|
Title: Sarah 05. Interlude Summary: Mulder shares some precious moments from his and Sarah's past with Scully. Dana Scully had gotten used to spending her after work hours and weekends with Fox Mulder and his daughter. Indeed, she quite looked forward to it. Once upon a time, and not so long ago, it had been the other way around. Mulder had never liked to spend much time in his apartment, preferring to spend it at Scully's. At times, she had felt as if she had a permanent lodger, but now those days were gone. Now he couldn't wait to get home and spend his time with Sarah. At first, Scully had felt a mite resentful, but she had come to realize that he needed to spend time with Sarah in order to build up a solid relationship with her. Before the child had come to live with him, his only contact had been snatched weekends, maybe half a dozen times a year, or whenever he could get away. After settling his daughter, Mulder returned from the bedroom carrying what looked like a big book. "Sarah and I were looking at this earlier," he said. "I thought that you might like to look at it, too." He handed Scully the book and she saw immediately that it was a photograph album, bound in dark blue leather. Scully opened it, and the first picture she saw was a delightful study of Mulder with the infant Sarah. It was a head and shoulders portrait. Mulder was in profile, his left side to the camera, a wonderful expression on his face as he gazed down at Sarah. He held his tiny daughter in his two hands and she in turn was gazing up at him in that way that babies do, her eyes wide. "This is a lovely photo, Mulder," said Scully softly. "You should have it on display." Mulder smiled. "Sarah was two days old when that was taken," he recalled fondly. Scully couldn't tear her eyes away from that picture, and the expression of sheer joy on Mulder's face. She remembered him telling her that for him, Sarah's conception, although accidental, had been a happy event. Reluctantly, Scully turned the page. There was Sarah sleeping, curled up on her father's shoulder, Mulder's large hand lying protectively on her small back, his cheek resting against the soft down on her head. Mulder stretched out on a couch, asleep, his slumbering daughter lying on his chest. As she turned the pages, she could see Sarah growing before her eyes. Mulder and Sarah feeding ducks - in this picture Sarah was standing up. Mulder gave a chuckle. "Sarah hadn't long been walking when that was taken," he said. "She spent more time on her bottom than on her feet!" The next one brought Scully up short. It was of Mulder, Sarah and Annie in front of a Christmas tree. "It's not what you think, Scully," explained Mulder softly. "It was Sarah's first Christmas, and that was taken in a department store. I had no idea of what to buy her, so I asked Annie to come with me so that we could choose something suitable together. She thought it would be a good idea to have our picture taken, for Sarah." Scully moved on swiftly. She chuckled at the next few photos. There was Mulder, pulling his daughter on a sled, then the two of them building a snowman bigger than she was. Sitting on his backside in the snow while Sarah pelted him with snowballs. She knew that Mulder had a sense of fun, but these pictures showed him in an altogether different light. He was reveling in the chance to let his hair down - that was so obvious from these shots. Mulder pushing Sarah on a swing, while she was caught mid cry, her expression one of utter delight. His expression matched his daughter's - there was such of bond of love there. Some of the shots were more intimate - portraits of father and daughter together, some posed, some taken when they were off guard. There were a lot of Sarah on her own, too, but it was the photos of father and daughter together that interested Scully the most, and the candid photos that she liked best, for they showed just how much Mulder loved and cared for his daughter. His expression always had an underlying tenderness, whatever they were doing in the picture. "Who took all these photos?" she asked. "All sorts of people," replied Mulder. "Annie sent me photos of Sarah on a regular basis, and others were taken when I visited." Scully turned the page again, and held her breath. "Oh, Mulder... This is lovely!" she exclaimed softly. He leaned over to see what she was looking at. A large portrait of himself and Sarah together, with the child looking up at him with an expression of pure adoration on her face. "I like this one better," he said, and he turned the page, revealing a shot of the two of them again. He was holding Sarah, they were cheek to cheek, both looking straight to the camera and smiling, and she had her arms around his neck. Scully came up with a start, seeing her partner in skimpy swimming gear and dripping wet. Mulder laughed. "I was going to teach Sarah to swim, but she wasn't interested," he said. "She was more interested in watching me!" "How old was she there?" asked Scully, seeing the child clad in a little red swimsuit and wearing a large floppy sunhat. "About four," replied Mulder. "She can swim a little now. Quite likes it, in fact. Maybe you'd like to join us one day, Scully." "I'll think about it," she answered. "Go on," smiled Mulder, nudging her gently in the ribs. "Let your hair down for once! I promise I won't push you in - not at first, anyway!" "Just try it, Mulder, and see what you get!" laughed Scully happily, glad to see that he was definitely back to his old self. She was reaching the end of the album. She returned to the very first page again, and that shot of Mulder and the newborn Sarah. Scully recalled his description of seeing Sarah for the first time, of the way he felt and how he couldn't put those feelings into words. Everything he felt was in that photograph, in the expression on his face and in the tender way he held Sarah in his hands. That picture conveyed more than any words ever could, and revealed to Scully a side of Mulder that she never knew existed. She closed the album carefully, and rested her hands on it. "I've never shown these pictures to anyone before," revealed Mulder softly. "I'm glad that you're the first to see them." Scully was momentarily lost for words. A warm feeling rose up in her. "Thank you - I'm honored," she replied softly. "I know they mean a lot to you - I'm honored that you chose to share them with me." "It was my pleasure, Scully." He couldn't think of anyone he'd rather share his most precious memories with. Mulder reached out and placed an arm around Scully's shoulder, drawing her towards him. She leaned her head upon his shoulder, and they sat quietly together, thinking of more happy memories to come. The End
|