|
|
Subject:Life Cycles XV: The Grand Entrance by Susan Proto
Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998
Category: Vignette follow up to LCXIV: Coming of Age
Key Words: MSR (marriage) and Walter/Maggie (marriage) a little MulderAngst
and some Scully discomfort…(but it's worth it!)
Rating: PG13 for language!
Spoilers: You're safe for after season 4 (and maybe before it, but why take
chances?)
Summary: The family has gathered to celebrate Mulder's Bar Mitzvah.
Someone decides to join the party a couple of weeks early.
Archive: Yes.
Disclaimer: Fox Mulder, Dana, and Maggie Scully, Elizabeth (How dare you
call her Teena) Mulder, as well as Walter Skinner belong to 10/13 productions
and Chris Carter. Adam Mulder, Rabbi Ginsburg, and any other character you don't
recognize are all mine. (Heck, if CC wants to borrow my characters, all he
has to do is ask nicely!…or not…<g>)
Introduction: This is the next story in the series, and a direct follow-up
to LC XIV: Coming of Age. I would really recommend reading the previous
stories in the series, since there is some continuity (I hope there is at any rate!)
regarding the characters and plot.
You can find the series archived at the ever wonderful, Shirley Smiley's
MulderTorture site at:
http://members.spree.com/sip/mulder1958/
Special thanks to Vickie Moseley for taking a peek at this one too.
Feedback: Yes, pretty please, with sugar on top! <G>
Life Cycles XV: The Grand Entrance
by Susan Proto (STPteach@aol.com)
Part 1/1
Mulder couldn't wipe the smile off of his face, but neither could anyone else
for that matter. The entire congregation of Temple Emanuel shook his hand
and congratulated him on the beautiful job he'd done in chanting his haftorah.
However, they also let it be known how moved they were by his Bar Mitzvah
speech, and some of the women even complained it was Mulder's fault their
makeup had run.
Mulder smiled and accepted their kind wishes, but at this point he felt so
drained, all he really wanted to do was go back to his in-law's home, put on
his Nikes, and play a little one on one B-Ball with his father in law. He
grinned widely at that thought. If someone had asked him ten years ago if he
could imagine himself playing basketball with Assistant Director Walter S.
Skinner, Mulder would have called 911 and had the person locked up in the
psych ward.
Now? He couldn't imagine life without the support of the gentle giant who was
now not only his boss, but his father-in-law. Life certainly works its own
small miracles. Mulder looked over at another miracle, his wife.
He hid a grin behind his hands as he watched Scully try to walk about without
her pregnant belly bumping into anything and anyone. However he also the
slightly glazed look in his Scully's eyes, and realized she would probably
like nothing better than to take off her shoes, put up her feet, and try to
convince their as yet unborn daughter to make an appearance already.
The baby wasn't due for another couple of weeks, but Mulder knew Scully was
uncomfortable. She'd taken on so many responsibilities over the last couple
of months. She'd taken care of their five year old son, Adam, helped Maggie
planned today's party, and even started the moving process which would put
them in their new, larger home in a couple of weeks.
Mulder knew how exhausted Dana was from having to carry his share of the
household and parenting duties while he both studied for his Bar Mitzvah and
worked caseload after caseload the bureau kept throwing at him while Scully
was on maternity leave. He was equally exhausted, but he wasn't carrying
around an extra fifteen pounds in his midsection.
Mulder thought to himself that they only needed to get through today's party,
the birth of their child, the closing on their new house, and the move into it.
Only. He started to chuckle to himself as he realized how absurd that notion
was. As if he could brush off all of those events so easily. Right.
*_Only_, my ass,* he smiled to himself tiredly.
"Hey G-Man, you ready to go party?" asked Scully as she brought Mulder out
of his thoughts.
''To be honest, I'm almost sorry we just didn't have the kiddush at the Temple
and call it a day. What ever possessed us to have a big Open House
afterwards?" he asked earnestly.
"Not what, who. Maggie Skinner and Elizabeth Mulder, is who, my dear
husband. I think they were the ones possessed," Scully said with a slight
grimace.
"You okay?" he asked mildly concerned.
"Sure, why?"
"You looked like you were uncomfortable there for a minute," he explained.
"Mulder, I'm due to give birth in two weeks. I am as big as Moby Dick, and
my feet feel like they've been wedged into a pair of shoes that are three sizes
too small. And, I have had to endure your son's requests for food, drink, and
bathroom detail every five minutes for the last two hours.
"Trust me, my darling. I've been uncomfortable for a helluva lot longer
than a minute," she said dryly.
"Dane, I'm sorry. This is way too much for you __," he began.
"Oh Mulder, don't be silly. I'm perfectly fine. Really, I am. It's a
glorious day and we're going to have a wonderful time at your party. You've
worked hard, Mulder. You deserve to celebrate, and I deserve to celebrate
with you!" She leaned up to give him a gentle kiss on the cheek.
He smiled down at her, whispered a sincere, "I love you," and grasped her hand
to lead her to the car. On the way toward the Taurus, they managed to catch
up to their now very excited son and picked him up to bring him to the car.
"But I wanna play with Jason and Rachael, Daddy!" he pleaded.
"You will, honey," placated Scully, "The Goldfarbs are coming back to Gam-ma's
house. We're going to have a big party there to celebrate Daddy's Bar Mitzvah!"
"Someday, I'm gonna have a Barm-mits-vuh, too, right Mommy?" he asked
expectantly.
Scully wasn't sure how to answer him, so she smiled and simply reflected his
thoughts back to him and said, "You'd like to have a big party someday with
all of your family and friends there."
"Yeah," he responded, "a Barm-mits-vuh." Adam looked at Mulder who simply
smiled back at him.
Mulder, with just a hint of anxiety, looked back at Scully to see her
grimacing ever so slightly again. He was worried this little exchange had
upset her, and he wasn't sure how to go about asking her about it without
insulting her feelings.
Scully on the hand simply felt as though she had a mild case of indigestion,
and thought about nothing more than how soothing a couple of tablespoons of
Mylanta would have felt right about then.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ride back to Maryland was an easy one, traffic wise, and everyone arrived
back at the Scully-Skinner homestead about a half hour later. The caterers
had been there since early that morning, and had laid out the food in and
about the large, blue and white striped tent.
Mulder parked the car and helped Scully out. He asked her if she might want
to go lay down for a bit, but she wouldn't hear of it.
"Mulder, this is your party. I'm fine, sweetheart. Really."
"But promise me if you do get tired you'll go lay down for a bit?" he
pleaded.
"I promise."
The two of them walked around the backyard and greeted everyone yet again.
Adam happily found his friends Jason and Rachael Goldfarb, and the trio
began to run around like whirling dervishes.
"Mulder, congratulations," greeted Riichi Obayashi, an agent Mulder has had
to occasion to work with on several cases. "Mashiko and I are so happy we
could be here with you today. What a magnificent day."
"Riichi, it's my pleasure to have you share it with us," replied a decidedly
happy Mulder. Then, as if it just dawned on him that he was one of the hosts
of this whole affair, asked, ''Are you hungry? The bagels look really good
and there's all sorts of spreads and stuff."
Poor Mulder. He was no more used to being the host of a party than he was at
being the center of attention. The last time he and Scully hosted a big
celebration, it was a post-engagement, pre-wedding dinner for their friends.
He and Scully wanted a means for their friends to meet and get to know one
another before the wedding, so this way it would be like old friends were
gathering together again.
Happily, Fox and Dana noticed it was happening all over again. Friends from
both sides of their respective families were greeting one another like long
lost relatives. They watched as Dana's best friend, Ellen, greeted the
Obayashi's with open arms. Then they noticed the trio of stooge, as Scully
often referred to them, were being embraced by Maggie Skinner and warmly
welcomed by Walter Skinner.
That was a scene Mulder had never imagined he would picture. Frohike, Langly,
and Byers sharing a warm embrace with Walter Skinner? Mulder was then equally
pleased to see Rabbi Ginsburg and Father Thom chatting over a cup of coffee
and bagel with cream cheese. Mulder continued to walk about as if in a daze.
These people were there to honor him. _Him._ Mulder took in a deep breath,
and let it out with a slight hitch in his voice.
"You okay, Mulder?" asked Richard Goldfarb.
"Richard! Yes, of course, I'm fine." Mulder looked at his best friend and
realized he wasn't buying it for a second. "Well, to be honest, I think I'm
feeling a little overwhelmed. This has been one helluva day, ya know? And
it's not even two o'clock yet," he added with a small chuckle.
"I can only imagine. I honestly don't remember much about my Bar Mitzvah.
I mean I know I got through my reading okay, and then we had a kiddush for the
congregation. Afterwards, we had a luncheon at the Temple, so we didn't have
any music or anything, 'cause it was Shabbos, and I'd belonged to an
orthodox temple as a kid," Richard commented.
"I didn't know that," Mulder murmured. "Richard, I've got a stupid question
to ask you."
"Shoot. I'm great with stupid answers," his friend replied with a smile.
"Can Adam and Jason be Bar Mitzvah'd?"
"Whoa. Where'd that come from?" Richard asked.
"Actually, from Adam. When we were coming over here, he told Dane and me he
wanted to have a Bar Mitzvah too. The thing is," Mulder began, "I don't know
if he's going to be allowed to. I mean, technically, he's not even Jewish, is
he?" Mulder was becoming more and more upset as he shared his concerns with
Richard.
"Mulder, to be honest, no, technically, both Adam and Jason, as well as
Rachael, are not Jewish. And if we belonged to a conservative or orthodox
temple, I'd say there was no chance that any of our kids would ever be a Bar
Mitzvah without a full conversion process.
"But we belong to a Reformed Temple, so I hope we don't have to do anything
drastic in order to have our kids bar mitzvah'd if that's what we all want to
do. But, I also have to admit, I don't know if that's even possible, Mulder.
I, quite honestly, haven't given all that much thought to it. I figured I'd
take one religious ritual at a time. When I got through the bris I amazed
myself. Hell, Leslie amazed me too," said Richard.
"We're two very lucky men, aren't we?" Mulder asked rhetorically.
"I mean, for Scully to put up with me and all of my craziness __."
"She loves you, Mulder. That's what people do for those they love. Leslie
does it for me; I do it for Leslie, and you do it for Dana. Don't forget how
much you put into this relationship. Dana doesn't."
"So, what you're telling me is to accept what I have right now, stop looking
for problems, and we'll cross the next bridge when we come to it, right?"
Mulder deadpanned.
"I told you I had all the answers," Richard replied in kind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I think it's going well, don't you, sweetheart?" asked Maggie Skinner of
her husband.
"Yes, it's going very well, Maggie. Stop worrying. There's enough food to
feed two armies, and the caterers are refilling everything as it's needed.
Mrs. Skinner, are you sure you don't have a little 'Jewish Mother' in your
blood?" Walter asked with a gentle laugh.
"No, dear, but 'Jewish Mothers' don't have the market cornered on worrying,
believe me. My Irish, Catholic mother instilled those very same traits in
me as your mother probably instilled in you.
"I don't think it has anything to do with religion, dear; more likely it's
hormonal," Maggie replied with a wry smile.
"I love you, Mrs. Skinner, you do know that, don't you? Hormones and all?"
"I know. I know," she replied as she wound her arms around her husbands
waist and surveyed what appeared to be a most successful party.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, you're Fox's mother," stated the tall, stately black woman.
"Yes, I am," replied a slightly intimidated Elizabeth Mulder. "I'm sorry,
but I don't know if we've ever met."
"No, I don't think we did meet at the wedding," she responded in her rich alto
voice. "I'm Beverly Thompson. I met Fox just before the wedding when he
recuperated from his appendicitis attack at Walter's apartment. I was
Walter's housekeeper, Mrs. Mulder."
"Oh. Really," Elizabeth replied with just a hint of disdain.
"Yes, so I was available to nurse your son back to health," she replied with
equal disdain.
Elizabeth recognized the tone and realized she was out of line. She knew
she had no right to judge anyone if she, herself, did not wish to be judged,
and, with the way her life has gone, Elizabeth had just as soon desired not to be
judged.
"Beverly, I apologize if I inferred anything negative. I certainly had no
right to, and well, I know it's a little late, but would you please accept my
gratitude for helping my son to regain his health?"
Elizabeth held out her hand in a request for a conciliatory handshake, which
Beverly, graciously, accepted. "My pleasure, Mrs. Mulder, my pleasure."
Just then a youngster of about nine years walked up to the two women and
greeted Beverly with a hug. "Hi, Nana! I just saw Uncle Mulder and shook
his hand like you said I should. I told him he sang very pretty, and he hugged
me and told me thank you. Wasn't that nice?"
"Yes, my precious boy, it was very nice. I want to introduce you to Uncle
Mulder's mother. Mrs. Mulder, this is my grandson, Bryan. He helped Fox
get well too," Beverly said with a twinkle in her eyes.
"Well, I just bet he did. What a handsome and polite young man you are. I
bet your grandma is very proud of you, young man," Elizabeth said.
"Yes, but I'm proud of my grandma too. Do you know she's a nurse? And she
says maybe she's going to go back to school again and become a __, a __, an
almost doctor," he finally said in frustration. "Grandma, what do you call
it?"
"A physician's assistant, child."
"Yeah. That."
Elizabeth looked at Beverly with even greater respect. "I envy you,
Beverly."
"Envy me?" she echoed in surprise.
"You have an eye toward your future and you seem to know exactly where you
want it to go. I envy that confidence," responded Elizabeth.
"Anyone can look to the future, Mrs. Mulder," answered Beverly.
"No, my dear, not just anyone, but it's nice to know there are those who can,"
Elizabeth said as she turned and looked out towards her son and daughter-in-
law. "There was a time I didn't think there could ever be a future for me,
much less him. I'm so glad there's a future for him," she murmured softly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mulder, would you go check on the kids? It's been too quiet," Scully said.
"Dane, the kids are fine. How are you, though?" he asked with a concerned
voice. He didn't like her color as she seemed a little pale. She also
seemed a bit out of breath. "Dane, you don't look so great."
"Oh, I'm okay, sweetheart. I'm just a little warm. Would you mind getting
me something cold to drink?" He replied that he'd be back in a minute and
insisted she sit back and relax. Scully did just that as she watched her
husband walk off with that 'man with a mission' expression on his face.
"It's nice to know they care, but they can be a royal pain when they start
hovering," said the familiar voice with a chuckle.
"Oh Leslie, he's driving me a little crazy all of a sudden. I don't know if
it's him or me!" Dana replied.
"I remember when I was pregnant with Jason. Oh God, Dana, talk about
hovering! Richard was such a Father Hen, I thought I was going to fly the
coop before that baby was born.
"I know he was overanxious because it was the first pregnancy that actually
'took', but it didn't make it any easier to deal with at the time, that's
for sure," remembered Leslie Goldfarb.
"You must have been so excited when you became pregnant," Dana said softly.
"Oh I was. I mean, we were fortunate to have adopted Rachael when she was a
newborn, and we actually took her home from the hospital. But to be actually
pregnant and know that a new life was growing inside of me; well, that was
pretty damned special," admitted Leslie.
"However, it did turn your friend and my husband, one Richard Goldfarb, into
a raving lunatic. I was allowed to walk only so far, lift only so much, remain
awake for only so long. Which would have been fine, except these conditions
were in place only when the man was around.
"When he was at work, and I had to deal with Rachael on my own, I didn't
just walk, but I ran after her. I didn't just lift, but I shlepped Rachael. I
didn't just remain awake, but I stayed up all night with her when she was
sick, because Richard, bless his heart, could sleep through the call of the
wild," Leslie recounted.
"Yes, well, Mulder's pretty much the same way. He's hardly been at home
these last couple of months. I mean, the poor guy had been putting so much time
and effort into preparing for this morning's services. Then, with me being on
maternity leave, it became like an open invitation for Violent Crimes to
borrow Mulder's services since he probably wasn't going to be working on any
X-Files while his partner was on leave," she related with a grimace.
"I can only imagine how hard it must be for you when Mulder's on assignment,"
Leslie sympathized. She looked at her friend again and said, "Look, Dana,
not to be an added thorn in your side, but are you okay?"
"What? Not you too!" Dana cried in mock dismay.
"Yeah, me too. Sweetie, I don't know if you realize it, but you keep making
this face; this grimace, ya know?"
"So I'm grimacing. It's hot out, I'm thirsty, and I'm very, very pregnant,"
Scully replied in the hopes of reducing the increased tension.
"Well, the thing is," Leslie said hesitantly, "you've been grimacing every
five minutes, to the minute. Sweetheart, I hate to break it to you, but I
think you may be in labor."
"What?" Scully shrieked. When several pairs of eyes looked over towards her
from under and around the striped, open air tent, Scully simply smiled at
those around her in an attempt to abate the attention.
"Dana, I'm not kidding. I really think you might be in the beginnings of
labor. Do me a favor, call your OB," pleaded Leslie.
"Les, I'm not due for two weeks. I have a million things to do before we
close on the house, and besides, this is Mulder's party for heavens sake. I
can't have this baby now! I don't have the time for this!" Scully cried out
through clenched teeth.
Leslie began laughing, which of course was the last thing Dana needed for
her to do. Dana realized she sounded totally irrational, but the truth of the
matter was, she wasn't ready to give birth to this child. They hadn't even
decided upon a name yet.
No, she really did need more time, and she was about to repeat that
declaration as she stood up, when she realized something was definitely
amiss.
"Oh, shit." Scully looked at Leslie with very, wide eyes.
"What?" Leslie asked.
"I think my water just broke."
"Oh shit."
"That's exactly what I said," reminded Scully as she rolled her eyes in
disbelief.
"You have your cellular handy?" asked Leslie. Dana nodded ,took the compact
phone out from her purse, and passed it to Leslie. "What's the number of
your obstetrician?"
"Speed dial four," replied Scully through another grimace.
"You're grimacing more frequently now, you know," Leslie pointed out.
"I think I figured that out. They're definitely contractions now, Les. Oh,
God, I don't know if I'm going to make it to the hospital, Les. This baby
is coming fast and furious! Oh God, Les. What am I going to do?" Scully
cried out in a panic now.
"Okay, first you're going to calm down and we're going to get you into the
house. Don't know if you want an entire congregation as witness to this
birth," Leslie said in a calming voice.
"Mulder. I want Mulder, Les."
"I know you do, Sweetheart, and we'll get him, but first let's get you
comfortable and we'll talk to your doctor, okay?" Scully nodded and
gingerly walked into her mother's house with her best friend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Dana directed her, Leslie gathered the plastic sheeting and extra clean
sheets from Maggie's linen closet. Next, Leslie found the extra pillows and
laid them on the couch in the little used formal living room. Both women
decided it made more sense to remain downstairs for when an ambulance crew
arrived.
Richard had walked into the house calling out for them, and Leslie directed
him into the room.
"Richard, I need you to listen, and listen very carefully. Dana is having
her baby. Now." When Richard's face lost all color, Leslie continued quickly,
"I've just been on the phone with Dana's obstetrician and the paramedics.
"Now, apparently there's a big twelve alarm fire in downtown Baltimore which
will prevent the paramedics from getting here all that quickly, but that's
okay, cause we still have Dr. Grady on the phone and she'll be talking us
through this. Now, I need you to do something for me, dear.
"Richard, first thing is to take a deep breath, so you will be able to
function. Breathe, honey. Please." Richard took an enormous gulp of air.
"Good. Now, I need you to go find Mulder," and then turning to Dana she
asked, "and who else? I'm sorry, hon, I don't remember her name."
"Beverly __, Beverly Thompson_ . She's an _ RN," replied Dana in between
short puffs of air. Dana was struggling to get through the contractions
without pushing before she was fully dilated.
Richard stood there nodding his head up and down. Leslie looked at her
bedraggled husband, kissed him on the forehead, and practically shouted,
"GO!"
Both women watched the poor man startle immediately and practically fly out
of the room.
Dana looked at Leslie and a worried expression peeked through. If Richard
were this anxious, she could only imagine what her husband would be like
when he walked through the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luckily, it was Beverly who walked in first. "Okay, Mamma, it seems someone
doesn't want to be left out of her Daddy's party, hmmm?"
Leslie told Beverly Dr. Grady was on the line, and Beverly nodded her head
in acknowledgment. "Let's just see what our situation is here first, and then
I'll talk with the doctor."
As Beverly was draping the clean sheets around Scully to afford her some bit
of modesty, Mulder came running in like the proverbial bat out of hell.
"Dane? Dane? Oh God, Scully, are you okay? The baby? It's too early!
What's going on?" he called out anxiously.
"Okay, my sweet Fox, now you listen to Nana Bev, you hear?" the formidable
voice directed. Mulder nodded his head and Beverly continued, "Your baby
seems to want to be born, and Dana seems to think there won't be time to make
it to the hospital. Now, I have Dr. Grady on the phone here, and as soon as I
do a little check to see just how dilated Mamma is, we'll have a better idea
as to how to proceed.
"But Fox, my dear man, you are going to have to go sit next to your wife, and
remember all of those lovely platitudes the Lamaze teachers taught you, so you
can give your Dana some of the support she so very badly needs right now.
Do you understand, Fox? Because honey, if you don't, I'm gonna kick your ass
out of here."
"I understand, Beverly. Really. Dane, everything's going to be fine," he
soothed as he removed the pillows and crawled in behind her to give her back
more solid support. "How's this, Dane?"
"Better," she panted.
"Okay, now that we understand one another, let's do a quick check." Beverly
raised the sheets and examined Scully's cervix. She then rearranged the
sheets and picked up the phone.
"Dr. Grady? My name is Beverly Thompson, and I am an RN. Yes, Doctor, I've
examined Mrs. Mulder, and she is fully dilated. Yes, this _is_ one anxious
little baby.
"Well, Doctor, I've assisted in several births and I've actually delivered
two babies, one of which was my own grandbaby." Mulder's eyes widened at this
bit of news and when he looked quizzically at Beverly, she simply nodded yes.
The grandbaby she'd delivered was indeed, young Bryan.
"Okay, Mamma, it looks like the good doctor has given us the go ahead to
welcome your baby into the world," Beverly began. "So, Dana, when you feel
the next contraction begin, you just start pushing as hard as you can, okay?"
Scully was in a great deal of pain and could only nod her response. She felt
Mulder grasp her around her belly and lean into her now very, aching back.
Soon, all too soon, she felt another contraction begin.
"C'mon Dane, it's time to push, isn't it?" Mulder whispered into her ear as
he pushed her forward to allow gravity to assist.
"It hurts, Mulder," Scully cried out.
"I know, Scully, but this is our baby. C'mon Scully, push!" encouraged
Mulder with all his heart.
"That's it, Mamma. That's it, we're almost there. I can see that beautiful
baby's head crowning. She's got a lot of dark, black baby hair, Mamma. Take
a breath, dear girl, and get ready. C'mon, Dana, give me a really good push!"
As Dana began to feel exhausted, Maggie and Walter came rushing into the
room. "Dana? Dana? Are you all right?" called out Maggie. "Ohmigod! Dana,
what's wrong?"
Walter noticed Beverly in position to deliver the baby and asked her
anxiously, "Beverly, is everything okay?"
"Yes, Grandpa, everything is fine. Just be a little patient here, okay? We
need to give Mamma here a chance to catch her breath, but I think on the
next push, I'm going to be able to turn those beautiful little shoulders around,"
reassured Beverly.
"Oh God!" grunted Dana.
"Okay, Dane, c'mon. Push, Scully! Push!" urged Mulder.
"Damn you, I'm pushing!!" screamed Dana, and with that Dana heard Beverly
calling out to her. She wasn't sure what it was, but she didn't care, for all
she wanted to hear was a baby's cry.
"Okay, Dana , this is it. One more and your baby will be born. Take a big
breath, and Fox, honey, you hold on to her with all you've got, you
understand?" Mulder nodded, the perspiration was dripping off of both
parent's foreheads.
"Do you feel the contraction coming?" Dana grunted her affirmative once
again, and Beverly only needed to say, "Now, Mamma. Push that baby on out
into the world!"
And she did.
Beverly held that baby so she could clear the airway, and then bundled the
newborn up into a warm, clean receiving blanket which Maggie had been saving
to give to her new grandchild.
Beverly placed the baby in Fox's arms while Dana delivered the placenta. As
per Dr. Grady's instructions, Beverly put the placenta into a strong plastic
bag so it could be examined at the hospital.
When Dana was ready, Mulder placed the baby into Dana's arms.
"So? Does this child have a name?" asked Beverly.
"Yes," Dana said as she looked lovingly at her husband. "I know we want to
name the baby for Nana, but I don't want our children to be known as Adam
and Eve, Mulder. I couldn't do that to them, even if Nana and your grandfather
were able to handle it. So, what do you say, instead of Eve, we name our
baby Dawn. Dawn Marie Mulder."
"Dawn. A new beginning. Welcome to the party, my beautiful Dawn," crooned
Mulder to his newborn daughter.
And with that, the newly appointed Big Brother bounded into the room, along
with the paramedics. "What's going on?" called out Adam.
"Come here, Adam, and meet your sister," invited a teary eyed Mulder. As he
watched his son meet the newest Mulder, he felt the tears start to flow. It
was almost too much for him, on this day of all days.
"Dad," Mulder called to Walter, "would you find my mother? She should be
here."
"I'm here, baby boy. I'm here," said Elizabeth. "She's so beautiful, Fox.
Oh, she looks just like Sammy did when she was born. All of that hair,"
Elizabeth smiled at the memory.
Fox Mulder looked at his wife and ever growing family. He caught his in-laws
eyes and murmured to them an "I love you," to which they replied in kind.
Next he looked at his own mother and repeated the words, never meaning them
more than he did at this moment.
"I love you, Mom. I'm glad you were here to see her born."
"I'm glad to, Fox. Dana, she's beautiful. What a grand entrance!" Elizabeth
proclaimed, and then, in a softer, more pensive voice she wished aloud, "May
she bring you as much joy as my daughter had brought to me."
Mulder knew how difficult it was for his mother to be in that room with them
at that moment. He knew she didn't mean to slight him; Elizabeth still
couldn't bring herself to repeat the three little words back to him. He knew,
however, she was happy for him and his wife, and Fox supposed that would
have to be enough.
For now.
And as he watched Dana being lifted onto the gurney to be taken to the
hospital, he heard cries of "Mazel tov!" once again all around them. Yes,
his daughter's 'grand entrance' would be more than enough.
For now.
End of 1/1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Comments and feedback, please, to STPteach@aol.com