A Two-Bouquet Mom
by Christine Leigh

Summary: Mulder and William shopping for Mother's Day.  Fourth
of a series of vignettes centering around Mulder and Will that may
also be read as a stand-alone.  The series starts approximately
two years after the end of the show.
Rating: G
Category: Vignette, AU
Spoilers: None.
Disclaimer: All characters are the products of Chris Carter. They
also belong to Ten-Thirteen Productions and the Fox Network. No
copyright infringement intended. 
Archiving: If you would like to archive anywhere, I'd  appreciate a
quick note first. 
Email: Feedback is always welcome, leighchristine@hotmail.com


"I like orange."

"But this isn't about what you like, Will.  It's all about mommy
tomorrow."

"Mommy likes orange.  She likes my pictures."  

Will's favorite color was orange.  Purple was a close second, and
that might work. Father and son were doing a little Mother's Day
shopping and the flower department at the grocery store was their
next-to-last stop.  Mulder was perusing some beautiful bunches of
irises, and hoping that their color would meet Will's approval.  

"How about these irises, Will?"  Mulder pulled a bunch out of the
water and held it out to his companion shopper.  Not for the first
time, he marveled at the intelligence behind the little eyes looking
up at him.  

"They're funny, Daddy."

"Funny?"

"They're not round."

Mulder looked at the irises.  Round?  No.  Round isn't how one
would describe an iris.

"I think they're pretty, Will.  And they're purple.  I think Mommy
will be happy to have them.  Especially if they come from her
favorite boy."

"Me?"

"Yes, you.  Who else?  I haven't noticed Mommy hugging and
kissing any other boys.  Have you?"

"She hugs you.  I've seen her kiss you too, Daddy."

Mulder about melted at that comment.  There was no getting away
from it -- love was sometimes just all around.  His world was not
the one he'd known before, and there wasn't anything to do but go
with it.

"That is true, Will.  Tell you what, I think mommy's a two-bouquet
mom, don't you?  I'll give her some round flowers, and you give
her the funny purple flowers."

"What color will the round flowers be?"

"Red."  Mulder had spied one bunch of red roses in the midst of
several pink and yellow bunches.  The other colors were more in
keeping with Mother's Day he supposed, but he preferred red for
Scully.  He always would.  He pulled the roses out of their bin.

"See, Will, these are nice and round, and I think they'll look good
next to your purple ones."

"Okay, Daddy.  I'll give the irises."  

Mulder grinned.  Selecting flowers and vocabulary building. 
Never a wasted moment.

"Okay, that's done."  He carefully laid both bouquets in the
shopping cart.

"Daddy, is Mommy a two-cake mom?"

"Well, I think that, yes.  She could be.  What did you have in
mind?"

"Chocolate."

"Good.  What else?"

"And cherry-chip."

"Cherry-chip?  Where'd you ever have that kind of cake, Will?" 
Mulder had a flashback to his elementary school days.  Cherry-chip
cupcakes with pink, cherry flavored frosting out of a can.  He didn't
know they even made that stuff any more. 

"At Tom's.  His mom makes cupcakes.  Those are Tom's favorite."

"And you like them, too?"  

"Uh huh."  Will nodded.

"You know, Will, I wasn't intending to bake a cake for Mommy,
though.  I was going to go over to the bakery and have you help me
pick out the best chocolate cake we can find."

"Don't they have cherry-chip?"

"No, I don't think they do."

"Mommy would like us to bake her a cake, Daddy.  Don't you
think?"

"I don't know, Will.  As long as I've known mommy, she's been
more interested in eating cake than baking it."

"Mommy likes sweet things."

"That she does.  And I think she'd rather have one cake that didn't
involve us making a big mess in the kitchen rather than two.  That
way we'll have more time to play or watch a movie tonight.  So
what do you say that we go get the biggest, best chocolate cake the
bakery has and then get this show on the road?"

"Okay."

"Good boy.  You're a terrific shopper, Will."

"Daddy, will they put flowers on the cake?"

"I think they will, if we ask.  That would be pretty, to have some
frosting roses to go with the real ones."

"Can they be any color?"

"We can ask, Will.  Do I even need to try guessing?"  

"Orange."


- end  -