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Fluffuary 2026 | Day 5: Reunion
Three years Post-Revival. A well-awaited knock rocks the Scully-Mulder household.
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It happened on a rainy Thursday. Kit, now three, was having a meltdown in the middle of the living room amongst her toys and other playthings. Scully, exasperated and needing her own time out from her daughter’s wailing, gets up from the floor, her knees creaking with age. She is just about to head to the kitchen to grab an apple sauce pouch from the refrigerator when the sound of a knock at the front door makes her pause.
Since leaving the bureau, neither she nor Mulder have many house calls. Oh, yes. She is back living with Mulder full-time. After their conversation in the church about moving forward together, and finding out about her pregnancy, Scully soon started moving her belongings back into the unremarkable house. While she was preoccupied with finding William—or Jackson as he now calls himself—every dead end after dead end made her start to go mad, which Mulder picked up on and told her to be nicer to herself.
After one particularly tough night reliving that event on the dock, her usual dream ended differently. William rose from the water, hot-wired an old beat-up Buick and drove west. He televised him working on open land, healthy, safe. Ever since then Scully stopped having visions of Jackson. She turned her focus to the new life growing within her.
Mulder bounds down the stairs, having also heard the knock.
“There’s an unfamiliar car parked in the driveway.”
Mulder holds out his arm, keeping her back. His eyes fall to Kit who’s still whimpering on the floor. Scully turns back to pick her up and holds her in a protective embrace.
Mulder swings the door open.
“What?” Scully takes a few steps toward Mulder. “Who is it?!”
Mulder slowly reaches out to open the door and moves aside to let whomever is standing on the porch enter their home.
A tall, lanky male with shoulder length hair, dampened by the rainstorm crosses over the threshold. Scully almost drops Kit from her arms as she takes in their son, standing there in the flesh. Tears immediately spring to her eyes as she rushes forward. Kit is passed to Mulder as she reaches her arms out to wrap around her boy. The embrace is loosely returned, as his mother’s arms are locked around his own making it difficult for him to raise them.
Mulder chuckles beside them, “Jesus, Scully. Let the man breathe.”
Embarassed, Scully loosens her embrace by a fraction. She still can’t believe her son is standing here, in the flesh.
“Actually,” the young man clears his throat, “I go by William now. Thought I’d give my original name a try…after all that happened.”
Scully’s eye swim with unshed tears. She reaches up to brush his long locks away from his face. Blinking into reality, Scully kicks into mom-mode, pulling William further into the living room. She pulls a pair of clean and folded sweatpants and a flannel shirt that belonged to Mulder out from the laundry basket. She insists he get out of his wet clothes, she asks if he’s hungry. Thirsty.
“Scully. Take a breath. He’s going to leave if you don’t calm the fuck down.”
“Mulder!” Scully lifts a hand toward their daughter that he’s still holding.
“Truck!” Kit spits out around the rubber alien she has in her mouth.
“Oh, great Mulder.” Scully rolls her eyes and heads into the kitchen to throw a box of pizza rolls that Mulder is obsessed with into the oven.
Now sitting on the couch, William loosely points at the precocious girl wiggling in her father’s arms. “Is that…is she?”
“Your sister? Yes.” Mulder smiles, then puts the wiggling human tornado down in front of William. “This is Katherine Margret Scully-Mulder. Kate for short but Kit because…well, because of the whole Fox thing.”
Kit toddles toward William, her little hand reaches out toward his face. Her little fingers grab hold of her brother’s nose. William playfully lets out a scream.
“Don’t be offended. She is obsessed with noses now. Grabs every one she can get her paws on. Doesn’t help that you inherited your father’s schnozz. I was hoping you’d have all your mother’s features.”
“What about my features?” Scully asks, placing a glass of water onto the side table next to William. As she straightens, Mulder reaches out to pull her into his side.
He kisses her lightly. “Just paying a complement at how beautiful you are.”
“Uh huh,” Scully’s eyebrow raises, unconvinced.
Mulder playfully drops kisses all over Scully’s face. During their teasing, William asks Kit if they do this all the time. She nods yes as if she truly comprehended his question.
“So, son. How long are you sticking around for?”
“Not that you’re not welcome. You can stay here for as long as you’d like.” Scully interrupts. “Forever even.”
William chuffs out a laugh. “Thanks. Um, I haven’t really thought about it.”
“Well, that’s okay. We’ll take it one day at a time.” Mulder slaps William on the back before slipping into his leather recliner.
Getting antsy, Kit climbs down from William’s lap, keeping hold of his hand tugging him toward the pile of toys on floor. She beings to tell her brother, in her own language, all about her favorite toys and what they can do.
Scully slowly lowers herself to sit on the arm of Mulder’s recliner. His arm comes up to slide a wide hand across the span of her back. Mom and Dad take in their children bonding with each other.
“How did we get here, Mulder?” Scully tearfully whispers, afraid if she speaks any louder the illusion in front of her will shatter.
“Doesn’t matter, Scully. He’s here. We’re here.” A warm hand closes over her shoulder, squeezing with reassurance. “All I know for sure is we make pretty good-looking kids.”
She can’t help but agree as she soaks in her children playing on the floor and the warm weight of her lover’s arm around her waist. Whatever comes next, they would face together as a family.