A/N: this epilogue is set around the time that IWTB is in the real series. So, 2008ish
Eight years later…
XXXXX
[Mulder Residence
McLean, Virginia
Tuesday, August 26, 6:48 PM]
'Today's the day,' Scully thought with a bittersweet smile as she made her way to the front door of her home. Today was the day that her Jacob turned 10 years old.
Walking through the door, with his cake in hand, Scully was astounded by how different it looked from when she left not even two hours ago. There were balloons and streamers and signs everywhere.
"Do you like it?" Mulder stepped up behind her and leaned in to kiss her cheek.
"Like it? It looks great!" Scully breathed, leaning into his touch. "You're cleaning this up though when we're done... right?"She couldn't hide the apprehension that was in her tone.
"Of course I am," Mulder quipped. "It's his special day and you'll obviously be of no help cleaning wise."
"Mulder, not my fault. You banned me." Scully scolded lightly.
"I have my reasons."
"I know you do."
"How's Junior doing?" Mulder asked as he took the cake away from her and put it in the fridge. He turned around and sat her on the counter, stepping between her legs.
"Oh, Junior is just fine," Scully answered him with a sigh, running her hands through his wavy brown locks. "A little excited and jumpy, but other than that, perfectly fine."
"Did you hear that, Junior? Mommy says you're excited? Are you excited?" Mulder glanced down, placing a hand gently on Scully's rounded belly. He was rewarded with a swift kick to his palm. "Woah, there buddy. You gonna be a soccer player or what?" Mulder teased.
Scully smiled brightly as she leaned back and watched the tender scene unfold. She loved how animated he was when he talked to their kids, even when they were unborn. It was then that she noticed how quiet it as in the house. That was a rare occurrence in their house nowadays. "Are the kids still with mom and Charlie?" She really didn't need to actually ask him. The house was only ever quiet when they weren't home.
"Yeah, Michelle phoned about fifteen minutes ago and said they'd be an hour before they got back."
Maggie had practically begged them to let her take their kids out for dinner, as a special birthday treat for Jacob. Charlie and Michelle went along, too; it would have been a lot of work for her to keep an eye on all of the children herself in a public place.
"Scully," Mulder murmured into her neck as he began to lay sloppy, open mouthed kisses up to her jaw. "What do you want to do? We have dirty five mi-"
Scully interrupted him almost immediately. "Upstairs. Now."
"That's my girl," Mulder grinned as he slid his hands under her butt and picked her up, her legs automatically twining their way behind him. It was a little bit awkward and more difficult with the baby bump between them, but they managed.
"Mulder you're taking, too long," Scully complained hotly against his lips, causing him to grin and quicken his pace once he got them both up the stairs.
Mulder was absolutely loving her second-trimester hormones. It wasn't like their natural sex life was boring or lacking in any way. Their sex life was great. Fantastic even. But the amped up sex drive and more sensitive reactions that came along with being five months pregnant…. Mulder wasn't about to complain anytime soon.
XXXXX
[Mulder Residence
McLean, Virginia
Tuesday, 7:23 PM]
"Mulder. Hold up." Scully stopped him as he was getting redressed. She pulled him by his shirt over to her naked form, which was still lounging contently on the bed. "Change your shirt."
"Why?" Mulder moved back to go pick out a new one.
"My lipstick is smeared all over the side of the collar," Scully smirked over at him deviously.
"Don't. Don't look at me like that, Scully." Mulder held up a finger at her accusingly. "I can't be held responsible for my actions when you give me that face."
"What face?" Scully asked innocently. "This one?" She drew his attention back towards herself.
"No. No, I'm not looking."Mulder turned around quickly. The kids would be home soon, he reminded himself. They didn't have time for a second round right now.
"But, Mulder!" Scully sulked, dropping her voice down to a dangerously sultry level. She got up and crawled to the edge of the bed, arching her back like a cat as best as she could with her stomach in the way. "What if I want your actions?" Licking her lips slowly, she looked back up at him through her eyelashes.
"Fuck, Scully," Mulder moaned, dropping his shirt back on the ground and moving towards her.
"That's exactly what I'm trying to get you to do, Mulder." Scully giggled at her own joke.
"We don't have time." Mulder had already dropped his underwear back down and was now making his way over to her on the bed.
"Quickie," Scully answered him with a smile. "Slow can wait for later."
"God, you kill me." Mulder exhaled shakily as he wound his hand through the back of her hair.
XXXXX
They had practically just finished their second round when they heard the front door open, along with the shuffling of a horde of children. Their kids were home.
After hastily getting dressed, Mulder and Scully went back down stairs, trying to look as presentable as possible, to go and greet the raucous. Charlie was the first to spot them during their descent; he smirked at the pair of Cheshire grins that they were sporting.
"Dana, you do know that you're already pregnant, don't you? The way you two go at it.. sometimes I wonder.." Charlie shook his head, wincing as Scully reached out and punched him in the arm. Her face was beet red.
"Charlie!," she scolded quietly, trying not to draw the attention of the rest of the group.
"What's going on?" Michelle had heard her husband being chastised.
"Nothing," Scully replied instantly.
Mulder just rocked back on his heels, trying to wipe the smug grin off of his face.
"Nothing, as in these two are worse than gorillas in heat," Charlie smiled over at his wife, enjoying every second of torturing his big sister.
"Oh, my God!" Scully hid her face in her hands out of embarrassment.
Michelle laughed at her discomfort.
"Oh calm down. It's not like we didn't already know. I mean, have you seen how many kids you two have?"
Just then, Maggie came into the room. Scully was grateful for the distraction. "Fox. Dana. Jacob is ready for his cake now, I think. They're getting a bit antsy."
Scully nodded but stopped short of answering when she saw that her mother gave her a weird look. "Mom, what is it?"
"Oh, um… nothing. It's nothing.." Maggie blushed and practically ran out of the room.
"Guys, what was that about? Is there something on me?" She turned towards everyone else.
Charlie cackled loudly and refused to answer her.
Michelle narrowed her eyes a bit and took a step closer, before breaking into a wide grin and started giggling.
"What? What is It?" Scully looked over at Mulder. "What are they laughing at?"
Mulder looked her over a few times before seeing what they had noticed. "I'm sorry!" He immediately apologized.
Her eyebrow worked up to a dangerous height. "For what?" something was definitely up.
"Um, there's, uh, a, uhm…" Mulder stuttered, blushing so much that the tips of his ears turned pink. He put his hand nervously behind his head and ran it through his hair.
"Dana!," Michelle gasped, desperate for air, finally having recovered her verbal abilities enough to form words. She was still giggling, but not quite as much. "Your shirt slid down! There's a hickey on your boob! It's like the size of Texas!" She kept on laughing, laying an arm over her stomach and sliding down to the floor so she wouldn't pee her pants. "Oh shit! I haven't laughed this much since.. I don't know when actually!"
Scully stomped her foot down. "Glad to know I'm of amusement." She wasn't mad, just thoroughly embarrassed. Pulling her shirt up to her neck practically, Scully turned on her heel and went into the living room, towards her children.
Sitting on the floor playing a puzzle, where most of the older kids, Peter, who was thirteen now, and Em, who was newly twelve. Bella was fifteen; she was the oldest of all of the grandkids. She was sitting on the couch texting her friends, no doubt. The triplets, Amara, Adaline, and William were seven. God, they're growing up so fast. They sat at the kitchen table, coloring with their cousins Jane and Jonathan, Charlie and Michelle's six-year-old twins. The birthday boy himself was also sitting down and coloring with them.
Her eyes flicked over to the rocking chair. Her mom was sitting in it holding their youngest, Capri. Capri was three, almost four, and was the most energetic, playful, easygoing kid that Scully has ever laid eye on, hence why they had decided to name her what they did. Capri was an Italian name that was meant for girls who were smiley and happy, which Capri definitely was. With light brown hair and brown eyes, Capri was the spitting image of Mulder. Only, she did manage to get Scully's stature, freckles, and nose (thank God).
Funnily enough, they didn't plan for her. She had been a complete accident, much like the triplets were. The triplets were two at the time; Mulder and Scully had decided to wait until the babies were older and more capable of taking care of themselves before trying for one last baby. But after one particularly long, passionate night, and a forgotten birth control pill… well…. Capri was born nine months later. A complete accident, but one that was wonderfully so.
Scully ran her hand over her stomach as she walked over to the table to greet Jacob. Her and Mulder had already found out what they were having this time. They planned this pregnancy, which was surprising, considering that they've only planned for one out of the three. They were having a boy. One last baby. Mulder had already gone and gotten a vasectomy, at Scully's nagging. She loved their children more than anything in the world, but they were both getting older. And at some point they need to be done, right? Seven kids were a lot, but they both felt happy and excited. Content. They'd already decided that they wanted to name their little boy James. Scully had always loved the name, and after all, they did have four girls and only two, almost three boys. So, his name is going to be James. He's due in late November. They were all very excited.
"Hey, baby. How's my big birthday boy?" Scully asked tenderly as she ruffled her eldest son's hair and leaned in to kiss his forehead.
"Good! Mommy, Grandma took us out for pizza and we got to play in the arcade with Uncle Charlie! It was so much fun!"
"Good, I'm glad!" Scully smiled down at him. "What do you say we sing you happy birthday so you all can have some cake, huh?"
"Yeah!" Everyone choruses from around the table.
XXXXX
Later that night, as they laid in bed, Scully couldn't help but reflect on her life. Her choices. There were so many different paths that she could have taken over the course of her life, but she knew that this was the right one. Never would she ever have felt so complete anywhere but here with Mulder and their kids. This was the only place she wanted to be. The only life she wanted to live.
"I love you," she felt Mulder whisper into her ear as he tucked his arms around her waist and pulled her up against his chest.
She kissed his fingertips as sleep finally overcame her. Yeah, this was where she wanted to be.
A/N: Well, that's it, guys! I hoped you enjoyed this story. It's been a wild ride! I definitely didn't expect it to end up being this long, but it's been fun. (:
