Um, so just roll with it, 'k?
There are a lot of family feels in this chapter.
Enjoy!
Going back to work after coming back from California, both Mulder and Scully have a hard time making themselves get ready for work. Taking Audrey back to bed with them, Mulder crawls back under the blankets while Scully mumbles still half asleep, "I miss that bathtub at the hotel. Let's go back."
Humming agreeably Mulder watches Audrey stare up at him from her place on his lap. Sitting up, Scully asks, "What was wrong with her?"
"She just needed a change."
Smiling at her baby, Scully coos at her before stretching a little and getting up to get ready for the day.
Within the week everyone gets used to being back at work and school and most thoughts of California are forgotten. Life goes back much the same way albeit with Mulder and Scully deciding to go on date nights once a week with either Maggie, Chloe, or Rachel babysitting.
One Friday-the night that Mulder and Scully designate as date night- Mulder takes Audrey from her crib to crawl in bed with Scully as they normally do in the mornings when he sees Scully come back from the bathroom. Her face is a little more drawn than usual which prompts Mulder to ask if she is okay. She nods, but he is a little concerened. What makes things worse is Scully keeping him in the dark. For her part, Scully is first concerned she catches something from someone at work and decides not to think too much about it until she almost faints in the bathroom one morning. That is the day that Mulder initially asks if she is okay. She tells him she is, but is scared that maybe her cancer is back so makes sure to book an appointment with her oncologist. With an appointment booked for a few weeks later, Scully decides to keep her days going as normal. The day of her appointment, Scully waits nervously in the office until the nurse comes in and asks her routine questions. She answers, but pauses when asked about the date of her last period. Knowing her cycle is back to normal for the most part, her face pales a little.
"Ms. Scully?" The nurse asks. Shaking her head, Scully answers, "Sorry. I think it was the twentieth of last month."
Nodding, the nurse asks, "Is there a chance you could be pregnant?"
Knowing that the diagnosis is entirely possible, Scully inwardly chastises herself for not being a good enough agent and doctor not to notice the signs herself. Giving the nurse a positive answer, Scully still asks about getting some bloodwork drawn to check for any abnormal blood count. With a smile, the nurse tells her not to worry and Scully again waits alone in the room to wait for the doctor to come in. Leaving after her appointment, Scully makes sure to stop in a Walgreens before heading back to work.
As soon as Scully shuts the office door, Mulder looks up and smiles at her ready to tell her about a new case.
"Mulder, we need to talk."
Noting his partner's seriousness, Mulder looks at her curiously hoping nothing is wrong with the girls. She looks around the room before telling him, "Can we talk over lunch?"
Suspecting bugs as of late, the female agent does not want their personal relationship flaunted to the Bureau just to take them apart from each other. They can guess and gossip all they want, but Scully will not give the agency the satisfaction of being right.
Heading to his car, Mulder asks his partner what she feels like eating.
"A burger."
"That diner we used to eat at with Chloe?" He asks.
"Sounds good!"
Once they arrive at the diner, the couple pick a booth and sit down. After a waitress gets their orders, Mulder asks, "What did you want to talk about?"
"It's about my being sick the last few weeks. I need to go to a doctor to confirm—"
Face paling a little Mulder asks, "It's not cancer, is it?"
Shaking her head, Scully notices the relief in his eyes, and it makes her want to cry. She smiles softly at him just as their food arrives. Eating a French fry to give her time to prepare, Scully swallows and finally states, "I'm pregnant."
Mulder stops mid sip, his eyes wide. Placing his cup back down on the table, he asks her to repeat herself. She reiterates her statement before adding, "I have an appointment on Wednesday just to be sure if you want to go."
"Yeah, yes."
The appointment Scully attends with Mulder quickly confirms her own diagnosis and the pair decide to take the day off to both digest the information and spend time with their youngest who lays on her mat playing with a baby toy.
"She's only seven months," Mulder comments still in disbelief. Nodding, Scully answers, "Charlie is only sixteen months younger than me."
"I know I said you'd have Uber Scully's but this is ridiculous."
"Or you're just that good. What's Mom going to say?" Scully wonders aloud. Her mom is always excited for another grandchild, but Scully wonders how her mother will actually take the news.
"Say about what?" Chloe asks having come in the door from an earlier shift at work. She has the rest of the day off and decides to spend it at home. Mulder and Scully share a long look before prompting their daughter to sit down. Looking between the pair, Chloe expects the worst and asks nervously, "What's wrong?"
Seeing the same look on Mulder's face barely a week earlier, Scully quickly replies, "I'm pregnant."
With such an abrupt answer, Chloe let's out a laugh telling them that their joke is funny. When neither parent laughs with her, the teen remarks, "Seriously? You guys are serious?"
"I'm only nine weeks, so you can't say anything, but yes."
Giving them a pointed look as if to say they should know better, Chloe eventually asks, "Does anyone else know?"
Shaking their heads, Mulder responds, "Just you. We want to wait a few weeks before telling anyone else."
Scully squeezes her partner's hand in thanks before asking Chloe how she feels about it. When the teen says nothing, the couple's face falls a little bit.
"I'm still trying to process this," Chloe admits upset that she can't talk to Anna or Kyle about it yet. She needs a sounding board. People already give her nasty looks at the store sometimes when she is holding her sister. With another sibling, she can only imagine what people will think of her next year.
Taking her answer, Mulder changes the topic to dinner with all agreeing that they'll order Chinese food.
Over the next couple weeks, Chloe tries her hardest to keep her parents' secret. Even when she and Anna have the same shift at work, Chloe dodges any questions Anna asks when asked if she is okay. Finally, Chloe decides she has to tell someone about the news. On a day off from work, Chloe is in Kyle's family's backyard where his parents are hosting a before school barbecue.
"You can't tell anyone, but my mom is pregnant again." Chloe states in a soft tone as she lays outside on the trampoline with Kyle looking at the clouds and spending some time together.
"What?" He exclaims causing his dad to look in their direction.
"Keep your voice down," Chloe hisses adding, "No one else is supposed to know yet."
"So why are you telling me?" Kyle questions wondering why or if she has told Anna.
"I need a sounding board. They asked how I feel about it, but I don't know. I figured they'd wait a little longer."
With a laugh, Kyle remarks, "I'm surprised it took them this long to have your sister in the first place. Have you met your parents?"
Rolling her eyes, Chloe tries to keep that mental image out of her head before asking, "How did you feel about William?"
"About like you, I guess. Nathan was barely a year old, but I was shocked more than anything. It's fine now though. They're pretty cool kids, I guess."
"You aren't helping."
"Not much you can do, Chlo. Besides, now you get two siblings instead of one."
"Yeah, I guess," Chloe mumbles before leaving the trampoline to help out with the party. Kyle's response is not exactly what she wants to hear, especially since one of the time she was given an odd, judging look from a woman in a store she was with Kyle. After the party, Chloe promises Anna she will spend the night with her. For once both their work schedules line up to where they are off on the same day. While they laugh and catch up on their lives, Chloe debates telling Anna about her newest sibling wondering if she is just either complaining too much or making too big a deal about the situation. When everyone else is asleep for the night, Chloe finally tells Anna. Shocked, Anna says nothing.
"Do you have advise?" Chloe asks. Shaking her head, Anna tells her a similar thing to what Kyle tells her. Thinking the situation over, Chloe tries to figure out why she is upset over her parents having another baby, but cannot fully come up with a reason except she does not want to get disapproving looks anymore.
Only when her parents begin to tell people about the pregnancy, does Chloe slowly begin coming to terms with it, and she is a little disappointed she works the night they tell Maggie about it.
Heading to her mom's house one weekend, Scully decides to drive to keep her mind off her nervousness and nausea. Part of her feels like this pregnancy will be a fair bit different than with Audrey. For one, she is constantly nauseous, something that she hopes will go away in the next couple months.
"You alright?" Mulder asks bringing his girlfriend out of her thoughts. Nodding, Scully answers, "Just nervous. I'm not sure what Mom is going to think."
"Probably that she is excited for another grandchild."
Rolling her eyes, Scully jokes, "I've already given her two."
After a moment she adds, "Tara's pregnant again."
"Yeah?" Mulder remarks, still not too keen on Bill.
"She's about fourteen weeks now, so our babies won't be too far apart in age."
"What, like maybe a month?"
"Something like that. Granted she was pregnant forever with Matthew."
"How old is he now?" Mulder asks trying to calculate back to that Christmas neither of them really wants to remember.
"Um, 4 years? 3?" Scully replies as an unwanted tear slides down her face. Knowing how much that Christmas affects her, Mulder takes hold of Scully's hand that rests on the console and squeezes it.
Changing the subject, Mulder asks if there is any real plan in how they will tell her mom about the newest member of the Scully clan.
"No idea. Maybe set her down after dinner? If she doesn't bring it up before then."
"You think she'd guess?"
"I think she'd know. She can sense these things, I swear. She guessed correctly when my brother Charlie's wife Shannon was pregnant with their first, second, and third. Shannon, the third time hadn't even been to the doctor yet to confirm anything."
"Scary."
"You've met my mother right?" Scully jokes causing Mulder to grin at her wondering if Maggie Scully was indeed that perceptive.
He does not have to wait long to test that theory when he notices the small glances Maggie gives her daughter over dinner. The deal is cinched when Maggie, unprompted, gives Scully a cup of ginger tea adding, "It helped me most with Missy."
Shocked, Mulder glances over at his girlfriend who gives him a small eyebrow raise as if to showcase that she was right.
"We were hoping it'd be a surprise, Maggie." Mulder jokes hoping Scully is not angry at him for letting on so quickly. It is then that his youngest daughter picks the time to cry for food. Scully is just about to take her when Mulder replies, "There's a bottle in the fridge. I'll get it."
Leaving the women alone, Maggie quickly asks her daughter, "How far along are you?"
"Eleven weeks. It'll be twelve on Thursday."
Counting back, Maggie remarks, "You took full advantage of being kid free."
"Mom," Scully groans.
"Admit it," Maggie teases excited for another grandchild. Scully shakes her head before finally answering, "Okay, yes, but neither of us thought this would happen."
With a small laugh, Maggie remarks, "Honey, I had four kids in five years. You do not need to explain to me."
Simply hearing the comment her mother makes Scully realize her mother probably got pregnant just before a deployment or on leave. Shaking her head, Scully tries not to think too much into that, but instead cradles her mug and takes another sip of her tea before talking more with her mother about this newest pregnancy.
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