"Come on, let's get back to the party" he says as I put my hand in his and we close the door to the stable behind us. I take his hand and we walk towards the lights of the party, when we head back, everybody is sitting talking etc and Gibson comes over "Hey wanna do some party tricks?" I nod and begin to fly things around in the air everybody begins to laugh. "Show off" I hear Gibson say laughing at me. I look at my watch and its 10.30pm. "I'm kind of tired you guys, I'm gonna go inside" I say as I go over to my Mom " Eric can Mulder and I take the back room with William?" Eric nods and Sophia comes inside to give us blankets and pillows. As I come out of the bathroom in my pyjamas she turns to me and kisses me on the cheek "Goodnight William, sweetdreams" she says "You too Sophia" I say and head into the bedroom. I go to take the small fold down bed but my Mom turns and says we should bunk together to let Grams have the extra bed. I climb in and I lie in the middle Dad is on my left and Mom is on my right, "Goodnight William" she whispers lovingly to me. "Night Mom" I answer as she kisses my forehead and brushes my hair back from my forehead as I give a yawn. My Dad reaches for me and hugs me "Night, bud" he says as he pulls the cover over all three of us. "Goodnight, love you both" I murmur as I feel sleep overtake me, I feel their arms encirle my body, and for the first time in six years I sleep peacefully with no worries and with the two most important people in my life, lying next to me, protecting me as they have always done. But this time my dream has finally become reality.
The next morning I awaken to the sound of voices in the kitchen and the smell of bacon and eggs, Sophia and Grams must be cooking, I turn on my side expecting to see my Mom's face starng back at me and my Dad's. They aren't there. They must have got up early. I get up and make the bed and grab my clothes from my rucksack to go get changed. Half an hour later I emerge from the bathroom, to the sound of Walter and John's voices. "William, Gibson, breakfast" they shout as we head outside into the garden. I suddenly realise how hungry I am and begin to help myself. I realise Mom and Dad aren't there. "Umm John where are my Mom and Dad?" I ask. He looks over at me finishing his sip of coffee. "They went into town for a few things, don't worry kiddo, they'll be back soon" I nod. Afterwards Gibson and I go inside and help with the dishes. "Hey wanna go down to the corral after we finish up here?" Gibson asks me. "Sure" I say. Later that morning Monica decides to come with us as we head down the dusty track towards the stables. Eric is already there letting out the horses one by one so they can go and graze. The young foal Spirit sprints after Thara dashing between his legs, he doesn't seem fazed by all of it, but lets Spirit stand by him, like he is an older part of the herd. I smile but at that moment I hear a voice, its clearer than any voice I've ever heard before.
"Awww come on Thara can't we have one race around the corral I'm not that slow, I mean I am going to grow up to be stallion of the Cimmaron one day aren't I?, follow in my father's footsteps?" I turn around and look around the corral confused as to where its coming from. Gibson looks to me strangely "You OK?" he asks, as he turns to walk towards Spirit. "Not now Spirit, Gibson is taking me for a run in the dessert and I will speak to you later." I hear a deep but friendly voice say. I look at the two horses they look as if they are deep in conversation, but I can hear them, How can this be?
I am brought out of my trance by Gibson snapping his fingers in my face, "Hey, you okay?" he asks I nod and say I'm fine and we decide to continue taking out the horses one by one. Monica decides to let Gibson and I venture further out into the dessert alone. "Gibson?" I begin, he turns to me and says " What's up Will?" I tell him about how I heard Thara and Spirit speak. He is deep in concentration then he looks towards where Thara is grazing. " You said you felt as if your powers were more active here, maybe this is another unknown gift you have and it has decided to surface itself now. The ability to talk to animals was never a common gift in the clones or the hybrids that your parents encountered, maybe you can speak different languages and you don't even realise it." He says. I nod and I decide to test it out.
I approach Spirit who is grazing quietly he senses me as I walk towards him he looks up at me and I lock eyes with his. I clear my mind and form a sentence. "Hey Spirit can you hear me?" I say. The young foal's eyes open in surprise and he looks around at the other horses obviously confused but when he sees them grazing he looks back to me. "Hey its okay, its just me, William remember?" The confusion in his eyes are more relevant as he answers me "You can hear me ?" He asks. I nod at him and then at Gibson who then comes forward and strokes Spirits nose. "But you are human, humans can't talk!" He exclaims at that moment all the horses hear his response and begin to wander over to us. I hear their voices "The human child can hear us!!" they exclaim. Thara begns to approach us and he stands next to me. I feel so small compared to the stature of this creature, but he looks at me with a softness in his old eyes and says "The child is not a threat, as we have heard the masters talk about he is very different from a normal human boy, this is obviously one of his many talents"
I smile at Thara who then turns away to go and graze. Gibson turns and follws Thara with an excited Spirit prancing at his heels I turn and laugh at the sight. As we sit on a hill I look around at this place. Not far from the track I hear the sound of a car pulling up to the house. Mom and Dad get out of the car and take the groceries into the house. Mom comes out a few minutes later and I sense her coming up the track, she smiles down at me and kisses my cheek "Morning sweetie" she says. Dad follows a few minutes later. We sit on the hill and take in the peaceful view. "You like it here ?" Dad asks and I nod. "Well we need to talk about what we are going to do William, we would like you to come and live with us. At the moment we are staying in Vancouver I know its far from Des Monies but once we file for custody of you, we will stress that you be placed with Grams or Monica and John in the meantime." He says.
"Okay I understand, but shouldn't we go back to the farm first and explain the situation to my adoptive parents?" I say, even though I desperately want to be with my Mom and Dad I have never hated my adoptive family, they took me in and treated me as their own flesh and blood and for that I will always love them. Mom looks to Dad "William's right Mulder if we take him back to Des Monies, it should be much easier, besides they are still his guardians and we can't just come out of the blue and demand him back" Dad agrees and we head back to the house to make plans to travel back to Washington. I don't yet tell them about my newfound power, they have too much to deal with, I'll tell them in my own time.He sighs and says "I can't give you answers to who you are, only those who are after you and your parents too" I nod but feel that he does not know the answers to which I seek, "So when did you find out you had powers?" he says I shrug my shoulders "I've always known, but I never displayed them in front of anyone before, not even my adoptive parents, I remember when I was four and I had just started elementary school, there had always been this one kid in the class who picked on the quiet ones like me, so one day we were all in the sandbox and we all were playing, the kid who bullied everyone was picking on one of my friends so when nobody was looking I sent a bucket of sand flying onto his head so he got a taste of his own medicine." Gibson laughs "What about you?" I ask he becomes silent then says "My power killed my parents, I still hate hearing peoples thoughts, it's a burden that only I can carry for the rest of my life," He coughs and then says he thinks we should go back inside, I feel tired so Eric says that the extension in the back has a bedroom in it. Grams hugs me and I hug everyone and head to my bed with my rucksack in tow, I close the door behind me and get changed, but behind the door I sense their worrying fears and emotions of what lies ahead of us. I lie down in bed and close my eyes hoping that I will again dream of my parents again but as I drift off, the fear, that lurks in the darkness overwhelms my dream and I see a face come out of the mist. It is Him.
I feel Him in my head trying to search for me, but he knows I am too strong for him and that I can block him, I can't keep this up for long so he backs off and leaves me to sleep. Three hours later I awake to Gibson shrugging me awake. "Come on" he says I rub my eyes and he looks at me with a huge excited smile upon his face. I nervously take a deep breath and listen to the voices in the next room, familiar ones, voices I first heard when I first came into the world, I get up and pull my t-shirt and shorts back on my heart hammering in my chest nervously as I hear my Grams cry with relief and and the rest of the voices that fill the air I straighten my clothes and look in the mirror my face looking back at me and for the first time in my life I am smiling happily. Gibson laughs and puts his hand on my shoulder and leads me away from it and asks me "You ready for this?" I nod and say "I've been ready for this the past six years"
He goes out to the hall first and leaves me for a second to gather my thoughts and feelings, I take a deep breath and tell myself this is it. All is quiet in the living room, the door squeaks as it opens and suddenly I feel alone I walk slowly to the room. Have you ever had the feeling of daring yourself to walk across a dark room? That way you're excited, because, you really do know that there's nothing there to hurt you. Some people get to chose their dark rooms. They get to look for places where happiness and fear are only skin deep, but some people are nowhere near that lucky.
I am brought out of my thoughts by my Grams voice, "William its okay come in sweetie" Then I step out from behind the wall my face is facing the ground and seems like an eternity as I lift it to stare at the two unkown faces in the room, a pretty woman with short red hair and tears rolling down her face looks at me in awe, as I stand with my hands by my sides and a man with my colouring of hair and the same facial structure as mine comes forward and rests his hand at her back comfortingly. Everyone in the room is smiling at the three of us in the centre of the living room. My mother comes forward first and stoops down to my eye-level and says "Hello" I look into her eyes, its true what they say I do have her eyes, "Hi" I say and I hold out my hand, she looks at me in surprise and she takes it and shakes it. At that my father does the same and she looks at him as we both shake hands crying silently as do I. Just as we let go I look at both of them and throw my arms around them tightly, I am crying with happiness as I feel myself being pulled into a protective hug by my parents. I feel my mother kiss my forehead and then she passes me to my father who in turn hugs me tightly. "You've gotten big buddy" he says laughing "Thanks" I say. I look over my shoulder to Monica and the others who are all crying and smiling too. My mother turns to Eric and asks if there is somewhere where we can be alone. He nods and says that they will all leave us to talk. Everyone leaves, and we are alone, my dad motions for me to sit down, they sit across from me and I wipe the tears away from my eyes. "How did you find out about us?"they ask. I tell them everything and my mother smiles but then she takes my hands again and says "I never wanted to give you away William you have to understand that and due to the circumstances, your uncle told me that as long as you stayed with me you would be in constsnt danger, but now that you have found us again things will be different William, I will assure you of that." I nod and smile. My dad asks me if I am happy with my life I shake my head and say no but seeing them here in front of me now has made me happier than I have ever been before. My dad then goes onto explain of how I came to be, the story of my birth but he fills in a few of the gaps, however I sense they don't yet know abut my powers.
"There is something that you should know" I say, they both turn and look at me and I close my eyes and concentrate hard on the small ornament of a whale carving sitting on the shelf and float it over to me bringing my hand out and waving it slowly towards my dad who catches it. "You….how,we thought you were cured?" says my mother. "This power has stayed with me for as long as I can remember, I've hidden it from others but its getting harder to control it, I've done something terrible, I've taken a life and I am scared that they will come after me, I want to know why I am different and why I mean so much to these….. things" I fall into their arms crying letting all my fears spill out. After my cries have subsided my father turns to me and says "Which one did you kill?" I say Knowle and my father nods and then smiles "You did what you had to do, it was the right thing, in a way he was already dead" I nod too and my mother gets up and goes outside to bring in Grams.
Grams looks as if she is about to cry again when she sees the three of us together in the living room she comes near me and my dad and they both hug. Everyone else comes in and everybody begins to talk, unanswered questions still flying around the room, my parents look over at me and I nod understandably that other people too have missed them and I go outside for some fresh air. I gaze out into the sky and I walk further down the steps seeing some younger kids playing, I smile at them and they smile back, overhead I hear a cry of a bird and I look into the sky and see an eagle, it looks down at me as it soars freely towards the other end of the ravine, it cries again and for once in my life, I understand what its saying. Welcome home.
Day turns quickly into night and Eric and the whole reservation decide to throw a party. I watch all the people around me who care for me all talking as if they have never been apart, I watch my Dad as he and Gibson catch up on old times with Walter and John and Eric and Monica and Grams and Eric's wife Sophia laughing. I smile and look up at the stars, I sit away from them letting them revel in their happiness, I turn back to my food when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look up and see my mother. "What are you doing over here all by yourself?" she asks and I shrug my shoulders and laugh a little picking at my food. "You want to take a walk?" she asks I nod and get up off my seat and slip my hand in hers she smiles down at me with such love in her eyes, I feel as if I've never been separated from her.
"How are you feeling about this whole thing William?" she asks and I can't give her an answer. " I want to ask you a question, did I scare you, hurt you in anyway with my powers for you to give me up for adoption?" I ask as my voice begins to quiver. "No never, you could never make me not want you, I did it to protect you, for six years all I wanted was you all I thought about was you, I would never see you take your first step, hear you say your first word, be there on your first birthday, but whenever I felt as if I was forgetting what you looked like, I would remember that you were always with me, you were never really gone." She takes my hand and places it over her heart with her hand on top of mine and I take hers and place hers over my heart. Then she asks me the question which I have been dreading to hear. "What are your adoptive parents like?" I look into her eyes, the truth is she sent me to loving parents, but whom I couldn't give wholey my love in return. "They are everything you wished for me, but they aren't you and Dad" with that she sighs contentedly.
" I love you William, I always have and always will." She cries as she pulls me to her and I hug her tightly. "I love you too Mom" I say as she cradles me and then begins to hum a song which is vaguely familiar. "Jerimiah was a bullfrog, he was a good friend of mine…." I laugh and she begins to tickle me. "Hey you used to love that when you were little, it was the only thing that got you to sleep except when your Dad told you stories".
We begin to walk back to the party, and Dad sees us and jumps off the table he is sitting on as he makes his way towards us. "Hey" he says to both of us smiling, and Mom looks down at me, and then says to my Dad "Go and spend some time with our son Mulder." She says as she lets go of my hand and puts my hand in his as we look up into each others eyes. He smiles and we take a walk down to the stables. We are both silent scared to say what is on our minds. Dad opens the stable door and we go inside to see the young foal whom Gibson has named Spirit, as we approach him we find him lying next to Thara one of the male stallions, he seems to have taken Spirit under his wing, I look up and see my father smiling at the sight. "You like horses?" he says breaking the silence. I nod, "With living on the farm, you get used to working with them", I say as the young foal comes forward and I stroke his nose he is black with a white diamond shape on his nose. My father puts his hand forward and strokes him too. "I'm truly sorry I was never there for you William, I haven't been much of a father to you" I stop stroking the foal and stare up at my father who looks away sadly. I feel his pain, he feels as if he has let me down. "Don't ever say that, I felt in my visions that you were always there, you were never gone, you left to protect me and Mom and I understand that"
He looks down at me, and his eyes sweep over my face as if he is seeing me again for the first time."When your Mom became pregnant with you, and I was returned, I had to admit I was scared, I thought yeah me Fox Mulder having a kid, I couldn't cope even on my own let alone helping to bring up a kid. Back then I thought I was probably better only to have been in the background as your mother raised you, being some sort of a father figure to you, God she wanted you more than anything in the world, I remember being distant with her after I came back but then, as we spent more time together I realised, I had never really fallen out of love with her, that's what happens when you have been through something like an abduction, you forget what is most important and you push people you love away, then she was taken into hospital with complications and then I saw you on the monitor. I heard your heart beat for the first time and I knew then at that moment you were also the reason, I had to live, you were my miracle too, you had saved me a thousand times over William and you hadn't even been born yet, you helped me to undertstand what was more important and for that I am in gratitude to you. When I held you in my arms a few months later, I realised how much I loved you, you are the best part of me, and what we, I had always longed for, as far as I am concerned you're my truth, you were what I was waiting for all this time, I just didn't know how to find it, when really it was you who found me. Your Mom and I want you now and always that's if you want me as your father. I am willing to try and be one to you if that's okay with you."
I remain silent and he strokes Spirit's head and I begin to speak "Ever since I was little, growing up on the farm, I had never felt truly at peace, sure my adoptive parents love me and treat me as their own, but there has always been that gap. I always remember Mom because she had been around me while you had gone away to protect us. I understand what you did was to keep us safe, even though you weren't there in person, I could still see you, feel your presence in my dreams, even though it was only the earliest memory I had of you. I remember the first time you held me in your arms and how you joked that I looked like Walter. Then there was those first few nights you would come into my room take me out of my crib and rock me to sleep as you stared into my face and told me stories. You made me feel safe and loved like I was the only thing apart from Mom that you cared about in the whole world. I know we don't know each other very well, yet, I feel like I've never been apart from you or Mom. I am also willing to try and be the best son I can be to you and Mom if that's okay with you, I love you Dad I always have." I say smiling up at him
He stoops down to my size and he picks me up as I throw my arms around him he lifts me off my feet and pulls away and looks into my face, kissing my forehead. "Welcome back bud" he says ruffling my hair. "It's good to be back" I say happily beginning to fix my hair.