7.

Monday dawned grey and miserable, the air chillier than the previous few days. Scully lay in her bed for a few moments, not really looking at anything and stared into the dim morning thoughtfully. Within two minutes of waking, she heard the now familiar sounds of Lucy waking from her sleep across the hall.

Grateful for the rug underfoot, Scully pulled on a robe and jammed her feet into a pair of old slippers.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Scully whispered to the baby, picking her up and cuddling her close. Lucy gurgled happily against Scully, her cheeks still warm and flushed with the last vestiges of sleep. Scully inhaled the warm baby scent, and sighed a little at the unmistakable odour of a diaper that needed changing.

"Let's get you fixed up," Scully told the little girl, rocking her gently as she quietly gathered up diapers and clothes so she didn't disturb Jacob who was still sleeping deeply on his bed.

She had Lucy powdered and diapered and was warming some milk for her, when a light knock on the front door startled her. It wasn't even seven yet, who on earth was calling at this time of day?

Checking to make sure her robe was securely fastened, and that there was no baby mess on her, Scully pulled the milk off the heat and went to the front door.

"Mulder!" she said with surprise, stepping back to let him in. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Thought I'd come over and help with the kids," he explained, shrugging off his coat and hanging it on the coat stand. "Hello Lucy," he said, reaching for the baby and kissing her head affectionately.

Scully stared at him. "Mulder?"

"We're adopting the children together, Scully," he reminded her gently, tickling Lucy's tummy gently. The baby giggled in his arms and patted his cheeks with a happy sound. "I want to help."

"You don't have to do this Mulder," Scully pointed out, leading him back to the kitchen. "Coffee?"

"Thanks," Mulder said, nodding. "I know I don't have to do it, Scully, but I want to do it. I told you, I want to have children too."

She poured him a steaming mug of coffee and fixed it the way she knew he liked it, before turning back to Lucy's milk. "I just… I'm finding it hard to accept that, Mulder," Scully admitted.

"Why? Plenty of men want to have families."

"You never said anything before though," Scully said again, stirring the milk and testing it against her skin. "It's just caught me a little from left field," she admitted.

"I'm not getting younger, Scully, and it's unlikely I'll start a family of my own in the future with things the way they are. This is an opportunity I never considered, and now that it's come up, I think maybe it's the best one for me. I'm not doing this out of some misguided sense of loyalty, Scully, I want to do this. Almost as much as you do, I think."

She didn't think it was possible for him to want this to be real as much as she did, but she knew better than to contradict Mulder before he'd finished his coffee.

The milk was warm and she filled a bottle quickly for Lucy. "Here we go," she said, handing the bottle to Lucy. "Aren't you going to work today?"

"I am," Mulder agreed, nodding, "I wanted to tell you to take the day off though. I was going to explain to Skinner and start working on some of the logistics."

"Logistics?"

"Marriage license, house, things we'll need for the kids, positions in the Bureau for us."

"What do you mean positions in the Bureau?" Scully demanded, staring at him.

"You can't stay in the X Files, Scully, we both know that. And I don't want to stay there without you."

"So you're just letting them go? Just like that?"

"Yes."

"Mulder, the X Files are your life!" Scully almost shouted.

"No, they're not," he disagreed. "I wanted to find my sister, Scully. That was the entire motivation for me staying with the X Files. It became more than that over the years, but I think the biggest mysteries are solved or dead. I don't need the X Files anymore."

"What about Samantha?" Scully asked quietly.

"I think you know the answer to that," Mulder said, staring at the baby. "She would have come home a long time ago, if she could. I'll still search for her, Scully, but I need to have a life now too."

She stood next to him where he sat in the chair, and he surprised her by leaning against her and closing his eyes. "It's us now, Scully," he said quietly, pressing his face into her stomach. She ran her fingers through his hair and held him too her, tracing patterns on his neck with her fingers. "It's just us."

In his arms, Lucy gurgled around her bottle and clumsily tangled her fingers in Scully's robe. Scully reached down and stroked the baby's head, watching with Mulder as the little girl drank her milk and chattered happily in baby talk to the both of them.

---

"You should go, Mulder," Scully said, looking at the clock. "If you don't leave now you'll be very late."

"I'm normally late," Mulder pointed out reasonably, and Scully couldn't really argue with that fact. "What are you guys going to do today?" he asked her.

"We need to go visit the store," Scully said, efficiently plucking a glass out of Lucy's reach. The baby didn't appreciate the glass being moved away, and let out of a wail of annoyance. Scully jiggled the child on her lap and tried to distract her with a colourful block Lucy had taken a liking to the day before. "Lucy needs some more toys, and I think we need to get some things for Jacob too."

The doorbell rang as Mulder was standing.

"That should be Alice," Maggie said, also standing. "She said she'd stop around early this morning to let you know what was happening with the agency."

"It's very early though," Scully murmured, glancing at the clock as Maggie left. "Mulder, you really should be going."

"I'm going, I'm going," Mulder grinned. "I need to kiss my girl goodbye though," he said, leaning down and smacking a kiss on Lucy's cheek.

Scully felt warm inside at his words; my girl, he'd said, and kissed Lucy.

"Are you going to kiss me too?" Jacob asked warily, eyeing Mulder.

"Well, you're not a girl, are you?" Mulder told him.

"No," Jacob nodded.

"Can I hug you though?"

Jacob considered. "Okay," he said, nodding.

Mulder hugged the boy, ruffled his hair, and dropped a quick kiss on his forehead. "I'm not a girl!" Jacob reminded him.

"I know, but I didn't want you to feel left out."

"You haven't kissed Dana yet," Jacob said.

"I can fix that," Mulder said simply, and turned to Scully. She smiled at him and turned her face so he could peck her cheek, but he surprised her when he rested his fingers under her chin and tilted his face toward hers, brushing her lips with his. "Bye, Mommy," he whispered against her lips, brushing them again with his own, and again.

Scully closed her eyes, savouring the feel of his lips touching hers.

"I hope to God you have an explanation for this, Agent Mulder," a startling familiar voice broke into Scully's small bubble of bliss, and she jerked away from Mulder's lips.

"Sir!" she gasped, staring up at Skinner who was towering in the doorway and looking absolutely stunned.

"I was going to see you about it this morning, actually sir," Mulder said smoothly, standing up straight and touching Lucy's head with his fingers.

"Sit back down, Mulder, we can talk here," Skinner said gruffly. "That is, if Mrs. Scully doesn't object."

"Of course not," Maggie said, bustling into the kitchen. "Sit down, Mr. Skinner, and I'll get you some coffee."

"Would you excuse me for a few moments?" Scully asked awkwardly, staring at Skinner and feeling very ill at ease dressed only in her robe and her pajamas. Not to mention her bed hair, and the streaks of cereal Lucy's enthusiastic approach to eating at left all over her robe and face.

"Of course, Agent Scully," Skinner said smoothly.

"I'll take Lucy, Scully," Mulder said, reaching for the baby.

"Come on, Jacob, let's go get dressed," Scully said as she stood up, well aware of the little boy once again clinging to her legs in a manner reminiscent of his first meeting with both Mulder and Alice.

---

Sitting on the couch next to Mulder wasn't really unusual. It wasn't unusual for the two of them to face Skinner across a desk and present a united front of defence against his questions and disparages. It was, however, unusual for Mulder to have an arm wrapped around her shoulders and his free hand tracing gentle patterns on the palm of her hand while they talked to Skinner.

Skinner, Scully was relieved to note, looked about as comfortable with their 'display of affection' as Scully felt about giving it. True, she liked being held by Mulder and enjoyed the warmth of his body pressed against his own. She also liked the way his breath sometimes passed through her hair and caressed the skin of her temple. But she'd never really gotten comfortable with public displays of affection, even when she was involved with someone. To so blatantly flaunt a lie in Skinner's face this way was even worse, in some ways.

"And the only reason you're stepping forward about your relationship now is because you want to adopt these two children?" Skinner clarified.

Mulder nodded.

"I have to admit, Agent Scully, I was surprised when I was told by Agent Leeman that you had taken the two children into your custody," Skinner said carefully, looking at Scully. "It's why I stopped by this morning."

Scully shrugged. "You're aware that I've tried to adopt before," she said simply.

"I believe the circumstances were different."

"They were," Scully agreed slowly. "However, the fact is that I've been considering adoption for some time now."

"I'm confused, Agents," Skinner said finally. "You fought so long and hard to get the X Files back. Now you have them, and suddenly you both want to up and leave and just live happy families?"

"Our priorities have changed," Mulder explained. "I think that the reasons for my and Agent Scully's pursuing the X Files have been satisfactorily concluded, and our need to be involved therefore, has diminished. Now that the threat truly is gone, sir, Scully and I can think about having a family without having to worry about enemies and conspiracies and threats against loved ones."

Skinner finished the last of his coffee, and considered them thoughtfully.

"There's always been a lot of talk about the two of you around the office water cooler," Skinner said finally, staring straight into Scully's eyes. "I never put a lot faith in the gossip; God knows they've had me and Kimberly sleeping together for years too. I'm surprised to find they were right for a change."

Scully tried not to blush, and Mulder's fingers tightened around hers. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you, sir."

Skinner nodded, and Scully wasn't entirely convinced he believed that they were involved. "If you need a character witness, I'll be happy to step forward and validate your relationship."

"Sir?" Scully asked, her eyes wide.

Skinner shrugged. "Your partnership achieved stellar work, Agent Scully, and you know as well as I that technically, there's no rule which you or Agent Mulder broke. As your supervisor, there was no need for me to separate you, or feel that your personal relationship in any way weakened your working relationship."

Scully smiled at him. "Thank you, sir."

"Don't worry about coming in today, Mulder," Skinner said, rising to his feet. "I'll put you both on leave until things settle down, and I'll look into options of employment within the Bureau for the two of you myself. It would be a shame to lose you."

"When we have our first barbecue, consider yourself invited," Mulder told Skinner blandly. "Scully makes a mean potato salad."

"I'm happy for you two," he continued, a rare affection in his eyes. "I'm happy you've both found something you've been looking for."

---

Thank you so much for all the reviews! I'm absolutely stunned at the response to fic, and I hope that you all keep enjoying it as much as you apparently are!

Hopefully this chapter answered some of the questions a few of you had about where Mulder & Scully's work with the X Files was going – I'm only at the beginning of this fic, there's still a lot more to come!

Please keep the reviews coming – they totally make my day.