Chapter 2
"Mommy?" the little voice repeated "It's me". So help, me if the child didn't sound like a high pitched version of, Mulder, not dissimilar to the time Mulder swallowed helium after losing a bet with the Gunmen.
The child's face was a masculine version of my own, on a skinny long limbed mini Mulder body. He looked at me, his smile dimming slightly at the lack of verbal response he had received from me.
I felt the blood rush to my ears, it was as if my brain function was slowly beginning to shut down, unwilling to comprehend what I was seeing or hearing. I reached behind me and grasped the head board of the empty bed next to Christian, to steady myself. "I will not faint" I told myself strongly, you are not the heroine in a 19th century romance novel. You do not pass out due to being "over come" by emotion.
In the 10 seconds or so that had elapsed since this whole thing had begun, Mulder had managed to reach my side. Casting a quick sideways glance at me, he knelt down so that he was eye level with the boy.
"Hey buddy" he began, taking the child's small pale hands in his own large tanned ones. "Do you remember what I said in the car?"
The boy appeared to be lost in thought for moment "..that Mommy didn't know that we were coming, so she might be very surprised?"
"Yes, that's right"
"But Daddy .." The boy continued in an overly loud stage whisper, which, if it were under other circumstances, would have been very amusing "..surprises make you happy, and Mommy doesn't look very happy.."
This remark propelled my motor neurones back into action "I..ugh.." stepping forward, I let go of the bed post, and turned to Christian and his parents, who had been watching the little scene play out. "Do..you ..mind..if…" I asked, leaving them to fill in the . "we continue this meeting tomorrow..?" part for me.
"Sure sure" they quickly agreed, they and probably the rest of the room were dying with curiosity to find out what was going on. After all, I had revealed very few details about my private life to anyone at the hospital, most people had assumed that I was childless and single, or a lesbian, according to some of the more less complimentary rumours, started by one of the EMT's who tried to hit on me at a Charity dinner one year.
Turning back, Mulder had scooped the boy up into his arms. The pair of them were now looking at me intently, I saw a slight Mulder Panic Face appear.
"Mommy is happy" I tell the child, taking his hand in mine, smiling. The word, mommy feels as if it is echoing throughout the room, so long it has been since it was last used in reference to me. "but Mommy needs to talk to Daddy" I continue, fixing Mulder with a look that says "you better have answers to my questions mister or your butt will be in a sling for the next year".
"Why don't we go some place quieter" Mulder replies, placing his free hand on my back and guiding me to the top of the room and out into the hallway that leads to my office.
I know deep down this child is William. I need it to be William. It has to be William. But, I can't help thinking, what if he isn't?
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TBC