I do not own The X Files.
Not Alone 21
Mulder sat in the tattered armchair and held the baby in his arm. The only time he took his eyes off of the tiny face was when Scully left his side to sit on the bed.
"You're doing well" Scully couldn't wipe the smile from her face as she watched the father and son. Mulder had been at the cabin a few hours and Scully had clung to him the entire time, the three of them in constant contact, until Scully left her boys alone in the chair.
"Scully?" Mulder whispered after she had succumbed to her adrenaline crash and curled up on the bed, eyes closing almost instantly.
She cracked one eye open and smiled, "yeah?"
"He's uh, he's squirming and making a face. He looks really mad."
"Shit." Scully jumped up from the bed and pulled a towel from a hook on the wall and tucked it under the baby on Mulder's lap.
"What?" He looked at her confused. She held a finger up and in a moment her motives were clear. "Oh… shit." Scully pursed her lips into a smile and she slid her arms under the baby. "Wait, wait, wait, I can do it, Scully. I am going to have to learn, right?"
"Yeah, but I have just kind of been winging it," Scully pulled a pile of rags from the trunk and plopped back down on the bed and watched Mulder slowly rise from the chair, with the baby in his arms, take slow motion steps towards her. It only took an hour, but between the two of them, Mulder and Scully were able to clean the baby and redress him in something that looked like it might have once been a real garment. They sat side by side in bed, the baby sleeping between them, their hands both resting on his belly.
"Isaac," Mulder said the baby's name then glanced at Scully.
She met his gaze, "you know, I know he is right here, but I miss him. I miss Isaac."
"He was a good kid. He is going to be a good kid," Mulder agreed and patted the tiny tummy.
"But he won't be the same kid we knew. That Isaac is gone, his history is changed," Scully sighed then added slowly, "lets call him William."
"Call him by his middle name?"
"Yeah, why not? He has a clean slate and, I know it doesn't make sense, but I just feel like, Isaac is a part of us, but William is here now," Scully rambled as she tried to rationalize.
"I get it, Scully. It makes sense," lets call him William. It fits him.
XXX
That night, while William slept between two pillows on the bed, Mulder dragged in the old tin tub from the porch while Scully boiled water. After the 4th kettle full and a few buckets from the stream, the tub was only a quarter of the way full, but Mulder's atrophied muscles quivered and Scully decided that a shallow bath was better than any bath. "Get in," Scully pulled on Mulder's shirt.
"I want you to go first," he pulled off his shirt and tugged at Scully's, "let me bathe you."
"Mulder." Scully felt herself blush and she crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly extremely self-conscious.
"Please" Mulder whispered into her neck. "I have missed you so much."
She shivered, "Mulder, I can't…"
"I know, I just want to see you, I want to touch you. Besides," he suddenly became very matter of fact, "I have not had a real bath in weeks, bathing in your used bathwater will be exactly what I need," he shifted his eyebrows at her.
"I'm not how you remember me, Mulder," she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and stared into the swirls of steam coming from the tub.
"Scully, you had a baby a week ago, you spent months held captive in an alien spaceship and survived who knows what for months out here. I know your body has changed; you protected and nourished our son. Do you know how amazing that is?" He rubbed his calloused hands over her thin shoulders and kissed her neck again, "please."
Scully melted under his touch and unbuttoned her large shirt, shrugged it off of her shoulders and let it drop to the floor. Her swollen breasts practically spilled from her tattered bra and Mulder's hands shook at her back as he unclipped it and slowly pulled it off of her arms. He gasped audibly when he looked at her. She shimmied out of her jeans and panties, suddenly cold and naked in front of Mulder. She crossed her arms again, "Mulder," she whispered.
"Scully, I have missed you so much," he pulled her into his arms, groaning at the feel of her skin on his, "you are so beautiful."
"Mulder?"
"Yeah, Scully?" He looked down at her.
"I'm cold."
"Oh, sorry, get in the tub," he held her hand as she lowered herself down, wincing as her lower half moved into the warm water, "are you okay?" Mulder knelt down next to the tub and dipped a rag into the water.
"Yeah, I'm just sore. I had a baby a week ago," she glanced over at the bed where William slept soundly.
"Yeah, you did," he ran the rag over her shoulders and down her back. She gathered her hair into one hand and pulled it over her shoulder, lowering her head. Mulder worked the rag over her neck and shoulders, massaging lightly as he went. He smiled as she groaned quietly. He fingered her brominate ribs and the pearls of her spine. She was too thin. He pulled back the rag and lathered in soap and suds her up, then moved slowly to the front of her body, stopping momentarily to make sure he wasn't crossing a line. She leaned back into him and Mulder lathered her breasts, cupping each one, thumbing her nipples that hardened instantly. He moved lower, soaping her belly, it was still soft, still round from carrying William. He loved it. He loved her. Scully sucked in a breath as he moved between her legs. It made him nervous so he grabbed her hand and handed her the rag. He kissed the moisture between her shoulder blades as she washed herself, her eyes closed and lips full being rolled between her teeth.
Scully hissed sharply and jerked her hand from between her thighs, "Mulder, we have to stop," she looked up at him regretfully.
Mulder dropped back onto his haunches, "yeah, yeah, sorry. Just um, just give me a minute."
Scully leaned on the edge of the tub, resting her chin on her crossed arms and smirked at Mulder, "sorry."
Mulder shifted and pulled the only towel that hadn't been soiled by William and put it around Scully's shoulders as she stood. She pulled it tighter around her as she stepped out, glancing at the bed, then turned to Mulder, "your turn," her voice was low.
"Scully," he licked his bottom lip and pulled at his jeans. She leaned into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her, rubbing the towel on her skin.
"I missed you so much, Mulder," her voice was muffled in his chest and he inhaled the top of her head. The moment was interrupted by a small scream that grew in volume and intensity so fast that Mulder jumped. Scully hunched forward and pressed the towel to her breasts and was on the bed in a second, William at her right breast. She looked up at him, "I'm sorry!"
Mulder shook his head, "no, no, I uh," he couldn't take his eyes off of her naked body with the tiny baby in her arms, she was stunning, "I really need to scrub." He stepped over to her and gently pulled the towel from her shoulder, picked up her feet, tucked her under the covers and kissed her cheek and then William's blonde head. "Wait up for me."
She smiled and watched him strip out of his jeans, taking in his lean body, his long hair and beard that tickled her cheek when he kissed her. She liked it. She loved him so much that it hurt. She looked down at the tiny boy at her breast and the hurt intensified. Mulder splashed down awkwardly in the shallow tub and Scully stifled a laugh into William's head. It was a good hurt.