A/N: I hope you enjoy the chapter!
XXXXX
Mulder stared up at the ceiling of his home office, tapping a pencil on his thigh. His chair tipped back, and his feet resting on the edge of his desk, he pushed back slightly, as though that delicate movement would somehow result in finding a solution for his current problem. The only cure to adolescent moodiness he knew of was growing up, and his best option was to pray that his son would be granted the gift of maturity for his eighteenth birthday. The pessimist in him thought he better just get used to it, as he would be spending the better part of two decades living with a teenager.
"Do you want to come to bed, or would brooding for another two hours do the trick?"
He glanced over at the doorway, where a pajama-clad Scully leaned against the wall, taking his small grimace as in invitation to join him. She sat on his desk next to his feet, smelling of green tea soap and shampoo, her red hair scraped back with a headband. He wondered how long she had been waiting for him upstairs. He snuck a peek at the clock; it was nearing midnight. "You have to work tomorrow." He could barely scrape out the words, his throat dry from not having spoken in hours.
"Not all of us get summers off," she lightly responded, amending her comment when she detected her partner's scowl. "Well, the first half, anyway."
"I'm still waiting for you to thank me for getting you out of work for the months of December and January." He was clearly still in a bad mood, as though either of them needed any confirmation.
"What did you two fight about?"
Even the gentle lilt to her voice, which usually soothed his nerves, irritated him. He hated feeling this way.
He finally met her gaze. "He said I never specifically invited him to the camping trip."
Scully looked down to the floor for a split second.
"Fuck, I didn't, did I?" Mulder threw his pencil across the room.
The thought of Kyle not joining them on the camping trip had never crossed his mind, as the point of the trip had been to spend quality father-son time with the three boys together. So, he felt hurt on a couple of different levels when heard Kyle's interpretation of the event. "We never talked about it. I just figured you wanted to do something with them because of the baby."
The ensuing conversation had dissolved into an argument when Kyle announced he had no interest in participating in their hunt for Bigfoot, and gradually became louder and repetitive, until father and son stormed off in different directions.
"He's been in a bad mood ever since we got back from the Vineyard," Mulder mumbled.
Scully carefully chose her words. "Mulder, we pulled him out of school for a surprise long weekend two weeks before his final exams. I'm not defending him, but I think we need to take a little bit of responsibility here."
"He said he didn't want to go, Scully," Mulder moped, getting up from his chair. He planted his hands on either side of her, bending down, pressing his forehead against her own.
She tilted her head. "Of course he said that," she reasoned. "You were both picking a fight."
"I don't do that," whined Mulder.
"Did you say that on purpose?"
XXXXX
"Are they here yet?" Nathan stood close to his mother, blocking her reach to the refrigerator, his wizard's hat flopping over his left eye.
Scully shook her head, trying to keep her patience; it was the sixth time in the past twenty minutes Nathan had asked that question. She and Mulder had offered to watch the Gibson children overnight to give their friends a much-needed break. She hadn't realized the transparency of her intentions for hosting the children until she had run the idea by Mulder. He had lightly tossed his book across the bed and folded his arms in front of him. "I see what you're doing here," he had sighed, trying to clamp down on his amusement. "And it's not going to work."
He was right, of course, she mused, thinking back to their conversation from the previous week. He had reminded her of his stance earlier that morning, when she was doing her best to baby-proof the living room. "They are going to ignore her, Scully. And they won't remember today six months from now when we bring home our own baby. If anything, this is a test for our multitasking skills. And we'll handle it."
The boys had little to say about her pregnancy, the concept still too abstract to comprehend. Scully tried not to push the subject matter, occasionally dropping phrases such as "when the baby comes" into conversation. So, she was caught off-guard when Will's kindergarten teacher offered her congratulations at drop-off one morning, remarking that Will had told everyone he was going to be a big brother. A few days later, Nathan's teacher reported that he had shared the news with his class-under the guise of asking, "What happens if a baby throws up all over your homework?"
Scully knew that the difference in their reactions had as much to do with their developmental stages as much as their temperaments. Nathan was just old enough to know that a baby would change many things that had always been the same for him. Will was just young enough to know how a baby would affect his identity but not his relationships or routine. Mulder kept having to remind her that the boys' feelings would evolve and change and that their reactions thus far were healthy. "They aren't going to get it until we come home from the hospital," he had said more than once. "Hell, we're not going to get it until then either."
After she and Mulder had told the boys they would be having a sleepover with AJ and his little sister, Nathan, began to show his curiosity about baby Lily in earnest, and had been peppering his parents with an unrelenting stream of questions all day. Before he knew his mother was pregnant, Nathan had never given LiIy a second look. In answering his queries, if Scully ever tried to distinguish between Lily and babies in general—or his forthcoming sibling—Nathan would stubbornly stomp his foot and say, "No, just Lily." After all, his father had all but promised him that Lily would provide insight into the ickier behavior of babies.
"No, monkey," Scully told him, gently pushing him out of her way. "You'll be the first one to spot them if you go back to the window seat."
When their friends arrived, Nathan attached himself to Hank, who was holding the baby carrier. "Should I be nervous about this?" Hank asked, taken aback by the six-year-old's enthusiasm. "I'm not sure I'm comfortable with a six-year age difference, Nathan."
"When will she puke?" Nathan's hazel eyes widened, as he hopped on one foot and bit his bottom lip. "'Cuz I have to go to the bathroom and I don't want to miss it."
Hank chuckled. "Usually about five minutes after she eats, so you'll have to wait until your parents give her some dinner."
Nathan narrowed his eyes and drew a deep breath, unconvinced that his parents' friend was telling the truth. "Okay. But I'll be right back just in case you're wrong."
"Nathan…Sorry about that," cringed Scully. He had inherited his father's ability to smooth over his rather poor word choice with a charming and mischievous delivery. "Mulder's been promising Nathan that babies are gross. It seems to be the only reason he's even interested about all of this."
"No, that's a relief to hear. At least I have one daughter who doesn't have a boyfriend."
"Hank," warned Stella, throwing her friend a look that indicated they were venturing into subject matter that had been an ongoing household battle. "Don't do this. You are just going to get upset and you won't stop talking about it and then A—"
"Chloe's naughty," AJ explained rather cheerfully, clutching the stuffed husky gifted to him by the boys as a thank you gift for watching Bandit a few weeks earlier. "She said a bad word."
"Thanks for reminding us. We almost forgot," Stella grumbled, sending AJ into the living room to find Will and Bandit. "When do they stop repeating everything they hear?"
"Never," Scully confirmed.
XXXXXX
AJ's upper lip trembled as he watched his parents exit the house, and Scully prepared herself for the ensuing waterworks. Luckily, Will chose that very moment to announce they needed to play with his pirate ship, distracting AJ from his parents' absence. Her son had inherited his father's sensitivity, always seeming to know when someone needed extra tender loving care.
Scully sat down on the floor, a few feet away from where the boys played, freeing Lily from the confines of her carrier. The baby looked at Scully expectantly, soaking in her unfamiliar surroundings. Leaning against the couch with her feet planted firmly on the floor, Scully sat the little girl on her slightly swollen stomach.
"How are you doing today, Lily?" Scully asked softly, gently tickling her stomach. Lily grinned, babbling and stretching her arms. It was hard to believe that in a year, she would be playing with her own son or daughter, who would be roughly the same age as the child now in her lap.
Scully glanced over at Will and AJ, happily playing across the room, making cannon fire noises as their plastic pirates battled one another. She and Mulder were lucky to have close friends in the neighborhood with children of similar ages; it was something she never experienced growing up, and it was nice that her boys had playmates within walking distance of their home. While they weren't as social as some of the other neighborhood parents, they had some close friends.
"Mommy!"
An insistent Nathan stood next to her, warily eyeing the baby, his curiosity finally catching up with him. He stared at the baby for a good thirty seconds before exhaling a sigh of disappointment. "She's not doing anything gross."
"Patience, Nathan," Scully smiled, realizing that Nathan must have expected their visitor to arrive on their doorstep exuding a cartoonish array of smells, sounds, and spills. At the very least, he had probably been anticipating that Lily would act more like the puppy he so very much wanted.
"Can you be a big help, and set up Lily's play mat? It's in that tote bag next to you."
Nathan pouted as he grabbed the play mat and unfolded it on the floor. "Good job, monkey," Scully told him, setting the baby down on her stomach.
"Why is she still not doing anything?"
"She's wiggling," explained Scully, tucking her hair behind her ears, resisting the urge to utter the p-word once again. "Babies her age are learning how to crawl. And she's not used to being here, so she's probably wondering what's happening, and where everything is."
Bored, Nathan rooted through the tote bag, finally pulling out a stuffed lamb, startled when Lily squealed. He tentatively held the toy closer to her, and just as she reached out to grab it, he snapped his arm in the opposite direction. The baby laughed. At least she thought it was game, Scully thought; a child six months older might have considered Nathan's antics to be an act of small torture. She had a distinctive memory of Will, ill with an ear infection, howling uncontrollably when his uncle playfully snatched Doggy from him.
"Look, Mommy, she's trying to move!"
Sure enough, Lily's arms were flailing in whatever direction Nathan held the stuffed animal. "She sure is, monkey. I think she really likes playing with you. I don't think I've heard her laugh like that before."
Nathan immediately frowned upon hearing his mother's compliment, setting the lamb on the play mat, all interest in Lily lost. "Bandit's more fun. I'm going to play with him instead."
"Well, we'll be here if you want to come back and play," Scully reminded him, unsurprised by his outburst. Nathan was certainly enjoying himself much more than he was letting on, although she knew he would never admit it. Baby steps, Scully thought, pun intended.
She stretched to pick up the lamb and give it to Lily, who gurgled with joy at being reunited with her stuffed animal. The baby was lucky, Scully thought; happy with a warm belly and a soft toy, taking in the sights around her.
She found a handful of stacking blocks at the bottom of the tote bag, which prompted another gurgle from Lily. She sat behind the baby to help support her back, and they stacked the blocks together before knocking them over, a process which never ceased to fascinate Lily.
They played until Lily began to whimper, signaling to Scully that she was hungry. "Do you want a snack?" Scully asked Will and AJ, who were too involved in their game to answer. The question was rhetorical, more than anything, and while fixing Lily's bottle, she pulled some pre-sliced baby carrots from the fridge. It was a bit of a challenge with the baby on her hip, tugging on her hair, but she managed.
"Hey, Sc—" Mulder stopped short when Scully turned around.
She knew immediately what he was thinking, and she blushed. "Don't say it, Mulder—don't say it."
He opened his mouth before hesitating, taking in the sight of his barefoot partner, baby in tow, her black tank top slightly riding over her oh-so-slightly protruding stomach. "I love you?" he guessed.
Scully grinned. "Nice save, there. Can you give the boys their snack while I attend to this one? I don't know where Nathan went—he'll probably be hungry too."
"Sure," Mulder stuttered, still a bit speechless. Every so often he became overwhelmed by the reminder of Scully's pregnancy, and this was one of those moments. The visual reminder that she was with child—and with another baby in her arms as well—sent a jolt through him.
He stopped her as she brushed past him, his hand curling around her waist. "Scully? This…This suits you."
"I agree," she smiled, tugging on his t-shirt for a kiss. "But I like to think that it suits us."
"Us is better," he agreed.
XXXX
Mulder leaned against the wall, unable to take his eyes off his partner, curled up on the couch with the baby and a book. While they had lent, or given away many of the things the boys had outgrown, she had held onto their favorite picture books and toys; maybe a part of her had always known they would still be needed by their family. He reminded himself they still needed to take thorough stock of their basement and attic to see what they needed to purchase or fix.
He had to admit that he was a little worried about whether Scully would be up for hosting the children. Over the past couple of weeks, Scully had lost the pallor in her face and had begun to radiate the so-called pregnancy glow. Her energy had only just returned, and Mulder didn't want her to over-extend herself. But right now, she looked the picture of health, snuggling with Lily and pointing to the pictures and words on the page.
"Daddy, can you play with us?" Will asked, interrupting him from his thoughts. His youngest son's eyebrows were raised high in anticipation, and his lower lip slightly quivered. It wasn't just an idle offer, Mulder knew; Will truly wanted him to participate.
"Of course, bullfrog." Mulder swelled up with pride; it sometimes took him by surprise how much his children demanded his presence in their playtime. After all, his own parents had rarely participated in his boyhood games. He had vague memories of reading by the fireplace in his father's study, and of playing with his green plastic soldiers in the living room while his mother sewed. Except for Christmas morning, BIll Mulder never would have been caught sitting on the floor with his children.
Mulder patiently listened to Will and AJ explain what was happening in their imaginary world, being sure to ask lots of questions. The breadth of his sons' creativity had always impressed him, and their blend of the silly and surreal never ceased to amaze. As the afternoon wore on, things became a bit ridiculous, and although he could see the boys were beginning to tire of their pirates and soldiers, who were doubling as astronauts, Mulder somewhat selfishly extended it, taking over control of their storyline for the first time. He had been lost in a fog the past couple of days, brooding over the impending camping trip, and he seemed to have finally snapped out of his funk.
"Hey, Nathan, do you want to play with us?" Mulder asked, spotting the six-year-old, once again clad in his wizard's cap, entering the room with a book in hand.
Nathan shook his head, barely giving his father a glance. "I'm busy," he announced, dragging Bandit to his favorite makeshift hideaway between the couch and the wall.
Mulder knew that meant Nathan was working on one of his spells, and by the way he occasionally popped his head around the corner to peek at his mother and the baby, he could only guess that it had to do with Lily.
When Mulder finally exhausted his game with the younger boys, he helped them put away the toys and set them up with the animated Robin Hood movie Will had been watching non-stop since Christmas. "Can you take Lily while I finish dinner?" Scully asked Mulder, the baby wresting control of the book on her lap. She gently replaced it with the stuffed lamb, much to Lily's satisfaction. "I just remembered that we don't have a high chair."
"It wasn't in the basement?" Mulder asked, lifting Lily out of his partner's arms, following her into the kitchen.
"I couldn't find it. But we might have given it to Hank and Stella a few years ago. Or maybe it was the Madisons? It's driving me crazy that I can't remember. I need to start making a list of what we need."
"We have time, Scully," Mulder reminded her, watching Scully begin to work herself into a frenzy. They had purposely avoided starting an inventory before her first trimester ended; now that she was approaching her fifth month, they would need to start thinking about baby-related paraphernalia soon.
"And we'll do this together. I learned my lesson from Mother's Day. I'll read comparisons and reviews. And I won't complain about it."
She turned around, narrowing her eyes. "Seriously? Don't make promises you can't keep."
"Don't look so surprised," Mulder whined, adjusting his hold on Lily, who began to chew on his t-shirt. "I'm learning from the misdeeds of my youth."
"It was last month, Mulder."
"My mother tells me I'm a growing boy."
Scully smiled; she had missed their gentle rapport over the past few days, as Mulder had been preoccupied with sulking about his argument with Kyle earlier that week. While they were civil with one another, and had even watched some TV together the night before, neither of them had addressed the subject of their camping trip. They were both prone to be moody while they were stressed, and she hoped that once the school year ended, her stepson would be back to his mellow self.
A faint stench began to waft its way around the room. Both Mulder and Scully wrinkled their noses, turning their attention to the ever-so-innocent culprit. "Hey Nathan, do you want to see something gross?" Mulder bellowed.
XXXXX
"Nathan, it's getting late, monkey," Mulder said softly, not wanting to disturb the finally sleeping baby sprawled across his chest. The forlorn look on Nathan's face betrayed his loneliness; too old to sleep in the tent on the floor of Will's room with the younger boys; much too young to carouse with his older brother (and thank God for that). At least for the moment, that left the boy with no potential playmate save a cranky eight-month old.
"Do you want me to find your sleeping bag so you can camp out with Will and AJ and Bandit? There's lots of room in the tent."
Nathan shook his head, zeroing in on the baby lying on his father's chest. "I get to stay up late," he reminded his father. "Cuz I'm bigger than them."
Mulder smiled at his son. "So, big kid, do you want to come up here and sit with us?"
"There's no room," Nathan declared, downcast, almost determined to be miserable.
"Mommies and Daddies always have room," insisted Mulder. "Get up here, monkey."
Nathan climbed onto the couch next to his father, finding himself nose-to-nose with the sleeping infant. "See, monkey, there is plenty of space for both of you."
Mulder shifted the baby so he could pull Nathan closer to him. He ran his hands through Nathan's curly hair, watching the six-year-old study the baby with fascination. He tried to think back to Samantha's birth; had he spent much time doing the same as his son, or was he too busy in his own little boy world to take notice of his younger sister? Had he been nervous about being displaced by a new sibling, or had he been excited to be a big brother?
"Did you have fun playing with Lily today?"
"No," Nathan pouted. "She's boring."
Mulder tried not to laugh; Nathan was a terrible liar, especially when he was tired.
The next thing he knew, Scully was gently shaking him awake, holding a finger to her lips. He looked down to see the two children fast asleep, Lily clutching Nathan's finger. "There might be hope for us yet," she whispered.
"I'm going to stay here for a bit if you can take her."
Scully nodded, knowing that he needed this one-on-one time with their son. She picked up the quilt hanging over the back of the sofa, spreading it over them. She was about to pick up the baby, when the phone rang. "We're fine here," Mulder told her, closing his eyes.
XXXXX
"Is Dad in a good mood?"
That question certainly did not bode well for an uneventful evening. "What's wrong?" Scully asked quietly, ducking into the laundry room, so as not to disturb the sleeping trio on the couch. She tried to think of what trouble her normally laid-back stepson could have gotten into, and unfortunately, her professional experience provided a myriad of scenarios, each one worse than the next.
"I'm at the back door."
The hesitation in Kyle's voice scared Scully more than anything. Scully shut off the handset, rushing down the hallway. She opened the door to find a badly bruised Kyle in front of her, his best friend Dave standing next to him. "What happened?" She lightly cupped Kyle's chin to better inspect the damage to his face.
"Is Dad still up?"
"He's sleeping on the couch with Nathan and Lily," Scully told him, standing aside so the boys could enter the house. "How did this happen?"
"Actually, it's a funny story. But I know Dad's still mad at me for not wanting to go camping, and this has nothing to do with it, I swear."
"I believe you," Scully said, wincing as she got a better look at Kyle's injury. Even from the relatively dim light of the hallway, she could see he, at the very least, had a nasty black eye. "And he would never think you would get this hurt on purpose. But I need to take a good look at this and make sure there is no lasting damage."
"Are you hurt too?" she asked Dave before catching sight of his torn t-shirt. "Sit down. Both of you."
Scully busied herself finding some supplies, re-entering the room with a small pile of towels, her doctor's bag, and some hydrogen peroxide. She set everything on the table before filling a bowl with water and washing her hands thoroughly.
"So, what happened?" Scully repeated her question quietly as she began to clean off Kyle's face. She handed Dave one of the towels, instructing him to clear the dirt from his arms and face; she would clean up his shoulder in a moment.
"I would rather hear about this directly from you before I find out from somebody else," Scully reminded them. This simple interrogation tactic, requiring only patience, a low voice, and logic, had proven to be successful on suspects, toddlers, customer service representatives, government bureaucrats, and teenagers.
The boys looked at one another, unsure as to how to proceed. "There was a fight," Kyle began.
Scully rolled her eyes. "Imagine my shock at that little nugget of information. A little more detail, please."
"It wasn't our fault," Dave added.
"I'm sure it wasn't," she droned. "With who?" Scully poured some antiseptic onto a cotton swab, carefully brushing it against Kyle's cheek.
"Oww!" Kyle yelled, wiggling away from his stepmother. "That hurts!"
"And now you're going to wake everyone up," Scully muttered just as they the baby let out a cry from the other room. It was amazing how Kyle—like his father and brothers—instantly regressed to toddler-dom at the sight of anything more intense than a Band-Aid.
Mulder wandered into the room with Lily in his arms, yawning, heading straight to the refrigerator. "What movie did you guys end up seeing? Scully, can we put this in the microwave?" he asked, waving the bottle in the air with his head still in the fridge, completely oblivious to the scene behind him.
"No, you can't," Scully turned around. "Use the bottle warmer. It's next to the diaper bag behind you. Or we could heat up some water."
"Did you end up seeing X-Men or Terminator?" It wasn't until Mulder plugged in the device that he noticed the kitchen table had become a makeshift medical clinic. "Wait, what the hell happened to you two? Are you alright?"
"Kyle's actually the hero," Dave offered.
"They promised it was a funny story," Scully added, checking to make sure that no bones were broken on her stepson's face. "Sit still."
"Let's hear it," Mulder said, more concerned about the state of his son's face than anything else. "I like comedies. Was it more Marx Brothers or Loony Tunes?"
"No broken bones." Scully breathed a sigh of relief; both for her stepson's sake, as well as for the thought of an avoided trip to the emergency room. She got up from her seat to retrieve a bag of frozen fruit, wrapping it in a small towel for Kyle to rest against his eye.
"You're up next," Scully instructed Dave, who looked at the Bacitracin in her hand suspiciously. "And Kyle, you can feel free to tell us what happened."
The fifteen-year-old sighed, knowing that he could not put off his difficult task any longer. "I punched Colin. He said something mean to Natalie, and I lost my temper."
"Good. It's about time someone taught that creep a lesson."
Kyle looked up at his father with surprise, not expecting such a supportive comment. While he knew that his parents were no fans of Colin, they also did not condone violence—or at least hadn't until now.
As much as Scully didn't want to admit it, she felt the same way as Mulder. Of all Kyle's friends, Colin had been the wildcard of the bunch, a little too rude and conniving for her liking. And Scully had always had a soft spot for Natalie, who was Will and Nathan's favorite babysitter. She was quite shy, and Scully doubted she would ever stand up to someone like Colin.
"So that jerk did this?" Mulder asked, trying to ignore Lily's fussing.
"No," Kyle admitted, looking down at the floor. "He didn't."
"So who did?" Mulder demanded.
"Chloe." The boys spoke in unison.
Scully could see the amusement in Mulder's face, and she closed her eyes, thinking don't say it, please don't say it out loud. "Mulder, don't you dare—" she warned him just as he continued speaking.
"You got beaten up by a girl?"
"You got beat up? A girl beat you up?" Nathan piped up from behind his father. "Wow."
"Goddamn it, Mulder, I told you—" Scully threw down the towel in her hand back onto the table.
Mulder immediately realized his mistake. "Nathan, I shouldn't have said that," he backtracked. "It was a joke, Kyle. I didn't mean to—"
"A girl beat you up?" While she knew Nathan was more confused than anything, Scully did not want him repeating that phrase.
"Nathan," Scully sternly said to the six-year-old. "Stop. It. Listen to me. Nobody should ever hurt anyone else. What Chloe did was wrong. And girls are just as strong as boys, so stop saying that. But we'll talk more about this tomorrow, okay, monkey? Say you're sorry to Kyle."
The six-year-old blinked back his shock; he knew his mother meant trouble with that particular tone of voice. He merely nodded, turning towards his father as if to say oops. Mulder rested his arm on Nathan's shoulder as he mumbled an apology to his older brother.
Scully stood up and walked towards her partner.
Mulder gulped. "It's just something people say. You know I don't believe that—for Christ's sake, Scully, I know it firsthand. After all, you shot me—"
"No-no-no," Scully talked over him, wide-eyed, tilting her head towards Nathan, who was standing next to his father.
"Uh….sh'naught me." Mulder glanced at his young son, trying to think on his feet. "I mean naughty. That time you were very naughty."
"Wait, what?" Kyle asked, his interest piqued.
"Did he just say—" Dave said at the same time.
Scully turned around and gave a warning glance at the teenagers. "We'll talk about it later."
"What did Mommy do?" Nathan whined, tugging his father's t-shirt. All traces of sleep had vanished from the boy's face. His late surge of hyperactivity indicated a case of the over-tireds, which would be its own special circle of hell that Mulder could deal with, Scully thought. "I wanna know!"
"Nathan, keep it down. We don't want to wake up Will and AJ," Scully muttered, her voice even, her eyes not leaving her partner's face. It would almost be amusing if they did not have a house full of children, only half of whom were asleep. While she knew he wasn't trying to be sexist, and that he wasn't trying to make from of Kyle, what he had said genuinely bothered her. But it wasn't possible for them to hash it out right then and there—not with a crying a baby and an overtired grade schooler and two bleeding teenagers, not to mention the two children who were still miraculously asleep upstairs.
Mulder could feel Lily beginning to kick him in the chest, reminding him that she was hungry—and that he was at the mercy of the two females in the room. He knew he screwed up, and that Scully had a right to be bothered by what he said. But he didn't know how to fix it, not with all the chaos around them. So, for the second time in five minutes, he decided to deflect the tension with humor. "Do you want to feed the baby, or should I?"
Scully folded her arms across her chest. "Seriously, Mulder? Feel like stitching a wound? The needle and thread are on the table."
"I guess I'm just not that funny tonight," Mulder blinked, backing away. Why he thought humor would work the second time, when it had blown up in his face the first, he did not know.
"I think you're funny!" Nathan assured him. "Daddy's funny, Mommy. He is!"
"Thanks, monkey," Mulder told the six-year-old. "Say good night to Mommy, and then you and I are going to feed Lily so you can watch her throw up one more time before bed."
Unsurprisingly, the look of excitement crossing Nathan's face leveled with that on Christmas morning. He happily skipped back into the living room, hot on his father's heels. Scully leaned back on the counter and massaged her temple, briefly wishing she could make herself a stiff drink. When she reopened her eyes, she saw the two teenagers looking at her expectantly. "We'll talk about this after Nathan gets upstairs, okay?"
XXXX
"You know Dad just meant what he said as a joke," Kyle told his stepmother as she stitched up Dave's shoulder. "I wasn't offended or anything."
"That's not the point," murmured Scully. "Regardless, he shouldn't have said it. It's important to me that you and your brothers not see women as being less capable than men. Jokes like that reinforce negative stereotypes, so while you might know your dad was trying to be funny, kids your brother's age, well, they don't realize it. You do realize that we're going to be talking about this with Chloe's parents. And I'm sure we're going to hear from Colin's."
"I know," Kyle shrugged. "Chloe felt bad. She already apologized. I snapped, and then she snapped. It all happened so fast."
"Next time, just walk away," Scully instructed, snipping off the thread from the final stitch on Dave's shoulder. "How badly was Colin hurt?"
"His nose was bleeding, that's all I know."
Scully peeled off her latex gloves and sighed, hoping that nothing was broken; that would be a sticky situation to sort. "Promise me, this won't happen again."
"It won't."
After sending the boys into the living room to give her some time to think as she cleaned up, she heard Mulder clear his throat. He sheepishly stood in the doorway, with a sleeping Lily in his arms. "Can you take her?" he asked quietly.
"She got you good, partner," Scully softly told him as she caught wind of the mess on his shoulder. "Nathan must be pleased."
"Very," Mulder said, handing over the baby before ripping off his t-shirt. "He's asleep on the couch. I'll take him upstairs in a minute. I'm hoping this means they're both down for the count. Before—Scully—I didn't mean—before—I—"
"I know." She kissed the top of the baby's head, watching him enter the laundry room as he stumbled over his words. "I haven't lost my sense of humor, Mulder. We need to watch what we say with the kids around. They're impressionable, and they take their cues from you. They want to be just like you."
Abandoning the t-shirt in the sink, he walked towards her. "I know, it still catches me by surprise, but that's no excuse. It wasn't the most appropriate thing to say, by any means. You were right to call me out on it."
He cupped her chin and she rose to her tiptoes, their faces meeting to share a kiss. "Can I make it up to you?" he asked. "In a way other than by not repeating what I said earlier?"
"I'm counting on it," Scully said, lightly rocking the baby. "But we have to trade war stories first."
"I'm surprised you want to tell them," Mulder said, disappearing into the laundry room to find a clean t-shirt. They had done their best to shield the children from their more difficult experiences, not wanting to allow that darkness to linger in their lives.
"We won't tell them the whole story, obviously," she said, following him so the boys wouldn't overhear. "But they were honest with us about what happened tonight, so I think we owe it to them to be the same, or at least to elaborate on what we let slip. It might inspire them to stay honest."
XXXX
"I can't believe you shot Dad!"
"You don't have to look so excited about it," grumbled Mulder. They had presented a very sketchy picture of what happened the night Scully had shot him in the shoulder, deflecting questions with the age-old excuse that specific details were confidential.
"I only did it because I absolutely had to," Scully reminded them. "And I knew how to do it so there was the least possible damage."
"Yes, at the time, I remember thinking about how responsible you were being. In fact, I'm pretty sure I mentioned that to you as you were stitching me up."
"Wait? You didn't even go to a hospital?" Dave asked.
"They couldn't, because they were undercover," Kyle explained.
"Off-the-grid, not undercover," Mulder corrected them. "There's a big difference."
Scully yawned, squeezing Mulder's knee. "Now, I really need to go to sleep. Good night, all. Remember, not a word to anyone about this."
"I'll be up soon," Mulder promised. After he was sure she was upstairs, he turned to the teenagers. "She's right, you know. I didn't even want to tell you this much. But Dana trusts you two, and convinced me to do the same."
"We won't tell anyone," Kyle promised, Dave echoing his words.
"So, now that you heard our story, I'd like to hear more about what happened tonight." As much as Mulder wanted to trust his son, he had been a teenage boy himself, and knew there were spaces where parents were never invited to enter. He wanted to believe that Kyle had shared with them, at the very least, a version of the truth, much like what he and Scully had just done with their rendition of his shooting.
An hour later, he stumbled into bed, a little wiser and a little more confident in his son's judgment. "Mmm." Scully's voice was heavy with sleep, barely above a whisper, as to not wake up the baby. "How did they withstand your interrogation?"
"Pretty solid," Mulder responded, sinking into the mattress. He felt Scully roll onto her side, sliding her arm across his stomach. "I think a few more punches were thrown than previously admitted. Your investigative instincts are as excellent as always, Agent Scully."
"Anything to make sure they don't realize we're outnumbered. I just hope this doesn't become a habit."
"I don't think it will. He refused to repeat what Colin exactly said. I'm guessing it's pretty bad. But I'm proud of him, Scully, for standing up for his friend."
"Make sure he knows, Mulder," Scully murmured. Her breathing deepened, signaling to Mulder that she had fallen asleep.
XXXX
Scully hung up the telephone with a grimace, pushing back on her office chair. She blankly stared ahead at the bulletin board above her desk, her eyes glazing over the lab safety reminders and lists of frequently used telephone extensions and email addresses. She set her sights lower on the wall, where she had taped drawings the boys had given her over the years, before looking forlornly at the framed family photos on her desk. They were a stark reminder of why she sat in this office, tucked within the forensic laboratory suite, instead of in a cube in the bullpen on any other given floor: her family. She had transferred to this position three years earlier because she no longer wanted to travel on Bureau business.
She had taken short work-related trips over the past three years, but they were always short, and rarely involved field work: she had testified at trials, served as an expert witness, given some talks at conferences. But the assignment she had just been given was her least favorite: participating as a last-minute replacement faculty member for an intensive training program at Quantico. It was just too far away to make for a reasonable daily commute, especially with DC traffic, and would require her total concentration while onsite. She would be gone from Friday morning until Monday night, and would need to spend the remaining time before the program began to adequately prepare for the session.
It was the last weekend before the end of the school year; Will's kindergarten graduation was on the next Friday, and Teena would be in attendance. They would be hosting a barbeque that Saturday, a combination end-of-year and Father's Day celebration. So not only was she spending the weekend apart from her family, she would be stuck preparing for their guests mid-week.
Scully pulled herself towards her desk, reaching for a pen and paper. She immediately began making lists to sort her thinking. Ten minutes later, she was staring at a page that listed household chores that needed to be attended to, groceries they would need, and other tasks that needed to be accomplished. She suddenly remembered that she needed Will to try on some graduation-appropriate clothing; he was on the verge of another growth spurt, and she wanted to make sure his dressier attire still fit. She winced at the thought of Will being the same height as Nathan; the six-year-old would not be happy if he wasn't taller than his younger brother. Someone had mistaken them as twins when they were out running errands a few days earlier, and Nathan had been incensed at the suggestion. She could only hope that he too would be growing taller, the sooner the better.
Glancing at the clock, she picked up the phone, hoping to catch Mulder before he picked up the boys at school. "Basically I'll be conducting autopsies with an audience, and then critiquing others," she explained. "For four straight days."
"Are you up for it?"
Scully could detect the slight hesitation in her partner's voice. She felt both annoyed and touched by Mulder's worries, especially since her first trimester had been difficult. "I'll be tired," she admitted. "I'm not looking forward to it, but I've done it before, and we get frequent breaks. Especially since the participants can't usually handle it…I promise, Mulder, I'll be taking care of myself."
"I know. I just worry."
She could feel the guilt in his voice. "I'm not mad, Mulder," she tried to explain. "But why don't we channel our anxiety into trying to figure out how to pull off next week's party?"
XXXX
Pleased that he had could knock off several items on the list Scully had given to him before she headed to Quantico, Mulder stepped into the aftercare room at the elementary school. He saw Nathan playing a board game with a couple of his friends, and before he could spot Will, he felt a thump against his hip.
"Hey Obi Will Kenobi," Mulder cheerfully greeted his son. "Ready for some pizza?"
He heard only a sniffle in response. "Is everything okay, bullfrog? What's wrong?"
Ms. Wong, the teacher who staffed the aftercare program, approached him. "Hi Mr. Mulder," she greeted him, placing her hand on Will's shoulder. "Will had a tough afternoon."
"What happened?" he asked, swallowing hard. As panic rushed through him, he reminded himself that if it were a disciplinary matter, or if Will had been sick, he would have received a phone call.
"Why don't you explain it, Will?" Ms. Wong kindly said. She always encouraged the kids to speak up for themselves, never rushing them or talking over them.
The five-year-old looked up at the teacher, and then his father, wiping his nose runny and rubbing his watery eyes. "My—my—my teacher said Bigfoot wasn't real. And she laughed."
"She said that to you?" Mulder asked, alarmed. He knelt to his son's height, putting his arm around his shoulder. He knew that it had probably taken all of Will's courage to say those words himself, instead of having Ms. Wong explain things directly.
Ms. Wong looked embarrassed. "I was there when it happened," she explained.
"Bullfrog, why don't you get your stuff? And tell Nathan we'll be leaving in a few minutes," instructed Mulder.
"You probably know about the show-and-share project," Ms. Wong began. "Both kindergarten classes are working on it."
"Yeah, they're doing artwork about their summer vacation and the drawings are going to be at graduation, right? Will's excited about his grandmother seeing it."
"All of the kids take it seriously. It's always the highlight of the year. One of Will's pictures is about a camping trip. Apparently, he had been talking about it this morning. When I was taking the aftercare kids to the playground after snack, we walked by his classroom, and we heard his teacher say Bigfoot was imaginary. She was also laughing."
Mulder's anger threatened to overpower him. "What did—"
"I'm furious too," Ms. Wong quickly added, raising her hands in the air. "I couldn't do anything at the time because I was the only adult with the kids. By the time I found another teacher to watch them, Ms. Dern had left for the day. She should never have been talking about her students like that, especially with an open door, when she knew children were in the building. I am going to speak with the principal tonight. As a kindergarten teacher, myself, I can tell you I know how devastating this is, especially for younger students who look up to their teachers."
"He's been talking about this camping trip nonstop since I told him about it," Mulder rambled, looking at his son, sitting across the room, glumly watching his brother and another boy pack up their board game. While his boys were loath to clean up their toys at home, they always tidied up without complaint while at school.
"You have two great kids here. I love having them in aftercare, and I want you and your wife to know that I will be following-up on this matter."
Mulder breathed deeply before speaking; he knew that Ms. Wong, one of the longest-serving teachers at the school, meant well. He could also appreciate she was in somewhat of a difficult position, having to report a colleague. "Thank you for telling me about this right away. Did you discuss this with Will?"
Ms. Wong nodded. "I tried," she explained. "Of course, I can't tell him that his teacher is a liar, as much as I might want to. I explained some people just don't believe in Bigfoot; that's why it's important for people to go on camping trips to find him. As much as I wanted to tell him she shouldn't have said it, I can't say that to a kindergartner who needs to see her as an authority figure, even if it's only for another week."
Upon hearing Ms. Wong's words, Mulder knew that Will couldn't have been with a better teacher when this event occurred. "Thank you for saying that to him," Mulder answered. "The thing with Will is that he gets very indignant when people don't believe him. I'm sure he's taking this very personally."
"What will most likely happen is that we'll have a meeting on Monday with you, Will, Principal Bartlett, myself, and Ms. Dern. I want you to know that I will advocate for your family, and my sense is that the principal will take this very seriously."
Mulder hoped so too. His youngest son had inherited both his capacity for belief, as well as his mother's integrity, and it could be potentially devastating for a five-year-old to have both of those traits affronted by an authority figure. Will should be bouncing off the walls about his impending graduation, and not moping at the thought of having to attend his final week of kindergarten.
After receiving more assurances from Ms. Wong that she and the principal would be in touch over the weekend, Mulder collected the boys and their backpacks. "I think we need to pick up some pizza for dinner. And when I went to the grocery store this morning, I got a lot of ice cream and fudgicles. How does that sound for dessert?"
Will raised his eyebrow slightly upon hearing that his favorite dessert was sitting in their freezer. "You know, Will," Mulder told his son after they climbed into the car. "Your teacher should not have done that. Most people who don't believe in something, no matter what it is, are respectful to others who think differently."
"I didn't lie," Will protested, his head against the car window. "Bigfoot's real."
"Of course you didn't lie," Mulder reassured him. "No one thinks that, buddy."
"She's stupid," Nathan helpfully added, his father not bothering to remind him he should not use that particular word.
Just as they were sitting down to eat their dinner, the phone rang. When Mulder realized Principal Bartlett wanted to speak with him, he asked Kyle to take over serving the slices. The teenager was grounded until they left for their camping trip and the Vineyard, and to Mulder's surprise, did little more than grumble about his punishment.
In speaking with Principal Bartlett, Mulder had a distinct impression that this might not have been the first time Ms. Dern had overstepped as she had that afternoon, and that there would, in fact, be a meeting on Monday morning. Realizing that his family was in the crosshairs of a bureaucratic showdown between the administration and the teacher, Mulder smiled and nodded his way through the conversation. When he returned to the table, he explained what would be happening on Monday to Will, who immediately fell apart.
"But I don't wanna," Will protested, looking down at his plate. "She's just going to laugh. And then I won't be able to show anybody my pictures."
Mulder felt for his son. For years, he had been the Bureau's laughingstock, and it was something he did not want any of his children to experience. "When I used to be an FBI agent, lots of people wouldn't believe my theories," he confessed. "Mostly people ignored me, but some laughed. And even though I tried to ignore them, I sometimes hated it."
Will put down his slice of pizza, a look of shock on his face. The thought of anyone doubting his father had never occurred to him before now.
"What about Mommy?" Nathan asked, his face covered in tomato sauce.
Mulder smiled. "Sometimes she thought my theories were right, and sometimes she thought they weren't. But you know what? Even if we didn't agree, she always believed in me. She never laughed, or pretend I hadn't said anything. She asked me very good questions, that's how I know she listened. She wanted to get to the truth. Just like me."
After taking a bite of pizza, Mulder continued. "I have an idea," he announced. "Do you know what Mommy would suggest when I had a meeting with my boss, and I didn't want him to laugh at me?"
"What?" Will, Nathan, and Kyle all asked at the same time.
"She would help me write up a report that had all of the information I needed to prove my point."
"Like homework?"
"Yes, just like homework, monkey," answered Mulder, encouraged that the other boys were interested in helping their younger brother.
"I have a binder you can use," offered Kyle. "That will make it look important. And I can help you type it if you want. I need a break from studying. Or am I not allowed?"
Mulder rolled his eyes. "You, of course, are allowed to help with this," he confirmed. "But what do you think, Will? This will be your report, so it's up to you. It's going to take a lot of time but I think you can do a really awesome report if the four of us work together."
"I wanna help too!" Nathan added.
Will chewed the inside of his mouth and nodded. "I wanna do it, Daddy."
XXXXXXXXX
After they finished eating dinner, Mulder knew he needed to make a phone call. Since Scully was away, and he had no interest in contacting his half-brother, there was only one person who had ready access to the files they needed. "Here's what we do," Mulder said, calling his sons into his home office. "Will and I need to make a very important phone call, so Kyle, Nathan, I need you two need to go through this bookcase and start looking through them to see if there is anything about Bigfoot or Sasquatch."
"Squash?" Will asked, wrinkling his nose.
"Sasquatch. It's what some people call Bigfoot," Mulder shrugged.
"He doesn't like it," decided Nathan. "He hates vegetables."
"I like Bigfoot better," Will said.
"Me too, buddy," Mulder assured him.
Wondering whether he should be suspicious that Nathan knew exactly where to find the household address book, Mulder found Walter Skinner's home telephone number. "You should call him," Mulder told his son. "This is your case."
"But what do I say?" Will asked, his voice slightly trembling.
After a little bit of patient coaching, Mulder dialed the number, setting the phone to speaker mode. Will sat on his father's lap, nervous about his next task. Thankfully, Skinner picked up the phone after only a couple of rings. Mulder nodded to his son, who drew a deep breath and said, "Hi Assistant Director Skinner. I need all your files on Bigfoot. It's for a very important meeting on Monday morning."
"And what is your name, Agent?"
Mulder thought he detected a slight hint of amusement in his former supervisor's voice.
"I'm Special Agent William Charles Mulder. And this is very important. Please."
Mulder flashed Will thumbs up, and the five-year-old grinned in response, whispering in his ear that he did a good job. "Well, Agent Mulder," Skinner smoothly responded. "I can get those to you tomorrow. Do you think I can speak with your assistant for a moment?"
"Thank you!" Will called out, hugging his father's leg.
"Good job, bullfrog," Mulder told him, switching the phone to handset mode. "Why don't you go through those books with Nathan and Kyle?"
Mulder holed himself in the laundry room, closing the door so the boys wouldn't overhear his conversation. "Thanks very much, sir," he said out of force of habit, before launching into a brief explanation as to the impetus of their request. Skinner seemed rather entertained by the situation, remarking to his former colleague that of course, he would only start to show an interest in paperwork three years after leaving the Bureau.
Mulder then immediately called Scully, hoping he would get a hold of her. Quantico was infamous for its dead zones in cell coverage, but somehow he could get through. "I just finished for the day," she yawned. "What's going on? Did you make plans for tomorrow?"
To say that Scully was angry about the situation was putting it lightly, and Mulder found himself in the rare position of having to talk her down. "I wish I was there," she sniffled. "Can I talk to him?"
Mulder had to admit that Will sounded more cheerful than he expected, buoyed by the news he would have some real FBI case files in his possession the next morning. "I'm making a report," he told his mother after explaining what happened that afternoon. "And we found lots of books."
"I'm so proud of you, bullfrog," Scully told her son. "I love you. I miss you, and I know you'll write a great report."
When Mulder tucked Will into bed that night, the little boy asked him, "Daddy? Are you sad?"
"The only thing I'm sad about, Obi Will Kenobi, is that Mommy isn't here with us. Why do you ask?"
"Cuz you said people laughed at you about Bigfoot and Big Blue."
Mulder choked up, awed by his five-year-old's sensitivity. "A little bit. It's okay if people have different opinions on something—everyone just needs to listen to each other. But deep down, Will, I knew I was right, and that was enough for me. I knew that other people were missing out, but that's something I could never control. But you know what? To me, the most important thing was that I knew I was doing the right thing, and that Mommy believed in me."
"I believe in you too, Daddy!" Will smiled, closing his eyes.
"And I believe in you, and Mommy believes in you, and your brothers believe in you," Mulder reminded his son. "You're a very lucky boy."
"And Bandit?" Will sleepily asked.
"And Bandit believes in you," Mulder chuckled. "You need to a good night's sleep, because we'll be very, very busy tomorrow."
XXXXX
Mulder looked up when he heard the bell above the diner door tinkle, catching sight of his former superior's bald head. All three of his boys had buried their heads in books, each of them in possession of a different anthology on paranormal and great mysteries subject matter. Nathan barely batted the corner of his wizard's hat that flopped over his head and onto the page, completely unresponsive to his father's signal. Will, who sat on his other side, was studying a spread of blurry photographs, his pudgy finger tracing the outlines of each monster. Across the table, Kyle was listening to his Discman, reading an encyclopedia of mysterious occurrences, flipping between the index and the text, completely oblivious to the outside world.
Mulder's attention drew away from the door when Nathan tugged on his arm, asking what carcass meant, making his father worried that the subject matter might be somewhat inappropriate. "It means an animal's dead body." He had decided long ago that the most uncomplicated way to address his sons' questions was to tell the truth, and he had trust that instinct.
"Eew." Nathan scrunched his nose. "That's really cool!"
A baritone laugh startled Mulder. "Like father, like son."
Mulder was taken aback after getting his first good look at the assistant director. Skinner seemed to have aged since Mulder had last seen him six months earlier, during a holiday gathering hosted by a Bureau friend of Scully's. Mulder vaguely remembered that Skinner was about fifteen years older than him, but he sincerely doubted that aging alone was responsible for the pallor of his face and the slight sag of his once broad frame. "Thanks for meeting us, sir," Mulder said, rising from his seat and extending his hand for Skinner to shake.
"It's always a pleasure to catch up with you, Mulder," Skinner said, sitting next to Kyle. "Now, I need to hear from William about why exactly he needs these folders in my hand."
Mulder had to give Skinner credit; their conversation had begun on the wobblier side, but for a man who was clearly not used to children, he rolled with the punches. By the time they were finishing their meals, the older man had worked up the courage to ask Nathan about the hat he was wearing, more specifically, why.
"Cuz I'm a wizard," Nathan stated in a tone that would make any upper middle-management bureaucrat proud. The blank gaze he threw in Skinner's direction startled the older man.
Skinner took off his eyeglasses, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know why I'm not surprised," he sighed. Looking over at Will, he asked, "Are you a wizard too?"
Will didn't look up from his book, which was now stained with greasy fingerprints. "No, I'm a squid like Kyle."
"Squibb," his brothers and father intoned together.
"That's what I said!" Will protested before announcing he had to use the restroom. Mulder took his hand, leaving Skinner alone with his siblings.
"So what do you like to do for fun?" Skinner asked the remaining boys as he stirred some sugar into his coffee.
"Soccer and spells," chirped Nathan, reaching over the table to grab one of his older brother's fries, letting out a whine when Kyle moved the plate out of his reach, before sliding it towards the other end of the table.
"And what kind of spells would those be?" Skinner asked, catching the food before it fell off the table.
"So I can have my own puppy when the baby comes."
Skinner dropped his spoon on his plate, unsure as to what he just heard. "And um, do you think your spell will be successful?"
Nathan narrowed his eyes. "It better. I think puppies are better than babies. And Bandit needs a friend."
"You aren't getting a puppy," Kyle dryly replied.
"Yes. I. Am."
"No. You. Aren't."
"Since I asked him about his hat, what happened to your eye?" Skinner asked Kyle.
The teenager sighed. "I got into a fight."
"Chloe hit him," Nathan supplied. "But that was bad. Girls are strong like boys so you shouldn't laugh, cuz Mommy will get mad."
"I'll try and remember that," Skinner chuckled, draining his coffee mug.
"Have you gotten soft in your old age, Mulder? I figured you would want me to sweat it out a little longer," joked Skinner as Mulder tossed some money onto the table and told the kids to pack up their stuff.
"Not when you're doing the good deed of the century," Mulder promised him. "Next time, though, you'll get the full treatment, I promise. We're having a barbeque on Saturday afternoon, you and Mallory should stop by."
"Are humans allowed?" Skinner asked. "From what I understand dogs and wizards are the preferred company."
"You're just going to have to find out for yourself, sir," Mulder grinned.
XXXXX
Mulder had prepared himself for the possibility of Will waking up on Sunday morning with no intention of pursuing his casefile. He and the boys had worked all through Saturday without a break; no one asked to go to the park, or to ride bikes, or to play with the dog. Will didn't even want to talk to his mother when she called, only telling her that he was very busy with his case report. But Will had woken up all too eager to continue with his report. By the time Mulder had gone downstairs to make breakfast, Will was already working at the kitchen table.
Within twenty-four Nathan had become a walking encyclopedia on all things Bigfoot-related, providing a welcome respite from the most recent Harry Potter book he and his father were reading together. Mulder was almost certain that Nathan had inherited his photographic memory, correcting everyone else if they misstated something they had read.
Kyle took a break from his own studying to help Will organize the report. He had suggested that Will handwrite at least some of the text, so he couldn't be accused of it not being his work, and Will insisted on following that advice. He painstakingly sat at the kitchen table with his pencils and crayons, occasionally asking for help on spelling.
At one point, Mulder thought Will was going to fall asleep, so he suggested that he draw a picture of Bigfoot for the cover of the binder. He happily switched tasks, relieving Mulder of the notion that the project was all too much for the five-year-old.
By dinner time on Sunday, Will had finished, presenting the binder to his father for final inspection. "This is perfect," he praised his son. "You did a fantastic job, bullfrog. I'm really proud of you and your brothers."
Mulder echoed his sentiments to Kyle later that night, after his brothers were asleep. "I know we haven't really talked about our argument from last week," Mulder admitted as he wiped down the kitchen counters. "But I'm really impressed with your maturity. Seriously, you spent a lot of time with Will, and this wouldn't have gotten done without your help. And I don't think I was clear about this before, but I'm also proud of you for standing up to your friend. You're a good kid."
Kyle immediately looked down at the floor, embarrassed. "I'm really looking forward to camping," he said with a half-smile. "I have a feeling we're going to find Bigfoot."
XXXXX
Will crawled into bed next to him early on Monday morning, asking whether it was time to go to school. "It's only 4:30, bullfrog," Mulder told him. "Go back to sleep, or else you'll be falling asleep at lunch."
Will's excitement petered out as soon as they reached the school gates. Mulder practically had to drag him to the first-grade room, where they dropped off Nathan, and then planted his feet in such a way that it became impossible to move. "Are you nervous, bullfrog?" Mulder asked.
Will nodded, his chin wobbling.
Mulder once again wished that Scully were there with them. "You worked really hard on this," Mulder told him, pointing to his backpack, which held the binder. "And the principal is going to love it."
"But Ms. Dern—"
"Are you worried about her? It doesn't really matter what she thinks," Mulder assured his son. "It matters what the principal thinks. And you know that Ms. Wong is going to be there, and I'm going to be there. So three of the five people in the room are on your side—you, me, and Ms. Wong. Ms. Dern doesn't count, so that just leaves the principal."
Will's shoulders immediately slumped in relief. "So it doesn't matter if she laughs?"
"It only matters in that she would be very mean to do that," Mulder told him. "But her opinion about Bigfoot doesn't matter."
Mulder had to remember to keep his own temper in check as they walked through the halls, to the administrative suite. Will tightened his grip on his hand, turning his knuckles white. The school administrative coordinator smiled warmly at them, asking Will if he had a good weekend. The principal was just as cordial, shaking Will's hand before leading them to the conference table in her office.
Ms. Dern and Ms. Wong were already seated at the table, and Mulder thought that Ms. Dern's eyes were going to pop out of their sockets when Will pulled out his binder. The principal also looked surprised, but she managed to hide it much better. "This is why Bigfoot is real, and not imaginary," Will politely explained, looking at his father for encouragement.
Mulder snuck a look at Ms. Wong, who was beaming at Will.
Principal Bartlett put on her reading glasses and carefully opened the binder, remarking on the impressive artwork on the cover, prompting Will to grin. "How much time did this take you, Will?" she asked once she finished reading, having handed the binder to the teachers.
"A lot," Will said. "All weekend. My brothers helped but I used all my own words 'cuz of pl—play—play germs."
"Plagiarism is very serious," the principal agreed. "And I think you did an excellent job. Would it be okay if I made a photocopy? I want to make sure you keep this."
Will nodded.
Ms. Dern looked rather gob smacked after leafing through the binder, which Mulder could tell greatly amused her colleagues. She delivered a rather sincere apology to both Will and him, which they both politely accepted. "Is there anything you are worried about, Will?" Principal Bartlett asked once their conversation finished.
"Can my Bigfoot picture be at graduation? Cuz my Grandma's going."
"Of course it will be there," the principal promised. "And I want to make sure that you introduce me to your grandmother on Friday, okay? Mrs. Lucas from your old classroom is going to be helping your class this week, since you have so much practicing to do for graduation. She's going to bring you back to class, okay?"
"I'll see you this afternoon, bullfrog," Mulder quietly said to his son, giving him a hug. "I love you, buddy."
Once they were alone, Principal Bartlett made it very clear that she was mortified by the situation, and explained that Ms. Dern's classroom would also be staffed by two longtime class aides for the rest of the week. "All I can tell you, Mr. Mulder, is that Ms. Dern decided a few weeks ago that she would not be returning in the fall."
"I'm not interested in getting involved in any personnel melodrama," Mulder assured the principal. "I just don't want any child to have to go through what Will did this weekend. He put his heart and soul into this report because he was convinced his teacher thought he was lying."
Unsurprisingly, Principal Bartlett gave her assurances that she was taking steps to ensure that a similar incident would never happen again, involving Will or any other student. Mulder sat in his car in the parking lot, trying to get through to Scully. Their connection kept cutting until she could call him back on a landline. "How'd it go?" she asked, bumbling with nervous energy.
"He nailed it, Scully. I can't wait for him to tell you about it himself. He was great, and they were impressed with his report. The look on that teacher's face when he said he used all his own words so nobody would think he play- germed was priceless. He was the happiest kid in the world."
After explaining to her that the classroom would be staffed by long-time classroom aides, including one from Will's previous class, Scully breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm going to try to leave early," she explained. "But I probably won't get home much before six."
Mulder wasn't sure who was the most excitedaboutr Scully's arrival home, but he was guessing it was his partner herself. "Mommy!" Will barreled into her, running into the back hall full speed from the living room, where he had been watching Rugrats. "I had my meeting and the principal liked my report!"
"Can I read it, bullfrog? I can't wait. Nathan, monkey, I missed you so much! I heard you were a big help to Will and Daddy."
As much as he wanted to welcome her home, Mulder hung back, allowing her time with the boys. He wasn't sure how much of the report she could read, with both boys constantly interrupting and pointing to things. She finally asked Will to read it aloud, which proudly did, snuggled next to his mother on the couch. Scully brought an arm over Nathan's shoulder, and he too leaned into her, whispering "this is a good part" every twenty seconds.
After saying good night to both boys, she took a hot shower; even though the bathrooms at Quantico had allegedly been remodeled, she hadn't felt clean all weekend. She went back downstairs for some tea and honey, finally catching sight of her stepson for the time since her arrival. "Thanks for everything you did with Will this weekend," she told him. "I know you have a ton of studying to do with finals, and it really means a lot."
"Thanks," Kyle shrugged, barely looking up from his textbook. "I have a question for you, and I know you might say no."
"Try me," Scully said, intrigued. She turned the kettle on and sat at the table. "What's on your mind?"
"I know that I'm grounded until we go to the Vineyard," he explained. "And I'm really not trying to get out of it. But I was wondering, maybe before we leave, could I go with you to work one day? After reading about Bigfoot and everything, I want to see some real forensic equipment."
"I think that can be arranged," Scully said, surprised. "I can't promise it will be exciting, though."
"I just want to see what the lab looks like and stuff. So, if we find anything on our camping trip, I'll have an idea of what you do with the evidence," babbled Kyle. Scully smiled, drinking her tea and listening to her stepson explain the parts of the Bigfoot mystery he found the most interesting, asking her questions about some of the case files Skinner had lent them.
"How is it you've been home for almost four hours and I haven't been able to do this yet?" Mulder asked, climbing into bed to give her a kiss.
"You've had a long weekend," Scully told him, cupping his chin. "You produced a very compelling case file. And have successfully inspired the next generation."
"Will did good work," agreed Mulder, tugging Scully's tank top so he could place his hand on her bare belly. "I think Nathan has a photographic memory. He can recite pretty much any article he read this weekend."
Scully closed her eyes. "Of course," she said after drawing a deep breath. "And, just to confirm, he still can't remember to tie his shoes or put his toys away?"
"Correct."
She felt him press a kiss just above her belly button, and began to run her left hand through his hair. "Kyle wants to check out the forensics lab," she told him. "So he knows what will happen to the Bigfoot evidence you'll find."
"Really?"
Mulder sounded completely flabbergasted. "Seriously? He said that?"
"Really, seriously, he said that," Scully promised. "Which brings me to my next question. Mulder, what is your plan for the camping trip?"
"What do you mean?" he asked innocently, readjusting his position so he was lying next to her, one arm slung across her hip, the other snaked under her back. "You know I wouldn't have started this whole thing if I hadn't—"
"I do know, which is why I'm asking you what it is."
"You can't stand a surprise," Mulder teased her with a laugh. "This means I'm definitely not telling you."
"So you were going to tell me?"
"I didn't say that. Which brings me to my question."
"Which is?"
"Do you still want this to be a surprise?" his voice became more gentle, and she felt him gently press against her stomach.
"I do," she confirmed. "What about you?"
"I love surprises," he agreed. "I just wanted to ask, because as we're going to the doctor on Thursday, and since you're impatient—"
"I am not impatient!" Scully yelped, causing them both to dissolve into laughter.
XXXXX
Mulder would have been unable to hide his boyish grin even if he had tried. He had woken up entirely giddy; not only was he looking forward to Will's kindergarten graduation ceremony, he was also still walking on air from the added bliss brought by another perfect bill of health from Scully's obstetrician. He was thrilled to be able to share all this good fortune with his mother, whom he would be taking to breakfast, along with Scully.
Teena's interest in her grandchildren had not waned over the years, but it was a relationship which took a lot of work for both he and his partner. Scully dutifully sent her mother-in-law photos and artwork from the boys ever few weeks, and patiently reminded him to place his weekly phone call. His partner and mother still teetered on the brink of a warmth kinship, and deep down, he was hoping that news of Scully's pregnancy would help them grow closer. He knew he had to prepare himself for the opposite scenario: his mother sending them piles of magazines and calling with pieces of unsolicited advice, driving Scully into a defensive state. But he wouldn't think about that, at least not until his mother left DC later that weekend.
Will bounded into his parents' room just after 5:30, delighted to find his father awake and waiting for him. They snuck downstairs to make chocolate chip pancakes. "So we need to decide what we want to do next week," Mulder told his youngest son. "So you pick two things and Nathan pick two things."
"The zoo," Will answered immediately. "And the dinosaurs."
"Good choices, bullfrog," Mulder told him as he added batter to the pan, trying not to think of the hordes of tourists and families on summer break they would have to battle at both places. "And we need to plan our camping trip."
Will grinned, hopping around the kitchen. Mulder wasn't sure what the kids would do with themselves once they were home from their trip; he had a that they wouldn't be as off-the-wall excited about their impending sibling.
Scully came down the stairs, smiling at the scene of her partner and son cooking, both rumpled with sleep, their messy bedhead sticking in every direction. "Good morning, bullfrog," she said as she approached Will, who promptly gave her a tight hug. "Are you excited, mister almost-first-grader?"
"Uh-huh!" Will announced, breaking away from his mother.
"So Daddy and I are going to drop you off at school, and then you guys are going to be practicing, and then you'll see us in the crowd later this morning."
"Grandma too?"
"Yes, she'll be there. Daddy and I are going to pick her up from the hotel after we take you and Nathan to school," Scully explained.
"She's really excited, bud," Mulder added, flipping another pancake onto a plate.
XXXXXX
Upon hearing about Will's kindergarten graduation, Teena's first remark was rather dismissive: Why would they let him participate? He's only been there for a few months. Scully didn't think that would bode well for her visit, and felt uneasy about the weekend's proceedings. The most important thing to her was for the boys to be protected from her unfiltered thoughts, but if Teena smiled at Will and gave him a congratulatory word or two, she would be satisfied.
Mulder squeezed her hand as they walked through the hotel lobby to their restaurant, where they would be meeting Teena for breakfast. He had been positively excited all morning, and Scully hoped that Teena wouldn't dampen his spirit. She felt her stomach churn as they approached her mother-in-law's table, tucked in a corner adjacent to a sunny window.
"Mom!" Mulder hugged his mother fiercely.
Scully gave Teena her brightest smile, and less intense embrace. "It's good to see you, Teena. Will is very excited you'll be there—he been telling everyone you are visiting."
"Well, it wouldn't be fair if I didn't go. I attended both his brothers'."
After ordering their food, Mulder pulled an envelope from Scully's bag and pressed it towards his mother. "This is a belated Mother's Day gift," he said, trying to clamp down on his smile.
"What's this? You got me that shawl—it was good for the plane, Dana. It's much too heavy to wear in this heat, though."
"I'm glad you liked it," Scully responded. While her mother-in-law did not always know how to deliver a sincere thank you or compliment, Scully knew that Teena truly appreciated the gifts she received from her son's family. A few weeks after Teena's first birthday since they had the boys, Mulder's aunt had called them to see where they had purchased the gardening items they had gifted her. "She wouldn't stop talking about them all weekend," Aunt Sadie had told Mulder. "She kept going on about how wonderful they were, and how her grandsons had helped choose them."
Scully had been floored by the news; Teena's thank you had been polite enough, and Scully assumed she had stuffed the items in a closet.
"I suppose you want me to open this in front of you, Fox?"
Mulder nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Under the table, Scully squeezed his knee, praying that her mother-in-law's reaction lived up to Mulder's expectations. He was clearly oblivious to his mother's implication that he was in violation of the silent Yankee code of no showy public gestures, a faux pas for which, Scully knew, she would be blamed—not that she would care much.
"What's this?" Teena asked, fumbling for her reading glasses. She looked up with a start upon realizing what she held in her hand. "You—You're?"
Scully nodded, relieved to see a hint of pleasure on the older woman's face, while Mulder immediately started to babble. "In November," he said. "You'll be a grandmother again."
"Well, congratulations. This is quite wonderful news. Fox, flag down the waiter. Let's get some champagne."
XXXXX
"You made my son happy," Teena said to her daughter-in-law after Mulder left to bring the car to the door.
It took all of Scully's willpower not to say something along the lines of you look quite surprised for that, and instead went the diplomatic route. "We're both very excited. We never thought we would have this."
"I hope for your sake it's another boy. It will be easier for him, especially considering the time of year," Teena confessed, her tone unexpectedly wistful.
Scully squeezed her mother-in-law's elbow. "I don't want to sound trite, but I—"
Teena shook her head. "Enough of that," she murmured, ending their conversation. She turned her attention away from Scully, fumbling in her handbag for her sunglasses.
Chastised by her mother-in-law, Scully felt a vaguely familiar sting course through her body. It had been years since she had last been rebuked by a parental presence, and she pushed away flashbacks of arguments with her own father and mother. What bothered her the most was that Teena's position was justified, and worse yet, she had made a point that Scully had never considered.
November. Samantha.
She felt the heat build in her cheeks, and her palms grow clammy.
How had she forgotten?
Scully slid in the backseat of the SUV, grateful for the blast of cold air. She closed her eyes and began to breathe deeply and slowly, barely listening to the conversation between mother-and-son. She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep until she felt Mulder gently shake her shoulder. "We're here," he said, still sporting the same goofy grin from breakfast. At least Teena had not dampened his enthusiasm. "You okay?"
She smiled and nodded. "It's the humidity, I think. I seem to have no tolerance for it anymore."
Determined not to dwell on the subject during her son's big day, Scully engaged with Teena as though their earlier conversation had never happened. They walked around the auditorium, admiring the children's artwork that adorned the walls, the theme being my summer vacation. Mulder spotted Will's drawings first: a depiction of their family at the zoo, one of him and Bandit at the beach, and his masterpiece, one of him and his father next to a tent with Bigfoot. Teena read aloud the titles to the drawings Will had scrawled on the bottom of each page, stifling a chuckle. "I guess messy penmanship is genetic," she muttered, giving her son a critical eye. "But the drawings are lovely. All the boys are very creative, I'll give you that, Fox."
"See, Scully. I'm creative," joked Mulder, his smile slightly fading when he recognized the faraway look on his partner's face. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"
"I'm fine," she told him, squeezing his hand. "It's just—well, we weren't supposed to be doing this until next year. It's kind of difficult to not to think of Will as our little boy."
"He keeps reminding us he's a big kid, Scully," Mulder agreed, snaking his right arm around her, placing his hand on the small of her back. "And he's right."
"He's a really great big kid." She felt herself choke up; she had expected she would become emotional during the ceremony, but if she were unable to keep it together now, she wasn't sure how she would be able to make it through the graduation.
"Well, that's because he has a really great mother."
The sound of her partner's wobbly voice assured Scully that she was not the only nostalgic one. "He has an incredible father," Scully murmured. She knew if she looked Mulder in the eye she would start to cry.
Mulder stifled a cough. "At least you can blame it on the hormones."
Just as they were finishing their conversation, Principal Bartlett walked onto the stage to ask everyone to take their seats. The kindergarten classes walked onstage, and Will boisterously waved to his parents as soon as he spotted them in the crowd. The children all radiated pure energy, and practically shouted the songs they performed, much to the amusement of the crowd. The diplomas were handed out in alphabetical order, and both Mulder and Scully could detect their son's impatience while standing in line. "Too bad he's not very excited," Mulder deadpanned.
"I don't know if he's going to make it," Scully cringed, watching her son fidgeting with a slightly pained expression as he waited his turn.
When he finally moved to the front of the line, Will wore an incredibly bright smile, jumping up and down once he had his diploma in hand. He waved to his parents and grandmother, running straight towards them once the class was dismissed from the stage.
"I did it, I did it, I did it!" Will shouted, giving his mother a huge hug before turning to his father and grandmother.
The school hosted a pizza party for the families, and they congregated with the other kindergarten classroom families in the cafeteria. Scully thought it was a brilliant idea—the children were all starving and off-schedule, not having a recess break that morning. The sheer amount of noise that bounced between the walls of the room was a little too much for Teena, who told her daughter-in-law that her children's elementary school would never have stood for such behavior. She looked relieved when families started to exit the room.
"Bullfrog, do you think we should give Ms. Wong her card?" Scully asked after Will finished eating. "We need to get going. Nathan's class will be over in a few minutes."
Will eagerly nodded, taking possession of the card. "I'm in first grade," he reminded his parents. Scully ruffled his hair, pleased to see him so proud and happy.
"You worked really hard, bullfrog," she told him, his hand slipping in hers. "Daddy and I are very proud of you."
XXXXXX
"Do you think we'll be able to sleep in tomorrow?" Mulder asked Scully after he climbed out of the shower.
She looked up at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, continuing to brush her teeth. He walked directly behind her, pressing a kiss against her shoulder. As he began to massage her sore neck, she took a sip of water, before spitting into the sick. "Hmmm. Maybe." She debated whether she wanted to be optimistic or realistic in giving her answer. "Why?"
"No reason," Mulder lied. "Just thought we could use an extra hour of sleep." He grabbed a towel to dry off his hair, padding into the bedroom to find a clean pair of boxers. He checked the thermostat, making sure that it was at 60 degrees; ever since they came back from the Vineyard, Scully had been unable to tolerate the humidity, constantly complaining about how hot she felt. It was a good thing she worked in the comparative icebox of the forensics lab; he had no idea whether she would be able to last a day in a traditional office.
Scully walked into the bedroom to have a wrapped present sitting next to her pillow. "What's this?" she asked, a smile spreading across her face.
"It's a present," Mulder smugly informed her, pleased to see her so delighted. She had been somewhat spacey all afternoon, and he wasn't sure if he bought her excuse that she was just tired.
"For what?" she asked, confused. She slid into bed next to him, the gift on her lap.
"Open it," he nudged her with his shoulder.
"But why?"
"Will's kindergarten graduation," he answered, nonchalant, impatient for her to unwrap it. Scully would never admit to how much she liked presents, and her appreciation for his gifts delighted him to no end. "When we were on the Vineyard, you told me that you wanted to make sure you had special one-on-one time with the kids. I thought that this might be something you could read with Will."
Scully felt a tear prick her eye. She looked down at the hardback copy of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, gently running her finger across the cover illustration of Aslan. "Thank you," she whispered. "It's perfect."
Mulder brushed back a lock of her hair, wondering what she wasn't telling him. He couldn't very well say much, especially in that he had his own secrets, ones involving her half-sister. His stomach slightly soured at that reminder, but those were issues that were at a stalemate, at least until Marita's condition changed. An alive but uncommunicative Marita benefited everyone and assured his family's safety.
XXXXX
Only a few people knew the truth; that her emotions affected her acutely, and could oftentimes overwhelm her. While Mulder had guessed this shortly after they had met, he saved this piece of information for one of their long conversations that took place following one of her chemo treatments. He would drive her home from the hospital, both pretending that the plastic bracelet adorning her left wrist was from the emergency room instead of the oncology ward. That doctors were treating her for a possible concussion instead of cancer. That she would be back to work after a hot bath, a hearty meal, a good night's sleep.
During those endless afternoons, Mulder would patiently help her up to her apartment, wordlessly ease her into the bath, heat up some hot water for condensed soup and tea, and lie beside her as she rested. They would talk, about anything and everything. He would listen as she prattled, knowing when to press her for more information, or to direct the conversation into another direction. Eventually, they would fall asleep, rolling into one another in the middle of the bed. She would clutch a body pillow to her chest, just as he spooned against her back.
When he eventually awoke, he would press a kiss into her hair, and then another where her shoulder met her neck. She would wiggle against him, slowly turning until they faced one another. Looking back, she was unsure as to who originated that first kiss. She remembered inching towards him, unburdened by any fear of self-consciousness or rejection; she recalled his face, how he looked at her lips, how we stretched his left hand to cup her chin.
Gentle was the only word that could adequately describe those mornings. They were both overly aware of her weakness and were left wanting more, softly admitting so to one another. This was when their silence came full circle, as if they had run out of things to say, leaving them able to bask in the love they shared.
She felt the bed tip as Mulder crawled in behind her, his sneakers falling to the floor in a clatter. He slid one hand around her hip, pulling her towards his chest. He had never been much of a slide sleeper until his involvement with Scully, but on those rare occasions in which he fell into a deep sleep before she made it to bed, she would drape herself over him as he slept on his back.
"I should get up," Scully softly murmured, keeping her eyes closed. She could feel his breath tickle the back of her neck. "It's already late." She had first awoken around 4:30 AM, completely paralyzed by the conversation she had with her mother-in-law the day before. In her determination not to allow it to loom over Will's graduation day, she must have had an internal alarm clock sound as soon as the clock struck 12:01. She couldn't stop thinking about Samantha's birthday, and its proximity to her own due date, exactly a week later. Knowing how attuned Mulder was to her body language, she wondered when he had realized something was off.
"No you shouldn't," he assured her, playing with her hair. "The kids are watching cartoons and have been fed. There's nothing else we need to do until we start grilling this afternoon. Scully, I know something's bothering you, and knowing my mother, I'm sure she said something to you. Talk to me, Scully."
His steady heartbeat thrummed through her back, anchoring her to the bed. She breathed deeply, in and out, recalling the exercises from the prenatal yoga class she had attended earlier that week. Feeling centered, she shifted her position so she could face Mulder. "She—Mulder, I don't want to start something between you and your mother."
"Scully, don't worry about that. I've spent my whole life dealing with her. I'm a big boy. I am sure that whatever you say, I won't be that surprised."
Scully bit her lip. She closed her eyes briefly before starting. "She's worried about the possibility we'll have a girl with a late November birthday. And she thinks that would be difficult for you. And, well, I feel like an idiot for not having made that connection before now."
"That crossed my mind," Mulder admitted. "But I can't say I've given it much thought. Scully, we need to spend our time and energy living our lives, and not fitting every into patterns with the past. If we have a girl, or a boy, who happens to have a birthday the same as or near my sister's, that child will be a living reminder of someone who is important to me. But Scully, I see Samantha every day in our kids, and, to borrow a phrase from you, I'm fine with it. More than fine, I love it."
XXXXXX
Scully wiped her hands on the towel next to the sink, calling out that she would answer the front door. Most of their guests had already arrived, and she ran through a mental checklist of people they were still expecting. "Hi Langly, Danny, Jimmy, it's good to see you all here," she said, motioning them to enter the air conditioned house. "Come on in, it's sweltering out there. I'm so glad you could make it. Mulder's out back with some friends."
"Scully, we need more food," Mulder announced, walking into the kitchen from the back hallway. "And put Nathan to work. Harry Potter here just worked a spell involving hot dogs. Both kinds. Bandit's not allowed inside for the foreseeable future. I think he ate an entire pack."
"Because he was hungry," Nathan whined. "And he was hot. I gave him hot dogs. So why am I in trouble?"
"Because you know better."
"Hey little dude," Langly gave the six-year-old a high five. "All ready for Bigfoot? I hear you've been doing some research."
"Daddy and I made a map of where to find him in the forest," Nathan announced.
"Can I see it?" Langly asked, Nathan immediately rushing off to find it. Waiting for Scully to wander out of an earshot, Langly indicates to Mulder he wants a word with him in private.
"What's up?" Mulder asked.
"We think we have footage of Girl Alex visiting Marita again. We set up some facial recognition software for beta testing. And we have a match."
"Who?"
"Your sister," Langly announced.
