Title: A Day in the Life
Author: Girlie_girl7
Email: Girlie_girl74@yahoo.com
Date: 08-08-03
Category: family fic
Spoilers: Existence then AU
Rating: PG
Archive: anywhere
Disclaimer: Fox owns 'em
Summary: A day in the life of M&S 
(No angst, no histrionics, no injuries.)


 

                      ~ A Day in the Life ~



"Take a look at the case file I have assigned you and 
be prepared to discuss, dissect, and disseminate it 
on Monday."  A murmur passes through the room as 
stiff bodies stretch out the kinks acquired from 
hours of sitting.  The group slowly snakes out of the 
room with Mulder being the last.  He wipes off the 
whiteboard, shuts off the lights and locks the door 
behind him.  

A small group of agents are standing outside the door 
carrying on an animated conversation as Mulder slips 
around them.  One of the agents speaks up, "Agent 
Mulder."

Mulder stops and turns around to face the younger 
man. "Yes Agent Moore."

The agent steps foreword from the group and asks, 
"Sir, there is something I don't understand about the 
case we just discussed."

Mulder fingers his keys then tucks them into his suit 
pants pocket.  "What's that agent?"

"If Mr. Weaver was indeed the carrier of the tobacco 
beetle. . ."

"There's no question he was." Mulder cuts the agent 
off.

"And he's still alive?"  Agent Moore questions.

"Yes he is," Mulder says with a nod.

"Then is he still receiving the experimental 
cigarettes?  I mean, if he isn't he should have died 
from the beetle, right?"

Mulder looks directly at his student.  "Good question 
Agent Moore."

The agent beams at the compliment from his 
instructor.

"Mr. Weaver was treated in the same way Agent Scully 
treated me.  He was taken off cigarettes but given 
large doses of nicotine while he was in the hospital 
recovering from his gunshot wound.  He wasn't happy 
about it but it was for his own safety and those 
around him."

"So now he's serving the seventy-to-life he received 
for the killings?" The agent asks.

"And I have been told he has become quite the anti-
smoking advocate in prison," Mulder chuckles.

"Bet that goes over well." Agent Moore deadpans.  
Mulder and the other agents all laugh but suddenly he 
grows quiet and stares down the long hallway softly 
saying, "Well speak of the devil," as a large grin 
covers his face.  The younger agents all turn to see 
what their instructor is staring at.

Down the hall walks a petite redhead dressed in a 
yellow, floral print sundress and sandals.  In her 
arms she carries a wispy, brown-hair baby with deep, 
dark eyes, wearing a white sundress with tiny white 
socks; beside her walks a sandy redheaded little boy 
with the same large, expressive, blue eyes that she 
has.  The little boy is clad in a white Tee and a tan 
sun-suit along with white sneakers on his feet.

The agents all stare at the beautiful woman 
approaching them with a warm smile on her face but 
eyes only for their instructor.  Suddenly the little 
boy breaks free from the woman's grasp and runs 
toward the group of agents laughing and screaming, 
"Da-dee!"

Mulder steps from the crowd and scoops up the child, 
kissing his cheek and patting his back.  He turns to 
the assembled crowd and says, "This is my son 
William."  Scully soon catches up with the little 
boy.  "And this is his mother Dana and our daughter 
Katherine."  The agents all mumble hellos with Scully 
returning the greetings.

Suddenly Agent Moore speaks up; "You're Agent Scully, 
Special Agent Dana Scully, right?"

"That's right," Scully smiles at the agent as she 
straightens Katherine's dress.

Agent Moore seems enchanted by the female agent.  
"We've heard so much about you from Agent Mulder."

Scully shoots Mulder 'the brow', which doesn't go 
unnoticed by the crowd.  "No," Agent Moore speaks up; 
"it's all good.  You must have been a terrific 
agent."

"Thanks," Scully smiles.

"She still is," Mulder interjects.  "She hasn't 
retired yet."

"I still come in for the occasional autopsy or lab 
work."

William points to the empty classroom door.  "Waz 
dat, Da-dee?" He asks.

"That's where I teach," Mulder softly tells the child 
in his arms.

"Want down," William says and begins to squirm.  
Mulder places him down on his feet.  Will toddles off 
touching each door as he walks down the right side of 
the hallway.

Agent Moore looks at Scully.  "How long were you in 
the field Agent Scully?"

"Seven years," Scully answers shifting Katherine in 
her arms while she pats down the baby's unruly hair, 
just then Will reappears softly saying, "Tix, seben, 
eight."   One agent from the groups speaks up.  "He's 
awfully young to be counting isn't he?"

Mulder chuckles at his son who is now headed down the 
other side of the hallway counting doors as he goes.  
"He's two but Scully works with him.  He can count 
and he's learning to read."

Scully watches her son travel down the hall.  "He's 
very bright but he doesn't talk much yet."

"They say Einstein didn't speak until he was three," 
another agent says.

Mulder laughs.  "Yes, and I'm sure Einstein wouldn't 
have known who SpongeBob SquarePants was either."

The agents all laugh as they continue to watch 
William walk back up the hall.  Mulder picks up his 
son and asks, "Will, how many doors on this side?"  
Mulder points to the right side of the hallway."

"Eight!" William shouts.

"And how many on this side?" Mulder now points to the 
left side of the hallway. 

"Seben!" Will shouts, twisting his fingers in 
embarrassment as the agents all laugh causing him to 
hide his face in Mulder's chest.

Agent Moore moves over to speak to Scully again.  "So 
you're a pathologist too, huh."

Scully's attention is drawn from her sons' antics to 
Agent Moore.  "Yes, I am.  What is your field of 
expertise in Agent. . .?"

"Moore," the agent eagerly provides.  "I'm a 
linguist.  I speak five languages."

"You're exactly what the bureau is looking for these 
days."  Scully says brushing her hair away from 
Katherine's active fingers.

"Yeah," Agent Moore blushes.  "I was headed for a 
life in academia when the bureau recruited me.  I 
just hope I can do the job."

Scully empathizes with the agent.  "You'll do just 
fine.  They only take the best," she assures him.

Will has been placed down and is being teased by the 
agents standing around him.  He's enjoying a game of 
peek-a-boo by hiding behind his father's legs and 
peeking out at the agents.

"Agent Scully, what attracted you to the FBI?"  Agent 
Moore asks.

Scully shifts the fussy baby in her arms.  Mulder 
reaches out to relieve her of her burden.  Katherine 
immediately stops complaining and stares intensely at 
her father.

Scully steps out from the crowd to talk further with 
Agent Moore. "It wasn't for the money."

Agent Moore laughs and nods his head, focusing all 
his attention on the redhead standing in front of 
him.

She looks down and crosses her arms.  "I'm not sure, 
but I think I saw it as a form of rebellion."

The agent looks surprised at Scully's comment.  
"Really, I never guessed you to be the rebellious 
type," Moore says as he steps closer to Scully and 
leans against the wall on one elbow.

"No I wasn't.  I did very few rebellious acts in my 
life."

Moore nods his head toward Mulder.  "I take it he was 
the rebellious one of this partnership?"

Scully looks over fondly at the man easily talking to 
the other agents while trying to deal with two small 
children.  "Yes he was, or still is.  Hard to believe 
that isn't it," she laughs.

"So the partnership has worked out well for the both 
of you?"

Scully looks up at the tall, blonde agent and smiles.  
"Yes, it has.  I'm exactly where I want to be."

"I was afraid of that," Agent Moore mumbles and looks 
down at his shoes.

Mulder notices Agent Moore talking to Scully, it 
bothers him but he doesn't leave the cluster of 
agents encircling him.  One of the agent's has asked 
him what the worst case he ever worked was.  Mulder 
reflects for a moment then says, "The Santa Claus 
killings in California."  He shifts Katherine in his 
arms while the baby stuffs a fist into her mouth.  
"Anytime you have to deal with a child's death it's 
rough but Agent Scully and myself stumbled onto a 
killing field filled with children's graves."

"Oh, I remember that case, it was all over the TV.  
That was you?" Another agent asks.

Mulder nods.  "Yes, Agent Scully and myself were the 
lead investigators on that one."

Mulder moves over just a little, either trying to 
hear what Agent Moore and Scully are talking about or 
trying to impose himself into the male agent's view.

Moore moves in just a little closer to Scully.  "I've 
heard you've worked on some pretty freaky cases."

"Yes, Agent Mulder and myself were known to work on a 
freaky case from time to time."  Scully says to the 
agent who is riveted to her every word.

"I'm hoping Agent Mulder will assign us some of those 
cases to review, they sound fascinating."  It's 
apparent to Mulder that isn't all Agent Moore finds 
fascinating.

"I'm sure Mulder will toss in a few of those cases 
too," Scully smiles.  Mulder doesn't care for the 
toothy grin she's flashing at the younger agent.

"Agent Mulder, Agent Mulder."  It finally sinks into 
Mulder that he is being paged by one of his students.  
"Can you tell me whatever became of Morley's 
involvement in the tobacco beetle case?"

Mulder frowns at Scully and the attentive agent who's 
standing just a little to close for his comfort.  
"Oh, uh, they were sued, they settled, everyone's 
happy," he mumbles then says, "excuse me."  He 
brushes past the group of agents and heads straight 
for Scully with Will clopping along behind him.

Scully puts out her arms and Will runs into them.  
She lifts him up as Mulder slides along side her 
forming the perfect family montage.  He leans into 
Scully and says, "Ready to go dear?  Our kids are 
getting restless."  Will stares calmly at his father 
who is making a fool of himself while Katherine is 
draped over his arm like a rag doll.  Scully flashes 
her bright, blue eyes at him, unsure of what's gotten 
into him.

Agent Moore thrusts out his hand, "Agent Scully, it's 
been a pleasure to meet you."

"You too Agent Moore and don't worry, you'll do just 
fine."

The younger agent smiles a full tooth smile.  "I 
better be going," he says as he points to the group 
of agents moving down the hallway. "I'm Agent White's 
ride," he tosses over his shoulder as he walks down 
the hallway with what Mulder would claim is a little 
more swagger than necessary.

Scully watches Agent Moore until he's out of sight 
then whips her head around to look at Mulder.  "Dear?  
What was that all about?  You know I don't like 
platitudes like that."

Mulder continues to stare down the hallway.  "He was 
awfully chummy, don't you think Scully." 

"Mulder, he was only. . ."  Suddenly Scully's face 
lights up.  "You're jealous!"  She laughs.

Mulder looks down at her indignantly.  "I am not!"  
He takes off down the hallway carrying Katherine in 
his arms.

Scully catches up with him.  "Whoa, whoa, whoa.  
Mulder you were jealous!"  Scully puts Will down and 
takes him by the hand.

Mulder stops and turns to face her.  "Okay, so shoot 
me."  

Scully pulls on his suit jacket sleeve.  "Mulder, I 
think it's sweet that you're jealous," Scully teases.

Mulder winces, "I'm not sweet Scully, this is a 
testosterone driven need to protect what's mine."

"Yours?"  Scully frowns at him.

Mulder backtracks. "Well yeah, you're mine and I'm 
yours and Will and Katherine are ours.  "You know 
love and all that stuff."

"All that stuff?  Mulder do you want a bigger shovel 
to dig yourself in deeper with?"

Mulder sighs and looks down, "No, I'm doing just 
fine."

--

Scully turns down the short hallway that leads to the 
double glass doors; she leads Will through the open 
door while he counts his steps.  Mulder follows her 
through the door, squinting at the bright sunshine; 
he places his hand over Katherine's eyes to shade 
them.  Scully opens the backdoor to Mulder's car and 
scoops Will up placing him in the car seat and 
buckles him in.  She then walks around the car and 
takes Katherine from Mulder and buckles her into the 
baby bucket she travels in.  Mulder looks around.  
"Where's your car?"

Scully shuts the backdoor and moves back around the 
car.  "Mine's in the shop so mom dropped us off.  She 
has car seats too you know."

Mulder crawls into the driver's side and starts the 
car.  He turns to Scully and says, "Do you realize we 
are carrying two children in this car whose combined 
ages are two and a half years old?"

Scully looks confused. "Yeah, so what.  We do it all 
the time."

"But not without a diaper bag we don't."

Scully laughs. "It's on the floor in the back.  I put 
it in there when mom dropped us off.  I expected to 
be in and out in just a few minutes."  Meanwhile in 
the back seat, Will is trying to teach Katherine to 
count, something she finds very annoying.

"But instead you ran into Mr. 'Fascination', no let 
me correct that, Agent 'Fascination'," Mulder snipes 
then mumbles, "Let's see if he passes my class."

Scully's eyes flash at Mulder but she curbs her 
anger.  "He was just asking me some professional 
questions, that's all," she reassures him.  Mulder 
contemplates what she has said and pulls out into the 
traffic and heads toward one of their favorite 
eateries.  Scully knows he isn't prepared to let this 
go just yet, he'll go home and brood.

"Mulder what makes you think he would be the least 
bit interested in me.  I have two small children by 
his instructor, no less, plus he just might be 
married."

"Scully you are the beautiful, intelligent mother of 
two beautiful and intelligent children and if he 
would hit on you knowing he sits in my class, what 
would he have done if I hadn't been standing there 
breathing down his neck, and for your information he 
is single."

"He is!"  Scully teases.

Mulder flinches and glances over at her.  "Come on 
Mulder, you don't think for one minute that I would 
be the least bit interested in anyone but you."

Mulder shrugs, "It's been known to happen."

Scully sighs and looks back at the two little 
Mulder's sitting in the back seat.  "You know if you 
were a woman I'd say you were PMSing."

"Now that's a rather sexist statement isn't it?"

"Which part?"

"All of it!"

--

They pull into the restaurant parking lot, find a 
free spot and unbuckle and unrestraint everyone in 
the car.

A tall, thin, blonde man greets them at the door.  
"Agent's!  And I see you have brought William with 
you."  He leans down to look at the baby in the 
carrier, "And who is this?"

"That," Scully says, "is Katherine.  The newest 
member of the family."

Will chimes in, "Dat's da bee-bee!"

The man ruffles Will's hair and leads them to a quiet 
booth in a side room away from the main dining area.  
Mulder sits Will in a high chair while Scully slides 
into one side of the booth as he places Katherine's 
carrier next to her and then slides in the other side 
next to Scully.  

A waiter arrives to take their drink order.  "Hun-
gee!" William yells.
"Shhh," both Mulder and Scully correct him.  They 
order their drinks then Scully moves over to unbuckle 
Katherine and sit her up a little higher in the 
bucket she's nested in.

Mulder turns to William and asks, "Okay buddy, what 
do you want?"

"Hicken," Will spouts as he kicks his foot against 
the footrest on the chair.

The waiter comes back.  "Two iced teas and one cherry 
Kool-Aid."

"The Kool-Aid is mine," Mulder quips while Scully 
ignores him.  She orders a turkey club sandwich as 
does Mulder but he adds fries to his order and Will 
gets chicken strips.

Scully glances over at Mulder.  "So what are you 
doing this afternoon?"

"I don't know," Mulder shrugs.  "Work on my class 
notes for Monday, play with Will, the usual."

And pout, Scully silently adds then sighs, "Mulder 
you're still not upset about Agent Moore are you?"  
She knows she has to tread lightly, while the man she 
loves has all the professional confidence in the 
world, personally though he lives in a glasshouse.

"No, you told he I have nothing to worry about."

The waiter returns with their meals.  Will gets 
grabby and wants his chicken but Scully pulls his 
hands away from the basket of hot little chicken 
parts.  The waiter looks down at William and says, 
"Better listen to your pretty mother, those are hot."  
Then the guy winks at Scully and takes off for the 
kitchen.  Scully beams while Mulder turns sideways in 
the booth with one leg out and his arm draped over 
the back as if he's about to go after the guy.  
Scully breaks up Will's chicken strips into smaller 
pieces while Mulder turns back around and takes a 
bite out of his sandwich.  She's sure she can hear 
his teeth gnashing together as he chews.

"So Mulder, did I hear you right, you were discussing 
the tobacco beetle case with the class?"  Scully 
takes a bite of her own sandwich and reaches over to 
give Will a few of Mulder's fries.

"Yeah.  I noticed a couple of the smokers in the 
group were turning a little green."

"I'll bet," Scully smiles over her sandwich.  Will 
tries to pick up his lidded cup to drink through the 
straw but Scully has to help him.  Minutes pass as 
they eat in relative silence.  Finally Mulder wipes 
his mouth and says, "Scully, do you miss it?"

Scully doesn't know what he is referring to. "Miss 
it, miss what?"

"Being in the field, the freedom, the excitement.  Do 
you miss it?"

"Do you Mulder?"

Mulder smiles, "I asked you first."

"Well," Scully pauses, "yeah, I guess I do."

"Enough to regret the path you're on?  I mean, you 
didn't exactly chose this," Mulder says sweeping his 
hand around the little family before him.

"No I didn't," Scully smiles and laughs.  "Mulder I 
can't believe at my age I got myself in trouble." 

"You weren't alone as I recall," Mulder leers.
 
"No I wasn't."  Scully blushes and reaches over to 
wipe Will's mouth.

"So," Mulder says pensively.

Scully looks up and stares into his eyes.  "Not for a 
second do I regret my life as it is today.  I would 
have changed some things if I could have."  She drops 
her voice to a near whisper, "I wish you hadn't been 
taken from me and . . ." her voice hitches, she 
lowers her head and wipes at her eyes, "and returned 
like you were."

Mulder attempts to lighten the mood.  "Gee Scully, 
you make it sound like you didn't want me back."

Scully blows out a long breath.  "No Mulder you know 
that is not true."

Mulder looks into her bright blue, shimmering eyes 
and says, "I know, I see it everyday."

Scully is staring at him just as the waiter returns.  
"Would anyone want dessert?"

"Sure." Mulder says.  "My son and I will split a hot 
fudge sundae."

"And for you ma'am?"

"Oh," Scully sighs, "nothing for me."

"What!"  The waiter feigns surprise.  "A tiny thing 
like you worried about a small dish of ice cream?"

Scully places her elbows on the table and entwines 
her fingers.  "No really, nothing for me."

The waiter leaves their table with Mulder glaring at 
him.  "There's a man playing fast and loose with his 
tip."

"Mulder, he was just being nice."

Mulder glares at her.  "You've ran into a lot of 
'nice' men today."

"Well, would you rather they dismissed me or treated 
me as if I wasn't there?"

Mulder furrows his brow, "No but they could treat you 
a little less cute."  Now Scully frowns.  Mulder 
shrugs, "You know what I mean."

Katherine chooses this particular moment to sneeze 
and rub her runny nose all over her face.  Will 
points to his sister.  "Ot oh, da bee-bee gots a 
runny face."

Scully looks down at Katherine then corrects William.  
"No, sweetie Katherine 'has' a runny 'nose'."

Will points again. "But look, momma!"

Mulder laughs, "I have to admit Scully, she does gots 
a runny face."

Scully wipes off the little girl's face, much to the 
annoyance of her daughter when suddenly William 
coughs.  Scully looks up just in time to see a 
beautiful Armani suit covered in bits of chicken 
strips.  Mulder sits back in the booth and closes his 
eyes in defeat.  "And I thought that flukeman case 
was the most disgusting thing I had ever seen until 
we had children."

Scully hands him a wad of napkins and laughs, "Better 
get used to it Mulder, we've still got eighteen years 
of this ahead of us."

Mulder wipes off Will's mouth and cleans up his suit 
as best he can.

--

The ride home is relatively uneventful, Will has 
nodded off and Katherine is consumed with looking at 
her foot.  Scully glances out the side window then 
back at the two children.  "Mulder, I need to get 
groceries."

"What again!" Mulder says, pretending to be 
surprised.

Scully laughs, "We do have to buy food for four now."  
Mulder glances down at her chest and wiggles his 
eyebrows, "Technically still just three."

Scully blushes.  "Okay, I'll give you that but 
laundry and paper products have increased sharply, 
plus you have introduced Will to wonderful world of 
junk food."

Mulder chuckles, "Just a chip of the old block."

"Well that may be true," Scully says as they pull 
into the driveway, "but I still need to feed the chip 
and the old block.  You can either watch Will and 
Katherine or we can all go, it's up to you."

Mulder ponders the question then asks, "Can I pick 
out my own snack food?"

"As long as I don't find anymore pork rinds in my 
cupboards, then yes you can."

"Then count me in."

They pull into the garage and unbuckle and 
unrestraint the little ones who depend on them for 
their survival, a fact that Mulder finally came to 
grips with a couple a weeks ago when Scully told him, 
'Mulder, get over it, we can do this parenting 
thing'.  That plus the withering look she gave him 
convinced him he could do it!

William is immediately taken in and dumped into his 
bed. He's limp as a rag doll and shows no sign of 
regaining consciousness for at least several hours.

Katherine on the other hand, is in need of a bath.  
Scully soon has her sitting in the kitchen sink, 
scrubbed clean and yawning.  She is dried off, 
powdered and diapered and before long well fed.  
Scully carries her to the bassinet in Mulder's 
downstairs office. 

Mulder comes out of the bathroom in jeans and a white 
T-shirt, carrying a rolled up Armani suit.  "Might as 
well drop this off on the way," he says as Scully 
comes out of the office.

Scully returns to the kitchen to sit at island to 
begin working on her shopping list.  Mulder is 
running his finger through his spiky hair and digging 
soap residue out of his ears.  Scully glances over at 
him and smiles.  "Okay," she sighs, "can you think of 
anything else we need?"

Mulder moves behind her to look over her shoulder at 
the list but he also takes the opportunity to rest 
his head on her shoulder and wrap his arms around her 
waist.  He can feel her cheeks knot up in a smile as 
he presses his face next to hers.

Scully draws her head back looking directly at him.  
"Mulder, your hair is dripping all over me."

Mulder pretends to be so engrossed in the list that 
he doesn't notice he's getting her wet.  "So go take 
a shower."

Scully leans in to whisper in his ear, "Care to join 
me?"

Mulder looks surprised by her offer then breaks out 
into a huge grin. "Race ya."

Scully abruptly jumps off her stool and runs toward 
the stairs with Mulder hot on her heels.

Long after the water has turned lukewarm they finally 
step from the shower and dress.  Katherine woke up 
sometime during their little tryst but she is once 
again content just to play with her toes.  William, 
on the other hand, is yelling, "Momma, come get me."

Scully finds her son standing in his crib definitely 
in need of a bath.  She lifts him from his bed and 
carries him to the bathroom off his bedroom.  "Wanna 
try the potty-chair again?" Scully softly asks but 
Will shakes his head no, he's still a little bit too 
sleepy to care.  She runs a shallow tub of water 
while William automatically raises his arms so she 
can remove his shirt; mother and son perform like a 
well-oiled machine.

Soon Will is as clean as the rest of the family.  
Scully sets him down on his feet and gives him a 
little push.  He takes off running around the corner 
of his bedroom door and runs smack into Mulder's 
legs.  He falls backwards onto his butt and begins to 
cry, more from surprise than being hurt.  Mulder 
scoops him up and cradles Will's head against his 
chest.  "Sorry buddy, did I hurt you?" 

 Scully comes out of the bathroom and Will reaches 
for her.  She takes the crying child from Mulder and 
asks, "What happened William?"

"He ran into me," Mulder softly says, cupping his 
son's head while Scully holds him close.  She carries 
him back into the bathroom and wets a washcloth to 
clean off his face.

Katherine has heard all the commotion from across the 
hall and now she too is crying.  Mulder picks up his 
daughter and changes her diaper then dresses her in 
the sun-suit Scully has laid out for her.  

--

Eventually Katherine and William are both clean and 
happy at the same time.  The diaper bag is packed, 
the coupons are located and everyone is back in the 
car.

Mulder backs out of the driveway and turns to his 
partner, "Scully, you know we really should check 
into an SUV or maybe a school bus."

Scully looks up from studying her grocery list.  "And 
just how many kids do you see us having?"

Mulder shrugs his shoulders and smiles, "I don't know 
but they sure are fun to make."

Scully stares at him.  "Well fun of not, I'm happy 
with just the two we have besides if you want the fun 
to continue you can always get a vasectomy."

Mulder scrunches up his face and shifts around in his 
seat.  "Ouch Scully!  That sounds painful."

Scully lets a slight smile cross her face, "No more 
that giving birth."

William is back to annoying Katherine by counting her 
fingers when all she wants to do is stick them in her 
mouth.  She starts to cry and Will pulls her fingers 
out of her mouth.  "Da-dee, da bee-bee bites her 
fingers."

Mulder looks in the rearview mirror with a smile, "I 
don't think so Will, she doesn't have any teeth yet."

Will tries to open his sister's mouth but she's 
having none of that.  So he chooses to look in it 
while she's bawling, then his eyes grow wide and his 
mouth forms a perfect 'O'.  "Momma," Will yell's.

"What Will?"  Scully says over the front seat.

"Da bee-bee don't have any teef!" Will says.

Scully and Mulder both laugh at Will's sudden 
interest in his sister's dental needs.  Mulder 
chuckles, "Scully, do you think he will ever call her 
anything but 'da bee-bee'?"

"I hope so," Scully sighs, "other wise someone's 
going to pick up on that and her nickname will become 
Bee-Bee and I for one don't want that to happen."

Mulder nods in agreement.  "Besides every time I hear 
bee-bee I think of Captain Kangaroo's sheep dog."

Scully looks puzzled at her partner.

Mulder swallows hard.  "He was on TV when I was a 
kid.  He had a sheep dog named Bee-Bee."  Then he 
defensively adds, "I was a child of the sixties."

--

They pull into the large supermarket parking lot.  
It's filled with vehicles but for a late Friday 
afternoon when everyone has been paid, it's not as 
crowded as Scully thought it might be.

Mulder takes Katherine in her baby bucket into the 
store while Will and Scully eventually catches up 
with them.  He's become an old pro at clipping the 
baby carrier onto the shopping cart while Scully puts 
Will into the child seat on the cart she has chosen 
but not before she pulls out a Wet One and wipes the 
cart handle free from germs.

"Don't walk to close to me Scully, you never know 
when Will is going to decide to check for more 
teeth."  Mulder smiles.

Scully looks down her list while Will kicks the cart 
with one foot.  Mulder has already headed for the 
snack food aisle where Scully knows he'll be for at 
least the next twenty minutes.  It never ceases to 
amaze her how the man can spend so much time looking 
at Ho Ho's and Little Debbie cakes.  He doesn't spend 
that much time trying to decide which suit to buy.  

Scully and Will have put the dairy products and 
sandwich supplies into the cart and next head for the 
paper products aisle.  Will chews on a tortilla chip 
that a woman handing out samples gave him while 
Scully picks out the proper diapers knowing full well 
that Mulder's 'one size fits all theory' doesn't hold 
water or anything else.  She starts around the end of 
an aisle when she hears a young woman gushing, "She's 
so cute!  I'd take her home if her daddy would let 
me."  She smiles, it has to be Katherine she is 
referring to, after all that is the cookie aisle.  
She peeks around the corner and frowns.  The woman is 
going on about Katherine but she's eyeing Mulder!  
He's stammering and looking down at his feet much the 
same way Katherine looks at hers, only her cheeks are 
never flame-red like her fathers are.

"She definitely takes after her father in looks," the 
woman leans into Mulder and says just a little too 
breathy and a little too naked for Scully's comfort.  
Scully suspects the woman buys her clothing in the 
same section of the store she buys Katherine's in.   
She wheels her cart up to Mulder and says, "Dear, did 
you find your Little Debbie's?"

The woman looks up and pushes her long brown hair 
away from her face and says, "I thought her name was 
Katherine?"

Scully rolls her eyes and continues down the cookie 
and cracker aisle.  Mulder turns the cart around and 
follows her.  "Hey, wait a minute!"

Scully stops but doesn't turn around.  Mulder laughs, 
"Dear?  What was that?  You're jealous!"

Scully's head snaps up from looking at her list.  "I 
am not!  And for your information that woman was just 
a few years older than your daughter."  Scully 
shrugs, "Maybe we can bring her home and she and 
Katherine can try on each other's clothes."

Mulder laughs while customers standing nearby just 
stare.  He drops his voice and says, "You are 
jealous. I think that's sweet."

Scully flashes her blue eyes at him and grits her 
teeth.  "Sweet!  You think. . ."  Then she realizes 
she's heard this before and just huffs out a breath 
and pushes her cart down the aisle, aware of Mulder's 
snickering.

--

They finally approach the checkout with one full cart 
of groceries and the other half full.  The young 
woman running the checkout keeps batting her eyes at 
Mulder.  Scully has to admit it does get damn 
aggravating to see the flow of estrogen that oozes 
from the pores of most woman that meet Mulder.  He 
grabs the bags as the clerk fills them.  Occasionally 
her fingers brush his and she giggles and smiles.  
Scully turns her head and places one hand on her hip 
muttering under her breath, "Oh brother."

Soon the trunk is full of groceries and the back seat 
is full of children.  Mulder pulls out into the 
traffic and heads for the dry cleaners.  "Scully, we 
really should check into something a little bigger.  
We're out growing this car and we do have the money."

"So what have you got in mind?"

Mulder shrugs and flexes his fingers against the 
steering wheel.  "I don't know, maybe a Hummer."

"A Hummer!" Scully can't believe what she is hearing.

"Yeah."  Mulder blushes and tilts his head.  "It 
doesn't have to look like a family-mobile, does it?"

"No, but Mulder I think a Hummer is a little out of 
our price range.   We could get two nice little SUV's 
for the price of one of those."

Mulder nods, "I agree, two SUV's it is, but I get the 
big one."

Scully flips her hand into the air. "Okay, it's your 
money."

"No. It's not, it's our money."  Mulder motions to 
the back seat, "And their money."

Scully shakes her head and looks down.  "I still 
can't get use to the fact that we have expendable 
income.  My folks lived so tight and dad never made a 
lot of money even as a Captain."

Mulder realizes the dilemma Scully is caught in, 
she's never had a great sum of money and every cent 
her family had they worked hard for but now to be 
part of Mulder's windfall from his parents estate; 
it's difficult for her to find comfort in it.  
"Scully, its just money, our money, and we don't just 
throw it away."

Scully laughs then grows quiet, "No, we don't, but 
our house was a big investment."

"That's right an investment," Mulder softly says to 
her.

Scully sighs. "Okay.  I do have to admit by the time 
I get those two in the back seat, I don't have room 
for anything else."

"So it's agreed then, we look for two moderately 
priced SUV's and I get the big one."

Scully smiles at her partner, "Yeah, you get the big 
one."

They pull up to the drive-thru window at the dry 
cleaners and Mulder drops off his suit and takes his 
receipt.

--

They finally pull into their own driveway around 
seven in the evening.  William is bouncing in his car 
seat and saying, "Momma, I want copper's."  Katherine 
is hungry too and cranking up for a good squall.

"Mulder, can you get Will and the groceries while I 
feed Katherine?"

"Sure, go ahead."  Mulder unbuckles Will and whispers 
to his son, "Will, the coppers are in the trunk."

Will scrambles out of the car seat so Mulder can lift 
him out of the car.  He then opens the trunk and 
begins to paw through the many bags.  Will bounces on 
his feet next to his father clapping his hands 
together in anticipation.  Soon Mulder finds just 
what he's been looking for and hands Will a pack of 
Oscar Meyer all beef franks.  The little boy clutches 
the package to his chest as he and Mulder walk in the 
back door.

Will takes off down the hallway yelling, "Momma, 
momma!"

"I'm in here," Scully says from Mulder's office that 
right now contains the downstairs bassinet.  Will 
rushes in and says, "Coppers," proudly displaying the 
hot dogs for Scully to see.

"I see that," Scully softly says trying to not wake 
the infant she's holding.  "Tell dad to fix you one, 
he knows how."

"Okay!"  Will says and runs back toward the kitchen.  
Scully hums softly to her daughter just enjoying 
their quiet moment together.

Mulder has finally brought all the groceries in with 
the help of Will who is now carrying in a bag of 
chips almost as big as he is.  

"Okay Will, now let's fix a hot dog for you."  Will 
jumps up and down beside his father.  Mulder lifts 
the little boy up to sit on the counter next to the 
microwave.  He opens the pack of hot dogs and grabs a 
paper plate from the cupboard and a knife from a 
drawer under the watchful eyes of his son.  He places 
the hot dog on the plate and cuts it into tiny coin-
sized slices.  "Hang on Will, your copper pennies are 
almost done"

Will kicks the cupboard with his heels.  "Shh," 
Mulder says, "you'll wake the baby."

"Da bee-bee wants coppers too!" Will says.

Mulder grins as he places the hot dog into the 
microwave.  "No, Katherine can't eat coppers yet."

"Cause she don't got teef yet," Will rationalizes.
 
"That's right," Mulder laughs.

The microwave dings and Mulder takes the hot dog 
slices, that now resemble copper pennies, out of the 
oven; Scully and Will came up with the copper penny 
idea a few months ago.  

Mulder lifts William up to sit in the high chair, 
buying him some time to allow the coppers to cool.  
He opens the bag of chips Will brought in earlier and 
puts a few on his plate, next he opens a juice box 
and sets it down for his son.  William digs in with 
gusto.

Mulder crouches next to William's chair.  "Pretty 
good, huh?"

"Um hum," Will agrees with a mouth full of sliced hot 
dog.

Scully comes in the kitchen and rubs Mulder's back 
while she watches her son eat.  "So you have coppers, 
huh Will?"

The little boy nods as he crams another slice of hot 
dog into his mouth.

Scully turns Mulder around and wraps her arms around 
his waist, hugging him tightly.  "You go on, I can 
finish putting these away."

"You sure?" Mulder asks, looking down at her.

"Yeah, it would be quicker if I did it."  He returns 
the warm hug and heads down the hall to his office. `

Scully puts away the rest of the groceries and moves 
the ones Mulder put away earlier in the wrong places.  
By now Will is done eating and holding out his paper 
plate for Scully to throw it away.  "All done?"  She 
asks.

"Down," Will says while Scully wipes off his face.

"What do you say William?"  Scully softly chides.

"Down, peas."

"Okay, that's a good boy," she says lifting William 
from the chair.  "Be quiet, Katherine is asleep in 
daddy's office."

"'kay," the little boy whispers.

Scully finishes putting away the groceries then 
unloads the dishwasher.  Putting the last plate away 
she shuts off the kitchen lights and goes to check on 
Katherine.  She walks into the office to find Will 
sitting on his father's lap while Mulder scans the 
Internet.  Will looks around his father to see her 
standing there, putting his finger to his lips he 
says, "Shh, da bee-bee is seep."  

Scully smiles down at him and ruffles his reddish-
blonde hair.  The deeper into summer it gets the more 
brown that the sun bleaches out of his baby fine 
hair.  "Come on lets go read," Scully says helping 
Will off his fathers lap.  Mulder is so engrossed in 
what he's reading that he hardly notices that Will is 
leaving.  

Hand in hand Scully and Will walk up the steps to the 
second floor where all the bedrooms are.  She walks 
Will into his bedroom and this time Will accepts the 
offer to use the potty-chair with better results than 
the last time he tried.  Scully washes the little 
boys' hands and face and puts a diaper on him along 
with his cotton pajamas.  She turns on a soft light 
and adjusts the thermostat.  Will grabs a blanket off 
the toy chest and brings it to her in a well-
established routine.  Scully sits down in the rocker 
and wraps the blanket around her son then picks him 
up along with his storybook.  She opens the book and 
begins, "The brown bear runs. .  . what is that word 
Will?"  Scully asks as she points to a word in the 
book.

"Up," Will says.

"Up the hill."  She turns the page.  "The black?"

"Dog," Will replies.

"That's right," Scully says, "and how do you spell 
dog?"

Will yawns, "D-o-g."

"That's right," Scully softly says, realizing its too 
late and Will is too tired to comprehend so she 
continues to just read to him. "The cow mooed at the 
goat."

Soon Will is soundly sleeping with his thumb in his 
mouth.  Scully lays him in the crib and pulls a 
blanket up to his chin and places a kiss on his 
cheek.  He flinches but immediately settles back 
down.  She turns out the light and turns on the 
nightlight in the bottom of the lamp then pulls the 
door nearly shut.

She heads back downstairs to the office.  Mulder is 
still on the computer but looks weary.  Scully picks 
up Katherine and heads back to the stairs just as 
Mulder says, "I'll lock up down here."  Scully smiles 
and carries her daughter upstairs. 

Katherine opens her eyes and yawns.  Scully lays her 
on the changing table in what will eventually be the 
baby's own room.  She strips off the sundress and 
diaper; soon the baby is changed into a fresh diaper 
and one-piece sleeper.  Katherine coos and tries to 
grab at her mother's hair but Scully is too quick for 
her.  She scoops up the baby and walks around the 
room swaying her back to sleep.  

She walks out of Katherine's room and into the room 
she and Mulder share. As she lays the baby down in 
her bassinet Katherine sniffles but settles back 
down.  Scully stretches out the kinks in her neck and 
back as Mulder wanders in having already shed his 
shoe, socks and shirt.  He walks up behind her and 
begins to knead the bunched up muscles in her back.  
"Umm," Scully murmurs, "that is almost as good as 
sex."

"You think so?  Then I've been doing something 
wrong." Mulder whispers in her ear.

Scully laughs.

Mulder next moves in to kiss her neck.  Scully 
reaches behind him and hooks her thumbs into the hip 
pockets on his jeans.  Mulder reaches around to 
encase her in a hug.  They stand there enjoying the 
silence for a few moments then Scully finally moves 
away.  "I have to go change."  Mulder pats her back 
and runs his fingers through the soft hairs at the 
nape of her neck.  "Why don't you take a hot bath, if 
either hellion wakes up I'll handle it."  Scully 
turns around; she and Mulder share a few tender pecks 
on the lips before she leaves to take her bath.

Forty-five minutes later Scully returns from her 
bath.  Mulder is laying in their bed; the huge oak 
one he bought for her just before Katherine arrived.  
Unfortunately she could hardly get into it at the 
time but she knows Mulder meant well.  He's propped 
up on a pile of pillows reading his notes for 
Monday's class.  He puts down the file and asks, 
"Feeling better?"

"Much," Scully replies.   Mulder folds back the hand-
made quilt and Scully slips in next to him.  He lifts 
his arm and she snuggles in close, laying her head on 
his bare chest, she closes her eyes.

Mulder puts down his file and looks over at the woman 
he will forever share his bed with.  "Tired?"  He 
asks in a gravelly whisper.  Scully hums in the 
affirmative.  He kisses her nose and chuckles.  
Scully doesn't open her eyes but asks, "What?"

"I don't think Katherine enjoys Will teaching her to 
count."  Both Mulder and Scully laugh.  "No, I don't 
think so either," Scully replies while she plays with 
the soft hairs on Mulder's chest.

He wraps his free arm around her.  "I don't know how 
you do it," he says kissing the crown of her head.

"Do what?"  Scully groggily asks.

"Keep those two well fed, clothed, and under 
control."

Scully sighs,  "Well, I've had years of practice with 
their father."  Mulder grins and Scully can feel the 
chuckle building in his chest.

He pulls her closer and looks down at her.  "You 
alright Red?"

Scully slowly opens one eye and looks at her partner.  
"Red is okay, not dear, but it had better not leave 
this room."

Mulder smiles down at her, he loves to bait her.  
Scully settles in again and Mulder watches her relax 
then says, "Scully my knee itches, you think you 
could scratch it with your toes?"

Scully turns her head so it's resting on her hand 
that is flat against Mulder's chest. "Is that a short 
crack?"  She has a hard time keeping a straight 
face."

"No," Mulder laughs.

"Good," Scully says, "because I know an agent who 
finds me 'fascinating'.

Mulder sticks out his bottom lip.  "It had better be 
me."

Scully rubs her nose against Mulder's muscled chest.  
"Why don't you turn out the lights and we'll find out 
together."

Mulder reaches over and turns out the lights.  
Silence fills the room then Mulder says, "Scully, you 
gots a runny face."

Both agents can be heard laughing and sighing and 
laughing once more.


      
                         ~ The End ~