Author's Note: I can't believe I'm finally finished with this thing. I may write about Scully's trip to Wyoming before Mulder wakes up, but for now I'm going back to reading fic instead of writing it.

A huge thanks to Sarah who has been an amazing beta throughout this entire experience. And thanks again to Dani for helping me to come up with a way to include the simply obscene amount of nausea-inducing fluff I wanted to include. It's her penance for killing off William that one time.

Hope it was worth the wait. I accidentally looked at too many gifsets from Existence and Founder's Mutation over the weekend and ended up adding more domestic bliss. Bite me, CC.

and the forgotten one.

6:42 p.m.
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Mulder-Scully Residence
Rural Virginia

A very reluctant Dr. Huang discharged Mulder from the hospital the previous day. His blood tests continued to show rapid improvement. Dr. Huang all but ordered Scully to continue testing Mulder's blood as he recovered at their house.

Scully had booked flights for the three of them to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Leaving in a few days, Scully had also talked with William's aunt a few times assuring the older woman that he was safe with them in DC.

William's aunt had immediately taken Scully up on her offer to take care of the services for her younger brother. Thankfully, it had been easy enough for Mulder to convince Scully to delegate that task to the local funeral home. The service would be held next week when they were in town.

William still hadn't said much about his father's death, only nodding when Scully told him about the service for his father. He then excused himself to go work on an assignment for school upstairs in the guestroom that both Mulder and Scully knew would now never be anything but William's room.

Mulder's head swam with the ever-growing list of things they had to do while in Wyoming: The funeral service, meetings with William's school, talking with child services, their appointment with a family law attorney, and packing up the last thirteen years of Will's life into boxes. Despite the headache, it was understood by Mulder that the details were worked out. The ever-present, nagging voice reminding him that once again, everything would be taken away from him was quieter than usual, but Mulder knew that was because he was asleep more than he was awake these days.

Right now, Mulder had the house to himself. Even the dog was outside and enjoying the early spring day. Scully and Will had left a couple hours ago to run a few errands. She had all but banned Mulder from doing anything more strenuous than sitting on the couch or lying in bed.

The creak of the screen door opening signaled the return of his family.

"You awake Mulder?" Scully's voice rang through the living room from the entryway.

Mulder sat up and ran a hand through his hair, smoothing down the the evidence of his late afternoon nap.

"Mhmmm… You're back so soon." His voice was still soft with sleep.

"We've been gone nearly two hours, Mulder." Scully had shed her light jacket and walked over to the couch where Mulder sat. She leaned over and Mulder kissed the corner of her mouth in greeting.

She pulled away as she moved toward the kitchen, unblocking Mulder's view of William who had just entered the house. Their son had a weird look on his face, almost a grimace of sorts that Mulder guessed was the result of middle aged adults having the audacity to show affection for each other in the presence of a teenager.

"Can I go get Daggoo and let him inside?" Will asked him. Daggoo already liked William better than he liked Mulder even after barely a week of knowing him. Daggoo had already taken to sleeping with the boy at night. Scully hadn't protested to the arrangement, especially after seeing the pair together. She told him that Will's face had lit up in a way she hadn't ever seen before. Mulder didn't look forward to when they'd have to stop indulging William whenever he expressed any desire.

After the last fourteen years without him, neither of them was able to resist the addicting feeling of being able to instantly make their son happy by giving him exactly what he wanted. Finally being able to witness Will's happiness, much less being able to provide it, was almost intoxicating to them both.

He didn't think he was being too much of a pushover in the moment, as the dog had to come inside anyway for the night. "Sure, just try and make sure he's not muddy before you bring him in," Mulder instructed.

While Will went back outside to get the dog, Mulder turned his attention to Scully in the kitchen. He could smell the tomato sauce that meant Scully must have picked up a pizza for dinner on her way home with William.

"William went to grab Daggoo and bring him inside for the night… what kind of pizza did you get Scully? Smells good." His stomach rumbled in agreement with his words.

She reappeared, leaning against the entryway to the kitchen. "Half pepperoni, half pepperoni, green peppers, and mushrooms." She paused, then spoke slowly. "Would you believe he doesn't like mushrooms? My child! Not liking mushrooms!"

Mulder raised his eyebrows in mock horror. "The nerve of him!"

"Clearly this is on your half of the chromosomes - not mine." Scully sniffed as a smile played on her lips. "I'm just reheating it before we eat. Are you sure you were able to get enough sleep? Maybe it'd be better if you stayed here while we went to Wyoming. I don't want to overstress your immune system and set your recovery back."

"Relax, Scully. You already said Dr. Huang okay'd it. And yes, I did nap. I'm practically a narcoleptic these days," Mulder said, trying to assuage her concern for him.

The loud bang of the screen door once again heralded William's return with Daggoo at his heels.

"Is the pizza ready yet? I'm starving!" William bent down to take off his shoes, leaving them on the mat by the door.

"It'll be just a few more minutes Will," Scully answered.

William sighed in disappointment. "Alright… I'm going to go check my email real quick then." He turned and took the stairs two at a time.

"We've been responsible for the welfare of a teenager for two weeks Scully and we're already starving him."

"Hmmmm… I think he'll manage. I may have gotten talked into stopping for ice cream while we were out." Scully didn't bother hiding the affection in her voice as she spoke.

Muder decided to press his luck for the day. A coy Scully wasn't too many steps from a flirty Scully.

"You didn't bring me any?" Mulder gave her an exaggerated pouted look.

Scully rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever, Mulder."

"Guess I'll just have to settle for a taste. You're a very messy eater, Scully. Maybe you still have some on your face."

"Do I? I better take care of that then." She feigned innocence and smirked at him. Scully moved as if she was going to reach for something to clean her face.

Mulder grabbed her forearm as she reached for a napkin. His hand gripped her arm a little tighter, stopping her movement. She looked up him, her eyes sparkling as he spoke, "No, Scully. Allow me."

He stepped toward her and backed her up to the the counter next to the oven. Placing his hands on her hips, he leaned forward and kissed her. Her arms went around his neck as she opened her mouth to deepen the kiss. He chuckled softly and lifted Scully up so she was sitting on the counter, now level with him as he stood between her legs.

Lost in the moment, Mulder's hand was buried in Scully's straightened hair as he kissed her jawline. Her mouth was on his neck, her hands stroking his back. Neither of them noticed quickly enough the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. The footsteps stopped right in front of the kitchen before they had a chance to pull apart from each other.

"Seriously?"

—

Scully's face had been bright red when she realized their son had been standing in the kitchen and had seen them occupied together. When William asked if they could watch a movie while they ate their pizza, she'd been quick to agree. Mulder pointed him toward their collection of movies.

As William began to look through the the movies, Scully settled herself on the couch. Scully chewed on her pizza while she watched him try to decide on a movie. Every so often, he'd pull a movie from the shelf, examine it, and then place it back on the shelf. He repeated this action a few times. Somehow the responsibility of choosing a movie had briefly distracted Will from his unbearable hunger he had been complaining of only five minutes prior. Mulder sat down next to her and put a slice on his own plate and began to eat.

Suddenly, Will spoke. " Okay. I think I've got it. What about we watch either Caddyshack or Star Wars?" William looked up at them for their reactions to his carefully curated options.

Scully narrowed her eyes at their son's choices. "Will, isn't Caddyshack rated R?"

"So what? I have seen it before. There's no like blood or violence or anything." William's tone was insistent, almost daring Scully to impose authority against him that he knew she didn't have.

Momentarily struck by the clear challenge in their son's voice, Scully didn't immediately respond. Sensing her hesitation, Mulder quickly jumped in to save Scully from the minefield Will had set. "If you've seen it before, you know why it's rated R. We can still watch it if you really want. Up to you." He shrugged as he delivered the suggestion to William, leaving the decision up to him. They'd have to figure out this dynamic soon enough, but tonight was not the time to have this conversation.

Mulder then briefly wondered if he could avoid this argument if he told Will there was a decent possibility he was conceived during (or after) a viewing of Caddyshack or if such a revelation would ruin any possibility of their son ever again enjoying the movie. Then he figured he and Scully had already more than fulfilled their parental obligation to embarrass their son for the day. Mulder really doubted any teenager really wanted to watch some of the slightly more mature scenes in that movie with their parents.

Will's face turned a shade similar to Scully's earlier in the kitchen as he remembered some of the details of the movie and realization dawned. "Um, actually, let's watch Star Wars since it's coming out on Tuesday."

William returned to his spot on the couch next to Mulder and began to eat a slice of pizza.

"We can pick it up on our way to the airport next week if you want," Mulder suggested.

Nodding his head, Will managed a noise of agreement as he started on his second piece.

William eventually managed to finish off four slices of mushroom-less pepperoni pizza and, after a brief respite, did not struggle in finishing off more than his share of the two bags of popcorn he popped.

Scully had pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and covered herself and Mulder. Will had shook his head at her offer of a blanket. The early springtime weather still made the nights in Virginia cold, and even Mulder wasn't going to push his luck when it came to his recovery. Scully would probably revive him just to kill him herself.

As the credits rolled on The Empire Strikes Back, Scully didn't move. She had passed out within the first twenty minutes of the movie, nestled up against Mulder's side with his arm draped over her.

Even Daggoo hadn't moved a muscle. He had curled up next to Scully with his head on her thigh. Mulder never knew Scully could be such a pushover until he saw the shit she let the dog get away with. He was thrilled Daggoo seemed content sleeping with William instead of in the bed he shared with Scully. Mulder thought the dog could use some serious boundaries, but Scully told him he was being ridiculous.

Mulder wasn't sure if William had been able to make it to the end of the movie. It had been an exhausting couple of weeks for all of them.

"Will? You awake?"

William had turned on his side with his head laying on the arm of the sofa at some point during the movie. He slowly moved to sit up. He may have lasted longer than Scully, but Mulder suspected he wasn't very far from falling asleep.

"Mhmmm… I'm awake." The insistent tone of Will's response was somewhat negated by the yawn at the end of his sentence.

Mulder softly chuckled.

Will glanced over at Scully and looked surprised. "Is she really sleeping?"

Mulder smirked. "Scully was sleeping before they even left Hoth. Your mother can fall asleep anywhere, anytime."

Will's gaze went from Scully's sleeping form then to Mulder.

"I don't think I've seen her sleep since on the plane after we left my… after we left Cheyenne." William's obvious concern for Scully made Mulder feel an unexpected swell of love in his chest for their son.

Their kid was pretty great.

"Ah, airplanes are some of Scully's most favorite sleeping locations," Mulder fondly told Will as he glanced over at his sleeping wife.

William returned his smile. "She was really worried about you."

"Scully tends to do that," Mulder stated. "I worry about her. We both worry about you." His priorities had changed very little over the last twenty-four years since meeting Scully, expanding a few years later only to encompass William.

"I know." Will dropped his gaze to his lap where his hands fidgeted. He continued, "The last couple of weeks have been kinda hard, so ummm… thanks for letting me stay with you guys while it all gets figured out and stuff."

Mulder swallowed against the tightness in his throat. "We're happy to have you here, kid. It was the least we could do."

"I'm just glad I was able to save you and that you're gonna be okay." He looked up at Mulder, as if to reassure himself of Mulder's improved health.

William's quiet declaration rang in Mulder's ears.

"Thank you," he whispered as he leaned over and placed a kiss on the top of his son's head.

The faint memory of a forgotten dream, of an impossible wish once wished danced on the edges of Mulder's awareness. He had already mourned the near-physical loss of that wish, of those lost possibilities.

Now, however, he had hope for the possibility of other moments such as this in their future. He would reclaim whatever happiness he could. For Scully. For himself. For his family. They deserved to try.

Maybe all was not yet lost.