There wasn't much that worried Special Agent Dana S. Mulder (retired). She had lived through much more than people with a good twenty or so years on her. She had seen the death of close family members; survived a terminal illness; faced the prospect of single parenthood and lost the love of her life more than twice. Dana Katherine Scully-now-Mulder did not worry much. She hadn't had to in a long while. But now, she worried about her daughter. Meena had come home for the holidays extraordinarily tired and very fatigued. It was the first thing her mother and father noticed. Her father said, "it must be the internship," but Scully couldn't help but think it was something else. She knew. Whether it was a mother's intuition or something else, she knew.

Scully was making Meena's favorite breakfast when she came downstairs. A normally striking and beautiful young woman, Melissa Whilemina Mulder could have passed as a poster child for the green of face and queasy of stomach. She looked like One-hour-old toast - limp, flaccid and completely unappealing. Scully brushed aside her concerns in an effort to try and give her daughter a warm welcome. "Good Morning, sweetheart! Did you sleep well?" Meena glossed over her answer. "Yeah. I had a really rough night on rotation, so I didn't get to bed until three a.m. I only got three hours until I had to go to the airport."

Scully remembered the difficulty of her first year as a resident. The fact that her daughter was serving her residency in one of New Orleans's most demanding hospitals only added to her concern. "I guess it's jet lag," Meena replied. "Could be," answered her mother.

Scully instinctively knew that a one hour time change from New Orleans, Louisiana to Georgetown wouldn't have this effect on her daughter.

"Well, I hope you're not too tired for breakfast," Scully said. "I've made all of your favorites. Pancakes with blueberries from the Maine harvest, Virginia Sausage, and an extra helping of whipped cream if you want it."

Scully wasn't prepared for what would happen next.

Scully's husband entered the kitchen with the usual boundless energy he had whenever his daughter was home. "Hello, sweetness, " he said as he kissed his wife. Then, in one swift and sudden movement, he picked up his daughter and whirled her around the kitchen. "Hello, Daddy's little girl!" Mulder exclaimed in a fit of parental exuberance. "And how is the world's best resident today?"

Scully watched what she was certain would be her daughter fainting dead away.

Meena buried her head in her father's chest. Her father, sensing something was wrong, immediately put her down. He took her face in his hands. "Hey, kid; what's wrong?" he asked, searching her face for a sign. "Nothing, Daddy; I'm fine," Meena replied. "I'm just very tired - that's all." "Can Doctor Mom be the judge of that?" asked Scully, walking around the cooking island to touch her daughter's forehead. Meena feebly tried to brush away her mother's hand, but Scully was insistent." "You feel a little warm. That's more than a professional opinion, Dr. Mulder..."

"You worry too much, Mom" Meena replied. "I'll just go splash some water on my face." She turned to leave, but stopped in the doorway. "Really, you guys. I'm ok. So enough with the faces already."

Mulder waited until his daughter left the room before he turned to his wife. "I don't buy it, Scully," he said. "I'd be surprised if you did, Mulder." "Could it be a flu bug? She's around germs all day. I wouldn't be surprised if she picked something up..." "Not at this point of her residency," Scully replied. "She should be building up a tolerance to casual infections. Besides, I can't imagine her not getting a flu shot. It's something else, Mulder."

Mulder and Scully looked at each other for a moment, each trying to read the other's face for an answer, a clue as to what was wrong with their child. Could they be over-reacting? Possibly. But they both knew that answer that seemed the least plausible was always the answer they got.

"Maybe I should go check on her..." Mulder began. "No, I better go," Scully answered. She called to her husband over the shoulder. "You know, you could make yourself useful by flippin' a stack of flapjacks." Mulder smiled. "You mean, in addition to being ornamental?" he replied. "Never said there was anything wrong with that," replied Scully as she left.

Scully made her way out into the foyer, her mind spinning with worries and concerns. She was a mother, if she was anything at all, and she fully embraced the adage that mothers were allowed to worry. She had waited too long for this child and gone through too much not to. This child was a piece of her soul and of her husband's, and would be no matter how old or grown-up she was.

Scully started to go upstairs to Meena's room, but something told her to look down the hallway to the downstairs powder room. When she did, Scully noticed the door was ajar, and the light was on. "Meena," Scully called, "You ok sweetheart?"

Scully did not hear an answer.

Her pace quickened as she rushed to the door. She half pushed-half knocked on the door. Meena, are you allright?" Scully pushed the door open with difficulty. She looked down, and in that instant, her heart stopped.

"Mulder? MULDER. I NEED YOU! NOW!"

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

Mulder moved quickly, but the faster he moved, the slower time seemed to respond. The door to the powder room where his life lay on cold, hard tile stretched further and further from his grasp. "Please God, please," he begged. "Not this. Not now."

"Not again."

He made it to the powder room, where Scully sat on the floor, cradling their daughter's head in her lap. "My bag; did you bring my bag, Mulder? I need my bag." "It's right here." Mulder handed his wife her medical bag, and began to call 911. Before he could finish dialing, his daughter came to.

"Mommie...? What happened? How did I get here...?" "Shhh..." Scully replied. "I want you to be quiet, ok? I'm going to check you out and make sure everything's alright..."

Meena rolled her head over to gaze into her father's eyes. The look of concern and worry was too much for her to bear. Suddenly, she began to cry. "Sweetheart, what is it?" Scully asked as she embraced her daughter. Meena's hand reached for her father's and Mulder encircled the two most important women in his life in a tight embrace.

"Mommie... Daddy..." Meena sobbed. Mulder kissed the top of his daughter's head. Sweetheart, whatever it is, what ever is the matter, it will be alright. I promise. We'll do anything we have to to make it so. That's a promise."

Meena pulled back from their embrace and hurriedly wiped her eyes. "I don't think you can, Daddy. I don't know if anything can fix this." "Fix what, sweetheart?" Scully asked. Scully looked deep into her daughter's eyes and suddenly, she knew. She looked at her husband, and she and Mulder each took their daughter by the hand.

Meena took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant. And I don't know who the father is. But the worse part is, I don't know how it happened. Or when."

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

Mulder, Scully and Meena sat around the kitchen table. Meena warmed her hands over the cup of Chamomile tea her father had made. Her mother gently pushed the piece of toast she had made for her daughter, in an effort to get her to eat. "Sweetie, I've been through this before. You passed out because you hadn't eaten. You have to keep something in your stomach." Meena took a small bite of her toast, and sat it down.

"How did this happen?" Mulder asked gently. "Can you remember anything at all?" Meena shook her head. "How far along are you?" Scully asked. Meena paused for a moment. "That's the thing that's so confusing," she replied. "The tests keep saying that I'm twelve weeks, but that can't be right. I wasn't.... I wasn't with anybody at the time I would have had to conceive." Meena looked at her parents. "Not to be blunt, but it's true. I just don't

have time - not with my residency."

"Alright, " Mulder asked, "did you have any gaps in your memory, any strange blackouts... anything like that?" "I don't think so," Meena replied. "Think back over the past twelve weeks," Scully asked. "Did you have a change in your routine, go anywhere different..." "No.." Meena thought. "The only thing I can think of is... The hospital asked me to go to a

conference in Arlington. It was such a quick trip I didn't tell you guys I was going to be here. I was just going to the conference and back to New Orleans the next day in time for my shift. There were twenty doctors from all over the country there to study multiple identical births and their similarities and anomalies. We met, and then we went to the airport."

"Which one?" Mulder asked. "BWI. We missed the flight out of Dulles, so they figured it would be faster for us to connect in Baltimore. The conference arrange for two vans to take ten people each to the airport. Then we got on the plane."

Scully paused. "Did you sleep on the ride down?" "No," Meena replied. "Strangely enough, I wasn't tired. In fact, we had a pretty animated conversation in the van about the conference...." Meena stopped. "What is it?" asked Mulder. "It's just... I was having this conversation with this guy; a doctor from New York City. I do remember him, but I don't remember what he said. At all. And there was something else. My watch stopped. The one

you and Mom gave me when I graduated. I didn't notice it until I got on the plane."

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

Mulder could see the clock switch from 3:29 am to 3:30 as he held his wife. Her slow, even breathing suggested that she was in throes of a deep sleep. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. Scully stirred, and Mulder bent down to graze the top of her head with his lips. "Did I wake you?" He whispered. "No, " Scully replied, "there's no chance of that tonight." Scully rolled over onto her back to look at the clock; Mulder shifted his weight so that he could cradle Scully in the crook of his arm. "What are we looking at here, Scully?" Mulder asked. "You know what we're looking at Mulder. As much as we don't want to admit this... We can't rule out the inevitability that we're talking about a criminal act. An act committed against our daughter's will and without her knowledge." "Agreed," Mulder replied, "to a point..." Scully raised herself up on her elbow to face Mulder. "To a point? Mulder, what are you saying?! Look at the evidence." "I am Scully; but the evidence doesn't lead where you think..." "And just where is that Mulder?"

Scully knew where he was going before she finished her question. "You think it was an alien abduction. You think this is an X-File. You think our daughter's pregnancy is an X-File!" Scully sat up in their bed. "I can't believe you, Mulder..."

"Look at the facts, Scully. Meena is twelve weeks pregnant, and doesn't know how it happened. She's missing time. There are gaps in her memory. Our daughter by the very nature of her birth IS an X-File, Scully. There's no other explanation."

"There's always another explanation Mulder - it's just never the one you take..."

Mulder and Scully stopped in mid sentence as a light shone through the bottom of their bedroom door. They heard Meena walk through the hallway, and go into the bathroom. They waited until she left the bathroom and went back to bed before they continued.

"So this is an X-File, Mulder. An X-File. Do you know the last time we were involved in an X-File? When you disappeared. When Meena was born. The X-Files have been closed for twenty-three years, Mulder. How would we investigate this if it is an X-File?"

"I'll find a way," Mulder replied. "Count on it."