All right, let's uncover another choice of the baby's gender and appearances that isn't happening:

1) Girl, hazelnut eyes, red hair

2) Boy, hazelnut eyes, brown hair

3) ?

4) ? - THIS IS MULDER AND SCULLY'S BABY!

5) ?

6) ?

7) ?

8) ?

9) ?


The smell of cigarette smoke woke Mulder up. He opened his eyes to see the last face he ever wanted to see – but the one he almost gave his life to see nonetheless.

"Feeling better, Fox?" the CSM asked with a gentle smile. Whoever didn't know him might have thought he was showing genuine concern.

But Mulder knew him, better than he really wanted to, though not as much as he needed to.

"What do you want?" he asked sharply. He had an urge to jump at CSM's throat and squeeze information out of him, along with his poisonous life, but the head wound kept him glued to the bed, vulnerable and powerless.

"I want your daughter, Mulder," CSM casually blew the smoke.

Mulder's blood instantly boiled and his heart started to pump furiously, but his body remained almost paralyzed, unable to respond to sudden surge of adrenaline.

"If you touch Emily, I swear…" he started to threaten, but his opponent remained unimpressed.

"I'm done with Emily," CSM said with despise, through smoke that smelled like hell. "She wasn't useful to me after all. I want the next one."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about your little secret, your impregnation of your partner. You have a good taste, by the way, but it's not going to work. I have the real cure for Emily. It's yours, if you want it."

"In exchange for what? My other child? Forget it!"

"Only if it's another girl. I have no use for a boy, so if the baby is male, you get to keep both of them. Fifty-fifty chance is a fair deal, don't you think? Refuse, and I'll make sure you lose them both."

"Is that what you said to my father?" Mulder's eyes radiated with hate, but CSM was immune to it. "To my mother?"

"If I have," CSM smiled, approaching him. "Then it is your proof that I keep my promises."

"You go to hell!"

"How about…" CSM came even closer and took something out of his pocket, throwing the cigarette on the floor. "…you come with me?"

Mulder noticed him holding a syringe now and helplessly watched the damn thing approaching his neck, unable to defend himself.

"Very noble of you," he said sarcastically. "Taking a man when he's down."

"It won't hurt much," CSM promised, sticking the needle in him.

Mulder gasped despite trying to remain to calm, and closed his eyes. He prayed to the god he didn't believe in to give Scully strength and wisdom to protect their children alone, no matter what it takes.

He didn't see her or hear her coming into the room.

But CSM did.

"Put that down and step away from him," she ordered, pointing a gun at his head. "NOW!"

CSM turned around, holding his hands up and half-empty syringe in one of them.

"Certainly," he smiled, showing no fear, as always.

"Give it to me!" Scully demanded, taking one hand off the gun to reach towards the syringe. CSM obediently placed it in her palm, still slyly smiling.

"What is this?" her voice was shaky, but determined. "What did you give him?"

"Have it tested," CSM started to light another cigarette, unfazed by his life hanging on a thread. "You are a scientist, right? Figure it out."

"Mulder!" she called, still having her eyes fixed on her worse enemy. "Are you all right? Talk to me, Mulder!"

But Mulder didn't answer.

Scully felt a strong wave of vertigo coming, and before she realized what was happening she was on the floor, with a concerned nurse above her.

"Take it easy," the nurse warned her, but Scully sat up quickly, looking around in alert. CSM was gone. So was the syringe. Only her gun was still there, now lying on the floor.

"I'm fine, it's just the pregnancy," she said, standing up. Nurse helped her, still warning her that she needed rest. But it wasn't anywhere near time for rest.

"Mulder!" Scully gasped, approaching his bed.

"He's sleeping," the nurse said, pulling the chair for her.

"Then wake him up! Mulder! Come on, Mulder, wake up!"

She checked his vital signs and he seemed to be breathing fine, but she couldn't wake him up. Now the nurse got alarmed as well and called for backup. Two doctors quickly arrived and the nurse managed to push Scully out of the room.

Bewildered, Scully run through the hospital halls, looking for the Smoking man, but there wasn't even a trail of smoke left after him… He just vanished.

When she returned, defeated, to Mulder's room, her mother was waiting in front of it.

"They say it's not coma," Maggie informed her. "They are running more tests, but he just seems to be heavily sedated. He won't wake up until tomorrow, but he will wake up. He is going to be fine."

Scully closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against the cold wall, as if trying to absorb its strength. Then she entered Mulder's room, sat next to him and took his hand.

"You should get some rest," Maggie followed her. "I'll stay with him."

Scully ignored her, squeezing Mulder's hand even firmer. She wasn't going anywhere, not without him.

"Dana…" Maggie tried again, but she didn't know what else to say. Her daughter was stubborn and when she sat her mind to something, she wouldn't let anything stop her.

At least Fox was okay. Maggie arrived to the scene too late to figure out what happened to him, but right on time to start worrying. He wasn't just a nice man who looked out for her daughter in her crazy career choice anymore. He was now also her granddaughter's father, if only she could wrap her head around having a granddaughter. She liked that sweet little girl well enough, but it was still too soon and there was still too much mystery around Emily for Maggie to fully embrace her as a new family member.

She sat in the chair in the corner, took out the book from her purse, and started to read, ready to replace her daughter if she got too tired.

As if that ever happened…

Soon enough, Maggie was dozing off, dreaming about little Matthew, a long awaited grandson.

She woke up when two nurses entered the room and started preparing Fox for… something.

"What are you doing?" Dana asked them.

"He is being transferred," one of the nurses responded.

"Where?"

"We don't know, but the ambulance is already waiting."

"By whose orders?" Scully stood up and tried to get between them and the bed.

"By his mother's. She signed the transfer and you have no authority over her decision."

"The hell I don't! I am his wife and he's not going anywhere!"

The nurses looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders and left to check on Scully's claims, leaving her face to face with her, now fully awaken mother.

"His wife?" Maggie asked with a noticeable hurt in her voice.

"Mom, I can explain…"

"Then you better start, Dana."

"It was easier to get the custody over Emily if we… That's all. We… did it for her, mom. It didn't mean anything. I didn't tell you because it doesn't change anything."

"Just like you dropping your career in medicine didn't mean anything? Like your terminal cancer didn't mean anything?"

"No, not like that… This really isn't…"

"What else are you hiding from me, Dana?"

At that moment, Scully felt she was going to be sick, and there was no time for explanations. She grabbed a trashcan and retrieved to the corner, got down on her knees and started to retch violently. It felt as if the baby wanted to get out through her mouth instead of the… official channels.

She felt her mother's strong hands move the hair from her face and hold her forehead, kneeling beside her. Scully leaned into her touch for a long second, her stomach now painfully empty and her eyes closed.

"I'm fine," she managed to whisper.

"Just tell me the truth, Dana," Maggie pleaded. "For once, don't keep me in the dark."

Scully opened her eyes and looked at her, all her armor falling apart. She felt like a child again, safe and sound in the hands of a woman who loved her more than her life, a mother who she wanted to be like for her own children, her miracles that weren't meant to be, but still came to her, against all odds.

"I'm pregnant," she smiled. She wanted Mulder to be the first to know, and now that she finally had a chance to tell him, her mother was next. There was no reason to keep it a secret from her anymore, and Scully honestly didn't want to.

"Is this a joke?" Maggie didn't react in the way Scully imagined she would. "You told me you were barren."

"I was, I mean… I thought I was. It's a long story, mom, but it's not a joke. I'm pregnant!"

Maggie sighed and looked at Mulder. "Is it his?"

Scully didn't know how to respond, so she simply nodded, looking at the floor.

"You just told me you marriage is on paper only," Maggie said coldly, getting up from the floor. Scully followed her.

"It is. Mom, I can explain."

"Don't bother, Dana. Whatever you want to tell me, I don't know how to believe you anymore… "

"Mom, please…"

"You have a lot on your plate, Dana, and god knows I am trying to help in any way that I can. But how can I help when you're not even telling me what is going on with you?"

"I'm trying, mom, I promise, I'm really trying. But it isn't exactly…"

Maggie raised her hand to quiet her, then took a deep breath to brace herself, before facing her daughter again.

"Bill is returning to the a ship in a few days," she informed her. "He asked me to stay with Tara for a while, he doesn't want to leave her all alone with a newborn and you know her mother is not able to help. I haven't decided yet, because I thought maybe you needed me more here… But I just realized you don't need me at all. You never needed me."

"That is not true, mom," Scully said with tears in her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall. Maggie wouldn't let her own tears fall either. That stubbornness of Dana didn't come out of nowhere, she really was her daughter and Maggie felt pride and love overwhelm her.

But it didn't change anything.

"Ask me to stay, and I'll stay," she offered.

"No," Scully shook her head, even though she desperately wanted to say yes. But it wouldn't be fair to keep her mother from her grandson. Besides, she knew Bill would hold it against her if she kept mother all for herself.

"No," she repeated, forcing a smile. "I can handle things here. You go be with Matthew while you have the opportunity."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine. I'll need you more when the baby comes, to babysit and… teach me…"

"Oh Dana, you know I will."

"I know, mom."

"How far along are you?"

"Less than two months… There's still plenty of time."

"I can't believe it," Maggie finally gave up and set her tears free. She grabbed her daughter into a big, warm hug, at last giving her the reaction she hoped for. "I'm so happy for you. But you have to slow down now, you have to take it easy."

"I know. I will."

"Well, I need to call Bill now. I'll be back soon."

"Ok."

Scully returned to sit with Mulder and hold his hand. She watched him breathe peacefully and her heart believed at last that he was going to be fine. Whatever that smoking bastard wanted to do with him, she came in time to stop him. Maybe he really just wanted to make him sleep, maybe it was some kind of deal with Mrs. Mulder to take him away from her… She used to be ashamed of their fake marriage, but now that it was out there, she was proud of it. It helped her keep him safe. It helped keep their children safe. It wasn't perfect, but people married for worse reasons than theirs, all the time…

She closed her eyes, feeling beat now that the adrenaline wore off, along with her stomach contents. The tiny peanut was already giving her such a hard time, but she couldn't wait to meet him or her. Her thoughts wandered back to the day of conception. Not the cold, humiliating and sterile implantation, but the dinner Mulder took her afterwards. Emily was staying with her mother and Scully was looking forward to an evening for herself, but Mulder was having none of that. After the hospital, he took her to his place instead of hers, settled her on the couch and served her a fancy "dinner in bed" that he ordered from some expensive restaurant.

She didn't remember how the food tasted, but she remembered how he made her laugh. He sat on the floor in front of the couch so that they could eat from the same plate. It was messy, but not even she cared, not that time. Mulder really went out of his way to help her relax, even giving her a foot rub, along with quoting some book about pregnancy and what to expect. By listening to him, she could have sworn he knew more about female body and embryos than she did. Mulder was always thorough in his research, after all.

He kissed her in the end, even though he didn't have to, even though neither Emily nor a social worker were spying on them. It was gentle and friendly, but she caught herself wanting it to mean more, so much more than that.

It was that kiss that she imagined their child was conceived with. Doctor's hands and tools may have done the implantation, but it was Mulder's hands and lips that helped her body open up and become a fertile and welcoming place, able to nourish a potential life.

Without that kiss, maybe it wouldn't take…

"What if it doesn't work?" she asked him before it happened.

"What if they both do and we get twins?" he countered.

"Twins?" she smiled. "You couldn't handle twins."

"Maybe," he agreed. "But I would enjoy trying."

"Twins," she closed her eyes, letting herself imagine it. She was so afraid it wouldn't work that it never occurred to her that it just might work too well.

"A boy and a girl," Mulder mused. "So Emily can have both brother and sister."

"Like I had…"

"Would you want that?"

"How could I not! But, Mulder, just one baby would be as much of a miracle. I would be happy with that."

"Me too," he said looking at her in such a way that made her start falling.

Falling in love. Or hormones, more likely. As real as it felt, she had to remind herself not to give into it, not to ruin everything they had just to indulge her temporary, fertility related imbalance.

That's when he kissed her and made her pregnant.

They watched a movie afterwards and she fell asleep on Mulder's couch, but woke up in Mulder's bed, without recollection of getting there. She got up, found Mulder still fast asleep on the couch and went to make some coffee.

She placed one cup on the coffee table and slowly sipped from the other one, watching Mulder sleep and waiting for the warm smell to wake him up. And now she again waited for Mulder to wake up, for Emily to get better, for baby to grow… There was nothing left for her to do, but to wait…

The door opened and someone approached her from the back. She thought it was her mother, but when she turned around, she saw Emily's doctor.

"Can I have a word with you?" he asked. "It's Emily."

"Emily!" Scully jumped with fear. "What is it?"

She wasn't prepared for more bad news, and she was even less prepared for her worst nightmare. She stood up too abruptly and the vertigo returned, throwing her into doctor's arms, where the darkness swallowed her once again.


What was the doctor trying to tell her? Please vote:

a) Emily is better and she can finally go to her.

b) Emily is worse and there's nothing more they can do for her.

c) Emily's blood injured someone.

d) Emily's blood killed someone.

e) Emily is missing.

f) Emily is dead. (I'm only allowing this choice because I am confident that no one will vote for it. So. Do. Not. Vote. F. Please. ;) )

g) Someone is asking to see Emily.

Bonus question: What Astrological sign do you want for the baby? If you don't have any other ideas, just tell me your sign. ;)