From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: 13 Sep 2001 04:16:35 -0000
Subject: Man to Man Talk by Girlie_girl7
Source: direct

Reply To: FoxfireX@hotmail.com


Spoilers:Existence
Disclaimer:M&S used to belong to CC but I think Fox now owns
them. Will belongs to M&S, who love him too much to sell him.
Summary:Mulder shares his thoughts with his son.
Notes:M&S gave us 71/2 years of great thrills, spills and chills.
Too bad they left out romance and sex, but I still love them,
on and I'm not a 9er.
Special thanks to my proof reader, Lynn aka Mulderpause (DD #1 Fan)


Man to Man Talk

A baby can be heard softly starting to cry in an apartment 
somewhere in Georgetown. A father crawls out of his warm
bed and stiffly shuffles into his sons room. The baby is
oblivious to the late hour, all he knows is he's hungry
and wide wake.

Clad only in low slung flannel pajama bottoms, the father
lifts the small boy from the crib.

Hey buddy. Shh, you're gonna wake up mom."

The baby responds to the sound of his fathers soothing 
voice. He stuffs a little ball of fist into his mouth.

"What's the matter. You hungry again?"

The man holds the little boy to his chest as he makes
his way into the kitchen. He's done this so often he 
doesn't even need to turn on the lights. Opening the 
fridge, he pulls out a baby bottle and places it in the
microwave. Hitting the `on' button, he leans back
against the counter. The baby is making small squeaky 
noises, that only babies can make. The man holds the baby
 to his chest and pats his back with his large lanky hand.

The microwave beeps and the man pulls out the bottle. He 
shakes it and tests the temperature, knowing from experience, 
it's fine.

He slowly makes his way into the living room, lit only by 
the street lights. He settles into a large wooden rocker 
and brings the bottle to the babies lips.


            ~Fox Mulder is home~

The baby hungerly takes the bottle.
"Well Will, it looks like it's just you and me, big guy."

The baby stares at Mulder transfixed.
"We've got to stop meeting like this!"

Mulder brings his head down to rub Wills little button 
nose with his own. Will blinks.

The baby sucks in a gasp of air. "Easy does it. There's
 more where that came from, thanks to your mother."

"You like her, don't you."

"Can you keep a secret? So do I."

The baby blinks and pauses briefly.

"Does that surprise you? Of course it doesn't."

"You've seen the way my face lights up when she walks
 into the room."

"Ok, ok, yours does too but remember I saw her first.
 But I still think she likes you best."

Will continued to listen intently to Mulder.

"You know I see so much of her in you. You think you 
have a temper, turning all red like you do. Just wait 
until your mother gets wound up."

"No, you'll never have to worry about that, she could
 never get mad at you. Now me, she can leave me quaking
 in my boots with just `the look'."

Mulder held Will out and turned his head to study him.

"Yeah, you even look like her. When you get older, 
you're gonna appreciate that, unless you wanna play
basketball. There's not much call for five foot tall
guards in the NBA."  He pulls Will close and whispers
to him. "Maybe you'll at least inherit my height."

He softly kisses Will's forehead and runs his hands 
over the babies wispy red hair.

"You definitely have her eyes."  The baby blinks.
 Mulder grins. "You're good Will!" Mulder winks at him.

"Anyway, her eyes, they are so blue and clear. I 
could never lie to your mom. To see hurt in those 
eyes is more than I can bear. I'll never lie to you either."

Mulder continued to rock, as the baby pauses between
 swallows, his eyes getting sleepy.

"I've hope you've got your mothers ability to love.
Why else would she chose me? I'm not exactly the 
catch of the day."

"No, no, it's true! I know you think I'm a pretty nice
 guy, especially when we play in the kitchen sink. 
Remember never tell mom I bathe you in the sink or 
it's all over." The baby hiccupped. "I think you need 
to relieve a little pressure."

"Mulder takes the bottle from the baby and places a towel
 over his bare
shoulder. He lifts Will up and gently pats his back.

"I'm really sorry about this burping thing, buddy. Mom
 says I need to do this from time to time. Babies must 
have some sort of pop off valve
built-in. All I know was mom was really pi..uh, mad at me 
for making her little boy cry. That's one lesson I won't soon 
forget."

Mulder moves Will to lay across his knees, still patting his back.

"See Will, this parenting stuff kinda caught me off guard. Not 
that I don't love it but they really should have seminars on it. 
Kind of like those team builders programs your mother and I
 used to attend, well.. we meant to go."

"If those guys could see me now."  A grin covered Mulders 
face. "We're the best team `cause we built you."

"That's probably more than you need to know at your age, 
but believe me we made a great team, twice that night." 
Mulder wiggles his eyebrows.

Will burps loudly. "Way to go buddy, that's a good one!"

Mulder scoops Will up and brings the bottle back to 
the baby's lips.

"So see Will while mom had nine months to get ready
 for you, I only had a few weeks, but I'm trying really
 hard. Just give me a little more time."

Will tries to keep his eyes open but finally gives in
 even as he continued to drink.

"Boy, you're one determined little guy. Guess you got
 that from me, that and your oral fixation. Believe me, 
your mother would agree with that."

Mulder gets up from the rocker and softly walks back 
into Wills room. Taking the bottle from the baby, he 
places him on the changing table.

"Let's check your shorts for cake." Mulder removes the
 diaper. "No but you sure are wet! I feel for ya buddy, 
sometimes a guys just gotta go."

Mulder changes Will and tosses the used diaper into the 
wastebasket.

He scoops up Will and gently sways with him. "Will, I got 
big plans for us. You just learn to walk and we'll go 
places. Big beautiful ballparks, stadiums and pizza parlors.
 Just wait! You'll love pizza but you gotta get some teeth
first. We'll camp out and sleep under the stars, we'll see
crop circles and vortexes and if you're real good, I might
show you a real E.B.E."

"Don't worry, mom won't be lonely. We've already decided 
you need a playmate but don't be upset if you end up 
with a sister. Take it from me, sisters are great!"

"Ok, I'd better let you get some sleep."

Mulder places Will in his crib and softly kisses the
 tiny fingers curled around his thumb.

"You have good dreams and don't worry, mom and I will
 always love and
protect you." He tucks the little boy in.

"But you know that." He leans down and gently kisses 
his sons forehead.

Mulder heads back to bed. He eases his long body in next
 to Scully, hoping not to wake her. He never succeeds.

"Is everything ok, Mulder?" Scully asks sleepily.
"Everything is fine."  He settles back into bed and 
stares at the ceiling.

"Scully?"
 
"Yeah?"

"How long before Will gets teeth?"

                       Ta Da!

please note, I am only the submitter, the real brains 
behind the story is GirlieGirl.  
Fox