Chapter Text
J & M’s Diner became like a second home to Fox Mulder when he first moved to the city.
Every morning he would arrive by nine a.m. and walk to a small two person booth, near the back and out of the way. Out would come his laptop and mouse, a notebook and pen, and his glasses case. His bag was then placed onto the other seat and he would sit, cracking open his laptop, and waiting for it to wake up.
A cup of coffee and a pastry would be placed onto the table, the waitress smiling at him as she lightly touched his shoulder and walked away. He would smile as he watched her, staring at the haphazard way she tied her apron bow. Every time he saw it, he both wanted to fix it and leave it be, the bow drawing his eye throughout the day.
He was a writer and worked as he sat in the diner, finding he got more done there than at home. Not only for the ease of not worrying about food or drink, but also for the stimulation of the employees and the patrons who frequented the diner.
Living alone in a modest sized high rise apartment not far from the diner, he would find excuses not to write, procrastinating horribly. He would clean, organize, do laundry, taking the time to fold everything methodically.
He had found a chip in the paint on the wall one day, which had led him to the hardware store to buy new paint. What should have then been a quick touch up job, had turned into a five day project, the entire living/dining room repainted and then rearranged.
And not one word had been written.
Being at the diner was better for him, his fingers flying over the keyboard as ideas filled his head.
A white woman with a silver gray bob, whose age he could not determine, in wide tortoiseshell sunglasses and a long fur coat, (real fur he was certain) became a heiress in his mind. A torrid love affair had left her near penniless, her fur coat one of the last items she kept that was of any value.
The Hispanic man who came in every morning wearing his large white headphones, never speaking much but bopping his head to the tunes only he could hear, became a record executive, trying to find the next new up and coming artists.
The thin older black woman who always dressed to the nines and sat quietly in her booth by the window sipping her tea, had lost a lover years ago and the diner had been where they had used to meet, happy and laughing the day away.
His fingers had fumbled over her story, finding a deep sadness within it, and he’d had to stop writing it. Instead, he had sat down with her one day and asked her about her life. Her smile had changed her whole face, her dark brown eyes sparkling and the smile lines around her mouth deepening.
She had agreed to allow him to record her stories and they had spent days talking and laughing as she told him about her child and adulthood. She had been so much more than even he could imagine and he loved speaking to her every day, then transcribing her words later at home.
The Puerto Rican family who stopped in on Friday evenings though, they were his favorites. Husband and wife, with six kids, would come in for dinner and dessert. Laughing and singing, the husband and wife would dance around, the owners of the diner playing music and joining in with the excitement.
He imagined them as a happy family, money a bit tight perhaps, judging by the adults' clothing, but the children never went without. Friday at the diner, kids ate for free, so those nights were special, something to look forward to the most.
Not until he had been frequenting the diner for awhile, did he learn that they were actually family members of the owners. They could have actually come in any day and eaten for free, but they kept it only to Friday’s, something Fox found endearing.
Those nights when he stayed later than usual, he would not write, but watch them with a notebook in front of him. He would sketch them, capturing the images of them dancing, the kids laughing with huge sundaes before them, and the other patrons smiling and joining their happiness.
He loved Friday evenings.
In the two months of getting to know everyone, right down to the delivery men’s days and times, his reason for coming to the diner began to evolve. He now mostly came to see and speak to one of the waitresses.
Her name was Dana and every time he saw her, she made him smile. She was funny, sassy, and kind. He watched the way she treated customers, with firmness if needed, but mostly with kindness, laughing as she brought them their food.
She worked the morning shift and though it was generally busy, it would slow down at times, affording them a chance to talk and get to know one another.
She was twenty eight, with blue eyes and red hair she usually wore in two French braids looped together into a low bun at the base of her neck.
Incredibly intelligent, their discussions of topics flowed far more easily than any date he had been on in his life. Current events, politics, religion, movies, television shows, literature- they discussed it all. She was well read and they often swapped books.
He loved reading her books as she did not treat them gently or carefully, something in which most people took pride. Hers were worn in and well loved. She highlighted the bits she enjoyed, in many different colors, underlined passages, leaving little notes and even questions in the margins.
As he read, he would jot her notes down into one of his many notebooks, making sure to discuss them when he returned the book, her eyes lighting up and hands flying excitedly as she shared her thoughts with him.
One morning, after he had returned a book, he helped her refill the spices and condiments. A waitress had called in sick the night before and as a result, Dana had to catch up on some extra work. He offered to help her, which meant he had her attention for even longer than usual.
They discussed the book as they refilled the sugar dispensers and then she told him about a holiday trip she had taken when she was younger.
If she had quizzed him later about what she had said, he would have been unable to tell her. His attention instead drawn to her expressions, the way she licked her lips, and the blue of her eyes.
Days and weeks of being around her, if he were asked to pinpoint when he fell for her, it would have been that moment as they refilled the sugar, the jukebox in the corner playing a collection of Elvis songs, and he listened to her sing along quietly with a smile.
Yes… he had fallen hard.
On a Monday morning in December, he looked around as he arrived and set up his work station, saying hello to the other employees, not seeing Dana walking through the diner. He had another of her books to return and discuss, if she had a spare moment, but she was not there.
Lucy, one of the other waitresses, came over bringing his coffee and a danish, smiling softly at him.
“Is Dana not here?” he asked her, knowing her scheduled shifts, and Lucy shook her head. “Oh. Is she okay?”
“She is. I think she’ll be here later, hon.” She smiled at him again and walked away, leaving him feeling confused and slightly worried.
He drank his coffee and ate his pastry, one eye on the door, until he became engrossed in his writing.
A couple of hours later, he stretched as he rose from his booth and brought his plate and cup to the counter. Setting it down, he glanced over at a little girl sitting on a bar stool by herself.
She had reddish brown hair in two long braids and she wore denim overalls over a long sleeved black shirt and pink boots with fuzzy gray tops.
She twisted the barstool back and forth, drinking milk as she looked at a book. He was not good with knowing children’s ages, but he assumed she was probably about six.
She looked up, catching his eye, and she stopped her movements. Taking the straw out of her mouth, she smiled at him, her blue eyes shining.
“Are you Fox?” she asked and he frowned.
“I… I am…”
“My mommy told me about you.”
“Your… who?”
“My mommy,” she said with a giggle, pointing across the diner to Dana who was speaking to Joe, the manager, and his frown deepened. He had not heard or seen her come in and he certainly did not know anything about her having a daughter.
“She’s your… mom?” he asked, looking back at her and the little girl nodded.
“Do you want me to move? My mommy said that you like to sit here sometimes.”
“What? No, you can stay. Could I sit here next to you?”
“Okay. But that stool doesn’t turn like this one,” she said, twisting the stool she sat on again. “I’ve tried all of them, but this one’s the best.”
“Why do you think I usually choose that one?” he asked as he sat beside her, trying to make sense of who she was and why he had never heard of her in all of the conversations he’d had with Dana.
“You like to spin the stool?” she asked him, drinking her milk again.
“Of course I do. I enjoy the squeak it makes,” he said and she giggled with a nod as the stool indeed did squeak.
“Ivy, don’t drink all of that milk. I have Manny making you some…” Dana stopped speaking as Fox turned his head to look at her. “Oh…” Her face dropped, as did her shoulders, and she sighed deeply.
“Mommy, Fox said I could stay here,” the little girl said to Dana and he nodded in the affirmative, wanting to reassure her.
“She was already there…” he said, smiling slightly, but Dana did not return it with one of her own.
“Dana, Ivy’s food is up,” Manny, the cook and other owner, called with a smile and Dana turned around. Walking to the counter, she lifted the plate with a thank you as she walked back to them.
“Honey, get your things and we’ll go sit in one of the back booths, okay? I’ll bring your food over.”
“Okay, Mommy.” She slid off the stool and picked up a pink backpack and teal colored puffy coat. Sliding the backpack on, she carried her coat and glass, walking to a booth near his own as Dana followed behind.
Confusion filled his mind as he followed them, watching her with the little girl as she set down her plate of food and brushed the loose strands of hair back with a smile. She said something to the girl and she nodded as she set her glass down and took off her backpack, putting it and the coat on the seat beside before sliding into the booth.
Kissing her head, Dana turned and walked toward him, her eyes downcast. As she reached him, she raised her eyes and sighed deeply.
“You have a lot of questions, I’m sure,” she said, glancing back at the little girl.
“Just one,” he said, smiling softly at her. “Did you say her name is Ivy?” She stared at him and he raised his eyebrows.
“Yeah,” she said, frowning at him. “You don’t have any other questions? Really?”
“You don’t owe me an explanation,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m… a patron of this diner and your life is your own.”
“A patron? I thought… I thought that we were friends?” she asked, looking down again before glancing at Ivy and then back at him, her eyes sad as she bit her lower lip.
“Yeah. I think we are too,” he agreed quietly and she closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them, they were full of tears.
“Joe, I need a few more minutes,” she called, her voice shaky, wiping at her eyes as Joe nodded with a smile.
“Take as long as you need, hon,” he said and she sniffed with a nod back at him.
“Can I buy you breakfast?” she asked Fox, biting her lip again and exhaling a breath through her nose.
“How about if I buy you breakfast? You look exhausted,” he said softly, taking in her rather disheveled appearance, especially her hair in its messy bun and the tired expression on her face. She stared at him with her eyes wide and he shook his head. “That sounded better and far less… insulting, in my head.” She laughed bitterly and sighed.
“I have a five year old daughter I care for on my own. I think I’ve been, and most likely appeared, exhausted for years.”
“No. I don’t think that’s true. Sit down and tell me whatever you want me to know about her, or anything else.”
She sighed again, sitting down beside Ivy with a nod. He sat opposite her and smiled at Ivy, who was eating pancakes and eggs.
“Mommy? Can I watch a movie?”
“Yes, baby. Can you get your headphones though, so it’s not loud for the other people?”
“Yes.”
She wiped her mouth across her sleeve and Dana groaned, reaching for a napkin as Ivy opened her backpack, taking out a tablet in a large case and her headphones; cushioned pink ones with rainbow cat ears. She plugged them in and turned on a movie, as she continued to eat.
“She’s cute,” Fox said, smiling at her as he watched her pause in her chewing to smile at something on the screen.
“Thank you,” Dana whispered, touching Ivy’s head and sighing as she looked at him. “I didn’t mention her to you because-”
“Dana, your life is your own. You owe me no information when it comes to anything personal,” he said softly, glancing at Ivy. “To be fair, I never asked if you had a child.”
“Why would you have?” she asked quietly with a sigh.
“Well, have you ever asked me that question?” he asked softly and she frowned for a second.
“Do… do you have children?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “There, now we know that detail about each other.” He smiled and she sighed again.
“This part is funny, Mommy,” Ivy giggled and Dana smiled, touching her head again.
“I moved here, we moved here, almost a year ago. I wanted a change and a chance to… grow up a bit I guess,” she said quietly. “Her father isn’t in the picture. We had our set of problems as a couple and most definitely should have split up before… well, before her , but then…” She looked at Ivy and smiled with a shake of her head.
“We tried to make it work, but he wasn’t… wasn’t what either of us needed. When Ivy was three months old, he left. He said he wasn’t ready, that he had his own plans and dreams and a baby… well that complicated those plans.” She shook her head again and exhaled heavily. “He left the state and I’ve not heard from him since.”
“Really?” Fox asked incredulously, his hands balling into fists.
“Yeah. I know we weren’t perfect together, but…” She breathed softly, running a finger across the tabletop. “Not sure what his “big plans” were, but my sister found him on Facebook recently and he has a wife, a toddler, and a baby on the way. Guess he was ready, just didn’t want that with us.” She sighed again and shook her head.
“Sounds like he was a real bastard,” he said quietly, feeling angry at any man who could just walk away from his child and forget all about her while he lived a different life.
“He didn’t start out like that… no, he kind of did but I… Yeah, it sure ended that way,” she said with a nod and a sigh.
“What does she know about him?” he asked, gesturing to Ivy and watching Dana’s face.
“Not much. She hasn’t asked about him. Not him anyway, but she knows she doesn’t have a dad the way some kids might. But, she doesn’t remember him at all and I don’t talk about him, so he’s like a… a nonperson to us. She doesn’t know a different life and she sees kids at school who have just a mom, or a dad, or two moms and two dads. Every family is different, I always tell her, and that’s what makes us special.” She shrugged and he nodded. Raising her eyes to his, she blinked back tears. “I didn’t tell you about her because… well, there’s pain in my past when it comes to-”
“Dana,” he interrupted her, wanting to touch her, but refraining from doing so. “Like I already said, you have every right to keep your life private. We barely know one another, aside from what we do know. It’s…” He shrugged and glanced at Ivy with a smile.
“I still feel like it was a big thing to omit.”
“How many siblings do I have?” he asked quietly.
“What?” she asked, frowning.
“How many?”
“I… I don’t know.”
“Where did I grow up?”
“I don’t know…”
“You see?” he asked kindly. “We’re… friends, but also… we’ve not divulged every detail about ourselves.”
“Yeah,” she whispered. “I suppose.”
Manny came over to the table and set down plates of food, though they had not yet ordered anything. He smiled with a nod and then walked away.
Pancakes, waffles, bacon and eggs, mashed potatoes, and chocolate pudding sat before them and Dana smiled as she pushed the pudding toward Ivy.
“Oh! Yum. Pudding! Thanks, Mommy,” she said, a bit too loudly and Dana laughed.
“You work days while she’s in school,” Fox stated and Dana nodded. “But today she’s not. She’s not sick. She doesn’t look it anyway and I can’t imagine you’d bring her here if she were.”
“No. She’s not sick.”
“But something happened.”
“You could say that,” she said, rubbing her hands across her face. “I got an email late last night that her school has had an outbreak of lice and is shutting down for the rest of the week.” She looked at him and sighed. “I woke her up last night, feeling as though I was covered in them and needing to check her head. I felt terrible as she kept crying and saying she wanted to sleep.” She shook her head and stared at him with tired eyes.
“She’s obviously okay. Both of you are.”
“Yes, but I still took nearly all of our clothing, towels, and linens to the laundromat and spent the last few hours washing them. We also saw a hairdresser friend of mine and she checked both of us and we’re fine, but…” She glanced at Ivy, who was paying attention to her movie, and then looked back at him. “It’s been a really long fucking day.”
He raised his eyebrows, surprised as he had never heard her swear. Nodding, he looked down at the food.
“Yeah… I think that pudding may have been for you,” he said and she laughed softly.
“The potatoes are,” she said. “I love mashed potatoes. It’s my comfort food.”
“You’ve had a bad day. You deserve all the potatoes.”
“Thank you. For listening. For understanding,” she said, smiling at him as he handed her the bowl of mashed potatoes.
“Of course,” he said, dishing out the plates of food, making sure she got most of it. “So, you’ve been up all night.”
“Pretty much,” she replied. “I knew she was in the clear, but I wasn’t sure about myself as I couldn’t check very easily. I showered, washed my hair twice, then put it up in a shower cap, bagged my clothes and hers, and stripped the sheets as she slept on the couch. I washed what I could in the laundry room of our apartment, but it wasn’t going to be enough and it would have taken too long to wash everything. I knew we were okay, but I also couldn’t stop scratching at my head and skin. I wasn’t going to take any precautions.”
“I completely understand.”
“Now, I have to work and I have no idea what to do with her while I do.”
“Take the day off, I’m sure Joe already told you you could.”
“He did, but I… need the money. I can’t miss a day.”
“You have to have sick days…”
“Yes, but I need to save them for when she’s actually sick.”
“I could…”
“No,” she said, her eyes hard.
“You didn’t let me finish,” he said softly. “I was going to say, I could watch her. Keep her here with me through the day.” Her expression changed, but she shook her head.
“No. I can’t ask you to do that.”
“Dana, I’m already here,” he said, touching her hand and smiling. “We’ll be right here, you do what you have to do, and you can check in on us whenever you want.”
“You have to write,” she said, turning her hand to hold his thumb, shaking her head. “I can’t ask-”
“You aren’t. I’m offering.” He squeezed her hand and she opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted.
“Mommy, can I have some water?” Ivy asked, tapping on her arm. “I’m thirsty.”
“Yeah, I’ll be right back.” She let go of his hand and left the booth.
He glanced over at Ivy, watching her pause with a spoonful of pudding near her chocolate covered mouth, smiling and laughing before she ate the bite. He smiled at her as he shook his head.
Dana came back with a tray of drinks, water and orange juice for all of them and coffee for the two of them. She set it down and sat back in the booth with a sigh, sliding Ivy her glass of water.
“Be careful, okay? Two hands.”
“I got it, Mommy,” Ivy said, lifting the glass to her mouth and taking a long drink.
“Joe told me to go home and get everything sorted out and not worry about work today.”
“Good. That’s what you should do.”
“I hate leaving others in a lurch. And the money… I really need it, especially this time of year.”
“But…”
“I know. I need to take care of things at home. I have laundry to fold and put away, and the apartment to clean. I’m just so tired.”
“I can help you if you’d like-”
“Fox…”
“Dana…” he began again, clearing his throat, putting his hand up to ask her to listen. She sighed and nodded her head. “First of all, you know Joe, and from getting to know him myself, I know he won’t let you go the day without being paid. I’ve been coming here for two months and not once have you missed a shift. You’ve even covered for others when they’ve called out.”
“I know but-”
“Joe and Manny know your value. They know you have a situation that’s out of your hands and well… you should take the day.”
“I know,” she said with a glance at Ivy. “The tips I would get though, that’s what I rely on every day.”
“How much would you get in tips?” he asked and her eyes came back to look at him.
“Why are you asking me that?” she questioned him with a frown. “Fox, I don’t-”
“We’re friends right?”
“We… we are…”
“Friends help each other out.”
“But, I don’t-”
“Let me be your friend. Let me help you.”
She stared at him as he smiled and she opened and closed her mouth, frowning as she shook her head gently, but finally sighed with a curt nod.
“But I won’t take money. I don’t want… that won’t sit well with me.”
“That’s understandable,” he said, putting his hands up in surrender. “Let’s eat and then whatever you need help with, that doesn’t involve anything monetarily, I’m here for you.” He smiled and she sighed again as she nodded in acceptance. “Good. Now, eat your mashed potatoes and we’ll get going.”
“When you see all there is to do, you may regret offering your assistance.”
“Nah,” he said, reaching for the syrup and pouring some onto his pancakes. “I enjoy completing tasks.”
“Hmm,” she hummed disbelievingly, shaking her head slightly as she took a bite of potatoes.
He only smiled at her as he glanced at Ivy, already intrigued to learn more about her and the new side of Dana he had yet to meet.