Title: Home and Free
Author: Elizabeth L. Iacono
Rating: PG
Category: Story, Romance
Keywords: Mulder/Scully Romance, Kidfic (I know!  
                Yet another one...)
Spoilers: Field Trip, Two Fathers/One Son, 
                Triangle, Fight the Future
Summary: Skinner finds out what Mulder and Scully have 
           been up to in the four years since they quit 
             the FBI and moved away.

It's just yet another idea for a kidfic I had.  I hope 
you don't mind it.

Feedback-Please?  My addy is RhiaRamsay@aol.com

Archive-wherever, Gossamer especially, anyone else 
just tell me where it's headed.

Disclaimer-Mulder, Scully, Skinner, Mrs. Scully and 
Charles Scully are not mine.  Mara Rowan Mulder is.


Home and Free
Elizabeth L. Iacono


September 25, 2003
Somewhere in Scotland


     The man walked down the university halls with 
determination.  It was the last place Assistant 
Director Walter Skinner of the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation would have expected to find the man 
he was looking for.  The man was Fox Mulder.

     He and his partner Special Agent Dana Scully 
had all but disappeared a little over four years ago 
after suddenly turning in their resignations.  There 
was no rhyme or reason as to why they had quit, 
although the rumors were plentiful.

     They did, however, leave one thing behind before 
they disappeared.  What had happened was five days 
after they turned in their resignations, Scully's 
mother had called him up saying that Scully had been 
late for their lunch date.  Apparently she didn't know 
that they had quit.  So they had decided to go visit 
Scully's apartment.  When they got there they found 
the place cleared out, as bare as the proverbial cupboard.

     Except for one thing.  In the center of Scully's 
living room was a simple cardboard box.  Inside the box 
were three letters, one to Mrs. Scully, one to 
Mrs. Mulder, and one to Skinner.  There was also four 
vials in there filled with an amber colored solution 
that looked like honey.

     Skinner decided to start with his letter, it might 
explain what was in the vials.  And it did.  He felt his 
jaw dropping as he read through it.  He learned that 
contained in the vials was a vaccine to fight the oncoming 
virus that they were all warned about with the El Rico 
massacre and how to re-create it for distribution.  It 
was Mulder and Scully's last bit of help before they 
disappeared.

     It was one conspiracy Skinner was happy to 
participate in, a vaccination program that would 
secretly inoculate everyone alive against the virus 
called Purity.  The biggest payoff was when it worked.

     Around two months ago there were reports of bee 
attacks throughout the world.  Skinner had a specimen 
from each attack sent to the lab for tests, and each 
was clearly infected with the virus.  But no one who 
was stung had any symptoms of the virus.

     Shortly after the attacks Cancerman had come to 
visit him for the first time in a long time with a 
message from, of all people, the rebel aliens saying 
that now colonization was effectively stopped.  
Skinner wasn't sure that he could believe him, so 
there were still many precautions set up just in 
case invasion ever approached.  Still, things had 
calmed down greatly in the last two months.

     The next step, at least in his mind, was to find 
Mulder and Scully.  He had no idea even remotely where 
they went, hell, he didn't even know if they were still 
together.  More likely than not though they were.
As a last ditch resort he tried the Lone Gunmen to see 
if they had anything.  He'd met them a while back 
through Mulder and Scully, from Scully's 
second kidnapping to the Antarctic and Mulder's little 
jaunt into the Bermuda Triangle.  They'd also been very 
instrumental in the vaccination program.  All they had 
was a web based e-mail address for emergencies which 
hadn't been used yet, so they had assumed that everything 
was fine.  Now though they had done a massive Internet 
search to see if they could find anything from the last 
four years on Fox Mulder or Dana Scully.

     Luckily, they found one thing.  Just one, but it 
was a place to start.  In a town in Scotland Skinner 
had never heard of there was a Fox Mulder who was the 
professor of psychology at the local university.  It 
didn't seem like something Mulder would end up doing 
with his life, but Skinner knew that there was a slim 
to none chance that there were two people called Fox 
Mulder.

     That was how Skinner found himself walking down 
the halls of this small university towards room 121 
where Professor Fox Mulder was teaching Behavioral 
Science 101.  The heels of his dress shoes clacked 
as he walked, and his long coat swirled around his 
legs.  Soon he found himself standing in front 
of room 121.

     He stood there for a few minutes, wondering what 
exactly he would find behind this door.  In the four 
years that had passed, what had Fox Mulder turned into?  
The possibilities were endless.  Could he have become 
even more obsessive than before?  Or was he just a 
hollow shell now, lacking the passion that he had 
invested in the X-Files?  There was only one way 
to answer that.

     He gently pushed the door open and slid into the 
back of the classroom, quietly closing it behind him 
and blending in unnoticed.  The class room seemed more 
in the style of a lecture hall, the seats terraced in 
a half moon shape looking down upon a space where a 
desk and a blackboard resided.  Perched on the edge 
of the desk facing the class wearing a green sweater, 
a pair of jeans, and wire-rim glasses was Mulder, 
speaking about some psychology basics that even he 
remembered from college.

     Skinner was certainly surprised at the man he 
was now looking at.  Mulder pretty much looked the 
same as he had the last time he'd seen him.  Actually 
he looked a little different, younger almost.  The 
years of aging the X-Files had put on him seemed to 
have faded away.  There was an air of calmness, if 
not outright happiness around him now.

     He was startled out of his thoughts by the sound 
of the between class bell ringing rather close to his 
ear.  The class flooded out of the room and soon it 
was just him and Mulder, who was walking around the 
desk to sit behind it.  Skinner began to walk down 
the stairwell leading to the desk, his shoes sounding 
louder than they really were in the stillness of the room.

     Mulder looked up at the sound of the shoes, his 
face going through the range of emotions when he saw 
who was approaching him.  He removed his glasses and 
stood up, standing there nearly open-mouthed until 
Skinner began to speak.

     "You know, of all the places I thought I'd find 
you I was certainly not expecting this."

     Mulder shrugged.  "I wanted a change of pace.  
Never thought I'd see you here either."

     Skinner reached the bottom of the stairs and 
stopped there.  "I've got a message for you.  About 
your vaccine."

     A look of near shock spread across his face.  
Yet another thing he obviously wasn't expecting 
to hear.  "What about it?" Mulder asked, trying 
to keep the curiosity out of his voice.

     "It worked.  I don't know if you've heard about 
it but about two months ago there were reports of 
widespread bee attacks around the world.  I managed 
to get a hold of a specimen from each attack, and 
every single one was carrying the virus.  Yet there 
were no reported deaths from it, the only deaths that 
resulted were from sting related anaphylactic shock.  
After that I got a message from our old friend Smokey 
saying that colonization was over.  Now I don't know 
whether he's telling the truth or not, but things have 
calmed down a lot recently," Skinner finished.

     "Wow," Mulder exhaled and leaned against the desk 
once more.

     Skinner decided to take this opportunity to ask 
some questions of his own.  "So what have you been up 
to the past four years?"

     Mulder looked around the room warily, as if he was 
expecting someone to suddenly jump out at him.  Soon 
though he seemed to come to a decision.  "Tell you what, 
why don't you come over for dinner.  I can explain better 
there."  He reached back onto the desk and grabbed a 
piece of paper and a pen and began to write an address 
on there, with some simple directions.  "It's not too 
far, only about twenty minutes from here.  There'll be 
less chance of someone eavesdropping there.  Here people 
are always going in and out."


     Skinner took the paper.  It wouldn't hurt to go 
over for dinner, he'd probably find out more that way 
than any other.  He looked up at the clock, it was 4 
p.m. now.  "How does six sound?" he asked.

     "That sounds fine," Mulder said.

     Skinner nodded.  "I'll see you then," he said, 
and walked up the stairs and out of the room.  Mulder 
sighed and begin to gather up his papers.  He was going 
to have a lot of explaining to do when he got home if 
Skinner was going to come over tonight.  And most likely 
he was the one who was going to end up doing the cooking.

     About twenty minutes later his car was driving up 
the lane where his home now was.  Soon, the small 
stone-walled home came into sight, with the matching 
waist high stone walls surrounding the property.  He 
pulled into the driveway and opened the two car garage, 
surprised to find one of the spaces already filled.  He 
got out of the car and walked to the side door leading 
to the kitchen.

     The kitchen itself was small, just like the rest 
of the house, but it fulfilled all the functions of a 
kitchen, including plenty of space for many people to 
fit at the kitchen table.  The fading afternoon light 
shone through the windows, one facing the front street 
and the other facing the walled-in backyard, and giving 
the place a warm yellow glow.

     He crossed through the kitchen and the front hall 
to get to the slightly larger living/family room.  
Reclining on the couch, leaning against the arm so she 
could see out the window facing the backyard, was a woman 
with bright red hair burnished gold by the yellow light 
and paging through a medical journal.  Slowly Mulder 
crept up behind her and knelt down, wrapping his arms 
around her shoulders.  He could feel her smiling and 
she leant her head back against his chest.  "Hi Mulder," 
Dana Scully said, tilting her face up to him.

     He tilted his own face down and kissed her gently 
on the lips.  "Hey, Scully.  You're home early."

     "Dr. Gregory's daughter's in town from Edinburgh 
and he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible," 
Scully smiled, "he sent me home and said to the 
receptionist if anyone called with any emergencies to call 
him at home.  So I picked Mari up from daycare early and 
came home."

     "Where is Mari, by the way?" Mulder asked.

     Scully nodded towards the back window.  "Outside 
playing in the dirt."  Mulder got up from his kneeling 
position and walked over to the back window.  In the 
back yard a young girl of about three played around 
pretending to build miniature cities out of the mud 
and getting it all over her clothes.  Scully 
spoke from behind him and patted the couch down by 
her feet.  "Come here, tell me about your day."  
Mulder's face took on a rather uneasy look as he 
lowered himself onto the couch, moving Scully's 
feet onto his lap.  Scully saw the sudden expression 
on his face.  "What is it?" she asked.

     Mulder bit his lip and looked around the room, 
stalling for time.  Soon Scully's foot insistently 
kicking at him persuaded him to finally spill it.  
"I ran into an old acquaintance of ours today.  
Actually he found me, at the university."

     Scully sat up straighter and leaned towards 
him.  "Who was it?"

     Mulder took a deep breath, preparing himself 
for what he was about to say.  "It was Skinner."

     Her eyes almost bulged out of her head.  "You're 
kidding," she said.

     He shook his head.  "Nope."  

     "Why'd he come and visit like this out of nowhere?" 
Scully asked, the puzzlement clear on her face.

     "It was because of the vaccine.  It worked."  
Scully stared at him wide-eyed and he nodded in 
confirmation.  "There's something else though."  
He waited a few seconds before he told her the rest 
of the news.  "I uh, I also invited him over for 
dinner tonight."

     "You're not joking, are you?" she said.  

     Mulder shook his head again.  "He said he'd 
be here at six."

     Scully looked up at the VCR clock that was 
reading 4:45 now.  "Well it looks like you better 
get moving then, you've got a dinner to whip up," 
she smirked at him.

     Mulder laughed as he hauled himself off of the 
couch and headed for the kitchen.  "Somehow I saw 
that one coming," he laughed.

     A half an hour later Mulder had surprisingly 
managed to scrape up some dinner and even Scully 
had to admit it smelled pretty good.  The chicken 
was in the oven, the potatoes were baking along 
side it, and a fresh salad was prepared and 
waiting on the kitchen counter.

     Scully stared out the kitchen window facing the 
backyard, watching Mari still playing around.  "Maybe 
I should bring her inside now, start getting her 
cleaned up," she said thoughtfully.

     Mulder nodded, walking over next to her.  "Yeah, 
that's a good idea."  He paused for a second and then 
began to speak again.  "Skinner'll probably be in shock 
when he finds out about her."

     She looked up at him.  "Mulder, I was in shock when 
I found out about her."

     He wrapped his arms around her waist.  "So was I, 
but she's healthy and perfect so I'll just accept the 
miracle."

     She smiled and leaned her head back against his 
shoulder.  "Me too."  Scully reluctantly pulled out 
of Mulder's arms.  "I better go bring her in.  It'll 
take a half hour just to get all that mud off of her."  
She walked over to the side door and opened it, leaning 
out it to look into the back yard.  "Mari, time to come 
in," she called.  After a few minutes of standing there 
Scully sighed impatiently and called again.  "Mara, 
come here!"

     Soon the sound of little footsteps were heard 
on the little path in the backyard and in the doorway 
next to Scully appeared a little girl, although it was 
hard to distinguish that from all the layers of mud 
that covered her, from her small sneakers and jeans, 
the Yankees T-shirt that Mulder had specially ordered 
for her, her dark red hair and her wide grin.  Scully 
swept her up into her arms, not caring about the mud 
that was getting splattered on her own clothes.  "Come 
on," Scully said.  "It's time to get you cleaned up."

     "Why?" Mara Mulder whined.

     Mulder reached a hand over and tousled her hair, 
not minding the mud.  "Because we've got company coming 
over tonight and you have to be clean."

     Mara pouted.  "I don't wanna take a bath," she 
muttered.

     "Too bad," Scully said with a grin, and began to 
carry her out of the kitchen and up the stairs to get 
her cleaned up.

     Mulder sighed and sat down at the kitchen table.  
So many things had changed over the past four years, 
most of them for the better.  He was beginning to wonder 
if Skinner's visit was going to dredge up some unpleasant 
memories they'd both rather forget.  But he had to keep 
his mind on the good things, he now had a real future 
to look forward to, something that was nearly non-existent 
before.

     He sighed once more and began to pace around the 
kitchen, waiting for the doorbell to ring.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


     A little while later in Mara's bedroom Scully and 
Mara sat with Scully brushing out the little girl's 
long, wet, dark red hair.  "Why do I hafta wear a dress, 
Mommy?" Mara whined as she picked daintily at the dress 
Scully had lain out for her to wear.

     Scully grinned.  That sounded like a comment she 
herself would have made as a little kid.  She leaned 
down and pressed a kiss to her head.  "Because, Mari, 
and old-" here she hesitated a little bit "-friend of 
Mommy and Daddy's is coming over for dinner and we want 
you to look as nice as possible."

     "Why can't I wear my jeans?" she begged.

     "All your jeans are in the wash, and you look nice 
in a dress too," Scully said, smiling.  She realized that 
she always seemed to smile more when she was around her 
daughter and Mulder, two things a few years back she 
thought she'd never have.

     Scully put the hair brush down and began to pull 
Mara's hair back into a braid.  To tell the truth she 
was somewhat dreading Skinner's visit.  The past few 
years had been mundane compared to the rest of their 
lives, but they were very happy.  She didn't want to 
lose that now.

     Finally the braid was done and was dangling down 
Mara's back, leaving a wet patch on her undershirt.  
Scully picked the pretty blue dress with the green 
and white flowers up and slid it onto Mara.  "There.  
You look very nice," she said.

     Mara tugged at the collar of the dress with a 
pout.  "I don't like it."

     Scully slid off the bed and began to walk to her 
room.  "Come on, it's my turn to get changed.  You got 
mud all over me."  Mara giggled as she followed Scully.  
As she was picking out what pants and shirt she would 
wear she heard the doorbell ring downstairs, the door 
open and shut, and two voices talking, both familiar 
but one she hadn't heard in over four years.

     Mara listened intently for about half a minute 
and then said, "Is that your friend?"

     "Uh-huh," Scully said, tugging a fresh shirt over 
her head.  The other one she was wearing before had 
gotten splattered with mud and water while she was 
trying to bathe Mara.

     "I wanna meet 'em," she said and ran out of the 
room, heading towards the stairs.

     Scully sighed and sat down on the bed, trying to 
calm the nervous feeling in her stomach.  This one 
dinner tonight could change nearly everything they've 
known for the past four years.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

END OF PART ONE

Home and Free

Elizabeth L. Iacono

PART TWO

Disclaimer and the like in part one.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


     Mulder startled when he heard the doorbell ring, 
making him jump out of the seat at the kitchen table 
where he was sitting.  He took a deep breath and stood 
up.  It was now or never, he thought, and he went to 
open the front door to a part of his past he thought he 
left behind years ago.

     He opened the door to find Skinner standing there, 
still attired in his suit with a neutral expression on 
his face.  "Hi, Sir, come on in," Mulder said, standing 
back and holding the door open.

     Skinner walked into the entryway, unsure of what he 
should do or say.  He decided to start with something 
neutral.  "Uh, it took me longer than I thought to get 
here.  You're pretty out of the way here."

     Mulder shrugged.  "It's what I was looking for," he 
said.  The two men stood there at an impasse until the 
sound of fast footsteps echoed around the entryway.  
Skinner turned to the direction of the stairwell, 
where the footsteps were coming from, and stared.  
Standing about halfway down the stairs was a little 
girl of about three years old by his best guess, with 
wet hair that looked dark slicked back into a braid.  
He noticed the girl's eyes, colored somewhere between 
blue and green, darting back and forth between him and 
Mulder, who was also staring at her.

     Suddenly Mulder walked over to the foot of the 
stairwell and reached over to pick the little girl 
up into his arms.  He turned back to Skinner, and 
the girl eyed him fearfully and buried her head in 
Mulder's neck.  Mulder bent his head to talk to her.  
"Mara, this is Walter, that friend we were telling 
you about."  Mara tilted her head a little to reveal 
one eye that stared at him.  Then Mulder turned his 
attention back to Skinner.  "Sir, this is Mara, my 
daughter."

     Skinner's eyes went over to the little girl, who 
was still burying her head in Mulder's neck.  For the 
first time though, he noticed the thin silver band 
that was on Mulder's left ring finger.  As Mulder bent 
down to talk to Mara in quiet tones, Skinner did a 
little mental math.  By his estimation Mara couldn't 
be more than three years old and Mulder had only been 
gone for a little over four years.  And by the looks of 
the ring on his finger he was married, but given the 
other dates it was an awfully short time to find someone, 
get married, and have a child.  Unless he went with his 
original, and probably a hell of a lot more plausible, 
thoughts about who the mother was...

     Mulder's voice broke him out of his thoughts.  
"Sir, why don't we go into the kitchen, dinner should 
be almost ready."  As they turned to go into the kitchen 
Mara leaned over Mulder's shoulder and said to Skinner, 
"Watch out, he cooked."

     "You're not funny, Mara Jade," Mulder said as she 
giggled and Skinner rolled his eyes.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


     Scully stood at the head of the stairs, listening 
to Mara's introduction on the first floor.  As much 
as she wanted to go down and participate, she just 
couldn't get her feet to move.  She kept wondering 
what the reaction of Skinner would be to see her 
there.  Although she would have to wonder about his 
investigative skills if he didn't suspect that she 
was Mara's mother.

     After what seemed like forever she got her feet 
moving down the stairs.  One step at a time, heading 
towards the first floor, where the past waited.  Soon 
she was standing silently in the doorway to the kitchen 
watching Mara, Mulder, and Skinner, who was standing 
there a little awkwardly.  Scully could tell that he 
felt out of place here.  She listened Skinner speak 
to Mulder as he put the finishing touches on dinner.

     "So who's her mother?  She couldn't have just 
appeared here."

     Scully cleared her throat from the doorway, and 
both men turned.  She noticed Skinner's look of 
somewhat surprise and felt a smile spread across her 
face.  "Oh, come on, you can't be surprised," she said.  
With that comment everyone seemed to relax.

     Dinner went smoothly, keeping to relatively safe 
topics, but both Mulder and Scully knew that there 
were questions Skinner was dying to ask.  From his 
constant glances at Mara they guessed that many of 
the questions were about her.  Soon dinner was 
finished, the dishes loaded up in the dishwasher and 
they adjourned to the living room, with Mulder and 
Scully settling on the couch and Skinner in the 
armchair.  And that was where Skinner finally got 
the chance to ask the questions he'd been desperate 
to know for over four years.  "So why did you leave?" 
he said simply.

     Mulder and Scully shared a glance, as if they 
were trying to get their story straight.  In reality, 
they were just figuring out where to start.  "I guess 
it started after the El Rico case," Scully said, 
beginning the story.  "At that time, even though we'd 
gotten the X-Files back, things were looking pretty 
bleak.  From the looks of things no matter what we did 
we'd still be in trouble when the colonists came.  So 
we'd decided that soon, when the time was right that 
it would be time to leave and just start over.  At that 
point in time we'd been involved since the summer 
before that.

     "That time came right after the Brown Mountain 
case.  I don't know what it was about it but after 
that we just had to leave.  Within a month we had 
all the preparations made to leave.  But just in 
case we had managed to formulate a sort of vaccine 
against the black oil virus from our blood because 
we were both exposed to sorts of experimental 
versions of the vaccine.  After that it was just a 
matter of turning in our resignations."

     Here Mulder picked up the story.  "I've got a 
cousin in this area, and he helped us make living and 
job arrangements here after we left.  Scully 
re-certified with the medical boards and I got a 
teaching certification.  Pretty soon we'd severed 
all ties and settled here.  We also got married around 
that time too.  That was in June.

     "That October we found out that Scully was 
pregnant.  That was something we really didn't 
expect."  Mulder and Scully shared another glance 
here.  They knew that Skinner didn't know about 
Scully's infertility, it was something that was 
kept very quiet.  "And then the next June Mari was 
born.  Ever since then it's been pretty much like 
this.  Real quiet and, dare I say it, almost normal."

     Skinner sat back in the armchair.  The explanation 
was much more mundane than he had come to expect from 
the two of them, but it seemed to make sense.  In their 
new lives they seemed happier than they were before, 
hell, anyone would be considering the things they lived 
through anyone would be.  The family life seemed to fit 
them though, almost like the perfect reward after a time 
of hardship.

     Suddenly Mulder lifted his frame up off the chair.  
"C'mon, Mari," he said, bending down to the little girl's 
level who was playing with some dolls by the TV set.  
"It's time for you to go to bed."

     "Awww, do I hafta?" Mara whined.  "I'm not tired yet."

     "Yes you have to, Mara Jade," Mulder said as he 
picked her up.  He carried her over to Scully, who 
leaned up and kissed her on the cheek.

     "Good night, baby," Scully said.  "I'll be up to 
tuck you in in a little bit, okay?"

     "Kay," Mara said and kissed Scully back.  With 
that Mulder carried her upstairs to begin the bedtime 
routine that Mara always protested and dragged out for 
lengths of time.

     Here Skinner found, in the midst of this usually 
private family moment, an opening to speak.  "I'm 
guessing that Jade is Mara's middle name?"

     Surprisingly Scully laughed.  "No, her middle name 
is actually Rowan, but Mulder calls her Mara Jade after 
a character in a book he read a while back."

     From the expression on Scully's face he couldn't 
help but wonder just what kind of book Mulder had read.  
He was cut off though by Scully asking him a question.  
"Mulder had said something earlier that the reason you 
were trying to find us was something to do with the 
vaccine?"

     Skinner nodded.  "Yes.  The vaccine was reproduced 
and a world wide vaccination program was started.  A few 
months back we found out the vaccine worked because of a 
string of bee attacks.  Bees from each site were found 
to carry the virus but there were no deaths from the 
virus.  The only deaths were from bee sting related 
anaphylactic shock.  After that I heard from our 
cigarette smoking friend that colonization was 
indefinitely stopped."

     "Wow," Scully said, impressed and echoing Mulder's 
comment from earlier that day.  "I'm incredibly happy 
that it was useful," she sighed, almost at a loss 
for words.

     Skinner glanced at his watch.  "It's getting 
pretty late, I should get going if I'm going to 
find my way back to my hotel anytime soon."

     "Well it was great having you come visit," Scully 
said honestly as she went to retrieve his coat from the 
hall closet.  Skinner got up and followed her into the 
entry way as Scully continued speaking.  "Will you be 
keeping in touch?" she asked.

     "I think so," he said as he pulled the coat on.  
"Tell Mulder I said goodnight."  He pulled open the 
front door.

     "Will do," Scully smiled.

     Skinner turned back to her in the doorway, a 
sudden thought striking him.  "I was wondering if 
I could tell your mother about this visit.  I've 
stayed somewhat in contact with her and I know she's 
been very worried about you."

     Scully bit her lip.  She wanted to keep the 
privacy they had attained over the years.  But she 
knew with this one visit from Skinner would be the 
start of their re-introduction into the lives they 
had run away from.  So he might as well just tell 
them.  "Okay," she nodded.  "You can tell her."

     "Okay," Skinner said.  "Goodnight."  And with 
that he walked out the door.  In the car on the way 
back to the hotel he thought about what he would say 
to Mrs. Scully.  He was pretty damned sure that she 
wasn't going to expect this, married with a child 
leading normal lives.  Hell, he himself was expecting 
something along the lines of constantly running from 
the shadow government.

     Once back in his room he checked the clock.  
Given the time difference it should be about late 
afternoon back in the states.  Mrs. Scully should 
hopefully be home.  He picked up the receiver and 
dialed the long string of numbers for an international 
call.  "Mrs. Scully?" he said when someone picked up.  
"You're not going to believe what I found...."


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


December 21, 2003
Scully-Mulder household


     The brightly decorated Christmas tree cast a 
wonderful glow over the living room.  Mara jumped up 
and down excitedly, looking out the front window into 
the night-darkened road every five seconds.  "When're 
they gonna be here Mommy?" she asked Scully when she 
walked in the room.

     "Soon," Scully smiled as she nervously adjusted 
a picture frame on the mantle.  Mulder walked up behind 
her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

     "Calm down," he whispered in her ear.  What had 
happened what this.  Shortly after Skinner had called 
Scully's mother her mother called them up, and Scully 
had told her mostly everything, leaving out some of the 
more extraterrestrial parts of the story.  Maggie 
Scully was very surprised about the existence of Mara, 
especially after they had originally learned that Scully 
wasn't going to be able to have children.  But she was 
surprised and very happy for the two of them.  One of 
the things she wasn't surprised about was that Scully 
and Mulder were together.  She'd known they were made 
for each other from years back.

     They'd kept in touch too, and somewhere along the 
line Christmas plans were made.  Eventually it was 
decided that Maggie, Scully's brother Charles, his 
wife Lydia and their two kids would come and spend 
Christmas there in Scotland with them.  Bill refused 
to go with them on the grounds of "She ran off with 
that son of a bitch?!?  Why the hell would she do 
that?..." and the tirade went on.  Mulder had invited 
his mother too, but she was spending Christmas on a 
cruise with her sister.  It was going to be a tight 
squeeze, Mulder and Scully didn't have that much 
space for guests in their little house, but they 
managed to make a plan that would fit everyone in there.

     And now, they were all due at the house shortly.  
Mara was jumping excitedly to see the relatives she 
was going to meet.  Scully was prowling around 
nervously, wondering what was going to happen when 
she saw her mother for the first time in four years.  
And Mulder was there trying to calm both of them down, 
for once having the cool head in the situation.
     "Mommy, Daddy, I think that's them!" Mara exclaimed 
as a pair of headlights turned into their driveway.

     Scully turned in Mulder's arms and looked at him, 
one corner of her mouth turned up in a smile.  "Well, 
here goes nothing," she said.

     Mulder leaned down and kissed her sweetly on the 
lips.  "Everything'll be okay, you'll see."

     The doorbell rang and Scully's head whipped 
around.  "I'll get that," she said.  She reluctantly 
slipped out of Mulder's arms and walked to the front 
door, watching Mara run past her to Mulder.  She stood 
by the door with her hand on the knob, composing 
herself for what was about to come.  Then, she slowly 
opened the door to reveal her mother's smiling face.

     "Hi, Dana," Maggie said, and the two women hugged 
as if no time had passed at all.

     "Hi, Mom," Scully said, hugging her mother tightly.  
"Where's Charles and Lydia?" she asked when they had 
pulled back.

     "They're getting all our things out of the car.  
I came in ahead of them."  Maggie stepped back.  "Let 
me get a good look at you."  Her eyes appraised Scully 
in that way only a mother could.  "Oh, you look great 
honey."

     "Thanks Mom," Scully smiled.

     "Now when am I going to meet my granddaughter?" 
Maggie asked, grinning.

     "This way, Mom."  Scully led her into the living 
room, where Mulder was standing with Mara behind him 
holding tightly to his leg.

     "Hello, Fox," Maggie said, the smile still not 
budging from her face.

     "Hi, Mrs. Scully," Mulder said almost bashfully, 
as if he were twelve years old again.

     "I think it's safe to say that you can call me 
'mom' now, no matter what Bill says," Maggie said.

     "Well that may take a little getting used to but 
I'll certainly try," Mulder said.

     "And who is this?" Maggie asked, bending down to 
look at Mara still clutching Mulder's leg.

     Scully knelt down next to her.  "Mara, this is 
your grandma, I've been telling you about her.  Mom, 
this is Mara Rowan Mulder."

     "Hi," Mara said, waving a little hello.

     "I'm very pleased to meet you," Maggie grinned.  
"Hey, do you like dolls?" Maggie asked, knowing exactly 
what to ask.

     Mara's eyes lit up.  "Yeah, I've got lots.  You 
wanna see them?" she asked, releasing her grip on 
Mulder's leg.

     "I'd love to," Maggie said.  Mara grabbed her 
hand and led her upstairs, with Maggie turning around 
to shoot Scully a wide grin.

     Mulder took Scully in his arms once more.  "That 
went well," he said.

     "Yeah, it did," Scully agreed, smiling up at him.

     "Still nervous?" Mulder asked.

     "No.  I have a feeling that everything is going 
to be wonderful," she smiled.

     "Good," Mulder grinned, and leaned down to kiss 
her again.  They pulled apart when they heard Charles 
and his family coming through the door, a loud, raucous 
and happy bunch.  Soon they were all gathered around 
the living room, celebrating the way things should be 
celebrated.  Together.


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I hope you liked it!  And I hope any Star Wars fans 
caught the book reference, I think she's a pretty 
cool character. ;)


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'True love, it's the
greatest thing in
the world.'

Miracle Max
The Princess Bride

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'Men will fight bravely
and be heroes, but for
a last ditch defense 
against any odds...get
a mother.'

Lightbringer
High Wizardry

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