Title: Emily Returns 4: Things Fall Apart
Author: Jessica Hildbold 
Reply to: Teahater@hotmail.com 
Rated: PG
Category: MSR-SRA
Spoilers: Up to Emily in the Fifth Season with implications of the 
finale and the movie.
Keywords: Mulder./Scully Romance; Character Death
Summary:  Mulder and Scully at last have their entire family under one 
roof, but tragedy threatens to take it all away.  Can Emily and Josh 
survive the accident and can everyone else survive the truths that it 
brings?
Archive: Anywhere and Everywhere!!!! Just let me know first.
Disclaimer: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Emily Christine (Sim), the Lone 
Gunmen, Bill Scully Jr., Margaret Scully, Bill Scully, Bill Mulder, 
Samantha Mulder, the Cancerman, and the rest of the X-Files cast all 
belong to Chris Carter and Twentieth Century Fox.  Thanks for the 
loan!  Blue’s Clues doesn’t belong to me either, but if anyone knows 
Steve, tell him there’s a girl in Pittsburgh incredibly interested! All 
other characters come from my “interesting” imagination.  Any 
resemblance to any persons real or fictitious is purely coincidence.  The 
same goes with the plot line.  Thanks for taking the time to read 
this!!!!!!!!!!!!




Dana Scully squinted her eyes in the cold sunlight, early one Sunday 
morning.  She was standing on the steps of St. Michael’s Church, 
waiting for her daughter, Emily, to return from the car.  It was April, 
springtime, usually, but the winter had decided to hold on in D.C. just a 
little while longer.  As she watched Emily slowly making her way from 
the car, she noticed two joggers, one male and the other female, across 
the street.  They looked over towards Scully and waved slightly, but 
continued on their way.  The male, wearing a gray sweatshirt and a pair 
of navy sweatpants was her husband, Fox Mulder.  The female, 
wearing black stretch pants and an old blue FBI sweatshirt, was their 
long-lost daughter, Anna.  Anna and Mulder jogged nearly every 
morning together, especially on Sundays while the rest of the family 
went to church.  Anna, like her father, was very skeptical of the church, 
although she claimed to believe whole-heartedly in God.  With Anna, 
Scully didn’t push things any further then that.  Instead, Scully had 
converted, without truly trying, Anna’s boyfriend, Josh, father of 
Anna’s sons, Jacob and Ethan, to coming to church with her.  Josh had 
even decided to become baptized in the Catholic Church and chose 
Scully as his sponsor.  Josh wished to share his newfound faith with 
Anna and the boys, but Anna refused his offer too.  However, she 
allowed Josh to take their sons along.  So much like her father, Scully 
thought again; Mulder declined to go to church after Scully had 
reentered his life (he had taken their daughter, Emily, to church before 
Scully knew of her existence), but he never once argued with Scully’s 
desire to take their other children, Emily and Christopher, the baby.  
Scully continued to watch their jog until they disappeared around the 
corner, staring at Anna’s flopping auburn ponytail.  
Scully, as if out of nowhere, suddenly wondered if Anna’s hair had 
always been red, like Scully’s had been, or if she had started out blond, 
like Scully’s deceased sister, Melissa.  Emily had Missy’s blond hair.  
In fact, Emily had looked so much like Melissa when she was young, 
that Scully had originally believed that Emily was Melissa’s daughter.  
Melissa’s hair didn’t switch over to her red color until she was nearly 
ten years old, Scully recalled.  The only picture that Scully had of Anna 
when she was young she was already nearly six years old, enough time 
for her hair to have changed its color.  But again, Scully was hesitant to 
question Anna on it.  Anna was such a private person when it came to 
her past, really when it came to anything except her children.  Scully 
was terrified of saying the wrong thing or pushing Anna too far, for 
fear that Anna would leave them as she had in the past.  Scully and 
Mulder had only found her a few months ago and they weren’t about to 
let her go so soon.
Anna was different with Mulder, though.  She wasn’t as uncomfortable 
with him as she was with Scully.  Anna didn’t seem as terrified by 
Mulder’s questions either, but, just as with Scully, she gently refused to 
answer any more questions about her past then she had already 
revealed.  Even Josh, who had been her best friend since she joined the 
group at twelve, knew very little about Anna’s past.  It was Scully’s 
private mission to discover who Anna had been before and Josh was 
her cohort.  Scully knew this probably only added to the tension 
between Anna and Scully.  Even though Josh and Scully had never let 
on to anyone else about their plan, Anna had a funny way of finding 
these things out.  She was a lot like her father that way, picking up on 
the small things that people said or did.  
Emily grasped Scully’s hand, surprising her out of her thoughts.  
“Ready, Mommy?” Emily asked.
“Sure, baby,” Scully replied and lead Emily into the church.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Fox Mulder looked down at the hot dog in his hand.  It was nearly a 
foot long and covered in globs of ketchup, mustard, and relish, and 
topped with cheese and onions.  Scully was really going to kill him, he 
thought to himself.  That is, if she ever found out.  Scully was forever 
nagging him about the foods he ate, how high in cholesterol and fat 
they were.  He knew it was only because she loved him and wanted, 
after all the time that had spent apart, to spend the rest of their lives 
together, but a man needed to enjoy a hot dog every once and a while.  
And Big Ernie’s Foot Longs were the best.
Mulder took a huge bite.
“Scully’s gonna kill you for that,” Anna said, walking behind him.  
Mulder choked on his bite.  “Not if she never knows about it.  What are 
you doing here anyway?  I thought you wanted to jog an extra mile.”
“I changed my mind,” she replied, sitting next to him.  Anna stared at 
the people walking the path in the park.  She seemed particularly 
fascinated by a young couple swinging a little girl, who looked to be 
about four.  The mother and the girl both had red hair.
“Anna, my dear girl, you never just ‘change your mind.’  What’s up?”
“Nothing, honestly.”  Anna looked down at her hands.  She seemed to 
be rigorously analyzing them.  “You know what’s weird?  Everybody 
has a distinct handprint and a distinct handwriting, but hands, the way 
in which we move them, how they are shaped, are handed down from 
one generation to the next.”
“Why is that weird?”
“Well, the way in which we move our hands effects the way in which 
we write, but we don’t have the same handwriting as those around us, 
unless, of course, we practice someone else’s handwriting.”
Mulder shook his head.  His daughter could be incredibly strange at 
times.  Anna returned to her careful watch of the little family.  “Do you 
think that environment can shape how someone’s hands turn out?”
“I suppose so.”
“Jacob’s hands are a lot like yours.”
Mulder paused, milling over Anna’s statement, as he finished his hot 
dog.  “What do you mean by that, Anna?”
“Nothing.  My head’s just lost in the clouds today.” Mulder let her 
comment slide, knowing that Anna’s head wasn’t “just lost in the 
clouds.”  When she was ready, she would tell him.  “Are you ready to 
go back to the house?”
Anna shook her head, still watching that same family.  What was it 
about them that fascinated her?  “Do you ever think about all the years 
you lost with Emily?”
“Yes, yes I do, but I don’t dwell on it.  I think about all the years I lost 
with you too.  But, Anna, you shouldn’t dwell on the years you lost 
with Ethan, either.”
“I don’t.  But are you ever angry that I didn’t bring Emily to you 
earlier?  That I didn’t let you know that she was alive back in 1997?”
“I believe that you did what you thought was best for all of us, 
especially Emily.  Don’t you?”
“I know I did.  I just don’t think everyone else does.” Anna stood up as 
the family disappeared from her view.  “Come on.  If we don’t hurry, 
they’ll be back from church before we are.”
Anna jogged away before Mulder could question her about her 
statement.
Despite Anna’s hurriedness to get home, they arrived long before the 
church group.  Anna had jumped in and out of the shower and was 
beginning to cook brunch by the time Mulder was heading upstairs.  
Anna never seemed to be at a loss for energy.  Mulder smelled eggs and 
French toast as he emerged from his shower.  
“What?  No bacon?” he asked as he walked into the kitchen.  
“Scully banished it from the house.  She knows about your side trips to 
Ernie’s Hot Dog stand and said that was enough fat for you,” Anna told 
him.
Mulder coyly looked out the window.  He saw Scully pulling the van 
into the driveway.  “Why don’t you let me finish cooking?  Sit down 
and take a rest.”
Anna handed him the fork she had been using to mix the eggs and sat 
down at the kitchen table.  “Don’t think you fooled me, Mulder,” she 
told him as he gloated to himself.  “I heard the van pulling up.”
The back door opened with a sudden force and Emily and Jacob ran 
into the kitchen.  They both hugged Anna and Mulder before running 
upstairs.  “Leave your clothes on your beds!”  Anna called after them.  
Every Sunday, Emily and Jacob raced from the car into the house to see 
which one of them would make it downstairs to brunch first.  Josh and 
Ethan walked in the door next.  Ethan’s face was beat red and he was 
screaming his head off, struggling to be released from Josh’s arms.  His 
teary eyes spotted Anna and he reached for her.  Josh quickly handed 
him over, relieved to free of the screeching child.  Anna held Ethan 
close as she rocked and sang to him.
“He was doing real well until the Eucharist,” Josh told her.  “Then he 
just started crying hysterically.  He screamed the entire way home.  He 
only wanted you.”
Josh’s voice held a hint of disappointment and aggravation.  Ethan was 
completely dependent upon Anna.  Josh was having a hard time 
penetrating Ethan’s shell.  He couldn’t understand why Ethan, his own 
flesh and blood, was rejecting him, when Jacob never had.  Anna tried 
to tell him that Ethan was just going through a phase, that he needed 
time to adjust to his new family, but Josh’s patience was wearing thin.  
Ethan never rejected Anna; he had trusted her from the first time they 
met, but with Josh he was different.  The first week they had had Ethan 
back, he was great.  He was very open and loving towards all of them.  
But after that first week, he became more and more withdrawn, to the 
point that he only ever wanted to be with Anna.  
“I just don’t know what to do anymore,” Josh admitted.  Anna, and 
Ethan, who had calmed down, looked at him until he looked away.  
“I’ll keep him home with me next week.”
“That’s not going to solve anything,” Josh sighed and left the kitchen.
Anna kissed the top of Ethan’s head.  “I’m going to get him changed,” 
she said to Mulder and also left the room.  Mulder turned and looked at 
Scully, who had been standing in the doorway with Christopher.  He 
walked over and hugged them both.  “How was church?”
“Fine,” Scully replied, “until Ethan’s fit.  He’s too dependent on 
Anna.”
“It’s not our problem, Scully,” Mulder told her.  They had this 
discussion nearly everyday.  “They’ll work it out.  Ethan just needs 
time to adjust.”
Scully shook her head, but kept her comments to herself.  She followed 
the rest of the crowd upstairs in order to change her clothes and 
Christopher’s as Emily and Jacob ran back into the kitchen.  On the 
way to her room, she passed the room that Emily shared with Anna and 
most night’s Ethan.  They were working on the attic so that Josh and 
Anna could have some privacy with their kids.  But for now, Anna was 
staying with Emily and Jacob and Josh in what would one day be 
Christopher’s room.  Christopher was staying in with her and Mulder.
Josh was sitting on Emily’s bed watching Anna put play clothes on 
Ethan.  He looked very tired.  Scully continued on, reaching her own 
bedroom where she changed out of her church clothes.  Christopher 
babbled to her the entire time that she changed him.  He had such a 
positive disposition all the time that Scully sometimes thought he 
wasn’t real.  His smiling face always managed to pull Scully out of any 
disagreeable mood she was in.
Again, Scully’s thoughts turned towards Anna’s childhood.  Was she 
happy like Christopher?  Or was she temperamental like Scully had 
learned Emily was when she was younger?  Okay, like Emily could be 
now.  Scully wished there were someone she could ask about Anna.
Scully walked past Emily’s door again.  Anna was brushing Ethan’s 
hair on her bed.  Josh hadn’t moved from his position on Emily’s bed.  
Scully knew he was waiting to speak with Anna.
“Ethan?  Are you ready to go eat?” Scully asked him from the 
doorway.  Ethan looked at his mother, who whispered something in his 
ear.  Ethan jumped up and grabbed Scully’s hand to go downstairs.  He 
would be good without Anna for a little bit now that he had calmed 
down.  Josh closed the door behind them.
He turned to Anna.  “He isn’t getting any better.”
Anna looked away from Josh.  “He’s only been with us for a few 
months.  It isn’t enough time.”
“The rest of us have adjusted.  It hasn’t been easy for Emily or Jacob 
either, but they’re doing fine.”
“Emily and Jacob are different.  They know us, Ethan doesn’t.  I took 
him away from the only family he ever knew, as horrible as they were, 
and plopped him in the middle of this madhouse.”
“I think we should get him some help.”
“What?  You want me to send my four-year-old to a shrink?  How are 
we supposed to explain all of this to a shrink?  To anyone?  Do you 
want to put Ethan through that?” Anna’s voice was getting louder with 
each sentence.
“We don’t have to explain everything.  As far as anyone else is 
concerned, we gave Ethan up and then got him back.  The news is full 
of stories just like it.”  Anna just looked at him.  “Dammit, Anna!  I 
love that kid too.  He has two parents not one.  I tired of slowly being 
shut out of every part of his life.”
“I’m not trying to shut you out,” Anna told him, her voice now lower 
then normal.
“I know your not, but you’re letting him do it.  You’re letting him shut 
all of us out.  Have you noticed that he barely plays with the other kids 
anymore?  Nobody can go anywhere with him or take him without you.  
He’s too dependent.”
“What do you want me to do?  You’re not here all the time.  I’m not 
blaming you; I understand the need to help the group, but Ethan 
doesn’t.”
Josh sighed and turned away from Anna.  He was losing his argument.  
How was it possible that he was losing this argument?  He believed 
completely that Ethan was too dependent on Anna and that he should 
speak with a psychologist, but Anna had somehow turned the argument 
on him.
“Don’t turn away from me, Joshua,” Anna begged.  Her voice quivered.  
“You have always done this, Anna.  You have always taken on all of 
the responsibility of these children.  When we first rescued Emily, you 
wouldn’t let any of us help you with her.”
“She was scared.  And she was my sister.”
“Exactly.  She was your sister; therefore no one else was allowed to be 
near her.  It would have been one thing if it was just Emily, but there 
was Jacob too.  You took them both on at once and won’t let any of us 
help you.  Do you remember when they both got sick?  The time when 
the flu ripped through the compound?  You didn’t sleep for more then 
two hours that week and still, you wouldn’t let us help you.”
“They were my responsibility!” Anna shouted.  
“You were fifteen!”
“You were seventeen!  We were all just kids, Josh.  Don’t use my age 
against me.  We were never typical children.”
“Anna, you don’t have to do this alone anymore.  You have me.  I’m 
not going anywhere and Jacob and Ethan are my children too.  You 
have Mom and Dad too.”
Anna scowled.  “I hate it when you call them that.”
“I know, but they don’t.  And I like calling them that.” Josh paused 
again.  He was tired of arguing over and over again.  “Just try to help 
me with Ethan.”
“Mommy!” Ethan called from the bottom of the stairs.
Anna got up to answer him.
“Anna?” Josh called her.
“I’ll try,” she promised and left the room.  Anna picked Ethan up at the 
bottom of the stairs and kissed his forehead.  Anna walked into the 
kitchen with her face set in a smile.  Mulder caught the sadness in her 
eyes, however.  Anna dumped Ethan in his booster seat and cut up his 
French toast.  
“Does anyone need anything?” she asked as Josh walked into the 
kitchen and took his seat.
“Can I get some orange juice?” Emily asked.
“May I have some juice, please,” Anna prompted.
“May I have some juice, please?” Emily repeated.
“Can you grab the milk, too, please?” Josh asked.
Anna nodded and grabbed the milk and juice from the refrigerator.  
Anna looked down at Jacob who was making designs with leftover 
toast in his syrup.  “Are you all done, Jakey?”
Jacob nodded and took his plate to the sink.  “Can we play football, 
Daddy?”
“What do you think, Dad?” Josh said to Mulder.  “Do you think they 
can handle us?”
“I don’t know.  They are just a bunch of squirts,” he smiled. 
“No, we’re not,” Emily protested.  “I want Mommy on my team.”
“Not squirts,” Ethan agreed.  Josh laughed, causing Ethan to scrunch up 
his face in a baby grin.  
“I’m done!” Emily shouted, dropping her fork onto her plate drawing 
looks from both Anna and her mother.  “Come on, Daddy!  Haven’t 
you eaten enough?”
“I have now,” Mulder commented.  He took his plate to the sink, 
followed by Emily.
“I done, too,” Ethan announced.  His plate was still half full.  Anna 
kneeled down next to him.  “Are you sure?  Have you eaten enough?”
Ethan nodded seriously.  “I wanna play football.”
“Okay, buddy.  Take your plate to the sink.”  Anna quietly began to 
clean up as everyone else rose from the table.  Scully grabbed a few 
things from the table to help, but Anna stopped her.  “Don’t worry, I’ll 
get it.  Go play football.”
“Are you sure?” Scully asked, speaking for the first time in a long time.
“Yeah.  I’ll get Christopher too.  It’s almost time for his nap.”
Scully looked down at Christopher who happily grinned at her.  He 
seemed to almost know what was going on and was quite content with 
the outcome.  Scully fought the jealousy that was rising in her throat.  
Christopher was just a happy baby, she told herself.  He never had a 
problem going with anyone.  But deep inside, she knew it wasn’t true.  
As long as Anna or Josh was around, Christopher never had a problem 
going to anyone.  
“Okay,” Scully finally agreed, feeling as if she had very little choice.  
She kissed Christopher on the top of his head.  He turned his head just 
before her lips touched his forehead.  Scully shook off the feeling that 
he had done it on purpose, knowing that he was just a baby.
“Let’s go play some football!” Josh announced.  He picked Jacob up 
and curled him into a ball, pretending to bounce him out the door.  
Mulder, Emily, and Ethan quickly followed him.  Scully took one last 
look at Christopher and Anna before leaving.
Anna continued to clean up from breakfast, occasionally glancing 
through the kitchen window at the football game being played outside.  
Anna sang happily to Christopher, who laughed away in his seat.  
When she was finished, Anna picked him up.  He laid his head on her 
shoulder and snuggled close to her.  Anna breathed in his baby smell.  
She felt as if she could hold him forever.
Anna walked into the living room and towards the stairs only to realize 
that she had forgotten Christopher’s pacifier in the kitchen.  It was blue 
and had dinosaurs all over it.  Josh had given it to him when he and 
Jacob had first come to stay with Mulder and Scully and Christopher 
refused to sleep without it.  
Walking back into the kitchen, she was hit by a wave of smoke.  A 
large figured loomed over the kitchen sink staring out of the window at 
the football game.  He puffed away at his cigarette.  Instant fear and 
anger seized Anna.
“What are you doing here?”  Anna demanded.  He turned to face her.
“You have a beautiful family, Anna.  Don’t ever lose them,” he told 
her, a hint of longing in his voice.
“What do you want, you sorry SOB?”
“Here, I’ve come to warn and the only thing you can do is hurl insults 
at me.”
“Warn me about what?”
The Cigarette-Smoking Man’s face grew dark.  “My daughter has not 
been well in the last few months.  I have been unable to control her 
behavior since you took off with my grandson.”
Anna let the comment of his “grandson” slide.  “Your daughter has 
been unstable since you took her from her family and experimented on 
her.”
The Cigarette-Smoking Man hung his head slightly, as if telling Anna 
that she was correct.  “A few days ago, Samantha disappeared.  We 
have been unable to find her.”
“And you think she might be heading here.  Why are you telling me 
this?  Doesn’t it serve your purpose for Samantha to come after my 
family?”
“Despite what you think, Anna, I love my children and my 
grandchildren.  I only want to protect them.”
This time Anna didn’t let the comment slip.  “Ethan is not your 
grandson!  Ethan is my son, not Samantha’s!”
Christopher broke into tears at hearing Anna’s harsh tone.  Anna 
rocked him to calm him down.  The Cigarette-Smoking Man looked at 
Christopher.  “That doesn’t make him any less my grandson.”
Anna’s eyes grew wide as she milled over what he had said.  “I want 
you to leave now.”
“I will.  I just want to let you know to keep your eyes open.” 
Anna stared at him as he walked out of the door.  Christopher settled 
back into her arms as the Cigarette-Smoking Man left the house.  The 
phone rang causing both Anna and Christopher to jump.
“Hello?” Anna asked, picking up the phone.  
“Anna?  It’s Frohike.  We’ve found some information that I think you 
should have,” Frohike told her.
“What kind of information?” 
“I don’t want to tell you over the phone, but Anna, it’s bad.”
“I’ll be right over.”


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Anna returned home late that night.  Most of lights in the house were 
off, except for one in the living room.  Anna quietly entered the house, 
hoping not to disturb the sleeping inhabitants.  She jumped when she 
saw Josh sitting on the couch.  He stood up and walked over to her.
Anna threw her arms around him and held him tightly.  “I’m glad 
you’re up.”
“What’s wrong?  What did Frohike have to tell you?”
Anna shook her head in Josh’s shoulder.  “I can’t, I can’t talk about it.  
I just want to hold you.  Josh, I love you very much, you know that 
don’t you?”
“Of course, I do, Anna.  And I love you.”  He pulled away from her.  
“You’re starting to scare to me.  What is it?  Is it something with the 
kids?”
“No.  Joshua, trust me on this, I can’t tell you.  I can’t tell anyone.  It’s 
better that way.”
Josh stared at her for a few moments.  “I trust you.  I always do.  But if 
you change your mind, I’m here for you.”
“I know.” Anna glanced at the coffee table.  It was littered with 
photographs.  She walked over and picked one up.  It was of her, Josh, 
and Jacob in the compound.  “What are you doing with these pictures?”
“Putting them in an album for your mother,” he replied taking the photo 
from her hands.  Anna picked up another one.  This one was of her at 
about six.  She was standing against a measuring scale.  “Where did 
you get these pictures?”
“I found them.  Some you gave to Mulder and Scully and some were 
with the group.”
“The group didn’t have this one.” Anna showed him the picture in her 
hand.  “Or this one, or about half of these.”
“I found them in other places.  Scully has so many questions about your 
childhood and you won’t answer them.  I thought these might help.”
“It’s my childhood.  You weren’t there and neither was Scully.  Stop 
looking.  I’ve already told the Lone Gunmen to stop helping you.”
“We wouldn’t have to if you would just talk to us.”
“I don’t want to talk about.  I was created.  I was raised.  I had two 
grandfathers who absolutely loved me.  I had a sister who was taken 
from me.  And I ran away.  That’s my childhood.  That’s what you get 
to know.”  Anna’s voice was flat.
“Anna, we’re not searching to hurt you.  We’re searching to understand 
you better.”
“I know you’re not intentionally trying to hurt me, but it does.  Know 
me enough to know that I will tell you what you need to know.”
Josh sighed.  “I love you, Anna, and I don’t want to hurt you, but no, I 
won’t stop looking, anymore then Mulder could stop looking for his 
truth.  Know me enough to know I need to do this.”
Anna was quiet for a few minutes, before nodding quietly.  Josh kissed 
the top of her head.  “It’s hell getting old, ain’t it?”
“Joshua, we may not be the typical teenagers, but we are not old yet,” 
Anna responded.  She grabbed a bottle of silly string from a drawer that 
had been left over from a party that Emily had gone to.  She sprayed 
him with the string, much to his amusement.  He went to grab her, but 
Anna scrambled away from his grasp.  She ran out the back door to 
avoid waking the household up.  They chased each other in the 
backyard, laughing and having a good time, like children again.
From one of the windows on the second floor, Scully quietly watched 
as Anna and Josh played.  She felt guilty about spying on them, but she 
was unable to turn away.  Rarely, did Anna ever let her guard down 
enough to be this free spirited.  Even when she played with the kids, 
she had an air about her that said she was the one in charge.  But 
sometimes, late at night, Anna let her hair down with Josh.  She let all 
the stress of raising two children at age eighteen, of being part of a 
worldwide governmental conspiracy, of being created by a government 
experiment, leave her, and she became just Anna.  
At the same time, Scully felt her heart ache for the little girl that Anna 
never got to be.  If she could wish for one thing, it would be that Anna 
would have that childhood.  Even Emily, after everything she had been 
through, has the chance to be a kid, to experience lazy Sunday 
afternoons, to explore the bugs underneath a rock, to know what it’s 
like to harbor no worries, to live.  Anna doesn’t and she never did.  She 
ran away from the center that she had been living at for most of her life 
before she was a teenager.  That was no small feat.  She rescued Emily 
from the men who had created her and raised her when Anna was only 
fourteen.  She had taken on the responsibilities of raising Jacob by then 
too.  It wasn’t long after that, that she made the very adult decision to 
return Emily to Mulder and so on.  Most kids her age were worrying 
about prom and where to go to college.  Anna couldn’t go to college 
even if she wanted to; she had no transcripts, no birth certificate, no 
social security card, nothing.  Not that Anna appeared to need it either, 
but still, shouldn’t she able given the opportunity to be that kid?  That’s 
what Scully was doing at her age; that’s what Melissa did too.  Why 
couldn’t her daughter?
Scully ducked suddenly to the side of the window.  The laughter from 
outside had ceased and Scully was afraid she had been caught.  
Cautiously, she looked and saw Anna peering into the window.  Scully 
breathed in deeply, but Anna made no indication of seeing her.  Josh 
splashed Anna with water and Anna continued with her playing.  Scully 
took that as a sign that she should leave.  She didn’t want to push things 
too far with Anna.

Josh tackled Anna, bringing her to the ground before collapsing 
himself.  Anna grabbed his hand and played with his fingers.  “It’s so 
peaceful here, under the stars.  They’re so beautiful.”

“Mommy!  Mommy!” Ethan shrieked from his bedroom.  Anna bolted 
from her spot on the lawn and dashed upstairs.  Josh was right behind 
her.  Anna flipped the light switch and found Ethan thrashing in his 
bed, still crying.  Jacob was trying to shake him awake.  Instinctively, 
Josh grabbed Jacob as Anna talked to Ethan.

“Ethan.  Ethan, baby, find the red door,” Anna cooed.

“I can’t see it!”

“Sh-sh.  It’s right in front of you.  It’s right there and Mommy and 
Daddy are waiting for you on the other side.”

Ethan stood up in his bed, his eyes wide open.  His hand grasped an 
invisible doorknob and he stepped forward.  Anna caught him as he 
tumbled off the bed.  Ethan flinched and gasped for air as the terror 
drained from his face.  He grabbed onto Anna.  “I want to sleep with 
you.”

“Okay, baby,” Anna replied.  She kissed Jacob and Josh good night 
before taking Ethan back to her room.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

As usual, when Scully woke up around seven the next morning, Mulder 
was fast asleep.  He snored slightly in his sleep, a trait Scully never 
noticed until they were married.  She kissed his shoulder before rising 
out of bed.  She would let him sleep for another half-hour.  Scully 
walked over to Christopher’s crib, where he was wide awake and 
anticipating her.  He had pulled himself into a sitting position and was 
suckling a pacifier.  He smiled up at his mother, but made no 
movement towards her, just as he hadn’t the day before in the church.  

“Are you ready to eat, Christopher?” Scully asked him.  He grinned 
back at her.  Scully hated calling him “Christopher.”  It was such a long 
name for a baby, but “Chris” just didn’t suit him.  She had liked the 
name Christopher in the beginning, but now she was starting to have 
her doubts.  

Scully lifted him at of the crib with some difficulty given her height 
and the lowness of the crib.  Christopher seemed to take in all in stride, 
as he usually did.  He looked into Scully’s eyes, demanding her full 
attention.  “Na-na?” he asked her.

Scully sighed, but smiled at him.  “Yeah, buddy, we’re going to see 
Anna.”

Scully took him downstairs, quickly darting into Emily’s room to make 
sure she was getting up.  Christopher smiled widely as they walked into 
the kitchen, where Anna was preparing breakfast.  Anna smiled widely 
too.  Jacob and Ethan both sat at the table, eating cereal.  Josh was 
nowhere in sight.  

“Hiya, big boy,” Anna said to Christopher, flying him over her head.  
He giggled.

“Fly him to me, Mommy!” Ethan called out.  Anna flew Christopher to 
Ethan, getting him close enough to rub noses with Ethan.  Both Ethan 
and Christopher broke into hysterics.

“Now, me, Mommy,” Jacob insisted.  Anna turned around and flew 
him to Jacob.  “Oh, no!  It’s the famous Captain Christopher, coming in 
for an attack.  Aghhhhhh!” 

“I’m going to get ready,” Scully told Anna.  Anna nodded her 
acknowledgement, but didn’t respond.  Scully began to walk out of the 
kitchen, but turned to look back when she reached the doorway.  When 
she turned around, time seemed to slow down.  She focused on Anna 
and the three boys.  They seemed to be in their own world.  They 
seemed to be so much … a family.  

“Mom!” Emily called from the top of the stairs.  “Mom, I can’t find my 
other tennis shoe.”

“I’m coming, Em!” Scully replied, trekking upstairs.  She found Emily 
frantically searching underneath her bed for her tennis shoe.  Toys and 
clothing flew out everywhere.  “Your sister is going to kill you for the 
mess you’re making.”

“No, she won’t,” Emily said.  “She’ll just make me clean it up after 
school.”

“Uh, Emily, is that the shoe you’re looking for?” Scully asked, pointing 
to a red shoe sitting on the windowsill. 

Emily excitedly grabbed the shoe.  “Yup!  I wonder how it got there.”

“Emily, with you, anything’s possible,” Scully said, smiling.  “Do you 
want to come and wake Daddy up with me?”

“Sure!” Emily ran out of the room, pulling her mother with her.  “Let’s 
sneak attack him!”

Quietly, Emily crept towards the left side of Mulder, the side that were 
Scully slept, while Scully crept up on the other side.  Emily counted 
down to three on her fingers before the two of them jumped onto 
Mulder.  Instead of jumping out of bed, Mulder grabbed them both and 
tickled them.  After a few moments the three fell into the bed, staring at 
the ceiling.  

“Emily, you need to go eat breakfast before we’re late,” Mulder told 
her.  He kissed the top of her head.  

“All right, Daddy,” she replied.

Mulder watched as Emily left the room.  He turned to Scully.  “What’s 
wrong?”

Scully sat up and turned from him.  “I don’t know.  I mean, I’m not 
sure what’s wrong.  I just get these feelings…”

“What sort of feelings?”

“Feelings about Christopher and about Anna.”

“What do you mean?” Mulder sat up and touched her shoulder.

“For example, I was just downstairs, giving Christopher to Anna so he 
could eat breakfast while I got Emily ready, and I turned around before 
I left the room.  I saw Anna, the boys, and Christopher playing.  I had 
this overwhelming feeling that they were a family, the four of them.”

“They are a family.  We all are.”

“No, this was different.  It was as if they were a family, just them.  And 
then there are times I would swear that Christopher is relieved when we 
leave him with Anna and go to work or out.  Logically, I know that he 
is too young to feel that way, but… I don’t know.”

Mulder hugged her.  “I’m sorry you feel that way.  I think that things 
just need to settle down around here.  I also think that a lot of what 
you’re feeling is, in a way, true.  Christopher does spend a lot of time 
with Anna and it is only natural that he is so attached to her.  We’re not 
the only family who has had to deal with this.”

“I hope your right.” Scully looked at the clock.  “You’re going to be 
late if you don’t get a move on it.”

Mulder nodded and stood up.  He put on a shirt.  “Is there anyway that 
you can pick Emily up from school today?  I promised I would meet 
with the guys this afternoon and I think it might turn into an all day 
event.”

“I can’t today.  I have my department meeting today.  We’re getting 
ready to move our offices.  It should take awhile.” Scully handed him 
his tennis shoes.  “I’ll get Josh to pick her up.  He’s not leaving for a 
couple of days.”

“I had forgotten he was going back out on assignment.” Mulder laced 
up his tennis shoe.  “Does that ever make you long for the good ol’ 
days when we were on the X-Files.”

“I’m happy where we are,” was all she replied.  Mulder nodded, but the 
disappointment shown in his face.  He was hoping that they could 
return to the X-Files, somehow, even if it meant limiting cases to those 
close to home.  

“Daddy!” Emily called.  “We’re going to be late.”

“Gotta go,” Mulder told Scully.  He kissed her good-bye.  “You’re 
going to be late, too.”

Scully nodded and followed him as he thundered down the stairs.  She 
ran into Josh on his way into the living room and asked him to pick up 
Emily.  He agreed immediately and continued on his way.  Scully 
kissed Emily good-bye as she walked out of the door.  She waved to 
Anna, Christopher, and the boys before entering her car and driving 
away.

Anna turned away from the door and walked into the living room.  Josh 
had turned on “Blue’s Clues” for the boys to watch as they did every 
morning.  Anna put Christopher in his playpen and went to clean the 
kitchen.  Josh followed her.

“So, Abby’s been asking about you,” Josh told Anna nonchalantly.  
Anna cleared away the dishes without pausing.  “I just talked to her.”

“She’s still been asking.  She wants to know if you’re coming back to 
the group.  Everybody does.”

“I won’t go back, Joshua.”

“Scotty and Jen are restricted now.  And the entire process is being 
reviewed.  It’s different now.”

“I won’t leave Emily and Christopher, not again.  Our boys are happy 
here and they’re safe.  I don’t want to be dragged back into that 
lifestyle.”

“But you can help in other ways or you can stick with cases close to 
home.  The group needs you.”

“No, Josh, not now,” Anna said gently.  Both she and Josh turned when 
they heard shuffling in the doorway.  Ethan was standing there, his 
hands behind his back.  “What’s the matter, baby?”

Ethan shrugged and scuffled over to Josh.  “Jacob said I not really 
yours ‘cause I didn’t live in the group.”

“Jacob was only teasing you.” Josh picked him up.  “You are my boy.  
And so is Jacob.”

Ethan’s smile beamed across the room.  Josh kissed his forehead and 
put him back down.  Ethan ran back into the living room.  “Well, how 
do you like that?”

“I told you it just takes time,” Anna said.  “He asked you, not me.  He 
wanted that reassurance from you.”

“So maybe things are finally falling into place.”

“Maybe,” Anna replied, doubtfully.

“Of course they are.” Josh grabbed her in a bear hug.  “A few months 
from now, the attic will be finished and we’ll have some privacy.  
You’ll be calling your parents ‘Mom and Dad,’ and you and your 
mother will be open and honest with each other.  Jacob and Ethan will 
depend on us equally and Christopher…”

“… and Christopher will still be torn between Scully and I because I 
can’t let him go and he can’t seem to let me go.”

“Yeah,” Josh agreed.

“Yeah,” Anna repeated.  “Maybe we should leave here for awhile.  We 
could grow stronger as a family and they could grow stronger as a 
family.”  Anna’s face grew dark.  “I am so tired of all of this.  People 
not knowing who their kids are and kids not knowing whom their 
parents are; not knowing that the parents they have really aren’t theirs.  
I want these kids to grow up normal and that’s just not going to 
happen.”

“Anna, what are you talking about?”

“I don’t know.  I’m just tired.  Ethan had nightmares again all last 
night.  The dragon chases him and chases him, but no one is there to 
save him.  He is still searching for that knight.”

“He’ll find it.  He will.  And we will all be okay someday very soon.  
And then you can rest.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

“Josh!” Anna called up the attic stairs.  She could hear the sandblaster 
underneath the music on the radio.  Anna raised her voice.  “Josh!”

The music stopped abruptly as did the sanding.  Josh stood at the top of 
the stairs.  His brown hair was soaked and sweat covered his face.  His 
green t-shirt clung to his body.  “Yeah?”

“It’s almost time for you to pick up Emily.  I thought you might want to 
get cleaned up beforehand.”

Josh stepped close to Anna, a mischievous grin on his face.  “Are you 
afraid I might embarrass her?”

“No,” Anna replied.  Josh stepped even closer.  “Are you trying to tell 
me that I stink?  Do I embarrass you?”  Before Anna could reply, Josh 
smothered her in a hug, rubbing his face against hers.

Anna pushed him away.  “Ugh.  Gross.  Go get cleaned up.”

Josh pouted out his bottom lip, causing Anna to kiss him.  Josh smiled, 
“Thank you.”

He turned towards the bathroom.  Anna smacked his butt before 
handing down the stairs.  Josh jumped into the shower briefly and 
changed into new clothes.  He called his good-byes to Anna and Jacob, 
who were in the kitchen concocting their secret spaghetti sauce, that 
Josh theorized originated with a jar of Ragu.  On his way out, he 
stopped in the living room where Ethan was playing with his truck.  He 
rolled the truck back and forth along the coffee table.  Becoming aware 
that he was being watched, Ethan glanced up.

“Hi, Daddy,” he said.

“Hi, buddy,” Josh replied, sitting in front of him.

“Are you leaving, Daddy?”

“For a little while.  I have to pick Emily up from school.”

Ethan stared intently into Josh’s eyes.  “Good-bye, Daddy.”

Josh shivered.  Ethan’s good-bye seemed so final.  Josh shook his head 
and rose from the couch.  “Good-bye, Ethan.  I love you.”

Ethan smiled, holding his eyes with Josh’s once again.  At last, Josh 
broke the gaze and headed out.  He heard Ethan’s truck running as he 
closed the door.

Josh drove to Emily’s school about twenty minutes from the house.  He 
glanced back occasionally, feeling as if he was being followed, but saw 
no one.  School had already let out and only a few kids remained.  Josh 
saw Emily standing with a group of four girls.  They were giggling and 
staring at a group of boys, a little older then themselves.  Josh beeped 
the horn and Emily quickly said her good-byes.

“Hi, Josh!” Emily said, hopping into the car.  She buckled her seatbelt 
and tossed her stuff into the back.

“Hi, Munchkin,” Josh replied, pulling out of the parking lot.

“Guess what?  Sarah Appleton is having a birthday party next week.  
It’s going to be at Kids’ Adventure.”

“What’s that?”

“Only the coolest place on earth.”  Emily rolled her eyes, signaling how 
out of the loop she thought Josh was.  “It’s lots of fun.  It has slides and 
games and mazes and all kinds of stuff.”

“Sounds like a blast.  I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun.  Sarah Appleton.  
She played an angel with you in Sunday school, right?”

“Yup.  We’re in the same Sunday school and regular school classes.  
Do you know what Anna’s making for dinner?”

“I think she’s-“ Josh’s voice trailed off, as his eyes grew wide.  A dark 
green Chevy Blazer from the opposite direction crossed the median, 
heading directly for their car.  “Hold on, Munchkin!” Josh yelled, 
swerving to the right.

Emily screamed as the driver struck their station wagon, sending the 
wagon into a series of rolls.  It landed upside down with both Josh and 
Emily pinned under the crushed metal.  The Blazer spun back onto the 
other side of the road and hit a wall.  A passing motorist pulled the 
driver from the car seconds before it exploded.

“Josh?  Josh, I can’t move,” Emily whispered from her spot.

Josh struggled to open his eyes.  He could feel blood rushing from the 
front of his head.  “It’s okay.  Help is on the way,” he whispered back, 
before succumbing to the darkness.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Anna walked into the living room with crayons and coloring books in 
hand.  She turned off the television that Jacob and Ethan had been 
watching, despite their complaints, and instructed them to color.  She 
didn’t want them spending too much time in front of the television.  
Anna picked Christopher out of his playpen.

“I’m going to put Christopher down for a nap,” she announced.  “I’ll be 
back in a little bit.”

“Okay, Mommy,” Jacob replied.

Anna turned around to leave and jumped when she saw Mulder 
standing in the doorway.  His face was so pale that Anna at first wasn’t 
sure if he was real.  Mulder’s puffy red eyes showed that he had 
recently finished crying.  Anna felt her heart pounding away at her 
chest and her breaths quicken.  Christopher clenched onto her shoulder, 
feeling her anxiety.

“Anna, there’s been an accident,” Mulder said, stepping towards her.  
Anna stepped away from him, holding even tighter onto Christopher.  
“Josh and Emily were on their way home when a car crossed the center 
line and struck them.”

“Are they okay?”

“They, um, the doctors, think Emily will be fine.  She broke her arm 
and she has a concussion along with a few other cuts and bruises.”

“And Josh?”

“Josh was more seriously hurt.  The accident punctured his liver.  
There’s nothing more they can do for him.  You have to get to the 
hospital right away.  Mrs. Johnson is on her way over.”

Anna nodded.  She handed Christopher to Mulder.  Christopher cried 
and kicked, trying to get back to Anna.  “Na!  Na!”  he screamed.

“Mommy, what’s wrong?” Jacob asked.  Anna turned around to find 
Jacob and Ethan watching her.  She knelt in front of the two boys as 
Mulder carried a screaming Christopher upstairs.  

“Daddy and Emily were in a car accident.  Grandpa and I have to go to 
the hospital and see them.  Mrs. Johnson is coming to watch you guys 
for a little while.”

“I want to go,” Jacob demanded.

“No, sweetie, you can’t.  Daddy’s too sick.”

“Is Daddy going to be okay?”

Anna hesitated.  “I don’t know.”  She squeezed them both tightly.

“Anna, Mrs. Johnson’s here.  Are you ready to go?” Mulder asked, 
standing behind her with an elderly woman.  Anna pulled away from 
the boys and nodded.  “Don’t worry.  Everything will be okay.”

Anna stood up and followed Mulder out the door.  “I have dinner 
already started on the stove.  The boys eat around five-thirty, so does 
Christopher.  His dinner is in the blue container on the top shelf of the 
refrigerator.  Ethan goes to bed at seven and Jacob at seven-fifteen.  I’ll 
call you later tonight.”

“Don’t worry, dear, we’ll be just fine,” Mrs. Johnson reassured her.

“Thanks,” Anna smiled.  She stoically got into the car, staring out the 
side window as Mulder drove.  Anna was quiet as Mulder walked her 
to Josh’s room.

“I don’t know what to say,” Mulder admitted.

“I don’t want you to say anything,” Anna replied, flatly.  She held no 
expression on her face.  “I want you to be with Emily.  I’ll be there as 
soon as I can.”  Mulder hesitated to move.  “I’ll be fine, Mulder.”

Anna watched as Mulder left the corridor before entering the room.  A 
nurse, who had been checking Josh’s vitals, politely left when she saw 
Anna.  Anna pulled a chair next to Josh’s bed and got her first look at 
Josh.  His face was swollen almost beyond recognition.  The bandage 
that was wrapped around his head was soaked with dried blood.  Anna 
wondered why they hadn’t changed it.  Anna grabbed Josh’s head 
cautiously, realizing that it to was bandage, having been cut up by 
glass.  Josh opened his eyes and clumsily removed the breathing mask 
that covered his nose and mouth.

“Hi,” Anna said.

“I was waiting for you,” he whispered, his voice scratched.  “How’s 
Emily?  They wouldn’t tell me anything.”

“She’s banged up, but they say she’ll be fine.  I haven’t seen her yet.”

“I’m sorry, Anna.  The car came out of nowhere.”

“Ssh.  It’s not your fault.”

Tears flowed from Josh’s eyes.  “I’m going to die, you know.  They 
won’t say anything to me, but I can feel death coming closer.”

“I know.”

“I’m so tired, Anna.  I’m just so tired.”

“I have to tell you something… about Christopher.”

“What?”

“Christopher is ours.  Yours and mine.  I found out a few days ago.”

Josh’s face lit up, despite the growing shadow.  “Three boys, Anna.  I 
have three boys.  Take care of them.  Tell them about me.”

“I will.”

“And tell Emily none of this was her fault.  Tell her not to feel guilty.”

“I will.”

Josh breathed in sharply.

“Does it hurt?” Anna asked, alarmed.

“It’s getting hard to breathe, but there’s nothing you can do.”

“Put the mask back on.”

“No, Anna.  I need to finish this.  I want you to put on my headstone 
that I was a father and husband.  We were always married in my heart.”

“Anything.”

“And I want you to put my name down as Joshua Scully Mulder.  They 
were the only parents I ever had,” Josh explained between shallow 
breaths.  His lips were turning blue and his skin yellow.  “You will do 
that, won’t you?”

“Of course, I will.”

Josh’s breathing grew worse.  “I held on for you to come.”

“I know you did and I know you’re tired.”  Josh closed his eyes, 
listening to Anna’s voice.  “It’s okay to leave, Josh, we’ll be okay.”

“I can see the light.  It’s so beautiful and it’s calling me home.”

“Go home, Joshua.  I love you.”

Josh breathed deeply.  “I love you, Anna.”




BEEP…………………..

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Anna walked down the hallway to Emily’s room a few hours later.  Her 
tears had dried, but she walked with a heavy heart.  She barely noticed 
the other people in the hallway or the other rooms that she peered into 
on her journey.  A few doors away from Emily’s room, Anna stopped 
when a man in a dark suit caught her eye.  His shoulders were hunched 
over and several tears had fallen from his eyes.  He was standing over a 
hospital bed where a woman was laying.  She, like Josh, was hooked to 
variety of machines.  It was obvious she didn’t have much longer to 
live.

Anna stepped into the room and over to the bed, but the man never 
moved from his position.  “Samantha was the other driver, wasn’t she?”

“I couldn’t stop her.  She jumped in that car and sped off before I could 
do anything.  I don’t know what she was thinking,” he replied.

“I doubt she was thinking much of anything.  Samantha has been 
unstable for a long time,” Anna paused, waiting for him reply, but he 
remained silent.  “Is she going to die?”

The Cigarette-Smoking Man nodded.  “It’s only a matter of time.”

“Don’t tell Mulder.”

“Fine.”

Anna walked to Samantha and looked down at her.  She was 
overwhelmed with sympathy and sorrow.  Her anger seemed to wash 
away at the thought of everything that Samantha had been through as a 
child, barely older then Emily.  Their testing and experiments were 
what had driven her to this madness.  Anna leaned close to Samantha’s 
ear.  “I forgive you.  I hope you can finally find peace… Aunt 
Samantha.”

Anna stood up and glanced at the Cigarette-Smoking Man, who was 
watching her with curiosity.  Try as she did, Anna couldn’t forgive him.  
He had caused all of this.  “I am sorry for you.  You’re losing two 
children in one accident, even you don’t deserve that.  Josh is 
downstairs if you want to say good-bye.”  Anna turned to leave.  
“Please, don’t come to the funeral.  Nobody else knows that you were 
his father, including Josh.”

“Anna,” the Cigarette-Smoking Man called after her.  He walked into 
the hallway.  “I just want to let you know that I will do anything to 
protect my grandchildren.  You don’t have to worry about them 
anymore.”

“And Emily?”

“I will not use Emily against Mulder and Scully.  She will be protected 
too.”  The Cigarette-Smoking Man turned back into Samantha’s room.

Entering into Emily’s room, Anna found Emily’s bed empty and a 
distraught Scully sitting on one of two cinnamon chairs.  For a moment, 
Anna’s heart stopped, thinking the worst.  Mulder appeared before her 
eyes and hugged her tightly.  “She’s just down getting some x-rays 
done.”

Anna nodded and pulled away.  “Josh is dead.”

Both Mulder and Scully froze at her announcement.  They knew he was 
expected to die, but deep down they believed he would be okay.  
Perhaps even more shocking then the announcement was the tone Anna 
had used to deliver the news, as if she had been talking about the 
weather.

“What?” Scully asked.

“I’ve made the arrangements.  He’ll be buried the day after tomorrow.  
There will be a short memorial mass beforehand at St. Thomas’s.”

“That’s so soon.  Don’t you want to wait a few days, let everything 
settle in?”

“No,” Anna replied, emptily.  Scully left it at that.

“When are you going to tell the boys?” Mulder asked.

“After I see Emily,” Anna answered.  She walked over to the window 
and stared out of it.  She seemed afraid that Mulder or Scully would try 
to comfort her.

“Did you find out anything about the driver?” Scully asked Mulder.  
Neither one of them seemed to know what to do about Josh, as if he 
truly hadn’t died.  Mulder opened his mouth to say no, but Anna 
interrupted him.

“The other driver was a female.  She’s not expected to live much 
longer.”

“Do you know her name?”  Anna didn’t respond.  “Anna?”

“No,” Anna said at last.  She turned away from the window at the 
sound of wheels turning.

“Anna!” Emily shouted weakly as they laid her back into her bed.

“Hiya, Munchkin,” Anna replied, sitting next to Emily.  She gently 
kissed Emily’s bruised forehead.

“Anna, where’s Josh?  They won’t let me see him.”

“I know.  I have something to tell you.  Josh is dead, Emily.  He didn’t 
survive the accident.”

Scully began to rise from her chair to intervene, but Mulder stopped her 
by grabbing her arm.

“Why?” Emily asked, tears streaming down her face.

Anna wiped her tears away.  “I think the accident was too much for his 
body.  He was very tired.  But he will always watch over us.”

“He will?”

“Wasn’t Josh always there for us?  Now, he’ll be there in a very special 
way.”

Emily cried harder.

“Emily, I don’t want you to blame yourself for this accident.  It’s not 
your fault that the car was struck and it’s not your fault that Josh didn’t 
make it.  In fact, Josh wanted me to tell you have brave he thought you 
were.”

Emily smiled, as her eyes began to droop.

“Why don’t you get some sleep now?”  Anna kissed her forehead again 
as Emily closed her eyes.  “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

Emily nodded, drifting off to sleep.  Anna waited until she was sure 
Emily was sleep before rising from the bed.  She turned to see Mulder 
and Scully watching her intently.

“Do you want one of us to go with you?” Mulder asked.

“No, thank you.  I have to do this on my own.  Besides, the boys are 
already asleep.  I’ll tell them in the morning.  I’ll be back later.”  Anna 
left the room quickly.

Scully took Anna’s place on Emily’s bed.  “How did things fall apart so 
quickly?” she asked, but received no answer.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Anna walked into the house through the kitchen.  The lights appeared 
to be off in most of the house, including the kitchen.  Anna moved 
slowly towards the doorway, startling Mrs. Johnson in the process.  She 
had been carrying Christopher who immediately reached for Anna.

“Your father called from the hospital,” Mrs. Johnson said, at a loss for 
words.  Anna nodded, letting Mrs. Johnson know that no words were 
necessary.  “Thank you for watching the boys, Mrs. Johnson.”

“Both boys are sleeping in your bed.  It was the only way I could get 
them to sleep.”

“That’s fine,” Anna replied, walking Mrs. Johnson to the door.

“Call if you need anything.”

“I will.”  Anna closed the door and looked down at Christopher, who 
was snuggling against her neck.  “What do you say we rock for a little 
bit, Christopher?”

Anna moved to go to the living room, but was stopped by the doorbell.  
She opened the door expecting to see Mrs. Johnson, but instead found a 
young woman, slightly older then herself, with dark chestnut hair 
facing her.  The woman looked grief-stricken.

“Oh, Anna,” Abby choked.  Abby fell into Anna’s arms.  “Anna, I’m so 
sorry.”

Anna raised her one free hand to pat Abby on the back.  “It’s okay, 
Abby.  It’s okay.”

“I just can’t believe he’s gone.”

“I know.”

Abby pulled away.  “I’m supposed to be comforting you, not the other 
way around.”

“Says who?”

Abby looked at Christopher, her eyes growing wide.  “Is this 
Christopher?”

Anna nodded.  Abby picked him up.  “Hello, Christopher.  I helped 
bring you into this world.  Do you remember me?”

Christopher shook his head as if to say no and reached again for Anna.  
Safe in her arms, Christopher studied Abby ardently.  “He’s gotten so 
big,” Abby added.

“Yeah, but right now he has to go to bed.  He’s my little night owl,” 
Anna said, instantly regretting what she had said as Abby’s eyes 
flashed full of questions.  “I’m going to take him upstairs.  I’ll be down 
in a few minutes.”

Anna returned downstairs to find Abby waiting for her in the living 
room.  Abby had prepared tea for them, a ritual they started not long 
after Anna arrived to group.  It always signaled a deep talk.

“I made some tea,” Abby said as Anna sat on the opposite side of the 
couch.

“How long are you here for?”

“As long as you need me.”

Anna paused.  “So, how is-“

“Is Christopher yours, Anna?”  Abby blurted out.  “There’s been 
rumors about Christopher and then what you said tonight… is he 
yours?”

“I only found out a few days ago.  I had noticed, not long after I 
brought Ethan home, how much Christopher’s mannerisms mimicked 
Josh’s.  At first, I told myself that it was just because we all lived 
together.  Jacob molds his hands after Mulder’s.  But there’s this face 
that Christopher makes, when he doesn’t believe something you’ve 
said, that makes him look exactly like Josh.  Then I heard those rumors 
too.  I would probably have let them slip, but the Lone Gunmen heard 
them and questioned me.  I denied it; told them the rumors couldn’t 
true, but when the DNA tests came back, we found out that they had 
been right.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.  As long as I wasn’t sure that Christopher was mine, I 
was happy the way things were.  I mean, you saw him with me.  He 
absolutely depends on me.  But now, now that I know definitely, I can’t 
let him go, anymore then I could let Jacob or Ethan go.”

“And Mulder and Scully?”

“How I can tell them?  I brought him home to them.  I put him in their 
arms and told them he was their son, and now, six months later, I’m 
supposed to tell them I made a mistake?  How can I do that and live 
with myself?” Anna sighed.  “And then there’s the kids.  Does Jacob 
and Ethan’s right to know their brother outweigh Emily’s right to keep 
hers?”

“I don’t know, but I know you’ll do what’s best for this family.  You 
always have.”

“Sometimes, I wonder.  If I hadn’t taken Emily in the first place, if I 
had cured her in the hospital without their knowledge, somehow, 
maybe none of this would have ever happened.  Josh would still be 
alive and Emily wouldn’t be in the hospital.  Those tests would have 
been done on Christopher and we would have known that he was 
mine.”

“Emily was so sick.  We almost lost her, you know that.  She might not 
have made it if you hadn’t taken her.  And your parents weren’t ready 
for all this information, they never would have let us cure her.  There’s 
no guarantee that Josh would be here today either.  He was supposed to 
go on the Aster Nursing Home mission; the one in which we lost three 
members.  Instead, he was here, in this house, with you.  Maybe you 
gave him the extra time he needed to be to know his children.”

“We could go ‘round and ‘round here and never get an answer.  What’s 
done is done; I can’t go back.  I can only hope I figure out what to do 
about the future.”

“Mommy!  Mommy!” Ethan called from her bedroom.  Anna jumped 
up from the couch.  “Ethan’s having another nightmare.  I have to get 
to him.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Anna woke up after only an hour and a half of sleep.  She could her 
Christopher babbling on the baby monitor.  She felt a warm body to her 
left.  It was Ethan.  Jacob lay beside him, his arms protectively around 
his little brother.  Ethan’s nightmares were particularly bad during the 
night, probably because of the accident.  Anna stared at the two boys 
for a few moments.  They looked so peaceful together.  How could she 
shatter their safe world?

Christopher’s babbling grew into fussy, threatening to become tears 
shortly.  Reluctantly, Anna pulled herself out of bed and wandered into 
Mulder and Scully’s bedroom.  Christopher quieted when he saw Anna 
reaching for him.  

“Na-Na,” Christopher whimpered softly.  Anna kissed him good 
morning before sitting down in the rocking chair that sat next to the 
crib.  Scully had insisted that they put one in the room, despite the fact 
that she rarely used it.

“Oh, Christopher, we have some heavy duty problems to work out 
here.”  Christopher snuggled into her as she breathed him in deeply.  “I 
can’t give you up.  It’s selfish, but I can’t.  And I don’t think you can 
give me up either.”

“Mommy?”

Anna looked up to find Jacob and Ethan standing in the doorway.  She 
smiled weakly at them, her eyes full of sorrow.  Anna put Christopher 
back into his crib and quietly took the boys back into her room.

“Where’s Daddy, Mommy?” Jacob asked.  Anna pulled them both onto 
her lap.  “Daddy died last night.  The angels came and took him.”

Jacob burst into tears and struggled to run away.  Anna held him tighter 
until he stopped his flight.  Jacob turned around and hugged Anna 
tightly.  Ethan stared at Jacob with morbid curiosity.

“Where did the angels take Daddy?” Ethan asked in his baby voice.

“Up to heaven,” Anna replied, softly.

“When will he come back?”

“He’s not coming back, Ethan.  He’s never coming back.”

Ethan’s eyes grew wide with understanding.  “No.  Make him better, 
Mommy.”

“I can’t, baby, I can’t.” Anna hugged Ethan, too.  “But we’re going to 
be okay.  We’ll be sad for a little while, but we’ll be okay.  We have 
fun memories of Daddy and he wouldn’t want us to feel too sad.”

“Is Emily with Daddy?” Jacob asked.

“No, but she is still very sick.  She’s in the hospital.” Anna paused.  “In 
a little while, I have to go back to the hospital to see her.  My friend, 
Abby, is going to stay with you and Christopher.  Jacob, do you 
remember Abby?”

“Yeah,” Jacob sniffled.  “I remember her.  She was a doctor.”

“That’s right.  Tomorrow, we’re going to have a funeral for Daddy.  
We’re going to go to the church first and everybody will say good-bye 
to Daddy.  Then lots of people will come back here for the rest of the 
day and we’ll eat and talk more about Daddy.  It will be a very long 
day, and it will be very sad.  It’s okay to cry and be sad.  And it’s okay 
to want to be by yourselves.  Just do me a favor and come get me first.  
We can be alone together.”

“Okay,” they agreed.  Jacob added, “What happens after that?”

Anna sighed.  “I don’t know.  There’s going to be a lot of changes 
coming, and I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I will always be 
here for you guys, remember that.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Anna walked in from the hospital early the next morning.  Abby was 
sleeping on the couch once again.  Both Jacob and Ethan were sleeping 
on the floor.  Anna assumed that they had refused to sleep by 
themselves.  Christopher was in the playpen.  His eyes fluttered open 
when he heard Anna walk into the living room and he was watching her 
quietly as she checked on everyone.  Anna tiptoed to the playpen and 
picked him up, before he began his morning fussing.  

Anna took him into the kitchen to give him breakfast.  Placing him in 
his chair, she said, “Well, Mr. Christopher, I heard you and the boys 
wore Abby out completely.  She’s not used to chasing all these kids, 
you know.  She just brings them into the world.”

Christopher smiled and babbled an answer.

“Emily is doing a little better,” Anna continued.  “She slept most of the 
time.  Scully finally fell asleep about midnight last night and Mulder at 
about two.  Emily woke up right before I left.  She’s very upset that she 
can’t come today.  Mrs. Scully,” Anna choked slightly when she said 
the name.  She had yet to figure out what to call her grandmother, “is 
coming in this morning.  She’s going to stay at the hospital so that 
Mulder and Scully can come to the funeral.  Actually, I have to get 
your bro-, um, Ethan and Jacob up and ready for the day pretty soon.  
Do you want to help me?”

“Mommy?” 

Anna stopped feeding Christopher and looked at the tiny voice in the 
doorway.  Ethan stood there timidly, his baby soft hair stuck to the side 
of his head.

“Hi, baby,” Anna replied, beckoning him to come forward.  He curled 
up on her lap and laid back, staring absently at Christopher.  “How did 
you sleep?”

“Not so good.  I had a bad dream and you weren’t here,” Ethan accused 
her, but didn’t move from his position.

“I’m sorry, baby.  I really am.  I’ll try to be here at night from now on.”

“ ‘tay.” Ethan paused.  “Mommy, is there really a funeral today?”

“Yes, Ethan, there is.”

“I sorry, Mommy.  I sorry that Daddy died.”

Anna squeezed him tightly.  “I’m sorry, too.”

“Wah!” Christopher shouted.  He didn’t appreciate the fact that his 
feeding had ceased.  Anna handed over the spoon to Ethan in order to 
prepare breakfast for him, Jacob, and Abby.  Moments later, Jacob and 
Abby joined the kitchen crowd.  Immediately after breakfast was over, 
Anna marched the three boys upstairs, bathed them, and dressed them 
in suits.  Anna dressed herself in a simple, black dress and black shoes.  
She wore no jewelry.  Anna walked the boys solemnly downstairs 
where she found Abby and two other group members.

“Anna, we’re going to go ahead to the church,” Abby told her.  “Tim 
and Allison will follow behind you when you leave.  They’ll be in a 
green Cadillac, so don’t be alarmed if you see them.”

“Okay,” Anna agreed.

“Are your parents, um, are Mulder and Scully coming here?”

“No, they’re meeting us at the church.  Mulder went to pick up Mrs. 
Scully at the airport.  He’ll drop her off at the hospital, pick Scully up, 
and go to the church.  That way, Emily’s never by herself.”

“Mommy, my shoe’s untied,” Jacob whined.  Anna bent down to tie it 
as Abby and the other members left.  She put the boys in the car, 
looking wistfully at the house.  She caught sight of the football in the 
front yard and smiled, catching herself from crying.  She could almost 
see Josh throwing the ball to her.

<”Come on, Anna,” Josh would beg.  “Just one quick game before you 
go to the store.”>

Anna wiped away the single tear that had fallen.  She got into the car 
herself, checking on the boys through the rearview mirror.  They were 
somber, even Christopher, who must have sensed the sorrow from the 
other two.  Anna put in the children’s tape she kept in her car.

<”Anna, those kids are never going to learn good music if you insist on 
putting this tape in every time we’re in the car,” Josh would tell her, 
moments before he broke out into song.>

Anna pulled in the church parking lot.  It was full except for her spot, 
which obviously had been saved for her.  Anna glanced up and down 
the street, realizing that most of the cars there were also for the funeral.  
Anna let Jacob and Ethan out of the backseat and took Christopher out 
of his car seat.  Ethan grabbed hold of her leg.  Anna gently removed 
him and grasped his hand, instructing Jacob to grab the other one.  
Anna looked up at the church and saw Mulder and Scully standing at 
the top of the stairs.  Scully had been crying, as her eyes appeared red 
and puffy.  Dark circles had formed under both their eyes.  Mulder had 
his arm protectively around Scully’s shoulder.  They walked down the 
stairs when they saw Anna and the boys.  

“How’s Emily?” Anna asked, before either Mulder or Scully could say 
anything.

“The same.  She’s sad that she can’t make it,” Scully replied, struggling 
to hold in her tears.  She made a move to take Christopher from Anna, 
but Christopher turned away from her.  Anna seemed to momentarily 
back away too and Scully felt even more despair.  Jacob grabbed her 
hand.  “I’ll walk in with you, Grandma.”

Scully kissed the top of his head and walked into the church.  Anna 
looked at Mulder, who seemed oblivious to what had just occurred.  
She followed Scully into the church.  Anna sat down in the front pew, 
waiting for the mass to begin.  Ethan sat on one side of her and Jacob 
on the other.  Christopher sat on her lap.

<”I finally got you into church, Anna,” Josh would have said if he 
could have seen her.  “It only took my death.”>

Before Anna realized what had happened, the mass had ended.  She 
realized that she had completely lost herself in memories of Josh and 
had missed what had gone on.  Jacob and Ethan remained at her sides, 
and Christopher in her arms, as they followed the casket out of the 
church.  Anna glanced behind her and saw a long stream of people 
behind her. 

Anna’s car led the line as she followed the Hurst to the cemetery.  
Mulder and Scully trailed closely behind.  Anna found that she couldn’t 
see the end of the line of cars even on the highway.  She was sure that 
close to a hundred cars were in the precession.  

Anna sat in the front row of the white folding chairs that had been 
placed around Josh’s gravesite.  She caught a glimpse of an eagle flying 
overhead.  The eagle seemed to circle twice before heading up into the 
heavens.

<”Anna, look,” Josh said, every time he saw an eagle.  “That means, 
we’ll all be free someday.  Every time you see an eagle fly, it’s another 
victory we’ve won.”>

Anna studied Jacob and Ethan for a few moments.  Jacob was sadly 
humming to himself a song that Josh had taught him.  He appeared to 
be memorializing Josh in his own way.  He would have a hard time 
moving on without Josh.  Josh had been a constant in his life from the 
time that Jacob was six months old.  Anna had been his primary 
caregiver, but she had to be away for periods of time.  Josh never left 
Jacob for more then a few days.  Anna knew he was confused by the 
days since the accident with Emily in the hospital and all the people 
coming and going, many that he recognized from his past.  Anna also 
knew that he was trying to put on a brave face and be a big boy.

<”Let me see your big boy face, Jacob,” Josh had told him before he 
went away on trips.  “I’ll only be gone for a couple days.  And you 
have to be a big boy while I’m gone.”>

Anna looked at Ethan next, who looked more and more like Josh 
everyday.  His hair had held a hint of red when she first found him, but 
now it had regressed to pure dark brown.  He had Josh’s round chin and 
his dimples.  Ethan stared intently at the coffin that lay in front of him.  
He was absolutely still, taking in the whole scene.  Ethan had never 
really let Josh be his father.  He was only beginning to let him in as a 
parent.  Ethan would soon lose all memory of Josh.  While he would 
miss having a father later on in life, he wouldn’t miss Josh as that 
father.  Anna breathed deeply at that thought.

<”He just needs time,” Anna had told Josh over and over.  “He just 
needs time.”>

Finally, Anna glanced at Christopher, who finally accepted Scully’s 
offer to be held.  Christopher, if he was to become her son, wouldn’t 
know Josh as his father, either.  Looking at him, Anna cursed herself 
for not having seen sooner that Christopher looked so much like Josh, 
too.  He had that same rounded chin and those dimples.  Those dimples 
that had made Anna’s heart stop every time she saw Josh smile.  Josh 
would have made a great father to Christopher, as he had been to Jacob 
and Ethan.  And Christopher would have soared in his father’s pride.

<” Three boys, Anna.  I have three boys,” Josh had exclaimed proudly.  
“Take care of them.  Tell them about me.”>

“And now, we’ll listen to a few words from Josh’s father-in-law, Fox 
Mulder,” Father Thomas spoke up, forcing Anna to pay attention to 
what was going on around her.

Mulder stood up at the podium in front of crowd of people.  “I knew 
Josh for such a short time, but I can’t remember what my life was like 
before he came into it.  Josh was the sort of person that everybody 
liked.  He went out of his to help others with whatever it was that 
needed to be done.  I remember one time when I needed help with the 
plumbing in the kitchen.  Josh, as most of you know, was quite inapt at 
handy work, but he stuck in there with me for three straight days until 
we finally had to call a real plumber to fix the sink.”

Ripples of laughter waved through the crowd.

“Josh was a good man.  He was, in every sense of the word, my son.  I 
will always treasure the moments I had with him and the sunshine he 
brought into our lives.  I thank you, Josh, for convincing my daughter 
to stay with us and I thank you for our grandsons.  I will miss you, 
Josh.”

Mulder sat back down, burying his head in Scully’s shoulders, sobbing 
profusely.  It startled Anna to see him with such grief.  

“And now, Josh’s wife, Anna,” Father Thomas continued.

Anna felt her knees weaken as she stood in front of the hoards of 
people.  Most of the faces were young and stained with tears.  Josh had 
been loved by everybody who knew him.  “I met Joshua when I was 
just twelve years old.  He was just fourteen.  I was instantly smitten by 
his almond eyes.  They revealed every part of his soul.  I knew I could 
trust him.  He was so kind and loving.  He just wanted everyone to feel 
like family.  And I did with him.  Josh quickly became my best friend, 
which was not the easiest thing to do.  He knew which questions to ask 
to find the answers he wanted from me, but trusted me enough to stop 
asking him when I needed him to.  
“I think I always knew I was in love with Josh, but I knew he was the 
one when I told him that I wanted to raise our son, Jacob, and he 
understood.  Not only that, but he went a step further and helped me.  
He helped me again when it was time to rescue my sister, Emily, and 
he helped me through my grief when it was time to give her back.  Josh 
was there when Christopher was rescued and when he was birthed, 
knowing I was terrified that something would go wrong.  He followed 
me to my parents’ home when I told him not to because he knew I 
really needed him.  But when it came time to bring our son, Ethan, 
home, he respected my belief that I had to bring him home alone.
Josh was a wonderful father and I know his kids will miss him 
everyday, but he has given them a great foundation to continue their 
lives. He will always be watching over them.  Josh will always be 
watching over all of us.  We will not let him die in vain.  We will learn 
from him and his life.  It’s time for us to stand together against the 
forces that created us.  It’s time for us to get back to saving the children 
and stop all this foolish fighting.  It’s what Joshua would have wanted.
“I’m going to miss you, Josh.  I’m going to miss the long talks we had 
all night long and the way you made me laugh on my worst day.  I’m 
going to miss being able to be the kid with you that I couldn’t be with 
anyone else.  I’ll miss the way you played with my hair.  And I’ll miss 
everyday that I raise our boys and you’re not there.  Good-bye, Joshua, 
and thank you for everything.”

Anna took her place in the chairs.

<”That was a beautiful, Anna,” Josh whispered in her ear.  “Thank 
you.”>

Anna rolled her neck, feeling a small breeze.  She handed Jacob and 
Ethan each a white rose.  They stood and moved to the coffin, where 
each boy laid down the rose they had been holding.  Anna laid down a 
blue rose she had been carrying.  Mulder and Scully walked behind her, 
laying their roses as well.  Anna sat back down with the boys and 
watched as the other mourners placed their flowers on the coffin and 
slowly moved away.  Christopher fussed for Anna, causing Scully to 
begrudgingly hand him over Anna.  Mulder and Scully also remained 
in the seats.  No one said a word, not even the boys.

 At last, Anna stood up.  “I’m going to take Christopher and the boys 
home.  Abby has instructed no one to come to the house, so we don’t 
have to worry about any guests.  I really have to see Emily, so I’ll be at 
the hospital later.”

“Why don’t I drop you off, Scully, at the hospital and bring your 
mother to the house?  That way she can get settled in and we won’t 
wear her out at the hospital too much.  She can spend sometime with 
Christopher and the boys, then, too.  I know she was looking forward to 
it,” Mulder suggested.

“Um, sounds good,” Scully agreed.  She kissed Christopher on the 
forehead.  She hesitated for a moment before hugging Anna who barely 
hugged her back.  “I love you, Anna.  Remember that.”

Anna nodded solemnly.  Mulder hugged her too.  “We’ll see you soon, 
kiddo.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Anna walked into Emily’s room several hours later.  She found Emily 
sitting up somewhat.  Her eyes were intently watching the television in 
the corner of the room.  Anna nodded to Mulder and Scully who were 
whispering in the back of the room.  

“Hiya, Munchkin,” Anna said to Emily, standing over her bed.  Emily 
smiled, slightly, but said nothing.  Anna looked up at the television 
screen.  “What are you watching?  Anna waited for an answer.  
“Emily?”

Anna looked back at Emily.  Her eyes had glazed over and were rolled 
partially back in her head.  Anna shook her violently, screaming, 
“Emily!”

Mulder and Scully were jolted from their conversation by the 
commotion in the room.  Scully took a few steps forward, before 
freezing at the foot of the bed.  Mulder bolted from the room, bellowing 
for help.  Within seconds, a team of nurses and doctors invaded the 
room, pushing Mulder, Scully, and Anna out.

“You hold on, Emily!  You hold on!” Anna yelled, before a young, 
blond nurse closed the door.

Scully watched wordlessly in the window as the staff tried frantically to 
save her baby girl.  Mulder sat down in one of the chairs.  His face was 
in his lap.  Anna paced anxiously around, her arms flailing about 
wildly.  

“We did not fight this hard to lose her now,” Anna muttered to no one 
in particular.

Mulder raised his head.  “What do you mean?”

“We almost lost her before, right after the group rescued her.  We had 
to take her illness so far, farther then we wanted to, in order to ensure 
that you had thought she was dead.  In order to ensure that they had 
thought she had died.  We almost didn’t bring her back.”  Anna stood 
next to Scully at the window.  “But she’s a fighter.  She can beat it.”  
Anna stared at the flat line on the heart monitor.  “Fight, Munchkin.”  
She placed her hand on window and whispered, “Fight.”

Anna and Scully breathed sighs of relief as the line on the heart monitor 
spiked.  Suddenly, the blinds crashed down preventing them from 
seeing any more.  Scully and Anna turned away.  Mulder locked eyes 
with Scully and briefly she believe that everything would be okay.  
Scully sat down next to him and laid her head on his shoulders.  Anna 
watched them quietly.

“Just don’t drool on me,” Mulder told Scully.  She laughed briefly, 
before breaking down crying.  Mulder held her tightly, struggling to 
keep in his own tears.  The door to Emily’s room opened and Emily’s 
doctor, Dr. Kirkpatrick, walked out.  He had deep wrinkles ingrained in 
his forehead.

“We’ve found some internal bleeding around one of her kidneys.  It 
may have been more damaged in the crash then we originally thought.  
We’re going to take her to surgery now.  I’ll let you know when she’s 
finished.”

“Thank you,” Mulder told him.  Dr. Kirkpatrick nodded and left down 
the hall.  Moments later, Emily was wheeled out of the hospital room 
and down the hall, following the same path as Dr. Kirkpatrick.  Anna 
followed suit, determined not to let Emily out of her sight.

“Anna. I can’t let you in here,” Dr. Kirkpatrick told her as they stood 
outside the operating room.

“I know that,” Anna replied, “but I have to be somewhere where I can 
watch her.  I don’t care how messy the operation is.  I cannot let her out 
of my sight.”

Dr. Kirkpatrick contemplated what she had said for a few moments, 
before nodding.  “There’s an observation deck upstairs.  It’s usually 
reserved for medical students, but I’ll get you in.”

“Thank you, very much,” Anna replied.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

Scully lifted her head from Mulder’s shoulder.  They had been frozen 
in the same position ever since they had entered the waiting room 
nearly two hours ago.  She glanced at a young man who had entered the 
waiting room.  He had dark brown hair and eyes, and wore a simplistic 
blue t-shirt and blue jeans.  His face was devoid of any emotion.  He 
made no attempt to look at her, but stared intently at the wall in front of 
him.  Scully wondered who he was waiting news on.

“It’s taking a long time, isn’t it?” Mulder asked, at last breaking the 
silence.

“No, not really,” Scully replied.  She watched as two more young 
people entered; one male, one female.  The woman sat down next to the 
first young man, while the other male stood almost militantly beside the 
door.  None of them spoke.  Scully continued, “It all depends on what 
they find when they get in there.”

“I wonder where Anna is.”  Mulder was also watching the young 
people as a third male entered the room.  He nodded to the first man, 
who walked over to speak with him.  Their conversation was intense, 
but neither Mulder not Scully could hear what was being said.  The 
room grew even more crowded as two more females entered followed 
by a trio of males.  All five sat quietly on the chairs.  Soon another 
couple, also a male and a female, entered.  They appeared to be in their 
mid-teens as opposed to the others that looked to be in their early 
twenties.  The male sat with the others, but the female sat opposite of 
Scully.  She had mousy brown hair and dull blue eyes.  Her lips were 
thin and freckles danced across her small, pointed nose and rosy 
cheeks.  Despite her plainness, she was a beautiful girl.

“I know you, don’t I?” Scully asked the girl.  The girl smiled.  “This 
morning, at Josh’s funeral, you were there, weren’t you?”

The girl nodded.  “My name is Margaret, but call me Maggie.  We were 
all at the funeral.”

“You’re members of Anna’s group,” Mulder stated.

Maggie shrugged, softly. “We’re here to watch over Emily.  Some of us 
will stay with you; some of us will stay with Emily; some of us will 
watch the house.  We will stay in background, of course, and not 
interfere, but we just wanted to let you know that we’re here so that you 
won’t be frightened of us.”

Mulder opened his mouth to protest, but Scully interrupted him.  
“Thank you.”

“Do you know Anna?” Mulder asked, after a brief pause.

Maggie nodded enthusiastically.  “Oh, yes!  She took me under her 
wings when I first came to the group.  Anna did that to a lot of us.”

“How old were you, if I may ask?”

“I was ten.  Anna was fourteen.  I was so scared, but Anna made me 
feel right at home.  She was the closest thing I’d come to having a 
parent at that point.”

“So, you couldn’t return to your parents?” Scully asked.

“No.  My mother had five other children and lives in a small house with 
her sister, who has three children of her own.  It was deemed that she 
would not be receptive to another child.  Most of the children who are 
returned to their biological families are done in the form of foster or 
adopted children.”

“And your father?”

“My father was a navy man; a single, navy man at the time.  No, he 
couldn’t do it either.  I hear he’s married now and has a son.”  Maggie 
looked up as Anna entered the room.  She jumped up and hugged Anna, 
as did the other members, whispering their encouraging words.

“Emily’s out of surgery,” Anna told Mulder and Scully.  “The doctor 
will be in soon.”

As soon as the words had fallen over Mulder and Scully, Dr. 
Kirkpatrick entered the room.  He immediately strolled over to the trio.  
“We were able to stop the bleeding and as far as we can tell, there is no 
permanent damage to the kidney.  However, the surgery has put Emily 
into a coma.”

“A coma?” Scully repeated.

“For how long?” Mulder added.

“There’s no way to know.  It could be a few hours, a few days, or…”

“Or it could be forever,” Scully finished.

Dr. Kirkpatrick nodded solemnly.  “If you’ll excuse me, I have a few 
patients to see.  Emily will be down to ICU shortly, and you can see her 
then.  The nurses will let you know.”

“Thank you,” Scully told Dr. Kirkpatrick, as he left the room.  Scully 
turned back to Mulder and Anna, but has nothing else to say.  Anna 
nodded to the group of kids and they filed out in droves.  Maggie 
stayed behind to give Anna a hug, before leaving also.  Scully 
commented, off-handily, “She’s a very nice girl.  She and my mom 
share the same name.”

Anna dipped her head, briefly.  “Since we don’t know how long Emily 
will be like this, I think we should split up into three shifts so that one 
of us is with her all the time.  I would take the night shift so that you 
both could sleep at night, but I can’t be away from Ethan at night 
anymore.  His nightmares are increasing.”

“I’ll take the night shift,” Mulder offered.  “It’s not like I sleep much 
anyway.”

“My mother’s here also, don’t forget.  She can take a shift too,” Scully 
jumped in.

“I’d rather her stay at home,” Anna answered.  “That way she’ll know 
the boys’ routines and they’ll know that she is there to take care of 
them.”

Scully nodded, hoping her mother would go along with that.  “How do 
we want to divide up these shifts?”

“Well, I’d say that since Anna has to be up with Ethan, and to be home 
before he goes to bed, that her shift would best be from ten until six.  
Then, you can take over from six until two in the morning.  I’ll come in 
at two and stay until Anna gets in.”

“Sounds good,” Scully agreed.  “Anna?”

“Yeah.  And since it is technically my shift, I suggest that the two of 
you say good-bye to Emily and go get some rest.  Let the boys know 
that I’ll be home soon.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Scully arrived home late a few days later.  The house was quiet, except 
for the kitchen.  She poked her head in to she her mother making tea. 

“Hi Mom,” Scully said.  She laid her jacket on one of the chairs, but 
remained standing.

“Hello, Dana,” Mrs. Scully replied.  “Any news?”

Scully shook her head.  “What are you doing up?”

“Ethan had another nightmare.  I thought Anna could use some tea after 
she puts him back to sleep.  Would you like a cup?”

“No, no.  I just want to get to bed.”  Mrs. Scully nodded and watched 
quietly as her daughter left the kitchen.  Scully walked upstairs and past 
Anna’s room.  The door was closed so she didn’t want to risk waking 
Ethan up by checking in.  Scully headed into her bedroom.  The room 
seemed empty.  The bed was unmade.  Anna had moved Christopher’s 
crib into her room so that she could get to him more easily.  But Scully 
missed having Christopher there at night and in the morning, even if 
she would have been too tired to tend to him much.  Scully wordlessly 
changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed.  She was so exhausted 
that she could barely keep her eyes awake.  Anna hadn’t been to bed in 
days, since the accident had occurred.  She was up taking care of 
Christopher or Ethan all night and she never slept during the day.  
Scully couldn’t figure out how Anna could do that.

Scully felt the edges of sleep coming upon her.  She said a quick prayer 
that Emily would be better soon before finally succumbing to sleep.  
The last thing she heard was Anna’s bedroom door open.

Anna quickly crept downstairs, careful not to disturb anyone sleeping.  
She went into the kitchen and was surprised to find Mrs. Scully there at 
the table.  

“I made you some tea,” Mrs. Scully told her.  “I thought you could use 
it.”

“Thank you,” Anna said with a smile, sitting uncomfortably across 
from her.

“Whenever my girls were having a hard time, I made them tea and we 
had a talk.”

Anna nodded, staring at the walls.

“You’re not very comfortable with me, Anna.  Why is that?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you avoid me as much as possible.  Did I do something to 
anger you or make you feel uneasy?”

“No.  I guess I’m just waiting for your anger.”

“My anger?”

“That my grandfather hid me from you.  That he hid all those secrets 
from you.”

“First of all, I understand why my husband hid this from me.  Secondly, 
why would I ever be angry at you for that?”

“Because I’m the manifestation of everything that he hid from you.  I 
know that Scully is uneasy with me for that reason, even if she doesn’t 
admit it yet.  I also know that Bill hates me because of it.”

“Bill doesn’t hate you.  He just doesn’t understand, yet.”

“This is all so new to me,” Anna continued.  She was beginning to feel 
more relaxed with Mrs. Scully.  “This whole family thing.  Growing 
up, I really only had my grandfathers.  There were nurses and doctors, 
but I was their experiment.  And I spent very little time with the other 
kids.  My grandfathers told me stories about their families, about their 
children growing up, but they were only stories.  Then, when I escaped 
to the group, I was immediately considered one of the older ones, 
despite my age.  I became a mother figure, like the others.  I don’t 
know how to be a daughter or a niece or a granddaughter to a 
grandmother.  It’s hard enough to be Emily’s sister, after being her 
mother for three years.  Mulder and Scully expect me to be this perfect 
daughter.  I don’t know how to be a daughter at all.  I wish my 
grandfathers were here.”

“What would they do?”

“My grandpa Mulder would tell me that it doesn’t matter what they 
expect from me.  As long as I give them my very best, everything else 
would eventually fall into place.  And Grandpa Scully would pull me 
into a big hug and say, ‘Sunshine, you’re doing a wonderful job.  Keep 
up the good work.’  Then they would fight over what I should do next.  
They fought over everything.”

“Bill called you ‘Sunshine?’” Mrs. Scully asked.  Anna nodded.  “He 
used to come back from his trips to California and talk about the 
sunshine; how alive it was or how it seemed to disappear behind the 
clouds.  He was really talking about you, wasn’t he?” Anna shrugged, 
unsure.  “He used to carry around a picture in his wallet, too.  He said it 
was the picture of a friend’s daughter who considered him to be a 
grandfather.”  Mrs. Scully reached behind her to her purse and pulled 
out a male’s wallet.  She riffled through it until she found a wrinkled 
photo.  Mrs. Scully slid it on the table until it rested in front of Anna.  
“Is that you?”

Anna picked up the photo.  The little girl in the picture was sitting in a 
grass field.  She had on a pale blue dress and white socks.  Her red hair 
was pulled into two ponytails.  She was smiling wildly, showing two 
missing front teeth.  In her hand was a single, blue rose.  Anna bit her 
bottom lip.  “Yeah, that’s me.  Grandpa Scully took it when I was five 
years old just outside the compound.  He said that at this angle it 
looked as if I was free.  He used to bring me a blue rose every time he 
came to visit.  It was my favorite flower.  It still is.”

“You were the one who brought the blue rose to the funeral home when 
Bill died.  The last day of the viewing, shortly before the funeral, I 
noticed a small blue rose tucked into the casket.  That was you.”

Anna clenched the picture in her hand and burst into tears.  Mrs. Scully 
jumped up and put her arms around Anna.  “It’s okay.  Go ahead and 
cry.  It’s okay to miss them.”

Anna dried her tears.  She looked up from the table when she heard 
Christopher crying.  Anna stood up and walked to the doorway.  
“Thank you,” she said.  “I’ll see you in the morning, Grandma.”

“See you in the morning, Sunshine.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Scully walked into Emily’s hospital room the next evening to find 
Anna reading Emily a book.  The heart monitor showed Emily’s heart 
rate to be strong, but even after the last few days, it disturbed Scully to 
see her baby girl attached to so many machines.  Anna closed the book 
when she noticed Scully standing in the doorway.

“Emily’s doing a little better today,” she said.  “Her heart beat’s 
stronger and I think she’s gaining some color back.”

Scully nodded and picked up Emily’s chart.  Her face fell reading the 
numbers.  “Emily’s heart isn’t any stronger.”  She put the chart down 
and sat on Emily’s bed, clasping Emily’s frail hand.  “At what point do 
we realize it’s hopeless?  At what point do we understand that there’s 
nothing more that can be done and let her go?”

Anna sat up straighter, alarmed.  “She still has a lot of fight left in her. 
Don’t give up on her yet.  She wouldn’t give up on you.”

“I watched her die once; I don’t want to watch her die again.  But I 
don’t want to see her hooked up to these machines for the rest of her 
life if it’s only going to come down to the same inevitable conclusion.”

Anna grabbed the hand that Scully was using to hold Emily and held it 
too.  “I thought the same thing about you once.  I stood next to you 
when you were being tested.  You were hooked up to so many 
machines and your skin was so pale.  I was so sure that you were going 
to die; that I was going to watch my mother die before I ever had the 
opportunity to know her.  But you pulled through.  Mulder pulled you 
through because he was your family.  We’ll pull Emily through, too.  
You have to believe that.”

“I want to believe that.  I do.”

Both Scully and Anna turned as the door flung open.  Mulder stood 
before them, panting.  

“Mulder, what are you doing here?” Scully asked.

“I had a dream about Emily.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

“Hey, Munchkin, it’s time to wake up.”

Emily opened her eyes slowly.  She saw a blurry image standing over 
her.  Emily rubbed her eyes, clearing them.  The figure came into focus.

“Josh!” Emily exclaimed, sitting up.  She looked around her, but show 
nothing but white light.  “Where am I?”

“You’re hiding,” he replied, “but your safe.  You’ve been sleeping a 
very long time and now it’s time for you to wake up.”

“But I don’t know how to wake up.”

“Sure you do.  It’s right inside there,” he touched his hand to her heart, 
“in your heart.”

“Are you coming with me?”

“No, Munchkin.  I’m not asleep.”

A tear slid down Emily’s cheek.  “That’s right.  I remember now.  We 
had that car accident and you died.  Am I dead too?”

Josh picked her up.  “No, but it’s time for you to go see your mom and 
dad and Anna.  They’ve missed you.”

“I miss them too.  I’ll miss you too, Josh.”

“I know you will.”  Josh pointed to a portal in front of them.  In it, 
Emily could see her parents and Anna sitting around her hospital bed.  
They were holding hands and crying.  “Close your eyes, Emily.  Think 
of your best memory, when all of us were together.”  Josh kissed 
Emily’s forehead.  “Tell Anna, I’ll see her soon.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Emily found herself drifting out of Josh’s arms.  She held her eyes shut 
tight until she could hear her mother’s voice.  Her eyes fluttered opened 
and she gasped, surprised by the machines that constricted her when 
she had only moments before been as free a bird.  The room went 
silent, all eyes watching Emily intently.  No one moved, afraid that 
Emily would disappear.

“Hi Mommy,” Emily whispered hoarsely.  Scully broke into a fresh set 
of tears and hugged Emily close.  Mulder also began to sob.  He held 
both Scully and Emily.  Emily squiggled to be released.  “Why is 
everyone crying?”

“We’re just so happy to see you,” Mulder told her.  Anna stepped in 
and kissed Emily on the forehead.  Mulder and Scully hugged each 
other, twenty pounds lifted from each of their shoulders.

“It’s about time that you woke up, Munchkin,” Anna told her.  Emily 
smiled.  “I saw Josh, Anna.  He told me he would see you soon.”

Anna smiled, sadly, sure it had all been a dream.  She found herself 
moved from Emily’s bedside as a team of doctors and nurses rushed in 
to examine Emily.  Anna stood in the back of the room with Mulder 
and Scully.  She turned to Scully.  “I told you not to give up on her.”

“Yes, you did.” Scully hugged Anna tightly.  Anna, for once, didn’t 
pull back or stiffen.  “Thank you.”

Dr. Kirkpatrick motioned for them to come closer.  Anna snuck out the 
door, anxious to get away from the commotion and to catch her breath.  
She walked down the corridor, her face glowing with excitement and 
relief.  Soft sobbing stopped her in front of a door.  She peered inside 
the darkened room to see the Cigarette-Smoking Man crying over 
Samantha’s bed.  During the drama of the last few days, Anna had 
completely forgotten that Samantha still lay in the hospital.  Anna stood 
next to the Cigarette-Smoking Man as a nurse quietly shut down the 
machines that were giving Samantha life.  Together, the watched as 
Samantha’s breaths faded and her heartbeat ceased.  They were silent 
for several minutes afterwards, each lost in their own thoughts.

“She was a beautiful child when she was young,” the Cigarette-
Smoking said finally.  The nurse left the room, “so full of life.  It 
wasn’t my choice to take her.  I know you and Mulder blame me for it.  
Your grandfather blamed me too.  I rescued her from those tests, but it 
had been too late.  She was already changed.  My children are gone 
now.  Everything I worked to give to them is empty now.”

“Change your legacy.  Leave your grandchildren freedom; the freedom 
you couldn’t give to your children.  Work towards defeating the 
enemies that threaten to overtake us.  Find a cure for everyone and then 
we can begin to fight back.  It’s their only real weapon against us.”

The Cigarette-Smoke Man bowed his head.

Anna softened her voice.  “I was wrong not to tell Mulder about 
Samantha.  He deserves to know what became of her.  He deserves to 
say good-bye.”

“I’m not having a funeral for her.  There’s no point.  No one would 
come.”

“I will come.  Mulder will come, too.  Her mother should have the 
opportunity to say good-bye, even if she chooses not to take it.  As 
dysfunctional as we are, as unconventional, we all in some way form 
parts of a family.  We’re intertwined.  I have forgiven Samantha for 
what she has done.  It’s time for the rest of my family to forgive her 
too.”

“I’m burying her two days from now.  Richardson Cemetery at ten 
o’clock.”

“Anna?” Scully called softly from the door.  Anna faced her, her eyes 
full of fear.  Scully looked at the Cigarette-Smoking Man.  Her face 
was covered in anger and questions.  Scully stepped closer to the bed 
and saw Samantha.  She breathed in sharply. “Is that, um, is that-“

“Yes,” Anna replied, finding her voice, “she’s Samantha.”

Anna led Scully into the hallway, shutting the door behind her.  
“Samantha was the other driver, the driver that struck Josh and Emily.  
She was also Ethan’s adoptive mother.”

“You’ve known about Samantha this entire time?”

“I’ve known about Samantha all of my life.  I was also told the stories 
of her life.  I have also known what she had become.  The tests they did 
when she was abducted changed her.  She was no longer that sweet, 
little girl who liked to play basketball and tease her brother.  She 
became cold and calculating.  It was Samantha’s decision to abduct 
you, to create Emily.  It was Samantha’s decision to see Mulder in that 
restaurant to taunt him into joining her side.  She’s toyed with him for 
years.”

“She was Ethan’s adoptive mother.  She was to be Christopher’s?  
She’s the reason that Ethan wakes up screaming in the middle of the 
night.  And you’re in her room?”

“I forgave Samantha for everything she’s done.  I have to or else it will 
eat me alive.  I feel pity for her, for what she became.  I can’t carry 
around that anger if I want to get Ethan better.  When she hit Josh’s car, 
she didn’t comprehend what she was doing.  She had snapped so fully 
that not even her father and all his henchmen could control her.  It’s 
time for us to pull together as a family and say good-bye to her.”

“Say good-bye?”

“Samantha’s dead.”

“I didn’t even notice.  I was so surprised to see her at all.  I can’t 
believe Mulder’s search has come down to this.  We have to tell him.”

“I know.  Her burial is the day after tomorrow.  I think we should be 
there.”

Scully nodded.  She turned away at the sound of footsteps.  Mulder was 
walking towards them, grinning widely.  “I see you found Anna.  I got 
kicked out of the room so they could examine Emily better.  I guess I 
was hovering too much.”  He looked back and forth between the two of 
them.  Neither one spoke.  “What’s going on?”

Scully and Anna glanced at each other.  Anna lowered her head.  “We 
have to talk.”

“About what?”

“Let’s go into the waiting room.”  Anna led her parents into the waiting 
room.  It alarmed her how well she knew this room now.  She sat on a 
green chair and waited for them to sit across from her.  “I have to tell 
you something; something you’re not going to want to hear.  But you 
have to.  You have to listen to me.  She didn’t know what was doing.  
She was so out of it.”

“Who?  What are you talking about, kiddo?”

“I know where Samantha is.”

Mulder perked up.  “Where?”

“She’s in this hospital.”

“Is she okay?”

Anna shook her head.  Her bottom lip quivered.  “Samantha was 
responsible for Emily’s accident.”

“No.  It’s not true.” Mulder stood up, his body shaking with anger.  
Scully grabbed his arm.  “You have to listen to her.  It is true.”

“When Samantha was abducted, the tests turned her into a monster.  
She’s responsible for so many of the things that have gone wrong in 
your life.  Scully’s abduction, Emily’s birth, meeting her that 
restaurant, doubting who your true father is, that was all Samantha’s 
work.  She planned every one of those.  Samantha was Ethan’s 
adoptive mother.  She was to be Christopher’s too.  When I took Ethan 
back, when I rescued him, she snapped.  All the things she had 
experienced as a child came crashing down and she couldn’t handle it.  
She could no longer lie to herself that she had a normal life.  Her only 
thought was of revenge against our family.  She knew the cars that we 
drove and she aimed for it the minute she saw the car.  I doubt she even 
knew who was inside.”

“My God.  My sister; how could she do this?  What kind of monster 
treats children like dogs and murders innocent people?” Mulder asked.  
“Where is she?”

Anna looked at Scully.  Scully answered, “She’s dead, Mulder.  She 
died this afternoon.”  Mulder sat back down on the chair, stunned to 
silence.  “Mulder, you have to remember that wasn’t your sister who 
did all these things.  She died when she was eight years old; when they 
took her from your home.”

“It’s true,” Anna added.  “Your sister was gone after her abduction.  
You lost her way back then.  Your search is over, now, Mulder, and it’s 
time to say good-bye.  Samantha’s father is the man they call the 
Cigarette-Smoking Man and he is burying her the day after tomorrow.”

“I think that you should go,” Scully told him.  “I think we should all go.  
We have to forgive her.  We have to move on with our lives.  She may 
have done for all the wrong reasons, but she still gave us Emily.  And it 
was because of her that Christopher was created.  And even if you can’t 
forgive her now for killing Josh and for nearly killing Emily, then you 
need to go to say good-bye to that eight year old little girl.”

“I don’t know if I can go,” Mulder cried.

“Think about it.  Just think about it.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Anna returned home late that night.  She had stayed past her “shift” to 
be with Emily, even though it meant that she couldn’t be home to put 
the boys to bed.  What she really wanted was to stay the night, but she 
couldn't risk the probability that Ethan would have one of his 
nightmares.  Mrs. Scully left as soon as Anna entered the house, excited 
over seeing her youngest granddaughter awake.

Anna found herself truly tired as she walked up the stairs.  She peered 
into the boys’ room, surprised to see a small light emanating from the 
room.  It was Ethan’s nightlight.  Anna was even more surprised to see 
both boys in their own beds.  They had both been sleeping in hers since 
the accident.  Anna had expected for Jacob to venture back into his own 
bed eventually, but she assumed Ethan would take longer.  Anna blew 
them kisses from the doorway, afraid she would wake them if she 
stepped inside.

Anna breathed in sharply before opening her own door.  She felt a 
small pang of fear that Mrs. Scully might have moved Christopher’s 
crib out of her room.  Neither Mulder nor Scully had had the energy to 
do it and Anna didn’t think she could lose all three boys at once.  She 
opened the door slowly, relieved to find Christopher’s crib in the same 
position she had left it in earlier that day.  Anna crept over and saw 
Christopher sleeping peacefully.

“Hello, my beautiful baby boy,” Anna whispered.  She changed into 
her pajamas and crawled into bed.  She closed her eyes and felt sleep 
crawling towards her.  It was the first time since the accident that she 
had slept.

A couple of hours later, Anna woke up to the sounds of Christopher 
fussing.  She jumped out of bed and rubbed his back a few times until 
he calmed down.  She said a silent prayer that Christopher wouldn’t 
have nightmares like Ethan.  Anna glanced back at her bed, which 
suddenly seemed very big and awfully lonely.  Anna crawled back into 
bed and underneath the heavy comforter.  She curled herself into a little 
ball and closed her eyes.  Several minutes later, she heard a shuffling 
sound coming from Christopher’s crib.  Anna rolled over and jumped 
when she saw a figure standing there.

“Josh?” Anna asked, her voice quivering.  He turned and smiled.  
“Josh, what are you doing here?”

“We have some unfinished business,” he replied, turning back to 
Christopher.

“Like what?”

“He is such a beautiful baby.  And he looks just like us and so much 
like the boys.  How did we miss that?” Josh asked.

Anna walked beside him and stared at Christopher, too.  “He should 
look like me and like Ethan.  I’m his sister.  We just weren’t looking.”

“You were looking, Anna.  You always looked.”

“I didn’t see it.  It was so easy to chalk up your expressions on his face 
to all the time you spent with him.”

“I think you didn’t want to see it.  I think that you feel guilty because 
your parents never had the opportunity to raise you or Emily.  I think 
you wanted to give them what they had missed and you could do that 
with Christopher, so you never double-checked blood work with him.  
You never double-checked anything with him so you could bring him 
home without worries.  If there wasn’t a reason to suspect that 
everything wasn’t on the up and up, then everything could continue the 
way it was.”

“Maybe.”

“But Christopher isn’t theirs.  There’s no hiding that fact now.  Too 
many people know the truth.  And Christopher deserves to know the 
truth.  Your parents need to know the truth.”

“It will tear our family apart.”

“This family has been through more.”

“Threats from the outside.  This comes from within.”

“That’s a risk you’re going to have to take.  Look at you, Anna.  
You’ve already moved his crib into your room.  What happens when 
they want him back?  What happens the first time your child-rearing 
techniques clash with theirs over Christopher?  Are you going to be 
able to back down and let them be his parents?  And what about when 
you leave, which I know you’re already considering?  Can you leave 
him behind?”

Anna paused, thinking over what he had said.  “We can’t call him 
‘Christopher’ anymore.  That was to provide a connection to Emily, as 
her brother.”

“I have a suggestion.  When I was young, there was a scientist who 
seemed to take a real shine to me and I did to him.  He made sure that 
he was assigned to every project that I worked on.  He was the closest 
thing I had had to a father when I was young.  He helped me to escape 
from the compound I was being held at and died because of it.  I’ve 
never forgotten what he did for me.”

“And you want to name Christopher after him?”

“Yes.  His name was Caleb Walker.  I think we should rename 
Christopher ‘Caleb.’”

“Caleb.  It’s beautiful.  Caleb Steven Mulder.”

“Steven?”

“From ‘Stevenson.’”

“After my mother.  Caleb Steven Mulder: it’s a fine name.”

“Listen to us, to me.  I have to tell them.  I have to tell them soon.  No 
more lies.  And I have to tell the boys and Emily.  Tomorrow morning, 
when Mulder and Scully both come back, I’ll tell them.”

“Good,” Josh whispered.  “Anna, it’s time for me to go.  I want you to 
know that I love you and I will always be with you.”

“I love you,” Anna replied.  She closed her eyes as Josh kissed her 
forehead.  When she opened them, he was gone.  She wiped away the 
tears that had fallen from her eyes.

“Mommy!” Ethan screamed.  Anna darted out of her room and into his.  
Ethan was sitting up in bed, tears streaming down his face.  His eyes 
were wide open, but Anna could tell by their glossiness that he was still 
asleep.  “Mommy, it’s coming!”

“Ethan, you have to find the door, baby.  Find the door,” Anna told 
him.  Ethan stood on his bed and cuffed his hands around the invisible 
doorknob.  He began to shake back and forth violently.  “It’s locked, 
Mommy!  I can’t get out!”

“Yes, you can, baby.  Yes, you can.” Anna had to stop herself from 
panicking.  The door that Ethan used to escape his dreams had never 
been locked before.  She glanced over at Jacob, who was quietly 
watching his brother.  Suddenly, Ethan stopped rocking and flinched.

“Daddy?” he called out before collapsing on the bed.  He blinked twice 
before looking at Anna.  Ethan grinned liked a Cheshire cat.  He 
exclaimed, “Daddy did it, Mommy.  He killed the bad man.  He said no 
more bad dreams for me.”

Anna held him close.  “That’s great, baby.  That’s great.  It’s time for 
you to get back to sleep.  Do you want to sleep with me tonight?”

Ethan shook his head.  “Sleep in my bed.”

“Okay,” Anna said, tucking him in.  She kissed the top of his head as 
his eyes closed.  She went to Jacob’s bed and knelt beside him.  “What 
about you, Jacob?  Do you want to sleep with me tonight?”

Jacob hesitated before shaking his head.  “I’m okay.”

Anna smiled and tucked him also.  She turned the lights off and left the 
door opened a small crack.  “Good night, my little bugs.  I’ll see you in 
the morning.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

Anna walked down the stairs and into the living room early the next 
afternoon.  She had just put Christopher down for his afternoon nap.  
Her grandmother had taken Jacob and Ethan to the hospital to visit with 
Emily.  They needed to see for themselves that she was okay and Emily 
wanted to see them.  Mulder and Scully had come home for some rest 
and to give Emily a break from them.  She loved her parents, but they 
were already driving her nuts.

Anna had been jumpy all day, even breaking a glass and plate at 
breakfast.  Despite repeated tries, Anna refused to tell Mulder and 
Scully what was on her mind.  She knew she had to tell them about 
Christopher and soon, but she still had no clue how to bring it up to 
them.

Anna walked into the living room timidly.  Mulder and Scully were 
resting on the couch.  Mulder’s arm was draped around Scully.  There 
were dark circles under both of their eyes, but they looked happy just to 
be there.  Anna paced the room, fidgeting with her hands.  The hands 
that Scully claimed were just like her sister, Melissa’s.  Anna stopped 
in front of the mantle, picking up a picture of her and Christopher.  
Scully had taken it the day after Anna had brought Christopher home.  
Anna was sitting on a chair, feeding Christopher his bottle.  His tiny 
fingers wrapped tightly around her finger.  Christopher was staring up 
at her and not the flash, Anna noticed for the first time.

“We can’t help if we don’t know what the problem is, Anna,” Mulder 
told her from the couch.  Anna turned, clenching the photograph.  

“You can’t help with this,” she replied.

“Why?”

Anna sat down on the chair as Mulder and Scully leaned closer to her.  
She could tell by their expressions that they thought this would be 
about Josh.  “Because it’s your lives that are going to be torn apart 
when I tell you what I have to tell you.”

Scully grabbed Mulder’s hand with her own.  “What do you have to tell 
us?”

“I made a mistake.  A huge, horrible mistake.”

“We can fix a mistake,” Mulder tried to reassure her.  

Anna shook her head and bit her bottom lip.  “When Christopher, when 
he was born, I assumed he was yours.” Anna watched as the color 
drained from their faces.  “I never bothered to double-check what the 
Consortium’s records had said.  I wanted so badly for him to be yours.  
A few months ago, rumors were surfacing that he wasn’t.  The Lone 
Gunmen and I did a DNA test to dispel those rumors.”

“But they didn’t, did they?” Scully uttered.  “Christopher isn’t our 
biological son, is he?”

“No, he isn’t.”

“He’s yours.”  Scully cleared her throat in an attempt to stop her tears 
from coming.  Anna looked at her surprised by Scully’s statement.  
Scully continued,  “I had suspected it, but I didn’t want to tell myself 
that it could be true.  How long have you known?”

“Since a few days before the accident.”  Anna was cautious.  She could 
hear the hurt and anger in Scully’s undertones. 

“That’s why you moved Christopher’s crib into your room, isn’t it?”

“That and so you could sleep without interruption.”

“And that’s why you always feed him anymore, and change him, and 
give him his bath, and put…”

“No!” Anna shouted.  “You’re acting like this is something new.  I 
have always taken care of Christopher with the exception of the few 
weeks when I went to find Ethan.  He has always been my 
responsibility and your baby-sitting job.”

“Baby-sitting job?”

“Yes.  From the time that Josh and I and the boys decided to live here, I 
have been in charge of him.  You get him up in the morning, but you 
bring him right to me.  I feed him, and dress him, and play with him 
until his morning nap.”

“We have to work.”

“Not everyday, you don’t.”  Anna went on, “I feed him lunch.  I take 
him to the park. I’m the one who makes sure that he goes to the 
doctor’s and has new clothes and is developing right.  I’m the one who 
knows that he hates the teddy bear outfit that Bill bought him and that 
his favorite stuffed animal is his lamb.  Did you know that he won’t 
sleep without the dinosaur pacifier that Josh gave him?  You come 
home and play with him for a few minutes, maybe feed him dinner, and 
pass him back to me to put to bed.  I have always been that child’s 
mother.  It’s why he calls for me in the morning.  It’s why he doesn’t 
care when you leave him.”

Mulder and Scully sat back in the couch, stunned into silence.  

“Do you understand my problem?” Anna continued.  “I don’t want to 
hurt you.  That’s why I brought him here in the first place, but I can’t 
pretend that he isn’t mine.  I can’t go on living in this lie, can you?”

“No,” Scully croaked.  She grabbed Mulder’s face and turned it to meet 
hers.  “I don’t want to lose him, but we really won’t be.  He’ll still be 
our grandson.  He will still be a part of this family.”

Mulder’s face crumbled, hot tears springing from his eyes.  He nodded 
his head.  Scully nodded too, her own face in ruins.  “This is the right 
thing to do,” Scully cried.  They were quiet for several moments, trying 
to compose themselves.

“How do we go about changing this?” Mulder asked at last.  It was 
Anna’s turn to crumble.  She was elated that she would have her son 
without a fight, but she was overwhelmed with guilt for causing her 
family so much pain and regret for not doing the DNA test in the 
beginning.  And then, part of her was caught off-guard by Mulder and 
Scully’s willingness to give Christopher to him.

“I’m leaving in a few days, after Emily comes home.  I think we should 
do the big change then.” Anna told them.

“You’re leaving?  For how long?” Mulder asked.

“I –I don’t know.  I just know that the group needs me right now, and 
Jacob, Ethan, Caleb, and I need time to form this new family.  You and 
Emily will need time too.”

“Caleb?” Scully asked.

Anna paused.  “Um, I’m changing Christopher’s name to Caleb Steven 
when he comes with me.  Christopher was the name I chose to connect 
him to Emily, as a sibling.  Caleb was the name of the scientist that 
raised Josh.  Steven is an abbreviation of his mother’s last name.”

“It’s a good name,” Mulder commented.  “It’s a strong name.  My 
grandson, Caleb.”

“We’re home!” Mrs. Scully yelled, walking into the kitchen with Jacob 
and Ethan.  Anna wiped the tears away from her face.  “I just want to 
thank you for giving him to me.  I know that it must be hard for you to 
try to do this so calmly when every being in your soul must be 
screaming to hold on to him.”

Scully leaned forward and held Anna’s hands.  “We’ll be okay.  Let us 
worry about us and you about your boys.  This is the right thing to do.  
We’re not losing him completely.  It’s not as if you and he won’t be a 
part of our lives.”

Anna began to cry again.  “I didn’t want to do this to you.  I didn’t want 
to be the one to bring you pain.  I’ve tried so hard to make it right.”

“You’ve brought us Emily, and you brought us back together.  Anna, 
you did that.  And brought us you.  And you gave us grandchildren, 
three… wonderful boys.  And you brought us a son in Josh.  Despite all 
of the hardships that we’ve endured in the last few weeks, I wouldn’t 
change any of it.  I have never felt so complete as I have since you 
brought Emily to me,” Mulder told her.

“The same goes for me.  It’s time for us to make ourselves happy and 
it’s time for you to make yourself happy,” Scully added.

“Mommy!” Ethan called from the kitchen.

“I better go and see them,” Anna said.  “I love you, Mom.  I love you, 
Dad.”

Anna walked out of the room quickly.  Scully turned to Mulder.  “Is it 
possible to have the best day and worst day of your life in the same 
day?  She called us ‘Mom and Dad’ and she told us that she loved us.  I 
honestly had given up any hope that it would happen.  And yet…”

“We’ve lost our son.  He may still be a part of this family, but he will 
no longer be our son.  It feels as if he has died.”

Scully embraced Mulder.  Things had fallen apart once again.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

Mulder and Scully walked into Emily’s room later that afternoon to 
find Emily sitting up in bed, watching cartoons.  The visit with the boys 
seemed to have done much to lift her spirits.  The color had nearly 
completely returned to her face and the dark circles under her eyes 
were fading.  It was hard to believe that this was the same child who 
had almost died just a few days ago.

“Hi Mommy!  Hi Daddy!” Emily said eagerly.

“Hiya, Munchkin,” Mulder replied, softly.  He kissed her forehead and 
sat down in one of the chairs, mindlessly staring out the window.

Scully, too, kissed Emily’s forehead, but sat on her bed.  “Emily, 
Daddy and I have something to tell you.”

“What?” Emily asked, panicky.

Scully put her hands on Emily’s.  “Everybody’s fine.  It’s not that.  
Daddy and I just learned some information that we didn’t know before.  
It, um, it turns out that Christopher isn’t our son like we thought.  It 
turns out that he is Anna’s son.  That means, he’s not your brother.”

“He’s my nephew, then?  Like Jacob and Ethan?” Emily’s bottom lip 
was sticking, but she was managing to withhold any tears.

“Yes, just like Jacob and Ethan,” Scully replied, her own eyes welling 
up with tears.

Emily hugged her mother.  “It’s okay, Mommy.  It’s okay.  Christopher 
was always more a part of Anna.”

“What do you mean, Munchkin?” Mulder asked, at last finding his 
voice.

“Well, like on school mornings.  Christopher didn’t like to wake you 
up, Daddy.  He liked being in the kitchen with Anna.  And he liked it 
when Anna fed him; he didn’t fuss as much.  He cried when Anna 
would leave him, but he didn’t cry when you would leave him.  Do you 
think that Christopher knows he’s Anna’s son and not yours?”

“No,” Scully answered.  “I think Christopher spends a lot of time with 
Anna while Mommy and Daddy work and that’s why he is so attached 
to Anna.  I think Christopher knows that we all love him very, very 
much and that it will be very easy for him to become Anna’s son.”

Emily was quiet for a minute.  “Anna’s going away, isn’t she?  She’s 
taking Jacob and Ethan and Christopher and going away.”

Mulder nodded, amazed by how well Emily knew Anna.  “Yeah, in a 
few days, when you get out of the hospital.”

“Then it will just be the three of us.” Emily paused again.  “That wasn’t 
so bad.”

“No, I don’t suppose it was.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 “There’s my boy,” Anna cooed as she walked into her room.  
Christopher was lying in his crib, fussing.  Anna picked him up and 
patted his back.  “Are you having trouble sleeping?  Do you know 
what’s coming, my sweet baby boy?”

Anna turned to find Scully standing in the doorway, her face crushed.  
“We told Emily.  She seemed to take it well.  She knew, instinctively, 
that you would be leaving.”

Scully went to take Christopher, but he turned away from her, sucking 
on his thumb.  Scully shook her head and left the room.  Anna laid 
Christopher back down and followed Scully to the den.  The den was 
rarely used by anyone in the house unless they needed the computer.  It 
stored lots of Mulder’s work too, but he hardly sat in there and did 
research, either.

“I’m sorry,” Anna apologized.  

“About what?  About being his mother?  As you pointed out, Anna, 
you’ve always been his true mother.” Scully paused.  “I’m sorry.  I 
didn’t mean to sound so rude.”

“Yes, you did,” Anna replied, flatly.  Scully’s face froze in morbid 
horror.  “And it’s about time you said it.”

“What are you talking about?” Scully asked her.

“You walk on eggshells around me all the time and I can’t take it 
anymore!  Why can’t you just tell me what you’re thinking; what 
you’re really thinking?”

“I don’t want to lose you,” Scully said, slowly.

“You’re going to lose me more if you refuse to be honest with me.  If 
someone came and told me that Ethan wasn’t my son, and that they 
were going to take him away, I’d had much stronger of reaction then 
you did.”

“Would you rather I make it difficult for all of us?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.  You claim that I have a wall built up 
around me, but you have an even bigger one around you.  You won’t 
let any of us know what you’re really feeling.  From the minute I 
stepped into this family, you hid.  I won’t disappear because of 
anything that you say or feel.”

Scully grew quiet as she down on the desk chair.  “I, uh, I am very 
jealous of you.  You were the one who got to raise Emily when she was 
young.  You get to raise Christopher.  It’s true that you haven’t had 
Ethan since he was born, but he barely remembers that other life and he 
will soon forget all of it.  Emily will always be torn between our world 
and yours.  And I’m furious that you stepped in and raise Emily; that 
you decided her own mother didn’t have the right to know that she was 
okay.  I can logically understand why you did it.  You’re probably 
right.  I probably wouldn’t have let you cure Emily, but I was never 
given the chance to make that decision.  You decided that I wouldn’t 
make the right decision and you took it away from me.”

“I wanted to save her.”

“She was my child!  I wanted to save her, too.”

“Then why didn’t you?  Why didn’t you give her the shots that Mulder 
found?”

“I didn’t know there was a cure.  I thought I was doing the best thing 
for her.  I thought I was ending her suffering from an incurable disease 
that would only grow worse as time went on.  I wasn’t giving up on 
her.  I was protecting her the only way I thought I could at the time.”  
Scully continued when Anna nodded her head in agreement, “And I’m 
jealous of the time that you got to spend with my father.  He never 
hesitated to tell you how proud he was of you, did he?  I didn’t get that 
side of him.  I love my father very much, but I wish that just once he 
would have said to me, I am proud of what you accomplished.  And 
I’m angry that as close as we were, he wouldn’t tell me about you, my 
own daughter.  He knew you were out there and he knew that if I had 
even an inkling about you, I would have searched the farthest corners 
of the earth looking for you.
“I’m angry and I’m hurt that you decided to return Emily to her father 
and never told me about her.”

“You had a new life, new friends.  It wasn’t the right place to take 
Emily.”

“We’re being truthful here, Anna.”

Anna looked up from her lap.  “I didn’t trust you.  I didn’t trust you 
enough to find Mulder, to let him know about Emily.  I knew that 
Mulder would not stop until he found you, but I wasn’t sure you would 
do the same.”

“Why?”

“Because you left him.  Things got too difficult and you packed your 
things and left.  You didn’t speak to him afterwards.  It took months of 
messages for you to acknowledge his existence.  I spent my entire life 
following your lives and it killed me when you did that.  I have never 
felt so alone and so afraid as when the two of you separated.  And I 
know that you were not a couple, not officially anyway, but you were 
still my parents.”

“But we weren’t, really.  We were people you heard stories about.  We 
were players in a game created by the Consortium that you willingly 
participated in.  You manipulated us as much as they did.”

“I did not.  I watched, but I never interfered.”

“You took Emily from us.  You made us believe she was dead.  And no 
matter what reasons you did that for, no matter how well it turned out, 
you still took her from us.”

Anna didn’t reply.

“And even forgoing Emily, you manipulated us by simply not telling us 
that you existed.  How different things might have turned out if you 
had.  And still, Anna, there are millions of secrets that you hold hidden 
within that brain of yours.  You decide when we are privileged enough 
to hear that information.  You did it when Christopher was born and 
when it was discovered he was yours.  You did it with Samantha and 
Ethan.  You talk about trust.  How can we ever trust you when we don’t 
know what you’re hiding from us?”

Anna had her forehead on her fists.  “I want you to continue.”

“I’m frustrated, Anna, that you open yourself up more to Mulder then 
to me.  That he is allowed to see sides of you that I don’t.  And then I 
get angry with myself for feeling so frustrated when I know that you 
open up to him more because you can relate to male authority figures 
better then females.
“I’m mad, I’m so mad at the way you stepped in and took over this 
family.  It’s true you’ve been Christopher’s mother.  It is.  The other 
truth is that we let you.  Mulder, Emily, Christopher, and I all let you 
become a mother to all of us.  You not only took care of Christopher 
and your own children, but you did the cooking, and the cleaning, and 
the doctor’s appointments, and coordinated after-school activities.  You 
are our housekeeper, our disciplinarian, our psychologist, and our glue 
that holds this family together.  I’m not mad at you for that.  I know 
you did what had to be done.  I’m mad at myself and I’m mad at 
Mulder for letting you; for not standing up and taking it for ourselves.  
And if I’m to be completely honest, I’m mad at Emily and Christopher 
for never questioning it.  I know I’ve taken that all out on you.  I know 
I’ve kept you from seeing the real me and I’m sorry.  I am so sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Anna said quietly.  

“But I am.  All of this aside, what pains me the most is all the years I 
missed you and Emily growing up.  At least with Emily, I will still get 
many years.  But you, you’re all grown up and I didn’t get to influence 
any of it.”

“You did in some ways, through my grandfather.  He always did what 
he thought you would want to do.  And the stories about you, the ones 
that my grandfather told me, influenced me to become the person that I 
am.”

“They were only stories.”  Scully’s voice grew wistful, “I didn’t even 
get to name my own children.”

“But you did,” Anna protested.

“How?”

“My grandfather used to tell me a story about you, a particular story.  
He said that when you about four, you received a baby doll from one of 
your mother’s friends.  The doll had curly, red hair and big, blue eyes.  
It was supposed to cry when it was moved into certain positions, but it 
never quite worked right.  It practically had to be beaten up to cry, 
which Bill would do.  My grandfather said that you carried that doll 
everywhere and they, on your instructions, called it ‘baby.’  My 
grandfather and you were in the checkout line of a grocery store.  You 
had been carrying on a conversation with the lady behind you.  When 
she asked you what the doll’s name was, you replied, in a great 
booming voice, ‘Her name is Anna Emily.’”

“I remember that doll, but I lost her.”

“In one of your moves.  My grandfather never forgot the scene in the 
grocery store.  He said that I reminded him of that doll with my red hair 
and blue eyes, and because I was so quiet all the time, like Christopher 
is.  So, you see, you did name us, in a way.  If it hadn’t been for that 
story, my grandpa Mulder would have named me ‘Mildred’ after his 
mother.  And if you hadn’t given her that middle name, Emily wouldn’t 
be called ‘Emily.’”

“Where did you get ‘Christine?’” Scully asked.

“Ah, actually, I just liked the name.”

Scully began to laugh, drowning out her tears.  Anna quickly joined 
her.  When their laughter had finally died down, Scully took Anna’s 
hands into her own.  “I’m glad we had this talk.  I love you, Anna.”

Anna grinned.  “I have something for you.  Wait here.”

Anna jumped up and hurried out of the room.  She returned a few 
minutes later, lugging a large cardboard box.  There was no writing on 
the box.  Anna sat it down in front of Scully.  She opened just one flap, 
preventing Scully from glancing inside.  Anna pulled out two photo 
albums and laid them on Scully’s lap.  “These are Emily’s baby 
pictures.  They start the day she was born.”  Anna dug inside the box 
again and pulled out some videotapes.  “These are also of Emily.”

Scully flipped to the first page of the top album.  It was the earliest 
pictures of Emily.  Anna knelt beside Scully staring at the pictures.  
Scully ran her fingers across the photos.  “It’s you, Anna, with Emily.”

“I told you that they started with the day that Emily was born.  This one 
was taken the minute the fluid was broken.  And this one, this is me 
cleaning Emily up.  I wouldn’t let anyone else touch her.”  Anna turned 
the album.  “This one is my favorite.  Grandpa Mulder took it after 
Emily had her check-up and everything.  I made her that outfit.”

Scully reached in and took the picture from beneath the plastic.  She 
held it in her hand.  Anna was sitting in a yellow rocking chair.  The 
walls were also yellow, but they had blue ducks and pink bunnies 
running across a border.  Anna had a few freckles dancing across her 
nose.  Her red hair was pulled into pigtails and her smile was missing 
her front tooth.  Emily was quietly staring into nothing, her face and 
hands red.  She had wisps of blond hair on the top of her head.  Her 
face was relaxed.  Scully was drawn, however, to Anna’s eyes.  They 
appeared bright and blue, but Scully could see the sadness in them.  Her 
heart ached for her little girl.

“Don’t feel sad,” Anna reassured her, as if she had read her mind.  
“That’s the happiest I ever was growing up.  I was so elated that I 
finally had a sister.  Everything else didn’t matter.”  Anna paused.  “I 
have more.  I know that you and Josh were searching for my baby 
pictures and other items of my childhood.  I also know that you know I 
discouraged that as much as possible.  I didn’t prevent you from 
searching, but I did go as far as to ask the Lone Gunmen to not help 
you at all.  The truth is that even if you had searched everywhere, you 
would have found very little… because I’ve had it here all along.  The 
rest of this box contains pictures and videotapes and all the files that I 
managed to take with me when I left.  I just think it’s time for you to 
see them.”

Anna pushed the box towards Scully and stood up.  Scully opened the 
box and looked inside.  “You’re leaving?” she asked Anna.

“Yeah.  Emily’s childhood I could tell you all about.  Jacob and 
Ethan’s; same thing.  But reviewing my own… I just can’t.  I hope this 
answers your questions.”

“Thank you,” Scully mumbled, already lost in Anna’s album.

Mulder walked into the den early the next morning, half panicked.  He 
found Scully asleep on the chair, photo albums and papers surrounding 
her.  Mulder sighed heavily in relief that she was safe.  He woke her by 
gently shaking her shoulder.  

“Morning,” he whispered.  Scully’s eyes fluttered open and she 
yawned.  “Hi.”

“What’s all of this?” Mulder asked.

“Um, it’s Anna’s childhood, pictures and such.  She had them here the 
entire time and gave them to me last night.  We had a long talk.  I think 
we’re good now.”

“That’s great,” Mulder said, kissing her forehead.  He sat on the arm of 
the chair.  “Scully, I want to go to the funeral this morning.  I want to 
say good-bye to my sister."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Mulder, dressed in a dark black suit with a black tie, walked solemnly 
towards the gravesite.  Scully walked beside him, holding tightly to his 
hand.  She was wearing a simple black dress.  Anna walked a few paces 
behind them with her grandmother, who had insisted on coming.  
Mulder’s own mother had decided not to, not that it was any big 
surprise seeing as she had yet to acknowledge Mulder’s children and 
grandchildren.  Spring had finally overtaken winter and the air was 
warm enough to forgo any jackets.  The sun beat down brightly and the 
birds were emerging from the south, singing happy songs.  

The Cigarette-Smoking Man was also dressed in all black.  His usual 
cigarette was replaced by a single white daisy.  His head was bent in 
sorrow and his shoulders were as heavy as a ship at half-mast.  Mulder 
had never seen the man so white and grief-stricken.  It startled him that 
this monster could have such honest, strong feelings for his sister.  The 
coffin had already been placed inside the ground, but the dirt had yet to 
touch it.  An older preacher in his late seventies stood in front of the 
grave dressed in black robes.  He held a small Bible with gold binding 
in his right hand.  A purple ribbon stuck out from the pages.  His hair 
was white, but had not thinned, despite his age and his brown eyes 
sparkled through his wrinkled face.

The Mulders and Mrs. Scully took their place around the grave as the 
preacher began.  “We are gathered here this morning to say good-bye to 
our sister, Samantha Teena Spender, whose life was tragically cut short 
in a car accident.”

Mulder stared at the open grave so intently that he lost the preacher’s 
words.  He half expected Samantha or someone to jump out of the 
ground and attempt to kidnap them all.  But the longer he stared, the 
more he realized that was never going to happen.  Mulder felt anger 
growing inside his chest.  This was what he spent years searching for, 
he asked himself.  This is what he had sacrificed friends and family and 
a life for?   This is what killed Deep Throat and Mr. X and his own 
father and countless others?  His damn search for his sister would end 
up here, at her grave, without a chance of knowing her, without a 
chance of talking to her, telling her that he loved her and that he was 
sorry he had let her go that night so many years ago.  And then he 
thought of all the things that Samantha had done since that night: 
creating Emily, stringing him along in the restaurant, adopting Ethan, 
creating Christopher, the car accident.  Perhaps, it was better that he 
couldn’t talk to her; that he could remember her as that sweet eight-
year-old.  Perhaps, Scully was right: Samantha had died when she was 
eight and what emerged was a monstrosity.

Mulder felt moisture on the tops of his cheeks.  He realized too late that 
he had begun to cry.  Scully squeezed his hand harder.  He wanted to 
run away, bury himself in Scully’s shoulder and pretend that none of 
this was happening, but his body was frozen stiff.  He couldn’t even 
stop himself from crying.  So instead, he let the tears flow and he cried, 
but not just for his sister, but for his mother and his father and for his 
children and grandchildren, for Josh, for Scully, and for himself.  He 
thought of the good times he had with his sister.  The afternoons they 
spent shooting hoops in the driveway.  The Sunday fishing trips he took 
her on.  The way she made him play tea party with her and her stuffed 
animals.  He thought of the night that she was taken from him.  The sad 
look on his parents faces as they left that would have shown him 
something wrong was about to happen if he had paid attention.  The 
fight that he and Samantha had over the television.  The fear he felt 
frozen in the light as he watched his sister being taken right in front of 
his eyes.  For the first time in thirty years, Mulder forgave himself for 
not stopping them, for only being a kid, knowing finally that no matter 
what he had done that night, they would have taken his sister from him.

“Mulder,” Scully whispered in his ear.  He turned and looked at her for 
the first time since they had arrived.  His eyes were still full of tears 
and they continued to fall over the ones that had dried.   Mulder looked 
back at the grave, seeing it at last.  The daisy that the Cigarette-
Smoking Man had held in his hand was now on the coffin.  Mulder 
raised his head and watched as he shuffled away slowly, alone.  Mulder 
watched as Mrs. Scully and Anna cast their flowers into the grave.  
Mrs. Scully with a white lily and Anna with her trademark blue rose 
and walked away.  Scully left Mulder’s side momentarily to leave her 
lily on the coffin.  Mulder lay his own daisy, the same flower that the 
Cigarette-Smoking Man had possessed on the coffin.  It had been 
Samantha’s favorite flower was she was young.  He placed a picture of 
the two of them on her gravestone with a small rock to keep it 
grounded.  

“She’ll always be my little sister,” Mulder said out loud.  He took 
Scully’s hand and walked with her back to the car where Mrs. Scully 
and Anna were waiting.  He turned back to the grave for one last look.  
He saw the apparition of an eight-year-old Samantha staring back at 
him.  She smiled before turning around and running into the arms of 
their father, Bill Mulder.  Mulder breathed in deeply.

“What is it?” Scully asked, looking in the same direction as Mulder.  
The apparition disappeared.  Mulder glanced at Scully before looking 
over at Anna.  Anna’s mouth was wide open and a single teardrop had 
fallen from her right eye.  She looked back at Mulder and smiled.  She 
had seen it too.

“It’s nothing,” Mulder replied.  “It’s just good to be free.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

“That’s the last one!” Anna called from the back of her station wagon.  
She slammed the door closed and muttered, “It’s a good thing, too.”

Anna glanced back at the porch were Jacob and Ethan sat with Emily.  
Emily had come home from the hospital a week earlier.  Her arm was 
still in a cast and was covered in drawings and messages from her 
family and friends.  The only other visible mark from the accident was 
a yellowish bump on her forehead.  That too, however, was quickly 
healing.  The stitches from her surgery had healed and she was up and 
running about, despite warnings otherwise from her doctor and her 
mother.  Emily had a scowl on her face.  She had been unusually quiet 
with Anna since she had found out that Anna was indeed leaving.  
Anna knew Emily was angry, but she also knew Emily would enjoy the 
extra time with her parents.

Inside, Scully was double-checking the living room for anything that 
might have been overlooked.  She pulled a cloth duck from underneath 
the couch.  She smiled absently to herself as she put the duck into 
Christopher’s diaper bag.  She pulled the duck back out of the bag and 
breathed it in deeply.  She could smell Christopher on it.  She tucked it 
into a drawer on the end table.

Upstairs, Mulder walked into Emily and Anna’s room.  Now, it was 
only Emily’s room, he thought to himself.  The lack of two beds proved 
it to him.  Anna’s bed had been stored into the unfinished attic earlier 
that morning.  Christopher’s crib sat in the corner of the room, but that 
too would soon be stored away.  Christopher had pulled himself up in 
the crib.  He laughed when he saw Mulder enter the room.  Mulder 
lifted him out of the crib. 

“There’s my big boy,” Mulder told him.  He hugged Christopher.  “I 
never realized how much I missed Emily and Anna as babies until you 
came along.  I also never realized that I could be a father to a baby.  My 
experience rested mostly with older kids.  I want to thank you for that.  
You made it so easy to love you, Christopher.  I’m glad that I got to be 
your father, if only for a little while.”

Mulder walked downstairs.  “We both know that Anna is a great 
mother, but if you ever need anything, anything at all, you come back 
to us.  We will always be here for you.  I love you, Christopher.”

Mulder kissed the top of Christopher’s head.  Standing in the living 
room doorway, he cleared his throat, startling Scully in her search.  
“You’ve checked this room enough, Scully.”

Scully nodded and took Christopher from him.  Mulder walked outside 
to say good-bye to the boys.  “Hi Christopher.  Or should I call you 
Caleb now?  I think that I’ll wait until you’ve gone before I start calling 
you that.  Until then, you’ll still be my Christopher.  I’m not going to 
be your mother anymore, but I will always be here for you.  And I am 
going to miss you so much.  But I promise I won’t try to worry too 
much.  I guess, it’s time for us to say good-bye.  You’re moving away 
for awhile; all the way across the country.  And you’re going to have a 
new mother and two brothers.  But lucky for you, you already know 
them.  I’ll never be far away, Christopher.”

Scully walked outside to find Mulder chasing Jacob and Ethan into the 
car.  He picked Ethan up first and cannonballed him into the car.  Next, 
he grabbed Jacob, who hugged him before diving into the car.

Emily stood on the porch, holding onto the railing.  She was watching 
the car wistfully.  Scully rubbed Emily’s headed to get her to turn 
around.  “Do you want to say good-bye?”

“I already said good-bye to the boys,” Emily replied, gloomily.  She 
kissed Christopher’s hand.  “Bye, Christopher.  I’ll miss you very, very 
much.”

“Did you say good-bye to your sister?”

Emily shook her head.  Scully smiled half-heartily and walked down 
the stairs.  She walked over to Anna, who was receiving a hug from 
Mulder.

“Don’t forget about us back here, kiddo” he was telling her.  “Our door 
is always open.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Anna replied, biting her bottom lip.  She turned to 
Scully.  Scully gave Christopher one last kiss before handing him over 
to Anna.  “Take good care of my grandsons.”

“I will,” Anna promised, as she hugged her mother.  Anna secured 
Christopher in his car seat and shut the door.  She looked back at the 
house, where Emily stood.  Anna called out, “Good-bye, Emily!”

Emily waved slightly as Anna began to get into the car.  “Anna, wait! 
Emily ran towards the car.  She jumped into Anna’s arms.  Anna 
hugged her tightly, tears streaming down both their faces.

“I’ll miss you,” Emily cried.

“I’ll miss you, too, Munchkin, everyday,” Anna replied.  “I love you, 
little sister.”

“I love you, big sister.”

Anna put Emily down and got back into the car.  She waved good-bye 
as she backed down the driveway.

Mulder put his arms around Scully and Emily when they could no 
longer see the car.  “It’s Sunday.  Let’s go make spaghetti.




THE END