Two weeks later...

"...A number 3 with a coke and two happy meals, both with just ketchup and mustard on the burgers, and I'll need a toddler toy for one of them." Mulder shouted into the speaker.

"Toddler toy?" a voice crackled back.

"Yeah, is that a problem? The signs always say you can ask for them."

"No problem, just double checking." Came the reply. "That'll be $8.73 at the window. Please drive through."

As he waited for the order at the window, Mulder glanced back at Emily. " Um...we won't tell your Mom about lunch, ok? She's not a fan of fast foods."

"Of course I won't tell her. I'm not stupid." Emily told him with a broad grin, making Mulder chuckle. "'sides, she promised to make me eat carrots tonight, I don't want extras."

Mulder was still smiling as he handed over the money and put the food on the passenger seat. "What do you guys say to eating in Playland?"

"Yay!" Emily shouted as he pulled into a parking space.

The kids finished eating their meals before he did, partly because he'd had to help William with his burger- Mulder divvied up the boy's fries between himself and Emily because he worried about them being a choking hazard to the toddler- and partly because they were eager to play. Mulder finished his food as the two kids romped through the bouncy castle that was shaped like Grimace. They bounced and fell, only to clamber back up to do it all over again, laughing. It thrilled him that Emily was so gentle with her brother and only went were the little boy could easily follow without Mulder.

As he got up to join them, so Emily could play on the climbing structure, he couldn't help but marveling at how easy it had all been. The night they got Emily, he'd gone to bed, bracing himself for another long drawn out court battle, but it hadn't turned out that way. The judge had taken one look at the old papers Scully had from her previous attempt to gain custody of her daughter, and smiled, declaring that there was no reason to believe that she shouldn't have her little girl living with her. As simple as that Emily joined their family, or as simple as that after Scully filled out a mountain of paperwork; something which Mulder thought was only fitting, considering how much of the paperwork on both children he himself had dealt with. Mulder remembered smiling ruefully after the judge's declaration and wondering why they couldn't have gotten a judge like that the first time around. Or even the second.

After a mere two weeks with them, Mulder was already beginning to forget what life was like before Emily moved in with them. Unlike with Will, who was just a baby, he and Scully had worried about how she would adjust to the third living arrangement in her short life. To their relief and delight, she'd had no noticeable problems with the disruption of her life, and in fact seemed quite happy to be with them. Every time they asked her how she felt, she told them she was glad to have a family, and actually seemed to mean it. Mulder's revive was broken by Will's demand of "Up!" as the boy pointed to one of the bizarre ride on toys. As soon as he set the boy on, Emily cambered on behind William and held him on securely.

Mulder reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his new digital camera, something he'd bought the day after the unpleasantness in North Dakota. More recently, he'd found that it was a vital piece of equipment for a stay at home Dad, and he was already developing a nice scrapbook of the two children. He was careful to avoid taking any pictures that reminded him of his own childhood photos.

**

Doggett lit the green tapers in their holders on the table and stuck a single red rose in the delicate vase he'd bought at Hallmark on his way home from work. He only had time to douse the lights and turn the stereo on to a classic love song before the doorbell rang. Grinning widely, he went to answer the door.

"John, what's this? I take it we're not having take-out chicken like you said." Reyes said with a mixture of pleasure and confusion on her face.

"Sure we are, Mon. Why don't you take a seat?" Doggett said, rushing out of the room.

Reyes sat and looked at the rose, wondering about its significance. Doggett returned a moment later, carrying Chicken cordon blu for two. "There's a fancy restaurant offering gourmet take out about a block from here." Doggett explained. "If we had to rely on my cooking skills, we'd be eating microwave tacos. "

Reyes nodded with approval. "Take-out is the way to go in that case."

Clearing his throat nervously, Doggett said, "I'm sure you're wondering about the candles and the rose..."

"Well, yes, I did wonder about that. I have a feeling we're not going to be talking about work." Reyes said with a tentative smile.

"Not unless you want to discuss the exciting background checks we've been doing lately. I don't think Mulder and Scully even spent a meal doing that. But I digress." Doggett apologized. "So..."

"So?"

"So I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. Monica, do you want to have kids?"

"In general...or with you?" She asked with a quizzical look.

"I um, well, after Scully got Emily back, I started doing a lot of thinking. About kids. I still love kids. I miss being a father. I realized I want another baby, so I can love someone more than life itself again." Doggett said, his voice more animate than usual.

"And you want me to be this baby's mother?" Reyes asked.

"If you want to be. I mean, we could do the whole wedding and a cute little house thing, or...I could keep the baby." Doggett replied with a goofy look on his face. "But, you know, only if the whole family thing doesn't work for you, that is."

Reyes got up and threw her arms around him. "John, don't be silly, of course I'd love to marry you and start a family. My biological clock has been ticking lately, and I've spent a lot of time fantasizing that you'd want the same thing."

"Really?" Doggett asked, looking hopeful.

"Of course, John." Reyes replied. "John...John..."

Doggett startled and came back to reality. "What?"

"I asked you if you were awake." Reyes told him with a curious look.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I was just lost in thought." Doggett said, looking at the folder Reyes was holding. "Was there something you wanted to show me?"

"Yeah, this is a file on someone Skinner said we're supposed to keep an extra close eye on. He's supposed to be related to one of the suicide bombers, and he already has a rap sheet a mile long...are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Doggett said with a sigh as he took the folder from her and glanced at the walls of their office. The daydream had felt so real...

**

Scully thought she heard screams as she walked up driveway, which quickened both her pace and her pulse. As she swung the door open, she realized her mistake; it had been childish laughter that she'd heard. She'd forgotten that Mulder had arranged a playdate.

Brian and Georgie sat on the couch on either side of Emily as they watched Toy Story 2. Scully herself was not completely immune to the movie's charms, but she didn't find it screamingly funny as they did. A quick look around the room didn't reveal Mulder, so as much as she hated to interrupt their fun, she paused the movie and asked, "Where's Mulder?"

Emily didn't quite manage to look her in the eye, which flagged Scully's sense of alarm. "He and Will are upstairs." Emily replied in a small voice, which tempted Scully to sprint up the stairs.

"Thanks. Sorry to about interrupting your movie, you can put it back on now." She told them calmly before going upstairs.

As she got to the hallway she heard splashing water, so she walked towards the bathroom. As she stuck her head in the room she saw a pile of small, brown-stained clothes on the floor next to the bathtub. Mulder was kneeling by the tub, shampooing William's hair while the boy splashed water into his father's face.

"Dada." William said with another vigorous splash.

Mulder blew the water off his lips. "Will, Daddy doesn't think this is funny..." Mulder noticed Scully standing there, and gave her a tight smile. " Scully, as a heads up I think I ought to warn you that Will is now tall enough to reach things on the kitchen table."

"What happened?" Scully asked as she tried not to laugh at how wet Mulder was getting as he rinsed the suds out of William's hair.

"Since Brian and Georgie were coming over, I decided it'd be nice to make the kids a treat. You know, something that didn't require having many teeth to enjoy, so Will could have some too. After I made it I set the bowl of chocolate pudding on the table and turned to get a spoon to serve it when he pulled the bowl off the table..."

"Did he hurt himself?" Scully asked, looking the squirming wet boy over for cuts as she lifted him out of the tub.

"Nope. Neither he nor the bowl sustained any injuries. We should thank your mother again for the Tupperware." Mulder grinned. "The floor on the other hand, might be a little worse for wear, since I haven't gotten around to washing it yet. I just wiped up the worst of the mess before dragging this one upstairs for a bath."

Scully wrapped William in a fuzzy yellow towel. "What to you say to me dressing the little terror while you get into some dry clothes?" She asked Mulder.

"Thank you, Love." Mulder said as he bent to kiss her cheek. "You're a life-saver." Scully smiled as she carried William to his room to hunt for a clean outfit.

**

"I'll see you both later." Doggett said with a yawn as he reached to put the car into drive. "Tonight was a lot of fun." He added, referring to the showing of Much Ado About Nothing that they'd seen at the playhouse that evening.

Reyes leaned in through the window and kissed him on the cheek. "Bye, John."

Gibson, who was already at the door, dug his keys out of his pocket so he could pretend not to be paying attention to their low-key goodbye. He was nearly as frustrated by their sense of propriety and restraint as they were, because it was obvious that they were not happy with the way things stood between them. He wished he could have chalked up their tendency to keep each other at arms-length as being the result of his presence, but he knew it wasn't the case. They weren't any more demonstrative or forthcoming with their feelings when they were alone. It simply wasn't in either of their natures to take risks. As he tossed his keys from one hand to the other, he decided they needed a push.

Doggett was about to drive off when Gibson ran back to his car. He gave the boy a questioning look and asked, "Did you forget something in the car?"

"No. You mentioned tonight that you did a lot of fishing when you were my age. Do you still do that?"

Doggett thought about quiet weekends he'd spent alone with just a fishing pole and a cooler for company. "Yeah, I do. Why, do you want to go some time?"

"If you wouldn't mind the company." Gibson said, sounding slightly eager. "I've never been before."

"Naw, I don't mind company at all. How about this weekend? You could borrow one of my fishing poles, and we could stop off and get you a fishing license on the way. Just check with Monica first, ok?"

"Ok!"

"Saturday morning, then." Doggett said with a smile before driving off. Gibson hummed the matchmaker song from Fiddler on the Roof to himself as he walked back to the apartment.

**

Reyes was making pancakes the next morning when Gibson surprised her by asking, "Do you ever make breakfast for John?"

She flipped over the pancakes and said, "No. I don't usually make breakfast for anyone, not even myself, as I'm sure you've noticed. I couldn't sleep so I got up early and was feeling domestic, so you lucked out." She said, grinning at him while she passed him a plate.

"He'd like you to, you know." Gibson told her as he cut his pancakes. "Or for him to cook for you." He added.

"Oh really?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yup. He thinks about that a lot."

Reyes joined him at the table, and found herself suddenly curious. Before she thought the question through, she asked. "What other sorts of things does he think about?"

"Well..." Gibson said slowly, putting his fork down. "He thinks about you a lot. And the future. But he's afraid you'd think he only wants to be with you because he wants a family again."

"He wants a family?" Reyes asked in surprise.

"Very much. But he wants you more." He added, blushing, and starting to squirm in authentic embarrassment, which amused Reyes. "He's not sure how you feel about him, and what you want out of life, though."

"I'm going to have to give some thought about how it'd be best to show him how I feel." Reyes said, feeling far less intuitive than she usually did. " Don't tell him we had this conversation, ok?"

"Mum's the word." Gibson said, smiling at her. One down, one to go, he thought.