Chapter 6
Title: Strangers in a Bar
Author's Notes: This chapter is sappy, and I know it. But if I wrote it any other way it wouldn't have had its intended effect. Read it for the fluff. I thought it would be fitting, [and expected] that at this point she starts calling him Fox. If you don't like it, deal.(Oh and pardon any grammar errors, I tend to not proofread thoroughly enough. Sorry.)
~(X)~
"How in the hell did I get stuck working late on Christmas Eve?" Dana asked angrily to anyone who was listening as she hurriedly finished making her rounds. She passed all the necessary paperwork along to Dr. Sanders, the ER doctor taking her place. She grumbled under her breath after she gave the paperwork to Dr. Sanders, because it was her fault that Dana had to stay an extra four hours.
She stepped out into the parking garage and called Mulder.
"Mulder," he answered. Dana could hear people talking in the background. He was already at the Christmas party. Their Christmas party. The Christmas party which was taking place at HER house.
"You're already at my house?!" she asked, feeling slightly disappointed as she began to sprint toward her car.
"Don't rush, hon. Not everyone is here yet," Mulder lied, looking around the room to see all the invited members of the Mulder and Scully families were present, and had been for the last hour.
"Well, I'll be home in fifteen. I got changed before I left the hospital," she said, starting her car.
"Okay. Do you have the Christmas cards?" Mulder asked as he stepped out onto the porch so he could hear Dana better.
"Yup. Alright, I have to go. I'm losing you. Love you, bye!" Dana said as she moved toward the exit of the parking garage.
"Love you, bye!" Mulder said, hanging up and hurrying back inside. He was happy to see the families interacting so well. Present were Mulder's mom and dad, Bill and Teena, Dana's mom and dad, Bill Sr. and Maggie, and Dana's sister, Melissa, her younger brother Charlie, her older brother Bill Jr., and his wife Tara.
"Alright, everybody, Dana's going to be here in fifteen minutes. Mom?" His mother looked up at him from her position next to Maggie on the couch.
"Yes, Fox?"
"Is Dana's present still in the bedroom?" he asked. Teena nodded at him. Maggie went into the kitchen to check on Melissa and see how she was managing with heating up the mound of food that Dana had prepared for dinner. Bill Sr., Bill Jr., Bill and Charlie were all laughing and chatting in front of the Christmas tree, but all the while Fox was pacing back and forth nervously.
Exactly fifteen minutes later, Dana pulled her car into the garage, and Mulder rushed out to the car to help her. As she opened her car door and saw Mulder standing there in his red sweater and khaki pants, looking like everything Christmas, her tiredness dissolved, and she smiled, and gave him a kiss. She wore a red cardigan twin set, black dress pants and high heels, and Mulder noted, she smelled really, really good. She opened the back door of the car, and got out the bag with the Christmas cards, and the few little last minute presents she had picked up. She also pulled Mulder's presents out of the back. When she handed them to him, he read the name tags and shot her a look.
"I couldn't trust you alone with those presents under the tree. Knowing you, you'd open them, look at them and then re-tape them," she said, giving him a silly grin. The Christmas spirit was definitely settling in on the two of them. Dana was giddy as she entered the house, followed by Mulder.
"Dana!!" Everyone called, and Mrs. Mulder and her mother came over to hug and kiss her. The two then stepped back and let her pass, and she turned to take the packages from Fox and saw that he wore a guilty grin.
"What?" she asked.
"Look what we're standing under," he said, pointing above his head with one hand and putting his other around Dana's waist and pulling her close. She looked above her head, and could only say,
"Mistletoe," before Mulder's lips were on hers. There was a chorus of "Oohs" from her siblings, and Dana felt her cheeks getting red, but she made no attempt to pull away from Mulder. Finally they pulled apart, and having deposited the last of the presents under the tree, Dana turned to everyone and said.
"Everyone, I'm so sorry for making you wait. As you've probably heard, the doctor who was supposed to come in at three couldn't come in right away, and I got stuck working until seven. Thank you for heating up dinner for me, and now that we're all here, let's get eating!" Dana and Fox took their places as last in line, and she asked him,
"Do you want to give out the Christmas cards as soon as everyone has their food?"
"Sure," he said, smiling.
"I'm so excited," she said, smiling at him. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss. They moved slowly through the serving line that had formed around the table, and because there were too many of them for the table, they had all resolved to eat in the living room. When everyone had seated themselves, Dana got the Christmas cards out of her bag and said,
"Alright, everyone. Since I'm too lazy to mail these things, and we were all going to be here anyways..." Dana paused, realizing that she was rambling, and said, "Here are your Christmas cards." She walked around the room, passing out the picture Christmas cards that she and Fox had had made up. She walked over to Fox and stood, holding his hand, waiting for their reactions. It was Charlie who got his envelope open first, and looked at his card, seeming a little perplexed at first. Then he understood, and he looked up and Dana, his jaw on the floor. Her mother got hers opened next, and she gasped, and looked up at Dana, who by this point in time, was in tears, but laughing as well. The reaction was generally the same as everyone got their cards open, but Maggie spoke first.
"Dana...is this? Are you?" Her father was studying the picture, and walked over to her.
"Starbuck," he said, taking her hands.
"Yes, Daddy?" she said, tearfully.
"You're having a baby?"
"Yes, Daddy," she said, biting her lip. Her father held his daughter at length for a moment, looking at her, and then wrapped his arms around her, and said,
"I should have known, the way you were glowing when you walked through that door." Dana looked up at her father with tears in her eyes, and he gave her a kiss, saying, "Congratulations, Starbuck." Fox, who had left momentarily, returned with the original, photo, the one which they had used in the greeting cards. They had had it blown up to 16 x 20. In the photo, the two were wearing the same outfits they had on that evening, and on Dana's lap sat a framed, enlarged black and white sonogram.
"It's our rendition of the family portrait," Fox said, as everyone in the house swarmed them. There were about fifteen minutes of congratulations, and dozens of questions.
"Alright," Dana said, "Now that we've all been fed, and we've given you our news, it's present time!"
Dana and Fox insisted that everyone else open their presents before they would touch any of their own. When everyone else had finished, and they were swimming in a sea of wrapping paper, Dana handed Fox his small gifts first.
"Open this one first," she said, pointing to the one wrapped in silver paper. He opened it, and pulled out two silver, heart shaped cufflinks, one of which had 'Dana' engraved on it. "It was Missy's idea," she contributed, seeing his surprised look. "Now you can wear my heart on your sleeve." There was a chorus of "awws" and Fox whispered,
"Thank you," and gave her a kiss. He said, "Here open this one." He handed Dana a long rectangular box wrapped in red paper with tiny Christmas trees on it. She tore the paper off quickly, like she had done for all those years of her childhood, and when she lifted the lid off the box, she gasped.
"Oh, Fox, it's beautiful." She lifted the silver bracelet with the heart charm out and as he helped her fasten it around her wrist, he said,
"This was also Missy's idea. Now you can wear my heart on your sleeve." She kissed him, tears welling in her eyes.
"Oh, look at me; I'm getting all emotional. This pregnancy is really messing with my hormones," she said, laughing. Her mother and Teena both laughed in sympathy. Mulder opened his next small present; a hardware store copy of a key to Dana's house. She handed him his larger present, and said,
"This is a sort of 'part-two' of the key present." He tore the paper off of it, and out of the large brown box he pulled a dresser drawer. "You officially have your own dresser and closet space," she said, grinning at him. He gave her another kiss and then said,
"Give me a minute. I have to go get your other present. But I need you to close your eyes for me," Dana nodded, closing her eyes. "No peeking," Mulder called, as he hurried up the steps to Dana's bedroom. She sat, drumming her fingers on the arm of the couch as she waited for him to return.
"Hurry up!" She called playfully, "The suspense is killing me!"
"Okay, okay!" he called moments later. Dana could feel that he was close to her, and suddenly she felt something warm and wiggly in her lap. She opened her eyes to find a golden retriever puppy sitting in her lap. She gaped openmouthed at Fox, who was laughing, and said,
"You told me you wanted a dog."
"Yes, but I didn't think you'd take me seriously," she replied studying the puppy intently. "Girl or boy?" she asked.
"Girl," he replied. Dana was looking the puppy over, feeling happily overwhelmed, when she saw that she was chewing something hanging from her collar.
"Whatcha got there?" she asked, turning the puppy to get a better look. She had failed to notice, as she untied the bow on the collar, that the entire room had gone silent an all eyes were on her. She removed the blue velvet box from the place it had been tied to the puppy's collar, and she also failed to notice as she opened it, that Fox was kneeled down in front of her. When she finally managed, after a short struggle, to get the box open, she gasped.
"Oh, my god," she mumbled, glancing wide-eyed at Fox who was still in front of her, down on one knee.
"Dana Katherine Scully, I fell in love with you the moment that I first saw you. The time we have spent together has been amazing; there is no one else in the world more beautiful, intelligent, or truly wonderful. So here, in front of both our families, this Christmas Eve, I'm asking you, Dana, if you will make me the happiest man alive, and do me the honor of spending the rest of your life with me?" Dana looked down at him, her eyes shining with tears, and her face alive with the biggest smile Fox had ever seen, and without a moment of hesitation, she whispered,
"Yes. The answer is yes." Fox took the gorgeous, diamond ring from its velvet and satin casing and placed it on the fourth finger of Dana's trembling left hand. She then proceeded to fling herself at him, bursting into hysterical sobs as they lay on the floor, in a heap. He kissed her, again and again, and she continued to cry. After several moments had passed, Dana regained her composure and sat up, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. The two sat on the couch, and Dana looked at him, and said,
"You get me a diamond, and I get you a $9.95 hardware store copy of my house key and one of my dresser drawers."
Title: Strangers in a Bar
Author's Notes: This chapter is sappy, and I know it. But if I wrote it any other way it wouldn't have had its intended effect. Read it for the fluff. I thought it would be fitting, [and expected] that at this point she starts calling him Fox. If you don't like it, deal.(Oh and pardon any grammar errors, I tend to not proofread thoroughly enough. Sorry.)
~(X)~
"How in the hell did I get stuck working late on Christmas Eve?" Dana asked angrily to anyone who was listening as she hurriedly finished making her rounds. She passed all the necessary paperwork along to Dr. Sanders, the ER doctor taking her place. She grumbled under her breath after she gave the paperwork to Dr. Sanders, because it was her fault that Dana had to stay an extra four hours.
She stepped out into the parking garage and called Mulder.
"Mulder," he answered. Dana could hear people talking in the background. He was already at the Christmas party. Their Christmas party. The Christmas party which was taking place at HER house.
"You're already at my house?!" she asked, feeling slightly disappointed as she began to sprint toward her car.
"Don't rush, hon. Not everyone is here yet," Mulder lied, looking around the room to see all the invited members of the Mulder and Scully families were present, and had been for the last hour.
"Well, I'll be home in fifteen. I got changed before I left the hospital," she said, starting her car.
"Okay. Do you have the Christmas cards?" Mulder asked as he stepped out onto the porch so he could hear Dana better.
"Yup. Alright, I have to go. I'm losing you. Love you, bye!" Dana said as she moved toward the exit of the parking garage.
"Love you, bye!" Mulder said, hanging up and hurrying back inside. He was happy to see the families interacting so well. Present were Mulder's mom and dad, Bill and Teena, Dana's mom and dad, Bill Sr. and Maggie, and Dana's sister, Melissa, her younger brother Charlie, her older brother Bill Jr., and his wife Tara.
"Alright, everybody, Dana's going to be here in fifteen minutes. Mom?" His mother looked up at him from her position next to Maggie on the couch.
"Yes, Fox?"
"Is Dana's present still in the bedroom?" he asked. Teena nodded at him. Maggie went into the kitchen to check on Melissa and see how she was managing with heating up the mound of food that Dana had prepared for dinner. Bill Sr., Bill Jr., Bill and Charlie were all laughing and chatting in front of the Christmas tree, but all the while Fox was pacing back and forth nervously.
Exactly fifteen minutes later, Dana pulled her car into the garage, and Mulder rushed out to the car to help her. As she opened her car door and saw Mulder standing there in his red sweater and khaki pants, looking like everything Christmas, her tiredness dissolved, and she smiled, and gave him a kiss. She wore a red cardigan twin set, black dress pants and high heels, and Mulder noted, she smelled really, really good. She opened the back door of the car, and got out the bag with the Christmas cards, and the few little last minute presents she had picked up. She also pulled Mulder's presents out of the back. When she handed them to him, he read the name tags and shot her a look.
"I couldn't trust you alone with those presents under the tree. Knowing you, you'd open them, look at them and then re-tape them," she said, giving him a silly grin. The Christmas spirit was definitely settling in on the two of them. Dana was giddy as she entered the house, followed by Mulder.
"Dana!!" Everyone called, and Mrs. Mulder and her mother came over to hug and kiss her. The two then stepped back and let her pass, and she turned to take the packages from Fox and saw that he wore a guilty grin.
"What?" she asked.
"Look what we're standing under," he said, pointing above his head with one hand and putting his other around Dana's waist and pulling her close. She looked above her head, and could only say,
"Mistletoe," before Mulder's lips were on hers. There was a chorus of "Oohs" from her siblings, and Dana felt her cheeks getting red, but she made no attempt to pull away from Mulder. Finally they pulled apart, and having deposited the last of the presents under the tree, Dana turned to everyone and said.
"Everyone, I'm so sorry for making you wait. As you've probably heard, the doctor who was supposed to come in at three couldn't come in right away, and I got stuck working until seven. Thank you for heating up dinner for me, and now that we're all here, let's get eating!" Dana and Fox took their places as last in line, and she asked him,
"Do you want to give out the Christmas cards as soon as everyone has their food?"
"Sure," he said, smiling.
"I'm so excited," she said, smiling at him. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss. They moved slowly through the serving line that had formed around the table, and because there were too many of them for the table, they had all resolved to eat in the living room. When everyone had seated themselves, Dana got the Christmas cards out of her bag and said,
"Alright, everyone. Since I'm too lazy to mail these things, and we were all going to be here anyways..." Dana paused, realizing that she was rambling, and said, "Here are your Christmas cards." She walked around the room, passing out the picture Christmas cards that she and Fox had had made up. She walked over to Fox and stood, holding his hand, waiting for their reactions. It was Charlie who got his envelope open first, and looked at his card, seeming a little perplexed at first. Then he understood, and he looked up and Dana, his jaw on the floor. Her mother got hers opened next, and she gasped, and looked up at Dana, who by this point in time, was in tears, but laughing as well. The reaction was generally the same as everyone got their cards open, but Maggie spoke first.
"Dana...is this? Are you?" Her father was studying the picture, and walked over to her.
"Starbuck," he said, taking her hands.
"Yes, Daddy?" she said, tearfully.
"You're having a baby?"
"Yes, Daddy," she said, biting her lip. Her father held his daughter at length for a moment, looking at her, and then wrapped his arms around her, and said,
"I should have known, the way you were glowing when you walked through that door." Dana looked up at her father with tears in her eyes, and he gave her a kiss, saying, "Congratulations, Starbuck." Fox, who had left momentarily, returned with the original, photo, the one which they had used in the greeting cards. They had had it blown up to 16 x 20. In the photo, the two were wearing the same outfits they had on that evening, and on Dana's lap sat a framed, enlarged black and white sonogram.
"It's our rendition of the family portrait," Fox said, as everyone in the house swarmed them. There were about fifteen minutes of congratulations, and dozens of questions.
"Alright," Dana said, "Now that we've all been fed, and we've given you our news, it's present time!"
Dana and Fox insisted that everyone else open their presents before they would touch any of their own. When everyone else had finished, and they were swimming in a sea of wrapping paper, Dana handed Fox his small gifts first.
"Open this one first," she said, pointing to the one wrapped in silver paper. He opened it, and pulled out two silver, heart shaped cufflinks, one of which had 'Dana' engraved on it. "It was Missy's idea," she contributed, seeing his surprised look. "Now you can wear my heart on your sleeve." There was a chorus of "awws" and Fox whispered,
"Thank you," and gave her a kiss. He said, "Here open this one." He handed Dana a long rectangular box wrapped in red paper with tiny Christmas trees on it. She tore the paper off quickly, like she had done for all those years of her childhood, and when she lifted the lid off the box, she gasped.
"Oh, Fox, it's beautiful." She lifted the silver bracelet with the heart charm out and as he helped her fasten it around her wrist, he said,
"This was also Missy's idea. Now you can wear my heart on your sleeve." She kissed him, tears welling in her eyes.
"Oh, look at me; I'm getting all emotional. This pregnancy is really messing with my hormones," she said, laughing. Her mother and Teena both laughed in sympathy. Mulder opened his next small present; a hardware store copy of a key to Dana's house. She handed him his larger present, and said,
"This is a sort of 'part-two' of the key present." He tore the paper off of it, and out of the large brown box he pulled a dresser drawer. "You officially have your own dresser and closet space," she said, grinning at him. He gave her another kiss and then said,
"Give me a minute. I have to go get your other present. But I need you to close your eyes for me," Dana nodded, closing her eyes. "No peeking," Mulder called, as he hurried up the steps to Dana's bedroom. She sat, drumming her fingers on the arm of the couch as she waited for him to return.
"Hurry up!" She called playfully, "The suspense is killing me!"
"Okay, okay!" he called moments later. Dana could feel that he was close to her, and suddenly she felt something warm and wiggly in her lap. She opened her eyes to find a golden retriever puppy sitting in her lap. She gaped openmouthed at Fox, who was laughing, and said,
"You told me you wanted a dog."
"Yes, but I didn't think you'd take me seriously," she replied studying the puppy intently. "Girl or boy?" she asked.
"Girl," he replied. Dana was looking the puppy over, feeling happily overwhelmed, when she saw that she was chewing something hanging from her collar.
"Whatcha got there?" she asked, turning the puppy to get a better look. She had failed to notice, as she untied the bow on the collar, that the entire room had gone silent an all eyes were on her. She removed the blue velvet box from the place it had been tied to the puppy's collar, and she also failed to notice as she opened it, that Fox was kneeled down in front of her. When she finally managed, after a short struggle, to get the box open, she gasped.
"Oh, my god," she mumbled, glancing wide-eyed at Fox who was still in front of her, down on one knee.
"Dana Katherine Scully, I fell in love with you the moment that I first saw you. The time we have spent together has been amazing; there is no one else in the world more beautiful, intelligent, or truly wonderful. So here, in front of both our families, this Christmas Eve, I'm asking you, Dana, if you will make me the happiest man alive, and do me the honor of spending the rest of your life with me?" Dana looked down at him, her eyes shining with tears, and her face alive with the biggest smile Fox had ever seen, and without a moment of hesitation, she whispered,
"Yes. The answer is yes." Fox took the gorgeous, diamond ring from its velvet and satin casing and placed it on the fourth finger of Dana's trembling left hand. She then proceeded to fling herself at him, bursting into hysterical sobs as they lay on the floor, in a heap. He kissed her, again and again, and she continued to cry. After several moments had passed, Dana regained her composure and sat up, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. The two sat on the couch, and Dana looked at him, and said,
"You get me a diamond, and I get you a $9.95 hardware store copy of my house key and one of my dresser drawers."