From: RhiaRamsay <rhiaramsay@aol.com>
Date: 28 Jan 2000 03:12:20 GMT
Subject: New: Finding Home (1/1) (Sequel to Crystal Moonlight)

Title: Finding Home
Author: Elizabeth L. Iacono
Rating: PG
Category: Story, Romance
Keywords: Mulder/Scully Romance
Spoilers: Paper Clip, very slight for an upcoming 
          episode (SUZ)
Summary: Scully tells Mulder about an important event 
         coming up in their lives.  Sequel to 
         'Crystal Moonlight'.

Yep, I did it.  One day after I wrote the first part I 
started on the sequel.  I think the overwhelming cry 
for a second part through feedback (and thanks so much 
to everyone who sent feedback!) is what got me working 
so quickly.  This story will have to do with the baby 
thing I mentioned last time, so I hope it works well 
(and please, no comments about how Scully can't have 
children.  I put the little out in the last story, 
and I'm building off of that.)  This time, it's from 
Mulder's POV.

Feedback: Will keep me warm in the next snowstorm 
that's supposed to come tomorrow night.  My addy is 
RhiaRamsay@aol.com.  And check out my website!  
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/7124/index.html

Disclaimer: Do you really think they're mine?  If you 
do then you're even more delusional than I am. ;)  CC 
owns them.

Archive: Gossamer and Spookys, anywhere else just tell 
me where it's going.


Finding Home
Elizabeth L. Iacono


July 13, 2000
J. Edgar Hoover Building
Washington D.C.
7:30 p.m.


     Scully's gone away.  No, I don't mean gone away 
in a bad way, just that she took a vacation.  We 
haven't had a large caseload this summer, and she 
decided that she needed to get away for a few days.  
I think it was the going away alone that surprised me.  
Since we've been married we haven't been separated from 
each other for more than a few days, and usually that 
was for work reasons.

     I'm getting a little worried though.  The morning 
that she left I had asked her where she was going, but 
she wouldn't tell me, saying that she wanted to be by 
herself for a few days.  Yes, I do respect her privacy, 
but I just can't help wanting to know where she is, to 
make sure she's safe.  So I kept asking her, and 
finally she just told me that she was going home.

     Which leaves me, sitting in the office two days 
later bored out of my skull (the number of pencils 
stuffed in the ceiling has increased exponentially by 
now).  She hasn't called since then, and I just can't 
help but worry that something has happened to her.  
Even though she told me that she wouldn't call.  
Scully's probably fine.  I know she is.

     Now if I can only convince myself of that.

     So I did what Scully didn't want me to do: try 
and find her.  The only clue I had at the moment was 
that she went home, so my first stop that night was 
Mrs. Scully's house.  Since she wasn't at her apartment 
or mine (most of the time we migrate between the two) 
I figured the other place that would be home to her 
was her mother's house.

     I headed down to the parking lot, thinking that 
I had stayed at work late enough that day.  
Unfortunately when I started up my car and it died a 
couple of seconds later I learned the damned battery 
was dead.  Great, just what I needed.  I popped open 
the hood to take a look at the engine, but I realized 
that taking Modern European History in high school 
rather than Auto Shop was not helping me in this case.

     After staring down at the engine for a few 
minutes, pretending I knew what I was doing, I said 
to hell with it and slammed the hood shut.  I really 
didn't know what to do.  I'd wanted to get to Mrs. 
Scully's as fast as possible, but now with my car 
having crapped out, I had to get that fixed, or at 
least to a mechanic, which would waste time that I 
could be spending looking for Scully.

     I was so preoccupied with worrying I didn't hear 
the car pull up behind me.  "Agent Mulder?" I finally 
heard someone ask and I turned around to see Skinner 
there in his car with the window rolled down.  "Are 
you okay?" he asked.

     "Yeah," I said.  "The battery just died, I think."

     "You want a lift?" Skinner asked, sending my 
eyebrows up near my hairline.  This was not something 
that usually happened.  Granted, the relationship that 
Scully and I have with Skinner is closer than one 
normally is with their Assistant Director (most agents 
never even meet with their A.D.), but it's still 
strange.  But I wasn't going to ignore the offer just 
because it was a little out of place.  I could get 
looking for Scully faster this way.

     "Okay," I said, picking up my briefcase and 
walking over to the passenger side door.

     When we were on the road Skinner spoke for the 
first time since I'd gotten into the car.  "So where 
exactly is your apartment?"

     "Actually I'm heading to Mrs. Scully's house.  
I want to see if Scully's there," I said before I 
could stop myself.  I must have been more tired than 
I thought.

     I saw Skinner give a sort of smirk as I gave him 
the directions to Mrs. Scully's.  He knew exactly why 
I wanted to find out where Scully was.  That's probably 
because he's the only one who's found out about our 
marriage so far.  I have to say the man's good, he 
noticed that something was different between us (most 
likely the hands-off policy we had for work since we 
became a couple.  When you stop touching after touching 
for a long time believe me, people are going to notice, 
I've heard the rumors), did a little digging, and saw 
the certificate in county records.  He only asked us 
about it once, off hours, and hasn't brought it up 
again.  But he knows, and thankfully he's keeping it 
a secret.

     Soon we pulled up in front of Mrs. Scully's 
house.  As I got out of the car Skinner spoke to me 
once more.  "I'm sure she's fine," he said, and drove 
off.

     "I hope so," I muttered to the night air.  I 
walked up the steps to the front door, and I realized 
that I should have at least called first to make sure 
that someone was home.  There was a light on though so 
that gave me a little bit of hope.  I rang the doorbell 
and shortly the door opened and Mrs. Scully's face 
appeared behind the screen.

     "Fox," she said.  I could hear the surprise in 
her voice.  "What are you doing here?"

     "I was just wondering if Scully was here," I 
asked, suddenly feeling like a little boy asking if 
the girl next door could come out and play.  If I 
started scuffing my dress shoes against the porch 
someone please just shoot me now.

     Mrs. Scully shook her head.  "No, she just told 
me she was going on vacation, not where she was going."

     I nodded, feeling my hopes sinking somewhere near 
my feet.  "Okay, thanks," I said, turning around to 
walk back down the stairs.

     "Wait, Fox," Mrs. Scully said, and I turned around 
once more.  "Why don't you stay and rest for a little 
while," she said.  "You look awfully tired."

     I caught a glimpse of myself in the window.  I 
did look tired, but I guess that was usual when Scully 
wasn't there.  I never slept well when she was away.  
"Sure, why not," I shrugged, and she opened the screen 
door.  When I stepped inside I could have sworn I 
smelled food.

     Mrs. Scully must have caught me sniffing the air 
because the next thing out of her mouth was, "Are you 
hungry?  I was just going to get started on a late 
dinner."  Judging by the look on her face saying no 
was not an option (yes, this woman was all mother) 
and considering I haven't really eaten much since 
Scully left I figured it wouldn't be that bad an 
idea.  And Mrs. Scully's food would definitely be 
better than takeout.

     That's how I found myself seated at the kitchen 
table across from Mrs. Scully eating a bowl of homemade 
turkey soup.  I wished I'd had stuff like this growing 
up, the most my mother did was open a can and toss it 
in a pot.  Dinner was nice and calm, with Mrs. Scully 
making what small talk she could that didn't relate to 
work, when she brought up the big question.  "Fox, 
(note, she is the only one who could get away with 
calling me Fox, even Scully doesn't do that.  But I 
like the way Scully says 'Mulder', sometimes it seems 
like she purrs it, but I digress) do have any idea why 
Dana took this vacation?"

     I sat back in my seat and set my spoon down.  I 
figured the best choice would be honesty, well, almost 
honesty, leaving out all things relating to the 
marriage (nope, Mrs. Scully still doesn't know).  
"I've got no clue why.  Things have been okay at 
work, we haven't been fighting."  I shrugged.  
"Maybe she just needed a vacation..." I trailed off.

     Mrs. Scully gave me a knowing look.  "But you're 
just a little lonely without her, is that it?" she 
asked.

     I couldn't help but blush slightly.  Mrs. Scully's 
better than we both give her credit for.  But that 
didn't mean I was going to slip about our marriage.  
"She helps make our work better," I said simply, 
letting her infer what she wanted from that statement.  
At that moment I yawned loudly, the past few sleepless 
nights catching up to me.  That or the turkey was making 
me sleepy.

     "Are you okay?" Mrs. Scully asked.

     "Yeah, it's just been a long day," I said, 
standing up from my seat.  "I should be going now."

     "Why don't you stay in the guest room tonight?" 
Mrs. Scully offered.  "I noticed that you didn't have 
a car outside, and by the time you call a cab it'll 
be late anyway."  Damn, this woman was good, I thought.  
She remembered before I did that I didn't have a car 
there.

     "I don't want to impose," I said, feeling like 
that little boy again.

     "Nonsense," Mrs. Scully said.  "Just give me a 
few minutes and I'll have the guest room all set."

     I guess it was a good thing that she let me 
use the guest room because as soon as I stripped 
down to my boxers and got into bed I was out cold.  
I must have been more tired than I thought.  The 
next thing I knew I was waking up in a still dark 
room, and still no Scully.  Then I remembered where 
I was.  The clock on the bedside said it was 5 a.m., 
and I knew that it wouldn't be worth it to go back 
to sleep.  So I sat there and thought.

     I thought through what Scully told me, to see 
if I could puzzle out where she'd gone.  The only 
clue she'd left was that she was going home.  Now 
I was already at her mother's home, which honestly 
was the only place I could think of that would be 
home.  But then it hit me, and I could have kicked 
myself for not realizing it earlier.

     When we were stuck up at the summer house this 
past winter, Scully had told me that it felt like 
home to her there.  That she felt more at home there 
with me than she had in a long time.  She was there, 
I just knew it.

     I shot out of bed and got dressed as quick as I 
could, wanting to get to Scully as fast as I could.  
I snuck down the stairs, trying not to wake up Mrs. 
Scully, and I headed for the phone to call a cab.  
Soon the cab was at the front door and we were driving 
towards my apartment (no was I was going to travel in 
a day old suit). 

     From there the cab took me to the airport.  While 
I was standing in line for tickets, I realized I should 
have had the foresight to call ahead to see if there 
were any flights out to Providence that day, but when 
it comes to Scully, I usually don't think straight.  
Thankfully though there was a flight to Providence in 
half an hour, and I got a ticket for it.

     Sitting on the relatively short flight I was 
jittery as hell.  Is this what happens when I'm 
Scully-deprived?  God, I hope not.  Either way I 
couldn't wait until the flight ended.  When it 
finally landed (it felt like hours later, but I 
know it couldn't have been more than an hour and a 
half long) I headed straight for the rental car 
counted, got whatever they had, and started the 
drive out to the summerhouse.

     While I was driving I realized that I hadn't 
called work today to tell them that I was taking the 
day off.  Oh well, it was only about 8 a.m., so I 
called up someone from personnel to tell them that 
I wouldn't be there.  Not like they really cared, it 
was a rare day to them when 'Spooky' Mulder took a 
day off.

     Soon though I was driving up to the summer 
house.  In the driveway I saw Scully's car, so I 
knew I had made the right decision to find her.  I 
got out of the car as quick as I could and knocked 
on the front door.  I might as well give her some 
warning because I took out my key and just walked 
inside.

     I found Scully sitting on the couch with her 
legs propped up on the coffee table in the living 
room paging through a catalogue.  When she heard my 
footsteps at the entrance to the living room I saw 
her look up and smile at me.  Which told me that she 
wasn't too mad at me finding her.  Although in 
retrospect I think that was exactly what she wanted 
because the first thing out of her mouth was, "It 
took you three days, I thought you'd be here in 
two," she grinned.

     "So you're not mad at me for coming after you?" 
I asked, moving around to sit next to her on the couch.

     "No," Scully said, moving closer to me.  I wrapped 
my arm around her and she curled up on the couch, her 
knees pressing into my thigh and her head against my 
chest.  "As a matter of fact it was exactly what I 
wanted.  I knew you would figure out what the home 
comment meant," she grinned.

     I laughed at that.  She knows me way too well.  
"How's your vacation been?" I asked.

     "It's been good," she said.  "I've had a lot of 
time to think."  Uh oh.  My mind shot to all the things 
she could have been thinking about, and most of them 
leaned toward the bad.  She must have seen the scared 
look on my face because she reached her hand up to 
stroke it.  "Don't worry, Mulder.  I'm not leaving 
you, it's not the cancer, and any other things that 
are running around in your head."

     "Well, I can't say that I'm not relieved to hear 
you say that," I smiled at her.  There was still 
something else though, something that would require 
her to take some time off to think.

     "But I do have something important I have to tell 
you," Scully said, her voice taking on a more serious 
tone.  Although, strangely, the smile didn't disappear 
from her face.

     "What is it?" I said, feeling that something major 
was about to happen.  And I can't say that I was wrong.

     Scully leaned in close.  I could feel her breath 
brushing my ear as she spoke.  "I'm pregnant," she 
whispered.  "We're going to have a baby."

     I felt my mouth dropping open.  This could not 
have happened.  Check that, it very well could after 
what Scully's doctor found out.  But she was on a 
shot, wasn't she?

     Scully laughed.  "Shut your mouth, Mulder, it's 
not that rare an occurrence.  And it's something we 
both wanted."

     "I know," I said, still slightly in a state of 
shock.  "But I thought that you were getting a shot 
for birth control, weren't you?"

     "I was," Scully affirmed.  "But no method is 
100% effective.  And, you know, maybe it was time 
for it.  I mean, it feels right, you know?"

     I leaned over to press a kiss to her lips.  
"Very right," I said when I pulled back.

     "There's still some things we're going to have 
to talk about though," Scully said.  I felt myself 
nodding, knowing that we were going to have a lot 
to do before the baby came.  "For one, there's the 
matter of our apartments."

     "I can get rid of mine," I said.  Considering 
that I hadn't spent much time there over the past 
year and that we were married with a baby on the 
way, maybe it was time to move in together and say 
to hell with what the bureau thinks.  "Your apartment 
has the extra bedroom, and it's larger."

     Scully rested her head against my shoulder.  
"Actually I was thinking if I could sell my 
apartment and buying a house.  I've wanted to move 
out of there for a long time actually," she said, 
and I understood where she was coming from.  So 
many bad things had happened in her apartment, from 
her sister's death to being attacked in there one too 
many times.  It was time for a fresh start.

     "That's fine with me," I said, realizing that I 
would go along with whatever she wanted.  I'm such 
a sap.

     The look Scully gave me next was not reassuring.  
"And then there's something we have to do that I'm not 
particularly looking forward to: telling everyone about 
our marriage.  My mom will kill me for not telling her 
earlier.  Hell, she'll kill me for not even telling her 
that I was involved with someone.  Bill will kill you 
and then try to bring me to my senses," Scully said 
with a look of extreme distaste on her face.

     I took my free hand (the one not wrapped around 
her shoulders) and rubbed her hands comfortingly.  "I 
say we tell your mom first.  I bet she won't be as much 
mad as surprised, and then when it finally kicks in 
she'll be fine.  Then we let her tell Bill, and I'll 
be hiding in a bunker somewhere so he won't find me 
and kill me."

     Scully giggled.  "I'll go with you.  I can just 
imagine what he's going to say, and I don't want to 
hear it."

     "Then we just have to figure out how to tell 
her and we'll be all set," I said.  I didn't bring 
up my family, honestly, I couldn't care less that 
they know I've gotten married or not.  Since my mom 
died there hasn't been anyone who would really care.  
I'll tell them if they even bother to call me or speak 
to me, but I'm not going to go running after them to 
tell them.

     I heard Scully take a deep breath.  "Maybe I 
should tell Mom now, get it over with," she said.  
"I could invite her up here for a couple days, and 
tell her while I'm on safe territory."  I found it a 
little strange that she considered the summerhouse 
safe territory, given all the bad things that have 
happened here in the past.  But then I remembered what 
I had told her that time we were stuck here in the 
snowstorm, and I could understand where she was coming 
from.  We both felt at home here.

     "There's the guest bedroom," I said.  "We can 
clean that up and she can stay there."

     Scully reached for her cellphone, residing on the 
coffee table.  "Here goes nothing," she said, and 
dialed in her mother's number.  I couldn't hear what 
Mrs. Scully said, but I got a good idea of the 
conversation from Scully's responses.  "Hi, Mom...yeah, 
I'm fine...um, I'm in Rhode Island...yeah, he did.  
Mulder's a stubborn little bugger," she said with a 
smirk.  I knew she was just playing, but that didn't 
mean that I couldn't play a little myself.  I discreetly
reached down to tickle her stomach (where I know she 
is very ticklish), but before I could get a laugh out 
of her she had my hands in a death grip, effectively 
stopping them.  Is that what I was going to have to 
look forward to when she was in labor?  "Mom, I was 
wondering if you wanted to come up here for a few 
days, just to relax a little?...yeah, I'll give you 
directions...wait, are you going to drive or fly 
up?...because if you fly up we can pick you up at 
the airport...okay...talk to you soon, Mom."  Scully 
clicked off the phone and tossed it back onto the 
coffee table.  "Mom's going to fly up here today.  
She's going to call us from Dulles with the flight 
information, and we can pick her up at Providence."

     "Sounds good," I said, but then I got an idea.  
"So how do you suggest we spend this time waiting for 
your mother?" I asked with a suggestive tone in my 
voice.

     Scully grinned at me, and ran a hand up my 
chest.  Yes, she knew exactly what I was referring 
to.  "Well..." she trailed off, stretched her neck 
up, and proceeded to give me a tonsillectomy with 
her tongue.

     And if you think I'm going to tell you what 
happened after that you're nuts.


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     Soon Mrs. Scully was up at the summer house, and 
unpacking her things in the guest bedroom.  Scully 
decided that this would be the best time to tell her, 
and followed her mom into the room.  She wanted to tell 
her mom alone so as not to overwhelm her, so I waited 
right outside the door to hear what was happening and 
to give Scully that support she knew she would need 
eventually.  

     "Mom?" I heard Scully say from inside the room.

     "Yes, Dana?" Mrs. Scully said, sounding calm as 
anything (which is not how Scully or I felt).

     "I've got something to tell you," Scully said.  
I heard a rustling and a squeak, someone had sat 
down on the bed.

     "What is it, honey?" said Mrs. Scully, nervousness 
creeping into to her voice.  "Are you okay?"

     "I'm fine," Scully said, and then let out a 
little, breathy laugh.  "Actually I'm better than 
fine."

     Mrs. Scully's voice then took on a puzzled tone.  
"What is it then?"

     I heard Scully take a deep breath.  This was it.  
"I'm pregnant, Mom."

     "But...wha...?" Mrs. Scully practically sputtered.  
I know exactly how you feel, I thought.  "I thought you 
said that you couldn't have kids."

     "I did, but my doctor found something a while a go 
and she said that for some reason everything is back to 
normal.  I really didn't plan this, but no method of 
birth control is 100% effective."  Nice segue, I thought, 
hearing the same lines she told me earlier.

     "If you're on birth control though that means you're 
with someone," Mrs. Scully said.  There was a silence in 
the room that I couldn't interpret, but the Mrs. Scully 
said something that I think neither one of us expected to 
hear.  "So where is Fox then?"  Damn, the woman was very 
good.

     Now it was Scully's turn to sputter.  "Wh...why 
would you assume that, Mom?"  I could think of a few 
reasons....

     Mrs. Scully laughed.  "Because I know you, Dana.  
And I know that you wouldn't be happy with anyone 
else."  I figured that this statement of approval 
was my cue to enter, so I slowly poked my head around 
the door frame to see both women sitting on the bed in 
there.

     "Is it safe?" I said, giving the appearance that 
I wasn't listening in, although Mrs. Scully had figured 
out by now that I had heard everything that had went on.

     Scully smiled at me and waved me over.  I walked 
over and sat down on the bed behind her, feeling her 
almost imperceptibly lean into me.  "So I believe 
congratulations are in order," Mrs. Scully said, 
smiling at both of us.  Feeling like that little 
boy for the third time in two days, I felt my face 
get red and I looked down at Scully's head, although 
I knew I was smiling.

     "Thanks, Mom," Scully said, resting her hand on 
top of mine.  That was when Mrs. Scully decided to 
bring up the next thing on her mind.

     "So what about a wedding?  You will want one 
before the baby comes, right?" she said.  Oh you 
could say that, I thought.

     "Uh..." Scully said softly, looking up at me.  
I was not at all sure what to do, but as it turns 
out our little hesitating act was enough to tell her.

     "When?" Mrs. Scully asked.

     "November 5th," Scully said, shrinking back into 
me as if to avoid getting hit.

     Mrs. Scully was silent for a few seconds, but then 
smiled brightly.  "Well, it's about time," she grinned.

     I felt myself relaxing, realizing that everything 
was going to be fine.  I wrapped my arms around 
Scully's waist and pulled her close.  You know, I'd 
been looking for a family all my life, at least ever 
since Samantha disappeared.  Sitting there with Scully 
in my arms though, and knowing that our own child was 
going to be there soon too, I saw that I had that 
family for that I'd been looking for.

     And I could understand why Scully felt she was 
home, because I was also.


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Yes, sappy ending, I know, but this whole series is 
sap, so I might as well stick with it. ;)  And, once 
more, there will be another story, I can't leave it 
like this.  There's so much more that could happen.  
And it'll probably be just as sappy. ;)

There's also a reference in the story to one of the 
best fanfics I've read in a long time, called 
'Intuitive Reasoning'.  Knowing myself, I probably 
forgot to send the author feedback about this wonderful 
story, so I hope that she sees this, my little tribute 
to it. :)


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'True love, it's the greatest
thing in the world.'

Miracle Max
The Princess Bride

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'Men will fight bravely and
be heroes, but for a last 
ditch defense against any 
odds, get a mother.'

Lightbringer
High Wizardry

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