A/N: Emotions all over the place in this chapter.

The X-Files doesn't belong to me.

February 15th, 1999

Scully was awoken the next morning by the alarm ringing and Mulder rolling over and mumbling something into her neck. "Good morning," she murmured, slapping the alarm to turn it off.

"Hi," he replied. "Do you have work today?"
"I only teach afternoons on Wednesdays," she groggily replied. "Do you have work?"

"Yeah, I have to leave in about an hour."

Scully sighed. "Okay. You should probably get ready then. I've gotta get Em ready for daycare." She untangled herself from the bedsheets and Mulder's arms and threw on her bathrobe. She made her way to Emily's room. "Wake up, sleepyhead." she said. Emily just shifted around, though she was clearly awake. "We can have french toast for breakfast if you get up."

That got Emily's attention. "Okay!" she hopped out of bed. Scully started the french toast while Mulder got ready for work. When he came out of her room, Emily gasped. "Mulder! What are you doing here?"

"I was tired, so your mom let me sleep here last night." he explained. It was half true; all they had done the previous night was sleep.

"You should stay here all the time," she said.

"I would if I could, sweetie," he ruffled the girl's hair. "Ooh, is that French toast?.

Scully passed both Mulder and Emily a plate. "Yes, it is." she said. They ate breakfast together, and Emily had a permanent smile on her face. She loved days like this, when all of them were together. Her mother dressed her in clothes for daycare and dressed herself in a suit for work. The girl spied on Mulder and her mother, after he had told her he had to go to work. They were standing quite close, Scully's hand on the back of his neck.

"Thank you for everything, Scully," he said.

She ran her hands through his hair. "Anytime. Thank you, too." she leaned in and kissed him. Emily clapped her hands over her mouth. Scully intertwined her arms around his waist and Mulder kissed her forehead, murmuring something to her. She chuckled softly and laid her head on his chest. "I'll see you soon, Mulder. Be safe."

"You, too, Scully." one more kiss, and he was stepping out the door. Emily escaped from around the corner so her mother couldn't tell she was spying.

"Em, you ready to go?" Scully asked.

"Yeah," she grabbed her backpack in the shape of a turtle and followed her mother to the car. She, being a normal four-year-old, couldn't keep her secret in any longer. "I saw you kiss Mulder. Two times."

"Yes, we do that...sometimes," Scully said. "It's something adults who love each other do."

"You love Mulder?" Emily asked.

"Yes honey. It's a special kind of love. It's different from the way you love your friends." she explained.

Emily pursed her lips in thought. "You said that was how you loved him, though."

"I know. But you don't plan to fall in love like that."

"It's okay. I like that you love Mulder. But kissing is icky."

Scully laughed as she pulled into Emily's daycare. "It is to you now. It won't be when you're older. Be good today, I love you." she gave her daughter a kiss and watched her trot off to daycare. She drove to work, happy that her daughter was glad about her relationship with Mulder. She knew her daughter loved Mulder as a father, but she wasn't sure how Emily would feel about them being openly affectionate. She hoped this would only be something she would grow to be used to, the little kisses and the closeness on the couch at the end of the day. Something sixteen-year old her would stick her tongue out at, maybe, but something that just was there. Was a fact. Scully and Mulder. Mom and dad.

She wondered if Emily, when she grew to be sixteen, which was scarily too close, would find someone of her own, a first teenage love, full of cliches. Awkward first dates with an overabundance of flowers. The puppy love stage where she could only think and see them. Scully imagined holding her daughter as she sobbed through her first break up. She wanted to hold onto four-year-old Emily, five-year-old Emily. She already almost lost the little girl, she couldn't again.


March 18th, 1999

"I want you to come work with me again." Mulder said over a nighttime cup of tea. "Monica can watch Em now. She's happy to."

Scully hesitated. Mulder had just come over, Emily just been tucked in. It was all so much to process. "C'mon, Scully," Mulder continued, "Nothing's stopping us."

"Yes, Mulder, something's stopping us."

"What?"

The redhead anxiously stirred her tea more than it needed to be stirred. "I don't want to get hurt. Maybe it's selfish, but I have a child to take care of. And I want to keep that child safe." With the knowledge that working on the X-Files brought, came danger.

Mulder nodded. "I understand. Emily will be safe."

"How do you know, Mulder. How do you know. Did you think Missy would be safe? My sister?Or your father. Do you seriously think it couldn't happen again? She almost died once."

"I know, Scully. Technically she isn't supposed to be alive now, and we're lucky to have her. We'll keep her safe, I know we will."

"Maybe she isn't supposed to be, but I'm going to keep her alive. I'm going to protect her."

"Scully, working on the X-Files isn't the only thing that could kill her. Her being a scientific experiment-"

"Emily is not just a scientific experiment! Don't talk about her like that. I hope you don't see her as that."

"I don't, I'm just trying to be...realistic. I don't like to think about it either."

Scully sighed, avoiding eye contact. "I don't know, Mulder, maybe this isn't a good time to ask things like this. I have to think about it."

"I know. I-I'm sorry, Scully. I just...I miss you."

"I miss you, too. I just, this is...Emily is more important than my work any day." she was still slightly hurt about some of the things Mulder had said despite his apology. She couldn't define the feeling that was settling in her stomach.

"I know." Mulder repeated. Neither of them had anything to add. For once the silence they shared was uncomfortable.

A/N: Augh I hate writing awkward endings. But that's the way it can be with these two sometimes. Thanks for reading! -Lulamae