Author: sKiTzO sTaRbUcK (previously sKiTzO sHy VioLeT)
Rating: PG
Summary: "Daddy, what was mommy like?" Character Death.
~*~
"Daddy, what was mommy like?"
Big brilliant blue eyes look up at me, set upon a face of complete innocence. It's a question I've heard a million times, but never get tired of answering.
"Well," I pick her up and place her in my lap, content in our time together. She just got home from her first day of school, which was completely nerve racking for me. The only thing good in my life off somewhere strange without my supervision? No way. It's tough.
"She was very beautiful." I tell her, knowing she'll jump in any second and finish my train of thought. It's somewhat of a game for her, I guess. She loves to hear about her mother. She can never get enough of it.
"The most beautiful woman ever!" She shouts, bouncing a little in excitement. Her eyes are wild with giddiness and I push back a strand of her red hair behind her ear.
"That's right," I say, not able to help the proud smile that graces my lips. "And-"
"And I look just like her!" She especially loves that part. She doesn't remember her mother, and as a result my once partner has become the epitome of perfection to this small child. True, all mothers are like that to their young daughters, but this is like ten fold.
"Right again, Missy." I hug her tightly, as if to make sure she wouldn't disappear along with my true love.
"And mommy's name was..." She pulls away from me, letting me know I'm not through yet.
"Mommy's name was-"
"Dana Katherine Scully Mulder." Missy beams up at me, and I briefly wonder why she even prompted me to start that next part when she was going to tell it. She kills me, that one. Brighter than the sun and cuter than a million little puppies with the wettest noses and floppiest ears.
"Yes, but I didn't call her Dana. I called her-"
"Scully!" It's almost too much. I start to recall all the moments I've ever called her that. Good times and bad. I even called her Scully after the wedding, and she called me Mulder. People marvelled at that, but the thing was, I hadn't fallen in love with Dana, and she hadn't fallen in love with Fox. It was Mulder and Scully. Partners, best friends, and lovers, right up until the end, and beyond even that.
I can't hold it in anymore and a lone tear rolls down my cheek. Missy sees it and cocks her head to the side, her spirits dropping along with mine. I try to wipe the tear away, but she blocks my hand, her eyes becoming sad.
She wipes it away herself and kisses where it once was. Being the ever loving sweet heart, she throws her arms around my neck and cries into my shirt. That's enough for me. Tears pour down my cheeks as I embrace her tigthly, desperate to keep my daughter with me, no matter what. She may not be my blood, but she's still my daughter. She's more important to me than the very air I breathe, and to lose her would be unthinkable. Melissa Katherine Scully is all I have left in the world.
After Scully's death it was difficult to take care of her. She was barely a year old, and I knew nothing about babies. Not to mention the fact that everytime I looked at the small bundle I thought of one person and grief gripped my entire being.
I wanted my Scully, plain and simple.
"Scully!" I can't help the sobbing plea from escaping my lips. My tears mingle with Missy's hair, dampening it only slightly.
I feel her pull away from me gently and I look at her little face that holds so much love for the only father she's ever known. That anybody has ever known for her.
"I'm sorry," I say, wiping my tears away.
"I love you, daddy." Her eyes seem to hold a question there. They seem to plead with me, as if to say Don't you love *me*, Daddy? Aren't *I* enough?
I hug her again, although not quite as tight this time. The now is setting in and the notion of her leaving me is far away. "I love you too, Missy." I tell her. "You are the best daughter anybody can ever hope for. You're just like your mother."
She pulls back again and looks into my eyes.
"You miss mommy." She tells me. Her eyes are wet and threathing to brim over with moisture. "You love her more than me."
"No, no, no." I shake my head and hug her again. I pull her away from me this time and look back into her blue eyes. "I love you more than anything! I love you so much I'll do anything for you! It's just a different type of love that I have for your mother. I miss her so much."
She wipes her little nose and nods her head. "I know." She says hopping off of my lap and onto the ground. "I was just scared."
She rifles through her tiny pink back pack and pulls out a piece of paper. She hands it to me face down and smiles, her previous mood of giddiness returning with a seeming flick of the switch.
She really kills me.
"I made this in class today." She tells me as I take it from her. "The teacher showed me how to write my name and everything. I want to be a writer like you one day. Make lots of money like you did with your X-Files books. I'm going to go to my room and color now. I love you, daddy."
She kisses me on the cheek again and bounces off to her room, her backpack trailing behind her. I marvel at how a child raised be my, all on my own after the first year of life, can grow to be so perfect.
I look down flip the picture over. It's three people. A man, a woman, and a little girl. The man is very tall and has brown hair. The girl has red and the woman....
Beside her, in very trembly writing, is one word.
Mommy.
"Daddy?" Missy pokes her head back into the living room for a second, looking at me with a look of concern. She looks exactly like Scully in that moment, and it's like looking at a page out of one of my mother-in-law's photo albums.
"You can call me Scully... If you *want*."
I smile. It's not the *real* Scully, but it's close.
"Thank you," I tell her, near tears once again. "Scully."
~*~
Blah... I don't like it...