XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Chapter Eight: Mom
Author: Gillian Leigh
Author's Notes: Well, this was supposed to be the last chapter, but I'm throwing an epilogue in too. So that will come next.
Disclaimer: The X-Files and its characters belong to Chris Carter and Ten Thirteen Productions. I'm only borrowing them, and I promise to return them intact and in mint condition, though I might hang onto Mulder a little while longer. :o)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Dana Mulder smiled at the little girl sleeping soundly in her arms.
"My beautiful little Meghan," she whispered, stroking the baby's pudgy cheek. Her daughter had been born with a full head of red curls, which were sticking out from under her pink hospital cap. She could hear the hum of excited voices, and knew that her family was approaching. Shifting the baby in her arms, she adjusted the blanket that the little girl was wrapped in, and touched one of her tiny hands, marveling at the idea that this child had grown inside of her for nine months. She still couldn't believe that she was a mother. Hearing a childish giggle from the doorway, Dana looked up and saw that Eve, Elena, Jake, Gwen, Monica Reyes, John Doggett, her mother and father, and husband were all crowded in the doorway of her hospital room.
"Hi, guys," she said, and smiled. "You can all come in." They were all ear-to-ear grins as they quietly approached her hospital bed. The only sound in the room for a moment was the sound of Meghan sucking profusely on her pacifier. Mulder broke from the tight-knit group and stood beside his wife.
"Do you want to do the introductions?" he asked. "Or should I?" Dana looked up at him and smiled.
"May I? I've never gotten to do this before…" He smiled.
"Of course. Everybody gather around," he replied. Moving the blanket away from the baby's face so it did not mar everyone's view, Dana cleared her throat and then said,
"Everybody, this is Meghan Riley Mulder. Meg, these crazy people are your family, and they'll probably drive you totally nuts, but it's just because they love you." Maggie and Bill Scully smiled at Dana, and Maggie had to wipe away a tear. Meghan was their first flesh and blood grandchild. Bill and Charlie weren't married, and neither was Melissa.
"She's so little," Gwen commented, clinging to Elena's hand as she looked over her baby sister.
"Another girl," Jake muttered. "Four sisters." His father reached over and mussed his hair, smiling at him.
"She's gorgeous," Eve said, smiling at her father and stepmother. "Congratulations." Everyone else echoed the sentiment, and then Maggie and Bill stepped forward, and Dana looked up at her father and said,
"Would you like to hold her, Ahab?"
"I don't know, Starbuck… It's been a long time since I've held a baby…" His daughter smiled at him.
"They don't make them any different now than they did back then," she replied, and he leaned down to take his granddaughter in his arms.
"She's absolutely beautiful," he said, quietly. "You two do wonderful work." Mulder smiled at his wife, and then at Bill, who passed Meghan to Maggie.
"I'm a grandma," she whispered. She studied her granddaughter.
"May I hold her?" Monica asked.
"Of course," Mulder said, and Maggie gently passed the baby to her. Dana laughed at the look on her face, and said,
"John, you'd better be careful. I think Monica's pupils just turned into bassinets." John's eyes went wide, and Dana laughed again.
After a few more minutes of congratulations, Dana noticed that Elena hung back slightly and she said,
"Elena, can I speak to you alone, please?" As the crowd in the room dispersed, the girl stepped close to the bed, and Mulder placed Meghan back in Dana's arms before leaving the room himself. "Are you alright?" Dana asked. "With all of this, I mean. You seem really quiet." Elena tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before responding.
"I feel a little weird about this whole thing. I guess…I feel a little out of place."
"What's wrong?" Dana asked.
"It's kind of silly, actually. I just feel odd, because I'm the only one who's not related by blood to you or Fox. I feel sort of… detached…" she said, playing with the blanket Meghan was wrapped in. "I feel like I'm not as much a part of this family." Dana's voice was gentle, but it still commanded Elena's attention.
"Elena, look at me." The girl's eyes met hers. "I felt the same way at first, you know, when I married Fox. I felt like an outsider, like I didn't belong. I was afraid the kids would hate me, and think that I was trying to take their mother's place. And you can't forget, Lanes, that I'm not related to Fox's other children by blood either. But there's something I want you to remember." She paused to take Elena's hand in hers. "You are just as much my child as Meghan. I may not have carried you for nine months, but I love you like you're my own flesh and blood, and that will never change. I don't think of you any differently than I think of Meghan, Eve, Gwen or Jake. You don't have to feel out of place, or any less loved. You are a part of this family, Elena. Always and forever." Her eyes were filled with raw emotion, and Elena blinked back a tear as embraced Dana.
"Thank you," she said, quietly. After a moment she raised her eyes to meet Dana's and said, "Can I ask you something?" Dana nodded.
"Anything."
"Is it alright if I call you 'Mom'?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
