disclaimer: not mine, don't sue

Chapter 25: The Blessing

~July 15... Same Year:

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

I love you so much, William

I'm glad you love me too.

"Mama! Some here! Some here!" William shouted over the sound of a baseball game on TV and the timer on the oven going off. Scully threw her hands up in the air.

"Mulder, could you get that? It's probably Mom and Dad, and they weren't told to get here until 3:00," she called from the kitchen, maybe a little too loudly. It was her son's first birthday, and she wanted everything to be perfect. But it was nearing 1:30 and she still wasn't as ready as she had hoped to be. She still had to ice the cake and wrap the presents. Mulder was in charge of making sure William stayed out of the way. He wanted to help in a more significant way, but Scully assured him that it would be fine. So they sat down to watch a baseball game. Thanks to Mulder, William understood most of the basics of baseball.

"Hi Mrs. Scully, Captain Scully…" she heard Mulder from the doorway. She needed to hurry up. She still didn't trust her parents with him.

"Hello Fox. And hello to you, Birthday Boy!" she heard her mother exclaim. Then, there was the rustling of a present, and that was how William would know it was his birthday.

"Open now?" William asked as Scully came out of the kitchen, licking icing off of her finger. William was holding a gift bag, while Mulder was holding a giant wrapped box. Leave it to her parents.

"I don't know… Mommy? Can he open his presents now?" Mrs. Scully asked, walking over to her daughter for a hug. She hadn't seen her since her birthday.

"I guess one is okay," Scully smiled, kissing her father on the cheek. It wasn't hard which one William would pick to open. He threw his bag aside and reached for the box in Mulder's arms.

"First you have to give Grandma a kiss. She hasn't seen you in awhile."

Scully was watching her son kiss his grandparents when she felt a tug on her arm. It was Mulder, and he pulled her a few feet to the side.

"Scully… they don't know, do they?" he asked. He had every reason to. He was not in charge of who she told and when.

"No, they don't."

"Almost six months and they still don't know?"

"It's just never come up."

"Ah, I see. Well, don't you think today would be a good day to tell them?"

"Mulder, I don't know…"

"Please, Scully. I can't tiptoe around them today. Let's just get it over with, and hopefully they'll have the decency not to ruin Will's day."

"Alright, but you're actually saying the words."

"Me? Uh, sorry, but I don't want to be eaten alive."

"Too bad, you're the one that wants to do this so badly."

"Oh, you think that we can just fake it. You really think that we'd be able to keep this from them today?"

"Actually, I do. But obviously you don't, so it looks like we're going to have to tell them. Well, you're going to have to tell them. I'll just sit next to you, holding your hand," she smiled deviously at him. Of course he would have the moral conscience. Why did he feel worse about lying to her parents than she did?

He admitted defeat with his eyes, but William had a different plan for them.

"Dada," he called to Mulder, reaching out to him with his chubby baby fingers. He wanted him to help open the gift. Mulder's heart jumped up into his throat. Scully turned beat red.

"Excuse me?" Capt. Scully said, not sure if he heard his grandson correctly. Mulder had no choice but to go over to William and give him what he wanted. He took him into the living room, shut off the baseball game, and helped him dig into his present. Scully stayed in the hallway.

"What did William just call him?" Mrs. Scully asked once she thought Mulder was out of earshot. He wasn't, though. In their tiny dorm, nothing was out of earshot.

"He calls him 'Dada,'" Scully said meekly.

"You condone this?" her mother asked.

"I haven't told him not to say it," Scully answered shortly.

"When did this all start?" the older woman inquired.

"A few months ago…"

"A few months ago? And you didn't say anything? You didn't even bother to tell your son that that man isn't his father? You aren't even in a relationship with Fox, how could you let your son--"

That's when Mrs. Scully realized what had been going on. Her daughter's expression told the story.

"You didn't bother to say anything…"

"It wasn't important, Mom."

"It's very important. I don't know if you realized this, but you are and Fox are not the only ones involved in this relationship. If he is dating you, he is dating your son as well. And I'm all fine with that. But, Dana… don't you think you're taking things a little too fast?"

"Fast? We waited, Mom. We did. But I love Mulder, and he loves me, and most importantly, he loves Will with all his heart. There is nothing he wouldn't do for us. I was, I mean I am, careful, Mom. Will always came first. I can't understand why you wouldn't want me to give myself to a perfectly wonderful man who cares so much about me and my child. I've found what I've been looking for," Scully defended, deciding to stop being shy and just admit what she had been hoping wouldn't come up. She was prepared to go down fighting for him, once again.

"Sweetheart, I know things have been rough for you--"

"You don't know the half of it, Mom, so don't even pretend that you do. Please don't be condescending. Just let me live my life. Trust me to know what I am doing."

Scully revisited her birthday that year, when she had been doing the exact same thing. It would take awhile for her parents to be okay with the fact that her daughter's love was not always unreciprocated. It would take awhile for them to realize that not everyone was out to hurt her.

Mrs. Scully sighed.

"You could have told us, Dana. You could of at least told us… we're your parents."

"I'm sorry, Mom. But this is sort of the reason why I didn't want to tell you at all."

"Baby," Mrs. Scully started, letting down her defenses just like she had when Dana was little so that she could let her baby girl know that she wasn't mad at her, "you can tell us things. You can tell us anything. We know you're strong and independent. That won't change if you tell us what's going on. We promise, don't we, William?"

"It won't, Starbuck," Capt. Scully said in a stoic voice, but then left the hallway in pursuit of Mulder. The man who had won his respect in a staring contest. Scully wanted to run in there and protect Mulder from her father, but she had no idea what would pan out. Her father could be very unpredictable at times.

"Ahh, look at this, Will!" Mulder exclaimed in the living room. He knew that Capt. Scully was coming, but he could do nothing about that. All he could really do was pretend that he hadn't heard what had been said. He tried to attract the baby's attention over to the rocking horse that Mr. and Mrs. Scully had gotten him, but even William seemed to sense the impending doom.

"Fox," Capt. Scully said to get his attention. As if it would be hard to obtain.

"Yes, Sir?" Mulder asked, gulping.

"Turn on that game you were watching. I happen to be a pretty big baseball fan myself." Mulder obeyed, wondering where this was leading them.

A few minutes of the Cubs/Mets game later, and Mulder found himself starting to relax. He had opened up the rocking horse for William and was pushing him on it peacefully. Every now and then, Capt. Scully would turn his head toward his grandson and smile. Dana and her mother had retreated to the kitchen, it seemed.

When the game went to a commercial break, though, Capt. Scully turned all of his attention to Mulder. He picked up the remote off the coffee table and muted it, to make sure they didn't have any distractions.

"My grandson thinks you're his father?" Capt. Scully started with. Mulder didn't really know how to answer that.

"He just knows that somebody like me is called a father. I don't know if he thinks of me that way or not."

"But he calls you his father."

"Yes, he does Sir."

"Do you think of him as a son?"

"Yes, I do. I love him a lot."

"You love my daughter?"

"With all my heart."

"You would never do anything to hurt her?"

"I would die first."

"You would never do anything to hurt this little guy?"

"Never."

"Do you understand what would happen if you did?"

"You don't have to worry about that, Sir. I never would, ever."

"But if you did, you know I would hurt you."

"I do."

"You know that I would hunt you down and kill you?"

"I wouldn't doubt you, Sir."

"Just so long as we're on the same page. Don't ever hurt my daughter or my grandson. They're… precious," Capt. Scully explained, turning softer.

"I feel the same way. Sir, you don't have to worry. I would never hurt them. I don't think you understand that that is impossible for me to do."

"No, I understand," Capt. Scully finally smiled, and Mulder knew he was thinking about his own wife.

"They're amazing, Sir. Dana and William…"

"Well, my little girl seems to think the world of you as well. So I might as well give you a chance. Fox Mulder, welcome to the family," Capt. Scully said, sticking out his hand. Mulder shoot it, and they went back to watching the game.