A bit of fluff when the Scully/Mulder household comes to visit the Clarke/Skinner household. ❤️
December 31, 2021
1:30 p.m.
Scully smiled kindly as she walked over to Rachel who was holding Jacob. He had finished eating and as Rachel burped him, even from across the room Scully heard the moment his diaper became full, and then more than full. Rachel looked up, her eyes wide and mouth open in astonishment.
"Here, I got him," Scully said, reaching for him as he began to cry.
"Dana, he's a mess. God, I can feel it..."
"Been there," Scully assured her, the smell of his diaper now reaching her nose. Not overly pungent, but definitely not pleasant. "Let me take him and you can get yourself cleaned up."
"Dana…" Rachel started to say, but Scully shook her head, taking Jacob from her and smiling again, the volume of his cries increasing.
"Trust me, I've handled this many times. We'll be back in a little bit. Yes, we will," she said to Jacob, smiling at him even as he cried and she felt his mess dampening her hands. Rachel nodded tiredly, closing her eyes as she sighed and Scully turned toward the stairs.
She cooed and sang to him as she started up to the second floor, Faith running to catch up, following her and asking why Jacob was crying so loudly.
"Oh, he has a very messy diaper and he doesn't like the way it feels, that's all," Scully said, smiling at him and then at Faith. "I'm going to help Rachel by cleaning up the mess in his diaper and then giving him a quick bath. Do you want to be my special helper?"
"Yes, Mama," Faith said with a smile and a nod. "I help you."
"Good."
Setting Jacob on the changing table, Scully unwrapped him from his blanket and undressed him, placing the dirty items beside him.
"Oh, he's dirty. He pooped?"
"Yes, he had a bad poop, but we'll have him cleaned up soon."
"He stinky."
"Yes," Scully laughed as he cried and she changed his dirty diaper, wiping him clean. "Sweetie, can you get me the blanket on the chair over there?"
Faith turned around and went to the chair, picking up the cream colored blanket and bringing it to Scully.
"Thank you. I'm going to wrap him up and we will take him to the bathroom and give him a bath."
"I help you, Mama," Faith said, leaving the room as Scully smiled and wrapped a crying and naked Jacob in the blanket.
"You will feel better soon, sweet boy." Lifting Jacob into one arm, she removed the changing pad cover, and wrapped the soiled items in it, bringing it with her into the bathroom.
"I help, Mama. See?" Faith had taken the plastic baby tub from the shower, where it had been left to dry, and placed it onto the bathroom counter. She was standing on the personalized white wooden step stool with colorful butterflies Skinner had bought specifically for her to use when she visited.
"Faith Katherine, you did that all by yourself?" Scully asked, setting the dirty laundry into one of the sinks and filling it with water to soak for a bit, as she smiled at Faith.
"Yes," Faith said with a nod. "See my butterflies, Mama? So pretty." She pointed down at the step stool and Scully smiled with a nod, turning on the other sink to warm the water in order to fill the tub.
Using the plastic rinser from the side of the tub, Scully soon had the baby tub full of warm water. The bottle of pump soap, a washcloth, and a towel were placed beside it as she unwrapped Jacob. Kissing the top of his head, she placed him in the bath seat in the tub, his cries calming at the feel of the warm water. He stared at Scully as she began to cup the water into her hand and pour it gently over his body.
Faith climbed onto the counter, kneeling close to Jacob as she watched Scully taking care of him, tapping on her arm to get her attention.
"I wash Jacob too, Mama? I help you?"
"Yes, you can help me. You need to be gentle, remember?"
"Yes, I 'member, Mama. His hands so tiny. Look, Mama. They so little." Faith touched his hand and smiled when he latched onto one of her fingers. "He so cute. I love him."
"I know you do," Scully said softly. "And yes he is very cute and tiny. You used to be tiny like Jacob and Elizabeth, you know. Daddy and I would wash you in a tub like this one when you were dirty."
"I have bubbles? You wash me with bubbles?"
Scully laughed softly as she wet the washcloth and squeezed out the excess water before handing it to Faith.
"Well, not bubbles, but soap, yes. We had to wash your stinky body. Especially your booty." She tickled Faith's bottom and she giggled. Jacob turned his head in her direction and stared at her, smiling after a moment and Faith bent to kiss his head.
"He smile at me, Mama. Jacob love me."
"Oh, he sure does," Scully said, smiling with tears in her eyes, the image of them far too sweet. "Let's get him cleaned up, love, he needs to take a nap soon."
Working together, they had him clean quickly. Scully wrapped him in his hooded towel and carried him through the bathroom and into the bedroom. As Scully applied his lotion and put on a new diaper, Faith picked out his outfit and brought it to her, standing on the side of the changing table as she watched Scully dress him.
"There," Scully said, rubbing his belly and looking at Faith. "He's all clean and happy again. Thank you for your help, my love. You were such a great assistant."
"You welcome, Mama. You happy, Jacob? Mama and me clean you all up. You happy?"
Scully lifted him into an upright position, holding his head steady as he stared at Faith again, smiling widely at her as he stretched a bit. Faith laughed and touched his cheek.
"I like his smile, Mama. He so happy."
"Yes, he is. Let's go see what Rachel wants to do with him, okay? See if she wants us to put him to bed?"
"Yes. I can hold him. Sing him a song. He likes songs."
"Yes, he does like it when you sing to him," Scully said with a smile, loving every little interaction they shared. "Come on, my love." She wrapped Jacob in a new blanket and then lifted him, carrying him in one arm, and reaching for Faith's hand with the other.
Downstairs, they found Mulder walking around the living room, holding Elizabeth and speaking softly to her. She was also wrapped in a blanket, though one little arm escaped and waved around. The sound of dishes being put away clued Scully into the fact that Rachel and Skinner were in the kitchen, most likely cleaning up from lunch.
"Dada. Daddy," Faith said, running over to Mulder and he looked at her with surprised knitted brows. "Daddy? I see Liz Beth?"
"Daddy? When did that start? Do I like it better than being called Dada? I think… that I might…" He looked at Scully with a smile and a nod. She smiled back and he sat down on the couch as she gently swayed as she held Jacob.
"Me and Mama give Jacob a bath. He was stinky and messy," Faith said as she climbed onto the couch to sit beside Mulder, smiling at Elizabeth. "Hi, Liz Beth. Jacob was messy, but I wash him with soap. He clean now." Elizabeth stared at her and then yawned, her eyes closing and then opening again.
"Looks like someone's tired," Mulder said and Faith nodded.
"The babies are tired. I not tired, Daddy."
"No, I can't imagine that you would voluntarily suggest taking a nap," he said, catching Scully's eye and widening his own at her. She chuckled softly as she shook her head and patted Jacob's bottom gently.
"Oh, Dana," Rachel said, smiling as she came into the room, drying her hands on a kitchen towel. "Thank you so much for taking care of him. I just… I was so overwhelmed and…"
"Rachel, there's no need to thank me. That's why we're here- to help you two out. It wasn't a problem at all. Faith helped and she even picked out his outfit." Scully smiled at her and Rachel glanced at Faith with a happy smile.
"You helped, sweet Faith?"
"Yes. Jacob was stinky. He pooped," she said and they all laughed as she scrunched her nose, waving her small hand in front of it. "So stinky."
"He definitely was stinky," Rachel agreed and Faith nodded. "Thank you for helping to make him not be stinky anymore."
"You welcome, Raycho."
"They're ready for a nap, I think," Scully said and Rachel nodded. "I've got him and Mulder's got her. Faith was saying she wanted to sing to them, so if you wanted to-"
"Oh… that's so nice. But… I don't know if you heard Uncle Walter. He was talking about building a snowman in the backyard, if you wanted to do that with him, Faith… Oh, well I guess that's a yes." Rachel laughed as Faith gasped and hurriedly scrambled off of the couch and ran out of the room.
Scully and Mulder chuckled as they heard her talking excitedly to Skinner and his answering voice, his smile obvious though they could not see him. Faith clapped and Skinner laughed, telling her to go put on her boots and coat.
Mulder stood up and shook his head as he handed Elizabeth over to Rachel, taking the towel she was holding in exchange. He smiled as Faith ran back into the room and he caught her around the waist, lifting her onto his shoulder. She giggled and waved goodbye to Scully and Rachel as they left the room to get ready to go outside and build a snowman.
Rachel looked at Scully with a smile and a nod, both of them heading upstairs, a baby held in each of their arms. Jacob yawned and Scully smiled down at him as they walked into the nursery.
The curtains drawn, the nature sound machine turned on, they each sat in a glider, sighing as they began to rock the babies to sleep. They could faintly hear the downstairs trio trekking around outside the bedroom window, talking and laughing as they made their very important snowman building plans.
Hearing a sigh, Scully tore her eyes away from Jacob's sweet face and glanced over at Rachel. Her eyes were closed and she was smiling, her fingers running softly across Elizabeth's head. Scully smiled as she watched her, knowing how tired she was, feeling worn thin at times, but the reason for the tiredness was all worth it.
Opening her eyes, Rachel smiled at Scully, shaking her head as she looked over at Jacob, who was nearly asleep, and then down at Elizabeth, who yawned and closed her eyes with a grunt.
"How is it possible to be so incredibly happy?" Rachel whispered, shaking her head again. Scully smiled as she looked down at Jacob, rubbing his back and rocking the chair slowly.
"I don't know," Scully whispered back with a smile as she heard Faith laughing at the high pitched silly voice Mulder was using as he narrated the building of the snowman. "But it sure is wonderful."
"It is indeed," Rachel agreed, sighing happily. Scully glanced at her again, smiling as she watched her kiss Elizabeth gently, shaking her head as she smiled down at her. "I'm so in love with them, it seems impossible that kind of love can exist."
"I know exactly what you mean," Scully replied with a nod, closing her eyes and cuddling Jacob closer with a contented sigh.
The old year was nearing its end and the new one was knocking to enter. For the moment however, time revolved around the gliding of the rockers, chirping birds, babbling brooks, and crashing ocean waves, the muted sound of laughter along with the silly singing of Frosty The Snowman from the trio outside.