Title: The Childen's Teeth: The Little Fight 
Author: Erin McCole Cupp
CathyLex@aol.com

All six fics in this series can be found here:
http://www.geocities.com/mulderscreek/fics/childrensteeth.html

SPOILERS: Tiny but negligible for results of 
DB/A/OB; I guess for XFFTF as well.

RATING: G

CATEGORY: V, MSR (not hideously so; see rating) 

DISCLAIMERS: Give to Chris Carter, 1013 & Fox 
Network what is Chris Carter's, 1013's & Fox 
Network's...

Dedication: to Joy, my beta, who says she loves stuff 
like this; Sorry that I was so eager to post this that I 
didn't send it to you first. I just got to thinking, and 
this came out...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The brand-new, high-tech surveilance equipment 
sparkled with noise in the darkness, and they both 
jolted awake.

Scully was on her feet almost immediately. "I got it."

"No," Mulder, on his feet as well, reached and rested 
a hand on Scully's shoulder. "Go back to sleep."

"No. S'okay." Her voice was still drowsy. "I got it."

"I was awake anyway," he lied. 

She saw through him, even in the dark of night. 
"Were not." 

"You got up last time," he protested, "and the time 
before that, and the time before that..."

After a moment, Scully sighed and pulled the blanket 
back over herself. "I guess I am being a little 
greedy."

"Does that mean I win?"

"This time..."

He straightened his t-shirt and quietly stepped out of 
the room. He switched on the hall light and 
proceeded directly to the source of the noise in the 
room next door.

Amazing how someone so small could manage to be 
so loud. 

Mulder stooped and reached into the crib to pick up 
his infant daughter. Her little mouth formed a 
howling oval of discontent, which lost some of its 
tension once her father picked her up. The crying 
continued, however, directly next to his ear as he 
placed her little flailing form on his shoulder. 

A quick check revealed that her diaper was not the 
problem. He carried her into the kitchen to warm up 
one of her bottles. As he waited for it to warm to the 
proper temperature, he walked her in circles around 
the kitchen. She could have been screaming bloody 
murder for all he cared. His nerves jangled at her 
yowling, but he was just content to hold her. 

Before the bottle had finished heating, the baby's 
cries had quieted to little hiccups, then had dissipated 
completely. 

"What was that about, Meg?" He laughed to her 
softly as he cradled her in his arms. "Huh?" 

Apparently Margaret Grace Mulder was just as 
content to be held. He marveled at her. Swirls of 
strawberry blond hair formed short, soft curls about 
her face. Enough days had gone by for her little eyes 
to settle on their final color, and if Scully's eyes were 
the color of the sky, this little girls' were the color of 
the sea -- a startling blue-green. Eyes miraculous 
enough to make even the angriest of atheists believe 
in God, just in case her birth alone hadn't been 
enough.

Tiny Meg seemed to be considering her father with 
equal attention. She reached up and grabbed the tip 
of his nose in her miniature fist. 

He laughed as he wiggled his face from her grip. 
"Watch it, kid," he told her. "Soon enough you'll 
probably end up with one of these for your very 
own." 

She responded by pointing her tiny lips into an 
intense yawn. He remembered reading somewhere, 
years ago, an essay written by a father the night 
before he was to walk his daughter down the aisle for 
her wedding. The author had written something to 
the effect saying the first thought every daughter has 
when she first sees her father looking down at her in 
her crib was: "Sucker."

"Sucker" was right. He thought he'd been a 
protective older brother, a protective partner. 
That was nothing compared to this. 

He walked back into her room and settled on the 
rocking chair. He'd put her back to bed in a few 
minutes. Just a few minutes more.

He squinted across the room to be sure the window 
was locked. He looked back down at his daughter to 
find she had fallen fast asleep. Gone were the crying 
wrinkles from her delicate little face. He'd never 
seen anything so peaceful before in his life; so very 
normal compared to the rest of his life, the rest of her 
mother's life. 

The baby he held in his arms represented all the 
mundane that had been taken from them, somehow, 
impossibly, now returned to them. He'd heard Scully 
before telling him and telling herself that not having 
children would give them greater freedom in their 
fight against the future. They wouldn't have to worry 
about someone at home, depending on them both for 
everything. Right? 

Right?

Her words had been hollow comfort. But now, 
everything was different. They were no longer 
fighting for lost sisters, no longer fighting out of 
some sense of vengeance. Nor were they fighting to 
save billions of anonymous lives from an anonymous 
virus. 

They were fighting for one. One little life with a 
future of endless possibilities. 

He allowed himself to indulge in fatherly 
wonderings, another triviality he had never dreamed 
would be his. Will she like basketball? What will be 
her favorite flavor of ice cream? Will she laugh at 
his jokes? Will she get along better with her mother? 
Will she do well in school? Will she learn to play 
piano? Would he have to teach her to drive? Will 
she have prom dates with roaming hands? What will 
she want to be when she grows up? What college 
will she choose? Will she grow up, get married, and 
have a family of her own? 

Will they find the formula for the vaccine in time for 
her to do any of these things? 

Her little face rippled into another yawn.

He snuggled her closer and sighed. For now, this 
moment was enough to provide him the motivation to 
fight a thousand fights, more if need be. 

This moment was enough, and nothing They could do 
could ever take her from them. He and Scully would 
see to that.

For now, this moment was enough. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The End

This fic is followed by: 
Guardian Dear 
Sister's Blood
Confessions of a Cigarette Smoking Girl 
She's Always a Woman to Me
The Children's Teeth