TITLE: Sponsalia
by The Jedi Shipper
E-MAIL: JediShipper@yahoo.com
DISTRIBUTION: If you want it, I'd be honored. Just
drop me a line telling me where it goes. :-)
SPOILER WARNING: Amor Fati, Emily, Dreamland I,
Arcadia
RATING: PG, PG-13 at most though quasi-smut does ensue
in the last chapter
CLASSIFICATION: XRA 
KEYWORDS: MSR
SUMMARY: A dream is an answer to a question we don't
yet know how to ask, but it's not till we find the
question, that we can understand the answer.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: at the end of the first part... 
DEDICATIONS: For their encouragement, without these
people I would have quit on this fic, I would like to
dedicate this to Bee, Rotem Shahar, Jade, rikki and
Carrie. Especially Carrie who came up with the
brilliant title (Latin for a gift betrothed, intended)
Of course, my wonderful BETA reader who makes my
fics...well, more than presentable, Adrienne. What a
mess I would have on my hands without you! (bouncing
his knees on...LOLO!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"...the face in the misty light
Footsteps that you hear down the hall
The laugh that floats on a summer night
That you can never quite recall...
Those eyes how familiar they seem...
But she's only a dream"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sponsalia 1/3

He knew it was a dream. It had that hazy, dream
quality. A surreal quality that could only happen when
the world slips away into the darkness of sleep. Of
course, the paramount of knowing dream from reality
was the knowledge that he had had his dream before.

In his dream he'd met Scully under different
circumstances, a different reality where they were
free to date and marry. Mulder sat on the porch
watching their three children, her Emily and his two
nameless boys, playing together in the lawn. In real
life these children remained little more then dreams,
though Emily had lived. In this reality they were
alive and well, growing up under the watchful eye of
doting parents.

Mulder heard footsteps behind him. Scully sat next to
him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She watched
the children, her head on his shoulder. "They weren't
meant to be, Mulder," she said into his ear.

"I know," he said wistfully. "Does that mean we aren't
meant to be?" he asked his dream Scully.

"No. It just means we weren't meant to live the
American dream," she swept her hand over the scene
before them, "picket fence and all."

"Don't you want this normal life?"

"No," she whispered, her voice carrying a sad
conviction. As she spoke the porch and the giggling
children faded into his familiar basement office. "I
want your normal life."

At least, that was how the dream had gone in the past.
Tonight, it was different.

It started out the same, as he watched their phantom
children giggle and play. Just as before, Scully came
to sit beside him, wrapping her arms around his
shoulders.

"Aren't they beautiful?" she whispered into his ear.

He was surprised. "What?" he asked, shifting in her
arms so that he was facing her.

She knitted her eyebrows, about to reply when the
sound of a baby crying pierced the air. Scully smiled
ruefully and got to her feet.

A baby?

Mulder got up to follow Scully but something stopped
him: a tug at his shirt. Mulder looked down to find
Emily and the boys staring up at him adoringly. They
smiled and wordlessly turned, walking away into the
mist.

Mulder watched them until they disappeared. As he
turned back to the door, he found that he was already
inside, but it wasn't a house. It was a building, a
daycare of some sort, judging by the toys on the
floor. Scully was standing over a baby crib, gripping
the side of the rails so hard her knuckles were
turning white. This wasn't the Scully from the porch,
laid back and relaxed. This was the Scully he knew,
smart-looking in a power suit and 3 inch heels.

As he approached, she turned, eyes wide with shock and
fright. As she stared into his eyes, Mulder woke up.

"Mulder?" Scully asked, his movements stirring her
from slumber. Her head was pillowed on his chest. Now
her hand moved from his stomach to tuck a wisp of hair
from his forehead.

"I'm sorry. I was dreaming," he said simply,
distracted.

"What about?" Through the early morning light he could
see the worry in her eyes. She knew his dreams, had
often woken him in the few months they'd been
together, holding him until he calmed.

"It was weird Scully...but not bad. It's all right,"
he assured her, pulling his arm tighter around her
shoulder. "Go back to sleep."

She sighed, a sleepy sound. Soon her breath was again
slow, even against his bare chest. Mulder remained
awake, deep in thought.

In the past, the dream had been an answer to a
question he hadn't yet learned how to ask. Now, he
wondered what it was trying to tell him, if anything.

After that night, the dream didn't come again.
Gradually, Mulder forgot about it.

*******
A year and a half later

It had been an eventful year. A year in which
everything had gone to hell and back again. A
desperate struggle between the heavens and the earth
before they'd managed, with the considerable help of
the rebel race and men like Walter Skinner, to bring
down the alien conspiracy. Essentially, they had saved
a world that ironically would never know it had needed
saving. Precious few on the earth realized the dire
fate they'd escaped.

It was fine with the both of them. There was still
much work to be done and no time to play the dutiful
heroes. The Consortium had left behind facility after
facility filled with experiments abandoned by the
scientists that worked for them.

The saddest of all the facilities were the children's
buildings. Old persons' homes with curtained-off rooms
and cylinders holding growing fetuses. Small babies
and toddlers, half-human, half-alien, with no parents
who would even know they were there to claim.

That had been Scully's project. She arranged for the
innocent children to be sent to orphanages, made sure
that their caretakers knew that they were special
needs kids. Some facilities would not be found on
time, and some children had died, but Scully was
determined that all would not suffer the fate of her
own lost child.

Meanwhile, Mulder had devoted his attention to the
clones and drones. It was painful for him, finding the
colonies of Samantha and Kurt drones, still mindlessly
tending fields of infected corn crops. He made sure
the crops were destroyed though. So far, they could do
nothing for the drones. They couldn't learn. The
couldn't even speak. They knew no life besides the
work they'd been bred to do.

It was heartbreaking work that Mulder and Scully did.
The clean up would be long and hard, but ultimately,
it would be done.

Sometimes it was all they could do to come home at
night and hold each other. The eight-year war they'd
waged had cost them so much that they, at times,
needed reassurance that they had not lost each other.
So they would sit in silence, curled up together, just
remembering to breathe.

"You know, I never thought I'd say this, but it felt
almost good to do a little monster chasing," Scully
said to him one night when they'd returned from one of
the few cases they now took.

"Too many months of seeing what pain and destruction
so few people...and otherwise, brought to this world,"
he said, holding her close, tucking her head beneath
his chin.

Scully was silent for a moment. "It's ironic isn't
it?" she asked.

"What's that?"

"The only thing they ever did right was pair me with
you."

He smiled, bringing his lips to kiss the top of her
head. He curled himself into the corner of the couch,
bringing her with him so that her back was against his
chest. His hands began to wander, slipping beneath her
shirt, trailing deliciously up and down her sides.

His exploring was cut short by the ringing phone.

Both sighed, smiling ruefully at each other before
Mulder arched one arm behind him to reach for the
phone.

"Mulder."

"Agent Mulder, this is Susan Hunt from the DC Child's
Care Orphanage."

DC Child's Care. It was one of the more recent
facilities found, Mulder remembered.

"Hold on a moment. I'll get Agent Scully," Mulder
said. He handed the phone to Scully, pressing his ear
near hers so that they could both listen.

"I was calling to tell you that, as expected, all of
the children exhibited hemophiliactic symptoms." There
was a pause. "All except one. A nine-month-old
child...a baby girl."

"What's wrong with her?" Scully asked, her breath
catching in her throat.

"Absolutely nothing," Hunt said. "She's completely
healthy and ...100% human."

Scully nearly dropped the phone. "Well, what's she
doing there?"

"I have no clue. There's only the usual, birth
records, other generic registration documents, and the
standard two initials."

Scully bit her lip. "I don't know what to say. Run her
blood through the PCP data drive."

"All right," Hunt said. There was a sigh. "You know,
after all the suffering children I've seen, it was
almost a relief to find Little Miss."

"Little Miss?"

"LM, her initials. We call her Little Miss," Hunt
explained. Her voice seemed far away, lost in the
tragedy of it all. "But then, you have to wonder why
she's here. If not to serve the purpose these other
children did, why was she brought into this world?"

"There's no record of her birth?" Scully asked, her
voice cutting into the woman's musings.

"Oh yes. She was born to one Elizabeth Roy. Age 85,"
Mrs. Hunt answered.

"Like the others," Scully said.

There was a silence between the two women. Then Mrs.
Hunt spoke again. "I'll run her blood through the
files. I'll get back to you, Agent Scully."

"All right," Scully muttered distractedly. She hung up
the phone.

Mulder's arms tightening around her chest reminded her
that she was still curled up against him. She brought
her hands up to squeeze his.

"God, Mulder. I keep thinking there has to be an end
to the evils committed by these people. Then something
else they've done comes to light," she said softly.

He squeezed her hand, as much comfort as he could give
her in that moment. "What are you thinking?" He was
angry, though he didn't let it seep into his voice.

Scully didn't answer right away. "Maybe it's one of
theirs," Scully murmured. "A baby made specifically
for the purpose of experimentation. A child they could
experiment on from birth."

Mulder's heart wrenched. He couldn't imagine knowing
nothing but the pains and horrors of the tests all
your life. It was a life Samantha had lived, one he
wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy. "If that's true
Scully...she's safe now."

*******
The PCP data file had been Mulder's idea. After
finding offices filled with human ova, Mulder had
suggested they organize the DNA into one file. As
children were found, they were cross checked with
abductees. If a match was made and a mother found
alive, efforts were made to unite the mother with a
child she thought she'd never have. Adoption papers
were in the works everywhere. Arrangements were being
made to give the ova back to their owners. A lot of
red tape was required to do this, give these people
their rightful chance to carry their own children.
That, however, was the law.

Still, some of the children had not found homes. Their
mothers either did not want them or were dead from a
cancer that was a side effect of the same procedures
that had brought the children to life.

Mulder wondered who this little girl was, and why
she'd been brought to life. It would be a wonderful
thing to present her to two parents, whole and normal.
But that, more than likely, was an unrealistic dream
that Mulder didn't allow himself to hope for.

Mulder was on his way home, but Scully had said she
would have to stop by their office before getting
back. She had left her cell phone in his car and
Mulder had debated whether or not to go wait for her
at the office. Ultimately, he decided he'd rather have
a relatively fair dinner on the table for a change,
which actually consisted of just a frozen lasagna and
some hot soup.

Mulder was trying to remember if they had bread when a
phone rang, startling him out of his planning. He
reached immediately for the phone in his pocket but
found that it was, instead, Scully's phone on the seat
that was ringing.

"Mulder..." he answered.

There was a pause on the other end before Mrs. Hunt's
voice came through. "Agent Mulder? I need to speak to
Agent Scully."

"She isn't here right now. Can I take a message?"

Another pause. "I really think I should talk to her
about this."

"Is this about Little Miss?" Mulder prodded.

"Agent Mulder, this is something she needs to hear
privately." The woman sounded almost nervous. Mulder's
quick mind ran through the possibilities of what Mrs.
Hunt could possibly have to say that she couldn't
trust Mulder with the information. Then it hit him
like a ton of cold bricks.

"Little Miss...is her daughter," Mulder said numbly,
almost unaware he'd said it out loud. For a moment he
held his breath and hoped it wasn't true, that Mrs.
Hunt would laugh at him. But then her small sigh told
him what he needed to know.

"Look, Mrs. Hunt, I'll tell her. Let me tell her,"
Mulder said hoarsely. "She went to the office, I'll
tell her as soon as she gets home."

"Your X-Files office? Oh dear. Well I called there not
five minutes ago and left a message."

Mulder cursed inwardly. "Ok, well don't lie to her
when she calls you. Just tell her I'll meet her at the
Facility as soon as possible. There's something I need
to do first."

As soon as he hung up the phone Mulder did a U-turn.
Scully would have questions, and he knew that this
alone would be trying enough for her. The least he
could do was provide some answers.

**********
DC Maximum Security Prison

Mulder was practically shaking with barely contained
rage as the door opened and CGB Spender was led in. It
was something of a miracle that he had survived it
all, even as his comrades and cronies had fallen
around him. Then again, Mulder thought, you can't
really kill the devil.

He was escorted into the private room where Mulder
waited.

Mulder had hoped to forget about his father and the
suffering he'd caused to so many people, but here he
was, face to face with him again. Yes, the dark
clothing had been replaced by an average prison
uniform--orange really wasn't his color, Mulder
thought--but there was still that smug aura about him
that made the man who he was. Of course, as always,
his ever-present Morley was pressed between his lips.

"Fox," he greeted after a pregnant moment. His tone
was casual, conversational. He seemed as if he was
almost happy to see Mulder. "It's been a while. After
our last meeting, I wasn't sure I'd ever see you
again."

Mulder stared at the man, his eyes cold. When he spoke
again, his voice carried a sharp, dangerous edge to
it. "Who is she?"

Spender had the courtesy to at least blink in
surprise. "Who?"

"Oh, I think you know. I want to know who she is and
why she was created. Why create a child when you have
so many others you can poke and prod at? Why did it
have to be hers?"

Smokey allowed a slow smile to spread across his face.
"You found her? LM?"

Mulder had to fight not to punch the grin right off
the other man's face. "Why this time? Is it because
you know what it did to Scully to lose Emily? Did you
just want to hurt her again, just for being there?"

"Agent Scully was never meant to find Emily, though
yes, I could see the incident took its toll on her.
That, however, was not why I ordered LM created,"
Spender said in his annoyingly calm monotone. If the
man wasn't so infuriating, his voice would have been
almost soothing.

Mulder felt another surge of anger course through him
at the Smoking Man's words. "You ordered her created?
Do you know how sick you are? Do you think you're
God?"

"Not any more than you do when you raise your gun to
kill someone, but you think your reasons are justified
and right. Am I any different then you, when it comes
down to it?"

A torrent of disgust ran through Mulder. He wanted to
yell and scream to his heart's content that he was
nothing like the man that sat across from him. He
wanted to pound his fists into Spender's face until he
said the words out loud, took them back.

But that was precisely what Spender wanted. He played
the devil's game of making his adversary crazy as he
calmly smoked a cigarette, letting the other man throw
the first punch. Mulder would not give in to his
game--not this time.

Mulder closed his eyes briefly before he asked his
next question. "Who is her father?"

The answer to that question absolutely terrified
Mulder. There were really very few possibilities and
each one made him sick to his stomach. He wondered if
he really wanted to know this particular truth. But
the truth was far too important. He knew that Scully
would want to know, and because of that, he would find
out. He would rather she learn the truth from him,
whatever it was, than let it slip out later when it
could hurt her.

Spender took a long drag of his cigarette before
pulling away. He slowly blew out a long breath of
smoke, his eyes narrowing slightly. As he looked at
Mulder, he seemed almost amused. "You honestly don't
know?"

Mulder only looked at the other man.

Again the grin graced Spender's face as he put the
cigarette to his lips, taking another leisurely puff.
Finally he spoke. "LM is my granddaughter."

For such a simple phrase spoken so calmly, so
off-handedly that one might have thought they were
discussing the weather, Mulder's entire world seemed
to suddenly grow unsteady around him. His breath
caught and stayed in his throat as his knees grew weak
as Jell-O. In those first few moments after Spender's
matter-of-fact announcement, Mulder's only thought was
how he was glad he was already sitting down. 

"How?" When Mulder managed to speak again it was a
gasp, coming out as if pulled from him slowly.

Spender shrugged nonchalantly. "Once we were certain
you and Agent Scully were...more than partners, it was
easy, almost logical. LM was meant as a gift to you
both."

Mulder felt almost physically ill. "A gift?" he asked,
disgusted. "You're talking about a human life, not an
object. You created her to distract us because you
knew we'd bring you down eventually," Mulder's voice
became stronger as he spoke. "I guess you figured,
what the hell? You'd tried so many other ways to keep
us down."

Again Spender shrugged. "No gift is given unselfishly,
I believe I told you before. But then, there were more
problems to deal with than I had expected."

Mulder suddenly could not be in the same room with
Spender any longer. He got up and pounded on the door.
"Guard! I'm done here."

"Why would you be angry at me, Fox? Isn't this what
she dreams of, what she thought she couldn't have?
What you thought you couldn't have? And here I've
given you a chance to live that life you've forsaken."

Mulder turned again to stare at the man. "Go to Hell,"
he spat, then turned and walked away from Spender.

*************
"Mrs. Hunt, is Agent Scully here?" Mulder asked the
second the door to the center opened.

"Yes. She got here not five minutes ago. She's in the
nursery with Little Miss. I'll show you."

Mulder followed the woman impatiently up the stairs to
the nursery entrance. As they approached it, Mulder's
heart began to pound erratically. He hadn't really let
himself think since he'd heard the news about Little
Miss. He'd always felt the need to act first,
rationalize later, grieve later, let it all sink in
later.

His thoughts were interrupted by Mrs. Hunt's voice.
"Now, you'll have to be quiet," she said in a motherly
fashion. "All the babies in here are napping." Her
voice was stern but gentle, and as she spoke she
stepped aside, allowing him access to the door.

Mulder could only nod. He put his hand on the door
knob, twisted slowly and pushed it open.

The scene before him was vaguely familiar, though
Mulder couldn't quite place it. Two rolls of cribs
stood, one on each side of the large room, each
decorated with a mobile of some sort and an overhead
light, currently off. In almost all of the cribs,
infants bearing only initials for names lay sleeping.

Mulder let his eyes track to the very last crib on the
right hand side where Scully stood, her back to him.
From this distance, he could see that the mobile over
Little Miss was surprisingly appropriate. It was a
colorful display of the sun, the moon and all nine
planets each sporting its own design. 

As he approached, Mulder could see that Scully was
gripping the side of the crib so tightly her knuckles
had turned white. She did not look up as he walked up
to stand beside her, studying her face carefully.
Finally Mulder lay his hand over hers. She released
that hand's death grip on the wood, twining her
fingers through his and squeezing painfully. She still
did not look up.

Mulder followed her gaze to the small form on the
mattress. Small feet kicked out from under the
blanket. Tiny fingers curled around the silky edge of
a baby blanket, forming a fist. Her head was covered
with fine, curly brown hair, just as Scully had
sported when she was younger, and just as Samantha
had. Her lips were curled into a familiar pout.

A single thought ran through Mulder's mind as he
looked down on the girl.

'Thank God she doesn't have my nose.'

His one incoherent thought was interrupted as Scully's
breathing became heavier. She let go of her crushing
grips on both the crib and his hand, backing up a few
paces. Her face was dangerously pale. Then her legs
seemed to simply give out. She didn't faint; she just
didn't have the strength to hold herself upright
anymore and sat heavily on the floor.

Mulder wasted no time sitting beside her, wrapping his
arms around her. He guided her back against his chest,
holding her tightly. Her hands came up to grasp his
over her heart.

"I can't do this again, Mulder," she gasped, her voice
not above a whisper. "I can't do this again."

"It's not the same." He tried to comfort her, but she
cut him off.

"Isn't it? What is her purpose, Mulder? Emily wasn't
brought into this world to be loved, and neither was
she." Scully turned in his hold so she could press her
cheek against his shirt. "I can't love her only to
lose her," she said, speaking even softer than before.

"She isn't dying, Scully. There is no one left who
could possibly want to take her away."

Scully was silent for a moment. She pulled back so
that she could look at him. Mulder could see the fear
and past pain in her tear-filled eyes. He knew what
she was about to say hurt her terribly. "Who's her
father? Was he the one who had her created? If he is,
won't he come back for her?"

Mulder moved his hands to cup her face, fighting the
tears in his own eyes. "Her father," he began, trying
not to choke on the lump that had formed in his
throat, "her father had nothing to do with her
creation." 

Scully titled her head at him. "How do you know?"

Mulder took several deep breaths before he trusted
himself to speak again. "Because...I'm her father.
She's my daughter."

Scully's eyes grew wide with shock. She opened her
mouth to say something, but nothing would come out.
Instead, she again buried her head against his chest,
her arms squeezing him tightly around his waist. His
arms wound tightly around her as he buried his head on
her shoulder. 

They stayed that way, wrapped around each other on the
nursery floor, slowly rocking back and forth. They
both cried, tears of fear, tears of shock. 

Neither moved for a long time. 

Author's Notes: I was really getting sick of all those
baby fics that were either unbelievable (Scully CAN'T
have kids) or so sickeningly sweet they can give
someone cavities. I started this fic with great
trepidation, wondering if I could do better. It took a
lot of encouraging! 

From: Jedi Shipper <JediShipper@yahoo.com>

Author's Notes: All right, here we go again. All the
info, spoiler warnings and such, are in part one.
Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm so afraid to love you
But more afraid to loose
Clinging to a past that doesn't let me choose

I Will Remember You- Sarah McLachlan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sponsalia 2/3

Eventually Mrs. Hunt found the two of them. Her gentle
voice lured them downstairs, where she put cups of
coffee in their hands before rushing off to take care
of a minor mishap.

Neither spoke for the first few minutes as they nursed
their coffees. The steaming hot liquid brought them
back down to reality, out of the surreal daze they'd
both been in since they'd heard the news.

"How did you find out, Mulder?" Scully asked simply,
staring at her cup rather than at him.

Mulder winced internally, knowing that the answer
might upset her. "Mrs. Hunt called your cell phone,
which I had in the car--"

"You knew before I did." Before he could continue
Scully's head snapped up, looking at him now.

"She said she'd been trying to get ahold of you, had
left a message at the office so I knew you'd find out.
I wanted to get all the answers first."

Her features softened at that. "So what are the
answers?"

Now it was Mulder's turn to look downward. "I went to
see our old friend, CGB Spender."

Scully tilted her head at this, surprised. After
they'd walked away from the courthouse that day, four
months ago, Mulder had made it loud and clear that if
he went his entire life without seeing CGB Spender
again, it would be too soon. It must have taken a lot
for him to go there, she thought as she put her hand
over his, urging him to continue.

"He told me that...Little Miss was meant as a gift,"
Mulder laughed bitterly. "What he meant was, she was
created to keep us out of his hair, but he was too
late. By the time she was born, things were already in
motion...he was too busy fighting to keep his
conspiracy alive to carry through whatever plans he
had for her."

"They knew about us?" Scully asked softly.

Mulder nodded, tracing a finger over her hand. "How
are you doing?"

Scully looked down and shook her head. "I don't know,
to be honest with you. It's a shock, obviously. I
don't know what to think or what to feel...or what to
do." She shook her head again. "How are you?"

Now it was Mulder's turn to shake his head, but he
gave a short laugh. "I don't know. Numb, I guess. And
scared."

Scully squeezed his hand, a silent way of saying that
she was scared too. Another moment of silence passed
between them before Scully spoke again. "Mulder," she
began hesitantly, "How do you know he's telling you
the truth?"

Mulder looked up sharply, his eyes narrowing. Then he
realized that he hadn't really thought of that
possibility. He hadn't been thinking very rationally.
"I didn't even think about that, Scully. You're right.
Well, it's easy to test right?"

Scully seemed to be taken aback by his comment. "I
expected an argument."

"No, you're logical, as usual. He's lied to us before,
there's no reason he wouldn't now. You're right."

Mulder curled his fingers around her hand, squeezing
tightly. " I don't understand how you do that. No
matter what they tell you, you always look for a
logical course of action. You always need complete
proof before you believe anything." His tone was more
in admiration than anything.

Before she could reply, approaching steps stopped any
comment on her lips. Mrs. Hunt stepped through the
door...carrying an obviously just awakened Little
Miss.

Both Mulder and Scully's breaths caught in their
throats. If there had been any lingering doubt in
Scully's mind of who this child belonged to, it was
gone now. Little Miss had her father's deep eyes, both
in color and in set. The twin circles of misty green
were the same Scully woke up to nearly every morning,
just in a smaller size.

"Excuse me," Scully said, getting up. She brushed
passed Mrs. Hunt and Little Miss without looking up.
Mulder's heart wrenched. He wished there was something
he could do or say to comfort her. But Scully had
always needed to be strong, and when she faltered, she
preferred to do it alone. 

Mrs. Hunt sighed, looking at the door Scully had just
walked through. "Poor dear. I can't imagine how it
would feel to learn you have a nine-month-old
child...and not to have a clue who the father is..."

Mulder pursed his lips. "I'm the father," he said
quietly.

Mrs. Hunt looked at him, surprise evident on her face.
She hid it quickly, simply accepting this statement as
fact. In the months since she had come to know Mulder
and Scully, a lot of strange things had been presented
to her. So she simply held the gently cooing child out
to him.

"I have to go check on the other children; would you
hold her, Agent Mulder?"

Now it was Mulder's turn to look surprised. He
suddenly got very nervous. "Me? I uh..." he stumbled.
"I don't even know how to hold a baby."

It was true, he realized. In his entire lifetime he'd
hardly seen a baby let alone held one. The last infant
he had seen was Bill Scully's Matthew, and Bill would
rather go to Hell and back before he'd let his
precious child near Mulder.

Mrs. Hunt smiled knowingly. "There's no trick to it.
She's old enough that her neck will support her head,"
she said as she laid Little Miss in the crook of
Mulder's arm, not really giving him a choice. Before
he could protest, she left, again murmuring something
about looking after the other children.

Mulder's first reaction was to glance around, trying
to see if there was anyone else who could hold the
little girl. Then he sat stark still, afraid to move
even the slightest bit, lest he drop the squirming
child.

His distraction suddenly ceased when he felt a soft,
feathery touch to the side of his cheek. He looked
down to find that the baby was staring up at him,
grinning. Her wandering hands fluttered around his
shoulders, playing some game that only she was aware
of, giggling merrily. 

She had Scully's set, determined mouth, he thought,
and perfectly-formed nose. He felt he could fall in
love with the little girl at that moment. She was half
Scully and half himself, the embodiment of his own
soul. 

He had never thought this moment would come to pass.
After all, in his younger years he had been Spooky
Mulder, handsome enough to get a date, but who would
want him for life? When he'd finally found his better
half, the person that completed him, he had forever
dismissed the thought of children. If she couldn't
have them, then neither could he. It was that simple.

Yet here he was, holding his child in his arms. Her
eyes were so very innocent, pure. It was not something
he was used to seeing, and then it hit him hard. A
profound feeling passed through him, and he suddenly
looked up, wanting, needing to see Scully.

She was there, leaning against the doorway, a look
somewhere between longing and fear playing on her
face.

Mrs. Hunt chose that moment to return from wherever
she had been. She carried a bottle in her hand.

"You know," she said, as she sat beside Mulder. "You
could take Little Miss out for a little while. She
hasn't been out in...God only knows how long, and I
know you won't run off with her. What do you say?"

Mulder's eyes did not move from Scully's. He bit his
lower lip, trying to read her expression. Finally,
almost reluctantly, he settled Little Miss in Mrs.
Hunt's arms. "I think we have a lot to talk about,
Mrs. Hunt," he said gently. "We're going to go home.
Thank you."

Scully exchanged a grateful look with him and
wordlessly nodded at Mrs. Hunt before stepping out of
the room.

They walked out of the building wordlessly, getting in
the car in an extended moment of silence and thought.

"What are you thinking?" Mulder asked once they were
on the road.

Scully shook her head. "Please Mulder, can we just not
talk about it tonight? Just tonight. I need some
time," she asked.

Mulder took his eyes off the road to look at her for a
moment. Then he nodded. 

"Thank you," she said softly.

******
Fox Mulder's Apartment 

When they'd arrived at his apartment, there had been a
brief discussion on what to eat, but neither of them
had been hungry. Both had retreated into silence,
Scully burying her head in some paperwork, Mulder
simply sitting and thinking.

"What would you name a girl, Scully?" Mulder asked out
of the blue.

"Excuse me?" she asked, looking up from her position
on the couch. 

Mulder was staring off into space. "L-M names. Laura,
Lisa, Liz, Lindsay, Leia."

"Leia?" Scully interrupted, raising an eyebrow. "As
in...Princess Leia?"

Mulder looked at her. "Well why not? I mean, a strong,
short, beautiful royal...what's not to love about
Leia?"

Scully just shook her head and turned back to her
work. 

"Lydia, Lynn, Lyda, Leslie, Lacy, Lolita...Marie,
Maureen, Meredith, Mercury."

"Mercury?" another raised eyebrow.

He ignored her. "Mandye, Megan, Marty, Maggie, Mara,
Monica." 

Scully laughed. "Marcy, Malee, Madeline, Marianne,
Misty, Michelle," she said softly.

Mulder smiled. "Try L's."

Scully thought for a moment. "Lela, Leah, Lori, Lara,
Lilly, Luanne, Lois."

Mulder snapped, sitting up straight suddenly. "I got
it! Lisa Marie!"

"Oh no!" Scully protested. "No daughter of mine is
going to be named after anyone who'd marry Michael
Jackson."

Scully froze as the words passed her lips. Mulder held
his breath. It was the first time since she'd found
out about Little Miss that Scully had admitted out
loud that she was her daughter. He watched her, not
knowing what her reaction might be.

Scully licked her lips apprehensively. "Mulder, I'm
tired. I'm going to sleep." She got up, abandoning her
work for the safety of his bedroom. Mulder sighed as
he watched her retreat. He wished there was some way
he could comfort and reassure her, but he was just as
lost and confused about the whole thing as she was. He
didn't know what to want.

Mulder sighed again. She felt far from him now but he
knew that as long as he continued to be here, she
would find her way back to him, sooner or later. He
could only hope it was sooner.

*******

Something was terribly wrong. Scully knew it
instinctively as she put her hand on the door knob.
She turned it carefully, drawing her weapon before
easing the door open.

As she neared the baby's room there was shouting and
then the sudden crack of gun fire. Scully's heart sped
up as she ran the last distance, bursting into the
room just in time to see a figure jump out the window,
glass still raining down around him.

On top of it all came the sound she would never
forget, a small, terrified scream. Her child called
for her, begging for help in one frightened word.
"Mommy!"

But before she could even take another step the shadow
figure and her precious baby girl were gone,
disappearing completely from her view.

"Mulder!" she called, need evident in her voice. Then
she realized that a form was crumpled on the other
side of the crib, one large, unmistakable foot visible
from her viewpoint. 

"No. God, no," she cried as she ran to him, falling to
her knees beside his limp body. Blood was pooling in
terrifying amounts around him from the single gunshot
wound to the chest. In his right hand, his gun was
still out, a picture of his last effort to protect his
daughter. Desperately, Scully searched for a pulse,
the entire time repeating "No, no," frantically under
her breath. When she found none, the mantra got louder
as her voice broke until she was screaming the word,
holding Mulder's lifeless form to her body.

"No. No. NO!"

************

"NO!" Scully gasped, sitting straight up in bed.

"Scully?" Mulder's reassuring, yet groggy voice came
from beside her. He sat up, putting a hand on her
shoulder.

"God, Mulder," Scully gasped, her breath still heavy.
"They took her, I couldn't do anything, they took
her." Somewhere, Scully knew she was babbling but her
mind was still slow with sleep. "She was gone. You
were gone."

He drew her back into his arms, murmuring mindless
words of comfort. Slowly her breath slowed until she
could think again. Then she turned to him, her eyes
obviously wide and frightened even in the dim
moonlight that filled the room.

"What was it you said about dreams?" she asked
shakily. "You said they were answers to questions we
hadn't learned to ask. Well, I dreamed that I had a
family, that I could be so greedy as to ask for that
much when I've been told it would never happen. I lost
her, again, but this time I lost everything. I lost
you. Is that the answer, Mulder?" Her voice shook with
the tears that shone in her eyes as she asked these
questions, afraid of the answers.

He squeezed her tighter. "No, Scully. It wasn't a
dream. It was a nightmare, a manifestation of your
deepest fears. You are so afraid to love this little
girl, too afraid have a chance for that normal life
you've been denied."

"What about you dream, Mulder?" Scully asked, shifting
slightly in his hold. "Where you took a different way,
you found your sister and lived a life of creature
comforts. You said that I told you it wasn't the right
path. What makes it right now?"

Mulder sighed softly before placing his lips to her
neck. His next words vibrated against her skin. "That
dream was to show me that I was on the right path. If
what happened to my family had happened to a different
group of people, then you and I would never have
brought down the conspiracy. We would have died like
everyone else, and we would have never found each
other."

Mulder moved his head so that his nose nuzzled her
hair, his lips now hovering next to her ear. " It was
showing me that my path was meant to be here with you,
and we will never stop fighting...but that doesn't
mean we can't love our daughter. We weren't given a
choice in her creation Scully, but she's here."

Scully was silent for a moment. A single tear had
formed in the corner of her eye, and now it trickled
down her cheek. "You called Emily a miracle not meant
to be...what makes Little Miss any different?"

"She was created specifically so that we could love
her, Scully," he said gently. "No matter what their
motive was."

Again they sat in silence, Scully's head tucked
beneath his chin, her back against his chest and his
arms wrapped securely around her. Scully thought long
and hard as Mulder's chest rose and fell in a
comforting rhythm beneath her.

"We could turn my guest bedroom into a nursery," she
said finally. "At least until we figure out something
long term."

Mulder's smile spread slowly into her hair. "Unless
you think a crib could fit in my closet."

Scully pulled back in his arms so she could look at
him. The tears the sparkled in her eyes were now happy
tears full of love for him, and a growing love for her
daughter. They both gave a small laugh before Mulder
dipped his head to kiss her softly.

*******

As soon as the day had reached a reasonable hour,
Scully had called Mrs. Hunt to take her up on her
offer. As soon as they had struggled with the car seat
and had prepared a bag with a few necessities, they
were off to run errands. Suddenly, so much needed to
be done.

Little Miss seemed fascinated by the car ride and the
world outside. She hadn't seen much of it, Scully
suddenly realized, in her short nine months of life.
Intellectually, Scully knew that the little girl
couldn't see anything that went by as fast as they
were going, but still her eyes were wide and curious,
staring out at the world that was rushing past her as
she gurgled contentedly. 

They arrived at their first stop, and soon Little Miss
was at Mulder's hip and a bag slung over Scully's
shoulder. 

It took Frohike an extra few seconds to open the door,
enough to recover from his surprise Mulder guessed,
but when he did he was grinning. "My, my. What's a
fetching young lady like yourself doing with a guy
like him?" Frohike asked Little Miss, who just cooed
at him. He turned his attention to Scully. "'Course
I've been saying that to you for years." 

Mulder smiled and pushed by him. 

"Seriously, Mulder... What's this about?" Byers asked,
his eyes on the baby. 

"Who's the kid?" Langly chimed in.

Scully was surveying the area with a critical eye,
suddenly seeing about a thousand things Little Miss
would not hesitate to put in her mouth. 

"Not in here, in there," Scully ordered, pointing to
the back room where the Gunmen slept. It was
relatively safe in there, she thought, if you didn't
count the video collection that didn't quite rival
Mulder's. And it had a computer. 

The moment Little Miss was settled on the couch she
was up again, exploring the new laps around her. 

"We need you to get some information for us," Mulder
said. "We need you to run a name through the birth
records."

The Lone Gunmen had been instrumental in bringing down
the conspiracy. Now they helped by recovering missing
birth certificates to match the old women found in the
facilities with the previously orphaned children.

"Sure," Frohike said, turning to the computer
keyboard. "What's the name?"

"Elizabeth Roy."

Meanwhile, Little Miss was reaching from the couch,
holding her arms out to Langly. Hesitantly, he took
them and helped her into his lap and unknowingly, to
her chosen play thing--his glasses.

"Elizabeth Roy," Frohike read from the computer
screen. "Gave birth to a baby girl. August 16th, 
2000. 7lbs, 8 ounces, 19 inches long ....is that her?"
Frohike asked, nodding at the girl who was now playing
tug-of-war with Langly for his glasses.

"Yeah," Mulder nodded distractedly, his eyes on
Scully. "August 16th," he muttered, looking at her as
if they were the only two in the room. 

"Seriously guys," Byers said, startling the two out of
their moment. "Who is she? How'd you get stuck
baby-sitting?"

Scully's eyes turned to Little Miss. Langly had, by
then, distracted her from his glasses by bouncing her
on his knee. She looked back at Mulder, examining his
face, trying to read his expression and know what he
was thinking.

Finally she exhaled slowly, rubbing her forehead with
one hand. "It's a long story." 

*********
Margaret Scully Residence

By the time Mulder and Scully left the Gunmen's place
and had taken care of one other pressing matter, it
was mid-afternoon. As they pulled up to Margaret
Scully's house, Little Miss was fast asleep in her
car-seat, which doubled as a carrier.

"Um, Mulder," Scully whispered over the baby's head.
"I might have forgotten something in the rush we've
been in lately."

"Like what?" Mulder asked as they walked up the
stairs.

"Bill, Tara and Matthew are here, visiting from
California."

Mulder's eyes widened and Scully could see the curse
on his lips, but before he was able to voice it the
door opened.

"Dana!" Maggie greeted her daughter. "What are you
doing just standing out h..." 

The comment died on her lips when she saw what Mulder
was carrying. She looked from the sleeping child, to
Mulder and then to Scully. "What is this all about?" 

Scully sighed, "It's a really long story. Can we come
in?"

*****

It had actually worked out to be an opportune time for
the two of them to stop by and "visit." Matthew had
also gone down for a nap a little while earlier, so he
and Little Miss were tucked safely in the guest
bedroom while the adults all settled around the
kitchen table.

"So this is Emily all over again?" Bill asked when
Scully had finished explaining as best she could the
situation.

She sighed. This, she knew, was going to be the hard
part. "No. She's different. Emily's blood was
abnormal. She didn't have a regular father. Little
Miss has a father, though he was as in the dark about
her as I was."

"Do you know who it is?" Maggie asked.

Mulder and Scully shared a brief, nervous look. "I
am," Mulder said finally. "She's my daughter."

There was a heavy moment before Bill slammed a fist on
the table, making Tara and Maggie jump.

"This is crazy!" he yelled, his face growing red.

Scully took a deep breath, looking at him with as much
patience as she could muster. "Bill, I know you don't
understand...but it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter
where she came from at this point. All that matters is
that she's here, she's ours and right now, we need
your support." 

"This isn't normal, Dana. Children appearing out of
nowhere with only half-normal genetic material, then
*this* little girl who's just fine, but she's yours
and...his," he spat, gesturing at Mulder and saying
the word as if it tasted foul in his mouth. 

"Bill, you're going to wake the children," Tara
admonished gently.

"We didn't ask for this to happen," Mulder said
calmly. "But we can't just go back to not knowing she
exists. The fact is that she does, and she's ours.
Whether you like it or not."

"So you're going to try to adopt her?" Maggie asked.
Both Mulder and Scully nodded. "But you aren't even...
together."

At that Mulder winced, chewing on his lower lip.
Scully took another deep breath. "Actually ," she
said, reaching into her purse and pulling out a slip
of paper. She handed it to her mother before
continuing. "We've been together for about two years
now."

"This was signed two hours ago," Maggie said, still a
bit numb, but a small smile was beginning to play on
her lips.

Scully nodded. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you; we had
our reasons."

They had been justified reasons. Admittedly, they
could have told Maggie four months ago, when it all
ended, but there had been so much to do. It simply
hadn't come up, for any number of reasons. 

"I bet you did," Bill said. "I would have killed him
before I let you do this." He grabbed the newly-signed
certificate from Maggie and waved it angrily. 

Scully's eyes flashed. "First of all, Bill, I don't
need your permission to do anything. This is my life
and you sure as hell better get used to Mulder. He and
I are a...unit."

"Not one I support or accept," Bill said fiercely.
"And I don't think I can support your decision to
raise a child with him. I don't think someone as crazy
as he is should even be near a child, let alone have
one of his own."

Mulder and Scully's eyes widened in shock. Maggie's
eyes narrowed and Tara just seemed surprised that her
husband would say such a thing.

"What are you saying, Bill?" Scully forced herself to
ask.

Bill held her hard gaze for several moments before
answering. "I'm saying that if I can't stop you from
being with him, at least I can prevent that little
girl from growing up in an unhealthy environment. I'm
sorry, Dana."

The blood drained from Mulder's face but Scully's was
practically glowing red in anger. "You wouldn't--"

"I would. After he got Melissa killed and all that's
happened to you, Dana, all the crazy things you've
told me or he's told me...he risks his life and yours
for this selfish quest, for what? For his little green
men? He had no qualms about putting you in danger; do
you honestly think he'd care about a child?" Bill was
now on his feet and gesturing with each word he said. 

"Bill, I realize you have your doubt about Fox's
character, but would you really push it this far?"
Maggie asked her son, looking a little pale herself.

"You don't understand, Bill," Mulder spoke hoarsely.
"Yes, that quest was there, but it's all over now.
There's no danger left for her to be in."

Bill laughed in spite. "You want me to believe you?
Ever since Dana met you, you've brought nothing put
pain and misfortune to this family."

Mulder blenched, turning an even sicklier shade of
white than he had been.

"Bill, if they say it's over, it's over. And I don't
see that it matters anyway," Maggie interrupted, her
eyebrows furrowed in her son's direction. "Fox has
always been very supportive of Dana. He was a great
comfort to me when she was missing and I can see how
much he loves her."

Impulsively, Scully reached for Mulder's hand under
the table and squeezed it.

"Now," Maggie continued. "However it happened, they
are the natural parents of this child. She's never
been loved. All they want to do is bring her up with a
loving family...is that really so hard for you to
accept? Would you deny them that much?"

"I wouldn't deny Dana anything, Mom, you know I
wouldn't. I know how badly she wants a family of her
own...but not with him." Bill waved at Mulder.

That set Scully on her feet. "That isn't for you to
decide."

"Then don't ask me to accept it!" Bill said, louder
then he had intended.

The sound of a baby crying pierced the air suddenly.
Three sets of exasperated eyes turned to Bill. "Now
look what you've done," Tara said. She looked at
Scully. "Come on Dana, Bill's screaming seems to have
roused your baby and I know Matthew doesn't sleep that
heavily."

Scully eyed her brother and Mulder warily, as if
trying to decide if one would kill the other while she
was out of the room. In the end she seemed to decide
that her mother's presence was enough and followed
Tara out of the room.

"Mrs. Scully," Mulder said, "could you give us a
second alone? Please."

Maggie seemed surprised and then concerned as she
looked at each of them, but after a moment she left
the room. 

Bill sat down, arms crossed, glaring at Mulder from
the other side of the table. Mulder's face was calm
but exhibited hurt. Not hurt because the things Bill
had said wounded him, but hurt because he felt them,
at least in some way, to be true.

"Bill," Mulder began in a firm but soft tone, "will
you hear me out before you say anything?"

Bill nodded once, his eyes shifting across to an empty
chair at the table.

"Thank you. I know that you think I'm a sorry son of a
bitch. I'm not going to argue with you on that point.
Don't look at it from that point of view right now."

Bill arched an eyebrow. "Just what way do you want me
to look at it?"

"I am not asking you to like me. I'm not even asking
you to get along with me...I'm asking you to accept
this little girl into your family. She didn't choose
her father; don't blame her for my mistakes, she's
done nothing to deserve it. And don't blame Dana
either," Mulder said, staring at him calmly.

Bill was quietly furious, barely holding his anger in
check. "I don't blame Dana for any of this. I think
she's blind to how much you've done to her, but I
don't want to hurt her."

"Then why are you threatening to take her chance to be
a mother to this child away from her? You know what it
did to her to lose Emily. She doesn't have to lose
Little Miss. If you take that chance away from her,
you will hurt her. And I don't want to see that
happen."

"Don't talk to me about hurting her, you son of a
bitch," Bill said, forcing his voice to be quiet so
not to draw the women's attention. "You're so damn
selfish with you quest, your endless pursuit of little
green men, you wouldn't think for a moment before you
sacrificed Dana or that little girl to further your
cause," he accused, pointing a finger at Mulder's
chest.

Each word twisted a knife of guilt into his heart.
Mulder knew he was selfish, and that his quest had
hurt Scully to no end. But she had long ago put the
guilt he felt to rest. In that, he found the strength
to not crumble under Bill's accusations. "I don't ever
want to hurt her. I wouldn't let anyone hurt either of
them."

Meanwhile Scully and Tara had settled down on the
couch in the living room. Matthew was lying with his
head on his mother's shoulder, a little grumpy and
half asleep. Scully had Little Miss settled in the
crook of one arm while the other hand searched for a
bottle in the bag they'd brought.

"Dana, I'm sorry about what Bill said. I mean, I know
he's my husband, but I just can't agree with him on
this," Tara said softly.

Scully didn't speak for a moment. Little Miss had
grabbed the bottle and was now greedily drinking from
it. Tenderly, Scully smoothed a lock of the girl's
hair from her forehead. "I can't remember how many
times I've told Bill that none of this is Mulder's
fault." Scully paused and looked up at her
sister-in-law. "What do you believe?"

Tara considered the question. "The first I heard of
Fox, I mean, Mulder, was that he was causing all these
terrible things in your life. Of course, then I hadn't
met him. But when he came down when you found--" Tara
cut herself off, realizing her slip of tongue.

"When I found Emily," Scully finished for her.

Tara nodded. "He was just so warm, and completely
supportive of you." Tara gave a short laugh. "I
couldn't help but like him. I tried not to, but..."

Scully smiled. "He has that effect on people," she
said fondly.

"He certainly does," Maggie's voice suddenly cut into
the conversation. She was carrying a small tray with
three cups of tea on it. She settled it on the coffee
table before sitting in the chair opposite. "So," she
said, taking in the scene with a smile. "I don't have
any single children left."

Scully glanced up, a blush tinting her cheeks. "I'm
sorry. It was rather impulsive of us."

"Oh dear, I'm not angry. I was beginning to think that
you and Fox would never realize how much you love each
other. You're just one surprise after another today,"
Maggie said good-naturedly.

Scully shook her head. "You and Melissa. Missy always
used to tell me how blind I was for not seeing the way
he looked at me."

"You were," Maggie and Tara said at the same time.
They looked at each other and smiled.

Scully raised her eyebrows. "You two too?" 

"I thought I was imagining it at first," Tara
admitted. "I mean, he's your partner after all, and
partners are supposed to have a close bond. Then
Maggie and I got to talking."

Scully smiled. She wasn't used to this sort of girl
talk, though she found she wasn't minding it. "He's
half my soul and owns the rest," she admitted almost
shyly.

On the other side of the house, Bill was still close
to yelling at Mulder. "Then what about this sham
marriage, huh?"

Throughout the entire conversation Mulder had managed
to keep his cool but at that point he let the anger
seep into his voice. "Sham marriage?"

Bill shook the marriage certificate he still held in
his hand. "This is signed by a John Fitzgerald Byers
as a witness! You want me to believe bullshit like
that?"

Mulder had to laugh. "My friend. That's his name. He
was named for the president, yes, but what does that
have to do with anything, Bill? You're being
ridiculous."

"What's ridiculous is you marrying my sister without
asking her family first. It's all very suspicious to
me. If you love her so much, why didn't you do it
before?" Bill asked fiercely.

Mulder's eyes flashed. "I have never needed a piece of
paper to tell me how much I love your sister. We did
this for our daughter, so that we can have a better
chance at adopting her." Mulder took a deep breath
before allowing himself to continue.

"Now I know, when you look at her, you only see that
she's half me. But this little girl is as much Sc--"
Mulder paused and corrected himself. "Dana's child as
she is mine. For that reason, if none other, can't you
at least accept her?"

In the living room, Little Miss had escaped her
mother's lap and was now crawling around, interested
in the bright ball she saw in the corner.

"Have you talked about names?" Tara asked, watching
Matthew's eyes follow the little girl. He also wiggled
down out of her arms and bounded after Little Miss.
"Matthew, share."

Matthew made a face at the dreaded word but nodded.

Scully gave a laugh. "Names, names. With everything we
have to do we haven't had a chance to talk names yet,"
Scully paused, running her tongue over her lips.
"Maybe we don't want to...we've already gotten so
attached, but we don't even know if they'll let us
adopt her yet."

"Oh Dana, honey," Maggie said, reaching out to take
her daughter's hand. "It'll be all right, you'll see."

"God, I hope so," Scully murmured, squeezing her
mother's comforting hand.

The moment between mother and daughter was broken by a
booming voice. "Just where do you think you're going?"

The women had been so involved in talking that they
didn't notice Matthew get up, Little Miss crawling
right at his heels. Thankfully Mulder and Bill had
spotted them before they had a chance to go far. They
entered the room, Matthew in Bill's arms and Little
Miss in Mulder's.

"I was going to take her out to the swing," Matthew
explained innocently.

Bill chuckled. "You were, were you?"

Matthew nodded. Then he scrunched up his face. "Who is
she anyway?" he asked, suddenly curious.

Collectively, the adults all held their breath, as if
wondering what Bill would say. Even Bill looked
uncertain for a moment.

"She's your cousin," he said finally, softly.

Across the room, Scully smiled

From: Jedi Shipper <JediShipper@yahoo.com>

Author's Notes: Ok. This part would contain what
Adrienne would like to call Quasi-Smut. I am such a
tease, but don't worry young ones... nothing even of
Titanic proportions. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Can this be true? 
Tell me can this be real? 
How can I put into words what I feel?
My life was complete I thought I was whole 
Why do I feel like I'm losing control?" 

God Must Have Spent A Little More Time on You - N Sync
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sponsalia 3/3

Reluctantly, they brought Little Miss back to the
Child's Care facility. Mrs. Hunt had been very
gracious, allowing them to carry her up to her crib,
tuck her in gently, and simply watch her sleep for as
long as they wanted.

Finally they were back at front of the door to her
apartment. Scully seemed lost in thought as Mulder
slid the key in the lock. He paused just before he
opened the door.

"Mulder!" Scully was startled out of her reverie as
Mulder suddenly swept her up in his arms. Her hands
flailed before finding a grip on his coat, and then
settled around his neck when surprise wore off. "What
are you doing?"

"In case you hadn't noticed, I married you today. Now
I have to carry you across a threshold," Mulder said
simply, edging the door open with his foot.

Scully smiled, her eyes shinning. "Since when do you
follow the rules?"

"I only follow the rules I like. Those unspoken rules
like never look anywhere but forward at the urinals,
never use an electrical appliance in a bathtub, and of
course, never consort with a female agent in a motel
room," he said, eyebrows waggling playfully. 

"Mulder...you broke that rule. Many times, to my
recollection," Scully said, still smiling.

Mulder knitted his eyebrows as if trying to remember.
"Oh yeah," he said slowly. "Oh well, some rules just
need to be broken."

Scully only smiled as she tilted her head to him. He
took the invitation of her lips kissing her gently as
he carried her across the threshold. Their kiss
deepened when he did not set her down. He carried her
to the couch where he sat, Scully on his lap, her lips
still against his and her hands tangled in his hair.

Mulder's hands traced up and down her body, sending
delicious shivers down her back. As he untucked her
shirt from her pants, Scully fumbled at the buttons of
his shirt. Mulder slid his hands under her shirt and
trailed kisses from her mouth the hollow of her neck.
Scully tilted her head back, letting out a soft moan
when Mulder's hands teased the lace edge of her bra.

He retraced kisses back over her jaw, up the side of
her face until he reached her ear. "Do you know how
much I love you?" he asked against her fragrant skin.
Then he suddenly stopped, his hands falling down to
her waist again. He pulled back away from her
slightly, a strange look crossing his face.

"Mulder? What is it?" she asked, a little breathless. 

He was silent for a moment before smiling. "Lets name
her Laura," he said in a voice that held an almost
little-boyish quality to it.

"Laura?" Scully repeated. She liked the way it
sounded. "Why Laura?"

Mulder bit his lower lip through his smile.
"Because...then I could say we named her after her
mother and my last wife, before you of course. It will
confuse the hell out of people....sweetheart," he said
with an eyebrow lift. It had the intended affect of
reminding her of their visit to Arcadia. She made a
face at the term of endearment, sounding as strange
now as it had then.

Scully allowed the smile that tugged at her lips to
spread across her face. "Fox Mulder, you've gone
soft," she teased gently. Then, laying her head on his
shoulder, she said, "I think it's lovely."

"I think you're lovely," his breath came hot against
her ear and she chuckled. "You know Scully, they say
once you have kids your sex life goes down the
toilet."

"Hmmm," she said, still not lifting her head from his
shoulder. "What are you trying to say, Agent Mulder?"

He didn't reply at first, just let his hands again
slip beneath her clothing. "Well, I am definitely not
suggesting we curl up on the sofa like little baby
cats."

Scully sat up, shifting so that she was kneeling,
straddling Mulder's lap. "That doesn't quite answer my
question," she said quietly, again unbuttoning his
shirt, agonizingly slow.

He ran his hands over her shapely thighs under her
skirt. "You're a smart lady, Scully. What do people
usually do on their wedding night?"

Scully dipped her head to kiss his ear, her hand
tracing lazy circles through the sprinkle of hair on
his chest. Mulder moved his hands up to her neck,
pulling her head down to his lips so he could kiss
her, taste her.

"I don't know...do you think this what people do on
their wedding nights?" Scully asked breathlessly
between kisses. 

Mulder smiled, nodding. "Yeah this...and then some."

They continued to kiss long into the night...and then
some. 

*******

Scully's eyes opened to the early dawn light streaming
in her window and the secure feeling of Mulder's chest
pressed against her back. He was awake, she knew,
because he was gently running his fingers through her
hair, nuzzling his chin into the silky red strands.

She rolled over to face him. "Hi," she said, with an
unusual, almost shy quality to her voice. It was,
after all, the morning after their first night
together as a married couple, and while nothing had
changed from all the mornings they'd woken together in
the past, this morning simply *felt* different. 

"Morning, Sunshine," he said, his voice carrying the
same quality as hers.

"We should get up. We have a lot to do today," she
said reluctantly.

He pouted, then sighed. "I had the strangest dream
last night," he said, seemingly choosing to ignore her
earlier comment. 

Scully decided to let it pass. "What about?"

He screwed up his face, remembering. "I had a teenage
daughter and son...but it wasn't me. I mean, it was me
but it was someone else. Anyway, I was just screwing
up every which way. I called them by the wrong name, I
didn't know what to say when the girl asked me for a
nose ring...actually I thought she meant plastic
surgery..."

Mulder was about to continue but Scully put a hand
over his mouth, eyebrows furrowed. "Mulder, are you on
drugs?" She didn't wait for his answer, shaking her
head softly. "Look, you're just scared...you were
thrown into this situation just as much as I was."

"Yeah but...I don't know, Scully. Just how good of a
father can I be?" he shuddered. "That dream, those
teenage kids, terrified me."

Scully chuckled. "Mulder, right now I would be more
worried about changing a diaper then teenage angst."
She had to stop herself from laughing as Mulder turned
a distinct shade of green. "Besides," she said,
placing her head on his chest again, "you are going to
be a wonderful father."

"Am I?" he asked, stroking her hair lightly. "Some
people sure don't think so."

She sighed lightly. "Mulder, you didn't think you'd
make a good partner, but here we are, 8 years later,
still able to work with each other. You didn't think
you could ever make me happy, but I am happier with
you then I've ever been in my life. You're a fast
learner."

She rolled over to face him. "Mulder, we made this
world safe for everyone else's children, so they could
grow up without fear. Why not for our own child?"

He said nothing as he linked his hand with hers, but
in the silence an unspoken promise could be heard
clearly.

Together, they could do anything.

**********

It was hard on both of them, the trial, bringing up
memories they would have rather forgotten about. 

Scully's cancer was only in remission; that meant it
could come back. Where would Mulder and the baby be
then?

Mulder had not grown up in the most loving of homes.
His mother had killed herself and his father had been
murdered. What kind of an example could he possibly
set?

And then there was that whole matter of him being put
in the mental ward, tied down because of his violent
behavior.

Their case had benefited from Skinner's efforts, as he
put the support of the FBI behind the unusual
circumstances surrounding Mulder and Scully's lives.
He also had pointed out that although they admittedly
held dangerous jobs, they had only gone out in the
field once in the past three months. They were
currently assigned to special projects that would keep
them in the DC area all year round, save for a case
every few months.

It was with baited breath that Mulder and Scully
waited for the judge's answer. Had they come this far
only to lose their little girl?

"I am worried about the amount of time the both of you
have spent in various hospitals for the past few
years...and I must admit I am still not clear on how
you two conceived a child you knew nothing about for
the first nine months of her life," judge started.

Scully's heart began to fall as Mulder tightened his
grip on her hand.

"However," the judge said, pausing as he smiled, "I
see no reason why you should miss any more of your
daughter's life. I hereby grant full custody of the
child to her biological parents."

Scully let out a long, happy breath as Mulder's arms
wrapped around her. They held each other tightly,
tears of joy slipping down both their cheeks.

"Thank you, sir," Mulder said as all three rose. 

The judge smiled again, shaking Mulder's hand and
Scully's in turn. "Good luck Mr. Mulder, Mrs. Mulder."

He didn't seem to notice Scully flinch at the title.
She turned and gave a happy grin to her husband. Hand
in hand, they walked out the door to where their
family waited.

*********

Laura Michelle Mulder came home to a warm, welcoming
extended family, each baring a gift for her. She
gurgled and giggled merrily as she was passed from lap
to lap, chewing on a soft plush bear that had been a
gift from Skinner.

She fell asleep mid-afternoon in her brand new crib.
The Gunmen's gift, a viewing screen with brightly
colored plastic buttons, hung by her so that she could
play with it when she woke every morning. It really
was a piece of art. Each of the easily compressed
buttons would make a sound and a picture appear on the
screen. On the back was a place where you could change
the chips. So far they had a farm scene, Disney
characters, and one with fun shapes.

Finally, everyone said their good-byes, leaving the
new parents to watch over Laura, who had by now
awakened again.

Scully wondered, as she watched Laura playing with her
new toys, what it would have been like to give birth
to her. 

She imagined that she would have known automatically
what was going on when she woke up nauseated and
barely made it to the toilet on time to empty the
contents of her stomach into the porcelain bowl. 

She could picture perfectly the look that Mulder would
have given her when she told him. His eyes would have
gone wide as the flying saucers he chased and a cat
would have had ahold on his tongue like it was filled
with the world's best cat-nip. 

But then he would have smiled. A smile like a ray of
sunshine cutting through even the darkest of days. 

Vivid scenes flashed through her mind: shopping with
her mother for baby things, buying oversize clothing,
and listening to the endless advice that can only come
from a woman who'd been through it not once, but four
times.

Mulder would probably hover even more than usual,
protective to the point of driving her crazy. No doubt
he would try his best to get her everything she
craved, teasing her about dipping pickles into Rocky
Road ice cream. She could almost hear him saying,
"Forget liver and onions, I bet this is what they eat
on Recticula."

"Don't forget the sunflower seeds," she'd have
reminded him.

But she would have drawn the line when the crooning of
Elvis could be heard through the headphones he'd place
over her swollen belly. "Scully," he would have
argued, "I read that the baby can hear after the first
trimester. Music is good!"

Scully had never really liked The King much.

She wondered what it would be like to feel her child
grow inside of her, to listen to her heartbeat through
the stethoscope. She'd gladly bear all the physical
discomforts of pregnancy to hear that sound.

And then the day her beautiful little girl was born,
what would that have been like? Mulder would have been
as jumpy and nervous as an elephant on ball bearings.
But he would hold her through the worst of the pain,
put ice cubes to her dry, cracked lips, and tenderly
smooth that pesky strand of hair away from her sweaty
forehead. 

She wondered what it would have been like to hold her
precious baby girl, crying and red-faced, after nine
months of pregnancy and hours of labor pains. She knew
she would have been crying. Mulder probably would be
too as he put his protective arm around her, holding
both of them tightly. He would tell her that even
though little Laura was still slimy and Scully still
sweaty that it was the most beautiful sight he'd ever
seen.

Those memories would never be hers to have. They had
been killed completely all those years ago.

But for the first time since she found out she was
barren, she wasn't bitter. 

"All the time we missed," Mulder's whispered voice
brought her back to the real world. "Her first
Christmas, her first tooth, the first time she sat up
on her own...." 

Scully was surprised to find that her eyes were
tearing up again. "But we don't have to miss another
first Mulder. Never again."

There was so much that had been taken from her, from
the both of them. But she had, in that moment, more
than she could ever have asked for: a wonderful
husband who loved her to the ends of the earth and
back, a beautiful daughter--the family she thought
she'd never have.

Mulder twined his fingers with hers, laughing as Laura
tried to climb to her feet and then fell back down on
her diapered bottom. "Never again," he agreed.

~~~~Fini~~~~~
The song in the first part is called...appropriately,
Laura, which is strange since I had named the little
girl before I found the song. I've never heard it, but
it's on the soundtrack of Midnight in the Garden of
Good and Evil. Feedback is lived upon, begged for and
craved. Heck, I'd even take a flame...the fire place
isn't working tonight. ;-)