Part VII: Interlude

I woke to the unfamiliar but welcome sound of our son fussing noisily and opened my eyes to see Mulder standing at the dresser with his back to me, talking and moving his arms. An open bag of the Pampers newborn size diapers we'd bought at Wal-mart were on the dresser next to him. "Here now, none of that," he was saying softly, then chuckled. "Aren't you an impatient little guy? But then you do come by it honestly because I can never wait to eat, either."

He turned and saw that I was awake, the smile on his face growing into a grin before he turned back to the dresser and scooped up William, who was about to go from a fuss to an outright cry I could already tell. "Hey, you're in luck, your mom's awake and, I'm sure, more than ready to feed you breakfast," he told the bundle of blankets in his arms as he walked over to the bed while I carefully sat up. Handing him to me he added, "How are you feeling, Scully?"

"Tired, about as sore as I expected, and badly in need of some coffee which I can't have," I said groggily. I could see that it was bright daylight outside but the mound of dirty bedding next to me hid the alarm clock on the other nightstand. "What time is it?"

"Two-thirty, you've both been sleeping like logs until about ten minutes ago when William woke up," he said, perching on the edge of the bed next to me as I cuddled the baby close. He had quieted when Mulder picked him up, but it sounded like he was getting ready to cry again. "I'm glad I read those books, because he darn near peed in my face. Luckily I was ready for it."

"Did you change him?" I said, surprised, opening the blankets enough to see that the diaper was, indeed, on correctly. I had some experience with babies from my nephews and godchildren, but I'd had no idea that Mulder knew how to take care of an infant. He hadn't dressed him, but William seemed to be warm enough in his nest of blankets.

"It wasn't too difficult to figure out," he said proudly as I moved the elastic top of the nightgown aside to bare my breast. His eyes were avidly watching as I moved William to it, jumping slightly as he latched on like a starving fluke-man. "God, he's hungry, isn't he?"

"Wouldn't you be?" I smiled at the baby's enthusiastic suckling, then up at his father who was all big round eyes. "This is his first real meal."

"I'm glad you're breast-feeding," Mulder said, leaning over my outstretched legs and bracing an arm on the bed, his other hand resting gently on the covers over my hip. "Not just for the view, but because it's so much better for you both."

I had the feeling that I was really going to regret having him read all those books. "My mom breast-fed all of us despite it being discouraged in the 'sixties and she said it was the best experience of her life," I said, brushing my hand through William's thick red hair, which was now sticking up like a rooster's comb. We'd all been bald babies so this newborn hair had to come from Mulder even if it was my color. He truly was a mixture of us both and I was deeply relieved that there was no longer any question of who his father was in Mulder's mind. I had, of course, done a paternity test as soon as I could after finding out I was pregnant so I'd known Mulder was the father, but I wanted him to come to that realization on his own rather than forcing him to it. From the way he was looking at his son I knew I'd done the right thing.

We spent a relaxing time just sitting and talking, letting William sleep on the bed beside me after he finished draining both breasts of colostrum and gave a hefty burp that made us both laugh and then dozed contentedly off to sleep. Mulder helped me to the bathroom for my first urination after having given birth which I knew could be painful but, thankfully, wasn't too bad. He also made sure I had sanitary supplies and witch hazel pads in the bathroom to gently wipe with that he'd gotten for me on the way back from taking Alma home. Although I suspected that I perhaps should have been, Mulder's obvious concern and caring for me made any embarrassment unnecessary. He had, indeed, studied those childbirth books and knew as much as a male layman could of what I was going through. It was clear that he wanted to be involved and help me, and I was in no position to refuse. Besides, stopping this man when he's determined to do something is akin to halting a moving train with a toothpick as I well knew.

"When do you think we can leave, Scully?" he asked as he helped me get back into the bed. I noted that the fouled bedding was gone and that he'd spread a clean flat sheet over the mattress while I was in the bathroom though I had no clue where he'd gotten it from. "Those damn freaks know where we are and I keep expecting them to come back."

"I don't think they will; they just wanted to see him and I think they'll leave us alone now," I said thoughtfully as I squirmed around, finding comfort in sitting up with my legs crossed Indian-style of all things. "If they wanted to take or hurt him or me, we were fully at their mercy; I don't even know where my gun is at this point. They began showing up only minutes after you drove away but they just took turns staring in the windows."

"I still don't feel that you're safe here. The car seat's installed and if you think you can handle the drive I think we should get going as soon as possible," he said, frowning slightly at me. "We don't have to rush back, we can stop when you need to, but I think we should leave soon."

"Think I can eat something first?" I said, feeling my stomach rumble. "I'll even go for that nasty gas station sandwich if it's still in there, I'm starved."

"No, I ate it while you were sleeping," he grinned, getting up and going to the little fridge. "How about a cup of yogurt to start, then I'll heat you up a bowl of beef barley soup? The books said you should eat a lot of soup and protein and fats to help your milk come in."

"Dear God, I've got Dr. Spock on my hands," I couldn't resist saying, smiling up at him as he handed me the cup of Dannon strawberry (he knew my favorite) and a plastic spoon, putting a bottle of water on the nightstand next to me. "Think I can manage another nap before we go? I'm probably going to be too uncomfortable sitting up in the car to sleep."

"Yeah, it'll take me a while to clean up and pack everything," he agreed, moving around across the room at the counter by the microwave. But just as he was bringing the Styrofoam bowl of soup to the bed William woke up with lusty howls and my meal had to wait; I knew that this was just the first time of many. This time I got to change him, seeing that he hadn't had his first bowel movement yet and secretly hoping that Mulder got that diaper. After another strong but brief nursing he went right back to sleep; he was barely twelve hours old and already eating as much as his father, I thought as I laid him at my side.

Mulder sprawled on the bed around my feet and gazed at William as I spooned in the now-lukewarm soup, too hungry to wait for him to heat it up again. "God, Scully, he is so beautiful," he said in a wondering tone, reaching out to run a finger over the soft, bare little arm which was outside the blankets. "We made an incredible child, didn't we?"

I smiled at him tremulously, too choked up to speak until I had another spoonful to clear my throat. "We did," I agreed softly, smiling at him. "No matter how it happened."

"What do you think, Scully?" he asked, still gently stroking the baby's soft arm but now looking at me. "You were verified barren, with no ova at all, and the AI didn't take—plus that was months before you actually got pregnant going by his birthdate. So how do you think he came about?"

I shook my head, dipping the spoon into the bowl as I yawned. "I don't know, Mulder. But it's clear that he's our child no matter how he came to be created."

"That he is—between that Scully hair and a miniature version of my schnozz there's no doubt, not that I ever really had any despite your obvious attachment to the pizza guy," he agreed, smiling up at me. He then heaved himself to his feet, giving my knee a soft squeeze. "Our stuff isn't going to pack itself," he sighed, looking around at the disorganized room and raising his eyebrows at me. "And I can't just sling all this junk into a spare room like at my apartment. I guess my messy bachelor days are over, huh?"

I wasn't sure what he meant by that and didn't want to get into it right now; I was still so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open. After drinking down the last of the soup I put the bowl on the nightstand, took a long drink of bottled water and carefully laid down, wincing at how sore my lower half was as I carefully curled around William, laying a hand on his gently moving chest. "Wake me in a couple hours and we'll get going," I said sleepily, feeling my eyelids droop despite myself.

"Sleep well, Scully, I'm here," I heard him say before dozing off, unable to keep my eyes open any longer. Despite the danger we both knew we were in, I was content to let him watch over us for the time being and knew we would be safe as long as he was nearby.