Children From a Lesser God
Chapter Thirteen : The Sins of the Fathers
and
Epilogue: The Sins of the Mother
PART II
"William?!" Dana's voice rings through the hallway and William climbs down from Fox to run into Dana's waiting arms. Maggie Scully stands closely behind.
"Excuse me", Fox says to the officer who he had been giving a description of Diana Fowley to, so he can explain to Dana what happened.
He's surprised she got here so quickly.
Wasn't she supposed to be away this weekend with friends?
His trial shift wasn't going so well. He hoped she didn't hold it against him. Everything had gone well up until Charles Spender turned up, and it wasn't like William had actually gotten hurt. He didn't really understand why, but over these near two weeks, one thing Fox understood, Dana called the shots when it came to William.
"You OK?" Fox hears her ask the little boy.
William nods into her neck.
She clutches him tighter, whispering how brave and clever he is.
Fox had to agree with her on both counts. He's about to open his mouth, when her eyes turn to look at him, and it renders him speechless. How does he begin to explain what happened...? Especially after all his speeches to her last week about William no longer being in danger.
He goes to open his mouth again, but then she cuts him off again, this time with a hug.
To which he responds to, enveloping both of them, gripping both of them. He inhales and exhales, thinking it is the first easy breath he has taken in years.
"Don't think this means you can protect them, Fox", Charles Spender's voice cuts through the commotion, making Fox still.
He feels Dana still too.
"It's best you don't say anything", Jeffrey's voice is gruff.
Dana pulls them away from him and Fox fights the instinct to pull them back, because he will always try to protect them from that man.
Dana hugs William again, whispering something quietly that William nods to, before passing him to her mother.
"I'm not leaving you", Maggie Scully.
"I'm not asking you to, just take William into another room. I'm not going to go anywhere, and I have Fox right here with me, Mama".
Fox's eyes move from Dana to Maggie Scully, who is giving Fox such a steely stare.
"I'm not going to let anything happen to your daughter".
Maggie Scully nods at him, leaving in the direction of the living room.
"You can't promise her mother that", Charles Spender's voice cackles cruelly. "Just like Bill couldn't. Look how he ended up?"
"Dad", Jeffrey.
Fox tenses, really wanting to punch him, he only doesn't because he feels Dana put her hand in his.
Charles Spender laughs more, "it is really, it is really quite sweet, the two of you together. See, Fox, at least your old dad was good for something. You two would have never found each other if it wasn't for me".
Fox does not miss the flash of loathing Jeffrey gives his father.
"You're wrong", Dana speaks, and Fox has never heard her voice sound so deep and controlled. "He has protected us, all this time from you. They both have". She loudly takes in a deep breath and lets it out. She's either nervous, or really, really angry. "Since we have been in their care, you haven't managed to touch me or my baby, and you never will".
The adrenaline coursing around Fox's body double folds, 'my baby'.
The cruel smirk fell dangerously away from Charles Spender's face while she spoke, but it returns now. "Ah, Dana Katherine Scully, you've found your voi-"
"- I am not fourteen years old anymore, Charles".
"I can see that", he grins, even wider, and Fox, really just wants to punch his lights out. Dana must sense this because she grips his hand harder.
"Valedictorian at Kaua'i Christian Academy, 4.0 avera-"
"- I don't need you to remind me of my accomplishments, I already know".
Dana was being savage.
"But would you have your fight, my dear girl? Your determination to succeed, if it weren't for me?" He smiles. "You wouldn't have Fox, you wouldn't have Wil -".
"- don't say his name".
Charles Spender's smile gets bigger. "No matter what you do in life, that will always be your greatest accomplishment in life, giving birth to my son-"
"-he is not your s-"
"-He is, my son!" He snaps. The first sign that Dana is getting the better of him. "He is my son", much calmer. "My DNA runs through him, not yours. You think your church can protect him, they can't. You think you have a resounding claim to him, you don't. And what if William got sick again?".
Fox feels Dana's body go stiff before relaxing again.
Sick?
Charles Spender smiles cruelly, visibly happy to be getting the upper hand again. Fox had observed how he still spoke and moved as if he still had a cigarette attached to his lips. "He is a special boy, and needs special care. Only I can give it to him".
"How is he special?" Fox decides to interrupt, because that is what is important here, William's welfare.
Charles Spender's eyes move from Dana's to his. "Fox, my boy, you don't really expect me to tell you. Here? Now? With all these people listening. If you hadn't betrayed me like you have. I had come for you too, son".
"Fox had nothing to do with you being arrested, it was me", Dana regains control of the conversation. "And I think I must have more of a claim to William than you, or you wouldn't be slinking like the snake that you are in the middle of the night, your son as your only muscle. Times have changed, Charles, and you don't have the power that you used to. If you did, you would have walked right up to that children's home in broad daylight and taken him".
Fox can tell by Charles' face, that she had successfully stuck a nerve.
"He may have, less than a third of your DNA", she continues, "but any blood test would show that I have his DNA running through me. You could say, I'm almost infected by it. So if he does get sick again, I am who he will need. Any examination of my cervix will show that I've given birth, I have a birth certificate that lists me as William's mother, and I also have a document from William's previous legal guardians, giving parental rights back to me".
Fox flicks his gaze to her, not knowing how much of what she is saying is true, but he again is hearing about William being sick. And what did she mean by her being infected with William's DNA?
"I will make it public", Charles Spender breathes loudly through his nose in a failed attempt to disguise his anger. "Is that what you want?" He clips. "You think these won't be off by tomorrow", he raises his handcuffs. "You have managed to protect him quite well, but that security you've built will disappear if the case goes public again. When your church find out what William really is, how he was created, they will call him an abomination, unnatural, and that he should cease to -"... "Ah, Miss Scully, have I struck a nerve?"
Fox didn't know what happened, one moment Dana was next to him, the next moment he was running after her as she lunged for Charles Spender, he caught her arm just before she was about to strike him with it.
Dana breathes heavily through her nose. "Leave. My. Family. Alone".
"Not even your own family accepts him. Interesting person, your brother, Bill. I don't think his time in prison did any good for him".
"Enough", Fox. "You're done. You're out of our lives, you mean nothing to us. What William is, is our son. Dana let's go", pulling her gently back with him.
"Those cuffs are just to hold you", she bites out. "The real people to arrest you are on their way", her body finally easing and letting Fox drag her away.
And it was as if 'they' were just waiting for the cue, as Tony Correolli and some younger men in suits, Fox also guesses are FBI, entered Fox's rental.
Fox looked between the large, menacing man to his ex-associate he was glaring at across the room.
Jeffrey looked scared, and the colour had wonderfully drained completely out of Charles Spender's face.
~xXx~
"Why didn't you tell me?" Fox asks. He and Dana were stood side by side in front of the kitchen sink, looking out at the darkness of the backyard at night. Dana had just finished updating him on the last year and a half since she had been back in William's life...
In October 2017, The Van De Kamps had got in contact with her because William was severely ill in hospital. His immune system had collapsed, and his body wasn't responding to any of the hospital medicines, and even more worrying, it wasn't accepting any blood transfusions. William had a very rare blood type, so rare, none of the specialists there or any of their contacts had seen it before. They advised the Van De Kamps that they contact the birth mother.
"I couldn't risk it. I didn't know if you were involved".
Fox huffs, moving away from her slightly. He thinks that's what hurts the most.
Miraculously, William's body accepted Dana's blood and even more miraculously, he instantaneously started getting better. The doctors couldn't believe it, but by the end of the week, they were sending William back home with his parents.
Dana slips her hand under his, lacing her fingers through his and squeezes it.
The action pacifies him by perhaps a nano inch.
It didn't change the fact that she had needed him, but didn't ask for help, because she didn't know if she could trust him. She should have known. He should have made sure she knew he would always be there for her William, and that he would never do anything to hurt either of them.
"And before, why didn't you tell me he was sick?"
"I ... I didn't... You had already lost so much because of him".
Dana had returned to Kaua'i, completed her final year of high school, applying to colleges state side so that she could be closer to William, in the event he needed her again. The summer of 2018, she moved back to California after graduating, intending to spend the time before college reacquainting herself with the area, but ultimately, hoping to be able to spend more time with William.
'When I first saw him lying in his hospital bed, Fox... so small, with all those wires just to keep him alive... I felt so guilty. Like it was my fault -
'- it wasn't', he interjects quickly, wrapping an arm round her. 'You can't think like that'.
She leans in slightly, 'and then, when he started to get better... the time I've to spent with him ... I don't know, Fox, he really is ...'
She sounded dreamy.
'Perfect', he finishes.
She doesn't say anything, just rests her head against him.
She hadn't really been in contact with the Van De Kamps since William's recovery, and being unsuccessful in trying to locate them, she sought help from the Lone Gunmen.
"Did the Van De Kamps have any idea why William's immune system collapsed suddenly?"
Dana shakes her head, no. "I have my suspicions".
"Charles Spender?"
Confronting the Van De Kamps in their new home in Fishtail, Montana, they told her they had been forced to leave Wyoming because of the threats they had been getting.
'Like death threats?'
'They explained it more like unanswered phone calls with just heavy breathing on the other end".
That didn't sound so bad.
'They said it started with an unscheduled visit from two, "health care professionals", who said William's case had been referred to them by the hospital. They said they worked at some specialist children's hospital in Boston and had come across cases that sounded very similar to William's and offered to do some tests on him. The Van De Kamps agreed. But when they asked to come in to do a small check up on William there and then, his mother -'
'-his mother?' Fox couldn't help the interruption.
Dana nods, 'Patricia Van De Kamp'.
'Then say Patricia Van De Kamp, she's not much of a mother if she gave him up at the first sign of danger', he professes - immediately mentally kicking himself because, that is exactly what Dana had done, what they both had done. But then, at the same time, there was a difference. He and Dana hadn't agreed on being William's parents, the Van De Kamps had.
Dana's eyes lower at Fox sympathetically, one of her hands reaches to touch his shoulder gently. 'They only gave him up because I told them to'.
Fox shifts his weight on the counter, and turns to look at Dana properly. 'What do you mean you told them to give him up?'
'Let me finish, then ask questions', giving him a sharp look.
Fox gives her a small eye roll in return, but gestures for her to continue.
'Patricia Van De Kamp', she appeases, giving him a look.
Fox nods his gratitude.
'She got suspicious when she went to open the door and she saw an FBI badge on one of the representative's jackets', giving Fox a pointed look.
He didn't need the look, alarm bells were already ringing in his head.
'The Van De Kamps obviously didn't know anything about William's history. Even before ... before...", she struggles to find the right words.
'Before you were taken?' Fox offers.
'Yes, before the whole shit show started. I had requested a closed adoption, so although I had picked the Van De Kamps to be the future baby's parents, my name would be stricken from the record completely. The birth certificate would have put the Van De Kamps as William's parents at birth. Anyway, we both know how it turned out. Patricia Van De Kamp recognised my name, she remembered the news story, she had a lots of questions when I arrived at the hospital, to which I answered as honestly and truthfully as I could'.
'So she didn't let them in because she was wary of the FBI?'
'She made up some story that William wasn't actually in, and she'd get in contact with them later. They weren't happy, but they eventually left. She called the hospital, they said they were none the wiser of the reference'.
Fox breathes out. It sounded complicated. It also sounded like it could have gone wrong, very fast, loosing William in the process.
'You should have told me, Dana. I could have helped you, I was working for the FBI then, I -'
'- I know', she looks at him.
He stares back into her eyes, remembering there was a time when he used to look at them and see their whole lives together, now - 'Wait. What? ... You thought - you thought, I was one of them. That it was me? That's what you thought, wasn't it?' Lifting his arms in disbelief, moving away from her completely.
How could - how could she think that?!
'I didn't know', she steps closer to him, but he takes two steps further away from her. 'Her description of one of them could have been you-'
'-it wasn't me!' He shouts.
'I know that now!' She shouts back.
There is a loud clearing of throat.
Fox turns to see Maggie Scully standing in the kitchen doorway.
'It's getting late, Dana'.
Fox puts his head in his hands, and wills himself to calm down. It has been a long night, a lot has happened.
'I know, but this is important, Mom. You can go ahead with William if you don't want to wait'.
'I'll wait. Just don't be too long'.
'I'm sorry', Fox clears his throat, when Maggie Scully is out of the room. 'I'm sorry, I just-'
'- It's OK, I understand. It hasn't been an easy night, especially for you'.
Fox wonders if she knows that Charles Spender is his real father. Probably.
'Do you want us to continue this another time?'
'No, tell me now, otherwise I'll never get to sleep tonight'. He probably wouldn't sleep knowing either.
'The Van De Kamps decided to move state. It was fine for a while but then they started getting the phone calls again. A couple of times they think someone tried to break in their house - in both Wyoming and Montana. But, when they got a phone call from William's preschool to say that someone had tried to take William, that had been the last straw, they knew they couldn't protect him'.
'That's when they asked you to take him?'
'They never asked me to take him, I asked to take him, to lure out whoever it was safely'.
He and Dana had naturally been moving closer back together, but he now takes a step away from her again. 'You used him as bait?'
'I always had a tag on him. You've seen the security at the children's home and he was never allowed off the grounds unless he was with me, and even then he was tagged', she pleads her defence.
'His rucksack...' It making sense why William didn't want to take it off.
What William was saying earlier was also making sense, about him no longer being Jackson Van De Kamp and mommy and daddy having to go away because of the bad men.
What a weight for a five year old to carry!
Another thought occurred to Fox... 'Wait, so you agreed that I could take William as bait. To bait Charles Spender? Or you thought I would take William to him? ... Or, you thought I was the one who was trying to take him?'
'Like I said, Fox, I didn't know", her voice starting to raise over his accusation. "You came, suddenly, after all that time, wanting him'.
'Because Jeffrey Spender said he was trying to adopt, William. Before then, I had no idea William was no longer with the Van De Kamps!'.
'That's not my fault', she says quietly.
'Did you tell William any of this? That you thought I might be one of the bad men trying to take him'
'No, of course not!'
Fox eyed her not knowing whether to believe her at first.
'I would never do that, Fox. Trust me', she implores, grabbing his arm.
He trusted no one, he wants to reply, but she must be telling the truth. William wouldn't be so open to him if he thought he was one of the bad men.
'And how does Tony Correolli get involved?' He asks when the silence between them has stretched on for so long and she has let go of his arm.
'He came to me'.
'Why?'
'He said he had a reason to believe that Charles Spender wasn't really dead. He didn't give an explanation, but not only was there the strange behaviour around the Van De Kamps. Myself and my family were also getting similar phone calls, someone actually visited one of my brothers too in an attempt to spook me'.
'But you didn't quit', walking closer to her again.
'No I didn't', gravitating to him too.
Because you're his mother, he wants to say, but he just rests by her in front of the sink.
"You know we may never find out whether it was Charles Spender".
"I know".
~xXx~
Sunday 26th May
11:30
the next day...
Dana had taken William home with her, with the plan they would meet tomorrow and spend the day together. Although slightly put out when he woke up in the morning over how she had just walked out the door with William without asking him, Fox had been quite relieved at the time, knowing he wouldn't have slept at all, and if he had, it would have been with one eye open. Thankfully, in his exhaustion, Fox had fallen asleep pretty quickly and got a decent amount of sleep.
Now, Fox fixes his hair, giving himself one more look in the mirror before he rushes out his bedroom to answer the door. It hadn't escaped him that it was Anniversary Day after all, he had to look his best.
He looks through the peep hole before answering, just to make sure it was them who rang the bell ... And it was.
William clings on to Dana as she gives him a piggy back, she is talking to him but Fox can't hear what she is saying to him.
They had been to church in the morning - of course, and it looked like they both still had their Sunday best on.
Fox looks over his white chino shorts and his blue polo and hopes that she thinks what he's wearing is OK. Maybe his blue ankle length chinos and a white button up would be better?
William wore white chino shorts too, but he also had a button up t-shirt and a dickie bow. He was also a kid.
Dana's dress was the same muted-green colour as William's bow tie. Fox didn't know if she had done that on purpose, and if she had, how he felt about her matching their outfits, whilst also maintaining her, 'I am not his mother'. ... But, she did look breathtakingly beautiful in it. It fell respectfully just below her knees and had a bow neatly tied that emphasised her slim waist. However, the way the fabric frilled over the tops of her breast, reminding Fox of a corset, he wasn't sure it was entirely church appropriate. But what did he know? He was sure the fellow flock enjoyed the view.
Her hair fell in the same waves as they did when he first saw her with William.
William's corkscrews looked very tightly curled, longer, and less big around his face.
All of a sudden Dana's eyes make contact with his, and she flares her nostrils like she knows he is the other side of the door spying on them.
Her flick of anger doesn't last long, a smile replacing it, as she laughs at whatever William is also laughing at.
They do look beautiful together.
He thinks he could spend the whole day, just watching the two of them together.
~xXx~
Fox did change, even though she insisted he didn't have to.
'What happens now?' he asks. Blue ankle chinos and white button up on and feeling happier for it, he felt like he sort of belonged with them now.
Dana's smile crooks and Fox can't help but smile too.
'Mexico', she raises an eyebrow teasingly.
He laughs, 'by that I hope you mean a Mexican - restaurant'.
They spent the day at Legoland, not that William seemed particularly interested in anything other than making sure both Dana and he were holding his hands. The only rides he wanted them to go on where the ones they could all be sat together. Fox didn't know if that was because he genuinely wasn't that interested, or because he really did want to spend all his time with him and Dana, or that he was still worried the bad men were going to take him. Dana hadn't managed to convince him to leave the rucksack at her mom's this morning and he still wouldn't take it off now.
"You OK, Buddy?" Fox asks William, not knowing whether, 'Buddy', was becoming a nickname for him. They were waiting for Dana who was still using the public restrooms.
William nods, looking back in the direction to the women's public toilet entrance. His hand was firmly gripped in Fox's like it had been all day, but his spare one was waiting for Dana.
"Did you have fun today?"
William turns to look at him and nods. "Yes!" Jumping to add emphasis. "Where are we going to go next?" Continuing his jumps.
"Where else do you want to go?" Fox chuckles, tucking his hair behind his ears. "It's getting quite late, we should probably be heading back h-"
Fox's heart plummeted as William plummeted to the ground and burst out crying.
He fell to the floor with him in shock.
"What's the matter? What happened?" Fox asks frantically, looking around the little boy to see if he was clutching anywhere in pain.
Did he need to get him to the hospital?!
William started screaming, kicking his feet and his entire body on the floor.
"William!" Fox went for stern, and it did shut him up for a second. His eyes big and full with tears, his nose running, and his mouth opened in a frown for the whole world to see down his throat. Before he continued.
Fox didn't know what to do. He didn't even want to touch him for fear of making it worse.
Slender arms came to his rescue and at her touch, William stops his flailing limbs reaching up so she can pick him up. The little boy grips on to Dana whilst she rocks and soothes him.
"I swear, I didn't do anything", standing back up, wiping the dust off of William's white clothes.
"It's OK", she continues soothing William. "He get's like this when it's home time".
Oh.
Fox's heart left his throat and settled back in his rib cage,
That was, that was understandable.
"It's OK, Buddy. You're not going back to the children's home. You're going back with me, remember what I said?"
"Fox...".
He looks up to Dana.
Her eyebrows are furrowed at him as if he has said something wrong but whatever it was, she didn't get to say because William pushes himself away from Dana and looks at him. Tears stopped, but still stuck in his long eye lashes. He holds his arms out to Fox.
"You want to come to me?" He asks.
William nods and Fox takes him out of Dana's arms, and he starts swaying him like Dana did. "I know, William. It's been hard, but, not anymore", he pauses to kiss his forehead. "Do you want me to take this rucksack off?"
William shakes his head, no, into the crook of Fox's shoulder.
"OK, you can keep it on for now, but you know you don't have to wear it any more. The bad men have gone and I'm here to protect you now, always. Look at me, William".
He does.
"Do you think I will let anything happen to you?"
William shakes his head, no.
"Good, because I'm not", kissing his forehead a few times before kissing his lips. "Now, how about me, you and Dana", he lets an arm off William and blindly grabs for her hand, "go back to our house and we order some food in. Pizza?"
William nods his head seriously.
"Do you like pizza?"
William continues nodding.
"He loves, pizza. Don't you?" Dana's hand wipes the tears from his face, before tickling him.
William giggles.
Fox suppresses an eye roll over the little boy's fickleness. He'd rather not go through that again.
"Why does that not surprise me?" Fox starting to walk, pulling Dana with him.
She walks flush against him.
"Did you know, Dana, ate pizza almost everyday when you were in her tummy".
This time when William laughed, his hair laughed with him.
"That's a complete exaggeration", but her voice is light, happy.
Child meltdown aside, it had been a happy day. Fox felt like he could have days like this for the rest of his life with the two of them. Even the actual meltdown hadn't been that bad, and they both managed to fix it. Like other parents would be able to with their child.
He turns to smile at Dana, but she's looking at William.
She must feel his gaze however because she moves hers to look at him.
"What?" He whispers, stopping walking, because she's kind of staring at him.
She stares at him a while longer, before shaking her head, her smile emerging back. "It's nothing", tugging her hand out of his, she continues walking next to him.
~xXx~
It definitely wasn't nothing now.
He didn't exactly know how William's melt down had sparked it when they had spent the whole day close to each other, with the sexual tension between them not surpassing fleeting looks. It had until then, definitely been a PG, 'friends', kind of a day.
Long lost friends, was perhaps a better description, that went beyond friendship.
It was family.
It was oneness.
It was ownership.
It was the relief of being together after so long apart and finding that nothing had changed, that it was even better.
It was like coming home after being away a really, really, long time.
'Well, I'll see you both in the morning', she chirps, looking in the rear view mirror to look at William in the back. She had stayed silent most of the car ride, Fox concentrated on driving whilst answering William's questions, and trying to ignore the heat that radiated off of Dana, curdling his stomach. Before he knew it, she had directed him to her mother's house. 'William, you be good for, Fox. OK?'
'OK', William chirps back, all signs of his tantrum, well and truly gone.
'Wait', Fox grabs her thigh to stop her from going out the car, and he hadn't meant to grip her that hard - or so high up her thigh, but he heard the audible sucking of breath which made his dick twitch.
He loosenes his grip but doesn't let go. 'We told William we would eat pizza together', he whispers.
'No you did', she whispers back.
'Don't go'.
She shakes her head, going to open her mouth.
'- Stay. For him', he urges. He knows she wants to. She's just denying herself, because she doesn't want to get attached to them. 'Even if it is just for one night'.
It was how her body brushed past him as he held his front door open for her and a bouncing, overexcited William.
It was how he was not able to take his eyes off of her as she ate, and he was pretty sure she was aware of this because she hardly ate anything.
It was how he watched her arms dance and lips sing as she gave William a bath; him creepily watching the two of them from the doorway. She had turned to look at him one point. Even from the distance he could see her eyes were infected with lust for him. However, it wasn't long until William took her attention again.
It was the way she animatedly recited a children's story from her childhood at bedtime. William wedged between them, Fox shared his time between watching the two of them, but mostly her.
Then it was how she cradled William because he was still far too excited for sleep and he didn't have his blanket with him. Thumb in his mouth, head against Dana's heartbeat, she hummed and stroked his face.
Lastly, it was kissing a sleeping William goodnight together, slowly backing away together to close the door. Fox was so happy, he didn't even allow himself to dwell on the fact that this is how it could have always been.
Fox watches how her fingers linger on the door knob, and when she looks up to him, he can't help himself as he plants his kiss on her mouth.
He's gentle at first, so she can pull away, tell him to stop, but she doesn't.
~xXx~
She's removed her dress.
Fox doesn't remember when or how, just that she was dressed when they started kissing, and now her hands are undoing his belt and there is so much of her skin on display for him.
Her bra and panties are black lace, and he wonders when she got ready this morning whether she had now in mind.
"I want you to take me right against this wall, Fox", she whispers against his skin, her hand palming his dick to hardness.
He picks her up and she wraps her legs around him immediately, but he doesn't push her against the wall like she asked, he lays her gently down on his bed instead, sneaking his fingers into her panties to make sure he doesn't come before she does.
'So, do you have a boyfriend?' He asks. They had spent the day asking each other questions about themselves. He felt a bit sorry for William because they were so wrapped up in each other, but William didn't seem to mind. All he wanted was for them to hold his hands and swing him every fifteen steps or so.
'I do', she smiles at him. 'Do you have a girlfriend?'.
He shakes his head, no.
She's close, he can feel it ebbing against his fingers and he can also hear it in her voice as his tongue continues to lazily explore her mouth, he doesn't want to miss watching the moment her orgasm takes over her, but the sounds she is making ... and she still has one committed hand still pumping his dick. He gently unfurls her hand and goes to move, thinking perhaps a flick of his tongue on her clit will do the trick, when she comes all over his hand.
He let's her ride it out, before licking his fingers clean. "Don't move", he whispers, getting up to undress himself.
Her skin is naturally tanned, he guesses five years in Hawaii would do that, so he is particularly impressed over the beautiful deep red flush her body glows with, knowing it was him who caused it. He's hastily pulling down his trousers and boxers, trying not to trip over in the process when he throws a glance at her. She's turned over and her black thong encased ass greets him like a ripe peach.
He didn't realise she was wearing a thong. That definitely wasn't church appropriate.
He hadn't planned to take her from behind ... but the view was very wanting and wasn't this what he had fantasised about just last week?
"Did you put this on for me?" he whispers over her skin, running his finger under the material, before moving it further to the side.
She wiggles her ass in answer, the head of his dick catching against her folds.
Condom.
He needed one now.
"Where are you going?" She snaps.
"Condom", wondering whether he actually had one. Maybe she does ...?
"You said you weren't seeing anyone", she frowns over her shoulder.
"I'm not but you sai-"
Her eyes soften, "Sea-", her voice catches. She now glares at him.
He hadn't meant to slap her.
He rubs the redden cheek in apology. "Don't say his name", he warns.
She nods, "we don't need a condom, just don-", but she doesn't get to finish her sentence as he buries home in her in one swift move.
That was for mentioning his name.
"-Just don't come in me", she keens loudly, moving her hips back to speed up his thrusts.
'So how long have you been seeing each other?' He tries to ask nonchalantly. Like it hadn't been blaring at him like a fog horn in between all the other questions he asked immediately after so as to feign interest.
'Sean?' She frowns. They had stopped for an ice cream and she had just been telling him about her plans to go to med school and become a doctor.
'Is that his name?' Silently begging her not to tell him his last name because he would find him and kill him. He had supposed to be the one to bite her forbidden fruit first. But he didn't look for her and it was foolish for him to think she would wait.
By the way she moved underneath him, he could tell that she was adept at sex. So no longer being able to be her first, his quest was to be her best.
And by the way she just shrieked his name into the fisted linen in her hands as he pounded into her from behind, whilst his fingers rubbed her clit from the front, he had to be doing an OK job at it.
'So is he your first boyfriend? Like first proper boyfriend'. He asks, because he guesses she could maybe count him as a boyfriend.
She smiles teasingly at him. They are now in the queue for some ride. 'What is it that you're really trying to ask me, Fox?'
He goes red in the face and turns his attention to William instead.
She's insatiable. He decides, nervously, as she hooks herself over to ride him. Still, she's taking off her bra and he is enjoying the view and she's allowing him to palm, pull and twist her breasts as much as he wants. He would be enjoying it more if he wasn't also cautious of the fact she might break his dick she is riding him so fast. She does keep moaning his name, which is encouraging, and every so often opening her eyes to look at him, before keening her head back in ecstasy.
'I'm not really the best girlfriend to be honest', she offers.
Fox looks over at her in surprise. They were now in another queue for a different ride. 'Why would you say that?'
'I'm not really around. All my time is spent either in school or with William', she smiles down to look at the little boy, who is smiling up at her. Her spare hand cups the little boy's face. 'Besides, it was him who asked me out'.
Fox nods.
'But my first proper boyfriend-'.
'-Dana', he stops her. 'I don't want to know about your first proper boyfriend', or any boyfriends that came after that. He realised he started the questions, but the idea of her with someone else makes him feel sick. 'Do you want to hear about my girlfriends?' He challenges, swallowing hard before looking away from her because the way she's looking at him now... It's like ... it's enough to crush her against him and kiss her senselessly.
The spell is broken and she looks away. 'If any of them are interesting, then yes'.
She collapses against his chest, all sweaty and out of breath. He can feel her heart pounding against his chest.
He rubs her back, allowing her to catch her breath before gently turning her over. His fingers loop in her panties to pull them down.
It was his turn now.
"You didn't come?" She asks confused. Before sitting up, "I'll suck you off".
"Dana", he pushes her back softly. "It's my turn now".
She lays back down, hesitantly, but lifts her hips up for him to take off her panties.
Only one bedside light is on but he recognises the black letters instantly in the V.
WSM is tattooed in small capitols just below her left hip bone.
His fingers trace lightly.
"How do you explain this to other people?"
"Well very few people have been down there, Fox", she teases, gently squeezing her knees against him.
He looks up at her.
She's smiling down at him softly, one of her hands gently brushing back his hair. "Less than a few", she soothes. "You're the only one I've allowed close enough to notice", her hand moves to stroke his face. "You're the only who has been inside me without a condom".
He moves quickly so he can kiss her. "You're the only one I've been inside that way too".
And then he lets out a laugh, because they sound so corny, like they're teenagers not adults.
"Honestly?" She searches his eyes. "It really doesn't matter".
"Honestly".
He kisses her lips some more, before trailing down and kissing her breasts. Thanking and apologising to them for nurturing William in his first three months and all the hours of the day he pulled and fed off of them. He then trails kisses down to her flat abdomen, again thanking and apologising for the stress of carrying William and keeping him safe and protected for eight months. Finally, her cunt. A flash of Dana arched up in agony, William's wet black curls making its entrance out of her flashes through him. He places a flat kiss against her letters, before trailing further down -
- He hears her quiet sob and looks up.
But her face is hidden from him.
Moving his way back up her, he finds that she's crying.
She tries to turn away from him completely, but - "What's wrong?" Stopping her with his hand.
She cries louder in response.
He tries to gently turn her face to look at him, but she shakes her head, no.
"Dana, look at me, please", he says softly, lightly kissing her shoulder.
She turns to look at him, and her face in swollen from her crying. She then burrows it into the crook of his shoulder.
"I love him... I love him", she hyperventilates against him.
"Who do you love?" Panicking she means her boyfriend.
"William", she cries out in agony. "I always have, even when I sai... said that I didn't!" She cries harder. "It was just ... it was just ... all ... so ... hard. All of it... from the very beginning... and it's still so hard now! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
He tries hushing her. "Oh, I know it was, Sweetheart", kissing her forehead and wherever he can reach. "You don't have to apologise. Don't forget I was right there watching you those last six months. And I know more than anyone how much you love him".
"I do! I love him so much", she cries.
"And that's not a bad thing, Sweetheart. ...What you did to bring him into this world when you didn't have to. Loosing your family. Having to go on the run with that dweeb", he says in the hope to make her laugh. But she just shakes her head, no, and burrows herself further into him. "The trauma of your labour and his birth. ... You just need time. Just like I needed time. OK?"
She nods, clinging even tighter to him.
He kisses her forehead. "I promise you, you will be fine. You just need time".
~xXx~
Fox attended to himself in the bathroom before he joined Dana back in bed to comfort her while she repeated how sorry she was and how much she loved William until exhaustion caught up with her. He woke up when he felt her leaving his bed but she assured him she was just going to check on William because he is an early riser. He liked that she had put his shirt on.
When he wakes up again, the sun is slightly streaming through the blinds and Dana's mouth is bobbing on his dick.
"You don't have to-", he grits out, before deciding just to shut the fuck up because what she was doing felt so good.
"I want to", she breaks, her mouth making an obscene pop, before taking even more of him in.
~xXx~
She's riding him, and this time for his pleasure not for hers, when she suddenly stops.
He opens her eyes and see's she's looking in the direction of the door.
"Is it William?" He asks, definitely not wanting him to see them like this.
She frowns, "it sounded like the doorbell".
Fox stills his breathing, pushing Dana off of him when he hears his front door shut.
Dana reaches the bedroom door first, opening it. "William?" She shrills.
Fox hears William reply but can't hear what he's saying.
Dana turns to look at him and all the colour has drained out of her. "It's my mother", shutting the door. "She's coming up the stairs", heading in the opposite direction of the door.
Fox frantically starts to make the bed, stopping to pull a pair of boxers on.
Of course it's Maggie Scully, that woman has been cockblocking him since the first day he saw her.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" Dana's voice asks.
Fox stops what he's doing to see that his bedroom door is still shut. He quietly walks to the door so he can hear better.
"Why are you still in bed? William should be in school, not sat in his underwear watching cartoons"
"Because I was tired, Mom. What are you doing here in Fox's house uninvited? He's not going to be happy when he returns from his run".
That was a good one.
"Dana", Maggie Scully sighs.
"What?!" Dana snaps.
"You know what?!"
"Why are you both shouting at each other?" William's little voice asks and Fox's heart sinks.
"William, go back to your cartoons. I'll be there soon".
"Dana, I expected better than you, and what about poor, sweet, Sean. Did you think about him once?"
"Once when? I don't know what you're talking abou-"
"-I'm talking about your dress discarded in the middle of the corridor and you standing here with only his shirt on".
"Nothing happened between Fox and I, Mom. He kindly offered me his room and he sleep with William. I'm wearing his shirt because I don't have any pyjamas. My dress is in the middle of the corridor because William spilt juice on it and it has to be washed".
"I'm not stupid, Dana".
"No one is accusing you for being stupi-"
"-You reek of sex, Dana!"
"Mom", Dana sighs.
Fox gently rests his forehead against the door, wondering whether he should just go out and claim her. Would she want him to do that?
"Fine. What about the Van De Kamps?"
"What about the Van De Kamps?" Defensive. "Mom, now is not the time. Please leave".
"Are you going to call them or shall I?"
"I will, Mom. It's my job. William is my responsibility, not yours", her voice shrills. "Now I've asked you twice, please leave. I don't need you here and I don't want Fox to find you here uninvited".
"Dana, don't fall for whatever fantasy he has conjured up for you. They are not your life anymore. William deserves better-"
Dana screams in frustration, making Fox startle. "Leave now! I am not a kid anymore for you to tell me how you think I should be living my life. In fact I stopped being a kid a long time ago, right when I had my own. The only reason I indulge you is so that you don't look so miserable or feel so guilty about being a terrible mother. William is my child, I know what's best for him"
There is silence.
"Mom, I'm sorry, but please just leave".
She must leave because the next thing he knows the door is opening and he has to quickly move out the way.
"Everything OK?" He asks.
She nods, but she looks far from OK. She rubs her arms and then walks towards the bed, flopping down on it, making her hair fan out around her.
"Sorry, I couldn't help but listen", he says kneeling next to her, and moving to play with a tentacle of hair. "Are you sure you're OK?"
She nods again.
"What did your mom mean about calling the Van De Kamps?" He asks out of curiosity, not intending her to turn away from him completely and bury her face in her hands.
She breathes out her nose loudly. "Because I promised the Van De Kamps that when Charles Spender had been caught, I would give William back to him", she moves her hands from her face and turns to look at him. "That was their condition for signing the rights back to me".
"You agreed to those terms in writing?"
"Fox", she exasperates. "I'm serious".
"I'm serious too. Do you have it writing?"
"No, but I promised them, Fox", sitting up. "I have to", she looks at him. "It's not fair. They trust me-"
"- I don't care, Dana, I don't care what's fair. William is mine, William is ours. Don't deny it now that it's just us, I heard you just say so to your mother".
She shakes her head, no. Moving to touch his face.
Fox hits her hand away, moving to get clean clothes, so he can get ready to spend the day with William. He had indulged himself in her for too long. "What did you think? That I would just let you give my son away, and we would, what? Just continue our lives together? Without him?! News flash, I don't want you in my life without him".
It was an awful thing to say, and by her silence, it hurt her.
"I don't care what you want, Fox", she says eventually. "I only care about William, and what is best for him. I believe the Van De Kamps are best for him. He's a happy child, and he's happy because of them. Not you, not me. He misses them and they miss him. You've been back in his life for just two weeks Fox and what, you think you're better than them?"
"I don't know, Dana. I don't know if they are better than me. All I know is that I promised William that I would never give him away again. I want my son, Dana. I've thought of him every single day since I left him".
"He's not your son, Fox".
"He is my son!" He snaps, well aware he is sounding like Charles Spender.
Dana is looking at him like he's half crazed. "He's not your son anymore, Fox", she whispers. "You've just decided this on a whim a couple of weeks ago that you want him because you got territorial with your brother and you like the sound of it".
He snarls in her face and she flinches but doesn't back away. "He is my son. Just because you have decided not to be his parent, doesn't mean you get to decide for the both of us. I have a birth certificate to prove it. He has my DNA running through him", and again, he hates her for making him sound like Charles Spender again. "I'm not allowing you to make me give him up again without a fight, Dana. So he knows, that he is who means the most to me in all the world. I will take this to court as many times as I have to, don't think I won't. I am his father and he belongs with me".
"Don't you think the Van De Kamps feel the same?" She cups his chin softly. "Don't you think that they won't fight the same?"
"I don't care", he pushes her off, before clutching at her immediately. Clutching her tightly. "You are the one who has the power right now. Parental rights are in your name, if you ever loved me like you used to say you did, you would do this for me, for him".
~xXx~
Epilogue: The Sins of the Mother
Scully Residence
Baltimore, Maryland
Christmas Day 2019
about six months later...
Dana closed the door to the guest bedroom she and Sean were using only to come face to face with her mother.
She forces a smile on her face. "Mom". Willing herself not to fiddle with her clothes, she checked her reflection in the ensuite, she looks perfect.
"I met Fox on the landing".
"You did?" Keeping a straight face.
"Sean is just downstairs, Dana. Have you no shame?"
'Sean is just downstairs', she states, not really knowing who she is reminding, but hoping that one of them will stop.
He's pushed the tops of her dress and bra down and is swirling a nipple around his tongue. 'I don't care, Dana, as far as I'm concerned, he is the other man. Why?" He stops attending her breasts to look up at her. 'Do you want me to stop'.
She kisses him hard in response. This is all she has wanted him to do since she welcomed him and William into her parents house earlier today. 'We just can't be too long'.
He growls, pulling up her dress and taking her panties down. 'I don't care who sees us like this', knocking her knees apart and settling between her. 'Except William', he chuckles.
'Except William', she agrees chuckling with him. She stares into Fox's beautiful mood ring eyes where she can never quite make out if they're brown, green or blue, because she is surely going to hell for this. 'I have a gift for you', she bites his lip, before lifting her dress off. She raises to take off her bra and then lifts up her left boob.
'FWM', he mouthes out, smiling. She loves the way his eyes crinkle in the corner when he smiles. That's not age, even as a teenager, his eyes smiled the same way. 'Now how do you explain this to your fiancé?'
'I haven't let him see it yet'.
His thumb traces his initials, the stub of the nail more exciting against her skin than any way Sean touches her. And it's not just Sean, it's all the guys she's been with. She is really beginning to think that her and Fox are just made for each other. 'You know he's going to know it's me', he kisses her breast lightly, 'when he sees it. Are you looking for reasons for him to break it off with you?' His teeth now gently nipping at her.
She breathes heavily out of her nose. She doesn't know. She guesses, yes. She can't explain it, but just like she had to have William tattooed on her body, she had to have Fox tattooed too. That way, they would always be a part of her. What people didn't understand was the two of them were already scarred into her soul, now it was visual for everyone to see. 'Show me yours', she says, her fingers eagerly undoing his button up, until her fingers trace the two rows of black letters on his ribcage; DKS and WSM.
"Are you spying on me?"
"It was better I came look for you than anyone else".
"Well then I shouldn't keep anyone looking for me any longer".
"Is this your way of punishing me, Dana?" Her mother asks and Dana stops, immediately not liking that her actions have brought her mother onto the verge of tears.
Was she angry with her for convincing her to let William go so easily? Perhaps. Fox's mother had offered to adopt William for her child, hers just told her to get rid of him three times.
Dana turns to face her mother. "I'm not punishing you Mama. You have nothing to atone yourself for. I am sorry that my actions continue to cause you pain. I promise I will behave better for you", she kisses her mother lightly on her cheek before continuing down the stairs.
June 2019
San Diego, California
Dana knew from Fox's face that he had been serious about going to court for William, so she wasn't surprised when the case went to court, she was just surprised at the speed everything was happening. In the end it hadn't been her that told the Van De Kamps, it had been her mother. She would have been angry with her but the truth was that her mother did her the greatest kindness, because she would have never been able to betray Fox like that, but telling the Van De Kamps was the right thing.
Fox's mother, Teena Mulder, swooped in like an eagle just the next day, all Devil wears Prada with her fancy, expensive New York lawyers, bringing Fox's sister, Samantha with her too. Who is undoubtedly the Andy to her Miranda.
Dana had told Fox that she wanted to be as uninvolved as possible and so far, she had only had to go into court once, and mostly looked after William whilst everyone else was in court. That was something all parties agreed on, William was to know nothing about what was going on. The judge had already visited William in Fox's rental in civilian clothes to ask him questions in private. No one except the judge knew his questions or William's answers.
She had felt so sorry for the Van De Kamps when she had to take the stand and saw them sat on their side of the court room. They both looked so distraught and small in comparison to their opponents, and she had known right then and there, that there was no way they were going to win against Teena Mulder.
She had told the judge she understood the prosecutions defence, that Fox William Mulder was the only known blood relative of her son, William Scully Mulder able to look after him, and as the father at birth, he wanted full parental rights given back to him. That she understood that the prosecution was accusing her for not being a sound enough person to grant parental rights back to Cleveland and Patricia Van De Kamp.
She answered her questions in truth, stating how although her heart wanted Fox to be granted full custody over his son, she believed what was correct was that William be placed back in the care of his adopted parents, as they were the parents William was more acquainted too. She didn't stumble or feel guilty as she had told Fox that was going to be her statement. She did feel guilty when the Van De Kamps hugged her when the trial recessed for the day, stating that they didn't blame her at all for what was happening.
If they only knew that she had no intentions in telling them William was safe again, that before it went to court, she had every intention of granting parental rights back to Fox.
~xXx~
22:34
"Did you have a good day?" Sean asks.
Dana is sat up on the bed putting lotion on her body, she still has these stubborn - she wouldn't call them stretch marks but two indented horizontal lines - just where her lower abdomen meets her pelvis, her only visible remnants from William's pregnancy.
"Yes", she fixes her sleep pants back in place. "It was perfect. Did you?"
He nods. "Your mother seems so much happier now".
"Because she's back with my father. She only stayed in California as long as she did to help me with William".
"Billy really seemed to enjoy his day too", he smiles genuinely.
"He did. It was nice to see him enjoying it with my parents and his cousins, to see how well they get on and how much they are here for him". She had to bite down the jealousy really hard earlier watching him interact so easily with her sister. She knew he saw her regularly because she lived near Fox's apartment. And Fox was right, the more people there were around William who loved him, the better.
Everyone but her twin, Charlie, still in Hawaii, was now East Coast. When Dana had decided to move back state-side, Bill Sr declared that it was time the whole family stopped hiding and move back state-side, but not in California, a new state, for another new start.
"Thank-you again for agreeing to come with me. Next year, we'll go to your parents".
"We don't have to, I know he's important to you, and especially now you're the other side of the country to him. It's nice for Billy that he gets to have you spend his birthday with him".
"You're so sweet", she says, moving to kiss him. "I'm excited about New Years at your parents".
"Are you sure you wouldn't rather spend it with Fox and Billy?" Kissing her back.
"Why would you say that?" She draws back, her heartbeat spiking.
Sean fell on the bed next to her. "Just because Billy seemed so excited at the idea of you spending it with him".
Dana lied down next to him. "I want to spend New Years with your parents and your friends, I've been looking forward to it. I love spending time with William, but everything goes all darkish when I'm around him and Fox, like I'm still living that time. I don't want that, I want to move on with my life and have it be light, like it is when I'm with you", she kisses his cheek.
"I keep telling you, you really need to speak to someone about that".
She snuggles into his neck. "But I only feel it when I'm around them", she hums, and it's true.
"It's not good to ignore it, all you're doing is hiding it".
June 2019
San Diego, California
William sat between her legs as they painted the roll of paper between them. He's painting something for the Van De Kamps because his Grandma told him that although they couldn't be with him, they still missed him very much.
"Do I put Jackson or William?" He asks.
"Put whatever you want", Dana answers.
He thought about it for a long time, before he wrote William Jackson.
Dana places kisses on the top of his head before looking at the clock again. Today was the court ruling, although she was pretty certain it would go in Fox's favour, she still didn't know.
When the door started to open, William looked up from the puzzle they were doing.
"Grandma", he cheers when Teena Mulder's face pokes around.
"Hello my Angel. Have you had a nice time with your Mommy?" She asks.
Dana still has to bite her tongue whenever she hears her refer to her as that. She's the only one that does it, Fox has said he's asked her not to. She was only relieved that William although understanding the 'mom' was related to her, still called her Dana.
William nods, "I made a painting for the Van De Kamps".
"Well what a lovely, sweet thing to do, William. How about we go with Aunty Samantha and post it to them straight away? Come here", she says, holding her hand out.
William turns to look at Dana. He likes Fox's mother, but it is all still quite new for him.
Dana nods, "I'll see you later", rubbing his back and helping him stand.
"Your mommy and daddy need to talk. So we'll give them some space to talk, OK?" She hears her continue to William.
Fox next turns around the corner.
She stands to meet him, "so?"
He nods. "They ruled in my favour".
She hugs him tight, all the tension melting away from her instantly. "I'm so happy for you, Fox. For both you and William", she whispers into his skin.
He pulls away from her gently. "I told the judge that I wanted both you and I listed as his parents, for whenever you are ready".
The tension was starting to clog back into her throat. "Fox..."
"I said, whenever you are ready. It's more for if anything happens to me. If anything ever happens to him and he ends up in hospital again. However he might need you in his future".
She nods, feeling easier, she can handle that.
"I tried to give the Van De Kamps back their money for the lawyers, but they wouldn't speak to me".
"Are you surprised?" She says speaking her thoughts out loud.
"No, but still, they're good people, and I would hate that this would financially cripple them in anyway. I thought, maybe if I wrote out a blank cheque and you offer it to them, and tell them if they ever want to visit William, they're more than welcome. I want as many people who love William in his life".
~xXx~
December 26 2019
Simply Marie's Breakfast Place
Baltimore, Maryland
the next day...
William and Fox stayed at Melmo's house for the evening but they were now headed for Martha's Vineyard for Christmas and William's sixth birthday part two. They agreed that just the three of them would have breakfast together before they left.
It was always difficult saying goodbye. William wouldn't believe it but she thinks it was more difficult for her than for him. And it didn't get any easier, because each time she flashes to all the other times she has had to say goodbye to him. When he was a baby, after his hospitalisation, every time she had to say goodbye to him when she left or he returned to the children's home.
It made her think of the first time she held him.
His tiny body fussing to be put in her arms. And what had really sent her hormones racing was that he knew straight away, he knew who she was.
Then when he first latched on to her small early-teen breast, although they had leaked some mere millimetres of milk, she was still sure he would be in for disappointment when it came to her being able to sustain the amount he required from her, but her body provided in plenty for him.
It was such an overwhelming feeling.
It was like they were still one person only split in two now. He contrasted so much with her, with his dark skin and black hair against her pale, white chest but she was his and he was hers, and he was beautiful.
Whilst committing to memory every inch of the fruits of her hard work, she remembers how his eyes fluttered briefly open - this time to look at her. It was dark in the room but she remembered from before how they looked. It was as if he was showing her that she was within him too and for her not to abandon him.
She had moved a hand and delicately traced his features until he closed his eyes again, so as to appease him that it didn't matter, and that she wouldn't leave him.
"I loved spending time with you again, William, and I'll see you again real soon, OK?" Dana says, not knowing when 'soon' would be really. She guesses maybe Easter? Yes, it would have to be then because she was doing her third year abroad in Ghana, she doesn't know if she will see him again before she leaves.
William nods but he has tears in his eyes which absolutely broke her heart. He had been on the East Coast for five months now, and his skin was already missing the sun, much paler - almost white, his face flushed pink from the cold and trying not to cry.
"I love you, William", she's actively trying to force herself to say it more and more to him. Her throat clogs and she feels sick each time she builds the confidence to say the words, because she feels she doesn't have the right to say it to him. But when they do come out, she feels such a rush of endorphins.
"I love you too", he whines, wiping his little red Rudolph nose.
'Are you punishing me, Dana?'
Why would she punish her? Because she constantly made her question herself whether she wanted to be a mother to her child.
'What did you think, me and William would just wait for you to accept us?!'
'Da-na'.
Will she ever get the courage to admit to William and herself that he is her heart out walking on two legs.
She had to leave now or she would be getting in that car with them.
She looks up to Fox who wore a sad but encouraging smile, before standing to kiss his cheek. She then bent to kiss William's cheek and then left.
December 2013
Greeley, Colorado
'Dana look, he has your eyes!'
He did. She had seen that straight away, she just didn't want to admit it.
~xXx~
April 11 2020
Stanford, California
three and a half months later...
News on the virus was everywhere.
"Looks like everywhere is locking down.. Dana..."
Dana looks up slowly to Sean.
"I guess this means, we just hunker down".
Dana nods, clearing her throat. "I'll go grab us some groceries", she says, running out the door before he can say anything else. But she doesn't drive to the store, she drives to the airport.
~xXx~
Enroute San Francisco International Airport to Reagan Washington
later that day...
Someone had cancelled their trip and she was able to take their ticket. Earlier at the desk she had pleaded with the travel rep, showing her a picture of William, asking that if any seat came free, to give it to her so she could be with her son.
August 2019
Alexandria, Virgina
She knocked loudly on the apartment door in-between ringing the doorbell, not caring who it woke up, only stopping when she heard locks start to move.
'Dana?' Sleepy and confused.
'Where is William?' She demands.
'He's having a sleepover at your parents. They didn't tell you?'
'No, no one tells me anything, Fox. Least of all you! How could you not tell me you were moving William the other side of the country, Fox?!'
She was vaguely aware of other apartment doors opening, but she didn't care. She was furious he had moved William so far away from her! After she agreed not to sign parental rights back to the Van De Kamps! William would be much more accessible to her with them than where he is now!
What was this betrayal?
Some sort of sleazy tactic to get her to commit to them quicker?
Fox held a hand up to his neighbours and ushered her inside.
Her eyes swept over what she could see of his apartment. It was minimalist, modern and clean.
'That's not fair, Dana. You knew this was were my job is. You make it sound like I sneaked him out behind your back'
'That's because you did!', she snaps. Tears threatening to spill over, as her mind flashes to when she pulled up outside Fox's rental to find it empty with a, 'To Let', sign outside of it.
She puts her face in her hands and starts bawling.
'I didn't. I'm sorry I couldn't get hold of you before we left. You said yourself before you left for Colombia for your Peace Corps that you might be unreachable, I did try'.
She cries more and he guides her to sit ... on the couch it feels like. She knows that 80% of this is exhaustion because she just arrived back in the States yesterday, pretty much went straight to Fox's to see the both of them, found the place empty, called Melmo and then got on the next ten hour flight here.
'What did you expect me to do?' She can tell by his tone, that he is getting fed up by her crying. 'Loose my job while I waited for you to come back? This is how I make my money so I can provide for William. Or did you expect me to request a transfer to Stanford University, so both me and William could just sit on our hands and wait for you to be ready to accept us'.
Ah there it is, it always comes back to the same thing for Fox. He liked to act like he gives her space, but he's always pressurising her when they're together.
'I know I said that I didn't want to be his mother, but he is still mine, Fox. You should have found a way to tell me before you just took him'.
Fox removes his hand off of her back. 'I don't know how else I can tell you, Dana. I had to leave if I wanted to keep my job and I had no way of contacting you. Why didn't you contact us?' He asks.
And she flinches, because of course, she should have done.
'Did William not get my postcard?'
'Yes, it's up on the fridge... I hear congratulations are in order'.
Of course her mother told him at the first opportunity.
'He caught me by surprise', she shakes her head. She and Sean had organised a long time ago to do the Peace Corps together, they had gone for a night walk outside the village they were volunteering at... 'I said yes, before I even knew it, and then ... I don't know...'.
He sighs. 'How long are you staying? Because it's William's first day of school on Wednesday and he asked me if you would be here'.
~xXx~
Fox's Apartment
Alexandria, Virginia
22:38
Dana gives the doorbell a short ring, it is late and she could always go to her parents if they're asleep.
August 2019
Alexandria, Virginia
'I have to ask you Dana ... are you angry with me?'
Dana throws a glare at Fox.
'I don't mean about me moving William the other side of the country. I'm talking about from before. Are you angry at me about how we were together then?'
There are tears forming in his eyes and rather then looking red in the face with embarrassment like she expected him to be, he looks white with sickness.
'Fox look at me', she says gently cupping his face and bringing it round. 'I'm not angry with you, and our relationship then is not the reason why I can't commit to you and William. If anything, I should be apologising to you. When I think of the way I used to throw myself at you, it makes me blush. To be honest, my trauma has nothing to do with you and William, you were the only good things to come out of the whole experience. It's everything else that's tied to it. The cancer, the severe morning sickness, finding out I was pregnant, my friends and families reaction, my communities reaction. And that was just the easy part. Then it got so much worse, the speculations, the media attention, Dr Calderon killing himself and everyone was looking at me like it was my fault. I remember my mother saying to me, 'none of this would have happened, Dana, if you just listened to me when I told you to get rid of it'. And then, well then, you know the rest. Sean always tells me I should speak to someone about it, get therapy'.
'Well I'm always here for you to talk too', he puts his hand back on Dana's back. 'But that's what I did - do. My mom insisted on it as soon as I came home, and like I said, I still go once a week. Which I know might seem strange considering that is supposed to be my speciality. I talk to William myself, of course, but I also have him go to therapy once a week. There's no shame in it'.
She didn't know Fox went to therapy and it surprises her. 'I know, I'm just not ready yet'.
'You don't even have to talk, it can just be a safe place for you to sit and think, you only have to talk about it if you want to'.
'Sometimes I feel like they used me at their whim, not caring that they stole my life. Sometimes I feel that I should just be grateful for it because William saved my life. Charles Spender is right though, my life will always be defined by me being William's birth mother. What I would have become before William, I will no longer be. And the only power that I have over it, is to not have it dictate my life, try and continue as if it never happened'.
'But it did'.
'I know it did', she snaps, before breathing out to steady her nerves. 'I know it did because I relive it everyday, just like I know you do, but don't you feel kind of the same way? Aren't you angry that they just threw me and William into your life?'
Fox sighs in a way that makes Dana think that he has considered this for a very long time. 'Well obviously my experience is different to yours. Was I angry? Most definitely. And I ran away from it for a very long time, but not anymore'.
'Do you ever wish that we just somehow were able to just raise William ourselves?' She asks, already knowing his answer.
'Yes. But I don't know if it would have been healthy'.
She turns to look at him, surprised by the last revelation.
He shrugs, "maybe we are only supposed to be friends'.
Now she's confused. Was this some other kind of reverse tactic he was trying to use?'
'We are obviously attracted to each other, but maybe it's not us we are attracted to, maybe it is our shared trauma? And just because we have a shared trauma doesn't mean that we belong together or that we are who is right for the other, and I mean this sexually and as a couple, because we will always be here for each other and you will always be William's birth mother'.
The locks move and the door slowly opens, making her think it's William because he can't see through the peephole, but she has to look up because it's Fox.
"So it only took a global pandemic and the possible end of the world for you to visit us again", he has that insufferable lop sided smirk on his face.
"Shut up, Mulder", pushing her way inside.
She doesn't care if them together is shared trauma, it feels right, and more importantly it's what her heart wants. It feels real. For all that she tries to deny her feelings for them, she never feels more purposeful and complete than when she is with them, everything else and everyone else that she surrounds herself with is just trickery.
And if there is a global pandemic and it's the end of the world, all she knows is there is no one else in the world she wants to spend it with, than with Fox and their son.
Fin.
AN: It's been 10 000 years, but, I've finished.
And because today is a good day, I even wrote two snippet alternative extended endings (or two follow on chapters - take your pick), for those who love fluff and Dana, and, those who love conspiracy. The only reason I haven't put it in as a solid ending is because well for the conspiracy its opening up a whole other can of worms - that I would LOVE to delve in to but it was never really supposed to be too much of a conspiracy fic. And I didn't do the fluff ending because I feel like there has been so much unfluff in it from being written from Fox's perspective that to suddenly get all this Dana girly fluff would be weird. Also it was never supposed to be a fluff fic either and lastly I kind of liked the idea of leaving it open, for people to formulate their own ideas on how it ended and whether they're supposed to be end game.
Tbh, I still don't know how I feel on the matter. I'm certain that Fox should be with William, but I'm still on the fence whether Dana should be with William and Fox. It's a very grey area for me and I feel I am as confused as she is. But it's perhaps because such a small portion of the fic is written from her perspective and exploring her feelings... anyway, I'm rambling here.
But I know some readers like a happily ever ending and just crave any morsels of fluff they can - me being one of them.
Anyway, adieu to the X-Files. Thank-you all for your support, commitment over the years, your likes and reviews were all greatly appreciated! Sorry for the long wait - especially to any readers from the beginning - when i started this my time was well and truly my own to indulge in writing and fandoms. Peace out and love!
Alternative ending, for those who life fluff. Note - I wrote this before I did the final read through, so a lot of excerpts from this is in this chapter. Also an explanation why William has some similar features to her...
Friday May 15th 2019
Their Apartment
Alexandria, Virginia
07:22
one month later...
Dana watches William while he eats his oatmeal, admiring how truly beautiful the boy was. She'll never forget when she first saw him, screaming and wriggling all over the place, she knew instantly that he was crying for her. His blue eyes - the same colour as hers - had first opened for Fox but she knew it was only because he was looking for her, but he seemed pacified by Fox holding him, and she loved him for that.
She places a bowl of flaxseed and berry oatmeal next to where Fox is working at his computer, and accepts his kiss.
"I've almost finished", he says, eyes returning immediately back to the screen.
He said that at 3:00am last night.
"Sorry I missed the walk, it's just..."
Some X-File.
She had tried reading one once but had quickly decided she could live without the nightmares of an adult human sized fluke worm monster living in the sewer pipes.
"It's OK, I'm glad you're spending your summer vacation doing what you love most" She teases, but he is too engrossed to reply.
She sighs and sets the other bowl of oatmeal next to William, ruffles his curls, again wondering how long she should let it grow before it's too long, and gives him a kiss on his forehead. He just looked too adorable with them. "I love you so much, William". She's trying to say it to him as often as she can, to make up for her years of neglect.
He looks up and smiles at her, so she taps his cute button nose.
"I love you too, Mommy", kicking his legs furiously under the table for emphasis.
She did see aspects of Fox in his face, but she also saw aspects of her. Melmo said that could be because while she was pregnant with William, although DNA wasn't transferred, the 70% or so DNA they knew nothing about could have allowed him to transfer some of the features from his host.
She gently cups his face in her hand, and kisses each cheek twice, making a big show of it. "You're so beautiful and you bring me so much joy and happiness". She's just sorry that it took her so long to say it to him.
"I know", he says, like he's heard it a hundred times before. Which he probably has.
"You ready for your last day of school?" She asks, seating.
He does a little dance, and nods his head.
"I don't know, what are you going to do without all that school work?"
"Play with you?" He says innocently, not knowing how much his words make her heart swell. How him loving and accepting her still despite knowing that she gave him up... She had been worried how his behaviour might change the longer he was away from the Van De Kamps, but he is more happier, kinder and smarter than he ever was, and she knows that she has Fox, his family and her own family - as well as the Van De Kamps, to thank for that.
"Don't you think you will get bored?"
He shakes his head, no.
"Me neither", she smiles. "What were those questions you said you had to ask us for your homework? ... Fox", she looks over at him and waits until he actually pulls his attention from the screen.
He blinks at her.
"Your son, needs your attention for his homework".
Fox does actually swivel his chair around from the screen so he can give William his full attention. "They're giving you homework on the last day? What kill joys. I'm listening, ask away".
"William, what are you and your family most looking forward to doing after lockdown?" William reads out.
Fox twists his lips thinking about. "What did you say?"
"Seeing my cousins, my Grandmas and my Grandpa, my aunties and my uncles, and hopefully going with my mommy and my daddy to Africa in September for a year. I will go to school there, my daddy will teach at the university and my mommy will study", he reads out what he has written.
Dana rubs his back encouragingly. It always made her smile, watching him write, or read or doing anything remotely independent. To her, he was always still her precious little baby who used to stare up at her with his big eyes and just wanted her to be forever cuddling, hugging, kissing and feeding him.
"OK, so mine would be", Dana turns her attention from William to Fox, who really looks like he's running on fumes. "The three of us going on a road trip across America. I want to retrace the same route your mom and I took when she was pregnant with you".
William jumps in his seat, "that would be so much fun!" His afro hair bouncing too in his excitement, and Dana laughs.
Whilst William carefully writes down Fox's answer in his homework book, she stands and walks over to where Fox has returned to his research, before turning his chin and kissing him deeply. "That sounds like a lovely idea, Fox".
Turn what was bad into something happy. Replace memories of fear with memories of adventure.
"I'm glad you think so", he whispers.
William clears his throat and they break away from each other.
"Mommy", William says when she's sat back next to him. "What are you most looking forward to doing after the lockdown?" He reads out the same question.
"Going to a registry office".
"What?" Fox, suddenly sounding very interested, she can hear him finally get out of his seat.
She grins to herself.
"What's a registry office and how do you spell it?" William scrunches up his little face, reminding her of how he used to do the same whilst he snuffled out her milk when he was a baby.
"A registry office is where people get married", Fox answers. "You want to get married?" Fox takes the seat next to her, rubbing his eyes and taking off his Harry Potter-esque glasses.
"But I thought you said you weren't going to marry Sean anymore - oops, sorry Daddy".
"No it's ok, his name is no longer banned now she's no longer planning on marrying him".
Dana rolls her eyes.
"But you don't have a ring?" William.
"That's right, I don't", Dana pouts.
"William, congratulations, your last day of second grade was yesterday. Let's go".
"Where are we going?"
"To find a ring for your mother before someone else finds one for her".
Fin.
Alternative ending, for those who like conspiracy ... The Lone Gunmen have their own conspiracies of how the global virus started and Fox helps them as sort of whistleblowers. They also make a vaccine from William's blood.
May 2019
University of Maryland
"And now we'll just take a little bit of your blood", Dana explains, carefully taking it from William. "You OK?" She asks him.
He nods in his miniature hazmat suit.
"You're doing so well, Buddy", Fox.
William nods.
Dana turns to the camera where Johnny is filming. "Now I'm putting a sample of William's blood into this patient who is in the severe stages of the virus", she says, injecting William's blood. She has already sterilised the area. "OK, now", she says, putting the empty syringe down and dabbing the intrusion area with a cotton bud. "Now we wait".
"How long do we have to wait for?"
"I don't know William", Dana starts to answer, "it could be hours, it could be days -"
"- it could be now", Fox interrupts, moving to the monitors. "Look, look at his vitals".
"He's getting better, already. It's, it's a miracle", Melmo.
"Are you getting this?"
"Yeah".
"What's happening?" William asks. "Is he getting better?"
"Yeah he is, and it's all because of you".
Fin.