Stranded Day by Lolabeegood E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com Distribution: Anywhere as long as my name stays attached. Rating: PG Category: S Keywords: Mulder/Scully, Post-series Spoilers: The whole series and all movies, although this takes place before IWTB Summary: A day in the life of Fox Mulder while living in long-term isolation. Author's Notes: This is part of my 'Day' series of stories. It can be read independent of all the others as they are only loosely linked. Enjoy! I do not own the characters. ************************************* Fox Mulder watched the woman brace herself against the wind as she opened their gate. The snow wafted across their front yard and the little boy at her side struggled to keep close to his mother. If there wasn't a light on in their house she wouldn't have even thought to approach. One part of him cursed himself for allowing people to see occupancy from the road, and another part of him was happy to help out. She and the child may have to wait for hours before a tow-truck came. That would have been a long and cold wait in their car in this weather. Scully had already called hours ago to say she may not attempt to come home; the roads were bad everywhere. He had expected she would stay at the hospital, she was never one to brave crappy road conditions when she didn't have to. The woman struggled against the wind, covering her face as she walked, hauling her child close behind her. Mulder sighed and walked to the front door to greet them as they approached the porch. "Not a good day to be stranded," he called from the door, trying to sound safe and non-threatening. The woman looked up at him and winced at the cold. Mulder noticed that she couldn't be more than twenty. She mounted the stairs and pulled down her hood. "Is there anyway I could use your phone mister?" "Uh, sure," Mulder replied, astonished at her age. From a distance he assumed she was a mother with her child, not a girl with her brother. "Thanks, it'll only take a second," she smiled at him and tugged on the hand that was attached to hers. "Come on, Jake." Mulder moved aside to allow them entrance and she shuffled in with the child. They stood just inside the living room waiting for him to give them some direction. "The phone's just by the couch," he said as he gestured toward it. "Thanks," she said softly as she bent to remove the child's boots. "It's okay...you don't have to..." Mulder started. She had Jake's boots and her own off before he could finish his sentence. "I don't want to get your floors all wet," she said as she held the child's hand and walked toward the phone. "It's okay," Mulder tried to put her at ease. "My wife is used to me tromping through the house all the time." He saw her shoulders visibly relax when he mentioned a wife; he knew that would work to put her at ease with him. It would be hard to trust a total stranger when you were stranded like this with a child. Mulder wanted her to know he wasn't going to butcher the two of them while her back was turned. She picked up the phone and he left for the kitchen to give her some privacy. He had nothing to do in the kitchen, so he just stood against the counter and waited. About a minute later her pissed off voice caught his attention. "I don't give a crap!" she hissed from the other room. "We're on Country road 76 and you need to get your butt out here and get us!" Mulder winced at her words. It didn't sound like her call for help was going as planned. "No...no, I'm calling my dad." She said as he heard the phone go down on the receiver. He heard numbers being punched again and the girl ask for a Sam Woolworth. She waited quite a time before someone seemed to join her on the line. "Dad," she said softly. "I'm stuck with Jake on Country Road 76. The car just died..." A long silence followed. "We're just past Tetley Corners," she explained further. "No, he won't come he says business is good and..." A short pause. "Okay" she said happily. He heard the phone rest back on the cradle and some movement in the living room. "Thanks, mister!" she called. "We'll get out of your hair." Mulder took that as his queue to come back. "You're welcome to stay until your ride comes." "Oh, no. We couldn't impose." She said as she walked toward the door. "It's up to you but...it's pretty crappy outside. I know you don't know me but...I'm really quite harmless." "Is that your wife in the picture with you?" she asked pointing to a framed shot of him and Scully on the side table. "Yeah, that's Dana." He smiled. "I know her." The girl said as she tried to search her memory. "She's a doctor, right?" "At Our Lady of Sorrows," Mulder smiled at her. "We saw her once when Jake broke his collar bone," she turned to the young boy. "Do you remember the lady doctor?" He nodded his bundled head and wiped some snot from his lips. "Then stay until your ride gets here," Mulder offered. He watched the girl relax and start to unbutton her coat. She had to know he wasn't an axe murderer; he was married to a doctor she knew. "Come on Jake, let's get you out of that," she said taking off her coat and laying over a chair. Mulder noticed her protruding belly right away. The girl had to be seven or eight months pregnant. Suddenly he realized that Jake must be her son as well. She undid his coat and he walked over to sit on the couch. He looked to be about four years old. "How old's...Jake?" Mulder ventured. "He just turned four," the girl said as she threw his coat over hers and extended her hand. "I'm Amy." "Nice to meet you Amy," Mulder shook her hand. "I'm Andrew." Mulder looked closely at the little boy. He was the same age as Will. Mulder tried to take in all his four-year old features. His chubby hands, snotty nose, his goofy smile, and his inquisitive eyes. Will would be excited about Santa, would want to play in the snow all day, and be travelling to relative's houses. "So, Andrew, what are you doing home in the middle of the day while your wife works?" she asked. Mulder laughed at her joke. "I'm not a kept man, if that's what you're implying. I'm a sports writer." "Oh, so you get to write from home." "Yeah, it's one of the perks," he said as he sat down. "Please sit," he gestured toward the sofa. "Can I get either of you anything?" "Cookies!" Jake said boisterously. "Jake!" Amy admonished him. "I actually have some cookies," Mulder said rising. "You can be the first one to open the bag, Jake." The boy did a little dance that made Amy laugh and Mulder's heart ache a little. Mulder walked into the kitchen and grabbed a new bag of Keebler cookies. He had some already opened but knew she would feel better about unopened food. "Here," Mulder said as he handed them to Amy. "He can have whatever he wants...Dana will appreciate someone else eating them besides me." "Thanks," she smiled at him appreciatively. He watched as she opened the bag and handed the child one cookie. "Would you like anything? I have some cans of soda..." "That'd be great," she smiled. Mulder thought, as he walked to the fridge, that his years of profiling were coming in handy. He was confident with his new profile of her. She was twenty, had been a teen mom, she was a good mom though, and her looser boyfriend who knocked her up was unwilling to come and get her so she relied heavily on her parents. She probably still lived with them while she raised her son and worked in retail; probably as a cashier. "Here you go," he said as he offered her to unopened can. "Thanks," she replied as she popped the lid. "I'm just getting Jake a glass of water," she said rising. "If that's okay?" "Not water, juice, mommy! I want some juice, please." Jake whined. "You had your glass of juice at Grammy Louise's, now you get water." She said as they walked to his kitchen and filled a glass. He heard the boy stomp his foot a couple of times but when they came back he was carefully balancing a glass of water. "So, do you work Amy?" he asked as she sat back down. "I'm a cashier at the Dollar Store in Pine Ridge Mall," she offered as she took a sip. "You like it?" He asked. "It's a job...it gives me some money to help my dad out." "That's good," he offered. "He's coming to get me and Jake," she said as she handed the boy another cookie and Jake smiled. Jake roamed around their livingroom and seemed to be finding nothing of interest. His shoulders fell and he threw himself on a nearby chair. Mulder could see their house wasn't much fun for a four-year old. "Does Jake like TV?" Mulder asked as he reached for the remote. "Is the Pope Catholic?" she asked. Mulder clicked on the TV and searched for some cartoons. "You have a nice place here, kinda remote though." "It's quiet for my writing," he said as he flipped channels. "And Dana grew up on a farm, so the city wasn't for her." "I can't imagine living this far away from everything," she said as she looked around their living room. "Why were you out here in this weather?" Mulder asked as Jake clapped at his cartoon choice. "We have a winner." "We were on our way back from seeing my stupid boyfriend's chain-smoking mother," she said matter-of- factly. "It's the holiday season and if I wanted to avoid spending Christmas with her and all her drunk relatives, I needed to take Jake out to see her beforehand." "Got it," Mulder nodded his head. "And Ian couldn't come at the last minute because of the snow storm," she started to explain. "He runs a snow plough business and this storm means lots of money for him. Which is why, he couldn't come and get us." "Got it," Mulder said again. "I'm sorry, I'm babbling," she said as she lowered her head. "No, it's fine." Mulder said. "When are you due?" "In February." She said looking at her stomach. "It's a girl this time." "One of each," Mulder noted. "Yep," she said as she patted her belly. "And that's it for me." "You're done after this one?" "Seeing as I never intended to get pregnant both times I was...I'm definitely done." "Two's nice," he commented. "You have any kids Andrew?" she asked looking at the framed pictures of Scully's nephews. "No...no we don't." "Chose your careers?" "Something like that." he mumbled. Mulder looked at Jake leaning against her legs and playing with her long brown hair. She absently rubbed his back. "You seem like a really good mom," he offered. "I do the best I can," she nodded. "I know the media makes teen moms into theses chain smoking selfish sluts that ignore their kids but...that's not always the case." "Amy, I learned a long time ago to not make assumptions about people," he smiled at her. "Well...that's good because I didn't ever intend to have my kids this young but...I'm doing my best by them." "I'm sure you are," he agreed. The two of them sat in companionable silence for the next hour while Amy's dad made his way toward them, occasionally remarking about how cartoons had changed over the years. 'Not that,' Mulder thought. 'It had been that many years since she wore footy jammies and watched cartoons herself.' Headlights at the gate to his house indicated that either Scully was home or Amy's dad had arrived. It was the latter. Amy rose from the couch and pulled Jake along with her. She quickly got on their coats and boots and smiled up at Mulder. "Thank you, Andrew. I don't know what we would have done..." "It was nothing," Mulder offered. "Drive carefully and take care of yourself." "We will," she smiled as she opened the door. "I hope Santa's good to you Jake," he offered as he patted the boy's head. "Santa!" Jake called as he shoved one last cookie in his mouth. Mulder smiled down at him, and willed the wetness that was forming in his eyes to go away. He followed them to the door and watched as a man about his age helped Amy down the stairs and hoisted Jake onto his hip. "Thanks for helping my daughter!" He called over the wind. "No problem!" Mulder called back from the porch. "Drive carefully." "Oh, I will!" he called back as he looked at his grandson. 'It's a strange world,' Mulder thought. 'Here's a man, almost the same age as me buckling in his grandson, who is the same age as my son.' Mulder watched as they buckled their belts. Amy and Jake waved to him as they started to drive away. His head snapped up as he saw another set of headlights bounce down their driveway toward the house. It was Scully's car. She slowed as she passed the Woolworth's car and continued toward the house. He watched as she hurriedly got out of her car and walked toward him. "Mulder, what's wrong?" she called over the storm. "Nothing," he said as she put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into their house. "Then when did you start having guests over?" she asked as she brushed her coat off. "They were stranded," he offered. "Take your coat off and I'll tell you what happened." **************************************** the end.