Comments: I realized that CC threw the very concept of a timeline out of the window in S8 so I have a timeline in my head that I stick with when writing. I have 'all things' taking place in April 2000, William making his grand entrance in late January 2001 and the new baby in these stories being expected in September 2002. I'm sure nobody even wondered but just in case ;)

"Solid with the least density, Scully. Eight letters."

"Hydrogen."

"See, it's just *not* true that pregnancy depletes brain cells."

I smile even though he can't see me from where my head is resting comfortably against his shoulder, "I think someone is ready to call it a night, Mulder."

He puts down the newspaper, crossword now finished, and scoops Will up into his arms from where he is dozing peacefully on my lap. He doesn't stir as I kiss his head lightly and I know he's all set to go right through the night as he has been doing for the past few months, since his first birthday when he seemed to decide that he actually quite liked to sleep. Suddenly, for the first time in what felt like forever, Mulder and I had our evenings to ourselves.

At first we weren't far behind Will in heading off to sleep, maybe because the months had finally caught up with us, maybe just because we *could*. Then we found out we were expecting another baby and we took to curling up together on the couch, some nights talking and others just lying in comfortable silence, wrapped in each other's arms. That all changed about three weeks ago when my second trimester hormones kicked in and I found myself seriously horny, unable to sit next to Mulder without the urge to leap on him. It scared the hell out of me and it terrified Mulder! It was all new to me, I don't have many fond memories from the early part of my first pregnancy, having spent most of it in a daze, a cloud of depression where it took everything I had to simply get out of bed in the morning.

Food cravings *are* a familiar urge though, I wanted nothing but cheeseburgers when I was expecting Will. I think Mulder was quite proud the first time he saw me in the full throes of a craving, he took to calling them my "cheeseburger *NOW*!" moments. It's been bizarre this time around, a different craving almost every week.

Mulder says this makes perfect sense because we *are* having a girl and women *are* fickle.

Sure. Fine. Whatever. Just bring me a cookie, or a donut, or a milkshake or this week's food of choice, a Pop Tart. Normally I hate the damn things but right now I'm incapable of rational argument so if baby craves a Pop Tart then so be it. I'm up off of the couch and into the kitchen before you can blink and two minutes later I'm back, Pop Tart in hand. I'm eating them cold too, that's the only way they satisfy my craving. Weird, I know.

I'm just about finished eating when Mulder comes back into the room and sits down on the couch next to me. I lean over to put the plate on the coffee table then climb onto his lap, straddling his legs and smiling what I hope is my most charming smile before I take his face in both of my hands and kiss him, "Hi."

"Mmmmm, you taste sweet."

"Pop Tarts."

"I like this craving."

"And *this* craving?"

I bite the side of his neck and wriggle slightly, pressing my hips hard up against him, causing him to groan, "Again, Scully?!"

I nod slowly and he licks his lips. Oh yeah, again.

"Scully, you're insatiable!"

"Hormones, Mulder, I can't help it. That, and you're pretty tasty."

I laugh and she giggles with me before burying her head into the crook of my neck and sighing contentedly. We have just made love for the second time today, here on the couch and this morning in the shower. A couple of weeks ago, when ultrahorny Scully first made herself known to me, I was scared shitless. Not that I haven't seen Scully horny before, she is one *sexy* woman and she has never been shy about telling me exactly what she wants and when she wants it, but ultrahorny, hormone driven Scully is a whole other ball game.

She gets a look in her eyes, makes her move and I'm gone, powerless to resist even if I was dumb enough to want to. I guess I'm just worried that one day we'll be strolling around Home Depot -or somewhere equally normal- and she'll pounce in the bathroom fixtures aisle. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't say no, I just can't think of anything that would rank higher on the embarrassment scale than being arrested for lewd conduct in Home Depot.

I asked her the other day how on earth she coped with this when she was pregnant with Will and I was, well, not around. She told me that it didn't even cross her mind once I was gone, that the few short weeks we had been together before I was taken had given her enough memories to last for the rest of her life. We had both cried then, for everything I had missed out on, everything she had gone through without me and everything that we would experience together this time around. Then she had wiped my tears then her own before looking into my eyes and, with a perfect poker face, telling me that as long as we had Pop Tarts everything would be fine.

Now, the food cravings I *have* seen before, Scully was a total cheeseburger fiend the last time she was pregnant, I had to force myself not to laugh the first time she stood in front of me, grabbed my hand and told me she had to have a cheeseburger-NOW!

My lettuce-munching, yogurt-eating Scully, begging for red meat and dairy. I kissed her, allowed myself a quick burst of laughter and took her for a burger. This time, the cravings seemed to be changing almost weekly from donuts to cookies to milkshakes and the latest-Pop Tarts. I think this one is my favorite so far, she tastes so good when she's been eating Pop Tarts, a sweeter version of how she usually tastes, if that's possible. Scully with a side of sugar-mmmmmm.

Being here with her now, for this pregnancy, I can't imagine how she must have felt having to go through most of these things alone last time, no-one to rub her back or massage her feet, no-one to lie beside at night, no-one to share her joy or her fears. She doesn't say much about that time but if I ask, she tells me. I don't think she likes to bring it up, it opens up so many unhealed wounds for both of us, brings back so many bad memories. I'm just so thankful I was around for the final couple of months before Will was born, glad I had the chance to try and make up for some of the lost time, even if it was strange and sometimes more than a little awkward for both of us.

The object of my thoughts stirs on my lap and lifts her head up from my neck, "Let's go to bed."

I think I must be suddenly wearing my panic face because she quickly adds, "Relax, Mulder! Let's go to *sleep*, I'm tired."

Scully heads into the bathroom and I go off to check on Will, who is still sleeping soundly, a contented expression on his face.

I'm halfway out of the room when I hear Scully call, actually more like yell, my name, so I charge towards the bathroom like a madman.

When I practically throw myself through the door, she is standing in the middle of the bathroom with one hand on her stomach and an odd look on her face, not one of her usual looks and not one I can identify.

"Scully, what's wrong?"

She smiles then and my racing heart starts to slow down again, "Nothing's wrong, Mulder. Get over here and say hi to your daughter."

I move over to where she stands and she takes my hand, placing it on her stomach. For a few seconds we stand perfectly still and totally silent until suddenly I feel it, a tiny kick against my palm. I gasp out loud and grin at Scully. She appears to have done the impossible and rendered me virtually speechless, all I can manage is a stunned, "Wow!"

This sensation is like nothing I've ever felt before, it's such a different feeling than the first time I felt Will move, he was a fully formed soccer player by the time I was around to feel it!

There's something quite odd about feeling the movement of a baby who is barely visible to the outside world, a child who is hardly a bump on her mother's flat stomach but who is already finding her feet and making her presence known. Scully's expression changes and she seems miles away, "Scully?"

"I was just remembering the first time I felt Will kick. It was the morning after-"

She stops and takes a deep breath before continuing, "It was the morning after your funeral. I slept at your apartment that night, wore your shirt, tried to pretend it was all just a terrible nightmare. I woke up to the baby kicking, although I didn't quite know what had woken me at first. Then he did it again and I cried, I lay there and cried for hours because I realized that he would never know his daddy, never know what a wonderful daddy he had-"

I cut her off at this point and pull her to me, hugging her tightly against my chest and feeling her shaking in my arms as I stroke my hands up and down her spine.

"But he *does* know his daddy, Scully, he *does*. Ssh, everything's okay. I love you."

"I love you too, Mulder."

She mumbles her words into my chest and then looks up at me, her eyes glistening. I lean down and place a kiss on the end of her nose before I pull back and smile at her. Stepping out of our embrace, she pulls her hair free of the band that was holding it in a high ponytail and reaches for the brush. Before she can pick it up, I have it in my hand and I start to brush slowly.

Her hair skims her shoulders now, reminding me of how it was when we first met, how *she* was when we first met. She's as beautiful today as she was then, maybe even more so. Yes, I may be biased but I'm not blind either.

"I've been thinking, Scully."

"Oh?"

"About names, for the baby. A kid needs a good name, something unique and individual but without being horribly embarrassing."

I throw her a quick grin and she hurls an eyebrow right back at me, "Go on, Mulder."

"I was thinking Xena."

"As in Warrior Princess?"

"The very same. Xena Warrior Princess Mulder has a nice ring to it, I think."

"Did you not just say unique and individual *without* being horribly embarrassing? Keep thinking, Mulder."

She takes the hairbrush out of my hand and smacks me lightly on the arm with it before flicking off the bathroom light, leaving me grinning to myself in total darkness. I'm about to follow her to bed when I hear her voice, "And before you ask, Mulder? No, Lara Croft Mulder doesn't sound *any* better."

Damn it, I need to go over that shortlist again.

end