TITLE:     THE LIFE THEY NOW LEAD (PART 4 OF 4) 
AUTHOR:    ABIGAIL 
E-MAIL:    littlemiss_spookymulder@hotmail.com 
RATING:    PG-13 
CATEGORY:  MSR MSW + Other - F 
KEYWORDS:  Angst, Secondary Character Deaths, Story, 
Oh, and kjippiness for Kate (KJR). 
DISCLAIMER:  All characters from the X-Files belong 
the Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen Productions and Fox 
Broadcasting.


Summary: "I guess this is the life we lead…It's not perfect, but it's 
the next best thing." Conclusion to story.

XXXXXXX

"Mommy, mommy!" Merry cried as she ran into the room. Will 
was right behind her, both their faces flushed.

She let go of Mulder's hand and took Merry's. "What's wrong 
honey?"

"Mommy, that man is back, mommy!!!"

XXXXXXX

Kate stood up to face CGB. She smiled down at Jeffrey and 
muttered, "I guess he found me first."

She walked a little closer, and although she appeared strong, 
Jeffrey saw her hands shake a little.

CGB must have noticed too. A faint smile lit his face as he lit up. 
"You know, Kate, I know what you have planned for me. Just 
remember, now is not the time."

She spoke through gritted teeth. "Only because we're in a hospital 
and they can probably save you."

He took a long drag from his cigarette and turned away. As he 
made his way down the hall, he turned back. "Soon, Kate. Soon." 
And he walked away.

She sat back down. "Damnit, Jeffrey."

She continued. "I can't believe I just let him walk out of here like 
that. But like he said, soon. He knows it..."

XXXXXXX

About 3 days later...at the Mulder home...

"What is that, Daddy?" Meredith looked incredulously at her 
lunch.

"Mac and cheese, Hon," Mulder answered. "Eat up."

She took a little bite. "Daddy, it tastes different when Mommy 
makes it." She pushed it away.

William ate silently. "Dad, when is Mom coming home?"

Mulder sighed. "I don't know, William. I'm going to visit her 
today, and Doggett and Monica are coming over to watch you."

He turned away to clean up the lunch dishes. Playing mom wasn't 
as easy as he thought. He felt that he now had a new appreciation 
for the mother of his children.

Both complained excessively, wouldn't go to bed on time, and, 
they didn't especially like his cooking.

They all wanted Scully to come home.

She spent her time in the maternity ward watching their daughters, 
hoping that they would be all right. He hope that they would be 
home soon, but it wasn't looking like that would happen for a 
while.

Doggett and Monica returned home, Kate had deemed them safe. 
For now at least. She and Jeffrey had gone in search of CSM, 
hopefully he would leave them alone.

XXXXXXX

They were sitting in an abandoned warehouse, old and rickety. 
Watching him from across the street, conducting his business.

Kate watched through her piercing blue eyes, remembering back to 
a time when life was filled with simplicity, only to suddenly be 
taken away and returned with utter horror...

~~~"Your father is dead, Kate! He can't come back!" Cassandra 
Spender whispered frantically as she hugged a hysterical nine-year 
Kate and shook her arms gently, attempting to calm her down.

Casimir Gershom Baldwin Spender stood nearby as the police and 
investigators filed through the house, smoking a cigarette. He had a 
blank expression on his face.

Samantha Mulder walked up to her. Her face was streaked with 
tears. She pulled Kate into a gentle hug, the new scratches on her 
arms overlapping the old ones. "It's gonna be okay, Kate. 
Everything is going to be okay..."

And later...

"You have to, Cas…there's no way that I'll let you put her out in 
the cold after what you did!" Cassandra's voice came through the 
vent to Kate and Sam's waiting ears, as they sat in Samantha's 
room together.

Sometime later…

"Samantha!!! No, I won't let them take you!" Kate screamed to 
Samantha as she packed a few things into a bag, preparing to run 
away.

"I have to Kate! Don't you get it? They're going to take me again! I 
can't stand any more tests!" Samantha frantically yelled back, tears 
streaming down her face as she zipped up her bag as started for the 
door. She turned suddenly and ran back. "I'm gonna miss you. 
You're my best friend in the whole world."

Kate sniffed loudly as her tears joined Samantha's. "I'll miss you 
too. Write me."

Samantha nodded as a bright light entered the room.

"I have to go Kate! Let go of me!" The older girl cried as she 
wrenched herself from Kate's grasp.

As she reached the door, she called out, "My diary. My diary, 
Kate. Keep it. Read it. It's meant for my brother, my real brother, if 
he ever remembers me."

Kate whispered, "I'll find him, Sammy. I'll find him."

And then she was gone. Twelve year-old Kate was alone.~~~

She shuddered a little. He had made her do things, things she never 
wanted to do. Smoking, and playing that stupid game he called 
"Slavery." And the remembering game, about Sammy.

Jeffrey was all she had after Sammy left, he always made her 
forget the horrible things she'd had to do. When she came to him in 
the depths of despair, he would hug her, hold her hand and tell her 
everything was okay.

Her eyes slid shut, she remembered everything. Jeffrey suddenly 
grabbed her arm.

"There he is..."

"I'll go get him," Jeffrey whispered. But Kate put her hand on his 
shoulder and shook her head.

"I have to do this," she whispered.

She got up and walked outside, followed him through the dark 
alley. When she was close enough, she said his name softly. "CGB 
Spender."

He turned, obviously surprised. But he hid it well. "Why, Kate. It's 
been so long. I'm sorry we could not have a *proper* reunion in 
the hospital."

"Me too." She gave him a small smile, totally betraying her inner 
thoughts.

He walked up to her and grinned. "How have you been?"

She laughed wickedly, inward of course. He was so stupid. He 
wouldn't see this coming. "Good. But I miss my father."

The light in his eyes became shaded. "Oh."

She grinned wickedly. "What do you say we play a little gave of 
"Slavery?" For old times sake... you can be the slave..."

He nodded, looking like a child at Christmas. He'd always had a 
perverted fascination with little Kate. Now he thought he'd get to 
take some of that out.

Yeah, right. She almost would've pissed her pants laughing if he 
hadn't of led her to his car.

They climbed in together. She smiled at him, took out a pair of 
handcuffs. Lord knows where she got them. She handcuffed his 
hands to the steering wheel. "Drive."

The smile on his face disappeared. "Where?"

"Away. This is only the first part of the game."

As he drove, he began to realize. This was no game. She had 
something planned. They drove for awhile, until the sun began to 
come up. He pulled over and started talking, trying to get her off 
track.

"How..." A gun was shoved in his face. A muttered word, and yet 
enough to stop his own words.

"Drive..."

So he kept driving.

XXXXXXX

A little later...

"Get out of the car. Now."

They were in a dark alley, filled with garbage and smelling of cats 
and poverty.

"You won't kill me, you know," he said as she pulled the cigarette 
from his mouth and stomped it on the ground.

"And why do you think that?"

"Because," he said matter-of-factly, "I can crush your spirit."

She laughed at him. "I'm the one with the gun, I'm the one who is 
in control here."

He smiled. "O contrare, little one. Do you really want to know how 
your father died?"

She swallowed hard. "He committed suicide."

This time it was his turn to laugh. "That's what I told you, Katie." 
He used her pet name. "Katie, do you remember Sammy?"

Oh well. She might as well put on the act. She closed her eyes and 
reopened them looking like a small child. Vulnerable. "Yes."

"Your father tried to help Samantha. Save her from the tests. He 
got in the way, much too much in the way. So I had him removed."

The small smile was gone in that instant, replaced by an 
unspeakable anger. "You...KILLED MY FATHER?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 
She screamed at him.

He just nodded. "You can't kill me, Katie. Because I can break 
you."

She just laughed at him, evil and cunningly. "O contrare, capitan, 
that is where you have gone very wrong," she mocked his earlier 
words.

She pointed the gun and fired...

XXXXXXX

At the hospital...

"You guys are so beautiful," Mulder whispered as he stood with 
his hands in the plastic hand things in the neonatal unit. He was 
wearing all the gear necessary to visit his daughters. He stood with 
one hand in each "crib", touching their soft skin.

They were beautiful. Like little flowers dying in the rain. No, not 
dying...thriving. They were going to be all right. They were. They 
were doing a little better, not as weak but still on ventilators.

As he looked at each of his daughters, a single tear slid down his 
cheek. They just had to be okay...

Outside the window, Scully saw the tear, which brought on her 
own. She put her hand up to her face and started sobbing, unable to 
control it.

As William and Meredith tried to comfort her, putting their little 
arms around her legs, she only had one thought.

They just have to be okay...

XXXXXXX

The bullet grazed his knee, ricocheted off and into the alley. He 
winced a little, but didn't even lose his cigarette as he put a hand to 
his knee. "What was that for, Katie?"

She brought the gun down to her side and said, "That was for what 
you've done to me."

She brought the gun up again and fired, sending a silver bullet into 
his arm. "That was for slavery."

Suddenly, a car drove by, and a girl's voice screeched, "Slow 
down!!!"

The back window rolled down and suddenly a girl was hanging her 
upper body out of it. She was wearing a red shirt with the name 
"ERIN" across the front in bold block letters. She was holding two 
beer bottles, one in each hand and one empty. She laughed hard 
and loud as she screamed, "Want some?" She chucked the empty 
bottle right at CGB. It hit him in the head, shattering into a million 
pieces.

She drove off, laughing.

There were no cuts from the glass, but he looked like maybe it hurt 
a little.

Kate looked at him, his scared face and smoking cigarette. She 
almost, almost felt sorry for him. Sorry for what she had done.

But not sorry enough to stop it.

She brought the gun up again, and this time made a straight shot 
right between his eyes. He fell to the ground, the cigarette falling 
from his fingers.

"And that," she panted, breathing hard, "Was for killing my 
father."

XXXXXXX

"We are gathered here today to..."

Kate and Jeffrey were the lone attendees to Casimir Gershom 
Baldwin Spender's funeral. They felt it was only right, even 
through all the things he did to them.

He was still Jeffrey's father.

He took her hand and held it to him tightly. She looked at him and 
smiled, leaning her head on his chest. Things were finally working 
out.

XXXXXXX

A month later...

Mulder stood by Scully's bed, cradling Audrey Marie in one arm. It 
was the very first time they got to hold the babies. Scully held 
Samantha Abigail in her arms and looked into her deep, liquidy 
brown eyes.

"They're so beautiful, Mulder."

"Yeah, they are." And they were doing much better.

Meredith and William walked in slowly, both careful to keep quiet 
as they sat on the edge of the bed together and looked at their 
sisters.

Meredith spoke first. "Can I hold them?"

Scully nodded and patted the pillow next to her. Meredith sat down 
and Scully passed Samantha into her arms, still holding on, but just 
enough so that Meredith thought she was doing it all by herself.

Meredith touched Samantha's little nose, and her mouth opened 
instinctively. "Aw, Sammy, you're pretty," she whispered.

William was next. "Me too, Dad."

Mulder sat down next to Will and let him hold Audrey. He cradled 
her gently. "Dad, I can hear her."

"Me too, me too!" Meredith said.

"Dad, they're just like us. They said so," William whispered.

"Yeah, Daddy, they can talk to us!" Meredith said excitedly, 
looking down into Samantha's brown eyes.

"We love you too."

XXXXXXX

Later that night...

"So what exactly happened that night, Kate? You have to talk 
about it sometime."

She looked up at Jeffrey from her place on the couch. He leaned 
over her, his voice filled with concern.

"He called me Katie...told me he wanted things to be the way they 
were...I pretended to fall for it but I knew what I had to do."

He smoothed her hair from her face. "You had to do that. He 
needed to get what he deserved Kate."

Before he could stop himself, he leaned in and kissed her gently. 
"I've loved you for so long, Kate. And he ruined it. But now 
everything is okay."

She smiled up at him. "Yeah. Everything is going to be okay."

XXXXXXX

About a month later...

"Kate, will you marry me?"

She couldn't convey the emotions running through her. In fact, she 
was shocked silent by his proposal. Here she was, about to say yes, 
if she could say anything, to the best question ever asked of her.

He was sitting next to her on the couch in his new apartment, the 
one that they shared together. She wanted to speak, but she was 
afraid to open her mouth, lest a million yesses and screams come 
forth from it.

"Kate?"

She looked into his eyes and managed a small smile. Then she 
nodded, it was all she could do without freaking out.

He took her hand and looked into her blue eyes. Things were 
definitely starting looking up.

She patted her slightly growing stomach and smiled. "We both say 
yes, huh, Cassandra?"

He just kissed her and smiled again. Yes, things were definitely 
looking up.

XXXXXXX

A week later...

Scully cradled Samantha in her arms, Monica held Audrey.

"They're so sweet!" Monica exclaimed as she fed Audrey a bottle.

Merry sat near Monica, sitting next to little Samuel, who was 
fascinated by one of Meredith's old toys.

"Mommy?" she asked. "Can you play with me?"

"Not now, honey," Scully replied. "Mommy's got the babies."

She burst into tears. "It's always the babies, mommy! I'm sick of 
them!" With that she left Samuel in his little baby seat and ran 
from the room.

Will ran in, Doggett and Mulder closely behind him. "Mom, we 
played the best game! You shoulda seen it!"

She smiled as Will began to give  her an entire play-by-play 
version of their game of pickup baseball.

Mulder said, "Merry just ran by, what's wrong?"

"Oh the usual, she said. "She wants attention."

He walked away. "I'll have a talk with her."

Will went to the door and picked up the mail. "Mom, look! Uncle 
Jeffrey's getting married!"

Scully looked at the invitation. "You are cordially invited..."

She grinned.

XXXXXXX

"Meredith, what's wrong?" Mulder asked as he sat next to his 
daughter on her bed.

"Daddy, I'm sick of the babies. It's all mummy thinks about."

He smoothed back her auburn hair. "She's just very busy with two 
babies." Then he got an idea. "How would you like to go out to 
dinner with me, Merry? You can get dressed up and I'll take you 
out on a date. Tomorrow night."

"A date?" she got happy suddenly. "Thank you Daddy!" she kissed 
him on the cheek and ran off to tell William all about her "date."

Mulder smiled. It was going to be an interesting night.

XXXXXXX

NOTE: Change anything that I need to.

The next night...

Scully started awake in bed when she saw the lights in the den 
flicker on, sending soft shadows of her husband and daughter. She 
peeked at the clock. 11:23.

Geez. They were home late, she thought as soft classical music 
turned on, its quiet sounds like a lullaby.

She climbed out of bed and slipped her white robe on as she made 
her way to the den. What she saw was probably the sweetest 
picture she had ever seen. She leaned against the doorjamb and 
watched them.

Meredith, decked out in her best dress, lacy gloves, and black dress 
shoes, stood on top of her father's own shoes. He held her hands 
and they danced together, her auburn curls bouncing as she 
concentrated, and with Mulder's tux, they looked like a picture 
straight out of a wedding photo album.

She just stood and watched them for a few minutes, until she heard 
Meredith's soft voice through the music.

"Daddy, will you tell me a story?"

He turned the music down and sat on the couch, pulling her onto 
his lap.

"Once upon a time, there was a little girl named..."

"Daddy can her name be Merry?"

He smiled at her. Scully smiled to herself.

"There was a little girl named Merry. Before she was born her 
mummy and daddy hoped for a little girl, they wanted one so 
badly. When she finally came, they were so happy, they named her 
Meredith, after her daddy's niece. But they decided to call her 
Merry for short."

"Daddy!" came an exclamation. "That's the story of me!"

He nodded and smiled. But before he could continue, her eyes half 
closed and she whispered, "I'm tired, Daddy."

He nodded again and picked her up easily, carried her to her 
bedroom off the den and about five minutes later emerged. He took 
off his suit coat and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt a little. He 
kicked off his dress shoes and socks and undid his belt. Then he 
relaxed on the couch, leaned back and sighed.

Scully entered and sat down next to him, cuddling up against his 
side. She pulled her knees up and leaned her kneecaps against his 
side, putting her auburn hair on his shoulder, sliding an arm around 
his waist. "How was your night?" She ran her fingertips up and 
down his chest, slowly undoing the top buttons.

He smiled over at her and put his arm around her so that the side of 
her head rested in the crook of his arm. "Good. Dinner was great, 
she was so excited to be in a real French restaurant and she wasn't 
afraid to try anything. Not even Escargot." He laughed. "We went 
on a walk under the stars and we talked about the babies, mostly. I 
think she just needed some attention."

She smiled. "Yeah, I'm glad you took her out. She really needed 
it."

He gave her a sleepy grin and yawned. "Scully, I know our lives 
haven't been perfect, we haven't gotten that perfect happiness you 
always dreamed about. But you know what?"

"What?" she whispered, moving closer to him, nuzzling his stubble 
with her face.

"I wouldn't change a thing. Well, except for anything I've ever 
done to hurt you, and what's happened to the kids recently."

She laughed softly and yawned into his shoulder. "I wouldn't 
change it either, Mulder. I wouldn't change it at all."

He kissed the top of her head gently, gripping her hand as he did 
so. "I guess this is the life we lead, huh? It's not perfect, but it's the 
next best thing."

She sighed, lacing her fingers within his, and they cuddled deeper 
into each other's warmth. Mulder reached back and pulled the late 
Samantha Mulder's favourite afghan off of the shelf next to the 
couch, draping it over them.

He leaned his head on top of hers and pulled the handle for the 
recliner, tilting back until their legs were up. Scully stretched her 
legs out and rubbed her foot against his, and he smiled as he closed 
his eyes.

As slumber began to claim them, she whispered softly, "You're 
right Mulder. It's not perfect, but it's the next best thing."

XXXXXXX

THE END

Story Continued In:

Book 3: A New Beginning