TITLE: Meant To Be 10/10
AUTHOR: Jen
EMAIL: JenR13@aol.com
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: Mine? As if.

Chapter 10

It's amazing how fast things can get done. It seemed that one minute I was 
worrying a hell of a lot about needing a C-Section far from a hospital then 
the next minute it was happening.

I've never seen anyone more nervous then Mulder.

Well, besides myself that is.

Mark had contacts and that at least put my mind a little bit more at ease. 
In a half an hour there were three more people in the room, and I was 
already prepped. I spent five minutes 'discussing' the choice of anesthetic 
and won my argument with a spinal. I wanted to be aware of what was going on 
- it was my body.

It was still raining, the dark clouds giving their all. I saw Mulder with a 
suspicious eye and had almost forgotten why this birth had become rushed in 
the first place.

Can anything in my life be simple anymore?

Not since the X-Files, that's for sure. Not that I would trade this for a 
job in the medical profession. Mulder had told me to "go be a doctor" once, 
and part of me had wondered what would have happened if that was the path I 
chose to take.

Oh, well, no use wondering about "what ifs."

"Ready for this, Scully?"

I look up to find Mulder dressed in scrub wear and I know there's no turning 
back now. I am going to be a parent in just a few minutes.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

And it begins. I feel as if I'm holding my breath as the doctor makes the 
first incision. I notice Mulder is looking away. Funny he was never 
squeamish during autopsies; then again it was never a living breathing 
person that you knew and loved.

The idea of names was running through my head when felt something being 
lifted out of me. I couldn't help but feel a little empty at that point. I 
had been pregnant for nine months and now it was over.

"It's a girl," I hear Mark say but I'm drawn to the fact that the little 
human, not yet even cleaned off and crying her little head off, was mine. 
All the years I pictured becoming a mother never prepared me for this 
moment. I felt more happy and proud then I ever did. The excitement was 
making me lightheaded.

"Oh my God, Scully, we have a little girl," I heard Mulder murmur. He, too, 
is glued to our child as it there were nothing else in the world that 
mattered.

At that moment, there is nothing else.

I'm speechless, overjoyed, and actually a bit dizzy.

I see my little girl being moved out of my site and vaguely notice someone 
cleaning her and handing her to Mulder, but things seem a bit out of focus.

" . . . a little bleeding . . ."

I hear words around me but there are jumbled and make no sense. Mulder is 
holding our daughter and being ushered away. I think he is . . . don't take 
the baby away.

Things suddenly become dark.


Some time later

The first thing I notice is soft sheets. Like the ones that were on the bed 
Mulder and I had been sleeping in. The next thing I notice is pain. Not bad 
pain, but enough pain that I'd be sore for a while, I figured. My mother had 
a C-Section. With me actually. I remember she said it wasn't a picnic. At 
least I was feeling. I was okay, I figured, even though I could still feel 
an IV running into my left arm and could hear a heart monitor beeping softly 
in the background.

I opened my eyes.

Mulder was sitting in a rocking chair, holding a little bundle, and softly 
singing.

I never thought I'd see that. I stir a bit more and Mulder stops, and 
realizes he's been caught. He blushes and I know, then, that he'll be a 
great father. I wonder why I even thought he'd hate the idea. For day one, 
he's been the most supportive enthusiastic guy a woman could have. Yet, he's 
blushing at being caught in a rocking chair with his daughter, singing.

There are worse things you could be caught doing, Mulder. A couple of tapes 
comes to mind along with a mental note to do a quick inventory when we get 
home. Then again, he had seemed to kick that habit when he and I started 
doing the real thing.

"Scully, she's beautiful." He gets up and I notice the cast on his hand for 
the first time (yikes, guess he did break something) and carries the bundle 
to the bed, sitting down next to me, and pulling aside the blanket.

She's perfect. I've never seen a more perfect child in my life.

I know I'm being partial, but I don't care.

She's my daughter.

Wow.

Mulder is beaming, and I think back to when I woke up. I have no idea how I 
got here; it's big void. Something went wrong, I figured.

"Mulder, what happened?"

He looks up from our daughter. "You just bled a little after delivery. The 
doctor says you'll be fine, but that you have to take it easy for a while. 
He also recommends that we let nature take its course for the next one 
though."

Next one? Did I just hear that?

"You want more kids, Mulder?"

"Of course I do. A whole set of kids. Why? Are you surprised?"

"A little," I admit. One baby was one thing, but many others were another. 
Then again, why am I surprised. Mulder has shocked me over the years. Many 
times. I should be used to it.

He sighs and hands me the baby. I breath in her scent and get my first look 
at her. She has a full head of brown hair, like her father, but other then 
that, I'm not sure who she resembles.

"She has your nose, Scully." I look up at Mulder. "I wasn't sure about this 
whole idea, at first. I didn't think that I'd be a good enough father."

"Mulder-" I start, but he interrupts me.

"But now, I'm ready to give it a try. As long as you are. I'd be ready to 
give another one or two a try, too."

"Well, let's get past one at a time, Mulder."

"I meant what I said when I asked you to marry me, Scully. I mean, we've 
done the 'kid thing.' Marriage should be a piece of cake. Hell, you even win 
with the name. We can call her Anne."

I look from my daughter to Mulder.

"No, you win, Mulder. Beth has grown on me. Elizabeth Anne. And marriage
will make my mother very happy. Me, too." Mulder smiles. I swear he knew in 
advance I'd cave in. "But I name the next one. No questions asked."

"As long as it's not Fox, we have a deal."

I run my hand over my baby's tiny toes. Suddenly, my eyes catch something.

"Mulder."

"What?" His eyes are draw to my hand.

"What's that look like to you?" I point to a mark on the bottom of her foot. 
It's looks like a puncture of some kind, and I'm panicking. I subconsciously 
reach up to the back of my neck.

Mulder just shakes his head. "It's nothing, Scully. At least, not what you 
think. I had Mark draw blood, just so we could run a check on her. Make sure 
everything's okay."

I relax. I should have known that. Geez, Dana, you're only a doctor. "Then 
it's over?" My voice is unsure and sounds much like a child asking that 
question to her mother right after the doctor's given her a shot.

"I wouldn't say that. Nothing seems to be over for us."

I look back down at Beth, and see her blue eyes looking at me. I think about 
calling my mother. I think about getting her baptized (there's my Catholic 
upbringing). I think about the joy I'll see in my mother's eyes when I tell 
her I'm getting married. I think about Beth's first day of school, of what 
kind of person she is going to be. Of what kind of life she's going to lead.

I only want the best for her. I suddenly wish everything would settle. 
Mulder and I may not have the X-Files, but we still have every bit of 
conspiracy surrounding us. He's looking for the truth.

I didn't know what I was looking for.

But somehow I think I've found it in Beth's eyes.

"The End"
For now.

I started this story over a year ago. It was a hard story for me to 
complete. I was slightly turned off the X-Files for a short time this year 
and suffered bouts of writer's block, but after watching "Requiem" I felt 
inspired to complete it. As so I have. However, this may just be the 
beginning. I am considering turning this story into the beginning of a 
series of stories that spawn off into an Alternate Universe after the 6th 
season episode, "The Ghosts That Stole Christmas." The next will probably be 
told from Mulder's point of view and involve Scully, Mulder, and baby in a 
life together as a family and something that will always remain, Mulder's 
quest for the truth. I'd love to hear from readers about that idea.

Thank you everyone who has helped on the long journey to complete this 
story.
Feedback is appreciated at JenR13@aol.com