text version
Title: Daycare
Author: Devin
Email: franny122004@gmail.com
Website: http://dancing-through-life.com/
Rating: G
Category: MSM, Family Fic, AU
Spoilers: None that I can think of
Summary: Sequel to 'Family Matters'. Emily's first day at
daycare
Disclaimer: I really wish I had but I didn't come up with any
of these characters and therefore they are in no way shape or
form mine. I'm going to go cry now, but you guys feel free to
read the story
Author's Note: I know you guys were expecting the next part of
Destiny or TTH but I had to take a short breather from those
two. Thanks Cathey for betaing thing for me.
"No way are you getting me to agree to child care."
"Scully, you are so exhausted from taking care of William
during the day; you do not have to be running back and forth
to pick up Em after school. This way she'll stay until I have
the chance to pick her up and she'll love it, anyway." At her
skeptical look he continued. "Half the kids in her class, most
of which she's friends with, stay after school."
It wasn't that Scully didn't see the logic of this plan; in
all honesty it made perfect sense. Emily was going to have to
start daycare when she went off maternity leave anyway, so
starting her now would almost be like easing her into it. The
problem was that even in the short hours Emily was in school,
the house seemed far too quiet and now to have that part of
the day extended seemed almost like torture. In the end her
logical sided won out. Sighing she turned to Mulder, who was
waiting patiently for her answer, and conceded,
"Okay, we'll start her out next week but if she doesn't like
it she comes home right away."
Both knew that they weren't going to have to pull her, but it
was almost more comfortable to leave it unsaid.
***
Mulder pulled up in front of the elementary school where dozen
of kids were still running outside in the yard because they
hadn't lined up yet. Turning around in his seat to look at the
little girl in the back seat he smiled and murmured, "Okay Em,
you ready?"
A little groggy because it was Monday morning, all she managed
was a nod. "And you know what you're going to do after school
right?" After another nod he reached over to ruffle her hair
and said in a mock stern voice, "Okay kiddo, get out."
Emily laughed and hopped out of the car and after tugging on
her Powerpuff Girls backpack, which had gotten stuck under the
seat, waved goodbye and ran off to meet her friends.
***
When Mrs. B. let them out of class, Emily almost didn't
remember that she wasn't going to meet up with her mom. She
probably would have made it out of the school if her friends
Sarah hadn't run up to her and grabbed her arm, practically
dragging her to the daycare center.
"I'm so happy you're staying," Sarah bubbled in a way only a
five-year-old could pull off. "Mary and Lizzy are going to be
happy too. We're going to show you all the best games. Most of
the older kids get the better ones if you don't get there
quickly. Luke always gets the checkers though."
Emily was usually a very quiet child, but whenever she got
around her friends, who seemed to have enough energy to send a
rocket to the moon, she quickly adapted to their speed. This
was why she was highly disappointed when she was told that
before they could have any fun, first came naptime.
***
Like every day since Scully's maternity leave had started,
excluding the days he was working on a case, Mulder showed up
at their apartment around noon. At first it had been odd how
quickly they had settled into a "normal life" pattern.
He found both Scully and William in the kitchen. One of them
making airplane noises in an effort to get the other to eat
the contents of the spoon she was holding, and the other
giggling his head off, but more interested in what the food
would look like on the floor than what it would taste like.
Fortunately most of it did end up in the child's mouth. Unless
of course you were the child, then the fortunate part was
debatable.
"Hey dear," he said in his best 50's sitcom voice and gave her
an exaggerated kiss on the cheek. "You having any empty nest
anxiety today?"
The death glare he received showed that his humor was less
than appreciated. "Shut up, Mulder."
"That hurts, it really does," Mulder said as he walked over to
the fridge to get sandwich stuff. "I come home filled with
concern for my lovely wife. Sure that she'll be agonizing over
the fact that our daughter will probably fall in love with
daycare and never want to come home, and this is the thanks I
get? There's just no justice in the world." He probably would
have continued from there if baby food hadn't hit him square
in the back of the neck and shocked him momentarily into
silence.
"Oh, I don't know," Scully replied, trying to keep a smug grin
off her face, "that seemed like justice to me."
"You are so dead," he said catching her up in his arms before
she had a chance to get away.
***
Emily sat in a corner of the classroom with a coloring book
and several crayons, though not all were intact, strewn out on
the table. Most of her friends had been picked up a little
while ago and now she, and a bunch of other kids whose parents
also don't get off work early, were the only ones left. She
was just waiting for her dad to come and get her.
When she was almost done making sure Spongebob was completely
yellow, an older boy who looked extremely bored came over and
sat down next to her.
"You want to play?" he asked, waving the checkerboard around.
"How do you play?"
"You don't know how to play checkers?" he asked incredulously,
but before she could answer he kept talking. "Doesn't matter,
I've beaten everybody else so I might as well teach you how so
I can beat you too."
Emily might have been five but she wasn't stupid and she knew
this boy was being rude. "Excuse me?" she asked in a voice
she'd heard her mom use a couple times. "I bet I could beat
you."
This only seemed to amuse the boy. "Well I guess we'll find
out."
Ten minutes later they were so involved in their game that
they barely noticed when one of the teachers yelled out, "Luke
Doggett, Emily Mulder. Your parents are here."
"I guess we'll finish this tomorrow," Luke said as they ran
over to their cubbies to get their things.
She smiled and waved goodbye before running over to where her
dad was waiting.
"Hey munchkin. You ready?"
They walked to the car and once she was buckled in, Emily
launched straight into the tale of how wonderful her first day
was.
The End
