The next day was a Saturday, thankfully. Scully made up an excuse to Mulder that she had some errands to run, much to his disappointment. He drove her back home even though he was really hoping they could spend the weekend together, even though it was wishful thinking. "I'll be back later tonight," she promised.
Mulder smiled. "It'll be like a date," he grinned. "And more romantic, promise...I'm trying hard to make good on us spending more time together."
Scully smiled. "I know, I'll see you later." She gently patted Mulder's arm before opening the car door.
Mulder watched as she walked into her apartment building. She seemed to be feeling slightly better, much to his relief. It always worried him when she was sick, no matter how mundane the reason.
Scully stopped at the convenience store near her apartment. She grabbed several pregnancy tests and threw them in her basket. Clear Blue, First Response. As a doctor, she knew the accuracy of the tests was fairly reliable but she needed to be sure, especially if she needed to make an appointment to see her doctor. In addition to the tests, she grabbed a few other items she needed. She didn't really grocery shop much since she was hardly ever at her apartment these days. They often had take out or she would grab a few things here and there to bring to the house.
Scully sighed as she made her way to the checkout area. She wasn't sure why, but she suddenly felt as if all the eyes in the store were on her. It was as if people knew exactly how old she was and here she was with several pregnancy tests on the belt. Her face felt hot as she checked out. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the female clerk glancing at her and back to the tests as she rang them up. Judy Poundstone had indicated she only believed Scully to be in her 40's, but she definitely looked old enough to be finished with her childbearing years even if she didn't look quite 54. "Hey good for you, lots of women are having kids later these days. Hell, I had my first at 37," the clerk said.
Scully smiled awkwardly, probably turning fifty shades of red before she quickly grabbed her things and couldn't get out of there fast enough.
Today was a day she regretted taking the stairs as she began to feel dizzy and her knees went weak. She forced herself to take the remaining stairs and entered her small apartment. She used to have a large two bedroom apartment years ago but without a family, she decided simple was better and had opted for a small furnished one bedroom. It made her wonder who was living in her old apartment. She could only hope they hadn't had the misfortune of monsters invading their home.
Scully set her things on the couch and hurried to the bathroom. They had given Skinner a hard time about his lack of interior decorating, but she didn't want to admit hers was just as impersonal. It was clear she was hardly there as well.
Scully followed the instructions of each pack and set 3 tests on the bathroom sink while she waited. She clasped her hands in front of her and nervously tapped her foot. She remembered how she found out about her pregnancy with William and the mixed emotions that came along with it. The circumstances weren't ideal, but her pregnancy had gotten her through Mulder's abduction and presumed death. Otherwise she probably would have crawled into that casket too.
Now she would be a geriatric mother with a mid life crisis baby. Part of her really wanted this. She was forced to give up the first child she had wanted so much and there was no way to undo all the time she lost. He had another mother and father who were now dead and he was God knew where. It felt like it was killing her. He had proven to them both he could protect himself, but he was just 17. She imagined him as the tiny baby she had given away and still she struggled trying to imagine him as a young adult. Scully took a deep breath and despite her heart beat ringing in her eardrums, she took each test one by one and compared them. Her mouth went wide as she stared at them in shock. They were both positive. She was pregnant.
Suddenly feeling bile in the back of her throat, she gripped the porcelain sink as her knees weakened. She all but threw up the toilet seat and barely made it into the toilet as she emptied the contents of her stomach. She began shaking and it took a few minutes before her stomach finally seemed to settle. Scully took a few deep breaths and pulled back her long hair that had gotten in the way. "Time for a shower," she thought. Scully wiped her mouth on her hand and flushed the toilet with the other. Scully slowly stood up and washed her face and hands. She glanced at herself in the mirror once more as she did those 6 weeks ago, looking for evidence of aging. A few more wrinkles and a slightly receding hairline. This time, she could see her face had filled out just slightly, which she suspected was a result of the pregnancy. She tried to look for it, that glow pregnant women seemed to have and she couldn't see it.
It hadn't been easy hiding the news from Mulder, but Scully needed to see a doctor to be sure. To make sure it was okay. She really hadn't expected their conversation to come to fruition after the love making session in that motel.
Scully had been easily distracted and Mulder caught her zoning out on multiple occasions.
"Scully?" He had probably repeated himself for the fifth time in annoyance.
Her gaze was fixed on their I Want To Believe poster, but her thoughts were elsewhere.
"Hmmm," she said, drawn out of her reverie. Mulder was looking at her, concern etched over his features. She wondered if he could see the changes in her. It felt as if the world knew her secret.
"Are you okay? You haven't really been paying attention to anything I've said today and you looked completely oblivious to every word Skinner said in our meeting today."
It took Scully a moment, but she shook her head. "Yeah, I'm fine, Mulder." She debated telling him for a moment. He eyed her skeptically, something she normally would do. "Really," she tried to sound more convincing. "I'm just worried about William...Jackson. That's all."
Mulder nodded. That seemed to be convincing enough for now. "We will see him again, Scully. I know he's only 17, but he's proven he can protect himself."
Scully managed a smile. She wanted to tell him desperately about the tests, but she wasn't ready to get either of their hopes up. In her medical estimation, she was about 6 weeks or so along. If she was indeed pregnant, the timing matched up perfectly since she had just started noticing symptoms. Project Crossroads was also out of the question now since it had been dead for 15 years.
"Dana," he had said again, getting her attention right away this time.
Scully had zoned out again.
"I want you to tell Skinner you need some time off," he said.
Scully shook her head. "No, Mulder. I'm needed here."
He looked as if he wanted to argue with her, but he didn't.
She had left early at his insistence and she was slightly grateful she didn't have to come up with a bullshit excuse to leave for her doctor's appointment. She had found a very reliable OBGYN she had spent a great deal of time searching for. She didn't want to find herself in some type of Dr. Parenti organization.
The office was bright and cheery, as were the medical staff that signed her in. She filled out some paperwork and anxiously waited for a few minutes before she was called back. Scully was greeted by a friendly nurse that introduced herself as Dr. Jones before taking her weight and blood pressure. She followed the nurse down the hall into a room that was prepped and ready with an ultrasound machine. Scully smiled nervously as the nurse asked her a few questions and then advised her the doctor would be in shortly. Scully set her things on a chair and glanced at the wall decorations as she waited on the exam table. Pictures of babies were pinned to one side of the wall, along with the usual body anatomy statues, posters, birth control and pregnancy brochures.
The photos of the babies caught her eye the most. She assumed these must have been patients. She smiled at the images of all the babies staring back at her and placed her hand over her flat abdomen. For a moment, she tried to imagine herself as a mother once again. Would Mulder be excited? She had limited memories of him with William, but she knew he shared her heartache that parenthood was stripped from them with William. From their conversation in the motel, she could only gather that he would be happy with the news. A moment later, her thoughts were interrupted with the doctor knocking on the door, who entered the room and introduced herself as Dr. Hall. After explaining the test result and the symptoms she was experiencing, they took a urine sample and Scully was waiting in the room once again. Dr. Hall entered the room with a smile on her face.
"Well, Dr. Scully, it does appear that you are pregnant," she started. Although this was the news Scully was expecting, it still came as a shock as if she were hearing it for the first time. She tried to find the words to speak but couldn't. "I know I don't need to tell you that while it isn't impossible, it is quite uncommon for a woman in her early 50's to become pregnant. You may have been in premenopause, which can take several years, but you're not quite there yet. A lot of women will assume they can no longer get pregnant. You mentioned you had fertility issues previously, so I'm sure this is a shock...even though you did have one prior pregnancy 17 years ago," Dr. Hall mentioned as she looked over Scully's medical history.
Scully nodded. She wasn't sure what to say.
"I hope this is exciting news, though I will have to mention this is a high risk pregnancy due to maternal age as I'm sure you already know. There is a much higher chance of down syndrome especially along with other pregnancy complications such as low birth weight and premature child birth to name a fewBut why don't you lay down and we can do ahead and take a look."
Scully did as she was told and pulled back her blouse. Dr. Hall brought the monitor around to face Scully and gasped slightly at the cold gel that was applied to her abdomen. She was both nervous and excited to look at the picture as the doctor moved the wand around on her abdomen before she spotted what she was looking for.
"See, there. That's your baby," she had said. Scully turned to look at the photo on the screen and a moment later she could hear the sound of the baby's heartbeat. Tears filled her eyes as she relived this moment from so many years before. Dr. Hall smiled at Scully and looked back at the screen.
"You're about six weeks along...and so far everything looks great. You have a healthy baby."
Scully wasn't aware of the tear that escaped one of her eyes. It felt like she was in a wonderful dream. Dr. Hall let Scully process the image on the screen for a few moments. "I would recommend we do an amino around 15 weeks, just because you are over 35 and the risk of complications is much higher. I know being a doctor yourself you're already aware there is a small chance of miscarriage after the procedure, so it's best we wait on it."
Scully nodded. "There was nothing abnormal on the tests or anything like that?"
Dr. Hall shook her head. "No, but I will be completely honest that there is a high risk for preeclampsia, gestational diabetes and other complications. I don't want to alarm you, but I feel with a proper treatment plan, you can have a healthy baby. It is still very early on, so you might want to wait on announcing until the 12th week or so since there is a high rate of miscarriage in the beginning of most pregnancies. You appear to be in great health, so I have every reason to believe you'll both be fine."
Scully continued to watch the little black and white blob in wonder. She was going to have another miracle baby.
To be continued...