XXXXX
[Mulder-Scully Residence
Mclean, Virginia
Wednesday, 7:45 PM]
A faraway noise roused Mulder from his comfortable sleep. He was too warm to get up. Another noise banged somewhere in the distance. Mulder suddenly remembered where he was, and that they had guests staying with them.
He cracked one eye open and was accosted by a massive amount of red hair. Gently swiping it away from his face, he looked down at Scully. At some point during their post-coital nap, she had once again weaseled her way on top of his chest. 'She seems to like it there.' He smiled to himself.
After glancing at the clock and realizing that it was late enough for everyone to be back home, Mulder slowly eased his way out from underneath Scully's body. He held his breath as he watched her shift, her arms searching for him. When she didn't find him, she curled her arms under his pillow and curled herself around it. Mulder breathed; the doctor had told him that the fatigue was normal for a multiple pregnancy and that Scully should be getting as much sleep as she possibly can. He had stopped and asked Dr. Matheson a few things after their appointment was over.
Meandering downstairs, Mulder found everyone in the living room, watching a movie. "Hey guys, what'rr'we watchin'?," Mulder asked as he strode into the kitchen to find something to make for Scully and himself.
"The Rescuers," Bella chimed in excitedly before any of the adults got a chance to answer.
When she heard the sound of Mulder's voice, Em jumped up from the couch and ran towards Mulder. "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" She barreled into his legs and wrapped her arms around them. "I missed you, Daddy!"
Mulder leaned down and picked her up. "I missed you, too, Princess," he mumbled into her hair as she wrapped her arms and legs around his torso so that she wouldn't fall. "How was dinner with Aunt Michelle and Gramma and your cousins?"
" 'Nummy," she answered. Then she pulled back away from his shoulder and looked at him skeptically.
Mulder wished he had a camera on him because she looked exactly like Scully when she made that face.
"Why didn't you go'tah dinner with 's us?," she inquired curiously.
Mulder smiled. He loved this little girl to death. "Because Mommy and Daddy had a meeting to go to; and you and Jacob needed to have some quality time with Gramma, Aunt Michelle, Bella, and Peter."
"Oh, okay." She nodded her head in agreement. Em wiggle her way back down to the ground and went back to the couch to watch the movie.
Mulder smiled as he watched her snuggle into Maggie's side. He was happy that she was building such a great relationship with her grandmother. God knows that he never had that, even from his parents, and he didn't want his kids to have a childhood that was anywhere close to what his was.
After looking through all of the cabinets, Mulder decided to make alfredo for their dinner. Scully didn't know yet that he actually could cook more than breakfast food; and he was excited to make her an actual dinner. Over the years, whenever they hung out or ate meals together, it was almost always some sort of diner or takeout food.
Maggie walked into the kitchen and sat on one of the breakfast bar stools about twenty minutes later. "What are you cooking, Fox?," she inquired curiously.
"Just some alfredo," Mulder answered. "We slept through dinner time so I'm just making something up for when she wakes up hungry."
Maggie sighed. "Fox, you are one of the most considerate, caring men I've ever met. I'm so happy you and Dana are together now… I couldn't love you more if you were my own son; you know that" She looked up and made eye contact with Mulder, who was looking slightly dazed. It dawned on her that he might not actually have known that. Either way, she was glad that she said it. "And your kids, God, are they a pure gift of joy or what? Everytime I see them, they are even more charming, funny, and friendly than the time before." She took a breath before continuing, "You two are raising them well, Fox. You're both wonderful parents." Maggie cocked her head to the side. "Do you two want more kids soon, Fox?"
Mulder froze. 'Shit. How does she always manage to do that?' All of the color drained out of his face. He busied himself by walking over to the fridge and grabbing out various kinds of vegetables: zucchini, squash, green beans,and a few other things that he knew Scully loves. "Sc- Dana and I," he began, after he had rinsed off the vegetables and began to cut them. "We haven't really talked about a when, just an eventually," he lied, biting the inside of his cheek to keep himself from either smiling or accidentally divulging the truth.
"Uh, huh…," Maggie said skeptically. "Right…" She got up and made herself a cup of green tea from the cupboard, not speaking again until she was sitting back down at the breakfast bar with a steaming cup. "Well, at least think about it, will you?"
Mulder smiled secretively with his back still turned away from her. "Maggie, I promise you. When we decide to have another baby, we won't keep it a secret. Especially from you." He really wanted to be having this conversation with her face-to-face, but he didn't trust himself enough to not blurt out their secret. Then, again, both his silence and his hesitation to look at her were probably telling her all she needed to know.
Maggie stayed quiet for quite a long time. She was trying to decipher everything that Mulder had said to her. 'Were they?,' she thought questioningly. 'Or weren't they?' She couldn't figure them out.
A loud thud sounded from upstairs. In an instant, Mulder had dropped what he was doing and turned to Maggie. "Maggie, do you think you could watch the alfredo for a few minutes?," he asked urgently.
Maggie was a little surprised at his concern. "Of course," she sputtered as she rose out of her seat and walked over to the stove.
"Thanks," Mulder said in gratitude as he rushed out of the room. He breezed past Michelle and the children, heading for the staircase. He took the stairs two at a time, swearing under his breath that he wasn't there with Scully for whatever just happened.
When he opened the door to their bedroom, he was completely surprised to see his Scully laying on the floor next to the bed, laughing her ass off. "Scully?," he called to her hesitantly.
Hearing his voice only made her laugh harder.
Mulder didn't know whether he should continue being concerned, or if her should laugh along with her. The sound of her laughter was one of his absolute favorite things in the world. "Scully, what happened?"
She kept on laughing for several minutes. Once her need for air started to become too strong, she began to calm down slowly. "Oh, Mulder," she laughed in between breaths. "I was sleeping… And then I guess I rolled off the bed…. landed flat on my back… did a full 180° on the way down…" She started laughing hysterically again.
Mulder approached her shaking form and sat down next to her, chuckling softly. "Geez, Scully you had me scared for a second there…"
She grunted as her laughter started to abate, again. "Ugh, I can't believe I actually did that." She took a deep breath in, trying to breathe in as much oxygen as she could. Scully sighed when she exhaled. "Mulder," she paused tauntingly. "Your unborn children are hungry."
Mulder snorted. "Well, that's good because I was busy making us a late dinner when I heard you fall." He stood up and held out his hands for her to take, so that he could pull her up, too. "The delivery guys are coming at ten tomorrow, so maybe you should see if you and Michelle can go have brunch over at Maggie's or meet her somewhere… And then I'll text you when everything is all set up and you can bring them all back here."
Scully paused as they started to walk down the stairs. "You don't want me to stay and help?"
He grabbed her hand and threaded his fingers through hers. "No, I don't." Mulder watched as her face changed from one of confusion to being crestfallen. "Because," he emphasized. "I don't want you to hurt yourself. And I know you want to spend some one-on-one time Michelle and the kids. it's alright. It'll only be for a few hours. I'll put together all of the new baby furniture; and I'll make sure to set the room up exactly how you asked. And then I have some guys coming over at ten-thirty to set up the other surprise. And they're gonna help me put up that temporary pool fence, too. So that way we won't have to worry about the kids going outside and falling in."
Scully hummed in agreement and leaned in to kiss his lips. Her stomach rumbled loudly, causing them both to giggle and pull away. "So, what did you make us for dinner?" She was expecting something along the lines of omelets or sandwiches or something of the equivalent.
"I made you chicken fettuccine alfredo. I know how you secretly love pasta, just as much as I do. And since they're my kids in there, too.. they're bound to make you love it even more."
"Have I told you how much I love you today?" She grinned as she moved quickly down the stairs, excited by the thought of what he'd made her for dinner.
Mulder laughed and followed after her. "Yeah, I think you have.. but I'll never get tired of hearing it."
XXXXX
[Mulder-Scully Residence
Mclean, Virginia
Wednesday, 8:25 PM]
"Oh, my, God, Mulder!," Scully moaned. "This alfredo is amazing. I didn't know that you could cook like this."
Mulder laughed and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I'm glad you like it."
"Like it? I'm requesting this for dinner at least once a week, maybe more depending in the-" Scully's eyes widened and she stopped herself. She'd forgotten that everyone was sitting on the couch, not ten feet away from where she was sitting at the kitchen table. She looked up at Mulder who had decided to sit opposite of her, facing towards everyone else, while her back was to them. he was looking over at her with an expression of extreme amusement. Their eyes connected and they had a silent conversation between themselves.
"I can't believe I almost spilled our secret!"
"And all because of my good cooking, too."
"This is way too hard. I don't know if we'll make it all the way until tomorrow night."
"We can do it. The surprise is going to be so perfect. I think we can manage keeping our mouths shut for another day."
"Even with your blubber mouth over there, sitting all proud and cocky?"
"Shut up and eat your alfredo."
Scully cackled loudly, drawing the attention of the two adults. "Hey, what's so funny over there?" Maggie questioned teasingly.
"Nothing," Scully giggled through a mouthful of pasta.
"Dana Katherine Scully. How many times have I told you over the years not to talk with your mouthful? It's not becoming," she jokingly chided, causing a spout of laughter to come from both Mulder and Michelle.
"Don't care," she mumbled as she shoved another spoonful into her mouth. "It's - too- good."
Maggie shook her head with a giggle. "I'm sorry, Mulder. I guess she never learned…," she sighed.
Mulder laughed, again. "It's a good thing I think she's cute no matter what she does or looks like then, Maggie." He turned his attention back to Scully, who was regarding him with a very highly raised eyebrow. He probably would have been scared of her if it weren't for the fact that her cheeks were puffed out- full of food- like she was a little chipmunk.
She swallowed her mouthful. "You're damn right, I'm cute. And that's Mrs. Cute to you there, buddy."
Mulder was just about to respond with a witty retort when Maggie got up from the couch and went to rinse out her cup of tea. After she put it into the dishwasher, she stood up and came over to the table. She dropped a kiss on Mulder's forehead, and then Scully's. "Well, I'm going to head out. Thank you for a wonderful day and for letting me stay over last night." Before she left to go say goodbye to the kids and Michelle, Scully stopped her. "Mom, how about we come over for brunch tomorrow? Or we could go out and eat at a diner? I wanted to take the kids out to the Air and Space Museum. Do you wanna come with us?"
"Oh, Dana. I would love that. You all can come over for brunch at my house. Say, nine-thirty or ten-ish?," she beamed.
"It's a plan," Scully smiled and got up to hug her mother.