Scully sighed and rolled her neck, then flopped her head onto the back of the couch. She hadn't been sleeping well lately and she was probably coming down with a cold. Add to that the mountain of paperwork that they had to get done after their last bureaucratic nightmare of a case, and she was about ready to crawl into her bed and sleep for a week. Mulder reached over and patted her knee.
"Want to wait until morning? We have the weekend to finish this."
"I promised Wes I would take her to the zoo tomorrow. She's been begging to go for weeks."
"You go to bed. I'll finish this."
"Mulder, you know I can't do that. This is an equal partnership."
"You'd do the same for me."
She sighed and rubbed her eyes.
"No, let's get this done. I don't want it hanging over either one of us all weekend."
"Alright. But don't say I didn't try."
"Can I say you didn't try hard enough?"
"You're a pill."
"You love it."
"I put up with it."
She smiled and stretched, then grabbed another stack of papers that needed notations and signatures.
"Another movie?" Mulder asked, standing up and taking her empty coffee mug off of the table.
"Sure."
"And a refill?"
"Please."
He smiled and dropped a kiss on her head as he passed. She smiled and let out a cough sniffle combo.
"Need some cough syrup too?"
"If it tastes like coffee, then yes. Otherwise, I would rather wait this out."
"If that's how you feel, I suppose there's nothing I can do," he chuckled, returning to the room and handing her a cup of coffee.
"I am pretty stubborn I guess."
"And you've passed it along to your offspring," he added with a smirk.
"She just knows what she wants."
"Emphatically."
"That's a woman thing."
"I know."
He put another movie into the VCR and sat down next to her, propping his feet up on the coffee table.
"We've really got to stop leaving the paper work undone for weeks on end," she said with a sigh.
"We spent an entire day throwing pencils at the ceiling."
"I'm a slow learner."
"An entire day."
"Shut up."
He reached over and grabbed half of the paper from her and started to work on them as the movie played softly. They both needed background noise to work sometimes, especially when they were this tired.
"Mommy! MOMMY!"
Scully jumped up from the couch. Never had she heard Weslynn scream like that. Mulder followed her and they plowed into Weslynn's bedroom to find her thrashing around, the blankets tangled around her arms and legs. She was crying in her sleep, and Scully sat down next to her.
"Wes, baby, you're okay. I'm right here," Scully said as Weslynn woke up.
"It was scary, mommy!" she wailed. Mulder sat down with them and freed her legs from the blankets. "There was big monsters with big teeth and they roared really loud. And they kept chasing me and chasing me and I fell down and they bited me. I ran again and I was in a maze and I couldn't get out. I heard you calling me and I couldn't get out, mommy!"
"It's alright, baby. It's all over. Deep breaths."
"They'll come back! They'll get me when I go to sleep!"
"No they won't sweetheart. It's a dream. It wasn't real, and it won't happen again."
"But they were big monsters! Bigger than Papa!"
Mulder chuckled and rubbed her back gently.
"Mommy, can I please sleep in your bed tonight?"
"Baby, you're going to be just fine."
"Please mommy."
"Alright. But just tonight."
"And Papa too?"
"I have to go home tonight, sweetie."
"But the monsters!"
Mulder caught Scully's eye over Weslynn's head, and she nodded.
"Alright, I'll stay."
"Let's go wash your face off, honey," Scully said, standing from the bed.
"Can I stay up for a while?"
"No, it's late. It's time to go to sleep."
She took Weslynn into the bathroom and Mulder went around the apartment, checking all the doors and windows, as he did every night. He turned off the lights, the TV and the coffee pot before making his way into Scully's bedroom. The girls were already tucked snugly into the bed, and he was glad he had been wearing sweats for the better part of the evening. It would have been very uncomfortable to sleep in jeans.
"Papa, can you check for monsters in mommy's closet?"
He did as she requested, then climbed into the bed.
"Go to sleep, Lynnie."
"Nobody's going to leave me, right?"
"Right," Mulder and Scully assured in unison. She nodded and closed her eyes, trusting that they would keep her safe as she slept. Mulder reached over and took Scully's hand, lacing their fingers together.
"I suppose that paperwork is going to have to wait."
"Welcome to my life as a parent."
He smiled and squeezed her hand.
"Goodnight, Scully."
"Goodnight."
He closed his eyes and fell asleep, content to hold his girls in his arms, even for just one night.