X-files Miracle Man

[Arleen Jerdee]

I want another baby." Mulder whispered. He felt Scully tense and she stayed silent for what felt like hours. However, Mulder didn't regret telling her. It had been something he'd been meaning to tell her for a while now but didn't have the guts to do so.

Eventually, Scully relaxed and took a deep breath. Slowly, she turned and faced Mulder who gifted her with a small smile. In turn, she placed her hand on his cheek and closed her eyes. "Mulder, what are you talking about? Where is this coming from?"

Mulder rubbed circles on her back and held her closer to him. "I don't know. It's something I've been wanting for a while, and I think that it would be nice for William to have a sibling." He shrugged. For the past few weeks, he had been taking and picking up William from preschool and he saw the look in his son's eyes whenever his friends had their siblings around. Mulder could feel that William wanted a sibling, but he just didn't want to ask for one; or at least didn't know how to.

Once again, Scully remained silent. The only sounds heard in the room were the wind that was picking up outside, as well as the creaking noise of the stupid branch from the old tree outside their bedroom that has been threatening to fall for over two years but still hasn't.

She had bowed her head and her fingers were playing with her cross, clearly uncomfortable with the subject. Mulder thought that she had dozed off until she spoke in a small voice, "Mulder, we can't have another baby."

"But if you could, would you like to have another one?" Mulder propped his elbow on the pillow so that he could really look at Scully. She sniffed and reached for the box of tissues on her night stand.

Unbeknownst to Mulder, Scully had thought about this, too. Only that her wish to give William a sibling started as soon as he was born. A co-worker had told her that while you're in labour you swear to God that you won't do this again, but as soon as your baby arrives, you forget about the pain and you can't wait to have another one. She had secretly laughed at the absurdity of what she had said; little did she know that she felt the exact same way as her co-worker did when William was born.

It broke her heart that she couldn't give her son a sibling. She wanted him to have someone to play with at home; to have a Melissa in his life who would give advice and be there for him through thick and thin. Scully saw how William interacted with other children and she knew that he would make a great big brother.

"Never give up on a miracle." Mulder whispered and kissed her. He rested his head on the pillow and motioned Scully to get closer so that they could resume their positions. Instead, she excused herself and went to the bathroom, not wanting him to hear her sobs.

William was enjoying a bowl of cereal while Mulder drank a cup of coffee and read the newspaper. Scully was playing with her toast and was focused on the wall in front of her, thinking about last night's conversation.

She almost didn't hear Mulder ask William, "Will, what do you think about having a sibling?" Scully snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Mulder in anger. Why was he getting their son's hopes up when they haven't even finished talking?

William set his spoon carefully on the table next to the bowl, wiped his chin with a napkin and sighed. He folded his hands, placing them neatly on his knees, and said "I'm good. No, thanks." He then grabbed his spoon again and continued with his breakfast.

Mulder turned his attention once again to his son. He folded the newspaper nicely and sat up straight on his chair, smoothing his tie. "Why not? Mommy and I had siblings and that was fun, right Scully?" Mulder was begging Scully to chime in with support, to tell their son that growing up with siblings isn't as bad as some people say it is.

"I don't know. You were too many. I think I'm more than enough." William shrugged and took a bite of Scully's toast. Mulder and Scully laughed at the explanation. He might've just turned three, but that kid was smarter for his age.

"Why did Daddy ask me if I wanted a sibling?" William was sitting on his toy chest, the heels of his feet kicking the wooden piece of furniture. It had been a couple of months since Mulder had asked William if he ever wanted a sibling (to which William humorously replied that he didn't), so she was caught off guard at the question.

William shrugged and hopped off. He resumed his mother's activity and she eyed him curiously. "Do you want to give me a sibling?" Scully was caught off guard again. This question was asked as if it was a topic that they've been talking about every day. It just came out naturally to her son, who was now standing in place and playing with the wheels of a toy truck.

"Come here, sit down next to me." William did as told and sat close to Scully, hugging her. "You're a big boy, right?" William nodded. "Okay, so if I'm telling you this it's because I think that you will be able to understand, correct?" William nodded again.

William pulled away and looked at her with wide eyes. She knew what he wanted to say, but wasn't sure if he should. But, after a few seconds, William said, "but I'm your baby." His lip started to quiver and he took the blanket from Scully's hand and held it close to him.

"Of course you are. Daddy and I were told that we couldn't have any babies, but then you were born, our little miracle." She soothed, placing his loose hair behind his ears. "But after you were born the doctors told us that we were all out of miracles." Scully remembered the day of her first check up after William was born where her doctor told them that there was absolutely no chance that she would get pregnant again.

William got sat closer and hugged her again. Scully placed her cheek on top of his head. "Maybe you'll get another miracle." William whispered softly. He reminded her so much of Mulder when he tried to comfort her. Like father, like son.

A tiny tear left Scully's eye and landed on William's soft hair. "Yeah. Maybe." She said, her voice breaking. William looked up to her and grinned which made her laugh. He gave her a big, sloppy kiss on the cheek and hopped off the toy chest.

Ever since the day that Scully had told William that she couldn't give him a sibling, he had been clingy to her. He used to love going to the store with Mulder, but now he'd say he'd go only if Scully did. He wanted Scully to lie in bed with him until he fell asleep, something she had stopped doing a year and a half ago. He'd watch TV with his head on top of Scully's stomach and she would caress his head. He would come in to their room in the middle of the night just to lie next to Scully.

"Studies show that babies and toddlers can predict when their mom's pregnant." Scully smirked and rolled her eyes. "Think about it, Scully. He's been asking you about babies, he's been clingy, he's patting and kissing your belly. I think you should do it." Mulder crossed his arms, leaning against the kitchen counter, confident that he had given a valid explanation with solid evidence.

Scully, on the other hand, wasn't having any of it. Placing a plate in the cupboard she said, "Mulder, don't be ridiculous. It's normal for kids his age to become clingy of one of their parents, as well as asking about babies. I think you're too caught up with this whole sibling situation." She started for the bedroom and Mulder followed.

"Well then, why don't you take a pregnancy test and prove me wrong? You know you've always wanted to prove me wrong at least once." Mulder leaned against the doorframe and Scully lingered next to him, gazing into his beautiful eyes.

It wasn't until Scully began to feel sick and dizzy that Mulder insisted again on a pregnancy test. William was more clingy than ever and his antics were more frequent. Fed up about the situation, she gave in and bought one.

When Mulder returned home from work, she gave him the good news: she was, indeed, pregnant. He beamed and lifted her off the ground, spinning her until she begged him to stop or she'd be sick again. A couple of 'I love you's' and 'I told you so's' were thrown here and there; they couldn't be happier.

Scully did research about how to tell your first born that they're having a sibling, and all of the papers she read stated that it'd be best if the parents waited for the first trimester to pass before telling them.

Mulder and Scully, who were sitting on the coffee table in front of him, laughed and looked at each other. Scully turned her attention back to her son, let a tear or two roll down her cheek and said, "yeah, baby. Mommy's having a baby."

An incredible Touchy Coffee two-fer! Our guide to brewing great coffee at home, backed up with a very attractive typographic poster reading "Coffee is a Miracle and so are You." Printed on lush n tactile newsprint in just the slightest salmon pink hue.

Once upon a time, our Coffee Sourcerer Matthew improvised an adage that immediately struck a chord with all those within earshot. He was wrapping up a training session, explaining the gargantuan amount of work, talent, vision, and patience required to produce coffee from the farm level onwards. For those of us on the "easy end" of the supply chain (you know, where we visit gorgeous cafes and have thoughtfully roasted coffee crafted into delicious beverages before our eyes), it's too common that we overlook the wild amount of effort and accomplishment that go into every single pound of coffee long before it lands in front of us. And in this spirit, it's miraculous that such a thing is so ubiquitous, miraculous that we get to weave it into our everyday routines, miraculous that it sparks so many connections across such far and wide distances.And while we're talking miracles, we also sprinkled in some additional magic here by providing a handy guide for making delicious coffee on the backside of the poster. Whether you deserve it or not, you really can have it all.

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