Wuv you,
Mommy,' for the first time, I can't even describe how I felt." She
reached for his hand.  "Hearing it from you was second in my life only
to that moment."

He rubbed her fingers between his, not knowing what else to say.
They drove for several more minutes before he said, "My mother has
been nagging me about meeting you, Kate. I told her we'd come by
this week. Maybe tonight or tomorrow night?" The look on her face
made him chuckle.

"Christ, Walter. You're just full of emotional first moments today, aren't
you?"

1:30 p.m. 

All of the major furniture was finally set up and exactly where Scully
wanted it. Kate made sandwiches for them and they all ate in the floor,
using boxes for tables since the real table was still covered in boxes.
Mulder hooked up his stereo and turned it on while they ate. The radio
landed on 'Come Together.'

Kate started singing, and Claire joined her, which surprised Scully first
because her daughter was usually fairly withdrawn and second because
she didn't realize that Claire knew the song. William danced through the
boxes making everyone laugh. "Sing, Mommy," he called out.

"No way, kid. I only sing at bedtime." 

When the song ended, Mulder asked Kate, "So...Beatles or Stones?"

"Stones," she declared.  "Dana?"

"Beatles."

"Figures. Walter?"

"Neither."

Mulder snorted. "I bet you hide Elton John CD's in your car and break
them out when you're alone."

Kate laughed. "Well, 'Crocodile Rock' wasn't bad. I remember when
rock was young; me and Suzie had so much fun...holding hands and
skimming stones...Come on, Walter, surely you know this...Had an old
gold Chevy and a place of my own."

Skinner scowled. "I know the song, Kate; I'm just not really into
music."

She shook her head sadly. "How did we end up together? You must
love my music blasting at home on Sundays." Kate liked having music
on when she was cooking or cleaning or working on the computer.

"I'm getting more accustomed to it."

The commercials finally ended and another song started up. "Put on my
blue suede shoes and I boarded the plane...Touched down in the
land of the Delta blues in the middle of the pourin' rain."

Mulder held his hand out to Scully and waggled his eyebrows. "Our
song, Scully."

Scully hesitated for only a second before taking his hand. She let him
lead her, thinking back to the other time they had danced together.
"Huh. I guess I always thought of 'Joy to the World' as our song,
Mulder."

William was standing on top of a box. "That's mine and your song,
Mom," he complained indignantly.

Mulder danced Scully over near their son, only a little awkwardly
because of the belly between them. "Your mother sang it to me
first, William."

"Really?" he asked his mother.

"Yes, really." She leaned over and kissed his nose as they danced by. 

William rubbed his nose, offended. "Then it can be our family song. I
don't like this dumb Memphis song anyway. It can be just your song.
It's almost as bad as those Elvis songs."

Mulder looked down at Scully and cracked, "Are you sure he's mine,
Scully? Did you hear what he just said about Elvis?" He glanced
accusingly at Skinner. 

She laughed as he twirled her out. "Well, you know he's not Skinner's
since Kate already had that market cornered."

The look on her face mesmerized Mulder, just as it had the first time
they had danced. He had seen that look of complete
live-only-in-the-moment contentment on her face only a dozen or so
times. Dipping his head, he kissed her as the song ended. "That was a
different ending from last time, Mulder."

He smiled his crinkled eye smile. The one he used only when he was
very happy. "Well, I would have tried it the last time if I hadn't been so
afraid you'd deck me." 

William made a gagging noise. "Eeew. I'm never kissing a girl like that."

Claire knocked him off of the box. "I like it when they kiss."

"Gross. Not me," her brother declared as he hopped back up on the
box and started practicing Ninja kicks.

"Me neither," Skinner muttered under his breath. 

8:15 p.m.

As Kate and Skinner pulled up at the apartment complex, Kate
felt butterflies in her stomach. "Walter, maybe it's too late tonight. We
could come back some other time."

He laughed at her obvious trepidation. It was strange to see
Kate nervous. "She's a harmless old lady, Kate. I bet you'll even
like her."

Resigning herself to the meeting, Kate followed him into the building.
When he knocked on the apartment door, only a few seconds passed
before the door was thrown open. "It's about time you got here," Ruth
Skinner declared as she hugged her son. She turned her attention to
Kate next. "So, you must be the one my son is shacking up with these
days. Let me take a good look at you." 

Kate lifted an eyebrow and gave Skinner a dirty look. He had led her
to believe his mother was elderly and in need of assisted living. This
woman obviously had full use of both her physical and mental
facilities. "Mother, there is no need to be crass."

"I'm an old woman, Walter.  I have earned the right to be both crass
and nosey. Come on inside. You're letting the cool air out." 

Inside the apartment, Skinner officially introduced them. "It's a pleasure
to meet you, Mrs. Skinner," Kate told her.

She waved a slender arm. "Call me Ruth. So tell me why it is you
wouldn't marry my son."

Kate widened her eyes. To Skinner she muttered, "You told your
MOTHER?" She turned her attention back to the spry woman. "Well,
to be honest with you...I don't have a lot of faith in marriage as an
institution, I'm not a terribly religious person, and I don't need a piece of
paper to keep me committed to this relationship."

Ruth speared her with intelligent eyes. "Hmmph. She's cheeky, Walter."
She nodded towards the sofa and looked at Kate. "Sit down, child. I
didn't mean to get you all worked up. Anyway, it seems like no one
thinks a thing about the way young people live these days." Skinner
sat beside Kate on the sofa. "So, Walter told me that you're a doctor.
General practitioner or specialist? Tell me what your work is like."

"My private practice specializes in diagnosing rare conditions
and disorders in children, particularly those that are believed to
be inherited. I also consult on cases throughout the country where
the child has been sick for some time and local doctors are
having trouble making a diagnosis."

"So, you're sort of like House?"

Kate scoffed. "Well, I like to believe that I have a much better
bedside manner than House."

"And after you diagnose the children, then what happens?"

"Well, depending on the diagnosis, I refer them to specialists. There are
a couple of disorders for which I am considered a specialist, so I often
become those children's primary physician. On the side, I also help run
a free clinic near downtown. And the rest of my work time is spent on
research. That about sums it up."

"Huh. I guess that doesn't leave time for much else, does it?"

Kate maintained eye contact with the woman. "Well, I always make
time for the important things."

Ruth disappeared into what Kate assumed was the kitchen.

Skinner leaned close to her. "I'm sorry. I didn't think she would be quite
this bad." He rubbed her upper arm.

Kate stood up, paced a little and gave him a blistering look. "Harmless
old lady?"

"Well, she is harmless - most of the time. And she is old." 

"You deliberately mislead me."

"That bad?" he asked, standing up with her.

"Walter, I had medical school interviews less intense than this."

Ruth called to them. "Coffee?"

"Sure," Skinner responded. He pulled Kate close to him. "She
likes you; I can tell."

"I'd hate to see her with someone she dislikes, then. Why didn't you tell
me she objected to our living situation?"

He shrugged. "She's eighty, Kate. Did you think she'd approve?" He
kissed her quickly. "You're doing great. The worst thing you could have
done was let her intimidate you."

She kissed him back, lingering a moment. "Well, you owe me big
time tonight."

"I can handle that." His phone rang. "Damn. I have to take it." He
stepped out into the hallway.

When Ruth came back with coffee, she said, "Walter have a
call?" Kate nodded. "So, where were we?"

"You were interrogating me."

The older woman laughed hard. "So I was. Kate, I'll be straight
with you. I worry about my son. He's a loner. Always was, even when
he was married to Sharon. He tells me he's living with someone after all
these years and wants me to meet her. Then, he shows up
with someone half his age."

"Now, I am not half his age." Kate glared indignantly at the woman.

"Don't get defensive, young lady. Let me finish. He shows up here, and
you are not at all what I was expecting. You are just a little too young,
a little too pretty, a little too casual, and a little too outspoken for what I
consider Walter's taste."

Kate gave a half laugh. "You mean I'm not refined or sleek enough."

"Well, I can tell you that I have to wonder whether this is a late midlife
crisis. He certainly seems smitten with you. I don't think I ever saw him
kiss Sharon anywhere other than the cheek except at their wedding."

Kate cut her eyes over to the woman. "First, I don't think he intended
for you to see that kiss. And second, I'm offended by the word smitten.
You make it sound like I'm a passing fancy. I have known and loved
your son for over ten years. It may have taken me this long to realize
exactly how much he means to me, but I'm not going anywhere...even
though we aren't married. He's my best friend, and there is no one as
important to me as he is. Does that make you feel better?"

Ruth raised her eyebrows. "Ten years?  And he's just now bringing you
to meet me? That tells me something isn't quite right, now doesn't it?"
Kate stood back up, wishing she hadn't come today. She looked
around the room and rubbed her neck.  "Nevertheless, yes, it makes
me feel somewhat better. Since you're not going anywhere, what are
your plans for Thanksgiving?"

Realizing she had just won this particular match, Kate picked up a
photo album from a shelf. "I'm not sure yet, but you'll definitely be
invited.  May I look at this?" The woman joined her on the sofa to give
her narrative on the childhood pictures of Skinner. 

When he came back in the front door a few minutes later, the sight on
the sofa made Skinner hide a smile. He had always thought his mother
would take to Kate. Breathing deeply, he sat in the chair. Kate looked
up at him, and when her sea foam eyes met his, he felt that same jolt he
always did when they made eye contact.

At home later that night, he found her in the third floor room that she
loved so much. She was stretched out on the sofa there reading
a patient file, the stereo playing in the background. This was the only
room in the house with a large fluffy rug in it, so it had a cozy feel.
"Coming to bed?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I'm not ready yet." 

He walked to the end of the sofa and rubbed her feet. When a
slow Phil Collins song came on, he gave Kate a look. "Not your
usual music."

"I'm in a melancholy mood."

He held out his hand to her. "Dance with me?"

She gave him a surprised look but let him pull her up. "Okay." The
swaying he did reminded her of awkward junior high dances, but it was
still a nice gesture on his part. "So, is this our song? 'Groovy Kind of
Love?' Who is ever going to believe that?"

He smiled down at her. "I like this song." 

Tilting her head up, she laughed out loud. "I promise not to tell Mulder."
She kissed the side of his neck.

"That's sort of your trademark, you know - the way you kiss my
neck. It's one of my favorite things you do."

"You've been a real heartbreaker today, Walter," Kate said softly
as the song finished. When his hands found their way under her
shirt and his thumbs brushed her nipples, she sucked in a breath,
realizing she wasn't going to get her files finished tonight. A few
minutes later, she found herself naked and flat on her back on the
rug, begging him to hurry. But his tempo matched that of the
music playing, and he made love to her slowly, kissing every inch of
her body.

"You're driving me crazy," she told him. When he finally
lowered himself over the top of her and pushed his way gently inside
her body, she clawed at his back and moved her hips against his.
Still, he maintained his control, moving slowly and deliberately. When
she shuddered beneath him, he stopped moving and held her. 

"I want to make you happy," he whispered to her.

"You do. God, you do." 

"I hope that's true." He started moving again, faster than before but still
not with the usual urgency. When he came, he cried out her name.
Afterwards, he rolled them both to the side and buried his face in her
hair.


Monday, August 4th  
8:42 a.m.

Kate picked up the ringing phone, noting that it was Scully. "Hi. How
was the first night in the new house?"   "It was really good. Listen, I've
been going through those files you left me. You're right about the white
blood cells. The same anomaly in all four of the kids plus Emma and
William."

"I had to tell Walter. I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not. I talked to Mulder about it this morning, too." They
talked shop a while longer, then Scully said, "Oh, by the way.
 Remember how you said I should..."

"You should what?"

"You know, how you said to spice things up these days, I should make
the first move more often?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, Mulder got really lucky last night."

"Good for him. Did you get anything out of it?"

"Not last night. I gave him a blow job. Well, mostly a hand job since
I'm not all that flexible these days and had trouble getting my head in the
right spot."

"Wow. He did get lucky. I, however, am feeling a severe case of TMI
this morning."

Scully continued, knowing Kate was only joking. "Yeah, and he
was most appreciative. He returned the favor this morning, though.
Best orgasm I've had in a year. And he offered to play with the kids
all morning so I could finish setting up the lab here."

Kate laughed. "What did I tell you? Men are so easy. I had really great
sex last night, too, by the way. Strange sex, though." She told Scully
about meeting Skinner's mom and then how strange he was at home
after that. "It almost feels wrong to talk about it. Usually, I initiate sex. I
don't know why. It's the way we've always been. Anyway, it was
good, but almost heart wrenching. It's really hard to explain."

Scully nodded as if Kate could see her through the phone. "I think I
know what you mean, though. You know that first night all those years
ago that Mulder and I were on the run? That's how it was that night."
Scully thought back to that New Mexico hotel room. That night, she
had thought that she would never feel safe or happy again.

"So, any word on what Mulder wants to name the fetus?"

"Uh, don't remind me. He is keeping it all a great big secret. To be
honest, I'm starting to get scared. Listen, though. I need you to do me
a favor sometime this week. I have a list of things I need that I don't
want Mulder to have to go out and buy. I swear I can't wait to be able
to go out again, Kate. I never thought of myself as a social person, but
just knowing I can't go places is driving me insane."

"Hang in there. It's almost over."

Kate hung up and surveyed her office. It was still a disaster area from
Saturday night. Sighing, she started putting things back into their places.
When she looked up, she was surprised to see Reyes standing in her
office doorway. "Whoa. Were you broken into?"

"No. I was looking for something over the weekend."

Looking for a place to sit and not finding an empty chair,
Monica responded. "Well, I hope you found it."

Kate gave her a look and cleared a chair for her. "Have a seat.
Why aren't you at work?"

"Just haven't made it there yet." She looked around. "How long
have you been here this morning?"

Shrugging, Kate replied, "Since six, I guess."

"If you don't mind my saying so, you don't look so good, Kate."
They stared at each other for several seconds. Then, Monica
said, "Anything you want to talk about?"

Kate looked down at the stack of stuff in her hands and dropped it on
the desk. "Nope. I'm doing just fine. How about you? There must be
some reason you came over here, out of your way, on a Monday
morning before work."     Monica looked a little guilty. "Can't I
come by to see a friend?"

"Sure you can. But why would you do it when you're already running
half an hour late for work?" Kate slammed a drawer on a file cabinet
and yanked down the images from the light boards. "Well, anyway, tell
me what's going on with you. Are you excited that John's moving back
next month?"

"Yeah. I'm excited. And I'm nervous."

Kate nodded. "Well, that's understandable. What did you guys decide?
Is he getting his own place or is he moving back home with you?"

"Back with me, I think."

"You think?"

"Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"I have a problem I need advice on."

Kate stopped filing and straightened up. "I'm sorry. I really thought you
came here because Walter asked you to. Dana has already called this
morning, too."

Monica looked sheepish. "Well, he did. But I agreed because I needed
someone to talk to and I've been putting it off."

"Do you want to talk here? Take a walk? Or go get coffee?"

"Can we walk? The clutter here is making it difficult to breathe."

Kate threw her a sour look. "Sure." As they left her office, she told
Monica, "When you get to work, tell Walter that I'm fine."

"But I don't think you are fine."

"But I will be closer to fine if he leaves me alone and lets me do my
own thing. Please, Monica? I need him to get off my case. I'm
suffocating here. Now, tell me what's going on with you."

"I'm pregnant."

"Christ. There seems to be a lot of that going around these days, now
doesn't it?" She saw the look on her friend's face. "I'm sorry. I don't
mean to be insensitive. When did this happen? Wait, is it John's?"

"Of course it's John's!" Monica bit her lip. "It happened that weekend
at your beach house."

"Monica, that was barely a month ago. What made you even realize
this early?"

She looked at Kate. "Well, when we got ready to make love, I told him
I wasn't on any birth control right now because I wasn't expecting to
have sex. He didn't have anything with him...and instead of going to get
condoms, he said, 'Let's take the chance, Mon. If you get pregnant, we
know it's meant to be.' And now I am pregnant and I'm worried he just
said that because he hadn't had sex in so long and didn't want to wait
another hour. And I feel like it's my fault even though he suggested it.
At the time, I thought, great...he's right. What's meant to be will
happen. Now I feel like throwing up every time I think about telling
him."

Kate touched her shoulder. "Breathe. Okay, listen, if he didn't mean it,
he shouldn't have said it, and he certainly shouldn't have
had unprotected sex. He knew how much you wanted this baby. So,
don't worry about that. You probably feel like throwing up partly
from morning sickness, not just from thinking about telling him.
Advice? I think you should fly out there, tell him, and give him the
month to absorb it. That way, when it's time for him to move here, you
won't have this hanging over your head. The ball will be in his court.
If he's anything like Walter, it'll take him a month to calm down about it
anyhow, so don't go out there expecting anything instantaneous."

"So, you think I should just go out there and tell him and get it over
with? Even though it's really early?"

"Didn't I just say that? I think it will take some of the pressure off of
you."

"Okay. I'll go this weekend."

"Great." Kate stopped walking and looked at the other woman. "Oh,
my God! You're going to have a baby! How amazing is that?"

Monica smiled big. "I am. It is. You're right. It's so good to tell
someone who is excited for me as well."

Kate grinned. "You know what we should do?"

"What?"

"Blow off work today, go sneak Dana out, and spend the day
celebrating somewhere." 

"Really?"

"Sure. Work will still be here tomorrow, right? Where should we go?"

"Where can we go? Dana won't go out anywhere around here.
What's that all about, anyway? Are they going to hide the
baby forever?"

Kate shrugged. "I don't know; I don't think so. God, I hope not. I think
she just wanted to have a smooth pregnancy this time. She didn't want
any surprise visitors at the delivery. Who even knows, really? I tried to
talk them out of hiding from the beginning. But she's my friend, and
ultimately, it's her decision."

Monica looked over at Kate. "What if the surprise visitors show up at
the delivery anyway?"

"Why do you think I insisted you be there? I'm hoping Walter will
be able to be there, too. And maybe John as well." She paused.
"I know what we should do. We should fly to New York for the day."

"Dana would really like that. We can give her big sunglasses and
a floppy hat. We can all go incognito." Monica hugged her
impulsively. "Let's do it." 

3:10 p.m.

The three women were sitting outside a small bistro across from Central
Park that Scully had chosen. "It's hotter than hell, Dana.  Why are we
sitting outside?" Monica complained.

"Because I want to take in all the sights and sounds I've missed the past
few months. You take it for granted."

"Don't you dare faint, Monica. It is hot, Dana. Maybe she shouldn't be
out in this." Kate hiked her thumb at Reyes.

"No, no. I'm okay. I'll tell you if I get too hot."

The waiter brought their drinks, including a big cocktail for Kate. "Hey,
how can you drink that in front of us?" Scully complained.

Kate shrugged. "You are both poised on the brink of life's greatest
miracle. I, however, am poised on the brink of one of life's greatest
drinks." She took a few sips. "So, more shopping after lunch? Dana, do
you want to see if you can get your hair trimmed? It's really long."

"That would be nice." Scully looked at Kate over the top of her large
sunglasses. "Are you sure you're okay? Really? Skinner's worried
about you."

Monica slapped her forehead. "Oh, darn it. Skinner. I never called him
back this morning."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Forget about it, Monica. I talked to him earlier.
Gave him the short version of what was going down today. He thought
today was a great idea for us. I am really sick of him getting in my
personal business."

Scully cracked up. "You are his personal business, Kate. That's what it
means to live with someone."

"Well, I don't like it. He moves in, what, five, six weeks ago? I mean, I
see him almost every day now. Is that not enough? Do we have to talk
on the phone during the day? Does he have to phone my friends? I bet
he goes through my mail, too." She finished off her drink quickly.

"Kate, at least he cares." Scully looked at her seriously. "You are going
to have to get over this compartmentalized mentality if this is going to
work."

"I just need space to move. You don't understand."

"I do understand. I went through the same thing when Mulder and I first
lived together. I had lived alone for so long, then suddenly, no personal
space." She patted Kate's shoulder. "It's still hard sometimes."

Monica gave them both a wide eyed look. "Well, now you're
depressing me. This is supposed to be a celebration."

Scully smiled. "Sorry. Long-term is tough. Well, you both know what I
mean. Your relationships aren't new anymore. All of those amazing first
moments have passed, sex is rarely surprising, and suddenly, keeping
the spark alive is just another chore at the end of the day. And don't get
me started on communication."

"Yeah," Kate muttered.

"Really," Monica said glumly.

"But at least we don't have to go through the horrible dating
scene anymore," Kate reminded them. "I mean, what is worse than
having to slip out the back of a restaurant halfway through dinner
because the man you're with just told you he's about to graduate from
anger management class?" 

"Or get his first AA medallion?" Monica laughed.

"Or just tried to burn his talking tattoo off his arm?" Scully added.

They burst out laughing. "People have the wrong impression
about great, passionate love affairs," Scully said when they finally
grew quiet. "They rarely last. It's the ones that are built on friendship
that last. Case in point: You and Nic? Never should have gone beyond
the fall-into-bed-every-chance-you-get phase. No offense. You know
it's true. But you and Skinner are best friends. Mulder and I were
friends first. So were Monica and John. You'll be fine. Hang in there."

"Yeah, but you know it's not that easy. You were ready to throw in the
towel yourself earlier this year."

"I didn't say it was easy. When the passion drops off, it's work to keep
going."

They sat in silence. "What do you think makes the difference? What
makes some relationships last and some break apart even after twenty
years?" Kate pondered.

"I think you have to be willing to pull most of the weight when the other
is down. And I think the other person has to be willing to do the same
when you're down." Scully shrugged.

"And I think you have to remember that even when you're not in the
mood, sex is usually enjoyable once you get going," Monica tossed in.

"And pillow talk," Kate said suddenly. "Think about it. When do
you know a relationship is going to hell? When you lie down beside
the other person, turn your back to them, and go to sleep
without touching or talking. And I'm not talking about sex. I'm
talking about conversation and comfort touching."

"Now, you may be on to something there, Kate."

"Of course I am. And that brings me back to my original point.
If Walter calls me during the day, what are we supposed to talk about
in bed at night?"

Scully shook her head. "That is not EVEN a sound argument. You
are such a nut." She turned to Monica. "So, you're going to fly
to Denver and tell John this weekend, right?"

"Right."

"What are you going to do if he freaks out?"

"What can I do? Give him time to come around and if he doesn't, raise
this baby by myself."

"Good. It's always good to acknowledge the worst case scenario
before faced with it. But I think he's going to be okay."

Kate joined in, "And if he continues to act like a moron, I'll be happy to
talk some sense into him."

Friday, August 8th  Denver, Colorado 10:13 p.m.

John Doggett opened the door to his apartment, shocked to find
Monica Reyes standing there. 

"So, I thought I'd surprise you. I couldn't wait until Labor Day to see
you again." She threw her arms around him and held on, a little
disappointed that he didn't return the kiss she gave him.

"Wow. This is a surprise. The place is kind of a wreck. I've already
started packing." He looked around. "Actually, I won't lie to you. I
never really finished unpackin'. Come in. Want a beer?"

She shook her head. "I'd better not."

He stood there looking hard at her. "You don't want one or you can't
have one?"

Closing her eyes, she debated. This wasn't how she wanted to tell him.
But then, now that he had put her on the spot, she couldn't lie to him. "I
can't."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

He still just stood there staring at her. "You must be tired."

"Exhausted." The past couple of weeks, she had barely been able to
hold her head up past nine o'clock. "So, mind if I shower?"

"I'll get you a towel. Come on." 

After she cried herself out in the shower, she was really exhausted and
crawled into bed wearing one of his t-shirts. In the dark room she
called Kate's number because she was worried Scully would be asleep
already.

"Hi. You okay?" Kate asked as she answered.

"He guessed the minute I walked in. Did I wake you? I know it's one in
the morning there."

"No. I'm just leaving the clinic. What did he say?"

"Nothing. Well, actually, he said, 'wow'."

"Give him time, Monica. I'm telling you, it is terrifying to him if he is
anything like I was. I couldn't even tell Walter for several weeks." She
heard Monica's breath catch. "I'm sorry. I know that doesn't make it
any better for you right now."

"I don't know if I should have come."

"You did the right thing. If you're still uncomfortable in the morning, you
can come home and just let him have time to process."

"Okay. Thanks. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Okay. Bye."

Doggett stood at the doorway, wondering who she was talking to
but feeling like he couldn't ask. When she turned out the bedside
lamp, he sighed and went out for a walk. A half hour later, he
called Kate's number, knowing she would understand what he was
feeling if anyone would, but he thought about hanging up when Skinner
answered her phone. "Hello," he heard again.

"Uhh, yeah, I needed to talk to Kate."

"She's in the shower, Doggett."

"Oh."

Skinner sighed. Why was Doggett calling Kate at almost two in the
morning? "I can get her to call you back."

"Yeah, that would be good. Thanks."

His phone rang on the way back to his apartment. "Hey, it's Kate. Did
you call?"

"Yeah." There was silence on the line.

"Let me make this easy for you. I know about Monica and the baby.
I was the one who sent her out there. Here's some advice, John.
Wrap your arms around her and tell her everything is going to be
all right. Because it will. Believe me, it will be okay. If you can get
through the weekend, you have a month to sort through everything and
decide what kind of role you want to play in this."

"You make it sound like I have a choice."

"You always have a choice, John. You may not like any of the choices,
but you always have them. I have to go, okay? Walter's giving me dirty
looks because I didn't come home at eleven like I said I would and
now I'm standing here naked talking to you instead of him."

Doggett grinned and rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, he didn't sound
happy when I called earlier. We're a pair of screwed up people, huh?"

"I guess we are. Just focus on treading water until you catch
your breath. No shame in that." 

Doggett hung up and let himself back into the apartment. He took a
quick shower, practically in the dark to keep from waking Monica up.
When he slid into bed, he put an arm around her. After a few minutes,
she turned towards him and put her face in his chest. He realized she
was crying. "Hey. What are you cryin' about? Everything's gonna be all
right." 

She sniffled. "I don't want you to be mad."

"Mad? It was my idea to take the chance. You don't worry. Let me do
the worrying." He hugged her close to him. "Now, go to sleep. Oh,
Mon?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm glad you're here."

She slept late the next morning, and when she woke up at ten, he was
sitting on the edge of the bed looking through a photo album. Rubbing
her eyes, she sat up and looked over his shoulder. The photos were of
Luke as a baby and toddler. "John." Her heart felt like it was breaking
all over again.

"Look at him, Monica. The way he used to smile at me. Like he trusted
me completely to never let him down."

"You didn't let him down, John. You weren't even home at the time."

"I shoulda been." She got out of bed and started putting on clothes.
"Where you goin'?"

"I can't take this right now, John. I'm going home. Take your
time deciding what you want to do, okay?"

"Monica, don't go." He closed the album. "Stay the weekend. Please. I
need you to stay here with me this weekend."

Tears formed in her eyes, then she bolted for the bathroom.
She retched, even though there was nothing in her stomach. The
dry heaving made her eyes water badly. Every time she thought she
was okay, it started again. Doggett came up behind her and held her
hair out of the way. Finally, she straightened up. "Thanks." 

He smiled his crooked smile. "No problem. Let's get you some juice,
huh?" They sat at the table as she drank the juice and nibbled the toast
he made for her. "Monica, listen-"

She interrupted him. "John? Let's not talk about it this weekend, okay?
Let's both take some time to get used to the idea, all right?"

He nodded. "You sure? Okay. Well, let's get outside and enjoy
the fresh air, then."

They spent the weekend walking and driving and holding hands, but
they avoided talking about the pregnancy. When he took her to the
airport Sunday at lunch time, she kissed him and said, "If you decide
that you're not moving back in on Labor Day weekend, let me know at
least a few days in advance."

"Monica-"

"John, just take these weeks. It's the only thing I can give you right
now. Don't say anything yet. I'll call and let you know I made it home,
okay?"

He put his hands on her waist and rubbed both of his thumbs over her
stomach. "Okay."


Wednesday, August 30th  
2:52 a.m.

Kate let herself into the Brownstone, trying to be quiet. His
voice startled her as she began tiptoeing up the stairs. "You don't
have to be quiet. I'm awake."

"Christ, Walter. You scared me to death. What are you doing in the
dark?" On the first floor at that, she managed not to say. He rarely
stayed down here unless they were eating.

"You said you'd be home by ten-thirty, eleven at the latest."

"I'm sorry. I had an emergency at the clinic." She was having
trouble seeing his face in the moonlight.

"I can't live like this, Kate. If you say you're going to be home at a
certain time, and then you see that you're not, you need to call.  I've
been calling your phone all night. I went over to the clinic.  You weren't
there. So, there wasn't an emergency at the clinic."

"There was an emergency at the clinic. I had to move the patient to the
hospital."

"You have no idea what goes through my mind when you do this.
You promised you would call from now on if you weren't going to be
home on time."

"Walter, I'm sorry. I've done better recently, haven't I?"

"I imagined finding you dead somewhere, you know. Do you have
any idea what that's like? To see that in your mind? Finding
someone you love dead?" 

She knew she had screwed up, but he wasn't letting up even after she
had said she was sorry. "Actually, Walter, I do know what that's like. I
said I was sorry. Are you going to leave me because I screwed up one
time too many and didn't call home? Is that why you're sitting down
here in the dark? To tell me you've had enough? I told you I wasn't
good at this when we moved in together."

Something was off in her voice. He finally noticed it.  "No. Of course
I'm not going to leave you. How could I leave you when I can't stand
the thought of not knowing where you are for even a few hours at
night?" He stood up and walked over towards her on the stairs.

She backed away from him. "Don't touch me, okay? I need a
shower." He was startled when she thrust a plastic bag at him. "Can
you throw that away, please?" When she turned and headed up the
stairs, he realized she was wearing hospital scrubs. Flipping on the light
in the kitchen, he looked into the plastic bag; the sheer volume of blood
on the clothes she'd had on that morning scared him to death. 

 Upstairs, he waited outside of the shower with a big towel. He could
tell she was all but scalding herself in there, the steam rolling out of the
top was so thick. Finally, she stepped out and walked into the towel he
held out. "A little girl, four years old.  Shot by her mother's boyfriend.
They were fighting. The mother covered the wound - stomach wound -
do you know how painful those are? And she ran with her to the clinic -
three whole blocks - because she knew the ambulance would take
forever. I was locking up when she ran screaming towards me. I'd
given the little girl a shot for strep throat the week before. Her name
was Keely. I kept her alive until we got her to the hospital, but she died
on the operating table. I hate this world sometimes, Walter. And I
didn't call. And I'm so sorry. I never want you to worry about me like
that. I don't know why I do it. When I'm working sometimes, I can't
think of anything else." Her eyes were dry, which bothered him for
some reason. Her voice sounded like she was crying, but her eyes
were dry.

"It's all right. I understand. I shouldn't have been so rude to you until I
knew why you didn't call."

She shook her head. "No. I should have called. I'll do better. From
now on, I'll call you when I'm leaving the office or the clinic. That way,
you'll know. If I don't call, you'll know I haven't started home." She
balled her wet hair up on top of her head, too tired to dry it tonight.
After throwing on a t-shirt, she walked into his arms. "I wouldn't
blame you if you left me. I told you I was selfish before you moved
in here."

"Selfish? Because you were trying to save a child's life? I don't think
your problem is that you're selfish, Kate. It's that you try to do too
much." He rubbed her back in a circular motion. "Maybe we should
hire someone. To do the cooking and cleaning. You can't keep running
home and doing those things between your jobs. You shouldn't have
to."

"I like cooking. It soothes me. Besides, it's not the household stuff that
consumes me."

"Then you need to give up something else."

"I can't."

He sighed. "Kate."

Her chin quivered. "I don't ask you to give up what's important to you.
Sometimes, you work until well after midnight. I'll try to cut back my
research hours, okay? I won't reapply for the NSF grant this year. It's
the most time consuming." Panic rose in her voice.

"Okay. Just come to bed."

She sniffled as he lay down beside her.  "Walter? I want you to know
something. I've been seeing someone."

For a moment, he didn't understand what she meant, and something
tightened in his stomach. "You mean someone else?"

She nuzzled his neck. "No. I mean, I'm talking to someone. A therapist.
I know I've been distant. And that I've been working more than I
should. I'm working on being a better...whatever it is that I am to you.
Does that count for anything? Because I really am trying, Walter. I want
this to work. And I know it's my fault that we're not doing well."

He hugged her close to him. "We're doing fine, Kate. Just call me like
you promised - so I don't worry about you leaving that clinic alone at
night. I really don't mind if you work late. I knew how dedicated you
were when I moved in. It's just strange to be with someone who works
more than I do." He was quiet for a minute. "What made you see a
therapist? I would never have asked you to do that, you know."

Kate sighed. "I know. Walter, the truth is...I haven't always been this
bad. It's been worse lately. I think about Emma a lot more, and I work
more to help me forget."

"Is it because of me? Because I make you think of losing her?"

She shook her head. "No. Walter, I think it's because of the
baby. That's really when it started. Which is stupid, I know, because
it wasn't even really a baby. I had the miscarriage before it
was anywhere near viable. But see, I think it uncovered a hole in my life
that I had covered up pretty well until then."

He tensed. "You mean you think you need to be a mother for your life
to be complete?"

"Walter, calm down; I'm not asking you to have a child with me.
You made it clear how you felt about that, and I accepted it when
we agreed to live together. I'm just trying to work through my
feelings on all of this." She closed her eyes tightly, trying to will
tears from forming in them. 

He kissed her gently, not wanting to say anything and upset her. This
was what the biggest fights had been about with Sharon. When they
married, he thought he would get over what happened in Vietnam
enough to have children. Eventually, though, things got worse, not
better. Then, after he started uncovering the conspiracy, he worried that
any child he had wouldn't be safe. Of course, he never told Sharon
those things - never opened up to her the way he should have.
Eventually, the distance between them had grown to the point of no
return, and the marriage had fallen apart. He hated that it had to be this
way. And he hated himself for being so relieved about Kate's
miscarriage when it happened. When she was pregnant, he had
eventually convinced himself he would be all right with it, simply
because he hadn't had a choice; he had even asked her to marry him.
But when she told him she had miscarried, he had been secretly
relieved. Now, seeing her like this, he felt horrible about it all over
again. "I think things have a way of working themselves out for the best,
Kate. I know you're having a hard time right now, but I don't think a
baby would have been good for us."

She tensed in his arms, not wanting to hear what she already knew.
"Well, let's not talk about this anymore, okay?"

"Will you go to the funeral?"

"Yes. Is that okay with you?"

"Of course. I'll go with you, okay?"

"Thank you. I think it'll be Saturday. Walter?"

"Hmm?" he asked sleepily.

"I do love you."


Thursday, August 28th  
6:22 p.m.

Kate pulled into Scully's driveway and hopped out of the truck. Scully
walked out onto the porch. "Hey, you're early."

"I know. I finished up at the office earlier than I thought, and Walter has
a meeting until eight, so I decided to come out here now. Hope
that's okay. Where is everyone?" 

"Making dinner. Come on in. It looks so funny to see you driving his
SUV."

"Yeah. I feel like a true suburban housewife driving that gas guzzler
around. His next vehicle will be a hybrid whether he knows it yet or
not. All of the baby furniture is in the back. Mulder's going to have a
great time with it, too. It's in about a million pieces."

"Oh, God. Don't tell me that. The baby will be two before he gets it all
put together."

Laughing, Kate followed her into the spacious kitchen. Mulder
looked up. "You staying for dinner?"

"Nah. I'm meeting Walter later."

"Don't you eat with him all the time?"

"You'd be surprised, Mulder. I think the last nighttime meal we had
together was two weeks ago."

Claire grinned at her from over the top of the potatoes she
was mashing. "Hi, Kate."

William was making salad bowls. "Where've you been, Kate?"

She leaned over and gave him a loud kiss on the cheek. "I've been
working, big guy; I brought you guys an awesome present, though. It's
in the front seat of the truck." She handed Claire the keys as she kissed
the girl's temple. "Go get it, Claire. I'll finish the potatoes."

When the kids came back in, William was ecstatic. "Dad, it's a Wii.
Sweet!"

Scully rolled her eyes. "I thought you were waiting until Christmas to
give them that?"

"That's boring. Everyone gives gifts at Christmas. Now, they have
something to do until Christmas."

Mulder looked up from the table he was setting. "Does it
have bowling?"

William nodded. "Yep."

"Kate, I'm so glad you're their godmother. You give the best presents."

She laughed. "Well, you don't get to play until you set up the baby's
room."

"Ugh."

She visited while they had dinner, enjoying the iced tea that Mulder
always made. After dinner, she helped Scully do dishes while Mulder
hooked up the Wii for the kids. "I really don't like them playing video
games, Kate." Scully tucked her red hair behind her ear and pushed
against the side of her belly where the baby was kicking under a rib.

"See, Dana, you claim you want a normal family, but really you don't.
You want little geniuses. Which, really, they practically are. So, let them
enjoy normal things some of the time, okay?"

Relenting, Scully asked, "Do you have time to come out to the lab
and look at some stuff?"

Kate looked at her watch. "I want to, but I can't be late for dinner with
Walter. I've been in trouble again for forgetting to call when I'm late."
She swirled her finger in the dishwater.

"You've been distant on this end lately, too, Kate. The kids miss you. I
miss you."

"I'm sorry." She sighed and as yet another concession told her friend
about therapy.

"Kate...I had no idea."

"Well, I want to work through this. I don't want to be dysfunctional for
the rest of my life. Although, I'm starting to think it's hopeless. It seems
like making a relationship work is just a series of concessions."

"In some ways, that's true.  You have to find a spot in the middle where
you're both comfortable with the way things are." 

"Well, I suck at all of it, okay? The only part I'm good at is keeping the
sex going. And I can't do that unless I'm actually at home some during
waking hours, which I haven't been lately...apparently."

"Kate, everything worth having is work."

"Thank you, Ann Landers. I don't know what I'd do without your
advice. Listen, I gotta go." She rubbed Scully's belly. "I can't wait for
this little one to be here. Call me if you notice any change, okay?"

Back at home, Kate changed quickly. Her phone rang on the way
back out the door. "Kate? It's Walter. Listen, something has come up
at work. I'm sorry. You'd better eat without me."

"Oh. Well, that's okay." 

"Are you mad?"

"No. Why would I be mad? Work is work. You have to do it.
Remember that the next time I call home unexpectedly, huh? But
seriously, can you call me when you head home? I'd like to go down to
my office for a while, but I promise to leave as soon as you call me,
okay?" On the way to her office, she wished she had eaten with Scully
and Mulder after all. As she was unlocking the door to her building, she
felt something being shoved against the back of her head.

"Don't move, Dr. Carter. We need you to give that FBI husband
of yours a message."

"Sorry, wrong gal. I don't even have a husband," she told the man.

"Well, you tell your live-in boyfriend that we always keep our promises
and he'd better keep his."

"Why don't you tell him yourself, asshole? I don't even know what
you're talking about."

When he didn't say anything else and withdrew the gun from her
head, she turned around a little. The metal of the gun hitting
her cheekbone caught her off guard. "Just give the Assistant
Director the message. He won't find your daughter looking in this
direction. But if he continues, he'll be looking for your body as well."
He hit her again with the butt of the gun, or at least that's what
she thought. The man was dressed in head to toe black. How
original. Blood was running from the cut on under her eye and for some
reason from her nose as Kate let herself into her office and
called security. When she had the tape of the encounter in her hand and
had managed to stop the blood flow from the cut and somewhat from
her nose, she had the security officer walk her back to her car.
He wanted to call the police, but something told her not to
involve them. At the Hoover building, she marched straight into
Skinner's office and threw open the inner door. He was alone, bent
over a case file.

"What the hell happened to you?" The blood on her clothes startled him
and bruises were already forming around the gash on her face.

"You tell me, Walter." She threw the videotape onto his desk.
"As much as I enjoy having a gun shoved into the back of my head, I
could definitely live without having one knock me upside the face.
These people apparently want me to tell you that they always keep
their promises and you'd better keep yours. He said that you won't
find Emma looking in this direction but that if you keep it up, you'll
be looking for my body, too. Now, tell me what it is you've
gotten yourself into. And drive me to the hospital. I'm certain this
needs stitches, and my head feels like it's going to explode."

"Kate..."

"We can talk in the car, Walter." As they were leaving his office, blood
started pouring from her nose. "Oh, great," she muttered. She saw the
panic in his eyes. "It's okay. It was bleeding earlier, too." She had on
two shirts, so she took off the top one and used it to catch the blood
from her nose.

"You should have gone straight to the hospital and called me
from there."

"Sorry," she muttered from beneath the shirt. "It didn't hurt this bad until
now, and I was too pissed at the time."

"Kate, it's really bleeding. Walk faster."

"I'm walking as fast as I can." She stopped suddenly at the car. "Oh, I
feel really nauseous. She doubled over and threw up before getting into
the car. "Okay. I'm all right now. Ugh."

At the hospital, after what seemed an eternity, a doctor came out
to talk to him. "She's okay. A slight concussion and a couple of stitches
on her cheek. We're a little worried about the nosebleed, though. That
took forever to stop. I've never seen anyone lose that much blood
because of a nosebleed. And her nose wasn't hit, so the nosebleed is a
little strange, but not unheard of for the kinds of blows she took to the
face. I'd like to keep her overnight, but you know Kate. No way is she
staying in the hospital for something like a concussion and a nosebleed.
She'll have a serious headache tomorrow, though. You can come with
me." 

He followed the doctor back through the double doors and found Kate
tying the bottoms to a pair of scrubs. She handed him her plastic bag of
bloody clothes. "If this keeps up, I'll have to go shopping for a whole
new wardrobe." The look on his face made her stop and put her
arms around him. "I'm fine, Walter. Starving, actually. Can we
get Chinese?"

At home, they ate in silence. Finally, she asked him, "So...what exactly
is it you've stumbled into?"

"You know those four kids?"

"Yeah."

"Two are dead - cause of death in each case was a car accident
where one parent was driving and died along with the child. The other
two are listed as runaways."

"Please tell me you're joking. Christ. Well, you have to pursue it,
Walter. You can't just stop because they threatened me."

"Let me worry about it, Kate. There are unofficial channels I can use.
But I'm not risking your life. Nothing will bring back those four kids or
Emma."

She continued eating for a few minutes, having trouble talking and
eating and breathing at the same time because her nose was stopped
up. "Walter, what if they're not dead? Those other two kids? What if
they have them somewhere experimenting on them like they were those
kids being held with Claire?"

"Kate."

"Walter."

"If it is anything remotely resembling what went on in that facility where
Claire was held, it is much more dangerous than we think. Stay out of
it. I will handle this."

She was silent for a long time, picking at her food. "Do you know what
my biggest fear is?"

"Never finding Emma?"

"Well, that. But do you know what's worse?"

There was something worse? "What?"

"People think the worst thing that can happen is that your child can be
taken from you and killed. But that's not the worst thing. The worst
thing I can think of is...what if she isn't dead? What if they have her out
there somewhere? Doing horrible things to her? Treating her like a lab
rat?" He didn't say anything; he didn't know what to say to that. "That's
where Mulder and I are different, you know. He wants Samantha to
still be alive, no matter what. I don't. I would much rather Emma be
dead.  Because then at least I know she's not suffering." She rubbed
her forehead. "And then, I think, what kind of mother hopes her child
is dead? It's a vicious cycle. A thousand times a day."

He went over to her as she started closing up the food. "I'll get it. You
go upstairs and get ready for bed, okay? I'll have to wake you up every
so often as it is because of the concussion."

"Then why do I have to go to bed at all? I'm not even sleepy."

"Then just come and lie down with me."

"Fine," she sighed.

When he went into their bathroom, she was bent over the sink. Her
nose was pouring with blood again, this time more so than before. "I
think something's wrong, Walter. Get my phone and call Ian Hartman.
He was the doctor tonight. Tell him I can't get my nose to
stop bleeding." 

An hour later, they were back at the hospital and Kate was in what
they had promised him would be minor surgery. Skinner had called
Reyes, who insisted on coming up. As they waited, she put a hand on
Skinner's knee to stop his nervous jiggling. "She'll be fine. Take deep,
cleansing breaths."

"Don't start any of that meditation crap with me, Monica."

"I'm just trying to help."

"You should see how much blood she lost. I've never seen that much
blood loss from someone who was still conscious."

After another forty-five minutes, Hartman came out. "Okay. She's fine.
We had to give her blood, but everything's all right now."

"What caused the nosebleed?" Skinner demanded.

"Well, the best we can figure is that when she was hit, this," he held up
a plastic vial with a metallic object in it, "was already deep in her nasal
and sinus cavity. One of the blows caused it to push deeper and into a
vein and that's where the blood was coming from. I think putting
pressure on it caused this...object...to seal the vein off, which made us
think the nosebleed had stopped. Then, some movement jarred the
object loose and let the blood flow again. Either way, I removed this
and repaired the vein. I have no idea how this got into her nasal cavity;
but I can tell you that it had been there a very long time. We saw scar
tissue indicating that her body had tried to encapsulate it to protect itself
from it."

Skinner and Reyes both stared at the implant Hartman had just handed
them. "Can we see her yet?"

"She'll be groggy for a while, but yeah, she's being moved to a room
now. The procedure wasn't major. She can even go home tomorrow."

Skinner looked at Reyes. "I need to take care of something. Will you
stay with her until I get back?"

"Sure. Walter, I don't know what's going on here, but be careful."

Outside the hospital, Skinner pulled out his phone. "I need you to meet
me. It's important."


Annapolis, MD 
11:21 p.m.

Skinner looked at the other man as he approached. "Wives
are supposed to be off limits. So, what the hell was tonight all about?"

"That wasn't our idea. And besides, she's not your wife, as she herself
so succinctly reminded the man who accosted her tonight."

"Well, tell me about this, then." Skinner held up the implant. 

The other man shrugged. "Wives are off limits. Children are not. They
never have been." He nodded at the implant in Skinner's hand. "That
has been there for years, Mr. Skinner. Frank Carter had no qualms
involving his only child. In fact, she was born into this quest. Just as
Mulder was." The two men stared at each other for a long moment.
"Rumor has it that Drs. Scully and Carter are close to developing a
viable vaccine."

"How the hell do you know that?"

"We always know. Perhaps we could make a deal? You hand the
vaccine over to me when it's fully developed, and I'll get you
information on what really happened to Carter's daughter."

"No deal."

"Just because they develop the vaccine is no guarantee they can
distribute it properly. I can make sure it gets distributed."

"I'll put my money on them any day. I don't even know which side
you're really on."

"Have I ever pointed you down the wrong path? Are you sure
you want to risk the future of this planet? How would Dr.
Carter feel...knowing you turned down the one chance to find out what
really happened to her daughter?"

Skinner worked his jaw. "I'll take my chances."

"That's a big risk you're taking, Mr. Skinner. If the information
regarding what Scully and Carter are up to falls into the wrong
hands...well, let's just say that all deals would be off. Scully's children
have been off limits up until now - a courtesy extended in part because
of what you've done for us these past few years. I can't guarantee you
they'll stay that way if word gets out to...well, let's just say other
interested parties."

"You'd better do everything in your power to keep those kids
safe. And you'd better make sure that 'courtesy' extends to Scully and
Kate as well. Just as you have your provisions in place for what
happens if I step out of line, I have mine in place in case anything
happens to any one of them." He paused for a moment. "Now, I would
like to see this end well. Why don't we both do everything in our power
to see that it does?" 

"Last chance, Mr. Skinner. What lengths would Mulder go to in order
to learn the absolute truth about his sister?"

"He wouldn't go that far."

"Are you certain? You're saying that Dana Scully is more important to
him than his sister?"

"I'm saying that you thought Mulder was a wild card before? Threaten
his family, and you'll find out exactly what he's capable of. Besides, he
was in the position once before to choose between his sister and Scully.
You saw how that panned out. The Dana Scully card backfired in
every way imaginable, every time it was played. I don't think you want
to play that one again anytime soon."

"I would say there's one way in which it didn't fail. That little boy
they have? No one could have anticipated a better bargaining
chip. Everyone wants to take credit for him: the aliens, the
human scientists. Everyone is waiting with baited breath to see which
way he leans in the end, you know. And to think, how many people
tried all those years to create that kind of perfection? No, no.
The Scully card didn't backfire, Mr. Skinner. It far exceeded
its expectations in all the ways that counted."

"I don't care to hear your philosophy on that situation. You just make
sure that you continue to uphold your end of the bargain."

"I don't think Dr. Carter knows when to be afraid, Mr. Skinner.
Perhaps you need to talk to her about the perils of being the
Assistant Director's almost wife."

Skinner worked his jaw, trying to contain his anger. "Look, she's
already lost her only child to this godforsaken quest. So, you just make
sure she's left alone." Skinner walked back towards his truck. He
circled the block, then stopped and waited. Mulder got in on the
passenger side. "Did you get all of that?"

Mulder held up a digital recording of the conversation. "Lucy, you got
some 'splainin' to do." 

Skinner sighed. "All right. I'll tell you what I can. And you will
respect what I can't tell you. There will be plenty of time to pursue
your sister after it's all said and done. You haven't seen her in...what?
 Thirty-five years? Let's keep in mind that you can't do anything about
that right now, okay?"

Mulder pinched his bottom lip. "Is my sister dead or not?"

Skinner looked him in the eye. "I don't know. That's the truth. But if
you want to keep Scully and the kids alive and within your reach, you'll
let that go for another couple of years at least. Okay?" Mulder was
silent. "Okay?"

Finally, Mulder nodded. "Okay." He didn't say anything for a minute.
"Are Kate and Scully that close to the vaccine?"

Skinner shook his head. "Beats the hell out of me. If they are, I don't
think they even know it."  He cut his eyes at Mulder. "Now, we have to
figure out how much to tell them."

"What will Kate say about the Emma situation?" Mulder pondered.

"Well, I really believe she wouldn't want the information at that cost."

"There was a time when I would have traded anything for information
leading to the truth about my sister." 

"No, Mulder. There was a time when there was nothing else in your
life besides your search for your sister. Once there was Scully, that
all changed. Kate wouldn't risk William and Claire. Not even for
Emma. She's accepted that Emma is probably dead. She wouldn't be
crazy enough to trade information on one dead child for the safety of
two living ones."

"Yeah, but what if they tell her that Emma's alive? Would she trade it
then?"

"I don't think she would, Mulder. She couldn't live with herself
if anything happened to those two kids. Do you think otherwise?"

Mulder shook his head. "No, no. That's my take, too. I just want to be
sure before we decide what to tell her and Scully."

"Well, for now, we're not telling them anything. Just keep it to yourself.
Look, I have to get back to the hospital. Keep the recording for now,
and make me a copy for safekeeping. We'll talk again soon." He
dropped Mulder off at his car. Back at the hospital, he found Reyes
asleep in the chair in Kate's room. "Monica? Hey? Go home and get
some sleep, okay?" She stretched and stood up. He walked her to her
car. "Thanks for staying with Kate. Did she ever wake up?"

Monica nodded. "Yeah. She was really groggy, but she still read
her own file, though. I couldn't stop her. She wants to see that implant
and wants to know where you ran off to tonight. Also, Walter...she was
crying in her sleep tonight, just a little while ago. She cried out Emma's
name a couple of times. But also, and I don't know how important this
is, she was arguing with her father and Nic over something...or at least,
that's what it seemed like." She yawned. "Anyway, call me if you need
me to stay with her tomorrow at all, okay?"

"Thanks." He watched as she got into her vehicle and drove
away. Back in Kate's room, he pulled the chair up close to her and
flipped it back to a reclining position. An hour later, he felt a hand
on his forearm and opened his eyes. She was sitting up in bed. "Hey.
 It's all right. Go back to sleep." He reached up and took her hand in
his.

"Where have you been?"

"Filing a report about the incident at your office."

"I know that's not true," she told him. She stretched and sighed.

Awkwardly, he lowered the rail to the bed and rubbed her side, pulling
his chair even closer. He kissed her forehead. "Go back to sleep."
When she tried to ask him about the implant, he shushed her. "Not
here, Kate. We'll talk when we get home, okay? Rest for now."

The drugs Hartman had given her and the soothing sound of his
voice made her more agreeable than usual. "Okay." She snuggled down
and started to doze off again, tucking his hand against her
stomach. "Are you going to stay here tonight?"

"Yes. I'm not going anywhere else. Now, go back to sleep."


Friday, August 29th  
7:42 p.m.

Monica Reyes pushed the door open to her house, noticing
immediately some sort of weird energy. She glanced all around, trying
to figure out what was different. The noise from the kitchen caught her
off guard and she reached for her gun until she realized that if it were a
burglar, there probably wouldn't be food smells coming out of there.
Lowering the gun, she walked towards the sound. She was shocked to
find Doggett standing there, emptying takeout into bowls. "I was gonna
to cook, but I wanted you to actually enjoy this meal," he told her
self-deprecatingly.

She hadn't heard from him since the day she'd left Denver. The original
plan had been for him to leave Saturday and arrive some time Monday.
Looking around and not seeing any bags or boxes, her
stomach tightened. "You've come a long way to bring me dinner, John.
You could have just called."

He gave her a very long, uncomfortable look. "I wanted to surprise
you. You hungry?"

She really was just exhausted but didn't want to be rude. "Well, I guess
so. Excuse me." She wandered back to her bedroom, anxious to get
her work clothes off and nervous about the conversation she knew they
were about to have. When she opened the closet, the clothes there
made her do a double take. All of his things were back in their
place. She threw open his drawers on the dresser to find that his socks
and boxers were also back in their place. Slowly, her
surroundings started to sink in. She began noticing little things sitting
around, out of place.

"I didn't know where to put everything, since you had moved some stuff
since I left. I wouldn't go into the guest room, if I were you. That's
where I put everything I wasn't sure about. And there's some stuff I put
in storage until we had a chance to go through it." She looked up to see
him in the doorway.

"You're home? Just like that?"

"What? Was there some aura cleansing ritual we were supposed
to perform before I moved my things back in?" he cracked. "I wanted
us to have the weekend together before I had to report to my
new assignment, so I moved everything up a day or two. I didn't
think you'd mind."

She walked slowly into his arms. "Are you sure?"

He nodded and rubbed her back. "Yeah. I'm sure." He stood there for
a moment, not wanting to be the one to let go first. She was trembling
a little. "Hey, you okay?"

Nodding, she let go. "Yes. I guess I didn't realize how nervous I was to
find out what you'd decided."

"Mon, did you really think I'd make a different decision?"

"Well, no. But I worried it may take you a lot longer to come around."

He glanced down at her still flat stomach. "So...we doin' okay?"

She nodded and smiled a little timidly. "We're fine."

"I want you to know that I'm scared to death here. And I'm way too
old to do this again. But I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. And, uh,
I bought this on the drive out here." He held up a baby proofing kit.

She laughed. "John, hopefully it won't pop out of the womb
crawling and sticking things into electrical outlets." He gave her a
hurt look. "But the gesture is nice." She put her arms around him
again. "I really have missed you."

"Me, too." He hugged her back. "So...hungry?"

She wiggled her eyebrows at him. "In more ways than one."


Saturday, August 30th  
9:45 p.m.

Kate made her way up the stairs, flipping on lights as she went.
She stuck her head into Skinner's office. "Hi."

He looked up. "Hi. Where've you been?"

"I had that little girl's funeral this afternoon, remember? Then, I pulled a
few hours at the clinic."

Skinner removed his glasses and rubbed his temples. "I was supposed
to go with you."

"It's all right. I couldn't find you when I needed to leave. It's no
big deal."

He had the impression that it was a big deal but that she didn't want to
pursue it. "How's your headache?"

"Still vicious. I'm about to take something." She walked closer and
kissed him lightly. "What are you working on?"

She noticed that he had minimized whatever it was he was looking at on
his computer.

He shrugged. "Nothing major."

"Well." She picked up the implant in its plastic vial off of his desk.
"Good night."

"Where are you going with that?" he asked, gesturing towards the vial. 

"I'm going to analyze it tomorrow."

"I was going to have it analyzed at the Bureau."

"I don't want it analyzed at the Bureau. I want to do it myself." He
started to argue. "When they dig something out of your nasal cavity,
you can do what you want with it." She tapped the side of the plastic.
"This one's mine." She turned back to him. "Oh, yeah. Mulder called
me earlier and said he's going to be out of town until Monday night and
doesn't want to leave Dana alone this late in the pregnancy. He wants
me to come out there tomorrow and stay with her and the kids for the
rest of the weekend. "

"Well, that's nice of you. I know the kids would love spending time with
you."

She glanced at him casually, leaning against the doorway. "Any
idea where Mulder's going?"

Skinner shook his head. "No."

"Really? You aren't going with him?"

Skinner didn't really answer. "He's working on a couple of
cases outside my division right now."

"Huh. So, this has nothing to do with those four children you
were warned away from?"

"Why would Mulder have anything to do with that?"

"So, you're going to be in town this weekend?"

He worked his jaw, knowing damn well he was busted. "Kate, can
we stop with the twenty questions? What the hell is going on with you?"

She pulled a set of papers out of her bag. "Before I left for the funeral
today, this fax came for you. Here at home. It's yours and Mulder's
airline confirmation numbers and other travel info." She flung the papers
onto his desk. "There's even information on where to pick up the ID for
the men whose names you'll be traveling under. So, tell me, Mr.
Davenport, is it business or pleasure taking you to Miami this Labor
Day weekend?"

He sighed; she knew more than he had hoped. "I'm sorry. I can't tell
you about this."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, that's okay. I don't mind not necessarily
being privy to certain aspects of your work. There is, however, a better
way to play it than flat out lying about it. Tell me, though...should I
expect to be attacked again after this little trip of yours?"

"Kate, I don't know what exactly this trip entails. I'm acting on
an anonymous tip. I wouldn't go if I thought it would put you in danger."
Skinner meant that sincerely. He would never intentionally jeopardize
her safety.

"Well. I'm going to bed." She looked back over her shoulder as she left
the room and said tiredly, "Lying is rarely the way to handle me,
Walter." 

The lack of reaction on her part after catching him in an obvious lie
bewildered him. He had expected her to throw something, maybe yell.
But not to stay calm and show only disappointment. In fact, her lack of
response made him feel worse.  Closing the files on his computer and
saving them to a flash drive, he turned off everything in his office and
made his way downstairs.  He found her already curled onto her side in
bed. "Did you take something for your headache?"

She nodded. "Yes, ibuprofen." 

He took a quick shower and then crawled into bed, curling his
body around hers. "I really am sorry. You caught me off guard; I
didn't intend to lie about it. The last thirty-six hours have been
a nightmare."

"Been a little hellish for me, too," she murmured. "Let's not talk about it
anymore. Too much has happened these last few days. I can't process
my thoughts this quickly. Plus, my head's still a little groggy."

"I feel like I shouldn't leave you right now. First, that little girl died.
Then, you were hurt." He wrapped his arm around her and brushed her
stomach with his fingertips. 

"I need the time to myself. Just do whatever it was you were planning to
do." She pushed his hand away from her and flipped onto her stomach,
keeping her face pointed away from him. "You've been holding back
information from me since the hospital. I don't know what's going on,
but I feel like I have the right to know if it involves me or my daughter."

Knowing anything he said was only going to make her more upset, he
finally responded, "I would rather you be angry at me than put you in
danger by telling you things I think I shouldn't."

Kate lay there for a long time, wishing she had gone with her instinct
and avoided talking about this tonight. "I hate that attitude. It's such a
double standard. When I consulted on cases, you didn't hide things
from me. I know how to keep my mouth shut. How would anyone even
know what you told me and what you didn't?"

Finally, he grew weary of looking at the back of her head. "I'm not
going to talk to you if you're not going to look at me."

"That's okay. I don't think I even want to talk to you right now."  After
a very long, uncomfortable silence, she gave up on sleep and got out of
bed. As she pulled clothes out of the closet, she told him, "I'm going
back to work."

"You are not going back to the office this time of night after what
happened last time." He got out of bed and glared at her. "Kate. Don't
do this just because things haven't gone your way today."

"I'm not a child throwing a tantrum, Walter.  I'm just not going to lie
here with someone who is telling me only partial truths on top of
outright lies. Now, I have a lot to do and very little time left in the
weekend to do it. I'm not going to get any sleep right now. I may as
well work." After she was dressed, she put her arms around his neck,
unable to help herself. "Be careful out there, Walter. I may be upset
with you, but I still want you to come home safely."

"Don't leave upset like this. Just come back to bed."

She zipped up a sweatshirt. "I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. I'll see
you when? Monday or Tuesday night?"

"I'm not leaving until nine in the morning. I'll see you before then."

Angry and hurt, she had no intention of coming back to the house
before he left. "I just need time to sort through some things, but I'll call
to let you know I made it safely to the office, okay?" Outside, Kate
pulled out her phone and called Godfrey. Her mind had started clicking
through flashbacks and trying to sort through the gut feeling she had.
"It's Kate. I need a huge favor. You know those old photo albums in
my father's study? Can you get them to me? Maybe overnight them?"

"I can do better than that. Care to meet me for breakfast in the
morning, darling? I'm heading up that way bright and early tomorrow."

"That would be wonderful, Godfrey." 


Sunday, 8:45 a.m.

Back at her office after breakfast with Godfrey, Kate started
sifting through the old photographs. She rubbed her finger across one of
her mother and father. Finally, she found the photo that had
been tickling the back of her mind. It was old, taken before Kate
was even born. She squinted at the men in the photograph. Grabbing
a magnifier, she looked more closely. "Damn it," she muttered.

Twenty minutes later, she knocked on the door of a condo. Finally, Nic
Cruz opened the door wearing only boxer briefs. "Kate?
What's wrong?" He rubbed a hand through his hair sleepily.

"Get dressed. I need to talk to you."

"You could have called," he muttered as he yawned and made his
way back through the condo.

Following him to his bedroom, she said, "Sorry. Just throw on
some clothes, Nic. I don't want to talk here." She stopped short
when she saw the woman in the bed. "Oops. Really sorry." She
smiled ruefully. "Hi. I'm Kate. I just need to borrow him for a
few minutes, okay?" She backed out and went into the kitchen. Nic
joined her less than ten minutes later. "I made coffee." She handed him
a mug. "How does your friend take it?"

Still sleepy, he shrugged. "Black, I think." He peered into her mug.
"You still take yours with more milk than coffee, I see."

She poured another mug and handed it to her ex-husband. "Take her a
cup and tell her you'll bring her breakfast in bed in half an hour. We can
walk to the bakery while we talk."

Outside, he stretched and looked over at her, noticing the stitches and
bruises for the first time. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Ran into a Glock. Take a look at this photo." She shoved the picture in
front of him. 

He was still looking at her injuries. Pushing her hair away from her eyes
to get a better look, he said, "Jesus, Kate. That looks painful."

"Nah. It's better now. The photo," she prompted him.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"This photo was taken in 1965. That's my father," she pointed. "And tell
me that's not your father, Nic."

He looked into her eyes instead of down at the photo. "Kate, you need
to drop this."

"You already knew about this?" She closed her eyes. "They acted
like they had never even met at our wedding. Do you remember that?"

He steered her towards a bench. "They're both dead now, Kate. Let
it go."

She glared at him, refusing to sit. "Nic, if I find out that you know
anything about what happened to Emma that you haven't told me..."

"It isn't simple, Kate." 

"Why did your parents really take my daughter from me, Nic?"

He took her hand. "They were trying to protect her. It was agreed.
Between my father and yours. They thought my father could keep her
safe."

She doubled over, hands on her knees. "Please tell me you're kidding."

"Your father...well, Frank knew you wouldn't let her go without a fight.
But he knew you couldn't keep her safe. The custody decision was
rigged from the very beginning, Kate."

Standing up straight suddenly, she shook her head. "You knew. All this
time."

"No. I didn't. I didn't figure it out until much later."

"Oh my God, Nic. Just tell me what else you know."

"They wanted her, Kate. For some reason, they thought she was
special. That's all I know. Our fathers tried to keep her from them. But
they got to her anyway."

"How do I know they didn't give her to them?"

"Why go to the trouble, Kate? Of rigging a custody trial? Come on.
They were trying to protect her." He reached for her. "I'm sorry.
I know this is a big shock to you. I've tried to keep you from finding out
for years. I knew you'd never forgive your father if you knew."

"So, why did they want Emma, Nic? What did they do to
my daughter?"

"Kate, they didn't do anything to HER."

She shook her head, realization dawning. "It was me they experimented
on. Oh, God. Probably you, too." She closed her eyes. "How could
they know we'd even meet and have a baby?" Remembering how she
and Nic had met at a wedding...the daughter of one of her father's
business associates...Kate felt like throwing up. "How much of our lives
were rigged?" She dropped onto the bench. "Tell me you don't know
any more about her disappearance."

Kneeling in front of her, Nic took her hands in his. "Kate, I would never
have let them take her from you. It was out of my hands. And if I knew
what happened to Emma, I would have died trying to get her back for
you. You have to believe that."

She looked up, tears in her eyes. "I don't know what to believe. I don't
know if I can trust you, Nic." Finally, she met his eyes. "Just tell me if
she's dead."

"Kate, I don't know. I believe that she is. Like those other children
Skinner was looking into."

She snatched her hands away. "What do you know about that?"

"I work for him, Kate."

She shook her head. "No, he wouldn't have told you." Squeezing her
eyes shut, she tried to make everything fall into place...but it
just wouldn't.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but I don't think you can fully trust
him."

"Nic, don't try to turn this on him. He has searched for Emma all these
years. For me."

"I've followed him, Kate. I've seen him with another man in that photo.
Once was just a couple of nights ago."

She shoved him away. "You're lying." Even as she denied it, Kate
remembered the trip he was on now, how he had lied about it. She
thought of him leaving while she was in the hospital and not telling her
where he had been. Still, she made herself reply with, "I have to go,
Nic. You've lied to me for years. He hasn't."

"Kate, the only lies I've told you ...the only information I've withheld
from you...it was only to keep you safe."

Growing uncertain, she backed away from him. "Every time I start to
trust you, Nic, you break my heart. I didn't think you could hurt me
anymore than you already had, but today proved me wrong."

"What does that tell you?  The only people who have the power to hurt
you are the people you love. You still love me, Kate. What are you
even doing with him? He's hiding more from you than I ever have."

"My relationship with him is none of your business, Nic. He's never
betrayed me the way you have."

"Maybe he's just hidden it better."

"Take your friend breakfast, Nic." She left him standing on the sidewalk
and drove too quickly out to Scully's house.

She didn't realize that tears were falling down her cheeks until William
threw open the door for her and yelled, "Mommy! There's something
wrong with Kate."

Scully came to the front door, her stomach keeping her from getting too
close to her friend. "Oh, my God. Kate? What is it? Claire, take
William to your room, okay?"

Claire nodded, eyes wide. "Come on, William. Mom will take care
of it."

Scully closed the front door and stood out on the porch where Kate
was sobbing into her hands. "What happened?" She listened for a
minute. "Kate, you have to calm down. I can't understand you."

Kate took several deep breaths before she was able to tell Scully
the whole story. "Walter did leave the hospital a couple of nights
ago. And he wouldn't tell me where he really went. And now, he's
away on this trip I know nothing about, pretending to be someone
he isn't."

"Kate, listen. Mulder left here late that night to meet Skinner. He didn't
tell me what it was about. But I trust Mulder.  And I don't think Skinner
would betray you. And they're together now, right?"

Taking a ragged breath, she nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

"Look, I know you hate not knowing when you think it involves you.
But don't let Nic plant doubt in your mind about Skinner. Can I see the
photo?" Kate got it out of the car. "Tell me who's who."

"That's my father. That's Nic's father. And I don't know who the others
are, but Nic claims one of them is who Walter met a couple of nights
ago. And he didn't say anything about Mulder being there."

Scully squinted at the photo. "Kate, see this guy? I'm pretty sure he's
not the one Skinner was meeting because he's dead...or at least, the
bastard had better be. That's C.G.B. Spender."

"WHAT?"

"Yeah." She pointed at another man. "And if I'm not mistaken, this is
Bill Mulder." She fingered the two remaining man. "That just leaves
these guys unaccounted for. We can ask Mulder if he knows."

"You don't seem very surprised."

Scully shrugged. "I guess Cancerman has popped up in so many places
through the years that you could show me a picture of him with Elvis
and it wouldn't surprise me." She patted her friend's back. "I know
you weren't expecting this, though. Come on, I'll make you some
tea. You seem to be pretty shocked."

Kate sniffled. "You'd be shocked if it were a picture of him with your
father."

Scully stopped and stared at her. "You're right. I would be. Kate,
listen. I believe that Mulder's father was a good man who found himself
in a no win situation. The same may be true of yours."

Unconvinced, Kate followed Scully inside. "You always have a choice,
Dana."

"And maybe he made the only choice he thought he could."

"I feel like my whole life has been a lie. If your father had allowed
William to be taken from you, would you still be able to see it that
way?"

Scully shook her head. "No. Probably not. I'm sorry, Kate." Handing
her a cup of tea, she remarked, "You look wiped out. Have you been
up all night?"

Kate nodded. "Yeah."

"Come on. You need to get some rest."

When Mulder called late that afternoon, Kate was still sleeping. Scully
told him a little about Kate's talk with Nic. "Mulder, is Skinner
really trustworthy?"

"Scully, I swear to you that I believe he is. I can't tell you everything
right now, but he's on our side. So, everything okay with the troops?
You hanging in there?"

"I'm holding my own."

"How's the unborn?"

"You make it sound like a horror film."

"Well, if your stomach gets any tighter, I'm worried it's going to burst
out like one."

She laughed. "The unborn is fine. Getting too cramped in there to do
somersaults. Now she just seems to stretch every few hours. See you
tomorrow night?"

"It will be late. Want me to wake you?"

"Yes."

"All right. Is Kate still going to stay there?"

"I think so. It's really not necessary, though."

"I know it's not. Skinner just wants her out there rather than home alone
right now."

"Well, he needs to learn that the more he tries to pin her down,
the more resistant she's going to get."

Mulder lowered his voice. "Speaking from experience, huh?"

"I figure someone else should benefit from all the years it took me to
figure you out."

"You think you've got me figured out?"

"Mulder, after all these years, I can read you like a book."

"I don't know, Scully...I bet I can still surprise you."

She smirked. "Really?"

"Yep. In fact, I left a surprise for you."

"You did?" She looked around the living room. "Where?"

"Well, you have to figure it out. Go into my office. My old laptop is
there. Turn it on and figure it out. If you can crack the codes before I
get home, you can have your surprise before the baby is born. If you
can't, you'll have to wait."

"Mulder."

"Bye, Scully. Have a fun night. Don't wait up tomorrow. I promise I'll
wake you."

She looked at the phone that now said, "Call Ended." What on
earth? The kids were quiet, so she slipped into his office and snagged
the computer off of his desk. Settling onto the sofa, she turned it
on. When she was prompted for a password, she typed 'TRUSTNO1'
and was prompted to try again. Surprised, she tried several
other combinations. Getting aggravated, she finally typed 'AHAB' and
was rewarded with the sound of the computer finishing its boot
up process. "Huh," she muttered to herself. In the center of the screen
was an icon consisting of three question marks. She double-clicked and
was rewarded with a screen that read, "Hey, Scully. I see you managed
to find your way here. To earn your surprise, you must first take a little
walk down memory lane. This is my version of the Impossible Quiz that
Claire's always playing on the computer. You're the only one who can
figure it out, I bet. Good luck. Click on the flying saucer to continue."

Smiling, she clicked on the flashing UFO. A multiple choice
question filled the screen. "Do you believe in the existence
of extraterrestrials?" Smiling bigger, she clicked, "C. Logically, I'd have
to say no." The game continued, and each time she missed a question, a
picture of a pouting Mulder that Claire had taken several weeks ago
popped onto the screen and she had to start over at the beginning. She
didn't miss many, but the ones she did really surprised her. The first one
she missed was, "Which of these cases scared me the most?" The
options themselves perplexed her. They were none of the ones she
would have guessed. After guessing wrong three times, she finally
clicked "A. The one with Ed Jerse." 

A paragraph popped up for her to read. "Scully, I have never been
more terrified in my life than I was that moment you sat in front of
my desk and told me, 'This is my life.' At that point, I already thought of
it as 'our life.' I was stunned that you didn't. Terrified that you were
about to slip away from me. I went out after that and got wasted. Slept
outside your apartment door for hours, trying to work up the courage
to knock and finish that sentence I started and ask to trace your new
tattoo with my tongue. Your landlord woke me up and put me in a cab.
True story, Scully. You drove me to drinking many times before you
invited me to bed. Addendum: Obviously, your abduction and cancer
scared me ten times more than Jerse did...but I don't consider those
cases. Those were personal."

Tears formed in her eyes, but the next question brought a smile back to
her face. "Complete the following sentence: As a child, when I grew up
I wanted to be an: A. Elvis impersonator; B. Intergalactic Superhero;
C. Astronaut; D. Ed Jerse lookalike." Laughing, she clicked on C but
was puzzled when the pouty picture popped up with a caption that
read: "Scully, Scully, Scully...That's what I told you I wanted to be.
You know me better than that. Think harder." After clicking through all
the previous answers again, this time she clicked B. Of course Mulder
wanted to be a superhero. If he didn't, maybe he would be able to stop
chasing monsters in the dark. She shook her head. But then, he just
wouldn't be Mulder. The walk down memory lane continued after she
fed the kids and Kate curled up with them on Claire's bed to watch a
DVD. At times, she laughed. At others, she wept. Her heart ached as
she looked at their past in a way she never really had before and was
forced to remember things she had assumed were best left in the past.
As the evening wore on, Scully found that she was able to remember
their years together as partners without the bitterness she had felt so
strongly up until now. More than anything, she laughed at how
differently Mulder viewed the events of certain times they had spent
together, and she cried at the heartfelt paragraphs that would pop up
when she finally got an answer right that she had missed more than
once.

The next question she came to made her raise her eyebrow in
typical Scully fashion: "I fell in lust with Dana Scully:" She perused
the answer choices. She knew the answer wasn't "the moment I laid
eyes on her." Trying to think back that far and remember a time when
she hadn't felt sexual tension from Mulder, she realized that she
really couldn't. The truth was, she HAD wanted Mulder from almost
the moment she'd laid eyes on him. The relationship she had been in
at the time had ended over his late night phone calls and her
reluctance to put an end to them. This one was tough. She didn't think
Mulder had even known she was alive physically for several years into
their partnership, and that had always irritated her. Scully had
always been secure in her ability to make a man want her until she'd
been paired up with Mulder. Huh. Finally, she chose the answer
that read, "when I saw her tattoo for the first time." The pouting picture
popped up with a caption that read, "Scully, you're about four years
off." Wrinkling her eyebrows, she looked at her other options. One
read, "when I read my crazy neighbor's manuscript about her." She was
almost certain that was way after the tattoo. And she remembered the
earlier paragraph about how he wanted to trace the tattoo with his
tongue. Still certain it wasn't "the moment I laid eyes on her," she
clicked "B. during our very first trip to Oregon." She was rewarded
with a pop up that read, "When you disrobed right there in front of me,
then tied it back on and threw your arms around me, I knew I was on a
sinking ship. I wanted to lay you out on that bed in the candlelight and
bury myself inside you. Sure, I thought you were sexy when you first
walked into my basement. I always thought smart was sexy. But when
you showed your vulnerability to me that first time...I spent the next
couple of years trying desperately to keep distance between us."

Shaking her head at the years she'd spent in bed alone, she clicked the
next section. It had no directions. They weren't questions, but what she
thought were more like word associations. There was a word or
words, then a list of a bunch of other words or phrases to choose from.
The first read, "Clyde Bruckman." Smiling as she read the list of
options, she passed up "Immortal", "Psychic", "Human Flesh Eating
Monster Dog", and "Autoerotic Asphyxiation". She clicked
on "Chantilly Lace" and was rewarded with the next set of words.
Every question in this set made her smile. It was like she was
watching their relationship build through the eyes of an outsider. From
the inside, you tend to get bogged down in the pain and suffering.
She had never thought about how many good and humorous moments
they had shared for every bad one until now. Too tired, she vowed to
continue the quiz tomorrow after putting the kids to bed. She fell
asleep thinking back fondly on memories Mulder had yet to mention.
Maybe she would make him his own quiz. 


Monday, September 1st 
2:33 p.m.

Monica laughed as she watched Doggett throwing the football
and William making it change paths and fly directly into his
outstretched arms. They had brought a picnic lunch out to Scully's for
Labor Day. She and Scully sat on the covered porch out of the sun.
"That is his favorite trick these days," Scully told her.

"It's a cute one. I love watching John with him."

"Monica, it is so good to see you happy like this. I'm glad everything is
working out for you guys. Just think. Our babies will only be about
seven months apart. They'll always have each other to play with." 

"I know! And we can take turns babysitting for each other."

Scully smiled. "Well, I don't think this little lady will wait much
longer. She can hardly move as it is." 

Claire joined them on the porch and painted her toenails. "Mom? Want
me to do yours?"

Scully kicked off her flip flops. "Sure."

Monica closed her eyes. "Hey. Where's Kate? I thought she was going
to come back out today."

"She said she had a lot of work to catch up on at her office and then a
shift to pull at the clinic."

"It seems like all she does is work these days."

"I know. I don't know what exactly is going on with her. I hope things
will settle down soon."

Scully looked over at Claire, who was now painting her own fingernails,
and cringed when she saw the color on her daughter's fingers and toes.
"Claire, please tell me you didn't paint my toenails blue." She tried to lift
her feet so that she could actually see them.

"Of course I painted them blue. That's the only color I have out here,
Mother." Sighing, Scully let it go. She didn't suppose the color of her
toenails mattered at this point in her life. Claire ignored her mother's
looks and said, "Anyway, I think that Kate misses being a mom and
she's working so much right now because she doesn't know what else
to do."

Reyes gave Claire an appraising look; she was an astute kid. "That's a
good point, Claire. I hadn't really thought of it that way."

Claire waved her fingers around. "Mom, my neck itches. Can you
scratch it?" She moved close to Scully.

Scully looked up at her daughter as she reached up to her neck
and scratched. "So, any idea what your dad wants to name the baby?"

She shook her head, hair falling over one shoulder. "No. He won't tell. I
hope it's not something ridiculous like Uma."

Scully cringed. "Uggh...me, too."

Monica laughed as Claire wandered out into the yard to play
with Doggett and William. "She's a wonderful child."

"Believe me, I know she is."

"It's amazing the amount of emotional maturity she has considering how
she spent the first thirteen years of her life. She's like an adult. Well,
actually, she's more mature than a lot of adults I know." 

"Yeah, but then she does something ridiculous like painting all of her
nails glittery blue."

Reyes laughed again. "There's definitely a streak of spontaneity forming
in her. You think it's inherent or do you think she's picking it up
from Mulder?"

Scully lifted a shoulder. "I think it's inherent. The more comfortable she
gets, the more it comes out in her. She has a restless streak - like
Mulder - and I also think that's why she likes being with Kate so much.
William is impish, but I think he's going to be more contemplative as he
grows older. He's content to sit for hours trying to figure something
out." She patted her stomach. "This one could definitely be trouble,
though." She smiled at Monica, who was rapidly becoming a close
friend. "So, you wonder what your little one will be like?"

Monica grinned. "All the time."

Scully teased, "I bet you'll take it to, like, Mommy and Me Yoga."

"Probably."

"And I bet you've already bought it a copy of Whale Songs on CD."

"Don't be silly. I already own several of those."

"Seriously, though. How's John doing?"

"He seems okay. A little nervous about it; almost shy in some senses. I
still wake up at night sometimes and find him brooding or having a panic
attack."

"Well, I think that's to be expected."

"Yeah, it just brings up some mixed feelings on my part. This is
supposed to be the happiest time in my life, but for him, it's one of the
hardest. I don't know. I guess it'll take a while to figure it all out. He's
going to tell Barbara about it in person this week," Monica told Scully,
referring to Doggett's ex-wife. "He feels like it's the right thing to do."
She cut her eyes over to Scully. "He also apparently feels marriage is
the right thing to do. We're thinking sometime in late October."

"Wow. Is that something you want? Or are you a Kate? She claims that
marriage is an antiquated arrangement that no longer serves the purpose
for which it was originally designed."

Monica laughed. "No, no. I want it. I'm excited. I've never been
married, and I think it's important that both of us declare our
commitment to one another. I just don't want anything traditional. I
want it to be unique." She noticed Scully looking at her left hand. "The
ring is being sized. My mother, who has for years lamented my failure
to produce grandchildren, is beside herself. She thought this day would
never come."

"I'm so happy for you. You deserve this." 

"Thanks. You seem pretty happy these days yourself."

"I really am, Monica. I'm still nervous about a lot of things, but for the
most part, I'm just enjoying what I thought I would never have."

Both women looked up as William bounded onto the porch and kissed
his mother's stomach. "She's ready to be born, you know. It won't
be long." He giggled. "She's sucking her thumb and wishes you
wouldn't sit like this so long because it squishes her head. You
should stretch, Mom." Hugging his mom, he asked, "Can I get
a popsicle?"

Scully nodded and stood up, stretching tall. The baby squirmed around.
"Can you bring me a yellow one? And ask if anyone else wants one."

They visited for another hour or so before Doggett and Reyes
headed out. Scully waited impatiently until the kids were tucked into
bed before booting up the computer again and answering all of
the questions quickly again until she reached where she had left off
with the word association. She found a lot of inside jokes among the
next set of associations. Laughing, she chose "First Real Kiss" as
the answer to "Y2K" and was rewarded with a popup that read, "Still
my favorite New Year of all time. I spent the next several months trying
to figure out how far I could go without you filing a sexual harassment
suit against me." She blushed when one association was a reference to
the night she finally couldn't stand it anymore and invited herself to his
bed...with him already in it. Eventually, she reached what she assumed
was the end of Mulder's Impossible Quiz. A picture of Mulder popped
up with what he considered his best GQ pose. The caption read,
"Congratulations, Scully. You do know me so well. Since we already
picked out wallpaper and tile together for two different houses, who
needs China patterns, huh?" Somewhat put out by the final popup, she
closed her eyes and rubbed the little foot standing out against her
stomach. "That daddy of yours is something else, huh, babe? Never
knows when to shut his mouth." Sighing, she put away the computer
and drifted off to sleep. When her phone rang an hour later, she
snatched it up. "Scully." Sometimes, she slipped into old habits.

"Hey. Did you make it to the end of the quiz?"

"Of course...did you have any doubt?"

He chuckled. "None at all. Listen, I forgot my key. Can you let me in?" 

She struggled to get her eyes open and to launch herself from the bed.
"Okay, okay. I'm on my way now." As she neared the door, she heard
a strange sound - as if Mulder were throwing himself against it.
She flung open the front door and found a spear sticking out of
it. "What on earth?" Mulder was standing at the bottom of the
steps, looking pleased with himself. "Is this my surprise, Mulder?"

He grinned at her. "Part of it. I carved it myself."

Scully dislodged the offending item from her door, trying to ignore the
mess it made of the fresh paint. Studying the spear, she told him, "Well,
it's nice, Mulder. Thanks. For months, I've been thinking, if only I had a
spear, I could catch fish and small game for myself."

He shot her a wounded look. "I'm hurt that you don't grasp
the significance, Scully." Rubbing her stomach, he continued, "Well,
you have a lot on your plate right now. Let me know when you figure
it out, hmm?" He pulled her into the bedroom and tucked her into
bed, placing the spear on her side of the dresser. "So, did you enjoy
the quiz?"

Scully smiled. "I did. Thank you. I can't tell you how much I needed
that." She kissed him as he leaned down close to her face. "Everything
okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I'm going to take a quick shower, all right?" As he
dropped his jeans onto the floor, he muttered, "Can't believe you aren't
more excited about the spear."

Drifting off to sleep as she listened to him humming 'Jailhouse Rock' in
the shower, she made a mental note to figure out the significance of the
spear.


Tuesday, September 2nd  
1:53 a.m.

Skinner moved silently up the stairs, thinking she may be asleep. When
he peeked into the bedroom, he was dismayed to find the bed empty.
Sighing, he continued up to the third floor. As he poked his head into
the 'rug room' as he liked to think of it, his mouth tilted upwards at the
sight of her sleeping on the sofa. She had dropped a medical journal
onto the ground in front of the sofa and one hand hung limply in the air.
Bothered by the drooping hand, he tucked it close to her. Her eyes
fluttered open. "Hey."

"Hey. You coming to bed?"

Kate sat up and stretched, then flopped back down. "Too tired." While
he was in the shower, she worked up the energy to go downstairs and
fall into bed.

When he got into bed, he pulled her close to him and rubbed
her stomach. "Are you still mad at me?" She shrugged. It really
wasn't that simple, and he knew it. Running his fingers up to touch
where her stitches were, he whispered, "Listen, I know about
the photograph. Mulder gave me a heads up. Do you want to talk
about it?"

She shook her head. "Not right now. I have to be at the hospital at six."

"Kate, don't shut me out like this." Silence. "Look, I know you took
that photo over to show Nic. And I know you left there very upset."

She sat up. "How do you know that?" When he didn't answer,
she continued. "Well, you can get whoever gave you that information
to tell you what upset me. You aren't coming clean with me about a
lot of things, Walter. And to be honest with you, I don't know if I
can even trust you right now." 

He grabbed her wrist and held tight, even when she tried to pull it
away. "All right. Just listen. I've had a bodyguard tailing you since you
were attacked at the office. That's how I know about you going to see
Nic."

"You're having me spied on?"

"No, not spied on; protected. I haven't asked for a report on where
you've been or what you've done. The only thing I asked was to be
notified if anybody seemed to be following you or if anyone bothered
you. The man I hired said you were so upset when you drove out to
Scully's that you almost wrecked several times."

"If it's for my safety, why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to alarm you."

"Well, Walter, I'm alarmed. If you thought I was in that kind of danger,
you should have told me." Covering her face with her hands, she
whispered, "I can't take much more of this. I don't know who to trust
or what's true. I thought I could trust you, but you've lied and hidden so
many things lately."

Working his jaw, he watched as she wrapped her arms around her
knees protectively. Leaning very close to her, he whispered almost
inaudibly, "Kate, honey, please listen to me. I may not be able to
disclose certain things right now, but you have to believe that everything
I'm doing is for you - never against you. Now, a lot is going on right
now. I am trying to keep you safe, as well as Scully and the kids. I'm
also working desperately to find Emma. If you've figured something out,
you have to tell me." Finally, she met his eyes. He had never seen that
doubt and fear in them when they looked at him. He'd seen it when she
talked about her father, about Nic's parents, and even when she talked
about Nic himself. But seeing it aimed at him hit him like a physical
force.

Exhausted, she cocooned herself in the covers, deliberately putting
a layer of bedding between them. "I just need some time to sort through
this, okay? Please just give me some time."

Distraught, he forced himself to let it go for the night. "Do you want me
to leave?"

She shook her head. "No. This is your home. I'm furious, and I'm hurt,
but I won't ask you to leave your own home."


FBI Headquarters 
7:21 p.m.

Skinner thought about trying her phone one more time. Finally, he did
and left a voicemail. "I just need to know that you're okay. Please. Just
send me a message." It had taken every ounce of restraint he had not to
beat the truth out of Nic Cruz today. He wanted to give Kate time to
tell him herself. A text finally came through on his phone from her that
said, "Can you meet me by the W. Monument?" Thank God. He left
the Hoover Building and made it down to the Mall in record time.

When she saw him, she walked slowly towards him. "Hi."

"Listen, I brought something I want you to hear. I've thought a lot about
it.  I didn't want you to have to hear it, but now I think you should."

Kate shook her head. "No, wait. Listen to me. I've gone over and over
this in my head all day. You have never intentionally hurt me. I have
always trusted you. I am not going to let my ex-husband, who I know
can't be trusted, drive a wedge between us. You've done a lot this past
week that seems suspicious to me, and while I do not appreciate you
lying to me, I have to try to have faith that you really are doing what you
believe is in my best interest." Closing the rest of the distance between
them, she wrapped her arms around his neck and felt his go around her
waist and lift her off the ground. "From the photo I found, it's obvious
my father knew Nic's father way before I met Nic. Nic says that
the custody trial was rigged from the beginning and that my father
knew all about it. He claims they were doing it to try to protect
Emma, but I don't know if I believe that. I don't know what to
believe. For all I know, Nic could have been in on it from the
beginning. Maybe they took her from me so they could experiment on
her. I don't know, Walter. Then, Nic said he saw you meeting with one
of the other men in the photo. And Dana said that one of the other men
was the smoking man and that another was Bill Mulder. That's
what terrified me. Please tell me you aren't working with the
people responsible for my daughter's disappearance."

Skinner hugged her close, trying to absorb what all she had said. "My
God, no, Kate. Show me the photo." She did, and he pointed to one of
the men. "Yes, I met with him that night you were in the hospital.
It's complicated. I know that everything he ever tells me may be a lie.  I
realize that. I am walking a very fine line here, Kate. I've told you that I
have to answer to people outside the Bureau. I can't pretend that I
don't. But I am on your side. Just as I have always been on Mulder and
Scully's side. Now, if you want to walk away from me because of this,
now is the time to do it. And I will never hold it against you. I swear to
you, though, that if I thought you were in more danger being with me
than not, I would never have allowed myself to be with you. Now,
listen very carefully. That man probably does know what happened to
Emma. Or at least some of it. He probably knows what happened to
Samantha Mulder, too. But the cost of that information would be
something none of us could live with. Do you understand?"

Kate pulled back and looked into his eyes. The hair on the back of her
neck stood up. "I think so." She wrapped her arms around him again
and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

He brushed her hair away from her face. "Don't be. I doubt myself
almost every day. I've told you before I don't think I could get out if I
tried at this point. On top of that, I would lose access to any bargaining
power if I try to walk away. But I promise you that if I can find Emma
without compromising anyone else's safety, I will."

"Do you think she's dead, Walter? Tell me honestly."

He breathed heavily, remembering Mulder asking him the same thing
about Samantha. "If you had asked me that two weeks ago, I would
have said yes. Now, honestly...I can't say. I just don't know, Kate. I'm
sorry; I know you don't want to hear that."

"I just want to hear the truth, Walter. No matter how painful. And I'm
not going to walk away. I won't let these people dictate my life
any more than they already have."

He handed her the recording. "I'm going to let you decide whether you
should hear this. It's a recording of my meeting with the man in the
photo the other night. I had Mulder go with me and record it, so of
course he's heard it. We didn't want to subject you and Scully to this."

She swallowed hard. "You still don't want me to hear it."

"I don't want to put either of you through it, Kate." He paused,
searching for the right words. "They know about yours and Scully's
search for the vaccine. They want it when you finish. And they threaten
with anything they can think of."

"Like the truth about Emma and Samantha." She looked at his face for
confirmation. "Did he threaten William and Claire?"

"In a round about way."   Kate glanced back down at the recording.
She put it back in his hand and closed his fingers around it. "There are
some things a mother should never have to hear, even if she already
suspects it's true. That's all you ever had to say, Walter. You didn't
have to lie or hide it from me. Dana and I aren't stupid. We know the
risks we're taking. But we know we can't risk not taking them. Believe
me, my imagination is probably far worse than what's on that tape, you
know."

"Then maybe you should listen to it."

She shook her head. "No. I trust you."

He knew she was doing it to make a point, that she really
wanted nothing more than to hear what was on that tape, but he really
didn't think he could handle watching her listen to it. Lacing his
fingers through hers, he whispered, "Let's go home." As they walked,
he continued to hold her hand, refusing to let go even when she tried
to pull away. "I should have told you I was hiring a bodyguard. It
was ridiculous for me not to tell you. I guess I didn't want you to
know that I thought you needed one. But I want to be clear, Kate.
I'm not sorry I hired him. I'm just sorry I didn't tell you up front."

"Walter, here's the thing. I'm not afraid of them. I know you think I
should be, but I'm just not. I will keep pushing at this until I know the
truth or until they kill me. Don't get me wrong - I don't have a death
wish. But I'm not going to shy away from this."

"You don't think I realize that? That's exactly why I hired him.
How many times have I begged you to let me handle things? Let me do
the digging, Kate. I may not have complete control, but I can
maneuver things better than you can. You and Scully worry about that
vaccine. Let me and Mulder handle the rest of it. If there's something
you want me to look into, just tell me. Don't keep trying to do it
on your own." He could sense her resistance. "Kate, listen to me. What
if Emma is alive out there somewhere? If she is, she will need her
mother when we find her."

She snatched her hand away and glared at him. "That's a low blow,
Walter."

"But it's true." And effective, he thought to himself.

She was silent for a while, then said, "How many people like us do you
think there are out there who don't even realize what they're mixed up
in? How many other fathers sold out their children in some way? "

He shook his head. "I don't know."

"You know what really worries me?"

"What?"

"The idea that our entire lives could be rigged. Who made sure I would
end up with Nic? Is it an accident that you and I ended up together?
Was my last pregnancy by someone's design? Were all of our lives?
Don't you get the feeling someone's out there playing God?"

"Kate, they can't control us to that extent."

"Walter, you of all people should know not to underestimate these
people." She paused. "Is this why you never wanted to have children?
Why you freaked out when I was pregnant?"

He sighed. "It was a chance I never wanted to take. I didn't want a
child that could be used to control me. I would never put a child
through that if I could avoid it."

She wrinkled her eyebrows. "Why wouldn't they try to use me?"
Realizing her error, she said, "Oh. Right. They did."


Friday, September 19th  
1:15 p.m.

Kate pulled up to Scully's house and was met on the porch by
a wide-eyed Claire and rambunctious William. "It's time, it's time, it's
time!" William sang as she made her way up the steps.

Laughing, she grabbed him and swung him around. "So you say,
little man. How's your mom?"

"Oh, she feels fine. But the baby's being born tonight, Kate."

Scully came to the door. "Now, if it were just William saying this, I
wouldn't have called you because I'm having no contractions
or anything. However, Claire is all worked up as well, so..."

Kate patted her friend's shoulder. "Well, fortunately, we have the
whole weekend, huh? Kids, want to help me get all the stuff out of
my car?" They made short work of setting up a birthing spot for
Scully and collecting everything they would need. When they finished,
she smiled at the flowers Claire had gathered and put nearby. "Claire,
I love the ambiance."

Bored already, William had gone out to play the Wii. Claire looked up
at Kate hopefully. "Mom says I can stay in while the baby is born if it's
okay with you."

"That's perfect with me. You can catch your dad if he faints." Claire
laughed, expelling some of her nervous energy. "Actually, you can help
quite a bit."

"Really?"

"Sure. Right now, though...I didn't have lunch. Want to come with
me to the kitchen?"

"Yeah, okay. Dad's in his office working. When will everyone else be
here?"

"Well, Monica and John are coming after work unless we call
them sooner. And Walter is coming out after his last meeting, I think."

Claire made a funny face. "I can't imagine Mr. Skinner coming for the
baby's birth. That's funny. Oh, yeah. Gramma Scully is on her way,
too."

Kate smiled as she made some pasta and a sauce. "Great."

"So, what do we do now?"

"We wait."

"Aw, man. I hate waiting," William said as he walked into
the conversation.

Kate tickled him. "Patience, grasshopper. Come on.  We'll bake
something." She peered into the cupboard. "What do you guys want to
make?"

"Oh, a cake. A being born cake for the baby! With lots of chocolate
frosting."

Claire rolled her eyes but started pulling ingredients out for the cake. 

Scully wandered into the kitchen holding a spear. Kate lifted
an eyebrow. "What the hell is that?"

"Well, a couple of weeks back, I found this sticking out of the front
door when I opened it. Apparently, Mulder carved it for me. I was
supposed to figure out its significance, but I never did figure it out. And
he won't tell." She told Kate all about the quiz. "He's been behaving
bizarrely lately, anyway. Not long after that, he and William roasted a
whole pig outside and fed it to all of us, including my mother."

"Huh. Did you Google the spear thing?"

"Of course." Scully wandered through to the laundry room.

Kate turned to Claire. "Hey, Claire? Bring my laptop in here and look
something up for me." When Claire had it booted up, she told her to
Google 'Spear' and 'Engagement Customs'. 

Claire's mouth fell open as she read what popped up. "Hey, how'd you
figure that out? Mom and I have tried everything."

"The roasted pig. It's a Chinese engagement custom."

Grinning, Claire yelled, "Mom, mom. You HAVE to read this.
Hurry up!" 

Scully finally came out and looked at the computer. "Oh, Claire, honey,
I'm certain that's not it."

"Mom! I'm sure it is. What else could it be?" 

Mulder came through the house and into the kitchen. "Hey, what are
you three looking at?"

Scully jumped. "Nothing."

Claire said, "Hey, Dad? Did you know that in Filipino culture, a man
used to the throw a spear at the front of the woman's house that he
wanted to marry?"

Mulder shoved a cold slice of pizza into his mouth. "Actually, Claire, I
did know that. Scully, did you know that?"

She met his eyes slowly. "No, Mulder. I didn't know that."

"Learn something new every day." He walked out into the garage,
then returned with a can of Coke Zero, which he popped open. "Did
you also know that in ancient Greece, diamonds were believed to
be teardrops of the gods? And that a diamond was thought to reflect
the flames of love?"

Scully narrowed her eyes at him. "Didn't know that, either."

Mulder walked over near her, drinking his soda. "I mean, I'm not really
a diamond kind of guy, you know? Seems like that's so mundane. But
then, I'm reading this book about how engagement traditions came to
be, you know? And when I read that, I thought, huh...you know, that
really gives the diamond a new appeal to me." He pulled his hand out of
his pocket and wiggled his pinky finger. "So...you think it's me or
what?"

Scully blinked several times, looking between the ring on his pinky
finger to his hazel eyes and back again. She didn't say anything, just
kept staring at him.  He sighed. "Well, I don't guess it's a good choice
for a man's pinky ring, huh?" He slid the ring off and held it up for Claire
to inspect. "What do you think, kid?" 

"It's gorgeous, Dad!"

"Think your mother will wear it?" He held it up to Scully for inspection.
"Scully?"

"Mulder, I..."

He gave her a nervous look. "Are you going to make me drop down on
one knee? I mean, I know how much you want a normal life, but I'm
just not sure I can go that damn far. Help me out here." Taking her
hand, he slid the ring onto her finger. "Perfect for you." He brought her
hand to his lips and kissed the fingertips gently.

"Mulder," she said breathlessly. "I..."

He grinned. "Look at that.  A speechless Scully. Had I only known that
asking you to marry me would do that...I would have done it a whole
lot sooner." Bouncing on his toes, he asked, "So...is that a Mulder, yes
or a Mulder, no, but thanks anyway."

Scully opened her mouth again, but nothing came out. Tears formed in
her eyes. She couldn't believe he'd done this to her, practically ten
months pregnant, in front of her children and her friend. "Mulder, you
don't have to do this. I really am happy as we are."

He looked hard at her. Someone must have told her that he knew
about that conversation she'd had with the kids a couple of months
ago. "Good. Then you'll be happy to be stuck with me for all
eternity, right?" Mulder ran his fingers through her hair and put his
mouth close to hers. 

"Mulder..."

"Say yes, Scully," he whispered. "You're killing me here. Do you know
how much planning I put into this? I realize it's maybe not that romantic,
but..."

"It's perfect. Everything was perfect. I am stunned." She kissed him, a
tear escaping her eye. "Yes, Mulder."

He let out a breath. "Thank God." He kissed her for a long moment, still
holding her left hand. "I was worried you were never going to figure out
the spear, you know."

Scully laughed. "It was Kate who figured it out."

Mulder flicked his chin at her. "Good catch. So...does the ring meet
friend approval?"

Kate came around the bar and studied the ring. "Damn, Mulder. That is
gorgeous. Must've set you back some serious Benjamin's."

He looked like a little boy seeking approval. "Do you think yellow gold
was a good choice? I mean, I know most women wear white or
platinum these days, but I thought with her necklace..."

Kate shook her head. "It's perfect for Dana. I love the triangle cut.
That's not very common. You get extra bonus points. Seriously. Did
you pick it out all by yourself?"

He nodded, obviously pleased. Kate hugged Scully, then Mulder.
"I can't believe you're getting married. Talk about weird."

Scully lifted an eyebrow. "You weren't even this shocked when I told
you I was pregnant again, Kate. I'm hurt."

Claire was beside herself. "I wish I had friends to tell! Oh, can I tell
Gramma when she gets here? Please?"

William was grinning, chocolate all over his nose.  "I knowed about it
the whole time, Mommy."

Scully looked at him skeptically. "You did?"

Mulder nodded. "He did. That little man can keep a secret." 

Claire pouted. "Why didn't I know?"

Mulder kissed the tip of her nose. "Claire Bear, you would NEVER
have been able to act like nothing was going on."

She blushed. "Well, you're probably right."

Mulder started to leave the kitchen, but stopped and turned around.
"Hey, Scully?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

She grinned. "Oh, brother."

That made him smile. "You're beautiful, you know." He blew out a
breath. "All right. My part is over. You get to plan everything else."

"What?"

"Yeah. You tell me when, where, and what to wear. I'm there, okay?"

"Mulder, it does not work that way."

He gave her a look. "Well, that's how my first one worked."

"Not this one. I want it to mean something."

He blanched. "It does. It will. It'll mean I trust you completely." He saw
her look and sighed. "Fine, fine. We'll plan it together." He made a face
at Kate and mouthed, "Oh, my God, HELP ME," as he passed her.

7:10 p.m.

Scully looked around at everyone. "Guys, I hate to keep you here on a
Friday night. Go home. We'll call if anything changes."

William wailed. "No! The baby is coming soon. Nobody should go
home, Mom."

Maggie, Kate, and Monica shrugged. "We're content, Dana.
Relax. Mulder and Doggett are watching sports in there. I think
everyone's okay."

Scully paced the living room. "Hey, Skinner's here, Kate." 

 Kate met him at the door. "Come see Dana's engagement ring! It
is gorgeous."

Skinner shook his head as he took hold of Scully's left hand to look at
the ring. "Wow. Never imagined I'd see this. Congratulations."

"Thanks, Wal-" She stopped and put a hand on her stomach. "Oh,
Kate. I don't feel so great. And I think my water just broke." 

Kate smiled. "All right. Good call, William. Claire, honey? Come time
your mom's contractions, okay?" The little girl raced to get the
stopwatch.

"Okay, I'm ready. Tell me when, Mom."

Scully came out of the bedroom a couple of minutes later. Mulder
looked horrified as Kate cleaned up the embryonic fluid from the floor.
"Uh, Kate...I don't feel so great, either." He gestured towards Scully.
"Shouldn't she lie down?"

Kate shook her head. "No. She's only four centimeters dilated, and it
will help her to let gravity do some of the work. Relax, Mulder. I
delivered three babies from the clinic this week already." She was a
little surprised at the intensity of  Scully's contractions, though. 

Twenty minutes later, Kate was shocked to find her friend eight
centimeters dilated. "So, Dana? You want to get up again or does it
hurt too much?" 

"Hurts...too...much..." Scully made a horrible face. "No, no. I have to
get up."

"All right. Help me, Mulder." 

"Okay." Scully looked up at Claire. "Another one." After it passed, she
paced the bedroom. "You okay, Claire?  Still want to stay in the
room?"

"I'm okay, Mom."

"That's my girl. Where's William?"

He was standing ON the dresser. "Right here, Mom. Can I stay in,
too?"

She nodded. "Sure, if you want to. I don't care." 

Mulder looked up. "Now, I don't know if that's such a great idea." 

Kate brushed it off. "He can stay up by her head, Mulder. It'll be fine."

"Well, then, why can't I stay up by her head?"

"Stay where you feel most comfortable."

Mulder glared at Reyes. "Do you have to keep playing that damn CD?"

"It's soothing."

Scully walked over and grabbed Mulder's arm. "Calm down."

Kate nodded to Scully. "Okay, so...you want to try this lying down or
squatting or standing up? We're going to try to avoid any tearing this
time, okay?"

Scully nodded. "Um, I don't really know. You tell me. You already set
up the birthing bar, so we can try squatting first. I'd rather not lie down
this time."

"Okay. Let's take another look. All right. Looks like we're fully dilated
here. I'm going to put a little olive oil on your skin here, okay? Great.
Now, listen. This is your show. Your body. When you feel like pushing,
push. I'll tell you when to stop pushing if you need to for anything. I'm
only going to coach you if you start to panic, okay? Remember to
breathe deeply, keeping your throat open, okay?"

Scully nodded, thinking that Kate's instructions were starting to sound
more like Monica. "Okay. Oh, God, Kate. I forgot what this felt like."
She walked the room a couple more times. Noticing the look on
Mulder's face, she squeezed his hand. "I'm okay."

"What does it feel like?"

As an intense pain hit, she screamed, "Like I'm birthing a bowling
ball. Stop asking me stupid questions."

He grimaced. "Monica? Soothe her, please."

Kate laughed as Monica and Mulder started visualizing breaking
waves. Scully pushed them both away. "Now, Kate. This baby wants
out." 

Maggie and Mulder helped position Scully on the bed holding onto the
bar. Kate came over and set up the equipment she needed and made
sure she was able to see properly. Finally, the baby's head was
crowning. "Okay. Now listen. The last thing you want to do is push too
hard or fast right now, okay? We don't want you to tear at all if we can
avoid it. I'm going to work with the head to see if we can stretch your
skin to accommodate, okay?"

"Okay."

"You still like the position?"

Scully nodded, though she felt kind of weird squatting in bed like this.
"Yes. Better than lying down." 

Kate looked at Mulder. "Hey. Do you want to catch a glimpse?" 

He shook his head. "No, no. I'm good."

Claire grinned. "Dad, it's so amazing. Come see."

Mulder took a deep breath. "Really. I'm okay."

Scully glared at him and said through clenched teeth, "If I have to go
through this, you should at least have to watch."

He made a face. "Okay, so here's the way I see this, Scully. To me, it
would be like watching someone use the basketball court to
play hopscotch."

"Mulder, what the hell are you talking about?" He was taking her mind
off the pain, though.

"I mean, I love the basketball court. One of my favorite play places,
right? And I don't mind hopscotch. But the basketball court is
sacred...it's no place for hopscotch. I have no interest in seeing my
basketball court violated by a seven pound hopscotcher...you
know what I mean?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Mulder, we ALL know what you mean. If
you're not going to observe the birth, then you can sit behind Dana and
rub her back and support her weight."

"Good idea. I'll do that."

Finally, the baby's head was out and Kate stopped Scully. "The cord is
looped. Hang on. Don't push." She worked for a second. "Okay. Let's
get those shoulders out. Not too hard. Push gently. Breathe deep.
Good. Okay. One shoulder free. Almost there. You're doing great,
Dana. Okay, Claire? Want to catch your sister?"

"What if I miss?"

"Sweetie, she's not going to fall far. Your mom is barely six inches off of
the bed there." She worked the baby's other shoulder free. "All right,
Dana. Whenever you're ready."

A couple of minutes later, the baby was in the blanket in Claire's arms.
Mulder helped Scully lie back and Kate helped Claire lay the baby on
her mom's stomach. She also let Claire suction out the mouth and nose.
When the baby cried for the first time, Claire burst into tears. Mulder
tied off and cut the cord.

William made a horrible face and burst out with, "Oh my gosh, why
is she white and slimy? Gross. How long will she look like that?" He got
close to the baby and swiped a finger on her arm. "Yuk. Man, I gotta
go tell John. He is never gonna believe this." He burst out the bedroom
door and ran down to the living room.

Kate wrapped the baby and handed her to Maggie. "Hold
your granddaughter where her mama can see her." She massaged
Scully's abdomen.

Scully looked at her. "Are we okay?"

"I think so. We just need to deliver the placenta, okay? It's just taking a
little longer than I expected. No bleeding this time, though. And no
tearing. You were great."

Finally, everything was finished up. The baby weighed in at seven
pounds, two ounces and was twenty inches long. Doggett and Skinner
and William came in. Mulder held the baby up for everyone to admire.
"I want you all to meet..." Scully held her breath. "Lily Katherine
Mulder." He grinned at the other men. "Isn't she perfect?"

Everyone oohed and aahhed and William shoved his way back up to
the baby. "Hey, Lily. It's me, William. Hey, she's not bald like I was."
He scrunched his eyebrows together indignantly.

Scully laughed. "No. She has a nice dusting of hair."

Finally, everyone made their way out of the room, leaving Scully
and Mulder alone. He sat on the other side of the bed after handing
the baby to her. "Do you like the name?"


Scully rubbed his shoulder. "I love it. Was there a reason, or did you
just like Lily?" She wouldn't have named her child after a flower, but...

"Well, did you know that the Lily of the Valley symbolizes the return of
happiness? And Katherine means pure." He kissed Scully's forehead. "I
thought it was fitting." He smirked. "It was between that and Phoebe."
Scully smacked him. "Which, incidentally, means bright. Still, I thought
we'd better go with Lily. Also, my mom's mother was Lillian."

"Lily. It seems like such a soft name compared to Claire and William,
which I think of as strong names."

Mulder thought about it. "Well...she can afford to be our flower
child. Believe me. She's going to have plenty of protectors."

Scully sighed. "Hi, Lily. You ready to try eating, sweetie?" 

Mulder watched as she put the baby to her breast. "Hey, I want to try
eating," he joked. Mesmerized, he watched Scully nursing the baby for
a long time, but left when Maggie came in.

"Dana, she's beautiful. And I'm so glad Fox decided to use Katherine.
That was your great-grandmother Scully's name, you know. Well, of
course you know that. Dad would be so proud." Scully handed the
baby over to her mother. Finally, Monica came in for her chance to
hold the baby.

After everyone had visited, Kate came back in to check on
everything one last time. "So...do I finally get to hold her?"

Scully looked horrified. "Oh, I'm sorry, Kate. You should have been
first to hold her." She handed the baby over. "Thank you for making
this happen the way I wanted. It meant so much to me to have her
safely among family and friends."

Kate looked into the baby's eyes, which were dark blue for now.
"Hello, Lily. I've been waiting for you. Yes, I have. I'm so glad you
made it here safely." She lifted the baby's head up to her lips, tears
spilling over.

Scully teared up. "Kate, I'm sorry. I never really considered
how insensitive it was for me to ask you to do this..."

"Dana, no. I was glad to do it. Really. It's okay." She kissed the baby
again and unwrapped her to look at the little toes and legs. "Oh, God,
Dana.  She makes my heart ache just holding her."

Scully sighed contentedly. "You really should have another baby, Kate.
I'm serious. You never seem as happy as you do when you're with
William or Claire or right now. I wish you'd think about it." 

Kate sniffed. "I can't. But believe me, I'm going to spoil this one
rotten." She looked up to see Skinner at the doorway. "Come see her,
Walter. She's amazing."

He walked over and smiled at the baby. "She is." He kissed Kate's
forehead and wiped a tear from her cheek. "Hello, Lily. You don't
know how good you're going to have it." Leaning over, he whispered in
Kate's ear. "You were great. I heard you in here, all calm and
collected. I don't know how you do it." Skinner then made his way
over to Scully. "You look really good to have just given birth.
Congratulations." He kissed her cheek quickly. "Kate? Are you staying
a while?"

"Not long. Maggie's staying tonight, so I'll just come back to check
tomorrow. Can you wait for me?"

"Sure." He closed the door as he left the bedroom.

"Want to take a bath?" Kate asked Scully.

"God, yes." 

"I'll snuggle Lily while you do, okay? If you'll wait a minute, I'll get
Mulder to come in and help you into the tub."

She went out into the living room with the baby, who was wide
eyed and taking it all in. William came running over to kiss her again.
 "Isn't it cool that she was born on September 19th at nine
nineteen? Claire realized it when she wrote down the time."

Kate handed the baby to Claire in the armchair, who was dying to
get her hands on Lily. "Make sure you support her head, okay? Her
neck will be floppy for a while." She watched as Claire handled the
baby expertly. "Look at that. You are a natural. Mulder? Dana wants
to take a bath. Can you go help her?"

Reyes came over and hugged Kate. "Okay. That's EXACTLY the kind
of birth I want. I enjoyed this one so much more because I wasn't
responsible if anything went wrong."

Kate laughed. "Yeah. I can give you the name of some really
good women who specialize in home births."

Frowning, Reyes said, "No. I mean, I want YOU to do it."

"Oh, Monica...this was a special case. You are much better off
with someone who does this full time, especially for a first pregnancy."

She shook her head. "No. I want you and Dana to do this with me.
You have to, Kate."

Kate sighed and relented. She couldn't tell Monica no. "All right. I'm
your midwife. But you are my final client. Well, unless you have more
babies. Then I guess I'll have to birth them, too. Hey, you know what
you should try? A water birth. You can buy a kit to set up at home.
Start doing your research now." She walked her and Doggett out.
"Thanks for being here, John. I was nervous that something may
happen like last time. And to think, Monica handled that one all by
herself."

He smiled. "Yeah, Monica can handle pretty much anything. Well, I'm
glad I wasn't needed. Night."

Back inside, Kate stole the baby back from Claire and took her into
the nursery to put on a little gown, change her diaper, and care for the
umbilical cord. When she finished, she sat in the chair and rocked the
baby, holding her on her shoulder, singing softly. Skinner stood at the
door, hands in his pocket. "Scully said to tell you she's out of the bath.
Are you sure you don't want to stay here tonight?"

Kate shook her head. "No, I'm sure." She took the baby back into
Scully's bedroom and put her in the bassinet there. "All right, Walter's
fidgety, so we're going. I'll be back tomorrow after lunch. Call me if
there's any problem.  You seem to be doing well. How's the blood
flow?"

"Very minimal."

"Good. Are you very sore?"

"Not like I was with William."

"Even better."

In the living room, Kate kissed William and told him what a good big
brother he was. She gave him a t-shirt she had bought for him that said,
"Big brother is watching you." Mulder got a kick out of it. For Claire,
she had brought a stethoscope with her name engraved on it. "You are
born to be a doctor. Thank you for helping me tonight."

 Claire beamed. "You really think so?"

"Definitely." 

12:11 a.m. 

Skinner watched as she put moisturizer on her face. Everything she did
tonight was tugging on his heartstrings. "Kate?"

"Hmm?"

"I was just thinking..." He trailed off.

She looked up at him. "What?"

He cleared his throat. "Well, it's just that...I hate to see you give up
your chance to have another child so that you can be with me."

"Walter, I really don't want to talk about this right now."

"Kate, hear me out. You don't realize how you looked holding
that little baby. I have never seen you that peaceful at any other
time. And if you were with someone else, would you not want
another child?"

She let out a frustrated sigh and sat down heavily on the bed. "I made a
conscious choice to live my life with you. Let's not go through this
again, all right?"

He sat beside her. "What if you wake up one day two or three years
from now and decide you've changed your mind? I'm almost fifty-six
years old, Kate. I don't want to bring a child into the world at my age
and with my job."

She stiffened. "And no one is asking you to, Walter. What do you
want from me? A written contract that I won't ask you to have a
child with me? I told you I'm fine the way things are. If I do wake
up and decide that I must have a baby, believe me, I wouldn't need
you to do it with me. I could do it on my own. Now, please, let's
drop this."

"Look, I didn't mean to upset you. I just don't want to hold you back."

"Walter, no matter how much Lily tugs at my womb when I hold her, I
understand your position on children. I honestly do. Right now, I like
that we're able to come and go as we please right now. And that I can
take trips whenever I want. Granted, this isn't the life I thought I would
have after I had Emma, but if I can't have her, this is the life I choose."
She kissed his lips, attempting to end the conversation once and for all.
"Besides, we get to have sex any time we want. How often you think
Mulder's going to get lucky these next couple of years? And just think,
you're about to get lucky right now."    Skinner gave in and let her
push him back against the bed. "Good point. That's what I like about
you most. Always able to see the good in a situation." He let her kiss
her way down his chest before flipping her to where she was lying on
the bed instead of him. "You've worked hard all night. Just lie there and
let me relax you."

Kate sighed as he kissed her inner thigh. "Well, if you insist." 


Sunday, October 19th  
1:43 a.m.

Scully rubbed her eyes and tried to will her body to get out of the bed.
The baby was wailing through the monitor. Mulder put a hand on her
side. "Stay. I'll get her."

"She probably wants to eat."

He kissed her cheek. "Well, she can make do with a bottle, Scully. Isn't
that why you pump? So I can help feed her? She's been up every hour
and a half for the past week. You have to let me help more at night."

She sighed and rolled back over. "Thank you." Just as she was dozing
off again, she heard Mulder's voice through the baby monitor.

"Now, now, stop all that fussing; you can't wake up the whole
house just because you can't sleep." The wailing stopped as soon as
he started talking. There was a rustling noise, then, "What's
the problem, huh? You don't like to be alone? Is that it? You have to let
your mom sleep. So settle down here on my chest, all right? You are
not wet, and you don't seem to be hungry. Maybe you just
wanted some company." There was a sweet little baby sigh through
the monitor. "You're starting to look like your mother, Lily. Those eyes
are already lightening up. And so is your hair. Don't worry.  That's a
compliment. Mommy is very, very pretty. It would not be good for you
to look like your old man. I wouldn't make a very pretty girl." He
yawned. "You ready to get back in bed, Lil? I mean, I've enjoyed this
quality time, but there will plenty more after the sun rises." A few
seconds elapsed and the baby started to whimper again. Mulder made
a whimpering noise himself. "Lily, I'm not going to pick you up every
time you cry. Now go back to sleep.  I'll, uh...sing you a song, okay?
Let's see...what should we sing...oh, obviously a little Three Dog Night.
Okay, you ready? Now, don't go telling anyone I sang this to you at
two in the morning, okay? Okay. Lily was a bullfrog...was a good
friend of mine..."

Scully smiled and opened her eyes again. When Mulder slipped back
into bed a few minutes later, she turned towards him and hugged him.
"You're supposed to sing the chorus three times, Mulder. You only
sang it twice."

"Hey, how'd you...ah, baby monitor. Right. I'll remember to turn that off
next time. Well, everyone knows you do that song better than I do. I
guess I'll have to adopt my own...maybe 'Mustang Sally' or something."

She kissed his shoulder. "You can't, Mulder. That's our family song,
remember? William declared it so."

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. The door to their room
creaked open almost immediately and a little voice said, "Dad? I
can't sleep."

Mulder looked at William's silhouette at the end of the bed. "Come on,
big guy. Climb in."

Scully moved over to her side to let him in the middle. "Better, man?"

William put his arm around his mother and patted her. "Yep.
Much better." He kissed her forehead like he saw his dad do
sometimes. "Love you, Mom."

She kissed him back. "I love you, sweet William."

Mulder spoke up. "What about me?"

"I love you, Mulder."


Thursday, November 27th  
1:45 p.m.

Kate stuck the casserole in and started warming up the bread. "I think
everything else is ready," she told Mulder, who was trying to find a
serving platter in the back of a cabinet. 

Scully came through with wet hair, her shirt unbuttoned, and the baby
squirming in her arms. "Kate, help. She wants to eat at the worst times.
Mom is busy talking to Mrs. Skinner; can you take her?" 

Kate took Lily and went to find the sling she had given Scully a few
weeks ago. Situating the baby in it, she went back to setting the table
and the bar. Skinner and Doggett were camped in front of the TV, and
Mulder kept throwing envious looks their way. "Go watch football,
Mulder," Kate pushed him out of the way.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Go. Monica and I can finish this. You already did your
part. It smells wonderful." She laughed as he bolted for the television.

Claire and Maggie came into the kitchen to help with the last
minute touches. Kate assigned William the job of putting the
silverware out. Finally, Scully finished getting ready and came into
the kitchen. "Want me to take her now?"

Kate looked down. "Nah, she's asleep. Sweet little thing. You enjoy a
meal without a baby using you as a meal for once, okay? Guys? Time
to eat." Taking her seat beside Skinner, she looked around. "You
know, this year started out really rough, but it turned out to be one of
the best for all of us, I think."

Scully reached over beneath the table and took Mulder's hand, rubbing
her thumb against his. "You're right about that."

Doggett kissed Monica, now his wife, whose pregnancy was
just starting to really show. "It definitely has."

Mulder ruffled Claire's hair, while William stood up on his knees in his
chair and wrapped his arms around his mother's neck. "It's so good to
be with people who love you no matter what you do wrong," he said
firmly.

Skinner had really been trying to connect with William and
Claire recently. He knew Kate loved having them at the house, and
he thought the least he could do was try to converse with them.
"Well said, William."

William grinned and lifted his juice in a mock toast. "Thanks, Skinman."

"Hey, watch it, kid." But Skinner raised his wine glass in return.

Laughing, Kate lifted the baby, who had started fussing, out of the sling
and turned her around where she could see everyone. Lily made a face
and blew spittle. As she started to cry again, the pacifier lifted up from
beside Scully's plate and slowly made its way towards the baby and
into her open mouth. Scully looked over at William and whispered
sharply, "That's not funny."

The little boy shook his head. "It's not me, Mom. I swear. It's Lily."

"William..."

"Mom, really. You told me not to do that in front of Gramma...and I
don't. Besides, I wouldn't do it with Mr. Skinner's mother here, would
I?"

Scully looked down at Lily, who was happily playing with her fingers
now, feeling an eerie sense of d‚j… vu. Kate kissed the back of the 
baby's head and gave her friend a reassuring look. "Tell your mommy 
that everything is just fine. You're just talented, aren't you, Lily?"

Ruth Skinner looked up from cutting her turkey. "What? What did
I miss?"

Claire gave a deep sigh and whispered, "Mother, aren't you glad
to have at least one child who's pretty much normal?"

Scully reached around Mulder and took her daughter's hand. "You
have no idea, sweetie." She winked at Claire, who smiled and winked
back.

William ran down to the end of the table and kissed Lily on the cheek.
"Happy Thanksgiving, little sis." He ran back around and threw his arms
around Claire. "Happy Thanksgiving, big sis."

Claire smiled and hugged her brother back. Mulder was glad to
see them getting along for a change. Recently, they'd fought more
like brother and sister than he ever thought they would. As William
went back to his seat, Claire remarked, "I'm thankful that I finally
have a family, even a really weird one."

Mulder lifted his glass. "I think we can all drink to that." He leaned over
and kissed Scully's forehead, dropping his voice. "I'm thankful to still
have you here with me. The way this year started, I wasn't sure that I
would."

She lifted an eyebrow, smiled slightly, and whispered, "You're hoping
to get lucky tonight, aren't you?"

He gave her his best eyebrow waggle. "Think it may happen?"

"Oh, I'd say it's a definite possibility if you and the guys do the
dishes later."

"Consider it done." 


The End