June 27th

Doggett thought that the tv in their room was a good idea. Placed on a bureau, it was at a perfect height for Reyes to see when lying in her side, which was good since her belly obstructed her view of everything if she was on her back. For some reason, she hadn't thought it was funny when he'd presented her with a photo of her feet after she complained she couldn't see them for the fifth time. Mulder had thought it was funny when Doggett told him about it.

The tv was at a good level for him too, when he was spooned against her back, like he was as they watched a DVD he rented.

"Oh no." Reyes said quietly, not taking her eyes off the movie.

"I thought you liked this movie." Doggett said. "If you want to watch something else instead- "

"I don't think we have time for a movie." Reyes told him.

"Why not?" Doggett asked stupidly.

"Because it's time to go to the hospital." Reyes grimaced, mourning what was likely to be the destruction of her favorite quilt.

"Oh..." He said. "Oh!"

"Listen, before you panic, we've got plenty of time. Before you do anything else, write Gibson a note."

"About what?!"

"To let him know that we've gone to the hospital, and he should go there once he gets home from school." She said calmly, then grimaced in pain.

"We could get him released early."

"We have time, but not that much time." Reyes said, rolling off the bed. "Red tape at school takes practically forever. The babies could be in kindergarten by the time we got him out of class."

"Ok, right." Doggett muttered, grabbing a piece of paper and pen, and scribbling down instructions for Gibson. Then he folded it up and put it and a roll of tape in his pocket, feeling proud that Reyes didn't even remind him about the tape.

Reyes, however, wasn't paying attention to his wit, because she was on the phone to the hospital.

A few minutes later, after she'd changed out of her soggy clothes and he'd thrown the wet bedding into the washing machine, all there was left to do was grab her bag and pause to tape the note to the front door. Then they were out of the house, and on their way to the hospital.

It all happened so fast. Well, Reyes probably thought differently, but it seemed fast to him. As soon as they got to the hospital Reyes was plunked into a wheel chair and whisked away.

He wanted to run after her but a nurse with a nazi-like glint in her eyes insisted that he go with her to fill out the paperwork in admitting first. His hand shook as he filled out the forms, making his already not very legible hand-writing worse. He couldn't even blame the fact on a desk set for righties since the writing surface wasn't biased. It was just anxiety.

As soon as he filled out the form he shoved them back at the nurse, and demanded to be brought to his wife. The doctor was already with her, and was in the middle of announcing that it probably won't be long when he burst into the room. When the door swung back behind him with loud clatter, he turned red, but no one seemed to think his enthusiastic entrance was anything to be embarrassed about. The doctor just continued to talk to Reyes about how things might go more quickly than a singleton birth since twins were smaller and the second baby usually seemed anxious not be left behind for long.

After that things were hazy, blurred by dueling anxiety and elation. He knew that he held her and talked softly to her, saying encouraging things, but for the life of him he couldn't recall a single thing anyone said until the doctor held up a red squalling infant and proclaimed her a healthy girl.

She was so small. That scared Doggett for a moment, since he'd never seen a baby that small before in real life, but then he remembered the doctor saying twins were smaller. And when he thought about it, he remembered he'd known they'd be small all along. It was just that her realness startled all rational thoughts from him. He was this tiny person's father, and it awed him.

"John? Could you come here?" The doctor asked, holding out a pair of scissors. "Just cut between the clamps."

Reluctant to leave Reyes' side, Doggett took the scissors and cut the baby's cord with trembling hands. He had expected the doctor to do it, but he was proud to do the honors. Reyes only held their daughter briefly, before the nurse took her to be cleaned up. When she was clean, she was placed in Doggett's waiting arms. He knew that Reyes would have liked to hold her more, but she was a little busy to.

The baby had dark hair, and he had to watch for over a minute before she opened her eyes wide enough to catch sight of their ocean blue. He didn't mind waiting, though, cradling his little girl in his arms was fine by him. As wrapped up as his attention was on the first baby, he nearly forgot about everything else until he heard the doctor encouraging Reyes. Feeling sheepish, he returned to her side, but her look said she wasn't mad. She understood.

"Ok, here comes baby B," The doctor said, sounding excited. "One more big push Monica...Good!" A baby's thin mewing cry pieced the air. "It's a beautiful baby-"The doctor paused. "Boy."

"Boy?" Doggett asked, shocked.

"Boy." The doctor nodded. " Aren't you a surprise!" He cooed to the baby before holding out the scissors to Doggett to cut that cord too, but with his hands full Doggett declined with a head shake. The doctor shrugged, cut the cord himself, and handed the baby over to a nurse before returning his attention to Reyes.

"The OB must have been wrong." Reyes said as the nurse brought her son to her.

Still holding his daughter, Doggett gave his new son a bemused look. "A son and a daughter then." He said, sounding dazed.

"The OB was wrong," The doctor said as he completed his exam of Reyes, who was so distracted by the babies that she didn't even notice what he'd been doing. "But probably not about you having two daughters." He added.

Reyes' brow wrinkled in confusion. She was about to ask him what he was talking about when the next contraction hit her.