Pray With Me

6. WAITING PERIOD (After X-Files Episode: The Unnatural )

Dr. Parenti sent a written letter to Scully to set a date for the implantation. She took another day from work and went alone to avoid raising suspicions. She was asked to go back to his office two weeks later for a pregnancy test. Scully was tempted to test herself first, but didn't want to jinx it.

Mulder came by the day of the test before she left to wait for the results in her apartment. They had a late lunch together.

"Do you want a boy or a girl?" He asked.

"I want a humanchorionic gonadotropin positive."

"That is a weird name for the baby." She snickered.

"I'm trying to not get my hopes too high. Getting pregnant is just the first step." She paused, Scully hated to talk to Mulder about this.

"The truth is I might need a miracle to be able to bring this child to term...." She wanted to be realistic with him for the sake of both.He reached to grab her hand.

"Scully, I'm sure..."

"Arey ou?" She said, her eyes boring into him. He didn't answer.

"Mulder, this journey I'm about to start is probably the most frightening I had ever been in. My abduction, my cancer...all of them were nothing compared to the pain I felt when I lost Emily." Her blue eyes almost filled with tears. He rubbed her fingers.

"I don't think I will believe is happening until I have my baby on my arms. Happy, safe and healthy...And as your friend I think you should do the same in the months to come."

"Scully..."

"If I can spare you any of that kind of pain I would like to try."

"I don't want you to be alone in this...I know you don't need anything else from me, but I still want to be supportive." Scully took his hand on hers. His eyes filled with gratitude.

"What I need is you to be my anchor, my rock, my touchstone. I will be able to deal with it better that way, in case..." She choked up the words. He inhaled deeply, nodding. If she was successful these months will be behind them as soon as the baby will be born. Then they could have hope to spare for a long time.

"...You are going to be a fantastic mother," he said his eyes bright and open. Scully felt her heart leaping.

"Thank you, I hope you are right."

"When I had been wrong?" Scully side eyed him.

"Hey! I don't just trust my seed to just any of the million of women that keep asking." They both laughed.

"I appreciate your words but I'm not sure if I deserve them just yet..."There was a part of Scully that felt she was not ready, or worthy but she didn't have the choice to wait anymore. It was now or never.

"Of course you do." He paused "Not only because of who you are which already give this kid an enviable head start in life, but also Mrs. Scully...Maggie the best mom I had ever met and by the way you talk about your dad is obvious he was a great man." This was even more surprising, Mulder didn't spend that much time with her family. He continued.

"And Melissa in the brief time I knew her I could tell she was the most loving, wise sister." She smiled at the thought of Melissa, a bittersweet smile. She was not here to see this. She would have been so happy for her, for both.

"...And as much as your brother Bill hates my guts he does it because he is looking out for you. I would probably do the same on his position..." Agent Mulder remembered her sister and how he wished he could had been a big brother to her during all of her life. Maybe they will still have some time left for that when he finds her. He suppressed the thoughts for the moment, this was Scully's time and she needed all his attention.

"Mulder, thank you for the Rockwellian vision. But I can assure you we have problems, beyond whatever my work has brought in. My baby brother Charles had been absent a lot lately. Ever since dad died he has kept his distance."

"I know, I know. But like you said before those are problems normal decent people have." He sighted "My dad was part of the conspiracy that abducted my sister and my mother did nothing to stop him from taking her own daughter...Can you imagine Maggie letting anyone take any of her kids? I pity the soul that tries." She couldn't say anything to that. Mulder tried not to think too much on that. He avoided anything that reminded him of the family he got stuck with.

"So I should thank you for giving the last Mulder a chance to be part of a normal family." His eyes were turning red. It was harder than he wanted to admit. Maybe that is why he accepted long ago he will never had children. With parents like his it would be a miracle if he wouldn't screw his kid even more than how they screwed him.

"Mulder...don't..."

"Am I lying?" He interrupted. His eyes were dark and serious. She paused trying to measure her words.

"Regardless of your family actions. You are a good man." He shook his head.Scully took his hand.

"No, no, you are. And you had always being there for me when I needed you. Like you are now. A great friend, a great man and a great agent. There are a lot of good things this kid will have from you too." Suddenly Mulder remembered that hall years ago when he first noticed how much Scully meant to him. He suppressed the cascade of feelings that came during that time. He knew he shouldn't feel that way and he knew Scully didn't saw him that way. He pulled every thought back and she didn't even noticed it. Practice make perfect.

"And really, I'm sure the kid will need someone who show him bad movies and how to stab the ceilings with pencils. God knows that won't be me." He snorted, release showering his face.

Scully hope that Mulder choose be part of the child's life in some capacity. She even thought on naming him William if it was a boy in honor to his father. She could tell everyone that he was named after her own father, so they won't suspect.

But she didn't want to talk about these things with him just yet. She needed to have something tangible for him, for both of them to hold onto. For both of them to love.

"I have to go now. In any case just think that you are going to be part of the family now too....Much to Bill's chagrin." That surely seemed to cheer him up. At some point maybe when she was not working on The X-Files anymore she was planning of telling. Her brother won't be happy at the beginning but she was sure he will put the family first as he always did and embrace him. Especially if he had to thank him for a new addition. He knew first hand how hard was to have a child and if Mulder helped he wouldn't be able to hate him...much.

Scully left Mulder waiting for her in the couch. In a few hours we will see how things were going to change for us.