By Henle Girl
Henle_Girl@hotmail.com
 

Rating - G
Category - Vignette
Keywords - Mulder/Scully Romance, Mulder/Doggett Friendship
Spoilers - Existence
Summary - Everything finally falls into place for Mulder.
Disclaimer -
The characters aren't mine
I'm not getting paid
No matter how much I whine
That's not gonna change

******************
New Outlook
by Henle Girl
*****************

It wasn't exactly the most passionate kiss ever.  Mulder will
admit that.  It's not that easy a feat to accomplish with a baby
in between them.  But he thought he did pretty good.  That is
until she lets out a big yawn.

"I'm sorry," she laughs, trying to stifle another yawn
threatening to escape.

"Doesn't really bolster my ego, Scully.  Women don't usually yawn
after I kiss them."

"It's not your fault," she tells him, smiling down at the tiny
bundle in his arms.  "Well, it's partly your fault.  You must
have passed on your insomnia gene to this little guy.  He seems
to think he's supposed to be wide awake in the middle of the
night."

He looks into her eyes and can see how exhausted she must be.  He
can't believe he missed that, only focused on the baby from the
minute he walked in the door.

"You must be worn out, Scully.  Why don't you go take a nap.
I'll watch the baby while you sleep."

"Mulder, I . . . "  she pulls the corner of her lip into her
mouth, nibbling lightly on it.  "Are you sure you can handle him?
He's just so new . . . and so little."

"We'll be fine," he assures her.  "I'm not completely baby
illiterate, you know.  One of my flat mates at Oxford had a
girlfriend who was a nanny.  She used to bring the baby by all
the time."

"Okay," she relents finally, but not before casting one more wary
glance in his direction.  "He just ate, so he'll probably be all
right for another two hours or so.  But wake me up if you have
any problems, Mulder."

"I promise.  Go get some rest.  William and I will just be
getting to know each other."  He smiles at the baby in his arms,
barely noticing when she gets into the bed.  He quietly leaves
the room, closing the door behind him so he won't risk disturbing
her.

He awkwardly sits on the couch, thinking more about not dropping
the baby than anything else.  He may have embellished his child
care experience a bit to get Scully to relax.  He's not exactly
comfortable with William.  What he said about his flat mate's
girlfriend was true.  She was a nanny.  And she did bring the
baby by.  But what he didn't tell Scully was that he probably
only actually saw the baby once.  And he never even held it.  But
he has to learn what to do sooner or later.  Now is as good as
time as any.

"So, you're that bump that was in Scully's stomach.  Nice to meet
you, William."

He reaches down to shake hands with the little baby, but the baby
can only manage to grab onto one of Mulder's fingers.  Mulder
gasps at the strength the baby clutches.

"You got a good grip there, kid," he chuckles.  "I can't wait to
get a baseball bat into your hands.  But that's not going to
happen for a while.  We'll probably have to wait until you can at
least walk."

Mulder finds himself more and more enchanted with the tiny
creature in his arms.  He can see so much of Scully in the child,
but he's shocked to see traits that could only come from him.
He's like a perfect blend of the best of both of them.  That
thought almost brings a tear to his eye.  He can hardly believe
he had anything to do with something as wonderfully miraculous as
this baby.

A knock at the door interrupts his investigation.  Not sure of
who it could be, he makes sure to check the peep hole before
opening the door.

"Agent Doggett?"  He's surprised to see the man.  Things were
pretty hectic after Scully gave birth.  He hasn't seen him since
before going down to Georgia.  "What are you doing here?  Is
anything wrong?"

Mulder protectively clutches the baby to his chest, ready to
guard him from any danger that may be lurking around.

"No, no.  Everything's fine," Doggett quickly says after seeing
the panic on the other man's face.  He holds out a box, but
figures he should explain it when Mulder eyes it suspiciously.
"I have a gift for the baby."

"Oh," Mulder sighs in relief.  "Come in.  I'm sorry I'm so
tense."

"No problem.  I completely understand," Doggett smiles, walking
into the apartment behind Mulder.  The men take a seat on the
couch, putting the baby in his own seat that's on top of the
coffee table.

"He's gorgeous, Mulder.  Looks just like Agent Scully, lucky
kid," he jokes, bringing a smile to Mulder's face.  "Where is she
by the way?"

"In bed, finally.  I would go get her, but I just now got her to
get some rest," Mulder explains.  "She's going to be sorry she
missed your visit."

"No, don't wake her.  She should sleep whenever she can.  Trust
me, you both are going to be trying to nap whenever you can.
Babies have their own schedule."

"That's right," Mulder nods.  "You're an old pro at this, aren't
you?  Any words of advice for a guy who's not quite sure he knows
what he's doing?"

"You seem to be doing okay.  You're doing better than I did.  I
barely touched my son the first few weeks after he was born.  My
mother in law was there to help us out."

"He's just so little," Mulder frowns.  "I'm afraid I'm going to
break him or something."

"You're going to have to get over that," Doggett says, sniffing
the air knowingly.  "Especially when it's diaper changing time."

"I think I'll let Scully handle that for awhile," Mulder laughs,
his face falling when he gets a whiff of what Doggett smelled
earlier.  "Tell me that's not what I think it is."

"Sorry, buddy.  Looks like you're going to be doing that diaper
thing sooner than you expected."

The expression on Mulder's face is priceless, and Doggett has to
try hard to hold in the laughter threatening to break forth.  For
a man who's seen some of the most bizarre things ever on the X-
Files, Doggett can't believe he's terrified of a dirty diaper.

"Relax, Mulder.  It's not as hard as you think it is," Doggett
assures him.  He looks around until he spots the diapers and
wipes, bringing them over to where they're sitting.  He then
grabs a little towel and spreads it on the table next to the baby
seat.

"Maybe we should get Scully," Mulder says, glancing furtively
towards the direction of the bedroom.  "She did say to wake her
if I had any problems."

"Trust me.  This isn't a problem.  No matter what we may find in
that diaper."

"Okay, now you're scaring me."  Mulder gently lifts the baby from
his seat and places him on the blanket.  He pulls off the tiny
outfit and almost loses his lunch at the sight of the dirty
smudges leaking from out the diaper.  He refuses, though, to seem
like less of a man in front of Doggett, so he trudges on, holding
his breath against the stench as he peels off the diaper.

"You might not want to stand there," Doggett warns him before he
removes the diaper.  "Little boys are notorious for . . . you
know."

Mulder gives him a confused look, making it obvious that he has
no idea what Doggett's getting at.

"Again, you're just going to have to trust me," Doggett laughs.
"Stand off to the side, like I am."

Mulder finally gets into a better position and pulls off the
diaper, skinning his nose up at the smell and the sight.

"Kind of like rancid chocolate pudding, isn't it?" he comments,
turning to set the diaper as far away from him as he can get it.
When he looks back at the baby, he's shocked to see a stream
shooting through the air from the little boy all the way over the
back of the couch.

"See what I mean about little boys being notorious?"  Doggett
quickly places the end of the towel over the baby to prevent a
further mess.

Mulder can't help but be in awe of his son.

"Very impressive, William.  I'd be proud if I weren't kind of
grossed out right now," he laughs, amusing Doggett as well.

"I tried to warn you," Doggett shrugs.  "They do that just about
every time, so beware."

Mulder just shakes his head and continues to clean the baby,
trying to quickly get him diapered without any more surprises.
Unfortunately, the diapers don't appear to be labeled 'front' and
'back'.  Mulder doesn't know which way is which.

"The tabs go in the back," Doggett hints when he sees Mulder put
it on the wrong way.

"Oops," Mulder blushes, turning the diaper the right way.  He
finally gets it on, a little crooked, but at least it doesn't
fall off.

"Not bad for a first timer," Doggett notes.  "It'll get easier,
though.  You'll have two years or so to get used to it."

Mulder just groans, not really anxious to change another diaper,
let alone another two years worth of diapers.  Then he looks at
the wistful way Doggett studies his son and he's instantly
sobered.  He's sure the man would consent to another *twenty*
years of diapers if it meant he had that time with his lost son.
Mulder realizes just how lucky he is, dirty diapers and all.

"I can't really complain, though, can I?" Mulder sighs.  "It
would be a waste of time I can never get back."

Doggett clears his tear clogged throat, turning to Mulder before
speaking.

"You asked me earlier about advice.  I can only tell you this one
thing.  Enjoy ever second.  Like you just said, it's time you can
never get back if you miss it.  You never know how much of it
you're going to have, so cherish every moment."

"Thanks.  I will," Mulder nods.

Doggett rises and walks towards the door, waving Mulder back when
he gets up to escort him.

"I can let myself out.  You two stay put," Doggett insists.  He
gets to the door and opens it before Mulder calls him back.

"You're not bad, John Doggett," he says after a moment's
hesitation.  "You had Scully's back while I was gone.  And today
you had mine.  Thanks again."

"No problem."  He's headed toward the door again when he stops
once more, this time of his own volition.  "Maybe when he's a
little older, I can give you a call or something if a case stumps
me.  I still have a lot to learn about the X-Files.  Who better
to learn from than you."

"I'd like that," Mulder nods, making his way to Doggett and
offering him his free hand to shake.

He may not have liked the man when they first met.  He'll even
admit to being jealous.  The man had seemingly taken his place in
Scully's life.  But he's coming around now.  Doggett's a good
guy.  He just wishes it didn't take him so long to figure that
out.

He closes the door as Doggett leaves, shifting the sleepy baby to
his other arm.  Looking around the silent room, he realizes he
finally has everything he ever wanted.  A new family.  A new
friend.  A new outlook on life.  What more can a man ask for?

The end.