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No Worries 9
by Ciejye
When Walter arrived home that night, he immediately knew something was wrong, he drew his gun before he stepped into the apartment. The door was open, the scent of smoke filled the air, and the sound of someone crying was loud in his ears. He walked into the apartment and there was Jenny sobbing on the sofa. The ironing board was set up and the smell of smoke came from it.

Walter quickly stepped to the board, he holstered his weapon and found the iron turned off, but a large hole was burned in a shirt. "Jenny are you okay?  What's wrong baby?" he asked as he stepped to the sobbing teen and gathered her in his arms.

"I tried not to be a screw up papa, I tried, I can't do anything right, not one damn thing!" she sobbed as she tried to pull away from her father.

Walter wouldn't let go of her, "What are you talking about Jenny? What happened?"

Jenny gestured to the shirts that hung by the iron, and tossed herself out of his arms and onto the sofa. "I am a complete and total screw up!" she cried out.

Walter was really puzzled now, he didn't see anything wrong, wait, what was that? He moved closer and looked at the shirts, every single one of them had been burned, some once, a couple of them several times. He understood now. "Jenny, have you ever ironed anything before today?"

Jenny hesitated then shook her head. "I tried Papa, honest, I really tried, but I couldn't do it, I couldn't do something as simple as ironing a dang shirt. Mother never had me iron anything, she didn't like me by anything hot. She said I was allergic to heat or something like that. She said every time I got near anything that was hot I would get burned or burn something down. I didn't mean to, papa, I was just trying to do what you said. " Jenny started crying again.

Walter gathered his weeping child in his arms again and hugged her tightly. "I know you didn't mean to baby, I should have made sure you could iron before I told you to do it. And you should have told me you had never ironed before so I could have taught you."

"You can iron?" Jenny asked incredulously.

"Yes, so can Fox, its bachelor training 101, basic laundry and ironing."

Jenny half smiled and accepted the handkerchief her father offered her, she wiped her eyes and blew her nose. "I’ve ruined all your shirts Papa." Her voice caught.

Walter waved a hand, "So I need to get some new shirts. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I can pick some up this weekend. AFTER I teach you how to iron safely."

Jenny hugged her father again, and almost laughed. "Yes Sir, Papa Sir."

"What did your mother let you do? And what can't you do honey?"

"Nothing involving heat, no ironing or cooking or barbecuing. I was not to touch her sewing machine. I can use the microwave though. I don't know, I am hopeless. Mother didn't allow me to do a lot of things around the house. I couldn't vacuum because I would nick the furniture, I couldn't mow the lawn in case I ran over her flowers. Nothing that could hurt my hands or voice. I usually practiced the piano and sang and did homework."

Walter listened to his daughter and wondered what had gone on in Sharon’s house. This was ridiculous. "What was your day like?"

Jenny shrugged, "It was normal I guess, on school days I got up at 5 and practiced the piano and did vocal warm ups ‘til 6:45, then breakfast and off to school at 7:30. The usual classes, AP Math and English, then to voice lessons at 3 and piano lessons at 4:30. When I got home about 5:30 I would practice for another half hour to an hour, then dinner and homework, then practice again ‘til bed time. Though sometimes I got to watch TV when Mother was out. And on weekends it was the same just more practicing and no school."

Walter was shocked, he never knew his ex-wife had pushed the child like this. That was not a life for a teenager. "When did you have time for your friends?" he asked gently.

Jenny shrugged again, "I didn't need much time for friends, Mother always said I needed a career 'cause you can never depend on anyone to be there for you. But it was okay, 'cause I got to go and do concerts at times. And that was fun."

Walter blinked at that. "Jenny you know you don't have to sing at the Director’s party, don't you? No one will force you if you don't want to."

"Oh that's okay papa, I want to do it, I like singing." Jenny smiled.

"Just be sure sweetie." Walter said as he got up. "Come on now and we can make dinner together, I will teach you how to make garlic bread and spaghetti."

Jenny grinned, "Sounds like fun papa, I am glad your not mad at me about the shirts."

"I am not angry baby, just tell me next time." Walter said and they went into the kitchen.

When Fox got home later, he was treated to the sound of Jenny's and Walter’s laughter and the delicious scent of garlic and tomatoes in the air. "What smells so good you two?" He asked as he went in the kitchen, It was unusual for him to be home so late but the case he had just finished was complicated and the report was a bugger.

"Hi, Foxy loxy," Jenny grinned as Fox kissed Walter hello. Then she ducked the cuff aimed at her head. "Papa made spaghetti for dinner, and I helped." She beamed proudly.

"Don't believe her Fox, she did almost all of it herself, I just told her how." Walter said as he pulled his child into an affectionate hug with his mate.

"Ewww I don't want men cooties." Jenny teased as she tried to pull out of the hug.

"Men don't have cooties, only girls have cooties." Fox laughed and kissed Jenny's forehead before he got a bottle of tea from the refrigerator.

Jenny laughed and pushed the door against him. Dinner was great, Jenny and Fox cleaned up the kitchen even though Jenny protested that she had cooked so she shouldn’t have to do both. It didn't work.

After, Walter got out some files to work on as did Fox, Jenny played the piano. Then Walter snapped his fingers. "I forgot, I have to register Jenny for school tomorrow but I have a budget meeting that could take all day."

"I have an easy day tomorrow Walter, I can take an hour off in the afternoon and take her in and register her," Fox offered.

"That would be wonderful, thank you Darlin." Walter smiled at his mate.

"Wait a minute, don't I get a vote here? I don't need school I have a profession." Jenny protested even though her fingers never stopped.

Walter grinned, "Nope." Then to Fox, "I have an envelope with everything you will need ready in the morning. Just don't let her take anything stupid."

"Hello?? I am still in the room," Jenny snorted indignantly.

"We’ll be fine," Fox assured Walter.

***

The next afternoon Fox and Jenny walked into the main office of Crystal City High. Fox flashed a smile at the woman behind the counter. "Hello, I want to enroll this young lady for classes."

The woman gave him the once over, then set a stack of papers on counter in front of him. "Fill these out. We will need her birth certificate, immunization records, and transcripts from her previous school as well as proof of address. Let me know when your done and I will find a counselor," she said with a smile.

Fox smiled back and picked up the stack, he ushered Jenny to a row of chairs and got out a pen. "I have done less paper work for a case that lasted 6 months." He looked at the papers. "Name, Skinner, Jennifer. What's your middle name Jenny?"

"T."

"That's an initial, what's the whole name?"

"Just put T." Jenny said evasively.

Fox pulled out his cell phone, "I can call your dad if you want and have him tell me."

Jenny sighed, "Tatyana."

"What's wrong with that?" Fox asked as he wrote it down.

"It means fairy queen." Jenny made a face.

"What does Jennifer mean?" Fox asked with a grin.

"White spirit, its Welsh." Jenny said as she grimaced. "Only I could get parents who name me the white spirit fairy queen."

Fox couldn't help himself, he burst out in gales of laughter. "Try going through school as Fox."

Jenny laughed, "True. I was spared that."

Fox wrote again listing the address, and phone number. "Birth date?"

"May 15, 1986" Jenny said absently as she looked around the waiting area. "You know I don't have to go to school, I could just do tutors or independent study."

"Right, like your dad is going to let you do that." Fox snorted, "You know how he is, he wants you to have a good education, graduate valedictorian, go to a top college and then post graduate somewhere nice. It will be a good life  for you." Fox grinned as Jenny made faces.

After several more questions they had the paper finished and took it to the receptionist. She showed them into the councilor, a Ms. Washburn.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Mulder, I am Ms. Washburn, the 9th grade  Councilor," the pleasant woman said as she shook Fox's hand.  Then she turned to Jenny. "And you must be Jenny, Welcome to Crystal City High."

Jenny smiled politely as she shook hands.

Ms. Washburn turned back to Fox. "Its so nice to see a father coming in to enroll rather than the mother."

Jenny made a small sound almost a snort, Fox just smiled and explained. "I am not Jenny's father, he couldn't be here today, but we wanted to enroll Jenny for the first day of school."

"Not the father, the uncle perhaps?" Ms. Washburn asked.

"No, Jenny and I are not blood relations. Her father is my partner." Fox said calmly but waited for the eruption.

He was not disappointed.

"What kind of partner?" Ms. Washburn asked disdainfully, as if she had smelled something nasty.

"Life partner." Fox said succinctly.

"I see," Ms. Washburn was obviously not an open minded individual. "I am afraid I can not enroll the child without her parent here. Her mother or,"

"Her mother is dead." Fox stated flatly.

"Then her father."

"Papa is at work." Jenny said, "Why can't Fox enroll me?"

"Regulations state that one of your parents must be present." Ms Washburn explained. "Father, mother, step-parents."

"Oh then its okay, Fox is my step-father." Jenny stated emphatically.

"Young lady that is quite impossible, he could not be your step-father, Same sex marriages are not legal in this state." The councilor’s voice took on a nasty edge. "I see we will need to schedule you some counseling sessions as well."

"Why?" Fox asked as he began to get angry.

"Obviously the child needs to be counseled about the deviant behavior she is forced to witness daily."

That was all it took, Jenny and Fox both started to yell, and Ms. Washburn yelled right back at them. It was several minutes before the Principal, Mr. Dash, was able to come in and restore order.

Fox called Walter who came right down.

"You must understand we have regulations about who can register a child, Mr. Mulder." Mr. Dash was saying for the 12th time as Walter came in the office. Fox was on his feet in front of the desk while Jenny was sitting off to the side in a chair. Ms. Washburn stood behind the desk off to the side as well.

"I’m Walter Skinner, Jenny's father, What is going on here?" Walter asked in his ‘I want answers right now’ AD voice.

"Zane Dash, Principal," The two men shook hands. "There seems to be a disagreement over Mr. Mulder registering your daughter."

"I asked him to do so, is that a problem? He has a signed letter stating so." Walter gestured to Fox for the letter then gave it to Mr. Dash.

After he looked at the letter, Mr. Dash said, "I understand this, but I still could not permit Mr. Mulder to register Jennifer, he is not a legal parent or guardian."

"You would do it if he were a woman." Jenny muttered.

"Jenny, please, not now," Walter tried to forestall his daughter’s temper.

"I am not going to start anything Papa, but its true she said so, that if Fox had been a woman he could have registered me. but because the great state of Virginia doesn't recognize same sex marriages then he can't. She also said I need to be counseled because of being exposed to a deviant relationship."

That got Walter's attention. "What?" he fixed a glare on the woman behind the desk.

Mr. Dash intervened, "Mr. Skinner, I do apologize for Ms. Washburn’s unfortunate choice of words. No student has ever been forced into counseling for the life choices of their parents, any counseling would of course be voluntary and discrete. We offer counseling for many issues. But that is for you to decide. While you are here, let’s get Jenny registered. I am sure you are a busy man."

Walter was not mollified but he finished the registration process and took Jenny and Fox with him when he left. He called Kim and canceled the rest of his afternoon, They stopped and got chicken for dinner and ice cream for dessert. Then drove home. While they ate Walter thought about how to discuss this situation. He knew it was going to come up a lot in the next few years. So he might as well get it out in the open and deal with it now.

"Jenny, do you have any problems with the fact that Fox and I are in a relationship?" Walter asked finally.

"No," Jenny said almost without thought, "What you two do is your business, I don't have to know about the mushy stuff, and even when I do, you and Fox love each other, that is more than most kids have."

"You know this is going to come up again at school." Walter stated as he ate his ice cream.

"I know, its not a biggie, I know that society sees homosexuality as a deviant behavior, and that its a sin in the eyes of the church, and that you can't legally be married in this state, but things are also changing. Homosexual couples can adopt kids and maybe in a few years you can be married legally, and even if you can't. That doesn't mean your bad people." Jenny spooned up more of her chocolate almond ice cream. "Most kids don't have even one father with them. I didn't for a while. Now I have two. I think that is pretty special."

Walter about burst with pride at his child’s words. He glanced over at Fox and saw him wiping away a tear. Fox was always the sentimental one. "If you ever need to talk about it, you know you can come to Fox and me, any time. Or if you want to talk to someone else we can arrange that too."

"What if I don't want to talk about it at all to anyone?"

"Then unless your having problems and I feel you need to talk, you won't have to. I am not going to force you to talk about something that you are okay with." Walter smiled at his daughter.

Jenny smiled back. "I think I am okay with it. I mean at first it was a bit of a shock. I know you and mother were together, and now you and Fox are, so that means your bi. I guess I always thought of you and mother getting back together before she died, but I didn't know you had Fox then, I remember the fights you and mother had. Late at night when you thought I was sleeping, You and Fox don't fight like that, You may disagree but you do n't fight that way. So I am okay with it. Just don't be checking out my boyfriends."

Fox fell off the couch he laughed so hard, "GROSS!!" he gagged and laughed. "I can assure you Jenny, we will not be checking out your boyfriends."

"Wait, who said you can date?" Walter asked.

"Dang, thought I could slip that one by you," Jenny teased.

"Not a chance, you can date when your 16," Walter pronounced as Jenny groaned.

"You know its not the 1800’s anymore Papa, times have changed since you were a kid."

"Boys haven’t," Walter retorted. "16 Jennifer, I mean it, I can make it 17 if you prefer."

"No, no that's okay Papa, 16 is just fine, I can deal with 16." Jenny placated her father with a grin.

"Good girl." Walter smiled.

****

A minute later, the phone rang. Neither man moved to answer it. Life with a teenager taught them that answering the phone was not something for them to do anymore. Jenny was younger and faster. The call was for Walter from the Director’s assistant, he was needed for an important meeting that night with the Director and the Attorney General. He changed and left right away.

Jenny and Fox cleared up the remnants from dinner, and watched TV for a while. Jenny loved the same kind of movies Fox did. Though she liked horror best of all. They found Stephen King’s ‘IT’ on one channel, and settled down to watch it. Fox was on one end of the couch and Jenny was on the other end, their legs rested side by side in the middle.

"I love Tim Curry," Jenny said at the commercial as she rose to go into the bathroom. "His accent is so hot."

Fox laughed, he had lived in England for several years while he attended Oxford and hot was not what he thought of the accents. Still, some weren’t too bad. Jenny's scream from the bathroom brought him up off the sofa with a jolt. He grabbed his weapon and ran up the stairs two at a time. He burst though the bathroom door a moment later.

Jenny was sitting on the toilet, she screamed again as the door burst open. "GET OUT!!" she yelled at him as she grabbed a towel to cover herself with.

Fox blushed and left immediately, though the now closed door he asked, "What the heck was the scream for?"

"I can't tell you. I need Papa." Came the muffled answer.

"Jennifer Skinner, you tell me why you screamed right now or I am going to come in that bathroom and paddle your bottom until you can't sit for a month! You scared the shit out of me." Fox said forcefully.

A sigh came from behind the door. "I didn't mean to scare you Fox, I - I - I just, well, I"

Fox frowned at the door, "You just what?" He demanded.

"I started my period is that okay? I was surprised, I never had one before, if that is all right by you Mr. Nosy Nora! Are you happy now?"

Fox almost started to laugh. But then thought about the plight of the girl in the bathroom. "Are you okay then?" he asked though the door.

"I-I don't have, I mean I need. Ohh why me." Jenny sounded like she was about to cry.

"Do you have anything in your bedroom?" Fox asked gently as he tried to sound nonchalant.

"No, I don't. Fox I don't know what to do."

Fox could hear that Jenny had started to cry. "Its okay honey, I’ll just run down to the corner and get what you need. It will be okay. There’s no need to cry. I will only be gone a few minutes."

"O-o-okay," was the tearful reply.

Fox grabbed his wallet and headed out on an errand he never thought he would have to undertake when he moved in with another man. At the little corner store he found the right aisle, and was astounded at the selection. He  just stood and stared for several minutes. Then ever the resourceful FBI agent, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

"Scully, it’s me," he said after the reply. "I have a favor to ask you."

"Sure partner, what's up?"

"It seems Jenny started her first period and was caught unprepared," Fox said as he turned red in the store.

"I see, and you got elected to go get her supplies." Fox could hear the grin on the other end of the phone. "Where’s Skinner?"

"He got called into work." Fox said, "you gotta help me out here Scully, there are like 50 different kinds of .. things."

Scully laughed "Just get a couple bags of Maxi pads, they are the best for the first time. I don't think Jenny is ready for you to try and explain how to insert a tampon. "

"SCULLY!!" Fox broke in. He did NOT want to hear about that.

"Okay Mulder," it was hard to hear though her laughter. "They have an adhesive backing so you don't have to explain much. Just give them to her and tell her to read the bag, if she has questions just have her give me a call."

"Thanks Scully," Fox said and hung up. He got the bags and took them up to the checkout. He ignored the titters of the two teenage boys who were standing near the entrance. And took the bags home.

Once inside he passed the bags though the cracked door as if they were plutonium. He relayed Scully’s message.

"Can I have your phone?"

Fox passed the cell into the bathroom. "Just don't lose it in there." He said as the door slammed. He chuckled then went down stairs and chugged a beer.

When Jenny came down a while later he was on his second beer as he watched the movie. Jenny sat on the other end of the couch, her legs pulled up to her chest. "Amm, Thanks," she murmured as she blushed.

"No problem," Fox grinned. "That's what stepmothers are for."

To be continued part ten