We Gather Together
by devout2David

RATED: PG for a few curse words here and 
there. Nothing you haven't heard before. 
The timeline is post IWTB.

Summary: Somehow, Mulder and Scully have 
Thanksgiving dinner with William, but things 
never seem to go as everyone planned.

Disclaimer: The names of Mulder and Scully 
contained herein are the property of Chris 
Carter, 10Thirteen Productions and Fox 
Television. No Infringements of these 
copyrights are intended, and are used here 
without permission. I am only borrowing them 
for fun and not for resale or anything 
involving money-exchanging hands. However, 
there ARE fictitious characters contained 
within this story other than those of 10-13, 
Chris Carter and Fox, which are mine, belong 
to me and are MY creations.
 
This story was written for the 2010 
Thanksgiving challenge. This is not my first 
fanfic but it IS the first one I've done for a 
challenge in about 5 years. Please note that 
for artistic purposes only I have made William 
just ten-years-old as opposed to nine. While 
this might strike some as odd, I decided it 
fit best for my story. Besides, I never liked 
following the rules much. Hope you like it! 
Enjoy!


*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Thanksgiving Day
November 25, 2010

Maggie Scully's House
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Her hands shook as she tried once again to 
button her blouse.  Once finished, she turned, 
looking this way and that, in the mirror.  She 
sighed.  It wasn't right. The blouse wasn't 
right and she turned away, unbuttoning it and 
taking it off.  She tossed it haphazardly 
across the foot of the bed and went back to 
the closet.

"Scully?"

She turned to look in his direction as he 
entered the bedroom.

"Why aren't you dressed?" he asked. "We have 
to leave in a couple of minutes."

She spread her palms open to him and sighed.

"What?" he asked her. "What is it?"

"I-I. . . " she began and her bottom lip 
trembled. She bit down.

He came to her and touched her face gently, 
smiling.

"It's okay," he said. "I know."

He pulled her into him and his arms encircled 
her.  She melted into the safety of his arms 
and a single tear slid down the side of her 
nose, leaving a small spot on his shirt. 

"I haven't seen him since the day I gave him 
away," she said. "I-I want. . ."

"You want to look just right for him," he 
said, then pulled back out of their embrace a 
little to look down into her sparkling eyes.  
He kissed her softly.  "You do.  You look 
beautiful and he'll know you're his mother the 
moment he sees you."

She wiped her eyes and turned away from him. 
She walked back to the closet. He sat down on 
the edge of the bed and watched her search for 
something to wear.  He picked up the blouse 
she had thrown on the bed a few moments 
before.

"What's wrong with this?" he said, holding it 
out to her. "Too sexy, right?"

He waggled his eyebrows at her.

She turned to look and tried to frown at him, 
but a small smile played along her mouth. She 
simply shook her head at him and said, "Too 
tight across the shoulders."

He laid it back across the bed neatly. He 
heard her sigh.

"I didn't bring the one I thought I had," she 
said aloud, more to herself than to him.

"What about your sweater?" he asked, trying to 
appear helpful. 

With her back still turned, her gesture of 
placing her hands on her hips told him that 
that had not been an appropriate suggestion.

Someone knocked softly on their bedroom door 
and Maggie called to them from the other side 
of the door. "Are you dressed?"

"It's okay, Mom," Scully called back to her. 
"Come in."

Maggie opened the door slowly and hesitated 
only when she saw him sitting on the bed. She 
smiled at him then looked towards her 
daughter.

"Why, Dana!" she exclaimed. "You're not even 
dressed yet!"

Scully rolled her eyes. Mulder couldn't help 
but smirk a little. He got up from the bed and 
slipped quietly out of the room, closing the 
door silently behind him.

She saw him leave and knew why without even 
asking. But as she turned to face her mother, 
she started to sob.  Maggie came to her 
daughter's side and hugged her.

"I know, sweetie, I know," Maggie said, 
soothingly. "It's going to be all right, it 
really is."

Scully wiped at her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just feeling so 
many things right now.  I haven't felt this 
emotional in a long time."

Maggie smiled. "You're feeling excited about 
seeing him again. Frightened, because you 
don't know what to do or say. You're also 
feeling sad that you've missed so much of his 
life and his milestones and you're feeling 
that pain of loss all over again. Am I right?"

Scully nodded.

"I understand, honey" Maggie said and hugged 
her again reassuringly. "I DO."

"But what do I say to him?" Scully whispered.

"Why not just start by saying 'hello' first 
and let the rest come as it will," Maggie 
said.

"I'm just so afraid that Mulder and I won't be 
the people he expects us to be. I'm afraid he 
won't like us, that he'll hate us for giving 
him up and he won't want to get to know us at 
all."

Maggie hugged her again. "Now, you listen to 
me. You did what you had to do to protect him. 
You did what you had to do in order for him to 
not only be safe but to grow up with as a 
normal a life as possible. His adoptive 
parents were good people and they raised him 
to be a fine and healthy young man. Of that, 
you can be proud."

Scully pulled away and smiled at her. "I am, 
Mom, I am."

Maggie kissed her forehead and got up to 
leave.

"Mom?"

Maggie stopped at the door, and turned back to 
look at her.

"Thank you," Scully said.

"It'll be all right, sweetheart," she said and 
left the room.

Scully got up and went back to the closet to 
look one last time for something to ear. 
Finding nothing she liked, she went back to 
the bed and picked up the blouse she had 
tossed there earlier. She sighed and thought 
to herself.

It's better than nothing.


 
*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *   


Mulder relaxed in the driver's seat. He had 
concentrated so hard on getting to their 
destination safely and on time that he hadn't 
realized how tensely he had been driving.  The 
ache in his shoulders burned and he knew he 
had to loosen up on the tight grip he had held 
for the last twenty minutes. 

Scully, on the other hand, fussed beside him. 
One moment she was looking in the sun visor's 
mirror, the next she was staring out the 
window mindlessly. Another moment she was 
fussing with the contents of her purse and the 
next she was staring out of the window again.

He knew she was anxious but he had no idea she 
was this nervous about seeing William again. 
Granted it had been ten years but still he 
hadn't thought of this moment as much as she 
had. He felt a pang of guilt about that. 

He had barely gotten to know about her 
pregnancy. He had hardly had enough time to be 
a father.  There had been little, if no, time 
to even be there to spend time with the boy. 
Now here he was about to reunite with his 
young son.  It was just too surreal. 

Though it was only a short drive to the bus 
station, Mulder still had time to think. He 
hadn't liked the idea of William traveling 
from Wyoming to Virginia all by himself, but 
according to the social worker, the parents 
refused to come. William's adoptive parents 
were insistent he do this alone. Mulder felt 
sorry for the boy and had offered to pay for a 
plane ticket for William to fly comfortably 
both to and from his home, but the parents 
refused; albeit a bit too sternly for Mulder's 
taste.

Mulder thought of his ten-year-old son riding 
along on a Martz, seeing all parts of the 
country and having to fend for himself.  No 
wonder Scully was as restless as she was. He 
glanced over in her direction. She was staring 
out the window again. He reached over and 
clasped her hand in his. Her fingers entwined 
and he drew her hand to place a gentle kiss on 
her knuckles.

"It's going to be alright," he said.

"I know."

A silence spread before them before he quipped 
at her, "Did I tell you that you look pretty 
hot for the mother of a ten-year-old?"

That made her laugh a little. "No."

He reached across and took her hand. He lay a 
soft kiss on the back of it and then touched 
it seductively with the tip of tongue before 
kissing it again.

She blushed, knowing what this sweet gesture 
meant.

At the bus stop, they stood together anxious 
to see their son step off the bus for the 
first time.  As they waited, Mulder laid a 
comforting arm around her shoulders and pulled 
her to him. She shivered against the cold and 
he felt her body tremble against his.

The bus pulled into the station a few moments 
later and she took a step towards it and away 
from Mulder.

They waited, watching the passengers get off 
one by one until they saw him coming down the 
stairs.

There he was.

Scully's hands automatically went to her mouth 
and she held her breath as the boy's eyes 
sought them out.

He saw them standing there.  

He flipped his red backpack onto one shoulder 
and jammed his hands into his pockets of his 
baggy blue jeans. To Mulder, he didn't look as 
though he were ten years old at all. The boy 
seemed older, more mature for such a young 
age.

He walked over to them, slowly, a bit shy.  
His bangs fell over his eyes slightly and his 
hair curled up a little on the collar of his 
jacket. When he got closer, Mulder noticed the 
familiar shape of the boy's eyes and mouth. 
The nose was definitely Scully's as was his 
eye color. He was tall and lanky, obviously 
taking after Mulder's side of the family.

When the boy approached them, his eyes widen 
like Scully's did when she was surprised.

"Hello," Scully said.

"Hi," he answered back quickly.

"I-I'm . . ." she began but stopped as her 
emotions surfaced.

"I know," William said. "You're my mother, 
Dana Scully."

Scully nodded to him.

He turned and looked directly at Mulder. "And 
you're my father, Fox Mulder."

"Yes," Mulder answered with a gentle smile at 
the boy.

"Cool," came back his reply.

Scully took a step towards him and started to 
hug him, but he pulled back. 

"I-I'm sorry. . . I-I just wanted to hug you," 
she said.

"Oh, sorry," he said and embraced her a bit 
awkwardly.

She held him hesitantly at first and then she 
relaxed, hugging him as any mother would when 
reunited with their child again after a long 
absence. She didn't hold back now and allowed 
her tears to flow freely.

"I've thought of you and have worried about 
you every day," she said. "I prayed for you 
every night that you were safe and happy and 
loved."

William said nothing.

She pulled back, placing her hands on both of 
his cheeks; she looked into eyes and smiled. 
"I've missed you so much."

William nodded. "I missed you, too,... Mom."

She hugged him to her again and this time, 
William tightly embraced her right back.


*     *     *     *     *     *    *      *   


On the drive back to her mother's house, 
Scully sat in the backseat with the boy.  They 
talked softly together as Mulder drove and he 
caught only a few bits and pieces of their 
conversation.

"I named you William," Mulder heard her say. 
"Is that still your name?"

"No," he said. "My name is Kyle but my middle 
name is William. I'm Kyle William McNamara 
now. But the kids at school call me 'K-Mac' 
for short."

Scully laughed. 

"That's a cool name, buddy," Mulder said as he 
looked at him in the rear-view mirror.

"Thanks."

"So, how are you doing in school?" she asked 
him.

"Oh, it's okay," he told her. "I really like 
math and science, but I hate spelling. I'm not 
very good at it."

"Well, I know someone here who wasn't that 
good at it either," she said.

Mulder shushed her.

"Who?"

"Me!" Mulder said, as he winked at him through 
the rear-view mirror.

Kyle laughed and for the first time since they 
met, he finally started to relax a little.


*     *      *     *     *      *     *     *    


Maggie Scully's house was full of people.  
Adults mingled in the living room and dining 
room and the children were scattered to all 
parts of the downstairs. Bill and Tara's 
children played in and around the arch 
separating the dining room and living room, 
while Charlie and his wife were coaxing their 
two children to eat food from their plates 
instead of running around like wild animals. 
Other guests were sitting or standing here and 
there. 

Kyle sat quietly, by himself, in a corner 
closest to the kitchen as Scully, Maggie and 
Tara busied themselves with making sure the 
food bowls on the table stayed full and hot. 

He ate his turkey and mashed potatoes, 
catching Scully's eye only twice as she passed 
from the kitchen into the dining room and back 
again.  She stopped only once to ask if he 
needed something to drink and she got him a 
glass of sparkling cider when he answered 
'yes'.

Maggie had stopped to ask him if he had plenty 
to eat and he answered 'yes'.  Frankly, he had 
had more than enough and the top of his jeans 
were now straining as he took another bite of 
turkey.

As he ate, he watched the activity surrounding 
him. He noticed his Uncle Bill as he huddled 
in a quiet pow-wow with his oldest child who 
looked first stricken, then crestfallen.  
Obviously, he had gotten into some sort of 
trouble and was now being reprimanded sternly 
by his father.

Kyle smirked to himself. He remembered getting 
a stern lecture from his adoptive father too 
about not leaving the barn door open and 
allowing the cows to roam freely around the 
yard.  They had eaten all of his adoptive 
mother's flowers from the front yard and were 
working on the herb garden in the back of the 
house.  Neither of them were too happy with 
him for allowing that to happen.

Mulder watched Kyle from across the room.  He 
saw him watch Bill speaking to his eldest 
child. 

Bill, in Mulder's opinion, was a man who 
needed a good enema. However, he had to admit 
that for all of his indiscretions, he was a 
loyal family man and, as much as it was 
difficult to say outloud, a good father, 
unlike himself.

Mulder couldn't bring himself to admit to 
Scully his nervousness on meeting their son 
again. He kept his fears hidden and well 
masked. She had tried to do the same but he 
knew she couldn't hold back her tears any 
longer.  He had heard her weep as he listened 
at the door of the guest room and had heard 
her mother speak to her words of comfort.  It 
made his heart ache that she hadn't confided 
in him that which he had already suspected.  
In all their years together, he knew her too 
well for her to even try to hide her feelings 
from him. He knew her heart, knew her mind. 
Knew that she was questioning everything about 
this moment as though she didn't deserve it.  
She still had not forgiven herself for giving 
William up for adoption and it would haunt her 
until she drew her last breath.

Mulder saw Bill give his eldest child a small 
smile to let the child know that although a 
wrong had been done and a punishment given, 
love was never withheld for such a small 
indiscretion. He then glanced over at Charlie 
and his wife, Jenny.

Charlie was a completely different entity than 
Bill. While Bill was the stern patriarch since 
their father's death, Charlie was the glue 
which held the family together. He was the one 
who could elicit a smile from everyone no 
matter how serious the situation.  He was 
Scully's favorite sibling and she had always 
guarded him like her own child. 

Charlie had not been there during the time of 
William's adoption due to his stint at sea, 
but he had written to her pages and pages of 
reassuring words of comfort in his letters. He 
had given her the boost she needed to go on.  
Mulder had not been enough but she never let 
on this fact until he came across one of 
Charlie's letters lying on the floor next to 
her bedside one night.

Mulder had come home late one night and found 
Scully had been reading it in bed. He thought 
she was reading a book but in fact it had been 
a letter from Charlie. A letter so personal 
and so intimate she refused to share it with 
him.  Mulder was hardly jealous of their 
closeness, but he felt left out of her 
emotional struggles with her decision.  
Charlie seemed to be the only one to reaffirm 
her and to reaffirm that as a mother she had 
done the right and proper thing.  It helped to 
lift her out of the depression she had tried 
to hide and move forward with her life and the 
work she did with Mulder.

Mulder had not meant to read the letter. He 
only meant to pick up the fallen pages from 
the floor and put them on the bedside table. 
But when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a 
sentence, curiosity got the better of him and 
that made him want to read further.  

He had gathered up all of the pages that had 
laid on the floor and placed them in order. He 
crept slowly and silently back into his study 
and began to read:



Hey Sis!

I can't tell you how happy I was to finally 
get this letter of yours. Six months at sea is 
rough enough but without communications from 
family and friends, its absolute torture!

Now, onto what you said in your letter.

Dana, you shouldn't blame yourself. There is 
NOTHING you did that was so wrong. You did 
everything a mother is supposed to do in order 
to protect her offspring and this situation is 
no different than any other.

I can't speak for Mulder as I don't really 
know him that well and you know I won't give a 
shit what Bill says since you know he always 
was full of crap; even when we were kids.

Look, Mulder seems like a decent guy and I 
know you love him and he makes you happy so 
stop second guessing yourself and your 
feelings and just admit to yourself as well as 
to him that you love him! End of story!

If the two of you would stop trying to save a 
world that doesn't want to be saved, you'd be 
so much better off. The burden you place on 
yourselves has gotten so out of hand that you 
forget what you're fighting for.

I love you and I want to see you happy with a 
normal life, but I think I'm wasting my breath 
telling you that. 

Just promise me one thing.

Don't forget to live for you and not just for 
him. You deserve to be happy and to be able to 
smile again. I hate seeing you so sad and 
unhappy and yes, Mom tells me everything when 
you don't. But don't blame her. Blame me for 
badgering her with questions. I know you don't 
tell me everything because you still think of 
me as your baby brother and I know you don't 
want me to worry about you. I got news for you 
big sister!  I DO worry about you more when 
you aren't honest with me and you withhold 
things. Don't do that anymore and I won't 
worry so much about you.

Can't wait to see you when I get leave at 
Christmas! I'll make sure Bill plays nice with 
Mulder just so we can have a decent holiday. 
Don't want to destroy another tree like the 
last time, huh?

Anyway, I'm on duty in a half an hour so I 
need to get shit, showered and shaved.

I love you!

Charlie




Mulder remembered how he had smiled at 
Charlie's words. At that time, Mulder had 
questioned Scully's love for him since she had 
withheld much back then. But Charlie had 
encouraged her to be honest regarding her 
feelings and the next day, she had.

Mulder remembered her nervousness before she 
began to speak, how she had wrung her hands 
together and how she had refused to look at 
him directly. That conversation was more of a 
confessional for her but a wonderful 
revelation for him.  When she stopped talking, 
she still refused his request that she look at 
him.  That is until he reached over and tilted 
her chin upward, forcing her to look him in 
the face. Her eyes were the bluest he had ever 
seen them. He kissed her right then and they 
fell into each other's arms and spent a night 
of tender lovemaking, lovemaking that seemed 
to help heal the wound in her heart.

"Hey, Mulder," a voice jerked him back to the 
present. He looked up and saw Charlie standing 
there before him with a beer in one hand and 
holding out another beer towards him.

"Thanks," Mulder said as he reached out and 
took the beer from him.

"S..." Charlie began. "You guys were probably 
really nervous about today, huh?"

"Yeah, but not as much as Scul--I mean, 
Dana...was." Mulder said.  

Charlie smiled. "It's okay if you call her 
Scully. Bill is the only one who has the 
problem with that. Not me."

"Its just force of habit," Mulder said.

"I understand," Charlie said and took a sip of 
his beer. "Listen, we're going to take the 
kids out for a little while to give you guys 
some privacy."

"Oh?" Mulder said and raised his eyebrows in 
surprise.

"Yeah, we all agreed it might be better for 
all involved. We'll be back though but just 
not for awhile, okay?"

Mulder smiled genuinely at Charlie now. 
"Thanks. I know she'll appreciate the time 
alone with him, as will I."

Charlie clapped him on the shoulder before 
walking away to return to his wife.

Mulder stood up and took his now empty plate 
into the kitchen. He saw her standing at the 
sink washing dishes. He walked over to where 
she stood and placed his empty plate on the 
counter. She glanced up at him with a smile, 
took the plate and began to wash it.

He watched her for a moment then leaned down 
and grazed her cheek with a slow kiss. She 
tilted her head towards his lips and sighed. 
He stopped just at the hairline of her temple 
and breathed: "I love you" into the silken 
strands. She sighed again and said: "I love 
you, too."

Maggie entered the kitchen just as he pulled 
away.

"Now, Fox---" she began.

"Not Fox, Mom. Mulder." Scully corrected as 
she rinsed Mulder's plate and placed it in the 
dish drainer.

"Sorry, sorry, I forgot..." she apologized.

"It's okay, Mrs. Scully," Mulder answered. "My 
mother was the only one who ever called me 
that, but since she's no longer with us, I 
guess I can make an exception for you and you 
only. Okay?"

Scully turned around in surprise, drying her 
hands with a dishtowel.

Maggie smiled at him. "All right then... Fox... 
If it doesn't bother you that I call you 
that..."

He shook his head. "It doesn't."

Scully stood looking at him as he gave Maggie 
an approving smile before she left the 
kitchen.

"Well!" Scully said, folding the towel up and 
laying it on the counter.

"Yeah," he answered as he rubbed the back of 
his head, a little embarrassed.

A moment of silence and then Scully said: "I 
guess I'll go and check on Will--Kyle and see 
if he needs anything else to eat."

She started to walk away but Mulder caught her 
gently by the arm and pulled her back to him. 
 She looked up into his face expectantly but 
instead of saying anything to her, he leaned 
down and kissed her.

Soft and sweet, his warm lips caressed her 
mouth and she melted into him.  When he pulled 
away, he hugged her tightly.

"Are you happy?" he whispered into her ear.

"Very," she said.

"Want to go talk to your son?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered and pulled back from him. 
As she turned, she saw Kyle standing in the 
doorway of the kitchen, watching them. He was 
holding his empty plate and glass in his 
hands.

"Hey, buddy," Mulder said.

"I'm done eating," Kyle said. "Could I have 
some pie, please?"

"Of course you can!" Scully said and busied 
herself getting him a slice of pumpkin pie 
with whipped cream.

"Thank you," he said politely and stood back 
watching her as she placed it on the plate for 
him.

Maggie came back into the kitchen then and 
asked if they would like some coffee.  Scully 
said 'no' but Mulder said 'yes'.

"I'll just get it started then," she said, and 
then noticed Kyle standing there.

"Oh, sweetie! You startled me!"

"Sorry," he apologized.

"No, no," Maggie said. "It's okay. Did you 
have enough to eat, sweetheart?"

"Yes, ma'am," he answered. "I'm just having 
some pie now."

"Well, help yourself as there is plenty for 
all."

Suddenly Bill came into the kitchen, he looked 
first at his sister then his mother then Kyle 
and back at his mother.  He ignored Mulder.

"We're going out for a little while," he said 
to Maggie.

"Oh?" she said.

"Charlie and Jenny are taking the kids to the 
park and Tara and I are going to go along," he 
said.

"But I'm making coffee for everyone," Maggie 
insisted.

"We'll be back in a little while, Mom," Bill 
said. "It'll keep."

"But it won't be as fresh!" she insisted 
again.

Bill rolled his eyes. "Mom..."  

Maggie frowned at him. "Oh, well, if that's 
what you want to do," she said. "Just bundle 
the children up well as it's very chilly out 
there."

Bill said nothing as he turned and walked out 
of the kitchen.

Maggie then turned to Scully with a sad smile. 
 

Scully shrugged. "Nothing ever changes," she 
sighed.

"You'd think he'd mellow out in his old age," 
Mulder quipped.

Maggie hid a laugh behind her hand as Scully 
snickered.

Kyle stood by, still holding his empty plate 
and glass before Maggie started and said: "Oh, 
sweetie! I'm so sorry! Let me take this from 
you and get you a slice of pie!"

Maggie bustled over to the sink with the 
soiled dishes and went to slice a piece of pie 
for the boy.

"Whipped cream?" she asked him.  

He nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, please!"

Maggie turned to Mulder and Scully with a 
wink. "Never knew a child who ever refused 
whipped cream!"

Maggie served up the pie to Kyle and got him a 
glass of milk. Then she escorted him out of 
the kitchen to the dining room table to eat.

Mulder and Scully watched her.

"She's so happy to know that Will--Kyle," 
Scully began. "... wanted to see us and spend 
the holiday here."

"Yeah," Mulder agreed. "She definitely a happy 
Grandma."

They held each other as they watched Maggie 
fuss over their son.

"SOMEhow I have to get used to calling him 
Kyle," she said.

"I know," he said. "You will."

"Hopefully I'll have mastered it before the 
end of his visit," she said.

"Well," Mulder said. "Given the fact that he 
will always be William to us, it's 
understandable that you or even I would call 
him that."

"I know," she agreed. "But I don't want to 
give him a reason to feel uncomfortable around 
any of us or angry at us for falling back into 
calling him William as I know that's not his 
legal name anymore."

"I'm sure he understands," Mulder reassured 
her.

"But how can he?" she asked. "He's just a 
little boy."

"Who comes from two highly intelligent 
parents," Mulder said. "He doesn't strike me 
as a dumb kid. I mean, look at him..."

She turned to stare at her son.

"That kid in there is not stupid by any 
means," he told her. "He is bright, 
inquisitive and more mature than most ten-
year-olds. Even your brother Bill's oldest 
can't hold a candle to our boy!"

Scully laughed. "You're just biased."

He hugged her tightly. "Yes, I am.  But am I 
wrong about this?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Then don't worry so much," he begged her. 
"Just enjoy his visit here with us and try not 
to worry about whether or not he likes you. 
He's here because he wants to be with us. If 
he didn't like us or want to know who we are, 
he wouldn't have come."

She felt her eyes tear up again.  "I know. But 
I can't help feeling this way."

"I know."

He hugged her one more time, kissing her 
forehead as he did, then pulled back a little.
"C'mon," he said and took her by the hand. 
"Let's go out and have some pie with our son."


*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *   


An hour or so later, Mulder pushed back from 
the dining room table a little and heaved a 
long, painful sigh.

"I... am... STUFFED!" he declared.

"Well, I should think so!" Scully said, 
amused. "You had three pieces of pie!"

He looked at her a little sheepishly. "I know, 
but it was just so good! You're Mom makes the 
best pumpkin pie I've ever tasted.  My mom's 
wasn't homemade. It was store-bought. Mrs. 
Smith's or Pepperidge Farms or something like 
that."

"Well, thank you, Fox!" Maggie said, beaming.

"Truly!" Mulder said appreciatively. "It was 
the best pie, Mrs. Scully."

"Yeah, it was really good!" Kyle piped in.

Maggie beamed at them as she cleared their 
plates and took them to the sink.

Mulder stood up from his chair and stretched. 
"Well, I feel a bit like a slug."

Kyle giggled.

"C'mon, buddy, let's go into the living room 
and veg-out!" Mulder said, leading the boy 
into the living room. 

Scully watched them go.  Mulder had laid his 
arm along the boy's narrow shoulders. She felt 
a pang in her chest.  Father and son together 
at last!

Mulder collapsed in the overstuffed chair in 
the corner with a groan.  Kyle did the same on 
the couch.

"How you feeling there, sport?" Mulder asked 
him.

"Ugh," Kyle said. "I ate too much."

"Me too."

"My pants feel tight," he moaned.

Mulder chuckled. "Mine too."

They sat there in their holiday misery in 
silence for a little while before Kyle turned 
to look at Mulder.

"Can I ask you something?" Kyle said 
hesitantly.

"Sure," Mulder answered. "You can ask me 
anything."

"Why did you guys give me up?"

Mulder knew this question would come up. He 
had prepared for it.  Now that the boy was 
here before him and asking, he realized that 
he wasn't as prepared as he had originally 
thought.

He took a deep breath inward and let it out 
slowly.

"Well," Mulder began. "Your Mom and I work at 
a job that is very dangerous sometimes and 
right around the time that you were born, we 
were working and some of the things that we 
were doing had begun to threaten our lives."

He paused and looked over at Kyle. "Do you 
understand?"

Kyle nodded. "Yeah... sort of."

Mulder leaned forward, with his elbows on his 
knees.

"I wasn't around when your mother made the 
decision to give you up for adoption, I'm 
sorry to say.  I was... in hiding. A kind of a 
witness protection thing, but not quite." 
Mulder explained. "I couldn't get a message to 
your mom whenever I wanted to, but I tried.  I 
didn't find out what she had done until after 
I came back from being away and by then you 
were already with your adoptive family."

"Weren't you mad at her that she did it 
without asking you first?" Kyle asked.

Mulder shook his head. "No."

"Why not?" Kyle asked. Jesus, this kid knew 
how to ask some seriously pointed questions!

"Because," Mulder explained, "I trusted her 
and her decision."

"Why did she give me up?" Kyle asked, 
seriously.

"To protect you," came Scully's voice.

They looked up to see her standing there in 
the archway of the dining room, watching them. 
She came over and sat on the arm of the 
overstuffed chair.  It was just wide enough 
for her to sit comfortably.  Mulder laid his 
arm around her waist as she continued to 
explain.

"Your father and I are F.B.I. agents and the 
work we do with investigations is sometimes 
dangerous, life-threatening work. We were 
doing some of that dangerous work around the 
time of your birth. I had to protect you from 
some of the bad people we were investigating 
because they wanted to kill us," she said.

Mulder saw Kyle swallow hard.

"We didn't want to give you away to anyone," 
she said quickly, "but we had to do what was 
best in order to make sure that you were safe, 
that you would always be safe and that no 
matter what happened, you would grow up and 
live a full life," she said before her voice 
began to crack.

"I thought you hated me," Kyle said then.

"No, no, no," Mulder told him. "It was never 
like that. We just were..."

Scully broke in. "... afraid that something 
bad would happen and that we wouldn't be able 
to protect you. We always wanted you! But we 
gave you away to keep you safe from the bad 
people who were trying to hurt us."

Mulder nodded in agreement with her 
statements.

Kyle looked away for a moment then turned back 
to them both. "Are those people still trying 
to hurt you?"

Mulder shook his head. "No, not anymore."

Scully shot him a look.

"At least they haven't bothered us for a long 
time," Mulder added quickly.

"So, if I wanted to come back here with you, I 
could?" Kyle asked.

They sat, stunned at the boy's question.

"Uh, we'd have to discuss that..." Mulder 
stammered slightly. But Scully interrupted 
him.

"I don't know if that would be possible, 
sweetheart," Scully said.  "I gave you up for 
adoption.  I don't think we could have that 
reversed."

"But it's possible, right?" Kyle asked 
anxiously.

They looked at each other and turned back to 
Kyle.

"Why do you ask that?" Mulder asked.

"Well, you're my real parents," he answered 
truthfully. "I should be with you if I'm your 
son. Why can't we be a family?"

Scully gasped a little, then said: "Oh, Kyle, 
we'll always be a family. No matter where you 
are or where we are, we will always be a 
family. You will always be our son. That will 
never change."

"Then why can't I live with you?" Kyle asked.

"Because the law states..." she said. "I 
signed papers giving the McNamaras permission 
to adopt you. You have to stay with them.  
They are the ones raising you and taking care 
of you."

"But I don't want to live with them anymore," 
Kyle said. "I want to live with you and Dad."

That caught Mulder off guard.  He hadn't 
expected to hear Kyle utter the word 'Dad' 
like that. It was the first acknowledgement 
and it cut his heart to the quick to hear the 
word 'Dad' uttered by the boy.

"Kyle," Mulder said. "There is nothing in this 
world we would love more than to have you with 
us, living in our home and seeing you every 
single day. But..."

"... but I'm adopted," Kyle said flatly. "... 
and I have to stay where I'm at."

"For now," Mulder said, "yes."

Kyle looked away from them and stared out the 
window. It was starting to get dark and the 
sky was turning from orange, to red to a deep 
purple as the sun sank behind the homes of the 
tree-lined street of Maggie's block.

It was then that Scully noticed it. A single 
tear that ran down Kyle's cheek and landed on 
the front of his shirt, leaving a small wet 
spot.  She looked at Mulder and his face told 
her that he was feeling the same as she was. 
Their hearts ached as they knew the pain of 
rejection the boy was feeling just then and it 
hurt them both terribly.

Scully got up and went over to sit beside 
Kyle. She gently took the boy into her arms 
and held him close to her bosom. She stroked 
his hair softly and in that moment, the boy 
began to cry.  It was all she could do to keep 
from bursting into tears herself.  Mulder sat 
in the chair and watched silently, not knowing 
what to do.

"Kyle," Scully said. "You have to understand 
that we loved you so much that we had to do 
this. However, when you make a promise to 
someone, you can't go back on that promise. We 
had promised the McNamaras they could raise 
you as their son and we can't break that 
promise to them. It wouldn't be right."

"I don't care!" Kyle said suddenly, pulling 
away roughly from her embrace.

They had known somehow that this would happen; 
that Kyle would be angry with them. They had 
talked about an outburst such as this from 
him. It was understandable. The boy had every 
right to feel what he felt. The feeling of 
rejection from the first 'no' they had 
uttered.  The painful scene was just what they 
had wanted to avoid and it left them to sit 
silently.

Suddenly the boy wrenched away from her and 
jumped up off the couch.  He launched into his 
angry tirade. 

"You give me away to strangers! You make me 
call them Mom and Dad when you're my real 
parents! You won't let me live with you and 
I'm your son! Don't you want me? Don't you 
want to be with me??  Why can't I live with 
you????" he yelled through his tears.

They couldn't answer him.

"I hate you!" he screamed at them. "I wish I 
had never known I was adopted or come here to 
meet you! You guys suck!"

He ran from the room and into the kitchen.

Mulder and Scully sat there in miserable 
silence.

A moment passed before she spoke. "I can't 
stand this."

Mulder came over to sit with her on the couch. 
He held her.

"I can't stand knowing how much pain we've 
caused him," she said.

"He has every right to feel what he feels," 
Mulder said. "He's only ten years old. We 
can't expect him to absorb all this 
information and process it like we do.  It's 
too much for him."

"I know," she sighed.

They sat on the couch for a long time before 
their peace was interrupted by the front door 
swinging open and Bill Jr.'s oldest came 
flying into the house, calling out for Maggie. 
He disappeared into the kitchen.

The rest of the Scully brood followed one by 
one.

"Hey, we're back!" Charlie called out.

Scully stood up and went into the kitchen.

Mulder sat back against the couch as everyone 
trooped in; Bill bringing up the rear.  He 
took one look at Mulder and scowled.

"Last again, Bill?" Mulder teased. He stopped 
and stared at Mulder a moment.

He scowled again and mumbled something about 
parking the car. 

Charlie came into the room then and looked at 
Mulder. "Where's Mom and Dana?"

Mulder sat up. "I thought they were in the 
kitchen."

Charlie shook his head. "No, no one's in there 
except Tara and the kids. I just went in there 
to let Mom know we were back."

Mulder jumped up and strode into the kitchen. 
Charlie followed closely behind. 

It was true, only Tara and the children were 
in the room as Tara was getting her son, 
Billy, something to drink.

"Was anyone here when you walked in?" Mulder 
asked her.

She shook her head. "No, just us. But the 
backdoor was left open..." 

Mulder turned abruptly and went back into the 
living room. Charlie and Tara close at his 
heels.

"What's wrong?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know," Mulder said. "But I could have 
sworn that your mom and sister were in there 
with Kyle."

Suddenly, Scully burst into the house with 
Maggie and announced that Kyle had run away.

"I knew this would happen!" Scully said.

"We have to look for him," Maggie said. "It's 
too cold for him to be outside like this."

"He left his coat behind," Tara said, holding 
up Kyle's Columbia jacket.

"Oh my God," Scully moaned.

"I'll go to the bus terminal," Mulder said. 
"He's probably going to try and go back to 
Wyoming."

"We'll drive around the neighborhood and see 
if we can't spot him," Charlie said and went 
to grab his car keys from Jenny.

As they made their plan of places to search, 
Bill stood back and watched.

"You brought this on yourselves, you know," he 
said.

Everyone stopped cold at his words.

"What did you say?" Mulder turned on him.

"You heard me," Bill said. "You brought this 
on yourselves."

"Shut up, Bill," Charlie growled at him.

"I won't shut up," he said to Charlie before 
he took a step forward towards Mulder. 
"Everything you touch just turns into shit."

"WILLIAM!" Maggie hollered. "That is enough!"

Bill quieted.

"I have stood by at times over the years and 
allowed you to bully every member of this 
family," she said sternly. "But this time, you 
have gone too far! There is a ten-year-old boy 
outside in the freezing cold without a proper 
coat on and needs to be found NOW!"

Mulder stood by, fuming.

"Either you get your coat on and help us find 
him," Maggie continued. "Or you stay here and 
make yourself useful by calling 911."

No one moved. No one dared say anything.

"What do you want to do?" Maggie asked Bill, 
staring him straight in the face with her 
hands on her hips defiantly.

Bill looked down at the floor, away from his 
mother's glaring gaze.  "Where do you want me 
to look?"

Maggie nodded triumphantly. "That's better. I 
think you should try the playground down the 
block and then try and see if he's made it to 
the highway and is trying to hitch a ride."

"Mother, I don't think he'd do something like 
that," Scully said.

"Mom is right," said Charlie. "We don't know 
what he's capable of, Dana,"

Mulder glared one more time at Bill then went 
to get his coat.  He was slipping it on as 
Charlie grabbed his.

"Everyone else stay here in case he comes 
back," Mulder said and then walked over to 
Scully. "Keep your cell phone close. If we 
find him, we'll call."

She nodded and hugged him. 

"Don't worry," he whispered into her hair. 
"We'll find him. He couldn't have gone very 
far."

He let her go and walked out the front door 
with Charlie and Bill trailing behind him.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    * 
   
     
An hour was gone and still Kyle was nowhere to 
be found. Mulder had rode with Charlie since 
he wasn't too familiar with Maggie's 
neighborhood. 

They had tried the bus terminal first and left 
word with the clerk behind the desk of what 
had happened and that if Kyle should show up 
to call him on his cell phone. He had left his 
number with the clerk and left.

Mulder's jaw tightened as he thought back at 
Bill's outburst. However, he smiled when he 
thought of how Maggie had reined him in. He 
had never seen her lose her temper like that 
before and made a mental note to never make 
her mad like that at him.

"... over by the elementary school?" Charlie 
said.

"What?" Mulder answered. He hadn't heard what 
Charlie said.

"I said, should we try over at the elementary 
school once more?" Charlie repeated.

"Yes," Mulder agreed.

They rode in silence until Charlie cleared his 
throat and spoke.

"Listen, I know this isn't the best time to 
say this to you, but..."

"Well, let's put it this way," Mulder 
chuckled. "I'd rather listen to you than to 
Bill."

Charlie laughed at that.  "Yeah, me too!"

They laughed a little then before Charlie 
began again.

"Seriously, though," he said. "I just want to 
say that I don't think I could handle all that 
you and my sister are going through right now 
with Kyle."

Mulder glanced over at him.

"I mean, meeting him again like this and 
having him over for Thanksgiving," Charlie 
explained.

"Well," Mulder said, "Scul---I mean, 
Dana... wanted to do this."

Charlie smiled. "Hey, it's okay to call my 
sister Scully. I told you that."

Mulder blushed a little, embarrassed. "Oh, 
right."

"Anyway," Charlie continued. "I think it's 
great you included him. He should be 
forewarned as to the family he comes from, 
y'know?  I mean the Scully Clan is a rowdy 
bunch!"

"Except Bill," Mulder quipped.

"Yeah, well we figured out that Mom must have 
dropped him on his head at some point in time 
as a baby." Charlie joked. "Or Dad probably 
tossed him up too high that he hit his head on 
the ceiling!"
 
Mulder laughed.

"I know he isn't exactly a full-fledged member 
in my fan club but I figured he'd have 
mellowed out by now," Mulder said a little too 
tersely.

"Yeah, well," Charlie said. "Bill is Bill. You 
can't change him. He's my brother and all but 
I don't agree with a lot of what he says and 
does a lot of the time.  How Tara puts up with 
him, I'll never know!  But she must have a 
soft spot for hard-luck cases to have been 
married to him for as long as she has and pop 
out two kids with him!"

Mulder said nothing.  He couldn't agree with 
Charlie as he didn't feel comfortable doing 
so, but quietly affirmed his feelings to 
himself.  Bill was a tough nut to crack.

"Hey!" Charlie said, pointing over the 
steering wheel. "What's that up there?"

The car's headlights caught a glint of 
something light-colored and as they neared, 
they could see a small figure walking at a 
brisk pace.

It was Kyle.

"Christ! Pull over!" Mulder yelped as Charlie 
yanked the wheel quickly to the right and 
placed the car into park.

Mulder leapt out of the vehicle and hurried 
over to the child.

"Kyle!" he shouted. "Hey! Stop!"

Kyle kept on going.  As Mulder neared him, he 
could see that he had his arms crossed tightly 
in front of his chest and he was shivering 
terribly.

"Kyle," Mulder called to him as he caught up 
to him. "Stop!"

Mulder caught the boy by the arm and swung him 
around to face him.  He could see the boy had 
been crying and his face was still streaked 
with tears.

"What are you doing?" Mulder asked him.

"I want outta here," Kyle said, gruffly. "I 
wanna go home."

"Without saying anything? Just like that?" 
Mulder asked. "Come on, let's get in the car 
where you can warm up."

Kyle wrenched himself away from Mulder. "No!"

"Come on, Kyle," Mulder reasoned. "You 
shouldn't be out here without your coat on. 
It's too cold."

Kyle turned away and started walking briskly 
down the road once more. Mulder strode after 
him, his long-legged strides keeping pace with 
Kyle's shorter ones.

"Leave me alone!" Kyle yelled at him.

"I can't do that, son," Mulder said.

"Don't call me son," Kyle yelled at him. "You 
gave me away! I'm not your son anymore! You 
told me that yourself!"

"That is not true, Kyle," Mulder said. "I 
never told you that."

"Yes, you did!" Kyle accused him.

Mulder reached out and spun the boy around to 
face him again. He knelt down in front of him, 
gripping the boy's forearms tightly to keep 
him from getting away this time.

"No," Mulder said, looking him in the eyes. 
"What your mother said and I agree with her is 
that no matter where you are or where we are, 
we will always be a family. You will always be 
our son. That will never change."

Kyle shook his head. "No, you said you don't 
want me." 

He started to cry now.

"No," Mulder told him. "I said there is 
nothing in this world your mother and I would 
love more than to have you with us, living in 
our home and seeing you every single day."

He pulled Kyle to him and hugged him tightly.

"I love you, Kyle," Mulder said. "I want you 
to know that I am proud to have you as my 
son."

"I love you, too, Daddy," Kyle said, breaking 
down even more.

Mulder felt his eyes well up. He felt the 
boy's small body shiver against him as he 
sobbed. He pulled back a little, unzipped his 
coat and snuggled the youngster against him to 
warm him. He then picked him up and carried 
him to the car.  

Charlie had already stepped out of the vehicle 
a moment before and was opening the car door 
to the backseat for Mulder to slip inside.  
Once safely in the car, Charlie closed the 
door, scooted around to the driver's side and 
hopped in. He placed the car in gear and 
headed back to Maggie's house.  The ride was 
quiet except for Kyle's sobs.

As they pulled up, Mulder could see Scully 
peeking through the living room curtains, 
watching for any sign of any of the family 
returning to the house. When she spotted 
Mulder and Charlie coming up the walkway with 
Kyle wrapped snuggly in Mulder's coat and in 
his arms, she disappeared from the window.

The front door opened and she stood there 
looking relieved that Kyle had been found and 
by Mulder and Charlie.  She barely waited for 
them to step through the door as she reached 
for Kyle and tried to hug him.  Mulder set him 
down and she curled her arms around the boy, a 
fresh river of tears erupted from them both.

"I'm so sorry, so sorry," she said, 
repeatedly.

"I didn't mean to run away," Kyle said to her, 
muffled by the thick coat he was blanketed in.

"He's okay," Charlie said. "A little chilled 
but nothing a cup of hot chocolate won't fix!"

Maggie, who had been standing nearby, dashed 
off to the kitchen to make some.

Everyone huddled around Kyle; stroking and 
tousling his hair, rubbing his arms to warm 
him. Everyone was talking at once from Tara to 
Charlie's little ones. Everyone wanted to know 
where he had gone and why he had run away as 
Scully lead him over to the couch where they 
sat down.

Maggie returned to the living room with a 
steaming cup of hot cocoa and shooed everyone 
out of the way.  She handed the mug to Kyle 
and sat down on the other side of him.

"You gave us quite a scare, young man!" she 
scolded gently.

Kyle looked down at the mug in his hands and 
nodded, ashamedly.

"But he's home now," Charlie answered.

"Yes, he's home," Scully said, smiling as she 
stroked his hair away from his eyes.

Kyle looked up at her. "I'm sorry, Mom."

"It's okay, honey," she said.

"No, it's not," Kyle said, shaking his head. 
"I didn't mean to run away. I'm sorry I 
worried you."

"Sweetie, it's all right," Scully said. 
"You're back with us. Nothing bad happened to 
you so as far as I'm concerned, it's over and 
done with."

Kyle nodded at her and took a sip of his 
cocoa.

"Just no more nightly jogs, okay?" Mulder 
teased. "At least until you make the cross-
country or track team."

Kyle looked up at him and smiled. "Okay, Dad."

Scully hugged him, careful not to make him 
spill his mug.

"Well!" Maggie sighed. "This has definitely 
been one of our more exciting family holidays, 
don't you agree?"

The sentiment was voiced all around.

"Is this what it's like every year?" Kyle 
whispered to Scully. She chuckled.

"No," she said. "But it does make it more 
interesting when we gather together!"

****


END



*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *   
  


Okay, okay, maybe I went a little overboard 
with the angst but hey! Isn't it more fun that 
way?


Anyhoodles...

FEEDBACK gratefully accepted here:

stilldevout2david@yahoo.com