Mulder was in his office, researching old cases for a new book he was working on, when William came in.
"Daddy..."
William rested his head on Mulder's shoulder and sighed.
"What's up, slugger?"
Mulder spun his chair around and patted William's head.
"Emily yelled at me, but I... I didn't do anything bad"
"Mommy yells at me sometimes, too. And uh, I've learnt to just say sorry... even if I'm sure I didn't do anything wrong"
"I don't think that's fair, daddy"
Mulder laughed.
Scully was relaxing on the couch, and Mulder sat down beside her and pulled her close.
"Any idea why Em was moping around the house today?"
"Well. She's a teenager now and occasionally they're moody, Mulder"
"Remember when she was little and was deep into My Little Pony and hugged us for no reason..."
"And loved us? Yeah, vaguely"
"I still love us"
"Ditto"
Mulder kissed Scully.
"Scully, you were a teenage girl once. Umm, how bad does it really get or don't I want to know?"
"I'm not sure you want to know. You're going to hate when boys start coming around"
"I'm prepared. I've got my opening line and everything, wanna hear it?"
"You're not prepared, but please continue"
Scully smiled at Mulder.
"Basically, it involves flashing my FBI badge"
"We don't work for the FBI anymore, babe"
"I'm betting on the little punk not knowing that bit of information"
Mulder walked into Emily when he rounded the corner to the kitchen. Emily's cell phone skidded along the tile floor.
"Crap!"
"Hey, kid"
"Not. A. Kid"
Mulder picked up the brand new iPhone and handed it back to Emily.
"Right. Well, when you inevitably complain about this moment on your blog, or that FaceWeb thingy. Don't forget to tell the world that I bought you the phone you used to post said complaint"
"Sure. Fine. Whatever"
Emily didn't even look up, as she rushed past Mulder.
"She used to be so sweet"
Scully was still in bed. Mulder came in, crawled onto the bed next to her and told her about the incident.
"Hmm. I'm sure she'll get over it but if you keep breathing into my face, like that, I might not"
Mulder rolled back a bit, and Scully opened her eyes.
"Do you think it's about a boy?"
"Maybe. Don't push it, Mulder. As a former teenage girl, who kept things from her parents, pushing only makes it worse. That's my advice. Take it"
"What did you keep from your parents?"
"Boys. Parties. Smoking..."
"Stop. That's what I thought"
"Aw. Jealous, Mulder?"
Scully laughed. Mulder winced.
"Would you believe me if I said.. no?"
Mulder, Scully, Emily and William were sitting around the dinner table eating lasagne. There was a faint beeping noise, and Emily started typing on her phone.
"Mommy, said no phones during dinner"
"Shut up, Will"
Mulder looked up from his plate and noticed that Scully had already started speaking.
"Em, put the phone away... NOW"
"Fine"
Mulder was done with the whole situation.
"Hand it over, it's time that device went for a little vacation"
"Why?"
"Because... your attitude has been terrible lately"
"Whatever. Here. I've still got my laptop..."
Emily pushed the phone into Mulder's hand.
"Not anymore you don't"
Scully knocked on Emily's bedroom door, and was met by silence.
"Emily. Open the..."
"No"
"I just want to talk with you"
"Not interested"
Scully sighed.
"Ok. You're going to open the door whether you're interested or not, because I want to talk"
Emily opened the door, slowly. Scully leaned against the desk in the corner of the room.
"Laptop is behind you"
"I will. What's going on?"
"Nothing"
"Good. Now, what's really going on?"
Scully walked toward Emily's bed.
"Xander"
"What is a Xander?"
"A boy... that I like, a lot"
"That's who you've been texting? Right. What happened with this Xander?"
Emily looked up from her pillow. Scully smiled.
"Well, I thought he liked me too. I was wrong... Lucy told me that he was talking to her, and he said that he'd never noticed me"
"Sounds about right"
"MOM!"
"Sorry. Em, boys very rarely know what they want and sometimes they even pretend that they don't know how they feel about certain people. From experience, they barely know how to express themselves"
"We talk all the time. And... he told me that he likes me"
"I'm sure he does, but he won't be the only one. You're fourteen. There will be lots of boys... well, hopefully not A LOT"
"Eww"
"I want you to apologise to your brother"
"Okay"
Scully put Emily's laptop on a armchair in the corner of the room, hopped into bed and cuddled up to Mulder.
"Emily's 'tude... was about a boy"
"Huh. Do I need to shoot this punk?"
"Probably not. I told her there will be others, but I know that it doesn't feel like that for her, so we might just have to deal with a moody Mulder for a while"
"Others? Seriously, Scully? I don't want there to be one. Moody Mulder, eh?"
"Yeah, but I'm used to it"
Mulder put his arm around Scully's waist.
"Because of me? Wait, did you call me Moody Mulder in those journals of yours?"
"Maybe"