TITLE: The Way
Things Are
AUTHOR: Sukie Tawdry
EMAIL: sukie_tawdry@hotmail.com
RATING: NC-17
SPOILERS: Season 1
CATEGORY: Guess you could call it AU. Diverges
from canon some time during season 1.
KEYWORDS: Story, MSR
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me. Sniff
SUMMARY: One night and their whole lives were changed
forever.
FEEDBACK: Good or not so good--go ahead. I can
take it. I'm a big girl.
ARCHIVE: Again, go ahead.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Thanks go to Sybils for wonderful
beta and support.
And a big thank you to Foxymulderluver for giving
this story a home on her website:
http://www.oocities.org/foxymulderluver
Part 21 - Come on Eileen (Conclusion)
"Come on Eileen! Well, I swear (what he means)
At this moment, you mean everything
With you in that dress my thoughts I confess
Verge on dirty
Ah come on Eileen."
Mulder's low voice woke her from her exhausted sleep
as he
stood by the window of her hospital room, crooning to Eileen.
He held the baby high in his arms, so he was inches from her
little face as he sang softly.
"Mulder, that's not appropriate to sing to the
baby," Scully
murmured sleepily as she pushed herself up in bed.
"I promise to clean up the lyrics when she's old enough to
understand," he said smiling. "Hey, how are you feeling?"
"A little sore," she answered, wincing. "But happy. She's
pretty amazing, isn't she?"
"I can't take my eyes from her. She's so beautiful. And
I keep discovering things about her--like if I put my finger
near her mouth, she turns her head. Watch," he said as he
sat on the bed and demonstrated.
Eileen, indeed, turned her head as Mulder brushed her
cheek,
her perfectly shaped rosebud mouth seeking nourishment. His
eyes grew wide when she captured the tip of his finger and
suckled it. "Ow," he yelped. "This
kid's got some grip."
"It's called 'rooting'." Scully took the baby from him and
one-handed, opened her nightgown. "She wants to nurse."
Eileen muzzled at Scully's breast until she located the nipple
and latched on. Scully stroked the baby's downy head. Tiny
fingers splayed against the breast, as the baby vigorously
nursed. True to his word, Mulder's eyes never left
Eileen's
sweet face.
"Her eyes are blue, like yours," he said, leaning in closer.
"I think she looks like you."
"All babies have blue eyes, Mulder. They may
change over the
next few weeks. They might turn hazel, like yours."
"I wish I could freeze this moment in time," he said. "We're
all safe and healthy. I'm so afraid someone or something might
come along and change that."
"I know. I looked at her after she was born and wondered
how we were going to keep her safe.
"I...uh...I've been thinking, Scully." He looked away as he
spoke, as if the thoughts in his head were so frightening or
uncomfortable, he couldn't face her.
"Mulder," she said, touching his arm with
her free hand.
"You're scaring me. What's on your mind?"
"I've been thinking about what Deep Throat said. That those
men think I'll be lulled into domestic bliss now."
Scully shivered, cold fingers of dread climbing her spine as
her infant nursed at her breast. She held the baby a little
closer, terrified of what the next few minutes could bring.
"You're going to leave," she said, her voice a whisper.
"No!" Mulder leaned forward, touching her
face. "I'm here,
Scully. For the long haul. I plan on showing this kid
how
to hit a baseball. I want to teach her to ride a two-wheeler,
and I want to give the boys a hard time when they start to
come around."
"Okay," she said, laughing with relief. "You've convinced me.
But what about the things Deep Throat said? These men will
use you for their own purposes."
"Scully...what if we play them at their own game?"
"I don't follow you..."
"They think we'll give up, that they'll be able to control
us. What if we let them believe that?"
"You mean fake domestic bliss?" Scully glanced down to the
baby in her arms.
"Scully, I don't have to fake my feelings for you and Eileen."
Mulder tipped her face up, gazing into her eyes.
"I love
you. I want to spend my life with you. You can believe that
because it's real. But what if we let them think I've stopped
looking for evidence of alien life?"
"But you wouldn't stop looking?"
Mulder shook his head. "I want to find out what
happened to my
sister; I don't think I can rest until I do. I know what I saw
that night when I was twelve. My sister was taken and it has
something to do with extraterrestrial life. I want to prove that,
Scully, and I think I can do it with your help."
Eileen's suckling had become sporadic, her little body limp
and heavy with sleep. Scully's mind raced as she disengaged
her baby's mouth and rearranged her nightgown. Mulder
took
the child from her, carefully carrying Eileen to her bassinet.
Could they pull such a deception off? What kind of life would
they be able to build with danger always at the edge of their
existence? She tried to picture a life where Mulder
mowed the
lawn and she joined the PTA as some kind of smokescreen for their
'other life.' Would she be able to live with that duality?
He seemed nervous when he returned to Scully's side. He took
her hand in his, stroking his thumb across her knuckles.
Mulder cleared his throat and looked into her eyes.
"Scully...would you do me the...the ultimate honor
of joining me
in a great deception?" At her puzzled expression, he went on.
"Will you help me perpetrate a fraud on those who've tried to hurt
us? Scully, will you marry me?"
Mulder's mouth was curved in a smile, but his eyes
betrayed his
deep feelings as they locked onto her gaze.
"A girl doesn't get a proposal like that every day."
"Well, what's the girl going to say?" he asked.
Scully looked into his eyes, finding her answer there. This man
loved her and wanted to spend his life with her. He needed her
to help him in the defining quest of his life. She did the only
thing she could under the circumstances.
She said yes.
<><><><>
Epilogue:
"Mom, I have a sun hat for Eileen in her diaperbag,"
Scully said,
as she shielded her baby's eyes from the bright June sunlight
glinting off
"Dana, let me take her. You're going to crush your dress before
the ceremony."
Scully looked down at her cream silk sheath, now adorned with
baby drool and saw the wisdom of her mother's words. She handed
Eileen to her mother and searched the diaperbag for
the sun hat.
Scully drew the little hat over Eileen's head, tying the ribbons
in a jaunty bow. The baby laughed and reached for the wreath of
flowers on Scully's hair.
At six months, Eileen was adorable. Her eyes had remained
blue, though perhaps a shade darker than Scully's. A cheerful
child, she babbled and crowed from the safety of her grandmother's
arms. Sporting four tiny teeth, Eileen's smile was impossible to
resist.
Eileen's father was her devoted slave. While he stood chatting
with her brother Charlie, Mulder's eyes followed
every wave
of Eileen's chubby little arms. Scully was sure he would
walk through fire for that little girl.
She was still surprised that Charlie had managed to come for
her wedding. He and his wife had arrived the night before
from
have hit if off quite well with Charlie. Burdened with none
of Bill's over-developed sense of responsibility, Charlie had
accepted her new life with ease.
Mulder caught her eye, smiling as he made his way
around the
guests. The justice of the peace was running late, leaving
them all to mill around on the wraparound porch of the Beechwood
Inn.
Her mother had been deeply disappointed they weren't being
married by a priest. Bill had been furious to the point
Scully was sure he wouldn't even attend the wedding.
had managed somehow to get him to come, but he remained
surly and uncommunicative.
"I hope the JP gets here soon," Mulder said
as he reached her
side. "Bill keeps glaring at me."
"Are you getting cold feet?" she teased.
"Nah," he deadpanned. "I put two pairs of socks on this
morning, just so that wouldn't happen."
"You know, I thought you looked a little taller today."
The clatter of footsteps inside the inn caught her attention
as Martin Crenshaw, the justice of the peace, walked through
the french doors and made his way across the veranda.
"I'm so sorry to keep you waiting," he said to them.
"I had a bit of car trouble. Well, are you two ready?"
They were ready. Before their family and a few friends,
they would take vows for a future together. That fact
still amazed her.
The little knot of guests consisted of her mother and Melissa,
her brothers and their wives, Mulder's parents, Paula
Sherwood
and her husband, A.D. Skinner and the trio of subversives known
as the Lone Gunmen. Between the frosty reserve of the Mulders
and Bill's glowering countenance, Scully hoped the inn had
stocked up on champagne.
Mr. Crenshaw drew Mulder and Scully to the corner of
the porch
railing, so they could say their vows before the beautiful
backdrop of
glittering like a thousand diamonds.
Standing beside her soon-to-be husband, Scully remembered
the months before. A year ago, the future had looked lonely
and bleak. Scully had been convinced she was in this alone,
no matter how much Mulder cared about her, he would
never
allow himself to be a part of her child's life.
Things had changed, shifted, so gradually she hadn't been
sure it was really happening. The two people who came
together on that night so long ago in
not been in love. They had been friends, partners, lonely
people who drank too much and fell into each other's arms
out of lust and desperation.
That they had drawn together and fallen in love, little by
little, was nothing short of a miracle, rivaling even
that
of Eileen's birth. Looking into Mulder's eyes, she
saw love
reflected back. He took her hands in his, facing her
before
their friends and family, ready to speak his solemn vow for
a future with her.
"We gather together today," Mr. Crenshaw began, "at the
beginning of a great adventure. An adventure based on love
and trust and hopes for the future."
And it would be an adventure. Scully had no illusions of
an easy life. Their secret quest would be dangerous, the
risk almost incalculable. But together, they were stronger.
Together, they could do anything.
The End.
<><><><>
A little over four months ago, the idea for this story hit
me--literally kept me up at night until I sat down and began
writing it the next morning. I'd been watching a pregnant
Gillian Anderson in her trenchcoat tent in some
season 2
episodes and wondered what would have happened if
the producers had decided to incorporate her real life
pregnancy into the story line.
Back then, I had no idea the joy this would bring to my life
and the people I would come to know and love. TWTA would not
be the same story without the support and advice of Sybil.
Her unending good advice kept me on track through the whole
thing. Thanks to Foxymulderluvr who gave my story a
home and
who has been such a support. Finally, huge thanks to the
folks who stayed
along for the ride. Your notes of encouragement kept me going and made
this
so much fun. Thank you all so much.