Chapter Text
They were both overwhelmed with emotion. This wasn't how Scully wanted to tell Mulder about the baby. She never got to tell him properly 18 years ago, so she had wanted it to be perfect this time. He was so heartbroken when she all but told him William wasn't his. How could she not tell him then? Part of her felt awful she was having another child after everything that happened. Could they keep the baby safe? Would she fail her like she failed William? As much as she was afraid something would go wrong, she already loved the tiny being growing inside of her. The thought of losing her was terrifying.
As they stood out in the freezing cold of the dock harbor, Mulder cried with Scully. They heard nothing but the sound of the gusty wind as it blew against them and the sound of angry waves crashing against the pier. They cried for the loss of their son and the newly announced impossibility. It was bittersweet really, they were overwhelmed with both grief, shock, and happiness at the same time. When she placed his hand on her abdomen, the bump was unmistakable. He was really going to be a father. He had so many questions and wasn’t sure where to start.
“How long have you known?” he finally whispered in her ear.
“Only a few days, I was going to tell you when I came over, but—“her voice broke. “I was also afraid, that a child wouldn’t be something you wanted at this point in your life.”
“I do want it,” he said quickly. “Nothing has ever been practical for us, Scully, but I want to be there, for all of it.”
Mulder placed his hand back on Scully's abdomen to make sure this wasn't all a dream. If you didn't know what to look for, it wasn't noticeable. But now that he knew, he wondered how he hadn’t noticed her changing body.
Scully was overwhelmed and pregnancy hormones weren't helping anything. Instead of dealing with menopause like other women her age, she was pregnant. She couldn't bring herself to tell Mulder that William wasn't his. To voice the words. William was still her biological child, but she wanted to soften the blow by telling Mulder they weren't meant to be his parents, to share in his pain and anguish. ‘He was just an experiment, never meant to be’, the words had come out all wrong and Mulder's resolve was breaking. So she had told him she was pregnant, hoping it would be enough to give themselves something to hope for.
The pregnancy was still surreal to Scully, despite having blood tests confirmed by the doctor. She had stared at the hCG levels for the longest time. High levels of hCG weren’t just an indicator of pregnancy. It was something she had been afraid of when the three positive pregnancy tests she bought at the drug store stared back at her. Cancer. It had been terrifying at first, but it wouldn’t have explained the weight gain. Then she had received the vision from William shortly before she got the call from her doctor to confirm the results. The one with her baby's ultrasound and herself giving birth. It was an awful time to tell Mulder, but she couldn't hold it back after hearing what he said. She had to admit that she had been wanting to share that moment with Mulder ever since he ran out that door. She was relieved. Scully feared his reaction, but she had so badly wanted to share that moment with him. Once she had the vision of Mulder getting shot, she was terrified that she would lose him before she got to tell him about the baby.
Still in his arms, she had stopped crying. The flashlight she was holding dropped to the ground with a clatter, startling them both. Mulder gently pulled back and cupped Scully's chin while he looked her over. They both hadn't slept in well over twenty-four hours. "We should go...you need to rest," he insisted.
Scully opened her mouth to protest and then looked back up at him in startling realization. The gunshots. She had forgotten all about it when William had stopped her. "Skinner," she said.
"Skinner is with you?" Mulder was relieved she didn’t come alone. She had a tendency to go into dangerous situations without back up.
Scully nodded. She had a bad feeling. Skinner should have caught up to them by now.
Mulder nodded. "Okay, let's go."
---
Jackson swam to the bottom of the pier. He could hear his birth mother crying in Mulder's arms. One thing was clear. Mulder believed he was his birth father this whole time and he wanted so badly for that to be true. The undying love he saw in the man's eyes was the same love he recognized in his mother. She was going to help her friend outside, but he had to stop her or she would have gotten seriously injured as well. It was his chance to escape, but he needed to make sure both she and the baby she was carrying were safe. Few things remained in this world that he cared about. His birth mother, the man who thought he was his father, Mulder, and the little brother or sister he felt an uncanny attachment to.
He saw the baby in their shared visions that he shared with her. He suspected that she didn't know about it until the past few days, because she had just told Mulder about it. It was one of the reasons she was crying again. He had seen her in his visions from time to time for as long as he could remember. As he tapped into his powers, he began to feel and see her sadness. He wasn’t quite prepared for her revelation in the morgue, however. He could feel the overwhelming guilt she had for giving him away and wanting to see him again. It was difficult for him to wrap his head around. He knew she loved him and hoped the baby would make her smile again. From what he knew of her in his visions alone, she had longed to be a mother and never expected to have the chance again.
Jackson sighed. He the smoking bastard in the water, but just as soon after, the body was gone.
--
When Mulder and Scully made it back to the alley, they had found Monica Reyes and Walter Skinner. Both were critically injured and needed immediate medical assistance. Scully felt responsible. She was the one who asked for Skinner's help and she didn't go to help him when she heard the gunshots. Later, she cried into Mulder's chest as both of their friends were loaded onto stretchers and into ambulances. "He was helping me, Mulder," her voice broke. "Helping us. I brought him into this, it's all my fault." Mulder wrapped his arms around her protectively.
This amazing woman was giving him a child at such a high risk. He never imagined he could love her any more than he did right then and he would give up everything to protect them both. Mulder felt bad that he had doubted Skinner and it terrified him that it could have been Scully under that car.
"It's not your fault, Scully. None of it is," he soothed. He pulled back slightly and Scully moved to wipe the tears from her face as he placed his hand back on her abdomen to feel the small rounded swell. It was impossible, but the impossible had happened.