Chapter 4

A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! My goal was to be done this fic by Christmas ^-^;; Oops. I had a lot to do this past week and my evile sister kept monopolizing our computer. I hope that you survived the wait and enjoy this Christmas chapter. Don't mind any typos and what not...my lovely beta Jen is away with her family and I posted rather hastily this Christmas morn'. I'm going to try my hardest to post another in the next 12-24 hours. Your reviews mean the world to me. Thanks so much for reading my fic! Enjoy!

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Mulder and Scully settled their things in the room that they were to share.

Plopping his bag on the floor, Mulder looked around. The room was cheery and decorated for Christmas like the rest of the house. There were two dressers, a double bed with dark wooden posts, and a cozy looking chair.

"That's a nice big bed for us to sleep in," Mulder said, sitting down on the comforter and patting it with his hand.

Scully rolled her eyes at him as she unpacked her belongings and put them neatly away in the dresser. "I didn't even think about that when I said we'd share. I guess all I really considered was that it would make Bill mad as a hornet."

"Well, don't worry about it, darling. I'm sure we'll be as snug as two bugs in a rug," Mulder said, throwing her a huge smile. "But to make you feel better, Bill was pissed. I don't recommend you leaving the two of us alone in a room together at any point...even my gun won't save me."

Scully laughed. "Why would I leave you two alone together? Talk about ruining Christmas...to find both of you dead with your arms locked around the others' neck."

"What makes you think we'd both die? You don't think I could best him in a brawl?" Mulder pouted. "But I'm your big strong man-thing..."

Scully was about to respond but stopped, hearing her mother's voice from the bottom of the steps.

"Dana...Fox! Charlie and his family are early! Come down and see them!" Maggie shouted, excited by the fact that all of her children were again under the same roof.

Mulder eyed his partner.

"Don't worry, Mulder. Charlie always helped me in our childhood battles against Bill, and he was the only one who was concerned for me at Thanksgiving. I'm sure he'll love you."

They made their way downstairs and Scully was attacked by her nieces and nephew. Danielle, six, ran to her little-seen aunt immediately, followed by four-year-old Patrick. Charlie's wife, Laura, held their two-year-old, Marissa, at bay.

"Dana! How are you?" Charlie asked, hugging his sister after his kids were through with her. They were still bouncing around and asking questions about Santa and presents, while Mrs. Scully tried to calm them down.

"I'm good, Charlie. Let me introduce you though...this is my partner, Mulder," she gestured at Mulder, who was standing where he thought he'd be out of the way.

Charlie stuck out his hand, and Mulder shook it. "Please to meet you, Mulder. Dana's told me so much about you. Its great to finally put a face to the name."

Mulder smiled. "Nice to meet you too."

With the greetings out of the way, the kids still wound up, and Charlie and Laura needing to unpack, Mrs. Scully spoke up.

"Why don't we all make cookies!" She asked the group.

The kids cheered and she took the baby. Mulder and Scully followed into the kitchen, hoping to help with the kids and the cookies.

Mrs. Scully had all of the ingredients out and the oven preheating in no time. She rolled out the dough and began cutting Christmas trees, bells, reindeer, and stars.

She gave a tray to Danielle, one to Patrick, and one for Mulder and Scully.

"Dana, can you make the egg paint up while I do a tray for Bill and Mattie?" Mrs. Scully asked her baking-illiterate daughter.

"Sure..." Scully replied, wondering how much she could mess up eggs, water, and food coloring.

Mulder watched as she made red, green, and yellow, then grabbed paint brushes, jimmies, colored sugar, and little balls and set to work.

Mrs. Scully put the radio on and let the Christmas tunes fill the kitchen. She tried to help Patrick, who was making a mess of his cookies. Danielle was fairing much better, blobbing paint over every inch of dough on her pan.

Scully was more artistic about it. Though she didn't have the knack for drawing or even sewing, she was a pro at egg paint. It had been her favorite thing to do since she was a child.

Mulder watched as she carefully outlined her reindeer, then filled them in with sugar. She painted each bell and tree with an expert hand.

"You want to do some, Mulder?" She asked when she was halfway through the pan.

"I wouldn't want to stifle your creativity, dear," he smiled, content just to watch her.

Neither of them noticed Mrs. Scully's head perk up at the word 'dear.' The meaning of it wasn't lost on her.

Bill came into the kitchen with Mattie, and they set to work on a tray. It was pointless to let the three-year-old make a mess with the paint and dough, but Mrs. Scully didn't want any of her grandchildren to be slighted.

Bill constantly glanced over at Mulder and Scully, who were still working on their tray of cookies together. Mulder had edged closer to her, looking over her shoulder and nearly touching her.

Mulder was getting closer to her, whether he noticed or did it unconsciously. He could feel the warmth of her body, and her fuzzy red sweater that she had on was extremely soft to the touch. Everything about her, he thought, was soft and gentle. He loved the whole scene around him from the kids playing to Scully's hair falling in her face every two seconds. Hell, he didn't even mind that Bill kept shooting him looks of death.

Before Mulder could stop it, he nuzzled his head gently against Scully's cheek. He could tell himself that he did it for show, but he knew that it felt incredibly good.

Their cheeks brushed, and Scully smiled, surprised, but open to the good feeling it gave her. She stood all the way up and stopped painting to enjoy the moment.

Mulder kissed her gently on the cheek as his lips passed, whispered, "Merry Christmas."

Bill started at the sight of it, but remained seated, since he had his son in his lap. It was clear that he wasn't happy with what he'd just seen, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He was beginning to fear that there was more to the two of them than just the partner thing.

Mrs. Scully was also beginning to suspect something, but her reaction was the polar opposite of Bill's. She watched her daughter with a content motherly look in her eye. She hoped that Dana had finally found someone worthy of her heart, and knew that if anyone, it should and would be Mulder. Her Christmas wish was for the two of them to be happy together.

Mulder recovered from his moment of closeness with Scully, and brushed his hands in the flour that was covering the table. Without a moment's hesitation he touched his finger tip to his partner's nose, leaving it covered in white flour.

Scully gaped, surprised that he would attack her like that. The only answer, of course, was to get him back. In five minutes both of them were smeared with flour, head to toe, while Scully's nieces and nephews looked on in awe, Mrs. Scully in amusement, and Bill...well, pissed as always.

The two partners laughed, enjoying their lapse into childish behavior.

Mrs. Scully collected their pan of cookies and put them in the oven to bake.

"So what now?" Scully asked, brushing flour off of her black pants.

Mulder paused for a minute, then grabbed her hand. "Now, we dance!" He said, laughing as he spun her around the kitchen floor.

The radio had changed to "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," and the two of them danced, out of step with one another, as they sang along in varying pitches.

"There'll be much mistletoe-ing," Mulder sang.

"And hearts will be glowing," Scully sang back to him.

"When loved ones are near," Mulder replied, pulling her in closer to him. He held her there for a minute and whispered in her ear, "You're my only loved one I've got left, Scully." Then he spun her in the opposite direction, so that she wound up away from him again.

Bill picked up Mattie and left the kitchen at this point, sick of watching the two of them dancing and singing and having a good time. He was furious that she'd brought this guy into their home to invade their Christmas. This wasn't his family or his holiday. He wasn't a Scully, and he didn't belong.

Mulder finished up his dance with Scully just as the song ended, and the two realized that Mrs. Scully had watched the entire thing with a smirk on her face.

Mulder felt a slight blush -odd for him- and the need to get out of the kitchen immediately. "I think I'll go try and get some of this flour out of my clothes." He said, excusing himself.

Neither Mrs. Scully or Dana thought of the fact that Bill was already upstairs in the bathroom...

Mulder opened the door and almost jumped at the sight of his nemesis, stooping in front of the toilet where his messy three-year-old was perched.

Bill turned at the noise and made a face of disgust after seeing who was there.

"You have some nerve-" he began.

"Sorry, I was looking for the men's room...must have wound up at the 'little boys' room by mistake," Mulder shot back dryly.

"You son of a-" He stopped, realizing that Mattie was hanging on his every word. "Who the hell do you think you are? You come in here and stick your nose in where it doesn't belong and then talk to me like that?! Who are you to come here and fill my sister's head with nonsense about love? You're a loner by nature, just using her to get your kicks for the holidays. You make me sick."

Mulder was offended by that assault. He knew Bill didn't like him, that was a given. But to say that he felt nothing for Scully?

"I think you're the one with nerve, Bill. You don't know anything about me, or your sister for that matter."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bill shouted angrily.

"It means that what the two of us have together, you couldn't even fathom. Its so deep and so intense that you wouldn't even begin to comprehend our love for one another."

With that Mulder turned and went back downstairs, leaving Bill to stew. He was a little surprised at himself. He never dreamed that he would say what he did. While he told himself he was just reacting as Scully's mock-boyfriend, he was beginning to realize that all of the little playful motions...all the endearing terms...he meant each one of them with all his heart.

Hope you like it! My Christmas present to all of my loyal readers. Its getting good and mushy...and the friction with Bill...good times. :) I watched my "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" episode last night. Christmas and X Files...best combination ever. Hehe. How about a nice review to brighten my day?