From: Cookie8302@aol.com
Date: 28 Feb 2003 10:33:45 -0800
Subject: xfc: Fathers of the Brides - A short sequel to Baby Plans Part One
Source: atxc

Title: Fathers of the Brides
Author: Kristen
E-mail: Cookie8302@aol.com
Category: SRHA
Keywords: Skinner/Maggie, MSR 
Feedback: Would definately love feedback.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except Michaela Skinner, Walter 
Mulder or Elizabeth Mulder.
Note: This is a one shot sequel to Baby Plans, that takes place about twenty 
years later.

Twenty Years Later 2015
Dublin, Ireland

Michaela Skinner was excited.  She was going home today to tell her parents 
the best news of her short life.  While studying for a semester abroad in 
Ireland she'd met Sean Rafferty a handsome and wonderful young man.  They had 
dated briefly, but she had fallen head over heels in love.  Her parents 
weren't going to be very happy at the idea that she was getting married, but 
she knew that her mother would understand and she knew the eventually her 
father would come around to the idea as well.

"Michaela?" Sean called from their airport hotel room, "Are you ready, 
Lassie, the plain is do to leave in an hour."

"I'm ready, Love.  I'm just a bit nervous about you meeting my parents." She 
smiled as he hugged her.  "You're parents are going to love me.  You do."

"Yes, I do, very much.  It's just..."

"Just?" He prodded.

"My Dad. He's older and he's really old-fashioned and he's not going to be 
crazy about this. Actually, more to the point, he is going to be crazy about 
this.  He is going to flip out and there is nothing we can do about it.  
Hopefully, my Mom can calm him down."

"Listen to me, Lassie, I love you.  And your Da is going to see that.  If he 
is as wonderful a man as you say he is, he isn't going to keep you from 
happiness.  Now, come on, annsachd, let's go."

Sean lifted her suitcase and settled his free arm around her shoulders.  
Together they stepped into the foggy Dublin morning each lost in their own 
thoughts of the events to come.

Skinner Home, 
Crystal City, VA

Margaret Skinner was excited.  She hadn't seen her baby girl in four months 
and she was coming home today.  Walter would be so happy to see her.  Perhaps 
seeing his baby girl again would lift his spirits.  She was worried about her 
husband.  He'd had a second stroke just after Michaela left for Ireland and 
had insisted that Maggie not call her or tell her.  After he'd come home, 
he'd been depressed.  He slept a lot and things he used to enjoy doing were 
either beyond his capabilities now, such as ships in a bottle or he'd lost 
the desire to do.  She knew he missed his daughter, but he stopped her every 
attempt to fill her in on his condition.

Aside from Walter's recent stroke, they had both aged gracefully.  Margaret 
still dyed her beautiful brown hair and her face held only laugh lines, no 
unsightly wrinkles.  Walter had went bald young and while his remaining hair 
was gray, no on would have put them at 73 and 70.

Margaret glanced at the clock.  It was almost noon and Walter was not yet 
awake.  They had to be at Dulles airport in three hours to meet Michaela's 
plane.  She best go wake him up.

Their bedroom was still darkened for she had drawn the shades to keep him 
from being awakened by the summer sunlight.  She walked over to him and 
tapped him gently on the his right side, the side unaffected by the brain 
attack.  He stirred but did not open his eyes.  Walter was never stubborn 
about getting up in the morning before this.  When he pulled this she had to 
resort to desperate measures.  Her hand shot of and pulled on the string 
holding the shades closed and let the merciless DC sun hit him.  He groaned 
at the intrusion into his slumber and opened his eyes, shielding them from 
the light with his right hand.

"Come on, Walter.  Time to get up, we have to meet Michaela's plane."  Maggie 
was bright and happy as she moved around their bedroom laying out his clothes 
as he let his eyes adjust to the light.

"Maggie, I was thinking maybe just you, Dana and Fox should pick up Michaela. 
 I don't want her to see me like this." As before his speech had been 
affected as a result of the paralysis of the facial muscles.  It was 
improving but certain sounds were still had for him to say.

"Don't be silly, Walter, she's going to see you like this.  You've had a 
stroke, Honey, and like it or not, Michaela is going to find out about it. 
She is going to notice that you are in a wheelchair."

"I know.  But if you get her she'll be prepared.  Think of the shock when she 
comes out of the terminal and see me in that thing."  He was starting to 
become agitated and Maggie tried to calm him down.

"I know, Walter.  It is going to shock her.  But think of her disappointment 
when she comes out of that terminal and doesn't see her Daddy.  At all."

Maggie's words were forceful and he knew she spoke the truth.  He longed to 
see his daughter again.  To hold her in his arms and cherish having her back 
in his life.  He'd missed her so much while she was gone, but he was afraid 
of seeing her now.  Afraid she'd pity him.  Afraid she'd blame herself for 
leaving for Ireland.  It had hurt him when she left and they'd had words 
about it.  Unfortunately for him she'd inherited his tendency to blame 
himself for anything and everything that went wrong in anyone's life.  He 
didn't want to see his little girl crying for him, pitying him, or badgering 
herself.  He also didn't know how to vocalize this to Maggie.

"I know you're right, Honey.  But, I don't want to see her face when she 
first finds out about me.  Do you understand that, Baby?"

Margaret knew what her husband was thinking.  If Michaela got off the plane 
and saw him in a wheelchair, she'd start to cry.  Then she would blame 
herself for leaving and for his illness.  Like father, like daughter, in so 
many ways.

"All right, my love.  Dana, Fox, and I will pick Michaela up.  But I want you 
dressed and trying to look like you're enjoying your life when she gets 
here."

"Maggie, I..."

"No!  Damn it, Walter!  For the past three months you've done nothing but sit 
around and pity yourself.  You either lay in bed or sit in that wheelchair.  
You don't exercise you're arm and leg, you don't' try to get better at all!  
After the last stroke, you worked so hard and you recovered so beautifully.  
Now, it seems like you don't want to recover at all!"

"It's not as easy this time as it was before," he said softly.

"Of course it isn't the same, you're older now and someone weaker than you 
were.  But that doesn't mean you can't at least try to recover.  Do you have 
any idea what it is like for me to see you like this.  I maybe 73 years old, 
Walter Skinner, but there is nothing wrong with my memory and you are not the 
husband I remember.  

Now, our daughter is coming home today after four months of being away and I 
want you to look as well as you can considering.  I don't care that you need 
the chair or that your arm hangs, but I do care that you don't try to help 
yourself.  He are your clothes, do the best you can without me, the call if 
you need help.  I have to get going soon, Dana and Fox will be here shortly."

With that Maggie turned and left him to struggle with his clothing until he 
could not longer complete the task on his own.  A short while later Dana and 
Fox Mulder arrived with two of their three children, Walter and their 
daughter Lizzy who was two years younger than her brother.  Her other brother 
William was studying at the military academy to become a commissioned Marine 
officer like the grandfather he so idolized.

"Hi, Mom," Scully greeted cheerfully, her red hair now paling to a strawberry 
blond color with years and hair dyes, "How is he today?"

"He's the same as he is any other day, Dana.  He won't come with us.  He 
doesn't want to shock Michaela."

"I didn't think he'd come, Mom.  And, to be honest, I can understand it.  You 
held off in telling her as not to distract her from her studies.  Now, is 
that the first thing you'd want to see when you came off a plane after having 
been kept in the dark?"  Mulder asked his mother-in-law.  He'd understood 
Walter very well; always had, but as they raised their children together, the 
bond had become stronger.

"I suppose you're right, Fox.  I hope that having her home will bring him out 
of this depression.  He needs something to put his back up against.  Having 
his baby home may help.  You think?"

Mulder moved forward to give Maggie a quick hug.  "I'm sure it will, Mom.  
Now, we better get going.  The kids are waiting in the car."

"All right," she smiled, "Let me just tell Walter."

Dulles International Airport

Sean and Michaela had decided not to tell her folks right away about their 
plans.  She'd tell them on her own and he'd come over the house, later about 
eight or so.

As she walked through the gate she saw her mother, sister, brother-in-law, 
one nephew and her niece waiting for her.  At the sight, he heart fell.  
Where was her Dad?  She hadn't really heard from him in months and all she 
wanted to do was run into his arms and pretend just for a few minutes that 
she was a little girl.

She instead ran into her mother's arms.  She looked great for 73, in fact she 
didn't look a day past 60.  However, the light that had lit her blue eyes 
ever since she'd known her was absent.  In fact, the look there made her 
heart drop.

Michaela was passed from relative to relative being hugged and glanced over.  
She was thrilled to be home, even for all of the fun she'd had in Ireland and 
the wonderful love she'd found.  Maggie could tell by the look on her 
daughter's face that the inevitable was about to happen.

"Where's Daddy?" she asked glancing around as if she expected to see Walter 
standing in the background somewhere.

"Um," Maggie hesitated.  "He's at home, Honey.  Why don't we get started on 
getting home?  I know he can't wait to see you."

"Then why isn't he hear?" No beating around the bush for Michaela Skinner.  
She took after her mother and sister that way.

"Mike, um, why don't we explain it to you in the car?" Dana suggested a 
gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Mom, I'm sorry, but, uh, I think we should just tell her," Walter 
interjected, "the car isn't going to keep us from having to break the news."

"What is it?  Is Daddy sick?  Does he still hate me for going to Ireland?"

"Stop that, Michaela!  You're father never hated you ever.  But, he is sick, 
Honey.  That's why he couldn't be here."

"What's wrong with him?" Her mother's eyes filled with tears at the question 
so she turned her gaze to her sister and brother-in-law.

"Sweetie," Scully began, "dad had a brain attack.  A stroke and it left him 
in a wheelchair."

"How long ago did this happen and why didn't anyone say anything to me about 
it?" Her bottom lip quivered.

"He didn't want them too, Mike," replied Mulder holding her as she began to 
cry.  "It happened just after you left and he wanted you to work hard and 
have a good time.  We're sorry, we should have told you."

"Mama," she said after a moment, "I want to see him.  Let's go home."

Maggie looped her arm through Michaela's and the Skinner/Mulder family 
sprinted out of the airport.

Skinner Home
Crystal City, VA

Skinner sat in his wheelchair at the table and waited to hear his wife and 
family come through the door.  He didn't want Michaela to see him like this, 
so weak and a shell of his former self.  He wanted to hold her in his arms 
and pretend she was still a baby that he could protect and shelter.  But she 
wasn't.  She was all grown up and on her own.

He must had sat there for hours thinking, because finally he heard his wife 
call out to him.  "Honey, we're home!"

He moved his automatic wheelchair out of the kitchen and settled in the 
hallway to look at his daughter.  She looked so grown up.  She had tear 
streaks on his face but she smiled when she saw him and ran to his 
outstretched arm.

"Daddy, oh, I missed you so much.  Why didn't you let Mama tell me you were 
sick?  I'd have come home to you."

Skinner squeezed her a bit tighter and breathed in the scent of her hair.  It 
hadn't changed since the day he first held her in the hospital twenty years 
ago.  She may be grown up, but she was still his baby girl.

"I didn't want you to, Little One, I wanted you to have a good time.  I 
wanted you to be happy, not...not come running home to me."  He let her go 
and smiled at Maggie over her shoulder.  Dana and Fox had come in a moment 
later with Walter and Lizzy. 

"Well," Lizzy broke in, "I want to hear all about trip.  Let's have some of 
Grandma's cookies and talk about it."

For the next few hours, Michaela kept them enchanted with stories of her 
adventures in the Emerald Isle.  What she left out was her romance and 
engagement to Sean Rafferty.  Given her father's present condition and her 
own guilt over not having been there for him she didn't feel it was 
appropriate to bring it up.  As the clock ticked on, however, and the time of 
Sean's arrival came closer, she knew she would have no other choice.

Over her mother's famous pot roast she finally worked up the courage to break 
the news.  Her sister and her family had left a few hours before and she was 
now alone with her parents.  She could still sense the tension between them.  
Her mother kept looking at her father with something resembling indifference 
and her father no longer held the look of reverence that he always had.  All 
she was there was resignation.  She knew that this news would do nothing to 
help her father's recovery.  He's had the idea that she was to marry and 
leave his house. He'd see it as her leaving him, he'd see it like he was 
losing her.
 
Her father ate slowly chewing eat bite on the right side of his mouth, 
probably until it was almost microscopic before carefully swallowing.  Her 
mother had to warm the plate twice before he was finished.  Michaela smiled 
at him and he blushed, feeling self conscious about his disability in front 
of his only child.

"Mom, Dad, I have something that I need to tell you guys.  It's something 
that I didn't want to talk about before when Dana and everyone was here."

The serious expression on her daughter's face caused Maggie to stop her work 
and sit down.

"What is it, Sweetheart?  Did something happen in Ireland?" Her father asked, 
always the worrier.

"Um, yeah, Dad it did.  God, I don't know quite how to say this.  I've never 
had to say something quite like this and to parents, especially my 
parents..."

"For Heaven's sake, Michaela, spit it out," Maggie prompted.

"Um, well, I met somebody in Dublin.  He's from Ireland originally but was 
raised mostly right in Annapolis.  His name is Sean Rafferty."

"Well, it's nice that you made a friend over there, Sweetie," Skinner said.

"Um, he's more than a friend Dad.  We met after I was there for about two 
weeks and at first we just talked and hung out on our free time.  Well, after 
the first couple of times, we started seeing each other alone, a whole lot 
and we fell in love.  I didn't think it would ever happen, but it did and I 
was so surprised and shocked.  It's like the most wonderful feeling on 
earth."

Skinner's jaw tightened and his heart fell into his stomach.  For the first 
time he looked at his girl very closely and saw in her eyes the same look 
that Maggie held for him and that Dana had for Fox.  Those were the eyes of a 
woman in love.

Margaret reached across the table and touched Walter's hand and squeezed, 
"Yes, baby it is.  What was so hard about saying that?  When do we get to 
meet this charming young man?  Is he coming back to the states?"

"Um, yeah, he came back today actually and he'll be here in about two hours 
to meet you.  But..."

"Oh, Michaela, I wish you'd told us sooner.  I need to clean up around here 
and your father gets tired so easily..."

"I'll be all right, Maggie.  But I don't think that Michaela is finished.  
There's something else, isn't there?  Did you sleep with this man?"

He asked the question in a tone that made her feel like she was five years 
old again.  She blushed and studied her hands, mumbling an embarrassed, 
"Daddy."

"I'm sorry.  You are a grown up, you can..."

"There was something else, Dad, though now that.  Before I left for the 
states, Sean asked me to marry him and I accepted his offer."