From: taffyxf@yahoo.com
Title: Forgive Us Our Trespasses
Author: Taffy Northwood
E-Mail: taffyxf@yahoo.com
Rating: NC17 (now and then)
Category: AU, MSR
Archives: Just ask.
Feedback: Never in bad taste
Disclaimer: Mulder, Scully, Skinner and any
other XF characters are on loan only.
Summary: In 1911 New York City, there were two
distinct and separate worlds: that of the very wealthy
and that of the very poor. Could love bridge the
great divide between those worlds for two star-crossed
lovers?
Author Notes: Like a huge part of the fandom, I've
become absolutely dotty over AU fic. This is my
modest attempt to put Mulder and Scully into another
time and place. Please be aware, this is a
work-in-progress.
This was an incredibly hard chapter to write. Thank you
to everyone who has stuck with Forgive Us. It's been quite
a ride. I can't believe it--only a few chapters left.
Forgive Us Our Trespasses - Mr. and Mrs. Fox Mulder's
story - Part 25
"Hush little baby, don't say a word. Mama's gonna
buy you a mockingbird," Katie sang, her voice hoarse
from overuse. "And if that mockingbird don't sing,
Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring."
Mairead fussed in Katie's arms, unsoothed by the
movement of the rocking chair. The child's skin was
hot through the muslin of her nightdress and she
pulled at her hair with restless hands. Vincent had
prescribed a fever reducer, but Mairead's temperature
remained high.
Katie hummed the rest of the song, her throat too
tender to keep singing. Tightening her arms around
her child, Katie's eyes filled with tears. So many
nights she had come home late from the clinic and
lifted a sleeping Mairead from her crib. How
selfish she had been, thinking only of her need and
not Mairead's safety.
Guilt coursed through her, like blood through her
veins. This was all her fault. She brought this
thing home with her from the clinic, a gift from
the impoverished carried into the luxurious home
of the wealthy.
Mulder stood by the window, watching them and looking
more thin and tired than Katie ever remembered.
His eyes burned with something that Katie couldn't
fathom, much as he had those nights she'd crept into
the nursery and picked up her sleeping child.
In the days since Mairead fell sick, Katie and Miss
Muir had managed to rest for short periods of time.
Katie was out of her own sickbed for only a few
days and tired easily. But Mulder wouldn't allow
himself to leave the nursery. If he napped at all,
it was in a chair by Mairead's crib.
Katie knew he was frightened, perhaps even more
terrified than he'd been during her own illness.
Mairead was so small and helpless and her condition
seemed to worsen with each hour.
As the days wore on, Vincent Vitigliano came to the
house many times. He brought medicines but nothing
seemed to help. Vincent's frustration was palpable,
but it paled in comparison to Mulder's.
Fox Mulder had grown up in a world where he every
material wish was granted. It always surprised Katie
that Mulder didn't seem to care about the things his
wealth provided. The intangible had been much harder
to acquire for him--the love of his mother, the
approval of his father. It was the insubstantial that
Mulder ached for and now the thing he wanted most
desperately--his child's vitality--was slipping away
from him.
Each day, Mairead's cough became more uncontrollable,
her breathing more labored. The crackling sound in
her chest terrified Katie. As Mulder held a
blue-lipped Mairead, his eyes wide with fear, Katie
had telephoned Vincent in panic.
Though it felt like ages, it was only a short while
before Vincent arrived in the nursery, along with
several boxes. Miss Muir hurried to help him unpack
the equipment he'd brought.
As Mairead lay in her arms, Katie held her own
breath as she watched her child struggle to draw air
into her lungs. Mairead cried, a frightening whistle
the only sound. No tears rolled down her cheeks as
if the fever burned them off before they had a chance
to pour forth.
Arms stretched over his head, Vincent fought
to assemble the portable oxygen tent he'd gotten from
the hospital. He hung the framework over Mairead's
crib while Miss Muir stood by, handing him items as
he asked for them.
"Do something for her, damn it," Mulder cried, his
eyes wide in terror. As frightened as Katie was,
Mulder seemed even more panicked.
"That's what I'm trying to do," Vincent said from
between gritted teeth. He draped the canopy over
the metal framework, attached the tubing to the
oxygen canister and turned it on. "All right,
let's get her in."
Katie lowered Mairead into her crib, propping her with
pillows. The child looked confused when the canopy was
lowered over her, but was too weak to do more than
look at her mother through the transparent window.
The four adults hovered around the crib, listening to
the little grunts the baby made as she inhaled. Katie
gripped the railing as if it was the only thing keeping
her upright, her knuckles bleached white. Finally, she
relaxed when Mairead's breathing seemed to ease,
and the child fell into an exhausted sleep.
"You should rest, Katie," Vincent said at her elbow.
"We don't want you to relapse."
"I'm fine," she answered. Mairead's color improved,
her lips a little less blue as the oxygen did its job.
She was aware of Vincent's concern for her health.
She hadn't been out of bed for more than a few hours
when Mulder had discovered the baby's fever. Katie
had been adamant that she would be at her child's side.
Katie had seen how quickly sick children declined and
how quickly the lucky ones recovered, but the speed with
which the pneumonia had progressed shocked her. For all
his panic, she wasn't sure that Mulder understood how
dangerous the illness was in someone as young as their
daughter.
"I'll stay with her. You two can get a bite to eat,
at least," Vincent said.
"That was our mistake all along," Mulder said, his
voice so low and mumbled that Katie could barely
understand the words.
"Pardon me?" Vincent asked.
"Putting our needs above hers."
Katie knew he was right. She couldn't meet his eyes.
"Perhaps you could ask the staff to bring them
something," Vincent asked Miss Muir.
"Yes, sir," she answered, and Katie realized she was
crying.
Edgar's quiet arrival followed immediately on Miss
Muir's exit. He looked to the crib, then to each of
the adults, but he addressed Mulder.
"Mr. Cornelius Spender asks to see Miss Mairead," the
butler said quietly.
"No," Mulder answered.
"He instructs me to say that he implores you, for the
love of God," Edgar reported.
"You may tell him that you have done so."
"Very good, sir."
Teena Mulder had come back home when Mairead became ill,
but Katie wasn't sure it had been her mother-in-law's
choice. Cornelius Spender hovered downstairs, barely
restrained by Edgar and Skinner from climbing the stairs.
Katie had no energy to reassure Teena, who dithered over
[continued in next message]
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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