She hummed as she sat down at the kitchen table and Mulder slid two homemade pancakes onto her plate and heaped a small mountain onto his own, drenching it in syrup. They ate in companionable silence as she flipped through channels on the television and he read the newspaper until a soft knock interrupted their quiet breakfast.

She looked at him, shocked, with a glance that could only have one word attached to it: William.

Mulder steered her toward the door with a gentle hand on her back and pulled the door open with a faint creak. In front of them stood the dark haired boy from the security tapes who Mulder had met only once in a dingy hotel room. Scully's jaw dropped as she saw her son's true form for the first time before he stepped forward and awkwardly put his arms around her.

"Hi, Mom."

Scully pressed her face against his shoulder (he was as tall as Mulder now) as she tried to contain her sobs and remind herself to breathe.

"How did you find us?"

He gestured behind him, through the still open door. "The windmill out front. It's like the one in my snowglobe." She pulled him tighter.

William patted her back in an attempt to soothe her as Mulder stood to the side. William's eyes met Mulder's and he pulled back from Scully.

"Dad." The two men hugged, but this time, William hugged Mulder back as if he truly was his father.

"I assume you know that I'm not your biological father by this point."

William nodded. "I don't care."

Scully could swear she saw the tears escape Mulder's eyes as he pulled her into their embrace.

"We looked for you for so long," Scully breathed.

"And we've finally found you," Mulder murmured into her hair. "We love you so much."

"And we know you've said you don't want to live with us, because it's too dangerous, but we've been thinking about that. Can you stay and talk?" Scully said.

"Yeah, okay." His affirmative answer shocked them out of their stupor.

Mulder closed the front door. "Come in. We can talk in the kitchen. Want some pancakes?"

"Um...sure. Thanks."

They settled back at the table, and Scully threaded hers and Mulder's hands together. "So, we'd like to officially adopt you, if that's something you want. And you don't have to live here. It could be like a sort of 'home base' for you to come to whenever you need. We'll be here as often as you want us, but you can come and go as you want."

"So we would be like a real family?"

Scully nodded eagerly, searching William's eyes for an answer.

"Okay."

Scully sucked in a breath. "You'll need to disguise yourself when we get to the court hearing, but the name can be correct on the papers. They know you as Jackson, not William, and they believe you to be dead, so I think you're out of immediate danger. Do you have a problem with that?"

William shook his head, and his eyes widened as they settled on her tiny baby bump, almost unnoticeable this early on. "Are you...?"

Scully smiled softly, tears glimmering in her eyes. "About three months along."

"Congratulations, Mom. That's really great." William smiled for the first time and Scully felt her chest constrict with happiness.

"Thank you."

Mulder interjected. "I know we've been calling you William, but I also know that you went by Jackson for a long time. What do you want us to call you?"

William paused, thinking. "William."

Mulder slid his chair back from the table, reaching for his phone. "I'll call our lawyer."