Disclaimers: Yeah, I don't own them.
A/N: Wow, it's been about three years since I've written for this fandom. If I ever thought I would come back I didn't imagine it would be this way. But for a birthday fic I suppose I can make an exception. I'm not exactly sure what I was doing here to be perfectly honest. I can definitely tell I went on hiatus. Anyway, uh, here's some Roggett.
Takes place in 2006
"And they say women take too longer to get ready than men," Monica sighed, checking her watch for the fourth time. "John Doggett, would you put some hitch in your giddyup?"
"I'm waitin' for you to do that for me tonight," came an amused voice from the bathroom.
"Excuse me, my birthday, you're supposed to do that for me and quit taking everything I say and making it dirty. We have a child now, she might pick up on it and then who knows what will happen!"
She heard his laughter and footsteps on the wood floor as he walked out of the bathroom, freshly shaven and shirtless. Even after so long, she felt a tremor in her stomach and had to bite her cheek to keep the grin off her face.
"You're not even dressed! John!"
"Monica!" he mocked, stepping over to pull her roughly into his arms. She cocked her head to the side in a terrible imitation of annoyance and he took the invitation to place his lips on her neck.
"We're going to be late."
"So?"
"So, we're going to be late."
"I can drive fast."
"Do I really have to be the adult here?"
He sighed, his breath hot against her skin before pulling away.
"Okay, I can tell you're hungry. I'll be ready in two minutes."
He stole away to the bedroom and she shook her head, glancing down at their daughter who was sleeping peacefully in her car seat, oblivious to the rampant flirting of her parents.
"If you could stay asleep like that for just a few more hours conejito, that would be great."
The baby stirred slightly and flexed her hands before sighing and settling further into sleep.
"Okay I'm ready," John announced, tucking his wallet into his back pocket and leaning down to grab the car seat. "And you look beautiful."
"Thanks. It was nice to actually get a shower."
"Oh is that what you did?"
"That and I don't have spit up on my shirt."
"Sight for sore eyes."
"And wandering eyes. Yes John, I know the girls have gotten bigger, I am well aware of it every time your daughter refuses to feed. Stop before you drool."
He gave her that signature sideways smirk and held the front door for her, giving her body a once over as she stepped onto the porch.
"Do you have the directions?" she asked suddenly, turning back to look at him. He sighed and handed the baby to her, knowing that if he said he didn't need directions, they would argue on the porch for an hour.
"Put Chloe in the car, I'll get them."
She smiled and took the baby to the car, opening the back door and settling her inside, making sure the blanket was securely around her before kissing her soft cheek and closing the door.
"Alright, you gonna be my copilot, baby?" John asked, handing the computer printed directions to her.
"For the rest of my life, husband."
"Good. Let's go."
The bell on the door clanged gently as they entered the old diner, the smell of French fries and pancakes greeting them. His hand settled on her waist as he steered her to the back of the building, where their friends are already waiting at a high backed booth.
"So we're gonna do the old dance of who has to sit with their back to the door?" John asked, sliding into the booth first so Monica could tend to the baby easier.
"We got here first."
Mulder's simple explanation seemed to be enough and John shrugged his acceptance.
"Is the baby awake?" Scully asked, leaning down to look at the pink cheeked infant who was just starting to open her eyes.
"Yes but I'm hoping she drifts off again."
"She might need someone to hold her."
"Oh fine, go ahead but don't blame me if she starts bawling the second she wakes up."
"She won't," Scully assured, reaching down to pick the baby up. "She likes me. Hey there Chloe Lu."
The baby burbled and settled into Scully's arms happily.
"See, told you."
The guys had fallen into a deep discussion about sports and it seemingly had no end in sight, so Monica and Scully continued to talk about the baby, Monica wondering about her child's strange eating and sleeping habits while Scully reassured her that abnormal was normal and all babies were different.
"Some days I feel like the crying will never stop. Then she suddenly just falls asleep like the last four hours didn't happen at all."
"She's just testing the waters for her teenage years."
Monica smiled but couldn't help but wonder if it hurt her friend to talk like this. Her dear friend who had never gotten to really enjoy motherhood before it was gone. Monica felt horrible to bemoan the difficulties of motherhood when in the grand scheme of things, the crying and sleepless nights really didn't matter. Why was she complaining?
"So, how's… uh… whatever it is you two are doing now?" Monica asked after a moment.
Scully gave a little nod; neither she nor Mulder were very forthcoming with their current lives on these rare occasions when the quartet met. It wasn't that they didn't trust their friends as much as it was they were still skittish around the rest of the world. Four years later and they still lived looking over their shoulders and taking the long way home in case they had to shake someone off. Monica and John had told them it was ridiculous, but it was more ingrained into their being now than it was so many years ago.
"I called Skinner to see if he could come," Scully mentioned after a quiet moment. "Have you guys seen him lately?"
"Had him over for dinner the other night," Monica answered, reaching over to adjust her daughters sock before taking another bite of her food. "He's good. Wish he would retire though."
"Yeah, but what would he do instead? He's not the Florida type."
"No, but now I have that image in my head. Skinner in polyester Bermuda shorts and a bucket hat."
"Fishing off a pier somewhere."
"While he tries to tune an old radio."
"I don't know about you Monica," Scully giggled. "But I'd kiss Skinner."
"Me too."
Their inside joke came during a lull in the guys conversation, which meant that they spent the next few minutes laughing and trying to explain that neither one of them really wanted to kiss Skinner.
"Why do they get like this every time we get them together?" Mulder asked, while John just shook his head.
"I don't know but maybe there's at least one good reason why you two are always runnin' off to some mystery place."
Mulder just nodded; the four had discussed this many times before and had never come around to any conclusions that everyone was happy with so they usually just agreed to disagree and moved on to something else.
"So Mulder did you read that thing about Robert Downey Jr. thinking he's psychic?" Monica asked after a moment, breathing life back into the conversation. "He says he has dreams about movies years before they happen."
"I didn't hear about that, but I did see something about that show Ghost Whisperer being actually haunted."
"See that doesn't make sense to me. Why would a ghost haunt a place it has no connection to?"
"Maybe they're ghosts of people that died at that studio," he shrugged, never really believing reports of ghost sightings anymore.
"I don't know, I think it's all a bunch of hooey."
"Someday we'll find out."
"Seriously? That's your answer? Fox Mulder, seeker of the truth just shrugged his shoulders and said "eh," like someone just asked what kind of shoes he was going to wear today."
"I just can't go right now, my EMF recorder is broken."
"Well okay."
"I love that you just take that for an answer," Scully said with an eyeroll. "And you never ask why he claims to only have one EMF recorder."
"Hey yeah! Don't you have more than one? Mulder?"
"Scully, shut up."
"Alright Miss Chloe Lucia, it is time for sleep. I know you don't want me to put you down but I am not going to stand here and hold you all night," Monica said softly, swaying gently back and forth and trying to adjust the baby in her arms so putting her in the cradle would be seamless. Chloe snuffled and stretched, eyes bright and alert. It didn't matter how much or how little she slept during the day, she never wanted to go to sleep at night. Monica blamed herself, she'd always been a night owl whereas John could get up before the sun without a second thought. She wasn't sure either of those extremes were ones she wanted instilled in her daughter.
"Please go to sleep conejito. Mommy is so tired."
She yawned to emphasize her point, and watching her intently, Chloe yawned too.
"See, you're so tired! Yeah, why don't you just kick back here in your cradle and get some shut eye so I can go have five quiet minutes with your daddy before I crash land into sleepy town."
"Sleepy town huh?" John asked from the doorway with a smile.
"Yes. Now hush, she's starting to get tired, I don't want you waking her."
He smiled and crossed the room to where she stood in front of the window, looking out over the yard.
"Let me have her. You go lay down, I'll be in soon."
Monica was so used to arguing when he offered, but this time she just nodded, giving the baby a kiss before handing her over and heading to the bedroom, sliding into bed and sighing deeply. She was so tired and she wondered for the thousandth time whether motherhood was easier when you were younger. Most women her age had teenagers, not newborns. She wouldn't trade her daughter for anything, but sometimes she wished the timing had been better.
"You asleep?"
"Almost. How about Chloe?"
"Out like a light. Wanna have those five minutes?"
She smiled as he slid into bed next to her, nuzzling her neck and resuming what they'd stopped in the hallway earlier in the evening. His hands were warm on her skin and she grabbed his chin, making him move so she could kiss him.
"I love you, baby," he whispered, pulling away to look at her. "For everything."
"I love you too."
"Good birthday? Even though I forgot and only got you a pack of Twizzlers?"
"John, you have given me so much more. You've given me you. You've given me Chloe. You've given me everything. Every day."
"Guess we got lucky then," he grinned, his voice gravelly with want as he looked at her. "Happy birthday, Monica."