Title: The Tale of Jackie and Cooper

Author: viceversawrites

this story was inspired by @marinafrenzy's Labor Day Labor Challenge (it's unconventional!!) and @alienassmuffin 's dedication to the Cooper series. it was also inspired by a shit ton of cold medication and a long weekend.

read the Cooper series on AO3 (not needed to understand this story!!)

"Mulder! Get in here! Oh, I – I think it's happening!"

I startled, half awake and half sure I was still dreaming. It was early. Too early. But we hadn't slept through the night in a week, constantly up and wondering and checking in with the situation. I was so tired. Maybe just a few more minutes, I shut my eyes, drifting off again.

"MULDER, DAMMIT, GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!"

I jackknifed off the bed, barely landing on my feet with the adrenaline. Oh, god, it's happening. I grabbed my phone, frantically looking around the room as if we needed random things laying around.

It's happening? Already? This is too fast, this shouldn't be happening! Not now! We needed more time - more time to prepare. We should've had another week. This wasn't supposed to happen so soon. Not now. Not here. I was rethinking every decision we made leading up to this moment. Adrenaline on little sleep was a bitch for confidence.

I rushed around the house on my way to Scully, picking up and putting down unnecessary objects, not knowing which foot to put in front of the other. I felt literally beside myself - I had to get to Scully, to that room, but I was panicking.

I tried to calm down. I did calm down. Deep breaths. Grounding myself in the moment. It was going to be okay. Everything would work out.

On my way to Scully I called the Gunmen and told them what was going on, and they promised to check in later. I'd call the others after everything calmed down.

I finally stopped in the doorway, looking at Scully. God, she was so beautiful. Disheveled, stressed, no makeup on, leaning on the guest bed in the room we had semi set up.

She looked up. "We've got a little time, I think. False alarm. But it's happening soon."

She looked as stressed out as I felt, and that wouldn't help the situation. I tried to find something to say, to relieve the stress, to reassure her. I moved across the room and leaned in close to her, putting a hand on her shoulder and kissing her temple, trying to project a calm I didn't quite feel myself.

"Scully, it's going to be okay. You're a doctor. I've read up on it enough. We, ugh, we watched those videos. We have some experience in the field. We have supplies." I paused, accidentally letting my panic come through. "I mean, this is a little soon. I really thought we had a few more days – even a week. Do you think we could still make it to a doctor's office?" The stress in her eyes turned to pure fire and I knew I made a mistake.

"Do I think we could - Mulder! We wouldn't be in this situation if you had just listened to me in the first place!"

"Are you sure—" I should really shut my idiot mouth. You'd think, after two decades of almost constant contact with Scully, that I would've learned. But no.

"AM I SURE?!" Scully paused to take a breath. And another one, trying to calm down. It didn't work much. We can't be so loud. "Mulder, even if we left hours ago, it's Labor Day. Which, yes, stop smirking, it's ironic, but all the offices are closed and the doctors are out! Our best bet would be the Emergency offices and they probably have as much experience as we do!" She was right. This was all less than ideal, but we could do this. I mean, how much of our real intervention is needed? This is a natural event that has been going on since the dawn of whenever. Really when you think about it, we were just observers. Ok. I was getting calm again. We could do this. We've faced situations a thousand times tenser and more terrifying than this.

"This is all your fault, anyway, Mulder. If you had just—" she started in again.

"Oh, not this argument again! I was not going to—" dammit, we talked about this!

"Mulder, if we had stopped this problem before it could get started then we wouldn't be here!"

I mock gasped, knowing her words were just due to stress and she didn't mean the anger. It was too early in the morning, we'd both had long and horrible weeks, and this was something we shouldn't be fighting about.

"Problem! Scully, how dare you even say that! This-this is not a problem, it is the miracle of life and it's happening in our home," I exaggerated.

That broke the tension and she rolled her beautiful eyes at me. There we go. United again. Able to face anything. She opened her mouth, no doubt to snap back, when we heard a weak cry from the corner.

It was Cooper, pacing back and forth around the half-enclosure we set up around Jackie. He was panting, anxious, letting out little meows, climbing in and out of the bed where Jackie lay, nuzzling her until she purred. I get it, buddy, me too.

Was it only a few weeks ago when this started? Just over two months? Technically, it was the Gunmen's fault, not mine. If Scully brought up the fact that I refused to get Cooper neutered, and I shuddered at the thought, I'd make sure to blame them. They didn't exactly spay Jackie either. That week it happened, the guys were going to some conference up in Seattle for a week and needed someone to cat sit. I personally think they were just jealous after I found Cooper and so they went out and bought their own cat, but that was all ancient history now.

Frohike said it was a stray, and she found them, but I think he just wanted to outdo my story. Impossible – nothing beats heroically saving a tiny kitten from a mean dog in the rain.

Anyway, none of it matters now. Unless I find new ways to bring it up and assert my story as the better one.

The Gunmen's cat was white with black spots and a black tail. She was an elegant shorthair, with a longer body than Cooper who, even though he was an adult cat now, still maintained the air of messy alley cat with his bushy gray hair and lopsided whiskers. They named her Jackie O, having no shame at their brand, and she was prettier than the three of them put together.

Instead of visiting Jackie every day at the lair while the guys were away, I decided to bring her to the house instead. Less commuting to the city for me, and Cooper could have a cat playmate. It was entertaining for me too. My friends out of town and Scully being extra busy in the city that week with doctorly duties of some sort. We were in a good place, me and her, but it was still tough with her being away so often. I was consulting, but even that hit dead patches occasionally.

After a day of hissing and being territorial, something between the cats changed. My boy Coop developed some... amorous feelings for sweet Jackie and they, well, got to it. Went at it. Whatever euphemism was appropriate. Scully walked in on one such moment where the two were occupied under the kitchen table and I was in the other room. She thought the sounds were of distress and got the surprise of her cat-mom life when she saw what was going on.

I wasn't even thinking about kittens. Honestly, I just thought it was funny – good for Cooper, having a life, a little girlfriend. A funny story to tell the guys when they got back. Turns out, cats don't really just do that sort of thing for fun. Jackie was in heat, Cooper had the goods, and the rest is history.

Or it will be as soon as today is over and we have kittens.

The Gunmen had taken Jackie back with their thanks and, besides the two cats searching for each other for a few days, nothing was amiss. No one suspected anything until Byers picked up Jackie one day and felt she had gained a little heft in the stomach area than expected. One vet trip later and our cats were expecting. Out of wedlock, even.

That was a fun one to explain to three protective cat-dads. Oops.

We were all excited, really, for kittens. I think I've convinced Skinner to take one, hopefully two, when they were old enough to leave Jackie. Since he'd been with Arlene he'd gone all sorts of soft on us.

Scully said that Matty was old enough for one now and had talked Bill into accepting one for him. Reyes, who really loved Cooper and had looked after him before, regretfully couldn't take any because of her dogs. But, luckily, Doggett was a cat person and agreed to take at least one.

As far as we knew, we had homes for the kittens. And, with our house being pretty big, I hoped I could convince Scully to keep one or two here as well, depending on how many were left.

"Mulder, can you go get the old towels? I think I heard the dryer beep."

Scully was crouched over Jackie, monitoring her progress, occasionally scratching Cooper's back to calm him down.

Jackie and Cooper had been messes this last week, both acting needy and odd. The Gunmen brought her over for the last week or, as we had originally thought, two weeks of her pregnancy, citing Scully's medical knowledge to know what to do. And I may have agreed without her permission, so to say. We had read that father cats were not always the most helpful with their mates or kittens for that matter, but I had faith in Cooper, and he pulled through. He wasn't no dead-beat cat dad.

I grabbed the towels, still hot from the dryer, and rejoined Scully in the guest room, shutting the door behind me. We didn't want either cat to escape the designated kitten room. We had constructed a nest for Jackie out of a large cardboard box with low walls so the kittens couldn't wander off for a while and moved everyone's food, water, and litter in there. She lay stretched out upon a bed of puppy pads, newspapers, and old towels. I could see her belly move rapidly now, she was panting through her labor.

Honestly this whole ordeal had been good for us. Scully and I had had out troubles in the not-so-distant past and we had worked through it, really, but this only strengthen our reconnection. Having a project together, a live one at that, was something we always needed.

I joined Scully on the floor where she was arranging supplies. Dental floss, scissors, iodine, gauze, and a few other things she had for just in case. I hoped again that this would be more of a spectator event for us, and that we were prepared enough on such short notice. Jackie was young, and this was her first (and only, Mulder!) litter, so she should have everything together.

"How are we doing?" I asked.

"Should happen any time now," replied Scully in her doctor voice. She was steeled for the proceedings, no more panic for her. If I could only be so calm – I was about to be a grandfather! "She's all ready to go." Scully reached out and tentatively stroked Jackie's extended belly until she was sure her touch was welcomed. Jackie allowed it for a few minutes until she started moving about restlessly.

Cooper circled us several times, finally climbing up my back and settling on my shoulder, watching from his own safe space for a little while. We settled in to wait in the cool, darkened room, listening to Cooper and Jackie trade plaintive meows, reassuring each other of their presence. I wonder if they knew what was going on or if they were just confused.

Minutes passed, all of us on high alert, tension in the air. The fan whirred in the background, providing us with some air on this humid morning. We'd both been up and down all night for three days, checking on Jackie and Cooper.

I imagined a different scenario – one where I had never found Cooper. Where the guys hadn't adopted Jackie. Would they have found their way to each other? Survived, against all odds, became a little cat family? I realize it's not exactly a conventional setup – in the wild of DC who knows what would've happened. But this seemed like fate. Jackie and Cooper, together, against the world.

Would Scully and I have made that final step eventually? It was Cooper, really that brought us together in the first place. I put my arm around Scully, bringing her a closer to me as we watched over Jackie. I know we would. It may have taken a little longer, but we were fate, too.

"Feeling a little emotional there Mulder?" she prodded quietly.

I nodded against her head, not caring if it was stupid or not. There was a lot riding on this day. Plus, we were both so sleep deprived that any emotion was up for grabs.

"Me too," she said.

Just then Jackie flipped over, positioning her body differently, and started panting again. She curled, kneading the towels around her, waiting for the first kitten to arrive.

It did with a splat that made my stomach turn, but I couldn't tear my eyes away. I'm glad I hadn't eaten anything yet. Cooper jumped down from his perch and stood closer to the action, but far enough away to let Jackie do her thing. The tiny sac of limbs broke next to her feet and the smallest thing I've ever seen lay there, mouth open, mewing its presence into the world.

My heart shattered into a million pieces and was rebuilt. Life. A new life. A tiny kitten, born right in front of me. If I hadn't revoked my manly-man card decades ago when I realized how stupid it was to own it would've disintegrated at the sight.

Jackie hauled the little being closer to her stomach and began grooming, eating away the sac and cleaning up the goo. There was no telling how long it would be until the next kitten would come, it could be as soon as a few minutes. I glanced over at Scully and saw my emotions reflected on her face as well.

Cooper curled up behind Jackie, watching everything and being there for her in moral support. I guess that's what we were doing too. I took out my phone and clumsily took a picture of them, sending it off to the guys. Minutes passed and soon enough, another blob was making its way out.

"Look at that multitasking," Scully commented.

Jackie was actively giving birth, grooming, and taking care of her new kittens as they came out. The next forty-five minutes saw three more kittens, all delivered without help from us. One by one they flopped out, torn out of the bag by Jackie or themselves, licked clean, and given a place to start nursing. I thought the whole process would be a lot messier but Jackie had the whole thing under control, even if the clean-up process was a little gross too.

They were a mass of squirming legs and too-long tails, mushed ears and closed eyes, little cries and flopping bodies. Cooper moved around, getting a glance here and there of his offspring, interested in what his mate was doing and why there were suddenly more cats in the room.

We were both enthralled at the sight. After the first one I knew what to expect and as long as I didn't think about the process and the eating of the disgusting things too hard, my nausea was not a problem. We both itched to touch the kittens, but knew we should probably wait a little while longer. Two looked just like Jackie, mainly white with little black spots. One was all gray, like Cooper, and the fourth was grey and white, a mixture of them both.

Tiny squeals and mews filled the room, four new cats making their presence known, bonding with their mother. After a few minutes of no new arrivals, Cooper made his move.

We watched, wary of what he would do and ready to snatch him away in case he got aggressive. He gave them a sniff, then Jackie, back and forth, until he singled out one little gray kitten, a carbon copy of himself, and started to groom.

Cat parents. I could barely believe it.

We watched them, in awe, our legs numb and our asses beginning to hurt.

"Looks like our help wasn't needed after all," said Scully, breaking the silence. The new parents paid no mind, rearranging their litter to their hearts content.

I counted them again – four kittens, six cats in our house. Amazing. Hilarious. I turned back to Scully.

"And you said the Scullys were strictly a dog people," I joked. "Look at you now."

I was then hit by a ray of pure light that was a Scully-Smile. Despite the weird smell and the constant crying of kittens, which was actually pretty cute, I was the most content I had been in a long time. Well, I was still bordering on panic, we had four new kittens to take care of—wait a second.

"Hey, Scully?" I asked. She looked up again. "Didn't the ultrasound at the vet show five kittens? I'm only counting four here."

I watched as her eyes got big – we had both totally forgotten.

"Um, yeah. I—" she looked at Jackie and back to me. "I don't know what to do."

It was as if all of our self-training and preparation for this even flew out the window.

I jumped up and rushed to grab my laptop and brought it back to the room, making sure to close the door when I did, and sat down on the bed. Scully was on her knees, leaning over Jackie and gently pressing on her stomach above where the kittens were feeding. Jackie was taking a break, half asleep with her eyes only partially closed. She just gave birth to and cleaned up four kittens, and apparently she's got another one somewhere inside her.

The search page loaded and I considered my word choice before searching "cat has not given birth to all kittens" to see what came up. I took a few minutes to read through the results.

"It says here that there can be a lot of time between births, Scully."

Scully hummed at that, still feeling around Jackie's stomach. I had no idea if she knew what she was doing, but she looked determined so I didn't comment. "The others didn't wait so long though," she said.

She was right. It had been at least half an hour since the last one came out and Jackie looked like she was done. Not that I really knew what a cat looked like when it was done giving birth. Jesus, we were really out of our depth here. What if something happened? I knew it wasn't rare to have a stillbirth, or worse, and like Scully said out options on Labor Day with no appointment were really limited.

I kept scrolling through sources, finding repeating information enough to trust it.

"It says it's normal, Scully. She's just tired. There are a lot of web pages that say 'dependent cats' like Jackie, which means she likes us to be around her, can basically pause labor if they want to." Scully sat back and looked up at where I was sitting, eyebrow raised. Was she really jealous of a cat right now?

"They can just, pause it? For how long?!"

"Uh," I scrolled back. "I think up to thirty hours in some breeds."

She sighed, knowing we wouldn't get any rest until the last one was out. "Could it be anything else?"

"I'll look." And I did. Pages and pages of data, one telling me something worse than the other. "As far as I can tell, all we're supposed to do is be here for moral support, and Cooper is doing a good enough job of that without us." Scully got up and stretched her back, stiff after sitting so long on the floor. I don't blame her, I hurt too. We were getting too old for this. She joined me on the bed, taking away the now closed laptop and placing it on the bedside table.

"Then we wait." She scooted up the bed and settled, back against the bedframe, peering over at the next in the corner. I moved too, sprawling backward until my head found a pillow.

My phone beeped, the guys wanting an update. I told them what was going on and then tossed the phone on the bed between us. God, I was exhausted. I'd just close my eyes for a second... - - -

I woke up gradually, feeling first a familiar warmth at my side, Scully's warmth, and then a familiar weight on my chest, Cooper. He usually wakes me up by standing or sleeping on my chest, purring or meowing for his food. I cracked open my eyes, expecting to see him looming over me waiting for attention.

He was, but he brought a guest with him.

Cooper held a tiny, even tinier than the other kittens, ball of squealing baby cat in his mouth, just above my chest. As soon as he saw me awake he deposited the kitten on my chest proudly, as if to say, look at what I made! The fifth cat had arrived.

I was stunned motionless for a moment, just watching and feeling the little thing squirm around on me, Cooper gently patting the little thing with one paw, making sure he didn't fall off. I shook Scully gently. I had no clue how long we'd been asleep but we had missed some proceedings and Cooper was trying to catch us up.

"Scully."

"Hmmmm." She shifted, nuzzling up against me.

"Merow," agreed Cooper.

"Scully, wake up," I murmured. The kitten was getting more rowdy, rooting for food and going further down my body, and I realized that it probably shouldn't be away from Jackie for very long. I took my free hand, the other trapped under Scully's body, and gently grabbed the kitten off of my stomach, scooping it closer to me protectively. Cooper saw I had the situation under control and hopped off to do his fatherly duties elsewhere.

It was the smallest living thing I've ever held in my life. Hours old. Jackie had enough time with the kitten to clean it off. It was completely black, hair already sticking up in odd directions just like Cooper. It was warm, surprisingly strong and soft.

It yelled a little louder, finally waking Scully from her nap. She looked at it, cradled in my hand against my chest

"Oh," she said, rising up on an elbow to get closer. "Mulder, it's so small." She sat up and twisted her body to observe the small life on my chest.

"Cooper brought it up. I think he was showing off."

I released my hand so Scully could pick it up and take the squealing thing back to Jackie. I rose with her, seeing that three full hours had passed since we had laid down. Jackie and the kittens were all half asleep, exhausted as they should be after the day they had. I watched as Scully gently placed the little one next to Jackie and checked her over, making sure everything looked clean and healthy. She sat back on the floor, taking it all in.

Five kittens.

I grabbed the phone to snap another picture, noticing several missed texts from the guys and Skinner, all wanting updates. I took the picture, Jackie asleep with five balls of fur around her, and sent it to everyone concerned.

We sat there, just observing, not knowing what else to do, not knowing if we should be doing something else, for a long while. It had been an interesting Labor Day, to say the least. Not exactly one spent barbequing or relishing in not working. The FBI never took a break for holidays, and with our new jobs the hours we kept were still odd enough for dates not to matter. I had a feeling this one would stick out in memory.

Eventually the Gunmen responded, saying they were on their way. I told Scully and she lurched to her feet first, breaking the spell we had been under and going to order pizzas for us all. She always insisted on having food when the guys came over, citing that they'd scavenge through the cupboards if there wasn't something obvious to eat.

Skinner replied as well, wanting to drop in sometime this week, and Doggett and Reyes said they would stop by soon, all of them wanting to meet the new additions, to claim the kittens that would eventually be theirs.

They didn't know it, no one did, but one was off limits. I have already called dibs on the tiniest little kitten, pure black with hair like Cooper, who I held to my chest on his first day of life – he was mine.

Maybe I'd get to name a cat Elvis after all.