XXXXX
[Mulder-Scully Residence
Mclean, Virginia
Thursday, 9:52 PM]
"Here, wait. Let me help you out," Mulder demanded softly as he stood up and stepped out of the tub from behind Scully.
She sighed in annoyance. "Mulder, I'm not an invalid; I'm pregnant."
He stood in front of her and offered I her his hand anyways. "Exactly, that's my point. You're pregnant, with my children, with our three children. I'm trying to…," he lost his train of thought. "Nevermind. Just let me help and stop complaining."
"Sure. Fine. Whatever."
Mulder instinctively knew what those three words meant. He was in trouble. Why? He hadn't a clue. "Honey? What's wrong? What did I do?" He didn't like fighting with her. Arguing, yes; but fighting, no.
Scully stopped in the midst of her journey to the bedroom. She turned around, a look of remorse on her face. "Mulder, oh, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be snappy or short with you… it's just… I'm so frustrated with how tired I am. It's ridiculous! Like, I slept for what, eleven hours last night; and that's not including my three hour nap? That's well over half of a day, Mulder. And, yet, I'm still so exhausted. I could barely keep my eyes open all day today. Heck, I even fell asleep on the drive to lunch. Thank God mom was driving us all and I wasn't driving the kids." She flopped down unceremoniously on the bed. "I'm so happy about having triplets. But how am I going to be able to drive to work on Monday- or any day after that, for that matter."
Mulder was about to open his mouth to answer her, but she stopped him with a raised palm. "Don't even answer that. There's only one solution to this, Mulder. I can't go back to work. Or at least, I can't go back until after they're born."
Mulder felt slightly taken aback. 'Is this why she had been so quiet in the bathtub? Man, and here I thought it was my Magic Fingers.' "Is that what you want to do, Scully?" He lifted her up and settled her body down properly under the sheets.
She sighed as she snuggled into her pillow. "I don't know, maybe? Ask me tomorrow, Mulder."
Mulder laid down next to her and grabbed ahold of her waist. He hauled her up on top of his chest, which was now her self-proclaimed favorite spot. "Whatever you do, it won't be forever, Scully. I'm behind you, one hundred percent, no matter what you decide to do. You should do whatever you feel is best for you, and is best for the babies. And it's not something I can help you decide because I'm not the one experiencing all of this first-hand- you are. "
Scully winded her fingers into Mulder's chest hair and tucked her face into the crook of his neck. "It might be, though, Mulder. I don't want us to be those parents that put their kids into daycare all the time. They deserve better than that, especially after what Em has been through, and what Jacob has been through. One or both of us should be at home with them; and right now that person is me." She shifted so that both of her legs fell around the outsides of his hips. "Maybe.. when they're old enough… and if I get bored.. I'll go teach a class or two during the daytime while they're all at school. That way they won't be missing out on time with at least one of us. And they won't have to go be babysat by strangers, surrounded by tons of other children who hardly see their parents."
Mulder tightened his arms around her waist in acknowledgement. "I don't want that for them either. They deserve better than that. What if… I dropped one of the classes I'm teaching. That was I'm only teaching two classes. It'll mean that I'll only be out of the house for four hours a day, instead of six."
"Is that what you want to do? I don't want you to feel forced into staying home more just because of how I'm feeling." Scully lifted herself up so that she could look down into his eyes. She searched his face, trying to read his expression.
"Of course it is, Scully. Remember? We don't even have to work if we don't want to. With the money I got from both sides of my family, we can all live comfortably for the rest of our lives, without needing to work another day." He leaned up to kiss her sweetly.
Scully settled herself back down onto his chest when she felt his hands begin to slide down from her waist to her ass. "Okay," she whispered. "Then I'm going to stay home. I'll take the rest of my vacation days that I have saved up and email them my indefinite leave of absence. And then," she began mischievously. She slowly walked her fingertips up his chest and neck. "Maybe when I'm showing more… we can go to the office and visit Skinner. We'll shock them all to pieces."
Mulder laughed at her thought, which caused her to giggle in return. "That sounds like fun, Scully."
She leaned up one last time to give him a lingering 'goodnight kiss'. "Goodnight, Mulder. I love you." She hooked her arms in between each of his shoulders and settled her legs in between his own.
Mulder kissed the top of her hair as she quickly fell asleep.
XXXXX
[Good Stuff Eatery
3291 M St NW, Georgetown, Washington DC
Friday, 11:25 AM]
"Dana!"
Scully turned her head away from the window and looked over towards the stairs. "Hey, El!," she called back to her.
Ellen made her way across the second story floor and sat down at the table with Scully. "This really is a nifty little place. How'd you find it?" Ellen asked as she brushed a pesky stray hair out of her eyes for the third time.
"I found it the other day… actually. I had a craving for a burger and this was the first place that we saw. The food here is surprisingly really good." Scully took a sip of her lemonade. "Hey, thanks for meeting me for lunch, El."
"Yeah, well, thanks for inviting me out. I really needed the break from the house," Ellen smiled.
"Oh?" Her comment piqued her interest. Ellen was a stay-at-home mom. Her and her husband had three rambunctious boys of varying ages.
Ellen sighed exasperatedly. "Oh, you know. The normal: sports, kids' friends, force kids to do homework, clean house, sports, sports, sports, clean house, make food, do laundry." She tipped her head back in the chair and groaned. "It's endlesssss!"
Scully laughed. "Well, I'll be right there with you, El."
Ellen's head shot back down to look at Scully. "What do you mean, Dana? Why are you going to be right there with me?" Her brow furrowed.
"Well, for two reasons. The first, is because I don't want to send my children to daycare. I want them to be around either Mulder or I- or better yet, both of us- instead of spending all of their time around daycare employees and other children. They need the support and love and guidance that only parents can give. They deserve it. They've had a hard enough life already." Scully paused to take a deep breath.
"And the other thing?," Ellen prodded gently.
"The other thing, is that I'm pregnant, El…" Scully chanced a look up at her friend's face.
Ellen grinned widely. "Oh, my God, Dana! That's fantastic!" She leaned out of her chair to embrace Scully. "How far along are you? Wh- When are you due?"
Scully smiled. "I'm nine weeks in. The doctor is actually pretty convinced that we conceived the first time we had sex... and February 20…. But, the doctor doesn't think I'll make it that far. So, probably either late December or sometime in January."
A look of confusion graced Ellen's features once again. "Why don't they think you'll make it to your due date? Is there something wrong with the baby"
"No," Scully laughed, which only added to Ellen's befuddlement. "No, the babies are just fine."
"Oh, thank God- WAIT," Ellen started shrieking as soon as her friend's words sunk in. All of the surrounding customers turned and looked at their table, causing Scully to blush out of self-consciousness. "Are you having twins?!" Ellen leaned in and stage whispered.
Enjoying every second of the moment, Scully leaned in just as far, too, and stage whispered back to her with a goofy grin on her face. "No, triplets."
"TRIPLETS!?," Ellen shrieked, again, causing many of the other customers to jump in their seats. "You conceived triplets on your first try?! What are you super-fertile?" Ellen continued to exclaim.
"Shhh, Ellen! Hush it! Everyone's staring!" Scully leaned further forward and quietly chided her friend.
Taking her voice down a few notches, to a more regular tone of voice, Ellen responded, "But, Dana… Triplets!"
Scully smiled as she sat back in her seat. "I know."
"Dana, that's five babies under the age of three!... I can tell you're excited; how does Mulder feel about it? Wait, he knows.. doesn't he?"
"El, of course, he knows," Scully laughed. "He's excited. He's really excited, actually." She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "We actually left him all by himself with Em, Jacob, and both of Michelle's kids." She checked her watch. "Oh, shoot. We're late for meeting mom and Shell at the dress shop." They both stood up from their seats and began to walk down the stairs, towards the front of the building.
Ellen giggled. "Ugh, I can't believe you're getting married. To the guy that I practically told you to date seven years ago, nonetheless. And I can't wait to meet your baby boy. Oh, I bet he's just absolutely the cutest, isn't he?!"
"He's the cutest little boy that I've ever seen, El."
A/N: Coming up next: [wedding dress shopping (if you guys want that scene) and] Bill and his family flying in. Also, I have a lot of ideas for future stories that I keep thinking of. I'm going to collect my thoughts on them and ask you guys which ones you're interested in the most. As for this story, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to follow through with this story until the end of the pregnancy; and then I'll also add an epilogue chapter that will show the family also few years into the future :)