Grace gets out of the car and walks the short drive to the house, Mulder is waiting for them at the door as he does every day of the week. The girl runs to the house without even looking at her father and shuts the door with force behind her. Mulder wrinkles his eyebrows confused, his daughter always gives him a hug before entering the house.
Scully gets out of the car with her head down and walks towards Mulder, her two girls are acting strange and he doesn't understand what is happening, when finally Scully climbs the stairs she hugs him tightly hiding her face on his chest, he hugs her too and gives her a kiss on the head
'What's wrong, honey?' he says almost in a whisper. She breathes his scent before pulling away to look into his eyes, she has a grim expression and tears are about to fall down her cheeks 'Scully?' he says now getting worried
She sighs and pulls away walking towards the love chair next to the door letting her purse fall to the floor 'She hates me, Mulder' she says wiping a tear away 'She really hates me'
He shakes his head pressing the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb 'What happened now?' he asks with resignation taking a sit next to her
'Something that I feared since she was born and that I knew would be evident when she go to school and was old enough to understand' she says with a shaky voice
He frowns and turns his body towards her holding her hand 'What are you talking about, Scully?'
'She asked me why the parents of her classmates are younger than us… and then she said we're going to leave her alone because we're going to die before them' she says without being able to control the tears that run down her cheeks 'I could not lie to you, Mulder. The most likely thing is that we'll die before them' she says looking into his eyes and breaking his heart
He hugs her tightly caressing her back slowly. They certainly knew that this moment would come, his daughter is already seven years old and understands many things, many more than he understood when he was twice her age. Of course it is a difficult issue, and it has always been more for Scully than for him. Although he is older than her, he is not afraid of being a geriatric father. The truth is that his little girl has filled his whole life and has gifted him vitality and immeasurable happiness.
That question is for him, after all, he is the one who spends most of his time with her, while Scully retires. So he should talk to Grace 'I'm gonna talk to her honey, ok?' he says kissing her hair again, she looks up with a grateful look 'Don't cry, Scully. She loves you, no matter what'
She mutes a 'Thank you' and leans forward to kiss him, he smiles on her lips tasting her tears 'I love you, Mulder' he nods and kiss her again.
They walk inside and Mulder goes upstairs to his daughter's bedroom, the door is close but unlocked, Scully taught her not to close the door under any circumstance and she's haira very obedient girl, he knock the door before open it and walks inside. The girl has her face buried on her pillow and her backpack and sweater are on the floor. He takes a sit on the bed next to her caressing her
'Hey kiddo, you didn't gave me a hug this afternoon'
She moves her head a little letting a 'sorry' come out of the pillow. He tickles her and she starts to writhe and pull him away from her with her arms, until she is on her back looking at him. Her eyes are red from having cried but she doesn't look away while waiting for his speech
He half smiles putting a strand of hair behind her ear 'Mommy is very upset, baby. She says you hate her'
The girl looks down to her jointed hands on her belly biting her lip ?I'm sorry, I didn't meant to say that, I don't hate mommy. I was upset' he nods and moves her daughter to lie down beside her, They remain in silence for a while looking to the ceiling until she speaks again 'Daddy, are you going to die soon?' she asks turning her body towards her crossing an arm over his chest
He laughs closing his eyes 'We're all going to die, honey, and we don't know when or how. I think you know that already. But your mother and I are in good health, we've always been fit and we look great for our age, so don't worry about that'
The girls nods with a sad smile 'I don't want you to die, neither mom' she says with a shaky voice, he hold her closer kissing her forehead
'We aren't going anywhere any time soon, so stop worrying about it and lets enjoy life while we are still here, deal?' she giggles and nods holding him tightly
'I love you, daddy' she says with a smile
'I love you too, baby' he stands up feeling his knees creak and smiles 'Let's make mommy happy, ok?'
'Ok' she says holding his hand and walking downstairs looking for her mom
Scully is in the kitchen making pancakes because she knows are her daughter's favorites, when she hears them come downstairs she immediately turns around looking for her little girl's face
Grace runs towards her mom and hugs her tight hiding her face from her 'I'm sorry Mom, I really do' she looks up with teary eyes 'I love you'
Scully frowns feeling a lump on her throat 'I love you too, baby girl. Very much'
Mulder walks to them but instead of giving them a hug, he walks behind Scully and turns off the pancakes so they doesn't burn. Both mother and daughter laugh and reaching for him to join their hug, be obliges and kiss them both with a big smile.