Chapter 5
We had a big Fourth of July party. Some of my new friends celebrated with me.
Frohike sat in front of the computer with his elbows on the table and his head in his hands. He had not been looking forward to this conversation with Emma. He was going to have to break the bad news to her that they would not be back for the Fourth of July celebration as he had hoped. Their investigation was going horribly. Their sources hadn't panned out and they couldn't find the proof they needed to print the article.
And he didn't even get to talk to Emma. Scully said she had overdone it at the ballgame and was sleeping it off. Scully assured him that Emma would be okay in the morning but that didn't change the fact that he wasn't there with her. Of course, if he had been this wouldn't have happened in the first place. Frohike didn't really blame Mulder, well, maybe a little, but the guy was just trying to make sure Emma was having fun in her father's absence.
Scully was willing to break the bad news to Emma but Frohike felt he needed to do it. Emma was not going to be happy about this and Scully didn't deserve to be the recipient of the child's bad temper. He had set up a time early the next day to call back. Scully had to go to work but she promised to tell Emma to expect the call.
Byers watched Frohike from across the room. He felt bad for Frohike but knew there was nothing he could do about it. They were all disappointed that this trip was such a bust. There were a couple more leads they were going to check on the next day but none of the Gunmen held out much hope that they would get the information they needed.
Emma tried very hard not to show how hurt she was that their Fourth of July plans had gone up in smoke. She fought to keep her voice even when she asked why they would not be back in time. She let her dad talk for a while but then excused herself because she didn't want him to see her cry. She told Frohike that she would talk to him again that evening then went to William's room so Mulder wouldn't have to put up with her being a baby either.
Mulder talked to Frohike for a few more minutes and told him the plans that he and Scully had made when they found out that the Gunmen would not be back for the holiday. Frohike thanked Mulder but still felt the full brunt of the guilt a parent feels when his child figures out that she can not always depend on him.
Later that afternoon, when things had gone from bad to worse, Frohike's mood was so nasty that even Jimmy wanted to lock him out of the motel room. Langly had snapped at Frohike, further pissing him off. He took the keys to the van and announced that he was going to go get dinner and if anyone didn't like what he got that was just too damn bad.
Byers decided that he'd had enough. He started disconnecting the equipment they had set up in the room. Langly saw what he was up to and complained, "Hey, man, what are you doing? I wasn't done with that."
"Why don't we just leave? What's the point of staying here when there's no story?" Langly just stared at Byers. "And Frohike's going to be in an evil mood until we get him home."
Jimmy was catching on, "And if we leave now, we'll be home in time for the picnic!"
"Right! What do you say, Langly?" Byers asked.
"I'm glad someone finally suggested it." Langly took the cords from Byers and continued to take apart the equipment.
When Frohike returned with burgers and fries for everyone, he was surprised to see his three companions standing outside their motel room with everything packed.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" he asked as he climbed out of the driver's seat.
"We're going home. You coming with us?" Langly asked.
"Are you crazy? Do you know what time it is? We'd have to drive most of the night."
"Yeah," Jimmy replied, "but there's four of us. We can take turns."
Byers added, "You're all packed. If we leave now we'd get home in plenty of time to get some sleep before the evening when the real fun begins."
"Emma expects me to call," was Frohike's weak reply. He paused for a moment then went around to the side of the van and pulled open the sliding door. "I'll call her from my cell phone. Come on, load up! We're outta here!"
Emma was surprised when Frohike called her on the phone. She preferred the streaming video and asked her dad why he wasn't using it. "I'm not at the motel and I didn't want to miss talking to you."
"Where are you?"
"In the van?"
"Where are you going?"
"That's classified. I can't tell you."
Emma was getting used to being kept in the dark so didn't ask any more questions. They talked for a few minutes more, mostly about Emma's anticipation of the next day's events with the Mulder/Scullys as she now thought of them. Frohike asked to talk to one of them. Scully was at hand so Emma handed the phone to her, "He wants to talk to you."
"Hi, Frohike."
"Scully, don't let Emma know but we're on our way home."
"All right."
"I want to surprise her."
"We can do that."
Emma got bored and wandered off. This made it possible for Scully to talk freely with Frohike about the next day.
The Fourth of July dawned clear and warm: perfect Independence Day weather. Emma had made up her mind that she wasn't going to spend the day moping. Why make herself miserable and drag everyone else along with her? She put on her red, white, and blue t-shirt and a pair of white shorts and headed for the bathroom. She put her hair into a ponytail and brushed her teeth. When she stepped out of the bathroom, she could hear voices in the kitchen. It wasn't just Dana and Mulder. There was a third voice, one with which she was very familiar. She ran through the apartment into the kitchen.
"How many times have I told you not to run inside?" Frohike asked in mock anger, his enormous grin giving away his pleasure at seeing her. "Don't you have a hug and a kiss for your old dad?" Emma gave him many kisses even though he seriously needed a shave and hugged him until he wondered if she could possibly crack one of his ribs. "Okay, okay, I missed you, too, but I want to get a look at your hair."
Emma experienced a small pang of guilt at that statement but took the ponytail out so he could see what it really looked like. He turned her around so that he could get a glimpse at the back, too. It came to just below her shoulders. "Very nice. Whoever fixed it did a good job."
"You didn't like the job I did?" Emma asked with a sly smile.
"Let's just say that such things should be left to the professionals. What do you think?"
"Yeah, you're right. I did mess it up pretty bad. I didn't think it would be that hard."
"Did you apologize to Scully and Mulder for the trouble you caused?"
Mulder jumped in, "She did… several times."
"I offered to pay for the haircut but no one would let me." Emma said in her own defense. Frohike laughed at her look of regret.
"That's because I told them not to."
"Dad, that wasn't nice!"
He just laughed at her again and pulled her to him to hug her one more time. "Enough said about this?" He asked still holding her close.
"Yes." Emma was glad he wasn't mad at her. "Where are the guys?" Emma had missed them, too, and wanted to see the other three Gunmen.
"We drove most of the night to get here, honey," Frohike informed her. "They're back at the warehouse getting some sleep before the party tonight."
"You guys came all the way back last night?" Emma now felt a large pang of guilt. If she hadn't been such a big baby they wouldn't have taken the chance of driving so far when they were all tired.
"It was their idea."
"Then you must be tired, too."
"No, not really and we need to go grocery shopping for your picnic tonight."
Emma looked at the dark circles under his eyes. "Dad, don't lie to me, I can tell you haven't gotten much sleep."
Before they really got into it, Scully decided to step in. "Why don't I take Emma shopping and you can take a nice long nap here?"
Frohike tried to suppress a yawn and failed miserably. Scully's suggestion was extremely tempting. Emma could see that he was wavering. "Yeah, that would be great. I like shopping with Dana. Come on, Dad. What do you say?"
Considering that even the thought of a long nap was making it twice as hard to keep his eyes open, Frohike gave in. "Do you have your check book?" he asked Emma.
"Yes! You mean I get to pay?"
"It's your party at your house. I think you should get to pay for it."
"It's our house," Emma insisted. This was another old argument but Frohike wasn't going to get into it at that moment.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He reached into his back pocket and took out his wallet. He removed a few bills and handed them to Scully.
Before he could explain, Emma complained indignantly, "I thought you said I got to pay?"
Frohike stretched and yawned again, "Emma, they are not going to let a 12 year old buy beer. I get to pay for that."
"Oh," Emma replied sheepishly, embarrassed by her outburst, "you're right."
"Yes, I am." He put his arm around her shoulders. "Now, where can I sack out before I fall over here?"
Emma took Frohike into William's room. He lay down on the bed that she had been using. She tried to take his boots off for him but she had trouble with the laces. He grinned at her attempts, sat up and deftly loosened the laces on both boots. Emma could then pull them off and set them on the floor near the end of the bed. He was asleep before Emma had a chance to wish him sweet dreams.
All four of them: Mulder, Scully, Emma and William went to the grocery store figuring Frohike would get more sleep with no one in the apartment. This worked out well since Emma and Scully had no idea what kind of beer the guys liked. Mulder, who had intimate knowledge of the inside of the Gunmen's refrigerator, had numerous suggestions. Scully gave him the cash from Frohike and told him to get what he thought was the best for the occasion.
Scully had to keep Emma from buying more food than they could possibly eat in a week let alone an evening and made several suggestions for what would be appropriate. Emma wanted to buy steaks to cook on the barbecue. Scully worried that they would be too expensive but Emma showed her the balance in the house checking account. Scully told her to get what she wanted. Knowing that the guys had been on the road for a while, fresh fruit and vegetables were high on Scully's list.
With the shopping done, Scully returned home to put William down for a nap. Mulder took Emma back to her house to get ready for the big night. They unloaded all the groceries and assorted other items. Mulder went to check out the barbecue and rearranged the yard furniture for optimum usage. The two of them quickly ran out of things to do.
So, Mulder challenged Emma to a game of basketball.
"I thought you didn't like basketball," Emma said remembering their conversation in the park.
"I never said that."
"Sure you did, that first day when you were teaching me how to throw."
Mulder shook his head, "No, I said basketball wasn't for you, that baseball was your game. I love basketball!"
Now Emma was completely confused but decided it wasn't worth arguing about. They played for about a half hour. He didn't fall for her tricks as easily as Langly and Jimmy and it was getting too hot to keep running around. She called it quits and asked Mulder if he wanted something to drink. They moved some chairs into the shade and sat down: Mulder with a can of soda and Emma with a glass of ice water. Soda just didn't sound all the good to her after the other day at the ballpark.
They sat in silence for a few minutes then Emma broached her favorite subject. "How did you meet my dad and the other Gunmen?" She had heard parts of the story but never the whole thing.
"Gosh, how much time do we have?" Mulder looked at his watch.
"Lots," Emma insisted.
So, Emma heard for the first time the entire story of the convention in Baltimore, which her dad, Langly, and Byers had attended, and how a woman that Mulder was tracking down for the FBI had fooled them.
That day in Baltimore had been life altering for all of them. One that set them on the paths they were to follow for more than a decade. Emma was enthralled with the tale because Mulder was a good storyteller and the main subjects of the narrative were three of her favorite people.
There were a few questions that Emma had never gotten straight answers to that became clear as the story unfolded. Most notable of which was the fact that they could and did hack into restricted computer systems. Mulder mentioned both Byers and Langly doing this even though, at the time, Byers was working for the FCC. Emma was no fool and knew that this information was not something to spread around as it could get everyone in a lot of trouble.
Mulder did edit out certain parts. There were some things that a 12-year-old child did not need to hear, especially when her father and his friends had come so close to getting killed.
The ringing phone ended the story. Frohike was wondering if they were still at the house. The guys were awake and looking for the party. Since everyone was now on the way, Emma could start shucking corn and getting the rest of the food ready.
Mulder was itching to fire up the barbecue but Emma insisted that it was much too early and too hot to start it yet. Emma asked him to make hamburger patties, which he did willingly.
Frohike, Scully and William arrived first. Frohike went to take a shower and get some clean clothes. He even shaved which always delighted Emma. He got a kick out of rubbing his face against hers when he had a couple of day's growth just to make her squeal. Emma really didn't mind the game but she thought he looked better clean-shaven.
Langly, Byers and Jimmy arrived in the van. They had Yves with them. She said that she seldom celebrated the holiday but was willing to spend the evening with the group.
Langly came in asking if the others had seen Emma. He kept describing her to anyone who would listen. He held his hand up to just below shoulder height, "She's about this tall and has really long, brown hair in braids." And even though Emma was right in front of him, jumping up and down, he continued to pretend she wasn't there. He finally acknowledged her presence by addressing her, "Hello, stranger, have you seen my Emma? She looks a lot like you but she has long hair."
Emma played along, "Gosh, I don't know, mister, when did you last see her?"
"It was only a few days ago. I can't imagine where she's gotten to."
Jimmy came around at that point to check out Emma's haircut. "I don't know, Langly, she doesn't look all that different to me."
Langly rolled his eyes at that comment and waited as Emma hugged Jimmy. Langly hugged her next and tousled her hair. "I could get to like it. It's much more fun to mess up without it being all braided."
Emma was the most delighted with Byers assessment of her haircut. He told her it made her look older.
They had dinner, the barbecue getting a good workout. When it got dark they blew off the fireworks. Emma really liked the 'festival balls'. They were loud and bright and looked just like the really big professional ones, only smaller.
It was scary and exciting to blow off fireworks herself. She had one of those long lighters but at times this did not seem to be long enough. After a while she got used to how much time it took for the fuse to catch fire and she made fewer unnecessary dashes away from fireworks that were not yet lit.
Frohike took several pictures. The colored sparks of flaming fireworks seen through the smoke with Emma and Jimmy silhouetted against the light made some interesting shots.
They would be an excellent addition to Emma's photo album.
