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 1910 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.
Forgive Us Our Trespasses - Katherine Mulder's story. Part 17
She woke to the smell of flowers and laundry starch.
Katie's body felt as if it was one large bruise, the
bedcovers as heavy as lead atop her legs. Opening her
eyes seemed like an insurmountable task.
Her memory was cloudy. She remembered wrenching
pain in her back and belly and a terrified Mulder
gripping her hand so hard she thought her bones might
be crushed. She remembered him pleading with the doctor
and nurses to help her, to take away her pain.
She remembered the smell of ether as the mask drew closer
to her face, and then she remembered nothing.
Katie forced her eyes open to find Mulder at her side,
holding her hand again, though gently this time. His
face was tear-stained and serious.
"The baby?" she asked, her voice shaking with fear.
"The baby's fine," Mulder answered quickly, bringing
Katie's hand to his lips. "Beautiful and healthy and strong.
But, you lost a lot of blood, Katie. Dr. Speake said it was
very close. Oh, God...I don't think I could go on living if
anything happened to you."
"Mulder, I'm fine," she said, struggling to sit up. Mulder
turned a crank at the end of the bed, raising the head so
Katie could finally see the room.
With elegant draperies and bedclothes, the room was as lovely
as their room at the Plaza. Paintings hung on the walls and
the room glowed with soft lamplight. Bouquets of flowers
bloomed on every table, dresser and windowsill.
"This is a hospital, right?" she asked.
"Last time I looked," Mulder answered. As if to prove his
statement, a nurse entered the room, brandishing a thermometer.
Mulder wouldn't surrender Katie's hand, so the nurse worked
around him, taking Katie's pulse and temperature.
"Please bring my baby," Katie asked, her voice sounding
wispy and weak.
"Mrs. Mulder, you need to rest. Maybe you can see your baby
a little later this afternoon."
"No," Katie said, as firmly as she could manage. "I want
my baby now. Surely, it must be feeding time."
"Mrs. Mulder, you had a very difficult delivery. You need
to regain your strength. Dr. Speake has ordered formula
for the baby."
Katie steeled herself for the fight, fiercely staring at
the woman.
"Bring the baby," Mulder said.
The nurse looked at Mulder cautiously and then left the room,
returning a few minutes later with a tightly swaddled infant.
"That will be all," Katie said, wishing she felt as strong
as she needed to be. Her arms and legs still felt as
if they were made of stone, but she desperately wanted to
see her baby.
"Mulder, help me," she said as she struggled to loosen
the baby's tight wrapping. His fingers must have been
as wooden as her own, as he seemed as clumsy as she was.
Finally, they freed the tiny body from its swaddling,
revealing soft, pink skin and frantically waving
limbs. The baby made little mewling sounds, escalating
finally into cries. Katie laughed as she gazed down
at her baby daughter. She'd been so afraid that something
had gone wrong, she hadn't thought to ask if she had a
son or daughter.
"Welcome, little one," Katie whispered. "We've been
waiting for you. Oh, Mulder...she's beautiful."
"Isn't she? She has blue eyes like you."
"All babies have blue eyes, Mulder. They change color
later." One-handed, Katie untied the ribbons at the
front of her nightdress and put the infant to her breast.
The cries gave way to contented suckling.
"She has your nose," Mulder said. "Thank God for that.
So, is she to be Huckette, after all?"
"I was thinking," Katie said. "I think I'd like to name
her Mairead, after my grandmother. She died not long after
my mother came to this country."
"Mairead?" he asked.
"It's Gaelic for Margaret."
"It's pretty, just like she is," Mulder said. "I think
she looks just like a Mairead."
Katie's body grew stronger, though for the first few
days after Mairead's birth, she slept far more than
she was awake. Mulder haunted her hospital room,
staunchly ensuring that her wishes were met.
The nurses would bring the baby in for feeding, and
Katie marveled as Mairead's tiny rosebud mouth rooted
for the nipple. All too soon, exhaustion would
drag Katie's eyelids down. Fortunately, her body and
little Mairead knew what to do whether Katie was
conscious or not.
After two weeks, Katie had healed and regained her
strength. Mother and child returned to the Mulder home.
Katie and Mulder entered the house to happy congratulations
from Edgar and Cook and the other servants. They
stood in the hall, allowing the servants to view the
newest member of the Mulder family.
"Baby will be spoiled with all this attention."
A voice sounded from the hallway, belonging to a
middle-aged woman with a bland demeanor. Katie looked
up from Mairead, who was being fussed over by two of
the maids.
"Katherine, dear, this is Lizzy Gill," Teena said as she
swept into the hall. "She'll look after little Margaret
so you can rest."
Teena later told Katie that she was very lucky to have
been able to engage Lizzy's services, as the baby nurse
was very much in demand with the upper crust of New York
society. Teena's friends claimed that under Lizzy's
care, their children and grandchildren were quiet and
peaceful.
Katie could see how Lizzy would be just the woman for
the job if a mother wanted to abdicate all care of her
child to someone else. Lizzy preferred to be completely
in charge of all aspects of infant care and seemed to
look on Katie as somewhat backward in her desire to
bathe and dress Mairead herself.
Lizzy frowned on mothers who nursed their own children.
Infant formula could be measured as the baby fed.
Breast-feeding made the child too clingy and dependant
on their mother. Indeed, Teena had been shocked when
Katie declared that she would nurse Mairead.
In the interest of keeping peace, Katie swallowed her
annoyance. She endured Lizzy's sniffs of disapproval
every time she put Mairead to breast.
Lizzy would probably still be working at the Mulder
house if Katie hadn't gotten up early from an afternoon
nap. She heard the baby crying, the sound that always
signified hunger. Still in her soft house slippers,
Katie went to the nursery so she could feed Mairead.
She moved silently into the nursery, just in time to
[continued in next message]
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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