Chapter 7
Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with the X-Files, I do own this story but am not making any profit from it.
" Guess what came for you in the post" Dana commented as she stomped up the stairs towards the lounge room
" What?" Mulder asked, not taking his eyes off the television
" Well from the writing I would say that it's a Birthday present from Mum and Missy."
This information was enough to peak Mulder's interest and tear his eyes momentarily from the game on TV, " What is it?"
" Don't know" Dana answered, throwing the package his way, " Open it and find out"
" Yes Maam" Mulder saluted, before ripping into the package
" Letter" He grabbed the envelope marked 'Dana' and tossed it back at her, " Card" he opened it, scanned the contents and smiled. It read 'this gift is full of memories.' Intrigued he pulled out the gift, it was a videotape.
" Dana" He waved the tape in front of her, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
A small grin turned up the corners of her mouth, "All those times Missy had her camera in everybody's face."
" It's all going to come back and haunt us on my birthday." He finished wish a nod
Nicole had been curiously watching the exchange instead of the game for the last five minutes
" Can we watch it now?" she begged
" Louis?" Mulder asked the only person still interested in the television. Louis lifted his eyes from the screen and saw that everyone was looking at him expectantly.
" Oh okay" he gave in reluctantly, " But only because it's your birthday"
Mulder stood and put the tape in the VCR, pressing play and then settling back onto the couch with Dana.
The first scene that came on was Mulder, Bill and Charlie playing basketball in the Scully's backyard. Mulder shot past Charlie and the ball went flying through the hoop.
" Nothing but net" Mulder commented to the room as the camera panned over to the tables and chairs on the patio where Dana and Mulder's girlfriend sat. Dana looked like she was cheering the boys on, and whenever Mulder shot her a smile the girl beside her shot her a death stare.
" Who is that?" Nicole asked
" That " Dana answered, " Was Anna McLean, Fox's girlfriend at the time."
" She doesn't seem to like you very much" Nicole remarked
" She was jealous" Mulder answered, " That I was closer to Dana then her. She didn't seem to understand that at that time Dana was like a sister to me."
" I was 13 years old" Dana added, " How insecure can a girl be?"
Back on the screen the ball went flying towards Dana who deftly caught it and made a run for it. All three boys chased after her, tackling her to the ground. The camera was set down on the table and Melissa ran out from behind ti to jump on top.
Dana laughed, " Nothing's changed."
The next couple of minutes were of similar events, the boys throwing the girls in the pool, snowball fights in full blaze and then a candid interview with Mulder when he was roughly 17.
" Fox Mulder"
" Melissa Scully"
" Who is your favourite Scully?"
" Bill"
" Why do you say that?"
" Because I value my life" Mulder replied
" Wimp" Melissa muttered
Mulder raised his eyebrow
" And who is the prettiest Scully?"
" Your mum" Mulder grinned
" That's only because she's sighting right there."
" So are you and Dana"
Melissa ignored him and continued on, " Why do you like our family so much?"
" Because you're all as crazy as me."
" Mulder!" Dana's voice rang out
" Okay, another reason hmmm…." Mulder made a big deal out of pondering the question before turning serious and admitting, " I'm comfortable with all you guys, you took em in. For once I feel like I belong."
" You do belong Fox" Mrs. Scully's voice answered from off camera. Mulder smiled a sad yet content smile before the camera clicked off.
When the black screen flicked back on both Dana and Mulder gasped. It was a moment that they both remembered well, but would never have believed that it had actually been recorded.
" She didn't!" Dana exclaimed
" I think she might well have." Mulder confirmed
Louis and Nicole watched with more interest as a younger Dana and Mulder splashed into the ocean, Mulder picked her up and then threw her into the depths, only to be tackled himself a few minutes later.
The camera zoomed in as far as it could go to capture when Mulder had realised that the girl who was half wrapped around him was no longer a gangly little girl but a full bodied young woman. They stared at one another and then Dana dipped her head and kissed him quickly on the lips, Mulder kissed her back and with the blink of an eye she was gone. Melissa panned back and saw that she was running back to shore, Mulder still knee deep in water as he stared after her in shock. The only thing that snapped him back to reality was the boys emerging from the trees behind Dana.
Melissa turned the camera back on herself and remarked, " Well well, lil sis and Fox, this could be interesting. To be continued….."
Mulder pressed pause and turned to look at Dana " She knew before anyone." He acknowledged
" Doesn't she always?" Dana half laughed, seeing the humour in the situation
" So" Nicole began, " I take it we just witnessed the first kiss of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully?"
" Yep" Mulder confirmed, " My bestfriend's little sister jumped me."
" Excuse me!" Dana exclaimed
Mulder chuckled again at her face and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, " I would have done it if you hadn't" He reassured
" Okay, okay you two" Nicole exclaimed, " I want to see what happens next."
" Yeh, me too." Louis echoed. Even he had the good grace to blush as everyone turned to regard him with incredulous looks, " What?" He defended, " This Melissa chick is hot!"
Mulder laughed and pressed play once more before Dana could attack Louis for his comment about her sister.
This time there was some commentary from the family about what they thought of Mulder – starting with Melissa holding the camera on herself.
" Mulder…hmmm, now where do I start?" She mused, " Mulder's like a brother to us, it's hard to remember a time when he wasn't around. Even though he's normally off with Dana and the boys, I still feel like we have a certain repartee. I think we share the same level of maturity."
" Oh, I am so much more mature than her!" Mulder pouted as the screen changed to Bill and Charlie
" Mulder's our man!" they yelled and then frantically looked at the camera and asked, " What else are we meant to say?"
Dana burst out laughing
" Oh yeh, he's an awesome baseball and basketball player and a good mate" Bill announced
" Don't make us get all soppy Mis" Charlie complained as Melissa hissed at them to say more. With a sigh from behind the camera the screen went black and reappeared with Dana replacing her brothers.
" Is Mulder hot?" Melissa asked
" Missy!" Dana blushed, " That's not what you were asking the boys!"
" Well it would have been a bit weird if I had" Melissa commented
Dana rolled her eyes
" So is he hot?" Melissa repeated
" Of course he is" Dana gave in
Melissa panned the camera over tot eh pool where Mulder was stripping down to his swimming trunks, " Exhibit A"
Nicole wolf whistled and Mulder's face reddened from the attention. Reluctantly Melissa panned back to Dana and continued,
" Is he a good kisser?"
Dana heaved a sigh of frustration and got up from her seat, "I'm leaving"
The camera followed her as she walked out the glass doors and over to
the pool where Mulder was. He patted the side and she sat down in front of him. There was a brief conversation before he grabbed hold of her hands and pulled her fully dressed into the water with him. Her bikini top showed through her t-shirt, proving that he'd known her well enough to know that she always wore her swimsuit under her clothes in summer. She splashed around for a minute, complaining about the state of her drenched clothes before he pulled her in to kiss him. Wet clothing immediately forgotten she kissed him back.
" And there we have Exhibit B" Melissa stated for the camera before it once again faded to black.
The rest of the video continued on with the same kind of things. a few basketball games, two senior proms, the move to college and more recent hellos from the family. When it finally ended and Mulder hit stop they all sat staring at the blank TV for a minute.
" Well" Nicole remarked
" Welcome to my life" Mulder answered, pulling the video from the VCR and putting it on the shelf.
" That was actually kind of sweet, in a very Melissa way." Dana offered
" Yeh, it was thoughtful" Nicole agreed, " And I bet you never realised that you had half of it on tape for future reference."
" That's for sure," they both laughed
" She sounds like an interesting chick" Louis commented
" That she is" Mulder confirmed
" Maybe you'll meet her one day Louis" Nicole teased
" I wouldn't put it past Melissa to one day turn up unannounced" Dana joked
" Well we only have a couple of weeks till we're going back there for the holidays anyway. I'm sure she can hold out." Mulder responded, " Come on, let's work out what's for lunch."
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So so sorry that it has taken me so long to update my fics, I have no real excuse except that I have been very lazy and that my mind has been finding it hard to concentrate in the summer heat. Hopefully these two chapters make sense and line up with the others and we all don't have to read the first 6 over again to understand where we're at. I decided we needed a little angst in the next chapter as well cause things were getting just a little bit too perfect. Please read and review
