He has spent his Saturday afternoon running errands, and going for a jog. When he returns home he grabs the mail, and heads inside. He carries items from the hardware store through the entryway, and places them on the tile. He tosses the mail on the kitchen table, and heads into the living room. He finds Scully lying on the couch on her side, sound asleep. Her book is lying on the floor, and her hand is place against her abdomen. She is still wearing her glasses. He takes a seat in the armchair that is adjacent to the couch. He sits is silence, for several moments taking it all in.
This whole situation feels foreign to him. He never would have imagined residing in a home in suburban Virginia. He never would have considered that he would succeed in convincing her to be with him. He shares her home, and they share a life. Soon, he reminds himself, they will be joined by a new life. A little girl, who he suspects will have him wrapped around his finger in an instant. He vacates his seat, and shifts into a squatting position. He squats between the couch, and the coffee table. He knows that when she wakes up she will chide him for being a creep. He takes the risk anyway.
She is dressed in unusually casual attire. She wears sweat pants, and his Georgetown t-shirt, both of which are in various shades of gray. He realizes he has always been so busy chasing some big bad that he never considered this. He never allowed his mind to wander to the possibility of a lazy Saturday afternoon here with his true love. This normal life seems more magical to him that he had previously considered. He grins thinking about her lying on the couch, pregnant with their child. He feels a pang of guilt, and regret for the experiences he missed in the past through faults of his own. He presses his hand to her abdomen. He feels movement under his hand. A hand then presses against his.
"Mulder, what are you doing?" She questions as she holds her hand over his.
He looks over at her, "Nothing."
"I was asleep," she points out.
"I didn't mean to disturb you."
"We were both resting," she adds.
"She wanted to you to wake up," he insists.
He rises from his position on the floor. She shifts into a sitting position. He takes a seat on the couch, next to her.
"Did you finish the errands?" She queries.
"I did," he nods, with a pensive look on his face.
"What did you do?" She quizzes.
"Nothing," he answers with a look of guilt on his face.
"Something," she argues.
"I bought something for the baby."
"You got the paint?"
"I did get the paint, but that was not what I was referring to."
"What did you get?"
He temporarily leaves the room. He returns with a paper bag with handles. He offers it to her. She reaches inside, and pulls out an object wrapped in tissue paper.
"What is it?"
"You have to open it," he tells her.
She carefully unwraps the object. When she removes all the tissue paper she finds a music box. She looks up at him, and grins.
"It's perfect."
He sits on the arm of the chair, next to the couch.
"I think that you should open it," he suggests.
"Open it?"
He points to the drawer that pulls out in order for the music to play.
"Do you want me to wind it up?"
"That isn't necessary," he tells her.
"Is there something in the drawer?"
"Dana, just open it," he insists.
She nods as she eyes him suspiciously. She pulls open the drawer, and finds a ring inside.
"What's this?"
"You fell asleep pretty early last night," he points out.
"I am a geriatric pregnant woman."
"My point is, it gave me a chance to have an important discussion."
"With whom?"
"Our daughter," he answers.
She shakes her head in disbelief, "What did she have to say?"
"She reminded me that neither you, nor myself are getting any younger."
"Thank you for that."
"It is time that we put childish things away, Scully."
She furrows her brow, "What are you talking about?
"Notions that this," he holds up the ring, "isn't necessary. Dana, it is time."
"What are you saying?"
"We should stop living in sin, we are not in our twenties. We should make things official."
"You want me to marry you?"
He nods, "Would that be so bad?"
"Is this you trying to propose to me?"
"I would like very much if you would marry me. I would like nothing more than you, Dana Katherine Scully to become my wife."
"Ugh," she groans, "You are terrible at being sappy."
"I really appreciate that you are allowing your hormones to do the talking," he jokes.
"It is true."
"Scully, I know that you have your reservations, and for very valid reasons. I just think that it is time that I make you Misses Mulder. You are having my child, and your mother wouldn't approve if you don't marry me, and you give birth to another child out of wedlock."
"When you say it like that it sounds so appealing, and also very unlikely."
"Will you marry me, or not?"
She grins, "Only because of the potential consequences."
He slips the ring on her finger, "That brings me to another very important point. Scully, we told our Skinner."
"I recall, that was just last week."
"We still haven't told your mother."
"I don't know how to tell her."
"I suggest over food."
"Thanks, I hadn't considered that."
"Pizza sounds pretty good," he adds.
"For lunch?"
"I ordered pizza for lunch," he admits.
"When will it be here? I am getting hungry."
"Any minute."
The doorbell rings.
"Scully, can you get that?" Mulder questions.
She shoots him a look. He fishes his wallet out, and hands her money.
"That isn't what the look is for," she admits.
"Please," he implores her.
She shakes her head, and vacates her seat on the couch. She moves towards the door. She pulls the door open, and finds her mother standing in the doorway.