Title: Eating Leaves Author: Elizabeth L. Iacono Rating: PG Category: S, (for shmoopiness ;-), Romance, little bit of Humor Keywords: Mulder/Scully Romance Spoilers: This Is Not Happening, DeadAlive, possibly Three Words (I haven't seen it yet *grumble* crappy school cable *grumble* so I couldn't say) Summary: Two years later, and all's well. This is in response to one of the challenges posted on the IWTB list. I hope that they like it. :-) Disclaimer: They're not mine. End of story. Archiving: I'll send to Gossamer. Legacy, Touchstone, Ephemeral, KTF can all have it. Anyone else, please ask me first. Feedback: Of course I'll love it. RhiaRamsay@aol.com Eating Leaves Elizabeth L. Iacono It was a gorgeous spring day, the kind where the sky is blue, a warm breeze is blowing, and it just seems that the world is fairly happy for once. The little boy's hand reached out to the cherry blossom petals hanging above his head. A lucky grasp by the chubby fingers brought a handful of the petals close to his face for examination. Inevitably, the little one started to bring the cherry blossom petals to his mouth for a taste test. That's when the boy's father solved the problem by closing one large hand over the little boy's and brushed the petals away. "You know you're not supposed to eat those, Will." Will squirmed in his father's arms and pouted. He wanted to play with the flowers. Fox Mulder didn't buy it. He had perfected the pout and was therefore resistant to its powers. "No, Will." After almost two years Mulder felt that he had gotten pretty good at being a father. Of course, he'd had some help from Scully. Speaking of which... "Come on, Will," Mulder shifted the little one into a more comfortable position, "let's go pick Mommy up from work." Two years after quitting he still had no trouble getting back into the Hoover building; he and Will were frequent visitors to the basement office where Scully still worked, although not as frequently (or workaholic-ly) as she did before Will was born. Mulder knocked on the basement door that no longer bore his name. Will's happy chattering must have gave them away, because the "Come in!" Scully offered up had a smile in the tone. "Hey," she said with a bright grin when they pushed the door open. "Mama!" Will held his arms out and practically scrambled out of Mulder's grasp in his haste to get to Scully. Mulder handed him over and pulled a chair close. "So how's the day been?" Mulder asked, settling himself down into the seat. "Boring," Scully sighed, bending down to press a kiss to the brown fringe on Will's head. "It seems like everyone is on vacation this week. I could use a vacation..." She reached onto the desk and plucked an envelope away from Will's wandering hands. "Found this, though." "What is it?" Scully twirled the letter in her fingers. "It's a letter Melissa wrote me when I first started working with you. I didn't remember what it said; the only reason I saved it was because it was something of Melissa's." She smiled with remembrance. "It's amazing to see how far we've come since that first year. In this letter, I was complaining about working with you, how you seemed to go practically out of your way to annoy me and test the limits of my patience. She told me to keep an open mind, that you just might surprise me." Mulder leaned closer with a trademark leer (thankfully Ben was too young to understand what exactly said leer meant). "And did I surprise you?" "You most certainly did." Keeping one arm securely around Will, Scully leaned forward and pressed her lips to Mulder's, giving him one of those long, wet, openmouthed, deep kisses that set his soul sparking. Her free hand slid down his chest, stroking the muscles beneath the t-shirt. The hand wandered around to his back and slipped downward, delving below the waist bands of his jeans and-- "Mulder, where are your boxers?" Scully mumbled against his mouth. He pulled back only slightly and looked at her through passion-hooded eyes. "Uhhh...I think the sock mutant ate them." "Mulderrrr," she practically purred in exasperation. "I lost them okay? Right after you called Will spilt his milk down my shirt, so I hopped in the shower and when I got out they were gone. The little runt probably shoved them behind the toilet or something. Anyway, I didn't have enough time to dig a clean pair out...and what does it really matter anyway?" Mulder resorted to the pout, which Scully pressed another kiss to. The kiss was broken this time by an explosive yawn from Will. "I think someone needs a nap." Scully hugged Will close and gave Mulder a look that burned right through his boxerless butt. "I think someone else needs to go to bed too." Mulder forced his dry mouth into moving. "Good idea." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A couple of hours later Will was happily snoozing in his little bed and the other two were happily sated in their big bed. Scully's fingers drew random patterns over Mulder's still heaving chest. When the sudden thought struck her, she propped her chin in the place her fingers just were and looked into Mulder's eyes. "Do you realize that today is almost two years to the day we..." Scully struggled for the right word, thinking that 'exhumed' was far too impersonal and 'dug up' was just a little too crass. Luckily Mulder nodded, knowing exactly what she was talking about. Coming back from the dead (or at least looking like it) was not something that happened that often. "Yeah. That was strange. It was like going to sleep and waking up in a whole different world." "A world that had moved ahead six months and left you behind," Scully sighed and rested her cheek against his chest. "Exactly," Mulder agreed. "I opened my eyes, saw you, and knew that something major had happened. It was unnerving and all I could remember were sparse flashbacks of torture. And then I saw the little change that had happened to you." Scully muffled a laugh against his skin. Looking back, the way Mulder reacted when he found out that she was not only pregnant, but practically bursting at the seams pregnant, was cute, although at the time things were tense. Two years later, settled into a good life together, the jaw dropping and the speechlessness and sheer disbelief and wonder on his face just endeared him to her all the more. "It was...oh, God, I can't even begin to describe how I was feeling." The arm that was wrapped around her back moved upwards to stroke her hair. "I know. But I think that things have worked out pretty well." Scully smiled and pressed her lips to his skin, her tongue reaching out to taste the remnants of sweat there. "That they have." Before they could get into anymore pleasant entanglements they were interrupted, of course, by their child, who was demanding food. "You get him, and I'll get some dinner started. It's about time for him to eat anyway." Mulder watched her get out of bed, his eyes appreciating her, and then followed her path. Pulling a pair of clean boxers out from the drawer, he tugged them on and got back into his jeans. He walked towards Will's room, where a stream of his childlike babbling led the way. He was almost there, when his left foot banged into something and he almost went sprawling. Only a swift hand slamming onto the wall (and leaving a greasy smear there that annoyed Scully to no end) stopped him from intimately meeting the hardwood floor. Scully's voice floated back to him. "Oh, Mulder, watch out for the photo albums in the hallway. My mom dropped them off today and I promised her we would look at them." Mulder looked down at the albums and gave them a disgusted look, then went on his way. Inside Will's room, the baby was trying to make a break for it. One leg was already over the side of the crib and the other was not far behind. What bothered Mulder more was the fact that Will was now wearing his missing boxers as a makeshift hat. Mulder just shook his head and chuckled. He moved quickly and scooped Will up before he hit the ground and pulled the boxers off his head. Will giggled and reached for them. "No," Mulder said in as stern a voice possible (which, when it came to Will, wasn't really that stern at all). "Daddy's boxers are not a hat." He carried Will out into the hallway, tossed the boxers back into his bedroom, and then walked into the kitchen so Will could have dinner. Two years later, and all was well. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Hope you all enjoyed it! The challenge elements were: -Mulder's reaction to Scully's pregnancyyy -Cherry Blossoms -A long open mouthed deep kiss -Lost undergarments -Photo albums -A lost letter found I hope the above entry meets the challenge. :-)