2 and a half months later
(5 months - babytime)

June was beautiful this year. The sun shined through the windows and the cold
D.C. had seen only a couple of months back seemed like a distant memory. The weather seemed to suit my mood. Sunny, yet still held a couple of small clouds on the horizon.

It had been exactly two and half months since Mulder discovered I was pregnant.
What’s happened since? Tons. No, we didn’t run out to Vegas to get married. Nor did
we declare our love for each other in a passionate, splendid way. That only happens on
soap operas. We knew we loved each other, we didn’t even have to say it. We were
going to have a baby, so we took a step. We moved in together. In fact Mulder didn’t tell me he loved me until he was moving boxes into my apartment.

"Scully," he had said, placing a box of books on my kitchen table.

I looked up from my crossword puzzle. "Yes?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Mulder." Then I went back to my crossword puzzle. It was as
simple as that. No, I don’t have a ring around my finger. Yes, this baby is going to born
into wedlock. And yes, my mom is ok with that, for now. I can picture her planning my
wedding sometime in the future, however. What mother doesn’t want to do that for their
daughter?

And are Mulder and I sleeping together? Well, if you mean we’re getting it on
every single night then you’re probably seen too many of Mulder’s porn films. But, yes,
we love each, we’re having a baby, and we do sleep together occasionally. Who knew all it would take for Mulder and I to form a "relationship" was a one night stand and a baby on the way? Maybe we could sell our story to the soaps one day.

Oh, and yes my brother Bill knows as well. I didn’t really intend to tell him. I had
been beginning to show, though, and he noticed I gained weight when he came to visit.
And, as some people may think, he did not go out and murder Mulder on the spot. He
may be Navy, but he’s not that rash. Sure, he spoke a few choice words, and told me that I could do better. But I know he’ll come around. He only looks out for me, even though I can look out for me on my own. Guess I’m always be his little sister in the same way I’ll always be my mom’s baby girl. Tara, on the other hand, was very happy for me, and even offered to go baby shopping with me. I have to admit pregnancy is starting to grow on me.

Once Bill knew, he passed it along to Charlie, who passed it along to just about the
whole family. My mom always said: "Tell Charlie Scully a secret and you might as well
tell the world." Before I knew I had distant family members calling with congratulations
and asking when they missed the wedding. They didn’t miss it; it hasn’t occurred yet. I
don’t even know if it will, but for the first time in my life, I’m okay with that. I don’t need
to plan my entire life. I just need to get through the next four months. Then I can go back to being a control freak. I’ve decided hormones are a great worry lifter.

Of course here comes the important thing: I have to tell people at work, mostly
meaning I have to tell Kersh. Something I think Mulder was going to enjoy more than I
would. It wasn’t something I was looking forward to, but something I had to do. I was
wearing baggy and non-flattering clothes to work to hide my slightly bulging stomach.
My morning sickness had just about disappeared, but I was going to need some maternity leave. Maybe I could just call in sick for a couple of months straight.

And maybe pigs will fly tomorrow, Dana.

Yeah, right.

I thought today would be as good a day as any. I had a sonogram appointment at
two that afternoon, something Mulder was strangely very excited about. He’s been
shocking me lately. The one man who I would think would be scared at the prospect of
fatherhood went out yesterday and came back with a truckload of baby toys. Every toy
was neutral, since we didn’t now if the baby was a boy or girl. Though, come to think
about it, Mulder did buy a few pink things. I think he wants a girl. He’s never really told
me a preference, but after yesterday’s credit card bill I think he wants a girl.

Good. Another vote in my favor. Too bad votes alone can’t get you a baby girl.

Mulder got up early this morning, heading off to work saying something a mound
of paperwork Kersh had stuck him with. I figured he was really going to play an early
game of Doom™ with the Gunmen. I got up usually, got ready for work, and intended to see Kersh about my condition at 10:30 sharp. That was my schedule and I’m sticking to it.

And before anyone asks, no I was not going to tell him about the baby’s father
unless he came out and asked. I knew what type of people Kersh knew. It was only
about eight months back when I found that Cigarette Smoking bastard in his office. If he
had to ask who the father was, he was a little denser than I thought.

I stuck to my schedule. Went into work, and at 10:30 went by myself to see AD
Kersh. I sat down in the chair in the office and told him I would need some maternity
leave in about four and a half months. He looked at me, said that I was entitled to the
leave, and gave me congratulations. He didn’t pry into my personal life. I hadn’t walked
into the office with Mulder, so he couldn’t assume we were involved. He couldn’t prove
it. I knew that two coworkers dating was not against FBI regulation, they just didn’t like
the couple to working as closely together as partners. Something about how it would
distract them from their duties in the FBI. Oh wow, it would stop Mulder and I from
doing another background check. Oh, darn, how the FBI would hate that.

I think I’ve been around Mulder’s sarcastic comments too long.

I found him back at his desk, glasses on, looking through a pile of paperwork on
his desk. He looked up as soon as my feet were with his range.

"How did it go?" he asked, taking his glasses off and placing them on the desk.

"Fine. I have maternity leave in about four and a half months. I decided I wanted
a little time before the baby came." Mulder nodded.

"So he didn’t pry?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Mulder, I highly doubt he doesn’t know. I just think he’s
not willing to ask."

Mulder smiled. "I did think he was a turkey, but never a chicken." He checked his
watch. "It’s about eleven. Want to duck out for an early lunch?"

"Mulder, regardless of the fact you may hate it, this is still work."

He glanced at the papers around him. "This isn’t work, Scully. This is
punishment."

I sighed and sat down in my own desk behind him. "Punishment or not, it pays the
bills. Especially the $387 bill on your credit card from Toys-R-Us®."

Mulder just grinned. "A baby has to get a few toys."

"Define a few for me, Mulder."

He let his hands fall down to the desk. "Okay, Scully you win. I work. Besides I
do need to pay off the crib I just ordered."

Crib? I don’t want to know.

"Think of as a break from investigating mutants, Mulder. Somehow I don’t think
this baby will work around your ‘X-Files investigating’ schedule."

Mulder looked up from the paperwork he had just gone back to. "If we ever get
them back," he mumbled before going back to work.

Baby or no baby, some things never change.


Later that day

Mulder had gone back to his paperwork for exactly five minutes when the fire
alarm sounded. The entire building spent the next forty-five minutes standing across the
street as the fire department declared the J. Edgar Hoover Building safe. Thanks to
someone who left their cigarette to close their own paperwork (Mulder has his own
theories about that situation, of course), Mulder had his excuse not to work. Shortly after the fire escapade, he dragged me out to lunch and it was straight to the OB from there.

I had a two o’clock appointment for a sonogram. Since I was five months along,
we would be able to see more, and even determine the sex of the baby.

Personally, even though I wanted a girl, I didn’t want to spoil the surprise of
discovering the sex of the baby before it decided to enter this world. I’ve had this
discussion with Mulder, about whether or not to find out the sex. I think Mulder wants to know, but we agreed either both of us finds out now, or both of us finds out at the birth. Not one now and one at the birth. That could risk one telling the other. So, part of me wanted to know, the other part didn’t. Which would win? I hadn’t decided yet.

I caught Mulder leafing through Parenting™ Magazine in the waiting room. He
continues to surprise me. The same sunflower eating, porn watching, paranoid as all hell man was also a sucker for babies. Who would have figured?

He even took the magazine into the exam room, and kept pointing out things as I
sat on the cold table, bearing the stirrups. Mulder did gulp when he saw those. I have a
feeling he may want to step out of the room during that part of the examination. Oh, well, you can’t exactly blame him for that.

"Did you know that a lot of new names are coming out?" he said, looking up from
the magazine. "Madison. Who wants to name their kid after a sports arena?"

I smile and raise my eyebrows. "Well, your name’s not exactly ‘normal’ either."

He looked back down at the pages. "I am not going to punish any kid by naming
him ‘Fox’."

"It’s not that bad of a name. It’s unique."

Mulder just gives me a look. "Well, I’m not of those people who insists the first
son be named after the father. There are plenty of other names you could pick from."

"Such as?"

He grinned. "Well, we could always name him Melvin."

He ducks to miss the magazine I throw at him.

"So you think it’s going to be a boy?"

He looks at me. "I didn’t say what I thought it was going to be."

"No preference?"

"You’re not going to trick me, Scully," he say with a smile. "I’m not telling."

So much for my definite vote for a girl. Oh, well, he has to crack sometime. My
OB, Rebecca Johnson, comes in soon, and for the first time, sees I have someone with me. However, she doesn’t pry. A lot of people haven’t been prying, and while it’s a comfort, I find it a little strange. Like there’s something I’m not seeing.

Paranoid, Dana, not everyone is interested in your personal life.

Five years in the basement sure gave me a new look on the world.

She goes through the normal exam first, with Mulder casually lifting his magazine
up to cover his face. He made a comment about how the price difference in diapers was
very interesting, when I knew he was just trying to stall until that part of the exam was
over.

Finally we got down to the one part I knew Mulder had been looking forward to:
the sonogram. As soon as something began to show up on the scene, he eyes perked up and he followed it as if it were the truth he had been searching for his whole life.

"So what is it?" he asked.

"Don’t you want it to be a surprise?"

He looked at me for the answer. We had both had enough surprises in our life,
enough twists and turns, it might be nice to know what we were expecting for once. So
that we could prepare, so that we were at our best.

But then again, we’re not talking about aliens taking over the earth (I still doubt
that would happen) we’re talking about the sex of the baby, here.

I shook my head. Some surprises were nice. He nodded in agreement.

"Besides, I have a bet with Frohike going."

I don’t want to know what the winner of that bet gets. Though the Gunmen have
been sweet, sending me a gift certificate to a maternity store. Frohike had added to the
bottom of the card, "Though you would look good where ever you shop." I dropped the
card back to the kitchen table when I read that, but I decided it was a sweet gesture. And I _did_ need maternity clothes.

So about a half hour later, Mulder and I were walking out of the doctor’s office,
Mulder muttering something about buying a frame so we could show the sonogram to the baby when it got older.

And sure enough he did buy one, adorned with flying saucers.

Years from now, I’ll laugh at it, and maybe the baby will to.

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