Wrapping last of the wine glasses and gently putting it away in a box, Scully sighed and wiped her forehead. She didn’t realize how manny things she accumulated over the years. When she was in college she could make due with two mugs a couple of plates, two pots and a frying pan, now china only filled three boxes weighing what felt like 100 pounds. Glad she wouldn’t be carrying all of it on her back, she taped the box shut and put a warning sticker on each side. Will hasn’t come out of his room for a while so she went to check, if he was packing his toys and books as she asked.
“Will? Is everything alright?” she knocked, then pushed the door open.
The boy sat curled up on the bed, hugging his stuffed gray alien, quickly wiping his eyes. Queequeg beside him, head on Will’s feet, looked like a ginger ball of sadness.
“I’m fine, mom” he tried to sound convincing but a loud betrayed him.
“Sweetie” in three steps she was sitting next to him, arms tight around his slim shoulders, the plush toy squished between them. He didn’t cry, but hugged his mom back.
Scully didn’t ask what’s wrong, the toy was a birthday gift from his best friend Holly, and as much as Will was excited about the move, the thought of leaving his best behind must’ve been weighing on his young heart. In that moment Scully didn’t care about half empty drawers, toys scattered everywhere, a pile of comic books spilled over the floor next to the bed, she held her son, feeling his pain like it was her own. Â
“I will never see Holly again” he whispered, voicing the worst of fears spinning inside his head.
“You will, when we come visit aunt Missy” she assured him, stroking his back but they both knew it wasn’t much of a consolation.
“She will forget me” he sighed, falling deeper into her arms.
“No, don’t say that. It doesn’t have to be this way” his silence screamed skepticism and she wanted to give him something to hold on to. She stroked his reddish brown hair, carefully weighing her words “I have an old friend, whom I haven’t seen since before you were born”
“So?” the kid sniffed again.
“His name is Mulder” she couldn’t help the slight shake in her voice although the boy didn’t yet realize the significance of that particular part of her past “we met in college and after I graduated, he stayed in D.C. and I moved to Boston”
“With aunt Missy?” the boy quickly connected the new facts with things he knew already.
“Yes, we barely seen each other after that, spoke on the phone once or twice a year” the boy was listening now “So you see, we too were separated and yet, years later, we’re still friends”
“You just say that to make me feel better”
“No” she dropped a fond kiss on the top of his head, smiling at his wounded tone. Ever since Jack left them, he didn’t like to be treated like a kid, feeling he should be strong for her sake “I met him when I was looking for a place for us, and now he’s helping us set it up. I sent him the sketches we made and he talked to the painters so that I or grandma wouldn’t have to be there.”
“Because grandma went to see uncle Charlie in France?”
“Exactly, so you see, distance doesn’t have to mean the end of a friendship, there are ways to stay in touch, phones, letters” Will freed himself from her embrace looking a little better, but kept the stuffed alien near by “you just have to give it a chance”
“I will” he smiled and they both looked around the room.
“You decided which toys you want to keep?” Scully changed the subject and picked up the dog, set him in her lap to scratch behind his ears.
“Books, lego and the telescope, everything else can go”
“Okay, I’m taking Queequeg for a walk, you can order pizza for dinner”
“With whatever I want?” at the mention of pizza Will’s humor was coming back fast.
“As long as there’s pepperoni and mushrooms in there somewhere” she laughed and left, taking the dog with her.
The night was cold and she forgot her gloves, but that didn’t stop her from answering the phone.
“Scully, it’s me” his voice was enough to keep her warm.
“Hi, I got your message” laughter on the other side said that he knew what was coming next “it looks beautiful, but where did you find a tree that big?”
