From: "C. Shuy" Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 13:01:35 -0800 (PST) Subject: The Beatles Files: "Goodnight" Disclaimer: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, the X-Files, and associated characters are property of David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Chris Carter, Ten-Thirteen Productions and Fox Broadcasting Corporation. They are used without permission and no copyright infringement is meant. The song was written by Lennon/McCartney and belongs to the Beatles. Any elements not recognized as being taken from the show copyright Christina Shuy. Comments and other things sent to cshuy@netcom.com are much appreciated. Rating: G, Series, hint of MSR, Spoilers: Avatar, but only slightly. Summary: Comfort after a nightmare. The Beatles Files: "Good Night" by Christina Shuy cshuy@netcom.com A child's cry pierced the silence of the night. "Dada!" A little girl's voice, almost screaming. Walter Skinner sat up in his bed, gasping and startled, having been woken up from a sound sleep. "Dada!" The little girl again, only louder, screaming through the speaker of the room monitor. "Clare?" Skinner asked, muffling a yawn, even as he climbed out of bed and walked to his daughter's room next door. "Dada..." Clare watched as he walked into the room, twisting the dimmer switch setting to a little brighter. She already looked happy to see him, though she wasn't smiling. He smiled at her, though, picking her up out of bed. She clung gratefully to him. "You okay, Sweetstuff?" he asked, kissing her on the head. Clare Skinner didn't reply aloud, instead only wrapping her arms tightly around her father's neck. "Hmmm. Bad dream?" he asked, sitting down in the rocking chair beside the bed, and starting to look through the mini-discs scattered on the night table beside the minidisk player. He felt Clare nod, and he sighed. 'How do Mulder and Dana do this?' he thought as he did his best to comfort his daughter. 'They have *two* kids.' Then, he realised how and his heart ached, missing Sharon all the more. 'They also have each other.' He managed to find the disc he had been looking for and started it playing on one track, setting the player on endless repeat, and the shut-off timer for an hour. "Now it's time to say good night Good night Sleep tight Now the sun turns out his light Good night Sleep tight Dream sweet dreams for me Dream sweet dreams for you." Clare was all Walter had left of Sharon, and Clare being Sharon's nearly-spitting image was both painful and a comfort at the same time. It had been about eight months since he'd become a widower, and he still missed his wife, even with all the difficulties they'd had in their marriage. After all, they had created Clare together out of love. He stroked his daughter's back gently, feeling her quiet as he held her closely to him. Her grip around his neck had loosened, and she was just clinging now. "Close your eyes and I'll close mine Good night Sleep tight Now the moon begins to shine Good night Sleep tight Dream sweet dreams for me Dream sweet dreams for you." He started humming along to the song and, as he did so, he felt Clare gradually relax into sleep. "Close your eyes and I'll close mine Good night Sleep tight Now the sun turns out his light Good night Sleep tight Dream sweet dreams for me Dream sweet dreams for you. Good night Good night Everybody Everybody everywhere Good night." Clare was now breathing quietly against him, sleeping peacefully. Walter S. Skinner knew he had been blessed with this gift that was his daughter. He still missed her mother a great deal, and hoped he would be able to raise their daughter in the right way. Tell her about right and wrong, teach her about tolerance, and about love. At that last, he grinned, thinking about the two sets of role models for love he could show her: Molly Richardson and Desmond Jones, as well as Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. As he stood up, he was hesitant about putting her back down in her room to sleep. The spare crib had been set up in his bedroom, just in case, and he figured he'd put it to use now. Taking Clare back into his bedroom, he kissed her on the head again before he laid her gently down in her crib, which had been set up near enough so he could watch her closely even while lying in bed. Then, making certain she was soundly asleep, and with the sounds of the Beatles lullaby through the room monitor, Walter Skinner and daughter Clare returned to sleep. -End- "The Truth is Out There. Trust No One."- from "The X-Files" Pursuing a BS(Electrical Engineering)-Fall Quarter 1998(EE320,Engl306)-CSULA Looking for work and a place to live... somewhere in the SanFran Bay Area. "If his hand moves from the small of my back, shoot him." Anne Rooney(C-16)