Title: Flight Into Egypt 3: Making a Life 
Author: Vickie Moseley
Summary: 3rd installment of the Flight into Egypt 
series. Set post The Truth.
Spoilers: All of seasons 8 and 9 especially The 
Truth.
Rating: PG
Category: Marriedfic, babyfic, A
Archive: yes
Disclaimer: I'm just doing this because I know 1013 
never could. I'm not infringing on their copyright, 
I'm improving their image.
Series history: Flight into Egypt, Making a Home, 
Making a Life. If you want to read them in order, it 
might make more sense.
Comments: I love feedback. Bring it on!
vickiemoseley1978@yahoo.com

Flight Into Egypt 3: Making a Life
By Vickie Moseley

Mt. Airy, Montana
July 17, 2002

She'd seen the building a dozen times, every time 
they went to the Superwalmart store in Mt. Airy. It 
sat there, right across the street, red brick and 
smallish, white trimmed windows and stained glass.

Every time she saw it, it made her ache. No, itch 
was more like it. It made her itch to push open the 
heavy wooden door, walk down the aisle, slide into a 
pew and cry. Cry with relief, cry with loss, cry 
with gratitude.

William was down for a morning nap, which appeared to 
be his only nap of the day and Mulder had been deeply 
engrossed in a website he'd located that morning when 
she discovered they were almost out of bread and 
nearing lunch. She told him she was going to make a 
quick run to Mt. Airy and pick up a few things. 
Usually they went everywhere together and that's how 
she liked it. She still couldn't bring herself to 
believe that they were finally together again after 
all their recent separations. She woke up even after 
a month in their new home, expecting to see her old 
bedroom, to find the other side of her bed empty. 
Then Mulder would roll over, grab her pillow as his 
own and mumble something unintelligible as he drooled 
on their sheets and she'd smile. They were home, 
truly home.

But seeing that little brick building always reminded 
her. She wasn't really home, not yet.

Her mind kept wandering back to their conversation in 
the motel in Roswell. Back to the day she thought it 
would be just the two of them, running for the rest 
of their lives. Never daring to stay anywhere, never 
putting down roots of any kind. Lonely, but 
together. She had been ready to accept that. She 
was so focused on accepting their fate she almost 
overlooked his words when he pulled her chain from 
her neck and fingered the gold cross that lay at her 
throat.

"I want to believe that the dead are not lost to us. 
That they speak to us as part of something greater 
than us-- greater than any alien force. And if you 
and I are powerless now, I want to believe that if we 
listen to what's speaking, it can give us the power 
to save ourselves."

Mulder, speaking of greater powers. It must have 
been an X file. She smiled briefly, but the building 
in front of her dragged her back from her musings. 
She glanced at the grocery sacks in the back seat. 
Bread, a box of teething crackers, even though Mulder 
had forbidden their consumption in the office after 
the horrible stuck keyboard incident of two weeks 
ago. A six-pack of diet Coke and another of Snapple 
iced tea. Nothing there that wouldn't keep a few 
minutes.

The power to save themselves. She'd always believed 
any power greater than herself resided in her heart, 
not in some building. But the comfort of the 
surroundings were important to her and she'd been 
feeling it more and more as they settled into a 
routine, put down those first tentative roots.

She drew in a deep breath and opened the car door. 
It only took a minute to walk across the street and 
up the steps. She stopped again with her hand on the 
big brass handle. She could go back to the car. 
Anyone passing by would think she'd found the door 
locked. It wouldn't look suspicious and she was very 
conscious of never looking suspicious, always 
blending in, but even that was growing easier each 
day. 

She was just about to turn around, when the door 
tugged free from her grasp and she found herself face 
to face with an elderly gentleman in a black collared 
shirt and black slacks. His smile was genuine and 
gentle as he looked her up and down and then around 
her.

"I don't suppose you're the furnace repair . . . 
person?" he asked hesitantly.

Scully shook her head and smiled. "No, Father, I was 
just . . ."

"Oh, you're the woman who just moved to Alexandria! 
I remember seeing you and your husband and the baby 
in the hardware store the other night." At Scully's 
wide-eyed look, he hastened on. "I don't mean to 
intrude, but you have the map of Ireland all over 
your face and the baby is so cute. Now, I'm Father 
Daley, what can I do for you?"

He already seemed to know a little about their cover 
story and didn't seem to find anything odd about it. 
Scully decided there would be no harm in her 
inquiries.

"I was wondering about the schedule of Masses on 
Sunday," she said with a shy smile.

The priest grinned broadly. "Ah, yes. Well, here, 
let me give you a bulletin, it has the Sunday 
schedule and confessions on Saturday." He led her 
into the dark vestibule, and then into the church lit 
only with the colored sunlight coming from the 
stained glass windows. He picked up a folded paper 
from the table at the back of the rows of pews. 
"Here's our most recent bulletin. The ladies of the 
parish are working on the annual Parish Picnic, if 
you're interested. You can call the number listed, 
they'd be more than happy to have the help."

There was another pounding on the front door. "I'm 
betting that's the furnace repairperson. It's an old 
furnace we have to baby it all summer to get it 
working properly in the fall and winter," he said 
with a roll of his eyes. "If you'll excuse me?"

"Of course, Father, please, go ahead," she waved him 
toward the door. "I'd just like to . . ."

He nodded in understanding. "Take all the time you 
like." He took a step and then turned back to her. 
"Excuse me, but what is your name?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm Dana Hale," she said, and was surprised at 
how easily the last name came to her tongue.

"Dana. Well, it's very nice to meet you and welcome 
to St. Jude's," Father said with a wink as he turned 
to answer the pounding that had started up again.

Scully held her breath for a moment. St. Jude, 
Patron saint of law enforcement, but more commonly 
known as the patron of lost causes. Yes, she felt 
she'd come to the right place.

She walked down the aisle and knelt in front of the 
statute of Mary. Votive candle were lined up 
surrounding the statute and there was a small nosegay 
of tiny pink roses at the Virgin's feet. Scully dug 
in her purse and found a few coins, dropping them in 
the collection box before picking up a match and 
lighting a candle.

"Watch over Mom for me, Blessed Mother," she 
whispered. She bowed her head and then a thought 
struck her and she reached into her purse again and 
this time pulled out a couple of bills. She lit two 
more candles and smiled up at the statute. "Better 
include Mulder and William in that, too, please," she 
added.

Feeling like a heavy weight had been lifted from her 
shoulders, she walked out of the church, got in the 
car and headed for home.

8:15 pm

Mulder had insisted they grill dinner out on his 
newest toy, a double burner propane gas grill with 
additional burner and optional rotisserie. Scully 
was convinced she's unleashed a monster the minute 
Mulder discovered the 'lawn, garden and backyard 
barbecue' department at the Superwalmart. He was 
like a kid in a candy store. But the days were still 
long, especially given their current latitude and 
William loved being in the outdoors. His little face 
just beamed when the door was opened and he was 
allowed his freedom to roam the porch and yard, under 
close supervision, of course.

Scully had cleared away the dinner dishes and was 
just giving herself a moment to relax in the cool 
breeze of the late summer day. A very sleepy little 
boy climbed up on her lap as she sat on the chaise 
lounge and watched the last rays of the sun paint the 
clouds crowning the mountain. Mulder had dubbed the 
mountain 'the old man' and she thought it fit nicely. 
It felt like a guardian, watching over them, 
protecting them from harm. It made her feel safe and 
she was growing to love it more and more each day.

"Time for stories," she told William as he curled on 
her stomach. He wasn't nursing any more; he'd weaned 
himself after a couple of weeks. Although she'd 
loved the closeness and the connection nursing him 
gave them both, she realized he was old enough to get 
the majority of his nourishment from solid foods and 
fortified supplements. She mentally decided she 
would let him decide and when he started reaching for 
his cup more than her shirt buttons, she knew it was 
time. But that just meant a new ritual had to be 
devised for bedtime and Mulder had come up with 
'story hour'.

Mulder stood up and stretched, bones cracking with 
alarming loudness.

"We need to get you a better chair in the office," 
Scully told him, handing him the sleepy child.

"I need a better body, but I think that's a few 
medical miracles away," he countered and hefted 
William to his shoulders. "You'll keep your old Dad 
young, won't you, big guy?"

William, anxious to be included, pounded his tiny 
fists on Mulder's head. "Dadda. Momma. Da Da Da."

"And who are you?" Scully asked teasingly, reaching 
up to poke his chubby belly where his shirt was 
riding up.

"Wee um," came the proud response.  

"That's absolutely right. William. And it's time 
for William to get his bath and get ready for Daddy 
to read to him," Mulder said, making the deft 
maneuver of taking the child off his shoulders and 
into his arms as if they were in a circus act.

"Daddy likes to give Mommy gray hairs," Scully 
muttered just a few steps behind them.

"Which is why Daddy pays so much for that stuff that 
makes Mommy's hair all pretty again," Mulder shot 
back.

"You know, Daddy, Mommy can still put you in a choke 
hold," she volleyed back.

"Oooh, can we wait till somebody is asleep to test 
that theory?" was the eager reply.

Pat the Bunny was the current favorite but Bob the 
Builder and the Lost Hammer was coming on strong. By 
Dinosaur's Binket, the battle was all but lost and 
Mulder leaned over to kiss William's forehead above 
his little fist scrubbing at his eye. Scully sat 
down on the edge of the bed and folded the little 
hands together in hers, and bowed her head.

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul 
to keep. Bless me, Jesus, through the night and wake 
me with the morning light." She kissed both closed 
eyes and then the button nose, turned the light down 
to nightlight and quietly left the room.

She was immediately engulfed in a bear hug from 
behind and dragged into their bedroom. Before she 
could say a word, the door was shut and she was 
smothered with kisses.

"You . . . promised . . . a chokehold," Mulder 
informed her between kisses.

"That I did," she agreed and pulled him toward the 
bed.

Later they were snuggled in each other's arms, he was 
drifting off to sleep, when she decided to bring up 
the topic.

"I stopped by the church today," she said casually, 
stroking the hair on his chest.

He shifted a little, so he could look at her. 
"Church? What church?"

"The little Catholic Church across from the grocery 
store," she said, poking him lightly in the stomach.

He furrowed his brow, trying to place it. "The red 
brick building?" At her nod, he thought some more. 
"St. Jude's, right?"

She looked at him in amazement. "Yeah, St. Jude's."

He smiled and continued. "Patron saint of cops. And 
lost causes." At her surprised look, his smile got 
brighter. "What, you've never seen the movie 'The 
Untouchables'?"

She was mulling that over when he wrapped his arms 
about her waist and squeezed. "So, you just dropped 
by to say 'hi'?" he asked jokingly.

She had to smile at that. "Sort of. I met the 
priest. Father Daley. And I got the schedule of 
Masses," she said quietly.

They were silent for a moment and she could hear his 
heat beating in his chest. She realized that they 
were even breathing in tandem. She was just about to 
drift off to sleep when Mulder made a noise that 
rumbled in his chest. 

"I want William to have that."

It took her a minute to realize what he was talking 
about.

"You want me to take him to church?"

Mulder nodded. "Yeah. You two can go next Sunday. 
I mean, unless you think he'd be better off with me 
in the Superwalmart. If you think he'll disrupt the 
service . . ."

"Mulder, if it's one thing Catholics are used to, 
it's little kids disrupting the service. Most 
churches are equipped with special cry rooms just for 
that purpose," she said and felt relaxed for the 
first time during their conversation. 

Sunday came quickly and Scully seemed inordinately 
excited, getting William dressed and ready for their 
first excursion to church. She'd admitted to Mulder 
that her attendance at Mass had dropped off 
dramatically in the weeks after she'd place William 
for adoption, that she just couldn't think of 
anything to say to God except to pray each night that 
her son and the man she loved were safe and wouldn't 
forget her. Shyly, she also told Mulder how much she 
prayed that he would come to forgive her for what 
she'd been forced to do to keep their baby safe. He 
took her in his arms and hugged her close, reassuring 
her that he felt just as guilty as she did in the 
measures she was forced to take. He wished he'd been 
with her when she was faced with the decision.

She asked him once, and only once, if he would like 
to join them at church. He'd been fairly 
noncommittal, only mentioning that he'd probably fair 
better at the store across the street checking out 
gas powered weed eaters to get at the encroaching 
underbrush that was surrounding their yard. She'd 
left it at that, but he could see the disappointment 
and then the acceptance in her eyes.

The drive to town was bright and sunny. William sat 
happily singing to himself in his car seat, both his 
parents exchanging amused looks as his song sounded a 
bit off key.

"Those Scully genes are showing again," Mulder 
remarked mildly and got a sock in the arm for it.

Mulder pulled the car into the church parking lot and 
cut off the engine. Scully sat beside him, watching 
couples and families with children walk up the same 
steps she'd walked up just days before. He sensed her 
apprehension.

"Are you OK? Are you afraid of something, Dana? Talk 
to me," he prodded, taking her hand.

She smiled, still looking out the window. He'd 
started using her first name whenever they were in 
town, among people. Only in their bedroom did they 
call each other by their old names now. In front of 
William they always seemed to refer to each other as 
'mommy' or 'daddy'. She couldn't help feeling just a 
little melancholy for their old names.

"Dana?" he asked again.

She bit her lip and turned to him. "I'm fine." At his 
narrowed glare, she grinned at him. "Really, I'm 
fine," she said lightly and turned toward William in 
the back seat. "Let's go, William, we don't want to 
keep Daddy out in the parking lot when he could be 
stalking weedwhackers," she teased.

William clapped whenever his name was mentioned and 
this was no exception. Scully got out of the car and 
reached into the back seat to extract him from his 
carrier. She grabbed the diaper bag one-handed and 
settled it on her shoulder. Flashing Mulder one more 
reassuring look, she headed off toward the church.

Mulder watched them as they entered the heavy wooden 
doors. Other parishioners moved out of the way, 
smiled pleasantly at the cute little baby in the 
small woman's arms and held the door open for them. 
The doors closed and he was left in the parking lot, 
alone.

The church seemed brighter with the candles lit and 
morning sunlight streaming in through the stained 
glass windows. Scully found a seat in the rear, close 
to the cry room if she needed to escape there. It had 
been a while since she'd gone to church with William 
and in the past, her mother had always been with 
them. She wasn't worried that she couldn't handle 
being there alone with him, but at the same time she 
found herself scanning the crowd of worshippers, 
trying to pick up any danger she might detect.

She shook her head. Old habits certainly died hard. 
But then, she had no doubt that even in their idyllic 
setting under 'the old man', they still could find 
their former lives coming back to haunt or even 
destroy them. She swallowed hard and hugged William 
tighter to her. The Mass started with a song and she 
rose to her feet to join in the chorus with everyone 
else.

William was good while everyone was standing. He 
could see all the people and a man behind him started 
up a game of 'peek-a-boo'. William hid behind Scully 
whenever it was his turn to hide and giggled happily 
at the silly man. When they had to sit down again, he 
couldn't see the man as easily and soon grew bored.

The first distraction he could find was his mother's 
slip strap. Her shirtdress was unbuttoned at the top 
button and the tiny strip of silk proved to be just 
too enticing for the one year old. He plucked and 
pulled at the collar in an effort to expose more of 
the white silk material. Scully promptly shifted him 
to her other hip and turned him toward the altar, 
facing front. He soon discovered the red covered 
hymnals in the holders on the back of the pew before 
them. He leaned over, almost toppling off his perch 
on her lap to reach the book, which he finally 
snatched up and stuck in his mouth. Horrified, Scully 
withdrew the now wet book from her son's mouth, wiped 
it hastily with the hem of her skirt and placed in 
another holder, out of William's reach. They were 
only through the first reading, they had two more 
readings left to go.

In desperation, Scully found William's most recent 
favorite toy, a set of plastic keys on a ring. He 
loved chewing on the ridges while cutting his latest 
new tooth. With a squeal of delight that caused his 
mother to wince, he plucked up the keys and stuck 
them in his mouth, smiling and drooling through the 
next reading.

The Gospel acclamation started and without warning, 
William let out an ear-shattering shriek. Scully 
turned beet red and started for the aisle, screaming 
child kicking a fit in her arms. A gentle hand on her 
shoulder stopped her. She looked up into Mulder's 
eyes.

"Let me take him a while," he whispered and lifted 
the baby from her arms. Immediately upon seeing his 
father, William stopped his tirade and started 
playing with his father's ears. Mulder grinned at the 
boy, then at Scully and nodded for her to scoot over 
so they could both stand in the pew together.

After the Gospel, everyone was seated for the homily 
and Scully's curiosity couldn't be ignored any 
longer. "What are you doing here?" she asked in as 
quiet a voice as she thought she could manage and 
still be heard.

"This is what family men do, isn't it?" he shot back. 
When she started to question him again, he shushed 
her and directed her attention toward the priest on 
the altar.

Amazingly enough, except for a short bout of 
'bouncing baby' when William couldn't decide who he 
wanted to hold him during the Our Father, the rest of 
Mass passed in relative peace. Scully was grateful 
that Mulder had come, regardless of his reasons, 
especially at Communion when he even walked up the 
aisle with her but politely stepped aside as she 
received the sacrament, just to keep William from 
calling out for her while she was gone from the pew. 
As the last song was ending, they both heaved sighs 
of relief.

"He is adorable!" said a voice to their left. "May I 
hold him?" Scully looked over and saw woman about her 
height, just a few years old, holding her arms out to 
William, who was reaching out to her as well. 
Scully's gut tightened, and she looked quickly at 
Mulder who just shrugged his shoulder. After a second 
of indecision, she handed the baby to the woman to 
hold.

"Oh, Geez, now you've done it," said a man a little 
taller than Mulder and easily 100 pounds heavier. 

"Oh, hush, you!" shot back the woman as she cooed 
over William, rocking him back and forth with 
practiced ease.

"Joe Hawthorne," the man said, sticking out his hand 
to Mulder and then to Scully. "The baby snatcher is 
my wife Mary C. And now, I'm in for another one," he 
added with a note of sarcasm.

"I hate to tell you this, sport, but *s-e-x* causes 
babies, not me holding them," Mary C. informed her 
husband dryly.

"Yeah well, how come we've had s-e-x more times than 
number of children we have?" Joe tossed back at her.

"Ignore him," she told the younger couple. "So, 
what's his name? And your names, too, of course."

"I'm Dana Hale, this is my husband Ellery and this is 
our son, William," Scully said casually. Mulder 
beamed at her.

"Are you on vacation or have you moved here?" Mary C. 
asked, but her attention seemed to be completely on 
William.

"M.C. was a census taker in 2000. We haven't been 
able to convince her she's out of work for another 8 
years," Joe explained and got a well-executed kick in 
the shins for his effort.

"We just moved near Alexandria," Mulder answered. His 
first instinct was that he liked this couple. He was 
anxious to see if Scully felt the same. They seemed 
honest, direct and openly friendly.

"Oh, Millie said a couple had moved into Jimmy's old 
place outside Alexandria. You must be them," Mary C. 
said happily. "Well, welcome to St. Jude's. You're 
staying for coffee and donuts, aren't you?"

A quick exchange of looks and Mulder nodded in 
acceptance. "We'd love to."

A young girl about 16 years old came storming up the 
aisle toward them. "Mom, Stephen just dumped my 
entire purse out into the holy water font!" she said, 
fists on hips. "Ooh, cute baby," she beamed at 
William in her mother's arms.

"Oh, Christ," Joe muttered and Mary C. immediately 
elbowed him in the gut. "Sorry," he nodded to the 
Hales in apology.

"So, Mom, can I kill Stephen? I promise to make it 
bloodless," the girl said with a feral grin. Mary C. 
rolled her eyes and handed William back to Scully.

"I better go handle this to avoid murder charges. 
Joe, if you can keep the profanity to a bare minimum 
please show the Hales to the church basement and get 
them a cup of coffee?" Mary C. asked with a 'you 
better do it or die trying' glare.

"Sure thing," Joe nodded and assumed command while 
Mary C. marched off to find the suspect soon to be 
victim. Joe turned to the girl. "Megan, go collect 
the boys off the altar and absolutely no killings in 
the sanctuary. You have to wait till the ride home. 
And only one donut a piece, Father almost sent me a 
bill for the last time."

"So, how many kids do you have?" Mulder asked amiably 
as they followed the crowd of people to the front of 
the church and down a hallway. Out of the corner of 
his eye he saw the young girl Megan talking to two 
red headed boys about 14 and 12 years of age if he 
had to guess.

"Six, total. Until M. C. gets her mitts on young 
William. Then in ten months, mark my words, we'll 
have seven," Joe heaved a mock disheartened sigh with 
a shake of his head. "Our oldest is in the Marines, 
2nd Marines, 2nd Division out of Camp LeJeune."

Mulder stiffened and Joe nodded in understanding. "I 
know. I was a peacenik, too, in the old days. Sat on 
a train car with a big ole sign saying 'Nix on Nixon' 
when Jerry Ford came through our town. But what can 
you do, kids will do what they want to do no matter 
what you say. You'll find that out when this one gets 
older," he said, ruffling William's baby fine hair.

They made their way down to the basement and found it 
filled with other parishioners. "Daly's the best 
pastor we've had. We went through a slew of them for 
a while, there. But he's been here almost ten years. 
I think he'll probably stay till they retire him," 
Joe continued to make small talk.

"So, what do you do, Ellery?" he asked as he steered 
them toward the line for coffee and donuts.

"I'm a writer," Mulder said juggling William to his 
other hip so he could take the cup offered by an 
elderly woman who smiled at him.

"Mystery? I love a good mystery. Wouldn't be one of 
those horror writers like Stephen King, would ya?" 
Joe asked with excitement.

Mulder shook his head in amusement. "No, technical 
writer, I'm afraid. Journal articles mostly."

"Ellery is a psychologist," Scully explained as she 
took her own cup and lifted Mulder's out of his hand 
before he spilled it on the baby and himself.

"No way!" Joe exclaimed. "A shrink? Cool! Boy, this 
town could use one of those, believe you me! I'm the 
local satellite TV dealer. Biggest selection in the 
county," he said proudly. He spied an empty table 
near the back of the room and led them to it.

Mary C. arrived just as they were sitting down. 
"Megan took the boys over to Walmart, they'll meet us 
at the car in half an hour," she said, stealing a sip 
of Joe's coffee as she sat down. "She wants us to buy 
her new make-up." 

"Like hell I will," Joe shouted and then shrank down 
at the numerous stares he received. "I didn't want 
her using the damned make-up to start with. You're 
the one who wanted a girl, M.C. You have to put a 
stop to this," he growled.

"We'll talk on the way home," she assured him and 
then turned to the couple across the table. In 
minutes Scully and M.C. were discussing child rearing 
and Joe and Mulder were going over the possible 
advantages of installing a satellite dish. Before 
they knew it, they were among the last people left in 
the basement. Father Daly finished helping the ladies 
in the kitchen and came over to join them.

"Well, I was hoping you four would hook up. Joe and 
Mary are the closest we have to a Welcome Wagon," the 
old priest said, patting Joe on the back. 

"I think I've got Dana convinced to help me on the 
parish picnic committee," Mary said with a grin.

"And I think Ellery here will appreciate being able 
to get in those Knicks games this winter, once I get 
the dish installed," Joe added with a wink.

"A match made in heaven," Fr. Daly said with a roll 
of his eyes. "I hate to break this up, but I need to 
clear the place out. The Over 55 club is holding a 
tea dance in about two hours, and the decorating 
committee is anxious to get started." He waved to a 
group of silver haired ladies with armloads of silk 
flowers over at the doorway.

They exchanged phone numbers as they left the church, 
each family heading off to their respective cars, the 
last in the parking lot.

Mulder chewed on his lip but plastered on a smile and 
waved to Joe as the Ford Econoline van drove past.

"You're thinking we shouldn't have done that," Scully 
said with a sigh. "We shouldn't get that close to 
anyone. It could ruin our cover, make it easier for 
anyone to find us." All the time she was talking she 
was buckling William into the back seat, then walked 
around the car to her own seat in the front. "I know 
it was foolish . . ."

"Dana, stop it. Listen to yourself. Is that how you 
think I want to live? Hiding out for the rest of our 
lives, raising William like a hermit? That's a pretty 
boring life for him, isn't it?"

They were in the car, neither of them too interested 
in shopping for the day. Scully watched the town of 
Mt. Airy pass them by and open up into the gorgeous 
scenery of the mountains surrounding it. "No, it's 
not what I would choose for William, but I don't want 
to get him back just to lose him again. I've tried 
blending in, I've tried being a part of society. It 
didn't work, they found me rather easily." The sound 
of her voice was brittle with bitter resentment.

He thought over his words carefully before he said 
them. "I know, Scully. But you were in DC, right 
under their noses. And although you had plenty of 
people around you . . ." he stopped short of saying 
the obvious, that he wasn't there.

"So you think getting to know people out here will be 
OK?" she asked fearfully.

He nodded. "I think we have to. I think hiding up I 
the mountains will only cause suspicion. I think 
getting involved will provide even better cover. And 
I got to thinking. There's probably a lot I could do 
with a satellite dish hook up."

"You mean _besides_ watch the Knicks live?" she asked 
sweetly.

He feigned surprise. "Dana, you wound me!" he said 
putting a hand over his heart. Then he smiled at her. 
"I think we'll be all right. And it will be better 
for our sanity. The Hawthornes seem like nice people. 
All of the people we met today seemed like nice 
people. We have to trust in that, at least a little."

"Why did you suddenly come to the church? You were 
headed across the street," she remembered.

He shrugged and blushed. "I just didn't want to be 
alone. I didn't want you to be alone in the church. 
And actually, juggling the big guy, seeing you so 
happy there, it made me feel good. Isn't that the 
bottom line of religion? The opiate of the masses?" 
he asked playfully.

She shook her head. "So we do this. This isn't play 
acting anymore."

He took her hand and squeezed. "I'd say we stopped 
play acting a long time ago," he said solemnly. "This 
is it. We're making a life. We can't stop being 
cautious and we can't contact our old lives, but we 
can make a new one."

"We're always better together," she said with a 
smile.

"Always have been, always will be," he agreed.

She gave him a quick kiss. "Then I better start 
looking for a summer salad recipe that can be made in 
mass quantities. I'm in charge of that for the parish 
picnic."

The end