Location: Apartment No. 35, 3170 West 53 Rd, Maryland

Time: 7.16 pm

She sat beside him with a child-like excitement wondering what could be the gift he has chosen for her with this much of care. It was rather a big box, much like an expensive shirt box, covered with black tissue and adorned with a deep purple bow. For her surprise, it was very light, much lighter to take it as a box of chocolates either.

Slowly she un-wrapped the tissues, by taking away the bow carefully. For the second time, her jaws dropped with much surprise as she saw the gold lettering and the much familiar logo pressed against the smooth glossy surface of the box. Mulder was thoughtful enough to buy her lingerie, not any lingerie but some expensive posh lingerie from a boutique.

She felt blood rush to her cheeks as they blushed. She knew the store where he would have bought this. The chic store which is next to the café they usually meet up for lunch while they are at DC. He might have noticed how she stares at the beautiful display of the store.

"Umm…" he cleared his throat.

"I didn't plan to make it awkward" he filled the blank silence as her mind was busy with finding the right choice of words.

"No no…no" she responded without second thoughts. "It's beautiful, truly and honestly it must be very expensive that I would have never thought of spending a good chunk of my salary for something luxurious and…beautiful" she swore as her fingers were still feeling the soft lace, like a child counting her candy after a trick-or-treat haul. She saw how his eyes lit up with a childlike happiness.

"You shouldn't really have spent this much Muld.." he crossed the space between them before she could finish what she wanted to say.

"Hey…" he whispered as his hands slowly cupped her face; his thumbs gently caressing her cheeks and the edge of her lips.

"You deserve so much Scully, so much more than I could offer. You really don't have any idea of how grateful I am to have the chance to spend my life with you, don't you?"

She looked at him, her eyes now failing terribly to hold back the tears that his thoughtfulness is solely responsible for.

"I'm sorry" she smiled as she snuffled "I guess I'm too happy at the moment that I'm crying like 3 year old reacting to her birthday surprise!"

He smiled at her, his hands now trailing down her jaw, towards her neck struggling a moment with the hem of her neckline on the sweater.

Without a sign, she kissed him, her soft lips covering his with a soft feathery touch. He joined her without a delay, parting his lips and accepting her fully into him. It was slow, as she took time to explore him fully, with the utmost care and their tongues swirling together tasting each with passion.

She exhaled, as she was out of breath. They broke the kiss but still their faces jammed together struggling to breathe.

He held her, looking deeply into her eyes, as if to read a secret written on them. Over the years, only a couple of women have gotten so close to him as he is with Dana Scully at this very moment. But none of that made sense to him like this, none of them deserved him, his life or his heart as Dana Scully. None of them sacrificed their whole life to him with absolutely nothing in return as to how Dana Scully has done over the years.

He pulled her over to him, and she gave herself, landing on his chest. He tucked her carefully in a warm hug under his breath. They were just starting to feel the coldness of the chilly February night and she shivered as she tucked her hands between him and herself.

He smiled noticing the same. "Do you want me to pour yourself a glass?" he asked, eyeing on the bottle of red wine she has already kept on the coffee table.

"ah – I almost forgot… yea that sounds good Mulder, thanks" she remarked, stirring to make herself comfortable as she let him go.

He filled her glass and handed over to her. Before she could make way for him, he leaned back with his own glass. Without a warning, half of her glass spilled leaving a dark pink stain on the middle of her sweater.

"Oh…shit..I'm so sorry…crap. I should have been more careful" he stood up trying not to make any more messes.

"It's ok…everything is ok…it's just a spill" She responded with a smile, wiping the stain with a piece of tissue paper from the gift box; the only thing she could find handy at the moment to help her out "I better go and change" she stood up, gathering her gift, and flowers too so that she can place them on water.

"Mulder, you choose a movie, I will be back soon" she sounded as if she had a plan.

* To be continued

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