Home Is Where The Heart Is (4/8)
by Amanda Hawthorn

Feedback: amanda_shepherd@live.co.uk      
Rating: R
Spoilers: Home Again (10 x 4)
Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully do not belong to me unfortunately.
                                        
Author's Notes: Thank you so much to everyone who has left
reviews, PM's and favoured/followed this story. I am incredibly
humbled by the response to this.

As always thanks to my friends Purdy's Pal, JediSkysinger and
DaisyDay for their support


Chapter 4

Soft light emanated from the lamp on the desk, bathing the study in
a warm glow. Mulder ushered Scully into the room first, his hand
resting against her lower back as he guided her inside. This was one
part of the Scully residence that he hadn't been into before but
Mulder noted that all around the room, there was a huge presence
of Scully's father.

"My dad used to spend a lot of his time in here," Scully mused as a
small smile crossed her lips. "This was his Aladdin's cave."

"Really?" Mulder's gaze took in the array of various books that sat
neatly on the many shelves, and he wished that he could have had a
chance to meet the man in person. Maybe he wouldn't have been
as bad tempered as the younger Bill Scully... and maybe, just
maybe he would have found an ally in the older man.

Lucy smiled warmly, beckoning them to join her by the large desk
that sat in the middle of the room. She saw Mulder's eyes drop
down onto the surface where various packages were placed in neat
piles, each with a different name marked in black writing. As she
watched the couple before her should couldn't help but feel a burst
of affection towards the pair of them. Her sister had called their
relationship a special kind of love...something that Lucy could
plainly see for herself since the moment she had seen them together.
As she focussed on Mulder she could plainly see that he was having
an inner war. He wore his turmoil like a beacon, even though he
thought he hid it from everyone around him. What he didn't realise
was that Maggie had seen something in him that caused her to add
him into her family...there was no other higher honour than that.

Mulder suddenly felt like an intruder in what was a deeply personal
family room. He loved Scully more than anything and he was here
to support her in every possible way...but this felt like he was taking
the place of Bill Scully jr...and lord knows that man didn't need any
more reasons to hate him.

"Are you sure you want me in here for this, Scully?" Mulder asked,
keeping his voice soft as he spoke. "I can wait outside if-"

"What?" Scully asked in confusion, already reaching out to grasp
his hand. "Why wouldn't I want you here?"

Mulder held onto her fingers and brought them up to press a tender
kiss onto her knuckles before he brought their joined hands to his
chest.

"This was your father's study..."

"And?"

"You have family things to discuss," Mulder told her honestly as he
ran his thumb across her fingers. "I'll-"

"You are family, Mulder," Scully's voice rose slightly in volume as
she grasped his hand tighter by way of cementing that fact. "You're
my family."

"Fox..."

Lucy's soft utterance of his name tore his attention away from his
partner to look across at the older woman who was holding out a
small package towards him. His confusion gave way to curiosity as
her unwavering smile caused him to release Scully's hand and take
a tentative step towards her.

"What's-"

"My sister loved you, Fox," Lucy told him, her eyes glistening with
unshed tears. "She left this here for you."

The lump in Mulder's throat threatened to steal what little grasp he
had on his already frayed emotions. The fact that Margaret Scully
had left him anything spoke volumes and he found himself reaching
out to take the package from her hand.

Looking down at it, he saw his name written clearly in Mrs. Scully's
unique scrawl and for a few moments he was torn between opening
it now or taking it away to open it in private. He felt his partner step
closer into his side, her presence filling him with the courage he
needed to face his grief for the woman they both loved. So, with
trembling fingers he pulled open the seal and peered inside.

He felt his heart thumping wildly inside his chest when he realised
just how significant this gift was for him. Tipping the package
upright he held out his hand to catch the contents that spilled out
into his palm.

Scully gasped in a breath beside him and when he looked towards
her he could already see her eyes swimming with tears. Blinking
back the moisture in his own eyes, Mulder held up the object in his
hand and took in all the details of the heavy Rolex watch between
his fingers.

"That was dad's favourite watch; mom gave it to him for his
birthday..." Scully whispered shakily, her voice almost breaking as
she spoke. "I know he would have really liked you."

"I..."

"Mom loved you, Mulder," she reassured him softly as she brought
her hand to rest on his forearm. "Dad would have accepted you for
that reason alone."

"I...I don't know what to say," Mulder gasped out, his voice
breaking a little when the significance if the watch spoke volumes to
him. "I..."

"She left something else," Lucy told them, her soft voice breaking
through his. "Something for both of you."

"Something else?" Scully asked, shaking her head as she spoke.
"She changed her will and left this whole house to me... I... she 
shouldn't have..."

"Wait, she left you this?" Mulder asked, holding his arm up to
gesture the room. "But..."

"That's what I was going to tell you," Scully told him, her eyes
swimming with unshed tears. "Aunt Lucy gave me a letter from my
mom...she wants...wanted...William...to have a real home...here,
with us..."

"But..."

"I know," Scully gasped out as a single tear broke free to roll down
her cheek. Clutching his hand she leaned into his shoulder and
closed her eyes. This whole gesture from her mother only
succeeded to make the past few weeks all the more confusing. "I
don't know why either...I..."

"Your mother had her reasons," Lucy told them, choosing her
words carefully. "She had dreams of her grandson coming home
here. I don't think she ever really believed he was gone from her life
forever."

"But he can't..." Scully managed through the ball of grief that welled
constantly within her. "It doesn't matter how...desperately we need
him...it's...impossible..."

"Nothing is ever impossible, Dana," Lucy told her gently as she
lifted a large flat box off of the table and held it out to the two of
them. "Here."

Scully eyed the box suspiciously before she slowly withdrew from
Mulder's side to regard the item in her aunt's hand.

"What is is?"

"It's something your mother wanted you both to have," she smiled.
"It belongs to you...it always did."

Scully took the box from Lucy and watched in confusion when her
aunt made her way towards the door.

"Wait...where are you-"

"I believe that you and Fox need to look at it in private," she said
cryptically. "Call me when you're done...I'll make us some tea."

Mulder's gaze flittered between the box in Scully's hand and her
vacating aunt. This whole day hadn't turned out in any way that he'd
thought it would. He was still reeling from Margaret's first gift to him
and he hadn't even begun to process the prospect of Scully owning
this house...and now...there was something else...

Scully looked up at him and met his gaze. She didn't know if she
could take any more surprises today, not after everything she'd
learned since they had first arrived. Moving towards the desk she
placed the box onto the flat surface before lifting off the lid. Inside
was what looked like her parent's wedding album, a memento of a
much happier day. Lifting it out of its protective box she pushed the
outer package further towards the middle of the desk before laying
the album onto the mahogany surface. She had no idea why her
mother left her wedding album to both her and Mulder, maybe it
was just her way of saying how much she approved of their
relationship. Scully doubted that they would ever know her
mother's motives but she pushed her questions to the back of her
mind as she opened the album to look inside...and gasped in a
breath.

"What..." Mulder placed his watch back into its package and laid it
on the desk before he stepped closer to Scully to see what had
caused her to whole body to tremble. As he peered over her
shoulder he felt his knees almost falter and he held onto the desk
for support when he found his gaze locked onto the photographs
laid out before him...photographs of their son...

Scully's vision blurred with tears as she reached out blindly to trace
her fingertip over the images placed neatly in the photo album. She
didn't have any photos left apart from the one she and Mulder
shared...but this...these precious photographs were worth more
than anything she'd been given today...and with the photos came
the memories, each one surging through her to bring an ache she
never thought she could feel again.

Beside her, she could feel the man she loved unable to hold onto his
wavering emotions. He had been so strong for her, so supportive,
but he was finding it just as difficult as she was right now. Lifting her
head she looked up at him and gasped in a breath. She had seen
him broken before, many times...but nothing could have prepared
her for the complete devastation he openly displayed for her now.

The tears that had been pooling in her eyes slowly spilled over onto
her cheeks to carve wet tracks over her face. Grief and loss
echoed those in her partners eyes...bonding them together in ways
that only they could know...and as the man she loved more than
anyone else in the world crumbled beside her, she knew that she
had to be the strong one this time.

Taking his hand in hers, she closed the album and picked it up with
her free hand and guided him over towards the small love seat in
the corner of the room, maneuvering him onto it. Releasing his
hand, she sank down beside him and leaned into his trembling
body, echoing the small sobs that emanated from his chest with her
own as she placed the precious item onto their touching knees.

"I thought..." her voice caught in her throat as she laid her hand over
his once more, intertwining their fingers over their precious son. "I
burnt them...all...everything...and at the time I thought it was to
protect him..."

"Scully..."

"I told myself it was for his sake..." she managed, her voice
cracking with every word. "But it was...for mine..."

Unable to trust his own voice not to break if he spoke, Mulder just
clutched her hand tighter as she opened the album once more.
Memories filled him to bring a fresh onslaught of tears to his eyes.
He should have been there with her...he should have taken both of
them with him and disappeared...maybe if he had then they would
have all been together today...but...there was no time for what if's
any more.

Leaning in closer he pressed his lips to her temple and swallowed
hard against the lump in his throat. They were together and their son
was alive and free, living a normal childhood because of the
sacrifice she...they...had made.

"He's safe..." he whispered into her hair; his tears falling onto the
soft strands. "He's safe..."

Scully broke into a sob and leant further into him as she took
comfort from his forgiving words. They had fought their own battles
and carried many scars, the deepest ones being the loss of the
beautiful child, whose image looked back up at them from the
album held beneath their joined hands.

Focussing on one of the most precious images she thought she had
lost forever... Scully allowed her sadness to flow freely as she
gazed down onto a black and white photograph of Mulder with a
sleeping William nestled on his chest. It was then that she knew she
would never forget how much she loved them both.

Bringing their joined hands to her lips, Scully placed a kiss onto his
fingers before she turned up to face him. Their eyes met and it was
all she needed for the words she hadn't spoken aloud for so long to
tumble from her lips...

"I love you, Mulder..."


Continued in Chapter 5