Epilogue

A month later, Scully was pacing the house with a crying Melissa on her shoulder. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her lids drooping and threatening to close at any minute. It seemed that all Melissa did was cry. Neither Scully nor Mulder could discern why she was crying; she ate fine, she did not need changing, and she did not have any visible injuries or rashes which could be causing her pain or discomfort. Both had deduced that she likely had colic, a diagnosis confirmed by Nadine. Unfortunately, none of the usual tricks worked. Scully and Mulder had tried everything to soothe her: pacing, taking her on car rides around the neighborhood, swinging with her, and every other method they could think of. Mulder had even tried running the vacuum for three hours one night in the hopes that the vibrations would soothe her, but the trick had not worked.

Melissa's incessant crying would often disturb Samantha who's wails would soon join her sister's, creating a cacophony of noise in the house that made it impossible for either Scully or Mulder to think. Both partners were functioning on virtually no sleep; Skinner and Diana had both commented on Mulder's zombie-like state at work, and Scully felt as if she were going to collapse at any minute.

Mulder walked in the door at that moment holding Samantha cuddled against his shoulder. His hand covered the infant's ears, his feeble attempt to drown out her sister's screams. "I've got her asleep," he announced, kicking off his shoes as he started toward the stairs. "I'm just going to go put her down." Scully nodded, too tired and brain-dead to form any comprehensible words. As Mulder left the room, she resumed her pacing, praying that Melissa would calm down soon so that she could have at least a couple hours of sleep before both babies would need to be fed.

Scully was so concentrated on the wailing infant in her arms that she failed to look where she was going. Her foot suddenly collided with something which rolled beneath her, causing her to lean forward. She teetered for a moment, trying desperately to regain her balance. When she finally managed to right herself, she looked down to discover that she had tripped over one of the shoes which Mulder had earlier discarded. "Goddammit, Mulder!" she called. "How many times have I told you not to leave stuff lying around everywhere?" Her words came out louder and harsher than she had originally intended, but she was too exhausted to truly care about her tone. Her brain was not functioning properly; all she could think about was sleep. Every little thing seemed to frustrate her. She knew that Mulder had meant no harm by leaving his shoes out and she also knew that logically, it was not a huge deal, but her sleep-deprived brain was making the small mistake seem many times larger. As far as Scully was concerned at the moment, Mulder had just committed the most grievous of sins.

"What did I do this time?" Mulder asked, joining her in the living room. He, too, was showing signs of exhaustion from the shuffle in his step to the red tint in his eyes. His hair was tousled, and his clothes were wrinkled and looked to be a couple days old. There was a couple spots on the shoulder that were likely spit-up, and a number of other stains down the front. He, too, seemed frustrated.

"You left your shoes where I could trip over them."

"So-orry. I was just trying to take them off so that I didn't track dirt all over the house like you complained about last time." His tone was biting almost as if he wwas trying to pick a fight.

"Well, you could put them against the wall instead of in the middle of the room."

"This isn't the middle of the room."

"We still walk here."

"Well then maybe you should just watch where you're going."

"Maybe you should do what I ask so I don't have to. It's a simple request."

"You know what? I'm too tired to deal with this right now. I'm going out."

"Out where?"

"I don't really know. I don't really care either. I just want to get away from you."

"Fine. Maybe I want to get away from you, too."

"Fine."

"Fine."

Mulder strode toward the front door, slamming it shut behind him. Her parents' fighting had only served to increase Melissa's screams, and her wailing had grown loud enough that it woke Melissa whose cries Scully heard over the monitor. Turning her eyes to the ceiling, Scully let out a frustrated yell, wondering how she was supposed to deal with two upset babies. She did not even have the presence of mind to deal with one. Suddenly, she was regretting letting Mulder leave.

Just as she was contemplating the logistics of finding him again, the door opened and he walked in. Without speaking to her, he breezed past her and strode up the steps. A few seconds later, Scully heard his voice over the monitor, soothing Samantha. She smiled slightly to herself. Despite her frustration with him, Mulder was still an excellent father, and she was grateful to have his help.

Half an hour later, Scully finally managed to put Melissa to sleep, and she placed her carefully in her crib before walking to her bedroom. Mulder was sprawled out on top of the comforter, a magazine open across his chest and his glasses askew. Trying to remain quiet, Scully carefully gathered her clothes and started toward the bathroom. As much as she wanted sleep, she really needed a shower. "Did you finally get her down?" Mulder inquired from behind her. She turned to find him in the same position as he had been in when she walked into the room only with his eyes open. She nodded.

"Yeah. It probably won't last long though."

He sighed. "I really don't know what to do anymore."

"We're doing all we can."

"Sometimes, it doesn't feel like enough. It feels like I'm a failure as a father."

"You're not a failure. She just has colic."

"I know that. I never said my feelings were rational."

They were quiet for a few seconds before Scully remarked. "You came back."

"Huh?"

"Earlier. I thought you had left, but you came back right away."

"Oh. I didn't even get to the car before I realized that I was being unfair. You were just as tired as I was if not more so, and it wasn't fair of me to burden you with both the girls. I guess it's a good thing I came back, too. Melissa's enough of a handful on her own without having to deal with Samantha, too."

"How are we going to do this, Mulder?"

He shrugged. "Same way we do everything else. One day at a time." She nodded, still looking skeptical. He held up a hand, beckoning her closer. She moved to his side, and he pushed himself up, using one arm to bring her lips to his. "We'll get through this, Scully. Just like we always do," he promised. A smile curved across Scully's lips. She knew that was one promise he intended to keep.