Title: Molly - II Author: K@t Email: [email protected] Summary: Second in the Molly series. * * * * * * Molly - II I open my eyes to find Mommy shaking my shoulder gently. "Come on, Sleepy-head. Time for school." I grin and open my eyes to her smiling face. I turn my head to look at the clock. 11:30. My eyes go wide as the time processes into my brain and becomes clear. Oh no. I'm really late for school and Miss Parker will be cross. I jump out of bed and grab for the clothes I laid out last night...Oh no. They're not there. I always lay out my clothes for a Monday, mainly because I... Oh. It's Saturday. I look up at Mommy and realise she's grinning. I roll my eyes at her and she chuckles. "Had you, big-time." I nod wearily and sit back in bed, pulling the covers around my knees and hugging them tight. Mommy takes one of my hands and gives it a sharp tug. "Come on, Kitten. Mulder wants to do something today." And everything comes flooding back to me. Last night. The burglar. Mulder's home. I smile and raise my eyebrows as the man in question strides through the door and smiles at me, nervously. "Hope you don't mind, little Molly, but I thought it would be nice if we all went swimming after brunch." I grin and nod, enthusiastically. I love swimming. "Be up in five, Kitten," Mommy says, following Mulder out the door, catching his hand on the way. "Put on your suit under your clothes, but go to the bathroom first." I nod and blush a little. I don't want Mulder thinking I'm a baby. I know all this. She gives me a last smile and closes the door behind her. I jump out of bed and yank open my drawer, rooting around inside for my pink, costume, covered in little hearts. * * * * * * I plunge feet-first into the water and close my eyes against the chlorine. The freezing water hits my body and I squeal under the water, before I feel Mommy's hands around my waist, pulling me to the surface. I splutter a little and Mommy brushes my hair back where it's plastered to my face, before letting me rest against her hip. "Okay?" she asks me, smiling uncertainly. "Did you put your inhaler by my towel?" I grin and nod, wrapping my arms around her shoulders and gazing around the gigantic swimming pool. It's just a regular pool, and it's not as packed as it usually is. There are a few people swimming up and down the length for exercise and a few mothers with their babies, playing around the shallow end. Mommy takes the scrunchy off her wrist and scrapes my wet hair gently back into a ponytail, pulling the elastic tight. I smile and she adjusts it a little, so it's snug against the base of my neck. She hands me my armbands and I slip them over my arms, pulling hard when one gets caught against my elbow. Mulder swims up beside us and I let go of Mommy, reaching my arms out to him. He gives Mommy a surprised look and she smiles, letting me kick through the water into his waiting arms. I grab on tight to his shoulders and he wraps his arms around my waist. I float against him for a while and he just smiles down at me. "Piggy-back?" I ask, my eyes all puppy-doggy and sweet. Mommy says I get that from him. I see Mommy mouth 'please' over his shoulder and smile at her. "Please may I have a piggy-back...Mulder?" My eyebrows raise and I give him a hopeful look. He looks over at Mommy and she nods at him. "Okay." He shifts me around his waist and I climb onto his back, holding on with both arms and legs. He jumps up to hitch me higher and I start to giggle as he jumps up and down a few more times to bounce me against the water. Then he starts to swim and I hang on tight as he whirls me round and around. I can hear Mommy's laughter too, behind me. I grin. She's so happy. Mulder grips my hands in his and pulls, and I tumble over his shoulder with a splash. He wraps his hands around my waist and lifts me clean out of the water. I squeal and kick my legs to free myself, but he holds on tight and throws me out into the water, in Mommy's direction. I splutter to the surface (it's a good job I'm wearing armbands), feeling Mommy's hands around my waist, pulling me back up. She smiles at him. "I'd throw her back to you, but I'm not that strong," she calls and we all laugh. As we play around a little more, eventually collecting a ball from the lifeguard and playing catch, I think about my parents. Mommy's told me a lot about Mulder, although I usually had to coax it out of her. She was hesitant to talk about him. He was gone almost 7 years. That's a very long time for anyone to miss someone. She's so brave. I turn to watch her as she catches the ball and throws it at me, hitting me softly on the head and making me giggle. We're down the shallow end, so I can reach the floor (just) and not need to be held up by anything except my armbands. Mommy and Mulder are on their knees in the water, so that they don't get cold shoulders. I'm small, so Mommy keeps reminding me, but I'm strong, like her. I got most of my features from her: wide, blue eyes, strong frame, happy smile. I got my hair from my daddy, the man I thought I'd never meet. It almost reaches my waist and it's dark brown in colour. I love my hair. It's something of Daddy's that I have to keep forever. Time flies by us so quickly, I don't notice it, until my eyes start to sting from the chlorine. I look down at my hands and the skin has gone all pruny. Ew. Mommy throws the ball back to the lifeguard and my heart drops. I don't want to stop playing. I'm having fun. She turns to me and gives me a sad smile. "Come on, Kitten. I think it's time to get out now." I make a small whimper of protest at the back of my throat and she grins at me. "Your eyes are all bloodshot and red." I pout at her and turn to Mulder. "Do we have to get out now?" I ask him, ignoring Mommy's nodding head. "I guess so, little one. Mommy always has had the last word." I grin and he grins back at me. They were together a long time before I was even thought of. Not together in that sense, just working partners and best friends (so Mommy tells me). I sigh at him and smile. "Okay." I reach for Mommy instinctively and she moves towards me, glancing at Mulder for a moment. I turn to look back at him and his face has grown sad. I suddenly feel really guilty for reaching for Mommy instead of him. I know he wants to get to know me. Bonding, that kind of thing. I'm seriously attached to Mommy, so that's why I went to her. But I didn't mean to make him feel unhappy. I really didn't. I give him a guilty look as Mommy sits me against her hip and he throws one of content forgiveness at me, before getting out of the pool and waiting by the side, while we follow his example. Mommy gives him a quick kiss on the lips and a little wave. "Meet us out by the candy machine in twenty minutes, okay?" Organised as usual. He nods and touches a hand to her wet hair, smoothing it against the side of her face. Mommy blushes and lays her own hand over his. "Later. Tonight." He gives her a sceptic look (one very much like Mommy's) and she rolls her eyes. "I promise." He grins and takes her hand in his, bringing it to his lips and kissing the back of her knuckles. "Love you, Scully." "I love you too, Sweetie." He looks at me. "Bye Mulder," I call and he smiles at me. I smile back. "See you in a while." "Bye, little one." I wave at him and he grins, waving back. I realise for the first time that I don't actually mind being called 'little one'. It's kinda cute, affectionate. Sweet. Well, he's my daddy, he's allowed to call me things like that. * * * * * * I smile as Mommy washes the shampoo out of my hair and screw up my eyes against the slight sting. I wish she'd buy that Johnson's baby stuff, because it doesn't sting so badly. In fact it doesn't sting at all. "Okay, Kitten. Let me do mine and we'll go get our clothes." I nod and stand under the warm spray of the shower, closing my eyes and sighing. It's peaceful inside my head right now. Calm. Collected, Mommy likes to call it. Mulder's home and I'm happy. Mommy's happy. I know they'll be making love tonight. I'm gonna try so hard to get to sleep before they go to bed. A few moments later, Mommy touches my shoulder and I open my eyes. She smiles at me and I turn to switch off the spray. I take her offered hand and walk with her to get dressed. * * * * * * "Hey Mulder," I call, quiet enough not to be too loud. "Hey there, Little one. You all ready to go?" I nod and smile at him, gripping his hand gently in mine. His skin seems rough, a little like Uncle Walter's. I guess it must be a man thing. "So, what we gonna do this afternoon?" I ask as we make our way out to the car. Mommy takes hold of my other hand as we walk out onto the tarmac, I guess it's unconscious because I watch her look at Mulder and drop my hand with an embarrassed smile. "I guess we could go play at the park. Take a picnic for tea." "It'll have to be a big picnic," I tell Mommy, rubbing my tummy. "I'm hungry." "It will be," she replies. I nod and smile, turning to Mulder to ask him with my eyes. "Sounds good," he replies, nodding. I grin. I know my friends will be playing softball in the park, they always do on Saturday afternoons. Holly won't be there, of course. She's gone to see a pantomime with *her* daddy. I'll be able to spend time with Mulder and also give him and Mommy a little time on their own. * * * * * * I undo my seat belt and wait for Mommy to come around to my side and open my door. I hate it that I have child-locks on my car door. It's silly, really. I'm sensible enough to know that opening the door when the car's moving is dangerous. I guess it must be from when I was little. I jump out and wait for Mommy to lock the car up. The beep sounds and I take hold of Mommy's hand, walking with her to the curb and stepping onto the grass. She has the big bag with the picnic things in it over her arm. Mulder steps up beside me, the blanket and cooler in his arms and I let go of Mommy's hand to take his. She gives me a secret grin of thanks and I smile back at her. I turn to look up at Mulder and he smiles down at me. "So, little one, what's your favourite game?" He looks so eager to find out about me, his eyes shine like brown beads. "Baseball," I answer, without hesitation. "Mine too." I smile back at him and he squeezes my hand in his. "What about your favourite colour?" "Orange, like Mommy's hair." He grins. "I can understand that." He gazes at Mommy through soft eyes and I feel a warmth between them, almost as if they're swapping heat. It's cute. We've reached the edge of the red rubbery stuff that lines the playground and we stop. I watch Mommy scan the grassy part for a good spot out of the autumn sun and I point to a large oak tree a little way away. "Over there." She nods and we head off in that direction. The light dapples through the leafy bits of the tree as we set out the picnic things on the swept grass. I help Mommy lay out the blanket near the trunk and Mommy and Mulder set out the food and the little bottles of soda, like the ones I had at my birthday party last year. Mommy reaches into the cooler and pulls out sandwiches and three packets of crisps. I sit crossed-legged on the picnic blanket and take the sandwich Mommy hands me. "Thank you." I open the cling-film and sniff at it. Cheese and jam. My favourite. "What d'ya get me?" Mulder asks and Mommy smiles at him. "Your favourite. Peanut-butter and tomato." I smile. I like peanut-butter. It's one of my favourites too! Sounds like me and Mulder have a lot in common. "Mmmm-mmmm," Mulder hums, licking his lips. "You know what I like, Scully." I grin. "Are you ever gonna call her Dana?" I ask. "Uncle Melvin does." He smiles and turns to Mommy. "Uncle Melvin?" She nods, her mouth too full of cheese and jam and bread for a real smile. "Now that's what I call surreal." "What's surreal?" I ask, pulling at my crisps to get them open and having no luck. I hand them to Mommy and she opens them for me. "Surreal means weird," explains Mulder. "Totally nuts." I giggle, holding back my next remark and I see Mommy doing the same thing. She passes the crisps back to me. Mulder smirks and bites into his sandwich neatly. "So, are you?" I inquire, opening my sandwich and placing two crisps inside. "Am I what? Am I nuts?" I giggle. "No! Are you ever gonna call Mommy Dana?" He looks at Mommy and she looks down, fumbling for something to hold or eat. "I might do." She looks up and smiles at him. He smiles at her. "Do you want me to?" Mommy shrugs. "I don't' mind really. Scully's okay." She's gone all shy all of a sudden. Cute. "Scully's the most beautiful name in the world," he whispers and he shifts to sit closer to her on the blanket. I look up at him, puppy-dog-eyed again and he catches my gaze. "Yeah, well, Molly's the prettiest." I grin satisfied, and continue to finish my sandwich. "Hey, Molly." I look up and see my friend Benji on his way over to us at a fast pace. I grin. He's okay for a boy. "Hi," I call back and he stops in front of our blanket. "Come play softball with us." He tilts his head to the side in that sweet way he has and holds out his hand. I glance over his shoulder and recognise some of my friends running around behind him. I turn back to them and find that Mommy's sat in front of Mulder and she's feeding him crisps with her hands, like he's a baby. I giggle. Mommy looks at me and notices Benji. She smiles at him. "Hey Benji, Sweetie." "Hello Dana." He grins. All my friends like my Mommy because she lets them call her by her first name. "Can Molly please come and play softball with us?" She smiles at him. "Sure." She turns to me. "You gonna finish up here first?" I nod and turn back to Benji. "Give me five minutes and I'll be there." "Okay." He pats me on the shoulder and gives me a smile. "Come as soon as you're ready." I nod and watch him scurry away back to the others. I turn to watch Mommy and Mulder and find that they've resumed feeding one another with their hands. Mulder's presently licking Mommy's fingers cleaning the salt off them. I grin at them. Oh my God they're so cute together. I reach into the pack and take out a yoghurt carton. As I eat it, I think about my family. I guess I now have something to write about when I get homework telling me to write my most exciting memory. The sun is getting lower in the sky and I can't help wondering whether we'll be home before it sets. I look at my watch and see that it's 5:30. In a few months, it'll be dark by now. I smile and wonder what type of winter we'll have. I hope we have snow again. I like snow a lot and Mommy and me had a snowball fight last year. I finish off my yoghurt and set the plastic container in the little bag we keep for garbage. I look up at Mommy and Mulder. Mommy's sat in front of him, between his legs and he's got his arms around her middle. They've finished feeding one another. He's softly nuzzling his nose into the hair at the base of her neck and she has her eyes closed. I can hear her quietly humming and he starts to kiss her neck and stroke her hair back from her face. I bite my lip and decide not to disturb them. They look so happy like that. So...I dunno...close. Like the bestest friends in the whole world. I bet they could talk about anything. Anything at all. I stand as quietly as I can and they hardly notice, still both engrossed in each other. I grin at them one last time before collecting my mit and racing over to my friends. Joshua, Benji and Sammy run up to me and Sammy gives me a big hug. She's four years older than all of us (five years older than me), but she's a great softball player. She's in her school team. She kind of coaches us, even though we're not an official team. We don't play big matches, we just play for fun. "Hey, Mol. We've started the game already, but Benji's team have only six players, so I guess you could join theirs." I nod. "Okay. Who's next to bat?" Benji grins, shyly. "Me," he says, quietly. I nod and smile at him. "Okay. Go get 'em," I tell him, affectionately, pushing a little punch against his shoulder. He just grins more and takes the bat Henry hands him. "Right." We start to play and I take my position on the bench, cheering Benji as he gets to third base in one bat. "Yeah, come on Benji! You go get 'em, Benji!" I watch him grin at me and give me the thumbs up sign. I give it him right back and stand and cheer him as he rounds the corner into home. I throw my arms up and shout. He walks over to me and grins sheepishly. "Hey, good going, Benji," Sammy tells him gently, rubbing his shoulder. "You're getting so much better since the summer." He nods modestly and looks down at his feet. He's really shy. He hasn't got a daddy. He was killed in a car-crash just before the summer. Poor Benji. "Your turn," he tells me and I grin. "Thanks." Before I take my place at the batting mat, I glance over at Mommy and Mulder. I grin. Mommy's lying down on the blanket, her hands reaching up to Mulder, who's leaning over her, and they're making out like the teenagers I see when Mommy drives past big school in the evening. Mommy's stroking back his hair and Mulder's got one of his hands under her top. I sigh happily and turn to the pitcher, who gives me a funny look and throws the ball at me. I hit it square on and send it flying over the heads of my onlookers. Everyone on my team starts to cheer and I tear around the pitch, touching the first, second and third base before skidding into home and dropping my bat down, flinging my arms up into the air. "Yeah!" My team goes wild and I feel like a million dollars. Josh and Timmy lift me up onto their shoulders and start to dance me around the field. They start to sing to the tune of 'Ol�', "Home run, homerun-homerun-homerun! Home run. Home run." I giggle and wave my arms about in the air, joyfully. I love this. I feel my chest begin to contract a little and realise I need my inhaler. I swallow and grin at everyone as the two boys set me back on the ground. I take a few deep breaths and make my way over to the grass and sit, closing my eyes. I feel a hand on my shoulder. "You okay?" I open my eyes and see Benji's face peering down at me. "I need my inhaler. Could you..." I glance over behind him to where Mommy and Mulder are. They're grinning and Mulder's pointing at me, obviously making it quite clear to Mommy that I did a good job. "It's in my Mommy's purse. Could you go get it for me?" He nods. "Sure." He races off and I watch as he goes to our picnic setting and asks Mommy. She nods and goes into her purse, handing it to him and looking behind him to gaze worriedly at me. I smile and wave, showing I'm okay. I always get a bit wheezy when I play, it's not usually this bad. I don't worry when I get it bad, I know I've been more excited in the last few hours than I have been for ages. Especially since I just got a homerun. Everyone always makes a big fuss when one of us younger ones gets a home run. I'm the youngest out of everyone. Benji approaches me with my inhaler and hands it to me. "Here." I smile and take it from him. He grins and sits next to me, watching in fascination as I push the cap off and use it. I don't know why he finds my inhaler so interesting. Maybe it's because not a lot of people have them in our school. Benji's always really inquisitive anyway, that's another reason why he likes my Mommy. She always explains things in a way that he and I can understand. I scuff my sneaker on the dusty floor in front of me and feeling the tightness in my chest lessen. That's better. I turn to Benji and smile. "Thank you." "That's okay." He looks down at the floor and itches his head, absentmindedly. "Molly?" "What?" "What does it feel like?" I frown. "What does what feel like?" "When you get...have...what you just had." I bite my bottom lip and suck on it. "It's like, I dunno, it's like there's something stopping you from breathing. Like there's a wide piece of elastic pulling your ribs together. It's horrible." He nods. "Does it hurt?" "A bit. Only sometimes. Only when it's bad." He nods again and I look up as I see Mommy and Mulder coming into view about three metres away from us. I grin, because they're holding hands. "Who's..." He doesn't finish. "Hey, Little one. Great game." I smile and stand up, stuffing my inhaler into my pocket. "Hey." I look down at my feet and shift them around a little shyly. "It wasn't that good." "Hey, sure it was, Kitten," Mommy insists, reaching out with the hand not holding Mulder's to ruffle my hair. "You were fabulous." I grin and sigh. She glances at my bulging pocket. "Feel better now?" I nod. Mulder looks to my side and smiles at Benji. He grins and looks away. "Well, hello there. Molly, aren't you going to introduce us?" I nod. "Okay, Benji this is, Mulder." Mulder holds out his hand and Benji shakes it, solemnly. "Hi, Sir," he says quietly. Mulder smiles a friendly smile and slips his arm around Mommy's waist. I then realise how dark it's become. I glance at my watch and read 7:30. Wow, it's pretty late. I've never been out this late, except to the new years eve party last year where we were out until 9 o'clock in the night-time. Mommy pushes up her shoulders and shivers. "Phew, it's getting cold. We should be going home soon." I nod and retrieve my mit from off the floor, turning to Benji. "See you Monday." He nods and holds up a hand in silent farewell, before turning and jogging off towards his house, which is just on the outskirts of the park. "Nice boy," Mommy reflects. He lives two blocks away from us and has a little baby sister called Ginny. He ran away from home and came over a lot after his daddy died, mainly to get away from his mommy crying. He didn't like to see her cry. I remember Mommy cuddling him and saying that everything was going to be okay. I'm not sure if it was okay then, but it is now, even though he misses him. We all walk together, hand in hand, towards the car, carrying our stuff between us. I smile and think about what a great day it's been. I'll have good dreams tonight. * * * * * * I look through the crack in my bedroom door and grin when I see Mulder walking hesitantly towards it. Mommy's behind him and rubs his shoulder, affectionately, leaning up to whisper into his ear. I think she's encouraging him. He smiles and seems to grow more confident as he enters my room and closes the door behind him. "Hey," he says. I snuggle Spooky into my cheek and grin. "Hey." He smiles at me and I can tell he doesn't know what to do. "You've never put a six-year-old to bed before, have you?" He grins sheepishly and shakes his head. "Nope." "That's okay. You'll learn." He grins at me. "I guess you're gonna coach me then?" I nod, seriously. "For a simple fee, of course." He raises his eyebrows and bobs his head. "What would that be?" "One story a night, the minimal fee for a lesson in child putting-to-bed." He chuckles and sits on the edge of the bed, smiling at me, wonder filling his features. "You're so...Scully." I raise my eyebrows and frown. "What do you mean?" "I dunno. You're just so much like your mom." I grin. I like being associated with Mommy. "That could be because I've lived with her all my life." He nods. "I guess." He looks curious for a moment. "What's she like? I mean, Scully. As a mother?" I shrug. "She's kind, and thoughtful. She doesn't let me have certain things, like action toys, or this really expensive bike. She likes to cuddle. She's good at it too." He grins at that and nods. "This I now know." I grin back at him. "And she's not too over-protective. I like the fact that she cares, but lets me have my freedom too. Not many people I know have a door key." He nods and purses his lips at me. "Very true. What about your athsma? How's she with that?" I shrug. "Okay, I guess. She always has to remind me to take my inhaler with me to school. I'm pretty forgetful." He smiles. "You got that from my side of the family." I sigh and swallow. "It's weird having a daughter." I look up at him, surprised. "Is it?" "Yeah, it's nice, but strange. I missed you growing up and I hardly know you because of it." "So find out about me. Ask me some questions." He grins sheepishly. "Okay, um, what do you wanna be when you grow up?" I grin. "A doctor, like Mommy. Or an astronaut. Something exciting." He smiles. "Why an astronaut?" I shrug. "I guess I like finding out about things that are secret, things that not many people know about, like space. Or I could be a deep-sea diver and look at fish and stuff." "Cool." I grin. "How about you're dream holiday?" "My dream holiday? Somewhere cold, because I burn easily. Iceland, or London. I've seen pictures and stuff and it looks so pretty." "It is. I lived there for a while." I raise my eyebrows. "Did you?" "Yes, I studied psychology there. Didn't stay long. I didn't like it much." He smiles, mysteriously and winks. "Got my first girlfriend there." I grin, giggling that he should tell me such a thing. "Then I came back to work on the X-files and met your Mommy." "What was Mommy like when you first met her?" He chuckles. "Horrible. We hated one another." I giggle along with him and he looks through the door, into the living room. I follow his gaze and see Mommy, sitting in front of the TV, her reading book in her hands, her glasses on her nose. "We fought so much those first few months. She wouldn't believe how ever much I tried to convince her. It turned out okay in the end though. We were best friends." He sighs and his smile turns soft. "We still are." His eyes drop to his hands and I notice a tiny tear in the corner of his eye. I bite my bottom lip, feeling really embarrassed about this man I hardly know crying in front of me. I think desperately of something else to say, something to turn the conversation away from sadness into happiness. He doesn't need to be sad right now. "Hey, I saw the pictures of Mommy and you kissing on New Year's eve." He looks up and grins, sheepishly. "That was just for the camera." Yeah right. "That's just what Mommy said. You kissed proper before then though, didn't you?" He nods and sighs. I think I hear him murmur, 'best kiss of my life', before he turns back to me and scratches his head, looking thoughtfully at Spooky. "He's cute." He looks at me and furrows his eyebrows. "He? She?" I nod. "He. He's my favourite toy. I take him everywhere." He nods. "Yeah, so your mom said." He places a hand over his mouth and yawns. "I think you should be getting to sleep. Daddy will be in big trouble if Mommy..." He looks down and wrinkles his nose. "That sounded stupid, didn't it?" I shake my head. "No. Not at all. Uncle Walter sometimes does that. Grandma does it all the time." I grin at him. "And anyway, I'd like to call you Daddy, if that's okay." He looks up and smiles this full, toothy smile that makes me all warm and tingly inside. "Sure, Little one. I'd like that too." There's a small silence between us and I grin, a little nervously. "Okay, Daddy." We grin at one another. "Like you were saying, I'd better be getting to sleep." He starts to get up from my bed. "Okay, little one. Sweet dreams." I reach to take his hand. "Hey, don't think you're getting away with it that easily, mister. The teacher needs to be paid for her services." He rolls his eyes and I wriggle down in bed, snuggling into the thick duvet covered in stars and moons. He smiles when he notices them and turns around to tuck me in to bed. "One story, please." "So, little Molly, what type of story did you have in mind?" he asks me, his hair falling over his eye. I contemplate for a moment. "A made-up one." "Okay. Um..." He scratches his head for a moment, thinking deeply. "Once upon a time there was a fairy princess. This princess had lost her sweetheart when she was younger and didn't know how to find him...because a horrible witch had locked him away in her secret castle that no-one could ever find...without this magical pair of glasses..." I grin as he carries on, the look on his face so excited and familiar. He looks like a little boy, all sweet and willing to please. I feel my eyes drifting slowly closed after a while and the last thing I remember is his lips pressing a kiss against my forehead and his whispering voice saying, "Sweet dreams, Little one." * * * * * * La fini. Catch the next instalment very soon!

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