The Teenage Years

by Trycee

Time-Line: Present Day

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Files, this is written for fun not profit.

*I've drawn from my own experiences as a parent of a teenager. I have had some strange experiences with other parents with my child in both sports and in dating and so I am using them in this story. *

Scully was running late as she looked at her watch and then her gas tank indicator. She sighed and pulled off the road to the only gas station in her little town. She glanced again at her watch as she stepped out into the crisp November air and hurried into the gas station. The attendant who was familiar with nearly everyone in the town smiled at her as she paid for her gas but Scully immediately noticed that there was someone watching her. She turned behind her to notice a woman following closely behind her. "Are you Mrs. Scully?", the woman asked.

"Yes," Scully said, noticing she hadn't used "Dr.", so she knew immediately the woman was a local and not from the larger city where Scully worked at Our Lady of Sorrows.

"You're William's mother," the woman continued.

Scully's eyebrow's raised and she crossed her arms defensively in front of her and looked the woman up from head to toe. She noticed she was dressed modestly in a thick sweater and a simple flowery dress and tights with a simple pair of black Mary Janes on her feet. Scully's eyes rose back to meet the women's.

"Yes, I'm William's mother," she said, her eyebrow's still raised high.

The woman sensing Scully's caution, smiled warmly. "I'm Susie's mother."

Scully cocked her head slightly, indicating she had no idea who Susie was.

"Susie Carter, my daughter. She talks about William all the time. She was hoping he would ask her out on a date."

"Oh!", Scully said, with a slight smile that she tamped down.

"Well, we're a little old fashioned in our family, Mrs. Scully," Mrs. Carter," spoke.

Scully licked her lips. "How did you know I would be here?", she questioned. "At the gas station?"

Mrs. Carter looked puzzled. "I didn't," she said, looking down at the skittles in her hand. "I stopped in for a snack and I saw you. I've seen you before but only in passing."

Scully nodded.

"Anyway," the woman said, undaunted. "My husband and I are pretty old fashioned when it comes to Susie."

"Yeah," Scully said.

"We would like to meet you and his father first before they could date," Mrs. Carter stated.

"Ah," Scully said. "Okay."

"You live in that house with the gate, right?", Mrs Carter asked.

Scully cocked her head again and shifted her weight to her other foot. The woman was asking too many questions for her liking. "Yeah..."

"You see, we'd like to sit down and discuss things and check things out for ourselves. You know, make sure that you're values match our values and that your son is suitable for our daughter."

Scully huffed. "We're talking about 14 year old's Mrs. Carter...dating, not marrying."

"We'd like to come to visit you and maybe break bread and share a meal."

Scully looked shocked. "At MY home!", she said, alarmed.

"And William's father...You're still together?", Mrs. Carter asked.

Scully looked the woman directly in the eye. "We'll discuss all of this as soon as I get home. Thank you, Mrs. Carter," Scully said, walking out the gas station, slamming the glass door behind her.

Mrs. Carter continued her persuit of Scully and was hot on her heels. She reached out and touched her elbow and Scully swung around to face her, staring in amazement at the women who would not leave her alone.

"Well, maybe we should exchange phone number's or something...", the woman said.

Scully sighed."Do you have a card?".

"Yes," Mrs. Carter said, reaching into her modest purse and pulling out a simple business card. "I'm a daycare mom."

Scully reached into her car, into her briefcase and pulled out one of her own cards and handed it to her. Mrs. Carter's eyes widened. "DR Dana Scully?"

"Yes," Scully answered.

"Well...My husband and I will be waiting for your phone call."

Scully watched her as she climbed into her minivan and pulled out and drove out of sight. She again glanced down at her watch and knew she was extremely late now. She cursed and kicked at a can on the ground that was in her way. She pumped the gas as fast as she could ignoring her frozen fingers from the crisp wind and hopped back into her car and raced up the road to her home. After securing the gate, she drove up to the front porch and was met by Mulder who looked non-to-happy.

"Where have you been?", he asked.

"Got stopped by a very annoying woman. I'll tell you about it in a second," she said.

Mulder grabbed her briefcase from her hand and planted a soft kiss on her lips and hugged her tightly. "You worried me. You know I don't like it when you're late."

"I tried my best, Mulder, but this woman.."

"Tell me in a minute," he said, placing his hand on her back and helping her up the steps into their home.

Scully's eyes focused immediately on their son who was sitting on the sofa dressed in his basketball uniform waiting.

"Mom, you're late," he said, irritated.

"William, you already know I was trying," she sighed. "Give me a minute to change, okay."

Without looking at her, he huffed and rolled his eyes and continued to spin his basketball on one finger. Scully looked to Mulder and he touched her face, reassuring her. "It's okay, just hurry up and get changed. "

She glanced back at William before retreating into their bedroom. Mulder though turned his attention to his teenage son.

"I know what you're gonna say. "

"Then let me say it," Mulder said, coming to stand in front of his son. "You're mother works hard and if you act like that again, you'll have to deal with me!"

"Dad, " William said, shaking his head. "You know I still have my powers."

"And I can still whip your ass!," Mulder said, pointing at his son. "Cut the attitude!"

"It's my first game. We're gonna be late."

"No we're not."

"I'm ready," Scully said, half dressing as she made it down the hallway, pulling up her jeans and covering her bra with her t-shirt before entering the living room. She grabbed her jacket by the door, "Let's go!", she said, flinging it open.

Mulder looked at his son. "Cut the attitude!"

"Okay!", William said, rolling his eyes. "Can we just get there, please!", he said, grabbing his basketball and stomping purposely out the door.

Mulder shook his head. "Teenagers!", he sighed, locking the door.

The school gymnasieum was a welcoming site for Mulder but it also caused him a slight amount of anxiety. There were unfamiliar faces in too close proximity to himself and Scully and he knew he didn't like it. He placed his whole arm around her encasing her to him as they navigated past gwaking faces of parents who whispered about the strangers as they walked past. They were searching for an area where they could clearly see William in his debut on the court. Mulder was so proud of his son. He couldn't stop smiling and Scully glanced up to look into his eyes and he knew at that moment she had read his thoughts. William was certainly taking after him. They found a spot and sat down but he was distracted by Scully who was blocking his view as she searched through the crowd above his head.

"You see her?", Mulder asked.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Oh yes, I see her!", she said, waving her small arms indicating their location.

Mulder's eyes were glued onto his son, watching his stretches and his practices with his team-mates. He could see himself so clearly in the dark auburn haired boy. He was tall just like himself and lean but he still had his mother's coloring and eyes, and his hair was a dark auburn yet red enough to induct him into the Scully clan. Maggie Scully hugged her daughter tightly and blocked Mulder's view again giving him a large hug as well. He hugged her back. "I'm so excited to see him playing," Maggie stated.

"We are too," Scully said, pulling out her camera.

Maggie pulled out her camcorder and tripod and set up her equipment like a professional photographer, ready to take video of her grandson's entire game.

Mulder looked at them both and chuckled. He was going to watch the game, remembering every detail with his ediletic memory but he knew that between the both of them there would be a photo album of today's event and several dvd's of William's first game and any subsequent games thereafter.

Mulder glanced around and could see that they were being watched by several parents. They were the new fish in a tank full of sharks. "Good I guess. This is the first time since we signed William up for school that we've been to anything like this."

"Yeah," Scully sighed. "Why must he be social and drag us out with him?"

Mulder smiled crookedly. "Am I detecting that you don't want to be here?", he asked.

She looked at her mother and looked down at her hands and then gave him a sideways glance. "I'm not ready for all these changes, Mulder."

"It's just a basketball game!", Mulder chuckled.

"No, it's not!", Scully sighed. "It's more than that," she said, turning fully toward him. "Mulder, he wants to start dating."

Mulder's smile quickly dried up. "He talked to you about that?", he said, feeling slighted that William discussed dating with her instead of him.

Scully touched his arm and he could feel her warmth and reassurance in her touch and she waited until his eyes connected with hers. "No, Mulder, it wasn't him that told me that. I told you we'd discuss it later."

"Then who?"

"The noisy mother of the girl William likes," she said.

Mulder looked at Scully. "When?"

"At the gas station," she said. "She kind of cornered me. We'll talk about it later, okay?", she said, looking for Mulder's take on the subject.

"Alright," he said, eager to get back to being able to watch their son practice. "It's starting..."

Maggie smiled at the couple. "Get ready!", she said, a little too loudly, as she turned on her camcorder.

Scully giggled slightly and turned her attention back to the court floor. She could see William, tall and lean like his father and graceful and she was proud. "He's beautiful," she said, as she took photos. "God, Mulder, he's beautiful, just like you!"

Mulder felt a little embarrassed at Scully's admission but he quickly pushed it out of his mind as William grabbed the ball and sank it into the hoop. The crowd erupted and Mulder and Scully were both on their feet hugging each other and kissing and yelling and waving in the direction of their son.

But William paid no attention to his parents. He was glued to a dark haired girl who sat in the bleachers surrounded by a few of her friends. He walked over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Scully cupped her mouth as she watched from across the court. She could see William saying something to the girl and the girl erupted into laughter along with her friends. He has Mulder's charm, she thought. The whistle blew and William slowly retreated from his girl back to the court, keeping his eyes locked on to her. But once the game started he was back in focus and Mulder, Scully and Maggie all sat back down.

"Well," Mulder said. "That must be the girl..."

"He has your charm," Scully revealed. "My god...He's gonna break so many girls hearts."

"Is that what you think I did?", Mulder asked. "How about it was the other way around."

Maggie shot him a look and Mulder smirked.

"We just got our son back not long ago and now...he's a teenager," Scully said, quietly. "It's like we lost him all over again."

Mulder wrapped his arm around her and pulled her to him. "Just for a short time to some girls. She's cute though."

"Her mother wants to come to our house and feel us out, Mulder...before they can start dating," she said, looking up into his eyes. "To see if our values match their values."

"Sounds like some creepy religious nutcases to me," Mulder announced.

"And our son...is part alien and saved the world from ending and we helped him and spent our entire lives fighting an alien invasion," she said, with all seriousness.

"Yup sounds like a match!"

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