"Here we go," the woman said with a smile, causing Mulder to look up from the necklaces he was admiring, smiling as he walked toward her.
"Great," he grinned, as he saw the small gold ring on the cloth covered board in her hands. She set it down, and he picked up the ring. Turning it, he saw the inscription he had ordered and he grinned. "It's perfect, thank you so much, Martha. It looks wonderful." She grinned at him, and he smiled back at her.
"The font you picked looks perfect in it too, with it being such a delicate band," she said, as she looked at it with him. "She'll love it." He nodded, still grinning. Setting it down, he looked at her again, and laughed softly.
"Thank you for all your help, truly. Now, let's see about a box. Oh, also there was something else I wanted to check out," he said, as they began to search for the perfect ring box.
Ten minutes later, he had the ring in a small antique oval box. It was leather and nearly slate blue in color, with tiny gemstones around the top and bottom edge. The cream color inside made him think of Faith's bedroom walls. He knew it was the right box as soon as he saw it. He also bought a pair of cufflinks to wear for the wedding, and he could not stop grinning as he left the store.
Getting in the car, he set his items down on the passenger seat. He waved to Martha as she stood in the doorway of the shop, and she smiled and waved back. Heading down the road, he continued to smile as he glanced at the bag beside him.
The day he picked out Scully's engagement ring, he also chose a simple delicate gold band to go with it. They were not an actual set, but they fit well and looked good together. He laughed as he realized the same could be said of the two of them, so the rings he picked, had been fitting.
After Scully said yes, he decided he wanted the wedding ring engraved with something special to him. He thought about it for awhile, finally settling on the perfect thing. He took the ring back to Martha and they discussed options, coming up with the perfect font and placement for the inscription. She had not asked what the significance was, even though he knew she wanted to know. He kept it to himself, however, and he smiled again, happy with how it all turned out.
Lost in his thoughts, the sign for a salad and sandwich place they liked, came into view. Pulling over, he parked the car with the plan to call Scully, and see what she would like to eat. His gaze landed on the bag of items as he turned off the car. Reaching for it, he took out the ring box once more, needing to see it. He took out the ring and held it, reading the inscription again.
January 1999 … March 2018
He smiled as he thought of the significance of the dates to him. He told Scully in an email a few years ago, that January of '99 was when he knew beyond any doubt that she was it for him forever. Of course he knew it already, but when she had been paired with Agent Ritter, and subsequently shot by him. Without Mulder there by her side to help her, it had been a wake up call.
A gunshot to her stomach, a long surgery to wait through with the anger inside him building as he watched Agent Ritter pacing across the waiting area with Scully's blood, literally and figuratively on his hands. He nearly lost her, and he was ready to beat Agent Ritter to death for the hurt and pain he caused Scully.
She healed, surprisingly quickly, to the astonishment of her doctors. Agent Ritter apologized and then hightailed it out of the hospital when he saw and heard Mulder's anger. Once he was gone, Mulder did not give him another thought, his focus only on Scully.
Visiting her, staying in a nearby hotel to remain close, bringing her flowers and silly things from the gift shop, he tried to tell her what he could not yet vocalize, his fear and worry too close to the surface. Instead, he tried to make her laugh, told her outlandish stories that made her roll her eyes, and challenged her to different card games to which he gladly accepted defeat when she beat him every single time.
Her mother would have done it, but he insisted on taking her home when she was well enough to leave. He even went so far as to drive her the long distance back home, allowing her to be more comfortable in a car, instead of cramped in an airplane.
Watching her, as she lay in the passenger seat, softly singing along with the radio, he fell over the edge he had been teetering on, and he did not look back. He loved her and he knew it, he just needed to wait and find the right way and time to tell her.
It took them a few years to arrive where they had inevitably always been headed, but the realization was enough to stick with him as the moment. His eye-opening moment being symbolic enough, that he put it on a ring she would now wear forever.
March 2018, he thought with a smile, when they finally got their shit together. Two years apart. Two years that nearly broke him, and would have done so were it not for the love and support of Mrs. Scully. He shook his head as he thought of all she did for him during those years, when he was not always sure which way was up.
Two years apart and then two years thrown back together, working side-by-side at the bureau but not being together. Two years of seeing her, watching her smile, smelling her familiar scent, but unable to touch or kiss her. Some days he was not sure if it was worse to be apart, or close enough to touch but unable to do so. Two goddamn years being right beside her before she came to him after a bad dream and laid beside him. On that night, she spoke of her fears in the hope he would assuage them, before turning to him with the smile he had missed for nearly four years. The one that held secrets but also answered any questions he could ever think to ask.
Then, the night in the church, the one in which they would be married in a weeks time, they put it all on the line, every worry, fear, and hope. They cried and began the journey back to one another. The past would stay in the past. No more darkness, only honesty and openness.
He shook his head and sighed, looking at the words and dates again, before putting the ring safely back in the box and reaching for his phone. As he did, it beeped with a message from Scully, causing him to shake his head. Their connection was so strong that it blew his mind.
Are you planning to return home to your hungry family anytime soon?
He read the message upon unlocking the phone, finding a picture of a grinning Faith, and a skeptical eyebrowed Scully below it. He grinned as he quickly typed out a response.
Just pulled into Lulu's. ❤️ You want the usual?
He watched the ellipsis, waiting for her answer. Three drooling emoji faces appeared, and he laughed. Putting his phone and the small bag in his pocket, he went inside and ordered their food. As he waited for it, he took out his phone and looked at the picture of them again. He smiled as he saved it and then set it as his wallpaper.
He looked at Scully's expression, one he had seen a million times. Then he looked at Faith, and her beautiful cheesy grin. She loved to see herself as they took pictures. It always made her laugh, which ensured they would get a good photo of her.
God, he thought, shaking his head, his love for them immeasurable.
His order number was called and he took the bags of food out to the car. Setting them on the backseat, he placed the iced teas in the cup holders, and headed for home.
He turned on the radio, set to some station Scully seemed to like a lot these days. It was not his usual choice for music, but it was mellow enough that it had the added bonus of putting Faith to sleep. It gave them a chance to sit and talk, watching the sun go down, or make out as they had done one night, just as the stars came out.
Sitting in the driveway, Scully took off her seatbelt, looked over the car seat, making sure Faith was indeed asleep, and then climbed into his lap and kissed him senseless.
He had just gotten to second base, when Faith woke up and demanded to get out of her car seat with a loud cry. Scully had kissed him once more, taken his hand from inside her bra, whispered 'soon' in his ear, climbed off his lap and got out of the car.
He stayed outside in the car while they went into the house. He had to wait to join them until he could walk comfortably. When he finally walked in, Scully had laughed, but her eyes flashed with desire when they met his, and he knew soon would be worth the wait.
He chuckled as he thought that while not his favorite radio station, he would not complain about it when it meant they experienced moments like that together. When her kiss made his blood race and her desire for him caused him to forget to breathe for a second.
He shook his head as a new song started, one he faintly recognized, and he turned up the volume, trying to see if he did know it.
She's a whistle on the wind
A feather on the breeze
A ripple on the stream
She is sunlight on the sea
She's a soft summer rain
Falling gently through the trees
And I love her
He exhaled and smiled, turning it up a bit more as he listened more intently.
She's cunning as a fox
Clever as a crow
Solid as a rock
She is stubborn as a stone
She's a hardheaded woman
And the best one that I know
And I love her
Yeah, well I love her
God, this could be written for Scully, he thought with a shake of his head. Everything said described her perfectly: hardheaded and yet the best woman he knew … that was his Scully.
She's as new as the springtime
Strong as autumn blows
Warm as the summer
And soft as the snow
She's a thousand miles from here
But she's everywhere I go
'Cause I love her
She loves me like a woman
She looks like a lady
She laughs like a child
And cries like a baby
I think that maybe she's the one that's gonna save me
He exhaled again, taking a deep breath as he shook his head, and blinked his suddenly wet eyes. Laughing softly at himself, he sped up, eager to get home to the woman who had indeed saved him.
A thousand times over.