It always seems to take forever, but eventually Scully is moved from the delivery room to the private room she will be spending the rest of her hospital stay in. A nurse offers to bring the baby to the nursery, for Mulder shakes his head. He's going to have to go home soon, and he would like to spend as much time with his new son as he can before then.

"So," Scully says with a yawn. "Can you give me a couple of hours before you bring the troops to meet the newest recruit?"

Mulder smiles to himself, thinking that her father probably would have liked the metaphor. Not being in the military himself, he's not entirely sure how many people are in a troop, but he feels that they probably could contribute greatly to one.

"Absolutely." He glances outside, thinking about how light it is still in mid-afternoon. If it was winter, it would be getting dark in a couple of hours, but since it's summer it won't get dark until around nine. "I've been thinking…We'll skip the fireworks this year–" Mulder starts to say, but his wife shakes her head. "No?"

"No. They've been looking forward to it all week. You have to bring them."

"But-"

Scully looks at Isaac, securely nestled in his father's arms. "Seeing the fireworks means a lot to them, and to April particularly."

It's then he understands. "Okay," he tells her, saying too that he agrees that they don't want to add to April's resentment of the baby. He really thought she would have come around by now...maybe when he brings the kids to meet Isaac and she can see that Scully is fine. He really hopes so.

The discussion comes to a swift end when a nurse who is tasked with checking on Scully's vitals declares her to be overly dehydrated, and although Scully argues that she could drink more to make up for it, the woman begins to insert an IV into the back of her hand.

Watching this makes Mulder feel a little bit ill, which is ridiculous considering the birth he has just witnessed was much more brutal, and he has had much worse things done to himself too. Still, he leans over and kisses Scully, carefully looking away from the IV that is still being taped into place, and promises to let her get a little bit of rest before he brings the kiddos to see her.

Later

It was a fairly easy delivery all things considered, although three hours in active labor's still no picnic. Much as she loves her newborn, she's thankful he's the last, because if anyone's getting pregnant next time, it's going to be Mulder. Finally, Scully thinks, as the nurse finishes making her notes and checking the IV, leaving her alone with her newborn son. She knows she's got less than a few minutes' peace once the woman leaves the room, so she takes a deep breath, smiles down at her son. Even though we named you Isaac, I'm glad I'm not as old as Sarah was when she had her Isaac, she grins sleepily, humming tunelessly under her breath as she strokes the fine dark blond hairs on her son's head.

As soon as she closes her eyes, that's when the door opens and her children pour through. Scully frowns, and gives the clock an accusing look. How did time jump ahead two hours when she shut her eyes for just a second?

"It's a boy?" Page scowls after coming to a sudden stop, and so does April. "Why?"

After blinking in shock, Scully frowns back. "Hi, to you, too," she says.

"Sorry, Mom." Page swiftly kisses her mother's cheek. "But another boy? There's only four of us girls."

Mulder, that jerk, doesn't bother hiding his amusement. "We can't pick and choose the baby's gender," he says primly as the boys grin at each other. While Scully may be happy that so far there's no massive sibling rivalry, it does mean that there's some "boys against girls" mentality here. Jeez. After all these years, and to her family. Oh well, gender rivalry is nothing new to the Scully family, but at least her children are growing up in a more equitable time. "Sorry." And he ducks his head at her when he notices her annoyance.

Scully shakes her head. "Be nice." She ignores her husband's "innocent" look and looks at their children. "Kids, this Isaac. Isaac, these are your brothers and sisters. And you've already met your silly daddy."

"Oh, come on!" Mulder whines as his traitorous children laugh with their mother. He can almost swear the baby is amused, too. He pouts at them all. "Thanks for the support, guys."

They all take turns holding Isaac, even Zoe and Brianna, although they have to be reminded it is a real live baby and not a doll. Needless to say, it isn't just the parents who are holding their breaths as the youngest Mulders are holding the baby. And there is a collective sigh of relief when Scully finally gets Isaac back in her arms.

Scully's relieved when they leave, the nurse taking her newborn to another wing of the maternity ward. Much as she loves her family, she's been through a lot, and all she wants to do is sleep.

She's slightly less relieved when she overhears Page tell her youngest sisters "we used to get to come see new babies all the time" and then one of the twin girls reply something that sounds a lot like "maybe we'll get to again!"

Like hell, Scully thinks as she smothers a yawn. Mulder has already gone back to his doctor, so if they get any more surprises down the road they'll sue. For cruel and unusual treatment of a middle-aged woman, she thinks before drifting off to sleep.

Several hours later, Scully wakes up to see someone unexpected. "Hi, Luke," she says to the nervous young man standing in the doorway. He looks like he was on the verge of bolting, but speaking to him seems to have changed his mind.

"Hi," he says, looking somewhat sheepish. "How are you?"

She smiles briefly, then looks around for the water. She sees an empty cup, and starts to grumble as she finds she'll have to pour it one-handed, as the IV's still in her arm. "Oh, thanks," she says in a rough voice, as Luke comes over and pours it for her, handing it over when he's done.

"I, um, wanted to see how you and the baby were," he says. "I saw Isaac in the nursery…he's really cute."

Scully doesn't say anything as she drinks, but when she's done, she sighs. "Thanks. And I'm good. How are you?" she finally asks.

At the back of her mind she finds herself idly thinking that her husband's new niece or nephew will probably be blond too, because both parents are. When Luke was little Scully had been sure he'd out-grow his blondness, or at least darken as much as his father, but he hasn't yet even as an adult.

He shrugs, now a little uncomfortable. "It's weird," Luke admits. "I mean, Dad and Monica are okay now, but…" His face twitches a little, and she sees Doggett's lemon-face on his son in a milder version. "It's kinda hard. I mean, me and Adrianna still talk to each other, but it's on speakerphone now." Neither of them say why it's obvious that that's happening – although she thinks Samantha is being ridiculous there given that short of taking up drugs or bank robbery it's not as though Luke is going to be any more of a bad influence on Adrianna than he's already been – and he blushes. "We found out we're expecting a boy, too."

Scully smiles a tired smile. "That's great," she says warmly.

"Yeah, it is." Luke smiles back. "Gosh, I can't wait to be a dad." Scully hides a smile as she wonders how Doggett has managed to raise a boy who prefers gosh to god in this day and age. "I mean, I know it's gonna be hard and everything," Luke continues, "but I think we can handle it. I mean, we're not really together now," he says and his expression clouds briefly as he paces around the bed. "But both her parents and mine agreed that they'd help us take care of the baby. I think it'll work out. I mean, I'm a hard worker, and I've got a great dad, and I'd like to think I've picked up some stuff from him on how to be a dad myself." He stops pacing and sits down. "Sorry to be blabbing when you're supposed to be resting."

She shakes her head. "I'll rest when I need to. And right now, I need to be awake because I've been asleep for over five hours, and I've got a feeling that Isaac's been awake longer than I have." This makes her feel a little guilty, but she remembers pumping before she went to sleep, so it's not like he's been hungry or fed formula while she's been out cold. Then a thought comes to her. "You should probably cherish this time, too, because when it's your turn to take care of the baby, you'll have little time to sleep. That's not counting school and work, which I'm assuming you're continuing?"

He nods, and she remembers that Doggett mentioned that both he and Gibson had gotten their graduate school acceptance letters a while back. It only surprises her a little that he intends to go through with his plans despite what's gone on since he applied. "I wasn't sure I was going to, but Dad and Monica think it's really important, so I'll have to work it out."

"Yes, well, babies need a lot of care, which means someone needs to be awake to care for them, day or night. And you've mentioned picking up tips from your father, well, just remember how tired he'd be after a full day's work with just you and Hannah, then add his sleeplessness right after Rebecca and Jon-Jon were born, and you have a rough idea of what you're heading into." And yet, she knows that's not enough to prepare him, nothing's enough to prepare a first-time parent, no matter how loving their support. There are some things they'll have to find out for themselves.

But she doesn't want to discourage him entirely, especially since he seems willing enough to care for the child. That in itself says something about his character. Well, enough ruminations, Scully thinks, as sleep threatens to take over again, I'll need to kick him out soon. "I hope you and your parents have more conversations," she says diplomatically, "and I wish you and Adrianna the best. In the meantime, I need to sleep," and she yawns so hard they can hear her jaw crack. "And thank you for visiting," she adds when he stands, smiling tiredly.

"Yeah, um, congrats, Mrs., I mean, Ms. Scully," he says, waving apologetically before he leaves.

Her smile deepens as the door closes behind him, and she closes her eyes. There's going to be interesting times ahead for a number of people, and not just Luke and Adrianna's families. But she's got plenty of time to think about that later. Right now, all she wants to be unconscious, and in a few seconds, she is.

Meanwhile

The sky is still in the process of darkening when they park the van and get out, but Mulder can already see the stars beginning to come out. It promises to be a very starry night indeed, and it occurs to him that he can't recall seeing fireworks on a night like this before.

It feels rather strange to him to be walking down to the fairgrounds with his children but not Scully. Or, he silently amends to himself, all but one of his children. Even as Brianna and Zoe grip his hands as they make their way down the path and the older kids range ahead, it's hard to quite wrap his mind around the fact that his little girls are no longer the youngest Mulders in the family.

"Dad," William says, slowing down until he is walking at the same pace as the trio. "Is Isaac a Yankee doodle dandy?"

"What?" Mulder asks blankly.

In response, his suddenly second-youngest son grins. "You know, like that song. 'I'm a Yankee doodle dandy, born on 4th of July...'"

"You know, kiddo, I have no idea what that song means. I've heard it since I was younger than you, but it makes no sense to me whatsoever," he admits.

"I don't think we should call him doodle," Zoe remarks.

"Me either," Brianna agrees. "I think we should call him Isaac. That's his name."

"But that's not a nickname," William protests, as if they've been discussing potential nicknames all along.

"You know what, he is so brand-new. Let's think of a nickname later." Mulder yawns. Much, much later. After the good week or two of sleep. That should happen around Mother's Day next year.

Page and Sammy spread the old queen-sized quilt they've brought with them on the ground after rescuing it from David and Jared who swear that if they're given a few more attempts they can get it to simply fall the right way after tossing it in the air, and Mulder takes a moment to admire the teamwork of his two eldest children, if not his twin boys. Sammy and Page have clashed a lot more often than usual this summer, and he hopes this is a sign that things will begin to smooth over between them. Someday he'll have to ask Scully what Bill was like the summer before he started high school, because he himself was an only child by ninth grade and has no basis of comparison himself for sibling rivalry once the siblings hit their teens.

When they all sit down after rummaging through the small coolers April and Christopher have been in charge of, some of the kids remind Mulder that only two of his children are yet teens – his twin daughters climb onto his lap and William crowds close to his left side. These three seem big in comparison to their newborn brother, but in the grand scheme of things they're all quite young still. The thought crosses his mind to wonder how Doggett copes with having sons who are twenty-two and twenty-one and not even a year old, with the two girls in between.

But then he thinks that Doggett will be a grandfather soon and pushes the thought away before he can glance in Page or April's directions. It seems impossible to him that he himself could have a grandchild any time soon, but he supposes it must have seemed the same to Samantha when her oldest was fourteen just four and a half short years ago, and look at how it's turned out now. My girls wouldn't – is all he has time to think before the first of the fireworks lights up the sky with brilliant green sparkles.

July 6, 2008

Mulder is trying to get ready to pick up Scully and Isaac from the hospital when he's waylaid by two of his older children. "Hey, guys," he says when he notices Sammy and April coming towards him. "I know that you're probably not thrilled that Page is going to be in charge while I go get Mom and the baby but if you could try to cut her some slack I'd really appreciate it."

"Okay, but that's not what we want to talk to you about," April tells him.

He puts down the baby seat they had to go out and buy because they'd given all their old ones away years ago down and tries not to sigh; Scully hates being in the hospital even more than he does and will become anxious and irritable if the kids make him late. "Then what?"

April looks down and shuffles from foot to foot. "They're safe now, right?"

At first Mulder almost asks who, but then he thinks he understands what she means. "Your mom and Isaac?"

"Uh huh."

The thought crosses his mind that there are no guarantees in life, but he thinks that they understand this – after all, they are two of his three children who were old enough to remember his funeral. He wishes that it was just a forgotten scene for them like it was David, Jared, and Christopher, but there's no way to change that.

Hoping that his smile looks natural, he looks down at them (but not as far down to Sammy as he used to, and he wonders not for the first time how tall his boys will end up) and says "They're both fine."

Sammy looks relieved. "Then we don't have to worry about them anymore?"

Instead of letting this slide Mulder asks, "Why didn't you tell me that you were worried?" he almost adds 'too' but April has never actually explained her irritability either. Thinking this he pierces her with a look as well.

Both children squirm under that parental gaze. Eventually Sammy looks up at him. "Well... I wasn't too worried until April looked up stuff up on the Internet..."

"And you decided to worry your brother too instead of coming to me or Mom?" Mulder asks her. She mumbles something that he doesn't quite catch. "What?" he asks a little more sharply than he usually would.

Speaking a little louder, April says "He's older than me."

"Why do you think that matters?" Mulder demands to know. When his daughter says nothing he goes on, "It's not okay to make other people miserable too just because they are older than you are."

April's lower lip quivers but she turns to her brother and dutifully says, "I'm sorry."

Sammy's expression all but says that this is the first time that he's considered the fact that his sister has done him a wrong. It seems like he's not sure how he feels about it, either. "Well," he eventually says, "At least it all turned out okay."

There's more that he wants to say but Page comes into the room and gives him a look. "Dad, aren't you going to be late?"

"Right," he replies and reaches for the baby seat. His fingers grip the blue plaid that pads it. "I'll leave my cell phone on, okay?"

"Dad!" Page protests with an exasperated sigh. "We'll be fine. You don't have to worry about us."

He smiles a little and nods but he wonders if that's really true – the secrets his children keep now are small but will they get bigger and more serious when they get older? He doesn't want to have his sister and brother-in-law's experience replay itself in his home in a few years.

Hospital

Scully's bag is packed and Isaac is dressed in an adorable outfit her mother insisted on buying for him to wear home from the hospital despite the reminder that he'll probably spit up on it before they can take any pictures at the house.

At the back of her mind she's vaguely aware that she's a little nervous about taking her new son home...and she's trying not to dwell on it because she's embarrassed about it. Isaac isn't the first baby she's brought home, he's the tenth (though the eleventh baby she's carried a tiny voice in her subconscious, one ever vigilant against the possibility that Angel might be forgotten, reminds her) so there's no reason for her to be a bundle of nerves like a first-time mother.

But what if she and Mulder have forgotten important things about caring for a fragile newborn? Tiny little Isaac is completely helpless and totally dependent on two people who haven't taken care of a creature like him in nearly six years. And worse, considering they've done it often enough to think that they're experts would they even realize it if they found themselves screwing things up?

These things are still on her mind when Mulder appears at the door. "Hey," he says softly. "Ready to go?"

"As we'll ever be," she replies bravely. We're not going to screw up, she tells herself firmly. If they could get through their first year of parenthood without damaging Page and then a newborn Sammy despite a desperate lack of sleep exacerbated by back to back pregnancies, their final baby should be a piece of cake.

Mulder bends over the bassinet and carefully picks Isaac up. Grinning at her he says, "Who would have thought?"

Not her, that's for sure.

Meanwhile
Virginia

Not for the first time Adrianna is glad that her sisters and brother are away for summer camp. She can't bear to have these speakerphone conversations with them around. It is hard enough with her parents in the room, but the thought of her little sisters hearing this? Yikes. That, and she hates how far she's fallen in their eyes, even if they don't say anything. It is hard enough getting it from teachers and classmates, the snide remarks and the looks, but to get the silent treatment from her own sisters is harsh, while Drew is just old enough to understand that his big sis made a big mistake, even if he can't quite figure out why a baby is a problem for their family but not their uncle's. She knows she's not a strong person, but still, it hurts when even your own family looks down on you.

This particular Sunday, however, the Doggetts and the Hills have been mellowed by their separate Fourth of July's celebrations earlier in the week, and the discussion is fairly low-key. Finally, Adrianna looks at her parents, and they nod. "Luke?" she says.

"Yeah?"

"There's something I need to say." And before he can interject, "So say it," she does. "I, I want to give the baby up for adoption," she says, trying to sound firm, but her voice wobbles a bit.

There's a pause. "What? I thought you said adoption," Luke says with a forced chuckle, not sounding at all pleased.

She isn't surprised. Luke seems so happy to be a dad, more excited than she is to be a mom. Then again, it's not like he's carrying the kid, and she sighs, trying to get her resentful feelings under control. She's had a lot of resentment lately, and not just because of the pregnancy, no matter what her friends and doctor said. "I'm sorry," she says, and most of her is sorry, "but I'm not ready to be a mom." She talks quickly, because she knows if she doesn't, he'll just take over the conversation. "I know we've talked about it, about how we'll share the chores and everything, but I don't think I can handle it. I just want to go to school, have a chance to get a job for myself, and I can't do that and watch a baby at the same time."

"Marry me!" Luke's voice almost jumps out through the speakers, and she stares at her parents.

They can hear his parents, too. "Luke! What are you saying?" John Doggett's surprised yelp comes through with a slight echo.

But Luke plows through. "Please! We can work this out! I'll watch the kid full-time while you go to school. I'll put off grad school and get a job so we can get a nanny! Please! Just, just marry me and we can work this out!" His voice cracks with emotion, and they can hear him breathing hard, trying to get under control.

"Oh my God, Luke," they can hear Monica Reyes faintly, but it's hard to tell whether she's impressed, horrified, or supportive.

To her horror, Adrianna starts to cry. God, she promised herself that she'd be a grownup about this. Just this one thing, this one conversation. Her mom reaches over and squeezes her hand, and she sniffles and clears her throat. "Luke, no, I'm sorry," she says, "but no. I've thought about this. A lot. With adoption, the baby gets to go into a good home with people who not just love him, but can totally take care of him. Even if our moms and dads help out, we'd still be worrying about money, losing sleep, even losing friends – and that's just the first year! And that's not even taking into account trying to get good grades, or getting a job! It's gonna be so hard for all of us, Luke, and I don't think I can handle it."

"Where did you get this idea from, huh?" Luke says harshly. "Who's been talking to you about giving up our son? Your parents?"

"Shut up," Adrianna snaps back, "it wasn't their idea. I don't know about you, but I've been doing my homework, actually talking to teen moms, those with and without family support, and they all say it's gonna be hard." She looks down, squeezing her mom's hand harder. "In my wildest dreams, I've even thought about what you proposed, almost literally," she says, then bit her lip, staving another round of tears off. "I thought about us getting married, and for a little while, I thought that would be perfect, like a fairy tale. Except, for once, I looked at the practical side of things, and it's not gonna be a happily ever after. I just… I'm too young to be a wife, and definitely too young to be a mom!" The tears start falling down her cheeks, and she squeezes her eyes shut, but they still keep coming. "I'm sorry, Luke, but we've got give the baby up for adoption. Nobody has to lose out on anything, and the baby wins everything…" She starts sobbing, and buries her face in her mother's shoulder, her father patting her arm reassuringly.

There's a long silence at the other end. "You're wrong," Luke says. "I'd be losing him. And you just lost me."

The connection is severed with a slam, and now Adrianna cries whole-heartedly onto her parents. They're both somewhat relieved that she turned down the sudden marriage proposal, as she is barely mature enough to be a bride, much less a mother. And while Adrianna had been talking with teen mothers about their lives, she'd only talked with her mother in the last couple of weeks about adoption as an option. And she'd also heard from teen moms who'd broken up with boyfriends over pregnancy, rather than having the baby cement their relationship, so she had some idea of what is coming.

Still, their firstborn is sobbing as if her heart is breaking, probably because it is. "I'm sorry, baby," Samantha continues to hold her daughter, speaking soothingly, "I'm so sorry."

Scott's jaw works for a while, until he finally exhales. "It's going to be okay," he says, and hands over the tissue box.

The blonde girl doesn't say anything, just cries until she can't cry anymore, and then she blows into her last tissue. "I'm tired," she says in a rough voice, "wake me up when it's time for dinner."

Her parents nod, and her mother hands her a glass of water. "Sleep well," Samantha says.

When Adrianna's door closes firmly, Samantha's eyes fill with tears. "We did the right thing, didn't we?" she asks her husband. "Encouraging her to think about giving him up?"

Scott's eyes are suspiciously shiny, but tears don't fall. Instead, he hugs his wife fiercely in answer.

"Oh, God," the brunette sobs, and they hold each other until their breathing evens out and it hurts too much clench their hands into fists. "I think we should have takeout tonight, I'm liable to burn something by accident," Samantha says.

Scott smiles briefly. "You do that. I'm going to make some calls."

And they both return to doing what they've done for the past eighteen years, taking care of their daughter.