========== The Emilys Surprise ========== "For nothing is impossible through God." -- Luke 1:37 ========== Scully watched the line inch forward at McDonalds' drive-thru, hating the city crowds and prices that the fast food attracted. But today she took Libby to McDonalds, sort of like treating her for all the times she had been gone. She'd been gone a lot. Working nine at night to five in the morning was agony on her system, and on her family. She got home, slept for another two hours until Mulder got Libby up, said good-bye to them all, then fell back into bed until about four in the afternoon. Most times five. Today she took Libby to McDonalds for supper, then she'd have to get ready for work. Creeping forward to the order window, Scully rattled off the various meals her family wanted, making sure the woman got it right before accepting the total price. McDonalds was making a fortune. ========== "So, did you get the apple pies?" Scully dropped the bags onto the table and sighed. "Forgot." "S'okay." Mulder replied and moved to grab his dinner. "Just glad I got food." It was a joke, but it hurt. She just didn't have the energy to make dinner with the hours she worked. And Mulder tried, but he was no chef. They moved into the living room, spreading the wrappers on the floor as placemats and using the television stand as a coaster. The TV flicked on and Mulder began flipping through the channels, stopping for mere seconds at each until they got to Libby's favorite show on Nickelodeon, Kablam. It was fairly amusing and they didn't mind watching it all together, so they sat down to enjoy the antics of the cynical SuperHeroes and everyone else. Mulder finished his two cheeseburgers and got up to throw the paper away, grabbing everyone else's trash as he went. Scully leaned back into the futon and closed her eyes, surprised to feel even more tired than usual. Mulder came back in the room and reclaimed his spot, then slid closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. Sighing, she let her head fall into his lap and close her eyes. ========== A noise startled her and she woke suddenly. Mulder was still holding her and she found he was saying her name. "You've got to get ready for work in a few minutes." "What time is it?" "Eight." She nodded and yawned loudly, glancing around at the darkened apartment. "Where's Libby?" "In her room, playing with GI Joes." Scully laughed and shook her head. "What's she really playing with?" "What else? Madeline." Scully pulled herself up from his arms and kissed his cheek. "Libby's not at all a tomboy. Quit trying to make her one." "Weren't you a tomboy?" She wrinkled her nose. "Yes, but I had two brothers and a sister that never had any interest in girly things." "Aw, poor baby. What a sad story." She poked his side and stood up. "Help me change?" "You only have a few minutes ..." he warned, raising his eyes suggestively. "That's all we need." ========== When she crawled into bed that morning, her stomach was fluttering anxiously and she wanted to simply fall asleep next to the toilet, she felt so bad. Mulder moved and opened an eye. "You okay?" he whispered, pulling her into his arms. She shivered. "I think I'm getting sick." He nodded and kissed her hot forehead with his cool lips, then ran his fingers down her arms. She sighed and closed her eyes, letting her body respond to his touch. He chuckled and brought his lips to hers. "You still awake?" "Yes." "Sleepy at all?" She smiled in the dark. "Nope." "Me neither. Are you all that sick?" She wound her fingers through his. "Not that much." In the darkness, with the early morning birds just starting to sing, Mulder reached for her, drawing her body up into him. ========== Libby bounded into the living room, holding up her artwork and running to the fridge in a blur. A crash sounded and everything stopped dead. Scully looked up from the dishes she was washing and glanced to Libby. The little girl was open mouthed. "Sorry!" A broken glass and vase laid in the floor, in shambles of glittering pieces. Scully sighed and dried her hands off. "Baby, I told you not to run when you got in after school, didn't I?" "Sorry ..." "Didn't I?" "Yes," she whispered, looking to the ground. "So why were you running?" "I ... I wanted to show you this." Libby made a move to step closer. "NO!" Libby began to cry and Scully gingerly stepped over the broken glass and picked her up. "Sorry, Libby. You have on bare feet. I didn't want you to cut yourself. Show me your picture now, okay?" Libby nodded and wiped at her eyes, holding up her finger painting. Scully saw the paint and felt the blood drain from her body. "What is this?" she said softly, fingering the paper. "I saw him today." Scully swallowed her rising panic and set Libby down in the floor, holding the picture carefully. "Where did you see him?" "I saw him all day. He walked home with me. Well not with me, just on the other side of the street. He waved." Libby bounded off to her room and left Scully standing there, the little girl's rendition of a man in a suit, with angel wings on his back and a smile on his face painted onto plain white paper. Scully felt sick and she ran to the bathroom, vomiting her lunch. Leaning against the sink, she washed her mouth out and remembered the broken glass. ========== The tiny shards were the hardest to get up, and only after sweeping three times did she think she had gotten it all. She walked back over to the dishes, and heard a crunch as she stepped on a piece she missed. Sighing, Scully dropped to her knees and searched the floor. Not thinking, she scooped up the glass in her hand, and dumped it in the trash. Her mind sort of closed down when she saw the blood, like she wasn't a doctor and didn't see it all the time. It was only a little cut, but it gushed blood like Old Faithful until her mind kicked back in and she clamped her hand over her thumb and finger. It was then she felt the glass. It was still in her thumb. She turned to the sink and ran water over the wound, cleaning off the blood so she could see the cut. She pushed on the open slit and dug around in her skin to get the piece of glass. Libby came into the kitchen and peered over the side of the sink. "Mommy!" "It's okay, Libby." "You're bleeding." "Yeah, baby, I cut myself on some of the glass." Her face teared up again and Scully wondered why her child had to be cursed with Mulder's sense of guilt and responsibility, warped as it was. "I'm sorry, Mommy. I shouldn't have run. I --" "Libby this is not your fault. This was Mommy's fault. I was sleepy and I was being stupid. Mommy did this to herself." Libby still cried, pushing the tears out of the way though and reaching out to her mother's bleeding fingers. "Should we put a Band-Aid on it?" "In a little bit. I have to get the glass out first." Her face looked awed. "There's glass in your finger?" "Unh-huh." Scully nodded and showed her the little sliver. Libby reached over and touched it carefully. She giggled. "That's cool." Scully rolled her eyes. "I'm glad you think so." "Can I watch you take it out?" "If you really want to." Scully bent over her fingers and began working at the glass, intensely concentrating on working it out, Libby peering at her blood anxiously. Mulder slipped inside the apartment and noticed it was too quiet. He went around to the kitchen and found his girls standing over the sink, working intently at something. "So, what's the secret?" Scully jerked and Libby ran to her father. "Mommy has glass in her fingers!" Mulder frowned and picked Libby up, walking over to where Scully stood by the sink. He took her finger in his hand and turned it over, peering intently at it. A grin flashed across his face. "Can I watch too?" Scully rolled her eyes at him and nodded, then went back to her work, using a sewing needle she had sterilized in peroxide to peel back the skin. After another fifteen minutes, both pieces were out. "Okay, show's over, go on back to your drawing, Libby." Libby wriggled down from Mulder's arms and darted off at full speed to her room. Scully stared at her until the girl seemed to sense her mother's eyes. Then she paused and tiptoed the rest of the way, not pausing to look back. Mulder smiled."What was that about?" "She was running in here and knocked over a vase and a glass and I picked up the broken pieces and got a cut." "Ah." He looked carefully at her again. "So what else is going on?" She sighed and picked up Libby's drawing. Mulder took in the drawing and then shook his head, sitting down on the countertop. "He's back. The pin striped suit man. Your angel." She turned her head and popped the leftover soap suds, idly starting to wash the dishes again. "I don't think we need to do anything yet," she said. He reached over and grabbed the towel to dry off the plate she handed him, then threw it back and grabbed a clean one. She glanced at him. "Had blood on it." She shook her head. "I didn't use that towel." "You must have." She remained silent and finished the dishes, then grabbed the towel he had discarded and looked it over. A bright red stain was in the very center. She frowned. She could have sworn she hadn't used the towel. In fact, she remembered thinking about specifically not using it. His words interrupted her thinking. "I think you're right. We just won't do anything. If something happens, we'll deal with it then." He leaned forward and kissed her lips. She relaxed against him and then brightened. "Oh yeah. Good news." He pulled back and put away the last dish. "What." "I don't have to work the graveyard anymore. I get regular shift now." "What happened?" "Dr. Pratt volunteered to take over. It turns out his baby daughter is allergic to sunlight. Isn't that so random? He figured since his whole life will be spent in the night, he might as well find a job that fits that. I was more than willing to give it up." He grinned. "If that's not a miracle for us, I don't know what is." Her own smile faltered and he shook his head. "Come on, don't worry about it." She shook her head. "No, that's not it. I feel sick." He watched as she ran to bathroom, covering her mouth and looking white. Taking his time to let her regain some dignity, he walked into their bedroom and then into the bathroom. "You okay?" She let out a shaky breath. "No." He knelt down next to her. "Maybe we should take you to the hospital?" She shook her head. "It's that flu I got before, remember? It's the same symptoms. I'll be okay." He twitched and pulled her back into his arms, taking the washcloth from her hand and wiping her face with it softly. "What if it's not? People have died from having pnemonia and letting it go unchecked." "That's a bit extreme." "What if you gave it to Libby?" he said suddenly. She paused. Remembered Emily. Sickness and the way her fever licked fire into every skin cell. "I think maybe you're right. I'll go." "Tonight. Right now." She tried to think of a reason to protest, but couldn't. ========== "Libby's asleep." Scully nodded and looked dully out the window of the semi-private emergency room. "She didn't like going to Ms. Shawl's in the middle of the afternoon too well, did she?" Mulder sighed. "What else could we do? An emergency room is no place for her. I wish she hadn't been here after the wreck. I tried to keep her away from everyone and I guess she hasn't gotten sick yet." "I really didn't even think about it." Scully whispered. "I never even thought that what happened with Emily ... could happen to Libby." "I think we have to treat her health like it's fragile." "Not like that really. Just be careful." He nodded and glanced out of the room to the main emergency waiting room and the countless people still waiting. "How long have we been here?" Mulder groaned. "Long enough. I think three hours. It's nine o'clock, right?" He nodded and sat back in the chair. Suddenly the doctor came in, a rushed harried look on his face. "Hi there, Ms. Williams. I see you've been admitted here before." Scully frowned. "No, I don't -- Oh yeah. The accident." "Right. Do you think this is related to the pain you've had?" Scully shook her head, hesitantly. "I didn't think of that. I mean, my stomach aches, but it makes me throw up. There's no blood." The man nodded. "Well, we're going to do a ultrasound just in case. Make sure nothing inside is bleeding out. We've also taken culture samples and we should be able to determine if you have an infection." He shook both their hands and scampered out again. Mulder was staring at her. "An ultrasound?" She tilted her head. "Yes." "Isn't that ... isn't that what they do for pregnant women?" Scully bit down on her lip. "Yes. But also it's routinely used to make sure there aren't any bleeding problems, like he said." Mulder nodded and sat back in the chair, but kept his eyes on her, a strange sort of look on his face. The tech came in then, hooked up the machine and prepared everything. It felt very strange to her, to have such a thing being done when, like Mulder pointed out, it was used for pregnant women. The tech made a noise, stopped the tape and ejected it, then wheeled the ultrasound equipment to the corner, hurrying out. Scully raised her eyebrow and felt a kind of panic start in her. Mulder came to sit next to her, reminding her that she needed to stay calm. His warmth made her relax a bit and she sank back into the bed, letting his hand run over her forehead and his fingers trace tracks down her cheeks. The doctor came back in with a funny look. "Well, we don't need to worry about bleeding out, Ms. Williams. It looks like you're going to have a baby." There were no more words. She stared at the man. Mulder shifted next to her, glanced down at her with a small look, then back at the doctor. "We ... we were told that wasn't possible." The doctor shrugged. "Let me tell you something I heard once. It's a verse I had quoted at me one time when I said the same thing. For, with God, nothing is impossible." The man turned then paused at the door. "I'll send someone in to set up everything, let you get a good picture." Scully sat there, stunned. Mulder turned to her, a cocky smile on his face, placed his lips to her ear. "It'd better be a boy." ==========END========== (P.S. It's safe to assume the baby was a boy. )