Making of a Family – X-Files Style

Part 2

He arrived at her house around five-thirty and saw her walk out the door and head toward the beach.  He loosely trailed her leisurely stroll.  It was obvious she had no set destination.  She had a large dog with her and Mulder was sure that if the dog reared up on its hind legs it would dwarf her.  Half an hour later she turned and started back.  

Mulder gathered up his courage and headed for the big barn like house at the top of the hill.  It was time to meet destiny. 

Mulder approached the door and rang the bell.  Inside he heard some barking and the sound of running feet.  Suddenly the door burst open and a young boy stood there with money in his hand and a quickly diminishing smile.  The boy looked to be about eight or nine.  Tall, thin with dark slightly curly hair and deep blue eyes.

“You’re not the pizza guy,” he said accusingly.  A girl came into view with a large dog of undeterminable lineage.  The girl looked so much like the boy, Mulder figured they had to be siblings.  The boy turned to the girl.  “False alarm, it’s not the pizza guy, just some man.”

Mulder was about to say something when he heard Scully.  “Hey, what’s taking so long?”  She came around the corner and stopped.  They just stared at each other.

“Mom, do you know this guy?”  The girl asked demandingly.

Slowly Scully walked to the door and for a Moment Mulder was afraid she would shut it in his face.  “Grey, Paige, you two take Beauchamp to the back and wait.”  She ushered the two away from the door and took the money from the young boy.  When they were out of site she turned back to Mulder.  “How, I mean why, I mean, heck I don’t know what I mean.”

“May I come in, Scully?”  Mulder asked gently, not wanting to push.

She hesitated then opened the screened door and moved so he could enter.  Mulder started to remove his coat then stopped, not knowing if he would be staying long enough to take it off.  She reached over and helped him take it off.

“Please, have a seat.”  Scully pointed toward the living room.  Without turning she said, “I told you to go to the back.”  Two pairs of small feet were heard running away.

They took their seats, Mulder on the couch and Scully in a wing backed chair opposite.

“Nice house, Scully.  Mom?”

“They’re twins; I adopted them two years ago.  Jenny, their Mom, was my nurse.  She named me legal guardian and arranged for me to adopt them when she was diagnosed with lung cancer.  We did everything we could but she was gone three months after diagnosis.”

“Their father?”  Mulder prodded, hoping that what he’d heard about her being single was true.

“Jen was a single mother.  Their father was never in the picture, signed away his rights before they were even born.  I’ve never met him.”

“That isn’t what I was asking, Scully.”

Scully looked at him not understanding then it hit her.  “No, who would want a, what did you call me, a ‘barren refrigerator’, like me?”  Mulder’s long ago hurtful words came too easily to her and he knew she thought he actually meant them.

“You know I never meant those horrible things.  I was just mad and I lashed out.”  Mulder looked down at his folded hands.  “If I’d known then how that insanity would ruin my life. .  .”  His voice fell off.

Scully cleared her throat; she didn’t want any pretty lies from him.  It had taken too many years to get over all that had happened.  She would indulge his curiosity and send him on his way.  “What brings you here?”  She asked quickly.  The doorbell rang and she rose to answer it.  This time it was the pizza guy.  When she closed the door she asked, “You want to join us for dinner?  We have plenty.”

They walked to the back and found the twins setting another plate on the table in the kitchen.  She gave the twosome a look and they giggled.  Scully made introductions as

she dished out the pizza for the twins.  Mulder and she served themselves. 

Mulder used the opportunity to get to know the two children that now called Scully Mom.  They will be nine years old in two weeks.  They were in born in California but their Mom, their first Mom, moved here when they were real young.  They miss their first Mom but they love their ‘now’ Mom, referring to Scully. 

Grey likes sports and follows the Yankees, the Seahawks, the Red Wings and the Redskins.  He plays basketball but he’s not tall enough yet. 

Paige was named after her Mom’s best friend growing up.  She wants to be a doctor like her now Mom. 

“Do you know what, Mr. Mulder?”  Paige asked shyly.

“No, what?”  Mulder leaned down so he was right next to the little girl.

“Today we are celebrating; two years ago today we became a family.  Do you know what Mom has in the fridge?  Cake!”  She answered her own question before he had a chance to guess.  “Mom says her life started the day she got us.” 

They finished the pizza and Scully pulled out the cake and some ice cream.  “Is everyone ready for dessert?”  Mulder watched the interaction between the children and Scully.  You would never know she hadn’t raised them from babies.   It was obvious she was happy and loved the two and they loved her just as much.  He wanted to be part of this.  What he was seeing in front of him was the life he always wanted but never knew he wanted it.  The ache inside him was almost unbearable.

The quartet finished dessert and Mulder helped Scully clean up.  The kids went to their rooms leaving Scully and Mulder alone.  If he let his mind wander it almost felt like so many other nights with Scully.  Pizza for dinner, her quiet elegance and gentle beauty, her acceptance of the ostracized basement denizen.

“So, Mulder, why are you here?”  She asked not unkindly but directly.

“I was on a case two hundred miles north of here.  I saw you at the diner last night.”  Mulder moved his chair closer to her and he cringed as he saw her stiffen.  “I’ve been trying to find you since you left.  No one would tell me where you were.”  He waited but she said nothing.  “Scully, my affair with Angie ended the Moment I found out you’d left.  It was like lightning striking when I realized what I’d done.  Angie only gave me the one thing I didn’t get from you, sex, and that was the least important thing.  Everything else I received from you and it wasn’t until you were not there that I realized what I’d lost; what I’d tossed away.”

“You hurt me, Mulder.  Until then I thought we had an understanding.  We’d traversed so many minefields, gone through so much but we always got stronger.  Then you,” She let out a ragged breath and wiped away stray tears.  “You turned into this person I didn’t know. Someone I didn’t want to know, someone who hated me.”

“God, Scully, I never hated you, you have to understand that.  I resented our situation but I never resented or hated you.  I know what I did and I have no excuse or even a reason.  I just know that as soon as you were gone it was like the light switched on.  I was always testing you, pushing the limits to see when you would leave.  And when you finally had enough it was too late for me to fix what I’d done.  I stopped seeing Angie almost immediately.  I missed you all the time but I never once even thought about her.”  Mulder took a sip of his coffee.  “Did they tell you I lost the X-Files?  Skinner transferred them to two other agents.”

“John Doggett and Monica Reyes, he had them contact me several times when they needed some help.  They’re not us but they’re not bad.”  Mulder was visibly stunned at her revelation.  “Mulder, Skinner only told me after he’d done it.  I argued for you, the X-Files need you and I told him that.”

“Believe me; they didn’t need me the way I was.  I was a mess and I wasn’t getting anything done.  I’m still a mess.  Skinner did the right thing.”    

“Mulder, why are you really here?”  She wasn’t sure she could take the answer but she needed to know. 

“When I saw you I had to try and get some of what we had back again.  If we couldn’t go back to before I messed things up at least to build something new.  Stronger maybe.”  Mulder moved from his chair and knelt beside her.  “Do you think it’s at all possible?  Do you think you might even want to try?”  Mulder laid it all out there, he owed her that much.

Scully’s eyes held large pools of unshed tears.  “You have no idea how many years I waited for you.  Just to hear something like that from you.  Then it all went to hell.  Suddenly you changed from the only man I ever really loved to this selfish, egotistical, maniac that I didn’t even know.  I’m not sure if I can put that behind me, how can I be sure of you?”  Her eyes glanced toward the staircase.  “You have to know this is not just my decision, it isn’t just me anymore.  Anyone who is in my life is also in my children’s lives and I can’t let any of your capriciousness hurt them.”

“Scully, I know you have no reason to believe this but being without you has taught me something.  Nothing is good; nothing has meaning.  If you are ever able to give me a second chance I would never risk us again.  We can take it slow.  Try to build back to being friends.  I’ve got tons of time off and even more frequent flyer miles to use.  I can start taking some long weekends and visit and we can see where that takes things.”  Mulder tried to keep from sounding like he was begging but he was and they both knew it.

“We took it slow before and see how that resulted.  You ignored me and hurt me to the point I had to leave just to keep my self worth.”  Scully was looking into the distance and Mulder could tell she was really scared of being hurt again.

“Look, I’m going to head back to my motel.”  Mulder started to write down the motel information on the back of his business card.  “You think about it.  Maybe talk to Grey and Paige.  Then call me tomorrow.  Would that be alright?”

~

Scully shut the door behind Mulder and ascended the stairs.  Grey and Paige were reading in the playroom.  She watched them from the doorway.  She loved them unconditionally and she really was concerned that if she let Mulder back into her life they may get hurt.

Paige looked at her Mom and smiled.  “We like him, Mom.  We’ve already talked about it and we think he’s worth the risk.”  The children noticed Scully’s reaction to Paige’s words.

Grey put aside his book.  “Mom, we can tell something happened between you but he really wants to make things right.”

Scully swept into the room and grabbed the two of them into a strong three way hug.  “I always knew you two were so much smarter than me.”  She then told them about Mulder’s proposal. 

“Mom, where’s the number?”  Grey asked and she handed him the business card.  He picked up the phone to start dialing. 

“Hey, I doubt he’s even made it half way to the motel,” Scully told him.  He turned over the card and called the cell phone number listed.

“Mr. Mulder, Paige, Mom and I want to invite you to breakfast after church tomorrow.  Could you be here around ten?”  Scully watched and was proud at how mature her little man sounded. 

~

Continued in Part 3