Work Text:
March 4th
Mid morning
“Hey,” Mulder said, stepping into Scully’s home office.
“Hey back,” she said, glancing up from her laptop with a smile.
“I wanted to run something past you. Are you at a place where you could stop for a few minutes?”
She turned her head and stopped typing, frowning slightly.
“Is everything okay?”
“More than okay,” he said with a grin. “It’s just that, what I want to run past you, I need to show you.”
“Mulder… is it in our bedroom?” she asked, one eyebrow raising up.
“No. Not that,” he laughed and then sobered. “I mean if you were interested, what I want to show you could wait. I’ll never say no to that.” He pumped his eyebrows at her and she shook her head.
“Appreciate the offer, but not at the moment,” she said, smiling before she turned back to the laptop. “Let me finish this last email and I can stop for a few minutes.”
“Great. Would you like a cup of coffee or something to be ready for you when you’re finished?”
She swiveled in her chair and narrowed her eyes at him.
“It’s not in the bedroom, right? You’re not trying to butter me up?”
“Oh… that would be messy,” he mused, shaking his head, his eyebrows raised as he moved his hands back and forth like a scale. “Good for the skin, perhaps? As opposed to whipped cream or chocolate sauce? Although, not as tasty to lick off. No, I don’t think butter would be good. Definitely not as sexy...”
She smiled as he continued to talk to himself, shaking her head at how easy it was for him to go off on a tangent.
“Mulder,” she said.
“Of course there’s always honey, but that one time… it was so sticky. And while enjoyable, it was also a huge mess. But on the other hand…” He grinned, his eyes far away in the past.
“Mulder,” she said again, tapping his leg with her foot.
“Hmm, yeah. What?” He worked at focusing on her and she laughed.
“No butter. No honey,” she said, shaking her head. “I have to finish this before I leave for my meeting.”
“No. Nothing like that,” he said, clearing his throat. Smiling, he stepped closer and towered over her, causing her to lean back. Placing his hands on the arms of her chair, he moved even closer. “But the honey was fun. Once we got the amount of usage correct.”
“It was,” she agreed, threading her arms around his neck. “And the whipped cream.”
“Hmm, yes,” he breathed, pressing his lips to hers, his tongue teasing hers briefly before pulling back. She leaned forward, still holding onto him, her eyes closed and heart racing.
Damn, but he was good at that.
“Coffee will be waiting, Doc,” he said and he extracted himself from her with a grin as she opened her eyes. “Unless you want something else.”
She let out a deep breath and shook her head, knowing he knew how certain kisses affected her.
“Coffee it is,” he said, pointing both index fingers at her and then leaving the room.
“That man,” she muttered, turning back to finish her email so she could find out what he wanted to run past her.
Ten minutes later, email and other work finished, she closed the laptop and sighed. Pushing from her desk, she stood up, stretched, and walked out to find Mulder.
The front door was open and through the screen she saw him standing on the porch, looking out across the yard. Smiling, she crossed the room and pushed the screen open.
“Hey, Doc,” he said, looking at her with a smile as he handed her a travel mug of coffee. “Didn’t want it to get cold.”
“Thanks, hon,” she said, taking a small sip. “Mmm, it’s perfect.”
“I know what you like,” he said with a wink.
“Yeah,” she agreed, putting her arm around his waist and pressing her nails into his side, causing him to yelp. “Yeah, you do.”
“Okay listen,” he said, removing her arm from his waist and stepping to the side with a heavy sigh. “You don’t have time, I don’t really have time… let’s pick this up later. After Faith’s in bed and asleep. Deal?”
“Yes, honey,” she said, smiling as she took another drink.
“Oh you… you’re trouble,” he said, shaking his head as he stepped around her and started down the stairs. “So much trouble.”
She laughed as she followed him, catching up and grasping the hand he had extended back to her.
“I’m good trouble,” she said, bumping him gently.
“When you’re not bad, honey,” he retorted and she laughed again.
“So, what did you want to show me?”
“This,” he said, letting go of her hand and gesturing to the field on the other side of their fence.
“What about it?” she asked with a frown.
“I think we need to do something about it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, for one thing, it’s gotten a bit overgrown.”
“Agreed,” she said with a nod.
“So,” he said, taking her hand again. “Seeing as it’s just sitting there… what if we made it into a garden?”
She laughed and was about to tell him that was a crazy idea, but then she saw the expression on his face.
“You’re serious,” she said and he nodded. “You want to make a garden? Of what exactly?”
“Whatever!” he said excitedly. “Whatever fruit or vegetable will grow easily in this climate without too much fuss.”
“But we have the fence,” she said, nodding to it.
“Then we take it down or change it up a notch, adding a gate, or an archway, that would give us access to it.” He shrugged and she stared at him in amazement.
“You’re really serious,” she said again and he nodded.
“I am.”
“But why?”
“Well, a few reasons,” he said, squeezing her hand. “We have the space, and then some, as I said. Also, it will give me something to do-”
“And hyper fixate on,” she muttered.
“That too,” he laughed. “And Faith could help. It would be a learning experience for her… all of us really. What better time to start than now as spring is bearing down upon us.”
“A vegetable garden,” she said, looking out at the overgrown plot of land and imagining it lush with plants. “You want to till up the land and start a garden?”
“All that work? Christ, no,” he said and she looked at him. “The cost alone would be far too high. Then if it didn’t work out, it would be a huge mess just sitting there.”
“So what are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking more like raised garden beds. Something we could plot out, build and place, and then plant what we wanted in each separate bed.”
“Fresh peas in one. Tomatoes. Zucchini maybe. Potatoes in another. Yeah. I think I like that idea.”
“Huh, well that was easier than I thought it would be,” he said, squeezing her hand again. “You know, seeing as you’re in a rather agreeable mood, I’d like to revisit the idea of chickens.”
“Mulder-”
“It was you that brought them up,” he said.
“A couple of years ago,” she said, letting go of his hand and staring at him. “And I was joking, so do not come home from that garden/pet store with a few chicks and act all innocent, telling me that they had no one to care for them and so you had to take them in. Promise me you won’t.”
“I…”
“Mulder… promise me. Now.”
“I promise,” he said with a grin and she raised her eyebrows. “I do promise, Scully. One thing at a time. Garden first. Chickens and goats next.”
“Uh no. No goats. They were never mentioned before.”
“No goats? Oh, that’s a baaaaad answer,” he said and she could not help but laugh.
“Don’t push your luck,” she said as he put his arm around her shoulders, both of them chuckling.
“Garden first, then we’ll talk,” he said and she hummed as she put her arm around his waist and took a sip of her coffee.
________
And so the garden planning began.
Mulder watched videos, read blog posts, and created a plan.
The overgrown grass was mowed and the ground plotted for where the garden would be placed. Wood markers were hammered into the ground with Faith’s help, the little hammer Mulder had bought for her placed back into the loop on the overalls when she was finished.
“We’ll have lots of vegetables right, Daddy?” she asked, pushing back a braid that had fallen over her shoulder. “Like corn?”
“I don’t think we’ll do corn this time around, love. But peas and carrots. Maybe potatoes.” He smiled at her as Scully snapped pictures of them working together, both covered in grass stains.
“Mmm. I love potatoes,” Faith said. “They’re so good.”
“They are.” He smiled at Faith and then glanced up at Scully. “And we’ll do broccoli too.” Faith made a face and they both laughed. “You like broccoli, Squatch.”
“I doooooo, but it’s not my favorite,” Faith said and Mulder tweaked her nose.
“It’s not my favorite either, but we still need to eat it.”
“I know,” she said with a sigh, as Scully captured another picture.
___________
Two days later, after dropping Faith off at school, he arrived at home with a large amount of wood in the back of the car and Scully came out and helped him unload it onto the porch.
“I don’t think I’ve ever felt as manly as I did ordering all this wood and asking for it to be cut to the length I needed,” he said and she laughed. “I think I’ve finally made it as a man.”
“Only took you sixty three years to get there,” she said slyly.
“Hey!” he said, placing a piece down and staring at her. “I’m only sixty two. Don’t be adding years like that until it’s time. I still have a few months to go.”
“My apologies, sweet husband,” she said, smiling as she walked closer and gave him a kiss. “Did you get all the paint as well?”
“Three different shades of pink. And three different shades of purple.”
“So manly,” she whispered, grabbing the front of his shirt and stopping anything he was going to say with another kiss.
When Faith came home, she nearly danced up the steps, seeing all the supplies on the porch.
“Can we start now, Daddy?” she asked, petting Bella who had come to greet her and looking at the cans of paint.
“Sure thing. Let’s get you changed and we can start.”
A large drop cloth was placed on the porch and the four pieces for the garden box were laid out.
“Okay, we need to line them up and nail and screw them together. Alright, my love?” Mulder asked Faith and she nodded solemnly, her hand on her hammer. Scully smiled at her look of determination and let out a contented sigh.
The wood was lined up and they all helped to make sure it was secured properly. When it was finished, it was moved out of the way and the next box was made. Once all six were complete, Faith stood in front of them, with her arms crossed and a smile on her face, her hammer hanging from the loop of her overalls again, as Scully took her picture.
“Send it to Raycho and Unco please. And they can show the twins,” Faith said as she looked at the picture. “They will be proud of us.”
Next came the painting of the wood, but only one box of each color was finished and left to dry before it was time for dinner, a bath, and bed.
Mulder was standing on the porch when Scully came downstairs after putting Faith to bed, cuddling her and waiting until she had fallen asleep.
“You better not be doing anything without her,” Scully warned as she stepped out to join him. He smiled as he looked at her and shook his head.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“What’re you doing?”
“Just thinking. Throwing the ball for Bella. But mostly thinking.”
“About what?” she asked, stepping closer and wrapping her arms around his waist.
“How different my life turned out to be. In the very best way possible.”
“Mulder,” she whispered, closing her eyes as she laid her head on his chest and tightened her hold on him.
“One wrong turn, Scully. One thing done differently,” he whispered and she exhaled before pulling back and looking up at him.
“Yet here we are,” she said softly.
“Here we are,” he agreed with a smile. “Pink and purple garden boxes and all.”
“Especially those,” she replied, glancing over at them and then back at him.
“Yeah,” he agreed, holding her close and kissing the top of her head. “Especially those.”
_______________
Faith was off school the next day, but Scully had to work. As much as she wished to be home and help with the painting, she had to be at the hospital.
Around lunchtime, while she was in her office eating, she got a message. Opening it, she saw it was a video and she put her headphones in before pushing play. When she did, she watched with a smile the whole way through, her lunch completely forgotten.
“Hi everybody,” Faith said, waving to the camera, once more in her overalls, streaks of paint on them as well as her hands, arms, and face. “Today we finished painting our garden boxes.” She gestured to the large boxes on the drop cloth that had been moved to the grass. “Daddy moved it to the grass so the sun could help dry it faster. It does that because the sun is a source of heat. Heat warms things up and helps to dry them. They should be done soon. Then we will get the… what’s it called again, Daddy?”
“I don’t know what you mean, honey,” Mulder said, though he was not seen in the video.
“The stuff that goes in it,” Faith said, looking up at Mulder as she began twisting her fingers nervously, her expression almost worried.
“You mean the cardboard stuff we talked about?” he offered and she smiled, her hands dropping as she sighed.
“Yeah, that. Thank you, Daddy.”
Scully heard Mulder hum and tears pricked at her eyes, knowing what that hum meant because she felt it too.
“So, after the paint is dry, we’ll carry the boxes to the spot in the grass we picked already. Then we’ll put the cardboard stuff down and put the boxes on top of that. Then we had the… the…” She glanced at Mulder and let out a deep breath.
“The compost.”
“Yeah. The compost. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
She looked down and took a deep breath, then another one. Looking back up, she smiled and Mulder hummed softly again.
“We have to smooth the compost over the cardboard and then when they are all finished, we can start planting right away.”
“That’s right,” Mulder said and Faith nodded. “What will we be planting, honey?”
“We have six, big plant boxes,” she said, showing the size with her arms. “So we’re going to grow a few things like peas and carrots. Tomatoes and basil. Broccoli. Potatoes. Strawberries and leafy lettuce.”
“And this is our first time doing this, so we’re still learning,” Mulder reminded her and she nodded.
“Right. So we’re going to try it and see how it goes.”
“But it will be a beautiful garden either way,” he said and Faith smiled at him.
“Yeah. It will be very beautiful.”
“Okay. You wanna say goodbye now? We’ll have some lunch and get back to it?”
“Bye everyone,” she said, waving at the camera. “Hope you like our garden video.”
The video ended with Mulder chuckling and Scully wiped the tears from her eyes with a smile, aching to see them but knowing she still had a few hours to go.
When she finally pulled up the road, she could see them still out in the garden area, and she stopped the car in the driveway. Leaving everything inside, she got out and walked over to join them, forgetting about the unavoidable combination of tall heels in soft grass.
“Oh,” she said as she got stuck and stumbled slightly. “Haven’t done this in awhile.”
“Ya stuck?” Mulder called out and she could hear the laughter in his voice.
“Just a bit,” she called back, slipping out of her shoes and then pulling them free from the grass. Walking over barefoot, her shoes dangling from her fingers, she smiled at the sight of them.
“Hey, Doc,” he said, glancing at her shoes. “Been awhile, huh?”
“It has,” she agreed, as they shared a smile. He bent his head and kissed her softly, her hand pressed to his chest.
“I’ll piggyback you out when we’re done.”
“Okay,” she laughed, kissing him once more.
“Mommy!” Faith called, running over to her. “Come and see what we’ve done!”
“Show me love,” Scully said, stepping carefully through the cool grass.
Faith showed her all the garden beds laid out along their marked spots, the cardboard sticking out the sides, with compost spread out in only two of the boxes.
“We have to do the rest later because it’s a lot of work,” Faith said, brushing pieces of hair from her face. “And also because the fence people are coming tomorrow.”
“You’ve accomplished so much today, my love. You’ve done so well.”
“Well, it was me and Daddy,” Faith said, looking at Mulder. “He did a lot of work today too. He lifted the huge bag of compost and pushed it over in the wheelbarrow and I got to sit on top of the bag as he pushed.” Faith giggled and Scully smiled.
“It’s a good thing Daddy is so strong,” Scully said, glancing at him and looking him up and down. He shook his head as she licked and then bit her bottom lip. “So very strong.”
“Yeah, he is,” Faith said, tugging on Scully’s hand and pulling her attention away from Mulder. “Look at this too, Mommy.”
It was a tired trio who entered the house twenty minutes later, Scully given the promised piggyback ride as Faith ran beside them laughing hysterically and Bella barked from within the fence line, racing back and forth excitedly.
“You’ve gotten so much done,” Scully said to Mulder as they got into bed and he yawned loudly. “Is it tiring you out?”
“A little at times, but I love it,” he said with a sleepy smile. “Good honest work. Quality time with my girl. Can’t complain about that.”
“No,” Scully agreed, snuggling close to him, his arm going around her. “No, you can’t.”
“Hmm,” he hummed and then yawned again as she closed her eyes with a smile.
________________
Scully and Faith watched from the porch with Bella, who whined behind the baby gate that was still attached to the porch, as three trucks pulled up and Mulder went to speak to the people who would be installing the garden fence.
Bella barked as she stared through the bottom of the gate, not sure what was happening.
“It’s just the fence people, Bella,” Faith said, sitting beside her and rubbing her ears. “They are going to make it safe for all of us to spend time in the garden. It’s okay, Bells.”
Bella whined and then laid with her head on Faith’s lap, as she continued petting her and soothing her as she explained what was happening.
Scully sat beside Faith, kissing the top of her head and telling her how much she loved her.
“I love you too, Mommy,” Faith said, leaning her head against Scully’s side.
Mulder returned to them, smiling as he climbed over the gate and sat on the opposite side of Bella, telling them what the people would be doing.
“They will make the fence and then we can finish the garden,” Faith said as Grey ran up the steps and squeezed through the gate. “Hello, Grey. Are you going to join us?” Grey chirped a meow and laid down in Scully’s lap, purring and kneading against her leg.
At nearly six, the fence was complete and they walked down to thank the people. Faith gave them all a lollipop from her special stash and the men and women called their thanks as they left.
A portion of the old fence had been cut away and a gate had been added, allowing easier and quicker access to the garden. The new fence was eight feet tall, a light hickory color, and it ran along the driveway, nearly to the edge of the road, and down the other side to meet the previous fence.
The new fence had twenty eight small square cutouts along the top half of each section and a picket fence along the bottom, to help keep out any small and curious animals.
And the best part was that there was only one gate in and out, keeping everyone inside safe and secure.
“It’s like a magic garden,” Faith said as she walked around. “I like it in here.” She spun with her arms out, Bella wagging her tail beside her, and Scully smiled as she watched them.
“A picket fence,” Mulder said softly and Scully quickly turned to look at him. “Remember when we talked about that? Finding a place to stop running? You said you wanted a place with a picket fence. Maybe a dog in the yard.”
“I remember,” she whispered with a nod, thinking about that night under the stars, the idea of any type of home feeling so far away and perhaps unattainable.
“It’s taken a long time. A really long time,” he said. “And it’s not exactly the way I pictured it, but…”
“It’s better,” she said, putting her arms around him. “This is better.” She looked around at the new gate, the halfway finished vegetable garden, and she smiled. “This is beautiful.”
“Only because of the company occupying it,” he said with a smile and she chuckled quietly.
“Sweet talker.”
“I love you,” he said, his expression becoming serious.
“I love you too,” she said, pushing up on tiptoes to kiss him.
“We can finish the garden boxes tomorrow?” Faith asked, her arms going around both of them.
“Absolutely,” Mulder said, pulling back and grabbing her, and then setting her up onto his shoulders.
“Daddy!” she laughed as Mulder smiled and took Scully’s hand to lead them back inside.
__________
Saturday after breakfast, compost was added to the remaining garden boxes, which was raked and leveled, readying it for planting.
Sunday morning, a large delivery truck carrying dark wood chips was delivered from a local arborist, to be used to create paths to walk on in between the garden beds. The rolls of cardboard that had been used in the garden boxes were laid onto the grass and then wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of wood chips was placed on top of it.
Faith created a game as they did, pretending to be an ice skating ninja, who must follow the path to her destiny of truth, but kept getting stuck as she waited for the wood chips to be delivered.
“I can’t go forward and must not go back. The evil villain is waiting for me. I will just have to wait here and hope the path magically appears.”
She pretended not to see Mulder as he hurried over, dumping the pile of wood chips in front of her, smoothing them down as he created her much needed path.
Scully, filling buckets at the wood chip pile, to dump into the wheelbarrow, stopped and smiled at Faith as she danced, kicked and punched the air, and skated on the chips.
“She has such a great imagination,” Mulder said as he came back, pouring the buckets into the wheelbarrow.
“She does. Just like you.”
“Hmm, that’s true.” He smiled as he poured in two more buckets and grabbed the handles of the wheelbarrow. “Gotta hurry. I have an ice skating ninja to save.”
Scully laughed as he ran off, hurrying through the gate and down the center of the cardboard covered path.
When the last wood chip had been laid, they all walked around the garden, looking at the job they had accomplished.
“We did it,” Mulder said. “It was a tough job, but we did it.”
“Yeah,” Faith said, nodding as she looked around. “I think it looks great.”
“I second that,” Scully said and Faith frowned as she looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I agree with you,” Scully explained with a smile. “Sometimes if an idea, or plan is suggested, it can’t happen until someone says, I second it. That means there are two votes for doing something. You said the garden looked great. And I seconded it. That means even if someone said they didn’t agree, we have two votes and they only have one.” She smiled again and Faith nodded slowly, trying to understand.
“Let me give you an example,” Mulder said as he stretched. “I think we should head inside, wash our hands, have something to eat, and then maybe some ice cream before we start planting the seeds in the garden beds. What do you think, Faithy?” He looked at her with a smile and she grinned back.
“I second it and three it!” she said, Mulder and Scully both laughing.
“Then let’s do it.”
They ate lunch inside, but had their ice cream on the porch, staring out at the new garden.
“We could get some arched trellises,” Mulder said, as he took a bite. “Maybe not for the plants to grow on, but just to look nice. Add some of that magic Faith mentioned the other day.” He glanced at Scully and she nodded with a smile. “And I was thinking of having a small storage bin in the corner. Not anything too tall or large, but something to hold the smaller things like trowels, small shovels, watering cans, gloves… whatever else we might need. That way it’s all in one spot.”
“A good idea,” Scully said, nodding as she took a bite.
“Okay. You almost done, Squatch?” he asked and Faith nodded, eating up the last of her ice cream.
“Here, Bella. You can have some too,” Faith said, setting her bowl down beside her. Bella’s tail thumped happily as she began to lick it clean. “Ready, Daddy.”
“Then let’s get to it.”
By the time the sun was setting, all the seeds had been planted, the beds were watered, and then adorned with markers Faith had made from scraps of wood from the old fence.
Tomatoes and basil were in one bed. Peas and carrots in another. Potatoes and beans in another. Strawberries were on their own. Green leafy lettuce and onions were together. And in the last bed, broccoli and oregano.
“Now we wait,” Mulder said as they walked around looking at the garden beds. “And hope the weather doesn’t get too cold.”
“It’s an experiment,” Scully said, taking his hand. “If it doesn’t work out, what do we do?”
“Try again,” called Faith, as she adjusted the marker labeled strawberries, with a picture of them drawn on it as well. “You have to always try again.”
“That’s right,” Scully agreed, smiling at Faith and squeezing Mulder’s hand as she looked at him. “We’ve never done this, as you said yourself. It’s something new and experimental. We’ll just keep trying if this doesn’t work.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “It really does look good. A better use than just being an empty field.”
“Agreed,” Scully said with a nod.
“So my idea was a good one,” he said and she paused in her steps to look at him, hearing a change in his voice.
“It was,” she said, looking at him warily and letting go of his hand.
“Well, seeing as it’s done and looks nice, we can revisit the chickens and goats conversation.”
“Mulder,” she hissed, glancing at Faith who had turned her head to look at them.
“Chickens?” she asked excitedly. “Like the baby ones we saw at the garden and pet store? The little yellow and gray ones? They are soooo cute.”
“They are cute, aren’t they?” Mulder asked, smiling as he stared at Scully.
“Mulder,” she warned and he shook his head.
“Garden first, Faithy. That was the promise I made to Mommy. It’s not completely done yet, so I haven’t fulfilled my promise,” he said and Scully nodded her thanks.
“But maybe soon?” Faith asked, walking over to them, her hands in the pockets of her dirt smudged overalls.
“Maybe,” Scully replied, looking at Mulder with a nod. “But let’s give the garden time to grow before we begin clearing space for a chicken coop, okay?”
“Okay,” Mulder and Faith said at the same time, causing Scully to laugh.
“Good,” she said, looking at Mulder again. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, clapping his hands and looking at Faith. “Now, we need to head inside and get you in the tub, you grub. You’re filthy.”
“I’m not a grub,” she protested, brushing her hands on her overalls. “Just my clothes are dirty.”
“So are you, Squatch,” he said, picking her up and quickly turning her to land on his back. “Your turn for a piggyback.” He whinnied as he made sure she was on properly and then he took off at a running gallop as Faith screamed happily.
Scully followed at a slower pace, looking at the pink and purple garden boxes with the markers inside them, written in Faith’s handwriting.
“Alright little seeds,” she said softly, Faith’s laughter carrying back on the evening air. “You gotta grow. We’ve given you the means and the space. Now you do your part. Goodnight.”
She closed the gate and latched it, smiling at the sight of the garden once more before she turned and followed the sound of laughter up the steps and into the house.