From: leighchristine@hotmail.com   
      
   TITLE: Summertime   
   AUTHOR: Christine Leigh   
   E-MAIL: leighchristine@hotmail.com   
   RATING: G   
   CATEGORY: V   
   SPOILERS: None.   
      
   SUMMARY: Conversation upon a summer afternoon.   
   Ninth in a series of vignettes centering around   
   Mulder and Will that may also be read as a stand-   
   alone. Set two to three years, roughly, after the   
   end of the show.   
      
   DISCLAIMER: All characters are the products of   
   Chris Carter.  They also belong to Ten-Thirteen   
   Productions and the Fox Network. No copyright   
   infringement intended.   
      
      
   Summertime   
   By Christine Leigh   
      
   There was a pool of strawberry running into a bigger   
   pool of vanilla that was melting faster than Will could   
   consume it, and Mulder smiled as his son put his spoon   
   down finally, and pushed the bowl away.  The chocolate   
   was nowhere to be seen, having been the winner in this   
   particular contest.   
      
   "Enough, Will?"   
      
   "'Nuff."  Will nodded as he echoed his answer.  His   
   dad had said that it looked like a very big bowl of   
   ice cream, and Will knew what that meant -- that Daddy   
   didn't think he would finish it.  Well, he'd finished   
   the best part.   
      
   "You can have the rest, Daddy."   
      
   "Thanks, Will."  Mulder grinned at the remains in the   
   bowl.  "You ate my favorite part, though, so I'll pass.   
   That's very generous of you to offer, though."   
      
   They were sitting under the umbrella that covered   
   the table in the backyard, and it was hot.  Mulder   
   had known hot in his life, having spent so many years   
   wearing suits in D.C. during the warm months, but this   
   was a different hot -- very arrid.  They'd even strung a   
   line to dry laundry at the other end of the yard.   
   Will had thought that great fun.   
      
   "Daddy, can we go swimming again tomorrow?"   
      
   They'd spent the morning at the pool at the high   
   school that was located a few blocks away, and that   
   was open to the public during the summer.  They had   
   started doing this last year and Will had taken   
   to the water like the proverbial fish, much to   
   his father's delight.  Mulder knew, of course, that   
   despite the fact that he'd always been a swimmer   
   didn't mean that his son would necessarily follow   
   that path, so that this seemed to be happening made   
   him quite happy.   
      
   "I think we should be able to work it in.  We have   
   our list, though, before Mommy and Kaylene come home."   
      
   Scully and Kaylene had been away for the past week   
   visiting Bill and Tara.  The visit had originally   
   been planned for the end of August, and was to have   
   included the entire Mulder family, but Bill's orders   
   changed and he would now be leaving in two weeks, so   
   the visit had been moved up by about a month.  Mulder   
   knew how important it was to Scully for Bill and Tara   
   to see the baby before she got much older, and Will   
   had been enrolled in day camp at school through last   
   week, so off Scully and Kaylene had gone, leaving their   
   men behind.  It had probably been for the best.  Mulder   
   knew that any visit that included Bill and himself would   
   still, at this point in their lives, be fraught with a   
   certain tentativeness.  Small strides had been made,   
   mostly via the children.  Matthew and Will enjoyed playing   
   together on the two occasions they had met.   
      
   "I can sweep."   
      
   Mulder envisioned the full sized broom in the hands of the   
   little boy, and stifled a chuckle.   
      
   "Okay, then.  That's one.  Will gets to helm the broom.   
   The kitchen and the porch will sparkle to be sure."   
      
   "You can vacuum."   
      
   "I can?"   
      
   "Daddy, you're smart."   
      
   Now, Mulder didn't hold back.  Laughter came forth,   
   heartily.   
      
   "Why, thank you, Will.  I think."  He looked at the boy   
   who had a decidedly impish look in his eye. Smart ran in   
   the family, apparently.   
      
   "So you can vacuum."   
      
   "Will, I don't know when I.Q. points became a measure   
   of one's skills behind the vacuum cleaner, but if you   
   are saying that I have the brains to do the job, then   
   I can accept that.  Okay, that's two.  The smart one will   
   take care of the carpeted rooms."   
      
   Now Will laughed.  His dad always made him laugh sooner   
   or later.  He loved his mom and his new sister, and his   
   mom made a pretty good playmate as well, but time with   
   Daddy like this was his very favorite time.   
      
   "We drank all the lemondade, Daddy.  What if Mommy and   
   Kaylie want lemonade?"   
      
   "I guess we should make some more, Will.  Do you know   
   how to make lemonade?"   
      
   "You squeeze lemons.  Mommy cuts them and I help her   
   squeeze them."   
      
   "Well, I think there's a little more to it, but we should   
   be able to figure it out."   
      
   "'Cause we're smart."   
      
   "Yeah, that would be part of it.  Will, I think we can   
   continue discussing our list inside.  It's too hot   
   out here."   
      
   "Did you drink lemonade when you were little, Daddy?"   
      
   "Yes."   
      
   "Did your mommy make it for you?"   
      
   "Yes, she did.  And her mother, too.  We spent a   
   lot of time at her house, my grandmother's that is,   
   during the summer when I was your age."   
      
   "Like going to Grandma's?"   
      
   "Kind of like that.  Like grandma, my grandmother lived   
   in a different town.  It wasn't that far away, but because   
   it was on the beach, we went there to see her during the   
   summer, mostly.  The house is still there, and one day we   
   may go there.  Do you think you'd like that, Will?"   
      
   "Is it like the beach where Matthew lives?"   
      
   "It's similar.  That is, almost.  It's sandy and there   
   are waves, but not as big as the ones where Matthew lives.   
   It's an east coast beach, and Matthew's is a west coast   
   beach.  One thing about this beach, though, is that   
   it's a terrific swimming beach.  I'll bet you'd like   
   that."   
      
   "I want to go there, Daddy.  It sounds fun."   
      
   "Maybe next year."  Mulder tucked the thought away,   
   but not too far.  It was a good sized house and had been   
   largely unused for many years.  Perhaps the time   
   had come to change that.  Mulder got up, and Will   
   followed.   
      
   "Summer is my favorite time, Daddy."   
      
   "Even though we could fry an egg on the patio, if   
   we wanted to?"   
      
   "Daddy, no."   
      
   "No?  To frying an egg?"   
      
   "Yes."   
      
   "I'll bet you a dollar, Will, that we could do it."   
      
   "I love summer."  There was a determinedness in Will's   
   voice that reminded Mulder so much of Scully, and that   
   melted his heart to hear.  No heat limitus tests would be   
   necessary.   
      
   "Will, I think I want some ice cream, and some air   
   conditioning -- and then I'll agree with you."   
      
   "You want the chocolate part, Daddy?"   
      
   "I sure do.  I think we'll have to buy some more   
   ice cream, too, before mommy and Kaylene come home   
   tomorrow.  Maybe we should get all chocolate this   
   time."   
      
   "That's a good idea, Daddy."   
      
   "Well, I can vacuum, remember."   
      
   Will picked up his bowl.   
      
   "Chocolate is the best."   
      
   "Will, you're the best, and you know what?"   
      
   "What?"   
      
   "I love summer."   
      
      
   - end  -   
      
      
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