The Teenage Years

Part 9

by Trycee

Time-Line: Present Day

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Files, this is written for fun not profit.

*I've drawn from my own experiences as a parent of a teenager. I have had some strange experiences with other parents with my child in both sports and in dating and so I am using them in this story. *

William and Lisa had been dating for over two weeks and William discovered that he was extremely good at kissing. He prided himself on that fact and he practiced with Lisa every chance he got. They'd gone out on several dates and chatted and saw each other in and after school and were practically inseparable. Lisa cheered him on at his practices and his games and William loved it. He loved having a girlfriend and showing her off in front of his friends.

Thanksgiving was approaching and Scully was getting a little excited. This would be their first Thanksgiving as a complete family. She had not expected to have Lisa joining them though she found Lisa to be pleasant. What Scully dreaded was sharing her son in just four weeks with the Hayes on Christmas day. William would be spending Christmas dinner with Lisa's family. The Hayes's could spare having one less person at Thanksgiving with the amount of guests they had coming from out of town and so Lisa being over at their home would not be too much of a hassle. But to have Williams spend Christmas dinner at the Hayes home, his absence would be quite noticeable for their small family and he would be greatly missed especially since this was the very first holiday they would spend together as one, unbeknownst to the Hayes's.

Mulder could sense Scully's thoughts. He could feel it in the tenseness in her shoulder when she was laying in his arms in bed. He pulled her close to him and she laid her head on his chest and breathed him in. She could feel his heart beating and with his arms wrapped around her, nothing ever made her feel more safe. "I love this," she said. "God, Mulder, I love this. I can't tell you how much."

"I know," he said. "But, you're thinking about the holidays, aren't you?"

"Everythings changing so fast," she sighed.

"It always does."

"Am I being selfish, Mulder?", she said, looking up at him.

He bent down and kissed her lips. "Yes and you have a right to be."

She rested her chin on his chest and stared off. "I want him to be happy. That's all a mother wants. But, I want him to be happy with us."

"He is but he's a teenage boy, Scully. And the only thing that will make him happy from now until the day he dies is girls..."

She smiled and softly slapped him on the chest. "You're right."

"I know I'm right. I'm always right."

"Let's not go crazy!", she said, laying her head down on his chest and squeezing him tightly. "Okay...I can handle this...One holiday at a time. At least I'll have Thanksgiving dinner with him and Christmas morning."

"Exactly, Scully. It means that maybe with William gone over to the Hayes house, we can celebrate our own Christmas tradition for the past several years."

Scully looked up into Mulder's waggling eyebrows. "Hmm...We do have that tradition, don't we?"

"Yes, we do."

She smiled. "Sweet dreams, Mulder."

"MMMmmm...of you covered in eggnog," he said.

Scully erupted into laughter. "That's a new one!"

"It's worth trying!"

"We'll see Mulder. The last time I couldn't get the Maraschino cherries out of the sheets and I had to throw them away."

"It was worth it though!"

They both laughed and snuggled up together. "Mulder, I'm trying to sleep here but I see that's not going to happen."

"Not anytime soon, no," he said.

She looked up at him. "Okay, what do you have in mind?"

Maggie was busy seasoning the Turkey when Scully walked in the door. "I'm so sorry. I got called in at the last minute. I told them I'm officially on vacation now, no phone calls for no reason. They're to send all calls to the attending physician."

"Not a problem," Maggie said. "Just shower and change and come help me. You're brother's decided they're both gonna call tomorrow. They're spending Thanksgiving with their grandkids."

"Oh that's nice," Scully said. "Why are we doing all this today?", Scully asked.

"So, we don't have to work so hard tomorrow," Maggie said. "So, hurry up, Dana, I need your help."

Scully sighed. She knew her mother had taken over the kitchen and there was nothing she could do. "Where's Mulder and William?"

"Fox is picking William up from practice. I think there picking up a few pizza's for dinner."

"Oh," Scully said. "What from the gas station, there's no pizza places here."

"Yep, that's the place."

"Alright, I'm going. I can hear the wheels in your head spinning," Scully said, rushing to her room.

When she returned fresh from her shower, she threw herself into helping. Mulder and William came carrying pizza's. Scully was surprised to see Lisa tagging along. "Oh," she said. "I didn't expect to see you Lisa until tomorrow at Thanksgiving dinner."

"Oh, well, I could help," Lisa said.

Scully smiled genuinely. "Thank you. That's very kind of you."

"Come on honey and Mrs. Scully, let's eat," Mulder said, hanging up their coats.

Scully and her mother quickly finished their tasks and washed their hands and brought out plates for everyone. Scully immediately kissed Mulder on the lips as she set the table. She sat down next to him and smiled at Williams show of affection to his girlfriend. She recognized that he was getting his example of affection from the both of them. He was mimicking their own behavior. She glanced up to Mulder and he was watching her with a smirk as if he too had just realized it as well. They held each others gaze for a long moment until Maggie touched Dana's hand. "There are others in the room," she reminded her.

Scully refocused. "So, William and Lisa, how was your last day at school before Thanksgiving break."

"It was pretty boring," Lisa said, as she gazed at William.

He was smiling back with a crooked smile nearly identical to his fathers.

Maggie looked from Mulder and Scully to William and Lisa. "All this lovey-dovy stuff is making me feel like the odd-woman out."

"Awl, Mom. We're sorry," Scully said. "What ever happened to, what's his name?"

"What's his name...died."

"Oh!", Scully said. "Well, there's still other men out there."

Maggie rolled her eyes. "I'm too old to go through all that again, Dana. Look what happened when you and your brother's found out I might even attempt to date someone. You nearly gave the poor man a heart attack or at least Bill and Charles did."

Mulder nodded. "True, they did."

Scully shook her head. "Anyway, so what all is going on at your house, Lisa with all the guest from out of town arriving."

"It's chaos," Lisa smiled. "Pure chaos. I didn't want to go home just yet. I hope you didn't mind."

"No, I don't mind," Scully smiled warmly. "It gives you and me more of a chance to get to know each other."

Lisa smiled brightly. "I'd like that."

Both Maggie and Mulder smiled proudly at Scully. After they ate, Scully handed Lisa an apron and she joined them in the kitchen. They baked a few pies and did the pre-Thanksgiving preparations. When it was time for her to go home, William walked her to her car and gave her a large kiss and hug in front of her parents. Tim looked at his wife but she held his arm. Lisa climbed into the backseat and they drove off.

Thanksgiving came and went and it was nearing Christmas and Scully was sound asleep when her phone rang. "Hello?"

"Dana?"

"This is Dana, who is this?", she said, glancing at the clock. It read 12:32.

"Dana, Lisa is so upset right now."

"I'm sorry. Is this a patient?", Scully said, trying to wake herself up.

"No, this is Jamie Hayes. I'm Lisa's mom. Lisa is crying right now."

"Oh, what's wrong?"

"Because she just got a text from William saying that they needed space."

Scully rubbed her eyes. She could feel Mulder move up behind her. "I'm sorry. Did you just say that William sent Lisa a text saying they needed space?"

"Yes. And I just wanted to know why he would do that?"

"I think I'm missing something here," Scully said, dumbfounded. "Why are we discussing this at twelve in the morning?"

"Aren't you concerned? I mean is William upset? Is he crying right now?"

"I have no idea. Jamie, Mulder and I aren't involved in William and Lisa's relationship like that."

"But tell me why he would do that and right before Christmas?"

"You want me to explain to you why my 14 year old son would do what?"

"Tell her they needed space. I mean, she's crying right now. What am I supposed to tell her? "

Scully took the phone away from her ear and stared at it for a few moments. "Umm, Jamie. They're kids. I don't know why but I'm sure he had his reasons. They're gonna go through different girls and boys throughout high school."

"But she really liked him. I could see them settling down together."

Again, Scully pulled the phone away from her ear. "They're 14."

"Who is it?", Mulder mumbled. "Hang up the phone!"

"Umm, Jamie. I'm sorry, but Mulder wants me to hang up now," she said, ending the call."OMG!"

"What? WHAT?", Mulder said, as he leaned into her neck. She tried to turn but had to push him off of her slightly. "Mulder...first of all, William is still awake and texting at this late of night."

Mulder raised his head and looked at her.

"But I just got a call from Lisa's mom asking me why William and her daughter broke up."

"It's what 3 in the morning?"

"It's twelve but still. OMG, Mulder."

"I hear you," he said, snuggling back down against her chest.

"You don't hear me now. I'll wait and tell you in the morning," she sighed as she rubbed her hand against his back. "God...what is with these mothers?"

Scully awoke bright and early and started the coffee as she usually did. She cut up the veggies and meat and placed it in the crock pot and then cleaned up and started on breakfast. William was the first to come into the kitchen. He kissed her on the cheek and grabbed his plate as was his daily routine. "Morning mom," he said, yawning.

"William, I got a very strange phone call late last night from Mrs. Hayes."

Just then Mulder walked in and grabbed her from behind, planting a kiss on her neck and grabbing up his coffee and breakfast. "You were trying to tell me about it last night but I have no idea what you were talking about," Mulder said, as he made his way to the table next to William.

"She called you asking why I told Lisa we needed a break," William said, reading her mind.

"William Mulder!", Scully scolded. "Tap into my head again without my permission and I'll..."

"And you'll what?", he said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, the attitude is back!", Mulder said, before sipping on his coffee.

"What happened? Why did I get a call from Crazy Mom at twelve in the morning cause she thinks you're gonna marry her daughter?"

"It was too intense, okay?", William said, looking at the two of them. "Back off, alright. This is my relationship, not yours."

"It involves us, William! It invo..."

"Scully," Mulder said, placing a hand on top of hers. "Let it go. "

"Fine, Whatever," she said, sipping on her coffee.

William sighed. "Look. Thanks for being there for me. I know you don't understand but some of these girls...they try to tie you down and I'm not ready to be tied down just yet. There's too many girls out there."

"Of course not," Scully said. "You're a freshman in high school. There's plenty for you to explore."

"Yeah. I think I want to join band next year too and maybe cross country," William said, rising from his seat. "There's plenty of girls on the track team and in band too!", he smiled. "All waiting for me!"

Mulder nodded his head. "That's right! You go get 'em!", he said, proudly. "Just like a younger me!"

William smiled and grabbed his coat and book bag and walked out the door.

Scully shook her head. "This is just the first year, Mulder. We have three more years of this!"

Mulder chuckled. "Just think, Scully. Band Mom's and Track Mom's and even more of these introductions and midnight phone calls...this is what we have to look forward too."

Her head hung low and she shook her head. "No, no...Give me aliens any day Mulder. That I can face but these crazy mother's and there crazy kids...I don't think I can take it."

"Sure you can," Mulder said, lifting her chin. "Sure you can. Maybe I should get one of those minivan's for you Scully, and start stickering up the back with Band Mom and Basketball Mom."

"NO!", she screamed.

"Come on, Scully!", he teased, as he followed her back to the kitchen. "Maybe you could become one of them."

"Stop teasing me!", she smiled, as Mulder backed her into a corner.

He slid his arms around her and kissed her all over her face and neck and gave her a long lingering kiss. "You're a good mom, Scully," he said.

"We're both good parents, Mulder," she said.

"Just three more years," he said.

"AH, don't remind me!", she smiled.

He kissed her again. "I'll do the dishes, you need to get dressed for work."

"Okay," she sighed, wishing she didn't have to leave the comfort of his arms. "We did good, didn't we, Mulder?"

"Hmm?", he asked, still holding her.

"With William. He's pretty cute and a pretty good kid, isn't he?", she said, looking up into his hazel eyes.

He smiled down at her. "He's the best of the two of us, Scully. Of course. He's the best of us."

She smiled as he released her and they're hands came together. They both stared at their fingers connected just as they always were, joined together until finally, they slid apart. Scully looked up into his eyes and could see them sparkling. "Hurry up so you can come back to me and William and we can do this whole family thing all over again," he said.

She smiled lovingly. "Always," she said, turning to disappear down the hallway.

THE END