Rating: PG
Classification: V
Keywords: UST
Spoilers: Per Manum
Disclaimer: Still don't own them and I always put them away dry after playing with them.
Feedback to: xf_emily_sim@yahoo.ca
Beta Kudos: to xdks, Tali, Siggy, and bellefleur - who always encourage, support, and keep me from embarrassing myself. Any left over mistakes are mine. Thanks bellefleur - for taking the first step in this collaboration.
***************
"Would you sit down, you're making me crazy."
"Sorry." Mulder stopped his pacing and took the seat next to her. The waiting room was filled with women -- pregnant women of all shapes and sizes. It was a little unnerving.
"How much longer, Scully?"
She glanced at her watch. "Soon. I hope. I'm going to need a bathroom again if they don't hurry." She laid her hand on his leg to stop the tapping.
************
"Dana Scully? You can come in now."
When Mulder stood to accompany her she halted his progress with a hand to his chest. "Not you."
"Hey, I thought we were going to be sharing this experience."
"They can call you after I'm changed."
"It's not like I've never--"
"Mulder!" She hissed his name and at his puzzled look indicated the rest of the office. He grinned sheepishly and sat back down. There were sympathetic glances from the men and at least one of the women. He felt a little like a fish out of water. He picked up the first magazine he found and hid behind it. He was deeply into an article concerning pregnancy and Omega 3 when he was summoned into the exam room.
"Hey, Scully, did you know -- oh God." It was the first time he'd seen her pregnant belly -- her naked pregnant belly -- all of it. He was used to seeing a small bulge, but with her propensity for trying to keep it hidden, he'd never been able to gauge how big she actually was. And she was. Big, that is. Not that he had anything to compare it to.
It took his breath away. He couldn’t help himself. Setting the magazine on the chair he ran his hands over the taut skin. It was smooth, soft, and -- what the hell? Rolling? He laughed as the babies caused a ripple effect that could be seen as well as felt.
He was in awe.
He was in love.
"Scully, they're moving."
"Yeah, they've been active this morning." She attempted to pull the sheet up a bit and he could see the blush spread along her neck. He knew she felt exposed, lying with her feet still in the stirrups. The nurse had admitted Mulder before she had a chance to rearrange herself and Scully hated to be less than composed. He focused his attention completely on the antics of the twins while she adjusted her gown, hoping it would help relax her.
The door opened admitting a technician. "Here we go."
She seemed to notice Mulder at the same time. "Dad, I presume?"
Mulder reluctantly removed his hands from his partner's stomach. "Yeah, Fox Mulder, Scu -- Dana's partner."
"Well, Fox, I'm Susan Jamison and I'll be doing the sonogram today. I'm going to get this set up and then we'll be all ready to go. Do you have any questions before we start?" She squeezed the gel onto Scully's abdomen. "It's a little on the cold side, sorry."
"Do you know who'll be reading the results?" Mulder could hear the anxiety in her voice.
"I can check that for you. Just give me a sec." Susan quickly wiped her hands off and left the room.
"What is that stuff?" Mulder dipped his fingers into it.
"Mulder, don't." She couldn’t reach to slap his hands away. "It's just a gel. It eliminates air between the probe and my skin."
"A probe? Oooo, is that like an alien probe, Agent Scully?"
"Behave or I won't invite you next time. And do you always have to stick your fingers in everything?"
The door opened and the sonographer entered, ending any further comments Mulder might have had.
"Doctor Marks will be looking over your results this morning, is that okay?" She set a clipboard on the counter.
"That's fine. He did the last one."
"We try to have the same doctor look over the results, especially with multiples. Familiarity with the file helps in case something comes up that needs attention. You should be a little more comfortable this time; not having to drink all that water."
Scully chuckled. "I think that was the worst part."
"That can't be any worse than you needing to have a bathroom within--"
"Shut up, Mulder."
"Dad, if you could move over just a little to your left there -- that's good. You'll both be able to see. The same drill as last time, okay Dana? Just relax and after I'm done I'll ask you to wait for a few minutes just in case we need another picture. Any more questions?"
"No, we're good." Scully answered for both of them.
Susan dimmed the lights and slipped the plastic cover onto the probe and began to run it slowly across Scully's abdomen. A grainy image could be seen on the small screen. She reached across and flipped a switch and the room was filled with the watery sounds of the babies' heartbeats.
Mulder was mesmerized. It suddenly seemed so real. Up until this point Scully's pregnancy was something she was handling. He managed every once in a while to weasel his way in, but he mostly felt like his involvement didn't include bragging rights. But listening to them now, their heartbeats in sync with one another, filling the small room with their rhythm, he made a silent commitment to himself and to her. He wouldn't be satisfied sitting on the sidelines any longer.
"Dad?"
It took him a moment to realize that Susan had been trying to get his attention. "Sorry. It's just so -- amazing. Hearing them."
"Yes, it is. And if you look here," she pointed to a spot on the screen, "you can see one baby's head and this --" her hand moved lower on the screen, "is a foot."
Mulder moved closer to where she was tracing the outline of one twin. "Is that --"?
"One of the babies is sucking his thumb."
"His?"
"That would be the universal 'his.' The other twin seems to be hiding behind this one. Come on little one. Ah, there we go. Can you see that?" She pointed to another spot. "There's the second baby's hand and --" she moved the probe around "there, another foot." She was silent for a few moments as she observed the twins. "Everything looks good. I'm just going to take some measurements and we'll be done."
"Measurements?" Mulder shoved his hands back in his pockets.
"Yes. Right now I'm measuring the circumference of both the babies' heads, --" she moved the probe around until it was focused on the second baby, "and here's baby number two."
"How do you keep them straight?"
"Practice."
"What are you checking now?"
Scully groaned. "I thought you read the book, Mulder."
"Not this part."
"It's okay, Dana, I'm happy to answer all your questions. I'll be looking at the length of the femur, the heart valves, the spinal area, the amount of amniotic fluid, and we take a reading on the heart rate. Together, all the information will let us know if things are developing normally."
"How is their development?" Mulder detected the note of concern in Scully's voice. He knew she still fretted over having to take the anti-nausea medication.
"Things look really good. Both twins are a good size for their gestational age. I can't see anything that would concern me."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing. The heartbeats are strong and see here?" She ran her finger down a longer white line. "This is one spinal column, and if I can get this little one to cooperate I’ll show you the other. There we go. They both look just fine. I think--" she paused, "we may have fused placentas. Yes, we do. Not uncommon with this kind of conception, perfectly normal. It's placed well out of the way, so no worries there. I almost prefer to see this with multiples, less chance of a cord ending up around one twin’s neck, or getting caught between the babies as they grow."
"Maybe you could get them to sleep a little more."
"I take it that they're an active pair?"
"You have no idea. I don't know how there could be space in there."
"Be thankful for it. In a few weeks things are going to get a little crowded."
Scully groaned and Mulder chuckled. "Yeah, you laugh now G-man, you just wait until I can't go two feet without needing a bathroom."
"You can hardly go a block now without needing one."
“Did you want to know the sex?"
"Yes."
"No."
"No, Scully? Don't we have enough surprises in our life?"
"I'd like to think about it before I decide."
"That's something you can work out later. You'll be back for a few more ultrasounds before delivery." She turned the machine off and gave Scully's abdomen a swipe as she moved the probe away. "Any more questions?"
"Can I have a picture?" Mulder kept his eyes fixed on the screen where the last image was frozen.
"Of course you can. I'll print one off and leave it at the desk for you. Dana, you can get changed now, but just hold off a minute or two before using the restroom."
"Thanks, Susan."
"Yeah, thanks." Mulder echoed.
The door closed behind her and Mulder turned to his partner. "We decide."
"What?"
"The sex. Before _we_ decide."
"Oh. Sorry. I didn't think...."
"Need any help?"
"What?"
He waited half a beat until she caught his leer and he knew she would have thrown something at him if she weren't so worried about moving and exposing more of her body to him, or peeing on the table.
"Go, get out while I change."
"Hey, you might need me."
"I think I can get changed just fine on my own."
"Yes, but I know where the closest bathroom is."
************
"Mulder, you're going the wrong way. Mulder?"
"Babies 'R Us, Scully."
"We're going to be late."
"You want to hit The Baby Room first instead?"
"Work? Skinner? The Anderson report? Any of these ringing bells for you?"
"Or would you rather we tried that new place over by the Georgetown Park Mall? I think it's a Baby's World."
"Right, and we just call Skinner and tell him we decided to -- what? Skip work to shop?"
"Done."
She turned and had a good look at her partner. He had a white knuckled grip on the steering wheel, his eyes were glazed over, and a silly grin seemed to split his face. And he was humming. He was humming ‘Rock a Bye Baby.’ She groaned.
"What did you tell him?"
"Does it matter? It's done. We’re off. We're shopping."
"It matters to me."
"Hungry? We could stop at the Georgetown Deli."
Her stomach chose that moment to grumble. She hadn't been able to eat much before the ultrasound.
"Bonnie and Clyde are hungry."
"Bonnie and Clyde?"
"You'd rather Abbott and Costello? Cheech and Chong? Laurel and Hardy?"
She dropped her head into her hands. "Are you going to be like this for the next three months?"
"Oh Scully, you haven't seen anything yet."
*******
Indeed, Scully had never seen anything quite like it. She didn't have much to compare it to, having never been shopping with her partner before, so she couldn't be entirely sure that this was his normal routine.
She couldn't keep up.
She had already talked him out of buying two complete sets of baby furniture on the pretense that she wasn't sure what color scheme or style she was doing the room in. It was the only thing that had convinced him to put away his Amex card. Ditto for the high chairs, playpens, and 'saucers’.
The man was a magnet for every female in the place. The older clerks bestowed fond, knowing smiles on him, but the younger ones -- she'd found herself nearly growling at one nubile young thing. This one took great delight in throwing her hair back as she thrust her chest out, and bringing her hands back to her tiny little waist as if to emphasize the difference in size between the two women. Hell, what was she supposed to look like? She was pregnant, it was a baby store, and Mulder was hers. She had left her post behind the shopping cart to stand close enough to Mulder to ensure Miss Perky got the message.
But that was the only time she felt it was safe to leave the cart.
The cart became the focal point of her existence in the store. She got caught up, just a little -- okay, more than a little if she was going to be honest with herself -- looking at all the cute baby things. That was her first mistake, looking away from the cart. Her second mistake was to pick something up and admire it. It was all of two minutes, tops, but when she turned back to the cart it was full. She was convinced Mulder wasn't even looking at what he was buying. Some clerk would come up to him and hold out some sleeper or romper set and he would just toss it in and ask for a second one. They caught on really quickly that he was shopping for twins.
Then came the peripherals: things like monitors, mobiles, and breast pumps. The breast pump was embarrassing. Used to having two of everything, he demanded two of those as well, not really knowing what he was getting. If the explanation detailing what it did wasn't bad enough, there was the whole loud -- Mulder was a loud shopper -- discussion of her two breasts and how much time it might save having a pump for each. She wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole.
It was when she finally pinned him against the back wall in the 0 to 12 month toy aisle that she got his attention. "You have to stop."
"But, why?" He seemed truly confused.
"Space." It was the first thing that came to her.
He looked back to the cart, which was haphazardly parked in the middle of the aisle. "There is still plenty of space in the cart."
"My apartment. No space in my apartment."
"Oh. That will be a problem, won't it?"
She watched as his expression changed from puzzled to -- oh no, she was seeing his 'I've got a brilliant idea face.' "No."
His smile widened.
"I said, no. Whatever it is." He was ignoring her and now he looked positively smug.
"What's going on in that head of yours, Mulder?"
"Oh, just an idea or two."
"Mulder?"
"We keep the two Knicks outfits."
"Deal."
"And these." She watched him pull two Fisher Price stacking rings off the shelf.
"Okay."
"And --"
"No. No more. Just put those in so we can go."
She watched him drop them in the cart, which was only half full now, thanks to her quick moves, and then turn back to the shelf.
"Scully, it's a Baby-Tap-a-Tune Piano."
"I don't care if it's a baby grand."
She shot him a warning look, as he was about to open his mouth.
"My back hurts and I have to pee."
"But--"
"Never argue with a pregnant woman, Mulder."
*******************
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