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Title: Father's Day Summary: After the events of "Peaceful, Easy Feeling," Regina has some news to share with her husband. But who else is listening in? Author's notes: This is the fifth installment of the Skinner/Regina series. In order:
"Is that clear, Agent Scully?" "Yes, sir." "Do we understand each other, Agent Mulder?" The seated man hesitated, and his boss glowered at him from across the wide oak desk. "Agent Mulder. I asked you a question. Are we clear?" Dana Scully sat in her chair and tried to plead telepathically with her partner and long-time lover. Don't be a jerk, Mulder. Just get out of here. Mulder, apparently, had left his antennae at home. "No, sir. I don't believe it's right. The sheriff was a moron. If he'd listened to Agent Scully and me, we would have caught the killer three days earlier." The balding man stood slowly, gathering his considerable force of persuasion around him. His baritone, always a little harsh, was brittle now. "Let me get this straight, Agent Mulder," he began to tick off the points on his fingers as he circled the desk. "You went into the local sheriff's office and informed him that his killer was, in fact, the scarecrow of a neighboring cornfield. You then proceed to destroy said cornfield in a Ray Kinsella impression, thus robbing that farmer of thousands of dollars worth of produce. This not succeeding as you hoped, you conned Agent Scully into running a stakeout with you of the now bare land. What was next, Agent Mulder? The Great Pumpkin?" "Sir, I-" "Agent Mulder, you go to the local law with a story like that and have the nerve to call him a moron?" Mulder didn't flinch. "We caught him, sir. And he was the former owner of the field." The corners of Walter Skinner's mouth twitched downward. This warning set off one thought in Scully's mind. Uh, oh. The big ex-Marine seemed pretty near critical mass and Scully had a feeling that it may come to blows this time. She shifted in her seat. It worked. Sort of. Skinner's eyes were drawn by the movement and the tension between the two men diminished slightly. "Agent Mulder," Skinner said after a beat. "For fear of causing you physical harm, and the paperwork that would entail, I'm going to let you walk out of here until I can determine a suitable course of action to fit your misdeeds." "Sir, I -- Ow!" Scully's surreptitious kick had the desired effect. It shut him up. "Yes, sir." Scully stood smoothly, then shot the older man a quick look. He seemed...haggard. Suddenly, she experienced an unexplained surge of pity for him. "Sir, if I may ask--" She never got the chance to finish the sentence as the intercom buzzed on his desk. He punched the button with a finger. "Yes?" Kimberly's voice was oddly muffled. "Sir, you have some visitors." "I'm with my agents now, Kim," he barked back. "I think you'll want to see these two, sir." Kim cut off the conversation and the door opened. A small windstorm whirled into the office, followed by his mother. "Dad-dee!" Three-year-old Sam shouted as he hurled himself at his father's legs. Skinner caught him up before the pistoning chubby legs could scale his body. Scully swallowed the smile. Her tough, demanding boss seemed to melt away in the presence of his wife and son. Big pussycat, she thought to herself. "Sam. What are you doing here, son?" "Sam has been my helper today. He escorted me to the grocery store, to the kennel. To the deli." Gina paused and met her husband's eyes. "To the doctor." Mulder and Scully exchanged glances. It all became clear. Since Regina's shooting nearly four months before, Skinner had been in a foul mood. This included growling at agents, snapping at the gofers and alienating his secretary. He'd even managed to cause a couple of the more susceptible librarians to burst into tears. Now, as Regina Skinner rubbed a hand lightly over her protruding belly, her husband started toward her. "Gina." His voice was as tender as they had ever heard it. "You shouldn't be up. You should be home, taking it easy." "Walt, I'm not an invalid. I've done this before, remember? Besides, I'm tired of taking it easy. We decided to bring you lunch and say hello." Kimberly, standing in the doorway, saw the strain between husband and wife that was stretched tight as a black cord. "Sam. Hey, buddy!" Sam turned his gorgeous black eyes to Kim and smiled widely at her. "Kim!" He held out his arms to his friend and Kim obediently swung him to her hip. Gina smiled and shook her head. "Big flirt." "He's my boyfriend," Kim said stoutly. "Get in line. He's wrapped a half a dozen of our friends round his little finger, and Sally Bradstreet has already pencilled him in for a marriage in twenty years." Kim tousled the little boy's dark hair. "Sam, I see you and your Mama brought some food." Sam nodded solemnly. "Lots." "Enough to share, I hope, Kim. We thought we'd have a picnic. Dana, Fox. You're invited as well." Taking her cue, Kim offered to set the picnic up (with Sam's help, naturally) in the outer office. Scully quickly volunteered and Mulder stood in the doorway waiting patiently for Regina to tell her news. "C'mon, Mulder," Scully whispered, shoving him out of the office. "But I wanted to..." At his partner's glare, he grinned sheepishly. "Oh. I guess her husband should hear first, huh?" Scully ushered him out before he could do any more damage. The door closed softly behind them, but not before Skinner heard his secretary say in a bemused voice, "She calls you 'Fox '? I didn't think anybody calls you Fox.'" "Don't start, Kim. She was my partner for awhile." "Sure, Mulder. Sure." Then the heavy door muted the sound. "Gina, why don't you sit down? You've been so busy all day; you must be exhausted." Regina reached out her arms to her husband and he walked the last two steps to her. She laid her hands on each side of his face and breathed out one word. "Hello." Skinner's eyes wandered over her face, lingering on her mouth, then closed as he kissed her. "Hello," he whispered back to her. "Am I calm enough now, Querida?" "Si, but you get to calm Sam down." "Why's that?" His heart leaped into his throat at the smile encroaching on her lips. "Because he wanted a baby brother, and he'll just have to do with a baby sister." "A girl?" he echoed. Regina laughed her joyous laugh. "Yes, Terry. We're gonna have a beautiful, healthy baby girl." "No complications?" "Not from the operation. The birth is another matter, but I'm strong." She laid her hands on his chest to forestall another worry-induced seizure. "Don't fret, Terry. You married one of the Swift girls. Do you really think we're that fragile?" He gathered her carefully into his arms, rubbing his hands over her shoulders and spine. She sighed and leaned into him. Her muscles often pained her now. Although she never said anything, he had seen her wince when she moved at times. He had taken it upon himself to rub her back nightly, to smooth away the knots and kinks. She had teased him for his overprotectiveness, but he'd remained firm. Regina was going to be pampered whether she liked it or not. "I love you," he told the top of her ear. "It's going to be all right now. She's going to look just like you, Gina." He felt her snort against his shirt. "Fat? And slow?" He cupped her chin in his hand and raised her eyes to his. "No. She's going to be beautiful, and there's no one I'd rather welcome to the family." She reached around to the back of his neck and kissed him slowly, tasting his mouth with the deliberation of a connoisseur. He returned the kiss, trying to express through it the things he couldn't say here. They broke the kiss, but not the embrace, at the same time. She rested in his arms and Walter Skinner felt the tension drain out of him and seep through the soles of his feet into the floor. He held her a moment longer, then released her reluctantly. "Are you hungry?" "Starved." He grinned at her. "Come on, mestiza-woman. Let's go tell our friends the good news," he guided her to the door with a hand on the small of her back. "Your parents, Cheryl and Alan, Betina and her husband. Who else?" "Sam. Joe and Sally. Bonnie and Adam will want to spoil her rotten." "Nope. That's my job." Regina chuckled. "Well, I hope she gets my good sense." And your ears, Skinner thought as he saw his wife stop and turn at a faint sound. Then her eyes narrowed at something over his shoulder. He heard the faint scratch-hiss of a match, then smelled burning tobacco. A lean, greying man had entered his office, noiselessly opening the adjoining door. Watery grey eyes stared at the couple. Skinner stepped in front of his wife. "Well, well," the intruder greeted. "I understand congratulations are in order." Skinner took three quick strides toward the man and snatched the cigarette from between his lips. He ground it out beneath his foot, heedless of the carpet. "Show a little respect. You're talkin' to my wife." Just for an instant, a flash of anger animated the other man's colorless eyes. Then it was gone. "You're right. We wouldn't want anything to happen to the baby, would we?" he met Regina's eyes over her husband's shoulders. "Little girls can be so fragile." Regina bared her teeth. "So can secrets, Mr. Smith." Sam pushed open the outer door and rushed inside. Lunch was ready and there were chocolate-chip cookies, too. Then, he stopped. Something was wrong. His Daddy, always calm with his Mama, was standing rigid. His Mama was behind him, with her right hand over her tummy where the baby was, and her left on Daddy's shoulder. They were both looking at a tall man the color of ash. He had seen Cisco, Cortez and Shoshone all react this way when they saw someone they didn't like. Whoever this stranger was, Daddy and Mama didn't like him. And if they didn't like him, then neither did Sam. He stalked toward the man on chubby legs and glared up at him like his Daddy. "Go way!" Daddy never shouted. Neither did Mama. But he could shout when he was outside or calling for Cisco. To correct a dog sometimes, like Mama did. It worked with the Shepherds. "No!" Sam ordered and shook a finger at the Ash-man. Mama spoke to him in her quiet voice. "No, Sam. You don't need to yell at people. It's all right. Come here, mijo." Skinner hefted his son and held him close. "Your mama's right, Sam. It's okay." "Yes, Sam," the Ash-man said. "We're old friends." "You're not a friend." Sam scowled in a credible imitation of his father. "I don't like you." Skinner brushed his chin over his son's black head. "Smart kid." "Takes after me," his wife murmured. Skinner grinned, and for a moment, they were all united. Husband, wife, child. All smiling at the walking cadaver before them. The Ash-man shifted his weight, non-plussed. Regina seized the higher ground. "If you're intending to threaten my family, Mr. Smith, you've gone too far. You have connections. So do we." Skinner took point. "And believe me when I tell you, sir, that your anonymity will just make it all the easier for you to disappear." "No one will find you, Mr. Smith." The threat was gentled by Regina's soft Latino accents. "No one." A tap on the door ripped the thick silence. Mulder stuck his head in. "Sir, lunch is--" He caught sight of the stranger and stopped. "Don't be alarmed, Mr. Mulder. I was just leaving." The tall man glided out the way he'd come before Mulder could speak again. A look passed between wife and husband over the top of their oldest child. Mulder couldn't read it. "Regina?" he began hesitantly. She deliberately misunderstood. "Come on, Fox. I have some good news for everyone." Mulder regarded her silently for a moment, then nodded once and allowed her to pass into the outer office ahead of him. Skinner gave him the same nod, and joined his wife. The End --"The blind leading the blind."
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