Disclaimer: The characters of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, belong to Chris Carter (I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!), Ten Thirteen Productions, and Twentieth Television, and are used without permission and with no intent to infringe on any copyrights.
The car engine whined indignantly and sputtered to a stop.
Dana Scully sighed. Mulder had been trying to restart the car for
the past ten minutes without success ever since it had coughed
and died in the middle of the highway.
He turned to her and shrugged. "The engines cannae take any
more," he said in his best Scotty brogue.
"I'm a doctor, not a mechanic," Scully replied. "Now what do
we do?" she said, more to herself than to Mulder.
"Well, the heater in this car isn't going to last much
longer, and the snow's falling faster...We'd better get out of
here or we'll get snowed in." He smiled at Scully. "Not the way I
want to spend the holidays."
Scully stared out the window. What was that in the distance?
"Mulder, look," she said, pointing ahead. "Is that a light?"
Mulder peered out, trying to see through the thick curtain
of snow. "Hang on, I'll take a look," he said, opening the door.
He stepped outside, ran forward a few steps, and soon returned,
beaming all over his face. "It IS a light!" he said, "and it's
coming from a house. It's not very far - maybe we can ask for
shelter."
Scully looked doubtful. "It's the 90s, Mulder - people
aren't going to want to let total strangers into their house,"
she reminded him.
"It's Christmas, Scully," he reminded her in turn. "Besides,
you got a better idea?"
Snow was an inch deep on their heads and shoulders by the
time they reached the doorstep of the brightly lit house, which
to their relief turned out to be a small bed-and-breakfast. In
the window stood a nine-branched menorah, its nine candles lit,
shining bravely out into the cold. Mulder rang the bell.
They heard a fumbling of locks, and the door opened a crack.
An eye peered out cautiously. "Yes?" said a faintly European-
accented voice.
Mulder said, "Good evening, sir - we need a couple of rooms
for the night."
The door closed for a moment, and then opened fully. A tall,
dark man stood in the doorway, smiling. "Please, come in," he
said, standing aside. "I am Marriott Goldstein, owner and
proprietor of The Nook." He led them to the front desk, saying "I
hope you don't mind sharing a room - we have just one left.
People come here for the ice-skating," he added by way of
explanation.
Mulder and Scully exchanged a glance, and Scully said, "No,
we don't mind sharing."
A small, heavily pregnant woman came into the lobby as
Mulder was signing the register, and Goldstein introduced her
proudly as "My wife, Josephine."
"Hello," she said shyly, looking up at them from below thick
eyelashes. As Scully shook her hand, she noted reflexively that
Josephine was not far from her time.
The room that Goldstein showed them to was small and plain,
with a large double bed taking up most of the space. Mulder and
Scully both noticed the one bed at the same time, and exchanged a
nervous look. "Um, thank you, sir," Mulder said. Goldstein showed
them where everything was, and backed out.
As soon as the door had closed behind the owner, Mulder said
"I'll take the floor."
"Mulder - it's okay. We can share the bed," Scully answered.
"That is, if you trust me," she added with a mischievious twinkle
in her eye. Mulder snorted, but looked at her gratefully. The bed
did feel soft, and they'd been driving a long time.
Mulder and Scully settled at opposite sides of the bed, as
far from each other as possible without actually falling off the
edges. Mulder turned off the lamp, and they both nestled into
their respective sides under the thick quilt.
Scully awoke to a commotion coming from downstairs.
Carefully she maneuvered out from under the quietly snoring
Mulder's arm, which had somehow become draped over her during the
night, and padded softly to the door.
As soon as she opened it, Mulder was awake, saying, "What's
the matter?"
"I heard a noise downstairs," she answered, checking her
holster to make sure of her gun. Mulder got out of bed and
followed her out into the hall.
Mrs Goldstein lay groaning on the couch in the lobby, with
her husband fluttering around her helplessly. Scully went to the
woman quickly, making a mental checklist of her symptoms. "The
baby's coming," she announced, somewhat unnecessarily.
Marriott Goldstein and Mulder's jaws dropped as they said,
simultaneously, "Oy vey."
Scully ignored them. "Have you called her doctor?" she asked
Goldstein, who shook his head wildly.
"T-The lines are down because of the snow," he explained.
Mulder was already sprinting upstairs to get his cellular phone.
Goldstein said, "What can I do?"
"Get clean towels and sheets, and oh yeah, boil water,"
Scully replied without hesitation. Goldstein ran for the kitchen.
"Scully!" Mulder hollered. "I got the hospital, but the
snow's too deep for the ambulance to get through. It's gonna take
an hour for the snowplow to clear the roads - at least."
"We don't HAVE an hour!" Scully replied. Mrs Goldstein cried
out. Scully turned to help the woman.
Mulder said into the phone, "Just get here as fast as you
can, all right?!" and cut the connection.
Goldstein flew in, carrying a stack of linens. Mrs Goldstein
had enough presence of mind left to protest, "No, Marri - not the
guest towels!"
"Hang in there, ma'am," Scully muttered, checking her watch
and timing the contractions. Slightly over a minute apart - "This
kid's in a hurry," she commented to Mulder, who was hovering
around nervously. "Mulder, you're making me nervous. Go help Mr
Goldstein," she ordered him. Mrs Goldstein's eyes widened and she
was about to say something when another contraction drove all
thoughts of speaking from her mind.
Mulder went into the kitchen, and drew up in surprise at the
sight of the three strange men bustling around the kitchen,
conversing in rapid-fire Spanish.
Goldstein looked from Mulder to the three men in horror. "Mr
Mulder! You should not be here!" Goldstein exclaimed.
"Why not?" Mulder asked, slightly confused. Then it dawned
on him. "Are these men - illegal aliens?" he asked.
Goldstein stopped rushing about and hung his head. "I
confess. They came to me, begging for a job, and I needed a cook,
so -"
Mulder cut him off, assuring him, "I never saw them in my
life."
Goldstein looked at him gratefully, saying "Thank you, Mr
Mulder."
"Hey, you got a kid on the way, I figure you've got enough
problems," Mulder said, grinning. "Now - where's the stove? I'm
supposed to be helping you boil water."
Mrs Goldstein sucked in a breath noisily as another
contraction hit. "Breathe out slow, the way I showed you," Scully
told her, supporting her shoulders.
Goldstein came in, carrying another pile of clean linens.
The room was by now draped with enough linen to give it the
appearance of a dryer room in a Chinese laundry.
"Come over here, Mr Goldstein," Scully said, "you should be
giving support to your wife." Goldstein obeyed, kneeling down
beside his wife and taking hold of her hand. She clung to it
gratefully.
Meanwhile, Mulder was chatting amicably with the three Cuban
refugees. "So you're Juan Rey, Jose Rey and Jorge Rey, huh?" he
said, and they nodded cheerfully.
Scully came in to scrub up.
"How's it going?" Mulder asked.
Scully sighed, drying off her hands. "Contractions are less
than a minute apart. I think the baby'll be here in the next
twenty minutes."
"I called the hospital again," Mulder informed her. "They're
moving as fast as they can, but it's a long haul out to here. It
looks like it's all in your hands, Dr Scully."
Scully smiled nervously back at him. "My specialty was
forensic medicine, Mulder," she reminded him. "Obstetrics made me
...squeamish."
"Hey, if Bill Cosby could do it, so can you," he said
lightly. Then his face grew serious. "You can do it," he
repeated, grasping her shoulders lightly and looking into her
eyes.
"Thanks, Mulder," she replied quietly.
"Can I push now?" Mrs Goldstein bit out between clenched
teeth.
"Not yet - hang on - all right, NOW," Scully commanded. A
sharp cry tore from the laboring woman's throat as she bore down.
"It's crowning," Scully said, trying to keep her voice
steady.
"It's crowning!" Mulder called to the small crowd of the
other hotel guests who had been awakened by the noisy bustle. Not
all of them understood exactly what he meant, but they cheered
enthusiastically anyway.
"The head's coming out!" Scully called as Mrs Goldstein
pushed again.
"Is it a boy or a girl?" Marriott Goldstein asked in
excitement. In the past ten minutes, his wife had astounded him
with her large vocabulary of Yiddish curses, all of which were
addressed to him and his parentage, but his spirits remained
undampened. Even Mulder had been surprised by the extent of the
small woman's colloquial knowledge.
"It's hard to tell by the ears," Scully replied pointedly.
"Okay, ma'am, get ready for one final push - not yet, not yet -
NOW!" Mrs Goldstein bore down with all of her might.
For a moment, all was silent except for Mrs Goldstein's
exhausted gasps. Then, the sweetest music of all filled the air -
the cry of a newborn.
"It's a girl," Scully announced breathlessly.
The peanut gallery cheered again.
Scully wrapped the baby in a clean sheet, and Mulder carried
her to the new parents. As the Goldsteins oohed and aahed over
their daughter, Scully sat back on her heels with an exhausted
sigh. Mulder went over to her and massaged her shoulders,
whispering into her ear, "You did great."
"It's not over yet," Scully answered in a low voice, the
side of her mouth curling up in less-than-gleeful anticipation.
"Now comes the REALLY squeamish part."
Just then, the doorbell rang. Mulder answered it. The
blinking red light of the tardy ambulance illuminated the falling
snow outside. Scully breathed another sigh of relief as the
paramedics rushed in, and she stood back to let them take over.
"Thank you, thank you," Mrs Goldstein called to Scully from
the gurney as she was wheeled out to the ambulance to be taken to
the hospital for a once-over. Marriott Goldstein pressed Scully's
hand warmly and wordlessly before going to accompany his wife and
daughter to the hospital. Mulder and Scully, and the three Reys,
stood on the doorstep to watch the ambulance speed away.
"Well, that was fun," Mulder commented to Scully as they
went back into the hotel. Scully threw him a half-smile as she
locked the door and they entered the now-empty lobby. The other
hotel guests, now that the excitement was over, had wandered back
to their rooms and warm beds. The Reys bustled around, clearing
up the scattered linens and making it very clear that they were
taking charge until the Marriotts' return. Feeling like a fifth
wheel, Mulder and Scully took the hint and retreated to their
room.
Scully flopped down on her side of the bed with a huge sigh.
"Something the matter, _Doctor_ Scully?" Mulder asked as he
turned off the overhead light and got in beside her.
Scully smiled and turned her head to face him. "Not really.
I just realized that I delivered a _baby_."
"Oh, really?" Mulder answered, grinning. "I hadn't noticed."
Scully returned a sarcastic ha-ha look. Mulder's grin
softened into a gentle smile.
"What?" Scully said.
"Huh?" he replied.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.
He took a deep breath, and said, "Just now, down there, you
were...terrific. You helped that woman give birth to a baby. A
baby who, by the way, stands a very good chance of being named
Dana," he added, grinning again. She snorted.
"Everybody was going into hysterics, me included," he
continued, "but you - you were so calm. You didn't lose control
for a moment, and everybody took one look at you and cooled down.
I guess I hadn't realized until now that you've been doing the
same thing for me over the past year. And I just want to let you
know...I appreciate it." Scully was silent. He raised his head to
look over at her, wondering if he'd put her to sleep, and met her
shining eyes looking back at him.
"Thanks, Mulder," she said quietly. "That means a lot to
me." He smiled sheepishly. "To tell the absolute truth," she
added, "inside, I was screaming meemies. Yes, I was," she replied
to his raised eyebrow. "But then I knew that you, at least, had
confidence in me, and I wasn't so...scared...anymore. Thank
_you_."
"Hey, that's what partners are for," he replied lightly.
"Yep...partner," Scully agreed.
Their eyes met, and locked. Not a word passed between them,
but somehow they knew without speaking that something significant
had just happened. What it was, Mulder and Scully weren't exactly
sure; but they both felt it, and they both knew it, and that was
all that mattered. And suddenly the awkwardness of the past
evening had vanished.
Scully's eyelids fluttered, and closed. Within seconds, her
rhythmic breathing told Mulder that she was asleep. He smiled at
her, though he knew she couldn't see it, and leaned over to tuck
the quilt snugly around her. Then he turned off the bedside lamp
and settled down under the quilt.
© 1995 Winnie Guat-Sim Lim