Title: A View From the Nursery
Author: Tamara Kauffman
Email: tkauff@ohio.net
Classification: VR Post-Ep
Rating: PG
Archive: Any public accessible server
Spoilers: Christmas Carol/Emily/Duane Barry
Disclaimer: Dana Scully, Fox Mulder and any other
tangentially mentioned characters created by Chris
Carter remain his copyrighted property, the property
of 1013 Productions, and the property of FOX
Television, a unit of 20th Century FOX, Inc. No
infringement of any copyright is intended.

Summary: Tara watches her sister-in-law from Mattie's
Nursery.

Note: My thanks to Dawson and Polly, two individuals
who have become very dear friends in a very short
time. I think they have both gotten their revenge <g>
on me for all of my pestering (ok, I admit, it *was*
nagging...) on their own stories. Thanks, you two:)
But, for future reference, I'm leaving all of the
writing to you.... I like the other side of the coin
much better:)

   ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Gazing out the second story window as she rocked her
son, Tara Scully watched the setting evening sun. On
the horizon, she could see tiny specks which she knew
to be planes returning to Miramar NAS. Their sound was
unmistakable to this Navy wife. She grinned at the
thought of the range of sounds her son's newborn ears
were already hearing.

Catching a glimpse of movement from the corner of her
eye, she saw her sister-in-law slowly making her way
to the base of the big oak tree in the backyard. The
same oak tree that Bill had already promised to hang a
special rope swing in for Matthew when he was older.
Bill had been so happy thinking of that, mentioning
that he remembered pushing Dana on the same type swing
when they lived on this base when they were young. She
chuckled at the thought of Bill playing with their son
on that swing...just as she could see Bill and Dana
doing long ago.

Matthew cooed a bit, just enough to take her attention
from the window.... Gazing softly at him, she murmured
a thank you for such a gift, yet at the same time
asking why Dana's was not to be. Tara could by now
barely see Dana, curled as she was on the far side,
knees pulled tightly to her chest and her chin resting
upon them as she too gazed out at the waning sun.

Today, and the past week, had been very rough for Dana
and the entire Scully family, Tara knew. The funeral
for Emily had been just this morning and the tension
was still quite high throughout the house. Bill had
been very upset with the idea of Dana's partner even
being at the house, let alone staying overnight. But
Tara, with a certain odd bit of intuition, knew that
their home was where Mulder needed to be. She had
flatly told Bill that Mulder was more than welcome to
the couch in the living room and that that was the
last she wanted to hear about. With a smile, she
remembered the look on his face at her words. Tara
thought that maybe it was time Bill realized that
stubbornness was not a trait reserved just for women
born with the name Scully.

What Bill didn't know was that she had seen Mulder's
reaction to a particular scene from the previous
evening. Although she had met Dana's partner only a
few days earlier, she knew there wasn't anything in
the world that he wouldn't do for Dana. The night
before, Dana had offered to watch Matthew while Tara
took some time to herself for a nice soak in the tub.
After finishing, she had come slowly down the stairs
hearing the soft strains of Dana's low alto voice
singing an old lullaby to Matthew as they sat on the
sofa in front of the fireplace. While that was a
beautiful picture, what caught her most unaware was
the sight of Mulder leaning his shoulder on the
doorjamb with tears on his cheeks as he listened to
his partner and watched her slowly rock her nephew.
Without saying a word, Tara had turned around and gone
back upstairs so as not to disturb either of them.

This morning, before the funeral, she mentioned this
to Margaret, who had smiled softly as she slowly sat
down. From there, she had explained to Tara just how
much she liked and admired Fox and how she'd come to
think of him as a third son, especially during the
time Dana had been missing.

>From all that Margaret seemed to know, Tara surmised
that much more must have happened to this pair over
the years to bring them this close. Though, from
Dana's actions since Mulder had arrived, not only were
tensions in the household high, but they appeared to
be strained between the partners also.

After the meeting with the judge over Dana's petition
for Emily's custody, Tara had seen the barely held
anger on Dana's face as she and Mulder had left the
judge's chamber. Dana had ridden back to the house
with she, Margaret and Bill, which had surprised the
three of them. As they were leaving, Tara saw the
enraged look Bill had given Mulder, almost as if
daring Mulder to say something. Which he didn't. He
just glanced worriedly at Dana, turned and walked to
his car. At that moment, Dana had raised her voice,
asking Mulder to meet her at the house later on.

Tara shook herself from her reverie and glanced down
at Matthew. He was finally sound asleep. She walked to
his crib and tucked him in for a few hours of sleep
before the next unscheduled mealtime. As she bent
over, tucking in the blanket, she felt a pair of arms
encircle her waist and a kiss press against her hair.
Straightening up and turning, she returned her
husband's embrace. Taking his hand, she led him to the
window so they could watch the last of the sun fall
from the sky.

The stars were beginning to appear when she felt
Bill's body stiffen behind her. She turned and
followed his gaze to where Fox Mulder was slowly
walking toward the oak tree where Dana still sat. They
watched him slowly crouch down beside her and raise
her chin so that he could meet her eyes. A slow, sad
smile appeared on Dana's face and she grasped and
tightly held his hand. He moved to stand, but her grip
pulled him down instead so that he sat on the ground
beside her. Dana shifted to sit with her back against
Mulder's chest. He wrapped his arms around her and
bent his head so that his chin rested upon her
shoulder.

Tara felt her husband's anger gather as he made to
move toward the door. She tightly held his hands in
place and softly said, "Enough, Bill." She paused,
looking out at the two figures in the yard below. The
fading light making it difficult to see where one
ended and other began.

"She needs him...they need each other."

End