"Happy birthday, baby girl," Scully said, laying down next to her daughter. Weslynn stirred and woke up.
"It's my birthday?"
"Yep. Today is February 4th and you are 10 years old."
"I like being 10 so far."
"I'm glad."
"Is it time to wake up?"
"Not quite."
"Is Papa coming for birthday breakfast?"
Scully smiled and twisted one of Weslynns' curls around her finger. The two of them were close. Inseparable most days. But Mulder was never far from Weslynn's mind, and she wasn't satisfied unless the three of them were together.
"He'll be over in a little while."
"How long until my party?"
"Your friends will be here around five. We've got lots to get done before then."
"Like cleaning my room, huh?"
"Yeah. And Papa's going to take you to the video store and to get some pizza."
"Okay," she replied sleepily, rubbing her eyes. "Now that I'm ten, does that mean I have to call you mom now?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, being ten is not being a little kid anymore. So I can't call you mommy."
"Of course you can. I like that you call me that."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. It was the first thing you ever said to me."
"It was?"
"Yep. Your first real word."
"Papa told me it was Yankees."
"He's nuts."
They laid there quietly for a while, watching the sun come up outside. Scully couldn't believe that it had been ten years ago that her daughter had been born. Ten years of laughing and crying and loving so intensely she could barely hold it in. She ran her finger gently over Weslynn's face, thinking about how much she had changed. Long gone were the chubby cheeks and tiny hands. She wasn't even that tiny, pig-tailed, rambunctious, giggly girl anymore. She had very serious moments, held long conversations, had chores and homework and trouble with friends.
"Mommy, I'm hungry."
"What do you want for breakfast?"
"Just cereal."
They got out of bed and went into the kitchen just as Mulder was coming in the door.
"Happy birthday, Lynnie!" he said, picking her up in a hug.
"Thanks Papa. Did you eat breakfast yet?"
"Yeah."
"Was it a candy bar like last time?"
He chuckled and set her down on the ground.
"You sound like your mom."
"Good. You listen to her."
They spend the rest of the day cleaning up the house and getting ready for Weslynn's party. She was very excited to have 10 of her close personal friends spending the night. She'd already planned things for them to do and had spent twenty minutes begging Scully to let them do make overs. The fact that none of the girls had make-up hadn't occurred to her.
The doorbell rang a few minute before five and she ran towards it, almost tripping over her own feet.
"Hi Katie!" she shouted, giving her best friend a hug. "I'm glad you're here first. I was getting super bored waiting by myself."
"Hey, I'm not boring!" Mulder said.
"You are sometimes, Papa. But that's okay. Me and mommy still love you."
"Is this true?" Mulder asked, turning to Scully who was putting Katie's things on the couch.
"Yeah, of course we still love you."
Katie giggled behind her hand. She was over often enough that she was used to the way things worked in this house.
"Do you girls think we should start putting the pizza in the oven, or should we wait until everyone gets here?"
"I'm really hungry now, but we might eat it all before everyone gets here, especially if Papa is in there."
"What is this, pick on Papa day?"
"Yes!" Katie shouted with a laugh.
"You girls. I don't know what I'm going to do with you."
They laughed and went to stand by the front window to wait for the other girls.
"This is going to be a long night," Mulder commented. Scully just smiled.
"They'll entertain themselves. We're just here to make sure they don't run with knives or invite boys over."
"Boys? Don't they still think boys have cooties?"
"Not really. But the boys still think they have cooties, so there are a lot of hurt feelings in the fourth grade class right now."
"She's never talked to me about boys," he said, slightly sullen.
"She probably never will, Mulder. That's just not something girls talk to their dads about. She'll just ask you to pay for the wedding."
"Bite your tongue."
She chuckled and walked over to hug him.
"She may not talk to you about boys, but soon she's going to be telling you how much she hates me and how unfair I am and how she would rather live with you."
"That's not true."
"It is. She and I are going to fight and she's going to go running to you. That's just how it is."
"You're okay with that?"
"Of course not. But that's how it might be, so I accept it."
"Think she'll hate me someday?"
"Doubt it."
"Mommy, can we have some popcorn?"
"You just ate two pizzas and ice-cream."
"What's your point?"
Mulder chuckled as he wiped the table down.
"Come on, Scully maybe the popcorn will soak up all the rest of it."
Scully sighed and tried not to look into Weslynn's eyes. But it was too late. She was a goner.
"Alright, you can have some, but once it's gone, I'm not making more."
"Guys, she said yes!"
"YES!" came a chorus of voices from the other room. Mulder laughed and took the popcorn out of the cupboard.
"Can I put extra butter on it?"
"No you may not."
"Oh come on."
"No."
He put the popcorn in the microwave and glanced into the other room. The girls were listening to the radio and dancing around the room. Mulder had seen Weslynn and Katie do this a lot, and he still didn't understand it.
"When are they going to go to sleep?"
"An hour or two. You might want to go in and make that fort."
"What is it with Weslynn and forts?"
"I don't know. But she says you make them best."
"Yeah, I am pretty cool."
She snickered as he left the room.
"Dana, can I have a drink of water?" Katie asked.
"Sure sweetie."
She retrieved a glass and filled it with water, then sat back down at the table. Katie sat across from her, quietly sipping the water and looking out the window. Her parents were in the middle of a messy divorce and she had become quiet and withdrawn in the last few weeks. She'd spent many nights with Weslynn and they'd easily adopted her into their family.
"My dad moved out," she said softly after a moment. "He moved out of our house, then he moved out of grandma's house and he found a new house for himself. I don't think he's ever going to come home."
"I'm sorry, sweetie."
"I think they forgot about me."
"Katie, that could never happen. I think they just have a lot on their minds right now."
"It makes me sad."
"I know. And it's not fair either. And you're probably mad. But eventually, it's going to get better."
"They said that they still love each other. They just don't love each other together. But them together makes me and my brothers. So does that mean they don't like us?"
"Of course not. It just means that they get along better when they don't live together."
"Is that why you and Mulder don't live together?"
Scully chuckled.
"Probably."
"Do you think my mom and dad will get back together?"
"I don't know, sweetie. Sometimes parents do, but most of the time they don't. They're always gonna be there for you."
"You think so?"
"I know so. And I'm always here if you ever need me too. Okay?"
"Thanks, Dana."
She hopped down from the table and returned to the living room.
"I'm so tired," Scully said as she sat down on the bed next to Mulder. They'd retreated to the quiet of her bedroom while the girls watched a movie and squealed over how cute one of the characters was.
"I thought boys were wild," Mulder agree, rubbing his eyes. "Girls are insane."
"I don't disagree."
There was a knock on the door and Weslynn poked her head in.
"What's up, honey?"
"I just came to say goodnight," she said climbing up onto the bed with them.
"Are you guys getting tired?"
"Yeah. We're going to watch one more movie, and then we're going to go to sleep."
"Did everyone fit in the fort?"
"Yep. It's the best one you ever made, Papa."
He smiled and wrapped his arms around her.
"Happy birthday, Lynnie. I love you."
"I love you too, Papa."
He hugged her for a long time. Scully could tell that he was thinking the same thing she was. Weslynn was getting too old, too fast.
"Goodnight mommy," Weslynn said suddenly, breaking into Scully's thoughts.
"Night baby. I love you."
"I love you too. See you in the morning."
She hopped off the bed and the watched her go, their eyes full of pride, but still sad.
"You did a good job with her, Scully."
"No Mulder. We did."
Weslynn slipped from the room and joined her friends in the fort. There was popcorn all over everything, but she just brushed it off her sleeping bag and climbed in.
"Where'd you go, Wes?"
"To say goodnight to my mom and dad."
"I thought he wasn't your dad," Olivia said, tossing a piece of popcorn in the air and catching it in her mouth.
"Well he's not really. He's just my mom's friend. He's pretty much my dad though."
"They're not boyfriend and girlfriend?" Chelsea asked in half shock. Weslynn and Katie cracked up, as if the thought was absurd.
"No way. They love each other, but they don't even kiss."
"Where's your real dad?"
Weslynn shrugged and pulled a piece of popcorn apart.
"I dunno."
"Let's start another movie," Katie suggested, standing up from the floor. "I brought Harry Potter."
"As long as it's not the one with Cedric Diggory. I love him but now all I see is Edward Cullen and it makes me gag," Weslynn said, shaking her head.
"Do you remember when she was born?" Mulder asked, twisting a strand of Scully's hair around his finger.
"Barely. I was so drugged up. I remember seeing her and holding her later, and I kind of remember my mom being there."
"That's all?"
"You came later. I have no idea what we talked about or how long you stayed."
"Yeah, you were pretty zonked."
"Sometimes I wish I was back there. Everything was new."
"Remember how she used to scratch everything she touched? It was like she was evaluating it," he said with a smile.
"And that day you taught her how to blow raspberries. She spit through three shirts."
"How she'd suck on her pinkie finger until it was wrinkly."
"The way she crawled up and down the stairs instead of walking until she was five."
"She was odd."
Scully chuckled as Mulder rolled over and pulled her into his arms.
"She's growing up and you hate it."
"I don't hate it, Mulder. I just… I love watching her grow, but at the same time, I just wish she was a little girl again. She used to climb up in my lap and just sit with me, but now she's too old for that stuff."
"But remember back then how you always talked about her growing up and how excited you were to just be able to sit and talk with her?"
"I didn't want to trade one for the other."
"I bet she'd climb up in your lap if you asked her to."
"Mulder," she chuckled.
"What? She would."
"I'll be okay."
He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"You know, we've changed a lot too."
"We have?"
"Yeah. Before her, before everything, you and I were… we were friends and we loved each other, but we weren't bonded like we are now. We didn't laugh as much. We talked at each other rather than to each other. I liked us back then, but I like us now too."
"I do too."
He ran his fingers over her forehead and down her cheek, then let his thumb rub over her lips. She applied the slightest pressure back and their eyes met for just a second before his lips covered hers. He could feel her heart start to pound almost immediately and he brushed his fingers through her hair, trying to calm her. She pulled away after a moment, her breath hitching in her throat and a tear trickling down her cheek.
"I'm sorry," she breathed, looking away. "I thought I was ready, but maybe I'm not. And it was just a kiss. That's all it was and I can't even… I'm so sorry, Mulder."
"Scully, you have nothing to be sorry about. It's okay."
"But I… I should be over this. I should be fine."
"But honey, if you're not, then you shouldn't be. Don't force it. I know it's been a while, but that doesn't matter. It's a process."
"You're the safest thing in my life, Mulder. I don't want to ruin it. I don't want this to change that."
"It's not going to. I am always going to love you, together or not. It makes no difference to me."
"It does make a difference to you."
"No. Scully, we don't have to have a romantic relationship for me to love you. We don't even have to kiss to get that point across. I think we know how we feel. Maybe someday we'll be together, and maybe we won't. As long as you're in my life, the outcome doesn't matter."
"How can you love me that much?" she asked as the tears fell freely from her eyes. He brushed them away and held her tightly against his chest.
"Because you love me that much."
She cried against his shirt and he held her tightly.
"Thank you," she whispered finally.
"Thank you too."
He leaned down and kissed her forehead again. Same page, same path.