Friday, 5 September 2014
Scully Residence
7:45 pm
The rest of dinner went as well as Dana could have anticipated it to. Her family had insisted that she and Fox spend some time talking with them in the family room after dinner and, despite Dana wishing to spend some time talking with Mulder alone, they followed them into the family room.
Now, nearly an hour later, Dana looked over to Fox while Charlie argued with their parents about Sarah coming for Thanksgiving (which was still too far away for him to worry about it, in her opinion). Hannah had crawled into his lap a half hour ago and was now cuddled in close against his chest, Fox gently resting his cheek on the baby's head as he rubbed her back. The scene caused a smile to grow on Dana's face; she almost hated to disturb it, but she reached out to gently touch her boyfriend's arm regardless.
"Fox," she whispered softly. He raised his head slowly to look up at her, returning the smile he saw Dana giving him. "Looks like it's time for bed," she added softly, gently rubbing his arm.
A look of confusion and alarm crossed Fox's face. "Wh-what?" he stuttered, causing Dana to blush furiously when she realized how he had taken the words. She let out a small, awkward laugh and shook her head, nodding to Hannah in his arms. The girl was sucking her thumb and trying to fight sleep, her eyes occasionally fluttering shut and then snapping back open again. "Ohh..." Fox whispered in understanding, visibly relaxing.
Dana smiled and nodded, standing and gently lifting Hannah from his arms. She cradled her daughter for a moment, swaying gently with her and hushing her softly as she whimpered. Brushing her curls back from the baby's forehead as she quieted down once more, she leaned in to kiss her, holding her close. Dana looked to her mother, catching her eye and then nodding to the stairs to let her know that she was heading up with Hannah. A moment later, she turned to leave the room, leaving Fox sitting there awkwardly, unsure of whether or not he was supposed to follow her. "Fox," heard, looking up to see Dana watching him questioningly from the doorway. "Are you coming?"
A moment later, she turned to leave the room, leaving Fox sitting there awkwardly, unsure of whether or not he was supposed to follow her. "Fox," heard, looking up to see Dana watching him questioningly from the doorway. "Are you coming?"
Breathing a sigh of relief, Fox jumped up and followed his girlfriend up the stairs to the nursery. He stopped in the doorway when they got there, smiling as he studied the room. The entire thing was Winnie the Pooh themed—not the newer characters from the Disney cartoon, but the old hand-drawn book characters. The walls were painted to fit the theme, with a tree added in beside the white crib with a branch extended over it. Pooh himself sat on the branch over the crib with Piglet beside him, honey dripping from the pot he held. Finally, his eyes landed on the rocking chair in the corner Dana had moved to sit in, cradling the sleepy one-year-old in her arms while she rocked.
"You wore her out..." she whispered with a smile as the girl fell asleep against her chest. "I don't even have to read to her tonight."
Fox smiled softly, letting his eyes wander over the nursery once more as he approached the chair. "Did you do this?" he asked quietly as he came to a stop beside the chair.
Looking up, Dana gave him a smile and shook her head. "I cannot draw or paint to save my life," she explained with a quiet chuckle, careful not to disturb her sleeping daughter. "My sister Melissa did it. Mom helped. I wasn't allowed to even step foot in here until they had finished it. They even locked the door."
Fox sat down on the floor next to the chair, gently touching Hannah's soft curls. "That's understandable," he said softly. "Aren't pregnant women not supposed to be around paint fumes?"
Dana looked to him in surprise at those words. "Yeah, uh...yeah that's true. It's best to take precautions and have someone else do the painting," she confirmed, baffled he had known something like that. "But they painted it after she was born. Since I had been considering adoption on and off during my pregnancy, there was really no point in getting a nursery ready before her birth."
Fox nodded slowly, watching her stand and move to the changing table to change Hannah's diaper and put her in pyjamas. "I remember you mentioning that," he said softly.
"They started it while we were still in the hospital. We were kept for a few extra days since she was early; the doctors wanted to make sure she was actually okay to go," Dana explained, gently lifting a now pyjama-clad Hannah and carrying her to the crib. "They didn't want me to know at all until it was done, but I had made a panic when I got home and realized that I actually had nothing for Hannah." She chuckled and shook her head. "The only way Mom was able to calm me down was telling me that they had started getting the room across from mine ready for her and that they had set up a bassinet in my room for her first few weeks."
Smiling at the story, Fox stood slowly from the floor. "It's nice that they did that for you," he said softly. "They really could have just bought a crib and a few things and put it in a plain old room, but they went all out."
Dana nodded and smiled. "Mom and Missy were always the artsy ones, so I think they enjoyed the project," she smiled, leaning over to tuck a blanket securely around Hannah in the crib and then press a gentle kiss to her forehead.
"Sweet dreams, little one," she whispered, pressing one more kiss to her head. When she turned around to look at Fox, she caught him watching her exchange with her daughter again and smiled. "You've really enjoyed watching me with her tonight, haven't you?" she asked in a soft whisper, stepping into his arms and wrapping her own around his torso.
Smiling, Fox held her close to him, resting his chin on her head gently. "It's beautiful," he whispered. "I knew how much you loved her just from the way you spoke of her, but seeing the love you have while you get her ready for bed, or clean her up for dinner...it's a whole other level." He pulled back slightly and looked down at her. "You're amazing, Dana," he whispered as he gently raised her head to look at him with a finger under her chin.
For a moment, the two remained silent; simply communicating through the eye contact they were currently making was enough for them. The intensity and emotion Dana saw in Fox's eyes caused her to blush, eventually causing her to look away. "Do you want to head across the hall so we can talk a little more?" She asked him softly, allowing herself to make eye contact with him again.
Gently, he brushed a lock of Dana's red hair behind her ear, causing her breath to catch and her tongue to make a brief swipe over her lips. "Can I say goodnight to her?" Fox asked softly, nodding toward the crib where Hannah was sleeping.
A look of surprise crossed Dana's face, quickly followed by a small smile as she gave him a nod. She watched as he moved past her and back to the crib, his hand gently reaching into the crib to brush Hannah's short curls away gently. "Thanks for sharing your toys with me tonight, Hannah," she heard him whisper. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to prevent herself from laughing at his choice of words. "Sweet dreams." The vision of Fox Mulder leaning in and giving her daughter a small kiss on the forehead cured her urge to laugh. A feeling of awe overcame her and she felt unexpected tears sting her eyes. This man that she had just met four days before had just given her daughter a goodnight kiss; he had played with her after dinner, and let her fall asleep on him when the playing finally wore her out.
This man she had known for five days had just acted like the closest thing Hannah would ever have to a father.
"You okay?"
Dana jumped a little and looked up to find Fox now standing in front of her. "Yeah," she breathed quietly, quickly wiping her hands over her face when she realized her tears had actually fallen. "Yeah, I'm just fine." She gave him a smile and gently took his hands. "Just...thank you. You've been so kind to her all night. You didn't...I hope I didn't make you feel like you had to kiss her goodnight."
Fox gave her a smile and wiped a few more tears from Dana's cheeks. "I wanted to," he told her softly. "You've got a wonderful little girl, Dana. I can't explain it, but I felt like it was something I should do. It's like how I can't explain why I feel so close to you already. I feel a connection with the two of you."
Taking in a shaky breath, Dana gave him a smile and nodded. "Thank you," she whispered again, leaning in to press a kiss to his lips.
She wouldn't say this to him yet, but it almost felt as if they were a little family for a few moments.
Sorry this one took so long, guys. I started a three-week course last week that has kept me busier than the one I completed before it. It's almost over, and I'm going to try as hard as I can to keep updates coming when Fall semester starts up again.
