Scully smiled as her daughter came awake, her eyelids fluttering open as she slowly came to. Ashley stretched, throwing her arms over her head, and yawned.
"Morning baby".
"Morning Mommy". Scully loved it when Ashley was half asleep – she was still her little girl then, still willing to curl up to her mom when she wasn't quite awake.
"Did you sleep well?"
"I did. I dreamed that you got me a cat for my birthday and Queequeg chased it up a tree and it wouldn't come down".
"Queequeg doesn't like cats", her mom agreed.
"Can I have a cat for my birthday?"
"No baby. You already have a dog. Besides, your birthday is months away and by that time you'll already have moved onto something else".
"Did you sleep well?" Ashley asked, realizing her mom was right.
"I did". Actually she hadn't. Scully had woken up just past four to find her pillow caked in blood. By the time she'd stripped and remade her bed, she was wide awake, and so she'd spent the past hour and a half simply watching her daughter sleep; taking in Ashley's peaceful and innocent expression; savoring the moment. She knew there would come a time when she wasn't around and so she wanted to pocket as many memories as she could. "So", she began, grinning conspiratorially at her daughter. "I was thinking that today we could do whatever you wanted".
"Anything?" Ashley was fully awake now; her eyes wide.
"Within reason. It would have to be within driving distance for us and you do have to be back at school on Monday. But it can be whatever you want – the zoo, the park, shopping or –"
"Can we have pancakes?"
"Pancakes?"
"Can you make us pancakes?"
"I can do that". Her little girl grinned. "What would you like to do after pancakes?"
Ashley thought long and hard before answering. "Can we have a girls day?"
"Of course".
"You can braid my hair and we can make cookies and watch Toy Story".
Scully resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "One day you're doing to wear out that video of yours".
Ashley shrugged. "Then I'll just ask Santa to bring me a new one". Scully couldn't argue with that logic. "Can we order pizza for dinner?"
Pressing a kiss to her daughter's forehead, Scully nodded. "Today baby, we can do whatever you want".
"Can Mulder come over?"
"Umm…I thought you wanted to have a girls day?"
"I do".
"Mulder isn't a girl".
"But…" Ashley frowned, realizing the problem. "Can't he pretend to be a girl?"
Scully bit back a laugh at the image that popped into her head. "Why don't we enjoy our day and then maybe later you can give Mulder a call?" It wasn't that Scully didn't want Ashley to see Mulder, but she still felt awkward around him after her near miss – well, near kiss – with Eddie Van Blundht. She knew Mulder wanted to know exactly what had happened that night at her apartment but, bar a few jokes directed at her, he'd said nothing, and that was more than fine with her.
"Ok", the little girl answered eagerly, clearly happy with the compromise.
"That's sorted then". Now, why don't you go and check on Queequeg and I'll make a start on those pancakes". Kissing her daughter once more, Scully got to her feet and prepared to spend precious time with the most important person in her life.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Scully and Ashley sat side by side curled up on the sofa, thoroughly engrossed in 101 Dalmatians. A sea of blankets and duvets covered them, and Ashley was snuggled up against her mom. The little girl's hair had been pulled back into a tight braid while her finger and toenails were coated in a bright pink polish. Scully's own had been painted light purple, and she'd allowed her daughter to give her a 'makeover'. Sadly Ashley had yet to discover that 'less was more' and had applied a thick coating of sky blue eye shadow to her mom's lids, and a deep red gloss to her lips. She looked like a hooker, Scully thought to herself as Ashley held up the mirror for her to admire her new style, though of course she said nothing of the kind to her daughter. And each time Ashley looked away, Scully attempted to brush off at least some of the makeup. But the whole process had made the little girl happy which was, after all, the purpose of the day. Now it was movie time and the two of them set up camp in the living room with a bowl full of popcorn (buttered, as it was a special occasion), a plate of chocolate chip cookies and a stack of Disney films. It was perfect.
The movie had barely been playing twenty minutes when Scully felt the familiar trickle of blood from her nose, along with the onset of a migraine. Releasing her grasp of Ashley, she quickly clamped her hand over her nose and got to her feet, rushing towards the bathroom. But she wasn't quite quick enough and Ashley looked on in horror as she realized what was going on. "Mommy?" She hurried off in search of her mom. "Mommy, you're bleeding".
As much as Scully wanted to comfort her daughter, she knew she had to get her nosebleed under control first. This was turning out to be a particularly bad one and already she felt lightheaded. Ashley grabbed a bunch of tissues and handed them to her mom, then watched as Scully tried to stop the bleeding. As Scully sank to her knees, clinging onto the side of the bathtub to steady herself, Ashley ran over to her and wrapped her arms around her neck. "Please don't die". Scully couldn't speak, though she desperately wanted to soothe the little girl; to tell her that the nosebleeds were a part of her immediate future, but that she'd do everything she could to stay alive for as long as possible. "I'll call Mulder".
"No". But despite Scully's plea, Ashley ran out of the room to call for help. From then on things were a blur for Scully; she had vague recollections of Ashley returning to her side and wrapping a blanket around her, of Mulder rushing into the bathroom, a look of pure terror on his face as he took in her blood-soaked pajamas, him lifting her up and carrying her into the bedroom, helping her into clean clothes with Ashley's assistance and putting her to bed. She'd managed to tell him that she didn't need to go to hospital; that this had happened before, and thankfully he trusted her to do as she wished, though he wasn't too keen on the idea. As soon as she was settled in bed, with Mulder and Ashley sat by her side, Scully closed her eyes and finally felt the pain float away.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When Scully woke, she was vaguely aware of Ashley deep in conversation with someone. "So I think I prefer Mr Potato Head, but Buzz is my favorite".
"I like Woody; he's cool". It was Mulder. Scully opened her eyes and could have sworn she was dreaming when she saw Ashley stretched out next to her in bed and Mulder lying on top of the comforter on the other side of her daughter. The two of them were sharing the bowl of popcorn whilst debating their favorite Toy Story characters. Then she noticed with confusion that the movie was playing on the television on top of her chest of drawers in her bedroom. Only she didn't have a television in her bedroom. "You moved the TV?" she asked weakly, both Mulder and Ashley turning to look at her as they heard her voice. She noticed guilty their expressions; a combination of fear and relief. Once again she had scared the life out of them.
"Mommy!" Ashley shifted closer towards her and kissed her warm cheek. "Are you ok? We were worried!"
"I'm fine". She couldn't help but notice Mulder shake his head, unimpressed with her answer. "I'm sorry for scaring you baby, but I feel a lot better now". Well her head still hurt, but at least her nosebleed was thankfully a thing of the past.
"Are you sure you shouldn't get checked out at the hospital?" Mulder asked.
Scully shook her head, immediately regretting the action. "I'm fine. So who moved the TV?"
"Mulder did".
He smiled sheepishly. "I thought Ashley might want a distraction from everything but she didn't want to leave your side, so we compromised. I'll put it back before I go".
"Thank you. And thank you for coming over".
"I still think that –"
"Mulder, I'm ok".
"But –"
"I told Mulder that we were having a girl's day but he said I could paint his toenails even though he's a boy, as long as I keep it a secret". Sure enough, as Scully's eyes traveled the length of her partner's body, she saw his toenails were now a navy blue color. She huffed out a laugh, more grateful than ever to her partner for everything he'd done for her and her daughter.
"I only did it because Ash told me you had nail polish remover".
"Ah, didn't she tell you that I ran out of that last week? I haven't got round to buying any more yet".
Mulder's panic face returned and Scully couldn't help but smile. "Top drawer on the right".
"Thank you".
"Mulder and me –"
"Mulder and I".
Ashley frowned. "Mulder and I watched Mrs Doubtfire and Sleeping Beauty while you were asleep. And we ordered pizza".
"Ashley said you'd told her she could have pizza tonight". Mulder seemed relieved when his partner nodded, as though he'd half expected her to say that Ashley had been telling lies again. "It'll be here soon if you feel like eating? Or I can make you some toast?"
"Maybe later. Thank you".
"Scully –"
"Mulder, it was a nosebleed. Yes it was a bad one but I feel better now and right now I don't want to move from this –"
"Look Mulder, it's my favorite part".
As Ashley shrieked, Mulder noticed his partner grimace and realized the little girl needed to quieten down a little. "Listen Ash, why don't we take the TV back out into the living room and give your mom some peace?"
But she wasn't prepared to leave her mom's side. "But it's our girls day Mulder".
"She's ok", Scully insisted, though she didn't seem too convinced. "But maybe we could watch the rest of the movie whilst being quiet?"
"Ok mom". Ashley snuggled up close to her mom and suddenly Mulder wondered whether he was outstaying his welcome. "If you want me to take off…?"
"Do you have somewhere you need to be?"
"Well…no, but I don't want to intrude on your day".
"You're not intruding. You saved the day", Scully smiled. "Besides, I presume you ordered extra mushrooms on at least half of the pizza, so the least you can do is stick around to help us eat it".
"If you're sure?"
"I'm sure I speak on behalf of Ashley too when I say we'd like you to stay".
"Yes! Please stay Mulder".
So he stayed.