Family Reunions by Amal Nahurriyeh Email: amalnahurriyeh@gmail.com Summary: Things get put back together. Genre: Gen; Kidfic. Rating: PG (adult themes, but no strong language or violence) Warnings: None. Angst Level: Low to moderate (being a grownup is hard) Universe: Mulder-containing. Timeline/Spoilers: Set in 2013. Disclaimer: Intellectual property is a capitalist fiction designed to oppress the working fic-writer. That said, I don't own them either. Author's Notes: This owes a debt of cheerleading to both wendelah1, for whom the first Gina Van de Kamp story was written, and who encouraged me to finish this and get it posted, and maybe_amanda, who beta'd both this and the previous story, and nagged me to finish a couple of times. MY FEELINGS ABOUT BLENDED FAMILIES LET ME SHOW YOU THEM. From: Regina Van de Kamp To: Fox Mulder Date: May 29th 2013 Subject: Graduation Dear Mulder, I wanted to let you know that we received the birthday cards and gifts you sent. I know Will is behind on writing his thank you notes, but he very much appreciated them. He hung Sadie's picture on the wall in his bedroom, even. I also wanted to let you know that Will is having his fifth grade graduation this June, on the 24th. He was chosen by his class to give a speech, which he's quite proud of. We're having a little party to celebrate on that Sunday (the 23rd), and I wanted to invite you three to that and the ceremony. You must be busy with your work, but if you could make it I know Will would be very pleased to see you. I haven't mentioned this to him yet, though, so please don't worry if you can't make it. Sincerely, Gina Van de Kamp From: Mulder To: Regina Van de Kamp CC: Scully [private] Date: May 29th 2013 Subject: Re: Graduation Glad to hear the package got there. I'm never sure whether to trust the postal service or not. Sadie has continued to manufacture Will pictures. Unless he needs his room re-wallpapered, I'll continue strategically recycling the majority of them. We'll be there. Let us know if there's a decent motel nearby. Or, really, a not-so-decent one. -Mulder *** It was hot, nearly eighty-five, and Gina wiped her forehead with the back of her hand as she pulled the potato salad out of the fridge. The meat looked like it had marinated enough; she should tell Paul to get the grill going. She checked the clock. Quarter past two now, Paul's parents planning on waiting until just the nick of three to get here, her cousin Marjorie going to run late but bringing the cake. She had to make sure all the pop had gotten cold in the cooler; it was sure to cool off soon enough, but she was sure everyone would appreciate a cool drink anyway. The screen door opened and slammed, and she winced. "Ginny? You in here?" Angela hollered. "I left the kids outside, they're headed for the tire swing." At least the kids weren't tromping through the place yet. Small blessings. "I'm in the kitchen," she called back, and wiped her hands on her apron. Angela came through the door with bags hanging off her arms. "I bought those chips you wanted, and an extra few jars of dip. I figure you can't go wrong that way, can you? Ugh, it's hot today." She sat down at the table and dropped the bags on the floor with a heavy thunk, which Gina desperately hoped wasn't those dip jars breaking. "Where's the man of honor?" "He's up in his room. I think he's embarrassed by all the attention." She smiled, thinking of Will when he told her that he'd be giving the fifth-grade speech; she hadn't even known he'd put himself in the running. Paul had been so shy as a boy, and she'd worried Will would take after him. He was more like her when it came to people, though, and goodness knows he was smart. "Well, we'd better embarrass him worse, right? William Van de Kamp!" she called. "Get down here and give your auntie a big kiss." Gina made the effort to keep a straight face as she asked, "Did Mike come?" "Oh, don't get me started," Angela said, which Gina knew meant she was going to get started on it just as soon as Will was gone again. She'd started wondering if it was wrong to pray for a couple to divorce, just for the sake of her own sanity. Will slipped into the kitchen with a little smile on his face. "Hey, Aunt Gilly." Gina smiled while listening to Angela gush over how grown-up Will looked, and went back to the fridge for the stuffed tomatoes. Now, if they could just get things set up before anybody else arrived, she could manage to look like she knew how to throw a party. She turned to ask Will to help carry things out, and noticed that his head had snapped up, like he was listening to something. "What is it, Will?" "I think my other parents are here," he said. He had that far off look on his face, the one he got sometimes. It used to be funny, how he knew who was coming in the gate before they did, and they would joke about his Clark Kent hearing, but after December, well, she found it a lot less amusing. She took a cleansing breath that she hoped wasn't too noticeable. "Well, why don't you go show them where to park their car, then?" "Okay." He didn't run out of the room, but she could tell he wanted to. She followed him out, fidgeting absently with her apron, and Angela followed her. Will left the front door open, and through the screen they watched the rental car pull up to the front of the house. Will opened the back door, and unbuckled the obviously overeager Sadie from her carseat. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on like a barnacle. He stumbled slightly from her weight. *She's getting too big to be carried like that,* Gina thought, and then followed it with her instinctual mantra, *not my kid, not my decision.* It felt particularly hollow in this instance. "So that's them," Angela said quietly. Will went up to the passenger window, which Dana rolled down; he must have been telling them where to put the car. Dana noticed them at the door, and waved, with a sort of forced unanxiousness on her face. Gina responded, imagining that she must look about the same. "That's them. And their daughter." "I can't believe you're doing this," Angela said. "Neither can I, most days," Gina said, and sighed. Will carried Sadie, who hadn't stopped talking since he got her out of the car, up the stairs to the glider on the porch. "We had to go on two airplanes," she was saying. "And we saw all the farms, and all the mountains, and I kept asking Daddy where your farm was and where our mountain was and he said we couldn't find them and stop asking. And does your farm have cows and horses on it, and can I meet them? Daddy didn't know that either. What about ducks? And then at the airport they didn't have our car and Mama had to yell at the car lady and then we had our car and it was red! We've never had a red car before." "Uh-huh," Will said calmly. Gina stepped out onto the porch. Sadie glanced up and saw her, and gave a big dramatic wave. "Hi Aunt Gina! We took a plane!" "I was hearing that," she said. It was hard not to be won over by this little girl, although, having watched Will's birthparents as closely as possible from a distance, she had no earthly idea where she got all this personality from. Then again, she wasn't sure she'd ever heard Mulder string together more than two or three sentences. Maybe he was different in private. They came around the house then, Mulder with his hands in his pockets, Dana studiously blank. She came down the steps and did her best to smile. "Welcome. Could you find it okay?" "Yes, fine," Dana said. "Thank you for the directions." "Is the hotel all right?" "The beds turn on!" Sadie yelled with enthusiasm. "She's a satisfied customer," Mulder said, nodding up at her on the porch. "I, on the other hand, am out of quarters." "Well," Gina said. "We're glad you could make it. I'm just setting up the food now." "Can we help?" There was something awkward about the way they both were standing, and she suddenly realized it; she was between them and Will, and they weren't quite sure if they should go to him directly. She had been about to ask for Mulder's help carrying the cooler of meat out towards the grill, but said hastily, "No, please, you're guests. I know that Will's been looking forward to spending some time with you, especially before the family all descends. And I hear," she said, pitching her voice back over her shoulder, "that someone might be interested in going out to see the horses." "There are horses?" Sadie said, nearly shrieking in excitement. "See, Daddy? I knew there were gonna be horses!" Mulder sighed. "It was a very long flight." "I can imagine," Gina said. "Sit. It'll be a bit before food's ready." And she went up the stairs, smiling at Will on the glider. As she went back into the house, she heard the muted noises of greetings from the porch, and quiet voices talking. In the kitchen, she braced herself against the fridge, and closed her eyes to get centered. *** It was the end of the evening. Most everyone had gone; she waved goodbye to Marjorie as she pulled out, and then turned to go back in the house. Mulder and Dana were sitting in the glider. His arm was around her shoulder, and her head was leaning against his chest; they were both watching Will and Sadie where they lay on the hill out towards the road, staring up at the sky and talking in voices too low to carry. They noticed her coming up, and straightened, as if there was something too intimate in sitting there like that. "It's been a wonderful party," Dana said. "We should probably take Sadie back to the hotel. Get out of your hair." "There's no rush," Gina said, and meant it. She'd felt bad for Mulder and Dana the whole day; her family had been more than a little hostile, and even once that had mostly passed, no one quite knew how to incorporate these strangers from the east coast into conversations about beef futures and the drought cycle. She and Paul had made an effort--Paul and Mulder had had some sort of conversation over the grill for a while, actually, she'd have to ask about that--but there was just so much to do, and they didn't have it much easier. The only person who had seemed to know what to do with them was Will. At least there was that. She sat down on the lawn chair someone had set up on the porch next to the glider. "When do you leave? Tuesday?" "Wednesday, actually, but fairly early," Dana said. "We should probably drive down to Cheyenne Tuesday night." She cleared her throat. "Will doesn't have school on Tuesday, if you'd like to come over for a while before you get on the road." "We don't want to intrude," Dana said quietly, and Mulder shifted uncomfortably next to her. Gina struggled for a moment to find the right words, and then gave it a shot. "No, it would be good. It will be--a while--before we all get to see each other again. So might as well make the most of the trip." There was another still moment, but, glancing over at them, it seemed to be one of relief more than anything else. "Thank you," Dana said. "We'd like that." She glanced over at Mulder, and Gina thought he nodded, though she wasn't sure his head really moved. "There's something we wanted to talk to you about, actually." She tried to push down the nervousness. "Oh?" Dana seemed at a loss for words, but Gina was still surprised when Mulder spoke. "We have money. Money that we saved for Will. In case..." He shrugged. "In case what happened in December ever needed to happen. In case he ever needed rescuing." It took her breath away to hear him say that--all these years, they'd known that something was possible, and they'd been prepared for it--and they hadn't found them. Paul said that they had said they didn't know what was going on, just that Will was in danger; she wonders how long they'd been watching. "The point is," Mulder continued. "The point is, he's not going to need rescuing anymore. Whatever threats there were, they're gone. Or gone enough. And he's here, and he's fine, so. We don't need to hold on to it. So we want to give it to him. Or, I mean, to you, for him." He made a gesture with the hand that wasn't around Dana's shoulder. She was shaking her head almost before he finished. "I'm sure you'll need it. For Sadie's education, or--" Mulder laughed. "It's a funny thing. But, apparently, saving the world is a paycheck that comes with a lot of zeros. At least when you've got people as good as ours handling the business side. No, we've got enough for Sadie. This was Will's, always. It's...it's blood money. From way back." He looked over at her, and she thought it might be the first time he'd ever looked her full in the face. "It needs to go to something good." She swallowed. She didn't know what he meant by blood money, but she thought it was probably more literal than usual. "I'll have to talk it over with Paul." "We have papers," Dana said, and Mulder looked a little relieved not to have to talk anymore. "From our accountant. She'll probably want to talk to your accountant, to figure out the best way to minimize the tax burden, but that's a different issue. We can give them to you before we leave." She looked out towards the road, and nudged Mulder. "Look. I think she fell asleep." Gina looked out. Will was coming down the hill, holding Sadie over his shoulder. He staggered a little across the uneven ground, and Mulder stood and went down the steps to take the sleeping girl from him. "You wore her out," he said quietly, rubbing her back. "She kept trying to make up new constellations," Will said. "I told her there weren't any robots, but she didn't believe me." "Well, why aren't there any robots? Robots are awesome," Mulder said. "Ask the ancient Greeks," Will said, and grinned. Mulder ruffled his hair. "You're taller." "You said that this afternoon." "I mean since this afternoon." Will rolled his eyes. "I guess we should get the sleeping dragon here back to the motel." "OK," Will said. "See you at the ceremony tomorrow." Dana stood up and held out her hand to Gina. "Thank you, Gina. You're a wonderful hostess. And please, thank Paul for us." Gina stood and took the hand. "See you tomorrow. I hope you have a good night." She thought she detected a sadness in Dana's face as she hugged Will good night, a moment when, with her arms around him so he couldn't see her face, she let herself feel something that she didn't want him to see. But when she pulled away, she was smiling again. "Good night, Will." "Good night, Mom," Will said quietly. He hadn't called her that all day, Gina realized, not in front of anybody. But it didn't seem wrong, even if she got a little twisted up to hear it. Mulder's head was leaning against Sadie's as he carried her to the car. Dana followed close behind, her hand on his waist. Will came and sat on the arm of Gina's chair. She put her arm around her son, and watched the stars twist in the light. *** From: Mulder To: Regina Van de Kamp Date: November 5th 2013 Subject: Re: on for 6:30 us/4:30 you? Sorry today's Skype had to end so abruptly. We're having to be exceedingly strict about the tantrums at this point, and I wasn't in favor of losing my laptop to an errant kick. Tell Will we'll schedule something for next week, provided she doesn't get too many timeouts. (I'll try to swing it so she doesn't.) Anyway, there was something I wanted to bring up out of Will's hearing anyway. Scully's family is planning a big reunion over the holidays (they're saying 27th-2nd as of right now) at her brother's place in San Diego. It's kind of a big deal; they do this once every couple years, and it's organized by Scullys, so it's roughly the most programmed seven consecutive days you've ever experienced. Anyway, we'd love it if you could get down for it this year. I know the Scully cousins aren't a particularly big draw, but Maggie'd really like to see him again, and her health's not so great, so I don't really want to take any chances. Plus, I believe you know the way Sadie feels on the subject. I was thinking we all should split a suite in the hotel where we stayed at the last one of these (we have officially given up trying to share space with her siblings, and it has made it so much better). That way the kids can annoy each other all the time, and we'll all have an escape hatch from the Family Togetherness. Oh, and tell Paul that CD he sent me sucks, and I'm sending him another one. -m. From: Regina Van de Kamp To: Fox Mulder Date: November 8th 2013 Subject: Holidays Hi, Mulder-- Sorry for not responding right away. We had to check things out in terms of scheduling here. It looks like Will and I should be able to make it to San Diego for the reunion. Paul sends his regrets, but it's too hard to get enough help for the ranch for that long so we could all go at once. The suite sounds like a great idea. When are you flying in? We'll arrange to get there at about the same time. -Ginny *** "I thought the highlight of the evening was when Kaylynne stole Charlie's car," Mulder said, leaning back in the easy chair and putting his feet up on the coffee table. "That did have a certain je ne sais quoi," Dana said. She tipped her head back as she drank her beer, and then leaned down to unzip her boots. "I'm still voting for Tonya calling her mother a cunt over dessert." "I gotta hand it to your family, Scully," Mulder said. "You know how to throw a party." He turned to Gina at the table. "Regretting ever having met us yet?" "You haven't met my brother-in-law," she said. "It's entertaining, I'll give you that." Sadie came out of her room wearing a bright purple dress and a tiara, with a stuffed boa constrictor under her arm. "Daddy, I want money." "This is starting young," he said. She climbed up onto his legs and balanced near his knees. "I want to go play the video games with Will. Gimme money." Mulder sighed, and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. "Will?" Will stepped out of their room. He'd changed into pajamas, but she hadn't heard teeth being brushed yet. She took a long sip of her beer. Oh, it was a vacation, she wasn't going to nag him. "What is it?" "We're going to play the video games," Sadie declared. "Mom?" Will asked. "It's fine," Gina said, just as Dana said "Don't stay too long." Mulder chucked his wallet at Will. "Don't let her play anything too gory. And save some cash for the vending machine on the way back. I want a Twix." Dana made a grunting noise from behind her beer. "And peanut butter M&Ms," he added. Will looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. Gina's been wondering if he's studied how Dana does it; it's not that he never did it before they all met, but he seemed to have cultivated it now. "I'll have a Snickers," she said. "Take my phone, too," Mulder said, rustling around in his pocket. "It's only two floors," Will said. "I'm paranoid. Your mom's number one, and your other mom's number nine." He rolled his eyes. "I know my own mother's phone number. Both of them." "Don't be a smartass," Mulder said, dropping the phone in his hand. "Come here." He pulled him in for a hug, which Will acted like he didn't want, but Gina could see him smiling. "Okay, scram. Sadie, no escaping." "I'm not escaping. Hold Stewart." She dropped the snake into Mulder's lap and ran for the door. "I wanna drive the cars first." Will followed her out the door, arguing against the racing game, and for something with asteroids. Mulder picked up Stewart and regarded him solemnly. "I can't decide how we got such a weird kid." "Really, Mulder?" Dana said. "That's a mystery to you?" They finished off the rest of the case of beer Mulder had bought the first night. ("Trust me," he'd said when she'd seen it before they left for the first of the family dinners; she'd turned to him, halfway through a loud argument between Bill and Charlie about something that had happened thirty years ago, while Maggie tried vainly to intervene, and muttered, "I trust you.") Mulder and Dana had gotten sucked into a long, convoluted story about a series of voicemails from Bill when they'd been on a case, back in their FBI days. At some point they'd started arguing about werewolves, and Gina hadn't followed the transition between the topics, but they could keep going forever, she could tell. Will had texted twice, once to secure permission to stay out longer, and once to ask for Mulder's ATM PIN, which he handed over without comment. They hit a lull in the conversation. Dana looked half-asleep on the couch, and Mulder'd appeared to run out of words and was examining the label on his bottle. Watching them, she was hit with it again, that this was where her son had come from. "I'm so grateful," she said suddenly, and they both looked up at her. "I'm so grateful we have you in our lives." She'd thought this before. When she'd finally admitted on her adoption support bulletin board that they were in contact with Will's birthparents now, every single response had been one of horror, of how they could never imagine doing that, they'd be so frightened of what they'd learn, or that they were certain that it would be terrible for their children. And she'd thought, well, sure, maybe, but how wondrous it was to learn that there were other people out there in the world who loved your child as much as you did. And of course it was hard, but everything was hard, and she thought this was worth it. But neither of them could look at her now; Mulder had closed his eyes like it hurt, and Dana had flickered her gaze to him, and then down to the ground. "I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have said anything." "No," Dana said. "Thank you. I'm--" She took a long ragged breath. "I'm grateful too. But it's hard sometimes, as I'm sure you can appreciate." "I can." She'd wondered why, since the first day she'd held Will in her arms, perfect and beautiful and smiling, how anyone could say goodbye to this child. Will hadn't said if they had told him anything about it, and she hadn't wanted to press, because this is his history, and she's not going to pry into it if he doesn't want to tell her. But he'd showed her the photo album after breakfast in the compound in Stark, that small, sad blue book full of photos she wished she'd had all these years. (They'd sent Will copies of some of them. He kept them in his bedside table, not that she'd ever admit she'd looked.) She'd seen enough blood in the past year to know they had their reasons, and that they were good ones. And here they were, now, anyway. Mulder shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and skewered Dana with a long sharp gaze across the room. She returned it, and then somehow seemed to shrug without moving, as if giving him permission. "Of course I'm grateful," he said, but to Dana, not her. "We found him. And he's got a family. A good one. How could I not be grateful for that?" The suite door clicked open, and she watched as their faces snapped back to perfect calm, as if this conversation had never happened. Her fingers were trembling slightly, the adrenaline rush still in her bloodstream. Sadie was holding two vending-machine ice cream cones, and Will had an armload of candy in the crook of his elbow. "Daddy, I crashed the cars!" Sadie said. "Sounds like fun," he said. Will dropped the candy on the table. Sadie handed him one of the ice cream cones, and he ripped off the paper. "She shoots really well for a little kid," he said conversationally. "William," Gina said, sharply. "She's too young to be playing violent games." "It was just Duck Hunt," he said, around a mouthful of ice cream. "And Zombie Hunt," Sadie said. Will shot her a look. "Daddy, are zombies real?" "Of course they're real," he said. "Everything's real. I got bit by a zombie once." "What happened?" she asked, taking a big bite of her ice cream, and causing a cascade of chocolate and peanuts onto Mulder's jeans. Mulder rapped his head with his hand. "No brains, nothing to eat. Then your mom shot a bunch of them." "That's not how it happened, Mulder," Scully said. He shrugged. "Close enough." Will licked the trail of ice cream running down his hand. He bent through the pile of candy and pulled out a Snickers, slid it across the little table to her. "I got you what you wanted," he said, continuing to eat his ice cream. She picked up the candy bar, and looked around the room at her son and his parents and his sister. And it was so strange, but yes, she did have what she wanted, she was reasonably sure.