Work Text:
Mommy picked her up early from school. She looks upset and drives really fast. She doesn't say much, so Emily tries to talk about her day to cheer her up, how she made flowers from paper, and she made a red one for her and a yellow one for Mulder because she knows he sees colors wrong, and about a new girl in her group, who cried at lunch but Emily cheered her up with a story about flying saucers and Miss Carrie got angry and told them not to play with their plates. But she can see that mommy barely listens, so she gives up.
When they get home mommy lets her watch cartoons and goes to her bedroom to make a call. Emily hears mommy talking to grandma Maggie, and packing at the same time. She goes to her mom's room and hears mommy say that Mulder is in the hospital. Emily knows this happens sometimes, but mommy looks more scared than usual.
- My plane leaves in 3 hours. I don't know mom, please hurry. Thank you, i will.
She hangs up and sees Emily standing in the doorway
- Emily honey, mommy needs to go away for a while, grandma Maggie will stay with you until i come back.
- Where are you going?
- To Africa, a place called Ivory Coast.
- Is that far?
- Yes, it's pretty far, and hot, but i will be back as soon as possible.
- Mommy is Mulder alright?
- No honey, he's not - she hugs her tight and kisses her head - but i'm going to make him better.
- you should kiss him, you always kiss me to make me better - she really wants to help.
But mommy needs to catch her plane so she goes to her room and finds the small gold cross mommy gave her long time ago.
Emily tries hard not to think if she'll lose her daddy again. Or her mommy. She tries not to think about lions and desert where there is no water, but she said coast, so there must be water, but you can't drink sea water because it tastes like salt and can make you sick. She knows this because they went last summer to visit Mulders' mother, who lives by the beach in a small town with a name she can't really repeat but it sounds like chitty chitty bang bang, and when she told Mulder it made him laugh. She liked it there, but Mrs Mulder always looked sad, and it reminded her a little about her old home and old parents in California.
Mommy took her to the beach and they made sand castles together, with moats and turrets and balconies from sea shells. It wasn't as warm as California, but she liked it better this way, because in California they would have to see uncle Bill and Mulder would have to stay home and she would miss him, and mommy would miss him too, and it wouldn't be as much fun.
Emily decides to draw a big sand castle for mommy, and she will give it to her when she gets back.
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Mommy is back from Africa, and Mulder is back from the hospital. With a bandage around his head under a baseball cap, but he's back, and he's alright, and he kneels to hug Emily hard. Mommy really saved him and she loves her so much, her superhero mom.