From: Laura Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 12:02:52 -0500 Subject: Page 65 part 9: Fathers by Doctor C. Source: direct Title: Page 65 part VIII: Fathers Author: Doc Key Words: MSR, MS married, AU, Pre-X Files Category: S, R, A (yup, the A is back) Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of the x files. Chris Carter and 1013 productions do. Summary: Mulder gets some unexpected news Dedication: To Didi, who is reading this at camp and that's it. (I'm not dedicating it to Spooky because he ditched me to go to Alaska) Note: It seems like everybody likes me doing angst, not smut Feedback: Greatly appreciated. Email me at laura_c@imagin.net FLAMES WILL BE DELETED Dana strolled slowly outside in the fresh spring air. It would be 3 months tomorrow that they had been married. She inhaled deeply; savoring the smell of that afternoon's rain. They really needed to get a house, and soon too. For the moment, they were living at Mulder's apartment, which was getting way too crowded. For one thing, it only had one bathroom, so she and Mulder could never take a shower at the same time (well, a couple of times they did). And Mulder also had suspicious looking bugs all around his apartment. She snapped back to reality by a raindrop that happened to fall on her nose. She went to get the mail, and even after three months, she still loved to get mail that said "Dana Mulder." She smiled at the letters, and then stopped at one. She frowned. It was a letter from National Security, and it was addressed to Mulder. She took a deep breath when she got upstairs and looked at it, as if she opened it, she would violate Mulder in some way. She held the envelope in her hands, and finally sat it on the table, unopened. Mulder came home early that night. In late January, the FBI recruited him for the VCS. The reason being was that he was a wonderful profiler, one of the best. He was in the same boat Dana was, always studying for exams and going over profiles. He was going to graduate from Quantico hopefully by June. "Hi honey." He said as he kissed her on the cheek. "Mulder, we need to talk." She said, seriously. "Oh no. I hate those four words. This sounds serious." He said as he sat down on the couch with her. She grabbed his hands as she tried to tell him. "You got a letter today. I didn't' want to open it because it was addressed to you. It's from the DC Prison." She said as she handed him the letter. His face sunk as he got further down. "Oh my god. It's my father. He's, he's dying." Mulder finally spat out. Dana just looked at him, not knowing what to say or do. He just sat there with a blank stare on his face. ". He got HIV through using dirty needles while in prison. They say he's got only a few days. They want me to go down there." He said as he stared at a spot on the wall, never taking his eyes off of it. Dana rubbed his back for support as he leaned on her and silent tears fell down his cheeks as he lay with his head on her lap, and she was stroking his hair. "I'm going with you." "I can handle it on my own." He said, not looking at her. "No, you can't. You're very venerable right now. I'm going to support you." Dana said as she kept stroking his hair. He sat up, and looked at her like a lost child. She put her forehead against his, and kissed away his tears. "We will be okay, Mulder. We always are." She said as he nodded. "Thanks for not letting me do this alone. That's one of the reasons I fell in love with you. Because you can be so damn stubborn sometimes." He said as she laughed. PART II: Mulder and Dana walked into the intensive care unit unaware of what was to come. Mulder had a lifeless expression on his face; even his thoughts were blank. "May I ask who you are visiting?" the nurse at the desk asked. "William Mulder." Fox said as he cleared his throat. This was the first time he talked since they left that morning. "Okay, he's in bed 7. And watch out for that one, he's a real pain in the ass." She said as Mulder nodded. "That's Dad all right." Mulder chuckled as they went through the sliding glass door. Both Dana and Fox hated hospitals. It brought back too many bad memories for them. To the time that Dana was shot in sixth grade to the time that Fox got into that car accident with Fowley. But, this was for a good cause, so they both braced themselves, and went to bed 7. Dana would have never thought that that man sleeping peacefully in this bed would ever be capable of what he did. He's asleep, we should go." Mulder said, as they turned to leave, they heard him moan. "Fox, is that you?" he said, looking around. Mulder went over to him. "Yea, Dad it's me." "I thought that you didn't want to come because of our past together." He said. "I never really did get to apologize, did I? I never really meant to hurt you. I didn't even know what I was doing. I don't know what I was doing that got me into this mess either." He said, and Dana felt unwelcome. "Mulder, I'll be outside." She said, but she heard him call her back. "Dana, come here, please." He said, as she looked at Mulder warily then emerged. "You came all this way to be with my son so he wouldn't loose his father alone. It's so sweet. I remember when you two were little, Teena and I always said that you two would give us grandchildren someday. Did that ever happen?" he asked, and was suddenly overcome by a coughing fit. Dana rushed over and gave him some water. "Thank you dear." He said, as she smiled, she wouldn't let the man that almost killed her best friend call her dear, and butter her up. "I noticed that you had a ring on your left finger, Dana. Are you married?" he asked, as she looked at her hand in surprise. She looked at Mulder for help. He noticed her plea and stepped up next to her, taking her hand. "Actually dad, remember that part about giving you grand children? Well, we're half way there." "Well, you two must have gotten hitched then, didn't you?" "Well, yea." "Fox, can I talk to Dana alone for a minute?" Bill asked his son. Fox pulled a Scully eyebrow and shrugged, but as he left, he gave Dana the look that she knew that he was there if she needed him. "Well, I knew this day would come. My son married to his best friend." "And he and his best friend you tried to kill, Mr. Mulder." Dana said coldly. "You still don't trust me, Dana, do you?" he said. "No, and I don't think I ever will again." "Fine, be that way, as you will. But promise me this. Take good care of my son. He needs love and nurturing, just like any other child. If he trusts you with his heart, then he must be a keeper. I believe that he's had your heart since the fourth grade. But hey, that's just my theory. Could you reach into the top drawer for me, since I'm kind of tied up." He said, motioning to the wires and IVs. Dana looked at him funny and did as he asked. Inside she found a jewelry box. "It was originally Samantha's. I promised that I'd give it to the woman that my only son married, but it looked like he'd never get married, until he found you. Take it as a late wedding present." He said as she still looked at him strangely, but acknowledged the gift. "Thank you, Mr. Mulder. I'll send in Fox, okay?" she said as she opened the door to leave. Mulder was the second to enter the room. He was so afraid and unsure about being alone in the room with this man. It was so frightening for him when he was younger, but it was equally or more so now. Bill sensed his discomfort. "Goodness, boy you look like you're going to faint. I won't hurt you. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I'm hooked up to all these damn wires." He said as Mulder moved a bit closer. "You picked a good choice." He said, motioning to Dana through the window, who was in the waiting room flipping through "Family" magazine. "She's definitely a keeper." Mulder said as he smiled, looking lovingly at his wife. "I remember when I met your mother. It was the Fourth of July and I was barbecuing and I see this young lady eyeing me. She keeps doing this for the rest of the night, so eventually I go over there, and ask her what she was staring at, and she said 'Actually you have ketchup on your nose.' And she wiped it off, and being the Fourth of July, sparks actually flew between us. From then on I knew she was the one." Bill said, his mind thinking about the better times in the past. "Our family had such good times. Remember at the beach house in Virginia we used to go to every summer. And when you and Sam were little we used to go on spring picnics at the park. Nothing mattered, that is, until an unexpected event happened." "Sammy disapeared. Was that the start of you and mom's divorce?" "It went beyond that. I guess we just weren't right for each other, but I still love her, because she gave me you and Sam." He said, as a nurse walked in with a bucket. "Two o'clock, Bill. Time for your sponge bath." The nurse with too much pep said as Mulder got up and left. "Will you come tomorrow too?" he asked as Mulder nodded. "Yea, okay." He said as he left, shaking his head as he met Dana. The bureau is letting you take a few days off; they just called me on my cell. "What's that, Dana?" Mulder asked, motioning to the jewelry box. "Your father gave it to me. He said that it was Samantha's and he wanted his first daughter in law to have it. I don't know. Mulder. He brings back so many bad memories. But he is your father." "Unfortunately. I'll probably have a lot of scars for the rest of my life thanks to him." Mulder said as they gathered their things up to go. Scully reached up and took his arm. "But he is your father, Mulder. And you love him." 6:00 AM the next morning: "Mulder, get the phone." "Huh, wha." She leapt over him (didn't quite make it) and grabbed the phone. "Hello?" she said, as her face grew solemn and sad. "You're kidding, right?" she said as she pursed her lips as she finally said. "Okay, thanks. I'll tell him." And she hung up the phone. Mulder was looking at her strangely, wanting to know what the one sided conversation that he heard was about. "Mulder, that was the hospital that just called." She said, and he knew what was coming. "Your dad died last night. They said that it was his heart. The cocaine that he did while in prison must have weakened him. His lawyer wants you to come for the reading of the will today. Mulder I'm so sorry." She said as she hugged him. He was sobbing quietly. "I didn't even get to tell him that I forgave him. Or that deep down, even though he hurt me so bad that I, I." He couldn't get the words out. "I loved him." He finally said. "Trust me, Mulder. I know how it feels. Ahab died so suddenly that I didn't even get to talk to him before he went. Be grateful for the time you had last night to talk." Scully said as she played with his fingers. "Come on, we need to get dressed for the reading of the will." She said as she got up. Later that Day: His lawyer opened the envelope, and read aloud. "Hello everyone. If you are reading this then I must be long gone stone cold dead. I'd like to give my house in Virginia to my son, Fox so he can get married and grow old there. You can also have the beach house, Fox. I barely use it myself when I was alive, and I certainly wont use it now. I'd also like to give Fox my life savings from what I acquired doing random jobs. 500 grand will do you enough. I will give Teena, my lovely ex wife 2 grand, for having nice... never mind. Goodbye all and I'll see you wherever you go in the next life." "Man that was weird." Dana whispered to Fox. "Did you hear what he left us? He left us five hundred thousand dollars." Mulder said, still trying to absorb all of this. "Mulder, did that will also say that he gave you a house?" Dana said, trying to clear her thoughts. It had been very late to bed last night while doing some 'business' "Yea, I think it mentioned something in that." "You know we're not moving in unless we take a look at it, and like it." "Tomorrow we're going house shopping." Dana said excitedly. "Yea, for like the hundredth time." Mulder said, complaining. The Next Day: The Ford Taurus pulls into the driveway of the house and they both gasp. The house was utterly huge. It was made of a fine brick and had a bit of a medieval look to it. They went inside and the first thing they saw was the staircase, which was chestnut and white and it spiraled to upstairs. "I'm going to check the backyard, okay?" Dana said. "K, I'll go upstairs." Fox replied as he sighed 'what have I gotten myself into?' The upstairs was even more beautiful. It had four bedrooms and two bathrooms and a balcony outside the master bedroom. And there was another room that you could just put things, like an entertainment area. "Mulder!" Scully screamed. Fox thought that something happened to her and he raced down the stairs. "Mulder, look at this backyard. It has a pool!" "It also has linoleum floors." "And it has an air conditioner that actually works. Also it doesn't have bugs in it." Dana said, trying not to giggle "It's even got a hot tub upstairs." He said. "Mulder. I think I'm in love." Scully said as she put her hand on her chest "Why thank you dear." "Not you, this house. It is our dream house, Mulder. It even has a white picket fence outside." She said, as she looked at Mulder's I-don't-know look. She gave him her best puppy face, until he just rolled his eyes. "Oh okay. I guess we could live here." He said as she jumped up into his arms and kissed him all over. Two Months Later: "First night in our new house, what do you think?" Mulder asked, as Scully was unpacking things. "I just unpacked the soap. If you don't want to go to bed with a stinky man tonight, I think I'll jump in the shower." He said, as he carried the soap with him. Poor Mulder couldn't stand being dirty that he had taken Dana's 'Herbal Essence for extra body and shine.' She was unpacking when she stopped at one thing. It was the jewelry box that Mr. Mulder gave her. She opened it slowly, and coughed from the dust. It wasn't just a jewelry box; it was also a music box. It played a familiar tune that brought back too many memories. "Scully, you were there. Dad hit you, and you fell. I couldn't save you." He said as he looked into her eyes with a look of terror. She looked back at him with concern. She wished that she could tell him that it was only a dream and nothing more, but she couldn't. It was the tune "Somewhere Out There" and she looked inside the box and found a note. Dear Dana, I just wanted to tell you and Fox that I'm sorry. I ruined the family and I tore everyone apart, that is except for you two. I wish I could have given you a present, but this is all I have. They were Teena's and she wore them on her wedding day and she let me have it for this reason. Love you both, and please have some grandkids for me. Dad Under the note, she found a string of pearls. She could imagine Mrs. Mulder wearing them, and it was a nice gesture. It gave Dana a sense of belonging. That her father in law and her mother in law accepted her into their family. That gave her closure. She never has and never would call Mr. Mulder 'Dad' but she still thinks of him as part of the family. As Mulder once said at the Christmas table, "Your family is my family." "Ready for bed?" Mulder asked as he came into the room in his boxers. She loved him with his hair sticking straight up after a shower. "You betcha." She said as she fell asleep in a new bed, a new room, a new house, and a new beginning.