Mulder woke in the bed he had been sharing with his lover of the past eight weeks, Walter Skinner, and felt truly happy for the first time in years. He heard his lover in the bathroom and sighed in utter contentment. He was not in any hurry to get up. He was just as happy to laze in this bed with this man, on this wonderful sunny Saturday.
Skinner walked in and quirked an eyebrow at Mulder.
"Hey, lazy bones. Up and at 'em."
"Walter, I know I should tell you to fuck off, but I'm feeling just a little too boneless."
"I know we fucked last night, but I didn't think I was that good."
"You're always good, Walter."
Walter bent down and kissed Mulder softly.
"You wanna stay in and spend more time in bed? Fine with me. I like you with this new laid back attitude."
"I'm not laid back, just well laid," Mulder smirked.
"Yeah, and it shows."
Walter's hand ran down and caressed Mulder's stomach. Suddenly Mulder frowned. He rose quickly and looked down at his belly.
"I'm getting fat!"
"You are not getting fat, Mulder. You are just gaining a few pounds from me feeding you more."
"Yeah? Well, when was the last time I ran? Or played basketball? I'm turning into a butterball."
"I like you like this. There is more of you to love."
Mulder snorted.
"Oh, sure, and when I get a beer gut, you're gonna find me just as fuckable?"
"Of course. Sharon gained weight off and on the whole time we were married. I never complained once."
"Hm, and that's supposed to console me?"
Walter shrugged. "Besides, you don't drink beer."
"My Uncle Morty had a beer gut and he never touched the stuff."
"Mulder, you do not have an Uncle Morty."
"How do you know?"
"I know. I work for the FBI."
"Very funny, Walt. So, it was my neighbor's uncle in the eighth grade."
"You spent a lot of time with this neighbor's uncle?"
Mulder looked up at Skinner and smiled.
"What, you think he was teaching me and Pete some things other than how not to live your life?"
"I never said that, Fox."
"Ok. Good."
That was the end of the discussion.
Six weeks later...
"Walter, I am starting to get worried."
"Why?"
"I am getting breasts."
"What?"
Walter came into the bathroom where Mulder was staring at his protruding belly and his chubby pecs. Walter reached over and cupped his left breast.
"Nah, just as I keep telling you, there is just more of you to love."
"Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Don't touch me there. I--my nipples are sensitive."
"What?"
"I think I need to see a doctor. I have never had such sensitive nipples before."
"Maybe not this sensitive but..."
"Geez, thanks, big guy. Thanks for the support."
"Support? Do you think you need a bra, Fox?"
"That's not funny."
"Listen. Go ahead and make an appointment. Or would you rather see Dana?"
"No fucking way. Not Dana. Since we started seeing each other, she rarely speaks to me. I really miss her."
"Maybe you should go see her then, Fox. For more than just a checkup, if you know what I mean."
Mulder sighed then nodded.
"OK. She'll probably put me on a diet right away, telling me my hormones are out of whack from too much sugar or something."
At Dr. Dana Scully, MD's office in the Family Medicine Clinic
"Dana, thanks for seeing me on such short notice."
"You know I always have time for you, Fox."
They hugged and Mulder held her a long time, realizing how much he had missed her closeness, her strength, all wrapped up in such a small frame.
"I've missed you."
"I've missed you, too."
She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, then pulled back and became Dr. Scully.
"So, you are worried about your weight gain?"
"Yeah, among other things."
"What other things?"
"I--my nipples have become very sensitive. More so than normal."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"That could just be hormones from your weight gain. I can get a blood analysis done to find out. Let me check your vitals first."
She checked his weight, blood pressure, temperature, then said, "Your BP is a up a little, but that could be from worry or because of the weight gain. Go down to the lab and have them draw some blood. I will call you with the results when they come in."
"Um, Dana, maybe you can come and visit some time. Walter and I would love to have you."
"I know, Fox, its kind of difficult. I rarely get to see Jenny..."
Mulder sighed. Their child and they rarely spoke of her. He felt like a major heel and a half. When Scully first came to him, almost 2 years ago, and asked him to participate in her attempt at in vitro fertilization with an egg donor and his sperm, he had agreed.
She had not planned for them to start a physical relationship, since it was grounded in sex and releasing tension, she had never expected him to be a father to her child. She wondered if that was what was best for them, after all. It was totally a given that the child would remain hers to take care of. She would quit her job and raise the child, maybe teaching or something, as opposed to her career with the FBI, which did not exactly lend itself to motherhood. He was just the sperm donor and that is what she considered him at first.
When he was abducted, her whole mind was geared toward keeping her unborn child safe. A major part of her also began to think, if and when Mulder returned, that he should have more say in what happened to the child once he or she was born. It was what kept her going throughout the time she was looking for him in Arizona. Then getting a new partner, which she reluctantly accepted to keep up appearances, and having so many near misses, including near-miscarriages and other dangers she faced from sticking with
Mulder's (and now her) work. She only hoped that no one would learn of it too soon, before she had made her own decisions on how her life was going to work.
A part of her had worried that someone, or something, would take their child. She would have nightmares of some alien coming to take her child away. Sometimes she was trussed up on an alien bed and she knew the aliens had taken the fetus; other nightmares involved having Consortium hounds taking her newborn child out of her hands shortly after being given the baby.
She never thought that Mulder would not be there for her when he was found, nor for their unborn child. She knew it was not his fault. The trauma and brutality he experienced had been so much, and he was given a permanent leave, pending investigation. He hadn't even been able to sign any papers until after two weeks of recovery in a private hospital. She shouldn't have expected him to be there for her when he was barely able to be there for himself.
She was outraged when they had put him in a psychiatric ward. Physically he was OK, according to all the tests that were performed on him at her request. He was neither malnourished nor dehydrated. His health was even better than it had been before the abduction, since he was apparently dying beforehand. But her initial lack of contact with him when he was returned, coupled with the fact that he had kept his secret illness away from her was what had helped push a wedge between them. That and other things...
Skinner, at the time, had been a godsend, helping her out in a million subtle yet important ways, making her feel so much better. He'd run the gamut, from keeping the initial secret for her, to giving her back rubs and foot massages. She had wondered at that time if maybe Skinner would be a better choice as the father to her child. But she thought that it was best not to think of such things until Mulder recovered. Skinner was a good friend to them both.
He nodded and interrupted her musings by saying, "You could always bring her with you. She loves her Uncle Walter..."
Scully smiled, remembering the first time Jenny had seen Walter. It was amazing that a baby could fall in love with someone, but the little girl seemed to have fallen in love with Walter at first sight. Jenny always had a smile for him and allowed him to hold her and talk to her, even when her patience with her own mother had run out. Lately, she had started kissing him and Scully often thought to herself that she was an outrageous flirt-just like her father.
"OK, maybe. I will call you when I am free."
He nodded and resigned himself to not getting a hug goodbye, but she surprised him by hugging him.
"I do miss you, you know."
"And I miss you."
Scully nodded. "Try not to worry. Go home and enjoy your remaining convalescence, Fox. If anyone deserves it, you do."
Mulder smiled. "I will."
With that he turned and left.
She sighed and looked at the time. She had just enough time for a short coffee break before her next appointment. A thought occurred to her, and she made a call down to the lab just before pouring herself a fresh cup of coffee.
***********
Mulder lay in bed, sighing his contentment. He didn't quite understand why he felt such overwhelming happiness. It felt totally weird and alien to him, but even the part of him that tended to over analyze everything to death could care less about that.
'If Walter is happy with a fat lover, who am I to argue?' he told himself as he patted his belly.
He sighed again, and then the phone rang, interrupting his blissful state.
"That must be Scully giving me the good news...its not a tumor, just a frickin' reaction to all the weight I've gained,' he thought as rose up from the bed and picked up the phone.
"Skinner residence," he smiled into the phone.
"Mulder, um, there is something I have to tell you..."
"It must be bad, Dana, you didn't even say hello!"
"Sorry, this-I don't know what to say, but there was a mistake done on your tests and...well, I think you need to sit down for this. Are you sitting?"
"I am now." Mulder sat heavily down on the side of the bed.
"Well, um, see, I ordered a lot more tests than just for hormones because I wasn't completely satisfied with the results from your abduction. So, that is why I asked for a urine sample."
"I don't like the way this is heading, Dana. But they say the devil you know is better than, so, please just tell me."
"Well, a lab technician misread your files, she thought she was supposed to run a p-pregnancy test from your urine. She got the files mixed up and well, the thing is, the test results weren't wrong. You're pregnant."
Mulder just breathed calmly into the phone and didn't respond right away. Then, feeling a little sick, he said, "Dana, April 1st was two months ago."
He knew his ex-partner was not one for April Fool's pranks, but he couldn't understand why she would start now.
"This is no joke, Fox. I rechecked the results and then did more testing with the blood still here at the lab. You are the first male to ever become pregnant.''
Mulder chuckled into the phone. "Damn, put a man through some shit, Dana! I am sorry that I couldn't be who you wanted me to be when I came back, but don't jerk my chain here-"
"Fox, this has nothing to do with that. I understand you weren't prepared to continue with a relationship that hardly had a chance to grow before you were abducted."
"Dana, I know that, but we did have a much longer relationship before that. But we both decided that I wasn't cut out for parenthood, and now, if this is you're not so subtle way of getting me to play Daddy-
"You are not dealing with the truth, Fox. You are pregnant. The results are not false. I think you need to come in and I will give you an ultrasound."
"You're not joking."
"No, Fox. You really need to be tested. This is a first for me- for anyone, for that matter. I won't reveal this to anyone. I explained to the lab tech that it was a mistake. The urine belonged to another patient. She seemed satisfied with that. You are in no condition to be scrutinized, as I know you would be if anyone found out about this-far more lab rat experiences than you need or deserve right now."
Mulder didn't say anything, so she continued.
"You will need to extend your medical leave. I will give them some phony test results and say you are suffering from a rare condition that stems from your abduction experience."
Mulder sighed. 'Well the fat, lazy side of myself is breathing a sigh of relief, anyway, although I'm sure the rational manly-man part is going to go into screaming hysterics at any moment.'
"How is that going to fly, Scully? They really don't buy the alien abduction story."
"Yes, but the facts of finding you as they did, with Detective Miles, and-well, let's just say that no one has any doubts that someone abducted you. They know it wasn't a suicide attempt, otherwise, why would you be found like the others?"
Mulder nodded, then groaned out loud, "Damn, I don't wanna believe this!"
Scully did her best to console him. "Come on, Mulder. It will be like the final frontier and everything. The first male ever to become pregnant."
Mulder groaned again. "Should I come now?"
Scully looked at her watch and said, "Yes, I have been officially off duty for the past 30 minutes, but I will definitely make an exception in your case."
"Should I tell Walter?"
"I think that you should, but let me give you an ultrasound first before you give 'papa bear' the good news."
Mulder groaned, "Fuck, I don't even want to think about it!"
Scully sighed. "Mulder, I am sorry. Um, we also need to make sure that it is human..."
Mulder didn't respond.
"Mulder?"
No response.
"Are you OK?"
"Dana, if this isn't human, I want to have an abortion."
Scully suddenly pictured a scene from "Aliens" and agreed reluctantly. "All right, Fox. Take a deep breath. You don't need to be overly excited. You may have an even more precarious pregnancy than I did." She heard him take a deep breath. "Good. When do you expect Walter back?"
"He probably won't be in until late. He was having a meeting late this evening and sometimes he doesn't come in until 10 or later."
"Well, come on in and let's get this over with."
"See ya in about 30 minutes."
He hung up the phone.
Mulder couldn't bring himself to rush, no matter how much his brain wanted him to. His body wasn't quite cooperating with his mind at this point.
'I wonder if this really isn't some weird hoax Scully has planned. Maybe Walter is there waiting to give me a surprise party, or something. But for what? We don't exactly celebrate birthdays or anything, so what's the secret?'
He put his hand down to his belly and shook his head. 'I probably am pregnant and by that damn bounty hunter. I never did understand why there was a need for 8 of them! And why so long before showing? Some long gestational period?'
Already his mind was less on the fantastic implausibility of his pregnancy and leaning more towards trying to figure out the truth of the matter. He sighed after putting on a t-shirt and sweat pants, the only items left in the closet that fit; everything else was getting too tight for him.
'Well, here I go.'
He left, not going in the whirlwind that he usually created. More like a light April shower, but he in no way felt refreshed.
**********
Walter dragged his feet as he entered the apartment. He was very tired. He hated late meetings that went on forever. If Fox were off medical leave, then he might have cut his own schedule back. As it was, heHe was the one who insisted that he keep to his usual hectic schedule at work while Mulder was convalescing. Fox had tried several inventive ways to get him to take an annual leave or some sort of extended vacation as they both knew he deserved, but Walter had been unconvinced in the end.
Fox lay on the couch; he was sleeping. He looked so fucking beautiful and Walter felt like uch an ugly troll next to him.
'Time to wake Prince Charming,' he thought before bending down and kissing his sweet prince, his lips curving into a smile at the metaphor as he brushed them lightly against Mulder's.
Mulder woke immediately, blinked up at Walter, confused for a moment, then smiled.
"Hey, they finally let you out of the booby hatch, huh?"
"Yeah, and I think you're right. The FBI is definitely where they house the crazies."
"Are you hungry?"
"No, we ate there."
"Ugh. Sorry about that. Hope it was good take-away, at least."
"Donaldson knows of a good place, so it wasn't too bad."
"Well," Mulder said as he stretched up, "I am hungry...and there is something I have to show you."
"Oh, I am getting a good idea what from here." Walter ogled Mulder's backside as he rose up from the couch, his sweats bunched down, exposing a nice portion of his rear.
Mulder chuckled. "No, it isn't my hind end."
"So, that leaves the front."
With that Skinner grabbed Mulder and twisted him around to see his lover's fron, staring particularly at his crotch.
"Well, I don't see anything special from this end..."
Fox laughed. "Okay, smarty, for that you don't get to see it."
"What?"
"Let me eat first."
"What would you like, lover?"
Mulder smiled. "One of your double decker sandwiches."
"Your wish is my command." Walter took a moment to wonder if he should feel silly and embarrassed by the thoughts that went through his mind when he was with his lover, then opted to just go with them.
With that, Walter rushed into the kitchen to prepare his lover a sandwich, suddenly getting a second wind that had more to do with being with Mulder than with just being home..
Mulder wandered into the kitchen a moment later and Walter did not stop what he was doing. He did, however, glance back over his shoulder to see that Mulder had what looked like an x-ray in his hand with a long envelope covering it.
"Did you break a bone, Fox?" He was sure Fox would have told him if he'd injured himself, but he couldn't help the concern in his voice regardless.
"No."
Skinner nodded but Mulder interrupted before he spoke.
"Well, you might flip out when I show you this, so you should be sitting."
"Hmm, maybe you should eat first."
"Good idea."
Mulder laid the envelope on the table, grabbed the sandwich and proceeded to eat it with gusto.
"As much as I enjoy watching you eat, my little butterball, I think I would like..."
Walter reached out to take the sandwich away. Mulder slapped his hand away, "Mph not your butterball! Anyway, you said you liked me this way!"
Walter smirked at Mulder, "I like you any way I can get you, Fox. I thought you knew that."
"I know that, Walter, but just a second. Lemme finish."
When Mulder finally finished eating what he wanted and left the rest a pitiful mess on the plate, he wiped his hands on a napkin then smiled beguilingly at Walter.
"Fox, I swear..."
"I'm thirsty."
"Tuff titty."
"Ooh! You said the 't' word."
"Mulder..." Walter knew Mulder's silliness came from nervousness, just as he knew just one word, spoken in his most surly timbre, would calm Mulder enough to tell him what the hell was going on, before he got too nervous himself.
"Ok."
Mulder sighed as if the world was weighing down on him. He pulled the envelope closer to himself then opened it up.
"There."
Walter picked it up and saw what looked like a smudge on a fuzzy background.
"And this is supposed to mean what to me?"
"I am not suffering from diabetes or hypertension or even from weight gain, at least not from over eating or anything..."
Walter looked at Mulder expectantly, and with more than a little concern.
"I -"
"You have a tumor?"
"No! Walter, let me finish..."
"You have cancer."
"No tumor, no cancer...I am pregnant, OK. I am going to have either a human/alien hybrid or, Scully thinks it may be your child."
Walter looked down at the ultrasound as if it was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen.
"Mulder, stop pulling my leg. That can't be a child in you...what poor lady did you take this from?"
"I took this ultrasound from Scully..."
"Scully's pregnant?"
"No...I am, you big doof!"
"There's no reason to be hostile, Fox."He was still staring at the ultrasound picture, turning it this way and that in his large hands, and apparently not processing at all.
"Walter, I just told you that you could be the father of a my baby, a medical impossibility, supposedly, not to mention a serious situation for me personally, never mind what the World Weekly News would make of it, and all you can say is, 'there's no reason to be hostile?!'"
"I- it hasn't quite sunk in yet, I think I may be in shock."
After a moment he finally looked at his lover and asked, "So, you went to Scully and ...how did she learn you were pregnant?"
"There was a mix up at the lab. They gave me a pregnancy test using my urine. When it came up positive, the lab tech called Scully to verify the sex of the patient-me. She thought maybe the files were wrong. Scully checked the results, then ran a test using the blood I had in the lab...Needless to say I came up positive for pregnancy. She had to lie to the lab tech and she is keeping a lid on this. She doesn't want to make me into any more of a guinea pig than I already have been."
Walter just stared at Fox as if the end of his nose had started to do a dance.
"Walter, you could be the father of my child...God, I hope you are. It would be the only thing good about what those alien bastards did to me."
Walter still stared at Fox, but now looked like he was staring through Mulder. He didn't trust himself to speak or even think too clearly. He didn't know what to think or act like.
"I have a theory that it may have something to do with the nanocytes that may still inhabit you, plus the oiliens that inhabited me. And who knows what experimentation they did to me during my abduction. Half the time I was semi-conscious at best. I still can't remember large blocks of time."
Skinner nodded and finally said, "Um..."
"That's very helpful, Walter..."
"Sorry, I think I am just trying absorb it. Thoughts are flitting through my mind so fast I can't think clearly right now."
"I know. I still don't want to believe this either."
Skinner quirked a brow at Mulder.
"Well, that's a first."
Mulder sighed. "Yep, and I don't know if that's a good thing or not."
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Story Notes:
High Praise goes to the lovely Goddess Michele who actually helped me make this flow better!