Thanks to Adelled for the idea for part of this chapter!
Six weeks
"Hey", Scully greeted Mulder as she stepped into the apartment and closed the door firmly behind her. In her hand she carried William in his car seat, the baby sleeping peacefully. It was typical, Mulder thought, that his son only wanted to sleep once all of the adults were awake, yet the tables were turned at night when they were ready for bed. It was as if he knew Scully was preparing to go back to work at Quantico in just a matter of days.
"Hey". Getting up from the sofa, Mulder abandoned his reading of one of Scully's medical journals to rescue her as she was attempting to shrug off her jacket while still holding the baby.
"Thank you".
"How did it go?" It was the morning of Scully's post-partum check-up. Mulder had offered to take her and William to their appointment, but that was before they'd realized Ashley had left her lunch at home that morning. Instead he was tasked with his second school run of the morning.
"It went well". Scully relinquished the carrier and removed her jacket and pumps before following Mulder over to the sofa. She watched with a smile as Mulder carefully removed William's sleepsuit without the baby even stirring. "William is now weighing a very healthy eleven pounds four ounces, which means my worries of him not getting enough milk were unfounded". Mulder made a face as though to say "I told you so", which Scully ignored. "He's at the high average length-wise, so is definitely taking after his father in the height department".
"Skinner is tall", he agreed with a smile. Moments later a sofa cushion hit him square in the jaw.
"I'm back to full fitness, the stitches have all healed nicely". Mulder made a face. "I'm just four and a half pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight and…I'm ok to have sex again".
Mulder's eyebrows automatically rose. Though of course he wasn't stupid and figured she would be discussing that with her ob-gyn. "Well", he said after a moment. "William is napping right now". He noticed with a frown that Scully wasn't sharing his smile. "It was a joke".
"It does pose an important question though".
"Oh?"
"Do you want another baby?"
"What?" He certainly wasn't expecting that question.
"Relax Mulder", she grinned. "I don't mean this second. I mean in the future".
"I umm….do you?"
"I asked you first".
"Well I –"
"In theory I could get pregnant again. There doesn't appear to be any reason why I couldn't conceive again. If we don't want any more children, there are obviously procedures –"
"That's a little permanent, isn't it?"
"That's the idea", Scully smirked. "That's why I said if you don't want any more children period. If we do, but not just yet well…we need to consider contraceptives". She chuckled. "God I feel like a teenager all over again".
"Tell me about it".
"I just wanted to discuss this with you. But if you don't want another child, you need to tell me the truth. We already have Ashley and William".
"We do", Mulder agreed, his focus now on his son, who appeared to be having a good dream if his smile was anything to go by. "I admit, I haven't really thought about it properly –"
"Which is fine".
"Like you said, we have William and Ashley", he agreed. "I never really thought about having children. Until I met Ashley", he added, and Scully smiled. She recalled how quickly Ashley insinuated herself into Mulder's life, and how quickly he fell under her spell. "And then for a while I just thought about having the two of you in my life Until you asked me about the in vitro. Like I said back then, I wanted a baby with you because I thought if the baby was even half as amazing as Ash, it would be great. I mean, I knew how much you wanted a baby, and I wanted it for you, and for me too. So when I found out about William I…well I know I was an asshole at first but…I was happy because we could be a family. We got our miracle".
"That's why I feel like I'd be asking too much for another child", admitted Scully. "Because I got you back, and I had William. I'd be asking for too much for another baby".
"No Scully". Mulder shifted on the sofa to face her. He could see in her eyes how much she wanted another baby. "It's not too much. You deserve this after everything you've been through. Hell, we both deserve this. Our family deserves some more happiness".
"Are you saying you want another baby?" Scully asked, her expression now one of disbelief. She thought he was going to say no he realized.
After a moment, Mulder smiled. "You know what? I do". He saw her shoulders relax. "We deserve to be happy", he repeated. "And I missed out on a lot of your pregnancy with William. I want to be there, for all of it. I am however fully prepared to let someone else deliver the baby this time round".
"Are you sure?" He knew she wasn't talking about midwifery duties.
"Scully, if you want another child and it's safe for you to do so, I would like nothing more. However, if you don't, we still have Ashley and William, and for that I'm grateful. Plus I'm sure you'd agree that a full night's sleep sounds good right about now". One look at Scully and he had his answer. "You want one don't you? A baby I mean?"
She nodded shyly. "I feel like I'm asking for too much, but I see you with William – and with Ashley for that matter – and I think we deserve this. And it would be good for William to have a playmate".
"What if it's a girl?"
Scully huffed out a laugh. "Girls can play with boys' toys too you know".
"That's exactly what Samantha used to say right before she took off with something of mine". He smiled fondly at the memory. "When do you want to try?"
"For a baby?" Scully's eyes widened as he nodded. "Mulder, I start back at Quantico the day after tomorrow. I still can't fit into my jeans and I've only just regained possession of my own body".
"Not today then?" he deadpanned.
Scully smirked. "Not today. Although", she added thoughtfully. "If you make lunch – "
"I'm there Scully, I'm there". Mulder sprang up from the sofa. Leaving Scully giggling behind him, he rushed off towards the kitchen, on a promise.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Oh god", said Scully, racing into the living room in search of her watch. "I can't believe I overslept".
"It's hardly surprising", Mulder yawned as he set down a plate of toast on the kitchen table ready for whenever Ashley finally made her way out of the bathroom. "William must have been awake every hour on the hour".
"At least. It's as if he knew mommy was abandoning him today". As Scully moved to head back towards the bedroom, Mulder stepped out and grabbed hold of her arm, holding her in place.
"You're not abandoning him Scully".
"I know". She didn't look or sound too certain.
"You know, if you don't want to go back, we can afford it".
"No".
"We can. I can get a job too rather than being Mr Mom".
"I thought you wanted to be Mr Mom?"
"I do, but only if you're sure you want to go back to work".
Scully paused before nodding. "I think I need some adult conversation".
"I'm hurt Scully, I'm hurt".
"You know what I mean. Are you going to be ok today?"
"Of course I am. William and I have done this before".
"Last time ended in me needing to replace all of our towels. And William's clothes too for that matter".
Mulder grinned sheepishly. "Yeah well William and I have learned from our mistakes. We'll be fine".
"Famous last words".
"Listen, once me and the little guy have got into a routine, we'll come and meet you for lunch. How about that?"
"That sounds good". Scully kissed Mulder on the lips before her eyes darted over to the Moses basket where William had been dozing. It appeared that once he knew he'd woken up the entire household, he was happy enough to go back to sleep. He was Mulder's son through and through, Scully had told him. "Ok, I'd better go". She made no effort to leave Mulder's arms. "Will you be ok getting Ashley to school?"
"I do it every morning Scully".
She ignored him. "And do some laundry too? I'm running out of clean clothes".
"You could just go naked?"
"You could just do the laundry?"
"Point taken". Mulder pecked her on the nose. "We'll be fine Scully. Go to work. Have fun. And if you don't well…like I said, we can sort something. Maybe have that baby".
"After last night one baby is enough thank you". She pulled away from his arms. "Call me if you need me".
"I will".
"Don't forget to test his bottle".
"No dear".
"And make sure you put the laundry on the right settings. I don't want my clothes shrunk again."
"Yes dear".
"And tell Ashley to hurry up and eat her breakfast. I swear she tries to be late for school on purpose".
"Yes dear".
Finally she realized he was being sarcastic. "I'll see you tonight, hopefully just after six".
"Have a good day. Try not to break too many rules".
Scully smirked. "That won't be too hard now you're no longer working there Mulder". She turned and walked over to the Moses basket, noticing that her little boy was no longer asleep. "Bye bye sweetheart", she said, quickly scooping him up into her arms and kissing his crown, before settling him against her shoulder. "Be good for your daddy. I'll see you tonight little man. I love you". As she turned Mulder caught sight of something. He tried not to grin. "Umm Scully?" he began. As she looked to face him, he gestured to the back of his shoulder. "You umm…you might want to change before you leave. It wouldn't look too professional turning up with baby spit down your back".
"He hasn't?"
Mulder nodded. "Big time".
Sighing, Scully handed the baby over to Mulder, and prepared to be late for her very first day back.
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Mulder glanced down at William in his arms, smiling as he noticed his son slowly coming awake. "Wakey wakey sleepyhead". William blinked sleepily before smiling up at his dad. Mulder couldn't help but grin back to him. Not even seven weeks old and William already had a little personality of his own coming through. He'd just begun smiling – really smiling – and seemed a happy baby, bar the rare night when he couldn't sleep. He seemed particularly happy whenever Ashley was paying him attention, and Mulder had no doubt that they two of them would be close as William grew up, despite the age difference. "Hey buddy, you have a good nap?" William stretched in response. "You're just in time. Mommy will be here soon". It was Scully's third day back at work, so Mulder and William were meeting her at the park for lunch. She was already missing William in the short time that she'd been back at Quantico, and after she'd arrived home late the previous evening and missed William's bath-time, Mulder had suggested they meet so she could spend time with her son while he was awake and seemingly happy.
"Excuse me", came a female voice to Mulder's right. He looked up, his grip tightening ever so slightly on William. He was now six weeks old and as yet there hadn't been a repeat of what had happened during his birth, but still, Mulder's guard was still up. "Is anyone sitting there?" A young woman, no more than thirty five, stood before him in her running gear and gestured to the empty space on the bench. In her hand she held a leash, on the end of which was a terrier. It sniffed Mulder's shoe before tottering off, tugging on its leash, having decided that Mulder wasn't worth the effort. Queeqeug often made the same assumption, Mulder mused. He must have a similar effect on all dogs.
"Go ahead", he said politely. Out of the corner of his eye he watched the woman take a seat next to him. She immediately bent down and began to retie her shoelace.
"Cute baby", she said as she sat up.
Mulder tensed. "Thank you".
"My sister's just had a baby too. A little girl though. How old is he?"
"Almost seven weeks".
"Awe". She smiled. "My niece is a month old. She's a handful".
"Babies are", Mulder agreed. He noticed the woman give him the once over, her eyes coming to rest on his hand. "Are you a single parent?"
He tried hard not to conceal a grin. So she wasn't after William, he thought to himself. It was uplifting to know he still had it, even though he only had eyes for one woman. "No, I'm not". For a moment he could have sworn he saw a look of disappointment pass across her face. "His mom is just coming actually", he added as Scully stepped in to view, walking towards him. His partner raised her eyebrows as she noticed him talking to a stranger. "Hi Dana", he said as she came closer, her name feeling foreign on his lips. Scully too looked taken aback at his greeting.
"Hi F-"
"We were just talking about you", he interrupted. "I was just talking to –" Realizing he'd never got the woman's name, he turned to her.
"Hayley. And this is Bella" she added, gesturing to her dog.
"Hi Hayley", Scully greeted her politely, though it was clear from her expression that she wasn't too keen on making small talk.
"Hi. I was just saying what a cute baby you have".
"Thank you". Scully directed her attention to the baby in question, taking William from Mulder and holding him up towards her face. "Hi baby", she enthused, smiling as William gave her a gummy grin. She shifted him to her shoulder, then looked at Mulder expectantly. "Are you ready?"
Mulder looked confused. He thought they were meeting in the park for lunch. A picnic was in a deli takeout bag beneath William's stroller. "Umm –"
"I'd better go", Hayley spoke up, getting to her feet and tugging on Bella's leash. "It was nice to meet you all".
"You too. Enjoy your run", Mulder said, shooting Scully a smug look as Hayley ran off.
"What?" She looked unimpressed and set about searching for the food Mulder had promised her, all without putting William down.
"You're jealous".
She paused, glaring at him. "I'm not jealous".
"Scully you were so jealous. I can see it in your eyes".
"I don't know what you're talking about".
"You might as well have peed on me while you were talking to her".
"Mulder, I was being polite".
"You basically ripped her head off. Jealousy Scully isn't an attractive trait". He was grinning now. Scully wasn't biting.
"I was not jealous", she stressed.
"You were behaving like you were with Bambi. And Detective White".
Scully opened her mouth to speak, then thought better of it. "I didn't like the way she was looking at William", she said after a moment.
"She wasn't even looking at William".
"Exactly". She smiled.
"I think it's cute".
"It? Or Hayley?"
"Completely and utterly jealous Scully".
"Shut up Mulder…" she said moments later as she took a seat next to him. "and bring me my lunch".