From: shawntaw@hotmail.com   
      
   Title: Other Plans   
   Author: shawntaw   
   Spoilers: none   
   Timeline: This takes place sometime during the first season.   
   Rating: PG   
   Summary: "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans" -   
   John Lennon.   
      
   **********************************************************************   
   *******************************************************   
      
   Scully rushed around frantically.  Ethan would arrive in less than   
   half an hour and she wasn't ready. She could smell the   
      
   food beginning to scorch from her bedroom as she sat on the edge of   
   the bed stuffing her toes into a pair of pantyhose.   
      
   "Damn!" she cursed as she hopped her way to the kitchen, tugging on   
   the hose as she went.   
      
   Scully stirred the dish, moved it to a cool burner and added a little   
   more curry.  Ethan liked spicy, Indian food. She turned   
      
   and scurried across her apartment back into her bedroom, clad only in   
   her sensible cotton bra, panties and slightly crooked   
      
   pantyhose. Once again she checked the clock. Ethan was due in only 20   
   minutes now.   
      
   "Mulder!" she cursed him under her breath as she pulled a blouse over   
   her head.  He had PROMISED her they would be back from   
      
   their out-of-town case by last night.  Instead - and as usual she was   
   learning - they had left Washington state THIS MORNING   
      
   due to an unexpected twist in the evidence. Scully was lucky she had   
   been able to keep this date with Ethan at all. She   
      
   suspected if she had to break one more with him, she would lose him.   
   She had been with Ethan for years now.  He was familiar   
      
   and comfortable and safe and she didn't want to lose him.   
      
   Did she?   
      
   Scully decided to think more about how that question made her feel   
   later.  Right now, she had to hurry.   
      
   So, of course, the doorbell rang.   
      
   And rang.  And rang.   
      
   Zipping up her skirt, she ran stocking-footed to the front door.   
      
   "I'm coming!" she shouted as the bell rang again.  It couldn't be   
   Ethan; he was always exactly on time or fashionably late.   
      
   Never early.   
      
   She looked through the peephole and saw her neighbor, Sandra, holding   
   her baby in her arms and a screaming toddler by the   
      
   hand. Her oldest child stood with his thumb in his mouth.   
      
   "Dana?!" Sandra yelled through the door, "Dana, are you there?"   
      
   Scully opened the door.  "Sandra, what's wrong?"   
      
   Her neighbor sagged with relief, "Dana, I am so glad you're here! I   
   didn't know what else to do! Rick's been hurt at work.   
      
   He fell from a scaffolding or something and they've taken him to the   
   hospital," she was pushing her children and a fat diaper   
      
   bag at Scully as she spoke and Scully had no choice but to take the   
   baby.  The toddler sobbed and clutched at her leg. The   
      
   boy walked past her into her apartment.   
      
   "I need to get to him, but I can't find my mother or my babysitter.   
   I'll be back as soon as I can, ok? This is Jenny and the   
      
   baby's Markie, remember? And my son is Scotty, ok? Ok," Sandra was   
   backing down the hall as Scully tried to feebly protest,   
      
   "I really, really appreciate this, Dana.  I'll pay you back, I   
   swear."   
      
   And Sandra was gone.   
      
   Scully blinked down the empty hallway for a moment, dragged her   
   toddler-laden leg inside her apartment, and shut the door.   
      
   "Well, this is just great," she muttered looking down at the   
   traumatized toddler and cranky baby. She looked at the clock.   
      
   Ten minutes.   
      
   On cue, the baby began to wail.   
      
   **********************************************************************   
   ******************************************************   
      
   Mulder strolled casually down the hallway toward Scully's apartment,   
   reading the fax again.  Although the case in Washington   
      
   had appeared to be an x-file initially, he had revised that   
   assessment after the father had confessed. But this new   
      
   information...this was proving to be more complicated than it looked.   
   Perhaps an x-file after all.  Maybe he could convince   
      
   Scully to give up her weekend to come back to Washington with him.   
      
   It unnerved him how much he depended on her judgement already. It   
   made him pause and stand outside her door, reconsidering.   
      
   In the past, he would've taken off on this new lead without a thought   
   to back-up.  Had he forgotten he did his best work   
      
   alone? He didn't need her before and he certainly didn't need her now.   
      
   Mulder was turning to leave when a shriek from inside and the sound   
   of breaking glass caused him to stop.  Alarmed, he turned   
      
   back and pounded on her door.   
      
   "Scully!"  He heard more thumping and unidentifiable noises and was   
   contemplating breaking down the door when it swung open.   
      
   "WHAT?!!" Scully shouted. Mulder jumped back, surprised.   
      
   "Oh. Mulder," she closed her eyes, "Of course its Mulder."  She   
   turned and walked away from the door, resignedly.   
      
   "What's that mean?" He felt offended. He was sure he'd just been   
   insulted although he wasn't sure how.   
      
   A little boy sat on the couch with tears running down his face.  His   
   thumb was stuck in his mouth.   
      
   A baby cried on top of a folded blanket in a laundry basket.   
      
   "Where's Jenny??" Scully said, horrified.   
      
   The boy took his thumb out of his mouth. "Hungwy," he said and popped   
   his thumb back in.   
      
   Scully dashed toward the kitchen and the curry-laden Indian food on   
   the stove.   
      
   Mulder took in the chaos of strewn couch cushions and upset children   
   and decided Scully must be babysitting. So much for an   
      
   impromptu weekend trip.  If he'd been going to ask her.  Which he   
   wasn't.   
      
   He sat down by the little boy.   
      
   "So," he tried, clasping his hands together between his knees.  The   
   child and he stared at one another for a moment.   
      
   "I'm Scotty," the boy finally mumbled around his thumb,"Tha's   
   Markie."  He gestured at the upset baby.   
      
   Mulder tilted over and looked over the edge of the couch at the   
   baby. "Hi, Scotty.  I'm Mulder."  He patted the baby   
      
   awkwardly. "Markie seems pretty upset."   
      
   "He want up," Scotty responded.   
      
   Mulder looked indecisively at Markie. "Ok, I'm sure I can do that."   
   He reached down and scooped up Markie under the arms.   
      
   Markie immediately stopped crying, squealed, and smiled a gummy,   
   slobbery grin at Mulder.   
      
   And peed all over the legs of his suit pants.   
      
   **********************************************************************   
   ******************************************************   
      
   Scully was in the kitchen fishing her laptop and a broken platter out   
   of a sink of soapy water.  Her brand new laptop.  The   
      
   one she had charged on a credit card and was still paying off. The   
   now deceased laptop that she threw disgustedly into the   
      
   trashcan.   
      
   "Jenny hep!" The small girl said proudly, suds dripping from her   
   little hands, "heping!"   
      
   Scully looked despairingly down at Jenny, closed her eyes and counted   
   backwards from ten to calm herself.  She opened them   
      
   prepared to corral Jenny into the living room only to find her   
   kitchen empty again.   
      
   Panic set in.   
      
   "Jenny?!  Jenny!!"   
      
   She heard Mulder give a slightly girly scream from the living room.   
      
   Scully looked at the clock.   
      
   Five minutes.   
      
   **********************************************************************   
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   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)