Disclaimer: I do not own the X Files

Notes: Thank you for your patience I did a lot of traveling this weekend for a family emergency and had no time. Good news is though that I had a TON of time to write things in my head.
This chapter is a lot of fluff. I just needed a little Mulder and Scully ya know?
Anyway thank you for your kind reviews! Please continue them because they keep me going! Enjoy!

Responsibility

An hour after Leah Van De Kamp's body had been wheeled out of the room Scully found herself sitting next to a hospital bed that held her son. William had cried for a long time and promptly fell asleep. Scully herself had been crying and now had a pounding headache and was fighting off sleep herself.

Mulder had been going between pacing around the room anxiously and sitting down bouncing his leg.

"Mulder sit down." Scully said softly.

Mulder stopped for a moment and looked at William's sleeping form. He walked over to Scully and kneeled down next to her.

"It's not your fault." He whispered.

"I never said it was." She responded not making eye contact.
"Yeah but I know you're thinking it."

Scully shook her head sadly, "How are you?"

"I don't know. Overwhelmed I guess. I found something you should see…" Mulder got up and picked up a folded piece of paper that sat on the nightstand that had been sitting next to Leah's bed.

"You need to read this." He took her arm lightly and pulled her up and across the room. He then handed the note to her and watched her face as she read.

Scully opened up the letter curiously and read:

I Leah Van De Kamp being of sound mind write that upon the event of my death I would like Dana Scully and Fox Mulder to take custody of my son William Van De Kamp. I find myself on my deathbed and I intend to make sure that the people who raise him care for him and are able to take care of him.

Leah Van De Kamp

Scully read the short letter three times before fully understanding what was in her hands. She looked up at Mulder whose face was white as a sheet.

"Would this hold up legally?" She said trying to stay calm as she looked over to their sleeping son.

"Well it probably depends on what relatives he has left, but I imagine it would hold up pretty well at least. They will have to make sure it is her signature and see if that is what he wants." He paused for a moment as they heard William moving in his bed they both watched as he moved in his sleep and once they were sure he was still asleep Mulder continued, "Right now the world is a mess. It's unclear exactly what life is going to be like after this. I imagine it will be unlike anything that has come before."

She didn't respond. Scully's eyes had never left her son's sleeping figure and he could see a sheen of tears over her eyes. He could practically see the gears in her head turning and processing all of what she had just heard and read. He knew that all of the wishes and daydreams that she had for years were running through her mind. He knew because that is exactly what happened when he read it.

Images of him and William stargazing, playing baseball, and watching movies came to mind. He pictured the three of them on the couch in their little house cuddled under a blanket. He looked down at Scully and took her chin in his hand. He moved her face to look at him but her eyes lingered on the boy for another few moments before finally turning to his.

"Dana, this is not how things should be happening but the fact is that Leah wanted us to care for him. Talk to me." He searched her eyes looking for answers.

She closed her eyes painfully and placed her hand over his which he had moved to her cheek,

"I don't know what to think. Mulder… I never wanted this to happen. I mean, I have always wanted to be with William but I gave him up so he could stay away from all of this and have a normal life. But here we are. He is in our lives for not even a week and his mother is dead. I also don't dare to hope that this could actually happen."

"What do you mean?"

"What if we get excited about the prospect of being his parents only to have him taken away? I don't think I can do that again Mulder."

Her voice broke slightly at the end and Mulder reached forward and brought her to him. He laid his head on hers and reveled in the feeling of her arms around him for a moment before he responded, "Scully, I think that we are all that he has got. I don't think that Leah would have written this if she knew of other relatives who would have wanted to take him in. But that is beside the point. A few weeks ago after your mother's funeral you told me how you believed that your mother's last words were a message to us that we are responsible for William. It is time for us to take that responsibility and in the end it might be painful but we wished, prayed, and waited for him before he was born and after which, as you said, makes us responsible for him."
She pulled away from him so she could see his face. Her tears had never broken but he could tell that she was still emotional. She was running on very little sleep and had experienced a couple of the most emotionally intense days of her life and he wanted to tell her to go lie down but he knew she would never listen.

"Clever Mulder." She smiled softly and he ran his thumb down her cheek, "You're right. I'm just tired and frankly scared."

"Me too."

They both turned to look at their son and held on to each other as they pondered what lie ahead.