SUMMARY: Maggie Scully does her best to
keep Dana's hopes and spirit up, but will
it beenough?

DISCLAIMER: See part 1.

You can visit my website for all my X-Files
fan fiction at:
www.angelfire.com/scifi/spookyjr

Missing parts of this series? You can find
the whole thing (eventually) right here:
www.angelfire.com/scifi/spookyjr/ByGGG.html

FEEDBACK: Is deeply cherished and
ALWAYS replied to! cuteandcudly@yahoo.com

SPECIAL THANKS: Extremely HUGE thanks
to Ten for beta reading and editing for me.
Also thanks to Melinda, Charles and Kat for
helping me out with this.

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"Close my eyes when I go to bed
And I dream of angels who make me smile
I feel better when I hear them say
Everything will be wonderful someday"

-- "Wonderful" - Everclear
****************************************

By God's Good Grace (2/4)
by Spooky Jr.

SATURDAY 6:20 P.M.

The tears came freely now, cascading down her cheeks, leaving a damp trail in their wake. Memories came flooding back to her like a flowing waterfall. In her hands she clutched a small four-by-six inch color photograph.

Ingrained on the photograph was a lasting image of her and Mulder. The last picture ever taken of them together, just one month before he disappeared.

She had kept the picture on her nightstand by her bed, grabbing it almost every time she awakened from a dream of him. Always keeping it near for some semblance of him. Grasping at straws and mental imagery lately was all that seemed within her reach, trying to keep some thin shred of connection to him. She slept with his shirt every night and looked at pictures of him every day. His smile was forever etched onto the Kodak paper that held his intense gaze, smiling sweetly at the camera.

The sun had been out the day the picture was taken. She still remembered like it had happened just hours earlier. She and Mulder had decided to drive to the other side of Virginia, 'to see the sights,' he had claimed. Scully had decided right before they left to take along her camera. 'You never know what you might come across on a joy ride,' she remembered thinking.

They had spent the day enjoying the sights and all around having a good time. They had caught a glimpse of a river and Scully wanted to stop to look at the scenery. They only stayed a little while but not before Mulder mentioned he had wanted a picture of him and her together. They scanned the bank of the river and found a couple of middle aged men having a few beers and enjoying a day of fishing. Mulder had requested if one could snap a quick shot of he and Scully together.

Scully smiled at the memory. They were so happy that day, their worries had been thrown out the window for those few, precious hours. The world had halted on its axis, time stopped and for that short span it was almost as if they were the only inhabitants of the earth. They were oblivious to all else, content with just being near each other.

Scully looked up from the picture, another lone tear gliding smoothly down her already dampened cheek.

She had to wonder sometimes if God made deals. Her dream of one day becoming a mother had turned into reality only at the expense of having Mulder taken from her.

Scully leaned back onto her couch, draping one arm lazily over her face. Closing her eyes, she wondered if sleep would claim her that evening.

She lay there, unmoving, drifting in and out of a light doze. Outside, day turned into night. The sun was almost fully set in the west. Stars, one by one, idled and twinkled in the night sky.

She drifted on the edge of sleep, never once finding a comfortable resting position. With an exasperated sigh Scully stood up, slowly retreating to her bedroom.

She climbed into her bed and soon slipped to sleep, no longer drifting on the outer edges. Her features became relaxed and for a short time all her worries in the world faded away.

Tonight he would come and for a fleeting moment they would be together again. He was always there, waiting for her in her dreams.

The scenario was always different, yet the same. He would always return, the circumstances changing each and every time he did.

A sheet of white covered her vision, still and unmoving. A small sound of rapping upon wood broke the haze and she watched as the sheet dissipated into a small cloud of mist.

Another rapping noise snapped her to attention. Working almost on autopilot she hoisted herself up and moved towards to the location of the noise. The door. Someone was knocking at her door.

Slowly she reached out for the handle. With a deep sigh she twisted it and watched as the door slowly and fluidly glided open. Once it was fully open she looked up, her mouth gaping at the sight that stood before her.

Mulder. "I missed you so much," he said, his voice carrying a slight husky tone. It was almost a whisper, barely audible.

"Oh God, Mulder." With hot tears streaming down her face, Scully lunged forward, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. She held onto him like a lifeline, thinking in the back of her mind that if she held him tightly enough he would stay. That he would not just disappear into the night air and become a figment of her imagination.

But he did.

**********************

Scully sat straight up in bed, beads of sweat lining her brow. Her heart was hammering in her chest, threatening to explode under the echo of her thundering pulse.

A dream. It was only a dream, yet it seemed so real. She could almost feel his arms around her, his hot, tingling breath on the back of her neck, sending chills coursing down her spine.

She rolled over, untangling herself from the mound of blankets that had managed, somehow, to get wrapped around her legs through the course of the night.

Scully reached out, her hands fumbling in the darkness. She glided them slowly across the top of the nightstand until her fingers came in contact with her alarm clock. Grabbing it, she turned it around until the glowing, red numbers could be seen clearly.

3:20 am. Sighing, Scully rolled over, allowing herself to slip into the waiting arms of sleep so that her dreams would engulf her again.

DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT 9:15 A.M.

She had just finished the remains of breakfast, finally able to hold it down without morning sickness taking over, when the ringing of her phone caught her attention. Quickly putting the dirty dishes in the sink she hurriedly answered it.

"Dana, it's your little brother."

"Hey Charlie! I'm sorry I haven't called you in a while, things have been hectic around here lately."

"No problem. So how's my big sister doing?"

"Hanging in there. What about you?"

"I'm doing great. Mom tell you that I'll be able to attend the baby shower?"

"Yeah, she told me, I'm so glad! It seems like ages since I've seen you."

"It has been ages! I miss you and I can't wait to see you again. Bill too, I haven't talked to him for some time."

"Yeah, it'll be great to see you both."

In the background Scully could clearly make out a six year old's voice, screaming and shouting loudly. She took the opportunity to change the subject before he could ask her any more about how she was.

"Is that Michael?"

"Yeah, Megan is trying to get him to take his bath. As you can probably tell, he's giving her a hard time."

"Ah, well, that's a six year old for you. Tell Megan and Michael I said hello."

"Sure thing."

Their conversation was abruptly cut short by a knock at the door.

"It's probably Mom. We're supposed to go shopping for the baby this morning."

"Going to buy a baby, Dana?" Charlie chuckled before he grew solemn again. "Well, I just wanted to check up on you, see how you are doing and all, and to make sure Mom told you that I'd be able to make it in."

"I'm glad you called. Why don't I give you a call later on this week?"

"Sounds great, sis, I'll talk to you then."

After exchanging quick goodbyes, Scully hung up the phone and made her way quickly to the door. She looked through the peephole, confirming who she already knew it was.

Opening the door, she greeted her mother with a quick peck on the cheek. "Let me get my purse and I'll be ready to go."

BABY GAP 10:13 A.M.

The store was very crowded in spite of the early morning hour. People, mostly women, half who were noticeably pregnant, lined the aisles. Scully noted with jealousy that most had their proud husbands or partners at their sides. She curiously wondered if the women felt silent accusations towards the absent father of her child, wondering if Mulder was just some deadbeat dad, who disappeared right at the mention of his woman being pregnant. Knock her up and hit the road.

Scully silently fumed, and though she didn't know if that's the way some saw it, she still had to wonder. They didn't know the whole story. They were strangers and Scully tried to block her mind from thinking what their thoughts could be at the sight of her shopping alone.

Scully watched from a distance, as a young pregnant woman browsed the next aisle. By her side was a middle-aged man, whom Scully assumed was the woman's husband. Both were happy, light-hearted smiles evident on their faces.

The woman looked about 7 months pregnant herself, wobbling down one of the main aisles in a very familiar manner. Scully guessed they were having a little boy as she noticed them picking out small blue outfits. Cute little black and white sneakers and tiny bedtime outfits. She watched as the man found a small baseball cap with the inscription, "World's Greatest Son" and a matching - though larger - one for him that read, "World's Greatest Dad".

Scully's eyes sadly slipped from the happy couple and glanced around, trying to spot where her mother had gone.

She located her quite quickly and found Maggie examining some small, white baby dresses. She strolled up to her mother, and eyed the beautiful dresses with much admiration. Some of the dresses on the racks were gorgeous. Scully fingered one with her eyes, one she liked exceptionally more than the others. It stood out, and she noticed quickly that was because it was the most beautiful one there.

It was solid white, and had lace running down one side. Little diamond-shaped beads spanned some parts of the lace, giving the dress a heavenly, sparkling look.

"It's gorgeous, isn't it?" Mrs. Scully spoke up, reaching out to run her hands lightly over the fabric.

"Yes, it is," Scully replied.

"You should get it, honey. It would look gorgeous on the baby."

"I don't know, Mom, it looks awfully expensive."

Mrs. Scully flipped over the price tag attached to the dress.

"It's only $43.50," Mrs. Scully said, chuckling.

"Only?" Scully said, wide-eyed and smiling. With a sigh, her smile faded but a hint of a smirk still lingered on her features. "With my luck, Mom, she'll grow up to be a tomboy. She'll probably flee screaming at the mere sight of a dress."

"That has a seemingly familiar ring to it, Dana."

Scully smiled at her mother and Mrs. Scully's chuckling turned into a fully-fledged, all teeth grin at the sight of her daughter smiling. Scully turned towards her mother, arching her eyebrow and giving a questioning glance at her mother's sudden burst of happiness.

"It's good to see you smile again, Dana. It's been too long since I've seen that."

Scully smiled at her mother without comment and turned her attention back to the rack of clothes.

She hesitated, but ended up saying, "I think I'll get it."

"Great! I think it's beautiful and it'll look gorgeous on my new little granddaughter."

"Yeah, it will."

Placing the dress inside her shopping cart, Scully continued strolling the aisle, passing through more crowds of bubbly pregnant women. Scully was getting accustomed to the tongue-tying term, "bubbly as a balloon." She was also getting accustomed to the underbelly side of being pregnant. 'Frazzled and hormonal', Scully mused, 'not the way I pictured pregnancy. Though as a doctor, I should have known better...'

So far she had already picked out the main accessories weeks ago; baby crib, rocking chair, baby swing and a few sets of clothes. She still needed the smaller things; toys, blankets and of course a few more outfits that just couldn't be passed up.

Stopping off by a mound of beautifully woven blankets, Scully couldn't help but smile at the uniqueness of some of them. They had piles of blankets, stack after stack on a long metal shelf.

They had a vast amount of serene colors. But then a few reminded her of the Crayola colors, Sea green and Blizzard blue. Scully nearly laughed out loud at the irony of some of the names. Sometimes you had to wonder where they ever thought up the names for crayons. Scully always liked the color 'Shocking pink'. She never understood the name, though. It wasn't shocking at all, nothing about the color seemingly was. And yet it was actually quite beautiful when used in a drawing.

With her mind still on the colors and definition of the names, Scully spotted a small blanket that was almost the same color. The blanket itself was actually quite noticeable because out of all the ones there, it was the only one with this particular shade. She picked it up and showed her mother, who agreed without hesitation that it would be perfect for the baby.

The blanket was a beautiful woven pink, soft velvet fabric lining the four sides. Scully ran her hands lightly over the surface of the blanket, the fabric tickling her palms.

"It's a nice color," she commented.

Scully explained to her mother about her musings of the pink Crayola colors and how the blanket actually matched her thoughts.

Mrs. Scully replied, "I always thought they had rather odd names myself."

Scully and her mother giggled, both laughing together in unison.

The hours passed by quickly, both Scully women enjoying this break away from home. It had been all too long since Scully had gotten away. Mulder's disappearance had severely set her down and her mother feared that if it wasn't for the baby, Scully would be deep into depression by now.

Margaret Scully was all too happy at the moment, probably more so than she should to be. But the look of unadulterated joy that was presently plastered across her daughter's face lightened her heart. Something fluttered inside her chest at that moment. In its wake came a peaceful feeling, light like the fluttering of a butterfly's wings. The sensation was that of happiness. Happiness that stemmed from her daughter's sense of being able to feel again. To feel like a whole person again, full and complete.

Scully looked down, noticing their shopping cart was already filled halfway to the top. Scully had picked out a few more dresses, as well as bath toys, pacifiers, socks, booties, sippy cups, bottles, some towels, baby rattlers and teething rings. The list went on and Scully quickly noticed that they were beginning to run a bit low on money by her mental tally.

Her mother had mentioned that Scully needed to purchase a baby bathtub and a car seat for her car, but Scully shook her head, saying that she would pick them up later on in the week.

'Yes,' Mrs. Scully noted with a small smile, 'this trip was the best medicine Dana could receive right now.'

Anyone would agree right now as they watched the young redhead, smiling happily as she shopped for her new baby, venturing for the first time into the wonderful world of motherhood. For the first time in a long time, she was almost carefree. Her biggest worry was not of the complications in her present day life, but if the dresses she was currently purchasing were the correct size and if she should've picked up just one more little toy over on aisle six.

**********************

A few strides short of her apartment door, Scully could distinctly make out the shrilling ring of a telephone. Scully silently berated herself as she suddenly noticed the absence of her cell phone, having forgotten to take it - she had left it lying on her wooden dresser.

She quickened her pace, sifting blindly through her purse compartments for the key. Her feet were throbbing, the pain matching that of the one that now resided in her head, pulsating her skull like a jackhammer. The sure bliss beckoned of just getting into her apartment, taking off her shoes and relaxing in a soothing tub of hot water, her vanilla fragrance bath oils and a soft melody of music floating lightly through the air like a gentle breeze.

Another consistent ring broke through her delightful daydream, snapping her quickly back to present reality. Despite the two large shopping bags which were taking up residence in her arms, she found the key without much fuss and searching.

Finally inside, she dropped the bags on her couch and walked to the phone, answering it just before it reached the fifth ring.

To Be Continued...