TITLE: The Time For Miracles

AUTHOR: Carol Gritton

EMAIL ADDRESS: grey.lady@virgin.net

DISCLAIMER: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions and Fox TV. They are used without permission and no infringement of copyright is intended.

ARCHIVING: Please archive at Gossamer and Spookys; anywhere else please ask first. Thank you!

RATING: G

CLASSIFICATION: S, possible R (M/O)

SUMMARY: A Christmas story with a little angst, a miracle and a happy ending. Consider this set in an alternate universe.

However you are celebrating at this time of year, a happy time to one and all. Thank you for your continued support.

Comments gratefully received at the above address.

The Time For Miracles

by Carol Gritton

He could almost hear the thundering of little feet upon the polished wooden floor as he slipped his key into the lock. Fox Mulder smiled, and let himself into the small townhouse, closing the door behind him. Two colorful blurs streaked towards him, squealing "Pappi!" in unison. He placed his briefcase by the door, then hunkered down and opened his arms as wide as they would stretch, and his four year old twin adopted daughters hurled themselves at him. Mulder's arms closed around them and he held the two little girls tightly.

"Hey! How are my girls?" he asked cheerily.

"I love you, Pappi," said Matty, looking up into her father's face adoringly.

"I love you too, Muffin," replied Mulder, planting a kiss on her head.

"I love you as well, Pappi," said Katrin, not to be outdone by her sister.

"And I love you, Pumpkin."

Katrin beamed as her father kissed her. Mulder gave them both another squeeze. He adored them, and couldn't wait to get home at the end of the day to spend time with them. He had adopted them when they were six months old - Katrin was the elder twin by thirty minutes and she didn't let her sister forget it. Matty, or Matilda, to give her her full name, had not had an easy birth and as a consequence she wore glasses and had some mild learning difficulties. Mulder treated them both exactly the same - he gave Matty no quarter or allowances when it came to playing games or teaching them new things and she had made significant strides in her learning capabilities. She was a happy, confident and outgoing little girl despite her difficulties.

Mulder stood and ruffled the hair on the two blonde heads;

Matty's full of loose waves, and Katrin's as straight as a die. Apart from their hair, and Matty's glasses, the girls were more or less identical in looks and build. They were also fiercely protective of one another, despite their rivalry.

"Pappi, we did painting. Come and see," said Katrin. She led him into the kitchen, where he found Jenny preparing vegetables for the family's evening meal. Jenny Crosetti was Mulder's housekeeper cum babysitter cum general factotum for matters that concerned his personal life. She didn't live with him and his daughters, but she came first thing in the morning to take the girls to kindergarten, picking them up later and entertaining them until Mulder came home at night. In between, she cleaned house, prepared and cooked meals for them and ran errands. Sometimes she stayed with the girls when Mulder couldn't get home at night, but those occasions were few and far between now that he was Assistant Director.

"Hi Jenny," said Mulder with a smile. "Something smells good."

Jenny smiled. "It's a casserole."

Mulder nodded. He enjoyed Jenny's cooking, as did the girls. She didn't come weekends, unless he was working, so the girls got to eat their father's cooking at those times. "How have they been?" he asked.

"Good. They painted you a picture each." She placed the pan of sliced carrots on top of the stove.

Matty tugged on her father's hand. "You have to look at my picture first, Pappi." She handed him a sheet of paper with a beautiful rainbow on it.

"That's lovely, Matty," said Mulder warmly. "I'm going to take it to work and put it in my office."

"What about mine, Pappi?" Katrin took his hand and dragged him to the opposite side of the table.

"It's excellent, Katrin." She had painted a house and garden scene. "Is this our house?"

The little girl nodded. "Will you put my picture in your office too?"

"Of course, sweetheart." He couldn't possibly display one and not the other or there would be hell to pay.

Mulder's friends, colleagues, and especially his mother, thought he was crazy when he announced his intention to adopt a child. They were even more aghast when he told them all he'd adopted six month old twin girls. They told him endless tales of horror on the difficulties of being a single parent, and especially of being a male single parent. But Mulder had taken it all in his stride and confounded all his critics. Even his mother had been impressed with the way he had coped with the girls and she had come to love them dearly.

"That's it for today, Fox. The casserole will be ready in half an hour, and there's a fresh fruit salad in the fridge for dessert."

He looked up as Jenny addressed him. "Okay. We'll see you the same time tomorrow. Matty has that eye exam first thing so I'll come along to that and you can drop them at kindergarten afterwards."

"All right. Have a pleasant evening, Fox." Jenny gave him a warm smile as she slipped into her jacket.

"You too, Jenny."

He tucked the girls into their little beds. The house had three bedrooms - the twins shared one, Mulder had the master bedroom across the landing, and the smallest room was the guest room, which Jenny used if she had to stay over.

"Pappi?" Two piercing blue eyes stared up at him.

"Yes, Matty?"

"Will we ever have a mommy?"

Mulder thought for a moment. The girls didn't raise this subject very often. They knew they were adopted - Mulder had told them as soon as they were able to understand. He'd told them how special they were, and how they had chosen him to look after them. He'd had the option to rename them, but chose to keep the first names they had been born with. Mulder smiled. "I don't know, Muffin - I hope you'll have a mommy one day. I just haven't met anyone special enough to help me look after you and Katrin." Opportunities to meet the opposite sex were very few and far between for Mulder.

"Jenny's special," piped up Katrin.

"Well, yes, she is," answered Mulder. He didn't know how he would cope without her.

"Then why can't she be our mommy?"

"Because..." He trailed off, not really knowing what to say.

"Because what, Pappi?" Now four piercing blue eyes looked up at him.

"Because you have to love someone very much if you want to marry them and spend the rest of your life with them."

"Don't you love Jenny?" asked Katrin.

"Of course I do, Pumpkin, but not in the way that I should if I wanted to marry her." He could see the two little girls thinking that over as he smoothed first one set of covers and then the other. "Come on now - it's time to go to sleep."

"Can we have a story, Pappi?" asked Matty.

"All right, but just a short one. Which one would you like?"

The girls answered in unison. "Guess How Much I Love You."

Mulder smiled and reached out for the little book - it was their favorite - and began to read. After a few minutes, he looked up - both girls were asleep. He closed the book and placed it back on the shelf, kissed each of his daughters then tiptoed out of the room.

Christmas was a week away. Mulder had braved the crowds at the mall and managed to get all of his gift buying done in one go. His last stop had been "Toys R Us" and the crush of people he could see through the store entrance was enough to make him turn tail and run, but Mulder took his courage in both hands and emerged triumphant. Exhausted and relieved, he headed for home. The closet in the guest room was lockable, so all the Christmas gifts had been stored in there, away from small prying eyes.

He saw the two excited little faces as he pulled up in the drive. He gave a wave and received one back. Before he'd even locked the car, the front door was open and the girls were dancing on the doorstep.

"Pappi! Pappi! Hurry up! We have a surprise for you!" Matty and Katrin darted towards him, took a hand each and started to pull him towards the house.

"Whoa!" laughed Mulder. "What's all this excitement for?" He looked up and saw Jenny at the door, smiling fondly at the happy scene. "You know, you shouldn't be out here without your hats and coats."

"It's just for a minute, Pappi," said Katrin.

"Well, that's all right then." He closed the front door, and the girls jigged impatiently as he removed his overcoat and scarf. "Now, what is it you want to show me?"

"You have to shut your eyes," Matty informed him.

"Okay." Mulder closed his eyes, and the girls each took a hand.

"You mustn't look, Pappi - not until we say," said Katrin.

"All right." He knew they were leading him into the living room. Suddenly, the girls stood still.

"You can look now, Pappi," said Matty.

Mulder opened his eyes, and saw a tall Christmas tree in the bay window. All of the tree had been dressed, except for the topmost branch, and colourful fairy lights blinked on and off. The girls were waiting in anticipation for their father's verdict.

"Do you like the surprise, Pappi?" asked Katrin, her blue eyes bright.

"It's wonderful, sweetheart," replied Mulder. He turned to Jenny. "Did you organize this?"

"Yes," she answered. "We went out first thing and bought the tree, and once I'd strung the lights and tinsel, I let the girls have half the tree each to decorate."

That sounded like an eminently sensible plan to Mulder. He cast his eyes over the tree again, noticing that the tree ornaments appeared to be clustered into groups rather than randomly spaced, but that just added to its charm.

Matty picked up the gold star that topped off the tree. "Pappi, we saved this for you."

"You want me to put this on the tree?" he asked, taking the star from her. The little girl nodded. "All right... here we go." Mulder reached up and slipped the star onto the topmost upright branch. "How's that?"

Katrin and her sister smiled approvingly, then she said, "Which half of the tree is best, Pappi?"

This was a job that called for diplomacy and tact, decided Mulder. He moved closer to the tree and made a great play of scrutinizing it closely, stroking his chin and 'hmm-ing' a lot. "I think..." He looked sideways at his daughters, who were both wide eyed and eager to hear his verdict. "... I think you've both made such an excellent job of dressing the tree that I can't make a choice."

Jenny smiled and shook her head. "You should have been a diplomat," she said.

"I'll take that as a compliment," answered Mulder. "Well, as you made such a wonderful job of the tree, I think you deserve a treat."

"What Pappi? What?" Matty and her sister jumped up and down.

"How about we eat out tonight?" Mulder was almost deafened by the enthusiastic response from the girls. "Jenny, would you like to join us? If you don't have anything better to do, that is?"

Why not? All she had to look forward to that evening was wrapping Christmas gifts. "I'd love to, Fox," smiled Jenny.

"Good."

"Can we have pizza?" asked Matty.

"I want a burger," pouted Katrin.

"Well, I think that we should let Jenny choose as she's our guest," decided Mulder.

"Oh..." Jenny thought for a moment. "How about Chinese?"

"Yeah!" cried the children happily, and Mulder sighed with relief.

"Good choice," he said.

It was late afternoon on the day before Christmas Eve. Mulder had been up till the early hours, wrapping gifts. Jenny had been happy to stay on and assist him, and they'd enjoyed a pleasant evening talking and drinking wine as they wrapped the presents.

Mulder was tired and not in the best of moods. Agents Clements and Ribeiro sat before him, on the other side of his big cherrywood desk, and looked on uncomfortably as he read them the riot act. Mulder hated this part of the job - he could remember all the times he had sat where they were sitting and been verbally whipped. He was in mid flow when there was a tap at the office door. Mulder clicked his tongue in annoyance. Hadn't he said he didn't want to be disturbed? He shoved his big leather chair back and stood.

"Excuse me." He strode to the door and almost yanked it open.

His secretary stood on the other side. "What is it, Patty?"

Patty Hayes didn't miss the irritation in her boss's tone. "I'm sorry to disturb you, sir, but Jenny just called from the hospital."

All that registered was the word 'hospital' and Mulder's heart skipped a beat, his stomach taking a nose dive towards his feet. "Is it Katrin or Matty?" he asked urgently.

"Katrin. They're at Georgetown Medical. I thought you'd want to know right away..."

"Of course. Thank you, Patty." Mulder squeezed her arm. She was a first class assistant, seemingly able to anticipate his moods and his needs; she knew when her invaluable skills were required and when she should melt into the background. "Did Jenny say what was wrong with Katrin?"

From the way Patty's eyes traveled from his face to the floor then slowly back up again, Mulder guessed that the news wasn't good. "She said the hospital is running tests, but they suspect meningitis."

"Oh God." Mulder closed his eyes momentarily. There had been a spate of cases recently and he'd prayed that his girls wouldn't succumb. There had been a lot of publicity about the outbreak and several checklists of what symptoms to look for had been published in newspapers and magazines. Both Mulder and Jenny had taken the time to familiarize themselves with those symptoms - just in case. Forewarned is forearmed.

Mulder barreled into the ER at a rate of knots and headed straight for the admitting desk. "I received a call to say that my daughter, Katrin Mulder, is here."

As the clerk checked her computer, he heard, "Fox." Mulder turned and saw Jenny coming towards him, carrying Matty.

"Jenny." He gave her and Matty a hug. "Are you okay?" He could see that her warm brown eyes were red from crying. "Let me take Matty."

"Pappi, Katrin's sick," said the little girl sadly, as she settled into her father's arms.

"I know, baby, but the hospital is going to make her better." He kissed his daughter's brow and turned to Jenny again. "Are you okay, Jenny?" he asked softly.

"Not really, Fox. When I saw the purple rash, I knew... I just knew..." Jenny bit her lip. "I just hope I got Katrin here in time."

Mulder's hand closed around hers. "I'm sure you did, Jenny." He knew she would never let anyone or anything harm the girls - she loved them as if they were her own and would do everything in her power to protect them. He was just about to say something else when a doctor approached.

"Mr Mulder?"

"I'm Fox Mulder. How's Katrin?"

The ID clipped to the doctor's scrubs said 'Mark Ross.' Mulder guessed him to be mid thirties, with dark hair that was graying, and little gold rimmed spectacles.

"She's a very sick little girl, Mr Mulder. Katrin has meningococcal septicaemia. We caught it just in time, thanks to Miss Crosetti's prompt action. We've managed to stabilise her and we'll be moving her up to the Paediatric ICU shortly."

"Can I see her?" asked Mulder.

"Briefly. Katrin has been sedated and she's connected to a ventilator..."

"Did Katrin stop breathing?" asked Mulder in alarm.

"No. It's to take the pressure off her having to do it for herself. The less work her body has to do, the better and quicker her recovery."

"She is going to get better?"

"It's early days yet, Mr Mulder. Let's just take it one step at a time." The doctor gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "I'll arrange for the rest of you to be vaccinated, and in the meantime, I think it's a wise precaution not to let your other daughter near her sister. This is a highly contagious disease."

Matty didn't like the sound of that. The two little girls were inseparable. They went everywhere and did everything together. They even had their own private language. "Pappi, I want to see Katrin," said Matty, pouting.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, you can't. She's too ill and the doctor is afraid that you might catch it. You stay with Jenny while I go and see your sister. I'll tell her you said hello, all right?"

Mulder thought he would faint when he saw his little girl hooked up to all the machinery. He had expected the ventilator but she was also hooked up to a heart monitor, and another monitor recorded her blood pressure. Tears sprang into his eyes as he saw her looking so alone and helpless.

Mulder took Katrin's tiny hand in his and used his other hand to stroke her brow and caress her cheek. "Hi Pumpkin, it's me," he said softly. A lone tear rolled slowly down Mulder's cheek. His girls had had the usual bumps and bruises and childhood ailments, but never anything like this. Seeing his child laid out motionless on a hospital bed was a new experience. "You're going to be fine, baby. They're going to move you up into the ICU in a little while. Jenny and Matty are here, and Matty said to tell you hello. We're going to be right with you, sweetheart - we won't leave you."

A nurse touched his shoulder. "We're ready to move Katrin now, Mr Mulder. If you'd like to follow us."

"Thank you." Mulder leaned over and placed a soft kiss on the child's brow. "I'll be right back honey, I promise." He stood back and watched as they wheeled his little girl away. It was going to be a long night.

Jenny paced the floor outside Katrin's room. "I should have known sooner that something was wrong..." She wrung her hands. "Katrin was listless and sleepy all morning... then I pulled up her top and saw the spots..." She covered her face with her hands and started to cry softly.

"Jenny, you did what you could under the circumstances. You did the right thing in bringing her here." Mulder pulled her into his arms.

"But what if I wasn't quick enough, Fox? What if Katrin doesn't recover or she's damaged in some way? I'll never forgive myself..."

"Katrin will be fine," answered Mulder firmly. "You have to believe that, Jenny."

"I don't know if I can, Fox."

He held her hand in his and gave her a warm smile. "Then I'll have to believe for the both of us."

The next morning, Jenny took Matty home, under protest from the little girl, to give her some breakfast and to bathe her and change her clothes. She also picked a fresh set of clothes for Mulder, and swung by her own place on the way back to the hospital to freshen up and put on some clean attire.

Jenny and Matty found Mulder in the waiting room when they reached the hospital. He had been sent out while the doctor came to see how Katrin was doing. Mulder used the opportunity to clean up and change into the fresh clothing, then call Patty at the office to let her know he wouldn't be in for the foreseeable future.

Matty and Mulder were playing a counting game when Dr Ross came into the room. Mulder knew by the young man's expression that the news wasn't good. He ushered the medic out of the room, not wanting Matty to hear what was said.

"I'm afraid the news isn't good, Mr Mulder. Katrin is in a coma and the infection has spread."

Mulder gnawed the inside of his cheek and ran a hand through his hair. "Can you give her any more antibiotics?"

"We're giving her as much as we dare already. All we can do other than that is to keep her comfortable."

"My daughter will come through this, Dr Ross. Katrin is a fighter... she won't let this thing beat her."

"I'm sure she won't, Mr Mulder."

"Pappi, what's a coma?" asked Matty.

Mulder regarded his daughter. Where had that come from? He hadn't told her what Dr Ross had said. He looked at Jenny and she shook her head, as if to say 'it wasn't me.' She had broken down in his arms again when he'd told her the latest news.

Mulder sat the little girl on his lap and wrapped an arm around her. "It's a very deep sleep," he replied. "Sometimes when people are very sick they go into a coma."

"Do they wake up?"

Mulder hesitated. He had decided very early on that honesty was always the best policy where his girls were concerned. "Not always, Muffin."

"Katrin will wake up, won't she?"

Mulder took his daughter's hand and kissed it. "I don't know, sweetheart," he answered softly.

The day seemed interminably long after the night before. It was Christmas Eve, and they should have been at home, getting ready for the excitement to come the following day. For the first time, Mulder noticed that each floor in the hospital had its own Christmas tree - the nurse that was attending Katrin told him that the children on the pediatric ward had dressed the tree on that particular floor. He thought of their tree at home and tears filled his eyes. Would Katrin ever see another Christmas tree? He didn't dare entertain that thought, and banished it, with some difficulty, from his mind.

Mulder and Jenny took it in turns to sit with Katrin, while the other kept watch over Matty and entertained her.

"You don't have to stay, Jenny," said Mulder, as they prepared to switch over.

"I want to, Fox."

"What about your Christmas? Won't your family be expecting you? I don't want to keep you from them."

"I called my mother and told her that I would be staying here until Katrin is better. She knows how much the girls mean to me, Fox. Besides, someone has to stay with Matty. You can't be in two places at once."

Mulder smiled. "That's true enough." He took her hand. "Are you sure, Jenny?"

"I'm quite sure, Fox." She nodded in the direction of Katrin's room. "Go see your daughter."

In truth, he was glad of her company. Mulder didn't think he could have gotten through this alone.

Mulder awoke with a start. His eyes adjusted slowly and he sat up, rubbing them with the heels of his hands. He turned to the side, and panic rose in him. Where was Matty? She had been asleep on the sofa when he last looked. How long had he been asleep? Mulder was up in no time and heading for the nurses station.

"Have you seen my daughter?" he asked quickly. "Blonde hair and glasses?"

"No, I'm sorry, I haven't."

Nodding a quick 'thank you,' Mulder headed back in the direction of Katrin's room. Just as he reached the door, he met Jenny, returning from the bathroom.

"Fox? What is it?"

"I woke up and Matty was gone. Have you seen her?"

"No, I was in the bathroom." She saw the frantic look on his face and laid a calming hand on his wrist. "I'm sure she hasn't gone far, Fox. We'll find her, don't worry."

He hoped that she was right. "I'm going to look in on Katrin."

"Okay. I'll keep looking for Matty."

Mulder pushed the door opened and stopped. Curled up on the bed, beside her sister, was Matty. She had one arm across Katrin's front. Mulder heaved a huge sigh of relief and called softly to Jenny before crossing to the bed and lifting his little girl into his arms. She stirred as he picked her up.

"You shouldn't be in here, sweetheart," he admonished softly, smoothing her hair off her brow.

"I made Katrin better, Pappi. Look."

Mulder looked down at his other daughter; slowly her eyes fluttered open and she coughed at the ventilator tube in her throat.

"Easy, baby, easy; let me call the nurse."

Dr Ross said he had never seen anything like it - they had not expected Katrin to make it through the night. Now she was free of infection and sleeping soundly.

Mulder sat beside the bed, with Matty on his lap and Jenny by his side. "Matty, what did you mean when you said you made Katrin better?" he asked gently.

"I touched her, Pappi, and it made the sickness go away," answered the child.

"Show me."

Matty laid her tiny hand across her father's forehead, and he felt the heat radiate from her touch. "Like that, Pappi."

No-one else but Mulder would have believed it.

"It's Christmas Day," said Mulder softly.

"Yes," replied Jenny. She studied the man beside her, with his two day growth of stubble. "Merry Christmas, Fox."

"Merry Christmas, Jenny. I'm afraid you'll have to wait for your present."

"So will you."

They laughed softly together, not wanting to wake the sleeping children.

He took her hand. "Thank you for staying, Jenny. I don't think I could have gotten through it without you."

"I wouldn't have let you go through it alone, Fox."

For the first time, Mulder looked, really looked, at the woman beside him, and took in her classic Italian looks - the soft brown eyes that he loved so much, the olive toned skin, the high cheek bones and inviting full mouth. The dark, silken chestnut hair that fell in soft waves around her shoulders.

"Jenny..." His voice sounded strangely distant to his ears.

"Yes?" she whispered.

His thumb moved slowly, gently, over her lips, then he leaned forward, closed his eyes and brushed his lips against hers. When she didn't protest, he came back for a second time, applying a little more pressure.

When they pulled apart, Jenny's expressive eyes were shining and she was chuckling softly.

"What?" asked Mulder, frowning.

"I've waited so long for you to do that, Fox."

"Why didn't you say anything before?"

"I... I wasn't sure how you felt..."

God, he'd been such a fool, his heart blind to what had been there all the time. Jenny's palm rested against his cheek.

"Do you know now?" he asked.

Jenny nodded. "I think so. I love you, Fox," she said softly.

Mulder sat back in his chair, pulling Jenny into his embrace. Together, they watched the two girls sleeping. Mulder sighed contentedly - the future had never looked more rosy. In his arms, he held the key to that future - a possible wife for himself and the mother his girls had longed for. His eyes traveled to his daughters, Matty's healing hands resting on her sister's body, and Mulder offered up a silent prayer of thanks for the miracles that had taken place.

It was going to be a very happy Christmas - the first, he hoped, of many.

The End