Mrs Scully's House
3pm, 23rd December

"Scully, are you sure I should be here."

"Mulder, for the last time yes, I'm very sure. In fact I don't think I've ever been surer of anything. Come on, I know Peter is dying to meet you. I'm afraid he'll probably call you Mr Fox though."

"Mr?"

"You're an adult and adults are all called Mr to him unless they're an uncle - he doesn't realise that Fox is your first name. He got confused when I called you Mulder. He might also get confused when you call me Scully - to him I'm his Auntie Day and Scully is his name. You don't mind do you?"

"Um..."

"Good, because he's not going to change now."

With that, Scully opened the car door and walked round to Mulder's side, holding out her hand for him to take. When he grasped it she pulled him slightly reluctantly out of the car until he stood upright beside her. They both walked to the boot to retrieve Mulder's bags and then began walking up the path to her mother's door. Mulder slowed as they progressed down the path, remembering what had happened that morning. Scully squeezed his hand tight in hers and smiled up at him, reassuring him.

"You okay?"

"Yes thanks. Now what are your nieces and nephews called again? I know you told me when we were shopping for presents but I can't remember who's who."

"Peter's the oldest - he's four. His two-year-old twin sisters are Adele and Abby. They all belong to Charlie and his wife, Jessica. Then there's Matthew who just turned five months and he belongs to Tara and..."

"Bill, my favourite."

"Yes. Okay, do you have that?"

"There seemed like more when we were shopping. Oh, the twins are identical aren't they - how am I supposed to tell them apart?"

"Yep, both blue-eyed and red-headed. Just look at the one you're talking to - then you won't need to use any names. If you're talking to anyone else about them, they'll understand."

"Okay. I'm ready."

The two of them had reached the door by this point and Scully reached up with her free hand and rang the bell. Mulder gave her hand a quick squeeze and moved slightly so that she was in front of him. She chuckled and pulled him back to stand beside her once more, even closer to her than before. She turned towards him while they were waiting for someone to answer the door and reached up to brush his hair off his forehead with her right hand. She smoothed it back and then rested her hand lightly on his cheek, trying to reassure him that it was going to be okay.

They were lost in each other's eyes when someone finally opened the door but Scully quickly pulled her hand away from his face as she heard a throat being cleared. They turned to the culprit and found themselves face to face with Charlie who had a sleepy Abby in his arms. He smirked as Scully blushed guiltily and then held his hand out to Mulder without waiting for an introduction. Mulder shook it with the hand that wasn't still clasped in Scully's, surprised at the apparent warm welcome.

"Mulder this is Charlie. Charlie, Mulder."

"Nice to meet you Charlie."

"Likewise. I'm glad you decided to come back."

"Umm...glad?"

"Yes. I've heard so much about you and besides, my son has been going mad all day wanting 'Mr. Fox' to get here."

"What?"

"Mulder, that's what Peter calls you. I told you he was dying to meet you. Charlie are you going to let us in or do we have to sleep out here on the porch?"

"Sorry Day. Come on in, both of you. Keep the noise down though. We've finally managed to get all the kids down for their naps. Well, apart from this one who was just going, weren't you poppet?"

Abby nodded sleepily and stuck her thumb in her mouth as she cuddled closer to her dad. Charlie turned away from the door and started walking upstairs to put her to bed.

"Mom's busy in the kitchen and Bill's with Tara in the lounge. If you see Jess can you tell her that I found Abby's bunny so she can stop looking? Thanks."

"Sure Charlie, no problem."

Mulder put his bags down and took his coat off while Scully closed the door and then he helped her off with her jacket. Once Scully had hung them both up in the hall closet, she slid her hand back into Mulder's and led him down the hall into the kitchen. Mrs Scully had just put the biscuits she was making back into the oven when they walked through the door so she didn't see them right away. Turning around, she spotted them standing close together in the doorway, still hand in hand. She beamed at them both and hurried across the kitchen to welcome them. She pulled a surprised Mulder into a gigantic hug, which he returned full force until they realized that Scully was looking a little left out. They both reached out with one arm and pulled her into the hug along with them. The three of them remained like that for a long time, each loving every second. They eventually broke apart; though Mulder kept his arm round Scully's shoulder and she kept one arm around his waist. This could hardly go unnoticed by Maggie and she wondered if the two had admitted their feelings to one another. She chose not to mention anything, not wanting to embarrass either of them, and instead decided to wait until she could speak to her daughter alone.

"Thanks for having me here Mrs Scully. It really is very kind."

"Fox I'm just glad you came back. We needed you here for it to be Christmas. I'm sure Dana's already told you that Bill was lying when he said those things to you and I hope you know that I don't agree with him about any of it."

At this Mulder looked down at the floor, ashamed to find that he couldn't say that he did know, because he didn't. Scully tightened her grip round his waist and turned to face him, putting her head in his line of vision so that he was staring into her eyes. He looked away from her, embarrassed to find himself close to tears, and shrugged his shoulders in a helpless gesture. Mrs Scully watched all of this with concern and realized that this loving man in front of her really didn't know she didn't blame him.

"Fox, I don't blame you. I know it's not your fault. I thought you knew, I mean I didn't know you thought I held you responsible."

"I wouldn't blame you if you did Mrs Scully."

"But I don't Fox, I never have. Never."

With that said, she moved towards the pair again and the three of them embraced once more. She felt Mulder tremble slightly and she rubbed his back gently like she would comfort a small child. The trembling soon stopped but still the three maintained their three-way hug.

"Hey, is this a private party or can anyone join in?"

The three broke away to see Charlie standing in the doorway, smiling at the sight in front of him. Mulder and Scully remained half-cuddled together but Mrs Scully walked over to him and he put his arms round her in a bear hug. She began to laugh as Charlie lifted her off the floor and squeezed her tight. Soon all four were laughing loudly and Tara came out of the living room with Jessica to see what was going on. They both chuckled when they saw the source of amusement and Maggie began to hammer her fists on her son's chest to make him let her down. He set her back on the floor, still shaking with laughter when they heard a high-pitched whine come from the baby monitor.

"That's my cue. Got to go feed Mattie. Oh, Maggie, Bill went out to get some things. He should be back in an hour."

"Okay Tara. That's no problem, dinner's going to be around 7:30 so he's got plenty of time."

Tara left to go upstairs where her son was in his crib, hoping that he hadn't already woken up the three children asleep in the next bedroom. Mulder and Scully breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief when Tara mentioned that Bill had gone out. They now had an hour to enjoy themselves without the worry that he might spoil it. Jessica was still chuckling about her husband's antics but she stopped quickly when he turned to her with a wicked grin on his face.

"You think that was funny do you Jess? C'mere"

"Charlie don't you dare. I mean it."

"C'mere"

Charlie chased Jessica down the hall, catching her and lifting her off her feet so that she was over his shoulder. Not wanting to shriek too loudly and wake the kids up, Jessica gave up fighting and just went along for the ride. That is, until Charlie walked through the kitchen, opened the backdoor and marched out into the middle of the yard putting her right down in the snow. The pair began a snowball fight, pelting one another with hastily grabbed handfuls of snow.

Scully watched them messing about and laughed until she realized that Mulder was no longer standing beside her but was now in front of her, lifting her over his shoulders like Charlie had done to Jessica.

"Mulder, put me down. I swear I'm going to kick your ass. Mulder! No, not the snow Mulder...Mul..."

With that Scully was also dumped unceremoniously in the snow outside and Mulder stood laughing at her, bending over almost double at the waist. Before he saw it coming, she sprung up with a mound of snow and plonked it on his head. The two waged war against each other and started to chase round the yard like children. Charlie and Jess had already collapsed in an exhausted heap on the snow covered porch swing and so they sat and watched them play. They soon went inside to warm up, leaving Mulder and Scully outside on their own still going full pelt.

Scully called a time out whilst she tried to stop her hair from falling in her eyes but Mulder decided that he was going to get her anyway. He crept up quietly behind her with a mountain of snow in his hands but, before he could hit her with it, she spun round knocking him off balance. Falling, he grabbed at Scully's hand to stop himself but he only succeeded in pulling her with him. They both tumbled to the ground and landed nose to nose with Scully on top of Mulder.

Laughing, they both started to get up but then they caught each other's eye and the laughter faded. Both leaned towards each other, wanting to connect their mouths in a kiss but they were rudely interrupted by a yell from one of the twins.

"Petah! Abby! Mistah Fox here!"

Scully rolled to the side of Mulder just in time as her niece launched herself at him lying in the snow. Mulder huffed out a breath as she landed on his chest and began bouncing up and down in excitement. Scully got up off the ground and giggled at the surprised look on his face, very tempted to leave him there in the snow, unable to get up. Realizing however that he had no jacket on and was already soaked to the skin, she bent down and removed her wriggling niece from his chest. She offered him a hand up that he gladly took and soon he was standing alongside her, holding her hand again. They began to walk towards the house but stopped dead in their tracks as two more hyperactive children burst out of the back door and ran straight at them. They too launched themselves at Mulder but this time he was prepared and caught one in each arm, swinging them up to his chest. All three children babbled excitedly about everything as the adults carried them back in the house. There they found Jessica and Charlie sitting in the kitchen trying to smother laughs at the sight of them. Peter wriggled to be put down and he ran to his parents excitedly and pulled himself up to sit on his dad's knee.

"Auntie Day's man is here mommy."

"What? ...oh you mean Fox. They're just friends darling. He's not her man."

"No mommy, Gamma said he was her man."

"Well, if Gamma said it then it must be true. Isn't that right Day?"

"Charlie!"

Mulder looked at Scully and realized that she was blushing, looking for all the world like she wished both that her nephew couldn't talk yet and that her brother wouldn't talk. She wouldn't look at Mulder and hid her face behind Adele who was still settled in her arms. Mulder started playing peek-a-boo with her, which caused delighted squeals from both twins and soon she forgot her embarrassment and joined in properly. The game went on for a while until both Mulder and Scully peeked out from the same side of the twins and they bumped noses. Mulder rubbed his nose from side to side against hers giving her Eskimo kisses. She returned them, forgetting that they weren't alone until a small hand grabbed hold of Mulder's hair and pulled. They broke apart and, after extracting his hair from Abby's tight grip, Mulder set her down on the floor rubbing his head. Scully patted his head and, after giggling at his pretend frown, placed a quick kiss on the 'injured' site.

"All better now, Mulder. I don't think we'll need any medical expertise."

"My doctor's already fixed it - I don't want any other doctor."

"You two are soaking. Quit being silly and go get into the shower."

"Yes 'mom'."

"You won't be laughing when you come down with a cold Day."

"Okay Charlie, we're going."

"Hey - separate showers you two, we do actually want to see you again sometime today."

"Charlie!"

"Sorry Day - couldn't help myself."

Mulder and Scully made their way upstairs without saying a word, both faintly embarrassed at what Charlie had not very subtly implied. When they reached the top, Scully headed towards her room but Mulder hung back, unsure of where his bags had been put. Turning to see what was keeping him, Scully realized the reason behind his uncertainty and motioned for him to follow her into her room.

"Your bags are in my room Mulder. My mom thought they would be safer from the destructive hands of the twins up here. "

"Okay. Scully...you do have two showers don't you? I wouldn't want them getting the wrong idea downstairs, with both of us coming up at the same time."

"Don't panic Mulder. There's an en suite in my room and a shared bathroom down the hall which both have showers in them."

"Okay. It's a pity."

"Mulder..."

"I'm just teasing Scully"

"Fine. Meet me back in my room when we're done and we'll go back downstairs together. That'll really give them something to talk about."

"Scully, I'm shocked."

Once Mulder had finished his shower he knocked on Scully's door and, getting no answer, he went in. He could hear the shower switch off and called through to Scully that he was there so that she didn't walk out into the room. She told him to sit down and she would be out in a couple of minutes. When she did emerge, her hair was still dripping wet and she was struggling to dry it using an already wet towel. Mulder picked up a dry towel from her dresser and crossed over to her. Instead of handing it to her, he put it over her head and gently rubbed, squeezing the ends of her hair to get rid of excess water. When he had dried it as much as he could, he took her brush from her hands and ran it through her hair, easing it carefully through any tangles. Scully closed her eyes and relaxed into his touch, enjoying the soothing feel of his hands running through her hair.

"Scully?"

"Yes Mulder?"

"Thanks for making me come Scully. It's been really good so far."

"I was just going to thank you for coming. I'm glad we took the time off for this holiday - even if it didn't start well. It's so nice to see you without any work in the way."

"We see each other outside of work."

"I know. But not nearly enough - there's usually something that comes up."

"Not all the time. Not this time."

"Definitely not - no cases until after the New Year. Now lie down on the bed."

"Ooh Scully, you coming on to me?"

"Mulder! ... I need to check your feet and put new bandages on them if they need them. Some of those cuts were pretty deep."

"Sure Scully. Any excuse to get me into bed."

"Mulder..."

"Okay, okay, I'm lying down. Now you can have your wicked way with me. Ow Scully. That hurt."

"Serves you right Mulder."

"Scullee..."

"Quit whining Mulder, you're just like my nieces."

"Do you torture your nieces as well? ...okay, okay, I'll stop. Don't hurt me."

"Behave yourself then."

"Okay, Scully. I'll be good - I promise."

"There Mulder, all done."

"Aren't you gonna kiss them better?"

"Mulder..."

"Puweeeasse?"

Scully laughed at Mulder's childish pout but lifted his feet up one after the other and placed a gentle kiss on the ball of each one. She moved his feet from her lap and stood up to go downstairs and join the rest of the family. She held out her hand to him but instead of letting her pull him up off the bed, he tugged on her hand until she was lying on the bed beside him. Realizing that he didn't really want to face Bill, she didn't protest and they lay there in silence for a while, staring up at the ceiling with their hands entwined. They turned towards each other on the bed to speak and paused, so close that they could feel the other's breath on their lips. Just as they had done while lying in the snow, they both leant in, only millimetres separating their mouths. Once again they were interrupted before their lips touched, this time by a knock on the door. Charlie opened the door and gawped at the sight of the two of them on the bed. They sprung apart quickly, Scully rising from the bed and walking towards him, blushing furiously and avoiding making eye contact with him. He grinned at her with his eyes twinkling in the knowledge that he had been right about the nature of their relationship, unknowing that he had interrupted what would have been their first real kiss before it began.

"Just came to tell you that, if you're hiding, the coast is clear. Bill's gone for a lie down before dinner, so you can come down."

"We weren't hiding, Charlie."

"Yes so I saw. 'Just friends' my ass."

Charlie said this last part in a whisper to his sister who immediately flushed once again and sneaked a quick look at Mulder to see if he had heard. He was looking at them strangely as if trying to work out what they were saying and she let out a sigh of relief as she realized that he hadn't heard. She smacked her brother on the arm when she noticed that he was about to comment on it further and warned him against doing so with her eyes. Charlie was puzzled but he respected his sister's wishes and left the room without any remarks.

Mulder put his shoes and socks back on and stood up, walking over to Scully who was still bashfully looking down at the floor. He put his hand on her shoulder and, when she eventually looked up at him he smiled gently and motioned with his head to the door, eyebrows raised in question. She nodded her head and they both walked through the door and downstairs to the lounge where everyone was gathered.