From: neoxphile@aol.com
Date: 3 Mar 2004 18:22:22 -0800
Subject: [atxc-pi] NEW: Beyond The Truth: 03 Elegy For (0/6)
Source: atxc
 
Title: Beyond The Truth: 03 Elegy For Origin 
Author: Neoxphile 
Author Email: neoxphile@aol.com 
Status: NEW - Series 
Size: 196k 
Rating: PG-13 
Archive at Gossamer: Yes to Gossamer/Ephemeral 
Category: Adventure , Romance, Friendship 
Pairings: Doggett/Reyes Married, Mulder/Scully RST 
Spoilers: Seasons 1-9 
Beyond the Truth 1 & 2 

Summary: While waiting for the birth of her first child, Reyes
becomes obsessed with knowing where she comes from, and a case grabs
everyone else's attention.
 
Part 1
Please see part 0 (template) for warnings and summary.

Title: Beyond The Truth: 03 Elegy For Origin

Author: Neoxphile

Feedback: I'd love some! Neoxphile@aol.com

Website: www.geocities.com/mulderscreek

Series: Beyond the Truth. This is story #3. (preceded by #1 Lost and
Found, and  #2 High Stakes) both earlier stories can be found at
www.geocities.com/mulderscreek/beyond.html 

Spoilers: any episode of the nine seasons is fair game, probably will
spoil parts of the first two BtT fics as well.

Timeline: This story takes place post-season nine, beginning three
months after  the events in High Stakes. (In other words, beginning
the first March following  " The Truth")

Rating: PG-13

Summary: While waiting for the birth of her first child, Reyes becomes
obsessed  with knowing where she comes from, and a case grabs everyone
else's attention.   Disclaimer: These characters all belong to 1013
who, though they probably don't  realize it, have lent them to me.

Notes: While this story wasn't meant to be a stand-alone, apparently
it can be read that way, since more than one reader skipped directly
to this story without having read Lost and Found or High Stakes first,
and they didn't seem too terribly lost. If you want to read it that
way, just keep in mind that your  big questions (like "Why is a
character who is dead on the show alive in this fic?" or "How did the
X-Files get reopened?" ) were probably answered in one of 
the two earlier stories. 

*** 
***

Beyond the Truth: 03 Elegy for Origin

It was a nice day, especially for March. Reyes stood in the middle of
the bright, airy, and utterly empty kitchen, watching the parade from
the window by  the sink. She volunteered to get everyone drinks, but
she'd really just wanted to get away from everyone for a little while.
It was becoming harder to not resent the fact that no one was letting
her do anything useful. I don't blame Scully for waiting so long to
tell Doggett she was pregnant, she thought.

Eventually she turned from the window and opened a cupboard. Though
the moving in had barely begun, she'd insisted that the first things
into the house would be plates and glasses, since it was inevitable
that someone would get hungry or  thirsty. She was just pouring
glasses of soda when she heard someone at the door.

She let Scully and the kids in. Though Mulder was part of the amateur
moving crew, Scully had planned to arrive later, so the kids wouldn't
be underfoot. Unfortunately she'd over estimated the guys' motivation.
Reyes didn't mind though, she could an ally at the moment.

Emily and Will were all smiles, and she noticed that the little boy
was holding  a brightly wrapped package. He scampered over and pressed
it into her hands. " For your new house!" He exclaimed. Then he turned
and gave his mother puzzled  look. " This house?"

" Yes, this house." Scully laughed, giving his head a fond pat. " I
don't think  he really understands the concept of moving yet." 

" Give him time, he's not quite two, after all." Reyes told her. Then
she asked  William, " Should I open this now? Or should I wait for
John?"

" Wait for John." He said, with a definitive nod of his head. 

" Oh, ok. Guess what? There's a tv upstairs in the baby's room. Do you
want to go watch tv?" She asked as she set the gift on the counter.

" Sure." Emily said, taking her brother's hand, and following Reyes.
When they got to the stairs, Reyes bent to pick William up, but Emily
stopped her. " Are you sure you should do that?" She asked her with a
concerned look.

Reyes picked him up anyway. " Oh no, not you too. Emily, do me a
favor. Let me worry about what I can pick up, ok?"

" Ok." The little girl said, looking sheepish.

" Thank you! Now, if only it was that easy with all the helpful men in
my life..." She said with a shake of her head.

Scully appeared behind them on the stairs. " So they've being bossy, I
take it?"

" You know how they are." Reyes sighed, as she put William down and
showed the kids which room.

" I remember quite well, yes." Scully smiled.

" Scully, do you mind putting the baby-gate in the doorway? I was
supposed to be getting people drinks when you arrived."

" No problem."

***

Doggett smiled to himself as he watched Mulder and Scully carry their
sleeping children out of the house hours later. All the boxes and
furniture had been moved in, so unpacking and setting things up was
all that remained to be complete. Not that either were small tasks. As
he watched the other family leave, he couldn't help but think that in
a short time he'd be a father to kids  those ages again. Not that he'd
ever had an eight-year-old before.

Reyes came up behind him and touched his shoulder. " What are you
thinking about?" She asked as he continued to watch from the doorway.

" Baby-sitting those two back before Christmas." Doggett told her with
a rueful  grin.

" It wasn't that bad, was it?" She asked him with a concerned look.

Doggett thought about it. Mulder and Scully had brought the kids by
late, so they were both sleeping when they got there. William was
carried in, and Emily was just awake enough to stumble in under her
own power. Doggett took the baby from Mulder so Mulder could set up
the playpen for Will, and lead Emily into Gibson's room. He figured
that it would be a quiet night. With Will still sleeping, and Emily
looking like it would take mere minutes to fall asleep,
what could go wrong? Emily crawled into Gibson's bed and was already
asleep by the time Doggett turned off the lights. He left the room
happily, he might have  to forgo the beers he'd planned on, but at
least he'd still get to watch TV.

Within fifteen minutes of Mulder's departure, Doggett relearned a
very important fact about children: asleep now does not mean a
likelihood to stay sleeping.  William woke up first, and immediately
showed his disapproval at waking up in a strange place. " Daddy!
Mommy! Where Daddy?!"

Doggett rushed back to the room, hoping to get him before he woke
Emily up. His  hope was disappointed, because Emily was already
sitting up, bright-eyed. " William, lie down." Doggett said sternly.
The toddler ignored him. Doggett shrugged, then went over and laid him
back down in the playpen. Within 30 seconds he scrambled back to his
feet. Doggett tried again, with the same results, except this time
Emily giggled at him.

After twenty or so minutes of issuing commands for them to go to
sleep, along with intermittent attempts to get William to lay down-
Emily at least laid down  though she continued to giggle at him-
Doggett finally admitted defeat. He never did end up watching the
races, since the Disney channel ruled the rest of  the night. Though
he was bleary-eyed when Mulder picked the kids up the next
morning, you'd never know that the children had only slept 15
minutes.

Reyes poked him. He startled, shaking his head to clear it. " No, it
wasn't so bad."  

***
***

On Monday afternoon, only Reyes and Scully were still in the office.
Since it was temporarily a testosterone-free zone, the two agents felt
free to indulge in a little girl talk.  Reyes put a hand on her
swelling belly as she got up to  get a file. " I can't believe how
much weight I've gained already." She complained.

Scully shrugged. " Some women start gaining a lot at the beginning of
their second trimester, others don't even show until they're almost to
their third." She told her, delving into the facts she learned in med
school.

" But I've gained almost twenty pounds and I'm only four and a half
months." Reyes said, grimacing. " You only gained around 30 pounds all
together, didn't you?"

" Yes. But you were very thin to begin with." Scully pointed out
reasonably. " Some thin women gain more."

" Oh, and you were such a moose yourself before getting pregnant,
right?" Reyes  retorted, giving her petite friend a measuring look.

Scully shrugged. " Maybe your baby will be bigger than William was."

" I hope not! He didn't seem so little when you were in labor." Reyes
shuddered. " I guess I'll have to talk to my doctor about my weight at
my appointment this week.  Is the doctor going to scold me? Mama said
that they scolded her mother something fierce for gaining forty-five
pounds." She fretted, thinking about her adopted mother's stories;
none of which made her feel any better. 

" Probably not. They stopped giving women a hard time about putting on
too much  weight a couple decades ago, since they concluded that
worrying women caused them to gain too little and have small babies."
Scully said. " You'll be fine, you know."

" I hope so." Reyes said, but, like all first time moms-to-be, she was
still worrying. The fact that she didn't have any of her birth
family's medical history at hand didn't help matters any.

***

Reyes looked at the screen in disbelief. This didn't keep the doctor
from smiling at her, however. She'd taken the afternoon off, leaving
Doggett to work  on a case involving a woman who claimed to have a
talking goat, so she could come to what was supposed to be a routine
doctor's visit. Up until the ultrasound, everything had been normal
except the doctor's concern about the baby's size. He didn't scold,
however, so Scully had been right.

" Do you think it's possible that you're farther along than we
initially thought?" Doctor Brooks had asked at the beginning of the
appointment. She'd picked him because he seemed perfectly innocuous; a
nondescript sort of  middle-aged, dark-haired man you'd see anywhere.
Now he was beginning to annoy her, or maybe worry her.

She shook her head in response to his question. " Absolutely not." She
and Doggett hadn't planned to abstain before they were married, but
with the wedding planning and trying to be there for Scully and Mulder
during Emily's illness, it had just worked out that way.

Doctor Brooks nodded, and made a note on her chart. " Yes... in that
case, I think it would be best to test your blood sugar and do an
ultrasound. A big baby can be a sign of gestational diabetes and I
don't think we should take any  chances. "

" Whatever you think is best." Reyes hoped that she didn't sound as
nervous as she felt. Come on, she chided herself, you'd faced much
scarier things than this. Fortunately the doctor didn't notice her
internal dialogue.

A few minutes later, she found herself lying on the table, her exposed
belly covered in a chilly goo. She'd seen ultrasound pictures before,
of course, but instead of helping her interpret what she saw, it made
it harder to comprehend.  It didn't look like anything she'd seen
before.

The doctor, however, was unfazed by the image on the monitor. " Oh
would you look at that?" Brooks exclaimed. " Twins! Would you like to
know the genders? I'm sure if we wait a few moments, they'll move so
we can see. Oh yes. There! Did you want to know?"

" No, that's all right." Reyes said quickly, starting to sit up. 

" Maybe next later, then." He said, patting her hand. " I'll mark it
on your chart that you asked not to be told today, so no one will
accidentally let it slip until you call and ask. You can do that any
time you like."

"Ok." She answered distractedly.

" You'll need to gain more weight now, you know." Doctor Brooks added
as she put her sweater on. " Instead of one big baby, you have two
that are currently a bit small. Not to worry, I'll have the nurse give
you a booklet of weight-gaining advice for mothers-to-be expecting
multiples."

She didn't really hear him because her head was spinning. Twins.
Twins!

***
 

Meanwhile...

The goat nibbled on Doggett's scarf as he talked to its owner.
Annoyed, Doggett  gave it a disgusted look and tugged the scarf away
from the inquisitive lips. Fortunately, the goat hadn't had a chance
to damage to it. He tapped his foot as he and the goat waited alone in
the living room. The room was ugly. He particularly disliked the
afghan thrown over the couch, both of which had goat hair spouting
from them.

The goat's owner, a large florid woman with big hair, bustled back
into the room with store-bought cookies and mugs of milk. Doggett took
a mug and a cookie, but gave the woman an exasperated look. " Ma'am,
with all due respect, I don't understand why you don't give the goat
away if its talking bothers you."

Doggett had spent 45 minutes trying to convince her that it would not
talk in front of him, despite her desperate prompting, because goats
don't talk. This didn't sink in, and he admitted defeat. At least to
himself.

The woman gave his question a shocked look. " Oh no, I simply
couldn't." She told him with a sharp shake of her head.

" Why not?" He asked patiently. 

" Because Frans is my business partner." She explained with a vapid
smile.

Doggett was afraid that his composure slipped then, because he was
sure he wore  a shocked look on his face.  " Your business partner?"

" Oh yes." She said, nodding emphatically. " When my husband, Ted, was
alive he, Frans and I were all partners, but since Ted passed on, it's
just been Frans and I. 50-50."

" Do you mind me asking what sort of you and business you and Frans
have?" Doggett asked without cracking a smile. That took a Herculean
effort.  

" Oh no, dear, I don't mind at all. There are certain people with more
of a concern for the environment than brains." Doggett swallowed a
snigger. As if she was one to talk about brains. "They're vain too.
That's where Frans and I come in. We offer a guilt-free outlet for
that vanity. Frans is a 100% environmentally safe lawn trimmer." She
gave the goat's side a fond pat, and the goat bleated. Whether the
goat was expressing happiness or complaint, Doggett couldn't tell.

He didn't know what to say to the woman about the business. Or
anything else. Finally, he looked at them both and said, " Ma'am, I'm
afraid that if the goat has not committed a crime, there's nothing the
FBI can do for you. If perhaps he'd said something lewd, we could
pursue sexual harassment charges, but this doesn't seem to be the case
from your account. All I can suggest is that you sit down with him,
and uh, discuss your differences." Doggett felt the whole
dream had a surreal, dream-like quality. No, a nightmare one.

The woman nodded sadly. " Well, thank you for your time, Agent
Doggett."

When he left, he kept being overwhelmed with an urge to pinch himself.
Just to see if he was really awake. 

***
 

When Reyes got home, she was relieved that Gibson had told her that he
was going to a basketball game after school. Given her mixed emotions,
being around  a mind-reader was just about the last thing she wanted.

The house seemed to have new charm, however. Doggett had liked it more
than she  right from the start, and she suspected the big old farm
house reminded him of his boyhood home. It reminded her little of
where she'd grown up in Mexico, so she had no fond memories to color
her view of it. It was only after the former owners repainted it a
gleaming white that she began to think more favorably about it. That
and it was only four blocks from Mulder and Scully's house. Now, 
knowing that there were to be twice as many babies than anticipated,
she was glad of the five bedrooms.

Before long, she found herself wandering up to the room they'd
assigned as nursery, planning. The TV she'd entertained Scully's
children with days earlier  had been removed, moved into Gibson's
room, so the room stood completely empty.

Looking around, she decided that the room was large enough to
accommodate two cribs and any other furniture the babies could ever
require with a great deal of room left over. There was, she reasoned,
no sense in rooming them apart before they'd left babyhood. It was
supposed to comfort multiples to be near each other when they were
small.

As she thought through the practicalities of preparing for twins, her
shock wore off enough that she was able to begin to think about how
she was going to tell Doggett.

***

Hanging up his scarf and coat, Doggett was already talking to Reyes
before the front door was entirely closed. " You wouldn't believe the
nutcase I talked today. I swear it's Mulder's fault that we have to
investigate any crank with a  story about a talking pet..." He drifted
off when he realized that she was staring at him. " But we can talk
about that later. How'd your doctor's appointment go?"

" You know how we said we might like to try for another baby someday?"
She asked.

Something in his belly twisted, and he wondered if she was trying to
find a gentle way to break the news that there was something wrong
with this baby to him.  " Yeah..." He tried to keep his voice steady.

She smiled weakly. " Well...it's going to be a lot sooner than we
thought. The doctor did an ultra sound because he was concerned that
the baby was too big, and surprise! We're going to have twins."

Doggett's jaw dropped, and his mind was flooded with relief. " Twins?!
You're sure?"

" I'm sure."

" Wow! That's fantastic!"

" It kind of is, isn't it?" She asked tentatively.

" Boys or girls?" Doggett asked eagerly. " Or is going to be one of
each?"

" I don't know. I didn't ask." Reyes admitted sheepishly. " I was so
flustered by the idea of there being twins and we hadn't even
discussed if we wanted to know the gender..." She glanced sadly at the
clock. " I don't think anyone will  be there now."

" Well, there's no harm in trying." Doggett smiled, reaching for the
phone. He looked at the list of numbers by the phone and quickly
dialed. " You don't mind, right?" She shook her head. To his surprise,
someone answered. " Hi, this  is John Doggett. My wife Monica came in
today and found out that we're having twins, but she was too flustered
to ask their genders..." Doggett paused for a moment and spoke to
Reyes. " Do you have your card on you? They want to know
your patient ID number." She fished it out of her purse and handed it
over.

Doggett read off the number and waited. " That would be great." He
listened. " You're sure? Thanks a lot. Bye. " He was looking very
happy when he hung up the phone. 

" Well?"

" The nurse says people who say they don't want to know usually change
their minds when they get home, so she wasn't surprised to hear from
us."

Reyes gave him an expectant look, and when he didn't say anything
threw a dish towel at him. " Out with it John, the suspense is killing
me."

" And here I thought you didn't want to know." Doggett drawled,
ducking out of her reach. 

" John!"

" Ok, ok." He laughed. " In a few short months, will be the proud
parents of two bouncing baby......girls."

" Two girls?" Reyes said sounding awed.

" Two girls." He replied with a foolish grin. 

He hadn't been entirely truthful when he'd answered Mulder and
Scully's question with "doesn't matter as long as it's healthy," since
he really had had  his heart set on having a daughter. He hadn't even
told Reyes that because he knew she'd know that it was because girls
wouldn't remind him as much of his lost son. The idea of twin girls
thrilled him beyond reason, which he happily told his wife as he
wrapped his arms around her.

***
 

That night...

Emily put down her cup and gave Scully a curious look. They were
having a Mother-daughter dinner in honor of the good grade Emily got
on her science project. They were having sandwiches in an upscale deli
which Emily had discovered she liked better than the seldom allowed
fast-food places.

Scully endure approximately thirty seconds worth of scrutiny before
saying anything. " Did you want to tell me something?" She prompted.

The little blond head shook. " I wanted to ask you something."

Scully resisted the urge to argue about semantics. Emily might not be
Mulder's natural child, but she acted like it at times. " What did you
want to ask me?"

" I wanted to ask you about babies, like Reyes' baby." The girl
confessed shyly.

Scully looked around the busy place and resisted a sigh. It wasn't
where she would have picked to continue the lecture series on the
birds and the bees. " Ask anything you want."

" The baby is going to be Reyes and Doggett's baby, and it's growing
in her tummy, right?"

" Inside an organ called a uterus, yes." 

" And William grew in yours, right?"

" Right." Scully said, beginning to sense the direction the
conversation was taking.

" But not all babies grow in their moms?" Emily asked, looking
puzzled. " because I didn't."

The question reminded Scully that although her daughter was very
bright, she was only eight years old. Furthermore, Doctor Calderon and
his staff had been shockingly remiss in regards to giving the children
even the most basic information about human reproduction. They
probably were worried that it would lead to the types of questions
Emily now had. " Do you remember when we talked about how babies are
usually made?"

" With ovens and stern?" 

" Cells called ovum and sperm, right. Like I told you then, the ovum
come from the mommies and the sperm from the daddies. Usually when a
baby is made it happens inside a mother's body, but it doesn't have
to."

" Oh..."

" Have you ever heard of a 'test-tube baby'?"

Emily's eyes got wide. " I grew in a test tube?"

" No, not exactly." Scully grinned at her. " What happens is they put
those cells from the mom and dad together in a little glass dish for a
few minutes, and once a baby starts and is still too little to see
without a microscope, they can put it in a woman's body to grow."

" The mom's body."

" Well, it can be the mom, or it could be another lady all together.
Which is what happened with you. They call that woman who helps out a
'surrogate mother'  because she's not the baby's real mom, but she let
the baby grow inside of her like other mothers do."

" She must have been a nice lady."

" I bet she was. I don't know who she was though."

" Are there lots of kids like me?" Emily asked, suddenly looking
anxious.

" Not a real lot, but there are quite a few. Your friends Brian and
Georgie, for example."

" Oh good." Emily said, then impulsively gave Scully a hug. All she
wanted was a reassurance that she was normal. At least that's all she
wanted for the moment.

Scully hugged her back, wondering how long she and Mulder would be
able to keep  her real father's identity a secret. They promised him
they'd wait until he was  ready, but it probably would come up sooner
than any of them would like.

***
 

" What's with all the shouting?" Gibson complained when he walked into
the house.

Doggett and Reyes looked puzzled for a second because they hadn't been
talking,  then realized what the teenager meant. " Sorry, we're
excited." Doggett apologized.

" I guess! Our team won by 6 points, by the way." He added in an
offhand manner. " So, twins, huh? That's pretty cool."

" Are you sure you're going to like having two little girls chase you
around?" Reyes teased.

" As long as they're not like Scully's daughter." Gibson said wryly,
thinking about how the little girl half his age enjoyed bossing him
around.

" Awww, how could Monica's little girls be anything but sweet?"
Doggett asked, giving Reyes an innocent look.

" Right." The boy grinned.

" What do you say to going with me to pick up another crib?" Doggett
asked him.

" Now?" Gibson asked, thinking that he hadn't eaten yet. Not to
mention the other crib was still in a box in the hall closet.

" No time like the present. After dinner first, though." Doggett
added. He didn't have to read the boy's mind to know that he was
probably starving.

" You've got a deal." Gibson said, wishing hard that neither of the
little girls was like Emily. Not that she was a bad kid, but... if
not, there was always college to escape to.

***   A small voice at Mulder's elbow piped up. " Daddy, read me
story." Mulder  smiled down at his small son, and turned off the TV.

" What should we read?" Mulder asked him.

Instead of answering, William dashed out of room. He soon returned
clutching a colorful book. " Click clack moo!"

Mulder approved of the choice. There was something deeply funny about
the most unorwellian farmyard revolt. Mulder thought of himself as one
of the cows, and Scully as the duck. He never decided who the farmer
was, since the man wasn't as evil as the syndicate or the grays.  Not
that he would ever say that aloud, people already thought he was
strange enough.

William clambered onto Mulder's lap, and Mulder let him open the book
himself. He had been trying to teach the little boy the importance of
being gentle with books, and so far had mixed results. This time,
however, William got the book open without damaging the pages in any
way. However, it wasn't the first page he opened to. Mulder didn't
mind, they had a game to play before starting the story anyway.

Mulder's big finger pointed at a tree. " House?"

" No! Tree!"

He pointed to a cow. " Cat?"

" Cow!" William shrieked happily.

" Dirt?"

" No, Daddy, it's grass!" William corrected with a giggle.

Scully didn't like the game. She told Mulder that it might mislead the
child. Mulder, who reminded her of something he rarely did- that he
had a degree in psychology while she didn't- pointed out that small
children love to be teachers. Correcting his father's "mistakes" was a
good way to help the boy cement the new vocabulary in his mind. While
she still didn't like the game, she had to admit that William loved
it, and it did seem to help him remember what to call things. He also
seemed to talk a lot more than most little boys his age.

Eventually they got tired of naming things, so William leaned back
against Mulder's chest as he listened to his father read his current
favorite story.

***
***

Reyes dropped three thick books on a desk when she got back from her
lunch break. " Lunch is just too short for running errands." She
commented to Mulder,  who was already back to work after eating at his
desk. He seemed engrossed in writing up the report for the case he and
Scully had solved the day before, but  he wasn't. It was sulkyness,
not diligence, that had him in the office- Scully had left him a note
that morning saying it was his turn to write up the report, 
and that she was going to do the preliminary interview with the police
also working on their next case by herself. He paused his frequent
mutterings of " I  can't believe she ditched me," to acknowledge
Reyes' presence. "Three books of baby names? You're never going to
narrow it down to one choice before the baby is born." He said. He
only half-regretted missing out on the name picking business before
William's birth.

" Well, we do have to pick two names." She said lightly.

" Oh, a middle name. I'd forgotten that."

She shook her head. " Four names, actually, if we're talking first and
middle."

Mulder looked at her, wondering if she meant that they needed to pick
a set of boy's names and girl's names because they didn't want to know
what they were having in advance, but there was something about her
expression that made him think that wasn't what she meant. " You don't
mean you're having twins, do you?" He asked, expecting her to laugh,
though not meanly, at him.

Instead she nodded happily. " Twin girls."

" Wow, congratulations! Does Scully know yet?"

" No, not yet. I'll probably tell her later today."

Mulder grinned. " I'm touched that you told me first."

" Sure, we're friends too, right?"

" Right." He agreed, realizing that it was true. " So... you're not
going to name them after female relatives? That's the easiest way, if
the one to produce  the most arguments." He thought it was nice that
his and Scully's dads both were Williams so all the angst had been
avoided.

" I don't think so. I'm sort of fond of that trend to give little
girls last names a first names."

Mulder wrinkled his nose, wondering what was wrong with more
traditional girls'  names like Monica and Dana. " Just don't give
either of them your maiden name as her first name. Reyes would be a
strange name for a little girl. And if anyone would know how it feels
to grow up with a strange name..."

They both chuckled, and failed to realize that Skinner was in the hall
outside the office.

***

" Agent Reyes, could I see you in my office?" Skinner's voice asked
through the  phone.

" Of course, sir." Reyes said, hanging up. Scully gave her a "what did
you do?"  look, but Reyes could only shrug. She didn't know.

When she got to his office, Skinner had his glasses off and was
massaging his temples. An AD with a headache was no joy to speak to,
so it made her hesitant.  " Sir?" Her voice sounded timid to her own
ears, and she hated it.

Skinner put his glasses back on before talking to her. " Shut the door
and have  a seat." He said flatly.

" Have I done something wrong?"

" I'm just going to be blunt, agent. A couple of days ago I overheard
you and agent Mulder talking. Am I correct to interpret what was said
to mean that you're having twins?"

" Yes, sir. John and I only found out a few days ago." She was puzzled
as to why her admission put such a dark look on his face.

" I was almost certain of that, so I've been thinking through my
decision since  then. I wish you had thought to inform me as soon as
you knew." Skinner told her. She didn't think from his tone that she's
merely hurt his feelings by not telling him immediately. " Given this
development, your leave will begin as of Monday."

" Sir! We agreed that I wouldn't go on leave until my eighth month."
Reyes protested.

" That was when we thought you were carrying just one baby." Skinner
barked. " Twins change things significantly. It's a higher-risk
pregnancy than we thought initially."

" Scully's pregnancy was high-risk and-"

" And she ended up in the hospital more than once." Skinner
interrupted grumpily. " I will not allow another agent to her to put
herself or her unborn offspring at risk." 

" But-"

" There will be three agents in the office, so you shouldn't feel
guilty about taking the time off to take care of yourself and your
babies. Your place in this office will be waiting here for you once
your maternity leave is over." Skinner said firmly.

As much as she didn't want to listen, she knew there was validity to
his concerns; no matter how careful she thought she'd be, Scully's
problems were proof of the unforeseen cropping up. " Yes sir." She
said resignedly.

" Maybe you can take up a hobby. God knows you won't have time for one
after the twins are born." He said with a faint smile.

" If there's nothing else..." She ventured. He dismissed her with a
nod of his head.

**

" Do you mind me asking what that was about?" Scully asked when Reyes
returned.

Reyes sighed. " My maternity leave starts Monday."

Scully looked like she wasn't surprised. " I'm sorry it's starting
sooner than you wanted."

" It's ok. Everything he said made sense."

" Maybe the extra time off will turn out to be what you wanted after
all, you'll see." Reyes wasn't convinced. It was a lot of hours to
suddenly have to fill.

***
***

A week into Reyes' leave, which seemed to be going well despite her
pouting a little about being bored, Doggett woke up to the sound of
snuffling. He couldn't figure out where the sound was coming from,
until he noticed that the door to their bedroom was open. He walked
out in the hall and saw that Reyes was sitting on the top of the
stairs, leaning against the railing and crying. She didn't seem hurt
or sick, so he sat down next to her and threaded one arm
around her waist.

" I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." She said, brushing tears off
her cheeks.

" It's ok. What's wrong?"

" You'll just think I'm being silly." She muttered, looking away.

" No I won't." He declared stoutly.

" I was reading one of those baby books we bought, the section on
twins. It said that the tendency to have twins often runs in
families."

" And?" Doggett asked, puzzled about what would be so upsetting about
that.

" I don't know anything about my family! Some where out there I have a
mother, grandmother, maybe aunts or even sisters, and  I don't know a
damn thing about them. They could all be happy and healthy, and glad
that I'm not with them. Or they could all be dead. And if they're
dead, I wouldn't even know what from. What if they had some sort of
disease and I pass it along to our girls?" She sniffed and Doggett
rubbed her back.

" Have you ever tried to find your mom?" Doggett asked quietly.

" Once. I was eighteen, and I had wanted to for years, but I didn't
want to hurt Mama and Papa so I never asked them if I could. So I
waited until I was in  college. But the person who was going to look
into it for me wanted a lot more money than I could afford."

" We make more money now." Doggett pointed out.

" You think I should try to find her?" Reyes said, surprise winning
out over sadness on her face.

" I think that it will make you worry about the babies less, you
should do it."

Reyes didn't say anything, she just put her head on his shoulder.

***

Scully hung up the phone with a small frown. Unbeknownst to Reyes, who
was taking a shower, Doggett had just called Scully to tell her about
Reyes' mood, and ask for advice. Mulder looked up from making pancakes
and gave her a concerned look.

" What's wrong besides the fact that we have to get the kids up in
fifteen minutes?" Mornings went with a varying degree of smoothness
and it wasn't a good week so far.

" That was Doggett. He said that Reyes was crying last night, upset
that she doesn't have any clue about her family history."

" So? We can help her track down her mother, if that's all that's
wrong." He declared as he flipped a pancake too hard and nearly lost
it.

She sighed. There was something she'd meant to ask Mulder a hundred
times, but she never found a way to frame the question... " Mulder..."
She began hesitantly. " Have you ever wondered..."

" Wondered what, G-woman? I wonder a lot of things." He teased.

" Have you ever wondered if Reyes is your sister?" 

A pancake flopped onto the floor. " You're not serious."

Scully felt her cheeks burn, but she ignored it. " Actually, I am
serious."

" First of all, she's at least two years too young. Second, Samantha
was kidnapped at eight years old, and Reyes was adopted as a baby. Do
I need to continue?" Mulder asked.

" You of all people should believe in false memories." Scully said,
thinking of  the time he called her to rescue him when he woke up
covered in blood in a strange motel. " And people lie about kids' ages
all the time. Well, not all the time, but it happens."

Mulder tried not to look amused. " But even if both those things were
true, what would make you think that she's Samantha? Besides I saw
Samantha, remember? The starlight? Ring any bells?" 

" You could have been hallucinating, it wouldn't have been the first
time." Scully shrugged. " Reyes...She's like you."

" She's like me? What's that supposed to mean?"

" You're both bright-" Mulder snorted, but she couldn't tell which one
of them he disagreed was, and was sure she didn't want to know so she
ignored him. " You both are way too open-minded for your own good,
you're both true believers in the paranormal...and you have similar
coloring." She finished her list lamely. " When you were gone, she
felt a little like being around you, if you want the truth."

(Continued in part 2)


Part 2
See part 0 for header information.


" You're right," He replied sarcastically. " When you put it that way,
I don't know why I didn't realize she's my long lost sister sooner.
Don't go giving her  this crazy idea too, all that will do is hurt her
when it turns out not to be true."

" I wasn't planning to. I mean, I wasn't going to say anything unless
it's true."

" What are you planning to do, sneak up on her and draw a blood sample
without her noticing?"

" I was thinking of pilfering from her hair brush." Scully admitted. 

" Whatever. But don't tell her." Mulder warned.

" I'm not an idiot." She snapped at him. His look suggested he doubted
the validity of the statement.

***

Scully arrived at Reyes and Doggett's house that afternoon, bearing a
gift. One  with approximately 3,000 calories." Scully, you shouldn't
have." Reyes protested, but her mouth watered from the smell leaking
from the pair of white boxes Scully handed her.

" Yes I should have. Your doctor said you need to gain weight, right?
I can't think of a nicer way to do it than by stuffing yourself with
chocolate chunk brownies drizzled with white chocolate." Scully
explained. " There should be enough to allow Doggett and Gibson a
taste too, if you're feeling generous."

" But you're a doctor. Shouldn't you be advocating extra helpings of
things like peanut butter and liver?"

" I'm a doctor, but I'm not your doctor." Scully pointed out
gleefully. " If you like the brownies, I'll give Doggett directions to
the bakery where I got them. People say homemade is the better gift,
but then, they've never been subjected to my cooking."

" Your cooking can't be that bad." Reyes kindly objected.

" Yes it can. Why do you think I was so fond of the pizza guy before
William was born? Emily prefers Mulder's cooking...my cooking is that
bad!" Scully exclaimed.

She and Reyes joked for a few more minutes before she asked Reyes to
excuse her  while she used the bathroom. Scully did not, however, need
to use the facilities.  There were two bathrooms upstairs, and the one
she picked was Reyes and Doggett's. In addition to being cleaner than
Gibson's, it also only had the couple's things in it. 

Fortunately, Reyes' brush was right on the vanity. Scully pulled out a
small ziplock bag, plucked a couple of hairs from the brush, and
thrust the bag back into her pocket. Then, to make things sound good,
she flushed the toilet and washed her hands before rejoining Reyes,
who was eager to sample the brownies.

*** 
***

Scully got the results for the DNA test back the next day. She'd put a
rush on it, implying that the hair belonged to a possible suspect. She
nearly felt guilty when the courier wished her luck as he handed her
the envelope.  It had all gone very smoothly, she reflected as she
laid the image of Mulder's DNA on her desk and opened the envelope
containing Reyes.

No fuss, no muss, and... certainly no match, she noted sadly as she
compared the two images. Not a single point on them matched.  They
contained less similarities than the two fabled snowflakes. There was
no chance whatsoever that Reyes was Mulder's missing sister.

Unless! She thought suddenly, Doggett had borrowed the hairbrush, and
she'd accidentally had one of his hairs typed... she indulged herself
in that fantasy  for almost fifteen seconds before admitting that
there could be no mistaking a strand from Reyes' long dark locks for
one of Doggett's much shorter and lighter ones.

Still, she felt reluctant to let the idea go. It had been such a good
one, and it would have tied up two painful uncertainties in one happy
little bow. Unfortunately she knew all too well that the neatest and
best outcomes are also  the rarest; this hand just hadn't drawn one.

***

The other girl smirked at her. She was wearing a dark purple sundress
that looked nice against her golden-brown skin, while managing to
highlight her dark  hair and darker eyes. " Your last name isn't
really Reyes." The girl insisted again.

Monica was upset, but the girl was older, eight years to her six, so
it was hard to stand up for herself against a bigger opponent. " Is
so. Just like my mama and papa's." She insisted valiantly, while
kneading the hem her own fuchsia dress. She didn't really like the
color, but her mother did, so she wore it without complaint.

" Yeah, but they're not your real mother and father." Maria insisted.
It wasn't  an earth-shattering revelation; Senor and Senora Reyes had
been talking to their daughter about her adoption since she was a
toddler. 

" So what?" She asked, not understanding what the girl was getting
at.

" So your real last name is the same one as your real mother's, or
father's if you had one." Maria added, thinking of her mother's theory
on why her cousin's birth-mother had given her up.

Monica shook her head. " No. Mama said that she and Papa named me,
because I went to them right after I was born. I never had another
last name or first name. Never." She insisted.

Maria shook her head. " You're still not really a Reyes, though. You
can't be, you're white." Monica didn't stick around to hear more, she
ran home. 

Senora Reyes called her sister a few minutes later, and had an angry
conversation in Spanish, which little Monica understood almost all of;
it was about teaching one's child to behave like a normal person, not
a mean-spirited brat. She was eating an dish of ice cream slowly,
still stung by her cousin's words. Even her mama's assurances that she
had as much a right to her last name  as anyone didn't make her feel
much better. She worried that her cousin was right.

Reyes sighed, putting the ancient memory aside. The little doubt had
never entirely left her, even as an adult. It made her feel disloyal
to her adopted parents, who had loved her her entire life, that she
wanted to know who had created her. The only solution she could come
up with was to call her parents and ask their blessing before doing
anything. It would be too painful for all involved if she stuck around
behind their backs, and they found out later.

***

Senora Reyes, Maria to friends and family, was pulling a pan of
cookies out of the oven when the phone rang. She turned off the heat
and reached for the receiver. Her husband would just have to wait for
her to cook the rest of the cookies.

" Si?" She asked politely, expecting to be greeted in Spanish.

" Mama, it's Monica." Reyes said unnecessarily. She was her parents'
only child, so anything after "mama" was just habit.

" Hola, bebe." Her mother answered warmly. " What's wrong? Your voice
doesn't sound right. Are you sick? Is there something wrong with las
ninas?" She asked worriedly. She'd been thrilled to learn that she was
going to have two grand-daughters, but she worried more about Reyes
and the babies.

" No, no. I'm fine, the babies are doing well...I have something to
talk to you  about." She twisted the phone cord in her fingers.
Doggett preferred the cordless phone, but she liked to have something
to fidget with while talking. Sighing, she said, " It's something I'm
afraid will upset you."

" Upset me? When's the last time you said something that I didn't
forgive you for? Words might sting, even said by loved ones, but
you...you're never cruel. Tell me what's on your mind." Her mother
commanded.

" I..." Reyes faltered and tried again. " Since I found out that I'm
having twins, I've been reading everything I can get my hands on about
them. Twins. And all the books say the same things. Twins run in
families. If one is schizophrenic or autistic or develops breast
cancer the other has a much higher  risk of developing it too... Do
you see what I'm getting at, Mama?"

" I'm sorry." Her mother said gently. " I'm afraid I don't." She
realized her daughter was distraught, but why she wasn't sure.

" My family history. I don't know if twins run in my family, or mental
illness,  or cancer-"

" Then find out." Senora Reyes interrupted.
 
" What?" Reyes blinked, startled.

" If you don't know your birth family's medical history, and it
bothers you, you should try to find out." Her mother explained
patiently.

" That's exactly what John said." Reyes said, still dazed that her
mother had the same idea as her husband.

" I knew your Juan was a smart man." Maria chuckled. " That's obvious
by his choosing you to fall in love with."

" John, Mama."

" Que?"

" His name is John, not Juan."

" You Americans, so touch about names..." The older woman moaned. "
What I call  him is not as important as the fact that I respect him. I
don't understand the big deal about names." She complained.

Reyes snorted. " Oh, 'nombres no soy importante?' You wouldn't mind
me introducing you as Marie Reyes then?"

" That's different!" Her mother sputtered. " Besides, you would never
introduce  me by first name, you have better manners than that!"

Reyes rolled her eyes. She wanted to get the conversation back on
track before it derailed completely.  " Mama, you really don't mind if
 I look for my birth family?"

" Of course not. I'm surprised you didn't decide to look for them
earlier.

" What about Papa?' Reyes asked, deciding not to share the inquires
she made in  her youth.

" If I tell him not to mind, he won't." Maria said firmly. Reyes knew
it was true. Laid back by nature, her father tended to honor his
wife's every wish. What she didn't understand was her mother's equally
complacent attitude.

" Why aren't you bothered by this?" She blurted out before thinking of
a more tactful way of putting it.

" Because I know they won't take you away from me when you find them."
Maria said simply.

Tears pricked at the corners of Reyes' eyes. " I love you, Mama. Thank
you for understanding me." She wished she could express her gratitude
better, but she didn't have the words for it. But she knew her mother
understood. 

They talked for another couple of minutes before Reyes said goodbye
and hung up, suddenly feeling much better.

***
***

When Doggett walked into the office, Mulder was completely engrossed
in something he was reading. Taking the excited gleam in the other
man's eyes as a  bad sign, he suppressed a groan. Mulder being eager
about a case was never a good thing in Doggett's opinion. " Where's
agent Scully?"

" I think she said something about grabbing tea." Mulder replied
without even looking up. " Maybe something about coffee too. I wasn't
really listening."

" Don't let her know that." Doggett quipped.

" Yeah..." Mulder wasn't paying attention to him either, obviously.
Doggett shrugged and went to his desk to work on a case file for the
last thing he'd worked on.

Scully appeared two minutes later with two coffees and a tea. Mulder
finally looked up then. " Oh, you're back. We need to discuss this
file." He said, giving it a healthy shake.

" Why?" Scully asked dryly. She looked surprised that he'd even
noticed she was  gone in the first place.

" There have been two deaths, just like the ones that occurred shortly
after you and I got back from Antarctica-" 

" How did you get back?" Doggett interrupted to ask.

As usual, Mulder ducked the question. " - with people seemingly having
their insides ripped out from within. Do you know what this means?"

" That I'm gonna have nightmares tonight?" Doggett offered.

" No. It's evidence that those...evolved pathogens we encountered are
still in existence somewhere, and the one that bothered Gibson
probably got away somehow." Mulder replied. Doggett made a mental note
to ask Gibson what the hell Mulder was talking about.

" Mulder," Scully protested. " We haven't heard of anything like this
for five years. Don't you think that a...organism like that would have
killed far many more people in the intervening time than this?"

" Maybe it was hibernating."  Mulder insisted stubbornly. " Not too
many things  burst out of your chest, you know."

Doggett was going to open his mouth to ask how many times Mulder had
seen the movies in the Alien series when the phone rang, and Skinner
requested them all in his office. 

Mulder was the last to leave, giving the folder a sad look as he
followed the others out of the office.

***

" I don't like this." Skinner said to the man on the other end of the
phone. 

" You don't need to. You just need to follow orders." Kersh hissed,
hanging up on him.

Skinner sighed as he hung up. A moment later his agents trooped into
his office. " Sit." He commanded.

" Are we in trouble, sir?" Mulder asked, a glint of humor in his eyes.
" I've been a good boy this week, so your invitation up here is a
surprise."

Skinner looked faintly amused. " I've called you up here because you
are being assigned to a new case."

" All three of us?" Doggett asked, looking askance at Mulder and
Scully.

" Yes, all three of you." Skinner said, looking directly at Doggett. "
I'm sorry to do this to you, John-"

" Why sir? They're not bad to work with." He grinned, ignoring the
dirty looks Mulder and Scully shot him.

Sighing again for the second time in as many minutes, Skinner removed
something  from his drawer and slid it across his desk. " Here are
your plane tickets."

Mulder picked the stack up and passed them out. " Montpelier? What's
in Vermont  besides Phish, Ben & Jerry's and the Vermont Teddy Bear
factory?"

" There have been some cattle mutilations. Occurring at the rate of
approximately one mutilation a week."

" Aren't there more people than cows there?"

Skinner ignored the question, since Mulder was just asking it to annoy
him. " Kersh promised the locals that we'd send the three of you there
to look into it."

" Why does Kersh care about mutilated cattle?" Scully asked.

" Because one of the farmers who lost stock is a former general and
friend of his." Skinner grumbled. " As I was saying, Doggett, I'm
sorry to have to include you on this case because the instructions
were ` I promised to keep them there until this damn thing is solved,
so tell them to pack a couple of suitcases.'"

" But..." Doggett sputtered. " It could take weeks to catch something
or one going after cattle. Monica-"

" Will have Gibson and I to look after her." Skinner interrupted. "
Kersh is adamant that you go with Mulder and Scully- who I'm sure are
equally reluctant to leave their children. But frankly, if you can't
deal with this sort of thing  cropping up, you should have stayed a
cop." He concluded sharply.

***

" I'm not refusing the assignment, if that's what you're implying."
Doggett said stonily. " I'll have to make her understand." But he
continued to mentally  fret about leaving his pregnant wife for an
indeterminate time.

Scully gave Skinner a sharp look. He was rather rude given how little
Doggett had protested. " I guess I better call my mother..." She said,
wishing that their nanny hadn't gone home right before Christmas.
Anita had been great with the kids, but she was up to her elbows in
vampires at her real job, so Scully knew there'd be no persuading her
to come back to DC. Up until this assignment,  finding another nanny
didn't seem to be necessary with Maggie's adamant insistence that she
wanted to helping out, but she hated to ask her mother to
take them for an assignment with such long-term potential.

" I was hoping for a vacation anyway." Mulder deadpanned.

" Good. You'll be leaving on Monday." Skinner said flatly. Since it
was Friday,  that didn't give them much time to prepare.

After a few more minutes of instructions, the agents trooped back out,
looking far less happy than when they'd come in. Skinner picked up the
phone and dialed  Kersh. " It's done." He said shortly.

***

" Good." Kersh said tersely before hanging up on him. 

It wasn't really his idea to send the X-files agents to Vermont, and
he didn't know any general. Skinner, however, was not lying to them,
because it's the story that Kersh had feed him on orders from someone
else.

It still goaded him that Folmer was calling the shots. Once his
subordinate, but now the new syndicate's figure head, he effectively
had say over any matter  that might compromise what they were trying
to do in preparation for the invasion in 2012. Things like keeping
Mulder from meddling with the reemergence  of the evolved pathogen
that he crossed paths with several years earlier.

Mulder's leap was the correct one, but he didn't have it quite right.
It hadn't  burst from the chest of the man he'd been sent pictures of;
it had merely eviscerated the man. Nor had the pathogen had not been
hibernating prior; it'd been contained. At least it had been until a
fatally stupid attendant natural selected himself out of existence
after allowing the creature to get too close to him- close enough to
kill. Since that night three days earlier, they'd been looking for
it.

To their horror, they learned that it evolved more than they'd known,
time allowing for changes great enough it to infect others with the
substance that had caused it to incubate in someone. Until then the
black oil itself had to be  present to cause infection, now it seemed
as though the creature was secreting black oil all on its own. In
retrospect they ought to have know this was a possibility- in a single
season a flu virus can mutate several times, rending the vaccines used
against it in the fall ineffective by the end of the winter.
Their mistake had been to think of it as a creature alien yet like
them, not as  a virus.

The last thing they needed then, while they tried to deal with this
mess, was an overzealous crusader mucking things up jumping into
things blindly. For the first day or two they held hope that the
pathogen would be recaptured before Mulder got wind of it, but that
was before they learned it had infected two people and that some
well-meaning cop had responded to Mulder's call for leads
involving MOs matching open cases.

So it became necessary to remove Mulder, along with Scully and Doggett
by extension, until they were able to contain the problem. And it was
beginning to  look like that might take quite a while now that there
were two people, at least, infected. The old syndication might have
let Mulder stumble around playing with the pathogen, hoping that it
might kill him and get him out of their hair for good. Folmer knew
better. Mulder was plan B. If their scheme for  dealing with the
coming invasion failed, they were counting on Mulder being
there to pull their bacon from the fire. While it was impossible to
keep Mulder  from every life-threatening situation he put himself in
without arousing his suspicion, Folmer would do his best to steer him
away from any dangerous ones involving the grays and the invasion. The
new syndication was also smaller, so their focus was solely on the
aliens for now on; not that Kersh was all that grateful for the
reduced interference.

In the spirit of keeping Mulder alive until 2012, Folmer had ordered
Kersh to send the agents north, many states away from the last
sighting of the pathogen.  Not that it was a wild goose chase, there
really was something worth investigating going on in Montpelier, it
just was not as high a priority as they were making it up to be for
the agents.

Thinking about his part in the duplicity, Kersh groaned quietly. He
couldn't stand to be under the syndicate's thumb again, no matter who
was running the show or for what reason. Folmer liked to think that
the new syndicate had a noble purpose, but Kersh knew that the smoking
man had thought himself justified in his actions as well.

***

Meanwhile... Reyes put down her book, "Finding your birth parents for
morons," and looked out the window. The clouds were heavy in the
mid-morning sky; it hinted at the likelihood of rain, or even snow.
She found herself thinking about Mexico, her thoughts were always
closer to that country after speaking to  her parents. It wouldn't
snow there.

During the call earlier in the week Maria Reyes had not told her how
they'd come to adopt her, because it was a story her daughter already
knew by heart. It had been Reyes' favorite bedtime story as a little
girl. If she concentrated, even know she could hear her mother's
comforting voice recounting  the tale.

Maria had met and married Carlos when she was eighteen years old. That
was a little young to marry even then, but not so young as it's
considered to be these days. Like all young couples of the age, Maria
and Carlos set out to provide their parents with grandchildren. They
learned that this didn't come easy to all couples, as their third
anniversary came and went with no change to  the size of their family.

At first this was devastating to Maria, the hints her parents gave
just making things worse, so she cried with each and every passing
month. Eventually she began to get over it, at least accepting it
anyway, and decided to put her energy towards helping others instead
of mourning the baby that it was becoming  increasingly obvious that
she and Carlos would never have. With his encouragement, she began to
volunteer at the local hospital.

Working through fate or coincidence, it was her volunteer position
that lead her to the infant that would eventually become their only
daughter. Maria cheerfully helped out doing whatever asked, but she
would not help on the floor  that held new mothers and their babies.
It seemed to her that it would just make it harder to get on with her
life, and the nurses respected her feelings after she explained her
reason for avoiding the maternity ward.  Which is why she initially
said no to a request to give one of the babies a bottle for an
over-taxed nurse.

But because she had a kind heart, she finally gave in when the nurse
pleaded her case, " Maria please! The poor little thing needs to be
held. I don't have the extra time to do that."

" Why doesn't her mother spend time with her?" Maria asked, not
wanting to let on that she was already being swayed by the phrase
`poor little thing.'

" She doesn't have one." The nurse answered with a sad shrug. "
Imagine being one day old and having no one in the world."

Maria sighed. " Bring me a bottle and the baby." She said, settling
into a chair.

She'd expected to have been brought a baby that would look like her,
at least in coloring, so she was shocked to be handed an infant with
skin as white as snow. " Una Americana?" She asked as the nurse showed
her how to hold the baby,  not that she didn't already know how to
from dealing with nieces and nephews.

" Probably. The mother signed away her rights to her and checked
herself out of  the hospital this morning. Never even asked to see the
baby. Never said anything, actually, not even her name. Juana Doe."

Maria nodded, so engrossed in studying the baby as she took her bottle
that she  didn't   notice when the nurse left. She thought the baby
was beautiful. Her fair skin made a startling contrast to her hair,
already as dark as Maria's own. When the nurse returned, she handed
the baby back with reluctance.

" What's going to happen to her?"

The nurse shrugged again." I suppose she'll be put up for adoption
like the mother asked. If she'd been an orphan, the hospital would
look for relatives in  the US, but she's not. She'll go into the
system like all other babies given up.  It's a shame though, sweet
baby, but who'd want to raise a white child?"

Maria had nodded, but she'd gone right home to tell Carlos about the
beautiful motherless baby. What came next was surprisingly easy.
Perhaps shocked by the interest in the little Americana Blanca, or
thrilled not to be saddled with the  need to place the child, the
adoption was unopposed by anyone official and went  through swiftly.

The couple never met the mother, who signed papers through the agency
she'd picked before leaving the hospital. Five-day-old Reyes went home
with her new parents and didn't leave their home until going to
college.

Reyes still loved the story even as an adult, but now retelling it to
herself this time, she became aware of the holes. She didn't know her
birth mother's name, nor did her parents. The only ones who could tell
her were her birth mother herself, who wouldn't because she didn't
know Reyes was looking, and the  agency who would probably refuse. It
had been a closed adoption.

***

When they were about to leave for the day, Mulder quietly asked Scully
if she'd  meet him at the car. Glancing over at Doggett, who'd been
acting out of sorts since the meeting, she declared that she needed to
use the little agents' room and excused herself.

Doggett, looking grim, seemed about to bolt when Mulder spoke up. "
John, are you ok?"

He startled. Mulder rarely used first names. Shrugging he said, " I
can't believe he's sending me away from Monica, now of all
times...She's over five months, for god's sake. And twins rarely go to
term." He fretted. Mulder gave him a sympathetic look. " You know how
it is, not being there-"

" Well, in retrospect." Mulder smiled wryly. " I wasn't exactly in a
position to know what I was missing during."

"But Skinner knew! He saw what it did to Scully, not having you
there... I can't believe he'd turn around and put Reyes though the
same thing."

Mulder scowled. " Someone's pulling his strings, Doggett. You can
count on that." With that their conversation ended uneasily.

***

" But why, Mom?" Emily asked as they drove to the movie.

When they got home Mulder had suggested that they go to a movie before
dinner. The kids clamored to see Spirited Away, which had recently
returned to local theaters. William, upon hearing the word "movie"
repeated the demand, " Dragon,  Daddy, dragon!" approximately 87 times
while Emily offered a litany of friends who said it "was the coolest
movie ever." The adults gave into the choice without protest.

On the way there Scully broke the news that she and Mulder were going
to be leaving for an indefinite amount of time. Emily seemed more
curious than upset,  which was either a blessing or insulting.

" Because our jobs sometimes requires that we go to where things are."
Mulder explained. " And this time we're going somewhere too far away
to drive home at night,"

"Oh..." Emily said sadly, then brightened slightly. " Can Anita come
stay with us?"

" You're going to spend the time we're away with your grandma." Scully
said firmly.

" Ok." She said in a tone that suggested that she'd expected that
answer. " I know writing for Buffy must keep her real busy. Wonder if
she'd write for Angel  now that Buffy is gonna be over." Scully shot
Mulder a look, and he shrugged innocently with an `I have no idea'
expression. " Will you bring us back a souvenir?" She wheedled.

Mulder laughed. " You drive a hard bargain. But yes, we will."

***

Meanwhile...

Doggett's sour mood must have been written on his face because when he
got home  the first words out of Reyes' mouth were "John, what's
wrong?"

He tried to smile, but wasn't successful in the attempt. " Bad news at
work."

" Oh?'

Deciding that she'd probably like up front rather than beating around
the bush,  " Skinner is sending all three of us to investigate a
series of cattle mutilations in Vermont...we leave bright and early
Monday morning." Doggett sighed heavily.

" Oh." She repeated in a different tone.

He captured on of her hands in his own. " I'm sorry."

" Why? We knew this could happen. It's part of the job."

" I knew it could, but I didn't think it would, not now before the
babies are born." He said anxiously. " I don't want to leave you
alone."

" I'll be ok. And I won't be alone, Gibson will be here."

" I know, but..."

" John, I'm a big girl, and I can take care of myself. You know that."
She looked him in the eyes as she spoke. " Even when the sight of my
feet is a distant memory, I'll still be better able to protect myself
than most women and  many men. On leave or not, I'm still a trained
FBI agent who can handle most threats."

" Of course." He said quickly.

" And this is not like when Scully was pregnant with William. " 

"Gibson told you I was worrying?" Doggett sounded betrayed.

" No. He didn't have to. It's an obvious conclusion. But no one is
after me or the babies. We'll be just fine."

" I know." Irrationally he continued the statement internally, and
that's what I'm afraid of. He chalked it up a momentary worry that she
didn't really need him.

" Not that I won't miss you, though." She put her arms around him.

" How much will you miss me?" He asked in a petulant way that was
belied by the  fact that his hands had gone to her waist and he was
nuzzling her neck.

" Come upstairs and figure that out for yourself." She invited.

***
***

There wasn't much time to get ready for the trip, but Doggett and
Reyes took the time the day before to have a farewell argument.

He'd remembered what he'd thought of the night they found out they
were expecting, and decided that they definitely had to have a dog.
Immediately. Before he left. He started in on Friday night, calling
the local pounds to find  out the hours, and it was all he talked
about on Saturday - going to find a dog.

Gibson didn't say much either way, he just sat there like Buddha,
seeing to be willing them to come to their senses but Reyes had a
strong opinion about it. She didn't want one. So they spent an hour
trading " We're getting a dog!" and " No we're not getting a dog!"
before Reyes called a time out. 

" We're being ridiculous. Maybe we'll reach an agreement if we explain
our feelings."

Doggett resisted rolling his eyes at the word "feelings" because she
had a point. " Ok. I think we need a dog because dogs are good at
teaching kids responsibility. That will be good for the girls, and to
a lesser extent good for Gibson too."

" I respect that, and I think you're right. It'd be good for them to
have a dog  at some point. But why get a dog this weekend?" She
asked.

Doggett shrugged helplessly. " I'm going away on Monday, so you and
Gibson will  be alone. It makes me worry. "

" I don't think you'll worry much less if we had a dog while you're
gone. And there's the problem of caring for a full-grown dog while
you're gone. While I'm  sure that Gibson will help out with it, he's
going to be in school most of the time you're gone. Dogs need to be
walked during the day, and fed, and... I just  can't see being dragged
down the street by a dog."

He knew she was being practical, not manipulative. " Ok, you've got a
point..."

" I'm not trying to say I don't think we shouldn't get a dog someday,
just not now." She said placatingly. " But I'd rather wait until the
babies are two or three and get a puppy they can grow up with,
learning at a young age how to be gentle with something smaller than
them."

" I wouldn't mind if we waited." Gibson added quietly.

" Okay, okay. We'll wait to get the dog. But Gibson, while I'm away
look after your-" Doggett stopped himself. He'd almost said `mother'.
He had no idea why. " -self and Reyes while I'm gone." He covered.

Gibson nodded, but his look didn't suggest that he'd been trying to
read Doggett's mind. Or if he had, he was too polite to bring it up. 

" Good." Doggett said, doing a passable job at smiling. He felt
miserable inside, though. But Reyes was right. A dog probably wouldn't
have made him feel  much better.

***
***

Monday Morning

" Mommy don't leave! Mommy don't leave! Mommmmmmy!!" William howled in
anguish as Maggie held him. Fat tears rolled down his cheers and he
held out his arms imploringly. Nothing Maggie or Emily said to him
made him any less hysterical. He fought hard to get away, but his
grandmother held on tightly, worried that he would run out into
traffic if he broke free. Mulder hugged him and Emily anyway, and told
them to behave for Maggie over the little boy's screams.

Scully herself hung back, feeling like the worst mother in the world.
Despite the experts being at odds over how much babies and toddlers
could remember, she  was absolutely certain that William could
remember the day she gave him away. He was too young to understand
what had happened then, but he was old enough now to grasp the
implications of suitcases and Mommy and Daddy saying they'll
be back soon. Soon could be never as far as a 23-month-old child was
concerned given they couldn't tell time.

William thought she was abandoning him

" Don't leave!"

She was trying desperately to hold back her own tears as she and
Mulder left to  meet Doggett for their plane.

***

Monday Afternoon...

After a flight and a long car ride to the local PD, which turned out
not to actually be in Montpelier, but in a small town thirty-five
miles away, they were exhausted. Unfortunately their day was far from
over. The sheriff who met them was square jawed and grumpy looking,
and didn't seem terribly thrilled to see them.

" You must be the Feds." 

" I'm agent Mulder, and this is Agent Doggett and Agent Scully."
Mulder said with as much cheer as he could muster at that moment.

" I suppose you'll want to take a look at the cow." He said with a
sigh. " You won't be able to until the morning, though. The farmer is
pretty upset about are asking him to freeze it so you folks could have
a little looksee. He goes to bed pretty early, so I don't want to keep
him up." He smirked.

Scully didn't appreciate his condescending tone.  " I was under the
impression that someone from this office requested us coming up here,
so I'm not sure where the barely veiled hostility is coming from." She
said bluntly. While she was usually the most diplomatic of the three
she was tired, didn't want to be there, and annoyed to have gotten
such a cold welcome when being there kept her  from her children.

The sheriff frown. " I made the call, but only after being pressured
into it. I'm sorry that I'm not glad you're here, but I'm just not."

" Thank you for your candor." Mulder said gravely. " If we can't get
started today, do you think you could recommend a hotel?"

The sheriff shook his head. " There aren't any where you're going."

" Where we're going?" Doggett asked, puzzled.

" The mountain." The sheriff supplied. " The investigation is supposed
to take place there. All the farms that have been bothered have been
on them." The agents exchanged a look. How could you farm a mountain?
They didn't asked.

" It's a little cold still to be camping." Mulder protested mildly
instead. It was thirty-seven degrees out, and guaranteed to be colder
during the night.

" You accommodations are taken care of." The sheriff assured them.
Mulder didn't like the look of grim mirth in the man's eyes when he
said it. " I'll show you to it now, if you like."

***

It seemed like they drove forever, but it had really only been 45
minutes to an  hour. When they followed the sheriff's car up the dirt
road, Scully's heart began to sink. The sheriff had said there were no
hotels, so she'd imagined a motel, or perhaps a motor lodge, since the
mountains were prone to attracting tourists. No indoor pool, but that
was ok, they were there to work, not vacation. But very few motels or
even motels were situated on dirt roads in the  middle of the woods.

She nearly groaned when their "accommodations" came into view. It was
a log cabin. Mulder must have noticed it at the same time, because the
first thing out of his mouth was " If there are any killer glow bugs
in there we're out of here."

" Killer glow bugs?" Doggett sniggered.

" I thought you read all the files." Scully said archly. " In fact I
seem to recall you saying something to that effect more than once."

" Yeah, well..." A dull red crept up his cheeks.

Mulder decided to take pity on him. For once. " A few months after
Scully joined me on the X-files, we had a case out in the middle of
the woods involving missing loggers. The culprit turned out to be an
ancient bioluminescent insect species that had been released from
hibernation when the tree they were in was cut down. These bugs just
happened to enjoy spinning webs  around people and sucking all the
moisture out of them, leaving them a leathery  mummy-like husk."

" Oh, is that all?" Doggett asked, looking a little green.

They parked and climbed out of their vehicle, going to join the
sheriff, who was already waiting for them. " Come on in, folks."

The inside of the cabin could have been worse, but it also could have
been much  nicer, too. There was a large room with a fireplace that
served as both living and dining room, a small kitchen stocked with
dry and canned foods, and two small bedrooms which were the main
source of their consternation. " I always wanted bunk-beds as a kid."
Mulder commented wryly as he looked in one room, then the other. " I
call top bunk!"

Scully rolled her eyes and gave the rooms dismayed looks. Doggett, on
the other  hand sighed deeply and grumbled, " At least we have indoor
plumbing." Since he'd been the one to investigate the bathroom.

Mulder was in the middle of a quip about the joys of out houses when
the sound of gravel crunching in the driveway alerted them that
another vehicle had arrived.

(Continued in part 3)

Part 3
See part 0 for header information.


" Oh, good." The sheriff said, " Looks like the last member of our
party is finally here.

***

Meanwhile...

The printer made a whining noise that hurt Reyes' ears as it printed
out a single sheet of paper. She'd never noticed how annoying the
sound was before, but she wondered if she was just feeling irritable
because she was pessimistic about her odds. The paper finally spit out
of the printer, and she picked it up.

While Maria and Carlos didn't know the name of her birth mother, they
did know the name of the adoption agency the arrangements had been
made through - Los Ninos  Angelico, which was Catholic like the name
hinted at. Having gone to a catholic elementary school, Reyes knew of
tight-lipped nuns could be about private matters, so she wasn't very
hopeful about getting answers.

She dialed the number anyway. When someone answered, she said, " Hi, I
was placed with a family through this agency, is there any way I can
get some information about my adoption?"

The person answering spoke English, which made Reyes wonder if they
only did because she had spoken it first. She didn't really care
either way. The woman asked for her name, then put her on hold.
Predictably, she came back on the line saying, " I'm sorry, the
records of your adoption are sealed."

" But I'm over eighteen, doesn't that make a difference?" Reyes asked
gamely.

" I'm sorry- "

" Look, Sister... I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

" Corazon." Reyes stifled the urge to laugh- Sister heart, how
original. How inappropriate for someone who seemed so cold. " Sister
Corazon, I'm expecting myself. Twin girls. I just want to find out my
birth family's medical history- "

" We can't give that sort of information." The nun told her. " Over
the phone."

Reyes was about to ask her if being there in person made a difference,
but the dial-tone sounded in her ear. She decided not to call back.

***

The three agents uneasy looks; they hadn't known that they'd been
waiting on anyone. The fact that the now all-too-familiar smirk was
back on the sheriff's face did nothing to reassure them.

Two minutes later the cabin's door banged open and a man lugging a
dufflebag bustled inside. " Hi!" I'm Barry Lutz." He introduced
himself breathlessly, struggling with his bag.

Scully stared at him until she realized that she was, then looked
away, embarrassed by her lack of manners. Barry didn't seem to notice
her scrutiny, so she dared another short look at him. The most
striking them about the man was that he was tiny. Even Scully was a
few inches taller, so at most he was five foot even. He was saved from
appearing twelve years old by the presence of  a bad fu manchu that
was much darker than his blond hair. " Glad you could join 
us." The sheriff told the little man.

" I'm glad to be here, Sheriff Davis." Barry replied happily. " I'm
sure the good sheriff told you what I do." He addressed the agents.

" Actually no." Doggett replied.

" Oh." Barry looked slightly disappointed. " I'm a cyptozoologist." 

Scully and Doggett exchanged unhappy looks but Mulder seemed pleased.
The sheriff took that moment to announce that he was leaving. Barry
waved good-bye,  but the others barely heard him.

" So, who am I bunking with?" Barry asked.

" Me." Doggett said. " But I'd prefer the bottom bunk if you don't
mind."

" No, that's fine. I like the top bunk. It's one of the few times I'm
up higher  than other people." He said with a good-natured chuckle.
Then he turned and gave Mulder and Scully an appraising look. " So I
guess you two will be in the other room...are you married?" He asked,
giving Scully an admiring look.

Mulder was momentarily flustered, and tried to think of an
explanation, but Scully spoke right up. " Yes, yes we are. And we have
two kids. Would you like to see their pictures?" She asked sweetly.
Mulder blinked, but he didn't realize she was sick of all admiration
from men whose titles ended in ologist.

" Maybe later." Barry said. " I think now would be a good time to get
something  to eat, if you all don't mind."

" Sounds good." Mulder agreed. " Why don't I help you with that?"

Scully demurred. " I'll join you in just a minute. First I want to
call my mom and let her know we got here ok."

Barry looked dismayed. " But you can't."

" Why not?" Doggett asked. He'd been thinking of calling home before
dinner too.

" There's no cell phone tower." Barry explained. " And no land-line
either. I thought that the sheriff would have told you that before
sending you up here."

" He didn't explain much." Mulder said unhappily. " How do we keep in
touch with our families then?"

" Mail?" Barry shrugged. " The mailman trucks up here every day. Or
when we're not busy you could drive into town and use a pay phone, I
guess." Neither option seemed terribly appealing.

" Doggett, you and I are driving into town first thing tomorrow
morning." Scully said in a tone that made neither Mulder or Barry
protest the time they'd  lose because of it. Doggett nodded, but he
wished that he could call Reyes sooner.

***
***

" So what do you think of this Barry person?" Scully asked Doggett the
next morning while they drove back to town.

" I think he snores." Doggett said sourly. He hadn't gotten a great
night's sleep.

" I'm asking you a serious question." Scully insisted.

" And I think he seriously snores." Doggett yawned. " I don't know
yet. He seems friendly enough, but how irritating he is is going to
depend on how zealous he is about his `calling'."

" I don't even know what he thinks is mutilating cattle." Scully
complained. " I thought that was just something aliens `did'."

" I'm sure we'll find out sometime today." Doggett replied.

Scully called dibs on the phone. She explained that they'd be in and
out of contact due of the lack of phones where they were, and Maggie
assured her that the kids were both fine. Scully had trouble asking
about William, but Maggie told her that he'd calmed down not long
after they left. Then both kids got on the line, so she was able to
hear for herself that they were ok. After telling everyone she loved
them, she hung up and handed the phone over to Doggett.
" Take as long as you want, John. I'm going to go across to that
little market and see if I can get us something decent to eat.
Pancakes from a mix are ok, but they'll become boring quick."

" Ok, but get some meat." Doggett called after her, already dialing
his number.  Scully wrinkled her nose.

To Doggett's relief, Reyes picked up immediately. " Hi, Honey. I'm
sorry I didn't call last night, but we have a problem. There are no
phones up where we're staying. In a friggin' cabin if you can't
believe that."

" I can believe it." Reyes told him, thinking about the place where
William was  born. " I'm glad you got there ok."

" Yeah, all four of us go there safe and sound."

" Four?"

" Yeah... We've got a cyptozoologist up there with us for some fool
reason. He's my roommate, lucky me."

" He? Guess I shouldn't be jealous, then." Reyes laughed.

" Uh, uh, no way. There's no one I'd rather share a room with than
you." Doggett told her sweetly.

" None of that!" Reyes admonished. " You'll make me really miss you."

Scully returned with the groceries, including meat, a few minutes
later, and they began the long drive back to the cabin.

***

Later that day...

" Who wants spaghetti and garlic bread for lunch?" Maggie Scully asked
her grandchildren. 

" Me!" They both chorused.

" Ok." She said with a fond smile. " Emily, why don't you take your
brother out  into the yard to play while I cook?"

" Sure, grandma." Emily told her with a smile. She and William got
their coats and boots on, and went out to play in the late season
snow. Cold snaps were more common up north, but occasionally the
weather down that way cooperated to provide a child's winter dream
once more in April. Last night had been one of those times, and they'd
gotten an unheard of eight inches of snow.

They tromped happily to the middle of the yard, occasionally throwing
handfuls of snow at each other and giggling. Emily really did mean to
look after her brother, but almost two-year-olds are unpredictable.
Especially ones like William. 

Her back was turned to him for just a few seconds as she followed a
weather-confused squirrel with her eyes. It seemed rather surprised to
be out in the snow, when just two days before the ground was bare. "
Look, Will, a squirrel!" She called to him.

" Icicle." She heard him say softly. She whipped around, sure that he
couldn't have gotten back to the house that quickly. The biggest
icicles she'd ever seen  were hanging from the roof. 

One of largest of icicles was already on its way to William when she
called for  him to get out of the way. Part of her mind insisted that
icicles couldn't hurt  anyone, but this one in particular reminded her
of a sword.

There was a look of joy on his little face as it fell, pleased that he
was able  to make the object come to him, from where it was hanging
all the way up on the  roof.  He tilted his head back to get a better
view of it coming down. Then it hit him, knocking him off his feet.

Emily was already halfway to him when it skewered him. His eyes
fluttered when she said his name, which is the only way she knew for
sure he wasn't dead. " Hurts Em!" He cried in anguish as she crouched
down next to him.

There was already so much blood...the snow beneath him was already
covered in it. She felt faint as she looked at the icicle that was
stabbed firmly through his belly. It was bigger around than Will's
forearm. " Grandma!" She screamed, forgetting that her grandmother was
at the opposite end of the house. " Grandma!" When she didn't hear
Maggie coming she screamed " Help!" instead, hoping that to attract a
neighbor's attention. She stopped yelling when William 
stopped crying.

" Come on Will, wake up." She pleaded with him, he was so pale and
still. When that didn't get any results, she tried slapping his cheeks
gently, like they did on the TV shows, that didn't help either. The
snow was growing redder beneath her knees, and she became convinced
that he was going to die before anyone helped him.

***

Unbeknownst to Emily, Maggie had heard her when she'd switched to
screaming "Help." She abandoned the food, and rushed out the door. Her
heart caught in her throat when she saw the blood pooling under her
baby grandson, and her granddaughter kneeling over him, asking him to
be ok. It was at that moment she  witnessed a miracle.  

Emily grabbed William's wrist, wondering how you took someone's
pulse. Something jumped under her fingers, so she began to feel a
little less scared. You have to get better, she willed him, gritting
her teeth and closing her eyes. It felt warmer to her suddenly.

Maggie was at that moment three feet away from them. In one instant
she could clearly see where the icicle pierced William's jacket, and
was imbedded in ragged flesh in his poor little belly. When she
blinked the icicle was falling away, and the color was returning to
his face.

" Grandma, he's hurt." Emily howled, not noticing at first that
William was struggling to sit while Maggie tore off his coat, which
was covered in blood. She lifted his torn shirt to get a better look
at his belly.

There was a scratch. It was fairly deep and caked with blood, but
there was no ragged, torn skin, and nothing that would account for the
blood their boots squished in. " Oh my God..." Maggie breathed. It was
impossible.

She carried her squirming grandson while leading her sniffling
granddaughter into the house, wondering if they could salvage their
lunch; wondering how she was going to explain what happened to Dana
and Fox.

***
***

The dead cow was so cold that frosty steam rose off of it as they all
peered down at them. Scully's expression was one of detachment, and
Barry's was one of  interest, but Mulder and Doggett looked a
combination of disgusted and horrified.

" I uh..." Mulder began in a slightly strangled voice. " I don't think
this is the work of aliens." He'd been expecting a cow with out eyes,
perhaps slightly flayed. The dead cow they were looking at wasn't like
that. One entire side of it had been torn apart, as if it had angered
the Hulk.

Scully and Doggett were about to reply to Mulder's assessment, Scully
to say it  was always unlikely that aliens were involved in their
cases, and Doggett to protest that aliens didn't exist, but Barry
spoke up first. " Of course not. The thing that did this is an
ordinary earth creature."

Doggett shot the little man a surprised look, but Scully figured his
idea of ordinary was probably different than theirs, given he was a
cyptozoologist. " Which ordinary earth creature?" She asked
impatiently, as she looked at the shards of what had once been ribs.

" I has many names-" Barry warmed up, managing to sound nearly as
pompous as Mulder did in lecture mode, but squeakier.

" Names like what?" Doggett cut him off. He didn't feel up to a
lecture, not while standing in front of a slowly defrosting bovine.

Barry's face filled with reluctance, and Mulder shot him a sympathetic
look. He  knew what it was like to know that most people are unlikely
to believe your theory. He just had more practice at accepting it - he
hadn't asked Barry his age, but he pegged him at no older than 27.

Taking heart from Mulder's sympathy, he stopped looking so sheepish. "
Like Bigfoot."

Doggett covered his face with his hands, and Scully just sighed
deeply. 

Mulder, on the other hand, looked excited. " Really? I haven't heard
of them being carnivores. "

" They're not." Barry explained. " They're omnivores like you or I."

" Actually," Scully corrected him. " I think Mulder might be a
carnivore."

Mulder smirked at her. " If you don't like the menu choices on my
nights to cook, you could offer suggestions."

" Like you'd listen to them." She muttered.

" Maybe if it was pasta based and I thought the kids would ea- "

" Could we get back to the cow please?" Barry asked, looking annoyed
for the first time since they met him.

" Please." Doggett added. " Not that it isn't fun to listen to you
bicker."

" Are we going to be able to see this bigfoot of yours?" Scully asked
snidely.

" Possibly." Barry replied, either missing her unpleasant tone or
ignoring it. " But not for a couple of days. The cows are always found
on Saturday morning."

" Why Saturday? " Doggett wondered.

" Oh, that's easy." Mulder told him. " There's never anything good on
TV Friday  nights." Then he winced, because if looks could kill he
would have keeled over on the bisected cow.

***
***

Two days later...

There was a knock on the door, which startled Reyes into dropping the
baby name  book she was reading; she was beginning to think Mulder had
cursed her, and they'd never find names she and Doggett agreed on. It
was 11:30 in the morning,  so she wasn't expecting anyone, since most
everyone she knew was at work, or in  Gibson's case school, not that
he'd knock unless he forgot his key.

She made her way to the door, and remembered Doggett's request that
she be "very careful" while he was gone, so she looked through the
peephole for a change. What she saw made her smile.

" Hi!" She said, bending slightly to address the smaller of her
visitors. " I didn't think I'd see you until your mom and dad got
back."

" Daddy and Mommy at work." William said solemnly, as Reyes took his
hand. " Had to go away."

" I know, Sweetie. John's with them."

" Gibson at school?" He asked, looking slightly disappointed that he
didn't see  him. He loved playing with the teenager, since he was the
only person he knew that could also talk without opening his mouth. "
Em at school too." Reyes swore he would have sighed if he knew how.

" I hope we're not intruding." Maggie said, looking a little
hesitant.

" No not at all." Reyes replied, gesturing for the older woman to take
a seat. " I'm just a bit surprised to see you." She confessed. "
Nothing's wrong, is there?"

She saw something flicker in Maggie's eyes as she quickly glanced at
William, but it was gone in a flash. " No no. Everything's fine as far
as I know. The day they left, Fox asked if I would stop by and see how
you're doing now and again." She explained.

Reyes was a bit surprised by "Fox" for a second, but then she
remembered Scully  telling her that her mother got away with calling
him by first name. The reason  for the visit, however, was more
startling. " Mulder did? I guess it wouldn't surprise me if your
daughter had, but..."

Maggie smiled gently. " Between you and me, I think he still feels
guilty that he wasn't there for a lot of Dana's pregnancy."

" Well, he couldn't be, what with the abduction and premature burial."
Reyes protested.

" Oh, I know. But guilt can't be expected to listen to logic. To try
to soothe his a little, I did promise to check in on you. Just this
one time, though, unless you need something. "

" I appreciate that." Reyes told her. " But I think Gibson and I will
be fine."

" I expect so. But I'm serious, dear. Don't hesitate to call if you
need someone."

" Thanks." Reyes said, meaning it. It was nice to know there was
someone willing to help out if an emergency arose.

William, not content to be ignored, stood in front of Reyes and lifted
his shirt. " My got a bad boo-boo."

" Oh, that does look pretty sore." Reyes agreed, looking at the
scratch, which looked partially healed. From the slightly pink cast to
his grandmother's cheeks, she thought she knew why she'd hesitated
earlier when asked if everything was ok. It didn't look that bad,
though and kids always manage to injure themselves.

William shook his head. " No, I brave. Doesn't hurt. Much." He assured
her with  a wide grin.

" Just like your Daddy and Mommy." Reyes told him, ruffling his hair
and making  him giggle.

When Maggie and William left a while later, she couldn't help but
think she was  glad her babies were going to be girls. They were
usually slightly less accident prone. But only just. With two of them,
any edge was enough to be thankful for.

***

As they stood shivering in the woods, Scully had the urge to smack
someone. She  wasn't really particular about who, either Mulder or
Barry would do nicely. And  if Doggett kept grumbling about the
stupidity of the assignment, she might add him to the list as well.

It was ten thirty on a Friday night, and they were all crouched behind
trees that lined the pasture of a man's farm. It was not how she
wanted to spend her night. If she'd had her druthers she'd be at home
right now, watching a movie, any movie with Mulder. They would have
had a nice dinner and read to the kids before tucking them in for the
night. Instead she was worried that the tree bark her cheek was up
against would scratch her, and she was beginning to think 
they might freeze to death before they saw anything of interest.

Barry, however, was fully confident that they would soon see Bigfoot.
She also suspected that the man was laboring under the illusion that
he was fated to make a big find, and make himself a household name.
Mulder could have told him how difficult it is to get people to accept
even the most solid of evidence, but he didn't seem inclined to crush
the kid's dream. Maybe not kid, she reconsidered, since she wasn't
much more than a decade older than him, but he was still young. Young
enough to make her hold her tongue too.

Which was hard, because Barry had spent the majority of the day trying
to convince her and Doggett that it was remotely possible that such a
creature existed. She let Doggett argue with him, because she felt
she'd wasted too much  breath over her career trying to reason with
people with firm, if decidedly odd, beliefs. Nothing was ever gained
by it.

" Wouldn't we have found evidence by now if there were such a
creature?" Doggett had demanded at one point.

" Not necessarily, Agent Doggett. There have been many large mammals
discovered  within the past one hundred and fifty years. Some even
within the past decade."  Barry replied. " There are considerably
larger animals that are able to more or  less keep themselves hidden
from people, such as moose."

" But we still would have found dead ones, or some other sort of
evidence." Doggett stubbornly insisted.

Barry nodded, but he wasn't really agreeing. " You would think so, but
maybe that isn't necessarily the case.  If there aren't very many of
them, there is equally little evidence of their existence. And what
little evidence there ever  is, it's probably overlooked, since no one
is looking for it. There must be dead and decomposing animals in the
woods everywhere, but few people ever make a fuss because there isn't
really anything unusual about that. Animals live and  die, just like
us, and to the majority of people, bones are bones. 

" On the other hand, we have to take into account that while man is
the top of the line as far as intelligence, there are some other
creatures in the world who are no slouches in the brain department.
Look at dolphins and chimps. One theory is that bigfoot is also a
large primate, and generally speaking, all our  primate cousins are
pretty smart. Even if they're not as smart as us, they might know
enough to avoid detection by hiding their dead and so on, much like
our primitive ancestors did." Barry concluded, looking pleased with
himself.

" Are you trying to say you think that bigfoot is the missing link?
One of those proto-humans they're always going on about on the
discovery channel?" Doggett asked peevishly. He was unhappy that he
couldn't deflate Barry's theory.

" I don't think so. While it's a fascinating theory, generally
speaking the creatures humans evolved from all died off. It'd be
extraordinary if there were  any leftovers." 

Eventually the long night ended, and the four of them stumbled back to
the cabin, without ever having seen anything. Scully was slightly
disappointed, because she'd been hoping they'd apprehend the guilty
party. That's how she thought of it, the guilty party, because despite
Barry's entertaining ideas, she was still sure it was a human killing
the cow. Her private theory was that the person who killed the cows
was using a very weapon, perhaps an ax or a pick. That would account
for the enormous damage done to the dead animals. As soon as her head
hit the pillow, her theory was forgotten for the time being,
but she was planning to share it soon.

***
***

Gibson was just waking up, still wearing his pjs, when Reyes handed
him a glass  of orange juice. " Thanks." He said, taking a deep gulp.

Reyes nodded, and gave him a searching look. She was better than
Doggett at blocking her thoughts, so he couldn't really figure out
what for. " Did you have any big plans for vacation?" She finally
asked.

He shrugged, it was the first day of vacation so he hadn't given it a
lot of thought yet. " I don't know, maybe read a little and rot my
brain a lot by watching too much TV and too many movies."

" You wouldn't happen to know where your passport is, would you?"
Reyes asked lightly.

" Sure, it's in my desk." He really wished she hadn't gotten so good
at veiling  her thoughts. They only slipped through now when she was
excited about something, like finding out there was going to be twins,
or worrying about Doggett.

" What would you say to taking a little trip to Mexico?"

Gibson raised an eyebrow, reminding her of Scully. " I'd say it beats
the cold,  but I'd wonder why you wanted to go."

" Well, I called my doctor, and he said I could fly up through the end
of my seventh month, since twins aren't earlier than that too often.
So right now is a good time to get away while I'm still smaller than a
whale, and not looking after two screaming babies." She told him with
a smile. " And to be honest, I'm  hoping if I make an appearance at
the agency that handled my adoption they'll tell me my parents
names."

Gibson didn't really need the convincing. " Can I drive us to the
airport when we leave?" Doggett didn't let him drive much, even though
he'd had his license for months.

Reyes gave him a hug. " If you help me pack."

" Deal!" He exclaimed. " But... if I need help shutting the suitcases,
maybe you can sit on them. You're heavy enough now." He added with a
grin.

" Hey!"

***

The sun was shining brightly when the sleeping agents and
pseudo-scientist finally woke up. They'd slept until mid-afternoon,
which wasn't unexpected, given they were out in that field until
sunrise. After a lot of stretching and yawning, they gathered for yet
another meal of just-add-water pancakes and coffee. Even Scully had
some, because she felt like she could us something with 
more kick than tea.

" So now what happens?" Doggett asked, voicing the question all three
agents had.

Barry shrugged. " I can't believe we didn't see anything." If he'd
been ten his  pout would have been cute, but with his terrible facial
hair it wasn't endearing to any of them.

" Maybe it's over." Mulder said brightly. " Maybe whatever it was only
felt the  need to kill a few cows, and is now going to hibernate."

" You think it has a taste for liver?" Scully teased, and the joke
went over the other two men's heads. She knew Barry wouldn't know what
she meant, but she  was beginning to wonder what Doggett had meant
when he claimed to have "read" all the x-files. Briefly skimmed?

A knock on the door interrupted their sleepy attempts at conversation.
Barry was the closest to the door, so he went to get it. The sheriff
looked sour as he entered the cabin. " We've got another dead cow. I
thought you feds were supposed to be here to put an end to this
crap."

" No sir, you were misinformed. We're here to keep out thumbs up our
butts." Mulder said flatly. " We went where Barry told us the creature
was going to attack. He's the one with the knowledge of the situation,
so we trusted his judgment since he'd done the research on where it
was going to strike."

The small man squirmed under Mulder and the sheriff's scrutiny. " I
guessed wrong." He said defensively.  

" Guessed?" Scully asked, glaring at him. " What do you mean
`guessed'?"

He continued to look like he wanted to flee. " It hadn't been to that
farm yet,  so it seemed like a likely target."

" So basically you just thought of all the likely farms and picked one
at random?" Doggett asked in disbelief.

To their surprise the sheriff spoke up. " There's been no rhyme or
reason to the choice of farms. The perpetrator hasn't picked the
biggest farms, or the most secluded, or the ones closest together.
This is something that is impossible to profile-" He said while
looking directly at Mulder, who suddenly got the impression that the
good sheriff had looked into the agents backgrounds. " So what would
you have done differently?"

Neither Scully or Doggett said anything, so Mulder answered him. " I
don't think we would have done differently in the absence of a
discernible pattern, except perhaps to ask for police assistance so we
could split up and watch two possible locations at once."

" Why would we have needed police back up for that? There are four of
us, that'd of been two pairs of two." Barry said, apparently looking
past the fact that they might have done just that if he had been up
front with them.

" Because you're not an agent or a cop." Doggett said bluntly. " Only
one armed  person isn't adequate." 

Barry muttered something under his breath about having a gun permit.

Before the bickering continued, Scully sighed. " Mulder, why don't you
and Doggett take Barry to the latest farm that was hit and looked for
evidence? I've got another dead cow to look at."

" Do you want a ride?" The sheriff asked Scully grudgingly. 

Since she was past worrying about inconveniencing the prickly law
enforcement agent, she took him up on the offer. Doggett and Barry
were already at it again  before she and the sheriff were out of
hearing. It made her glad that Mulder would be with them to mediate.

***

The sheriff dropped Scully back off at the cabin around seven. The
boys had beat her back, and since none of them appeared to have a
scratch, the arguments  must not have lead to blows.  The thought of
them fist fighting over bigfoot amused her.

It seemed as though they'd even been semi-productive while she was
gone. Mulder  and Barry were looking over the "evidence" they'd
gathered at the farm and chatting excitedly about what they'd found.
Doggett was pointedly ignoring them, and seemed to be writing
field-notes on a yellow notepad.  

Noticing Scully, Mulder waved a ziplock baggie of what looked like
fur. " Look,  Scully," He called to her as she walked in. " We need to
send this to the lab to be analyzed right away."

" Maybe then they'll finally believe it's bear fur." Doggett sighed.

" The bear would have huge feet." Barry retorted, studying what looked
like the  plaster cast of a foot print. A very big foot print.

" A fake foot." Doggett snorted derisively. " You can buy fake feet to
make fake foot prints, you know."

" Don't I know it." Scully said under he breath, thinking of the case
She and Mulder had been working on when she'd lost her poor little
dog. A teenager had used fake feet to make prints to impress a girl at
school.

" Scully, you did more work than any of us today." Mulder told her in
a placating tone. Why don't you relax with a book or something for a
while?"

She gave him a suspicious look. " What will you be doing?"

He looked slightly guilty. " I was thinking of driving down to the
Fed-Ex place  I noticed on our way up here."

" Can't it wait until the male man comes tomorrow?" She asked,
exasperated. 

He shook his head with an eager pleading look on his face. " I think
it's important to get this to the labs as soon as possible." He
glanced at Doggett. " Plus I was thinking that Doggett should come
too, so he can call Reyes and let her know it's going to be at least
another week until we get home. I'll call Maggie too, of course, but I
really think in Monica's state-"

" Fine, whatever. Just get back as soon as you can." Scully huffed,
stalking out of the room. A couple of minutes later, she heard Doggett
and Mulder leave,  so she didn't expect any interruptions when she
pulled out the novel she'd thought to bring along with her. 

Which is why she was surprised when Barry shyly came to her room a
little while  later. " Mulder and Doggett left?" She asked, when he
made no move to speak.

" Yeah...Is agent Doggett ok? He seems really anxious about his wife,
and Mulder said she's in some sort of state... is she sick?"

Scully shook her head. " No, she's just pregnant. They're expecting
twins some time this summer."

" Oh, wow, that's enough to make a guy anxious about being away."
Barry affirmed." But that's not really what I wanted to talk about.
You said you had pictures of your kids, would now be a bad time to
look at them?"

She smiled wanly. She didn't think he remembered. " Sure, they're in
my purse."

Fishing through it, she finally unearthed the photo she and Mulder had
had taken a couple of months earlier. " My daughter Emily, who's
eight, and William, who'll be soon." She told him as she passed the
photo over.

Barry grinned when he saw it " They look like you. Except for the
little girl being a blonde."

" I wonder if it might darken when she gets older. With my red hair
and her dad's dark hair, blond is a little surprising." She admitted.

He nodded. " But it probably wouldn't get as dark as Mulder's anyway,
would it?"

She blinked once, forgetting for a moment that most people probably
did think that Mulder was her daughter's father. Spender didn't object
to that, so they let people think what they wanted. " Probably not."

" They must miss you." Barry commented.

" I'm sure I miss them more." Scully declared. " We'll be done with
this case before William's birthday next month, that's the important
thing."

She expected Barry to agree with her, but he looked more than a
little doubtful. Recalling Kersh's order that they stay on the case
until it was solved suddenly made her very sad.

***

Doggett tapped his foot as he watched Mulder excitedly bother the
person in the  fed-ex place. He seemed to be having trouble deciding
on which shipping method would be best for the very important fur
sample.

Finally, Doggett's call went through, so he turned his guilty
attention to the phone instead. " Hello?"

" Monica, it's John..."

" Did something happen?"

He hated how alarmed her voice sounded. " No no, everything's fine.
Well, not fine, but there haven't been any accidents or anything."

" Oh, you just sounded like there's something wrong."

" We didn't catch the purp last night, and whoever it is slaughtered
another cow. Looks like we're going to be up here at least another
week." He concluded apologetically.  " Thank you for letting me know.
" Reyes said. " I'm sorry that you're still up there, since being in a
little cabin with four people sounds like no fun. But don't worry
about me, ok? I'm fine. Gibson's fine too."

" We'll be back as soon as humanly possible. I love you." Doggett
said, noticing that Mulder was finally paying the clerk.

" I know you will and I love you too." Reyes told him.

**

Gibson's look was faintly accusatory. " You didn't tell him." He told
her, not pretending he hadn't been listening to the call.

She shrugged. " You know John. If I told him we were going to Mexico,
he'd only  worry. He's got enough to be concerned with right now."

He did know. Doggett would worry no matter what.

***
***

The following day...

" Are you sure you don't want the window?" Gibson asked. " I don't
think they'd  care if we switched seats." 

Reyes saw that he was just being polite, and she didn't blame him for
wanting the view.  " Thanks, but I'm sure. When I ordered the tickets,
I asked for the isle. These kids are hard on the poor kidneys, so I'm
bound to check out the lovely bathroom at least once before we get to
Mexico."

A couple of minutes after they took their seats, a flight attendant
brought Reyes a seatbelt extender, and carefully explained that she
ought to fasten the  belt under her belly, for the babies safety if
there was turbulence. She dutifully followed directions, but the
thought of needing the extender didn't do much for her self-esteem.
Then and there she vowed to join a gym when the babies were a couple
of months old.

Her rueful thoughts about her missing figure were abruptly interrupted
by a heavy pressure on the back of her chair. Glancing up she saw a
man staring down  at her. He grinned broadly, acting as though he were
doing nothing rude by looming over her.

" The kid your brother?" The man asked. " I know he can't be yours,
not when you're so young and pretty." His smile was suggestive.

Reyes stared back at him in disbelief. Did the idiot hitting on her
not notice that she was pregnant? At first she wanted to point out to
him that she was indeed old enough to be Gibson's mother, if she'd had
him right after high school, but she thought the attempt at
enlightenment would be wasted on him. Then she thought of telling him
that Gibson was her husband, just to see his reaction, but she
reluctantly decided against that figuring it would prolong
the conversation. " He's my nephew." She finally told him. " He lives
with my husband and I."

The man seemed to deflate at the word "husband." She found it odd that
he seemed to have no qualms flirting with a pregnant woman, but
finding her to be a married one had him mumbling about how nice that
was and sinking back into his chair. Shaking her head slightly, she
decided that men were inscrutable. 

***

" Are you ok?"

Reyes turned her head, and looked at Gibson. His eyes were full of
concern. " I'm fine."

" You're really pale."

" This flight has just taught me a lesson, that's all. Unborn babies
don't like  turbulence. They can kick hard enough to hurt." She told
him with a faint smile. Boy could they kick hard.

" Did you hear the announcement a minute ago?"

She shook her head, it hadn't even registered.

(Continued in part 4)

Part 4
See part 0 for header information.


" They said we're going to be landing any minute."

" Thank God." She blurted out. The surprised look on Gibson's face
made her grin in spite of herself.

Twenty minutes later they were off the plane and in the cavernous
airport. It was nothing special, but Reyes was thrilled to be there.
Mostly because it was on the ground. 

Gibson looked a little stunned by the hustle and bustle of people
rushing by, most speaking Spanish, a few like them speaking English.
She wondered how long it had been since he'd been in an airport of any
size. He must have when he'd first come to the states to play chess,
but that was when he was very young.

" What do we do now?" He asked, his voice barely betraying the
anxiousness that  was plain on his face.

" First we go over there." She told him, pointing at a sign that said
COCHE. " So we can rent a car." She glanced down at her belly. " But
not a compact car."

" Ok." He seemed to relax a little knowing that she had a game plan.

" Then we'll find a hotel, since it's night time, and no one is likely
to be at  the agency before tomorrow."

" Do you think we'll find a place with a pool?" He asked eagerly,
sounding his age for once.

" Maybe. And if not, we'll spend time at the beach."

" Wow, a beach in late April..." The happy look on his face suggested
that he was pleased by the impromptu vacation plans after all.

***

It didn't take very long to rent a car and find a suitable hotel. The
room was nice enough, with a pair of double beds and a private
bathroom- which wasn't always the case in reasonably priced hotels.
The hotel also had a nice dining room, and it amused Reyes how wary
Gibson was of ordering. She eventually ordered for him, and he picked
at his food until he realized that he actually liked it.

Later that night, after they'd taken turns changing in the bathroom
and turned off the light, she was almost asleep when Gibson's voice
pulled her back to the  edge of wakefulness. " Monica?"

" Hmm?" Reyes opened her eyes, glad that she didn't have to roll over
to see him on his bed. Though lying on his belly, he was propped up on
his elbows.

" Why do you want to find your birth mother?"

" I want her -our- medical history." She told him, stifling a yawn. "
I've been  healthy so far, but it's better to know, especially if
something comes up with one of the babies' health." 

" Is that the only reason?" He asked then.

She thought about it for a little while before answering him. " I'm
not looking  for someone to know. Not someone to know, not someone to
complicate my life, or  me to do the same to theirs. I have two wonder
parents, and I don't need another."

IF Gibson had been older, he might have accused her of adopting that
attitude to protect herself against possible rejection. But he wasn't
yet that cynical about people he cared about, and instead reserved
doubt only for those he felt had earned it. So all he said was "
Yeah."

" What about you?" She asked gently. " You never talk about your
parents."

He shrugged his shoulders. " I haven't seen them since I started
playing chess - and winning- when I was nine. Agent Scully was going
to call them when I was twelve-" His voice was wistful." But I got
taken away and operated on before she got the chance to."

" You didn't know the number to call yourself?" Reyes asked, finding
it hard to  believe he wouldn't have known his own phone number unless
it had been changed without his knowledge.

He shook his head. " I knew it. The men who took me thought bad
things...My parents wouldn't be safe if I was with them, and if they
knew where I was they would want to come get me. So I never called.
They're better off without me, and I don't remember them very well
anyway."

Reyes eyes shone with tears. " I'm sorry, Gibson."

" I'm not. I'm happy with you and John, and they're safe. What's to be
sorry about?"

When she finally fell asleep that night her dreams were strange. There
were lots of people in a room, and the floor split, cleaving the room
in two. She ended up on one side of the divide with Gibson, Emily and
William, and all their parents were on the other. Even though she'd
never met them, she could tell Gibson's parents from her own. They
were happy where they were, and so were she and Gibson, but William
and Emily cried and cried. So she and Gibson picked them up, and threw
them across the divide, into their waiting parents' arms. Then there
was no more crying, and everyone was happy. When she remembered the
dream later, she decided that it didn't take a degree like
Mulder's to figure out the symbolism.

***
***

" I knew it!" Mulder's shout woke everyone from their hard-earned
sleep, and they all came out to glare at him.

Noticing the trio of grumpy, sleepy faces staring at them, he had the
manners to look sheepish. " Uh...sorry."

Doggett gave him a sour look and scratched his belly. " Now that
you've woken us all up, you mind telling us what you were yelling
about?"

Instead of answering, Mulder handed him a piece of paper. " See? Right
there." He pointed.

Doggett gave him a surprised look. " The mail man came already? It's
not even seven o' clock."

" Fed-ex. I sort of bribed the store guy to get someone to bring it as
soon as it came, before the driver did the rest of the route." Mulder
confessed, not looking up to see what their reaction would be to the
news about his use of money.

Well, what does it say?" Barry asked, looking like he was tempted to
get up on his tippy toes to read over Doggett's shoulder. Not that
even on his toes he'd be that tall.

Doggett gave him a puzzled frown. " Something about the sample you and
Mulder collected not being able to be identified."

" Don't you see what that means?" Mulder asked excitedly, " It's from
an unknown species, so it must be bigfoot!"

" It has to be." Barry agreed, nearly wriggling with excitement.

" Wait a second." Scully exclaimed, once again the voice of reason. "
All it means is that they can't identify the sample. Damage from
temperature extremes and weather exposure make biological evidence
unreliable all the time. There could be all sorts of reasons that the
sample is invalid, and many of them have  nothing to do with what
animal they might have come from. And even if it is an unidentified
creature, why would you automatically think it was bigfoot?"

Mulder gave her a mild look. " You think it's easier to believe it's
another unidentified animal? That no one else has even reported seeing
yet?"

She doesn't answer him, but instead exchanges a quick look with
Doggett. Neither of them is convinced, nor any less determined to
prove Mulder and Barry  wrong.

***
***

Thursday afternoon...

The woman's steely glint was getting on Reyes' nerves. After being
told that there was no one on staff who could possibly speak to her
until Thursday, she'd  held the faintest of hopes that someone would
actually speak to her when she finally was able to see them. It was
apparently a naive hope.

" I'm sorry." The woman said, not sounding it in the slightest, " But
as I explained on the phone, we're not allowed to give that sort of
information out.  It's regretful that you've come all this way for no
reason."

" You said you couldn't give that information out on the phone." Reyes
pointed out, barely holding on to her temper. " If being on the phone
made no difference, why would you have worded your statement that
way?"

The woman sighed. " Haven't you ever misspoke? If I somehow gave you
the impression that being here in person would make a difference, I
apologize. "

Instead of speaking to the woman any longer, Reyes turned to leave,
and it was only Gibson's presence at her side that kept her from
crying or screaming. She'd been so sure that the woman meant something
by mentioning not being able to give the information out over the
phone. It wasn't really the woman's fault she jumped to that
conclusion without demanding clarification, but she was an
easy target for her disappointment. 

They were half way down the building's long sterile hallway when a
small dark-haired woman blocked their path and made them stop. " Why
are you here? Giving up your baby?" Her question was more curious than
rudely intended, but even so if she hadn't reminded Reyes of her mom,
she might have snapped at her.

" No no. I was adopted through this agency, and I came hoping I could
find out who my mother is."

" Oh." The woman said, her large dark eyes filled with sympathy. "
When were you born? Maybe the answers are in the stars."

Normally happy to speak of determining destiny, Reyes was in no mood
to discuss  astrology. But something about the woman's desire to make
her feel better got to her. " I was born September 25th, 1968."

" Ah. A Libra." The woman said, nodding.

" Well...We'd better be going." Reyes said, when the woman added
nothing to the  conversation.

The woman stuck out her hand. " Isabella Charves."

Reyes was nonplused, but the woman seemed harmless enough, so she
shook the woman's hand. " Monica Reyes. And this is Gibson." He gave
the woman a shy, puzzled smile as well.

" You take care of yourself and your baby." Isabella told her.

" Will do." Reyes replied.

" Well, that was odd." Gibson proclaimed once they were outside again.
She agreed wholeheartedly, but then she realized she'd forgotten to be
depressed while speaking to the odd little woman.

***

"  Gibson...what did that woman want?" Reyes asked, thinking about the
visit to  the adoption agency earlier in the day.

He shrugged. " Nothing that I could tell. She was just curious. I got
the sense  that she was only wondering why you wanted to give up your
baby since you didn't look the type. Whatever `the type' is."

" But I don't want to give the babies up." Reyes protested.

" She didn't know that before you told her." He pointed out.

" So... she wasn't singling me out for any particular reason." 

Gibson stared at her. " She's never had a child, Monica."

" Oh! I didn't think she was. I mean, not really." Reyes mumbled. But
she had wondered that very thing. " I thought you said I was getting
harder to read."

" Harder, but not impossible." He replied with a grin. " You need
still thicker  mental walls to keep something like that hidden."

" Great." 

" I'm sorry. I wish someone had been able to help you today." His
voice was soft.

" So do I. So do I." She wasn't ready to give up, but she didn't know
what to do next.

***
***

Friday 9pm...

" Thank you for coming, Officer Davies." Scully said politely, but
without enthusiasm. There was nothing wrong with the sheriff's choice
of which officer to send off with them, but she was really not looking
forward to another night out in the freezing cold.

" So, how are we going to divide ourselves up? Perhaps Barry, I and
officer Davies at one farm, and Doggett and Scully at the other?"
Mulder suggested with  the zeal of a kid picking kickball teams.

" The romance is dead." Scully muttered to herself. Two kids ago he
might have made all sorts of blue remarks about them being alone
together on a stakeout, but now he was more eager to hang out with a
the kid with similar ideas. She'd have to do something about that when
they got home...

" Scully?" Mulder asked, giving her an expectant look.

" What?" 

" Did you hear anything that Doggett just said?"

She gave Doggett a puzzled look. He'd spoken? " No. Sorry."

" I said that maybe it would be better if I teamed up with Barry and
the good officer, and you with Mulder. That way there would be...an
expert about these alleged creatures on each team."

" You didn't say expert the first time." Mulder said with a smirk.

Scully could imagine what he'd said instead. " I think I agree with
Doggett."

Mulder gave the young cyptozoologist a rueful look, but agreed to go
along with  the plan.

***

Mexico
Meanwhile...

The phone on the desk in the room gave a shrill scream, startling
Reyes and Gibson out of the tv-watching stupor. Since she was closest,
Reyes picked it up. " Hello?"

" Ms Reyes, you have a call. May I connect you?"

She had no idea who would be calling her, but she agreed, fearing that
someone had tracked her down because of an emergency. " Yes, please
connect me." She quickly replied.

" Is this Mrs. Reyes?" A woman's voice asked. It sounded vaguely
familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

" Yes."

" Oh good. I should have asked which hotel you were staying in when I
spoke to you yesterday."

Reyes suddenly realized that it was the odd woman she'd spoken to in
the hallway. " What can I do for you?"

" No no, it's what I can do for you." Isabella corrected.

" I'm not sure I understand." Reyes told her. Gibson shot her a
questioning look, but she could only shrug. " Could you hold on a
second?" She covered the receiver and asked Gibson to go and get her a
soda. 

" I work there, at the adoption agency. Nobody important, but I have
keys to clean the offices." Isabella explained when she put the phone
to her ear again.

" Oh." Reyes failed to see where the conversation was going.

" I think I found the file on you and your mother. Same birth date,
baby girl..." Isabella said happily. " I made a copy, and I can give
it to you after  church on Sunday. Meet me for a bite to eat at
Pasteles. It's right down town."

Reyes' elation dampened immediately. She wanted the file more than
anything, but she and Gibson were leaving in the morning. " That's a
nice offer." She said finally, wondering what to do. 

She was thinking about brick walls when Gibson returned with her
drink.

***

Vermont
10pm

Crickets merrily chirped in the dark. Off in the distance a dog barked
angrily,  probably at some four-legged intruder. There was no sign of
bigfoot or an axe/pick wielding crazy person.

" Mulder, stop pouting."

" I'm not pouting." His voice was sullen.

" This case is important. Sort of. You'll have plenty of time to hang
out with Barry once we solve this."

" No I won't." He declared. " He lives in Vermont, and we live all the
way in DC. I'm never going to see him again. Unless we moved-"

" We are not moving to Vermont.'

" I knew you were going to say that." He replied glumly.

Scully shook her head in the dark. She'd had a conversation like this
once before, but then she'd been six and arguing with her father about
some other child she'd met while they were camping.

" You can keep in touch with him through e-mail." Scully said. " Maybe
we can bring the kids up here on vacation this summer."

" Yeah! That's a good idea. I don't know why I didn't think of it."

Because you were too busy pouting, she thinks. " Mulder..."

" What?"

" You ever think of having another baby?" She blurted out. It had been
on her mind off and on again since the doctor confirmed that she was
still fertile after all, back before Mulder returned from hiding in
the desert.

Mulder blinked. " Sometimes... Has hanging out with Reyes gotten you
biological  clock ticking?" He asked with a grin she could see in the
dark.

" Something like that." She agreed. " I'm thirty-nine, Mulder, so it's
getting pretty close to now or never time."

" I know...If we did have a baby, would you want a little boy or
little a girl?"

Instead of saying either as long as it's healthy, which is what he'd
expected, she promptly said " A girl."

" Why a girl?" He was consumed by curiosity.

" Because I never had a baby daughter."

That made him quiet. It still hurt, and not just her. Even though
Scully had miraculously gotten Emily back, she'd still missed almost
eight years of her daughter's life. They both had. Back when they'd
first discovered that the little girl existed, he'd harbored secret
daydreams about marrying Scully if it  was necessary to give her a
better shot at gaining custody. Then they'd raise her together...but
the dreams had died when Emily had gotten sick and had been
taken from them.

" You wouldn't name her something silly, would you? Like Hope, Joy or
Promise."

" We'd name her something we both liked. Not Bambi."

Mulder laughed. " But what if we had another boy?"

" We'd love him too." She said with conviction.

" Let's talk about this more when we get home."

" Whenever that is." Scully sighed.

***

A stick cracked with a shotgun report.

" What was that?" Davies asked nervously. He and Doggett had hit it
off after he discovered that Doggett had once been a cop too. Barry on
the other hand, seemed to feel left out, and barely said anything.

Before Barry or Doggett could answer a loud `whuff' came from the
trees about a  hundred yards from where they were huddled.

Doggett searched the area with his flashlight, and nearly dropped it
when the light fell on something large with dark fur.

" Bigfoot!" Barry exclaimed in an excited whisper.

The thing heard him and swung its head towards them. It then lunged up
on two legs and let loose a warning roar.

" Not bigfoot, you idiot." Officer Davies said, forgetting to censor
himself. He knew Barry's reputation, and thought he was a flake. "
It's a f*cking bear!"

" How do we get rid of a bear?" Doggett whispered urgently. He'd never
spent any time in the woods, so he was clueless.

" We make a lot of noise." Barry and Davies said at the same time.
The simultaneous response did not bring a sense of camaraderie.

Following their lead, Doggett also grabbed up a thick fallen branch
and began pounding on a tree while shouting entreats for it to "go
away."

Eventually the bear gave what seemed like a very derisive snort and
lumbered off.

" Well." Barry said glumly, watching the retreating creature. " I sure
hope Mulder and Scully had better luck because all the noise we just
made probably scared off every wild animal for a mile."

Doggett grated his teeth and wondered which really would have been
worse, being  eat by a bear or having to spend another week up there.
For his sake it was good that Barry didn't mention that brown and
black bears are rarely dangerous.

***
***

Mexico
10am Saturday

When they get to the airport, they sit there in the car for a moment,
making no  move to get out. A brief glance at Gibson's face tells
Reyes that he already knew, despite her having gone through the
motions of packing and checking out of the hotel room. Loud thoughts.

" What do I tell John when he calls?" Gibson finally asked her.

" Tell him I'll be home as soon as I can." She answered with a brittle
smile. Not knowing how long it would take made her feel guilty and
helpless.

He nodded. " I hope you find what you're looking for."

Reyes hugged him once they got out of the car. " Listen, if I'm not
home before  the tenth, all of the bills for the coming month are in
the top drawer of my desk. They're all written out and stamped, so all
you'd have to do is drop them  off in a mail-box."

" Ok."

" And if you have any problems, or don't think you can handle being
alone at the house, I'm sure Skinner or Mrs. Scully-"

Gibson rolled his eyes. " I'm seventeen, you know. You don't have to
worry so much about me."

Reyes shook her head slightly. She remembered seventeen; it wasn't as
grown up as Gibson seemed to think. " I'll try...I'm sorry to ditch
you like this, but you have school on Monday..."

" It's ok. Really. You'll be home as soon as you can, I know that."

His affectionate trust nearly broke her heart as she watched him board
the plane alone. From a distance he seemed so small.

***
***

Sunday 9am
Vermont

" What's wrong?" Scully asked as Doggett took the bags from her to put
in the car. He'd been eager to call home, even volunteering for
shopping duty, but now  that he had, he looked completely out of
sorts.

" I called home and talked to Gibson. Monica's not there."

" Maybe she's running some errands." Scully suggested.

" Oh, she's running an errand." Doggett said flatly. " She's in
Mexico."

" What?"

" It seems that she talked to someone at the agency that handled her
adoption, and the woman gave her the impression that showing up in
person would make a difference when it came to getting her parents
names from them. So she took Gibson with her to Mexico last week
during his school vacation. She never even mentioned it when I spoke
to her the day before she left."

" Did she find out their names?"

Doggett shook his head. " No. The people at the agency refused to give
her any information. But Gibson said they met a cleaning lady or
something who took an interest in them, and offered to help...if Reyes
met her today. So Monica sent Gibson back alone and told him she'd be
back as soon as she could."

Scully gave him a measuring look. " Are you mad?"

He sighed, but shook his head. " How can I be? I'm the one who
initially suggested she try to find her birth mother...After Maria and
I encouraged her to look, how could we fault her methods?"

" Still...That's very understanding of you."

" Yeah. So far. Who knows how long she'll be gone? Every night this
week I laid  awake wishing we'd solve this damn case so I could go
home to her, but she wasn't even there."

" I'm sorry."

" We are never going to solve this case. If it wasn't for those poor
dead cows,  I'd swear that this is just a wild goose chase to keep us
out of the way." Doggett gripped.

" Now you're starting to sound like Mulder."

" You really know how to kick a man when he's down." But despite his
wounded tone, he cracked a smile.

***

Sunday 10am
Pasteles 

When Reyes got to the bakery Isabella asked to meet in, the other
woman was already seated. Isabella looked up and gave her a bright
smile; it did not put her at ease.

" You should try una totra." Isabella advised her.

Reyes' stomach rebelled at the thought of eating cake so early. " If
it's all the same to you, I think I'll just have un chocolate
caliente. I'm not very hungry, but I miss those." She was referring to
the bitter version of hot chocolate that was rarely found in the US
due to its near lack of sugar.

" Maybe when you go home to the states you'll have to bring some back
with you."

" I don't know, it'd go bad pretty fast." Reyes pictured carting a
thermos through customs.

Isabella grinned and slapped the table. " Not made, Nina. A new
company is offering it in powered form, just like those loco
commercials with the bunny you have."

The thought of powered chocolate caliente startled Reyes. Things had
changed a lot since she moved away from Mexico. " You said you found a
file?"

" Yes. I think it's on you." Isabella reached into a canvas bag at her
side and  pulled out a cheap cardboard folder. " Unfortunately, the
original was blurry on one of the lines." She gave Reyes an apologetic
shrug.

Reyes' hands trembled as she took the sheets of paper from the other
woman. There in black and white was the name of the woman she'd been
looking for. "Debra Jacey." She whispered. 

The name so captivated her that it took her a moment to even realize
that there  were other words on the page. Three of those words were
"Robert Jacey - Deceased." She blinked in shock. Up until she'd read
the name listed beside "father" she hadn't given the man a second's
thought.

" My father is dead."

Isabella nodded sympathetically. " Before you were born. It's very
sad."

" But it does explain a little why my mom gave me up." Reyes said, but
she wasn't sure she meant it. Raising a baby alone was hard, but it
seemed manageable if you had friends and family. Scully had been doing
ok until...She shook her head. She didn't want to think about Scully.

" And she was young." Isabella pointed to the woman's date of birth.
It was barely twenty years before Reyes' own.

Reyes nodded absently, but her eyes were drinking in the printing on
the document before her. When she got to the blurred line, her heart
skipped a beat.  It said " Address: 207 Quinn street, _______dy,
Texas." And there was no  zip code.

She stared at _______dy, willing it to become a name, but there was no
way to read it. It looked like someone had once spilled water on it,
and the water had  leeched the ink away.

Isabella looked sad. " I looked through the other papers too, for
another address, but there's nothing. I'm sorry."

Staring at the woman's worried face, Reyes felt a pang of guilt. The
woman had nothing to apologize for, she'd been so helpful...she
bravely pasted a smile to  her face. " You've been such a help, I
don't know how I can ever repay you. "

" You just take good care of your baby." Her tone was oddly urgent.

All of the sudden she got the impression that she knew why Isabella
had helped her. For a fraction of a second she could clearly see a
little girl of six or eight cowering away from an upraised hand, the
child's dark eyes filled with fear... Maybe there were worse things
than not knowing who your parents were. She was suddenly certain there
were.

" I will, believe me. My husband and I are thrilled that we're having
twins. Both little girls. We plan to love them to pieces." 

Isabella seemed to relax a little. " I'm sure you will."

" Thanks again for giving this to me. There can't be many towns in
Texas that end in `dy' so I'm sure that I'll find my mother soon."

" You will, I can feel it." Isabella smiled just a little.

Reyes picked up her bag and pawed through it until she found a pen and
a small notebook. " Here. Write down your address. I'll send you
pictures of the babies, and let you know what happens when I find
her."

Isabella looked touched. They said good-bye, and Isabella departed a
couple of minutes later. Looking at the haunted woman's slightly
slumped shoulders, she didn't blame her mother at all if she thought
she couldn't take care of her. 

***
***

The following day (Monday)
Washington DC

" Are they back yet?" Folmer's demanding voice crackled over the phone
line.

Frowning, Kersh resisted the urge to hang up on him. " No sir."

" Well, you can call them back any time now. The problem has been
contained." Folmer had lost five men in the process, but the evolved
pathogen had ultimately been captured and destroyed. The loss of the
men was regretful, but it could have been much worse.

Kersh nodded, then remembered he was on the phone. " The thing is,
Sir, that their case has turned out to be an actual x-file. Since I
told them to stay up there until it's solved..."

" That's fine. They can say up there as long as you like. Keeps them
out of my hair." Folmer said with a chuckle.

" As you wish."

Kersh gave the phone a disgusted look as he hung up. Folmer might not
care that  the case was tying up his agents, but what the hell were
they tracking in Vermont?

***
***

May 20th 
Vermont

Much to everyone's chagrin, the case remained unsolved by the time
William's second birthday arrived. After realizing that this was going
to be the case, Scully was inconsolable, which made Mulder decide to
ask Maggie to bring the kids up on William's birthday as a surprise
for Scully. She was so depressed she thought he was just being nice
when he and Barry went to do the shopping, and never stopped to think
that he might have been going to make a phone call.

The little party was a success, and William charmed everyone, except
when he smeared cake on everything. Maggie had even thought to stop at
their house first to get the presents Scully had picked out and
bragged about to her. William loved them. Almost as much as he loved
the wrapping paper.

The little cabin didn't seem so desolate with the two happy, bright
children there, so they could almost forget how miserable they'd been
before then. Sadly, it eventually came time for Maggie and the kids to
leave, so they could get to a hotel halfway between there and home
before Maggie got too tired to drive.

" Dana, Fox...before we go, there's something I need to talk to you
about." She  glanced at the kids, and stopped.

Doggett realized why she'd trailed off. " Come on guys, I want to show
you something outside before we you go. I wish I could show the
babies, but they'll  have to settle for a picture."  William and Emily
trailed after him, demanding to know what he was going to show them.

As soon as the door closed, Maggie turned to Mulder and Scully with a
grave look. " The day after you left, William had an accident. A very
bad one." Their  faces paled as she told them about the torn flesh and
all the blood. " But while I watched, he got better. Thirty seconds
later, when I'd gotten his shirt  and coat off, all that was left was
a cut not serious enough for stitches. That  isn't natural." She
shivered.

" Did you bring him to the e.r.?" Scully asked anxiously.

Interpreting the question the opposite of its intention, Maggie was
slightly defensive. " He was ok. How would I have explained his rapid
and nearly complete recovery? I bandaged what was left of the wound
and he was fine. Four days later there was nothing left of the
injury."

" How do we explain it to ourselves?" Scully mused quietly.

Of the three of them, Mulder was the one not at a loss. " We know that
William is an unusual boy, and that some of the grays are
healers...maybe it's one of the `gifts' my father left us when he
injected me with that DNA. These things have always come out more
naturally in Will."

Maggie shook her head. " Fox, he was unconscious. Even if he could
heal himself, don't you think he'd have to be awake to do it?"

" Maybe, maybe not. Do you have another theory?" He challenged, but
not unkindly.

She hesitated, not really wanting to suggest what was on her mind. " I
know you  probably don't want to hear this with all you've gone
through with her-" Both of their eyes widened at the word `her' " But
I think Emily might have had something, maybe everything, to do with
his healing. I'm not positive, but it looked like he started to get
better when she picked up his wrist... I'm sorry,  I know how happy
you were when it seemed like she was a perfectly normal child
now..." She looked as apologetic as she sounded.

" There's no way to prove which one of them did it." Scully said
reasonably. " We'll have to watch them if anything comes up, so we can
figure out which of them is able to heal."

Later, when Maggie and the kids were gone, Mulder wondered which child
he'd prefer to be the healer. The implications if it was William were
less frightening, but- Doggett and Scully's calls to him that it was
time for dinner  broke his thoughts.

***
***

May 22nd, 2003
Kennedy, Texas

In the end it took her three weeks.

Three long weeks wandering from town to town that ended in "dy" asking
if there  was a Quinn street because she didn't trust Mapquest after
it told her to go on  115 North East and no such route existed, just
115 North and 115 East, which took you different places. 

Three weeks of calling Gibson every three or four days to see if he
was doing ok, and once to make sure that he'd sent out the bills. Even
after he said he had she still imagined him in the dark and cold with
no water. They never spoke  about John. Every time she started to
tears swarmed into her eyes, so she stopped trying.

Three weeks of finding Quinn streets in dy towns that didn't go to
207. She finally found the right street in the right town.

In the end, when Reyes found the house at the end of Quinn Street, she
almost cried. It might have been a nice house once, but now... the
paint had long since peeled away, leaving the cracked and weathered
boards to the mercy of the  elements. All the windows were boarded,
and they stared blankly at the street. Worst of all, a thick rope was
strung across the porch, barring access. From the middle of the rope
hung a wooden sign that pointed out the obvious - the house was
condemned.

She stared at the sign long enough to read it eighteen times over, but
her eyes  didn't really see it. It was the end of the road. Her search
had come to nothing. One hand went to her belly, reminding herself why
this had been so important to her. She'd let them, and herself, down.

" What are you doing?" A voice called, startling her out of her
paralyzing gloom. Thinking about it, she vaguely recalled hearing a
door open. Turning around slowly, she saw that the speaker was an
older woman standing on the porch of the home next door.

" I was given this address." Reyes told the woman after walking a few
steps closer to her.

" Can't imagine why." The woman remarked. Reyes realized that she was
older than she'd initially thought. Probably in her early sixties. "
No one has lived  there for more than thirty years." The woman sounded
annoyed that Reyes had obviously been deceived by the address giver.

Thirty years. Thirty years. Reyes mind repeated it, stunned, or maybe
mockingly, she couldn't tell. She finally realized that the woman was
waiting for an answer to her question. " Someone from the adoption
agency. This was the  address I was given for my birth mother." Reyes
told the woman, her voice trembling.

(Continued in part 5)

 
Part 5
See part 0 for header information.


The woman looked stunned. " You're Debra Jacey's daughter?"

" Did you know my mother?" Reyes asked tonelessly. Her brain was
buzzing too loudly with confusion to settle on an emotional reaction.

The older woman closed the rest of the gap between them, and gently
took Reyes'  arm. " Come in, and we'll talk." She let herself be lead
as docilely as a child.

When they were inside, the woman pour her a glass of water." I'm
Lillian, by the way." She said, handing the drink to her.

Reyes took a grateful sip. " Monica."

Lillian looked fascinated. " I always wondered what happened to you.
When Debbie came home from her impromptu vacation from Mexico alone,
there were a lot of questions, but she didn't answer a one."

Finishing her drink, Reyes wondered what people would think if she
came home no  longer pregnant, no babies with her. It was too hard to
imagine. Then she wondered if she'd get the chance to ask her mother
that very question. She wanted to be polite, but it was too hard. "
Please, is my mother still alive? I  know my father isn't, but is my
mother?"

Lillian's eyes filled with pity. " I'm sorry."

***

Somehow she'd known, ever since the moment that Lillian uttered her
mother's name. Knowing didn't make it much less shocking, though. "
How long ago?"

" Just a few months after you were born." Lillian said sadly. " There
was a storm coming, so she went out to do some last minute shopping
before the weather turned foul-"

" A car accident." Reyes guessed, trying to picture this mother she
never met behind the wheel of a car.

" No dear, although that might have been kinder. You see, the store
had wiring problems, and there was a fire after a blown-down tree
landed on the power lines... your mom was the only one who didn't get
out. A few busy bodies said she didn't get out of that fire because
she didn't want to, but Debbie wasn't the kind of girl who'd take her
own life, nor passively let it be taken. She'd of gotten out of there
if she could have." Lillian fiercely defended the dead woman, as if
the reassurances made a difference to her child.

" Why would anyone think she didn't try to get out?" 

" She was depressed. " Your father and her had had such plans, but
then the war  took him less than a year after they married. It was an
awful thing for a pregnant woman to learn. She never said, but I
always suspected that she gave you up because she didn't think she was
strong enough to raise you on her own. The world wasn't like it is
now, and single women with children usually had a much harder time
putting food on the table...Anyway, when she came home without 
you, she was a shell of her former self. All the joy went out of her.
Some people think that adoption is the easy way out, but that girl
suffered-" Reyes thought not of her mother, but of Scully crying the
day she gave William up. It  was easy to imagine a mother suffering
after giving her baby up. " I hope you had the good life she thought
she was giving you the chance to have."

Reyes thought of her mostly-happy childhood, and gave Lillian a gentle
smile. "  I did. I do. The people who adopted me made sure that I knew
I was wanted and loved, and I love them dearly for it, and for who
they are. Now my husband and I are looking forward to welcoming twins
to our family, and our foster child is  growing up to be a fine young
man as well. It's been a good life, better than many." She told the
older woman, meaning it.

" I'm so glad to hear that. Debbie would be so happy to know that..."
Lillian trailed off. " Do you mind me asking why you were looking for
your mother?"

Reyes wanted to lie to her sweet old face, because it was obvious that
she thought highly of her mother, but she couldn't. " I was hoping to
speak to her to get her medical history. It seemed irresponsible not
to at least try to get that information for my babies' sake."

" I see." Lillian said, not unkindly despite Reyes' lack of sentiment.
" I could help you with that."

" How?" Even if they'd been good friends, it didn't seem likely that
Lillian would know the ins and outs of Debra Jacey's health.

" I'm retired now, but for forty years there was an MD attached to my
name." The older woman explained proudly. " Debra was one of my first
patients, and I was her doctor her entire life. I have all her medical
records."

" Aren't there rules against giving someone another person's medical
files?" Reyes asked nervously. She desperately wanted the records, but
not if it was going to get the kind woman sitting before in any
trouble.

" First of all, I'm no longer a doctor, so it's unlikely anyone from a
medical board would ever find out and chastise me for impropriety.
Second, your mother is dead, so doctor patient confidentially hardly
applies now. And last, your mother would have wanted you to know. She
didn't give you up to make you suffer  needlessly, she wanted you to
be happy."

***

It was about an hour before dark when Reyes' car pulled up along side
of Cedar Grove Cemetery. On the seat across from her sat a thick
folder, bound with rubber bands. True to her word, Lillian provided
all of Debra Jacey's medical records, and even had Robert's from the
time he moved into town as a freshman in high school. Which of course
is where he met Debra.

Reyes had listened politely to the stories about her parents' brief
romance, but she felt a disconnect. It was like listening to someone
talk about the lives of any other strangers; even knowing it was her
parents being talked about didn't make it feel the slightest less
alien or special.

Still, she did decide that she should go to the cemetery as Lillian
suggested. Something in the older woman's eyes hinted at closure, and
Reyes felt that she could use that. So as soon as she left Lillian,
she drove to the nearest greenhouse. Not knowing either of her parents
favorite flowers, or even colors made her choice hard, but finally she
settled on white rose bushes. Some how that seemed appropriate, white
roses being a sign of innocence and putting one in mind of babies.
Even if she hadn't been their daughter, she'd once been
their expected baby. Surely they'd felt something for her then, just
as she felt for the daughters she was anxious to meet.

The cemetery was empty, which suited her well. She'd feared that
someone, trying to be helpful, would insist on doing the work for her,
and she didn't feel helpless. She liked using the small trowel that
she'd also bought to disturb the soil, making a place for the two rose
bushes, even if her belly did  get in her way. Soon the bushes were
firmly in place, and she stood, brushing the lose dirt from her knees,
grimacing slightly as the babies announced their unhappiness of her
sudden movements with small firm kicks.

It looked less lonely, a little less forsaken, with the bushes planted
there, one on each of the graves. The twin-hearts stone still looked
dull, though, and  she wondered how long it had been since anyone had
visited the graves. Lillian had further dashed her hopes by telling
her they'd each been only children, whose parents had all passed years
before. But had they had friends? Someone, anyone to cry over their
graves, the way she couldn't bring herself to do?

When she walked back to the rental car, her eyes were still so dry
they burned.

***

Later on, lying on her bed in the final hotel room, Reyes could
scarcely believe it was over. She hadn't found her mother because
there had been no mother left to find. Nor a father either. All of the
nights she'd wasted as a girl wondering what her real mother was doing
right that second had all had the  same answer- rotting in her grave.

Reyes thought she ought to feel badly that the woman was dead, her
father too, of course, but she didn't, not really. While she did owe
them her gratitude for  giving her life, she didn't seem to owe them a
debt of grief. There were a hundred people she'd feel more grieved to
know they were dead. It was hard to mourn people you never even met.
It felt empty. 

At least it was over. She'd gotten what she'd come for, even if in a
round about way, and she could go home. She missed Doggett
desperately, she missed Gibson and Scully, and she was even beginning
to miss Mulder.

Maybe Mulder was someone to talk to about the whole thing. Of anyone,
he knew what it was like to look for someone only to find out that
they died long before you started looking. Or maybe she wouldn't talk
to him, because it'd hurt to remember. After all, he'd loved his
sister.

Sighing, she fell asleep wondering where she could buy train tickets
in the morning; there was no way she was going to fly home, not after
the last flight.

***
***

May 23rd

The three men stood in companionable silence for what they hoped would
be the last time. It wasn't if the cop, the FBI agent or the
cyptozoologist disliked each other, it's just that they hoped that
this would be the night that they solved the case so they could all go
home.

Insects buzzed. Then a louder sound broke the night air.

" Muffy! Muffy! Where are you?" A plaintive voice cried out.

The caller jumped s foot when a hand shot out and grabbed him,
dragging him into the dim light of a flashlight pointed at the
ground.

" Be quiet!" Doggett hissed. The young man shook with fear as the
three glowering people surrounded him, but he did as he was told. "
What are you doing out here at this time of might? We're trying to
track the thing that been  killing cattle around here."

" Oh..." The man moaned. " I have to find Muffy, I just have to."

" Look, I know you're worried about your dog or cat, but this thing
isn't after  pets, so maybe you should just go home-" Davies
suggested.

" You don't understand." The man protested. " I'm not worried about
Muffy being  eaten, I'm worried that Muffy is going to be doing the
eating. Again."

" How's that?" Barry asked, his mind still on a cat or dog, a killer
house pet.

" What exactly is Muffy?" Doggett demanded to know.

" A bear. I raised her from a cub." The man admitted. " She got loose
months ago, and I've been trying to find her ever since. I never meant
for any of this  to happen."

Barry gave the man a puzzled look. " Even if you did find a cub and
raised it, black bears don't go after anything as big as cows. They
prefer fish and berries."

The stranger continued to look miserable. " I didn't find her, I
bought her from a breeder out west. She's not a black bear."

" What kind of bear is she then?" Davies asked.

" A hybrid. Black bear and...grizzly."

" What?" Barry squawked. " You brought something like that up here,
and let it get loose? With all the dairy farms up here?"

Davies gave the man a stern look. " It's against the law to introduce
species into non-native habitat." 

" I'm lost." Doggett confessed. " What's one bear type verses
another?"

Barry explained. " Black bears are more or less harmless, unless you
bother their cubs. They paw through dumpsters, but that's about all
the damage they ever cause, and you can avoid it by locking trash up.
Grizzlies, on the other hand, go after sheep and cattle. It's so
common that there are set rates to reimburse ranchers who have proof
of bears killing their stock."

" But no one ever considered a bear part grizzly being responsible for
the damage since grizzlies aren't found in this part of the country."
Doggett summarized.

" Exactly. Part grizzlies aren't even supposed to exist, never mind be
in New England," Barry agreed. " What does this `Muffy' of yours look
like?"

" I don't see why I should tell you." The man answered sullenly."
You're going to arrest me either way." He added, noticing the
handcuffs officer Davies was holding.

" It might go easier on you if you cooperate." Davies pointed out. "
Shows a willingness to assist in it's capture so less damage is done
in the long run."

Sighing, the man nodded. " She looks like a black bear, but bigger.
Sharp claws. Much stronger than a black bear her size."

Doggett pulled out his walkie-talkie and radioed to Mulder and Scully
to tell them what they were looking for.

" Why Muffy? That's a pathetic name for something capable of killing a
full grown cow." Barry remarked as Davies snapped on the cuffs.

" I didn't name her, the breeder did."

" Sure." Davies snickered.

***
***

May 24th, 1pm
Train Station (DC)

Driving very carefully, Gibson pulled up to the curb, where Reyes was
already waiting with her bag. As soon as he parked the car, he hopped
out and grabbed her bag.

She was about to tell him that he didn't have to, and she could manage
it herself, but it was a pointless protest, he was only being nice. "
Thanks." She  was so tired she didn't really feel like arguing. She'd
expected the train ride  to take less than a day, but there'd been no
direct trains from Texas to DC, so  she'd had to spend another,
unexpected, night in a hotel while she waited for a  connecting train
in a charming town with a sparse train schedule.

He slammed the trunk shut and grinned at her. " I'm really glad you're
home."

" I thought you were old enough to stay by yourself." She said archly.
" Were you scared?"

" No, it's not that. It was just...lonely without you and John
there."

" I'm sorry." Reyes made her first apology of the day knowing full
well it wouldn't be her last.

" It's good practice." Gibson replied. " For school, I mean." He added
when she  looked blank. " I'll have to be used to it in a year or
so."

" You don't have to be used to it. You could commute." 

" I could, but..." 

" You can do whatever you want once you graduate from high school.
Just as long  as you know that you'll always have a home to come back
to when you want to."

Gibson smiled at her. " I always know that. You and John are good to
me."

" You're a great kid. More people should have been good to you while
you were growing up." Reyes insisted.

" I guess sometimes the family you make is better to you than the one
you're born into." He said, making her nod in agreement, even though
she never got the  chance to find out what the family she was born to
would have been like.

" Oh!" Gibson exclaimed. " John called this morning. They solved their
case last night, so they'll be home tonight."

" I'm so glad. Was it bigfoot?" She asked, trying to bury her
apprehension about seeing Doggett. She could only hope his happiness
to see her would over-rule his dismay that she'd been gone for weeks
without consulting him about it.

" Not exactly..."

***

May 24th, 4pm
Airport (VT)

" So, Doggett called us, and told us that they caught someone out
looking for a  bear hybrid he'd been in illegal possession of, before
the thing escaped. He'd been hoping to recapture her before someone
else did." Scully said, covering one ear to hear the reply in the busy
airport. " The lab results had come back inconclusive, since until now
no one had actually cross-bred these two bears before."

" And you caught it?" Skinner asked.

" Yes sir, we did. It actually showed up on the farm Mulder and I were
staking out, and Doggett stopped off at a vet's for the doctor and
some tranquilizers. We brought her down before she had the chance to
kill another cow."

" Was the bear...destroyed?"

" No sir. As I mentioned, up until now cross-breeding of bears was
theoretical rather than proven fact. As soon as we reported what we
found calls poured in from scientists wanting to study her. At the
moment she's in a cage while they decide where her new home is going
to be."

" Speaking of home, I'm sure you're all anxious to be home
yourselves."

" You better believe it." Scully replied reverently.

" See you next Monday." Skinner said, dismissing her and hanging up.

Scully went back to join Doggett and Mulder, who were saying good-bye
to Barry and Davies. Scully said good-bye too, but she was so glad she
was going home.

(article about the possibility of bear crossbreeding
http://www.cryptozoology.com/articles/mysterybears.php) 

***

Doggett dropped his bags as soon as he stepped into the house. For a
moment Reyes wondered if he'd be angry with her, since she thought
anger would probably be justified. She might have been upset, and
thought her careless, even selfish if their roles had been reversed.

There was no expression on his face as he walked towards her, but he
held out his arms. Reyes pressed herself as closely to him as her
belly would allow and nearly fainted from the joy of having him hold
her tight. His lips brushed against her forehead, and when she looked
up at him, he looked happy.

" I don't think I've ever been so happy to be home."

" That's fitting, because I don't think I've ever been so happy to
have you home." She quietly joked. " Are you mad at me, for going off
without telling you?"

She had time for a anxious searching look while he thought about his
answer. " Did you find them?"

" They're gone, both long gone." Reyes sighed. " I met one woman who
helped me find where my mother lived, and when I got there I met
another who explained what happened. They'd wanted me, but my father
died in the war, and my mother couldn't bear to raise me alone...she
died in a fire a few months later."

" I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." His hand rubbed comforting little circles
on her back. " It must be terrible, knowing they're both gone."

She gave a tiny shrug. " I want it to feel terrible, but...they never
seemed real to me, like characters in a box I started to read but
lost. It's hard to grieve for people I never met."

Doggett nodded. " But don't be surprised if it does hit you some day.
Maybe you  won't mourn who they were, since you never got to know, but
you might feel a sense of loss for what might have been."

" Maybe. At least now I know why they never looked for me. That's the
only thing I wondered growing up, why didn't they want to know me? But
obviously they couldn't. It wasn't me that was the problem."

" I hope you didn't spend too much time dwelling on things like that."
Doggett remarked, suddenly feeling pity for the child she'd been who'd
thought she'd done something wrong.

Reyes gave him a crocked grin. " Like Maria would let anyone under her
roof spend much time feeling bad for themselves. Fear not, I wasn't
terribly wistful  as a child."

" Good to know. Speaking of Maria...Does she still want to come for a
couple of  weeks after the babies are born to help out?"

" I should call and find out. But later." She decided, not ready to
leave his embrace.

***

" Mommy and Daddy stay home." William stated as he and Emily watched a
video that night.

" Well, they do have to go to work on Monday, Will."

" No Em. Mommy and Daddy stay home. No more Gramma's." His voice took
on a note  of anxiety.

" Oh! Right. Mommy and Daddy will be home after work. They're not
going away again. We'll stay home too. They'll be home to tell you
bedtime stories."

" Good." He replied, popping his thumb into his mouth.

Listening to them from another room, Scully's face crumpled. A couple
of tears trickled down her face.

" What's the matter?" Mulder asked, gathering her into his arms.

" I remember that." She whispered. 

" Your father going away?" He asked, and he felt her nod. 

" I missed him so much."

" It's a good thing we only go away on cases once in a while." Mulder
said slowly, so she'd register how the two situations weren't
parallel. 

" Yes..."

" He's fine, really. They both are. You shouldn't worry so much."

" How can I stop?" 

" We'll have to work on that." He said, kissing her on the forehead. "
If we don't, Will might turn out like your older brother."

She gave a strangled laugh in spite of herself, and figured that
Mulder was probably right. They would only be required to leave the
kids for long, and they really hadn't been damaged by it.

" If he turns out anything like Bill, we're saving up for military
school." Mulder added, earning a real chuckle from her.

" Deal."

***
***

Three days later...

Reyes squirmed her uncomfortable seat, and mentally damned whoever it
was that had picked out the chairs for the car dealership's office.
They'd just become the proud owners of a 2003 van. Not a wussy
minivan, Doggett pointed out, but a  real van. All they needed was the
keys, and they could go. Or so said the salesman before disappearing
fifteen minutes earlier.

Reyes was beyond caring one way or another what they'd bought, she'd
leave in a  station wagon if it meant that they could go home now. Two
hours of sitting in an uncomfortable is hard on anyone, never mind
someone in her advanced stage of  pregnancy.

" John... if we don't leave soon, you're going to need the Jaws of
Life to get me out of this chair." She whispered in a hiss.

Unperturbed, Doggett just covered her closest hand with one of his
own. It was a nice gesture, but she didn't see it helping her get free
of the chair.

While it seemed like an eternity, they eventually drove their new
purchase home. Getting home renewed her sense of energy, and she was
quick to waddle up the driveway. " Do you want me to make us something
for dinner?" She asked as soon as he put the key in the lock.

Doggett shook his head. " No. I want you to stretch out on the couch
while I start on dinner. Gibson should be home in a couple of minutes,
and he can help me."

" I don't want to lie on the couch. I just spent hours sitting, why
would I want to lie down?" She called as he walked into the kitchen.

" Because I asked you to." She found the faint note of challenge in
his voice interesting, and wasn't surprised when he added, " You've
done a lot of running  around this pregnancy, so could you humor me,
and take it easy?"

Her first instinct was to snap that her doctor hadn't said anything
about bed rest, but she thought better of it. He was just being
anxious, and it really wouldn't hurt her to take it easy until the
babies were born.  " Yes. Just so long as you don't try to tie me to
our bed to make me stay put."

He poked his head back around the corner. " I wouldn't dream of that.
At least not until the babies are a couple of months old." He said
straight-faced.

" John!" Reyes gave him a shocked look, and then burst into laughter,
Doggett was soon laughing as well.

It was that very moment that Gibson came in the house.  He
immediately grimaced. " Could you think about baseball or something?"
He asked plaintively.  That made them laugh harder.

***
***

June 13rd

" Dana, I need your help." Reyes said, from her reclined spot on the
couch. They'd been watching romantic comedies all day, because
Doggett, Mulder and Gibson had taken the kids to an amusement park.
They'd been invited, more to Reyes' surprise than Scully's since
Doggett was serious about the take it easy business, but they'd opted
to stay home instead of walking 10 miles from uncomfortable ride to
uncomfortable ride.

" What do you need?" Scully asked, expecting a request for a drink or
a pillow.

" I need you to help me get in your car, and drive to the beach. Then
push me in the water. Whales aren't supposed to be on dry land like
this."

Scully gave an unlady-like snort. Tempting as asking if she ought to
play some whale songs so Reyes would feel more at home was, she held
her tongue.

" Aren't you supposed to disagree with me, and say I'm not as big as a
whale?" Reyes asked, sounding petulant.

" If you think lying to you would help..." She ducked as a couch
pillow whizzed  at her head.

" You've been through this, tell me the truth, does it even end?" 

" Since I know you've seen my son several hundred times over the past
two years, I'm sure you know it does."

" I don't get to moan and abuse dramatic license? Some friend you
are." Reyes pouted.

" That's what happens when you befriend a scientist."

" Ha."

Scully patted her leg. " There there, it's probably less than a month
now."

" But I'm not due until the third week of July."

" And if you were a turkey, your timer would be just about ready to
pop." Scully replied with a grin. " Twins are almost always early."

" But not too early." Reyes fretted.

" Even if you had them today, they'd probably be fine. A month early
usually isn't that big a deal any more."

" Usually."

" There are no guarantees in life." Scully replied primly. " But I'm
positive they'd be fine. You're not in labor or anything today,
right?"

" Right."

" So you'll probably not have them today, and I didn't tempt fate by
suggesting  you would. Besides, irony usually only likes to punish the
speaker."

" Funny thing for a scientist to say, I didn't think they were
supposed to have  senses of humor. Good thing you don't, or they'd
send you for reprogramming."

" You don't think I'm funny? Mulder thinks I'm funny." Scully replied,
sounding  wounded.

" Yeah, but he's in love with you." Reyes pointed out with a smirk
that didn't remove the half-hurt look from Scully's face.

***
***

June 27th

Doggett thought that the tv in their room was a good idea. Placed on a
bureau, it was at a perfect height for Reyes to see when lying in her
side, which was good since her belly obstructed her view of everything
if she was on her back. For some reason, she hadn't thought it was
funny when he'd presented her with a  photo of her feet after she
complained she couldn't see them for the fifth time. Mulder had
thought it was funny when Doggett told him about it.

The tv was at a good level for him too, when he was spooned against
her back, like he was as they watched a DVD he rented.

" Oh no." Reyes said quietly, not taking her eyes off the movie.

" I thought you liked this movie." Doggett said. " If you want to
watch something else instead- "

" I don't think we have time for a movie." Reyes told him.

" Why not?" Doggett asked stupidly.

" Because it's time to go to the hospital." Reyes grimaced, mourning
what was likely to be the destruction of her favorite quilt.

" Oh..." He said. " Oh!"

" Listen, before you panic, we've got plenty of time. Before you do
anything else, write Gibson a note."

" About what?!"

" To let him know that we've gone to the hospital, and he should go
there once he gets home from school." She said calmly, then grimaced
in pain.

" We could get him released early." 

" We have time, but not that much time." Reyes said, rolling off the
bed. " Red  tape at school takes practically forever. The babies could
be in kindergarten by the time we got him out of class."

" Ok, right." Doggett muttered, grabbing a piece of paper and pen,
and scribbling down instructions for Gibson. Then he folded it up and
put it and a roll of tape in his pocket, feeling proud that Reyes
didn't even remind him about the tape.

Reyes, however, wasn't paying attention to his wit, because she was on
the phone to the hospital. 

A few minutes later, after she'd changed out of her soggy clothes and
he'd thrown the wet bedding into the washing machine, all there was
left to do was grab her bag and pause to tape the note to the front
door. Then they were out of the house, and on their way to the
hospital.

***

It all happened so fast. Well, Reyes probably thought differently, but
it seemed fast to him. As soon as they got to the hospital Reyes was
plunked into a wheel chair and whisked away. 

He wanted to run after her but a nurse with a nazi-like glint in her
eyes insisted that he go with her to fill out the paperwork in
admitting first. His hand shook as he filled out the forms, making his
already not very legible hand-writing worse. He couldn't even blame
the fact on a desk set for righties since the writing surface wasn't
biased. It was just anxiety.

As soon as he filled out the form he shoved them back at the nurse,
and demanded to be brought to his wife. The doctor was already with
her, and was in  the middle of announcing that it probably won't be
long when he burst into the room. When the door swung back behind him
with loud clatter, he turned red, but  no one seemed to think his
enthusiastic entrance was anything to be embarrassed  about. The
doctor just continued to talk to Reyes about how things might go
more quickly than a singleton birth since twins were smaller and the
second baby usually seemed anxious not be left behind for long.

After that things were hazy, blurred by dueling anxiety and elation.
He knew that he held her and talked softly to her, saying encouraging
things, but for the life of him he couldn't recall a single thing
anyone said until the doctor held up a red squalling infant and
proclaimed her a healthy girl. 

She was so small. That scared Doggett for a moment, since he'd never
seen a baby that small before in real life, but then he remembered the
doctor saying twins were smaller. And when he thought about it, he
remembered he'd known they'd be small all along. It was just that her
realness startled all rational thoughts from him. He was this tiny
person's father, and it awed him. 

" John? Could you come here?" The doctor asked, holding out a pair of
scissors.  " Just cut between the clamps." 

Reluctant to leave Reyes' side, Doggett took the scissors and cut the
baby's cord with trembling hands. He had expected the doctor to do it,
but he was proud to do the honors. Reyes only held their daughter
briefly, before the nurse took her to be cleaned up. When she was
clean, she was placed in Doggett's waiting arms. He knew that Reyes
would have liked to hold her more, but she was a little busy to.

The baby had dark hair, and he had to watch for over a minute before
she opened  her eyes wide enough to catch sight of their ocean blue.
He didn't mind waiting, though, cradling his little girl in his arms
was fine by him. As wrapped up as his attention was on the first baby,
he nearly forgot about everything else until he heard the doctor
encouraging Reyes. Feeling sheepish, he returned to her side, but her
look said she wasn't mad. She understood.

" Ok, here comes baby B," The doctor said, sounding excited. " One
more big push Monica...Good!" A baby's thin mewing cry pieced the air.
" It's a beautiful baby-" The doctor paused. " Boy."

" Boy?" Doggett asked, shocked.

" Boy." The doctor nodded. " Aren't you a surprise!" He cooed to the
baby before holding out the scissors to Doggett to cut that cord too,
but with his hands full Doggett declined with a head shake. The doctor
shrugged, cut the cord himself, and handed the baby over to a nurse
before returning his attention to Reyes.

" The OB must have been wrong." Reyes said as the nurse brought her
son to her.

Still holding his daughter, Doggett gave his new son a bemused look. "
A son and a daughter then." He said, sounding dazed.

" The OB was wrong," The doctor said as he completed his exam of
Reyes, who was  so distracted by the babies that she didn't even
notice what he'd been doing. "  But probably not about you having two
daughters." He added.

Reyes' brow wrinkled in confusion. She was about to ask him what he
was talking  about when the next contraction hit her.

***

Three hours later...

Doggett returned to Reyes' room after he walked Gibson out to her car,
which he  was going to take home for the night. He was still slightly
nervous about him driving, and had requested a call as soon as Gibson
got to the house. (Then he tried not to let his relief come out in his
voice as they spoke a half-hour later. He chalked it up to new
parent's nerves, but when he told Reyes about it  later, she replied
that it was probably natural to be concerned that way about
his `nephew' by marriage, given that he was their responsibility too.)
It took less than ten minutes to see the boy off, but it felt like
forever.

She didn't notice his absence, she was as sound asleep as she'd been
when he and Gibson had begun the trek to the parking lot. The nurses
had wanted to put the babies in the nursery while she slept, but she
had protested that she wouldn't be able to rest peacefully if they
weren't in the room. So the row of bassinets was against one wall of
the room.

He stood over them, looking down. One blue knit cap, and two pink
ones. He was still feeling stunned that their children were triplets
rather than the expected twins. Reyes was thrilled, instantly
accepting their surprised son into her heart.

As much as it killed him to admit it to himself, Doggett was of more
mixed feelings. He thought it might had been different if the "extra"
baby had been a  girl like his sisters. He'd so been looking forward
to his little daughters, knowing that they'd be sweet and beautiful-
and they were, he thought, reaching  down to touch them each gently-
and only capable of reminding him of their mother. Not Luke.

Which was his newborn son's only flaw, being male like his lost
brother. The doctor had explained that he must have been positioned
behind his sisters en utero, which is why Reyes' one brief sonogram
hadn't detected him. Another later in the pregnancy probably would
have revealed him, but Reyes' journey had  precluded opportunities for
them. The doctor had also said it was remarkable for that reason that
the pregnancy was sustained long enough to allow for all
three babies to weigh just over five pounds at birth. Which meant,
coupled with  their fully developed lungs, that they were not facing
the long hospital stays that many newborn triplets had. Exhausted but
amused, Reyes thanked everyone's insistence that she eat more for
that. Doggett found it hard to adjust his thinking to the view that
these babies were actually "big" not "small" like they looked to him.

Doggett frown, angry at him self for thinking that word. Flaw. It
wasn't fair. Sighing nearly inaudibly, he reached into the third
bassinet and picked the little boy up. Gently cradling his head and
neck, Doggett hugged his son to his  chest and walked slowly to a
window. One of the nurses had told Reyes she'd gotten deluxe
accommodations since there were three windows in the room rather
than the standard two. Doggett had to smile thinking about it; extra
window, extra baby.

It surprised him a little that the stars will still out. Together with
the moon  they provided enough light to examine the tiny form he held
in his arms. The baby didn't look like Luke. Luke had been born with
wispy white-blond hair and sky blue eyes. This son had blue eyes too,
like his sisters and most white babies at birth, but they were already
so inky that they suggested that blue was not the color he'd end up
with in a few months. And his hair was already dark, though not as
dark as Reyes'. Looking at the baby he realized that he was 
being supremely unfair. If he didn't remind Doggett of Luke in looks,
there really was nothing to suggest that he, any more than his
sisters, would remind him of Luke later.

Which, he thought as he slowly rocked the baby in his arms, was
something he really needed to work on. He hadn't lied to Reyes shortly
before he'd proposed,  he really had moved on enough to love again. 
But not so much that thinking about his slain child brought anything
but pain. He wondered if one of the triplets reminding him of Luke
might actually be a good thing; perhaps it'd be made less painful by
frequent repetition, eventually attaching more joy than
sorrow to the memories.

Looking at the innocent baby snuggled against him and lost to sleep he
silently  vowed at that moment to never mention his momentary
resentment to anyone. It had already left his heart and mind, so he
didn't think it would be a promise that'd be hard to keep. " Well," He
whispered. " You're a lovely surprise...Daddy and Mommy's third little
angel."

***
***

The room was crowded the next morning even though the Doggett
grandparents' flights were not due until evening; The Reyes wouldn't
arrive until it was time  for the babies to go home. Gibson had
arrived as soon as family visiting hours started, which was very
appropriate in their opinion, since as far as they were 
concerned he was. It took a little fibbing to the nursing staff,
though.

The others had arrived the minute that regular visiting hours started,
which made Reyes suspect they'd been waiting before hand, perhaps
pestering the staff  to be allowed in early. She wouldn't have put it
past Mulder, at least.

Since the hospital was more progressive about visitors than the one
Emily had been in for her bone marrow transplant, Mulder and Scully
had brought William and Emily with them.  Skinner and Kimberly
completed the visitors from the Hoover building, although Kersh
shocked them all by sending a bunch of balloons.  Reyes' friends Sita
De Brabant,  Kate Queen and Lee Murasaki completed the visitors who
stopped by first thing. 

The babies were utterly unimpressed by the people who'd come to admire
them, and slept through being held. To Doggett and Reyes' surprise,
Skinner was the one who'd asked the question they'd been expecting;
they'd been sure one of the  women would have asked first.

(Continued in part 6)


Part 6
See part 0 for header information.


" What are their names?"

Doggett and Reyes exchanged a look, thinking about the discussion
hours before.

**

" I want two minutes." Doggett repeated.

" They can hold out a little longer than that." Reyes insisted. "I'll
go with five minutes."

" Boy, you're an optimist." Doggett drawled.

" Maybe." She allowed. " We've got three hours before they get here,
and only one until Gibson does, although he'd probably not even bring
it up. But you know as soon as everyone else does they'll be asking
their names." She wrinkled  her nose as she said it.

" Hence the bet." Doggett said with a grin." And what's to worry
about? We've already got the girls' names picked out." He said
lightly. " All we need is a name for the young man."

" Right. That's all." Reyes smirked. " John... I heard you talking to
him last night-"

" You were supposed to be asleep!" Doggett scolded, embarrassed that
his `talk'  to their son had been overhead.

" Whatever. Angel can be a boy's name, you know. Not just Hispanic
babies, either these days, thanks to the TV show." She pointed out.

Doggett shook his head. " I don't want to name my little boy after a
vampire with a girl-y name."

" It was just a thought." Reyes said, surprised that he his reaction
hadn't been more negative, since she'd been pulling his leg. " It's
your turn to come up with a suggestion, though."

" Give me a minute..." Doggett's thoughts returned to angels.

Reyes gingerly leaned forward when his eyes lit up. " You have an
idea." She stated.

" Yeah." He said with a broad smile. " Did you ever watch a show
called `Highway to Heaven'?"

" No."

" It was a show from the eighties about two male angels who helped
people long before Della ever touched anyone."

" And?" She asked, wondering where he was going with it.

" And Michael Landon was the star of the show." He paused. " What do
you think of Landon as a name? I think it'd go well with the girls'
names." He offered.

" It's perfect!" Reyes exclaimed. " Little Landon...Landon what?
John?"

" Do you know the bible story about Job?" He asked her.

" Yes. God took everything from a man on a bet from the devil." She
frown.

" But in the end everything was restored to him. I feel like that some
times." He confessed.

**

" The young lady Scully is holding is Jacey Anne Doggett, and Skinner
is holding Quinn Reyes Doggett." Reyes told them with a smile.

" And this fellow," Doggett said while holding his son. " Is Landon
Job Doggett."

" Funny names." William remarked from his vantage in Mulder's arms.

" Unique names." Scully corrected, more for the adults' benefit than
her son's.

" We thought so too." Reyes said, not insulted by the toddler's
honesty. 

***
***

The following day...

More than slightly dazed, Doggett wandered the baby department,
picking up everything that was blue. Fortunately Mulder was there to
put half of it back.   Doggett barely noticed.

Sitting in Mulder's carriage, William observed Doggett's behavior
with amusement. " Uncle John is funny, Daddy." Bill Scully Jr. had
been outraged when he'd heard William refer to Doggett as "uncle"
during the last family gathering so naturally, Mulder encouraged him
to think of Doggett that way. Scully even thought of it as cute.

" Uncle John has not slept in two days." Mulder corrected. It was
because of this that he'd volunteered to drive Doggett to do the
shopping he had to do right that second, even though it would probably
be almost a week before the babies came home from the hospital. The
realization that they only had things for the girls seemed to be
driving him crazy, so Mulder just rolled with it.

Mulder felt a small tap on his elbow. An elderly woman wearing a
concerned expression peered up at him. " Is your friend all right?"

He gave her a crooked grin. " He and his wife were expecting twin
girls. They had triplets, one of them a boy, instead. Surprise."

" Ah. That would come as quite a shock." She said with a smile, then
wandered off.

Meanwhile Doggett was standing in front of a display, muttering "
Bottles. Weren't gonna use them, now we've got to because women don't
have three..."

Swooping into to the rescue before Doggett finished verbalizing his
thought, Mulder pointed out where the newborn bottles were. Then he
whispered to Doggett. " Formula or a breast pump?"

" Huh?" Doggett asked, clutching at several packages of bottles like
they were a lifesaver.

" You need to buy one or the other." Mulder explained patiently. " You
know, so  there's something to go in the bottles."

" I don't know." Doggett looked close to tears.

" That's ok." Mulder told him, picking up a deluxe electric pump and
canister of Enfamil. " If she just wants to use formula you can return
the pump as long as it's not open. Exchange it for more formula."

" What if she doesn't want to use formula at all?" Doggett fretted.

" Oh, I'm sure it'll be used at some point. Baby-sitting or
what-not."

Doggett didn't look like he thought the possibility of the babies ever
having a  sitter was plausible. " How do you know all this stuff?" 

" Well, before I ended up having to leave, Scully and I thought I'd
stay home with William after he was born, since she had a job, and I
didn't. I read a lot  of those books in the parenting section."

" I should remember this stuff better." Doggett insisted. " I've had a
baby before."

" It's been a long time, and not everyone has a photographic memory."
Mulder assured him. " It's normal to forget the ins and outs of
babies. That's why people have more than one."

" We'd better not have any more..." Doggett grumbled.

" Blue! Blue, Daddy!" William shrieked when he caught sight of a toy
display featuring the Nickelodeon icon. " I want Blue!"

" Three is probably enough for anyone." Mulder agreed, putting a Blue
into the carriage. It wasn't a hill he wanted to die on, so he gave in
without complaint. William instantly grabbed at the blue plush dog and
hugged it to his  chest.  " Just think, in a couple of years they'll
be William's age. And really  really demanding." Mulder looked around,
seeing if there was something Emily might like too if he was buying
William a toy.

" Don't remind me!" Doggett groaned. The thought of three babies was
overwhelming enough, he couldn't wrap his mind around the idea of
three toddlers, three children or three teenagers.

*** 

Meanwhile...

" Emily? Emily!"

" I'm in the attic, Mom!"  Scully resisted a sigh when her daughter's
voice floated down to her. She'd been trying to figure out where the
girl was for the  past five minutes, and had been about to look
outside.

Scully climbed the attic stairs and spotted Emily sitting on the floor
in front  of her old doll house. " Hey. What are you doing? I thought
you liked the one we got you for Christmas better."

" I do. Remember how you said it'd be ok if I gave this away
someday?"

" Yup." Scully said, sitting down on the floor next to her.

" Do you think Monica and John's babies would like it? Probably not
Landon, but  Jacey and Quinn?"

" Maybe someday, but they're way too little for a toy like this now."
Scully pointed out.

Emily rolled her eyes. " I know that, Mom. I mean when they get big
enough to play with toys like this without trying to eat the people
and the furniture."

" They probably would like it." Scully agreed. " But what if you had a
baby sister? Wouldn't you rather give it to her?"

" Are you going to have a baby?" Emily asked, wide-eyed.

" Not right now, no. But Daddy and I are thinking about it. We think
it might be nice to have three kids, instead of just two. What do you
think about that?"  Scully asked. She and Mulder were fairly certain
that they did want to try for a baby, but she wondered what the kids
would think, mostly Emily since William was too young to have much of
an opinion; at least one he could verbalize.

" I dunno."

" You don't know?" Scully teased, tickling her.

" No!" Emily giggled, worming away from her mother's fingers. " I've
never had two brothers or a brother and a sister, so how could I know
if I'd like it or not?"

" Now you sound like Daddy." Scully half laughed, half sighed.

" Good!" Emily exclaimed, launching a counter attack on Scully's
ticklish back.  " He's a good person to sound like."

" Just as long as you don't tell kids at school all about aliens."
Scully cautioned.

" Oh Mom..."

***
***

Four days later...

The night before the babies were to go home, Reyes sat at the kitchen
table with a box of stationary and a pen. She'd been released from the
hospital three  days before, and it had been really difficult to leave
without the babies, but the doctors insisted that it was hospital
policy that all multiples stay a week, no matter what their weight.
There was logic and rationality behind the rule, but it was hard to
apply to your own babies, because being a new parent doesn't involve a
lot of stoic acceptance.

As anxious as she was to go and get them in the morning, she was a
tiny bit grateful for the time she had before they came home and took
over the house. Right now she could write the letters she promised;
she didn't know when she'd have another chance.

Holding the silver pen Doggett had given her for her birthday the year
before, she thought for several minutes with it hovering above the
paper. The paper was  light blue, with a faint drawing of sunflowers
on it, and she distracted herself by thinking about when she'd been
given the set by someone she'd barely  known in New Orleans. At last
ready to put aside meandering thought, she began to write.

Dear Isabella, I don't think I'm ever going to fully understand why
you decided  to help me, and I'm grateful that it didn't put your job
in jeopardy when you took on that selfless act. Thanks to you, I found
out what happened to my mother, and my children will not grow up as
ignorant of their biological history as I did.

I'm sure you noticed that I didn't say I found my mother, because
sadly, she too is gone, just like my father. Please don't be sad for
me, you gave me a great gift- the truth. I don't think anyone else has
ever given me something so  important, except perhaps my husband
giving me our children, and my adopted parents giving me their love.

I told you that I was going to have twins, but that turned out not to
be the whole truth. I'm now the mother of triplets, surprise! My two
daughters were hiding their brother, and we didn't find out about him
until he was born. It's quite a surprise, but it's a blessing too. I
guess now my husband and I won't have to try again for a boy. I'm
enclosing a picture of them with this letter. 

Thanks again. Please don't hesitate to tell me if there's ever
anything I can do for you.

Love,
Monica Reyes (Doggett)

Smiling, she folded the pages and put them into the envelope she'd
already carefully written the address on. The second letter would be
easier, because the other woman was insistent that they keep in
touch.

Dear Lillian, Thank you for your last letter. John and I have
surprising news. We didn't have twins as doctors predicted, instead we
had triplets, two girls and a boy. Our little surprise was named
Landon, because it put my husband in mind of angels. The girls,
though, I named with his approval. Jacey we named after my mother; I
didn't have an intimate relationship with the woman, so
using her first name was too uncomfortable, but we did want to honor
her. And Quinn we named after the street where my journey ended; It
reminds me that with  their birth a new journey entirely has begun.

All three of them are healthy, and they'll be coming home in the
morning, so please forgive me for the brevity of the letter; I think
my husband and foster child would like to do something tonight before
all the feedings and diaperings  begin.

I'll write again when I can.

Love,
Monica Reyes (Doggett)

As soon as she'd put the letter in the envelope, she felt a hand on
her shoulder, so she looked up and smiled. 

" Are you ready to go to the movie?" Doggett asked.

" I didn't know that we decided on a movie. Did you want to see
Finding Nemo?" 

Doggett shook his head. " No. We're going to spend the next ten years
going to Disney movies, let's go see something rated R."

" Something violent." Gibson insisted. " Like 28 Days Later."

" Gibson! I thought you were peace loving." Reyes said in
mock-surprise.

" I told you she doesn't pay attention to my video games." Gibson told
Doggett with a smirk.

Laughing, they sat down with the paper, and began to argue their cases
of what would be the best movie to see on a nice deemed " the last
night of freedom."

***
***

Homecoming day...

They looked so small. Not that they realized that their bemused
parents were looking down at them, since they were each fast asleep,
engulfed in baby carriers of a proper size for a newborn. But most
newborns were a couple of pounds heavier, so it made the space they
didn't take up very noticeable.

Although Doggett and Reyes looked half-panicked about the idea of
leaving the safe confines of the hospital, Gibson was calm.

" Which one would you like me to carry?" He asked, indicating the
carriers with  a casual wave of his hand. A glance at the clock made
him wonder who would get to the house sooner, them, or Maria Reyes.

Doggett looked puzzled for a moment, as if he'd been asked why 42 was
the meaning of life, but eventually an answer came to him. " Why don't
you take Quinn's carrier?"

Gibson grinned and reached for its handle. He knew why Doggett had
picked Quinn; she was the heaviest of the three babies and somehow
seemed the least fragile. He thought of pointing out to Doggett that
his thoughts were wide-open, but he didn't have the heart to.

" So are we ready to go, then?" He asked instead.

Reyes gave a helpless shrug and tentatively reached for Landon's
carrier. All of the babies' things were in the van, and they'd been
checked out ten minutes before. " I think so."

" Ok, let's do this then. Everything will be fine." He picked up Jacey
and made  for the door.

It took them fifteen minutes to get out to the car, because they were
stopped every few feet by hospital staff who wanted to say good-bye
and good luck. They  were even talked into letting them take a picture
before they left. Gibson asked if they had to keep the hideous teddy
bear someone insisted he hold while  the picture was taken, but
neither Doggett nor Reyes would answer, so he shrugged and threw in
the van, where it would spend the next six months before
someone found it and threw it out.

At last, though, they strapped the carriers into the van and drove
off, heading  for home. Reyes turned in her seat so she could look at
the babies. Landon was still asleep, his head cocked to one side as he
slept through his fist car trip. Jacey was wide-eyed, and sucking hard
on the pink pacifier that Doggett had popped in her mouth reflexively
when she'd fussed as she was loaded into the van. Quinn looked at her
for a moment, but then fixed her gaze on the fists  she'd managed to
bring into her line of sight.

They were perfect, they were hers, and she couldn't wait to get to the
house where they'd immediately get their first lesson on how to be a
family.

The End

The story continues in Beyond the Truth: 04 Reopened. Check the url
listed above for a link to the Work-in-Progress 

** If you'd like to see the artwork that goes along with this fic,
including the picture described in the final scene, go to
http://www.geocities.com/mulderscreek/btt03.html  **



### The End ###