A/N: If you haven't read the last chapter since it was fixed on Sept. 27, please go back and do so now.

Down The Block

Meanwhile, at the Doggett kitchen table, Hannah and Rebecca are telling Gibson about the latest shenanigans at school. He's laughing at both the inner and outer monologues of his sisters as well as his father, who has been worrying about his the first of his little girls becoming a teenager way too much this holiday.

When the girls scamper off to refill their glasses, Gibson smiles at his dad. "Hey, they're still kids, enjoy them while you can," he says.

Doggett sighs. "That's what I thought about you and Luke, and look at the two of you. All grown up, and Luke with a baby of his own."

The bespectacled young man rolls his eyes. "Really? That's what you took out of Rebecca's story about the pirates at school?"

The older man blinks, then chuckles. "Yeah, kinda stupid to be thinking about that, but I can't help it. When you have kids of your own, you'll understand."

"I think the kids at the afterschool center are more than enough, and I get to throw them back to their parents," Gibson retorts, although his look seems a little somber against his joking tone.

"Who are you throwing back to their parents?" Hannah wants to know.

Gibson reaches over and ruffled his sister's hair, who makes a face and tries to fix it. "Just the kids at the afterschool center. Don't worry, they like their parents, so throwing them doesn't matter."

Rebecca giggles. "Duh," she says, innocent of children who had horrible home lives. "But can they catch-ding two kids at the same time like Daddy?"

"It's just 'catch', not 'catch-ding'," Hannah corrects, "and no, nobody's daddy is as strong as our daddy."

While Doggett would like to correct them, as he is sure there were tons of dads stronger than himself in his old age, he was too busy melting into a puddle of goo at his baby girls' adoration.

"Oh, God," Gibson groans, "you're such a sap." And grins when a dinner roll flies at his head, but he ducks, knowing he'd provoke that in the first place. The doorbell rings, and he gets up quickly. "Saved by the bell."

He saves another quick grin for the hallway, knowing who is on the other side of the door. "Hi, Merry Christmas," Gibson says, nodding when he opens the door. "Come inside, it's freezing out there."

The blonde girl seems to have lost a good deal of her pregnancy weight, more readily apparent after she takes off her winter coat. "Hi, thanks," she says. "Um, Mr. Doggett asked me to come by."

"That was nice of him," he comments mildly, although he'd heard that in both his father's thoughts after the doorbell rang as well as hers. That brief forewarning is pretty much the only thing that keeps his mouth from gaping open in surprise at both his dad and the girl in front of him. "Let's say hi to everyone before you see Luke."

"Oh, okay," she says quickly, clearly nervous.

"Hey, everyone, it's Adrianna," Gibson says, leading her to the kitchen table. "Adrianna, you remember Hannah and Rebecca, and you know our dad."

"Hiiiii," the young girls chorus.

Tears start to prick at the blonde girl's eyes. It's been such a long time since she'd last seen either of them, and even her own sisters don't look as happy to see her. Then again, she wonders if they even knew what she did, or if nobody bothered to tell the girls who the mother of Luke's baby is. She wouldn't be surprised if it were the latter, honestly, though maybe Hannah is too old not to have worked it out on her own. "Hi," the blonde girl says softly. "And hi, Mr. Doggett."

Doggett nods. "You want a Coke or something? Or something to eat?"

Adrianna shakes her head. "I'm fine, I'm still full from Christmas brunch," she says. She doesn't add that her stomach had been in knots since she left her house, but perhaps biting her lower lip hard enough to bleed might have given a clue.

Doggett doesn't argue. He nods at his younger son. "Show her where Luke is," he says.

"I can," Rebecca offers, but her dad shakes his head, and she subsides but looks disappointed. Her brother Drew would've been disappointed when an offer of help was rejected too not so long ago, Adrianna thinks.

Doggett distracts her and her sister by asking them what happened to the boy with gum in his hair, and Gibson leads Adrianna to what has become the baby room.

Gibson knocks softly on the closed door. "Monica, Luke, Adrianna's here," he says softly. He opens the door to reveal Luke rocking his baby in a rocking chair while Reyes is picking up two empty bottles.

Adrianna had almost forgotten the tall brunette is Luke's stepmother (or almost, anyway, she reminds herself of one of the things her mother said during a tear about Luke's family). She'd also forgotten that the older woman had a baby the autumn before she or Aunt Dana did. "Come in," Reyes says.

"Um, okay," Adrianna felt what little confidence she'd built up kind of deflate while in the same room with babies. She'd only been expecting hers, well, Luke's, and totally forgot about his new… brother? Yeah, she's pretty sure it's a boy. "Sorry, Merry Christmas, Ms. Reyes," she offers belatedly to Luke's step-mom after just standing and staring like an idiot.

The taller woman nods and smiles, then surprised her with a one-armed hug. "Thank you," she says warmly, "for having him."

The nineteen-year-old blushes in a way she hasn't since she was Luke's middle sister's age. "What? Oh, sure," she says, thoroughly flustered now.

"We'll be in the kitchen." Gibson smiles briefly, dragging his adopted mom and the empty baby bottles out of the room. He closes the door behind them, apparently hoping that whatever his father has cooked up, neither Luke nor Adrianna will mess things up further.

Now the only two adults in the room, the tow-headed young man looks at the blonde girl in a way that suggests that he still finds her attractive, but there's now a lack of emotional attachment that used to be there for either of them. "Um, hi," Luke says, his blue eyes flickering from his ex-girlfriend to his son. "Why are you here?" he asks carefully, after a long moment.

Adrianna sighs, then sits down in an empty chair. "Your dad asked me to come over," she answers.

This clearly startles him. "What?" he says a little too loudly, causing Nicholas to stir and fret. "Shhhh, shhhh, it's okay, it's okay," he murmurs, rocking the baby in his arms. Once the baby is settled down, he frowns a little. "No, really, why are you here?" he repeats, his voice back to the low tone they'd been using for the most part. "You could've just said no and stayed home with your family."

She sighs again, looking away from her ex and his baby. Well, their baby, but it doesn't feel that way to her. "I did stay home with my family," she says, "and then I came here. Because I think I..." Her lips flattened as she gathers her thoughts and courage. "I think I needed to see this."

"This?" Luke echoes. Boy, is he on a roll with original questions or what?

She drags her gaze back to him, and to the baby. "This." Adrianna nods. "I needed to see that, well, you are okay. In spite of everything." When she sees his nonplussed look, she adds quickly, "Not like it's a totally terrible thing for you, but. Well. Being a single parent is tough."

"Yeah, it is," he agrees and nods. "But I wouldn't give him up for anything." And then a horrible thought occurred to him. Perhaps she also changed her mind about Nicholas and wants him back, too? God, I hope not. It's gonna be even worse if it turns into a legal custody battle.

Unaware of his thoughts, she looks relieved at his answer. "I'm glad you're okay with it, though. I knew I wasn't cut out to be a mom when just being around other people's kids for a short time was driving me up the wall. I couldn't imagine having to take care of one day in and day out."

Okay, maybe she didn't change her mind about custody, Luke thinks, also relieved. "I guess that's one of those things we never got around to talking about. Things like having kids, how many, or if we wanted any at all," he says, recalling one of the topics in his support group discussion. "Then again, who thinks about that kind of thing when they're in school? It's all twenty-twenty hindsight," he says, borrowing one of his dad's phrases.

"Yeah, but we could've used that hindsight," she says. "It makes me think about what I'm looking for in a guy now," she says, and doesn't meet his eyes. He's kind of glad of that, considering it hurts more to hear her talking about other men, even hypothetical ones, than he would've predicted. "And what I expect of myself. I mean, not that I plan on going out again anytime soon, or that my parents will let me," she added quickly, and he wonders about the ''let' part considering she's an adult, but chalks it up to one of those while-you're-living-under-my-roof things. "-but I don't think I'm going to be serious with a guy. I just want make new friends, get a degree, and grow up. The regular way."

"Yeah, having new friends helps a lot," he says. "I'm with a group for single parents, it really helps to know I'm not the only one losing my mind while getting a degree at the same time."

Adrianna smiles at him, genuinely, for the first time in what felt like ages. "That's good," she says, and finds, to her surprise, that she means it; she really does hope things will go well for him now that there's no turning back. "Um, how's your Christmas vacation?" she asks, and then wants to hit her head against the wall. Aaaaaand now we're back to the awkward, she groans inwardly.

"Um, it's actually pretty restful," he says, grinning down at his son. "Kinda makes me wish it lasted longer. How about you?"

She can see he's still got bags under his eyes and he hasn't been shaving as religiously as he used to, so she wonders how much sleep he actually got during school if he thinks this is restful. She finds she's afraid to ask, nervous that she doesn't have the right to know about that kind of detail any more. "Um, it's been okay. Weird. Getting ready for school in January is kinda good in a way, but kinda lonely, too, since everyone else already started."

Before she has time to dwell on things for the umpteenth time during the holidays, she asks, "Um, what's your… little brother's name?" The dark-haired toddler catches her eye for a second and then goes back to playing with whatever toy he has in the crib with him. He's only a little over a year old, but he seems so much bigger and capable than the baby Luke is rocking.

Luke turns his head. "Oh, yeah, that's Jon-Jon. Figures only Monica could wear Dad down into naming someone after himself. He's kinda funny about stuff like that."

Adrianna tilts her head rather than letting the smirk take over. In spite of what her mom thinks about Luke's parents and their unconventional arrangement, it's clear they are crazy about each other, just like her own mom and dad are. "So why did you name the baby Nicholas?" she asks.

He tells her about his uncle, and she remembers briefly why she used to like him. But that's the operative word, like. She never was as devoted to Luke as her parents or his parents are to each other, and she is kind of glad that she's not an idiot and falling for him again for things that used to make her swoon. She… appreciates them still, but these things don't make her go crazy for him. Huh.

"That's pretty cool," she says when he finishes explaining what a great guy his uncle was and how he decided to name their son after him, "he needs all the good role models he can get." She bites her lip, then stands up. "I'm glad I got to see all this. Him. You." She waves her hand, feeling flustered and immature again. Dammit! All her grownup, mature words of farewell have fled her mind, and now all she can do is get to her feet, smile awkwardly, and say, "I gotta see everyone before I go."

Maybe it is the Christmas spirit, but he obviously feels weird having her leave like this. "Hey, thanks for coming," he says, pulling a hand free to wave at her. "I'll thank my dad later."

She nods. "Good to see you," she says, glancing at the baby with brief curiosity but nothing more, and then leaves.

Adrianna won't remember what she or the Doggetts say to each other as she leaves, or if they said anything at all. She's just grateful to have the use of her dad's car, since it allows her to immediately yell her chaotic thoughts with an appropriately loud rock station that wouldn't be happening if she were riding on a bus.

And she's grateful that it's just her dad at home to greet her and that her mom made good on her promise to take her siblings out to the movies, because it lets her collapse into her father's arms like the little girl she wishes she is again, sobbing.

When she regains her composure, she sniffles. "They were good, Dad. I'm, I'm glad they're okay." She pulls out a tissue and wipes at her eyes and nose. "And I'm glad that I'm glad. I was so scared I'd just be angry or bitter or something, but, I'm just glad Luke's taking care of the baby and I'm not. That's all. Does that make me a bad person?" she asks in a small voice.

Scott Hill swallows the sobs that threatened to rise again. His baby girl is growing up, and for the better. "No, it doesn't. It means you're not holding any ill will towards your baby or your ex-boyfriend, but at the same time, it doesn't mean you want to get back together with him. Now you know you made the right choice letting him go."

She sniffles again, wondering which 'him' her father means, exactly. "That makes me sound so grown up when I'm not," she says. "Because I also realized that I'm not cut out to be a mom. I didn't have any mom feelings when I saw Luke rocking the baby, but I could see he loves that kid to pieces. I'm kinda jealous–" she says while smiling wanly. "-he never used to look at me like that, ever."

"Then I guess it's meant to be that he's a parent," Scott says after a moment. "Because your mother and I love you to pieces, too."

"Thanks, Dad." She smiles and hugs him again. Adrianna realizes that her parents might ask her someday if she's changed her mind about motherhood, but she's so glad that neither of them is at all pressuring her to think about a someday any more distant that beginning the first semester of college. "I, I'm gonna make some hot cocoa. Do you want some?"

He nods. "No whipped cream on mine," he says and smiles.

It's a joke in their family that he will have the most piled on his, but will always ask for the opposite. "No, never." Adrianna smiles back. But just for today, she thinks she'll pile some on hers as well. Yeah, she does feel better, having visited the Doggetts and getting that off her chest. She knows she won't make it a habit over the rest of the winter break, but she felt relieved that she did it now rather than putting it off 'til the end.

Yeah, it was miles of awkward, but at least it wasn't totally horrible, and now she's glad that Mr. Doggett invited her over and that she actually accepted. Now, if only the rest of her vacation with the rest of her family could go over as just as well…

December 29, 2008

"Heyyyyyyy, Foxy baby!" Wayne's voice overwhelmed the somewhat tinny speakers of his cell phone.

Mulder winces at the horrible nickname. "Hi, Wayne," he repeats his earlier greeting. "Something up with the show?"

"No, no, nothing like that." His boss waves it off. "It's about that little movie your kids did."

Little -? Ohhh, Mulder remembers. Sammy's directorial debut. He and Scully, along with Missy and Alex, agreed to let the kids upload their movie to Youtube. He's a little worried that their boss apparently spends his free time watching random home-made movies, but hey, whatever keeps the guy this side of sane. "Yeah, what about it?"

"They're pretty talented, your kids," Wayne says. "I'd like to work with them, on a side project. Mind you, it won't overlap with Jose Chung."

Well, that came from left field, Mulder thinks. "Ummmm, no," he says.

"What? Why not?" Wayne sounds surprised and more than a little insulted.

"Wayne, they're just kids," Mulder says, "and not all of them are mine. Some of them are my in-laws' children."

"Oooooh-kay," the producer/host/insane keeper of ideas says blithely, "not a problem. I can ask them, too."

"They'll probably give you the same answer," Mulder says, in as intractable a tone as possible.

"Hey, parents love me!" Wayne says, a little echoey, so he's probably talking with his hands again. "No worries!"

"Right," Mulder says, and hangs up.

"What?" he says, when he sees the caller ID light up again seconds later. He picks it up before it even has a chance to finish a full ring.

"Aren't you gonna give me their number?" Wayne asks.

He is tempted to say "1-800-NO-WAYYY" but decides to give Missy's number anyways. After all, she'll probably have more fun shutting him down than Mulder had.

A few minutes later, after Mulder let his beloved wife know what new insanity is cooking in their boss' head while they are supposed to be on Christmas break, his cell phone rings again. "Can you answer it this time?" he gives his wife puppy-dog eyes.

She glances at the caller ID. "No," she smiles, folding her arms.

"Ugh," he grumbles, then answers, "Mulder."

And promptly gets chewed out by his sister-in-law. He isn't surprised, but he also isn't surprised that she'd shut down Wayne Federman in a much more curt fashion than he'd expected. Probably because he wasn't there in person to throw a dish at, he thinks, but wisely doesn't say aloud. "Well, nice catching up with you, hope that did the trick, Happy New Year," Mulder rattles off before hanging up.

"Wuss," Scully snorts.

"Am not," Mulder retorted intelligently.

They thought that was the end of that, but Mulder gets another call from Wayne a few days later. "So, when's Emily Krycek gonna be eighteen?" is his opening salvo.

"Yeah, that was creepy on so many levels, goodbye," Mulder says.

"No, wait, wait!" Wayne shouts. "No, God, ew. I want to know when she's able to sign her own contracts, which means she'll have to be a legal adult, which means eighteen! Jeez, you'd think someone in showbiz this long would get a clue!"

Mulder's has held the phone away from his ear since his first quip got a loud reaction, and is about to hit the "end" button again, but holds off on it. "Wayne?"

"Yeah?"

"When you ask her parents for her permission to sign a contract, could you tell them the explanation first? Because if you start with the same question you did with me, with you being a single guy in his forties asking about when their teenage daughter is of legal age, you'd have a TRO so fast your hair would fly off."

If the mention of a temporary restraining order bothers Wayne, it doesn't show in his voice. "Hey, parents lo–" Mulder hangs up on the idiot.

Really, his boss can be a pain, but at least Wayne won't get a chance to fire a temporary restraining order first if Missy can't throw anything at him in person. Small mercies and all that, he sighs, hoping Wayne will shake the bug off before shooting starts again.

January 8, 2009

It's another Thursday night, which means it's single parent support group night. Luke had thought about blowing the meeting off since he and Nicholas had just gotten back to Boston the day before, but he decides that after Christmas break they need to jump back into routines, which include the group. And besides, he's curious to know if any of the other single parents had as weird a holiday as he ended up having.

When the official meeting's over, Beth waves Luke over to join her for cookies and juice. It is nice that, after the whole awkward "sorry, not interested in dating" thing they are still friends. That, and Beth doesn't seem like the type to shout embarrassing things like that, since she said it's happened to her and some other women who weren't interested before. That kind of makes Luke feel better, but kind of not, since that meant there are other guys licking their wounds. Still, he'd rather have this group than no support at all, and it is nice to have friends who understood where he is coming from, as opposed to the rest of his childless classmates.

"So, how was your Christmas vacation?" she asks.

He snorts. "Well, Mom," he starts, and gets slugged in the shoulder for his snark. Figures. "Sorry. No, it was good. In fact, Adrianna, my ex, came over and saw Nicholas on Christmas."

She looks hopeful, but careful, too. He guesses he's not the first I the group to have that kind of experience, either, though he figures it's been moms who have, not dads. "And? You said it was good?"

He nods, then grabbed a large handful of cookies. "Yeah, it was. I'm glad she discovered she's stronger than she thought. She sounded ready to face college, and she wants to make a fresh start. For a long time, it sounded like she doesn't leave the house except to go to school or to doctor's appointments." He looks sober, and absent-mindedly munched on a cookie.

"Do you think you'll get back together with her?" Beth asks.

He blinks. Then shrugs, his mouth full. Honestly, he doesn't think so, but he can never say never at this point.

January 16, 2008

Even though it's a two-bedroom apartment, there are days it feels smaller, especially since there's only one bathroom. For some couples, that wouldn't be a problem, but Katie's insistent on locking the bathroom door when she's doing her morning ablutions. Gibson doesn't understand it, but then again, he'd never wanted to walk in on his mom – well, either of them – in the bathroom, either.

Since Katie has an unbelievable 8 a.m. class, she's got the bathroom, while Gibson's making lunch for the both of them in the tiny kitchen. When he hears a loud knocking, he frowns, then frowns deeper as he heard nothing mentally while running to the front door.

"Charlotte?" he says dumbly as soon as he sees her standing there.

The brunette girl looks like a mess and bares two large duffel bags on her shoulder, and she charges into the apartment, dragging her little blonde sister without a polite greeting. Slamming the door shut behind them, she asks, "Do you really think you can help us?"

He nods curtly. "Yeah, of course." He waves at the couch. "Have a seat. Katie's locked herself in the bathroom, so you might have to wait a while if you need to use the toilet."

Charlotte blinks, then laughs, a little hysterically. "No, we're fine," she chokes out, while Alice's lips press themselves even more firmly shut.

"Okay," Gibson says, and goes to the kitchen for his cell phone. Leaving it plugged to the wall, he calls his parents. "You know the big favor I asked you about? I'm calling it in," he says. After a brief conversation, he hangs up, then goes back to the living room.

"I do need to use the toilet," Alice says, turning to the door. She shuffles from foot to foot, unconsciously signaling the urgency of that need.

"Don't open it," he warns her, and her head whips towards him. "I got it." He knocks on the door. "Katie? Are you almost done? Alice and her sister Charlotte are here, and Alice needs to use the bathroom."

"What? Oh, okay," she says.

As she's banging around in there, Gibson tells Charlotte and Alice mentally, "Me and Katie are gonna take you to the airport, where you'll catch a flight to DC. My parents, FBI agents Doggett and Reyes, will pick you up and take you to friends of ours, the Gunmen, who'll give you new identities and my parents will help you disappear." As an after-thought he adds, "Um, the gunmen write a conspiracy newsletter called The Lone Gunmen. They're geeks, not hitmen." He can't read their minds, but he's really hoping they can read his.

"You really are adopted, aren't you?" Charlotte quirked a shaky grin at him.

"I told Alice." He shrugs, but pleased that she did catch mental images as well as 'sound' – she apparently picked up on how little he looks like his parents.

Just as Katie comes out of the bathroom, Alice runs right in, and locks the door behind her. Katie spins towards the bathroom, then shakes her head. "Are you guys in trouble?" she asks, unknowingly echoing her boyfriend's question from weeks earlier.

Charlotte darts a startled look at Gibson, then nods. "Yeah, sorry."

Katie shakes her head, concern now overcoming her curiosity. "You guys want a sandwich? Something to drink?"

Charlotte shakes her head, but Katie is already grabbing her and Gibson's bagged lunches and handing them over. "You might be stressed now, but you'll be hungry later," she warns, shoving them into the other girl's hands.

Charlotte blinks, but shoves them into one of the duffle bags. "You really are one of the good guys." She half-grins.

"About that," Gibson sighs when they hear a flush and the sink running. "Katie, we need to drop them off at the airport soon. They'll be okay once they're on the plane."

"Sure, okay." She frowns briefly. Then she smiles when Alice joins them. "Hi, Alice," she says, "do you want some gum?"

Alice looks up at her sister, who nods, and then she nods too. Katie's smile dims slightly, but she pulls out her pack of chewing gum. "This is also good for flights," she says, handing it over. "When you take off and when you land, chew one of these. It'll ease the pressure off your ears."

"Thanks," the little girl says, and promptly peels one open and shoves it into her mouth.

When Gibson snorts, his girlfriend gives him a look. "And you, mister, grab one of those duffle bags, don't think you're getting off without being a gentleman."

"Aw, man," he grumbles, but easily hefts one of the bags to his shoulder, surprising the two other girls, but not his girlfriend. After all, she's seen him benching more than half his weight as a way of relieving stress.

The drive to the airport seems longer than usual for Gibson, about the same for Katie, and not fast enough for both Alice and Charlotte, though Charlotte has been able to use the time to call the airport and confirm she can buy tickets for flight that'll be leaving soon. "Thanks," Charlotte says, when they pull up to the curb. "I really," she starts to say and glances at her sister, "thanks, you guys."

Katie smiles. "Take care," she says. "Stay safe."

Charlotte nods jerkily as Gibson gets out and loads her with the two bags. "There's only one flight there at this time," he says, "stay safe."

As Alice is being led away by her older sister, she asks Gibson, "Will it get easier, being like us?" Charlotte shushes her and pulls her away, and neither girl looks back as they stride into Boston Logan International Airport.

Katie stares at her boyfriend as he practically jumps into the car. "What did she mean, being like them?" she asks, and he realizes she'd heard because she'd put the window down.

Dammit, he grumbles to himself, and is pretty sure Alice is smirking somewhere in the airport. Brat, he thinks, but sighs.

He figures he might as well tell Katie now, since she saw the tip of the iceberg. Warning now, save the Titanic later, he continues the metaphor. Or perhaps it will sink anyways, but at least she'll be safe. I hope.

Gibson takes a deep breath. "We've got a lot to talk about," he says.

The End

End Notes from Neoxphile - I'm sad to say that from this point on the fabulous FelineFemme will be the storyline consultant rather than continue as the series' co-author. Her insights will continue to be very valuable even if she no longer has time to devote to writing the stories.