Disclaimer:  I do not own these characters so I'll return them if more that slightly warped.

Chapter 6

As it happened, Skinner didn't change his mind. He was adamant about not burdening Maggie. He moved in with Scully and Mulder and at first required help with everything from going to the bathroom to shaving. He improved slowly but surely and after two months was taking daily walks with Mulder. Maggie came every day to help, but Walter sent her home every night.  They had very little time to themselves. One day in mid- June, Mulder and Scully decided it was time for them to have a little time alone, so Mulder treated Scully to dinner at her favorite restaurant, leaving Maggie to tend to Walter.  That would be good deed ended in disaster.

Skinner had taken his daily walk with Mulder and had returned tired and more winded than usual.  He was feeling his age and condition more than he had felt it in weeks.  Maggie was in the ladies' room when Mulder and Scully left.  Skinner was half sitting, half lying on the couch when Maggie came down from the bathroom. She'd heard Fox and Dana leave, and was personally glad for this time alone with Walter. She only wished that he...no, Maggie don't get on that again, you'll just end you arguing with him.

He looked a bit tired and pale today and she couldn't help worrying about him, though she'd try not to let it show. He appeared to be sleeping when she got into the parlor, but turned his head and smiled at her, "Hey," and pulled himself fully into the sitting position.

"Hey honey, how are you feeling"?

"I'm all right. A bit worn from keeping up with Rocket Man Mulder out there, but all in all not bad," he told her raising his arm so she'd come sit beside him. Maggie smiled glad that he was almost back to his normal self though still was a little concerned as he was extreamly pale. "Hmmm. Would you like me to make some homemade soup?"

"Nah," he shook his head, "I'm not hungry. Just come and sit beside me a moment," he whispered, closing his eyes again.

"Okay but are you sure"? she asked, sweetly, he really should eat something.

"Margaret, what did we talk about just yesterday? I'm fine, if I'm hungry, I'll ask for something to eat."

Margaret let that go and cuddled up against him, her head against his shoulder. He'd gained some of the weight back, but the muscle tone in his shoulders was still not as it had once been. She loved him so much and it scared her to death that she'd nearly lost him, the same way that she had lost Bill. A small grunt of discomfort and a slight shiver from Skinner caught her attention and she sat up straight, "What? What is it"?

Skinner shifted uncomfortablely, "A little pain, that's all."

"Where? Where does it hurt"? She soothed.

"My chest, Maggie. I had heart surgery, where do you think it hurts?" Then, "I'm sorry, Baby, I didn't mean to snap."

"It's okay" Maggie replied a little put out.

"No, it's not.I'm sorry I upset you," he told her, "All I seem to do lately is upset you."

"It's okay really. I understand what you're going through," she told him gently, he looked even paler.

"You have no idea, Maggie," he told her, grunting a bit again, placing his hand to his chest.

"Well then describe it to me, describe the pain," she instructed, wanting to know, wanting to help.

"It's not the pain, Maggie, it's being so...it's having to...it's relying on you for everything when you are in no condition to deal with something like this."

"But i like to help"

"I don't need your help, Maggie, not at the expense of the baby," he said stiffly, leaning on his cane attempting to rise from the sofa.

"I'm not trying to take away you independance Walter"

"I know that, Love, but you can't take care of me all the time, you have to take care of yourself now, and our little boy or girl. That's what's important."

She sub-conciusly touched her stomach and gently sighed. "What's the matter?" he asked, stopping on his way to the kitchen to give her his attention.

"It's just. I feel that you're slipping away from me," she mumbled to her stomach.

Skinner decided to ignore his pain and headed back to his lover on the couch, "Maggie, I'm not slipping away from you, I'm trying to protect you. I love you, Sweetheart and I love the baby and, Maggie you aren't twenty anymore, neither of us is and," he bit his lip, "I just...if something happened to you, I don't know what I'd do."

"Walter, i don't need coddling," she insisted.

"Yes, Maggie you do. Look at you, you are exhausted, your ankles are swollen, I know your blood pressure is high, you need to take care of yourself now. I can take care..." he stopped midsentence to catch his breath.

"Walter?"

He breathed a bit faster, the pain from the scar burning, his chest aching, "I can take care of myself he finished, rising up from his crouch and making his way to the kitchen for his meds.

"No you can't"

"Excuse me?" he raised his voice and his eyebrow pausing again.

"You can't take care of yourself"

"What do you mean? I can't take care of myself! I'm doing it now aren't I?"

"No you can't take care of yourself. You're still sick and weak and"...

"You're right, I am sick, I'm sick of you treating me like an invalid. I had a heart attack, I'll live..."

"Yeah today you will"

"Maggie, look. I don't feel well, I'm tired. I'd like to take my medicine and take a rest, but I can't do that if I know you are going to sit in that chair and fret and fuss. That is bad for my heart."

"Well why don't you rest and I get the meds"? She asked exasperated

"No, not if you're going to make a big deal out of it. You need your rest as well."

"For gods sake Walter! Do you see Fox fussing over dana? No"

"Dana is not fifty-two years old, Margaret." he shot back.

"I'm fifty-one"

"Still, it is very dangerous to have a baby at your age. You could die, the baby could die, and if that happens..."

"Oh for gods sake Walter. You think i don't know that"?

"Then please, Maggie, take care of yourself and our child, the baby is helpless. I'm not. If we are going to be married, you have to learn to listen to me."

"I do listen to you"

"No you don't. If you did you'd have gone home and rested when I asked you. I don't need you here, Margaret. I love you and I love spending time with you, but if you insist on continuing to smother me like, this, I can't take it Maggie. I can't take worrying about you."

Maggie struggled to remain calm, she didn't want to excite Walter and she didn't want to excite herself for in doing so, she'd only end up exciting Walter, so instead she launched another query that had been haunting her mind. "Well then Walter, tell me this. Why didn't you tell me about the last attack? Were you afrraid what i would say"?

"Maggie, we'd just begun dating when I had the first heart attack. I wasn't that serious and I knew that you'd lost your Bill to a bad heart and...damn it Maggie, I loved you too much to risk losing you."

"Walter, please don't bring Bill into this," she pleaded, tears welling in her blue eyes.

"He's an issue here, Maggie. Oh, Honey, please don't cry," he pleaded, seeing the tears start to fall. "I'm only trying to protect you, there are a lot of things I can't tell you, just for that reason."

"Well for gods sake honey! If i'm you rwife and you can't tell me things, then i see this engagement going nowehere"!

"Margaret, please, you know in my job, just like in Dana's, there are things that are confidential," Skinner told her, feeling in his gut where this was headed and feeling powerless to stop it.

"Oh please Walter, now who's not listening! I'm not talking about your work. I'm talking about you! Your life, your health, your worries, your fears. I'm never a part of any of it"!

"You don't need to be exposed to that, don't you understand. I can't let you see that side of me. You know who I am, but if you know what I've done, I'd lose you Maggie, I know I would."

Tears were beginning to form in his brown eyes, and he studied the floor so that she wouldn't see them. He had lost her, in that one sentence, he knew she'd leave him. It was just a question of when.

"Walter i do want to know all those things, In marriage, you're not suppsed to keep any secrets. Now I understand, in your line of work, there are secrets to keep, but your personal life, married people, people in love share all of those things, my love."

"Maggie, some things...there are things that I haven't told anyone, can't tell anyone. I have a hard enough time excepting them myself. I never even told Sharon." Skinner once again, raised his hand to his chest and gently massaged the area where the pain was increasing. He was exhausted and moved to a chair and sat down heavily.

"Okay for the third time Walt. If we cannot communicate in this relationship, then I see it going nowhere," she told him, ignoring the signal whistles in her head telling her he was truly not feeling well.

He looked up at her, his face stoic, eyes red and burning with unshed tears, "What are you saying Maggie? Spell it out."

"I'm saying that if we cannot talk, then there's no point to continuing this engagement." She said it firmly, definitively as she slid the diamond off her finger and placed it on the polished wood table in front of him. She said nothing else, she just took a deep breath and left him, alone, in the room.

Chapter 7

Skinner asked for her the day and Scully finding her mother's absence strange  had obligingly called her. She didn't answer so Scully drove over to her apartment.

"Mom! Mom, are you home?" Dana called as she entered her family home with the key her Mom gave her many years ago.

"I'm in the attic, Dana. Come up and see what I found."

Dana climbed the winding stairs slowly careful of her now rounding stomach. Maggie was seated on the floor amidst baby clothes and toys, smiling, if a bit forlornly at the memories the items brought back to her.  She should be sharing this with Walter, but instead, his stubbornness and her pride had caused them to separate before their child was given life. 

"What are you doing up here? Walter's been asking for you and I've been calling you for hours. You had us so worried." Scully sighed. It wasn't like her mother to be like this.

"Oh, now he's asking for me. He didn't get enough of berating me the other day for not taking care of myself and his baby. Every day since he's been out of the hospital it's been, Fox and Dana can handle it, Maggie. You don't have to do that, Maggie!" She slowly let out her breath.

"I love him and I need to take care of him for myself, for my own peace of mind."

"Mom. I know but this is just his way of doing things. You know that, just like you knew it was Mulder's weird way of protecting himself by rejecting the baby in the beginning. He hates being weak and helpless and at least for the last two months, he was."

"Dana, I don't know what to do. I feel so confused. I know I shouldn't be upset with him, he's been through so much and he's still so ill. I shouldn't be reacting like this, but I can't help it, I'm just so angry at him!"

"Mom," Dana said, gently, putting her arms around her mother. "I only want to say this once; you are not behaving like yourself. Maybe its hormones, maybe its the stress of pregnancy this late in life, maybe you just don't love Walter the way you thought you did, but Mom, what you are doing, the anger, the hostility, it's killing him."

"I love him, Dana, it's not anger or hostility, it's...it's..."

"Fear? Mom, are you afraid Walter's going to die, like Daddy?"

"Your father never had a chance to recover from his heart attack, he just died and I couldn't take care of him or tell him I loved him and that I'd miss him, and I suppose that I'm afraid Walter's going to get worse and I won't be able to tell him how I feel." Margaret stifled a sob as she thought of her late husband. Suddenly it all made sense to Scully, she could help now.

"Then let's go over to my house and you can tell him. Go to him and tell him, you love him, you want to be there for him, it hurts you when he shuts you out, and that you're afraid to lose him."

"I can't do that. He can't handle that stress, he needs..."Dana cut her off.

"He doesn't need to be coddled or treated like a child. He just needs to be loved."

Maggie's face suddenly shifted as she faced her only daughter. "Oh, Dana, what have I done? How could I have been so cruel? I yelled at him and told him that if I wasn't good enough to take care of him, then I guess I wasn't good enough to be his wife. I gave him back the ring."

"Is that what happened last night? I knew he wasn't as well as he'd been, but I had no idea that the two of you had a fight like that."

"Was he sick last night?  He didn't seem to be himself, but I thought that was just because he was angry." Maggie suddenly felt sick and clammy. Had she caused Walter to take a down slide in his progress?

"He was downhearted; I think would be the word. He didn't want to eat and he didn't come out of his room like he usually does. I thought he was tired, he does tire very easily. Oh, Mom, I'm sorry. But hey! Mulder and I fight all of the time and we're still together." She added as if that was some form of consolation.

"Thank you for your fine example sweetie but you are not as sorry as I am Dana, about last night, about everything that's happened. I was so angry with you and Fox for taking Walter's side and even angrier at him for..."

"Mom, tell you what, let's go over to my house, you and Walter can talk and then we'll all eat together, like a family should."

Margaret dried her eyes and got up off the floor, it was then that she noticed the small bulge in her daughter's belly, telling the world of her condition.

"Oh, honey, look, you're really starting to show. Sure you aren't farther along than five months?"

"Yes, Mom.  Now if only I could feel more than a flutter, I'd like one honest to goodness kick. Let's go, you and Walter have a lot to talk about."

Scully took her mothers arm and helped her downstairs.

"Ow! Jesus." Scully rubbed her stomach over the small bulge.

"Are you all right?" Asked her mother.

"Yeah. The baby just kicked, hard," she laughed.


"Well, then looks like you got what you asked for doesn't it?" Her mother replied, more tartly than intended. Off the look on her daughters face she softly amended the sharp retort.

"Hormones." As a means of explanation.

Scully smiled and led her mother to the car out on the drive.

While Scully was in charge of talking sense in to her mother, Mulder was left in charge of Walter. The two men walked in silence around the Mulder's block. Walking was supposed to be good for Walter, but even short, slow strolls sapped his strength. Today was worse than yesterday, today they had to stop several times for Walter to take a break and he complained more of pain and tiredness.

"Walter, you have to have a twenty minute walk twice a day. We've only been out here five minutes, usually I have to drag you back in. What's going on?" Mulder was worried, but he let it go. Walter's face was pale as Mulder studied it, but he let that go too.

"She gave me back the ring," Walter said softly, pain in his voice.

"What? Mom did that?"

"Yeah, she doesn't want to marry me."

"She's just upset, the pregnancy hormones are wreaking havoc on her personality, I know all too well," Mulder tried to make light of the situation, Scully could be unreasonable on a good day, more than likely Maggie was the same way.

"Scully driving you a little crazy?" Walter asked, his step swaying a bit. He slowed down.

"She's doing that nesting thing, she keeps cleaning, and then I can't find anything. I don't care if she cleans the house, but not the study or the office. Those are Fox Mulder's private domains."

"If you said that to Scully I'm surprised you still have the equipment to make babies with," Walter quipped, he knew Scully's temper. Maggie had the same one.

"Yeah, well, you have to grin and bear it, it's only supposed to last two months."

"So, really Walter, what is going on with you and Mom? I understand you didn't want to burden her 24 hours a day at first, with the baby and everything, but she's probably hurting that you don't want to lean on her. I know how hurt Scully was after I got back from Alaska and didn't want her to see me..."

"I told her that I wanted to give her time to take care of herself and my little one. The last thing I need is her getting sick or hurt or anything. I told her you and Dana could handle it and that she didn't have to do so much for me."

"And what she heard was I don't need you and I don't want you, and probably in the hormone enraged brain of hers, I don't love you."

"Oh, Fox, do you really think she thinks that," he said, stopping for a minute to look at Fox, "I have to..."

Just as he said that he felt his legs go out from under him and Fox's arm support him, "You okay, Walt? Want to rest?" Mulder asked, helping him sit on a porch step.

"Just a minute..." he was gasping and his color was draining from his face, leaning heavily on his son in law.

"Walter, breathe slowly. Sit down on the step. Are you in any pain?" Mulder asked worriedly.

Walter nodded and indicated his chest.

"Can't breathe," he wheezed, lips turning blue and his head lolling from side to side.

"Relax, Dad, I'm going to call 911," Mulder said gently, a hand on Walter's shoulder.

"Maggie, please, call Maggie..." His voice was weak, he was pleading with him, tears of pain in his eyes.

"I will. Ambulance first hold on, look at me..."

"911 emergency, may I help you?"


"Yes, this is Special Agent Fox Mulder; I have an emergency at 413 West Carter Road. The Assistant Director is having a heart attack. He's just had a heart attack two months ago and is having shortness of breath, fatigue, weakness in his legs, and chest pain. He had open heart surgery, "he explained, trying to remain calm.

"Agent Mulder, an ambulance is en route. Now keep him relaxed, lay him down and elevate his legs," the operator directed.

Mulder followed the instruction and was relieved to hear sirens approaching at a rapid pace.

"Dad, the ambulance is here? Walter? Sir?" Mulder was screaming, trying to get an answer from his boss and soon to be father-in-law.

The only word Skinner uttered, in his last grip on consciousness was Maggie.

Meanwhile, Dana and her Mom reached the house and found it empty.

"Mulder and Walter must be out on their walk. I swear Mulder gets a real kick out of that time together. I know they talk about me and "hormones" but it's worth it to see Mulder have a father figure. He needs that to be a good dad, I mean, grandpa and Daddy had a great relationship, and Daddy and the boys. I wanted that for Fox and hopefully, he'll get that from Walter." There was unmistakable hope in Dana's voice and Maggie smiled. She and her daughter were too very lucky women.

Suddenly, the color drained from Maggie's face and she stumbled.

"Mom," Dana rushed to her mother's side, "are you all right? What's wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong. Not with me. It's Walter, something's happened?" Maggie was scared; she could feel her body grow cold, just like, just like... Just like it had when Bill died.

"All right, Mom. Come over here and sit down. If Mulder and Walter aren't back in ten minutes, I'll go out and drive along their route and see if I can find them." Dana kept her voice even, but she knew that if her mother was having one of her "feelings" she had a good chance of being on target. She knew about Duane Barry, and about her feelings for Fox. The excitement though was not something that Walter would want Maggie to feel.

"Dana, I know you don't believe me, that I can feel these things, but..."

Just then, the phone rang cutting Maggie off. She lunged for it and picked it up.

"Hello, Mulder residence," she said anxiously.

"Mom, good there you are. I need to talk to Dana for a second first..."

"Fox, is something wrong with Walter? Tell me, please, I need to know."

Her tone begged him; she had tears in her voice, tears of real genuine fear. He had to tell her where they were.

"Mom, listen carefully, Walter and I are at the hospital. He had another heart attack we think, he had pain and weakness while we were walking. Dr. Sklodonski is in with him. He was calling for you until he became unconscious."

"Oh, God, tell me, is it..."

"I don't know, Mom. Listen, the doctor is coming out, have Dana drive you and meet us here," he instructed in a no nonsense voice before hanging up.

Maggie rose on shaky legs and looked at her daughter. "Dana that was Fox. We have to get to the hospital, Walter, he's...he's sicker, or, I have to get to him." Maggie was becoming agitated and worried.

"All right, Mom. Put your jacket on and I'll take you there right now. Try and calm down, this excitement is not good for the baby."

Maggie took a few deep breaths and quickly followed Dana out the door, leaving the tea mugs on the table, still brewing, abandoned and forgotten in their state of panic.

The twenty minute drive to the hospital took only ten and felt like fifty. Dana let Maggie out first, and then went around to Visitor's Parking. She knew how upset her mother was and that wasn't likely to change until she got to Walter.

Maggie practically ran down the hallway until she saw Fox sitting with Dr. Sklodonski and another young girl she didn't know. They all had a serious look on their face, and Maggie got a cold, sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Ah, Mrs. Scully," Dr. Edward Sklodonski said as he rose from his seat and shook her hand, "Where is Dr. Mulder?"

"I'm here," Dana called out, approaching the quartet seated on the uncomfortable waiting room chairs. "Please, tell me, how's Walter?"

"Well, he had an anxiety attack. Normally, we'd just prescribed rest and tell him to reduce stress, however, with his heart all ready weakened, and attack put more strain on the muscle and caused a second attack. And to add flame to the fire, his blood pressure spiked to unparallel levels and he..."

"No!" Maggie cried out, covering her mouth with a shaking hand. "He can't be! I never told him I was..."

"Mrs. Scully," Dr. Sklondonski said, patting her knee, "He's not dead, he's still with us. What I was trying to say is, the spike in blood pressure cause him to suffer a stroke. This young lady is Dr. Lisa Wallace, she's a neurologist in charge of Walter's case, Lisa."

"Thank you, Ed," the young blonde said, as she turned to look directly at Dana Mulder, "Dr. Mulder, I presume?"

"Yes, I'm Dr. Dana Mulder, and this is my mother, Margaret Scully. She is AD Skinner's fiancée."

"Mrs. Scully, the Assistant Director has had a stroke that primarily affects the speech area resulting in a condition know as aphasia. He is also having difficulty chewing and swallowing, a condition known as dysphasia. There also appears to be some signs of left hemiplegia, causing numbness and loss of motor function on the left side of his body. There is a small bit of good news from the initial exam; he has some tingling on the left side of his body and a little movement in his left hand, not much. But there is some hope.

"I have an outline procedure that I like to follow..."

"Dr. Wallace," Mulder cut her off, "With all due respect, this is a little much for my mother-in-law to take in with her being pregnant and all. Why don't we hold off on the course of treatment options until she's had a chance to see for herself that he's alive and as well as can be expected." Mulder had set his arm around Maggie's shoulder and held her close when he felt her shudder.

"This is all my fault. I can't believe I did that to him, I can't believe I hurt him like that. That was so inconsiderate of me, how could I?" Maggie lamented, burying her head in her son-in-law's shoulder.

"Mom," Dana said, touching her mother's shoulder, "This could have happened anywhere, fight or no fight. Just be thankful it happened when someone was around to call the ambulance. Do you think you could...?"

Before Dana could finish talking, she was interrupted by a young candy striper that had come from Walter's room.

"Dr. Sklodonski, the stroke in 405 is mumbling something. I can't quite make it out but it sounds like a name."

"Mrs. Scully, would you like to see Walter now, because if what Katie told me is correct, he wants to see you."

"How could he after what I did to him?" she sobbed.

"He loves you, Mom. You'll make him better," Fox assured her, "Come on."

Dr. Sklodonski followed the trio to the room. He was aware of the range of emotions that could be experienced when a family member saw a stroke victim for the first time.

Walter was hooked to more tubes and machines than he had been after the heart attack. There were not only the pulsometer and heart monitor on him, but now an EEG as well. His eyes were open and locked on Maggie when he saw her. She moved to the right side of the bed so she could hold him hand and have him feel her love.

"Hi, sweetheart. How are you feeling."?

"Like shit," he thought to himself. All he could manage out loud was, "MMM..."

"Yes, darling. I'm here, I'm here. I love you, so much Walter. I want to be your wife, and I can't wait to have your child. He or she is growing every day, and he or she can't wait to see you, Daddy."

"LLL...ovvv... ooo, ttt.ooo," he managed with great effort.

"I thought the doctor said he couldn't speak," Maggie asked her eyes glowing.

"Mrs. Scully, this particular speech area is responsible for the formation of words, not the retrieval of words. The facial paralysis doesn't make it any easier for him. He knows what he wants to say, he just can't say it. He may not be able to write either, we'll see about that. Encourage him to use his speech. He may slur and stammer, but you'll have to be patient with him."

Skinner was lying there listening to the doctor talk around him. It was frustrating, he could still think, damn it!

"Mmmmm...eerrr, ooo."

"I know, darling. Dr. Sklodonski, please inform Walter of Dr. Wallace's prognosis."

"Well, Mr. Skinner, you may have problems swallowing and chewing, and also walking and maintaining balance. With work however you will be able to walk again and live a normal life with the lovely Mrs. Scully and your baby."

Dana and Fox had remained silent throughout, watching the AD struggle to speak and cope with his disabilities. They watched Maggie hold his hand and kiss the palm and murmur of her love for him. This information was coming all at once and he needed her now.

Tears coursed down their cheeks as he uttered to her that he loved her too. He motioned to Mulder to come closer and mumbled the word "pocket."

Mulder went into the AD's pocket and pulled out a small diamond ring. He'd carried it with him, to keep her close to him even when they were driven apart by their differences. He put it in the AD's right hand so he could put it on Maggie's finger.

"Mmm...aaree, eee," he asked, love shining in the depths of his eyes.

"Yes, oh, yes," she said, smiling and returning his love tenfold.

Chapter 8

Three weeks later, Walter Skinner left Northeast Georgetown Hospital his
doting fiancée at his side. As per Dr. Wallace's prognosis, his speech and
swallowing remained affected, and his left side retained some residual
paralysis. He had almost full use of his left leg, with the use of a brace
and four-legged cane, but his arm hung mostly useless at his side. His
speaking had cleared significantly since the first week he was in the
hospital, but certain sounds or long complicated words were still stuttered
or slurred, mostly the one with -th or -sh sounds. If he was tired or upset
about something, all of his deficits were more pronounced making it difficult
for him to hide his feelings from Maggie.

Maggie had been wonderful through out the whole thing. While the stroke had
been a major health setback, it had done wonders for their relationship.
Skinner had allowed her to give in to her caretaker tendencies and she'd
blossomed. He watched her unfold like a flower offering him support and
tender loving care. He hated doing it, but she seemed less tired and
stressed since she took over his care than when he was staying with Mulder
and Scully.

Now she stood nestled against his right side, her arm around his waist while
offering him support disguised as affection. They were waiting for Fox and
Dana to come and get them from the hospital. They were going to have lunch
and discuss their wedding, something Walter had insisted on doing in the near
future. He wanted Maggie to be a Skinner before their baby was born. It was
something he regretted not doing before he got sick. They'd been waiting for
about ten minutes when Maggie began shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"Where are those two kids?" she asked impatiently, "Some of us aren't thirty
any more and it's hot out here."

"I'm fine, Maggie, don't worry," he replied, assuming she was worried about
him.

"I know you are, Sweetheart. It's me I'm not so sure about. Carrying around
all of this extra baby weight is taking it's toll."

"Do you want to go inside and sit down?" he asked concerned.

"No, we'll miss them then," she answered, her hand massaging her rounding
belly, "Let's just go sit on that bench over there." Maggie holding his arm
and turning toward the seat. They took a few steps and she cried out, "OH!"

Walter turned and placed his shaky right hand on her back. His heart skipped
a beat. What else could go wrong?

"Maggie, what's is it?" he asked his speech slow and slurred.

Maggie took a few deep breaths, then look up at him, tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Walt, the baby..." she began. He cut her off.

"What about the baby, Maggie? Is something wrong? I'll get the doctor."
Walter started to go inside, but Maggie called to him, stilling him.

"Walter, no. There's nothing wrong. Come here, feel." She was smiling as
she placed his large hand on her belly. Then he felt it, what had caused
Maggie to cry out, not in pain but in surprise for he then did the same
thing.

"Oh, my God, Maggie. Is that...was that?" he sputtered with barely contained
excitement.

"Yes, my love that is our baby. Our little boy or girl is...is..." she was
beginning to cry.

"Is what, Baby? What?" Walter crooned, sensing her distress.

"Alive, Walter. Our baby is alive and real and oh God how I love you," she
said with conviction, leaning into his strength as much as she felt was safe
to do. Walter held her, his arm wrapped securely around her until he heard
Kim's voice call out to him.

"Sir, do you need any help with the bags?"

She had Byers with her; he was coming up the walk closer to them.

"Hello, John," Maggie greeted warmly, "where are Fox and Dana?"

"Mulder called me early this morning and said he had to take Scully to the
doctor. He asked if I wouldn't mind picking you guys up and bringing you to
their place," Byers informed them

"Why did Dana have to go to the doctor?" Maggie asked anxiously as she and
Walter began to move toward the car. Kimberly opened the back door for
Maggie and Walter insisted on helping her inside. Then worked his way to the
other side of the car and realized maybe he should have asked Maggie to help
him instead of the other way around. He couldn't seem to get his left leg up
over the rise of the car. Kim noticed his dilemma and like the great
secretary she was pretended to drop her purse on the ground near the AD. She
then gently pushed the offending leg up over its hurdle and settling him in
the car.

"I've gotten clumsy in my old age," she muttered to herself,
settling herself in the car.

"You never answered my question," Maggie probed as Byers started to drive
away from the hospital, "why is Dana at the doctor?"

"I don't know," Kim answered truthfully. "Mulder just told John that we
needed to get you from the hospital."

"He seemed a little on edge, but not panicked. It can't be anything
serious."

Just as those words left Byers's mouth, Dana was lying on an examination
table in Dr. Ragner's office. She had a scare that morning when she was in
the shower. When she was washing herself, she'd seen some blood on the
sponge. Mulder had wanted to take her to the hospital, but she wanted to
call the doctor instead. Paula Ragner, her OBGYN, said to come in right away.

She'd just finished her internal pelvic exam and was about to conduct an
ultrasound. Fox held his wife's hand and felt the slight tremor there. She
was scared and he couldn't blame her. Their family had been through a lot in
the past three months or so and he knew she was wondering could all of that
stress have impacted negatively on their baby.

"Dana, whatever happens, I want you to know I love you very much. I'm sure
this is nothing, but just know that ok?" he told her voice filled with
emotion as he squeezed his hand.

"I do, Fox. I love you too."

Just then Dr. Ragner entered and smiled at the worried young couple before
her. "Well, let's see. The initial exam did not show any problems but I
want to do a sonogram just to have a peek at the baby. The spotting seems to
have stopped Dana, so I don't think there's anything to worry about."

Fox watched as the doctor spread this green looking jelly on Dana's stomach
and
asked anxiously, "That's not going to hurt her is it?"

"No," Dana laughed, "It tickles."

Dr. Ragner moved the stylus across Dana's belly and suddenly an image
appeared on the screen. She made some notes on her clipboard and then
stopped and said, "Oh, shit!"

"Oh, shit!" Mulder exclaimed, "Oh, shit? Oh shit is not good, why did you
say oh shit." He let go of Dana's hand and started to pace.

"There's a little something on the ultrasound you should know about," Dr.
Ragner told him.

"Is something wrong?" Dana asked anxiously.

"Um, no. This isn't news I get to give every day. Dana, Fox, you are having
twins."

"Oh, Fox..." Dana breathed, as she watched her husband pace and sputter.

"Twins? Twins? How could we have twins? We're barely ready for one baby!
Twinsss..."

That was the last phrase he uttered before Fox Mulder collapsed to the floor
in a dead faint.

Chapter 9

Mulder's next conscious thought was of driving through town. He'd come to in
the doctor's office, but his mind was still foggy. Twins! He didn't think
he was ready for one child, let alone twins. Scully was beaming. He watched
her as she manipulated the Jeep through the streets steering it steadily
toward their home.

He watched her for few moments before she turned to him and smiled, "You back
with me, G-man? You were a million miles away."

"I was just thinking, honey," he said mutedly. "We were both so scared this
morning and then to find out we're not only having one healthy baby, but two.
It was a little much Scully."

"I know, and so does Dr. Ragner's floor," she laughed. "When do you want to
tell Mom and Walter?" she asked, wishing he'd say exactly what he did.

"As soon as possible. Byers and Kim were bringing them to our place. Your
Mom is going to flip. I can't wait to see Skinner's face."

"Well, you won't have a long wait. We're here, G-man."

Mulder got out of the car and walked around to Scully's side, intent upon
helping her out. She'd barely made it to the ground before her mother and
Kim rushed out onto the porch.

"Dana, sweetie, are you all right?" Maggie asked, nervously, praying that her
daughter and her child were all right.

"I'm fine, Mom," she placated, "Did you and Walter get in all right?"

"Yes, but what happened with the doctor?" Maggie asked insistently.

"That's something I only want to say once. Let's go inside so Walter and
Byers can hear it too." Dana set her arm around Maggie and led her back into
the house. Mulder and Kim followed behind.

Skinner was seated on Mulder and Scully's easy chair, his legs and arm
propped up to keep the circulation flowing. He still looked so sickly
sometimes and seeing him sort of slumped over to one side gave Maggie a
pang.

"Dana, what happened?" he asked, his speech slurred with apprehension.

"Mom, why don't you sit down with Walter and Mulder could you get everyone
some drinks?"

"Dana, you are upsetting your Mom, sweetie," chastised Mulder. "Let's just
tell them."

The tension in the room was growing. What awful thing had happened now they
all wondered?

"Do you want to do it, Fox?" she asked, trying not to smile.

"I think it should come from you, Dana," he replied keeping his voice even.

"Well, as you know I went to the doctor today and she wanted to run some
tests to make sure nothing was wrong and well, she found a little something
in the ultrasound that you should know about."

Maggie gasped and leaned into Walter's shoulder. He patted her arm with his
good hand. Byers and Kim leaned a bit closer to each other as well, bracing
themselves for the news.

"What is it, Dana?" Skinner asked, keeping his speech as clear as he could.

"Well, congratulations Grandpa, Mulder and I are going to have twins," she
could barely contain her happiness.

Maggie leapt out of her chair and almost tripped over Walter's legs as she
reached out for her daughter. "Oh, Dana, I am so happy for you. This is
truly a double miracle. Oh, Fox, congratulations," she said hugging her
son-in-law tight.

Dana was then embraced by Byers and Kim and finally she stood in front of her
stepfather.

"What do you think?" she asked him. He was looking at her, tears in his
eyes. He felt like his own child was standing before him telling him this.
He wanted to get up and hold her and tell her he wished her the best, but
instead she leaned down to him and kissed his forehead.

"I think that's the best news I've ever heard," he said holding her as best
he could.

When the hugging and backslapping ceased, Scully looked at Byers and Kim.
She could tell they were sitting on something.

"Ok, you two, out with it," she commanded.

Kim blushed and leaned a little closer to Byers.

"Well, as you all know, John has asked me to marry him, and well, what happened with you, Sir, scared us into
setting a date very quickly. So, we've decided to get married in a quiet
little ceremony about three weeks from Saturday." Kim could hardly stop
smiling.

"That is terrific, Kimberly," Dana said smiling and hugging her now very
close friend.

"There's only one little problem with this whole idea," Byers interjected,
"We don't have any real idea on how and where to do this. We just want it to be soon."

"Well, we'll help, won't we?" Maggie told her. "We can have the wedding in
the yard at the Baltimore house. Dana and I will do the food and the
flowers...it will be very nice, you'll see."

Kim's eyes misted over and for an instant Maggie though she'd said something
wrong. "You don't like that idea, Kim?" she asked

"No, it's not that, it's just that, this is something I always thought I do
with my Mom."

"We can..." Maggie began, but Skinner cut her off, "That's every girls dream
Kimberly, but you have us, huh? We'll make this a very nice wedding for you
and Byers."

Kim seemed placated by that and smiled. Shortly after Maggie and Dana sat
down in the kitchen with Kim to go over the guest list and food choices and
the men sat in the living room watching the Yankee game. Mulder and Byers of
course cheered on the Yankees, but Skinner prayed silently that the team
would lose. He hated the Yankees and really didn't know why, he just did.
He and Mulder had many a disagreement over the team.

After the women came out of the kitchen, Maggie noticed Walter getting tired.
He was slumping over in the chair and his speech was becoming more
incoherent. She mentioned this to Kim, who immediately gathered her things
to leave. She gave Maggie and Dana hugs and left with a smile on her face.

Maggie knew that the next three weeks would be hectic, but they would sure be
worth it. Now if only she could convince Walter it was time to plan their
own wedding. Hmm, well, she'd save that for tomorrow; tonight she'd be
content to curl up on his chest and sleep.

Chapter 10

On the day of Kimberly and Byers wedding, Maggie Scully stood with Kim in
front of the mirror in Dana's old room. She secured the beige veil on Kim's
head and smiled at her.

"You look lovely," she said, tucking a hair in place.

"No, I look fat," she whined slightly as she stared back at her reflection in
the mirror.

"If you look fat, what do I look like," Scully complained. "Carrying twins
is hard work." She laughed.

"Carrying anything is hard work, dear," Maggie told her, "And just think we
all have what, a good two months left on this sentence?"

Just then Skinner walked in leaning on his cane, "How's everyone in here?" he
asked, his speech still exaggerated, but much better, "The groom is in the
master bedroom trying to remember how to breath. And to think, I get to have
this fun myself in two weeks."

"You don't want to get married, Walter," Maggie teased.

"To you? Ah," he said approaching her slowly, "With a bride as lovely as
you, how can a man resist?"

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her lips gently. Dana and Kim blushed
at the display of love between the older couple.

"Mom!" Scully whispered extremely embarrassed.

"Well," said Maggie pulling away, "let's get this show on the road. Walter,
why don't you go and see if John is ready."

In Maggie's room, John Byers was staring at himself in the mirror, Mulder
next to him and Frohike and Langley behind.

"The ladies are ready to start as soon as you can breathe again, John,"
Skinner told them as he walked through the doorway.

"Oh god. "Byers turned as white as a sheet at the thought. He reached up to
check for the ring again. For the hundredth time, but Mulder stopped him.

"Hey, you remember what to do. You're going to be fine. Oh and don't check for the
ring again. It's there in your front pocket. But even if it isn't, I'm
kidding man. Don't worry. Hell when I married Scully, I lost the wedding
ring. I thought she was going to murder me. But I made it through the day and
look where I am now. I have a lovely home, a beautiful wife and two kids on
the way. Trust me John. It's worth 20 minutes of swearing and sweating."
Mulder laughed.

"Sure. You're right man. I can do this." He drew in a deep breath and walked
out of the room into the hallway.

Maggie's living room was lined with white folding chair and adorned with
white roses and lilies. The music began to play and the guests turned their
heads to look at the aisle where Kimberly would come down. She descended the
stairs herself, and then took Skinner's arm when she approached the bottom.
She'd never been happier or sadder in her life. She was thrilled for
everything she had, a new family and a caring,wonderful man, yet
she was sad for everything she'd lost, her parents and her sister.

The room was filled with bureau employees who rose when Kim and the AD
entered the main room. Byers looked at her and felt his nerves melt away.
She was perfect. This was perfect. This was right.

Skinner placed a chaste kiss on her cheek before taking a seat beside his
Maggie. Scully stood up with Kim along with Holly and Angela. Mulder stood
with Byers, as did Langley and Frohike.

As the priest spoke the words that would make them man and wife, he tightened
his grip on Maggie's hand and whispered in her ear, "Not too much longer
until that's us up there, Mrs. Skinner."

She turned her head to kiss him and smiled into his lips, "I can hardly
wait."

Skinner continued to kiss his fiancée passionately and neither realized when
the priest announced Byers and Kim were man and wife. The applause startled
them out of their embrace and they focused their eyes on Kim and John. They
were kissing also and when they finished they weren't blushing as Skinner and
Maggie were, they were beaming.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, for the first time, I present, Mr. and Mrs. John
Byers."