Ch One- Daddy Hung The Moon

September 2015- Washington D.C. 9PM

"Mommy." Eight-year-old Molly asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What sweetie?" Scully asked, turning off the light.

A glow of yellow-green stars illuminated the expanse of the bedroom's ceiling as soon as the overhead light faded.

"Why didn't Daddy call, he was supposed to call!" The child was exasperated and surprised by her question, sincerely taken aback that her father had not called.

"Because he doesn't care anymore stupid." Maggie opined, angrily tossing her book, a copy of Ender's Game, on the floor. She turned away from her mother and sister, crossing her arms.

Scully sighed picking up the book Mulder had given their daughter many years before, for her seventh birthday. Maggie had always been the one closer to her father, the one who'd shared his interests, who'd looked like him. Molly looked up at her mother with pleading eyes, wondering for the first time if her sister's words were true. She'd always just hoped she'd been being mean all of this time, she'd been convinced of it.

"Margaret Samantha Scully..." Scully cautioned kindly.

"And that's another thing!" Maggie sat up suddenly. "He doesn't even want us to have his name anymore, just let it go Molly and go to bed!"

"Oh that's right." Molly whispered, reflecting on her new last name, Scully.

Maggie lay back down and angrily turned over again, this time pulling the blankets up over her head.

"She doesn't mean it." Scully soothed, tucking Molly back in, not really knowing what else to say. She didn't really know what to think herself.

Molly stared straight up at the plastic stars her father had helped her collect. At first it'd been a family project, the four diligent about getting the constellations just right. Now that they'd been rehung in their new DC apartment, the plastic heavens above where in a state of disarray.

"Daddy hung the moon, remember?" Molly whispered, pointing up at the plastic half moon as her mother kissed her cheek.

"That's right. Daddy hung the moon." Scully whispered.

The sisters went to bed, each facing an opposite wall, their hearts heavy, their eyes filling with tears. Scully sighed deeply, closing her eyes and resting against the bedroom door as she shut it. She wiped away her tears with her forefinger, trying not to focus on her sorrow. She had a lot more to deal with than her daughter's knew.

For them, it was merely the emotional hole their father had created when he'd suddenly left the family a year before. To the girls it was a mystery something to resent, to lament and more than anything, this newfound hollowness of abandonment was the kind of thing that would inevitably scar two young girls. Scully didn't know if it was harder for her youngest, for her almost teen or for her, who knew a whole truth and bore the burdens of a past they had no idea about.

Life had changed for Mulder and Scully after they gave away their son and quit the FBI, or at least, they'd tried to pretend it had. They'd gone on the run together after they'd said good-bye to their much loved little William, feeling guilty and broken about his loss but at once, happy to be together and somewhat distanced from their former lives. Neither had known what would come or where they were going when she'd gotten pregnant with Maggie. Mulder and Scully had never figured out how they'd been blessed with two normal, human girls who were happily useless to the supreme powers that hunted their firstborn. Dana's mother, for whom Maggie was partially named, was convinced that Maggie and Molly Mulder were genuine miracles, a reward for everything their parents had been through.

It'd been a happy family as far as the girls knew. They saw parents who took joy in life, loved each other and shared everything with them. Despite the obvious signs, neither child ever took note of darker side to their parent's lives. They had no clue that their mother was heartbroken, their father obsessed with something totally foreign to them, something that consumed him, causing him to slip away from the woman he loved and leave his children behind.

Maggie, who didn't understand why she'd been forbade to use her own last name (Mulder) stared straight up at the ceiling, her father's old UFO poster that said 'I want to believe' illuminated by the glowing plastic stars. Maggie did want to believe. Deep in her heart all those crazy stories her dad had told her were true. In her heart, her father and best friend hadn't all but forgotten her he hadn't walked away... In hear heart, she wasn't half orphan now. But the Dana Scully in her couldn't see past the obvious fact that he was gone, that he didn't call, that he'd revoked her name.

Outside the door, Scully sniffled, wiping her eyes and dialing his number. She sighed when it went straight to message.

"Mulder I don't know where you are but please if nothing else, call your kids they miss you."

Scully didn't say another word, dropping her phone on the couch as she ran her fingers through her hair. She'd been through so much with Fox Mulder in the past twenty-two-years and couldn't believe he'd left and not come back. After all, he'd always come back before and been there during the hardest of times. Always.

The girls had grown up thinking, rightfully so, that their mother was a doctor and their father a stay at home dad and part time behavioral profiler when in fact, he had continued to conduct paranormal investigations all these years, even before the FBI sought out his assistance once again. Scully had always known this and was aware that it was what caused him to leave the year prior. She didn't know how to feel: she was angry with him, she worried about him, she missed him... Mulder had told her he'd left to heal her, but she just thought he broke her heart even more.

She sat on the couch with her glass of wine and picked up the phone, calling her ex once again and once again it went straight to message. She paused, not knowing what to say this time and simply hung up.

...

The Next Morning 7:45 AM

"You going to try to have a good day?" Scully asked, running her fingers through each of the girl's hair as they walked toward the school.

Maggie rolled her eyes in reply, but Scully could feel both the girls nod against her hand.

"Oh come on Maggie; your first week of middle school, you've got to be a little happy."

'You're not.' The girl wanted to accuse. She crossed her arms staring back at her mother as she stopped to buy the morning paper.

"Hey girls!" Someone called from the edge of the busy sidewalk.

The three turned, their eyes widening in just the same way when they saw Mulder at the end of the sidewalk, already bent down to Molly's level.

"Daddy!" She squealed, breaking away from her mother's grasp and running into her father's open arms. Even Maggie let her guard down and ran to her dad. Mulder laughed, wrapping his arms tightly around the girls and kissing their cheeks.

"Oh my little..."

Uneasy and still scarred, Scully crossed her arms, her paper in hand and made their way toward her estranged partner and her children.

"Dana." He said simply, half a smile on his face. "Hey, how about we go get some breakfast, huh?"

"Fox! School." Dana sighed as the girls excitedly ran up the block ahead of them.

"Scully, not at a time like this!" He looked haggard and tired and Scully was stunned to find him in such good spirits.

"What?! What do you mean..."

"This is so much more important than school! Scully it's what we've been waiting for!"

Clueless and still angry, Scully raised an eyebrow, about to protest when he kissed her. It was a long, slow, sweet kiss that left her in total surprise when he abandoned her on the sidewalk, hurrying ahead to catch up to their girls.

"You're all coming with me!" He announced. "Like when Maggie was a baby. The truth is out there and it's time to finally tell them." He said, kissing her softly.