Chapter Two

It was barely nine in the morning when Scully's door bell rang. She pulled the covers off her and got up off the couch. She answered the door with one eye still closed, her pajamas on, and her hair matted.

"Mulder? What are you doing here?" She whined.

"Scully, what happened to you?" He asked with a look of disgust.

"Excuse me for just waking up. Why are you here so early?" she frowned as she let him in her apartment.

"Well I didn't have anything to do, I thought we could go out and do something."

"Like what?" Scully asked with a frown as she lay back down on the couch.

"I don't know… I'll make you breakfast, do you have any pancake mix?" he asked as he went through her kitchen.

"Just throw me a bottle of whatever's in the liquor cabinet," she grumbled.

"Dana! I'm shocked!... It seems that you don't have any pancake mix…" he said as he made his way back in her living room.

"I'm going to go down to the store, I'll be right back," Mulder told her as he grabbed her keys and left. Scully pulled out a bottle of wine that she had been hugging all night and drank that last few sips of it before dropping it on the floor beside her.

Mulder was back in only ten minutes, and with another fifteen or so, breakfast was ready. Scully got up with a smile this time, cleaned herself up, and sat at her table across from him.

"Enjoy," Mulder smiled. Scully hadn't remembered him so cheery before, it was starting to bother her. But none the less, she ate many of his delicious pancakes before getting ready to leave.

She dressed and gathered different things for the party. She came back into the living room asking Mulder if he had brought a swimsuit; he already had it on. Mulder helped her with a couple bags of snacks and whatnot for the party, and they climbed into Mulder's car.

"You want to go for a small lunch?" Scully asked, realizing a few hours had already gone by. Mulder smiled and nodded.

After lunch at a very nice small concession stand Scully and Mulder headed over to Maggie's house. The whole day Scully could see Mulder was looking forward to the party. He didn't get to do a lot of family things, and it was obvious that Mulder had been accepted into the family, just like he was a Scully himself.

Mulder pulled up to the house, but Scully stopped him before he got out.

"I'm really glad that you want to be here. I know family gatherings weren't common for you, and my mom has pretty much taken you under her wing, I just wanted to let you know." Mulder smiled and slid his hand onto her knee.

"Over the last few years the Scully family has really taken me in. And over the last few years not only have I fallen for this amazing family, but I've also fallen for the most wonderful Scully there is-"

There was a knock on the window and Scully's sister-in-law, Tara, smiled and waved. Scully plastered on a small, even after the shock of hearing what Mulder had just openly admitted. She climbed out of the car and hugged her mom, who had also come out of the house. Mulder popped the trunk and Bill came down the stairs from the house too, carrying in bags with Mulder.

Scully walked behind the two men with her mom and Tara, "I guess we're a little early!"

"Oh no problem at all!" Maggie smiled. Scully closed the house door behind her and they continued to follow the men through the living room. Bill invited Mulder to the backyard, and they began to talk and prepare the bar-b-q.

"So what's going on? How's the FBI?" Tara asked as Maggie poured Dana a glass of wine.

"Well… the FBI is fine. But… well never mind."

"What?" Tara asked curiously.

"Come on, Dana, spill it," Maggie winked. Scully took in a deep breath and began, "Mulder and I arrived here a few minutes ago. We were in the car talking… he said something to me that caught me pretty off guard."

"What did he say, Dana?" Maggie asked in a very motherly tone.

"It wasn't any thing bad, I don't think… He said he'd fallen for me." Tara and Maggie smiled widely, "Well it's about time."

"What do you mean?" Scully frowned. Tara placed her hand on Scully's shoulder, "Like you didn't already know." Scully was silent for a minute, then looked up at the two women, "Did I?"

TBC