About friendship and family. How things could have been.

Oneshot.

Monica's eyes needed time to adjust to the dim lit nursery. Quickly she entered the room and walked down the crib. The little girl lying there seemed to be crying her eyes out but calmed down when Monica picked her up and comforted her.
"There, there. No need to cry little one. No need to cry."

She left the room and started descending the stairs as she heard the front door open and close again. Minutes later she recognised the familiar face of John staring up at her. He smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

"Sorry I ran late, honey. Somethin' came up at the Bureau."
He put down his briefcase and took the baby from Monica.
"How's my princess today?"

Once again Monica was surprised by his gentleness. John was a tough guy, except when he was taking care of their daughter, Emma, the latest addition to their family.
John kissed Emma on her forehead and then looked up to Monica again. "Are they here?"

Monica nodded. "Yeah, they're in the garden."
John smiled and walked away, obviously heading for the garden. Monica followed him down the kitchen and was just in time to keep their second son, Jim, from smearing peanut butter on his face. She picked up the tumbler, who was obviously did not like being interrupted and headed for the garden.

Once on the porch Monica entered a familiar sight and after she put Jim down in the highchair, she sighed. The rocking chair was occupied by Dana, who was holding Emma while Fox and John just descended onto the grass, laughing. Monica watched how they walked down the garden to the spot where John and Monica's eldest son, Fender, was shooting hoops with the two Mulder boys, William and Chris.

"I love them when they're like this." Dana said smiling before kissing Emma on the forehead. Emma let out an uncontrolled laugh which made Dana and Monica laugh too.
Monica stroked Emma's head and agreed with Dana.
"Yeah, they're definitely the sweetest when they're about three month's old."

The two women fell silent again and watched how Fox and John allowed their sons to win the game. There was laughter and joy on this hot summer evening. Monica grinned when she saw John picking up Fender to let him score which and clapped in her hands when Fender looked around to see if she saw it.

After everything that had happened in the past. After all the murders, all the pain, she had finally found peace with the man she had loved for so long. There was a strong bond of friendship to be found between the Doggets and the Mulders. After all, they had been through so much together, risked their lives for each other, fought side by side.

"Well, my boys are sleeping." Later that evening Dana entered the nursery just as Monica put Emma down to sleep. Monica dimmed the light and turned around. "So are mine. They were just exhausted."

The two woman, almost sisters, walked down the stairs and into the garden again. Fox and John were caught up in a game of chess. By the looks of it, Fox was beating his friend without much effort but John wasn't really paying attention, especially when Monica sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" he asked worried. He was always worried about Monica. Sometimes she found it adorable, most of the time annoying. She watched how Dana sat down on Fox' lap, still very much in love. Those two really appreciated every moment they had together. Beautiful.
"Nothing," she answered, "Today I realised how extraordinary it is that we are where we are. All four of us, I mean. And that just makes me happy."

And that's just the way it was …

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