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Making sure his daughter is actually okay and finally relenting after the twelfth time his daughter says she does not need to go to the hospital, Mulder swears before remembering he needs to call the school and tell them he found Chloe. After a couple hours in the car, Mulder asks his daughter if she knows who kidnapped her. Immediately, Chloe is silent. Deciding not to push her for an answer, the father continues to drive.
Halfway home, Mulder stops for gas making sure to keep his eye on Chloe who remains curled up in the passenger seat not saying much. Just as he is getting back in the car his cell phone rings.
"Mulder," He answers fully aware of his daughter's reaction to the noise. Chloe watches her father as he answers the phone and the various faces he makes. Hanging up, Mulder tells her, "Your mom had the baby."
Surprised, Chloe asks if they are okay.
"According to Monica and your grandma, they're both fine. They refuse to tell me if it's a girl or a boy thought," Mulder answers laughing a little toward the end. Smirking, Chloe answers, "I'm glad they're okay."
"Me too," Mulder answers as he puts the car in drive. Watching the scenery, or lack thereof, Chloe lets herself cry. Sniffling, Chloe finally asks if they can stop at a rest area. For some reason all her emotions are starting to surface and she wants to be able to cry without her father seeing her. At the rest stop, Chloe ends up throwing up in the bathroom as if this will expell all her emotions over the event. Getting back in the car, Chloe buckles her seatbelt before taking command of the radio. She needs something to distract her.
"Monica called me while you were inside. Scully's at her old apartment, so we're going to head there, okay?"
Chloe nods again before turning the music back up. Thirty minutes later, Chloe turns to radio dial down before telling her father who kidnapped her. Not much else is said the rest of the way home.
Entering Scully's apartment hours later, Mulder lets his daughter take a shower and stops short when he enters Scully's old room. His partner is sitting in bed holding their new baby in her arms and Mulder is pretty sure she has never looked lovelier.
"'How's everybody doing?'" Mulder asks softly getting Scully's attention. Looking up at her partner, Scully answers, "'We're doing just fine.'"
Smiling, Scully gets up from the bed and carries their newborn over to Mulder who pushes the blanket back just a little to see their newborn's face. The baby fusses just a little causing Mulder to tenderly admonish, "'Hey, now. None of that.'".
Asking if he wants to see their son, Scully gently transfers the infant to Mulder's arms. In awe over their baby, Mulder is still in disbelief that so much could happen in the span of a couple days. Looking down at his newest child, Mulder whispers, "'Hi.'"
Finally looking back at Scully, Mulder asks, "'What are you going to call him?'"
He knows they decided on William before Audrey was born but is curious if she wants to change it. Not wanting to change the name due to its familial significance, Scully answers, "'William. After your father.'"
The couple gaze at each other for a long moment knowing how much weight the name carries. The fact that Scully says his father instead of hers solidifies so much for him especially in the light of Mulder's true parentage between his mother and Cigarette Smoking Man. Always needing to make jokes though, Mulder remarks, "'Well, I don't know. He's... he's got your coloring and your eyes. But he looks suspiciously like Assistant Director Skinner.'"
Laughing, the couple relishes the moment they have together before looking back down at the baby who is asleep again. Enthralled with their son, Mulder finally asks, "Why didn't you tell me?"
He was in the car for hours and no one called to tell him when Scully was in labor. Only when she had William does he get a call. With a smirk Scully answers, "I was a little busy. Besides, you were dealing with one crisis. I didn't want to burden you with another."
"I doubt you could have," Mulder states still pretty upset he missed his son's birth. Scully gives her partner a soft smile before he kisses her. One she eagerly reciprocates. They are back together like they should be. Their family is back as it should be, and nothing seems to be able to diminish the moment.
When they finally break apart, Scully asks, "How is Chloe?"
"Pretty shaken up, but she swears nothing happened to her."
Swallowing, Scully answers in a thick voice, "Good. I'm going to go check on her."
Taking one last look at her son, Scully makes her way to the bathroom and knocks on the door asking if she can come in. Given the okay, Scully enters the bathroom to find Chloe wrapped in a towel staring at her face in the mirror. Looking up when she hears her name, Chloe immediately begins sobbing. Hugging her daughter, Scully tries her best to soothe the teen as she tries to remember her own reaction and needs after her abduction.
Settling her daughter into the other room a few minutes later, Scully makes sure to stay with Chloe until she falls asleep and even after. Mulder brings William at some point for a feeding. As Scully nurses from a chair at the other side of the room she has a hard time taking her eyes off Chloe.
"She's scared, Mulder," Scully whispers to keep from waking her children. Nodding, Mulder agrees before questioning what they need to do. Repositioning William, Scully answers from experience, "Take every day at a time. Does she know who kidnapped her?"
Not wanting to tell, Mulder stays quiet a moment until Scully looks at him expecting an answer. When she is told it is Cigarette Smoking Man, Scully nearly wakes William when she practically exclaims, "What?"
Nodding for his partner to follow him into Scully's room, Mulder explains what little he knows. He hates not keeping the secret, but as Chloe's mother, Scully deserves to know.
"I'm sure Chloe will share more when she's ready," Mulder adds before hugging Scully to him as they each silently figure out how they will help their oldest daughter.
The next morning Maggie brings Audrey over to Scully's apartment and the child immediately clings to her dad.
"Somebody missed you," Scully teases as Mulder snuggles his youngest daughter while Scully feeds William. Smiling, Mulder asks, "Has Audrey met William yet?"
Scully nods adding, "Since it was just me, Mom offered to take her for the night until you got home."
"That must have been a nice bonding time then for you and William," Mulder remarks not wanting to dwell on the craziness of their lives in the last forty eight hours. Scully nods as she repositions William and watches as Mulder picks up Audrey and gives her a big kiss. Smiling at his daughter's giggle, Mulder suggests they go see Chloe. Eyes lighting up at being able to see her sister, Audrey begins babbling. Taking the baby into the room, Mulder sets Audrey on the bed and whispers Chloe's name to wake her up.
"Someone's here to see you," Mulder announces as Chloe blearily opens her eyes.
"Ko!" Audrey chirps excited by her sister's smile. Smiling back, Chloe answers, "Hi, Audrey. Did you have fun with Grandma?"
"Ga!" Audrey replies happily before grabbing for her sister. Letting her sister snuggle with her, Mulder smiles at the sight before asking if Audrey is okay in the room while Mulder goes to check on breakfast. Nodding, Chloe answers, "We'll be fine."
After about fifteen minutes, Audrey asks, "Mama?"
"Yeah, we'll go to mom," Chloe states sighing as she gets out of bed. Finding her mom in the other bedroom with William, Chloe stares at the baby for a moment before announcing, "He's so little!"
Smiling back at her oldest daughter, Scully asks how she feels. Shrugging, Chloe tells her she feels fine before asking to hold her brother.
Settling back home at the Unremarkable House goes fairly smoothly for Mulder and Scully as they juggle three kids. What does not go smoothly is Chloe's behavior. At first, Mulder and Scully are surprised by their daughter's ability to bounce back after the abduction, but are worried when the teenager refuses to go to school.
"I'm just not ready yet," She tells them adding, "I'll get my work from Anna. She's coming by after school so we can catch up."
What Chloe does not explain is that Anna is also going to help her dye her hair. Despite knowing she is safe, Chloe is worried that CSM will find her and thinks changing her hair will help her feel better somehow. When Mulder finds the teens in the bathroom with hair dye he immediately calls Scully into the hallway.
"I just got William down, Mulder," Scully complains before she sees her daughter's bleached hair. Although they are angry, the parents decide to let the teenagers continue knowing they have gone too far in the hair dying process.
"We'll talk about this later," Mulder remarks before heading downstairs.
Later that night when everyone is asleep, Mulder asks Scully, "How did this affect you? Being kidnapped?"
Shuddering just a little, Scully dryly remarks, "Well, I didn't dye my hair. I also stayed with my mom for two weeks because I was afraid to go home. Both times, actually."
Before she can say anymore, the adults here Chloe scream down the hall. Mulder offers to check on her so Scully can sleep a little bit before William wakes up again for a feeding.
A month goes by with Mulder and Scully trying to coax their daughter to talk to them and of Chloe denying she needs any outside help from a therapist. Crawling in bed after calming Chloe back to sleep one night, Scully sits up a little and smooths her boyfriend's hair.
"Mulder," She whispers. When he mumbles in response, Scully states, "We need to talk about our daughter."
Opening his eyes, Mulder asks, "Chloe?"
"Yes. She had another nightmare. I think we're going to have to get her a psychiatrist whether she wants one or not."
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