Title: A Wonderland Life 2
Author: Kristen
E-mail: Cookie8302@aol.com
Category: VR
Keywords: Sk/Sc married, babyfic
Feedback: Yes.
Archive: Sure
Summary: Skinner and Scully have a late night talk over their 
new daughter before returning to D.C.Author's 

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Skinner Residence, 2:33 A.M. 

Scully shivered in the cold February morning and hurriedly snuggled
against her husband's warmth. Skinner instinctively wrapped his strong
arms around her and nestled her against him.

"Laura hungry again?" he asked, his voice still husky from sleep.

"Mmm," she whispered, all ready dozing again, "I think a full night's
sleep is a thing of the past."

"Mama said she'd start sleeping through the night soon or at least
more than two hours at a time. Want me to get the next one?" he asked,
kissing her hair.

Scully shook her head, "No, you have to get up in the morning, I can
nap when she naps during the day if I need it."

Skinner let it go and felt her breathing steady. Scully and he had
agreed that she wouldn't go back to the X-files until after Laura's
first birthday so she could have the time to bond with their daughter.
Even he had begun keeping more regular hours, so that he could be home
with Laura.

Mulder had tried to convince Scully to return much sooner that either
she or Walter thought was prudent. He used every method from polite
asking to childish begging, but in the end, he realized she would
return and was still his best friend and partner, even if in an
altered way.

Skinner's thoughts were interrupted by the shrill ringing of the
telephone.  He quickly grabbed the receiver so that it would not wake
Scully.

"Skinner," he whispered into the mouthpiece.

"Hello, Mr. Skinner, this is Dr. Peter Monroe from DC General
Hospital. Is Mrs. Skinner available?"

"Mrs. Skinner is asleep, Doctor. Can I help you?" he asked all ready
having an idea as to what the doctor wanted.

"I'm trying to contact Mrs. Skinner as she is listed as the next of
kin for one Agent Fox Mulder. We need to get in touch with her."

"Hold on, please," Skinner instructed the man as he rolled over to
nudge his sleeping wife, "Dana, it's a Dr. Monroe. He says he's
calling about Mulder."

Skinner watched and listened as Scully dealt with and spoke to the
doctor.  She was upset when she ended the call and rose from the bed,
"Mulder's been shot. He's in surgery."

"Christ," Skinner grunted, "How?"

"I don't know. It's in his knee. I have to get down there."

Scully was all ready dressing quickly, shrugging into her clothes.
Skinner rose after her, "What about Laura?" he asked.

"Can't you stay here, with her. They need me at the hospital," she
declared, pulling on her shoes.

"Dana, I need to leave for work at 7:00 a.m., you won't be back from
the hospital by then," he told her.

"No, so take off or call my mother to stay with Laura," she
instructed, as if it were as simple as a snap of her fingers.

"Remember, your mother's out of town, visiting your Aunt Penny. And I
can't take off of work today either, I have the monthly Administration
breakfast and a meeting with the Deputy Director."

"Then I'll take her with me," she provided, knowing full well that
idea would be countered. She was not disappointed.

"Oh no, you won't," he stated firmly, "I'll not have her exposed to
that kind of environment, why there's all sorts of germs and things
there. I won't allow it. Laura is only a baby, she should be your
first priority Dana."

"She is my priority, I put my career on hold for her, I'm at home with
her.  You are her father, you can take responsibility for her once in
a while," then her tone softened, "Please, Walter. I'll be quick. I
just have to make sure he's being well cared for."

"All right. I'll bring Laura to work with me, show her off on the
fifth floor," Skinner capitulated, caressing her cheek, "You be
careful and call me with updates."

Scully leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed Skinner, "I love you,
Walter," she whispered hugging him.

"I love you, too," he said holding her tightly before releasing her to
go, once again, to Mulder's side.

DC General Hospital 4:46 A.M.

Mulder was in recovery by the time Scully arrived. Dr. Monroe, the ER
doctor and Dr. Grey, the orthopedic surgeon spoke with her about
Mulder's injuries.  The bullet had shattered his knee and while Dr.
Grey did her best to repair it, he'd need some intensive physical
therapy and would be off duty for nearly six months, and then for
another six months on a desk. Scully knew the implications of that for
the X-files, with both she and Mulder out, the brass would have the
perfect excuse to close them down, no matter what Walter did to try to
prevent it.

An hour after she arrived, they allowed her to visit with Mulder. He
awoke when she spoke his name.

"Hey," he whispered drowsily, "Had to get shot to get a visit from
you, eh?"

"That's not true, Mulder," she whispered, holding his hand as it rest
against the pillow, "and you know it."

"What happened?" he asked, studying his leg, in full cast propped up
on pillows.

"The bullet shattered your knee. The doctor did an excellent job
repairing it, but you're going to need some physical therapy," she
told him gently, for he was still weakened, "You're going to be
working a desk for awhile. All in all you'll be laid up for about a
year."

"A whole year, Scully, what about the X-files?" he asked, struggling
to sit up. She pushed him back down. "Don't worry about the X-files,"
she told him, "How did this happen, Mulder?"  she asked gently.

"I was meeting an informant at the memorial, got surprised I guess,"
he said in a voice growing weaker and beginning to fade, "And you
never showed."

"What do you mean, 'I never showed'? I wasn't aware of any meeting,"
Scully said a bit loudly, automatically suspicious and defensive.

"Told Skinner" Mulder mumbled softly just before he fell asleep.

Assistant Director Skinner's Offfice 7:29 A.M.

In spite of his best efforts, Skinner was late for work and missed the
bi-monthly Administrative Breakfast, a sin that would cause some major
gossip in the brass' rumor mill. He settled Laura's carrier he had
with him on his desk and saw the red message light blinking on his
answering machine. He ignored it for the time, deciding to let Kim
deal with it when she came in at 9:00 a.m. He decided to call the
Director personally and apologize for his absence.

"Yes," he said to the assistant who answered the phone, "I'd like to
speak with Director Richards, please. It's Assistant Director
Skinner."

The Director's Assistant placed him on hold while she patched his call
through.

'Yes," the Director's voice came on the line, "Assistant Director
Skinner, we missed you this morning," he said lightly.

"Yes, Sir. I'm sorry, Sir," he said, "I just called to explain."

"And?" the Director said expectantly, as it was unlike Skinner to miss
meetings or breakfasts.

"Well, Sir, it's like this, Agent Mulder was shot and Agent ScI mean
Mrs.  Skinner went to oversee his treatment. I ended up with Laura, of
course and I've never really been out with her on my own."

"Okay, Walter, it's okay," said Director Richards, "Where is your
daughter now?" he asked.

"She's in her sleeper on the corner of my desk, Sir," he answered with
trepidation.

"Go home, Walter," he said, "go home and tend to your baby."

"But Sir, I have meetings"

"Cancel them. You have plenty of leave time and can't properly conduct
business with a tiny baby on your desk. But Walter, I realize this was
an emergency, but next time, find a sitter. The FBI is not the place
for babies."

Skinner sighed, his boss was right, "Yes, Sir. I know it isn't. Thank
you, Sir." With that the conversation ended and Skinner gathered up
Laura and prepared to leave.

Skinner Residence 9:05 A.M.

Scully was angrily pacing the living room when Skinner returned home
with a fussy, hungry Laura.

"It okay, Little Love," he crooned, opening the door and passing
Scully, unaware of her presence as he headed for the kitchen, "Daddy's
going to feed you a bottle right now."

"You're in early, Walter," Scully said, causing Skinner to start.

"Christ Dana, you scared me," he gasped, "How's Mulder?"

"Better, no thanks to you," she said accusingly.

"Huh?" Walter grumbled, confused. How was this his fault?

"Mulder said he told you about a meeting he was having with an
informant you were supposed to tell me to meet him."

Skinner shook his head, "He told me about the meeting, yes, but he
never asked for you to join him."

"He said he did. He said, 'I never showed.'"

"Dana, on my life, I never spoke with Mulder about you attending that
meeting," he said with a grave sincerity, hurt evident in his voice.

"Why would Mulder say that then? Why would he lie?" she questioned,
not wanting to disbelieve Walter, but realizing he had more to gain by
lying.

"Why would I?" he countered, while preparing the makings of Laura's
bottle.  He sounded so hurt at that.

"I'm sorry, Walter," she said after a pause, "I know you'd never lie
to me.  But Mulder did say"

"Perhaps he thought I'd tell you and you'd automatically show up, like
you've always done," Skinner suggested, "What happened, he get caught
without back up?"

Scully nodded, "Must have. Oh Walt, he's going to be off field duty at
least a year, out of work totally three to six months while his knee
heals."

"Sounds serious," Skinner said noncommittally as he lifted Laura up
and cuddled her to his chest while she fed.

"It is," she said, then silence, no more was said.

In fact, nothing was said for the remainder of the day, at least not
on that subject. Skinner noticed his wife's distraction, but thought
it best not to call attention to it. By supper time, however, when he
noticed that all she did was twirl her pasta around on her plate, he
asked, "What's on your mind, Dana?"

"I'm thinking about Mulder and the X-files. With both of us on leave"

Skinner could tell where this was heading, but he let her continue.

"Walter, I know we agreed I'd stay at home until Laura was a year old,
but I never foresaw this. Walter, I want to file the papers to go back
to work."

Skinner of course had predicted it, but was still shocked to actually
hear her say it, he dropped his fork to his plate with a clang, "Dana,
even without our agreement you still have more weeks left of maternity
leave."

"I know, but Mulder needs me to continue the work," she said as if he
should already know that.

"Laura needs her mother at home," Skinner countered, "not running
around chasing aliens or mutants or God knows what else." Skinner felt
his anger rising.  This is what he'd been afraid of, he'd feared the
day that Scully would put Mulder and the X-files a head of him and the
baby.

"That's not what I do and you know that. My mother could look after
Laura when she gets back. I could start Monday," Scully reasoned.

"No, Dana, you can't. I won't allow it," he said firmly, like a father
forbidding his teen to wear make-up.

"You won't allow it?" she questioned sharply, "I'm an independent
woman Walter and if I wish to return to work, I'll return to work."

Skinner didn't feel like arguing with her. If she wanted to go back to
work, fine, but he would not make it pleasant.

"Fine," he said, throwing up his hand and leaving the table, "If you
want to go back to work, fine, go. Who am I to stop you? I'm only your
husband."

"Walter, don't be like this," she begged following him around the
kitchen, "I thought you'd understand. You know how important Mulder is
to me and how much we sacrifice for our work."

"Oh, I understand perfectly, Scully, or at least I should have. Mulder
and your precious X-files will always come first with you. Laura'll be
second, and well, I'll finish a distant third."

He kept his back turned while he spoke and Scully was not sure if he
was just striking out or if he truly believed what he'd said. She
touched his shoulder, "Walter, you are the most important thing in my
life, you and the baby.  Please never doubt that for a minute. It's
just, I feel like I abandoned Mulder and our quest for the truth,
because I found my own happiness. It's"

"You deserve happiness, Dana," Walter said softly, touching the small
hand that rested on his shoulder, "You've already lost so much to the
X-files. Why give up this time with Laura. It's precious and we'll
never get it back."

He turned then and pulled her to his chest, holding her securely,
gently threading his fingers through her hair, "I'm sorry I got so
upset. I guess I'm a bit jealous of Mulder. I've always known while
you love me, he's your soulmate."

Scully placed her finger over his lips, "Ssh," she whispered, "You're
my soulmate, my heart, my whole life. No one, not even Mulder will
come between that."

She rose on her toes again and kissed her husband on the mouth,
gently, slowly for a long moment. When they came up for air, she
smiled lightly and asked him. "Do you think you could keep an eye on
the X-files yourself for a little while. Say until Laura is six months
old?" Scully offered in compromise.

Skinner chuckled and smiled before kissing her again, saying, "I think
I could manage that."

The End


End Notes: My special thanks to Margie for her excellent beta reading and 
advice and to Anita for her unending friendship.


http://www.mulderscreek.com/nurseryfiles.html