TITLE: Weighing In - Part 3 (Parts 17-25)
(Part 17 of 32 parts)
NAME: frogdoggie
E-MAIL: frogdoggie@hotmail.com
CATEGORY: SRA
RATING: NC-17. M/SK. This story contains very explicit slash 
i.e. m/m sex. So, if you don't like that type of thing - STOP 
NOW! Forewarned is forearmed. Proceed with caution.
SUMMARY: Skinner and Mulder discuss Walter's weekend 
with Scully - amongst other pressing issues, and Fourth of July 
plans make matters even more interesting. The action here 
takes place immediately after "Lifting Weights" and "Weights 
and Measures". This story is part of the "Baton Rouge" series. 
Obviously you may want to read the series to understand this 
narrative. The "Baton Rouge" series can be found at: 
http://www.squidge.org/3wstop.
FEEDBACK - YES PLEASE, AND THANK YOU SIR, CAN I 
HAVE ANOTHER? Comments, suggestions and healthy 
debate are always welcome. Flames? They only serve to warm 
my body and mind.
TIMESPAN/SPOILER WARNING: Sixth Season before Two 
Fathers/One Son I think - in my timeline. So it would be safe to 
say any ep ever that appears before that two-parter would 
constitute a spoiler warning. It's also going to be obvious that 
I've changed the series timeline to fit into the Baton Rouge 
universe. I am trying to catch up with Season Six events now, 
however. We're rolling towards getting the X-Files back. Sort of. 
Oh - and still NO SR819 when that lamentable episode comes 
up! So, I've still kind of reinvented the mytharc for my AU as 
well. Sorry if all that bothers you - feel free to go elsewhere if it 
does. I won't mind.
KEYWORDS: story slash Skinner Mulder Scully NC-17
DISCLAIMER: Please see Part 1.
I lie still, letting him take all the control as he grits his teeth a 
little. I know getting past that muscle always burns and aches. 
There's that momentary somewhat unpleasant pressure. The 
feeling that you have to take a dump and the panic that you 
think you will. But all that's really fleeting and the feeling of 
pushing past that muscle is one of the first jolts of ecstasy I 
always get during this joining. I watch Walter's face and see the 
wave of pleasure pass over his features as I feel the pop inside 
that signals I'm past that internal obstacle to our being truly 
together.
"Oh yeah, lover, that's the way. Take it, take it all," I encourage 
him as he slides on down to my nuts.
"Uhhhhh," he groans, "UhhhGod, yeah, that's good."
We rest there for a moment, touching and stroking each other. I 
love this short time before we really start to fuck. I treasure 
these moments, looking in Walter's eyes as we love each other. 
I try to keep my eyes open during the whole act if I can. Seeing 
Walter during all stages of our experience together is very 
special for me.
Walter never used to be very vocal in telling me how it feels for 
him. I was always the one that would babble like hell to make 
sure he knew I was having a great time. He's always been a 
little unsure of himself in bed. But he's gotten a lot more 
confident and a hell of a lot more vocal since we've been 
together. It's incredibly hot as well as very touching for me to 
hear him say how good I am and how he loves having me 
inside him. Sure, every guy wants to hear his lover tell him 
those kind of things. But what's special about Walter saying it is 
that I know how long it took him to get to where he could. I feel 
privileged to hear him say those kinds of things to me.
I run my hands up and down his forearms as he tells me he can 
feel my cock throbbing inside him. I smile and tell him I'm so hot 
for him I think I'm getting even harder. I trail my hands over to 
his stomach and down between his thighs. I tease the skin on 
either side of his straining cock and balls, tickling it a little and 
then stroking it lightly. I tell him how huge he looks. How 
pleased I am that he can get it up like this for me as I cup his 
cock and balls in my palms. Walter's head drops back and he 
moans low in his throat.
"You're gonna kill me," he growls.
I laugh and proceed to stroke his genitals a little too.
"Mmmm," he moans, moving his ass around a little so my cock 
slides back and forth inside his rectum.
"Damn," I gasp, "that feels fucking incredible."
"You're....you're in really deep. I...oh God...it's just so good," he 
mumbles, shutting his eyes and savoring the sensation of 
having a hard cock filling his ass.
"That's the way you made me feel the other night lover. 
Now...lemme fuck you good so I can really see you come," I 
hiss, gritting my teeth. Oh yeah, what a pay-off it'll be too. The 
vision of Walter above me, his mouth open and panting in 
arousal is only the prelude to the show I have a feeling I'm 
gonna get.
"Do it," he whispers and that's all I need to hear. I grasp his hips 
and rise up against his weight with a short stab of my hips. 
"Ohhhhh," he moans loudly. He wasn't quite flat against my 
balls, evidently. I feel them compress a little and the last bit of 
my cock plunges even deeper into his body. He grunts. "Oh, 
lover," he gasps. 
"That's it, oh yeah," I urge him and he slowly starts to move his 
ass up and down on my cock. I watch his body taking me in 
and then rising off my swollen flesh. The Astroglide on the 
rubber flows between us to pool with our sweat as we take the 
time to enjoy a nice slow fuck. We move languidly for a while, 
Walter rising up a little and sinking down to take me in deep in a 
marvelously slow rhythm. He's really enjoying every thrust to 
the fullest. Finally I sense he's ready to pick up the pace. He 
flexes his legs slightly and looks down into my face.
"You get off fuckin' me like this don't you?" he gasps as my 
face grimaces in pleasure when his change of position puts 
extra pressure on my cock.
"You know it, lover. It's some show," I reply, caressing his hips 
and rocking up hard to thrust in deep. I give a little twist of my 
hips and Walter opens his mouth and groans.
"God, you do that so good," he gasps out. He rises halfway up 
and then plunges down, again and again, grunting hard with 
each pump of his hips.
"Hang on, lover, here we go," I admonish him as we both start 
to speed up our thrusts.
I do the best I can to keep up, but Walter's pretty much gone in 
very short order, cursing as he fucks his own ass with abandon. 
I love seeing him like this really. It isn't often that he lets himself 
go so completely. But having me in him this deep, and this hard, 
gets him going for broke every time. I'm still holding back, the 
position and rubber allowing me to do it because I can prolong 
Walter's enjoyment and my show. So we slap together, really 
getting off on just Walter riding towards a bone-shattering 
orgasm.
When he reaches forward towards his cock I know he's finally 
ready to get off.
"Gottcha, big man," I tell him as I move one hand from his hip 
onto his twitching hard-on.
"Babe...oh...yeah...just...hard," he moans his approval and his 
desire.
I grab the base of his cock and jerk up and down swiftly. At the 
same time, Walter angles forward a bit so on the next 
downward plunge my cock brushes his prostate. The effect of 
my hand pumping him and my cock flicking his G-spot is 
electric.
His spine snaps back and he sinks all the way down. It feels like 
my cock is practically hitting his stomach. He roars, I mean no 
silent rictus of pleasure this time. He howls, his entire body 
starting to convulse as every muscle goes into spasm. He jerks, 
and then jerks again and again, as semen spurts out of his cock 
and onto my chest.
"Fuh...Fuh...Fuh..." he stutters and then he's silent at last, 
stiffening tight, his neck muscles at last cutting off all sound. 
His rectal muscles are clamping down on me like a bear trap 
but I've ceased to move so it feels great, but it's not going to 
send me over the edge. I crank his cock several more times 
and watch his hips buck under their own volition as a couple 
more spurts of cum join the first several that are gracing my 
hand, stomach and chest.
Air enters his lungs again and he comes back to the land of the 
living with a hoarse shout.
"FUCK!" he bellows, gasping and choking as he sags down over 
me. 
"Ok, ok. Oh man, good. Good," I smile, breathing heavily and 
rubbing his hips.
"Still hard..." he pants, touching where I'm still in him.
"Yeah...I...I think I need to...uh..." I sputter, trying to catch my 
breath to get out the words.
"Harder?" Walter gasps.
I nod, licking my lips.
"S'ok," he husks. "Go for it." I feel him bear down hard on my 
cock.
"UhYeah!" I grunt as I pound upwards into him. I hold his hips 
and he works himself up and down over me again. He throws 
himself into it, sweating like hell and I groan with pleasure as he 
alternates tightening and relaxing his rectal muscles. I can't 
possibly move my hips any faster, I think, as I jackhammer 
against his ass. Damn. Maybe this rubber wasn't such a great 
idea in the long-run. It was ideal at first but now it's making it 
really difficult for me to get off. Christ I gotta come. I'm gonna 
die if I don't come. Hell, we both may I think as Walter pumps 
against my slick thighs.
"Let go. Come on, baby," he hisses.
"Tryin'," I pant.
We rock together fast, both of us grunting now with the effort. I 
can't believe he's doing this for me. I mean the guy came. He's 
got to be exhausted. I'm in awe of both his stamina and the love 
for me evidenced by him wanting me to come hard as well. I 
thrust and thrust again, moaning loud with my desire for release.
"Almost, baby...almost..." Walter encourages again. He clamps 
down on my cock a final time as hard as he can as I move 
frantically against him. Oh fuck. That's it. That's it. Oh God, 
thank you God...I finally feel my nuts pull up tight.
"AhhhhhhWalt...!" I cry, not even able to gag out his full name 
as I climax at last.
"God, babe," I hear Walter's awed whisper as I hump spastically 
against him, emptying my load in long convulsing shudders. My 
back arches as my orgasm rolls though me in wave, after 
exquisite wave. At one point, I hear Walter gasp in surprise and 
then grunt as we rock together. I'm not sure what happened 
there. I don't think guys can come twice that way but if he felt 
something good again, I'm thrilled and my joy's even more 
complete. We thrust against each other a few more times, very 
slowly, as I savor the last pleasurable spasms.
Walter's legs are twitching like crazy. He rises up and I grab for 
my cock, holding the rubber tight as he slips off me. He 
collapses sideways and I roll over into his arms struggling to 
maintain contact with my condom encased cock. I'm trembling 
so hard I can't even talk. His chest rises and falls rapidly as he 
huffs from his labors. I feel one of his large hands splay out 
over my back and he strokes me, murmuring words of love as I 
come down from Cloud Nine.
"That was so fine, babe. You made me feel so good. Man, that 
was one fucking great ride," he murmurs shifting over onto his 
back, his knees up. He pulls me close.
"Luv you," I whisper, taking in great gulps of air as I rest my 
head on his chest.
"Love you too," he whispers, rubbing my back in languorous 
strokes. "Makes up for yesterday," he adds so quietly I almost 
don't hear him.
"Walter...it's ok, really. I meant what I said about it not mattering. 
Besides, all that waiting made me come like a rocket." 
"No shit," he chuckles softly, "I could feel it even through the 
rubber."
"Christ...I... thought my head was gonna blow off," I reply, 
looking up at him and gasping a chuckle in return. "Both of 
them." 
"No shit." Walter nods, grinning. "I gotta tell you I thought the 
fucking Fourth of July came early."
I wait a few seconds for my heart to stop hammering then I sit 
up, still holding the condom tight to my now flaccid dick so I 
don't spill any more semen. There's already more than enough 
gracing my stomach and chest. I slide over and sit on the edge 
of the bed for a moment so I can pull the condom off. My hands 
are shaking as I tie up the end, and toss the length of rubber into 
the nearby trash can. 
Walter leaves his knees raised as he regains more normal 
breathing. I grab the wet washcloth and clean myself off 
quickly, wiping off my dick first and then my cum sticky chest 
and stomach. I swing my legs back up on the bed and crawl 
over to where Walter's breathing more easily. I swab between 
his legs and ass cheeks. I check for anal tearing.
"It feels ok," he coughs.
"You gotta be sore," I wince thinking about how long it took me 
to get off and how hard I pounded him. I carefully move his leg 
to get a really close look for injury.
"A little," he replies honestly. "But it comes with the territory. I 
wasn't exactly holding back when I was riding your cock. I like it 
that way sometimes. Good and hard. I meant what I said about 
it being great. It was a fantastic fuck Mulder. Like I said - I saw 
fireworks and so did you. Don't you friggin' apologize," he 
replies, his eyes letting me know he's very serious.
I smile, feeling my face grow hot as my ego takes a huge boost. 
I nod, feeling pleasure and relief. But while I'm basking in being 
such a stud, I also make a note to lay off this kind of loving for a 
few days as well as a note to be a little less studly when we do 
go here next time.
"Well...in any event...there appears to be no damage," I assure 
him.
"Then no harm done," he smiles, showing all his teeth and my 
heart melts for him on the spot.
Both of us use the cloth and the towel to wipe off our hands and 
bodies further. Finally, I toss the washcloth onto the floor on the 
far side of the bed. Walter tosses the towel over the side to join 
it.
"Come here," he replies quietly, tapping his chest where he 
wants me to cuddle close. I slip up next to him and lay my head 
on his pec. I can hear his heart and it's beating regularly, its 
steady thrumming a very comforting sound. I kiss into his chest 
hair and stroke over his heart tenderly. He wraps a muscular 
arm around my shoulder and hugs me tight. I feel his lips in my 
hair, kissing me lightly. He sighs.
"I wore you out," I chuckle.
"No kidding. But man, it was worth it," he replies, yawning. I feel 
him crane his neck to glance at the bedside radio alarm clock. 
"Let me catch 40 winks here. We have about an hour and a half 
until I have to fix dinner. Esther never expects Saturday dinner 
before 8." 
"Yeah, I could use some sleep myself," I nod against his chest. I 
roll over and set the alarm. When I turn back he's moving to pull 
down the comforter.
"Bed's a mess," his brow furrows. "I'll...I'll need to get a clean 
comforter out of the linen closet."
"I'll get it later," I smile, running a finger over his lips and he 
smiles again, his brow clearing.
We both wiggle to push the forest green comforter off the bed. 
The crisp white sheets beneath are cool and clean. We lift the 
top sheet and climb in under it. I lever up and lay on top of 
Walter. He cradles me between his knees for a moment as we 
stroke each other quietly.
"Did you...it felt like you got off twice," I whisper.
Walter grins a little, stroking my hair.
"Fuck, I don't know. It just felt so good when you came in me. I 
felt...something and whatever it was it sure as hell felt fantastic." 
I smile and rub his nipples gently. He shuts his eyes and sighs. 
"Go to sleep, babe," he murmurs at last, and I slide off his warm 
bulk as the last CD clicks into the play slot in the bookshelf 
player. I roll onto my side, and Walter spoons close, wrapping 
an arm around my middle. I fall asleep, held in his protective 
embrace to the strains of lilting violin music.
xXx
I wake to someone gently pushing and then pulling on my arm.
"Mr. Mulder. Mr. Mulder?" a small voice whispers.
I pry open one gummy eye. I'm staring directly into the face of 
Ben O'Hara, Walter's nine year old nephew. Oh shit. I forgot to 
lock the damn patio door. A small frisson of worry courses 
through me along with my budding embarrassment. The 
privacy of this property notwithstanding, it's lucky this is only a 9 
year old boy kneeling here next to our bed and not someone a 
lot more deadly. I'll have to remember to be a hell of a lot more 
careful in the future.
"Mr. Mulder..." he lets his voice trail off as my eyes open wide. I 
feel panic rising in my chest. I crush it very rapidly. I don't want 
to frighten the poor kid. I take a second to assess the situation. 
Walter's heavy arm is still laying over my middle. He's snoring 
gently at my back. Oh man...this isn't good at all.
"Uh...hey, Ben. What's up?" I ask glancing at the clock. It's still a 
half hour until the alarm would have gone off.
"I got the movie times," he nods seriously, showing me the 
folded up 'Entertainment Section' of the 'Reedsville Dispatch' 
clutched in his hand.
"Ah...uh...that's great. Cool."
"Sorry I woke you," he whispers carefully. "But, I didn't want to 
wake Uncle Walter."
"You already woke Uncle Walter," I hear my lover's sleepy 
voice at my back.
"Sorry," Ben replies, mumbling. He stands up out of the 
kneeling position he was in and calmly stares at us lying 
together in bed. 
Walter sits up slowly. So do I, pressing my legs together under 
the cotton sheet. I pull the sheet up farther around my naked 
loins and reach over to turn off the alarm function on the clock 
radio. Walter moves back and props himself against the 
headboard, covering himself smoothly with the sheet. When I 
rock back to do the same, he stretches his arm out and gathers 
me back against him. I go stiff in his embrace.
"Slide on up here, Ben, let's see the paper," Walter instructs. 
Ben crawls up on the end of the bed, passes the paper to 
Walter's outstretched paw, and sits Indian style in front of us. 
Walter attempts to look at the index column on the front of the 
paper and frowns. Ben chuckles.
"You need your glasses," Ben grins, crawling over to the night 
stand on Walter's right. He takes Walter's specs up carefully by 
the bow and hands them over to his uncle.
"Thanks," Walter smiles gently at him. Ben moves back to sit in 
front of us again. Walter unwinds his arm from around my 
shoulders and puts his specs on. He spreads the paper flat out 
across our laps, gazing over the page with the movie listings. I 
sink back against the headboard dismally, trying my best to 
maintain a nonchalant attitude as Walter studies the paper.
"Does your mother or grandmother know you're down here?" 
he asks casually looking up over the tops of his glasses at the 
boy.
Ben looks down and toys with the laces of his sneaker. He 
looks very guilty. Ah ha. Well at least Grandmother Skinner isn't 
going to come barging in on us right away.
"Mom, Nana and Roger are cutting flowers from the garden. 
They're going to make a summer centerpiece for the dining 
room table," he mumbles.
"Did you tell them you were coming down to the guest house?" 
Walter presses, his tone suggesting something's up here and 
Ben's butt is about to be in a sling.
Ben looks up and swallows hard. I can see the wheels turning. 
He's busted and now he has to decide whether coming clean's 
the right thing to do.
"No...I...I told them I was going to walk down to the dock, and 
pick some cattails," Ben replies softly.
Atta boy, Ben, I think. Honesty is always the best policy. When 
it comes to Walter at least, I've learned that lesson the hard 
way.
"You should be. That was a lie, Ben. I'm very disappointed in 
you," Walter replies sternly.
Ben's lip trembles and he looks stricken under Walter's 
disapproval. Boy I know that feeling. I feel sorry for the kid. 
But...he's learning a valuable lesson here. I can't overlook that 
fact. Walter nods and continues his lecture but his voice is a 
little less gruff as he speaks again.
"I'll forgive you this time because you were honest with me 
about telling the lie. You've never lied to me before, Ben, and I 
respect that fact. But you're going to have to apologize to your 
mother and accept what punishment if any she decides you 
deserve," Walter states.
"Yes sir," Ben answers contritely, looking down. "I'm sorry."
"And I know you know your mother has talked about knocking 
before you enter someone's house or bedroom, correct?" 
Walter asks, raising an eyebrow and glancing back down at the 
paper.
"Yes, Uncle Walter," Ben affirms. "I should have knocked."
"Right."
"Are you not going to take me to the movie then?" Ben asks 
with a sigh, his head down again. He clearly knows he's messed 
up big time here and is ready to face the consequences, no 
matter how much they may hurt.
I watch as Walter looks up again at the bowed head of his 
nephew. His face softens and my heart fills with love for him at 
the ready affection he shows for his young relative. He turns to 
me and the corner of his mouth turns up a little.
"Well, Mr. Mulder. Do you think Ben's actions constitute a 
federal offense? Should we refrain from taking him to see 'Star 
Wars the Phantom Menace' Monday evening?"
I feel myself relaxing fractionally under his easygoing attitude 
and warm gaze. I can't believe Walter is handling this incident 
so well. Me? I'm quaking in my boots.
"Hmmm...let me think," I reply, joining in the fun and trying to 
keep my voice steady.
Ben's head comes up, and he studies me with suppressed 
excitement. 
"Federal offense? No...I don't think this qualifies as a Federal 
offense, uh...Mr. Skinner. At most it's a misdemeanor. I think no 
popcorn or soda at the film would be sufficient punishment in 
this instance."
"I agree, Mr. Mulder. I think that would be highly appropriate. 
And I think the 7 o'clock show would be appropriate as well," 
Walter smiles turning his attention back to his nephew.
"YES!" Ben beams and launches himself onto Walter's lap. My 
quick reflexes save the newspaper from being crushed as I 
whip it aside and onto the floor. Walter grabs Ben and tickles 
him unmercifully as the boy laughs and wiggles. One sneakered 
foot knocks me in the balls and I yelp, curling up over my groin.
"Whoa, hang on here, Luke Skywalker," Walter hisses as he 
quickly flips Ben up and tosses him so he lands on his butt in 
front of us again.
"You ok, babe?" he asks, turning to me, concern in his voice. 
He drapes his arm over me and rubs my shoulder. Well 
obviously Walter figures this is the time to explain things to his 
nephew. It's going to be a little difficult to avoid not doing it since 
he's touching me this way in front of him.
"Sorry, Mr. Mulder," Ben adds.
"S'ok. I'm fine," I choke. "Uh...nothing a few cold compresses 
won't fix right up," I reply, coughing and grimacing. Walter rubs 
my back lightly. The pain really isn't that bad. I start to recover 
fairly quickly and I straighten up to see Ben staring quizzically at 
Walter.
"Uncle Walter, are you and Mr. Mulder like Angela and her 
friend Janette?"
I freeze under Walter's soothing hand roving over my back. 
Bingo. Ok, now or never. Speak up, Uncle Walter. I sure as hell 
can't utter a syllable right now.
"Angela and Janette?" Walter asks carefully as he stills his hand 
on my skin.
"Yeah, Dad works with Angela. It's really cool. Angela's a 
fireman. Angela calls Janette 'babe' sometimes. 
They're...uh...whadda ya call it...lesbosians."
I cough loudly choking on the saliva that won't quite make it 
down my throat.
Walter pats my back once and removes his hand. I sag against 
the headboard again, catching my breath.
"Lesbians," Walter corrects quietly.
"Yeah, that's it, lesbians," Ben nods, smiling.
"Did your mother explain what that means?" Walter asks him.
"She said they were special friends and loved each other like 
she loves Dad. I guess they sleep together in the same bed and 
kiss and stuff. Is that what you and Mr. Mulder were doing?" he 
asks innocently, smiling over at my by now white as a sheet 
face.
"Ben...yeah. I...Mr. Mulder and I are special friends just like 
Angela and Janette. Except we're called homosexuals, not 
lesbians. Being homosexual means we love, and...uh...kiss 
other men, sleep in the same bed...stuff like that. I...I love Mr. 
Mulder very much - just like your mom and dad love each 
other," Walter answers carefully, watching for Ben's reaction.
Ben smiles and nods solemnly, "Good. Mom says you've been 
real...sad since Aunt Sharon divorced you. I'm glad you have 
someone to love you now."
I can feel Walter shift uncomfortably next to me. I see him 
swallow what must be the granddaddy of all lumps in his throat 
as he looks down for a second.
"You love him too, right, Mr. Mulder?" Ben turns and asks me 
brightly. I smile, a lot less nervous now.
"Very much," I reply, taking Walter's hand where it lies under 
the covers near mine. I squeeze it gently and he looks up, 
pinning my eyes. He smiles and I let his hand go.
"Cool. I like you, Mr. Mulder. Roger says you're a dork like me 
but that's smokin'," Ben laughs.
"Call me Mulder, Ben. All my dork friends do," I laugh in return 
and he laughs too. Walter joins in, rumbling his low bass 
laughter along with the two of us.
When we calm down Walter gets serious for a moment. He 
clears his throat and Ben cues in, listening carefully.
"Ben...Mr. Mulder and my friendship is private. You know how it 
is when your dad says something is family business and not for 
public consumption?" Walter asks.
"Yeah, like when Aunt Grace had the miscarriage and had to 
see the psychologist?"
Ben looks over at me as if maybe he shouldn't have mentioned 
that particular confidence but Walter overlooks it as situational 
and replies without drawing attention to the matter.
"Right. Your father's sister needed her privacy during that time. 
Sometimes things aren't anyone else's business until the person 
concerned is ready to explain about it," Walter answers quietly.
"So you and Mr. Mulder being in love is family business?"
"Right. It's not for public consumption unless I, or your mom and 
dad, or Grandma Skinner tells you it's for public consumption, 
do you understand?"
"What about Roger? Can I tell him?"
"Uh...why don't you wait until I talk to your mother? I think your 
mom might like to talk to Roger first," Walter cautions.
Ben nods, running a finger in front of his lips in a zipping motion, 
"Ok. Got it, Uncle Walter. My lips are sealed."
"Good man," Walter smiles. "Now. You'd better pick up the 
paper and get back up to the house."
Before Ben can dive off the bed and retrieve the paper there's 
an almost frantic knocking on the cottage door.
"Walter, Mulder! Is Ben in there!?"
It's Sylvia and she sounds both scared and pissed.
"Syl! He's in here, it's ok," Walter answers instantly. "Come in 
through the patio."
We hear Sylvia fumbling with the sliding patio door. Finally she 
gains entrance and pushes past the closed curtains, storming in 
without even shutting the glass door behind her.
"Ben! You scared me to death, young man. I thought you were 
picking..."
Her voice stops on a dime as she takes in Walter and my 
location and our state of undress.
"It's ok, Syl...uh...I was just explaining..." Walter begins.
"Mom, Uncle Walter and Mulder are like Angela and Janette 
except they're ho-mo-sex-uals," he exclaims, pronouncing the 
word carefully. He's very excited to impart this piece of new 
knowledge in the face of his mother's wrath.
"Did you knock before you came in here?" she asks angrily.
"No, Mom...Uncle Walter..."
"How many times have I told you to knock, Ben?"
"About a gazillion."
"Young man, don't smart-mouth me. Get up to the house. Your 
grandmother's about ready to call the police."
"Yes, ma'am," he answers bowing his head in shame as he gets 
up off the bed.
"See ya," he hisses back at Walter and me as his sneakered 
feet hit the floor. He walks quickly over to Sylvia. As he passes 
her to go out the door, she swats him on the butt.
"Get!" she snaps and he runs like hell, through the curtains and 
out the door towards the main house.
Sylvia turns back around, flushing with a mixture of anger and 
embarrassment.
"I'm so sorry you guys. Did he....I mean he didn't...God I hope 
he didn't walk in on you," she runs her hand over her mouth in 
chagrin. "I remember the time he traipsed in on Roger and I. 
Good Lord that was pandemonium."
"No, he didn't walk in on us," I hasten to assure her.
"Syl, it's not a problem. We...we were asleep," Walter adds. 
"And I think I made Ben realize the advisability of both informing 
his mother of his true whereabouts as well as the politeness of 
knocking before entering a person's bedroom."
"Yeah, Walter's withholding popcorn and soda at the movies," I 
interject with a tight smile.
"Movies? He shouldn't even be going at all after that little stunt," 
Sylvia raises her hands in exasperation.
"Hey, sis...who used to lie when she'd sneak over to Jennie 
McAvoy's house and smoke cigarettes? And who, when she 
was about 5, walked in on Mom and Dad how many times 
before she learned to knock first?" Walter asks quietly, laughing 
a little.
Sylvia stops and stares at him for a second. Then she giggles. 
"God, yeah. Well...it must be genetic," she shrugs seeing 
Walter's point. "Still I'll need to reinforce that lesson I think. And 
really...I am sorry."
"No harm done," I reply, shifting my sore nuts around on the 
sheets.
"You'll need to explain to Roger too I guess now that Ben's in 
the loop. And yeah, there's nothing to be sorry about," Walter 
adds.
"Yes, I guess you're right. Stuff happens sometimes. I can talk 
to Roger, no problem. So it wasn't a big deal with Ben? I didn't 
think it would be. I don't think it will be a big deal for Roger 
either." 
"He seemed glad Walter was happy," I smile over at him and 
then back at Sylvia.
Walter's ears turn a little red.
"Yeah. He thinks it's cool that Mulder's a dork," he rumbles, 
joking to cover up the strong emotion playing across his face.
Sylvia laughs, "Yes, dorkdom is high on Ben's list of cool things 
to be at the moment. He's really into computers and the kid 
even has a picture of Bill Gates on his wall at home."
"Oh yeah? Hey, I've got three friends he'd probably really like to 
meet," I enthuse.
"Oh no way, Mulder. Those three guys take the term dork way 
beyond the extreme," Walter barks a quick laugh.
"Well...they're harmless. Besides they have the best state of the 
art..."
"Guys?" Sylvia interrupts.
"What?" we both chorus back at her.
"It's almost time for dinner. I mean...you are still cooking it right, 
Walter?"
"Shit...yeah. You're right. Sorry," Walter shakes his head in 
bemusement.
"I'll just let you two get dressed then. I'll see you back up at the 
main house," Sylvia finishes, turning to leave the cottage.
"Tell Mother I'll be there shortly," Walter adds.
"Oh Lord, I'd better get back up there. I can just hear it now, 
Ben proclaiming to Mom that Uncle Walter and Mulder are ho-
mo-sex-uals," she exclaims half in humor and half in dread. She 
exits quickly then, shutting the patio door.
Both of us sit there for a second and then Walter releases a 
breath I bet he didn't even know he was holding.
"Oh man..." I breathe out myself, running a hand over my face. 
"That wasn't a moment I want to repeat for a while."
Walter reaches up under his glasses and rubs the bridge of his 
nose.
"Well...the boys had to know eventually. I'm just glad Ben didn't 
walk in here when you were up my ass."
"No kidding!" I hiss, shaking my head. "Thank God for small 
favors."
"Oh yeah," Walter nods.
He still looks uncomfortable with the incident. Hell, I'm still 
freaked out about it. God, it's amazing how two FBI agents were 
almost sent into a tailspin by a small boy finding them in a 
compromising situation. I managed to keep my cool though - 
just. Walter did a better job of it than I did. He gave the kid a 
masterful explanation as well as a life lesson all at the same 
time too, despite being as bothered as I was by the whole thing. 
It wouldn't hurt to tell him that I think as I watch him run his hand 
over his scalp and shake his head in self-deprecation.
"Listen, Walter. For what it's worth, I think you handled the 
situation wonderfully. I couldn't have added anything or done 
any better at all," I smile touching his knee.
"You think so?" he replies, straightening up a little.
"For sure. You were great," I affirm, moving my other hand to 
his cheek. I pull his face to mine and give him a gentle kiss on 
the lips. "You done good, Obi Wan Kenobi," I add as I release 
his mouth. 
He chuckles and swats me playfully on the thigh.
"Come on, Princess Leia. I think we have time for a quick rinse-
off before we get dressed."
"Fuck you!" I chortle my laughter, flipping the sheet back off our 
bodies. "Last lightsaber to the bathroom has to get that 
comforter from the linen closet."
I jump up, my willie waving in the wind, and he follows, racing 
me for the shower.
xXx
"You mean we're not getting homemade spaghetti sauce?" I 
raise an eyebrow at Walter as we stand in the pantry off the 
kitchen.
"Get real. Do you know how many hours it takes to make 
spaghetti sauce from scratch?"
"Roughly."
"Well then that's why I'm using 'Prego'," he replies, reaching for 
the large-sized bottle of commercial spaghetti sauce on the 
shelf. It's 'Prego Traditional' however.
"So we're going to doctor it up a little?" I muse looking at the 
label as he carries it into the kitchen.
"Right. Sylvia said she brought down onions, mushrooms and 
some Italian sausage. She thawed the sausage out while we 
were down in the cottage," Walter replies.
"I'll have to thank her again," I grin. He grins a little back as we 
leave the pantry and go back in the kitchen proper.
He sets the bottle down on the counter.
"Ok, what do I do?" I ask.
"Can you handle throwing together the salad?" Walter asks.
"Sure. I can cut up vegetables with the best of them too. Ask 
Scully," I reply.
"Well than you can cut up the onions and mushrooms while I 
cook up the sausage. I think I'll drain them, cut them up and put 
them in the sauce," he muses.
"Sounds like a plan, Julia Child," I grin.
He slaps me in the ass for the remark and points to a low 
cabinet. 
"There's a colander under there, Boy Wonder. You'll need it to 
rinse the mushrooms."
"Yes sir, Caped Crusader," I reply, saluting Walter. He shakes 
his head in patient amusement. I walk over to retrieve the 
colander.
Dinner preparation goes along smoothly. Esther comes in about 
halfway through to inquire diplomatically if we need any help. 
Walter insists we're fine even though I think I might be making a 
travesty of the onions. I'm convinced I went too wild with the 
knife and they're way too small even for spaghetti sauce. 
Esther assures me they're fine but that I might want to cut the 
ones for the salad a lot larger. She then remarks with forced 
casualness that Sylvia took Roger and Ben for a walk down to 
the beach.
"Ah," I nod my head, concentrating on the onions again.
"Mom, it was unavoidable. Someone had to tell them at some 
point," Walter interjects as Esther stands with her arms folded 
over her chest.
Esther sighs.
"Well I just wish Ben had learned that lesson about knocking 
before entering a bedroom first," she replies pointedly.
Walter puts down the sausage he's cutting up and lowers the 
knife he's using to the cutting board as well.
"I think he's had that idea impressed on him, Mother. Besides, 
he didn't walk in at an...inopportune moment."
Esther's face grows tense. Clearly she's not quite ready to hear 
that Walter and I are having any kind of "moment" much less an 
inopportune one for anyone to walk in on.
"Luckily," she replies tersely.
I glance over at Walter and watch as his jaw muscles clench 
tight. Oh oh. Danger Will Robinson. Early Fourth of July 
fireworks on the horizon again. And these won't have anything 
to do with pleasure. It strikes me as odd that Walter went from 
being so at ease to being hyper-tense in a matter of seconds. I 
stare at him mulling over the idea that something isn't kosher 
here again as he speaks to his mother.
"Mother...part of the word 'homosexual' is 'sexual'. I can't lie to 
you and say Mulder and I aren't having sex..." he begins.
Esther breathes in harshly.
"God, Walter," I blurt out before I can stop myself. He's 
embarrassing me for Christ sake. As incredible as that sounds, 
I'm turning red and at a loss for words. This is his mother after 
all. What in the devil is going on here?
I'm surprised he can even talk like this in front of her. I mean 
this is the guy who's still bashful about telling me he wants to 
take a ride on the rod. But as I look in his face I can see a 
determination to gut this out, even though it's making his ears 
turn red too. He's determined to shove her face in our 
relationship right at the moment. What the hell? I'm not sure 
what's going on in his head right now and it bothers me on a 
profound level.
I think I've really missed the boat here for days. Crap. I was so 
caught up in the superficial that I missed the deeper things going 
on in my lover's head. Some psychologist. Well crap, Scully's 
always saying trying to analyze your loved ones or yourself 
never works out. And I know I'm my own worst patient. Walter 
looks over at me, an expression of annoyance in his eyes. I 
duck my head and try to regain my composure so I can say 
something to salvage this situation. But he speaks again, 
beating me to the punch.
"What? What the hell's the matter?" he asks me impatiently. 
"You were the one who was 'telling it like it is' when we got here. 
'Oh Walter you're just embarrassed to get it on in your mother's 
house'. So...I rectified the matter. What's the damn problem? 
You weren't complaining earlier."
My head snaps up. Oh fuck. This is not good.
"Walter!" Esther exclaims shocked. She turns and walks quickly 
out of the room.
"Damn it," I hiss. "What in the hell is wrong with you?"
Just a short while ago this was the guy that was all mellow in 
post-coital bliss. The man who murmured his love to me. The 
uncle who dealt with his nephew so masterfully in a very 
awkward situation. The attentive lover in the shower afterwards, 
touching and caressing me again as we cleaned off the last 
evidence of our passion. Now he looks like a storm cloud on the 
horizon and his eyes are flashing anger like lightning.
He grabs a paper towel off the rack and violently wipes his 
hands. Tossing the soiled towel down on the counter hard, he 
glares at me. 
"I'm tired of hiding, Mulder. We're lovers. She's going to have to 
deal with it. I'm tired of living a fucking lie," he snarls, his eyes 
dark behind his glasses.
I sense an underlying meaning in his words. I run a hand 
through my hair. Ok. He's covering up something here yet 
again. By being so out about his 'gayness' he's almost using it 
as a smokescreen for some other issue that he's trying to 
obfuscate while he mulls it over. I have a feeling we're back to 
the issue that's been bothering me since we got here. I keep 
getting the idea that something else is rattling around in Walter's 
psyche regarding me, and Scully and his relationship with us 
both. His whole mercurial disposition has more behind it than 
just his reconciling being gay with his family. There's something 
deeper going on here.
He has yet to talk about Scully without sounding like he's trying 
to hawk up phlegm, and the word bisexuality hasn't even come 
up in our private conversation. I can't help but try to pry out of 
him what the heck is happening here. I almost know it's a 
mistake but you know me...get at the truth at all costs. Whether 
it's smart to do it or not. I carefully lay the knife I was using to 
cut up the onions down and reply, pitching my voice low and 
very calmly.
"Lie? Which lie? The lie that was covering your 
homosexuality...or the lie that you won't admit you're bi..."
"Don't go there," he hisses venomously. "Not here. Not now."
"It's Scully isn't it?" I whisper.
"Fuck you!" he grates out.
"Walter, come on. Talk to me," I reply trying to stave off what I 
know is coming.
Sure enough, he turns on his heels and strides off towards the 
back door. In a moment he's gone out onto the porch and I hear 
the screen door slam. Well, I guess that answers my question. 
As I'm staring after him, Sylvia enters the kitchen.
"Mulder..."
I turn and wince at the sound of her voice.
"I'm afraid dinner's going to be a little delayed," I reply, tossing 
the onion I'm still holding down on the counter with disgust. I 
walk over and turn the burner off under the simmering spaghetti 
sauce.
"What happened?"
"Well we had more fireworks between Esther and Walter for 
starters. Unfortunately I added an M80 into the display I'm 
afraid." 
"He walked out on you?" she asks quietly.
"As did Esther."
"Oh brother," she sighs, walking over to lean up next to me 
against the counter. "Well Mom probably went to her bedroom. 
That's her usual refuge when she's pissed off."
"Where are your boys? If they run into Walter right now..."
"Oh, no worries. They're kicking their soccer ball around on the 
front lawn. Uh...Roger's a little upset."
I look at her and my heart sinks even more.
"Oh shit. I'm sorry, Syl."
She sighs.
"Well, I shouldn't have said upset. I apologize. Upset isn't the 
right word really. I'd just say he's showing concern. He's old 
enough to have heard the adverse things people say about gays 
unfortunately. You know - kids his age in school are getting a lot 
more brutal about that sometimes than they are at Ben's grade 
level. It's affected Roger. So, he's afraid his uncle's going to be 
hurt and that bothers him."
I nod, "Still, I'm sorry. It's not an easy thing for a kid to absorb, 
regardless of how good his parents are at explaining things." 
"Granted. But, I think Ben's easy acceptance will help him a 
little. Ben just rolls with the punches. He always has been that 
way. Roger is a little more moody but that's exacerbated by 
adolescence coming on too, I think. He's a smart kid with a big 
heart. I think he'll be fine. I'll make myself available to talk if he 
feels he needs to as well."
"I'd be happy to talk to him too, if you'd like. I'm sure 
Walter...Oh hell..." I let my voice trail off.
What the hell am I going to do with Walter? He's not even 
talking to me right now.
Sylvia touches my arm.
"Do 'you' want to talk about it?"
"Someone should talk to somebody around here," I reply 
bitterly, shaking my head in dismay.
"I won't argue with that idea," she whispers withdrawing her 
hand. 
"Hey, look. Ignore me. I'm just having a...a....brain fart here," I 
wrinkle my brow.
Sylvia smiles a little at me.
"All right," she nods. "So...any ideas who should talk to who 
then?"
"I...should go talk to Walter. I think uh...I can probably smooth 
things over," I reply quietly.
God, I hope that's the truth. I'm not sure what I'm going to say to 
Walter but we really have to discuss this issue with Scully head 
on now, for better or worse. What rotten timing. If I'd been a little 
faster on the uptake here we could have dealt with this before 
we ever came out here. But that's water under the bridge now. 
The bomb went off again and we have to clean up the pieces 
from the explosion as best we can. I look over at Sylvia 
pleading for understanding with my eyes. She straightens up.
"Ok. I can tackle my mother. I'll leave Walter up to you, Mulder. 
I know you both love each other. I have confidence you can 
work it out. Just try to get him to talk. It's always been his 
problem. Unburdening. He fights it. He takes after Esther that 
way."
"I have some experience there, yeah," I reply quietly, 
straightening my shoulders as well. "I just wish I knew where the 
hell he went. I doubt he went back to the cottage."
"Walk down to the beach and then north along Judge's Point 
until you come to an outcropping of rocks over the water. 
That's...that's where we scattered our father's ashes. 
Sometimes Walter goes there to...well to be alone with his 
memories. But...I don't think he really wants to be alone right 
now, Mulder. Not really. He needs someone whether he wants 
to admit it or not - and I think it's you," Sylvia explains.
"Ok. Thanks, Sylvia. I'll give it my best shot."
"I'm just going to round the boys up and park them in front of 
the TV with one of the videos they brought so I know where 
they are. Then I'll go up and deal with my mother," Sylvia 
replies as she moves away from me.
"I'll take the key to the back door," I mention as she turns to 
walk away. "Sorry about dinner."
Sylvia turns back.
"Don't worry about it. I can put it in the fridge and if you're set on 
fixing it you can finish it later. But, I could always heat up a 
frozen pizza for the kids and my mother if...well if it takes you 
awhile," she advises.
"Sounds fine," I reply. Yeah, that's a polite way of saying 'if 
either one of you feels like fixing or eating anything'.
"Ok. Good luck," she calls back over her shoulder.
"Thanks," I sigh as I head over to get the key from the closet on 
my way out.
xXx
By now it's a little after 8:00 PM and the sun is starting to set. I 
head in the general direction of the beach keeping an eye out 
for Walter along the way. My earlier supposition about the 
cottage seems to be correct. It appears to be deserted as I walk 
towards it. I check it anyway, unlocking the door and checking 
inside to be positive he's not in there brooding in the dark. No 
Walter. I lock up again and head on down to the beach.
Once I hit the sand, I walk north per Sylvia's instructions. The 
beach ends and I'm walking through a small copse of trees. The 
sun sinks closer to the horizon and the shadows grow long 
around me. I can hear peepers. I'm suddenly reminded absurdly 
of every bad horror film I've ever seen. The ones that have the 
cessation of the peepers' call signaling the approach of 
whatever horrible monster is going to devour the hapless hero 
or heroine. What a joke. I know peepers have nothing to do with 
it. Real monsters come around whenever the hell they feel like 
it. They're not going to wait for the 'silence of the amphibians'.
I finally break out of the trees and see the outcropping of rock 
that Sylvia described to me. It's more like a rock shelf that juts 
out over the water. There's a man-shaped shadowy mass 
standing on the rock. An arm-shaped smudge moves out of it 
as Walter skims a rock across the darkening water.
"So...did Sylvia send you, or did you figure this one out on your 
own too?" he asks sarcastically as I walk over to the far end of 
the ledge.
"As long as we're being totally honest here...Sylvia pointed the 
way," I reply pitching my sarcastic emphasis on the word 
'honest'. 
"Well you can go back the way you came. I don't want to talk 
about this, Mulder. I don't even know how," he replies, flinging 
another rock out over the water.
"I can't go back, Walter. Like I said - for better or worse, lover. 
I'm here for the duration."
He doesn't reply.
"Can I at least come out there and join you?"
He shrugs.
"Whatever," he mutters.
I pick up a few flat rocks that lie at my feet and walk out onto 
the ledge, reaching his side. I toss a rock out into the water and 
it falls with a clumsy plop.
"Not like that," Walter rumbles. "Throw it this way," he adds, 
flinging a rock so that it hops several times over the surface of 
the water. It's hard to see now because it's getting even more 
dark but I throw my next rock and it follows his skimming 
perfectly over the water as well.
He nods his approval and throws one last rock. I throw my last 
two as well and then Walter sits down, crossing his legs under 
him. I sit down next to him and we stare out over the water.
"I can wait as long as you'd like but that spaghetti sauce really 
did smell good," I comment, trying to lighten the mood a little.
"Go back and eat then," he shoots back.
Finally I lose my temper. That's it. Fuck him. I've been as 
patient as I can. Sure this is partly my fault for missing the boat 
on what's eating him. But that's no excuse for him to act like a 
prick. He could have spoken up. I really do want to help him 
now. I love him. I'm not going to abandon this relationship like 
others have abandoned me in the past.
"Walter, cut the crap, all right. Look I know what the problem is 
here. If you don't want to divulge what's eating at you I can tell 
you what's wrong. Do you want me to elucidate again or do you 
want to stop acting so constipated about this and get it out on 
the table so we can discuss it? No wait...maybe I should go get 
your Metamucil. Maybe that would help move this fucking 
blockage..."
"Mulder...shut the hell up. I get the point. I know I fucked up 
back there. Shit..." he shakes his head.
"You know, Walter, for someone who has such command in the 
office you really can lose it in the civilian world. You don't even 
know when those you love are trying to help you, big guy," I 
reply softly. 
He runs a large hand over his scalp and looks at me in the dim 
light.
"Come on. Talk to me, Walter," I urge quietly.
I watch the wheels turn and finally he slumps a little. Ok, here 
we go, I think as he gathers his thoughts at last. He starts to 
speak and I have to bend forward to listen to his voice until it 
gains more strength.
"All right, look. Yeah, this has to do with the bisexuality thing."
"With being reluctant for your family to know about it or..."
"Not even about that so much. It goes deeper than that, Mulder. 
I just still have a lot going on in my mind regarding what 
happened between Scully and me. I...oh hell. I don't know. I've 
got a lot of shit rattling around in my head."
"About?"
"About whether I think I've made a very bad mistake," he replies 
in a low voice.
I scratch at a mosquito that sits on my arm.
"You don't love Scully?" I ask, squishing the bug so that its blood 
meal stains my skin.
"I know I said I did. Hell, I told Sharon I loved her too...early on. 
That was such a fucking weak-willed thing for me to do too. 
Talk about repeating your mistakes."
"Because you married her out of what...the idea you could turn 
straight?"
"I've explained that haven't I? Yeah. And you know...Christ I 
gave it a good shot. Maybe I did love Sharon on some level. 
Maybe I'd half convinced myself it could work. I certainly had 
her convinced at first. We had sex...it's not like we didn't enjoy 
it," he replies bitterly.
"So you think you're repeating the same pattern with Scully?"
"I'm not sure what the hell I'm doing, Mulder. I don't know what I 
feel for Scully. I don't think it's the same as what I feel for you. It 
smacks too much of what happened with Sharon. Can you 
understand what...what that does to me? God...I...I hate feeling 
this way."
"You hate feeling out of control and unable to make a logical 
decision," I state.
"Bingo," he whispers, looking off across the creek. "And I really 
hate the implications of what that means to Scully...and to you," 
he adds tightly.
I rub my temples. I had an idea that this was what was going on 
with Walter. His actions since we've arrived, his emotions, have 
been raw and much more close to the surface than I've ever 
seen them before. I knew he was tense over the whole issue of 
dealing with his family. But he's been much more hyper-tense 
than any of that warranted. Now I know why. This is a serious 
problem and I'm really not sure how we're going to deal with it. 
He's right about the implications. The implications...the 
ramifications could really hurt us all a great deal.
"Well...I know how uncomfortable that is for you," I murmur, 
commiserating. "Uh...would it help if you tried to talk about 
your...I assume this is an inner debate about your sexual 
feelings towards her and towards me?"
He glances back at me and then back out across the water. He 
rubs at his arm where a mosquito is trying to dine. He swats at 
it, frowns and answers me.
"Mulder, I know I said I don't like to talk about what Scully and 
I...what we do when we're together..." he lets his voice trail off. 
"I respect that, Walter. You don't have to tell me anything in that 
area you feel uncomfortable sharing."
"Well...I guess I can tell you it has to do with the sex too. 
Otherwise this conversation will go nowhere quickly."
"All right," I agree. Then I resume listening and wait for him to 
work out what he wants to say again. He lowers his hand and 
rests his forearms lightly on his knees.
"Look. I can function sexually with women. You know that. I had 
a sexual relationship with Sharon. I have no problem functioning 
with Scully. When I'm with Scully...the act itself is...is fantastic. 
Physically satisfying, make no mistake. She...well...she's a 
great lover."
I nod. I know all too well how good Scully is in bed. Explosive 
wouldn't even come close to describing sex with her. Incendiary 
might be more accurate.
"But..." I prompt as he falters, rubbing the bridge of his nose 
under his glasses. He lowers his hand again and looks at me 
once more.
"But...Mulder...this is so hard to explain...to..."
"It's not the same as when you're with me?" I query carefully. 
"I don't think it is the same, no," he replies. His voice takes on a 
contemplative tone as if he's still trying to work all this out in his 
mind. "When I'm with you, Mulder...there's...I think it's...the 
emotional connection. The love or whatever...the want and 
need to be with you...connected to you. The way I feel about 
you when I'm with you makes the experience...so much more 
intense. I...don't think it's the same with Scully as it is with you. I 
thought it was at first but...after Thursday and then this 
afternoon...God, Mulder. After we made love today...I just don't 
know anymore," he lets his voice trail off again and just shakes 
his head.
"But if you're enjoying yourself with me and with her...Walter 
that's what being bisexual means," I interject.
"Fuck that, Mulder. Don't you understand? I haven't a God 
damn clue as to whether I'm sure I'm feeling the same thing!" 
he grates out, moving to stand up.
"No, come on. Sit down," I take his arm. "I'm sorry...I 
know...I...please I'm trying to understand."
He sits back down slowly. I shift close and rub his back a little. 
He lets me, but I sense it's not helping the situation to make him 
feel sexual right now. I pat him once more and remove my 
hand settling in to listen. Walter takes a shaky breath and 
continues. 
"This isn't about sex, Mulder. It's about 
preferences...about...honesty in admitting what I prefer...what I 
really feel, enjoy and...and who I really want to spend the rest of 
my life with. Who I really love, Mulder."
"You're trying to say when it comes right down to it, you prefer 
men. You prefer me," I whisper.
"What I'm trying to tell you is I'm not sure. I...I just can't seem to 
reconcile any of this in my mind," he replies miserably.
Guilt crashes down on me like a lead weight. Christ. You 
know...I should have my ass kicked from here to Sunday. This 
is my fault I realize. I...through my own desires to have them 
both I've pressured them into this situation. Through conscious 
and even unconscious persuasion I've coerced both my lovers 
into doing what they've done to satisfy my needs.
Walter's next words confirm my fears. I feel sick as he speaks. 
"Mulder, God help me...help us but...I don't know if what I'm 
doing with Scully is something I'm doing for her and me, or 
something I'm doing because I love you so much I'm doing it 
just to make you happy. Maybe she's with me for the same 
damn reason. Mulder...that's not going to work for me in the 
long-run. I don't think it'll work for Scully either. I respect and 
admire her, like her a whole lot...I just don't know if..."
"If that's a good reason to be sleeping with her," I whisper.
"Exactly. I feel like an idiot. The worst...worst kind of low-life 
son of a bitch for doing this to her. I...it's tearing me up to think 
that I may be in danger of hurting both of you because of my 
indecision, confusion and cowardice."
He stops speaking then, breathing hard. I bend my head, tears 
welling up in my eyes. God...I am such a loser. I've really done 
them both a disservice. For a moment, I don't know what to 
say. Finally I manage to speak and my voice is more steady 
than I think it could ever be.
"Walter...I think this is my fault. I...I have to believe through my 
persuasion you and Scully are caught in this...this problem. If I 
hadn't been so gung-ho...so needy to want this for all three of 
us...you wouldn't be in such agony right now. Christ...I am so 
sorry," I mumble.
He looks over at me and shrugs.
"Mulder...to be honest...you're right. Yeah...I felt that pressure. I 
guess Scully did as well. But...look...ok...I have to admit I had 
sex with her. Hell...we wanted each other and we fucked each 
other like there was no tomorrow. I told Scully I loved her 
before, during and after the fact. I'm as much to blame because 
I made that decision. I could have stopped to reason this out 
more. I didn't. I let my cock do the reasoning for me," Walter 
replies with a sigh.
We both sit there quietly for a moment. I wipe my eyes a little. 
Finally Walter speaks again.
"Well, since both of us have managed to utterly fuck up this 
situation...any bright ideas as to what we should do next?" he 
asks acerbically.
"Uh...yeah...that's the 64 thousand dollar question," I reply, 
sniffling a bit.
"I should talk to Scully," he answers, matter-of-factly.
"'We' should talk to Scully," I interject strongly. "You're not 
totally to blame. You can't underestimate my roll in this fiasco. 
I...I can't even begin to tell you how sick and guilty that makes 
me feel."
"Fine. Since we're both swimming in guilt, we'll both talk to 
Scully," he replies, nodding.
"Right," I reply numbly.
"Ok," Walter agrees again and then he sighs, "but, you realize - 
we still need to get together and work out what to do about 
Kersh? I'd hate to hit her with both barrels but..."
I rub the bridge of my nose and he stops talking.
"God...Kersh. I guess we have to make him our priority," I 
interrupt.
"We'd better or we're all screwed anyway," Walter replies, 
swiping at some more mosquitoes that are flying around his 
face.
"Ok. Look. Let's...let's meet on Kersh so we can just get it over 
with as soon as we get back. After that I think Scully and I are 
still going to be relegated to background checks for a while 
longer. We should be in town. We can probably make 
arrangements to get together with her then...maybe at her 
place."
"And we'll try to reason this out...you'll...you're going to 
apologize and I'll..." he begins uncomfortably.
"I'm going to grovel at her feet," I interrupt, wincing slightly. 
"Christ, no kidding. I'll be down on my knees too. Damn. I...this 
stinks, Mulder."
"I can't argue, Walter. But...we're adults. We're going to have to 
deal with it. We'll have to do it. I'm hoping Scully can at least 
forgive us. If not...well, we're going to have to face her wrath 
and quite frankly I feel like I deserve every bit of invective she 
may level on me."
"Mulder...I don't know how to reply to that statement," Walter 
mumbles.
I wave him off.
"Forget it. I'm venting. I...Scully's a very compassionate person. 
She's got a mind like a steel trap but a wonderful, understanding 
heart. And God knows she understands my foibles. I'll try to 
stay optimistic," I reply, trying to stave off some of the doom 
and gloom. 
"Optimism and I aren't easy bedfellows but yeah...I'll try to do 
the same," Walter answers, pretty much putting an end to the 
discussion.
Both of us sit there partly in shocked silence for a few 
moments. Walter finally stirs and speaks.
"I'm sorry, babe," he mumbles again.
"Hey...don't...don't apologize. It's not necessary. I understand. I 
can't expect you to do something that's going to hurt you. That 
you don't want to really do. I'll survive no matter what the 
outcome after we work this out. I...I really do love you both. I 
want you and Scully to be happy too. We'll muddle through this 
situation. And like I said - I should be sorry for putting pressure 
on you both. We'll deal with it. I...I know we can," I reply. I can 
tell I'm trying to convince myself as much as him.
I hope it's not a vain attempt. I hope this isn't false optimism to 
think we can pull our nads out of the fire here. I remember the 
last time Scully and I disagreed over Walter. The night Scully 
caught Walter and I together back last Halloween. My 
arrogance in arguing with her about that incident almost cost us 
our relationship then. Throwing the blame for the disagreement 
back up in her face caused a schism which Walter healed to be 
honest. I almost lost her then and if it hadn't been for Walter's 
mediation we might have never been the same.
Now Scully's in the loop and as much as I detest myself for 
doing it now, my pressure to get her to think about accepting 
Walter and I both as lovers really was what probably brought all 
this about. That guilt is something I'll have to live with for the rest 
of my life. I just hope it hasn't destroyed everything here. I have 
to hold onto the hope that eventually Scully will understand and 
know that I still love her more than life itself.
Walter does love her on some level too. I sense it. It may not be 
a sexual love but it's a love born of respect, friendship and 
shared joy as well as heartache. I don't want him to lose that 
with her either. I have to try to help him preserve all that as well 
even if he doesn't join together with us sexually again.
Walter sighs heavily. I can tell that all of this has been very 
difficult for him to say. I feel a great warmth for him spreading 
in my chest. It lightens my mood somewhat to contemplate the 
emotion I feel for him. If Walter can unburden like this to me, tell 
me he did what he did with Scully because of his deep love for 
me, can share me with another person and not be jealous, the 
least I can do is understand and respect his wishes in the 
situation...no matter what they turn out to be in the end.
God I really do love him so much. I feel privileged to be with 
him. He's an honorable man. Imperfect, just like everyone else, 
and me most of all, but willing to acknowledge his mistakes. I 
hope someday I can grow up to be like Walter. Hey, I'm not 
exaggerating. Sometimes I think I have a long way to go before 
I'm an adult.
I reach over and stroke the fringe of hair at the back of Walter's 
head. I move my face to his cheek and kiss him lightly, my love 
for him making me smile despite my heavy heart.
"We'd better get back," I murmur in his ear.
"Good God, Mulder. What the hell am I going to say to my 
mother?" he groans. "I can't believe I said what I said to her. 
Talk about immature behavior. What the devil was wrong with 
me?"
"I think you were hurting, Walter. It just came out. But yeah, it 
was out of line nonetheless. You're going to have to think of 
something to say to her to apologize. Sylvia is paving the way 
for you. But you'll need to bite the bullet and tell Esther you're 
sorry."
I really need to clear my head here I think as I look into Walter's 
face. Looking this close now I can see the tight expression. He 
needs my help. It's going to be difficult enough dealing with 
Walter's mother and the incident in the kitchen. My angsting 
over everything else here isn't going to help matters. I still need 
to lend him my support. Help him get through this with his family 
since they think the only issue here is Walter being gay. I try to 
shake off my depression as best I can and resolve to make the 
rest of the vacation easier on us both by trying to be a decent 
partner to the man I love.
"Yeah, definitely. It's not every day a man lets his mother know 
he just got done fucking his male lover - and she'd better not 
have anything negative to say about it," he replies sheepishly.
"Not to mention letting her know it while you're cooking dinner," 
I interject, trying to make a lame joke to lighten things up. 
"Imagine how that pasta would go down after that revelation, big 
guy."
"Dinner! Jesus...I dropped the ball there too," he shakes his 
head in self-disgust.
I laugh despite his chagrin.
"Sylvia was going to make a frozen pizza."
"Oh wonderful. That doesn't help," Walter grouches. I stifle a 
smirk.
Ok. Time to stroke his ego a little. He needs it badly right now. 
The guy thinks he's the biggest bastard on three legs at the 
moment. I can't let him sit here and think he's a worthless sack 
of shit. 
Well...maybe this will. "Walter...it really was phenomenal - this 
afternoon I mean," I reply, smiling at him in the dark. "I 
hope...please don't tell me I'm sleeping on the cot," I start to 
laugh harder, not being able to help myself. The tension has me 
so wound up I have to let off some steam.
"No way," Walter rumbles his laughter too. "I...I'm looking 
forward to a second round at some point, Monster Boy. So, you 
better carb up with that pasta. You'll need the energy," he 
replies. His words are confident but I can tell from his body 
language, that he's almost unsure of my affections. That I might 
really resent him? I won't desire him now? Shit. He can't be 
more wrong in that respect. 
"Sylvia said she'd put the sauce in the fridge so we can warm it 
up when we get back. I...I can hardly wait to be with you again. 
Maybe...maybe we can make love later tonight," I reply, 
grinning at him.
He smiles wide. I can see his teeth in the dark.
"Yeah, that would...that would be great," he replies quietly.
"Definitely," I whisper, nodding in agreement.
"Let's go then," he nods in return, rising to his feet. I stand as 
well and we both head back towards the private beach that 
borders the main house on Judge's Point.
xXx
When we return, Sylvia and the boys are sitting at the picnic 
table on the screened in back porch.
"Uncle Walter, Mulder!" Ben calls to us as we approach.
"She talked to Roger," I whisper to him quickly.
"Oh?" he asks as we walk forward.
"Yeah...uh..." I begin. Oh hell. Another problem.
He looks at me, his eyes searching mine.
"Was there a problem?"
"Uncle Walter, I made Ben save you and Mulder some pizza," 
Roger calls.
"You did not. I volunteered," Ben insists, in mock outrage.
"I think it was a joint decision," Sylvia intercedes, laughing. 
"I guess there's no problem," I smile at Walter as we gain the 
porch steps.
"The only problem is...Ben's a hog," Roger jokes, knuckling his 
brother on the skull.
"Ouch. Now I'm a hog with pizza in my hair," Ben quips back.
Sylvia laughs as the boys spar with each other and Walter 
opens the screen door.
"How was Grandpa?" Roger asks more quietly as we enter the 
porch. 
"What?" Walter asks in confusion.
"Oh. I told the boys you and Mulder went to see where we put 
Dad's ashes," Sylvia hastens to explain.
"Oh...yes," Walter replies, nodding towards Roger.
"It's a beautiful spot," I reply, taking a seat down next to the 
boys.
"Where's Mother?" Walter asks, coming right to the point.
"Mr. Dryden called. He's home from the hospital. Nana went to 
see if he needed any help," Ben volunteers.
"Ah," Walter smiles at Ben. He stands there awkwardly for a 
moment.
Sylvia clears her throat.
"She might be gone a while. I think she's going to make him a 
late dinner. Do you two want to go ahead and cook some 
spaghetti or will pizza do? I can warm up that extra half a pie. I 
just put it back in the fridge."
"Mulder, what do you think?" Walter replies, deferring to me. 
"It's late. Pizza would be faster."
"I could eat a couple of pieces," I smile at them all. "Thanks for 
saving us some, guys."
"Sure," Roger replies.
Walter gestures towards Sylvia.
"I'll help you get the pizza."
"All right," she answers him. "Roger, Ben? Would you like some 
ice cream?"
"Please!" both boys reply enthusiastically.
"Coming right up then. We'll be right back, Mulder," she replies. 
I nod as Walter and his sister exit to go into the kitchen. I can 
hear their low voices almost immediately as they pass through 
the door. I speak over them to distract the boys.
"So uh...you think your mom's going to give in on the dog?"
Ben sighs theatrically. "Probably not. She just thinks they're too 
much work."
"She and Dad can't agree on the big dog or little dog idea 
either," Roger adds a little forlornly.
"Well...maybe they'd compromise on a medium-sized dog. I've 
heard springer spaniels make good pets. They aren't too large."
Sam and I always wanted a springer spaniel. I remember 
overhearing Mom and Dad talking about it. They were going to 
get one for Christmas. Of course Sam was taken in November. 
So much for the family dog idea.
"Cool. Maybe we can mention that to them," Ben replies, 
nodding sagely.
"Yeah, it's worth a shot," I agree.
Silence falls between us. Roger fidgets with his napkin a little 
and Ben looks at him with a sigh and shrugs at me.
I give him a small smile and decide I might as well try to make 
some kind of overture towards them both, but especially Roger, 
to clear the air.
"Look, you guys...uh...I know this isn't easy. I'm a stranger here 
and even though your Uncle Walter and I are...together, I don't 
expect to just walk in here and be accepted. I just hope...well 
the most I can hope for is that you'll give me a chance to be 
your friend."
Both boys look at me. I can see the intelligent consideration in 
both their eyes. Roger is sizing me up. Ben has decided 
provisionally that he really does like me. But he's waiting for 
further confirmation from his older brother that he's made the 
right decision. Ben is nodding a little. Roger speaks first.
"Ok," Roger replies quietly. "I can try."
"Roger's afraid Uncle Walter will get hurt," Ben whispers.
"Ben," Roger hisses, embarrassed. He looks down, his ears 
reddening.
"No, it's ok, Roger. I understand. I...if it's any help...letting your 
Uncle Walter get hurt is the last thing I want to have happen. I'll 
do everything I can to prevent it."
Roger nods.
"See. I told you," Ben nudges him, smiling at me.
I guess I don't need to hear Ben say he's going to accept me as 
a friend.
"Yeah, yeah," Roger nudges him back, but he's smiling a little. 
"Say, Mulder?" Ben asks glancing at Roger. Roger looks at his 
younger brother speculatively.
"You play Monopoly?"
Roger snickers.
"Why do I sense a set-up here?" I chuckle. "Yeah, I play 
Monopoly."
"Watch it, babe, they'll 'whup your butt'," Walter laughs, 
interrupting us from the doorway. He's holding a plate full of 
steaming pizza slices obviously fresh out of the microwave.
"Oh yeah?" I laugh glancing at the two boys.
"Yeah!" they chorus and we all laugh together as Sylvia appears 
with the ice cream.
"Mom, Mulder has accepted the Monopoly Challenge," Ben 
crows in triumph.
"Yeah, can we stay up and 'whup his butt'!" Roger laughs 
looking at Walter and grinning. Walter steps forward and puts 
the plate down on the picnic table.
Sylvia sets the ice cream down and wags her finger at her 
brother, "Walter Skinner watch your language in front of my 
sons. Now I'll only let Mulder play if I can play too."
"Well then that means Walter has to play as well, right guys?" I 
reply, upping the ante.
"Right. Please, Mom?" Ben begs eagerly.
"All right, we'll all play. Why don't you two go set up the board 
and we'll carry the food in," Sylvia offers magnanimously.
"Thanks, Mom!" Roger enthuses. Ben jumps up and impulsively 
hugs my neck before he races off the porch after his older 
brother. I touch my neck, emotion clogging the back of my 
throat at the idea that both boys have accepted me so readily 
into the family circle. Walter heaves a sigh of relief and Sylvia 
smiles gently down at me. Then she turns to Walter and wags 
her finger again.
"I meant what I said about the language, Walter. They hear 
enough of that stuff around the firehouse with Roger."
"Hey, I didn't say 'ass' I said..." Walter answers holding his 
hands up in protest.
"I know, but I'm warning you just in case you slip up," Sylvia 
lectures but with good-natured humor.
"All right, I've been duly chastised," Walter admits, bowing to her 
wishes, and lowering his hands.
I stare from one to the other.
"So...what about Esther?" I ask unable to contain myself any 
longer.
Walter glances at his sister and I almost laugh at the look of 
cowed resignation there as Sylvia's mouth straightens into a 
tight line. She suddenly looks as annoyed as hell at him. Walter 
actually won't meet her eyes for a moment. Man she must have 
reamed him a good one. You know if I really wanted to hold it 
over his head I could get a lot of mileage about Walter kow-
towing to his sister. But I won't go there. He's already 
embarrassed enough over his actions. To draw attention to the 
fact that he's letting his 'little sister' shame him would only add 
insult to injury.
"Well...things have been repaired I think. But I still can't believe 
what Walter said to her. God...I mean...come on. Even I never 
threw up my...what Roger and I...well it doesn't matter. I think I 
got it straightened out," Sylvia blusters, gesturing with her hand. 
"I'm going to apologize as soon as she gets back," Walter adds 
quietly. "Can we drop the subject, please? I'll explain it to Mulder 
later, all right?"
"Fine. No problem," I reply hastily.
I'd rather the whole thing drop for now too. Obviously in the 
short time they were in the kitchen Walter ran down the 'I'm gay 
and I'm proud' explanation for her and she fried him for 
throwing our tryst up in his mother's face. I can wait to hear the 
details after Walter gets done soothing Esther's ruffled feathers. 
He and Sylvia are still tense about it so I'd like the subject to 
fade into the background before we hit the living room for the 
'board game battle of the century' with the boys.
"I'm all for tabling the matter," Sylvia adds with a curt nod of her 
head. She picks up the bowls of ice cream again and waits with 
an expectant look on her face.
"Thank you," Walter nods. Sylvia nods her head again, 
acknowledging his thanks as Walter picks up the plate full of 
pizza slices.
"So...uh...shall we prepare for battle?" I ask gesturing towards 
the living room. Sylvia smiles a little again and so does Walter. 
"Yeah. I guess we'd better get into the living room. Roger and 
Ben are waiting to clean our clocks," Walter replies.
xXx
We all end up clustered on the floor, seated around the coffee 
table where the Monopoly board has been set up. Empty ice 
cream bowls and the plate devoid of pizza slices are placed to 
the side. The boys made a run back to the kitchen for sodas 
and we're all wetting our whistles with Diet Coke as we roll the 
dice.
The tension between Walter and his sister quickly fades as we 
play the game with Roger and Ben. Quite clearly they can't 
really stay mad at each other for very long.
The contest proves to be very lively. Ben's boast of being able 
to 'whup our butts' isn't far off. I have to admit my Monopoly 
skills are very rusty and their expertise, garnered from 
numerous games with a father who, I find out after the game 
has started, is a wizard at the whole thing makes my nearly last 
place showing no surprise to me. 
Walter fares much better and after I go broke he and Sylvia and 
the boys play on for real blood. Finally, Roger takes pity on me 
and asks me to join him in a cooperative effort to come out on 
top.
As we play on and it nears midnight, Walter and Sylvia glance 
at each other more than once. I know what's on their mind. 
Where's Esther? They probably think she's still angry and isn't in 
any hurry to get back home. I wouldn't blame her. She 
expressed her opinion earlier, granted an opinion that wasn't 
exactly understanding, but her opinion nonetheless. Walter's 
handling of the situation hadn't been one of his more shining 
moments. If she takes her time returning because she's 
enjoying herself with her...well whatever John Dryden is to 
her...it's understandable.
"Maybe I should call?" Sylvia volunteers as I pick up the dice to 
roll again.
"Yeah, I was going to make the same suggestion. She's pretty 
capable of taking care of herself but...you never 
know...something could have happened," Walter agrees.
Sylvia excuses herself leaving Walter and I alone with his 
nephews. I put the dice down as Roger gets up and sits on the 
couch. 
"You guys want another soda?" Roger asks looking from Walter 
to me.
"Sure. Mulder?"
"Another Diet Coke would be fine," I reply.
"Come on, Ben, help me. I'm gonna bring some for all of us 
again," Roger tells his brother.
"'K," Ben replies and they both get up and head for the kitchen 
where their mother is on the phone.
"She's gotta be pissed," Walter sighs, fingering his 'top hat' 
Monopoly piece.
"Esther?"
"No, Janet Reno. Of course Esther."
For one crazed moment I thought he was still talking about 
Scully. 
"Well, maybe not. She is uh...interested in this Dryden after all. 
Maybe she's just relieved he survived the fall and they're talking 
about painting and his being an old fool for climbing around on a 
ladder," I reply with a grin.
 Walter considers my statement and sets his game piece down. 
His mouth twitches in a grin as well.
"Yeah, you might have a point. Better he's getting the lecture 
than me, anyway. Maybe he'll take some of the wind out of her 
sails. And you know..." he lets his voice trail off.
"What?"
He clears his throat a little.
"You know it's kind of nice that she's found someone that 
interests her that way again. It's been a long time since she's let 
a man into her life. I'm rather glad she's considering it," he 
replies, looking up and pinning my eyes.
"I think it's good. No one...no one should be alone, Walter," I 
answer quietly.
His eyes crinkle up and he smiles a little wider.
"Exactly," he nods. "She's still young...65 isn't old and..."
He stops speaking as Sylvia and the boys come back in 
carrying the soft drinks in hand.
"So?" he asks his sister as she comes back over and sits down 
next to the coffee table. Both boys come over as well and seat 
themselves. Soda is passed around and tabs on the cans 
popped by all.
"Well, I just caught her leaving as a matter-of-fact," Sylvia 
announces. "She should be here any time now."
"Ah. Good," Walter replies.
Ben and Roger sip their sodas.
"Boys, I want you to go to bed when Nana gets home," Sylvia 
advises as she sets her soda down. "You can take your sodas 
up with you but Nana's going to be tired and I really think she's 
going to want to come home to a quiet house, not a wild 
Monopoly game."
"Ah, Mom," Ben complains, lowering his soda to the coffee 
table. 
"No. Come on, Ben. We can leave the board set up and play 
tomorrow or Monday. It's late," Roger replies maturely, setting 
his soda aside as well.
"Ok. I am kind of tired," Ben agrees.
"Yeah, me too. I think I'll hit the sack after I pay my respects to 
your grandmother as well," I volunteer.
I catch the pregnant look that passes between Sylvia and 
Walter. Well Walter won't be going to bed right away. I would 
bet Esther and Sylvia won't be either. Yes, that apology is really 
going to be forthcoming. I would also wager there's going to be 
a discussion later that's best not shared by children or the object 
of Walter's lust under the circumstances.
"I'm proud of you both," Sylvia tells her sons. "You've been very 
cooperative and very adult. I appreciate it, you guys."
"We all do," Walter adds as he takes a long swig of his Coke. I 
swig mine as well and then place it down on the coffee table.
 Roger and Ben glance at each other.
"Thanks, Mom" Roger replies, smiling. He really does look 
impressed and pleased with the compliment. They have been 
remarkably good. I think Roger and Sylvia should be credited 
for raising two fine sons. I'll have to tell her that later. I think 
parents need to hear that once in a while.
Ben looks at me and I can tell what he's thinking. 'Maybe she's 
considering that puppy after all since we've showed how 
responsible we can be' is uppermost in his mind. I wink at him 
and he grins.
"And all of you - sleep late in the morning. I know I will. To heck 
with the running. I'm going to need my beauty sleep," Sylvia 
suggests.
We all laugh a little and then she continues.
"Besides, Esther's not going to fix lunch until 1 PM and it's just 
going to be steaming up some crabs and oysters and a huge 
salad. Nothing fancy."
"Sounds fantastic," I reply.
"She does a fabulous job with it, fancy or not," Walter adds. "We 
can help though, Syl. If she wants to rest I have no problem 
steaming the shellfish up."
"We can help too," Ben volunteers enthusiastically.
"I'm sure she wouldn't mind that at all," Sylvia answers, 
addressing both Walter and Ben.
Just as I'm going to add my offer to help as well we hear a car 
pull up outside.
"Ok, that's Nana. Why don't you go greet her and then give her 
a kiss and hug good night," Sylvia suggests, glancing back at 
the front door.
"Yes ma'am," Roger and Ben reply in unison. They both get up 
dutifully and trot off to fulfill their mother's wishes.
"Say good night and then each of you take a shower and brush 
your teeth before bed. All right?" Sylvia calls after them.
"Got it, Mom," Ben calls back as they head off towards the front 
door.
xXx
I glance at the clock radio on the night stand. It's one forty-five. 
Almost two hours have gone by since I returned to the cottage 
and left Walter, Esther and Sylvia preparing to duke it out in the 
living room.
I tried to reach Scully on my cell phone earlier but my call went 
to her voice mail. It was late but...well it's not like she isn't used 
to hearing from me at all hours. She's always been patient 
about it too. Like I said - I'm a lucky man. She could be chewing 
my arm off for that kind of thing. I guess she's either on 
recharge or things are hopping so much at the Scully residence 
that she's not able to respond. I left a message that I called. I'll 
try her again tomorrow.
After the phone call I washed up, brushed my teeth and stripped 
to my boxer briefs. I turned off all the lights except for the night 
stand lamp, and then I crawled into bed to watch TV.
I roll back towards the TV now and hug the pillow I'm holding to 
my chest. 'The Brain from Planet Arous' is playing on American 
Movie Classics. John Agar is using an ax to smack the cheap 
giant rubber brain that hangs from the ceiling of the set on a 
piano wire. While the brain is screaming in protest, I hear a key 
in the front door lock. I hope that image isn't indicative of things 
that happened earlier at the main house. Walter unlocks the 
door, walks in, shuts it behind him and locks it up for the night. 
He places the key on the small dining area table. I already 
locked the patio door. We're not going to get anyone walking in 
on us this morning.
"Bourbon?" I ask watching his face. He sighs but twitches his 
lips up in a small grin.
"Not needed. It went ok. Uh...I think I'd just like to wash up and 
hit the sack," he replies.
"You want to talk about it further?"
"Yeah...uh...just let me get ready and I'll fill you in," he replies, 
toeing off his sneakers and tucking them under one of the 
chairs by the dining table.
"Ok," I smile as he saunters off into the bathroom.
I turn off the TV and set the remote on the night stand. I get up 
and turn down the bed, folding the fresh forest green comforter 
back carefully and the sheet as well. The toilet flushes and then 
water is being drawn in the bathroom as I sit back down on the 
bed and prop myself up against the pillows.
It only takes a few minutes for Walter to clean up and when he 
comes back out he's wearing only his boxer briefs, and carrying 
the rest of his clothes over his arm. He cracks the bathroom 
door to allow a little illumination to shine into the room again. I 
think I learned that convention from him. It sure beats trying to 
find your way to the can in the dark. My eyes follow him as he 
carefully lays his clothes over a chair back.
Finally he walks over, takes off his glasses and watch and 
places them both on the night stand next to his side of the bed. 
He climbs in next to me. He pulls the sheets up over us both 
and settles in, slumping down with his back against the pillows. I 
reach over and turn off the night stand light.
"So?" I ask quietly, shifting to look at him, one elbow propping 
me up on the pillow.
"Well she didn't disown me. I still have my balls too so I'll 
consider myself lucky," he replies, turning to look at me as well. 
I chuckle.
"I take it you apologized?"
"Oh yeah. I apologized and so did Esther really. I mean she 
realized she was being insensitive. Of course Sylvia pointed out 
we both seemed to have cornered the market on insensitivity 
this afternoon so we could share the guilt equally in her opinion," 
he replies wryly.
"Man, Walter. Your sister is something else. I...I really like her."
"Yeah, Syl's making me thank God I have a sister right now, 
Mulder. She said some very nice things about you too during 
the conversation. She likes you too."
"I appreciate it," I smile.
"At any rate, I think we're all on the same page. Esther's going 
to come to terms with the idea that her son is making love to 
another man down here in the guest house and uh...I'm not 
going to keep defending my right to be gay 24/7. She really is 
attempting to understand things. I mean we're all bound to make 
mistakes along the line here. No one should be jumping down 
anyone's throat when we can discuss our concerns like adults 
instead."
"I think that sounds more than equitable."
"So, tomorrow should be a lot less awkward," Walter confirms.
I let out a sigh of relief.
"Excellent. I'm not going to lie and tell you I wasn't starting to 
worry...well...I just wanted the rest of the vacation to be 
pleasant. I mean...I've been enjoying myself but..."
"I know. It's been too much stress all the way around to be 
much of a good time, Mulder. Don't try to minimize it. It's been a 
trial so far."
"Well it's looking up, so that's what's important."
"Right," Walter nods.
"I guess Esther had a good time with her fella," I tease him a 
little.
He chuckles.
"Yeah...hell. I guess she did. She's invited him to join us 
tomorrow...the whole nine yards, lunch, fireworks, everything," 
he shakes his head. I can tell he's starting to warm to the idea 
however. I think that's a healthy thing too.
"Ah ha. So it must be serious," I reply laughing.
"I suppose. Like I said, she's only 65. She's still a gorgeous 
woman, even though she does act like she's got a chip on her 
shoulder a mile wide sometimes," he rumbles.
"She's not the only one," I reply, smirking at him.
He raises an eyebrow and then laughs.
"Guilty as charged," he replies honestly.
"You know...there's something I've been meaning to ask you in 
connection with that..." I begin.
"With what?" Walter asks.
"Well I just thought...your mother would, um...I don't know be..." 
"Be older?" Walter asks carefully.
I stare at him. Yeah, exactly. I expected someone a lot older. I 
don't know why but for some reason I had this picture of Walter 
being a late in life child with two parents who were older and 
had trouble dealing with a teen in their middle age. Apparently 
that wasn't the case.
"Yeah," I reply slowly.
He shrugs.
"You're good at math. I know what you're thinking..."
"Uh...what am I thinking?" I ask raising my eyebrows.
"Well aren't you going to say she must have had me a little 
early?"
"Obviously she did. I guess I just had this conception that you 
were a late in life kid or something. I...forget it...I was just..." 
"Mulder. It's ok. Shit what difference does it make if I tell you? 
You're my partner after all. It's your right to know these kinds of 
things now. Besides this is common family knowledge."
"If you think it's my business," I reply, pinning his eyes. He 
continues, more at ease and I have to think it is ok that he's 
relating this to me.
"Mom's never denied this, Fox. My mother was 18 years old 
when she married my father. He was 21. She was already 
pregnant. I came along before the wedding. So...I'm quite 
literally as well as figuratively in some people's eyes anyway - a 
bastard," he replies matter-of-factly.
"Oh," I answer. "Uh...well...I appreciate you telling me," I reply, 
flushing slightly. Yikes. I didn't expect that revelation. 
"You're embarrassed. Don't be. I'm not. They were very much 
in love. It happened. And hey, I wouldn't be here if it hadn't," he 
smiles a little.
I smile back, "Well as Martha Stewart says 'It's a good thing,'" I 
wisecrack. Yeah, it's a damn good thing all the way around. And 
really...who cares. Walter's revelation isn't that important in the 
grand scheme of things.
He barks a laugh and reaching over, strokes my shoulder a 
little. 
"One thing I have to say, Mulder. You have a way of changing 
the ridiculous into the sublime."
I laugh as well and we lapse into companionable silence for a 
few moments after we catch our breath. Walter suddenly 
yawns and I speak. 
"You must be beat," I observe finally.
"I am. It's been emotionally exhausting. Uh...I hate to say this 
but...I have to get some sleep."
"Hey, no problem. Get some rest. We can sleep in."
"Thanks, babe. As much as I'd like to rock and roll I don't think I 
can manage it."
"Sleep then. I set the alarm for ten. Ok with you?"
"Yeah. Great."
"Ok." I smile.
Walter smiles back and moves closer. I lie flat and he lays his 
head on my chest.
"Comfortable?" he asks quietly.
"You?"
"Yeah."
"Night then," I whisper, kissing his bald head.
He huffs a laugh and kisses my chest lightly.
I stroke his fringe of hair as he falls asleep, the weight of his 
warm, comforting hand splayed out over my heart.
xXx
Sunday, July 4, 1999. 7:00 AM. The guest cottage. Judge's 
Point. 
I peer at the clock radio through my eyelashes as Walter 
carefully shifts away from my side. It's 7 AM. I shut my eyes 
again and snuffle, still half asleep. I hear him pad quietly 
towards the bathroom. After a few moments the toilet flushes 
and I drift back to sleep.
The next thing I know my own bladder is insistently prodding me 
awake. I open my eyes again and stare at the clock face. 9 AM. 
We both should have drunk less soda last night. Ok. Well I can 
live with getting up a little early I guess. I feel rested at least. I 
roll over and find Walter lying flat, taking up most of the bed. I 
chuckle a little. He's really out, and snoring. I climb quietly off 
my side of the bed and head for the bathroom to relieve myself.
No morning erection allows me to piss immediately for a 
change. I yawn and scratch my ass as I pee. When I'm done I 
rearrange myself in my boxers and schlep over to the sink to 
wash my hands. Catching site of myself in the mirror makes 
me wrinkle my brow. Ugh. Well...I need a shave. I wash my 
hands and then, raising an eyebrow, pick up the small bottle of 
Listerine Walter has left sitting on the vanity. I uncap it, think 
about taking a swig right out of the bottle, think better of it, and 
grab for one of the little paper cups in the dispenser nearby. 
Sometimes where Walter and I swap saliva doesn't include 
things like bottles of mouthwash or shared toothbrushes in his 
mind.
After I pour the liquid into the cup and put the bottle down, I 
swish the minty Listerine around in my mouth, spit into the sink 
and come up smiling. Yeah. Morning mouth is not something I 
want to have right at the moment. I want to go in and wake my 
man with a little surprise, and bad breath is not going to fit into 
the picture at all. 
Tossing the cup into the trash, I leave the bathroom and head 
back out to the bed. I carefully lift the bedding off Walter. He 
stirs a little, mumbling. I pause until he stills again. Then I climb 
in and move over close to my lover. His lips are parted as he 
snores. I bend over him and start to suckle on his lower lip.
"Mmmm..." he mumbles.
I start to kiss him, plunging my tongue right into his mouth, fast, 
and very deep.
"Mmph," he gasps, startled. Then I feel him smile as I start 
Frenching him in earnest. I smile as well both at his pleasure, 
and at the fact that I smelled mint on his breath before I even 
moved in for the coup de grace.
One large hand comes up and grabs the back of my head, 
pulling me close to deepen the kiss. His tongue wars with mine, 
his mouth works hungrily sucking and tasting me.
Walter arches up suddenly, flipping me over, and our lips part. 
I'm laughing as he thrusts my legs open with a knee and then 
drops his hips into the space between.
"Good morning," I gasp in pleasure as he rubs his cock over 
mine. 
"Morning, lover," he smiles.
He strokes against me again and I moan.
"Strip," he orders and I comply fast, yanking down my briefs, 
wriggling against him as he does the same. Both of us are 
naked against each other as the underwear goes sailing off the 
bed onto the floor.
"Oh man, you are awake this morning," I marvel reaching 
between us to feel how hard he's gotten.
"It had something to do with the alarm," he grins, swooping in to 
nuzzle my neck.
"Alarm? Oh shit," I laugh. I reach over and hit the alarm off 
button on the clock radio. It wouldn't do to have some DJ 
interrupting our fun here.
Walter humps against me as I bring my arm back over. I grab 
his back and pull him close. We resume kissing as we gently 
slide our pre-cum slick cocks back and forth and then up and 
down over each other. I love feeling his weight on me like this. 
We break the kiss and look in each other's eyes.
"You feel so good," he murmurs, stroking my hair as our hips 
move together.
I place a finger on his lips and stroke them lightly.
"I...I can't tell you what this means to me. I...I want you inside 
me. Walter...make love to me," I reply simply.
He smiles and it's a thousand watt smile that makes my heart 
soar. He nods and moves off me for a moment to fumble with 
the night stand drawer. Astroglide in hand he returns to my side 
and lays the bottle on the pillow.
Then, still smiling he bends over me and begins to caress my 
body with both his hands and mouth with a tenderness I've only 
gotten a glimpse of before this moment in time.
He starts at my lips and progresses down my entire frame, 
gently arousing me with such loving attention that I'm torn 
between wanting to cry and shout for joy. In any event it's an 
incredible turn-on. By the time he's sucking and licking at my 
balls my panting sounds loud and harsh in the otherwise quiet 
room. When he takes my cock in his mouth I do cry out with a 
hoarse shout, arching my hips up towards his face.
"Oh. Oh. Oh," I almost sob as he works me up and down 
several times. Finally he releases me and studies his handiwork.
"Damn, that's fine," he states, smiling at my straining erection. 
"God, Walter...you're making me crazy here," I chuckle.
He pushes on my knees signaling me to raise them up so he 
can prep me. He shoves a pillow under my butt and then moves 
back to kneel between my legs again. I tuck my knees up tight, 
exposing my anal area to him. He watches me, his eyes raking 
over my body with unrestrained longing, and then he replies as 
my cock bobs between us. 
"Relax, babe. I'm gonna do you good," he growls, squeezing the 
lube out into his palm.
"Give it to me," I answer, prying my ass cheeks apart with my 
hands.
I'm looking up at him past my saluting cock. The blood is 
pulsing all over my groin I'm so hot. Christ. It feels great. I'm 
really hard. The head of my cock is deep red it's so engorged. 
Walter reaches forward and slicks me up a little. He strokes up 
and down again. I groan.
"Uh...oh man that feels fffantastic..." I stutter.
He gives me a wolfish grin and flicks the head of my cock with 
his thumb.
"Oh fuck...please..." I laugh. "I want your cock," I add, licking 
my lips and wriggling my ass invitingly.
He laughs and finally swabs a dollop of lube over my anus. He 
pushes a finger in, shoving the lube in with it, working it in deep 
very slowly.
"This ok?" he asks as he moves his finger in and out.
I know he's thinking of last time. He did hurt me when he first 
entered me then. That kind of thing really bothers him. I keep up 
my kegel exercises so I'm always tight, but if I get anxious and 
too excited the word tight is an understatement. I can cause 
myself some pain. I don't want that to happen this time. I 
breathe in and out calmly, concentrating on letting my muscles 
adjust to the intrusion. 
"It's fine. Feels wonderful," I reply, smiling.
He continues his patient stretching of my rectum, working two 
fingers in. The third finger follows. I'm rocking slightly, watching 
his face as he concentrates on working three fingers past the 
internal muscle. He massages my balls with his other hand and 
then watches my face for the reaction.
"Oh Jesus. Oh...." I moan, arching my neck back and my hips 
up. I plant my hands on the mattress for better traction and 
pump my hips in time with his fingers fucking me.
"Ok?" he asks again.
"Yes," I answer quickly, nodding and biting my lower lip.
I bear down on his hand to show just how good it really feels. He 
moves all three fingers in and out, grabbing the Astroglide with 
the hand he did have on my balls, and squirting a little more on 
his fingers as he draws them out. He tosses the bottle down and 
then plunges his fingers back into my ass. I gasp as he strokes 
more lube into me. I'm making small moaning sounds now and 
practically trying to take his whole hand inside.
"Oh yeah, babe. Move your ass. I love it. Do it," he purrs as I 
bear down again.
"Walter...Jesus...come on....put that big cock in...fuck 
me...please..." I beg shamelessly.
He chuckles again. The guy has great control. I got a look at his 
dick. It's monumentally swollen. He's more than ready to get it 
on. But my lover has terrific restraint at times. He's really 
enjoying the fact that he's got me so far gone I can hardly stand 
it another minute. And you know what? It's a blast.
Walter takes his finger out of my ass and rocks back, exposing 
his hard-on. He wipes his hands off on the sheet, takes the 
Astroglide up again, and squirts a liberal amount into his hand. I 
bend my head down to watch him slick himself up. He does it 
slowly, watching me as he does, teasing me as he moves his 
strong, thick fingers over his erection. Finally he wipes his 
hands off on the sheets one last time. 
When he moves back over me, I push forward at the same time 
he takes one of my hips with one hand and places his cock 
flush with my anus with the other. We move together, Walter 
guiding the head of his cock into me. As soon as he passes the 
entrance, he lets go and takes my other hip, pushing into me. I 
slide my ass forward, seeking to take him in as quickly as 
possible.
"Yeah....yeah," I pant, craning my neck to watch his slick, hard 
cock entering me.
"See it?" he smiles, gritting his teeth in pleasure.
I nod, sucking air in hard and he grunts as my internal muscles 
ripple over his cock. I lift my legs and hold the back of my 
thighs as he pushes further up my ass.
"Ohhhh!" I moan as he breaches the ring of muscle inside. 
"Uhhh....gggood," I cry out again because the feeling is such a 
terrific rush. It's like an arc of electricity pulses from my rectum 
right up my throbbing cock. When Walter's flush with my nuts I 
wrap my legs around his waist and both of us start to thrust 
together immediately, grunting hard. This is gonna be a fast, 
hard fuck and I'm whining in ecstasy with each pump of both 
our hips.
"Babe! Oh...Ohhhh," Walter moans, working his hips against me 
with quick, frantic stabs.
I grab hold of him and pull him as close to me as possible. I 
want to feel every bit of his sweating skin against mine if I can. I 
lock my feet behind him and he plunges in really deep, dragging 
my hips up off the pillow, and then working his muscular arms 
up to support my lower back. My cock is mashed between us 
and with two more strokes of Walter's tight stomach muscles 
the friction is enough to send me over the top.
I arch up, yelling incoherently, shaking violently as my cum 
spurts out in milky tendrils between us. Walter holds me tight to 
him, pumping into me twice more and then he throws his head 
back and moans low in his throat. I feel his balls twitch against 
me as he climaxes as well, thrusting erratically and grimacing in 
pleasure. His cum is warm as some of it backflows out my ass.
We rock together a few more times and then still as we savor 
the last part of the ride, holding each other as close as we can.
"So good, so good," he pants, as I gasp.
"Mmmmm," I reply, unable to really speak, whispering against 
his chest.
He lowers us down carefully onto our sides and we lie face to 
face, breathing hard, my legs still high up around his waist. We 
stroke each other for as long as we can and then I feel Walter 
reach down and guide himself out of me. He shifts so I can 
move my legs down and pull my pinned leg out from under him. 
We don't move from facing each other however, and Walter 
continues to gently caress my hip with a slightly shaking hand.
"I love you so much," I whisper as he studies my face.
Walter makes a small, rough sound in his throat and draws me 
into his arms. He nuzzles a spot below my ear, kissing me 
tenderly.
I rub his back as I feel his tears mix with the sweat on my face. 
xXx
I come out of the shower at 11:00, to a ringing cell phone. It's 
mine. I dash to the night stand where I left it last night and grab it 
up. I toss my damp towel on the rumpled bed. Walter is standing 
in the patio doors, taking in the sunny day. He has on his BVDs 
and robe, mug of after shower coffee in his hand. He quickly 
shuts the curtains against my display of casual nakedness.
I sit down on the bed and hit the 'Send' button.
"Mulder," I bark into the phone.
"Mulder, it's me," Scully replies in her standard greeting.
"Hey," I reply, smiling. I glance at Walter and he nods and belts 
his robe tight. Then he starts to go out onto the patio. "Just a 
sec, Scully," I add quickly. I mute the phone for a moment.
"This isn't private. You...you don't have to leave," I assure 
Walter quietly. He nods again and re-locks the patio door, 
closing the curtains again as well.
I depress the 'Mute' button.
"Sorry, Scully. Walter was saying something to me," I alibi.
"Say hello to him for me," she replies. I can hear the smile in her 
voice. I get a queasy feeling in my stomach.
Walter moves over to the coffeemaker and starts refilling the 
mug he's carrying. I turn to him and give him Scully's greeting.
"Batwoman says to tell you hello."
"Ah. Tell her happy Fourth of July," Walter replies, saluting her 
with his refilled coffee mug. He does smile. I guess that's a 
positive sign.
"He says happy Fourth of July," I relay into the cell phone.
"Lord, I hope so," Scully sighs.
"Problems already?" I ask with sympathy. Oh brother, that's 
right. With everything that was going on here I almost forgot 
about Byers making an appearance at her mother's today. 
Yikes. I guess we can compare notes about a lot of stuff that 
went on this weekend I think dismally. Oh joy.
"Well, Byers got here a little while ago and Bill already jumped to 
the conclusion that he's here to see me. So far Mom hasn't had 
time to break the big news and I'm about to scream. Otherwise 
we're fine. You?" she chuckles in self-deprecation.
I chuckle as well.
"Believe me, I sympathize. Things were rather rocky here as 
well. But, we're doing ok now. I think we've ironed out most of 
the problems. Uh...we'll tell you all about it when we get back," I 
reply, watching as Walter listens intently.
"Did his mother accept you?" Scully asks quietly.
"Yeah, I think that's going to be the case. Everyone is just kind 
of struggling with what to say...you know...it's awkward. Too 
many politically incorrect landmines."
"I'll hope it all works out. It sounds like it will," she replies more 
lightly.
"Yeah, I think it will too."
"May I talk to Walter?" she asks suddenly, almost shyly.
"Oh. Uh...sure. Hang on," I murmur. I mute the phone again.
"She wants to talk to you," I tell him, extending the phone.
He raises an eyebrow and for a moment I think he isn't going to 
take the phone. But then he puts his coffee cup down on the 
bookcase, walks over and takes the phone from my hand. He 
pushes the 'Mute' button.
"Hi," he rumbles into it. He listens for a moment then nods.
"Thanks...I appreciate it," he mumbles. He listens quietly as 
Scully talks for a few moments, and then he chuckles.
I do notice his face soften as he speaks to her. There's a look in 
his eyes that doesn't just say 'this is my friend at the other end 
of the line'. I have to think Walter cares for Scully. I'd even say 
he loves her. Maybe we just all need to talk and he'll see that he 
does when we discuss it together. I hope so. At any rate, he 
looks as though he's glad to be talking to Scully right now.
"Well...yeah...I guess we can compare notes. Sure," he 
continues. Scully must be speaking again because he listens 
some more.
"I'd like that. Uh...we can get together soon. Ok," he replies 
again. "What? Oh... 'your' mother thinks I'm with 'my' mother? 
Yeah...well that's true, essentially. Oh, definitely...give my 
regards to Margaret too. Tell her I'll be bringing her a recipe for 
clam chowder when I get back....hmm? Oh, great. Ok. Right."
He listens for a second and then his face looks strained.
"Uh..." his begins, and then his voice trails off for a second or 
two.
I watch him hesitate, swallow hard and then speak quietly into 
the phone.
"I love you too," he replies at last. His voice does sound sincere 
I have to admit but I cringe and my heart sinks. I had a feeling 
she'd say it. I can't blame Walter for the reply. What else could 
he do? She asked to talk to him and I told her he was here so 
there was no chance at an excuse that he wasn't around. 
Damn. Walter glances at me and the look in his eyes is one of 
resignation mixed with guilt. I look down.
"Ok, here's the Boy Wonder," he finally finishes, lifting the 
phone up under my nose. I take it back and take a second to 
compose myself before I speak into it again.
"So, you all set then?" I ask trying to keep my voice upbeat.
"As much as I can be. I'll cross my fingers for you if you'll do it 
for me."
"Crossed for sure," I reply, smiling.
"Thanks. Mulder...is...is Walter all right? He sounds subdued. I 
mean I know this must be a strain..."
"No, he's fine. Just tired...uh...active early morning," I waggle 
my eyebrows a little even though she can't see me do it.
She laughs on the other end of the line.
"Save some for me, Robin. We don't want Batman to be too 
worn out."
"Will do," I answer, trying not to sound like I'm choking on a 
chicken bone.
"Ok...love you, Mulder. Take care," she replies.
"I love you too, Scully. We'll see you on Wednesday morning."
The click on the other end of the line heralds that she's gone. I 
toggle the 'Power' button and turn the phone off, then I toss it 
onto the night stand.
"I'm sorry," I tell Walter immediately.
Walter shrugs and then he sits down next to me on the bed.
"Mulder...I do care for her," he murmurs. "There was no way 
around not telling her I love her just then. That kind of thing is 
going to be unavoidable until we all sit down and hash this out. 
So...let's try not to worry about it for now. And...I don't 
know...maybe I do love her in a way."
"Like a friend, a sister?" I ask quietly.
"Maybe. I'm still not sure. I think...well when we can talk about it 
I'm hoping Scully can help me figure it out. I...I'm going to take 
your advice and believe we can figure it out. I want this to all 
work out for the best as much as you do," he replies, running his 
hand over my back.
I nod. "I can't help thinking how lucky I am," I mumble.
"I think we all are," Walter replies.
We stare at each other for a few seconds and then he moves 
forward and kisses me on the lips. I open my mouth and allow 
in his tongue. Our mouths play over each other. Warmth floods 
over me again and pools right in my groin. I moan a little and 
Walter releases my lips. 
"It's two hours until 1 PM," he whispers, nuzzling my ear.
"Christ. You wanna go again?" I reply, chuckling half in 
disbelief.
"Do you?"
"Uh...Can you?" I ask, giggling slightly.
"I'll manage," he purrs into my ear.
"Oh God," I gasp as he moves his hand forward over my cock. 
He strokes me, teasing at first and then taking me around. He 
starts to fist me slowly. My cock starts to swell and lengthen 
under his fingers.
He shifts up off the bed and lowers himself down to kneel 
between my legs.
"Guh," I grunt as he bends forward and takes my cock in his 
mouth. I move back, placing my hands on the bed to brace my 
arms as Walter's mouth engulfs me. He starts to work me fast, 
his lips sliding up and down to get me completely hard.
I rock my hips, bucking in counterpoint to his bobbing head.
"S'good," I grunt. "Oh God, lover," I mumble.
Walter keeps one hand on my cock as he sucks me and 
reaches down with his other hand to liberate his cock from his 
underwear. He flips it out and toys with it as he continues his 
mouth work.
In short order I'm erect again and my hips are straining up 
against his face. He sucks down to the tip, releasing my cock 
for a few moments. He starts to pump his own dick more firmly, 
working to get himself up. I watch him lick his lips in 
concentration. My pre-cum glistens on them. He bends forward 
and takes my cock up again, flicking his tongue around the 
glans. He keeps that up, alternating with swallowing the whole 
thing and sucking just the head as well as tonguing underneath 
it.
"Shit...oh...Oh God!" I moan. I'm so close. Oh Christ this is so 
good.
Walter sucks me down again and I buck hard now, right to the 
back of his throat. He relaxes to let me thrust to get off and I do, 
crying out hoarsely as I come in his mouth. He swallows as I 
convulse, taking the fluid down, continuing to apply exquisite 
pressure as I stab my hips against his face. I jerk into him a few 
more times, and then collapse back onto the bed, laughing and 
sputtering. He releases my flaccid cock licking as he does to 
clean me up. I watch as he stands up over me, his huge 
erection standing straight out from his fly. He swallows and licks 
his lips off. Smiling at me, he plays with the end of his dick, 
smoothing the pre-cum over the glans.
"This is what you do for me, babe," he growls.
"Got you hard again fast?"
"Yeah," he replies, panting.
"And you call me Monster Boy," I reply, smiling in appreciation 
at what he's got between his legs.
He laughs and reaches into his briefs to massage his balls a little 
too. Then he switches back to his cock and gives it a few lazy 
pumps with just a couple of fingers.
"Oh, baby, do it," I smile up at him as he takes his cock 
completely in hand and starts to fist himself. He stands between 
my legs and I have a perfect view of this exquisite man 
pleasuring himself just for me. He braces his legs against my 
knees, plants his feet firmly and pumps himself fast, grunting 
and rocking his hips. 
"Jesus, you're beautiful," I whisper, looking up into his eyes. 
He's panting hard now, and then I can see his orgasm overtake 
him and it's a marvelous sight.
Walter flushes and sweat breaks out all over his head, chest 
and neck. He groans and stretches his head back, his spine 
arching. He tenses up. The muscles in his arms twitch. His face 
and neck muscles go taut. Cum suddenly spurts out of his 
cock. There isn't as much and the stream isn't quite as forceful 
as it was in his first orgasm. Even so, some of his semen spurts 
onto my groin. The orgasm obviously feels great too. Walter 
grimaces in ecstasy.
"That's it. Oh yeah," I laugh.
"Fuck," he gasps, coming back to reality. He straightens and 
brings his head back down, opening his eyes to look at me 
again. I prop myself back up on my elbows. I tighten my knees 
against his legs to support him as he wavers a little.
"Good?" I smile at him.
"Oh yeah," he replies, his breath coming in gasps.
"It was good for me too," I grin. I take a little of his cum on my 
fingers and suck it into my mouth. Then I smile, scoot up further 
and take his cock in my hand. I lave it thoroughly and then lick 
his hand clean as well.
"Hungry?" he chuckles, huffing a little.
"I must need protein," I reply, smirking.
"You're not going to get enough out of that," he laughs.
"Good point. Maybe we'd better go rinse off, get dressed and 
get our asses up to the house to help fix that lunch."
"Good idea. Besides, if I don't get out of here...I'll be here all 
day," he rumbles.
"Oh I hear you there, lover. I hear you there," I smile wide as he 
laughs again.
xXx
Once we get outside, Walter and I discover it's another fantastic 
summer day. The temperature is a little lower than yesterday 
and it isn't as humid at all. Wonderful weather for eating outside 
and taking in fireworks later.
Walter locks the guest house door as I stand and watch him. 
We're both dressed with company coming in mind since John 
Dryden will be a guest this afternoon. I put on my second white 
shirt, my tie and sports jacket to go with my jeans and suede 
shoes. Walter looks good in jeans, a white shirt, tie, the brown 
sport coat and his Allen Edmonds shoes as well.
I know I've got a slightly dazed, languid look on my face. Being 
thoroughly fucked in the space of a couple of hours has made 
me practically forget my own name. Walter looks relaxed too 
but a lot more together. I have to make a note to ask him what 
kind of vitamins he's taking. I mean, God, the guy got it up twice 
for me, went at it hard and he still looks like he does when he's 
sitting in a meeting at the Hoover. The AD is calm, cool and 
collected. Except...he keeps smiling to himself every once in a 
while. My man is very pleased with his performance. Well he 
should be. He's made me a very happy camper. 
As I watch him pat himself down, checking for his cell phone, 
ID, wallet and weapon I smile a little myself. I check my own 
weapon, lifting my jacket back to make sure my gun is seated 
properly in its holster on my belt. Yeah, this afternoon and 
tonight we're G-men. With the trip into town it's better to be 
official I guess. Lastly Walter makes his final check, adjusting 
that gun he carries between his thighs.
"Ready, sir?" I ask him, smirking.
"Yes, Agent Mulder. I believe I'm quite ready to face all 
comers," he replies, furrowing his brow.
Ah ha. So, this display has a little more meaning than just 
looking official maybe? More like a dominance display for his 
mother's suitor? I study him closely. No...his body language is in 
contradiction to that idea. He's in control but loose. I sense he's 
teasing. I know he realizes since we're going to drive into town 
it's more regulation to pack a weapon. That's got to be all there 
is to it.
"You're not going to give this guy a hard time for seeing your 
mother are you?" I ask just to be positive.
Walter guffaws, "I had you going didn't I?"
"Asshole," I chuckle. Walter pockets the guest house key and 
then moves in close to give me a quick kiss.
I smile but shake my head a little.
"I guess we're going to have to cool the PDA once we get back 
up to the main house. We don't want to scare the natives."
Walter nods a little.
"Yeah, it might be advisable. I'm not sure how much my mother 
has told him about the situation. But look...this guy's ok. I've 
talked to him at length more than once. He's what you might 
call a Bohemians type. He was doing the beatnik thing before 
they were even popular. So...don't stress yourself out if we slip 
up. I think the guy can handle it."
"If he's going to be part of the family eventually I guess he's 
going to have to know anyway," I muse in reply.
"Right. So, don't sweat it. Just be yourself," Walter replies. 
"You sure about that, big man?" I smirk.
He gives a gruff laugh and cuffs the back of my head.
"If those other two kids up there can mind their Ps and Qs, I 
trust you can," he replies.
"So my honor's at stake?" I spar back.
"Your ass is at stake," he growls.
"Ooh. Maybe I like that idea," I tease.
"Yeah? Well if you want to find out you'd better toe the line, 
Agent."
"Yes sir," I reply, placing my fingers in the Vulcan greeting. 
"That's Mr. Spock, Mulder. Not an Eagle Scout."
"How do you know Mr. Spock wasn't an Eagle Scout?" I reply 
wryly. 
"If you wanna 'Live Long and Prosper' you'd better get your butt 
up to the house," Walter replies, shaking his head in 
amusement.
I laugh and concede the floor as Walter turns to head up to the 
front door.
xXx
As we pass the view of the private beach area, my attention is 
drawn to a strange rowboat with an outboard motor that's tied 
up at the dock.
"Walter...I think company's here already," I comment, gesturing 
with my head towards the boat.
Walter follows my line of sight.
"Looks like it. I wonder how the hell he managed to pilot that 
thing across with a broken arm?" he replies, raising an eyebrow.
"Must be a tough old guy," I reply.
"Yeah, well he is that," Walter nods.
We walk on up to the main house. The front door is unlocked so 
we walk in. Ben comes running towards us from the direction of 
the bedroom wing.
"Uncle Walter! Mulder!" he exclaims, running full tilt towards us. 
Walter braces himself and Ben piles into him, hugging him 
around the waist.
"Hey," Walter smiles, ruffling his hair. "Did you think we were 
going to sleep until noon?" he jokes.
"Yeah. No kidding. Mr. Dryden got here at 11 and he's going to 
help Nana with steaming soon. And guess what - Dad called! 
He's been on two fires already while we were gone," Ben 
informs us.
"He's been busy then. Did you tell him we're going to the 
fireworks?" Walter asks.
"Yeah. He said have a good time and to say hello to you," Ben 
replies.
Walter nods and smiles. I watch their interaction, not wanting to 
intrude and smile as well.
"Where is everyone?" Walter asks.
"They're out on the back porch. I came in to go to the 
bathroom," he replies. "Hey, Mr. Mulder," he repeats toward 
me.
"How's it goin', Ben? Ready to continue that Monopoly game?"
"Yeah. Mom said if there's time we can play after we eat. Nana 
and Mr. Dryden want to see who wins."
"Sounds great," I smile at him.
"Why don't we go say hello to Mr. Dryden then," Walter 
interjects, laying his arm across Ben's shoulders for a moment.
"Cool," Ben enthuses.
Walter pats him and takes his arm away. Ben trots off ahead of 
us and Walter and I walk side by side towards the back porch. I 
watch as Walter composes his face into the impassive 
expression he takes on at the Bureau. He still looks relaxed 
however and his step is that familiar saunter that I enjoy 
watching, especially from the rear. 
As we approach, Ben runs ahead and announces we're here. 
Walter whispers to me.
"Never hurts to have advance warning I guess."
I suppress a laugh as we enter the screened in porch to find 
Sylvia, Roger, Esther and John Dryden seated at the picnic 
table snacking on cheese and crackers and fresh vegetables 
and dip. Ben rejoins them and takes a drink from one of the 
glasses of lemonade that sits there as well.
"Walter," Esther greets her son. She looks fresh and genuinely 
happy to see him. She also looks beautiful. Esther's dressed in 
a man's blue work-shirt over jeans today. Blue deck shoes 
grace her feet. But the clothes aren't what's making her look 
radiant. I'd say the reason for that's the guy with wavy gray hair 
in the red shirt, jeans and terrific electric blue cast complete with 
pin, sitting next to her at the picnic table. I didn't miss the look 
that was passing between them before she noticed Walter's 
entrance. Eyes sparkling would be an understatement. I smile 
as Walter walks forward. Esther gets up and comes over to 
him. Walter gives her a hug and busses her on the cheek.
"I'd say good morning but I guess I'd better say good afternoon," 
he smiles as he pulls back from her.
She laughs and pats his shoulder.
"Son...I slept until 10 myself. Don't worry about it. We needed 
our beauty sleep."
I laugh and so does Walter.
Esther turns to John Dryden.
"Walter, you remember John, don't you?"
"Yes, I do. How's the arm?" Walter asks, real concern in his 
voice as he steps forward.
Esther continues.
"And this is one of his agents, Fox Mulder."
"The arm hurts like hell but if I take the dope they gave me I 
don't feel a thing," he jokes in a New England accent. "Nice to 
see you again," he grins, standing to take Walter's hand. "Lucky 
I'm not a lefty," he adds as they shake. When they stop pressing 
the flesh he turns to me and I step forward.
"My pleasure," I reply, extending my hand. So, Esther hasn't 
clued him in about Walter and I. Well we'll have to see how this 
goes then. Walter doesn't seem taken aback about it. So, 
maybe he's willing to wait things out too. This is probably part of 
his new cooperation as well. He's going to give her some space 
to ease into talking to him about her son's relationship with me.
Dryden's handshake is firm. He's fit. I'd say about the same age 
as Esther. He's also a little taller than Walter and rail thin. I'm 
reminded of Henry Fonda a little. Dryden exhibits that same thin 
ranginess Fonda did when he played Abe Lincoln. The artist has 
a craggy lived-in face but extremely limpid intelligent blue eyes 
behind horn-rimmed glasses. We drop our hands and I step 
back to take a seat in one of the chairs near the table. Dryden 
sits back down and Walter remains standing.
"Pleased to meet you, Fox," Dryden replies.
"Mom, can we fish a while before lunch?" Ben asks as Roger 
takes a drink of his lemonade.
"I think that would be fine. But...would you mind throwing back 
what you catch. We still have some fish in the freezer."
"Oh, ok," Roger replies, putting his lemonade down.
"You guys catch any bluefish?" Dryden asks.
"No sir, we got a bunch of bass though," Roger replies.
"Come on over to my dock sometime if you like. I've got 
bluefish biting off there," he smiles at the boys.
"Oh cool. Can we, Mom?" Ben asks brightly.
"I don't see why not," Sylvia answers, smiling at Dryden.
"All right," Roger adds enthusiastically, getting up from his seat. 
Ben gets up too and they go outside to the small shed in the 
yard to get their fishing tackle. The adults watch them go down 
towards the dock. Esther sits back down at the picnic table and 
samples some fresh carrots.
I get up and sit down at the table and Walter takes a seat next to 
me. I pick up a broccoli head and dip it in the dill dip. Walter eats 
a cracker with some cheese on it. I munch on the veggie.
"John brought these plates," Sylvia informs us as we chew. 
Walter swallows and replies.
"Brought 'em. Didn't make 'em to be honest," Dryden adds. 
"Between Esther and a couple of the other ladies from the art's 
group I've got more food in my fridge than I will ever eat in a 
month. So, I thought sharin' would be the thing to do."
"You bring some of that Napoleon brandy for this evening?" 
Walter twitches a grin at the older man.
John wags his finger at Walter and chuckles.
"You remember that do you? That's good stuff."
"Oh?" I ask, raising my eyebrows.
"Yes. Uh...John was kind enough to bring that the night I was 
promoted to Assistant Director. It went down very smoothly as I 
recall."
"Smooth as silk," Dryden replies, nodding in confirmation. "And 
yes, I did bring a bottle."
"I choked on the stuff last time," Sylvia laughs. "But don't let that 
influence you. I was more into chug-a-lugging my alcoholic 
beverages back then."
Esther smiles at them indulgently.
"Well I did get out the snifters so all of you can indulge 
yourselves when we get back from the fireworks," Esther 
advises Dryden.
"Thank you, my dear," he grins at her.
There's that look again. Oh yeah, I'd say these two have 
something going on for sure. I wouldn't be surprised if Walter 
doesn't have a stepfather sometime in the near future. Dryden 
turns to me as Sylvia hands me a glass of lemonade she pours 
from the pitcher on the table. I take the glass and drink some of 
the liquid as John speaks to me. 
"So, son. I take it you're a field agent?" he asks.
I swallow and then reply.
"Yes sir."
"Call me JD. Everyone does," he replies, resting his arm cast 
against his chest.
"Mulder," I reply. "Everyone calls me Mulder."
"Mulder and his partner are two of the best at what they do. One 
of the highest solve rates at the Bureau," Walter interjects.
"Esther tells me your partner's a woman," Dryden addresses 
me again with evident interest.
"Dana Scully. Yes. We've been together a little longer than 6 
years," I reply.
"She's a doctor as well," Esther contributes.
"A pathologist," I reply.
"She must be a helluva asset in that case. That's excellent. I'm 
all for women's equality in the workplace. More damn power to 
'em," Dryden nods, taking up his lemonade.
"I'm not sure how I'd get along without Scully," I reply quietly. 
"She's...well she's definitely a necessary part of the team that's 
for sure."
Esther glances at her watch.
"Oh...I'd better think about steaming some seafood here."
"Mother, let me help," Walter and Sylvia chorus almost at once. 
Dryden laughs.
"Well, Esther, I guess you won't need this one winged old bird to 
pitch in with the kitchen duties."
"I guess not," she smiles at her children.
"Can I do something?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
Dryden fixes me with a speculative look.
"You got any objection to crustaceans or mollusks?"
"No," I chuckle.
"Good. Then you can help me get the oysters and crabs. Kelly 
still have 'em?" he asks, turning towards Esther.
"He called earlier and volunteered to bring them across but if 
you two want to motor over there and pick them up that would 
be fine too."
"Motor over?" I ask nervously. Oh brother not another boat trip. 
Walter chuckles.
"Mulder has a slight problem with seasickness," he replies.
"Ah. Well...we'll put you at the front of the skiff. That'll help. 
Come on, son, let's go get dinner," Dryden replies.
xXx
Dryden and I walk down to the dock. The guy's very spry for 
someone who just broke his arm. When we reach the boat I 
can't help but ask him if he needs help however.
"Are you sure you don't want me to pilot her?" I ask.
"You ever piloted a boat before?"
"Once or twice," I reply, wryly. Yeah, I sunk one once as a 
matter-of-fact, but I don't think he'd want to know that little 
factoid.
He cocks an eyebrow at me.
"I was going to ask if you come from this neck of the 
woods...but now I'm thinking New England. Is that right, son?" 
he queries.
"We used to live on Martha's Vineyard. Chilmark. Uh, we also 
had a summer house on Quonochontaug, Rhode Island, Why?" 
I ask with curiosity.
"Trace of the accent. Getting seasick must have been a hell of 
a note then," he chuckles.
I laugh too.
"Well, if you can handle the motor that's fine. I wouldn't mind the 
help, truth be told," he replies.
"No problem," I reply, smiling a little. Yeah, if I can concentrate 
on steering it might just take my mind off my stomach. 
I help Dryden into the bow of the boat and then I cast us off and 
climb in behind him at the motor. We both pick up the life-
jackets from the seats and put them on. It's a pull motor. I still 
can't figure out how this guy started the thing with one arm. But 
he must have managed it. I start it up and find out though that 
it's well maintained and only takes a couple of pulls. The motor 
is relatively quiet.
"The Kelly's place is across and downstream a little," Dryden 
starts to give directions.
"I know the location actually. Walter and I took his nephews 
over there yesterday to play with their friends," I reply. He 
cocks his head a little when I mention Walter's first name. I 
suppose I should have said AD Skinner or something similar. 
Oh well. Like Walter said. I can't sweat it.
"Ready?" I ask him as he seats himself more comfortably in the 
bow.
"Ayup," he answers, turning to look across the creek. "Take her 
as slow as you want. We're in no big rush," he adds, with a 
small smile in deference to my queasiness.
I throttle up the engine, and taking the tiller more firmly in hand, 
start us across the water towards the other shore.
We motor along in silence for a few minutes and then Dryden 
turns around and speaks up over the engine.
"These'll be good crabs and oysters. Fresh out of the Bay this 
morning. Kelly still catches 'em out there periodically. His dad 
was an old time Bay man."
"We used to dig for clams when I was a kid," I volunteer.
"Me too. Nothing beats eating those when you dig 'em up 
yourself," he replies.
"Definitely," I reply.
He studies me again for a moment. Scratches his chin a little 
and then speaks again.
"So, Walter invited you down here for the holiday?" he asks.
"Yes. Uh...I was just coming off a difficult case and he 
suggested I might like to come out here to relax a little. It was a 
nice gesture on his part," I reply diffidently.
"Your partner have family to go to then?" he asks, turning to 
study the shoreline as we slowly cross towards it.
"Right. I only have my mother left and she had other plans for 
the Fourth."
"That didn't include you," he comments, with understanding in 
his voice.
"Yeah," I reply.
"I know what you mean, son. I've got two kids. Son and 
daughter. They had other plans this holiday as well."
"You're..." I begin
"Widower. Eight years now."
"I'm sorry," I reply sympathetically.
He nods.
"Well my kids live in California and New Mexico respectively so 
it's no surprise they don't get out here," he chuckles a little. 
"They e-mail and such though. Call. They're not bad that way."
I nod.
"I understand you paint?" I continue, making further 
conversation. 
"Watercolors. I've got stuff in galleries here and there. That's 
how I met Esther actually. We're both members of the art 
league in Reedsville. Her and her late husband used to spend a 
lot of time on the creek. She's been a member of that arts 
group for years."
"I see," I reply.
"I joined right around the time Walter was moving up the FBI 
ladder. She's mighty proud of him even though she doesn't let 
on sometimes. When he made Assistant Director she had him 
down to the house for a party," Dryden replies, reminiscing.
"The night you brought the brandy," I reply.
"Right," he replies.
"Walter's a good supervisor. Fair," I add.
"Good friend," Dryden comments.
"Scully? Yes," I reply, distracted for a moment by a seagull that 
swoops low in front of us.
"No, I mean Walter. I notice you call him Walter and not Mr. 
Skinner or Assistant Director Skinner."
"Oh. Well...yes. We're a little less formal with each other. 
Uh...he's been very supportive of my work at the Bureau. I 
guess we got a little more friendly for that reason," I reply, 
shrugging a little.
I'm getting a little uncomfortable letting this guy think Walter's 
still my boss. I'm really going to have to talk to my lover about 
the idea. He's being so forthright about being gay. I think it 
would be better if he got the whole reassignment thing out in the 
open soon as well.
"Ayup," Dryden answers neutrally. Then he turns and watches 
as we near Kelly's dock. A man is standing on it watching us as 
we approach as well.
"That's Dick Kelly. Esther must have called over after we left," 
Dryden theorizes.
I nod.
"Take her in easy, Mulder. You're doing real good with that 
motor, son. Just like an old hand," he adds, smiling back at me.
I smile as well and throttle back a little as we coast in.
It doesn't take us long to load up the plastic buckets full of 
oysters and crabs. They've already been paid for so we just 
settle them in the boat and then head back out across the creek 
at a nice leisurely pace. I'm at the tiller again.
Dryden explains that Walter, Esther and Sylvia will need to start 
the gas grill outside and set up the steaming kettles as well as 
make the couple of salads they want to have with the meal. 
Esther brews iced tea for the occasion as well.
"It sounds like a feast," I observe.
"It's why I just had coffee and toast for breakfast," he replies, 
grinning.
We're silent again for a few moments and then he speaks 
again. 
"That case you were on...rough one you say?"
"Yes," I nod. Every case I've ever been on practically. It doesn't 
matter that the case I'm talking about was months ago. It's still 
true unfortunately.
"I expect someone died," he comments.
"Several 'someones' unfortunately," I reply quietly.
"Damn bad business. You're fighting the good fight though, son. 
Don't forget it. I told Walter the same thing. What you two do 
takes guts. I admire you both for doing it."
"Thanks," I reply, ducking my head at the compliment.
He nods.
"You mind if I ask you something a little personal?" he asks, 
watching my face carefully.
"You can ask," I reply, smiling a little at him.
"But you might not answer the question?" he queries, wryly.
I incline my head, affirming his statement.
"Ayup. Fair enough. I mean I do hardly know you. But...well...I 
have a vested interest in the answer, so would you indulge an 
old fart his curiosity?"
I twitch my lips in a small grin.
"Go for it," I reply.
He clears his throat a little and looks off over the creek.
"Does Esther know you and her son got a thing going on? I 
mean...you're a little more than friends right? Now before you 
jump out of the boat...let me hasten to reassure 
you...personally...it's of no matter to me. What you do in 
private..."
"JD?"
"Yes?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.
"You care for Esther a lot don't you?" I ask, turning the tables on 
him a little.
He gives me a wry look.
"I need to remember you interrogate suspects every day don't I, 
Agent Mulder?" he replies with good-natured understanding.
I chuckle.
"Ok...fair's fair. Yes...I care for Esther a lot. Uh...an old coot like 
me might not be much of a catch but if she has it in her mind 
not to throw me back I won't complain."
"So you're worried about her being hurt?" I ask carefully.
"Ayup," he replies nodding.
"She knows," I answer simply.
"Ah," he nods.
"Walter told his mother about us over Christmas. This trip...this 
was my introduction to the family really," I reply.
"Look son...I didn't want you to go on trying to play it straight so 
to speak, so I just asked right out. Letting you think I didn't know 
would have been awkward and embarrassing for us both. No, I 
knew the score. The reason I knew was because Sylvia let it 
slip just before you all came out. She asked me not to say 
anything until her mother told me. Her take on it was that Esther 
was going to mention it after you all left. Of course she didn't 
expect me to break my damn arm. I had told her I was going to 
Easton, Maryland, to visit my sister for the Fourth."
"So you wouldn't have been here?"
"Exactly. I guess I should find a moment to let on to Esther that I 
at least suspect. I don't want anyone to feel like they have 
to...well not be themselves around me," he replies.
"Well...I appreciate that, JD. Things are going fairly well this 
weekend. It'll take time but I'm really thankful and honored that 
she's invited me into her home and that she, Sylvia and her 
sons are working on accepting me," I reply.
"Sylvia's a gem. She likes ya, son. I can tell. So, that counted 
for a lot with me too. Her and those two boys...well let's just say 
I'd be proud to call them family too," Dryden replies.
I nod and we're silent for a moment. Now I know I have to talk 
to Walter about telling them all I've been reassigned. I feel like a 
heel over it and it'll bother me until we do say something about 
it. 
"I expect it's awkward, you two being gay and working for the 
Bureau," Dryden muses, watching a heron fly off to the right of 
the boat.
"You'd be right in saying that for sure. We...we have to be very 
discreet," I affirm.
"Ayuh. I can be discreet as well. You don't have to worry. It's no 
one else's damn business if they ask. I wouldn't have given a 
rat's butt myself except...well like I said...I have a vested 
interest in Esther's well being."
"You gonna pop the question?"
"Thinkin' seriously about it," he smiles at me. "But I need to do a 
little formal courtin' first," he adds with a chuckle.
"Does Walter know?"
"He will before the day's out. I feel like I need to ask his 
permission to court his mother after all. He is the de facto head 
of the Skinner clan now. It wouldn't be proper to not ask him to 
pay court to Esther."
I laugh.
"Hey, I'll wish you the best of luck."
He laughs in return.
"Thank you, son. I heard Walter Skinner has a reputation for 
being a hard-ass. You think you can put a good word in for 
me?" he jokes. 
"He's a son of a bitch on the job sometimes. He takes no 
prisoners, when an agent needs to be disciplined. Uh...he 
doesn't take our relationship into the Hoover building, though. 
But...outside work I do have a certain amount of influence over 
him. Yeah...I can probably put in a good word for you, JD," I 
grin at him.
"I appreciate it, Mulder. I owe you one, son," he replies, 
chuckling.
I throttle the engine down and prepare to bring the boat into the 
dock at Judge's Point.
xXx
The late lunch turns out to be utterly fantastic. All of us eat until 
we're stuffed full of oysters, crabs, pasta salad, Caesar salad, 
French bread and iced tea. We can barely fit in the dessert of 
ice cream but somehow manage. After we're done Walter, 
Sylvia, the boys and I clean up so that John Dryden can take 
Sylvia down for a walk along the private beach. The boys try to 
decide between Monopoly and kicking the soccer ball around. 
Finally, soccer wins out and they go outside. After they're gone, 
Walter and Sylvia and I go back out to the porch. I tell them 
what transpired in the boat - minus the bit about the courting for 
now. That's up to Dryden to divulge.
I relate the rest of the information however, including my 
opinion that JD took her down to the beach to let her know he 
suspects. Sylvia heaves a sigh of relief and apologizes for 
letting it slip. She was worried about it just because of the 
miscommunication. She assumed her mother had told Dryden 
until he showed up this morning and Esther said she had still put 
it off. She knew Dryden didn't care except for the impact on 
Esther's feelings. Walter is fine with the whole thing, accepting 
Slyvia's apology as well. He's just glad that's one more person 
he doesn't have to cover up in front of anymore.
Just as we get done talking, Ben comes in and asks if we can 
all play. Sylvia agrees immediately. I beg off pleading a full 
stomach and the fact that basketball is more my game. Walter 
excuses himself as well because he wants to finish putting 
away the gas grill and the pots we used to steam the seafood in. 
I volunteer to help him.
"Monopoly when Nana and Mr. Dryden get back though," Ben 
reminds us.
"Oh yeah. I haven't forgotten," I smile back at him.
Ben and Sylvia head off to join Roger on the flatter front yard 
and Walter and I leave the porch to attend to the grill.
"Well, Walter, you were right. That was some meal," I comment, 
rubbing my stomach. "I'm gonna need my run tomorrow for 
sure."
"No shit. It was good wasn't it? Esther says her mother used to 
say it's a sin to like your own cooking. Esther never proscribed 
to the old adage. Neither do I."
I laugh.
"So, what do we do with this grill?" I ask.
The grill turns out to still be a little too warm to really shut down 
so Walter washes the pots out in the kitchen instead and then 
leaves them to dry. We go back outside and sit on the back 
steps for a few minutes just relaxing in each other's company 
while we wait for the grill to cool down further.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Walter says suddenly.
"What?" I ask cocking my head at him.
"I need to get our contribution to tonight's fireworks," he replies, 
rising up off the steps.
"You've got fireworks?" I ask, enthused. Excellent. I used to 
love blowing off firecrackers and bottle rockets on the Fourth 
when Sam and I were kids. Of course my father would do most 
of the work but we really loved to watch.
"Just some low level stuff. Sparklers. Roman candles. Poppers. 
Nothing too explosive. Sylvia doesn't allow the boys to have 
anything really dangerous. But we have some stuff just for fun. 
We'll light a few before we go and then the rest when we get 
home," Walter replies with a grin.
"Walter...I never imagined you were a pyro," I laugh.
He chuckles as I follow him over to the shed. He opens it and 
takes out a bag from inside. Several boxes of sparklers stick 
out of the top.
"I'll put these on the back porch so we don't forget them," he 
advises, shutting the shed again.
"I bet the boys will remember."
"Yeah, you're probably right," he nods. "But what the heck. Just 
in case," he replies. We go back up onto the porch and place 
the fireworks on the picnic table. Then we go back out to check 
the grill. This time it's cool enough. We clean it up a little and 
shut it down.
"So, what now?" I ask. "Soccer?"
"Let's just hang out. I...I'd like to just spend some time with you," 
he replies almost shyly.
I smile.
"I'd like that too," I reply.
We walk down towards the beach, stopping just before we 
reach the sand. There's an old growth maple tree here, on the 
border of the lawn. It has a metal high-backed bench under it. 
Walter sits down and I sit down next to him. Walter crosses one 
leg over the other and leans back against the bench. He places 
his arms in back of his head and stretches.
"Feeling better?" I ask him carefully.
He breathes out easily, lowering his arms comfortably into his 
lap.
"Yeah. You?"
-END OF PART 25-