Title: Calm Before the Storm
 
Author: Eileen S. Whipple

Email: whipples@connect.ab.ca

Rating: PG-13

Classification: SA

Spoilers: Beyond the Sea, One Breath, Memento
Mori, Christmas Carol, Emily, Drive

Summary: Scully suspected this a year ago but was
proven wrong. Now, the discovery of two young girls
is going to change her life forever.

Timeline: Starts on Thanksgiving, 1998 (November 26)
and ends at Christmas 1998. Forget "The Ghosts That
Stole Christmas" even happened.

Archive: Sure. Just as long as I know where, and my
name and e-mail address stays attached. This is 
already archived on my own site. For the full story,
visit: http://www.angelfire.com/ab/spookyavatar/calm.html

DISCLAIMER: Chris Carter and 10-13 own Mulder, Scully, 
etc. (you know who they are!) I am just borrowing them. 
The rest of the characters are mine.

See author's notes at the end.



________________________
Calm Before the Storm
by Eileen S. Whipple 
(c) 1999
________________________



Chapter 1

Just a Family Thanksgiving


November 26, 1998


Bill Scully smelled the air as he 
entered his mother's kitchen. "The 
food smells great. Do you need help 
with anything?"

Margaret Scully smiled at her son. 
"No, Bill. I'm fine." She glanced down 
at the carrots she was chopping. "Could 
you cut the rest of these? I have to 
stir the soup."

"Sure, Mom." He carefully took the 
knife from his mother and stood in 
her place in front of the counter. 
"You know, you always overdo it on 
the cooking for Thanksgiving."

I'm used to cooking for many people, 
although it was mainly you and your 
brother eating the food. Your sisters
ate small helpings. That's probably why 
we had as many leftovers as we did." 
Margaret sighed and set down the soup 
ladle. "It's going to be so nice to 
have the family together tonight."

"Most of it," he muttered, keeping his 
focus on slicing the carrots and not 
his fingers.

Margaret went to her son's side and 
put a hand on her hip and the other on 
the counter's edge. "Bill, I know you 
don't like Mulder much but he is Dana's 
friend. Show him some respect, for her 
sake. She'd be angry if she saw that 
you hated him."

"She has seen it, but I don't hate him. 
I dislike him."

"Well, whatever it is, put it aside for 
your sister."

The doorbell rang and they heard Bill's 
wife Tara get up to answer it. "Mom, Bill, 
it's Charles," she called.

Both broke into grins and rushed to the 
front door. "Mom!" Charles Scully exclaimed, 
wrapping his arms around his mother. "How 
are you?"

"I'm fine." She let go of her youngest son 
and hugged his wife, Marina. "It's so good 
to see you all again."

"Grandma!" Margaret felt a tug on her skirt, 
looked down and saw Charles and Marina's 
four-year-old daughter, Olivia.

"Olivia, sweetie." Her grandmother picked 
her up. "Marina, where's Daniel?"

"Oh, he's outside flying a paper airplane he 
made on the way here." Marina hugged Tara 
and Bill quickly. "Now, let me see your baby 
boy."

Bill and Tara's infant son Matthew was 
crawling around his playpen in Margaret's 
living room. He pulled himself up when he 
saw his parents and his relatives.

"He's precious," Marina said. Tara picked 
Matthew up and Marina took him into her arms. 
"He's gotten so big since his baptism." She 
laughed as her nephew kicked his legs.

Olivia asked Margaret, "Is Auntie Dana here?"

"Not yet, sweetheart, but she will be soon."

"Supper smells wonderful, Mom," Charles said, 
taking Matthew from his wife. "Dana's never 
usually late. Perhaps she got stuck in traffic."

Bill chuckled. "On Thanksgiving? It's only 
five-thirty. She'll be here soon."

"And we finally get to meet this partner she's 
always mentioning." Charles rocked his nephew.

"Charlie, can I speak to you in the kitchen?" 
Margaret asked. She gave a small smile and 
waited as her son handed Matthew to Tara.

He followed her in. "Really, Mom, I can't wait 
to eat. You always were the best cook."

"Charlie, I need to talk to you about something, 
about Bill and Mulder."

"What is it?"

"Well, Bill doesn't like Dana's friend much. He 
feels it was Mulder's fault that Missy was 
murdered."

Charlie cringed. His older sister Melissa had 
been gunned down after being mistaken for their 
sister Dana. He didn't like to think about his 
deceased sibling; it shook him up.

"I do not blame Mulder for Missy's death. It 
wasn't his fault. Dana knew that it was dangerous 
when she joined the FBI and I knew it was as well."

"I understand, Mom. The only person to blame for 
Melissa's death is the man who shot her." He 
hugged his mother. "I'll give Mulder a fair 
chance."




"You know, Scully, your mother didn't have to 
invite me to dinner," FBI agent Fox Mulder said. 
"I could've stayed home and ordered pizza."

Dana Scully shifted in the passenger seat. 
"That's exactly why she did. She knew you'd 
probably be alone."

"My mom is at her friend's in Greenwich. The 
roads up there are really bad and besides, I 
don't think my mom would want to spend 
Thanksgiving in my tiny apartment."

The two FBI agents were making their way to 
Baltimore for dinner with Scully's family. 
Mulder sped up the car to the maximum speed but 
slowed down when he saw his partner clutching the 
large container of mashed turnips.

Mulder said, "I'm sure you're happy about seeing
your niece and nephews."

"Yeah. I haven't seen Matthew for a long time, 
and I hardly see Olivia and Daniel."

"Is that why I've never met your younger brother?"

"Yeah. He's been busy with work."

"What does he do?"

"He's in the navy but he's also an accountant."

Mulder grinned. "So you're not the only smart one."

"My entire family is smart." She pushed a few 
strands of her red hair behind her ear.

The residential streets of Baltimore were packed 
with parked cars. House lights shone brightly as 
the sun was just beginning its descent in the sky.

Scully saw her mother's white house. "Stop here. 
This is it."

Mulder slowed the car down and parked beside 
the curb. "I remember her house." He saw a child 
running around on the lawn. "Who's that?"

"That must be my nephew Daniel. He's the one who 
likes Babe, or used to anyway."

Mulder laughed. "I remember that." He turned off 
the engine. "Hold tight, Scully. I'll get out and 
grab the turnips from you."

She carefully opened the door and put her right
foot on the road. He did come around to grab the 
dish from her. "Thanks," she said.

"Aunt Dana!" they heard as soon as Scully stepped 
out of the car. The young boy who'd been running 
around on the front lawn hurried to Scully.

"Hey Danny. How are you?"

He threw his arms around her, his head resting 
on her abdomen. "Good. I couldn't wait for you 
to get here, but Olivia really wants to see you." 
Danny looked curiously at Mulder. "Who's he?"

"Danny, this is my partner, Fox Mulder. Mulder, 
this is my nephew, Danny."

"Glad to meet you, Danny." Mulder shook his hand. 
"Firm grip for a boy your age." He clutched the 
turnip container.

"Let's go inside, sweetie," Scully said, taking 
her nephew's hand. She saw a white object tucked 
under his arm. "Is that an airplane?" They 
started up the sidewalk.

"Yeah. I was bored on the drive up here. I also 
made a boat but since there's no rain, it's 
useless for now."

"Well' I'm sure it's a great boat," Scully said. 
She let go of Danny's hand and followed him 
onto the porch.

"You can have it." Danny opened the door and 
he called, "Everybody, Aunt Dana and her 
friend are here."

Scully's stomach growled as the smell of her 
mother's wonderful food wafted towards her.

"Dana!" Margaret emerged from the living room 
and embraced her daughter. "We've been waiting 
for you."

"It was a fair drive."

Margaret gave a bright smile. "Mulder, I'm 
glad you could make it."

"It didn't take much for your daughter to 
convince me." He looked down. "We brought 
turnips."

"Thanks." Margaret took the container. "Go
make yourselves comfortable in the other 
room." She saw her grandson. "Hey Danny, 
you don't say hi to your grandmother. Come 
help me in the kitchen." She took his hand 
and led him away.

Scully took her coat off and hung it in the 
foyer closet. Mulder was purposely taking his 
time, removing his trench coat and shoes slowly.

She went into the living room and was greeted 
by her family. Her brothers were the first in line 
for hugs and kisses. She was especially happy to 
see her youngest brother Charles.

"Dana, it's been what, a year and a half? You've 
got to stop making yourself so scarce. We've 
missed you."

She laughed. "We have telephones."

Charlie kissed his sister's forehead. "I've 
called you."

"I know, and I appreciated every one of them," Scully 
said as Charlie moved out of the way and let their 
older brother Bill greet 
his little sister.

"Dana, you look amazing." Bill held her tightly, 
resting his chin on the top of her head.

"You're just saying that because you're my brother." 
She pulled back to face him.

He assumed an offended look. "No, I said it because 
I mean it. Really, you do. It's so nice to see you 
not wearing a suit."

She was wearing a forest-green scoop neck sweater 
and a knee-length black skirt. The skirt showed 
off her pale legs and matched wonderfully with 
her black velvet pumps.

"Bill, don't hog Dana," Tara said, replacing her 
husband in the embrace.

Mulder watched the greeting from the doorway. He 
smiled but this sight made him ache. He wished 
his family could have been this way. He was also 
saddened because of the upcoming anniversary he 
wished had never existed. His younger sister 
Samantha had been taken from him on the 
twenty-seventh of November, twenty-five 
years earlier.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a tug on 
his pants. He looked down and saw Scully's little
niece Olivia. He recognized the four-year-old from 
the picture his partner kept in her wallet.

"Hello," the little girl said. She beamed up at him.

"Hi, Olivia," he said, bending down slightly. He was 
amazed at Olivia's resemblance to Scully when she was 
a child. He'd only seen a few childhood photos but he 
remembered that adorable face and beautiful red hair.

Olivia's blue eyes grew wide. "How did you know 
my name?"

"Your Aunt Dana told me. She showed me your 
picture." His voice was growing higher, the 
way most adults' voices did when they spoke 
to children.

"Are you Auntie Dana's friend? I've never 
seen you before."

"Yeah, I'm her friend Mulder."

He then heard Scully. "Charlie, it looks like Olivia 
has met Mulder already." He looked up and saw Scully 
and her brother.

"So you're Mulder," Charlie said. They shook hands. 
"I'm Charlie, Dana's little brother."

Mulder said, "It's nice to finally meet you."

Olivia looked up at her father and stretched out her 
arms, telling him to pick her up. "You've met my 
daughter and my son. That's my wife Marina, over 
by Tara. I'll introduce you."

Scully knew Mulder wasn't really a meet-and-greet 
type of person but he seemed to be enjoying himself. 
She knew one reason was her siblings' children. 
He was a sensitive man and from what she'd 
seen, loved kids.

Mulder said a curt hello to Bill and Tara before 
meeting Charlie's wife.

"Aunt Dana!" Danny ran into the living room. He 
held the boat he'd told Scully she could have. 
"Dad said you liked boats and sailing, that you 
used to go with Grandpa all the time."

"I did, honey." She took the boat from her nephew. 
"This is beautiful, Danny."
 
She was surprised at how much he took after his 
father, and Charlie was like William Scully Sr.,
their father. This was the fifth Thanksgiving 
since he'd passed away from a massive heart attack 
and her family missed him a great deal. He was a 
great Navy captain, husband and father.

Margaret entered the room. "Dinner's ready."




Scully ate a piece of gravy-drenched turkey and 
looked around the table. She and Mulder were the 
only ones who weren't making any noise. The adults 
were chatting, Olivia and Danny were telling jokes 
and Matthew was squealing as he smeared mashed 
potatoes on his face.

Scully pushed carrots around on her plate and 
Mulder noticed her boredom. "Scully, this is so 
much better than my family's Thanksgiving dinners. 
This is normal."

Margaret ate a forkful of salad. "I'm very sorry 
about you two losing the X-files. Dana tells me 
you're working hard to get them back."

"We are, Mrs. Scully, and I believe we're getting 
closer. I can feel it." He got Bill's cold glance 
and looked away.

"Mom, we're leaving tomorrow night," Charlie said, 
changing the subject.

"Oh, do you have to leave so soon?" She wiped her 
fingers on herblue linen napkin. "I just love having 
the family together."

Bill pushed his empty plate away. "Christmas is in 
less than a month. Aren't we all coming out here then?"

"That's the plan, Bill," Charlie said.

"I can't wait until Santa Claus comes." Olivia took a 
drink of her milk.

The dining room grew silent. Everybody finished eating 
and Tara cleaned up her son's face and highchair. 
Margaret stood up and began clearing off the table.

"No, Mom." Charlie jumped up and grabbed the dishes 
from her mother. "Go sit in the other room. The rest 
of us will clean up." He turned to his kids. "Olivia, 
Danny, go with Auntie Tara and Matthew into the living 
room. You can have a nice visit with Grandma."

Tara lifted her son from his seat and followed 
her niece and nephew into the next room. Margaret 
said, "Just let me help stack the dishes."

"Scully, you never told me I had to do dishes." Mulder 
grinned.

"It's a family tradition, isn't it, Dana?" Charlie 
nudged his older sister with his elbow.

"Yeah," she responded. "All the big kids had to, 
meaning everybody except you."

They moved into the kitchen and set the dirty 
dishes in the sink. Margaret left before her children 
could give her grief about never relaxing.
 
Scully filled the sink with water and soap and let the 
dishes soak. "Hey Charlie, remember how we used to put 
up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving?"

"Yeah, and Dad would make us take it down the day after 
Christmas." He wrapped his arms around his sister from 
behind. "You would work so hard to pick up the needles."

"Have you been taking it easy at work?" Bill asked Scully.

She rested her head on Charlie's chest. "Yeah. Mulder can 
vouch for me."

Bill's look was solemn. "Any nosebleeds?"

"No, Bill. I'm fine. My cancer's still in remission. 
Everything's okay."

"Auntie Dana! Your coat is ringing!" Olivia yelled, 
scurrying into the kitchen.

"My cell phone." She bolted to the foyer, hearing the 
shrill ring of her phone. She dug into her pocket and 
quickly answered it. "Scully."

"Agent Scully, are you with Agent Mulder?" It was 
Assistant Director Alvin Kersh, their new superior.

"Yes, sir."

"I received a phone call at my home from a detective 
in San Diego. He's requested you two to help him 
investigate a case he's working on. He just said it 
was a homicide but it better not be pertaining to an 
X-file."

"Do you have the detective's name?" She was sure she 
knew who had asked for them.

"A Detective John Kresge. He'd like you and Mulder 
to go to San Diego as soon as possible."

"Sir, I thought Agent Mulder and I were to investigate 
domestic terrorism."

Kersh's voice was stern. "You investigate what I tell 
you to investigate. Detective Kresge is having the files 
sent to the airport in San Diego so you can read them 
when you arrive."

"I'll book the plane tickets for tomorrow. Thank you 
for calling, sir," Scully said flatly before hanging up.
 
Mulder found her rubbing her temples. "What's wrong?"

"That was AD Kersh. We're investigating a homicide in 
San Diego, and we leave tomorrow."

"So much for the weekend off. I thought we were 
investigating domestic terrorism."

"'You investigate what I tell you to investigate'," 
she replied, imitating Kersh. "Guess who requested 
us?" Scully said in her normal voice. She didn't 
wait for Mulder to answer. "Detective Kresge."

He frowned. "Well, book the tickets for the afternoon. 
I'd like to sleep in."

She sighed. "I'll call tonight. I'd just like to relax. 
I'll let Bill and Charlie do the dishes." She padded 
into the living room and Mulder followed her.

"Who was it on the phone?" Tara bounced Matthew on 
her knee and he started  screeching.

Scully slumped down beside her mother. "Our boss. 
We're going to San Diego tomorrow."

Tara smiled widely. "Hey, you can visit us when we 
get home on Monday."

"Yeah." She glanced at Mulder and he rolled his 
eyes. Olivia surprised Scully by hopping on her lap. 
"Hey, sweetheart."

"Auntie Dana, Matthew can say my name. Watch." The 
little girl caught the attention of her baby 
cousin. "Matthew, say 'Olivia'."

"O-wiv-ya," he managed to say.

Scully smiled. "That's good." She yawned, covering 
her mouth. "Mom, I'm sorry to say this but I think 
I should go. I have to make our flight reservations."

Margaret stood up. "Okay, Dana. I wish you could 
stay but I see how tired you and Mulder are."

Scully managed to stand up with her young niece in
her arms. "I'm going to put you down, okay, 
sweetheart?" Olivia nodded and her aunt placed her 
on the couch.

The goodbyes took almost as long as their greetings 
earlier that day. Scully was surprised that Olivia 
had been able to say goodbye without tears or 
"Don't go".

Mulder and Scully put on their coats and stepped 
out the front door. "I'll give you leftovers when 
you get back, Dana," Margaret said.

"Thanks for dinner. It was great, Mrs. Scully." 
Mulder put on his leather gloves.

"You're welcome, Mulder. We all enjoyed your 
company. And Dana, call me when you get to 
San Diego."

"Sure, Mom. See you soon."

Mulder waited until Scully's mother had closed 
the door. "Are you sure Bill's your brother? You 
and Charlie are so much...happier."

"Bill's complicated, but he's a good man. Never 
mind what he thinks about you for now, but I know 
Charlie likes you. Olivia is fond of you as well. 
You have such a way with children."

"She's a cute kid. She looks like you when you 
were young."

Scully smiled but it faded. "I shouldn't have 
agreed for both of us to take this case. I know 
tomorrow is Samantha's anniversary." She put her 
hand on his arm. "You don't have to come."

It was his turn. "I'm fine." 



Chapter 2

Delicate Matters


November 27, 1998


The airport in San Diego was busy when
the two FBI agents arrived at three the
next afternoon. People were returning
from their holidays in Mexico or
Hawaii.

"I don't want to work," Mulder complained,
grabbing his luggage from the baggage 
carousel. "I want my Thanksgiving 
weekend off."

"Tough." Scully put her soft-sided 
leather briefcase over her shoulder and 
reached for her suitcase. "Now, when I
spoke to Kersh, he told me that Detective
Kresge left the files for us. I'm guessing
they'd be at the security desk. After, 
to check in at a motel and review the 
reports.

"Do you have any idea what we're 
investigating?" he asked. They made 
their way to the security desk.

"Other than it being a homicide? No, I
don't. I shouldn't have accepted a case
so readily." She reached the counter and
caught the attention of a young, armed
guard. "Excuse me, I'm Special Agent 
Scully. Detective Kresge left me some 
police files here for me." She dug into
her pocket and produced her FBI 
credentials.

"Yes, miss." The guard reached into a
drawer and handed her several manila 
folders.

Scully smiled. "Thank you." She flipped
open the top folder. "Kresge left a 
note. He wants one of us to call him
when we get to the motel," she told
Mulder.

"Let's go then."




"Scully, FBI. I'm so glad you wanted
to take this case," Detective John
Kresge said over the phone.

"Well, Agent Mulder and I aren't on
the X-files at the moment, and we were
stuck looking after domestic terrorism.
This is a change." Scully leaned back
on her bed.

"I take it you've read the files I 
left you."

"Yeah. Mulder's looking over them 
right now."

"Well, we have to solve this case as
soon as possible. Miranda McQueen left
behind twin daughters and we need to 
find Ms. McQueen's husband. He's the
main suspect right now."

"Yeah. We need to find the girls a
place to stay. Does Ms. McQueen have
any family around?"

"Her mother Edith McQueen lives in
San Francisco. We're trying to get 
ahold of her."

"So McQueen was Miranda's last name?
Most women change their names when they
get married. That's strange." Scully 
knew the name McQueen from somewhere.

"It's not that uncommon, but she only
went back to it a few years ago. She
and her husband Dale Wallace were less
than happy. They were planning to 
divorce."

Scully turned onto her side. "That
sounds like a motive for murder to
me. They were planning to divorce
but don't and Dale thinks murder
is easier than divorce. He doesn't
have to pay alimony or anything."

"Well, like I said, he's our main
suspect but he's been out of town
for the past few days, on business,
but he could have been here, stabbed
his wife and left again."

"Or hired someone to kill her,"
Scully blurted out.

"We're checking that, but we're also
talking to neighbours, asking if they
saw any strangers around," Kresge
said.

"Where are Miranda's daughters right
now?"

"Amy and Alexandra McQueen are staying
with their friend. Fortunately, both
girls were out of the house when their
mother was stabbed to death but they
discovered her body."

"That's awful. Agent Mulder and I are
going to contact them for questioning,
but they're going to decide whether or
not they want to talk to us. I don't 
want to force them."

Kresge told her, "Rest up then. You had
a long flight. I'll talk to you later."

She waited until she heard a click to
hang up her phone. She fell back on the
bed and stared at the ceiling. She started
thinking. "Where do I know the name 
McQueen from?" she said out loud.

After a few minutes, she remembered. There
had been a McQueen family living on the 
naval base where she'd lived in San Diego.
Melissa and Bill Scully had been friends
with the two McQueen girls but Scully
couldn't remember their names. It had 
been many years and her siblings had only
become friends with them a few months
before the entire McQueen family moved to
San Francisco. Bill broke off his 
relationship with the oldest girl but 
Melissa remained friends with the 
youngest. That was one reason why she 
decided to attend the University of
California at Berkeley. That McQueen was
probably not related to Miranda.

Scully knew that she had to be careful
when she and Mulder spoke to the 
victim's daughters. Amy and Alexandra
McQueen were sixteen years old and
were probably in distress due to their
mother's murder. She knew they'd likely
be vulnerable and there would probably
be only a *slight* chance they'd want 
to talk to them. Persistence would help
but they wouldn't force it.

Scully had a way with getting children
to speak. She treated them well, like
a person should treat kids, and showed
them respect but she tried not to seem
patonizing. She wasn't but like Mulder,
when she spoke to children, her voice
rose and it sounded like she was talking
down. She was able to control it with
older kids.

It was only six but Scully was already 
tired. She felt sharp pains in her stomach;
she hadn't eaten anything since the night
before. She never ate breakfast or lunch
after Thanksgiving. She knew Mulder would
probably take her to dinner. He usually 
did when they started a case.

Scully got off her bed and slipped on
her suit jacket. She was going to surprise
her partner by asking him to dinner first.

The air was cool as she went up the stairs
to the motel's second level where Mulder's
room was located. The brisk walk was 
refreshing and she didn't feel as tired 
as she'd been while on the phone with
Kresge.

Mulder's door was open slightly. He was 
probably getting some cold air circulating
through his room. Scully decided to knock
anyway. It was common courtesy, despite the
fact that the door was open and they were
partners with keys to each other's apartments.

"Mulder?" she said after rapping on his 
door gently. She heard slow breaths.

"Come in, Scully," he said in the darkness.
"Turn the light on, please."

She ran her hand over the wall, searching
for the switch. She found it and flicked
it up. "There you go."

He was sitting on the edge of his bed,
his back to her, his shoulders slumped 
forward. She moved closer and saw a photo
in his hand. She'd expected this at some 
point that day, twenty-five years since
his sister disappeared. Sometimes, he 
sat and stared at Samantha's picture 
when he thought Scully wasn't looking,
as if he cared what she thought. 

She didn't care. She'd done the same
thing, for nearly half a year.

"Mulder, I spoke to Detective Kresge.
He said that Miranda McQueen's daughters
are staying with a friend. We can talk
to them tomorrow."

Mulder put the picture face-up on his
bedside table. "Okay. Do you want to grab
something to eat?"

"I was just going to ask you that." 
She smiled. "I'll buy us supper."

"No. You invited me to dinner last night.
I owe you."

"My mother invited you. Besides, you
always buy dinner when we're on assignment."

Mulder sighed and stood up. He grabbed 
his grey blazer off the back of a chair.
"Let's go. I saw a pizza place down the
street. Is that okay or would you prefer
a more elegant dinner?"

Scully grinned. "Pizza's fine. It's cheap 
and tasty." She exited the room ahead of 
him. She waited for him to lock the door.
"Mulder, I know today's a rough day but
I get the feeling you think I think less 
you when you look at Samantha's photo."

Mulder did a double take. "Scully, I
don't think that. I'm just like you. 
I'm private with such delicate matters. 
I didn't think less of you when kept 
looking at your picture of Emily." He
said the name quietly.

They started down the steps. Scully's
mind was now on Emily, her deceased
daughter, the mysterious young girl
who entered her life just as fast as
she left it. Scully had been missing
for several weeks four years before
and during that time, she'd had 
unorthodox tests performed on her. 
All her ova were extracted, rendering
her infertile. Emily was the result
of an ovum being fertilized with
unknown male genetic material. The
beautiful child was simply a laboratory
experiment who didn't live to see her
fourth birthday. Scully found her while
on Christmas vacation in San Diego,
and the child passed away after New
Year's.

During her time missing, Scully was 
also given a nasopharyngeal tumour,
a malignant mass that spread before
a bizarre medical procedure caused
it to go into remission. 

Scully occasionally took time to
think about everything that had
happened over the past few years, 
including the murder of her sister
Melissa. She wondered how she'd
managed to stay sane.

"Mulder, I don't think less of
you either. I thought you were
trying to be a man, because there's
that stupid notion that real men 
don't cry. That's a bunch of crap."

He gave his partner a small smile.
"Thanks. You should have seen me 
during _Bambi_."

Scully grabbed his tricep and 
pushed him forward. "Come on. I'm
starving."




"I'm sure your family was disappointed
you had to leave so early." Mulder
drank some water. "And this time,
it wasn't me asking you to come.
*You* told *me* we had to leave.
That must have infuriated Bill."

"Mulder, my brother is strange 
but he's the way he is because
he cares for me." Scully took a 
bite of pepperoni pizza, chewed it
thoroughly and swallowed.

"Christmas is just around the 
corner. You'll see your family
again."

"I'm glad we won't wind up here
in San Diego again. I was reluctant
to come here for this case but 
since Detective Kresge asked us,
I thought it might be good to 
investigate something that doesn't
deal with piles of shit."

"Well, perhaps you can have a nice
family Christmas at your mom's 
place with your brothers and
their families."

Scully shrugged, picking some cheese 
off another slice of pizza. "I'd
like that. I rarely see Charlie and
Marina and their kids even though
they're closer to me than Bill is. 
They live in Norfolk, most of the
time."

Mulder's face grew solemn. "I know
Bill blames me for everything that's
happened to you, your family. Do 
you know if Charlie thinks the same?"

"Mulder, Charlie doesn't think 
anything like that. He'd never met
you before yesterday. He doesn't
judge from what's he's heard,
which is surprising because he's
probably heard an earful from
Bill."

"So you don't mind the fact that
I'm not fond of your big brother?"
He wiped his mouth with a napkin.
"Tara treats me well but I think
that's just her Kathie Lee Gifford
nature."

"I've always thought she was more
like Martha Stewart. She's always
baking and decorating, especially
around Christmas. She and Bill are
probably putting up their tree soon.
Answering your earlier question, I
don't mind if you don't like my
brother. I know you've tried to
be friendly but I should have
warned you about Bill in advance.
He's impossible sometimes."

He cocked an eyebrow. "So he's not
the only one who is impossible?"
He yelped as Scully kicked him sharply
in the shin. "I stand corrected."

Scully changed the subject. 
"Detective Kresge's told me that 
Miranda McQueen's husband Dale Wallace
is the main suspect. They suspect
he's out of town but he could have
been back, or he could have hired
someone."

"Scully, the police should know that
'could haves' aren't good enough. Sure
they help narrow down suspect lists
but we need proof, something."

"Mulder, I know but Dale has a motive.
He and his wife had wanted a divorce,
but they didn't get one. I said Dale
may have simply murdered his wife so
he wouldn't have to pay alimony, or
so that any prenuptial agreements
wouldn't be valid."

He polished off his pizza. "Well, if
he's the only suspect, I guess that's
enough to constitute searching for
him, until we talk to their daughters.
Perhaps they can shed some light on
whether or not there are any other 
suspects."

"We have to be careful speaking to 
Amy and Alexandra McQueen. They
discovered their mother's body."
She stifled a yawn.

Mulder crumpled up his napkin into
a ball, tossed it on his plate. "We'll
get going."




Scully slid into her large motel room bed,
not unlike the other beds she'd slept in
while on the road. She pulled the white
comforter up to her chin. It was thinner
than her goose-down blanket at home but
warm enough.

She checked her alarm clock again, making 
sure it was set for seven. She was 
planning to go for a jog in the morning. She
didn't really know her way around the part of 
San Diego where the motel was located but she
was only going to do two or three miles.

Scully rolled onto her side and closed her
eyes. She didn't want to think tonight. It
was nights like this where she'd keep herself
awake, thinking about her life and its awful 
events so far and then, fall into equally 
terrible dreams. Nightmares about her sister,
her daughter, herself and what was to come.
It was hard to stop dreaming about Melissa,
and Scully had only recently let go of Emily.
She'd occasionally dream about her deceased
loved ones but now, they weren't nightmares.

She concentrated on her breathing and put
herself to sleep.



Chapter 3

Red Hair and Migraines


November 28, 1998


The night sky was giving way to the light that 
was beginning to bleed through the clouds at 
seven-thirty the next morning. Few motorists 
were around, and the streets around the Nelson 
Motel were silent.

Scully leaned over, stretching her back and 
catching her breath at the same time. She could 
hear her heart thudding, her ears pounding. Her 
legs were sore; she'd decided that since she 
was only doing several miles, she'd increase her 
speed. She was sure she'd burnt off most of the 
calories from the pizza she'd eaten the night before.

She stood by her motel room door. She stretched 
her calves and hamstrings. The silence around her 
was interrupted by footsteps on the stairs above 
her head. She waited to see who it was.

"Hey Scully." Mulder appeared before her. He was 
dressed in navy blue sweatpants, a grey Georgetown 
Hoyas sweatshirt and black Nikes. "I guess I can't 
ask you to come running."

She shook her head, her red ponytail flying. "You 
should've told me when you were going out for a run."

"I'll be back around eight or so. Call Kresge and 
set up a meeting with the McQueen girls."

Scully took off her black track jacket and then, 
threw it over her shoulder. "Sure. I think I have 
his home number. Have a nice run." Mulder nodded 
and took off quickly.

She took her keys from her jacket pocket and 
unlocked the door. Her mouth was getting dry, and 
she'd forgotten her water bottle on her bathroom 
counter. She got inside, closed and locked the door.

Scully grabbed her water bottle and drank half of 
it in fifteen seconds. Breathing heavily, she went 
to her telephone and dialled Kresge's phone number. 
She remembered it from her previous investigation 
with him.

"Hello?" a female voice said on the other end.

Scully frowned. She hoped she'd remembered the 
number correctly. "May I speak to John Kresge please?"

"Hold on," the woman said.

Several minutes later, Scully heard Kresge 
say, "Hello?"

"Detective Kresge, hi. I was hoping I'd gotten the 
right number."

"Oh, that's my girlfriend Lorelei. What can I do for 
you?"

"Agent Mulder and I would like you to arrange a 
meeting with the McQueen girls for us."

"Sure. I'll make the call as soon as I hang up 
with you."

"In that case, I'll let you go now and rather 
than calling me on this phone, just ring my 
cellular phone."

"Okay. I'll let you go." Kresge hung up.

"He has a girlfriend," Scully said after hanging 
up. "So I guess he didn't request me because he 
was attracted to me." She laughed at herself for 
thinking that although she had to admit: when she 
was working with Kresge before, she'd found him 
attractive. She hadn't seen him since her arrival 
the day before but she was sure he looked the same. 

She grabbed her cell phone and headed into the bathroom 
to have a shower. She put a towel on the toilet seat 
and her phone atop the towel. She was going to wait 
for Kresge to call before starting the shower. She 
pulled her damp T-shirt off and placed it gently on 
the counter. The shirt was from her niece Olivia; the 
little girl had painted a picture on the white shirt 
and gave it to Scully for her last birthday.

Scully stared at the fluorescent green trees and 
the Day-Glo yellow sun. There were two people between 
some trees. One person was taller than the other, and 
they both had bright red hair. She'd guessed it was 
them, aunt and niece. 

She loved her little niece and nephews. Each addition 
to her family made her happy. She was overjoyed when her 
brother Bill's son Matthew was born. She'd only been 
disappointed that she couldn't give him a cousin, but 
she'd come to terms with her infertility. She still 
wished she could have her own children but when she 
was ready, she'd adopt. Until then, she'd spoil her 
brothers' kids rotten.

Scully picked at the dry paint on the shirt before 
peeling off her sweaty black leggings. She removed 
her socks and her bra, adding them to the heap her 
leggings had created. She hooked her thumbs in the 
waistband of her panties and her phone rang. She 
picked up the black Nokia and pressed the TALK button. 
"Scully," she said. She crossed her left arm over her 
breasts.

"It's Kresge. You can come down to the station around 
eleven to talk to Amy and Alexandra McQueen."

She sighed. "Thank you." She heard a click and pushed 
the END button.

She turned on the shower, took off her underwear and 
moved under the hot water.




"Detective Kresge, how are you?" Mulder shook John 
Kresge's hand.

"I'm fine, Agent Mulder." He turned his head. "Agent 
Scully, so nice to see you again." He grabbed her 
right hand and shook it.

She smiled. "I thought I was going to talk to you on 
the phone the entire time I was here."

Kresge grinned. "I wouldn't let that happen. Now, I'll 
show you to the interrogation room."

"Kresge, before we go, do you have a photo of Miranda 
McQueen?" Scully asked.

"There wasn't one in the files I left at the 
airport? Well, that's weird but I can get one 
for you."

"Thanks. I'd appreciate it."

He led the two agents down a long hall and stopped 
at the door on the right side. "The girls are in 
there with their friend's parents. They're taking 
care of them until their father returns and if he 
isn't suspected after being interrogated, they'll 
be returned to his care."

Scully put her hand on the doorknob and twisted it. 
She started into the room, and Mulder followed her. 
"I'll watch you through the one-way glass."

"Are you supposed to tell us that?" Mulder asked, 
laughing slightly. "I guess it's because we're 
not talking to criminals."

Kresge left them, and they stepped into the room. It 
was extremely quiet except for the whispers between 
the two girls.

They were identical in facial features only. One 
had jet-black hair and her sister had hair nearly 
the same colour as Scully's. Both had pale skin, 
blue eyes, finely boned noses, full lips and a 
sprinkle of freckles across their noses and cheeks. 
Unfortunately, the agents had no idea who was who.

"Hello, my name is Special Agent Scully, and this 
is Agent Mulder." Scully took a seat across from 
the twins and their friend's parents.

The man beside the redhead said, "I'm Robert Doyle 
and beside Lexie is my wife Julia."

"I'm Lexie McQueen," the raven-haired girl said.

"That means you're Amy." Scully looked at the 
other girl. There was something in Amy's eyes 
that was familiar; it was a mysterious look. Her 
twin had the same quality. Scully wondered why 
the quality was so familiar to her.

"Yeah," the girl replied quietly.

"We know this is a hard time for you both but 
we want to find who did this." Mulder took a 
seat beside his partner.

"I don't know," Amy said.

"Alexandra, what about you?" Scully asked, taking 
out a pen and notepad.

"I don't know either, and nobody calls me Alexandra 
except my mom. Call me Lexie." She leaned forward, 
resting her head in her hands.

"Okay, Lexie," Scully said. "We know you both found 
your mother but we want to know if you saw anything 
or anyone suspicious."

"No, nothing like that." Lexie shook her head. "It 
was just a regular day. My dad was away on another 
business trip, my mom was home from work and Amy 
and I were returning from our ballet lesson. The 
door was unlocked, which isn't unusual for my mom. 
I'm always forgetting my keys."

"Did anything look unusual around the house?" 
Mulder asked.

"No. Everything was normal. Nothing inside the house 
was different." Lexie squeezed her eyes shut.

Scully was worried. "Lexie, what's wrong?" She reached 
across and touched the girl's hand.

She reached into her purse that was slung over her 
shoulder. "I suffer from migraines. They've been 
really bad since my mom died." She pulled out a 
prescription bottle. "I take Tylenol 3. They help 
as long as I take them when I feel a headache starting."

Scully frowned. "I'm sure they're awful. My sister 
suffered from occasional migraines when she was in 
her teens." 

"Is that all you want to talk about? Can we go?" 
Amy said.

"Just a few more questions," Scully insisted. "What 
did you girls think about your parents fighting?"

"I hated it. I love my father and mother but I 
truly believe they would've been happier apart." 
Lexie opened her pill bottle. Mulder poured her 
a cup of water from the pitcher Kresge had left 
on the table. "Thanks," Lexie said as he pushed 
the cup to her. She took her medication.

"I'd like to let you know something but I don't 
want to upset you." Scully paused. "Your father 
is our main suspect in your mother's murder."

Amy nodded and said softly, "We know."

Robert Doyle stood up. "I think we're finished 
here. Lexie needs to have a nap."

Scully stood up as well. "Sure. Thank you all 
for taking time to see us, and Lexie, I hope you 
get well soon. Try taking a warm bath in a 
candlelit bathroom. That usually worked for my sister."

The twins gave small smiles as they followed 
the Doyles out of the room.

"I didn't know that Melissa suffered from 
migraines," Mulder said, getting up. "Did you 
when you were young?"

"No. It was just Melissa. We figured she inherited 
it from my father's mother but Melissa's 
disappeared in her early twenties. She believed 
it was because she'd started meditating." Scully 
wore a wide grin whenever she spoke about her big 
sister and the good times from the past.

"Want some water?"

"No, thank you," Scully replied. "You know what? 
Those girls reminded me of Melissa. I don't know 
why. They had this mysterious twinkle in their 
eyes, and Missy always had that look."

"And Amy's red hair. I think it's natural, and 
I'm sure you and Melissa are the only women I've 
met with naturally red hair."

"Yeah. It's natural. I bet Lexie dyed her hair 
black because she was called 'Red' by her schoolmates. 
She probably didn't want to be identical to Amy."

There was a knock at the door and Kresge entered. 
"I have the picture you requested." He placed 
the small glossy photo on the table.

"That's Miranda McQueen? Then I knew her after 
all!" Scully exclaimed.

"How?" Kresge asked.

"She was best friends with my sister and 
Miranda's sister dated my brother. The 
McQueens lived on Miramar Naval Base here 
in San Diego."

"Did you know Dale Wallace?" Mulder took 
the picture from his partner's hand.

"No. I don't believe so. I could have but 
I don't remember. I can't even remember 
Miranda's sister's name." 

"It's Michelle. She lives in San Francisco," 
Kresge said.

"Oh, Mich! I remember now. Bill dated Mich. 
I'm thirty-four years old but lately, my memory 
is like that of a seventy-year-old's."

Kresge opened the door. "We're still looking 
for Dale. We believe he could've fled to 
Arizona. Someone fitting his description 
stopped at a convenience store near the 
California-Arizona border."

"Did that just come in?" Mulder asked. 
Kresge nodded. "Well, send some cars out, 
or get an Arizona police force out looking."

"Okay, and as soon as we find him, he'll 
be brought here for questioning."

"Good plan. Until then, we'll stay in touch 
with Amy and Lexie."

"From what I could see, you two are really 
good with kids," Kresge commented. He glanced 
at Scully.

Mulder stood up. "Scully, I just need to 
use the restroom. When I get back, we'll 
leave." He left the interrogation room.

Kresge leaned against the wall. "How have 
you been?" he asked Scully. He folded his 
arms across his chest.

"You mean about Emily, right?" She didn't 
wait for an answer. "I'm doing okay. It's 
been hard but I'm fine."

Kresge and Scully had investigated the 
murder of Emily's adoptive mother Roberta 
Sim. Kresge had even risked his life on 
the case.

"Well, that's good. How's your family?"

"My nephew celebrates his first Christmas 
this year. He's getting big. I saw him 
several days ago. I'll see him again on Monday."

"And that's the child your sister-in-law 
was pregnant with last year?"

Scully nodded. "Yeah. Tara gave birth after 
New Year's. He's such a sweet baby." She 
looked at her watch. "Agent Mulder should 
be ready. Please excuse me."

"Perhaps you two can come for dinner after 
this case is closed." He ran a hand through 
his brown hair.

Scully put her hand on the doorknob. 
"Maybe." She made a quick exit.

She wondered why Kresge was so concerned with 
her situation. "Maybe he's genuinely interested 
and not making small-talk," she said to herself.

"Hey Scully, are you ready to go?" Mulder 
strode down the hallway.

"Yeah. Let's just stay at the motel. I'm tired."




Scully's motel room was extremely dark when she 
awoke from her nap. It was nearly eight; she'd 
been asleep for nearly six hours. She knew she 
wouldn't sleep through the night.

She blinked hard, her eyes adjusting to 
the blackness. She was glad she wasn't near 
the motel sign. That's where she usually got 
stuck and the bright light usually kept her 
up late.

She picked up her cell phone and pressed 
a button. The screen lit up and she saw 
she'd missed three calls. All three were 
from Mulder. She dialled his cellular 
phone number.

"Hey Scully," he answered. "You fell 
asleep. I missed you."

She heard moaning in the background; it 
was coming from his television. "Obviously, 
you found some other company." She loved 
ribbing him about his interest in pornography.

"You must have been wiped. You've been 
sleeping since two o'clock. Did you have 
a nice snooze?"

She rolled onto her side. "Yes, but I'll 
be up all night now. I missed your calls. 
I don't usually sleep that heavily."

"Well, I heard from Kresge. He has several 
police cruisers out looking for Dale Wallace. 
He's also gotten police on the watch between 
Arizona's border and here."

"Hopefully, he's found soon. Those girls 
need to know who killed their mother and 
if it is their father, I feel for them. I 
just hope that if he did kill Miranda, Amy 
and Lexie are sent to live with their 
grandmother or their aunt."

"Perhaps you should call Michelle McQueen 
and talk to her. She, as well as her mother, 
have been notified of Miranda's death."

"I guess I'll get Mich's number from Kresge 
then, but I know it will a tough adjustment 
for the twins if they must go live with 
their aunt." Her voice grew soft. "Everything 
changes when a loved one dies."

"I know, Scully. Now, would you like some 
supper? I'll order some Chinese food and we 
can have a nice evening in your room."

She smiled. "That sounds great. Come down 
when you're ready."

"Okay. See you in a few."




November 29, 1998


Scully set her chopsticks in her box of noodles. 
She was getting full but the food was so delicious, 
and she had been starving due to oversleeping. 
She'd already eaten the whole container of 
chicken balls.

She looked over at Mulder. He was fast asleep 
in the chair. It was nearly one in the morning 
and she'd expected him to fall asleep in the 
comfortable recliner. She had been so busy eating 
and watching late night comedy shows, she hadn't 
even realized he had fallen asleep.

His white dress shirt was pulled out of his 
pants. His brown hair was flat on the side of 
his head he'd slept on for most of the evening. 
He had his arms crossed and his feet propped up 
on the attached footrest.

Scully pulled her legs to her chest, resting 
her chin on her knees. She reached for the remote 
and changed the channel, finding a talk show. 
Her head started throbbing painfully. She always 
developed headaches when she stayed up late. 
That was why she rarely did it on purpose.

She rubbed her temples and groaned. She didn't 
know how Lexie McQueen could handle migraine 
headaches. Scully could remember her sister 
Melissa and how severe her migraines would get. 
Melissa refused to take medication and had the 
patience, sanity and pain threshold to wait them 
out, even if they lasted more than a day.

She cringed when the phone started ringing. 
"Who could be calling this late?" she said 
before answering it.

"Agent Scully, it's Kresge."

"Detective Kresge, what are you doing 
calling so late?"

He said quietly, "I realized I hadn't given 
you a picture of Dale Wallace. I think it was 
because we weren't looking for him. I'm sorry 
I haven't been helpful."

"You have been. Just send it over later on."

"Why are you still up?"

"I fell asleep this afternoon for about 
six hours, and I'm not tired."

"I would ask if you wanted to go for coffee but 
if Lorelei wakes up and I'm gone, she'll flip, 
especially if she discovers I'm out with a 
pretty woman."

Scully's mouth curled into a wide grin even 
though Kresge couldn't see it. "Well, I'll let 
you go then. I shouldn't keep you up just 
because I can't sleep."

"I'll see you tomorrow and then, I'll take 
you for coffee."

"That sound great. Goodnight." She put the 
receiver in its cradle.

Scully looked at Mulder. He hadn't moved at 
all, and she didn't think he would for the 
rest of the night. Her head pounded as she 
stood up, grabbed a blanket and moved across 
the room to his side. She draped the cool 
cover across his legs. His arm twitched 
but he didn't open his eyes. 

She knelt down at the end of her bed 
and pulled out her suitcase. She rummaged 
around inside for her bottle of Tylenol. 
Once she found it, she took two pills 
with a swig of soda from dinner.

Scully got on the bed and lying on her 
stomach, kicked off her shoes and turned 
off the lamp. The TV behind her was still 
on but she thought that could help put her 
to sleep. 

It didn't so she started thinking despite 
the nagging pain in her head. Her partner 
amazed her sometimes. He'd handled the day 
before so well; she could safely say that 
the abduction of Mulder's sister had left 
some serious emotional scars. However, he 
acted normally and didn't seem like he was 
depressed. She knew he was hurting but with 
Samantha, he did that every day and had done 
so since the day she'd disappeared. He was 
consumed with guilt and the desire to find 
her. That was his reason for starting work 
on the X-files in the first place. Now, they 
were gone but Mulder was as determined as 
ever to get them back.

Scully felt her eyelids growing heavy and 
eventually, she couldn't open her eyes. 
She was too tired. She knew she was going 
to sleep well.



Chapter Four

Deep Thoughts


Scully was rudely awakened by her partner 
shaking her. She moaned as she opened her 
eyes. Mulder was smiling. "Hey Sunshine. 
Wake up. It's nearly ten."

She shot up. "Did a package arrive for me?"

"You mean the photo of Dale Wallace? Yeah, 
it did. I signed for it."

"Kresge called me late last night to say he'd 
forgotten to show me what Dale Wallace looked 
like. Can I see it?" She put her hands out to 
prop herself up.

"Sure." Mulder picked up an envelope from the 
top of the television. "You should've gotten 
me up last night. You were the one who reminded 
me about male and female agents not being 
allowed to consort in the same room while on 
investigation," he said in one breath.

"You just looked so tuckered out," she 
commented, taking the padded envelope from 
him. She reached inside and removed the picture.

"Do you recognize him?"

"No, Mulder. He probably met Miranda after 
she moved. They could have dated while the 
McQueens still lived in San Diego. I wasn't 
friends with her."

"Well, I guess Kresge sending this to us 
means we're on the lookout as well. So much 
fun."

Scully nodded. "I hope this case doesn't 
drag on for too long. Christmas is next 
month. Hopefully, I'm home for that."

Mulder noticed the Tylenol on the bedside 
table. "Headache?"

"A really bad one last night. It started 
suddenly but it's gone now."

It was silent until the phone rang. Mulder 
answered it but handed it to Scully. "It's 
Kresge. He needs to speak to you urgently."

She took the receiver. "Kresge, what is it?"

"Dale Wallace was arrested in Mesa, Arizona. 
Some of my officers went down to get him 
back up here."

"Great. Did he put up a struggle?"

"Yeah, and it's usually a sure sign of guilt."

"We'll see." Scully hung up and turned to 
Mulder. "They caught Dale in Arizona. He's 
being brought up here."




The muscular man was smug. His brown hair was 
messy and his face was unshaven; his navy blue 
blazer was wrinkled. His lawyer, Joan Ross, sat 
beside him, whispering in his ear.

Mulder frowned when he saw Dale Wallace. The 
man was unmoved. He'd signed a confession, 
saying he murdered his wife.

"Mr. Wallace, my name is Fox Mulder. I'm with 
the FBI." Dale nodded. "And this is my partner, 
Dana Scully."

The man smiled widely. "Melissa's little sister. 
I've heard a lot about you."

Scully was surprised. "You knew my sister?"

"Very well. She was best friends with Miranda."

Mulder cut to the chase. "Mr. Wallace, why did 
you kill your wife?"

"We wanted a divorce but we had a prenuptial 
agreement. Divorce meant everything split down 
the middle. Guess I got a little greedy," he 
said cruelly.

"That's all?" Scully said in disbelief. "All 
this over money and property?"

"I'm a businessman, Miss Scully. I know about 
needing to sacrifice things to succeed."

Mulder was sickened. "But did you have to kill 
Miranda? You've left your two daughters 
motherless, and it's almost Christmas. Did you 
think about that?"

"No. My daughters aren't on my mind when it 
comes to business." He changed the subject. 
"How's Missy? She moved to the East Coast and 
I haven't heard from her since."

"Mr. Wallace, that's not relevant now. This 
isn't about your friendship with Melissa. It's 
about you murdering your wife." Scully was 
growing frustrated at Dale's lack of emotion. 
She knew that some killers showed no remorse 
but usually, they were the ones who murdered 
perfect strangers.

"I've told you why I did it, Miss Scully."

His lawyer spoke up. "If you're finished, my 
client is going to be put into holding until 
he is sentenced."

Scully shook her head. "No. I want to talk to 
Dale." She straightened her back. "My sister 
died, Dale. She was murdered about three 
years ago."

His face grew serious. "I'm really sorry."

"She was killed by somebody like you. Somebody 
who was blinded by his own desires."

"Well, we all had some good times together," 
he said, ignoring Scully's previous comment.

Mulder stood up. "I need something to drink." 
He left the room in a hurry. Scully assumed 
he was disgusted with Dale's attitude.

"Our lives were all about parties and nights 
out, until Amy and Lexie came along, that is."

Scully fiddled with a pen on the table. 
"Were you happy about that?"

"Not really at first, but I love them. We 
were twenty at the time we adopted them--"

"They're adopted?" she asked.

"You shouldn't look so surprised," he replied.

"Why not?" she challenged, leaning forward. 
She was calm.

"They're Melissa's children."




Mulder poked his head into the women's washroom. 
"Scully, are you okay?"

He heard Scully blow her nose. "I'm a little 
shaken up right now." Her voice boomed from 
inside a stall.

"Did Dale say something to you? I saw you rush 
from the interrogation room."

"I don't want to talk about it right now. Just 
give me a while."

Mulder closed the bathroom's door and looked 
down the hallway for Kresge. Other police 
officers had been watching the interview so 
Mulder wasn't sure where the detective had gone.

"Agent Mulder," he heard behind him. It was 
John Kresge. "Where's Scully?"

"Um, she's in the bathroom. I think Dale Wallace 
said something that upset her, probably about 
her sister. Dale and Miranda were friends with 
Melissa Scully."

"Give her some time and maybe she'll talk 
about it."




She wasn't sure if she should believe the 
murderer. How could her sister have had 
kids without saying anything?

Scully wiped at stray tears that had 
escaped from her blue eyes. She couldn't 
believe she was crying in a bathroom stall. 
It was reminiscent of her teen years and 
all the heartbreaks she'd suffered that 
had caused her to run and hide.

She pulled herself to her feet and emerged 
from the stall. She saw herself in the 
mirror. Her eyes weren't red but they 
were wet. She went to the sink and splashed 
some water on her face.

Scully was determined to find out if there 
was any truth to what Dale had said: Melissa 
was the biological mother of Amy and 
Alexandra. She knew that their adoption 
papers were probably sealed but she could 
manipulate Dale into requesting to see them. 
She'd try getting them through proper 
channels first.

If the twins were indeed her sister's 
daughters, she knew she'd have a tough 
time telling her family. This was similar 
to the year before. When Scully had discovered 
Emily the previous Christmas, she'd originally 
thought the child was her sister's. Emily was 
identical in appearance to Melissa as a 
toddler, but Scully was wrong. She knew for 
damn sure that these girls were not her own; 
they were much too old. That meant that Melissa 
had been nineteen or twenty when she gave birth, 
if Amy and Lexie were her children.

Mulder was probably waiting for her outside. 
She dried her hands with a paper towel before 
leaving the washroom. Mulder was out in the 
hall; he was leaning against the wall. He 
immediately went to Scully when he saw 
her. "Are you feeling better?"

She crossed her arms. "No," she said, 
her voice barely audible. "Dale 
Wallace *did* say something to me."

She saw a flash of anger in his eyes. 
"Damn it! What did he say?"

"He and Miranda adopted Amy and Lexie, 
and Dale told me that these girls, the 
children Miranda raised as if they were 
her own, are actually Melissa's kids."

Mulder's mouth dropped open. "I'm sure 
he's lying."

"I don't know. Melissa was always so 
secretive. She could have been pregnant 
and I wouldn't have even known."

"But didn't you see here then? You both 
lived in San Francisco at the time. 
Weren't you attending Berkeley?"

"Yeah but Melissa never looked pregnant. 
She put on twenty pounds or so but I 
thought that was because I constantly 
told her she was too thin. I think that 
was because I was jealous she was slimmer 
than I was." She chuckled slightly.

Mulder's voice was low. "Scully, are you 
sure you can trust this man? He may have 
been your sister's friend but he's also 
a murderer."

"I don't know, Mulder. I have to get the 
adoption records, to see if Melissa's their
mother, unless I can do a DNA test, a PCR. I 
need to know for sure if Melissa had children."

"Scully, consider all this carefully. If 
they are your nieces or if they're not, you 
must be prepared. Talk to your family and 
get them ready for the news. I'm not sure 
how they're going to feel if Amy and Lexie 
are Melissa's kids."

"Perhaps that's why they reminded me of 
her, and Lexie has migraine headaches. She 
inherited them from her mother."

"Scully, I'm taking you back to the motel 
so you can spend some time alone and really 
think about this. I don't want you getting 
worked up and being disappointed."

She licked her upper lip, a gesture of 
anxiety. "I know. I don't want to either."

******

The scotch tasted awful and it burned 
Scully's throat. There was still half left 
in the small bottle Mulder had brought her. 
She rarely drank but when she did, she enjoyed 
rich red wine. This scotch was rancid to her; 
it was an acquired taste she never had. Scully 
knew Mulder sometimes went to the bar when he 
was feeling down so he'd probably assumed the 
drink would help his partner as well. 
Unfortunately, Scully's thinking required a 
clear head. She screwed the cap on the scotch 
bottle. If she'd had a drink every time 
something terrible happened in her adult life, 
she'd probably be deemed an alcoholic.

Scully sighed and leaned forward in her chair. 
She perched her elbows on her thighs, put her 
head in her hands. Now that she'd stopped 
drinking, the silence was horrendous. She 
wanted them--sobriety, serenity--to think 
but it wasn't helping at all.

<Who knew a simple case would lead into 
such a surprise?> Scully knew she'd be up 
half the night wondering. If what Dale Wallace 
had told her was true, that would mean two new
additions to her family--she'd have more 
nieces. She had to get ahold of the girls' 
adoption records and birth certificates.

She couldn't understand how her sister could 
have had twins and not told her family, and why 
Melissa's swollen stomach had not shown more. 
But then, Melissa used to wear loose dresses; 
Scully rarely saw her sister in jeans.

How Melissa covered up her pregnancy was not 
as important as why she never told her sister. 
Scully remembered one pregnancy scare but that 
had been negative, or at least that was what 
Melissa said.

"I can't believe Missy lied to me." Scully 
shook her head.

Her deep thoughts were interrupted by a 
knock at her door. "Mulder, I thought you 
wanted me to think," she called.

"It's Kresge. I need to talk to you."

She jumped up and went to the door. "Hold 
on." She undid the chain and pulled the 
door open.

He stepped inside. "I heard about what Dale 
Wallace said to you and I'm sorry he made 
you so upset."

"But is he telling the truth?"

"I don't know, but he probably was friends 
with your sister."

Scully asked, "Can you help me get my 
hands on the twins' birth certificates?"

Kresge winced. "It might not be so easy. 
I'll see what I can do. For now, Edith and 
Michelle McQueen are coming here to plan 
Miranda's funeral. Maybe you can ask them 
if they know anything about the twins' birth 
parents. It could be anybody, or it could 
be your sister."

Scully laughed nervously. "I never imagined 
this would happen. I guess I assumed that if 
my sister had been pregnant, she would have 
told me. I do remember she thought she was 
expecting once, and she probably was."

Kresge looked down. "I'm really sorry about 
everything that's happened. You seem to suffer 
in San Diego, or maybe it's me." He startled 
Scully by embracing her.

"I don't think it's you." She reached up, 
putting her hands on his shoulder blades. 
Her cheek was pressed against his chest. 
He had a musky smell, like he'd put on 
cologne and most of it had worn off. She 
knew what was happening probably didn't 
look right because John Kresge was an 
attractive man, but he was simply 
comforting her.

He broke the silence. "If you need anything, 
give me a call." He let her go. "Lorelei's 
made my favourite dinner so I should leave." 
He went to the door.

"Thanks for stopping by." She opened the 
door for him. "Contact me with any new 
developments in the case."

"Sure, and I'll see what I can do about 
accessing Amy and Alexandra's records. I 
can't promise anything."

Scully waited for Kresge to head to his car 
before closing the door. It was growing dark 
outside. She didn't want to sleep. She 
wanted to jog.

She went into her suitcase and pulled out 
a pair of black shorts and a blue sweatshirt. 
The phone rang after she'd started to change.

It was Mulder. "Hey Scully, do you want to 
go for a bite to eat?" 

"No thanks. I'm going for a run." She sat 
down and pulled on white sport socks. "I need 
to clear my head. You can join me if you'd like."




Scully ran, taking long strides. The world 
around her was a blur. The residential street 
seemed to continue forever, and all was silent 
except for her feet hitting the pavement. Her 
partner had passed on the jog. That meant she 
could pick up her page--no Mulder lagging behind. 
He ran longer distances but he did it slowly. She 
could do short distances quickly.

Tomorrow was a big day. Bill and his family would 
be home and Scully would have to visit them. She 
was contemplating whether or not she should tell 
her brother about her suspicions. He hadn't been 
too supportive the year before, when she'd 
suspected Emily was Melissa's daughter. Now, 
with Amy and Lexie, Bill would probably insist 
that Melissa hadn't been pregnant, because she 
would have told their mother and father. <Bill 
thinks he knew Missy so well,> Scully thought as 
she pumped her arms and pounded the pavement.

Brothers and sisters never usually had the 
closeness that two sisters had. Bill was protective 
of Scully and Melissa but he only knew what they 
told him. Ever since they were young, the sisters 
could tell things about each other by facial 
expressions, body language or their manner of 
speaking. However, if Melissa *had* been pregnant 
and her sister never noticed, that mean their 
communication had decreased somewhat along the way.

Scully slowed down until she was jogging on 
the spot. She used her sleeve to wipe the 
sheen of sweat from her forehead.

"Tomorrow is a big day indeed."




<"Dana! You gotta show up more often!" Melissa 
exclaimed. Her younger sister walked down the 
hall to Melissa's apartment.

"School's been hectic. I just finished exams 
and now, it's summer. Finally." Dana threw her 
arms around her sister. "Hey Missy, have you 
gained some weight?"

"Yeah. I've started eating more, thanks to 
your comments. But no meat."

"Well, you look good." Dana entered Melissa's 
home. "Would you mind getting me a glass of water?"

"No problem. Have a seat." She ushered her 
sibling into the tiny living room before 
heading into her even smaller kitchen.

Dana sighed at the sight of her sister's 
messy coffee table, but messy was Melissa. 
Her room always looked like a dump, mountains 
of clothes heaped on either side of the room.

Dana became nosy when she saw a piece of 
paper with her sister's flowing script on 
it. She read it. "'I can't believe it. I'm 
pregnant, with twins to top it all off. What 
am I going to do? I can't tell anybody, 
especially since the father is married. 
Everyone will think I'm a whore'."

A whisper. "Dana, it's true. I'm pregnant." 
Dana looked up and saw Melissa's small 
abdominal bulge, one that would probably 
go unnoticed by any person on the street.

Dana frowned. "Oh Missy. You're not a 
whore, but you should tell Mom and Dad."

Melissa shook her head furiously. "I can't.">




November 30, 1998


Scully opened her eyes and was greeted by 
the early morning sunshine. She'd slept the 
entire night, having only one dream about her 
sister. She had never discovered anything 
like that letter so it wasn't simply a flashback.

It was eight o'clock. Scully knew she had 
several hours to prepare for her visit to 
her brother's house; her family's flight to 
San Diego left at seven Eastern time. Bill 
and Tara would be tired, and Matthew would 
probably be cranky. Perhaps today was not a 
good day to tell them about Amy and Alexandra
McQueen.

"I should know for sure," she mumbled into 
her blanket. "I need all the answers."



Chapter Five

Second Mother


"Dana, it's so great to see you again." Tara 
Scully hugged her sister-in-law before pulling 
her inside. "Bill is just giving Matthew a bath."

"That would be a sweet sight. According to 
Mom, every new sibling for Bill was at risk 
in the tub when he was around." She slipped 
off her shoes. "And I thought I was jealous 
when Charlie was born."

Tara led Scully into the warm kitchen. "Have 
you eaten dinner yet?"

"No. I've been busy all afternoon," she lied. 
All she'd done was watch daytime TV in her 
motel room with no interruptions from Mulder 
or Kresge. They knew she needed time to herself.

"We were just going to sit down to dinner 
when he got downstairs. I'll set an extra 
place." Tara put on a pair of oven mitts. 
"Have a seat. I just have to pull this roast 
beef out." 

Scully's stomach growled. Tara's food was 
always delicious. "It smells wonderful, Tara."

"Thank you." She set the roasting pan on 
the stove. "When do you think you'll be done 
with this case?"

"I don't know. There were some new developments," 
Scully answered. She fidgeted with a place mat.

Tara brought a plate and some cutlery to the 
table. "Well, I hope you're finished soon."

"Mama." Matthew toddled into the room, 
followed by his father.

Scully smiled at her brother. "Hey Bill. I 
told Tara about how you tried to drown Missy, 
Charlie and me when we were babies."

Bill picked up his son. "I was jealous but 
then, Dad gave me a big talk on how important 
it was to be a big brother."

"Are you going to Mom's for Christmas, for 
sure?" Scully asked.

"Yeah, and as far as I know, Charlie is 
going to be there too. Why? Is this case 
you're investigating going to hold you up 
until then?"

He'd nailed it, partially. "Maybe. I was 
telling Tara that we had some new information 
come to light. It doesn't relate to the case 
directly. It's about the murdered woman's 
daughters, and Melissa."

Bill gave Matthew to his wife and sat down 
across from Scully. "Please tell me this 
isn't a replay of last Christmas."

"Not an exact replay," Scully said. Bill 
looked confused. "Remember the McQueen family 
that lived near us when we lived on the base 
here? You dated the oldest girl Michelle, 
and Missy was best friends with Miranda."

"Yes, I remember them."

"Well, Miranda McQueen was our victim. Her 
husband, Dale Wallace, killed her. They had 
two children, twin daughters. According to 
Dale, these girls were adopted and Melissa 
is their birth mother."

"Just what we all need," Bill said crossly.

"I only told you to prepare you in case Amy 
and Lexie are Melissa's kids. They need to 
be told about their real mother."

"Dana, if Melissa was pregnant, why did 
she keep it a secret?"

"Because she could. She only saw me in San 
Francisco around the time the girls were born."

He shook his head. "How old are they?"

"Sixteen. That means Missy was nineteen or 
twenty when they were born. She was probably 
frightened, too scared even to tell me."

"Fine, but did you ever notice her belly 
growing? Like you said, she only saw you 
since you were attending Berkeley."

"Bill, I only saw that she was gaining 
weight. Her clothes were always baggy and 
I told her she was too thin. She gained 
about twenty pounds but I only assumed 
that was because of my nagging. It's not 
impossible for somebody to not notice a 
pregnancy."

Tara sat beside her husband. She kept 
quiet. Bill reached out and grabbed his 
sister's hand. "Dana, you and Missy 
were close. Why didn't she tell you?"

"She was afraid of being judged. That's 
what I think anyway. Missy acted tough 
but she didn't always act maturely. Why 
would she have asked for my help so often?"

"Dana, I can't accept this until there's 
proof," Bill admitted. "Can't you do tests?"

"If Dale says it's okay. He was also a 
friend of Missy's."

Tara spoke up. "I'll serve supper, if 
you're still hungry."

Scully said, "I'm not. Thank you." She 
checked watch. "I have to go. If you'd 
like, phone Mom. I'll keep in touch."




"Hey Scully. Where have you been?" Mulder 
asked when he saw his partner getting out 
of their rental car. He was returning from 
the soda machine. He saw that Scully's cheeks 
were tearstained but he didn't ask about it.

"I told my brother about the girls and my 
suspicions. He doesn't accept it, not until 
I've gotten proof."

"That seems to run in your family." His joke 
didn't go over smoothly; Scully frowned. "I'm 
sorry, Scully. I'm sure you don't need this now."

"No problem, Mulder. I just need to lie down."

"You've been doing that an awful lot but I 
know how you feel. You sleep, wishing 
everything would go away."

"No. I'm sleeping because I'm tired." She 
removed her room key from her pocket. 
"I've decided that if Dale agrees, I'm 
going to get some tests done on the twins' 
DNA and compare it to Melissa's. I'm going 
to request her files from the Bureau."

"And if they are your nieces, what are you 
going to do? Are you going to tell them?"

Scully slid her key into the door's lock. 
"I don't know. Everything's going to change."

When she was inside and the door was 
closed, she picked up her phone and dialled 
the number of the Bureau's laboratory at 
headquarters. She hoped somebody was there.

A lab technician named Jenna O'Shea 
answered. "Agent O'Shea, it's Agent Scully."

"Hi, Scully. How can I help you at this 
late hour?"

"Could you pull out the files on my sister, 
Melissa Scully, and have them sent to the 
San Diego office?"

"Sure. I'll get on that right now."

"Thank you." Scully hung up the phone. 
"There will be a huge change."




December 1, 1998


Dale Wallace was slouching in his chair. 
He wore the drab orange prison garb. He 
actually smiled when he saw Scully come 
into the room. "Dana, how are you?"

"How am I? Well, my whole life is in 
shambles because of what you told me," 
she said furiously.

"But you need to know."

"Why? The girls are almost adults. If 
they're my sister's children, I've 
missed so many years."

"If?" Dale echoed. "Dana, they are 
Missy's girls. I was there the entire 
time Missy was in labour, the entire 
thirty-two hours."

"How can I believe you? You're a murderer."

"But I care about my girls. They *are* mine."

Scully sat down, dropping onto the chair 
like a stone in water. "What do you mean?"

"I married Miranda when she was nineteen 
but I was having an affair with your sister. 
We accidentally conceived and she didn't 
want an abortion. I agreed to help her 
through it. Miranda never suspected a thing. 
She just assumed Melissa was pregnant by 
an old boyfriend. I then convinced Miranda 
that we should adopt the babies because 
Melissa wanted a stable life for them."

Scully couldn't believe what she was 
hearing. "If that is true, did your wife 
ever find out?"

"No. She thought she was adopting Melissa's 
kids fathered by another man, not by me. 
She never thought about that."

"I'm going to have to perform DNA tests 
on the girls' blood as well as yours, just 
in case."

Dale shrugged. "Go ahead. Send a doctor to 
draw blood whenever you'd like. It's the 
only way to prove that I'm their father. Missy 
left my space blank on the birth certificates, 
in case you wanted to look at those."

"Thank you for co-operating, Dale, but 
you've shattered my family. Our lives 
will be changed forever," she said, her 
voice Arctic-cool.

"I thought you'd like to know that Missy 
had kids, since she passed away. That is, 
unless you have something against 
illegitimate children."

"No. If these girls are indeed my nieces, 
my family would accept them." <I hope so.>

"I know you miss your sister, Dana, but 
Missy was thinking about you when she was 
pregnant. In fact, Amy's middle name is 
Dana." He added, "Lexie's middle name is 
Margaret, after your mother."

Scully smiled. There was now a bigger 
chance that Melissa was in fact the girls' 
birth mother. Scully wanted to know more 
but she knew it would hurt if she got 
excited and the girls ended up being 
someone else's children. She wanted to 
know but decided she would have to wait.

"Dale, I'll send the doctor later today. 
I'll get some blood from the girls as well."

"Go ahead, just as long as they're willing 
but don't tell them why. Let them live 
with Miranda's sister, believing Miranda 
was their mother."

"So they can be even more furious with you 
when they *do* find out? They'll never 
visit you in prison."

"Now that I'm in jail, I can't make 
decisions for my kids so do whatever."

Scully nodded. "I will," she said 
before leaving.




Scully pulled up to the Doyle residence 
and turned off the car. She sat, staring 
at the large white house and its lush 
green lawn. She was afraid to face the 
twins, knowing they could be her nieces.

She took her first step by getting out 
of the car. It took a few seconds for 
her to get up the front walk. She was 
making progress. Shrieks sounded from 
behind the house so Scully took the 
curving sidewalk to the backyard.

The twins weren't the ones making 
the noise. They were sitting on the 
edge of the Doyles' swimming pool. 
Lexie wore sunglasses; Scully guessed 
it probably wasn't a migraine day. She 
recognized Julia Doyle in the water but 
wasn't sure who the other female was.

"Agent Scully," Julia called. "Come on 
over to the pool."

Scully moved slowly toward Amy and Lexie. 
She stuffed her hands in her pockets. 
"Mrs. Doyle, I spoke to your husband a 
while ago. He was on his way out."

"Yeah." Julia pulled herself onto the 
deck. "Agent Scully, that's my daughter, 
Rhiannon." The girl looked like a young 
version of Julia, with the same dark hair 
and eyes.

Scully gave a small smile. "Fleetwood 
Mac?" she guessed.

"My favourite song, but call her 
Annie. She thinks her name is geeky."

Scully waved. "Nice to meet you, 
Annie." The young girl nodded and 
swam to her friends.

"Amy and Lexie seem to be handling 
this trauma well but I hear them crying 
at night and I'm afraid to intrude. 
They're upset as it is." Julia crossed 
her arms. "It's even harder now, with 
their father being the killer."

"Let them come around. They will talk 
when they're ready."

"What can I do for you?"

"Some things have come up concerning the 
girls' background. Dale has given me the 
okay to get their blood. If they decline, 
I won't do it."

Julia's forehead creased. "Was there 
something wrong with Miranda? Was she ill?"

"No. She was healthy when she died. 
That's not an issue because according 
to Dale, the girls were adopted. I'm 
trying to find out who their real mother is."

"Who do you think it is?" The woman 
was becoming more worried.

"I can't say right now."




Scully glanced into the backseat. Amy 
and Lexie sat in silence. They'd 
reluctantly agreed to go.

"So, how have you been, Agent Scully?" 
Lexie asked, running a hand through her 
damp black hair.

"I'm fine," she lied. "Thank you 
for asking."

"Our mom's funeral is in a couple 
days. Are you coming?" Amy said.

"Yeah. I don't know if you two knew 
this but your mom was my sister's best 
friend, and your Aunt Michelle dated 
my brother."

"Is that why you chose to investigate? 
Because you knew my mom?"

"No. I had no idea, and I never really 
knew your mom. Missy usually went to 
her house. She said hi to me when she 
came by to get my sister."

Amy smiled. "Aunt Missy! How is she?"

"Um, she passed away, three years ago," 
Scully said, <Aunt Missy?> she thought.

Both girls grew teary-eyed. "We've always 
loved Aunt Missy," Lexie said. "She's the 
one who suggested our middle names when we 
were born. She moved away when we were 
eleven. She said her sister was sick. 
She must've meant you."

That was when Scully had been returned 
from her abduction. Melissa had been 
there nearly the whole time while she 
was comatose. 

Amy sniffled. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yes, much better." She decided not to 
talk about her cancer or Emily.

"So you must have been the one in all 
the pictures in Aunt Missy's apartment. 
She was always telling us stories about 
her adventures with her little sister 
Dana. She said she suggested Dana for 
Amy's middle name because she reminded 
her of you when you were born."

Scully smiled, though she ached inside. 
Melissa had lied to the girls as well, 
feeling it was in their best interest. 
It probably was at the time.

"I just want to let you both know: 
don't worry about the blood tests. 
We don't believe you have any diseases," 
Scully said. "How have your migraines 
been, Lexie?"

"Bad. I don't have one now, but I had 
one for two days before today."

"Perhaps I can get the doctor to 
prescribe a better medication for it."

"Whatever, just as long as they go 
away. Sometimes they're so bad, I 
stay in bed all day with my blinds 
closed. I've missed at least a month 
of school, not all at once though. 
Sometimes I just go to school with 
headaches."

"We're not there now because Julia 
told us to take a week off," Amy added. 
"Annie was just spending today with us."

"It's good you have friends like that. 
Annie seems great."

"Mom always said Aunt Missy was that 
kind of friend. She'd do anything for 
Mom," Amy said, her voice shaking. 
Scully looked in the rear-view mirror 
and saw the girl struggling to keep 
herself from crying.

"Girls, I know what happened to your 
mother was traumatic but it's good to 
talk about it." She inhaled deeply. 
"It was a relief for me to talk after 
I lost my father, my sister, and my 
daughter. It's therapeutic, but only if 
you're comfortable about discussing 
the tragedy."

Lexie nodded. "We know. When your 
father died, we listened to Aunt Missy 
talk to our mom about it. They both cried. 
Missy felt bad that she didn't go to 
the funeral."

Scully gulped. "Do you know why she 
didn't come?"

"She said she couldn't bear to say 
goodbye. She knew she had to but she 
couldn't. She thought you'd all think 
it was because she'd always been angry 
at him."

Scully bit her lip and took a deep 
shaky breath. These girls could possibly 
answer some questions about the time 
Melissa hadn't spent with her sister, like 
why she'd travelled up and down the West 
Coast in 1994. Obviously, she'd gone to see 
Miranda and the girls before leaving for 
Washington to see her comatose sister.

"Did your aunt...Missy...keep in touch 
with you and your parents after she left 
California?" She was extremely curious; she 
wanted to know if Melissa had really left 
her children--if they were hers.

"Yeah. She called twice a week and always 
talked to us, for hours on end," Amy 
answered. "She wanted to know 
everything: how we were doing, what 
our school marks were like, if we'd 
gotten taller. Then she stopped calling. 
That was probably because she'd passed away."

"So Melissa was very good to you?"

Lexie spoke up. "She was like our second 
mother. She watched us when our parents 
went out. She came to visit us when we 
were sick. She picked us up from school. 
She loved us."

Scully kept her focus on driving but as 
they neared the doctor's office, she heard 
the twins whispering in the backseat. The 
only thing she managed to make out was Lexie 
telling her sister: "If Aunt Missy hadn't 
died, she would take care of us."

The sadness of the sentence caused a 
tear to escape from Scully's eye. They 
girls had no one: their "mother" was 
murdered, their "father" was in jail, and 
the woman who'd loved them, the woman 
they called Aunt Missy, was gone.

Scully wanted to comfort them by telling 
them that Michelle McQueen would probably 
take care of them. However, she decided to 
stay silent so Amy and Lexie could mourn 
the loss of the three people they loved.




"How long will it take for the results 
to get back?" Lexie asked. Her arm was 
bent at the elbow so her vein could seal.

"Not too long." Doctor Shirley Daniels 
smiled. "By tomorrow night at the latest 
but we have good lab technicians. The 
results should be done by tomorrow afternoon."

Scully stood up. "Dr. Daniels," she 
said, motioning to Lexie, "this young 
lady suffers from severe migraine headaches 
and her prescription for Tylenol 3 isn't 
working well anymore. Could you prescribe 
something for her?"

"How bad are the headaches, Lexie? How 
often do they occur?"

"They occur frequently, about two times a 
week. They can be really bad at times and 
sometimes they hurt a bit." She tucked a 
few stray locks behind her ear. "They've 
usually awful."

"Perhaps we can wait until the stress 
in your life has lessened considerably, 
and then I'll prescribe Imitrex. It's a 
new effective migraine drug." She looked 
at Scully. "However, the price is quite 
high. Nine tablets are about a hundred 
dollars."

Lexie winced but Scully said, "I'll pay 
for as much as she needs."

"That is incredibly kind of you," said 
Lexie, "but that's too much money."  

Scully shook her head. "It's not a 
problem. Besides, you need it to ease 
the pain. No medicines stop migraines 
altogether. You can't be in this much 
pain for the rest of your life."

"But we will pay you back somehow. I 
promise you." Amy's face was serious 
and sincere.

"Don't worry, Amy. I can pay. It's fine."

Lexie got off the examination table. 
"Are we finished?"

Scully smiled. "Almost. Just go wait 
outside."

The twins did as they'd been told, and 
Dr. Daniels waited until they were gone 
to ask, "When are you going to have the 
suspected mother's DNA results sent to me?"

"I'll get someone to bring them after 
we leave. They're waiting at the 
Bureau's office in town."

"Thank you, Agent Scully. I'll begin 
testing the girls' blood against Mr. 
Wallace's blood." She pulled out her 
prescription pad and wrote out the 
Imitrex order. She tore off the sheet 
and handed it to Scully. "Get the 
girls' grandmother to fill this. 
I've been thinking and Lexie should 
have it as soon as possible, but why do 
you insist on helping these girls so 
much? Imitrex is very expensive."

Scully sighed. "They remind me of my sister."



Chapter Six

Trying Time


December 2, 1998


It was nearly three in the morning and Scully 
was awake. She'd jolted out of a dreamless sleep 
only to find her pillow wet with tears. From the 
damp feeling, she'd sworn it was blood but she 
hadn't had a nosebleed for several months. Her 
cancer was in remission so it had no reason to 
cause her nose to bleed.

She hadn't dreamt at all during her several 
hours of sleep, but she didn't know why she'd wept.

Scully sat up and threw her covers aside. She 
hadn't gotten much sleep in the past few days 
but it wasn't affecting her as much as she 
thought it would. She was still alert on the case.

She turned on the light and stared at the 
telephone beside her bed. She wanted to call 
her mother to talk about what was going on but 
she couldn't--not until she knew the answers.

The DNA tests would be ready in about twelve 
hours and she knew it would be the longest 
wait since she'd waited for Emily's DNA test 
results. That had been hell to sit that long, 
and this new trying time was going to cause 
her to act the same way. There was the anxiety, 
the wandering thoughts, and the planning for 
what was to come.

Scully put her hand on the phone, her fingers 
curling around the receiver. The urge to call 
her mom was increasing but she knew Bill might
have called their mother; Scully prayed he 
hadn't. She would tell everyone when she was sure.

When she was younger and had something to 
keep from her parents, it was usually kept a 
secret until her brother found out. He always 
ruined secrets, but threatened to beat his 
siblings up if they didn't keep his. It
was the Right of the Big Brother.

The worst would be telling the twins themselves 
if they were Melissa's kids, but Scully wouldn't 
be able to tell them straight out anyway. She 
planned to get to know them. After all, they 
would be her nieces. She wanted to know them: 
what they liked, what their hobbies were, what 
they remembered about the happy times in their past.

She also knew they'd need a permanent place to 
stay. They couldn't live with the Doyles 
forever. They needed to live with their family, 
the one they knew. Scully didn't expect them to 
come live with her or her mother. <Perhaps they 
could live with Michelle.> Amy and Lexie at 
least knew her as an aunt when in fact, she 
was not related to them at all.

Scully would also have to tell the girls they 
were adopted. The twins had been lied to their 
entire lives. She was determined to stop the 
lies from hurting them. "But Amy and Lexie 
will be hurt no matter what."

She swung her legs off the bed, knowing she 
wouldn't get back to sleep. She'd probably go 
jogging in a few hours. She couldn't count how 
many times she'd been up at night, her mind 
filled with thoughts and ideas about how to 
solve the problems in her life. The nighttime 
was the only time she really had to herself. 
She'd be bothered by something and it would 
be nearly impossible to sleep. Now she knew 
how Mulder lived.

In the beginning of their partnership, Mulder 
rarely called her before the sun set. He was 
consumed by certain personal demons, and they 
kept him up nights. Scully had thought he was 
somewhat strange but eventually, she knew how 
he felt. It all came about after her tragedies 
began unfolding themselves around her.

Her "abduction" had caused her nights of light, 
easily interrupted sleep, if she could even nod 
off at all. The deaths of family members--her 
father, her sister, her daughter--had caused 
many late evenings of secret tears. Learning 
about the cancer that had taken residence in 
her body gave her thought after thought about 
her dwindling life. Though the cancer was in 
remission, she still thought about it.

She sometimes had nightmares about faceless 
men, and shadows belonging to something that 
wasn't human. She knew it was from working 
with Mulder on the X-files, even though she 
didn't believe in the paranormal.

Scully collapsed on the bed and stretched 
out. Perhaps she would sleep after all. 




"Scully, please stop pacing." Mulder watched his 
partner stop in mid-stride and sit down in a chair 
near Kresge's desk.

The detective nodded. "The courier will be here 
soon and I'll give you the envelope as soon as 
I get it."

"I can't help it." She tugged at her blue shirt. 
She had only dressed casually in jeans and a 
tee-shirt. She didn't feel like being dressed 
in a suit that day. 

Mulder asked, "What are you going to do if 
these results are positive? If Melissa is the 
birth mother?"

Scully smoothed back several strands of hair. 
"I'll request a leave of absence."

"Maybe you should take time off either way," 
Mulder suggested.

She rubbed her eyes. She'd fallen asleep again 
that morning and slept right through her alarm, 
so she didn't go jogging. Mulder had pounded on 
the door to wake her up after she'd switched 
off her alarm clock.

There was silence until Scully heard a voice 
say, "I'm looking for a Detective John Kresge." 
Her head shot up as she saw a man dressed in a 
grey suit approaching Kresge's desk.

"I'm John Kresge," he called to the courier. 
He waved him over.

"Please sign near the X." The man passed 
Kresge a clipboard and he signed his name. 
The courier then handed over a large manila 
envelope and left.

"Thanks," Kresge called after him.

Scully jumped up and snatched the envelope 
from the detective's grasp. She tore it open 
and pulled out its contents.

"What do they say?" Mulder asked as she 
scanned the first sheet.

"Dale Wallace is the biological father of Amy 
and Alexandra McQueen." She flipped to the 
next sheet.

"What does it say about your sister?" Kresge 
moved closer.

She read down the page and her lower lip 
began trembling. She bit it before saying, 
"I'm going to call Kersh."

She turned and rushed out. Mulder decided to give 
her some time to herself, to sort out her feelings.




Scully managed to control her tears until she 
reached the police station's doors. As the wetness 
fell on her cheeks, she knew she had to get to her 
car and go somewhere. She had no idea where to go. 
She knew she could drive although her vision would 
be blurry.

She was saddened and angry at the same time. Her 
sister hadn't even trusted her enough to tell 
her she'd given birth to baby girls. She'd kept 
it a secret from so many people, in so many ways. 

Scully felt some happiness as well. She had more 
family now, even though Amy and Lexie had been 
parts of the McQueen family for their entire 
lives up to that point. They had to know they 
were part of the Scully bloodline, but she knew 
there was a possibility the girls could be 
shattered by the news.

Scully got into the rental car and started it 
up. She didn't see Kresge or Mulder following 
her. She would return when she was calm and 
dry-eyed. She carefully pulled out of the 
parking space and left the station's lot.




Scully passed the naval base three times 
while driving around. She was seriously 
thinking about telling Bill so he could 
never say she kept secrets from him. Her 
entire family deserved to know but she 
wanted to tell the girls first.

She wanted to know them. She was curious 
to see how many traits they'd inherited 
genetically from Melissa. Scully already 
knew where Lexie's migraines were from. 
She wanted to know about what careers 
they were interested in, who their friends 
were, if they had boyfriends. They were all 
the things Melissa would have wanted to know.

Life was going to change forever, for Amy 
and Lexie and their new family. Scully 
wasn't sure how her brothers would take 
the news, but now she had proof to show 
Bill. The tests performed were extremely 
reliable; they were the tests she'd had 
done when she'd thought Emily was Melissa's 
daughter, and the results were low for 
Melissa's DNA. However, they were a nearly 
positive match when tested against Scully's DNA.

She knew her mother would be disappointed 
that her daughter kept twin children a 
secret, but Scully also knew Margaret 
would be somewhat joyous. She loved the 
grandchildren she had and was saddened
when Melissa passed away childless, or 
so she believed. Now she had two granddaughters.

Scully wondered how she'd come to find her 
long-lost nieces. "Mulder would call it 
fate," she said. But she didn't believe 
in fate. Things happened for a reason, and 
there was no invisible hand orchestrating 
events. This was just a coincidence.

She looked at the car clock. It was already 
six o'clock and hunger was starting to gnaw 
at her. She'd wanted something to eat before 
but she knew that, due to all her crying, the 
food would have no taste. She decided to go 
back to the motel and perhaps get some dinner. 
She didn't want to talk to Mulder yet, or 
anybody for that matter.

Scully turned on the radio. The music that 
came out of the speakers was some chart-topping 
rock song and she was not in the mood for it. 
She put a tape on; Mulder usually brought music 
for their rental cars. This tape was soft rock.

She pulled into the diner's parking lot. She 
didn't want to try any other restaurants 
because she knew she liked some of this 
diner's food. There were many people inside, 
most probably from the nearby motel, where 
Mulder and Scully were staying. She could 
smell the greasy hamburgers on the grill 
and decided to order a bowl of vegetable soup.

She placed her order quickly and found a booth 
at the back of the diner. It was quiet and 
secluded. She could just sit and attempt to 
read the newspaper while she waited for her 
soup. She picked up the paper, looked at the 
front page, and tossed it back onto the table. 
The first story was about Dale Wallace and his 
crime. She put her head in her hands.

"Ma'am?" Scully looked up and saw the waitress 
with her soup. The young woman placed the bowl 
and a spoon on the table. "Would you like anything 
to drink?"

She shook her head and forced a smile. "No, 
thank you." The waitress smiled and placed the 
bill on the tabletop.

The soup was hot. Scully leaned over and blew 
on it gently. The smell made her stomach growl. 
She picked up her spoon, took a piece of potato 
from the bowl and ate it. She planned on taking 
her time. She knew Mulder was probably worried 
about her and she appreciated that he cared, 
but she wanted to avoid him until morning.

She finished her dinner in fifteen minutes 
and decided to get a drink to go. She'd 
probably just go to her motel room and make 
some phone calls. She knew she'd have to 
call her family soon, to tell them the truth, 
but she was just going to call her mother 
and attempt to talk to her as if nothing 
was going on.

Scully went back up to the counter with the 
bill in her hand. She saw the waitress who'd 
brought her the soup. "Could I get a large 
orange soda to go? I just have to go to the 
washroom. I'll pay right now." She pulled a 
five-dollar bill from her pocket and left it 
on the counter.

She hurried off to the restroom to wash her 
hands. She stood, staring in the mirror as 
she turned off the taps. There was some 
redness to her eyes but not enough to match 
the crying she'd done during her drive. She 
rarely cried but sometimes, the tears were 
unstoppable.

After she'd dried her hands, she left to 
pick up her soda and change. She stopped 
when she saw Mulder at the counter. "Is 
that her?" the waitress at the till said 
to him, pointing a finger at Scully.

"Yeah. Thanks," he said. He grabbed the 
plastic cup. "Scully, don't worry. I paid 
for your dinner."

She nodded. "Thank you, but you didn't have to."

"Well, I saw the car outside and I saw you 
head to the bathroom. I thought it would 
be nice to treat you." He smiled hopefully. 
"Have you called Kersh?"

Scully took the soda from her partner as 
they exited the diner. "No. I'm going to 
tomorrow morning. I just need time for it 
to sink in."

"So I guess the girls are...Melissa's. I'd 
told you to take time off no matter what, 
so when you said you'd call Kersh, I wasn't 
sure. But I didn't think you'd react that way 
if they weren't her children."

Scully handed him the car keys. "Mulder, I'm 
not sure what I'm going to do. This is going 
to cause a major strain on my family."

Mulder got in the car and opened the passenger 
side for Scully. "I can only make suggestions. 
One is to go to see the girls and comfort them 
at Miranda McQueen's funeral. After, learn about 
them. See if they're in any condition to find 
out the truth. Next, tell your family about 
this and introduce them to the twins." Mulder 
stopped. "But wait until the girls know the 
truth if you introduce them to their family."

"Have you heard when Miranda's funeral is 
to take place?"

"Kresge told me tomorrow at three. It's 
being held outdoors, in St. Michael's Cemetery. 
You don't have to go but I'm sure you're welcome 
to attend."

She rolled down the window. "Could you come 
with me?"

"Sure. I'd like to." He looked at his partner. 
"Scully, it will get easier. The pain won't go 
away completely but it will become easier to deal."

"I know, Mulder. I just wish Melissa was here 
so I could ask her all the questions I have 
in my head."

"It's understandable to feel that way. 
Unfortunately, the only person that has 
some answers is Dale Wallace."

"That man disgusts me. He is the father of 
my sister's children but that's all he is."

The sight of the motel was welcoming. Scully 
was tired but she knew she'd probably nap a 
few hours and be up the rest of the night 
planning what to tell Kersh.

Mulder parked the car near her room. "Maybe I 
should rent another car. If you're going to be 
bonding with your new family, you'll need this 
one."

Scully got out. "Mulder, just tell me when you 
need it." She trudged to the door of her room.

"I will, but don't worry about it. Just worry about 
yourself right now."




Scully managed to find Kersh's home number in her 
organizer. She didn't want to bother him at such 
a late hour but she'd worked up the nerve and 
knew it would probably be gone by morning. She 
moved to the phone, picked up the receiver, and 
dialled the long distance number. It was nearly 
eleven o'clock on the East Coast.

A woman answered, "Kersh residence."

Scully wasn't sure how to address her 
superior. "Is Mr. Kersh there?"

"Hold on. May I ask who's calling?"

"My name is Dana Scully, Special Agent Scully."

"Okay. He'll be with you quickly."

Scully was glad she'd said she was an agent. 
She didn't want to get Kersh in trouble with 
his wife.

Suddenly, Kersh came on the line. "Agent 
Scully, what can I help you with?"

"Sir, I'm really sorry to bother you but I 
needed to call you."

"Is it about your assignment?" He sounded 
only slightly annoyed.

"Yes. Some things have come up as a result of 
this assignment. They're very personal things, 
and I'm calling to request a leave of absence." 

"Is the case closed?"

"Pretty much. Dale Wallace, Miranda McQueen's 
husband, is in jail."

"And what are these personal things?" Kersh asked.

"I'm sure you knew that Miranda died, leaving 
behind two daughters. After some DNA tests, I 
found out these girls are actually my sister's 
children."

There was a moment of silence. "How much time 
would you like off?"

"A week, sir. If I need any more time, I'll 
call you."

"Please tell Agent Mulder to call me. Goodbye, 
Agent Scully."

"Goodnight, sir." She hung up.

Now, she only had her family to phone. She 
wanted to do that the next day, before she 
left for Miranda's funeral. 

Scully put her head in her hands and sighed. 
The girls were going to be extremely upset 
when they found out the truth about who their 
mother really was, who *they* were. That 
was the problem with lying to children. She 
knew it was going to be hard going to the 
funeral and just standing there, the secrets 
bottled up inside. The twins were distraught 
already. She didn't think they were prepared 
for more pain but then, she didn't know how 
they felt inside. She had to find out.

She yawned. She was so tired; her eyes were 
beginning to sting. She just wanted to sleep. 
She removed her clothes and crawled under the 
covers. She switched off the bedside lamp and 
tugged the blankets up, over her nudity. She 
thought she could get lost in the motel's 
sheets and pillows, and fall asleep.




December 3, 1998


It was a dreary day, appropriate for a 
funeral. The sky was dark but the air was 
warm. A surprising number of people had 
shown up for Miranda McQueen's funeral.

Scully and Mulder stood near the front of 
the crowd on the right side of the coffin. 
They faced Amy and Lexie, as well as 
Michelle and Edith McQueen. Scully hadn't 
said hello yet but she would after the 
funeral.

The priest said the required prayers, 
then announced, "Miranda's daughters would 
like to say a few things. Amy, Alexandra, 
come up."

The girls moved slowly to take their places 
near the head of the casket. Amy said, "Thank 
you all for coming to remember our mother. My 
sister and I also appreciate all the donations 
of money you've sent to our house. Your 
generosity is astounding."

Lexie put her arm around her sister. "Our 
mother was so loving, so warm, and we're 
going to miss her so much."

<She's not your birth mother!> Scully's mind 
screamed. <You have to know that!> She kept calm 
on the outside.

Amy started crying and Lexie tightened her grip 
on her. "Amy and I will be staying with our 
relatives, but we'd like to thank the Doyle 
family for taking us in after our mother 
passed away."

Scully saw Robert and Julia Doyle standing 
side by side, Rhiannon in front of them. Julia 
had her hand on Edith McQueen's shoulder.

Lexie broke down as well and the twin sisters 
sobbed on each other's shoulders. Many people 
were beginning to tear up at the sight of the 
siblings in pain; Scully straightened her back, 
attempting to stay cool but she felt a teardrop 
slide down her cheek. She looked at Mulder. His 
eyes were shiny and damp in the corners. He 
gave a small smile as he took her hand and 
squeezed it gently.

In the next few minutes, the funeral party 
started to leave, giving their condolences 
to the girls as they walked past them. The 
Doyles were staying with them until the 
casket was lowered into the ground. "Let's 
stay," Mulder said.

Edith and Michelle went over to comfort 
Amy and Lexie as the coffin was put into 
the empty space. Annie Doyle hugged her 
friends fiercely. 

Scully made her way over to the group. 
She caught Edith's glance. "Mrs. McQueen, 
I'm very sorry for your loss."

"Did you know Miranda?" the elderly woman 
asked, tightening her brown jacket over 
her black dress.

"Um, not really. My name is Dana Scully."

Edith looked surprised. "One of the Scully 
kids? It's been a long time."

"Yes, I know." Scully looked down at the grass.

"I understand you've been helping the girls. 
The name they mentioned sounded familiar but 
I couldn't connect it with anybody but Melissa."

"Melissa and Miranda were best friends, but 
I barely knew your daughter. When I arrived 
in town, I thought about the entire McQueen 
family but couldn't imagine it was the one 
I'd known."

Michelle came up behind Edith. "Mother, who 
is this?"

"This is Dana Scully, Melissa and Bill's 
younger sister."

"You're an FBI agent?"

"Yes, I am. As you know, I've been working on 
your sister's...case."

Michelle looked around. "Where's Melissa? I 
would've thought she'd be here to say goodbye 
to Miranda." The words shook but Michelle 
didn't cry.

Mulder came up behind Scully, just as she 
said, "Um, Missy...she passed away three 
years ago."

Michelle embraced her. "Oh, Dana. Do you 
know if Miranda knew?"

"No, she didn't know. Melissa died suddenly. 
She was murdered."

The arms around Scully loosened. Michelle 
began weeping and walked away.

"I'm very sorry for your loss, Dana. I'm 
sure my Miranda would've been there if she'd 
known." Edith's eyes were moist but she hadn't 
broken down. Scully guessed she was the type 
of person who didn't show her emotions well, 
even at her slain daughter's funeral. She 
stood straight and looked strong, like she 
was able to stay composed in a time of 
such tragedy.

Mulder finally spoke. "Mrs. McQueen, I'm 
Dana's partner, Fox Mulder." He used Scully's 
first name since Edith had called her by that 
one. "I'd like to express my sympathy for your 
entire family, especially your granddaughters." 
He looked at his partner.

<Keep it up.> She wanted to keep the twins' 
true heritage concealed for a while longer, 
until she got enough courage to show them 
all--Edith, Michelle, and the girls--the 
DNA test results.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Mulder." Edith 
turned to Amy and Lexie, who were speaking 
quietly with the Doyles. "Girls, are you ready 
to go?"

Lexie nodded slowly. "We'll go back with 
Annie to get our stuff, then we can go home."

Mulder said to Edith, "You're going back 
to the house? Do Amy and Lexie want to go?"

"Although they will continue to grieve 
their mother, they'd like some semblance 
back in their lives. They want to get back 
to school and continue their ballet training."

Robert Doyle called, "Mrs. McQueen, my wife 
will bring the girls back to the house when 
they're ready." He ushered Julia to their 
vehicle, while Amy walked behind them. Annie 
and Lexie were holding hands, lagging behind.

"Dana, Mr. Mulder, you're welcome to come 
back to the house for coffee," Edith said 
curtly before turning to go to her car where 
Michelle was waiting.

"Would you like to go, Scully?" Mulder asked.

She bit her lip. "Yeah, I think I would."

Mulder began strolling to the rental car but 
Scully stood still, watching the cemetery 
employees throw the final shovel full of dirt 
in the grave.

Miranda was truly gone, and she was the only 
mother Amy and Lexie had known.



Chapter Seven

Jeopardizing Emotions


The place that was once the Wallace-McQueen 
home looked normal. The yellow police tape 
was gone, and Scully assumed the bloodstains 
inside had been scrubbed away as well. 

She and Mulder approached the front door, 
comparing the address to the one Kresge had 
given to them during their investigation.

"Edith seems like a very hard woman," Mulder 
commented before ringing the doorbell.

"It's just her way of dealing with it."

The door opened and they were faced by Michelle. 
"My mother said you might be coming." She moved 
aside, allowing the agents to get inside. "Amy 
and Lexie haven't gotten home yet."

Scully removed her shoes in the foyer. "So 
they're eager to get back to being normal?"

"Yeah. They want to go to school, to try to 
get their minds off things, but my mother and 
I will be around until the house sells."

Scully's mouth dropped open. "Where will Amy 
and Lexie be living?"

"I think they'll stay awhile with my mother, 
then they'll stay with me."

<I'll have to work fast. I have to tell them.> 
She waited for Mulder to catch up with them.

Edith was waiting for the guests in the den. 
"Dana, I wasn't sure you'd come."

"I'd like to visit with the girls."

"Have a seat." She motioned to a loveseat 
and the agents sat down. "Michelle, can you 
bring the coffee in?" Edith's daughter nodded 
and left for the kitchen.

"Edith, I'm not sure if you're aware of how 
serious Lexie's migraine headaches have gotten 
since Miranda's death."

"She's told me that they've been awful. She's 
also told me that you've agreed to pay for an 
expensive medication."

Scully said, "Yes. It's called Imitrex."

"But why? Why are you willing to pay so much?"

She licked her lips. "Because I know how awful 
migraines can be. Missy suffered from them until 
her early twenties."

"I never knew that, but there's a lot of things 
I didn't know about Miranda and her friends."

Scully's voice grew quiet. "Do the girls know 
they were adopted?"

Edith's eyes widened. "No! And they've never 
suspected it! How did you know?"

"Um, Dale Wallace told me." She didn't want to 
speak the name of the man who'd killed Edith's 
daughter.

The older woman grew solemn. "If it ever 
arises, I will tell the girls that they were 
adopted. It's not important right now."

"Do you know who their birth parents are?" 
Scully asked.

"No. Miranda and Dale didn't even know who 
they were."

Scully glanced at Mulder. He shook his head 
slightly. She guessed he was telling her not 
to speak up about Amy and Lexie's parentage. 
Even if he didn't mean that, she wasn't 
planning to anyway.

The tension was broken by the sound of the 
front door opening. "Nana, we're home."

"Amy, dear, we're in the den," Edith called.

The twins entered the room. They each held 
large backpacks. "Hello, Agent Scully, Agent 
Mulder," Lexie said.

"Hi, girls." Scully couldn't help but smile. 
Mulder waved his hand.

Michelle joined the group. "I thought I heard 
your voice, Amy." She held a tray with a small 
coffee pot and mugs. "Go put your clothes in 
the hamper."

"Sure, Aunt Michelle." Amy turned and went 
down the hall behind her. Her sister followed 
closely and they turned to the right.

Before Michelle could pour any hot coffee, 
Scully asked, "Where is the washroom, Edith?"

"Go down that same hall and follow the girls' 
path. The washroom is the first on the right."

She stood up. "Thanks. I'll be right back." 
Scully walked quickly, taking Edith's directions.

Unfortunately, the bathroom door was closed. 
She looked to the next door and heard sobbing. 
She crept closer and looked inside. The 
raven-haired Lexie was standing in the middle 
of what looked like a study. Her shoulders 
shook and her head was lowered slightly.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Scully asked, 
carefully approaching Lexie.

The girl turned her head slowly. Her eyes 
were red and wet, and she had several tears 
on her cheeks. "This is where we found her. 
This was her writing room." She moved over to 
the desk against the wall. She ran her hand 
over the oak desktop. "She was right near the 
desk, over by the trash can."

Scully scanned the room. The bare floor had 
probably been carpeted, but the covering was 
too badly stained to clean. "Lexie, I know it 
hurts a lot now but you're strong." Scully 
forced out, "Your mother raised you well."

The sixteen-year-old's lower lip quivered. 
"Can you just hug me?" she asked quietly.

"Sure, sweetheart," Scully answered. Lexie 
moved into her arms. She allowed the girl 
to rest her head on her shoulder, even though 
Lexie had to lean over slightly.

Scully couldn't believe how wonderful it 
felt to hold her niece in her arms, but it 
would feel so much better when Lexie actually 
knew Scully was her aunt.

"Lexie, if you ever need anything, just call 
me." Scully pulled away to dig a card from her 
pocket. "My cellular phone number's on the back 
and the phone is always on."

Lexie wiped her eyes. "Thanks." She clutched 
the card to her stomach. "How long will you 
be here in San Diego?"

"I'm taking a week off and staying here. 
Mulder's probably going home."

"We're going back to school next Monday but 
we have a ballet lesson tomorrow. Can you drive us?"

She nodded. "Okay, but where will your family be?"

"My grandmother is finding a realtor to sell 
our house. We shouldn't even be going out but 
I need to dance. That's the only thing that I 
can do to get my mind off things."

"That's good, but I just wish my sister was 
still alive to be here for you and Amy. She 
would take care of you."

"I always loved Aunt Missy's red hair, and I 
was so glad I had red hair as well. Then, I 
dyed it black. I went through phases after she 
left, but it was also because of my parents' 
fighting." Lexie reached up and fingered a lock 
of Scully's hair.

"If you need a ride anywhere, just call me. I'll 
be here right away."

Her mouth curved slightly. "Thanks, and I'd 
also like to thank you for agreeing to pay for 
that medication."

Scully touched the girl's cheek. "It's fine, Lex."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Um, I'm going to 
check on my sister and put my clothes away." She 
left in a hurry.

Scully hoped she hadn't spooked the girl, but she 
knew what she had to: she had to tell the twins 
the truth as soon as possible. She just had to 
contact her family about the news. She wanted 
to do that fairly soon. She knew it should have 
been done as soon as she'd known but the findings 
had left her shaken.

She left the study and went back down the hall 
to join her hostesses in the living room. Mulder 
looked up when she sat beside him. "I spoke to 
Lexie, Edith. I'm driving them to their ballet 
class tomorrow. She asked me since you're trying 
to sell the house."

Michele sipped her coffee. "We really appreciate 
it, Dana. Ballet is something that both girls love 
and if dancing can help them, we're all for it."

"But I suggest you seriously look at getting 
Amy and Lexie into therapy," Mulder said. "They 
need as much help as they can get."

Edith nodded, her white hair bobbing. "We will 
look into that."

Scully asked, "When is the reading of Miranda's will?"

"Next Tuesday, but I already know she left most 
everything to her girls."

"That's wonderful." Scully stood up. "I'm sorry 
to leave so soon but I have some matters to attend 
to. It was nice visiting you all."

"It was great seeing you again, Dana," Edith said. 
"You've grown beautifully. Perhaps we can visit 
before you leave San Diego."

"Well, I'm here for another week."

Mulder got up as well. He followed his partner 
to the front door. "Thank you for the coffee," 
he said to Michelle. Edith had remained in the 
living room.

"You're welcome." She reached up and straightened 
the foyer mirror. "The girls' ballet class starts 
at four o'clock. They usually drive themselves to 
class but since they're shaken up and they've only 
had their licenses for a few months, I don't want 
them driving."

"I understand, Mich. I'll pick them up at two 
and spend some time with them."

"Come in for a drink when you drop them off."

"Sure." She called, "Goodbye, Amy, Lexie! Bye, 
Edith!" She exited the house quickly.

"Scully, wait up!" Mulder hurried down the sidewalk.

"Mulder, I have to tell those girls that I'm 
their aunt. They've been living a lie for so 
long. They have to know."

"But they should trust you and until they do, 
telling them is jeopardizing their emotions. 
You need to make sure they won't do anything 
drastic when they find out."

She turned around. "I may not know Amy and 
Lexie that well but they are sensible young 
women. They won't do anything extreme. They 
lost the people they knew as parents and 
they're still standing."

"Just take some time. Make sure they're ready, 
and that you are too."

"I'm very ready. I have so much to do. I'm 
calling my family today."

Mulder opened his car door, got in, and let 
Scully into the passenger side. "Who are you 
calling first?"

"My mother. I'm afraid to call Bill. I don't 
even know why." 

"I'm here for you if you need help." He 
touched her hand.

"Thank you." She sighed and sat back to relax.




"Mom, how are you?" Scully sat on the edge of 
her bed. She twisted the phone's coiled cord 
with her fingers.

"I'm fine, Dana. How is San Diego?"

"It's okay. I'm nearly done with my case."

"Was it bad?" Margaret Scully asked.

"It was a murder, and I'm afraid the Scullys 
have a connection to the victim and her family."

She heard a gasp, and then her mother asked, 
"Who was it?"

"Do you remember the McQueens from Miramar? 
Missy's best friend Miranda was murdered by 
her husband."

"How tragic! I never connected when I saw 
the newspaper articles. How was it investigating?"

"It was hard. Miranda had twin daughters, 
Amy Dana and Alexandra Margaret, named after 
you and me."

Margaret chuckled. "Melissa probably had 
something to do with that."

"Mom, Miranda and her husband adopted the 
girls. That was in 1982."

"Dana, what are you saying?"

She took a deep breath. "I didn't suspect it 
at first, but Dale Wallace, Miranda's husband, 
told me something unbelievable. These girls 
are Missy's children."

It was silent for a moment. "Dana, how? How 
did it happen?"

"Missy moved to San Francisco to be with 
Miranda. Miranda got married to Dale Wallace 
and they all were good friends. Dale and Missy 
had an affair and Amy and Lexie were the products. 
Miranda just thought the twins were Missy's old 
boyfriend's kids."

"Do you have proof?" Margaret asked quietly.

"I did all the blood tests, the DNA tests. It's 
all true." Her voice shook. "I've had to deal, 
Mom, and it's been hard. I told Bill about my 
suspicions."

Margaret sounded angry. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to know for sure. Bill thought I was 
being crazy. That's probably why he didn't tell 
you." Her tone softened, becoming close to a 
whisper. "I didn't want you to be hurt. I know 
I should've prepared you for the news but I knew 
it would be hard."

"So these girls are sixteen or so. How could 
Melissa have been pregnant without anyone being 
aware?"

"I'd noticed that she was gaining weight but 
remember how you and Dad used to hound her to 
eat more? I started nagging her too. I thought 
she was taking my advice. I was only turning 
eighteen that year. I never believed she would 
listen to me."

"How pregnant was she when you noticed the 
weight?" Scully knew her mother wanted to 
learn everything about Melissa's secret children.

"I'm not sure. The girls were born after my 
final exams that year, in July sometime, so 
I'd say Missy was about six or seven months 
into the pregnancy. She was very small for 
expecting twins. I think the girls were just tiny."

"But why didn't she tell anybody? Dad and I 
would have helped her out."

Scully put her hand on her forehead. "Mom, 
Missy and I were close and she didn't even 
tell me. I think she was ashamed of herself. 
She was having an affair with her best friend's 
husband, and she had his children."

"Dana, I'll be out there soon. I'll call Charlie 
to see if he can come as well. The family has to talk."

"Whatever you think is best. I'm trying to 
gain the girls' trust so I can tell them the 
truth. I haven't told Edith or Michelle McQueen 
yet, but Edith has confirmed that the girls were 
adopted."

"I'll meet Amy and Alexandra when I arrive there."

"I love you, Mom," she said. "I'm sorry." She 
hung up the phone.

She felt awful about having to break the news 
to her mother. She could feel the pain every 
time Margaret spoke.

Scully removed her high heels and fell back on 
the bed. She wondered if her mother was going to 
call Bill. He would be angry if his sister had 
known and he only found out the truth from their mother.

"Screw Bill!" she said. She was on her case most 
of the time and she didn't care if Bill yelled 
at her. He was the one who hadn't trusted her 
suspicions.

A knock sounded at the door and Scully groaned. 
It was probably Mulder. She'd hoped to get some 
sleep but answered the door anyway.

"Kresge, what are you doing here?" she asked, 
surprised to see the police detective. 

"I just wanted to see how you were doing, how 
you were dealing. I'm sorry I didn't make it 
to the funeral." He moved inside.

Scully shut the door. "I'm doing okay. Every 
time I see those girls, what I knew eats me up 
inside but I can't tell them until they're ready. 
I'm sure I've said that a million times lately."

"Oh, I know what you're saying, but it's true. 
I'm sure you know the girls better than I do."

"Yeah. I'm spending the next week here, to 
visit with Amy and Lexie."

Kresge looked down. "I'm glad things are 
beginning to get easier." He stepped closer 
and put his arms around her. "It will never 
go away completely."

"I know," Scully said, partly into his shoulder. 
She felt the pressure on her head where he placed 
his hand. He moved away and stroked her hair with 
his right hand while his left was on her cheek.

She could sense what was happening, and he 
lifted her chin and pushed his lips against 
hers. Scully's eyes grew wide but she fell 
into the kiss. A second later, she realized 
she was doing something wrong. This was Kresge 
and he had a girlfriend.

He moved his hands to her sides, and he caressed 
her body. The touches felt great to her, but she 
didn't say anything until she was on the bed with 
Kresge on top of her. She waited until he traced 
a line to her throat with his tongue. "Kresge, 
no. This isn't right. You're with Lorelei."

His eyes widened and he pushed himself away. 
"I am so sorry. I don't know why I did that."

"It's partly my fault. I should have stopped 
it sooner." Scully smoothed her skirt.

He turned to face her. "Scully, I'm very 
attracted to you. I have been since last 
Christmas, but I was with Lorelei then as 
well. I do love her but I thought it was 
okay that I had these feelings for you, just 
as long as I didn't act on them. I never 
intended for this to happen."

Scully felt horrible that she'd reacted by 
kissing him back. "I think you better go then."

He stood up and hurried to the door. "I won't 
tell Lorelei." He chuckled as he opened the door. 
"I'm also sorry if you got the impression I was 
trying to provide comfort sex or something."

She let the corners of her mouth turn up. "I 
never thought that at all."

"Tell me about how your time with your nieces 
goes." Kresge said, "Goodbye," and left.

Scully's face and neck were flushed. She was 
embarrassed about kissing Kresge. At least it 
would remain a secret. She wouldn't have let 
it go any further than it did. She liked Kresge 
but he was involved with Lorelei.

She reached under her bed for her suitcase. 
She pulled it out and brought out her long blue 
nightshirt. She slowly removed her business 
clothes and put the cotton shirt on.

It was only on the way to eight o'clock but she 
was tired enough to go to bed. She wanted the 
next day to come quickly.

She climbed into her bed, pulling the sheets over 
her legs. She unplugged her phone before checking 
her alarm clock and shutting off her light. 

Her heart rate was slowing down from her little 
bit of excitement with the detective. Her eyes 
were beginning to sting with fatigue. She closed 
them and turned onto her side. She pulled her 
covers under her arm and fell asleep.




December 4, 1998


Lexie and Amy were outside their home, waiting 
for Scully. They looked happy to see her when 
she rolled up in her rental car.

Scully unlocked the back door and passenger 
door by flipping a switch on her left side. 
"Hey, girls!" she exclaimed when the twins got 
in. Lexie got in the passenger side and her 
sister went into the back.

"Hi," Lexie said. She hugged her black duffel 
bag to her chest. She crossed her long legs 
and sat back.

"Have you eaten anything?" Scully asked as 
she started driving.

Amy said, "I had some toast but I'm not that hungry."

"Then we'll stop for some drinks."

Lexie put her bag down. "Thanks," she said quietly.

Scully looked at the girl sitting beside her. 
Lexie was wearing a clingy white tank top, black 
capri pants, and white sandals. Her black hair 
was pinned up. "Lex, you look really nice."

She smiled. "Thank you, Agent Scully."

"Girls, please call me Dana. Anyone else calling 
me Dana is a rare occurrence but I'd like you to."

"Sure, Dana," they said.

Several minutes of silence passed before Amy 
asked, "Dana, would you like to watch our dance 
practise? I think it would be okay."

"I'd love to. How long does it usually last?"

"An hour. We might leave early if we don't feel 
up to dancing for that long."

Scully wondered where they'd inherited their 
talent for dancing. Melissa had been in ballet 
from age ten until thirteen and the toe shoes 
caused too much bruising and bleeding. Perhaps 
Dale's family had the bigger part of the 
dancing gene.

"So how long have you been dancing?"

Lexie looked at her twin. "Um, since we were 
five, so it's just over eleven years."

"When do you turn seventeen?" Scully asked, 
surprised she hadn't memorized the girls' birthday.

"Next July, on the eighteenth."

"Summer babies," Scully whispered. "I was right."

The silence resumed for the entire ride to the 
local convenience store.




Scully was amazed as the ballet class finished 
their practise. Their dancing had been graceful 
and fabulous. They all moved in time with each 
other. They all looked the same in black leotards, 
white tights, and pink toe shoes, but Scully could 
pick out her nieces.

Scully smiled as the twins approached the bench 
that she occupied. She didn't realize how physically 
mature they were. The leotards clung to their shapely 
hips, nearly flat abdomens, and average-sized chests. 
They were several inches taller than Scully, at about 
five feet, six inches.

"Dana," Lexie said, wiping her forehead, "we're just 
going to shower and get changed. We'll be about fifteen 
minutes."

Scully stood up. "I'll go to the car." She waited 
until the girls were gone to leave the dance studio.

The sun shone brightly. She pulled out her 
sunglasses and slipped them on. As she unlocked 
her car door, her cell phone shrilly. She answered 
it. "Scully."

"Dana, I just spoke to Mom. Why don't you tell me 
about Melissa?"

"Bill, I tried to tell you about it to prepare you 
for the test results but you wouldn't believe it 
unless I had proof. I do now. Mom's coming out to 
discuss this as a family."

"Do these girls know who they really are?"

"No. I'm getting to know them before letting 
them know it. I'm driving them wherever they 
want to go."

Bill's tone was sarcastic. "How kind of you."

"Bill, leave me alone. I'm trying to help Amy 
and Lexie in any way I can. They're hurting, and 
they'll be even more hurt when they find out 
they've been lied to their entire lives."

"What's going to happen after they find out?" 
Bill no longer sounded angry or derisive.

"I want them to be welcome in our family. They 
are our nieces, and Mom's grandchildren."

Bill replied, "Acceptance is going to take a 
while." He hung up.

He was starting to soften but Scully wondered 
about his acceptance comment. She knew it was easy 
for her to accept, just hard to adjust.

Scully got into the rental car and turned it on 
to listen to the radio while she was waiting for 
Amy and Lexie. She hoped that her family would 
accept the girls and love them, even if it 
took a little while. 

She waited for ten minutes and just as she 
looked at her watch, the twins emerged from 
the building. Amy had her wet red hair pulled 
back into a sleek ponytail; Lexie's hung in 
loose, damp tendrils.

Amy got into the front seat and her twin sat 
in the back. "That was a great workout," Lexie 
said, pulling on her seatbelt. She pressed the 
button on the door and the window came down.

"You were great, both of you. I wish I had half 
the talent to dance like that."

"I know Aunt Missy took ballet for a while." Amy 
tossed her ponytail over her shoulder.

"She did, but her feet became too sore when 
she started with toe shoes. Do you have problems 
like that?"

Lexie shook her head. "I used to get bruises 
and my toes would hurt, but I'm used to the shoes now."

"Me too," Amy added. "But I like dancing so it 
doesn't matter."

Scully put both of her hands on the steering 
wheel and took a deep breath. "So when your 
grandmother sells the house, where are you 
going to live?"

"Aunt Michelle says we can move to San 
Francisco with her. She has a large house 
and doesn't have a family. Besides, we'll 
be out of the way in two years." Amy fiddled 
with the zipper on her bag. "I don't want to 
leave Annie and her parents. They've helped 
us so much, and I love them. The only time 
we'll be able to see them is on holidays."

"Yes but I'm sure Annie will call and write 
to you when she can't visit."

Amy nodded. "Yes, of course she would, but 
I don't know why Aunt Michelle just won't 
move down here. Everything is here: our 
school, our friends, and our ballet class."

"I'm going to be talking to your aunt and 
your grandmother so I'll tell them about 
your concerns, if you'd like."

Lexie shrugged. "That would be okay. What 
do you have to talk to them about?"

Scully lied, "Nothing much." She was 
going to tell Edith and Michelle about 
the girls' heritage. She had to inform 
someone that could help gauge the shock 
value of the news, someone who knew the girls.

"Could you drop us off at Annie's?" Amy asked.

"Sure. It's not a problem." 



Chapter Eight

Always


Scully sighed as Michelle McQueen poured 
her a cup of coffee. "What's up, Dana?"

"Yes. What do you want to speak to us about?" 
Edith asked.

Scully picked up the mug, curling her fingers 
around it. "It has to do with the girls' 
being adopted."

Edith frowned. "Dana, please. Let's not 
discuss it."

"Did Miranda know who the birth mother was?"

The old woman shook her head. "She never 
told me. She could have known but it never 
mattered. They are my granddaughters. Why 
are you so concerned with it?"

Scully looked down into her coffee cup. 
"Dale told me the girls were adopted and 
revealed the identities of the birth parents."

Edith's eyes widened. "Who are they?"

"Dale Wallace and my sister." She looked 
up to see Edith slump back and Michelle fall 
into a chair.

"My God," Michelle gasped.

Edith sat up. "How am I supposed to believe that?"

"The girls both have natural red hair, but 
that's not the only proof. I had some DNA 
tests done. Everything matches."

"So your sister gave birth to Dale's children 
while he was married to my sister?" Michelle said 
in disbelief.

"I'm not going to condone what Dale and Missy 
did, but Amy and Lexie were the best things that 
came out of it."

"Dana, Amy and Lexie are very special to me. I'm 
not sure if they should know about this."

"But Michelle, I feel responsible.  I am their 
aunt by blood. My mother already know she has two 
granddaughters."

"You told your mother before you informed us?" 
Edith said, clutching the arms of her seat.

"Edith, this is a far bigger change for my family 
to bear. You've known the girls their entire lives. 
I'm their family and I've known them for about a week."

"I don't think the girls should know," Michelle 
blurted out.

Scully frowned. "They should and if you don't tell 
them, I will. I thought telling you first would be 
the right thing to do."

Edith breathed in deeply. Scully could see that 
she was getting angry with her. "Dana, how do 
you suggest we tell them?"

"I'm not sure. Find pictures of Melissa and 
Miranda. Use those in it."

Michelle crossed her arms. "They are going to be 
so hurt."

"That's the worst thing about this."




December 5, 1998


Scully awoke to loud knocking at her door. She 
looked at her alarm clock; it was ten o'clock. 
"I'm coming," she called. She got out of bed and 
pulled on her robe. She rubbed her eyes as she went 
to the door and opened it.

Michelle McQueen was standing there. "We told the 
girls last night and when we got up this morning, 
Lexie was gone. She took the blue jeep that had 
belonged to my sister."

Scully said, "Come inside. I'm just going to get 
dressed quickly. I'll help you look." She grabbed 
her suitcase and headed into the bathroom.

This was the possible drastic behaviour Mulder had 
warned her about. She put on clean underclothes, 
jeans, and a white tee-shirt. She pulled out her 
hiking boots and shoved her feet into them. 

Michelle was in tears when Scully emerged from 
the bathroom. "Lexie was so heartbroken last night. 
I have to find her before she gets hurt, or hurts herself."

"Did you call Annie?"

"Yes. She hasn't seen her."

"Lexie never said anything but does she have a 
boyfriend?" Scully asked.

Michelle shook her head. "No. She used to date 
this one boy but they broke up a few months ago. 
Why?"

"I was trying to figure out where she might have 
gone, if she isn't at Annie's. Where else does she 
like to hang out?"

"There is one place. I haven't checked it but I 
came to get you so we'd have a better chance of 
finding her."

"Do you have a car phone?" Scully asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I'll give you my cell number and I'll get your 
number and we can call each other with what we 
find." The two women exchanged phone numbers.

"The place is a gym across town where Lexie 
likes to go. Since I know my way around, I'll 
go there. I'd like you to drive around this part 
of town, all the way back to the house."

"Okay. I'll leave right now." Scully waited for 
Michelle to exit the room. Once they were outside, 
she closed the door and locked up.

Michelle hurried to her vehicle. "One more thing," 
Scully called. "Do you think Lexie would hurt herself?"

"God, Dana, I don't know. I hope not."




Scully looked around as much as she could while 
driving. She prayed that Lexie would be found safe.

The residential streets looked the same. Most 
were full of cars due to it being the weekend. 
She would occasionally turn and drive down alleys, 
just in case. She kept watch for Lexie or a blue jeep.

Scully jumped when her phone began ringing. She 
answered it immediately. "Michelle?"

"My mother just phoned. Lexie came home."




"Lexie, where do you get off running away?" Michelle 
said angrily, confronting the teenager in the front 
hall.

"You tell me that I'm not even who I am and expect me 
not to react!" Lexie's eyes were red. "My life has been 
one goddamn lie!" She saw Scully. "I find out that my 
mother is actually her sister, who is long dead! A 
woman who abandoned me!"

Edith touched her arm. "Lexie, calm down. Amy is 
taking this considerably well. Why can't you?"

Lexie yelled, "I just can't! I'm not as passive as 
Amy." Scully saw that Amy was nowhere in sight.

"Alexandra McQueen! You be quiet this instant!" Edith 
said through clenched teeth.

She smirked. "I'm not a McQueen anymore." She 
pointed at Scully. "My new aunt has informed us 
that I'm the bastard child of her sister and 
a murderer."

"Alexandra, be quiet!" Michelle shouted.

Scully felt strange in the middle of this family 
confrontation even though Lexie *was* her family.

"I do not have to listen to this anymore!" She 
turned on her heel and ran to her room.

"Mom, what are we going to do?" Michelle asked Edith.

"We've got to help her." She crossed her arms. 
"Dana, I love her. I don't care who she is. She's 
always been my granddaughter."

"Edith, since I've come here and she knows, I 
think I'd like to talk to her."

"I doubt she'll listen to you," Michelle called 
as Scully went to find Lexie's bedroom.

In the dark hall, she tried the door that was 
partially open. She knocked gently and entered. 
Lexie was facedown on her bed, her black hair 
fanned out around her. "Lexie, can I please talk 
to you?" The girl didn't move.

"I know you're hurting a lot right now but those 
people out there love you. They're worried about you."

Lexie turned her head and Scully could see her 
face. "That's all they are now. 'Those people'."

"No. Edith says she doesn't care you are. She 
loves you. You'll always be her granddaughter."

"She just says that. She's not accountable for me 
now. She was when I was her daughter's kid."

"Lexie, she just can't stop loving you after doing 
so for sixteen years."

She sat up. "Bu you're my real family and how 
can you *start* loving me after that long?"

"It will take time but I already care for you." 
Scully put her arm around her niece. "I'm sure 
my family--your family--will feel the same."

She pulled away. "But I need you to answer a 
question." Lexie reached up and moved some stray 
hairs out of her eyes. "Why did my mother leave me? 
Why did she give me away?"

"Lex, my sister did what was best for her babies. 
She gave you to loving parents, and she stayed with 
you until she had to leave."

"But when you got better, why didn't she come back?"

"She wanted to let your grandmother--my mom--know 
that she was okay. She'd only visited us once every 
two years and for a couple months before she came 
to see me, we didn't even know where she was."

Lexie admitted, "When I first found out... I 
felt unwanted."

Scully smiled. "Do you still feel that way?"

"Not so much."

"Just know that there are people that love you." 
Scully chuckled as Lexie put her head on her 
shoulder. "Your moods change quickly, just like
your mother's did."

"So your family is going to take it well?"

"I don't know. I hope so."

"When do we meet them?"

"My mother should be out this weekend, and 
perhaps my younger brother as well." She looked 
at the girl. "Are you feeling better?" 

"A little, but I should go apologize."

"That's great. Where's your sister?"

Lexie shrugged. "She might be on the swing out back."

Scully waited until she was gone to see Edith and 
Michelle to make her way to the backyard. Amy was 
where Lexie had said she would be. She was on a 
large wooden swing that hung from a thick branch. 
She swung gently, pushing off with her toes.

Scully wasn't sure if she should talk to the girl. 
Amy was hunched over and she had a frown on her 
face. Scully moved across the lush grass. Amy 
didn't change her expression as her aunt came 
and sat beside her on the swing.

The girl asked in a near-whisper, "Was that 
my sister yelling?"

"I'm afraid so. I'm glad you're taking it 
better than that."

Amy folded her arms across her chest. "I feel 
the same way she does." She kicked at the ground. 
"So you're my aunt?"

"Yeah. I wish everything had happened in a better 
way. People were bound to get hurt but it could 
have been easier if your mothers--both of 
them--were alive."

She scowled. "And my father is no help 
whatsoever."

"Amy, he does love you. He just got selfish."

"Yeah, but he's locked up, not like I'd 
want his help."

"Just don't forget where you came from, that 
you were loved as a McQueen. They will always 
love you."

Amy wrapped her hand around the swing's chain. 
"Are Lexie and I going to meet your family? I mean, 
our family."

"Soon. My mother is coming out here, and my 
younger brother might be. My older brother lives here."

"Can I meet him?"

"Maybe when your grandmother gets here." Tears 
welled up in Scully's eyes. She put her hand over 
her mouth.

Amy smiled. "I got the impression that you were 
not a very emotional person but I've changed my 
mind." She put her arms around Scully. "But 
acceptance might happen slowly when we meet 
everyone."

Scully played with strands of Amy's hair. 
"Your Uncle Bill said almost the same thing."

Amy pulled away and stood up. "Let's go inside. 
I want to talk to my sister."




"Scully, eat some pizza." Mulder picked up a 
piece from the box sitting on his bed.

"I'm not hungry." She rested in the armchair 
in his room.

"How was your day?"

"Okay. I talked to Amy and Lexie. They seem to 
have accepted it but I'm sure they're still angry."

"They will be for a while, just the way your 
family may be."

"But I was never really angry. I know Bill is 
somewhat, but I don't think my mom will be. 
She's just aching because she didn't know about 
Melissa being pregnant and that she's lost so 
many years with the girls."

Mulder swallowed the mouthful of pizza he'd 
been chewing. "That's the only thing I'm scared 
about if I find Samantha. I've lost twenty-five 
years with her. Everything changes in that many 
years."

"But you're lucky in the sense that you knew her 
for eight years."

He smiled weakly. "You have a chance now to love 
them, to know them. They've always been your family, 
and will always be your family. Give them the love 
and respect they deserve and they will come around."

Scully stood up. "The only thing that bothers me 
is the fact that the girls are most likely moving 
to San Francisco."

"Why?" Mulder asked.

"I don't know. I want them near me. I don't want 
to see them every once in a while."

He closed the pizza box. "That might be possible. 
Maybe it's better they stay here. They were born on 
the West Coast, and you can't have them living with you."

"Why not?"

"Your lifestyle is too erratic for young girls to 
be that much a part of."

"They're old enough to stay home by themselves," 
she argued.

"They shouldn't be alone right away. They just lost 
their parents."

Scully laughed. "Listen to us. We're getting 
so worked up."

"Perhaps your mother will take the girls in, and 
you can visit Amy and Lexie when you feel like it."

Scully walked over to Mulder's phone. "I'm going 
to call my mother." She picked up the receiver 
and dialled the Baltimore number. It rang three 
times before the answering machine picked up.

"It's only eight there. I wonder where she 
is." Scully hung up the phone.

"Maybe she's on her way out here."

Her eyes lit up. "I'm heading to Bill's."




The rain was mesmerizing as fat drops tapped 
on Scully's windshield. Her car was parked in 
front of her brother's home. His sports utility 
vehicle was gone, and she didn't have a key to 
his home. She planned on waiting; she didn't 
want to miss her family.

The sky had become grey as Scully left the 
motel, but there had been no thunder or lightning. 
She had a feeling it would be rainy for the next 
day or so.

She unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned back. Her 
eyes began to close as the raindrops splattered on 
the glass. Sleep was what she needed.

A loud rapping on the driver's side window made 
Scully jump. She squinted and through the drizzle 
on the glass, she could only make out a bright 
yellow shape.

She rolled down the window and was faced by her 
sister-in-law. "Dana, come inside," Tara said. 
"It's freezing out here."

Scully got out and slammed the door. Tara lifted 
a part of her large yellow raincoat and allowed 
her sister-in-law underneath. They jogged to the 
front door.

"Where's Bill?" Scully asked, pushing wet 
strands of hair out of her face.

They entered the house. "He went to pick up 
Mom from the airport."

"Why didn't he tell me she was coming out so soon?"

"I'm not sure." Tara hung her coat in the closet, 
and put Scully's damp trench coat over a vent. "Go 
into the kitchen. I'll get you a towel for your hair."

The kitchen was warm and smelled like fresh bread. 
Scully saw two loaves cooling on the stove. She 
also noticed her nephew asleep in his playpen 
that was tucked into the corner.

Tara returned to the kitchen. "Mom called last 
night to say she was coming. I'm surprised Bill 
didn't call you." She handed Scully a large blue 
towel.

"I know he's not too impressed with what's 
happened." Scully massaged her head with the 
fluffy towel.

Tara went to the stove and turned on the burner 
under the kettle. "He's disappointed that he never 
knew that Melissa had children."

"Tara, *I* didn't even know! He shouldn't be so 
distressed about it."

"He should be home fairly soon. I've made some soup 
to warm them up. Would you like some?"

Scully shook her head. "No, but could I have some 
tea, if that's what you're making?"

"Sure." Tara sat down at the table. "I knew Melissa 
awhile and she always seemed level-headed and smart. 
Why wouldn't she tell these girls that she was 
their mother?"

"Miranda didn't even know. But Missy did the right 
thing. She wanted a stable life for her daughters 
and knew that would be with Miranda and Dale."

"She must have been absolutely terrified being 
nineteen and pregnant with twins. And I thought 
*I* was scared when I was pregnant with Matthew." 

Scully stared wistfully at her nephew. He was 
sleeping peacefully, his small hand curled into 
a fist.  "I just wish I could have been there 
for her, when she felt like everyone was looking 
at her and judging her."

The speed of the rain increased, and they heard 
the front door open. "Tara, is Dana here?" Bill 
called.

Scully watched Matthew move and he was awake. 
He was quiet until his father entered the kitchen. 
"Dad, Dad, Dad," he said.

Bill smiled and set his mother's luggage down. 
He picked his son up and turned to his wife. 
"Mom is just putting her jacket over the vent."

"Hi, Bill." Scully stood up.

"Dana, why did you come here?"

"I called Mom and she didn't answer. Mulder 
suggested she could be on her way out here."

"She's here to see her granddaughter."

Margaret Scully walked into the kitchen. "Dana, 
I'm glad you're here."

"I'm happy you came." Scully hugged her mother 
tightly. She put her cheek against Margaret's 
shoulder, feeling the warmth.

"So when can I see my new grandchildren?"

Scully pulled out of the embrace. "Tomorrow. 
They know already so that's half the battle."

Bill said, "Mom, Dana, why don't you go talk 
in the living room?" Margaret nodded and she 
and her daughter left the kitchen.

"So Dana, what are they like?"

Scully sat beside Margaret on the sofa. 
"They're amazing, so talented and beautiful."

Margaret smiled. "Do they have red hair?"

"They used to. Lexie dyed hers black as 
an act of rebellion."

Her mother chuckled. "That's like Missy." 
Tears were welling up in Margaret's eyes. 
"I can't wait to meet them."

"Come here." Scully moved closer to her mother 
and put her arm around her. "Amy and Lexie 
are wonderful, and Melissa was there for most 
of their childhood. They're good girls."

"I'm sure they are. Scully girls always are." 
Margaret leaned her head on her daughter's 
shoulder.

"But we all need to adjust."

"I know, Dana," she said quietly. She was 
falling asleep. Scully wasn't going to move 
Margaret; she'd had a long flight and a tough 
time. Scully was tired as well. She stroked her 
mother's greying black hair.

Sleep washed over Scully in the next few minutes.



Chapter Nine

Living Memories


December 6, 1998


"Matthew, are you ready for some breakfast?"

Scully blinked, looking at her surroundings, 
recognizing her sister-in-law's voice. Some light 
shone through the curtains on the large window.  
Her nephew squealed and she heard him banging his 
hands on his highchair tray.

Margaret was no longer with her. Scully was 
stretched out on the sofa and clad in the previous 
day's clothes. She got up and trudged into the 
kitchen. Tara greeted her with a big smile. "Dana, 
you fell asleep and we didn't want to wake you."

"I'm guessing Mom went up to bed." Scully gently 
ruffled Matthew's dark hair before sitting down 
at the large table. "Could I have a cup of coffee?"

"Sure." Tara picked up the freshly brewed pot and 
poured some into a mug.

"I hope my cell phone didn't ring and disturb you." 
Scully took the up from Tara.

She shook her head. "Bill turned it off before he 
came up to bed."

Scully saw her phone on top of the fridge. "Can you 
hand it to me please?"

Tara reached and pulled it down. She switched it on. 
"Here you go," she said, placing it on the tabletop.

"Thanks." Scully dialled her partner's cell number. 

It rang three times before Mulder picked up. "Yeah?"

"Mulder, it's me."

"Scully, where were you all night?"

"I fell asleep at Bill's place and stayed over. 
Anything important happen?"

Mulder coughed. "Nope. Nothing."

"I'll be back there soon. My mom is meeting the 
girls today." She traced the lines of the wood 
table with her fingernail. 

"Good luck," Mulder said. "I'll see you later." 
He hung up. 

Scully ended the call. Tara sat beside her. "I'd 
like to meet Amy and Lexie as well but I'm not sure 
if Bill will take it well."

Scully's jaw dropped. She knew Tara listened to 
her husband but she never thought Bill was that 
controlling. "If you want to come, don't worry about 
what Bill says." They heard footsteps on the stairs. 
"Is Bill out?'

"Yeah. He went running with some other officers."

She used her excellent deduction skills and knew 
who was coming downstairs. "Hey, Mom!" Scully called.

Margaret came into the room. "I'm sorry I didn't 
wake you."

"It's okay. Nothing important happened at the motel."

Margaret poured herself some coffee. "I was so tired 
but I was too excited to sleep a long time."

"I think the twins have dance class. I'll call 
Edith later."

The three women took turns trying to feed Matthew. 
He wouldn't eat his bowl of dry Cheerios and raisins. 
Finally Margaret managed to get some food to stay in 
her grandson's mouth.

"We won't have to do this with Amy and Lexie," Scully 
said, placing her hand on her nephew's head. He was 
eating his breakfast, one Cheerio and one raisin at 
a time.

"But I wish I hadn't missed their childhood," 
Margaret said.

Scully looked at the clock. It was on the way to 
eleven. "I'll call Edith now, just so we don't miss 
the girls."

They all jumped when Scully's phone rang. "Maybe that's 
Edith," Tara suggested.

Margaret answered her daughter's phone. "Hello?" Scully 
watched her mother's face turn solemn. "She will be 
there soon."

"What's wrong?" Scully asked.

"Alexandra McQueen was admitted to the University Hospital 
twenty minutes ago and she's requested that Special Agent 
Dana Scully come down."

"Oh my God!" Scully hurried to the front door, and Margaret 
followed behind her.

"I want to come." She put her coat on over her pajamas.

"Tara, are you going to come?" Scully called.

"I'm going to stay here with Matthew."

 Margaret's face had turned pale. "Dana, what could be 
wrong with Lexie? Do you think she's sick?"

"I hope it's that. I hope she didn't hurt herself on 
purpose." Scully grabbed her mother's hand, and they left 
right away for the University of California-San Diego 
Medical Center. They had to take care of their family.




"Can I help you?" the emergency room nurse asked Scully.

"A girl was brought in recently. Her name is 
Alexandra... McQueen. I was notified of her admittance."

"Your name?" the nurse asked.

"Dana Scully." She looked back as her mother touched 
her shoulders.

The nurse was jotting the information on a form. "And 
your relation to Alexandra?"

Scully swallowed hard. "I'm her aunt, and this is her 
grandmother." She reached up and grabbed her mother's 
hand.

"Alexandra is in room twenty-three. Her doctor's in 
with her."

Scully was too worried to ask the nurse why Lexie was 
there. She rushed down the hall to her niece's room, 
her mother on her heels. Room twenty-three's door was 
closed. Scully knocked lightly before twisting the knob. 

She saw the male doctor as soon as she opened the door. 
"Hello. Are you Ms. Scully?"

"Yes." She moved closer to the doctor and saw her niece 
sitting on the bed. "What happened, sweetheart?"

Lexie's face was ashen and tear-stained. She looked 
down at her feet. Her right ankle was wrapped tightly 
in a tensor bandage. "Tell her, Dr. Carrera."

"Miss McQueen was dancing and she sprained her ankle 
severely."

Scully knew her mother was still behind her. "Lexie, 
I've brought someone to meet you. She's really worried 
about you."

Lexie moved her head, trying to see who was behind 
Scully. "This is my mother, Margaret--your grandmother."

Margaret was in tears and Lexie soon mimicked her. 
"Such a beautiful girl." Margaret reached up and 
stroked Lexie's cheek. The girl was sobbing as she 
wrapped her arms around her grandmother's neck. 
Scully bit back her tears. 

Dr. Carrera smiled and handed the young woman a box of 
Kleenex. "I'll leave you alone for a while. I'll bring 
back Lexie's crutches."

"Oh, Doctor, can you pull out my niece's medical 
records? I have a prescription that I need filled for 
her and I want you to verify it." Scully dug around 
in her purse for the small slip of paper. "Could I 
have it filled here?"

Dr. Carrera looked at it. "Imitrex? Lexie's already 
told me about her migraines."

Scully brought out her checkbook. "Here's the 
payment." She wrote out a check for a hundred dollars. 
"I want to start her on the tablets."

"Sure. I'll be back soon."

Lexie was still hugging Margaret tightly, the tissue 
box still in hand. "Baby, don't cry," Margaret told 
her granddaughter, pulling away. She took the box, 
pulled out a tissue, and dabbed softly at Lexie's 
tears.

The girl cried even harder. "Sorry, but my ankle 
hurts a lot." 

"I know it does." Margaret said, "I'm sorry about the 
lies and the pain."

"And I hurt myself because I couldn't concentrate. 
All the stuff happening got to me and now, I won't be 
able to dance until January or later. Luckily we're 
not doing a Christmas show."

"I'll take care of you while I'm here." Margaret 
smiled.

"Where's Amy?" Scully asked.

"I told her to come here after she was finished 
class. It should be soon."

"Once Dr. Carrera brings you your crutches, I'll 
take you for lunch," Margaret said. 

Lexie moved her leg. "What do you want me to call 
you? Both of you."

Mother and daughter looked at each other. "Dana and 
Maggie are fine until you're comfortable with the 
situation," Scully told her.

There was a knock at the door. Scully turned as Amy 
walked through the doorframe. She had a pair of 
crutches in tow. "A Dr. Carrera saw me and gave me 
these. He said he'd be back in a bit to help you." 
She turned her head. "Are you another patient?" Amy 
asked Margaret--now Maggie.

"Amy, this is your grandmother, Maggie."

The young redhead's mouth dropped open, her blue 
eyes filling with tears. "I'm so sorry. It's 
just... the pajamas... I thought...." The girl 
was shaken.  

"Don't worry, sweetheart." Maggie lifted the girl's 
chin with her index finger. "Go stand by your sister."

Amy walked to the bed, stopping beside Lexie. She 
handed her the crutches.

Maggie covered her mouth. "Amazing." Her hand 
muffled the word.

Scully put her hand on her mother's shoulder. "They 
*are* amazing, and at least we can tell them apart."

"Girls, after Dr. Carrera talks to Lexie, I'll take 
you for a bite to eat in the cafeteria. This will 
also give Dana and I the opportunity to answer any 
questions you have about your family."

There was a loud knock at the door. The tall 
Dr. Carrera entered the room with a small box in 
his hand. "Here's the Imitrex. You are to take 
one when the migraine starts."

"And you were going to show me how to use these." 
She stood up with the help of her crutches.

"Just keep your back straight, stay off your 
foot, and rest if your arms start to hurt. Try 
not to put all your weight on the crutches."

Scully said, "Lexie's mother had medical 
insurance. Did Lexie fill out the hospital's 
forms?"

Dr. Carrera smiled. "In full. I'd like to see 
her in a week, just to see how she's doing."

"Okay. Thanks for taking care of my niece."




Maggie smiled as Lexie finished her French fries 
and started on her Jell-O. Amy was speaking as her 
sister ate lunch. "I always wondered why Lexie and 
I had red hair and there were no redheads in the 
McQueen family."

Scully drank some coffee. "The Irish comes through."

"Can we see pictures of our family?" Lexie asked.

Scully and Maggie immediately dug into their 
purses for their wallets. Maggie spoke as she 
removed photographs. "There are your cousins. 
The little girl is Olivia and her brother is 
Daniel." She moved to the baby picture. "This 
is Matthew. He's almost a year old."

Scully pushed a photo of Bill's family to the 
girls. "That's your Uncle Bill and Aunt Tara. 
They're Matthew's parents. They live here in San 
Diego."

Amy stroked her fingers over the glossy paper. 
"Can we meet them?"

Scully looked at her mother. "Um, soon. Bill's 
still trying to adjust to the news."

Lexie looked saddened but kept what she was 
feeling to herself. "Who are the parents of 
Daniel and Olivia?"

"That would be your Uncle Charlie and Aunt 
Marina." Scully pulled out Charlie's family 
photo and another picture fell onto the table; 
it was Emily. Scully picked it up and placed 
it back in her wallet.

Lexie bit her lip. "I want to meet everybody. 
I don't want to feel misplaced at Christmas."

"Misplaced?" Scully repeated. "No matter where 
you are at Christmas, you'll be with someone 
who loves you. I'll make sure of it."

Amy looked at her watch. "I think we should 
be getting home. I don't know who's there but 
they might get worried."

Scully took hold of Amy's hand and gave a gentle 
squeeze. "We'll drive you when you finish your 
lunch."

Maggie watched as the girls ate, a wide grin 
on her face the entire time. Scully noticed 
the look of disappointment on her mother's 
face when it was time to go.

With her aunt's assistance, Lexie managed to 
hobble outside to Scully's car. The girl was 
in tears by the time she was in the backseat. 

"Lexie, are you okay?" her grandmother asked.

"I'm fine, Maggie. My ankle hurts, and I'm really 
happy."




Scully adjusted the bandage on Lexie's ankle before 
the girl pulled herself out of the vehicle. They 
were in front of Bill's home. The twins had managed 
to convince their aunt to let them meet Bill and his 
family.

"Dana, I'm scared." Lexie began her way to the front 
walk.

"Why are you scared, sweetheart?" Maggie asked.

"What if your family doesn't like us?"

"They're your family now." Scully gave a big smile 
and moved to assist her niece. "Don't worry. Bill and 
Tara are nice, most of the time."

Amy was looking around. "I've never been on a military 
base before."

Maggie put her arm around Amy. "Your mother and her 
siblings lived on naval bases for most of their lives. 
Your grandfather was a captain."

"Lex, let me help you onto the porch, and I'll get 
the door open. We'll get you settled and you can call 
to see if Edith's around."

Scully opened the screen door. "Bill, we're back." 
She heard Matthew squealing in the kitchen.

They heard Tara call, "So how was Lexie? What's 
wrong with her?" Her voice was getting louder, 
meaning she was walking to the front door.

The blonde woman appeared after coming through the 
dining and living rooms. "Why don't you ask her 
yourself?" Scully said.

Lexie smiled hopefully at Tara whose mouth formed 
an "O". Amy moved forward. "It's great to meet 
you, Tara."

The woman beamed. "It's wonderful to meet you, Amy, 
Lexie." She looked at the dark-haired girl.

Maggie glanced around. "Where's Bill?"

"He's working in the backyard. I'll call him in." 
Tara urged the girls, "Make yourselves comfortable 
in the kitchen, and meet your cousin."

The twins grinned as they followed Tara. Scully 
and Maggie were right behind them. Lexie was being 
helped by her sister but Scully stayed close.

Matthew was clearly thrilled that there were more 
people to lavish attention on him. He clapped his 
hands and yelled, "Gran!" He waved his arms at Maggie.

Amy's mouth widened into a grin. "He is so 
adorable!" she exclaimed before getting her sister 
into a chair and off her crutches.

"Amy, you sit too. Relax," Maggie said. "Bill 
won't bite." Scully looked at her mother and 
chuckled. "Dana, you're awful."

Tara shook her head and went to the kitchen's 
sliding glass door. She pulled it open. "Bill, 
come inside please. Some people are here to see us."

The twins held hands as they waited to meet their 
uncle. Finally Bill came inside. He saw the girls 
sitting at the table. All that escaped his lips 
was "Missy."

Amy stood up and stuck her hand out. "Hello, I'm Amy."

Bill embraced the teenager. Scully had not been 
expecting this reaction from her brother after 
he'd been so angry. "I knew who you were," he 
said, putting his hand on the back of Amy's head.

They broke apart when they heard a loud sniffle; 
Tara was crying. "This is so touching."

Bill sat at the table. "And you're Lexie." He gave 
a half-smile. "It's wonderful to meet you both."

Lexie looked down shyly. "Dana and Maggie showed 
us your family's photo. You and your wife have a 
beautiful child."

"My sister had beautiful children."

Lexie blushed. "I was afraid to meet you," she 
confessed.

Bill looked surprised. "What did your aunt tell 
you about me?"

"Nothing. She just said that you said acceptance 
might come slowly," Amy answered before her sister 
could say anything. "I thought the same thing."

Scully asked, "Bill, can I speak to you in the 
other room?"

He stood up. "Sure, Dana." He walked into the 
dining room with his sister. 

"What's up with you, Bill? I never thought you'd 
react so well."

"I was angry about Missy not telling me, but I 
realized that these girls are the only living memories 
left that belonged to Missy."

Scully touched her brother's arm. "This is wonderful. 
Amy and Lexie need to be surrounded by love." She was 
amazed at Bill's transformation.

They returned to the kitchen to visit with their nieces.



Chapter Ten

Acceptance


December 7, 1998


Scully was dozing off on the sofa in Bill's study 
when a loud ring sounded throughout the house.
Matthew shrieked, and Tara yelled, "Bill, Amy, 
could one of you get the door?"

"Already being asked for favours." Scully pushed 
herself onto her feet and headed to the stairs. 
From the top step, she saw Bill greeting their 
brother Charlie. Marina and their children were 
behind him.

"Dana!" Charlie looked up and his blue eyes 
twinkled, his sign of happiness.

"Hey Charlie." She walked down the staircase. 
"I'm glad you all came out. The girls have been 
asking when you were going to get here."

Marina took her kids' jackets and hung them in 
the closet. "How is Lexie doing? Tara told us 
she injured her ankle."

"She's still sore. Bill has been carrying her 
all over."

Bill shrugged. "I guess it's because I missed 
out on when she was a baby."

"The girls are in the kitchen with Tara and 
Matthew." Scully held out her hand to her young 
niece. "Olivia, do you want to meet your new cousins?"

The little girl nodded. "But I'm scared."

Scully walked with Olivia. "Why are you scared?"

"They might not like me." Her small hand tightened 
on her aunt's.

Scully bent down and hoisted Olivia into her arms. 
"They're worried that you won't like them."

They entered the bright kitchen and were faced 
with four smiling faces, including Matthew's 
chocolate grin. He held a half-eaten Oreo cookie 
in his pudgy hand. 

Scully set Olivia down on a chair beside Lexie. 
"This is your cousin Lexie and beside her is your 
cousin Amy."

"Hello!" Olivia exclaimed. She tugged at her 
dress. "I'm your cousin Olivia."

Both girls said, "Hi, Olivia."

The child looked amazed. She pointed a small finger 
at Lexie. "I thought you were a twin. Why is your 
hair black?"

"I dyed it black, but it makes it easier to tell 
us apart, don't you think?"

Olivia nodded before turning around on the 
chair. "Aunt Tara, can I have some Oreos too?" 
She looked back at Amy and Lexie. "I love Oreos."

Lexie picked up several off the place mat in front 
of her. "You can have the rest of mine. I don't 
need to gain weight when I can't work it off."

Charlie and his wife entered the room. Danny 
followed behind, chatting with his uncle. Marina 
scolded her daughter gently. "Olivia, please 
sit on the chair." The child dropped onto her 
rear like she was in a race.

"Mommy, my new cousin Lexie gave me her cookies." 
Olivia curled her hand around the chocolate and 
cream sweets, trying to get them all in her grasp.

Lexie extended her arm to shake Marina's hand. The 
woman glanced down at Lexie's wrapped, elevated 
ankle. "It's great to meet you, Marina," she said 
as her aunt took her hand.

"You too, Lexie." She turned to Amy. "And you 
must be Amy, the twin with the red hair."

"That would be me." She looked at Marina, then 
Charlie. "I'm guessing you're my Uncle Charlie."

He nodded. "You both look a lot like your mother." 
He sat beside Amy. "That boy over by Bill is my 
son Daniel." He motioned him over. "Danny, these 
are your cousins, Amy and Lexie."

The boy crossed his arms. "Aunt Missy must have 
been really young when she had them. I didn't 
even know she was married."

Marina put her hands on her son's shoulders. 
"We'll have to talk to him." She wrapped her 
arms around Danny. "How long have you girls 
been here?"

Lexie answered, "We met Bill and his family 
yesterday, and we came back today." She paused. 
"The McQueens are trying to sell the house."

Scully frowned. "Lex, sweetheart, we won't 
mind if you still call Michelle your aunt 
and Edith your grandmother. You've known them 
by those names for sixteen years."

"I know but it doesn't feel right anymore."

Amy stood. "I'd love to chat but today was my 
first day back to school and I have work to catch 
up on. I'll visit later."

Bill said, "Use my study to work but before you 
do, see if your grandmother is awake yet. If she 
is, tell her your Uncle Charlie is here. Leave her 
if she's sleeping."

"Sure. I'll see you all later." She grabbed an 
apple from the fruit bowl before dashing upstairs.

Marina sat beside her husband. "When do you go back 
to school, Lexie?"

"In a few days. I have to get used to my crutches."

Tara brought a large plate of cookies to the table. 
"You're welcome to stay overnight, Lexie. We have a 
very comfortable roll-out bed."

"I'd love to but I'm supposed to go to the reading 
of my... mother's will tomorrow morning. I'd feel 
much better staying at the house."

"That's fine." Bill nudged his nephew. "Danny, why 
don't you come help me fix up the basement so it's 
good enough to sleep in."

"Sure, Uncle Bill." They left the kitchen.

Olivia looked up from her Oreos. "Lexie, my mommy 
says you're a ballerina."

"That's right. Actually I'm taking a break right now."

The little girl got up and began dancing around on the 
linoleum. Her family started laughing but didn't stop 
even when the doorbell rang.

Tara got up. "I'll get that. I wonder who it could be."

Scully smiled at Olivia. "Maybe Lexie can teach you 
to dance when she gets better."

Olivia went over and kissed Lexie's bandaged ankle. 
"I want Lexie to get better real fast."

"Olivia, I don't think I'll be well for a while 
but you know what?" Lexie pulled the four-year-old 
onto her lap, Olivia's weight being supported by 
the older girl's outstretched leg. "Amy is a dancer 
too. She could probably teach you."

Tara returned to her family with John Kresge following 
her. "Dana, Detective Kresge came here to see you and 
the girls."

Scully felt her face warming. "Hello, Kresge."

He looked around the crowded table. "How are you 
all doing?"

"Fine" was the reply from the entire family. Olivia 
giggled at the look on Kresge's face.

He moved to Lexie's side and bent down. "That's a 
nasty sprain. I never thought ballet was so dangerous."

"It's not dangerous. I just wasn't thinking straight 
when I should have been."

Kresge looked at Scully, then back at her niece. "I 
hope you recuperate quickly. Now, I came to speak to 
your aunt."

Scully got up. "Excuse me for a moment." She followed 
Kresge down the hall to the front door.

"Dana," Kresge said, "I just came by to say I'm sorry 
for what happened the other night. I know I've said it 
before but I mean it. I also wanted to offer any 
assistance to you and your family."

"Thank you very much. I'll call you if we need 
anything." She glanced down at her hands. "I do 
have one request right now."

"What is it?"

Scully answered, "I want you to make sure Dale 
gets punished and he leaves the girls alone."

"Will do. I can guarantee it. He won't be free 
for a long time."

There was an uneasy span of silence until Kresge 
reached for the doorknob. "I have to go. I'm taking 
Lorelei to dinner. I have a surprise for her." He 
reached into his pants' pocket and pulled out a small 
velvet box. He opened it, the hinges creaking.

"You're going to ask Lorelei to marry you?" Scully 
took the box and scrutinized the beautiful engagement 
ring, the diamonds glittering.

"We've been together for nearly three years. I think 
it's time."

Scully pressed the royal purple box into Kresge's palm. 
"Good luck, and tell me what Lorelei says."

"Sure." He opened the door before leaning down and 
giving Scully a friendly kiss on the cheek. "I'll 
see you later."

The phone rang. "Yeah, Kresge. Have a good night." 
He left, closing the white door behind him.

Scully reached for the telephone. "Scully residence."

"Dana? It's Michelle."

"Hello, Michelle. What can I do for you?" She took a 
quick glance down the hall. "Do you want me to bring 
the girls home?"

"No, no, it's fine. We still want them home by ten, 
but I'd like you to tell them that we need to talk about 
living arrangements when they get back. Tell them that 
we've found a buyer for the house."

Scully gasped. "Really? That's, uh, great. I don't know 
how they'll feel about that."

"We'll discuss it later. Just tell Amy and Lexie please. 
My mother and I are out now. We'll be home before you 
get to the house." There was a loud honk. "The light 
turned green. I have to go." Michelle hung up.

Scully muttered, "Thanks a lot, Mich. Leave me to look 
like the bad guy by telling them," but she remembered 
it had been Michelle and her mother informing the girls 
about their heritage when it should have been Scully.

She climbed the stairs, walking nearly on tiptoe so she 
wouldn't disturb her sleeping mother. Scully crept to 
the door of Bill's study and heard Amy humming to herself, 
followed by a crunch as she bit into her apple.

Scully poked her head inside. "Amy, sweetheart, sorry 
to bother you."

The girl was startled. "Did I wake Maggie?"

"No. She's still asleep. What I need is for you to come 
downstairs so I can talk to both you and your sister."

Amy frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Just come with me." She held out her hand and her 
niece took hold of it.

They went back down to the kitchen. Lexie saw her 
twin's face and asked, "What happened? Who was on the 
phone?" The chattering Scully family became silent. 

"Michelle called. She wanted me to tell you they found 
a buyer for your house."

"It's all over then. Our lives as McQueens are truly 
over," Amy said in a whisper.

"Not necessarily. They are still your family."

Olivia looked up at her upset cousin. "Yeah. They love 
you. We love you. I love you!" she exclaimed. The child 
barely understood the depth of what they were talking 
about but cheered Amy up nevertheless.

Lexie cracked up. "Olivia, you are just too precious."

Amy admitted, "I've been going through all these emotions 
in the past few days. I was happy, angry, depressed, and 
nervous.... I'm still all those things. Mostly the first 
one."

Marina spoke up. "And you might feel those things for a 
while but we understand."

Lexie inched her leg over on the chair. "What did the good 
detective want?" she asked with a sly smile.

Scully's eyes widened. "He just came over, offering to 
help with anything, and he told me he's proposing to his 
girlfriend."

"He's good-looking, Dana," Lexie said.

"Boy, is he ever," Amy added.

Tara chuckled, pulling Olivia onto her thighs. "Two more 
sassy nieces."

The new family members had caused more joy in the past two 
days than Scully had ever imagined. At that moment, they were 
the model of one big happy family, something the Scullys 
hadn't been in a while. 




December 8, 1998


The girls looked sombre when Scully and her mother picked 
them up the next day. Lexie was manoeuvring her crutches and 
getting down the sidewalk, a pained expression on her face 
that had nothing to do with her sprained ankle.

"Do you think the will reading was that bad?" Maggie asked 
as Amy walked and Lexie hobbled to the car.

"We'll see, Mom."

Amy opened the back door for her sister. Lexie took her 
time getting in and Amy went to the other side to get in 
the backseat.

"How are you both doing?" Maggie turned in her seat.

"We're okay," Amy answered.

Scully began driving and said, "You look upset."

"We're going to be living with Michelle in San Francisco. 
We'll be leaving Annie and now, Bill and his family."

"You'll be able to visit," Maggie said, trying to give 
hope to the girls.

"But it won't be the same," Amy said. "We've told Michelle 
that and she said she'd see what she could do. I don't 
think she's going to come up with a better solution."

"You girls needn't worry about being taken care of," 
Maggie said soothingly.

"How was your outing today?" Scully asked.

"You mean the reading of Miranda's will?" Amy rubbed 
her eyes. "We got all her money, although we don't 
deserve it anymore."

"She adopted you, meaning you were her children too," 
Scully pointed out.

Amy was clearly frustrated. "We know, but she was only 
our mother in the legal sense. But I love her still."

Scully glanced in the backseat. "That's understandable, 
and we won't take any offense if you continue to love her. 
Some people have two mothers, whether through adoption or 
divorce."

"Can we change the subject?" Lexie asked. "I want to 
talk about good ol' Detective Kresge."

Scully breathed in sharply. "Dana," Maggie said, "why 
are you blushing?"

Lexie managed to pull herself forward, her hands grasping 
the front seats. "My dear auntie likes the detective. 
That's why she's turning red."

"I do not like him," Scully argued. "We worked together, 
and we have a professional relationship."

Lexie's demeanor had changed from depressed to smiling 
in a flash. "You never thought he was cute? Because he 
is and if you've never thought so, I'd have to check 
your pulse."

"You have a thing for older men, Lex?" Scully asked, 
attempting to embarrass her niece.

The girl took it in stride. "Sure. Most are just so 
gorgeous, like Kresge. Agent Mulder isn't bad either."

Maggie laughed. "Just like her mother: always looking 
at the older boys."

"Am I that much like her?" Lexie's voice wavered.

"Lexie, you seem boy-crazy and you're a rebel. You're 
exactly like her," Maggie answered.

Scully joked, "By any chance, are either of you into 
New Age things?"

"No" was the response from the backseat.

"So what does Michelle do?" Scully asked her nieces.

Amy tucked her ponytail behind her head. "She's a travel 
writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. That's why she 
can't move here. We tried to talk to her but like I said, 
we're moving up there."

"I would love to have you stay at my house in Baltimore 
so you could be close to most of the family, but I 
wouldn't have a clue about raising teenagers nowadays." 
Maggie gave an apologetic glance.

Amy sighed. "That would be strange, so I suppose 
living with Michelle won't be too bad."

Maggie suggested, "How would you girls like to go 
shopping?"

The twin sisters looked at each other and grinned. "Sure," 
they said. Scully knew that the happiness they were showing 
about being spoiled was a temporary front and that they 
were aching inside.




The sun was drifting off, turning the sky into a watercolour 
painting of orange and violet. Scully was finally driving her 
nieces home with their new purchases.

"Please come in for coffee," Lexie begged, pulling herself 
onto the curb.

Scully eyed the girl suspiciously. "This wouldn't be a 
ploy to get me to talk Michelle out of making you move, 
would it?"

"No. I just don't want to ask Amy to carry my bags." She 
glanced at her twin and right away, Scully could tell they 
were up to something.

She gave in. "Okay, but I can only stay for a while." She 
got out to grab Lexie's bags.

"Does Maggie spoil her other grandkids like this?" Amy was 
carrying a large paper bag in each hand. 

"She hasn't clothes-wise. Your cousins are still young. 
Olivia has a good ten years until she's interested in short 
skirts and platform shoes."

The porch light was shining, but the rest of the house was 
in darkness. "There's something going on," Lexie said, 
struggling to make it up the sidewalk.

"No, Lexie. They might be playing cards in the kitchen. 
Don't assume something has happened." Amy reached for the 
doorknob.  

Her twin snorted. "After everything that's happened, how can 
I *not* assume that anything's going on?"

Amy stuck out her tongue. "We'll see." She pushed the door 
open. "We're home! Dana's here for coffee."

Chairs scraped the kitchen floor and both Michelle and 
Edith appeared in the hallway leading to the foyer. "I'm 
glad you're home." Michelle smiled widely.

"What's up?" Amy set her bags down.

"I quit my job," Michelle blurted out, crossing her arms. 
"I couldn't stand seeing you two hurt, so I tried to see 
if I could work from here. They said there was no way so 
I quit."

"So we can stay here?" Amy rushed over and threw her arms 
around Michelle.

"Actually I was thinking about us moving out east so you 
can spend time getting to know the Scullys."

Amy bit her lip. "But I don't want to leave Annie and 
her parents."

Michelle took the teen's hands in her own. "I know, Amy, 
but I'd like you to be close to your family. I can get a 
new job wherever we move. Maybe the Washington Post needs 
a travel writer."

Scully added, "Rather than just staying here and having 
one part of the family, you can move to the East Coast and 
have three parts. Bill and Tara will bring Matthew to visit 
more often, and we can come here as well."

Lexie glanced at her sister. "We'll have to think about it."

Edith nodded. "Sure. Now, why don't you all come in the 
kitchen and we'll have something to eat?"



For the first time in two days Scully returned to the 
motel to sleep. She'd only seen Mulder briefly in those 
days past. He was waiting for her when she knocked on 
his door.

"Scully! Long time, no see!"

"It's been a tense two days, but I've survived."

Mulder pulled her inside his room. "Care to share?"

"I'll make a long story short. Amy and Lexie met my mom 
and she loves them. We took them to Bill's, and he and 
his family adore them. Then Charlie and his family got 
into town and they love them as well. Michelle has said 
they're not moving to San Francisco, and that she wants 
to move to the east."

He patted her arm. "Well, hey, that's great! Amy and 
Lexie can spend some weekends with you."

"But they don't want to leave Annie, or Bill. We've been 
at his house a lot lately."

"Congratulations on everything. It must be frustrating 
without your sister though."

Scully yawned. "I wish Missy was here but I think my 
family will be able to handle it."

"Dana Scully's exciting life makes mine pale in 
comparison," Mulder muttered.

"Your life is exciting, Mulder, in a paranoid way."

"Thanks a lot."

Her voice softened. "Mulder, one day we'll find your 
sister and you'll probably have nieces or nephews, or 
both. Your life will be even more wonderful than it 
is already."

"I hope you're right." He lowered his head.

Scully reached up, putting her hand on the back of his 
neck. "When have I ever been wrong?" He looked down at 
her, and she removed her hand quickly.

"Have you seen Kresge lately?" Mulder asked.

"Yes. He came to Bill's to see how the girls were doing 
and to tell me that he's asking his girlfriend to marry 
him."

"Good for him." He sat down on his bed and flopped onto 
his back. "Scully, are you happy we were requested to come 
out and investigate this case?"

She dropped down beside him. "I didn't enjoy seeing Amy 
and Lexie mourning the death of their adoptive mother, 
but I was happy to find two people that are the children 
of my sister, and I wouldn't change that for a second."



December 19, 1998


Mulder groaned as Michelle McQueen kneaded his lower 
back. She shifted her weight as she reached for the 
tube of muscle rub cream. She squeezed a dollop into 
her palm and sat back on Mulder's thighs.

"Agent Mulder, I'm so sorry. I should have told you 
that the box had my CDs *and* my CD player inside it," 
Lexie said.

"It's not your fault, kiddo. I should have lifted with 
my knees, not my back."

"Lexie, where's your sister?" Michelle asked, starting 
to rub Mulder's bare back again.

"With Aunt Dana. They're trying to decide how to 
decorate Amy's new room. She wants a different set-up 
of her furniture."

Michelle chuckled. "I knew that article on feng shui 
would affect her. She likes to try new things."

"Now she's into New Age stuff." Lexie cut the tape 
on a carton.

Michelle had managed to find an apartment in Baltimore 
and she and the twins moved across the country in less 
than ten days. It had taken much work by Mulder, Kresge, 
the Doyles and the Scullys to help them move. They'd 
already been invited to stay with Maggie until they 
could get settled and begin building their new home.

Scully emerged from the hallway that led to the bedrooms. 
"Mich, what are you doing to Mulder? I could hear him 
moaning and groaning from Amy's room."

Mulder turned his head to see his partner. "Scully, this 
woman has magic fingers."

Lexie nodded in agreement. "Whenever she was in town and 
Amy or I had sore muscles, Michelle would give us the best 
massages. It looks better when she gives them to Mulder 
though." 

Scully, with a smile, rolled her eyes. "I'll see you all 
later. I have to do some Christmas shopping."

"Oh, you're going to like our present," Lexie said to her 
aunt. "I think it might make you cry." 



Epilogue


December 25, 1998


The house was warm and the smell of Christmas baking 
filled the air. Scully and Mulder stood in the doorway 
of Maggie's home and they could hear the giggling of 
a child upstairs.

"Scully, can I put these presents down? My back still 
hurts." Mulder didn't wait for a reply and set the 
box down. 

"We're here!" Scully called. There was a rush of 
footsteps over their heads. Olivia appeared at the 
top of the staircase.

"Aunt Dana!" Her niece ran down and jumped on Scully. 
"Amy and Lexie are here! They stayed overnight and I 
got to sleep in the same room. That means I'm a big 
girl."

"Where are they, sweetheart?"

Olivia thought for a moment. "They're in the kitchen 
with Grandma and Michelle."

Scully picked up her niece and carried her into the 
living room with Mulder following them. Olivia's 
parents were visiting with Bill and Tara, and Matthew 
was toddling around on the carpet.

Charlie jumped up. "Dana, nice to see you again this 
month. I hope Olivia isn't harassing you. She was a 
little upset that we have to wait to open presents 
but she'll survive."

"I had to finish wrapping gifts this morning, and 
Mulder had some trouble with his apartment's water 
pressure."

Tara said, "Amy and Lexie are helping Mom with the 
cookies, as well as dinner." 

Scully gave Olivia to her father. "Bill, could you 
do me a favour and get the box of gifts from the front 
door?" She glanced at the beautifully decorated tree 
in the corner. "Stick them with the others."

Bill stood. "Sure." He stopped to kiss his sister's 
cheek. "Merry Christmas, Dana." He then shook Mulder's 
hand, leaving him stunned. "Merry Christmas, Mulder."

Scully gave the rest of her family Christmas kisses 
before heading into the kitchen.

Her twin nieces surprised her with hugs. "How are the 
two of you?"

"Fine!" they exclaimed.

Lexie wore a velvet hunter-green dress, and her black 
hair was woven into a French braid. Her sister was 
dressed in a black skirt and a white silk blouse. Her 
coppery hair hung in loose curls, resting gently on 
her shoulders.

Michelle was removing a cookie pan from the oven. 
"Hello, Dana. Where's Mulder?"

Lexie whispered in Scully's ear, "She likes him. She 
told us after she gave him that back rub. Their 
flirting was so cute after you left!"

Scully greeted her mother before asking, "So Mich, 
are you glad my mother's put up the mistletoe?"

The woman tucked her glossy brown hair behind her 
ears. It took a few seconds to register. "Lexie told 
you? I admit it. I like your partner."

Amy laughed. "Maybe you'll get what you want this 
Christmas."

Scully saw a plate of cooling shortbread cookies and 
snatched one. "This is just wonderful. Family and 
friends together for the holidays."

"Except for Olivia nagging us to let her open the 
presents we brought." Lexie stole a piece of shortbread 
from her aunt. "She's cute but she can be annoying."

"How is the new apartment?" Scully asked, leaning back 
on a counter.

Amy's eyes lit up. "Great! We have a really nice 
neighbour and she has a cute son. He's seventeen, but 
Lexie and I both like him."

Scully smiled. "That means I have to find a man to be 
interested in and we'll be set."

Lexie went to the sink and washed her hands. "I'm 
going to talk to Mulder."

Michelle frowned. "And no meddling. I can get him 
myself."

Maggie warned her granddaughter. "Yes, Lexie. Be nice. 
We'll get the two of them under the mistletoe eventually."

Amy decided to follow her sister into the living room, 
leaving the older women alone.

Scully sat with Michelle and Maggie at the large table. 
"I received a phone call from Kresge a few days ago. 
Lorelei accepted his proposal and we've invited to their 
wedding in June."

Maggie touched her daughter's hand. "Are you okay with 
that?"

"I'm fine. He's been with Lorelei for a long time. I do 
think he's attractive but anything that's happened won't
come between them."

"What *has * happened?" Maggie raised her eyebrow.

Scully hesitated, chewing on her lip. "He came to the 
motel one night after I found out the girls were Missy's. 
He hugged me to comfort me, and we kissed. It stopped 
when we fell on the bed."

"Dana!" her mother gasped.

"We broke it off. I didn't want it to become anything 
more serious, something we couldn't take back. Kissing 
was bad enough."

Michelle tapped her long nails on the table's surface. 
"You're too in control. I would have forgotten he had a 
girlfriend and let loose."

Scully blushed. "I like the way I am." 

Maggie got up and went to the fridge. "Michelle, you 
haven't changed at all." she opened the door and pulled 
out a large roasting pan. "I cooked the turkey yesterday. 
I just have to heat it in the oven for a few hours."

Scully leaned forward and spoke in a hushed tone. "Mom 
gets nervous when we discuss our sex lives, except when 
it has to do with prospective grandchildren."

Michelle grinned. "That's what I've been meaning to 
ask you. Why don't you have children? I thought you 
might have married and divorced already."

She turned and glanced at her mother. "I've never been 
married but I had a daughter."

"Had?" Michelle echoed quietly.

"I'll give you the short story. My reproductive material 
was stolen, and a child was created. I found her when I 
was in San Diego last Christmas and thought she was 
Melissa's child. She was the spitting image of my 
sister as a toddler.

"She was mine and her name was Emily. I lost her as I 
found her. She was only three."

The woman across the table looked horrified. "I'm so 
sorry. I wish I'd known you were in San Diego then."

"There are many things you and the girls don't know 
about me, but those things are not important right now. 
Amy and Lexie will find out everything sooner or later 
but right now, I'm concerned with their happiness."

"I know, Dana. I am too." She casually changed the 
subject. "They have to work hard when they go back to 
school. I've registered them at Oak Heights High in 
Baltimore and they'll start after New Years'."

Maggie piped up, "If they need a tutor in the sciences 
of math, they can ask Dana for help."

"Or the government's laws," Scully added.

Michelle rested her chin on her hand. "You all are 
going to love the girls' presents. Actually they're 
from all three of us."

"Lexie said something about the gifts making me cry. 
Do you know anything about that?"

"Yeah." Michelle looked up as Maggie set mugs of coffee 
on the table. "Thanks." She faced Scully again. "Just 
their ideas for the presents made us bawl. You'll enjoy 
them."

"Mich, I told Mulder this before we left San Diego. I 
wish Miranda hadn't died but everything else, I would 
never change. I found my sister's little girls."

The woman sitting across from Scully nodded. "No matter 
how violently she was taken from us, Miranda is in a 
better place." She reached her hand out and Scully 
took it in her own.

She could see the sadness in Michelle's green eyes, 
the tears gathering and preparing to take a free-fall 
down her rosy cheeks. She'd lost her sister and there 
was no way Scully could take Amy and Lexie from her, 
which was why the girls were staying with her. 
Michelle would always be their aunt, as would Scully. 

"Look at me." Michelle jerked away to wipe at the 
tears escaping her eyes.

Maggie sat beside her. "Michelle, sweetheart, it's 
okay to cry. You lost your sister."

"No, I'm fine." She straightened in her chair but 
soon, had her arms around the older Scully, her face 
buried in Maggie's shoulder.

Scully sipped her coffee and even though it was her 
own mother comforting Michelle, she felt like she 
was intruding on something private. She took hold 
of her mug and left the kitchen.

In the living room the adults were busy chatting. 
Olivia poked at her older dark-haired cousin every 
few seconds, causing Lexie to finally reach out and 
pull her on her lap. _It's a Wonderful Life_ was 
playing on television and Matthew sat in front of 
it, enraptured by the black and white images that 
were unlike his colourful world.

Scully managed to wedge herself between Marina and 
Mulder, being careful not to spill her coffee on 
her mother's white carpet.

"How are you doing, Dana?" Marina patted her knee.

"I'm fine, Marina. I'm very happy, but I'm sure you 
know that."

Her sister-in-law nodded. "You've been grinning 
throughout the month of December. It's hard *not* 
to tell you're ecstatic."

"I was very fortunate to find my beautiful nieces." 
The twins looked and smiled after their aunt 
mentioned them. 

"Hey, Mulder. I'm heading into the kitchen. Do you 
want a beer?" Bill asked, and Mulder nodded. Their 
civility amazed Scully.

"Lexie," Olivia whined, "when do we get to open 
your presents?"

Her cousin looked down at her. "Olivia, we will 
after dinner. Just another few hours."

Michelle came in the room. "Mulder, Bill told me to 
give you this." She handed him the ice-cold brown 
bottle.

He grinned. "Thanks a lot, Michelle." He twisted 
the cap off. "So Lexie, how have you been health-wise?"

"My migraines have been off and on, because the 
Imitrex has been working. My ankle doesn't hurt 
so much anymore and last time I saw Dr. Carrera, 
he said I could be dancing by next month. That's 
when we're set to start our new class at a local 
dance academy."

Mulder took a sip of his beer. "That's wonderful."

Olivia yawned loudly. "I'm going to have a nap 
until supper's ready. Aunt Dana, will you carry 
me up to bed?"

"Why don't you let Amy take you?"

Amy took her cousin in her arms. "Sure. I'll be 
down soon." She pulled herself to her feet without 
letting Olivia go. "I might have a snooze myself. 
Anything to pass the hours until present time."




"Pass the mashed potatoes please, Aunt Dana," Lexie 
said, pushing her turkey over on her plate to make 
room for the creamy potatoes.

"Sure, Lex." Scully picked up the casserole dish 
and passed it carefully to her niece.

Scully wasn't used to seeing so many people at 
Christmas. For the past few years, it had only been 
her mother, Bill's family and herself at Christmas 
dinner. Now she had a feeling that Charlie would be 
around more. Olivia was so fond of her new cousins 
and would beg to see them at least monthly.

Once everyone had their food, Maggie said, "Before 
we all eat, I'd like to say a prayer." Everyone 
folded their hands and bowed their heads.

"Dear God, thank you for bringing us together on 
the day of Your Son's birth. We have been so blessed 
this past month, and hope to be just as blessed in 
the future. Amen."

Everyone joined in. "Amen."

Maggie unfolded her napkin and placed it on her 
lap. "Enjoy your meal."

Olivia grabbed her fork and started eating her food 
quickly. Scully glanced at her brother, and Charlie 
said, "Olivia, slow down. The presents will be there 
after dinner, and we don't want you choking." The 
girl lowered her head and slowed to eating pieces 
of carrot, one at a time.

"Michelle, you should have invited your mother out 
for Christmas," Maggie said.

"No, it's fine. She has dinner with friends every 
year, but she will be out here soon."

Amy cut off a slice of turkey and dipped it in the 
pool of gravy on her plate. She put the meat in her 
mouth and chewed it thoroughly. "This is wonderful. 
Most Christmases at our old place were lonely. Miranda 
was usually working on her writing, and my... father 
always seemed to be away on business. Aunt Missy--Mom 
was there every year until we were twelve."

"Now we have a new big family," Lexie added. "Nothing 
could be better."

The rest of dinner was silent apart from the small 
conversation between Mulder and Michelle that would 
occasionally cause Lexie and her twin to giggle.

Olivia made a point of making noise to show she was 
finished eating. She allowed her fork to fall onto 
her plate with a clatter. Charlie smiled. "Sweetheart, 
only a few more minutes. I'm very proud of you. You 
finished everything on your plate."

Mulder leaned back. "I'm afraid I can't say the same." 
He wiped his mouth with the linen napkin. "To all who 
helped, the food was excellent."

Maggie noticed that her youngest granddaughter was 
becoming antsy. "Kids, you can head into the living 
room." 

Olivia raced out of the living room with Danny. 
Lexie limped out, and Amy stopped to clean Matthew's 
face and hands before lifting him from his high chair.

Michelle and Mulder began taking dishes and stacking 
them. He took a few platters from her. "Michelle, 
I'll take these. They're really heavy."

"But what about your back?"

He grinned at her. "I'd love another one of your 
massages. They're amazing."

Scully gathered some more plates and silverware. 
"The rest of you can go into the other room. We'll 
take care of clearing the table."

Maggie patted her daughter's hand. "Just take the 
empty dishes in. I'll get the food later."

Scully followed her partner into the darkened kitchen. 
"Put them in the sink, Mulder." Michelle came in and 
they piled the dishes in the metal sink.

Mulder left, and Michelle kept Scully behind. "Dana, 
where'd your mom put the mistletoe?"

Scully put her arm around Michelle. "Don't worry. 
You might even get a kiss without it having to be 
a tradition."

The three children and their older cousins were 
convened around the Christmas tree. Matthew was 
sucking on the corner of a package. Maggie joined 
her grandchildren on the floor. "Kids, you can 
open my presents first."

The grandmother pulled out a stack of gifts. She 
handed two boxes to Tara. "These are for Matthew." 
Her daughter-in-law nodded her thanks.

Maggie gave her other young grandchildren two boxes 
each. "Thank you, Grandma," Olivia and Danny said.

"You're welcome." She passed the last small packages 
to Amy and Lexie. "I hope you girls like these."

The twins pulled at the wrapping paper, exposing 
identical maroon boxes. Amy opened her box first 
and gasped at what she saw. Inside was a delicate 
gold necklace with a cross attached to it. Lexie's 
gift was the same.

"They're beautiful, Maggie." Lexie put her new 
necklace on with her grandmother's help.

Maggie began telling the history of the necklace. 
"When I was a girl, a year younger than you are, 
my mother gave me a necklace very similar to these 
ones. And when your mother was fifteen, I gave her 
one. Next came your aunt and she received one as 
well. I had encouraged my own girls to give their 
daughters the same chains, to keep it as a tradition 
but since your mother is not with us anymore, I took 
it upon myself to give them to you both."

"Why?" Amy asked, holding the small cross between 
her thumb and index finger.

"The cross is to remind you that God is with you 
all the time, that you should never lose faith."

Amy peered at her aunt's throat, looking for 
her chain. "You've been wearing that all these years?"

Scully nodded. "My faith has kept me strong in 
times of need."

The room was still as the girls hugged their 
grandmother. Olivia was taking her time opening 
her gifts. Finally she started shrieking, "Ballet 
shoes! Grandma bought me ballet shoes!" She placed 
the slippers atop the new blue dress Maggie had 
given her. 

Scully reached out and managed to grab the corner of 
the gift box she'd brought. "Find the ones with your 
names." The kids did as told, leaving several 
brightly-wrapped packages. The Scully children 
always opened their gifts first and once everything 
was settled down, the adults exchanged presents.

Scully hoped everybody liked what she'd gotten them. 
Her younger niece and nephews had been easy to buy 
for--toys and clothes for the boys and ballet clothes 
for Olivia--but she now had to worry about knowing 
what teenagers liked. Amy and Lexie loved their new 
leotards and tights.

Michelle got off the couch and went to the mound 
of red and green boxes. She chose a rectangular 
prism-shaped present. "I want Maggie to open this 
first. It's mostly from the girls, but I helped 
them with it."

Maggie used her fingernail to cut the tape and she 
peeled back the paper. It was a video. "Play it, 
Maggie." Lexie's eyes were sparkling. Scully took 
the tape and put it in the VCR. She pressed the PLAY 
button and sat back.

Soon Melissa appeared on the television screen. She 
was sitting in a large chair with a tiny baby nestled 
in each arm. She smiled and said, "Miranda, they're 
the most beautiful children I've ever seen." She 
leaned down and kissed each child's head.

Next a little red-haired girl came into view on the 
screen. The camera pulled out and the girl's twin was 
visible. They were both dressed in matching pink tutus. 
A male voice said, "What do you say to Aunt Missy?" 
and the girls squealed, "Thank you!"

The scene quickly changed to a birthday party for 
the eight-year-old Amy and Lexie. Melissa was holding 
their cake while Miranda led the singing of "Happy 
Birthday".

The last footage was of the twins at age eleven. It 
was a ballet recital, and they were dressed in black 
leotards, white tights and pink slippers. Miranda, 
Dale and Melissa could be heard, at one time or 
another, saying, "My beautiful girls."

Maggie was in tears by the end of the short video. 
The rest of the family was in awe. "We made this 
tape to show you what you missed, but that our mother 
was always there, loving us." Amy turned off the 
cassette.

Lexie moved back to the presents. "The rest of these 
gifts are the same but Amy and I were sure you felt 
the same way about missing out on our childhood." 
Michelle helped the girls hand out the presents.

Maggie sniffled as she ripped the shiny red paper 
off the gift. It was a small navy book with THE YEARS 
PAST written in neat silver script on the cover. 
The grandmother flipped the book open and on the 
first page were two baby pictures from the hospital, 
one of each girl. ONE DAY OLD was written underneath 
them.

She continued to page through the album, finding on 
each page a photo of Amy and Lexie with Melissa. 
The pictures with Melissa stopped at age twelve. 
The four remaining pages were the girls from thirteen 
to sixteen, most being ballet photos.

Lexie grinned. "We gave each family one so you could 
have something with us and our mother, and to see 
what were like as kids."

Maggie wrapped her arms around the twins. "What 
wonderful gifts! Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Lexie whispered. Then she said 
aloud, "We love you all. Thank you for making us a 
part of the family."

Scully smiled as she received hugs from her nieces 
and she didn't want to let go of this joy.




December 26, 1998


Scully could feel herself dozing off when she sensed 
movement beside her on the bed. She smelled the baby 
powder perfume Charlie's family had given Lexie for 
Christmas. "Hello, Lexie," she whispered without 
opening her eyes.

"Did I wake you?"

"Not really. Why did you come down?"

There was a quiet chuckle. "I had a bad dream. I 
tried to wake Amy but she muttered something in her 
sleep about coming down here."

Scully blinked. She realized she was stretched out 
on her mother's hide-a-bed. The rest of her family 
was asleep in various rooms around the house, and 
Mulder and Michelle had left together hours before.

"Want to tell me about it?" 

The girl snuggled closer to her aunt. "My dad escaped 
from jail and he kidnapped me. I have many chances to 
get away but I couldn't because of my ankle. Then 
Michelle came to help me and he started choking her. 
That's when I woke up."

"Lexie," she said softly, "your father won't be out 
of prison for a long time. Don't worry."

"But...." The teenager paused and Scully could hear 
her chewing on her lip in hesitation.

"Say it."

"Will Amy or I become like our dad? Will we murder 
someone?"

Scully saw her wipe her eyes. "You will not do 
anything of the sort. You were raised well, and 
what your father did was because he became selfish. 
You girls are *not* selfish."

Lexie nuzzled up against her aunt. "I could never 
hurt anybody."

"That's great, sweetheart." The twins had further 
brought out Scully's motherly qualities.

Lexie rested her arm on her aunt's side and was soon 
drifting off. She asked in a quiet, sleepy voice, 
"Do you think my mother's watching me from wherever 
she is?"

She fell asleep before Scully answered, "I'm sure 
she is. Both of them are." Smelling baby powder as 
she inhaled, she went to sleep with her niece cradled 
in her arms like a child.

END



AUTHOR'S NOTES

If you've made it this far, I love you!

Thanks goes out to Susan Shinkai, the X-Phile/pharmacist
who helped me with the information about migraine 
medication. She, as well as many others from ATXC, 
helped a great deal. I'd also like to thank Barbara D.
She gave information (to someone else) about genetic 
testing on ATXC and it helped me a lot with my story. 
Other thank yous go out to: Sara, just for being 
enthused about this project; Allison, who started to 
read this as a beta-reader; Steph-Cat, who was very 
enthusiastic about this story; April, (Bunghole!) whose 
late night IMs kept me sane (and laughing) while I wrote 
this and made the page for it;Becca, for those other 
late night instant messages about Scully and Kresge :), 
and finally, Nancy Y. Chen, who made the most beautiful 
cover for my story. It took almost ten months for me 
to write this but I could always find Nancy around to 
keep her informed about what was going on. 

This was only intended to be a short story but it kept
getting longer and longer. I decided to make it into a 
novel. I wrote it because: (a) I liked the premise of
"Christmas Carol" and how Scully was willing to adopt
Emily when she believed she was Melissa's child; (b) I
wanted to write something with Melissa and these twins
that I had originally made up for my own amusement and
(c) an opportunity to use the Scully family and show
that Bill is not such an ass. I didn't want to believe
it at first, but I realized I was in denial.

I came up with the title first, and "Calm Before the
Storm" applies to the first chapter and how it was
so serene, just a family together for Thanksgiving.
Much angst happened with certain discoveries (the 
storm), and the epilogue is supposed to be a 
reflection of the calm family gathering in the first
part.

Some people might have been irritated by the Margaret/
Maggie thing. I only did it the way I did because of how 
I am in real life. I do not call anyone by a shorter name 
or nickname unless I am given the okay to do so. That's 
why I wrote Margaret until she allowed the twins to call
her Maggie.

I chose twins for the story because I've always been drawn
to twins. It's weird but true. I believe it is because I 
had an identical twin in a past life, and we lived in Spain.
This story will also be on the Gemini Archive, a web site
I'm creating with friends of mine, twin sisters Tabitha and
Angelica Vernon.

Writing this story has been a journey of emotion and 
speculation, and I didn't want it to end. But there shall
be more stories in the future featuring the twins. Thank
you all for reading, and I love you for it.

Eileen S. Whipple
whipples@connect.ab.ca