It is lovely. The best parts are the little domestic details of life with a toddler, and watching Mulder become reacquainted with his son.
A suds-covered William sits in the tub, slapping together two washcloths and seeming entirely unperturbed. She peeks in the big bedroom and finds Mulder standing by the dresser, looking spooked.
"Are you okay?" she asks.
Mulder says, "He bit me," holding his right hand like it's been mangled.
Scully opens and closes her mouth before saying, "He's two and a half."
"He bit me," Mulder says, sounding bewildered.
She repeats, "He's two and a half. That's what two and half year olds do. He probably just wanted to see how you'd react." She gently takes Mulder's hand, examines it. Small tooth marks are faint on the back and she swallows a laugh. "Although I doubt anyone would've expected you to run out of the room."
"What do I do now?" Mulder seems so genuinely baffled she wants to hug him.
Instead, she says, "You go back in there and tell him not to do it again." She skips the lecture about how little water it takes for a child to drown and leads him into the bathroom.
"Don't bite," she admonishes William, leaving Mulder to deal with his attacker in private.
After Lea goes home, Scully sticks her head into the bathroom, where William, looking grouchy, is coloring the back of Mulder's hand with an orange soap stick.
"I'm making him disinfect the wound," Mulder says.
This is perfect.
I don't like the ending particularly or the part about how they got back William. It's too cryptic for my literal minded-brain. I'd rather she'd not have told us anything about it than give us that jumbled mess of an explanation. Every time I read it I get irritated all over again. Plus what's the significance of the map in the car? I feel incredibly stupid but no one yet has explained to my satisfaction what that ending was about.
While it's not my favorite of hers by any means, it's still way better than 99% of what's out there.
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winterfish
no subject
Date: 2010-04-29 03:14 am (UTC)A suds-covered William sits in the tub, slapping together two washcloths and seeming entirely unperturbed. She peeks in the big bedroom and finds Mulder standing by the dresser, looking spooked.
"Are you okay?" she asks.
Mulder says, "He bit me," holding his right hand like it's been mangled.
Scully opens and closes her mouth before saying, "He's two and a half."
"He bit me," Mulder says, sounding bewildered.
She repeats, "He's two and a half. That's what two and half year olds do. He probably just wanted to see how you'd react." She gently takes Mulder's hand, examines it. Small tooth marks are faint on the back and she swallows a laugh. "Although I doubt anyone would've expected you to run out of the room."
"What do I do now?" Mulder seems so genuinely baffled she wants to hug him.
Instead, she says, "You go back in there and tell him not to do it again." She skips the lecture about how little water it takes for a child to drown and leads him into the bathroom.
"Don't bite," she admonishes William, leaving Mulder to deal with his attacker in private.
After Lea goes home, Scully sticks her head into the bathroom, where William, looking grouchy, is coloring the back of Mulder's hand with an orange soap stick.
"I'm making him disinfect the wound," Mulder says.
This is perfect.
I don't like the ending particularly or the part about how they got back William. It's too cryptic for my literal minded-brain. I'd rather she'd not have told us anything about it than give us that jumbled mess of an explanation. Every time I read it I get irritated all over again. Plus what's the significance of the map in the car? I feel incredibly stupid but no one yet has explained to my satisfaction what that ending was about.
While it's not my favorite of hers by any means, it's still way better than 99% of what's out there.