From: akelleynolan@yahoo.com   
      
   TITLE:  Outside In   
   AUTHOR:  A. Kelley Nolan   
   EMAIL:  akelleynolan@yahoo.com   
   DISTRIBUTION:  I'd be delighted.  Just let me know.   
      
   RATING:  PG-13 for language   
   CATEGORIES:  VR   
   KEYWORDS:  Mulder/Scully romance, Skinner POV   
   SPOILERS:  Existence   
      
   SUMMARY:  Mulder and Skinner share a beer and a moment.   
      
   FEEDBACK:  Is good karma.   
      
   Disclaimer:  Clearly I don't own them, never have, and never will.  I   
   don't own much of anything else, either, if you want the truth.   
      
   Author's Notes:  If you don't know that Mulder and Scully have a baby,   
   you should probably stop reading now.  Nonetheless, this is   
   emphatically not babyfic.   
      
   *********************   
      
   I raise my fist and knock on the door quietly.  I remember someone   
   telling me once that you should do that when there's a baby in the   
   house.  It is only a moment before Mulder answers.  He looks almost   
   pleased to see me, if a little surprised.   
      
   "Mulder," I say briskly, and he returns the greeting with a little   
   nod.  "Is this a good time?"   
      
   He smiles and steps aside.  "Yeah, come on in.  Scully's feeding the   
   baby, but they should be done soon."  He says it like there is nothing   
   mind-boggling about Scully nursing a child who shouldn't exist, and I   
   flick my eyes to him.  He catches it and smiles again, shaking his   
   head slightly.  Don't even try, the gesture says, you'll just get a   
   headache.  "It's A.D. Skinner," he calls back toward the bedroom.   
      
   Scully's voice returns, warm and contented.  "We'll be out in a minute."   
      
   "How are they?"  I ask.   
      
   "They're great," he says.  "They're absolutely great."  He means this   
   as much as anything I have ever heard him say.  "Have a seat.  Can I   
   get you anything?  There's some pretty fresh coffee."   
      
   "Um...Yeah, sure, that'd be good."  I want something to do with my   
   hands.  I watch him walk across her apartment to the kitchen.  Hell,   
   let's be realistic, *their* apartment.  One look at him and I can see   
   he's never going home.  I make a mental note to change the priority   
   number in my Rolodex.   
      
   He hands me a mug of hot coffee and sinks down in the chair opposite   
   me, his legs stretched out in front of him.  He looks relaxed, but I   
   have seen this deceptive stillness before.  He is thrumming with   
   energy, and if I believed in half the crap he does, or claims to, I   
   could probably make a case for an aura of excitement around him.  He   
   is happy, I realize.  I never thought I'd see it.   
      
   We make small talk.  Neither of us is very good at it, but what do you   
   say?  "Sure am glad you made it back from the dead in time for the   
   birth of this miracle baby."  "So was this the second virgin birth, or   
   have you two been making an ass of me for years?"  There doesn't seem   
   like much point in pursuing that right now.  We have edged into the   
   Yankees' chances for the series this year when Scully appears.   
      
   I stand up automatically, but I didn't need to hurry.  Her eyes find   
   Mulder first, and she smiles like she's been waiting all day to do it,   
   before she looks at me.  She is stunning.  Scully has always been   
   beautiful, but she takes my breath away now.  She is serene, radiant,   
   like a Madonna in a Renaissance painting.  Obviously that parallel   
   can't be taken too far, but there is no denying her loveliness.  I   
   glance at Mulder, and he is watching her with such a light in his   
   eyes, such naked love, that I am taken aback.  I can't imagine being   
   that vulnerable, but he has always poured his heart out for her.   
      
   Scully walks up to me with a warm smile, and I notice the bundle in   
   her arms for the first time.  The baby is wrapped snugly in a blanket   
   with little stars and moons on it.  I wonder if they have one with   
   aliens and UFOs.  "It's good to see you," she says, and I think she   
   actually means it.  "Thanks for coming."   
      
   My collar feels too tight.  "I'm sorry I didn't come sooner.  You look   
   terrific."  She waves this away, then nods toward her arms with an   
   expression of invitation.  I don't really get babies, I don't know   
   what to do with them, but I definitely want to see this one.  Mulder   
   is suddenly standing behind her, looking over her shoulder at the baby   
   like he just can't get enough of the sight.   
      
   I take a look.  He has Scully's eyes, big and blue.  I think all   
   babies have blue eyes, but his are the same shade as his mother's.   
   That is Mulder's mouth, and his chin.  Scully's nose, thank God.   
   Mulder's skin.  My hair.  He has long fingers and tiny, perfect nails.   
    "He's beautiful," I say honestly.  Scully beams, and Mulder just nods   
   his approval, never taking his eyes from the little face.  "He's tiny."   
      
   "Tell that to my cervix," Scully replies lightly, and Mulder chuckles   
   as my ears flame red.  I've spent years trying not to think about the   
   fact that Scully has a cervix.   
      
   The baby's eyes have drifted shut.  I'm slightly relieved that I won't   
   have to decline an offer to hold him.  I don't know how to hold   
   babies.  Scully, though, has got it down.  He is cradled against her,   
   snug in her arms, and her head is tipped down to look into his face.   
   Somehow I knew she'd be good at this.   
      
   Mulder shifts around her, his hand trailing down her arm as he moves   
   past.  He gives himself away when he stands for a moment, no clear   
   object in mind, and then straightens a few books on the coffee table   
   as if that had been his plan all along.  It reminds me that although I   
   wanted a glimpse of the miracle child, I came to talk to Mulder.  It's   
   a conversation that's long overdue.   
      
   I clear my throat, and they both look up.  Must have been my   
   government official throat-clearing.  I am unaccountably nervous, so I   
   tighten my jaw and adopt my office voice.  "Mulder, you want to go get   
   a beer?"   
      
   To his credit, he doesn't look shocked, although Scully's eyes widen a   
   little.  He looks at me appraisingly a moment, and then he   
   straightens, almost imperceptibly.  He gets that this is a guy thing,   
   a moment of breaking the established pattern to lay a few things on   
   the line, after which the pattern will no doubt reassert itself.  He   
   nods, and then glances at Scully.   
      
   I wonder what they'll say to each other when he gets home, but for now   
   she just smiles at him.  "Go ahead," she says softly.  "I think we'll   
   take a nap."   
      
   Mulder visibly hesitates, and I can see that he is torn between the   
   need to know what I have to say and the desire to just wrap himself   
   around them, around his family, and dream.  But he has made a   
   commitment, and he always honors a commitment.  He goes back to her,   
   leans down, and kisses her.  I've seen them kiss each other before, in   
   hospitals, usually when one of them was unconscious.  I've never seen   
   anything like this, anywhere.  It is almost unbearably intimate, but I   
   can't seem to look away.  Her head tilts up to his instinctively.  He   
   kisses her softly, hardly any pressure at all, and then his mouth   
   lingers on hers like he is memorizing her, drinking in her taste.  I   
   see her lips move against his, and I realize she is whispering her   
   love into his mouth.  Scully.  His partner.  Shit, his lover.  His   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)