Chapter 6: Playing house

Scully shot him a dirty look before walking in through the door. The inside of the house was pleasantly furnished. A quick look around by Scully found one bedroom, one bath, one shower, a living room, family room and large eat-in kitchen. It was the perfect house for a cozy couple.

While Scully was exploring the house, Mulder brought in several large trunks. They were in actually filled with very little, but Mulder and Scully wanted to give the impression that they were staying for more than just a week or so.

Scully joined up with Mulder in the kitchen. He was standing in front of the open refrigerator holding a carton of orange juice in his hand. He looked at Scully a bit guiltily.

"Great, they supplied us with food too." Scully said peering into the fridge. "Mulder, don't drink out of the carton"

Mulder looked at the open carton in his hand and at Scully and promptly began looking for a glass.

He poured some juice into the glass and drank it down in one long swallow. He gave Scully a small smile. "My name is Jacob, remember?" he said teasingly.

"And anyway why did you push me off you and on my ass"

Scully shot him a wary glance "because that was inappropriate in public"

"Does that mean we can do it privately in the house" he replied advancing on her

Scully was about to come back with a proper retort when there was a knock on the front door. Scully and Mulder looked at each other and went out to the main hallway to see who it was.

Standing on their front stoop stood a very attractive man well over six feet tall with sandy brown hair and huge brown bedroom eyes.

The man thrust out his hand to Mulder who was standing in the doorway with his arm draped casually over Scully.

"Rob Sanders" the man said pumping Mulder's hand. "President of the neighborhood association. I just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood."

"Thank you" Mulder said "I am Jacob Bennet and this is my wife Sammy."

Rob shook Scully's hand and she could feel the electricity flow from him. "This guy is a chick magnet" she thought to herself after she was released from his grip.

"Well its nice meeting you hope you have a nice day and see you around, maybe we can arrange a lunch date with some friends, perhaps around 7 tonight unless your tired" he said making his way to the door.

Mulder and Scully exchanged a quick glance and then Mulder said "Sure we would love to"

"They don't waste much time" Mulder said after the door was shut.

"No they don't" Scully agreed. "I had better go unpack my clothes and dig out my formal wear"

"Me too" Mulder said following Scully upstairs into the bedroom.

They worked in silence as they both put away their own clothes.

Sleeping arrangements had yet to be discussed, but both assumed that Scully would take the bed and Mulder would bunk out on the couch the way he did at home. They assumed people would think he had fallen asleep in front of the television set if they spotted him through the living room window.

"So Scully, or should I say Sammy, any thoughts about the little lunch date tonight."

"Not much besides the fact that I am dead tired and that I would rather curl up with a good book than make small talk with the beautiful people of Newburgh California - but I guess it can't be helped."

"You and me both" Mulder said even though he had to admit that he was looking forward to seeing Scully in her Formal wear. "I don't think we will get a whole lot of sleep on this case. From what Skinner dug up, these little gatherings happen two or three nights a week."

Rob's house was just down the block from Scully and Mulder's so they opted to stroll down the street. Scully said nothing when Mulder casually draped his arm over her shoulders as they strolled.

Rob and another neighbor Brian were chatting on Rob's front lawn and spotted Mulder and Scully as they walked down the sidewalk.

"So what do you make of the new kids on the block?" Brian said taking a sip of his beer.

"They seem nice enough but I think we should hang low until we get to know them a bit better."

"Okay - I will go tell the others that there will be no special activities tonight."

Brian turned to walk around to the back of the house just as Mulder and Scully approached the house.

Rob walked up to greet them shaking Mulder's hand and giving Scully a peck on the cheek.

"I am so glad you made it. I can only imagine how tired you both are. But hopefully a nice juicy steak and a dip in the pool with help you get your energy back."

"A dip in the pool?" asked a confused Scully

"We didn't know it was a pool party otherwise we would have brought bathing suits" Mulder said still keeping his arm around Scully.

"Don't worry about that I'm sure my wife has a spare or two."

Mulder finished changing first and waiting patiently outside the bathroom for Scully to emerge. When she did, it took everything he had not to gasp out loud at the sight of her.

Scully was dressed in a simple black one piece bathing suit that featured a low cut front and an even lower cut back.

He walked over to join her and bent over to whisper in her ear "Wow!"

Scully smiled at him and then took his hand and headed towards the pool saying "It's show time Jacob."

Rob was waiting for them by the pool and gave them each a tall cool drink and then escorted them around the pool introducing them to everyone.

There were probably another 10 couples lounging around or splashing in the pool. All of them were either in their late twenties or thirties and all of them looked like they stepped out of a Ralph Lauren ad.

Scully and Mulder smiled and made small talk. Luckily for them, they spent so much time in each other's company that they were very comfortable and natural with each other. The only difference in their behavior from that they exhibited every day was that they were touching each other a bit more often.

Mulder decided that he liked touching Scully and was pleased when he felt no sense of disapproval at doing so from his partner.

Finally after about four hours the party began to break up. Scully and Mulder said their goodbyes promising to meet up at Brian's house Thursday night to sample some new wine he had brought back with him from New York.

Scully and Mulder strolled back to their house with their arms around each other. As soon as they entered their house, they split apart both feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"That wasn't so bad" Mulder said heading into the kitchen to grab a drink. "I think I will take a couple of minutes to write down all the names I can remember. That way we can start running checks on everyone in the morning."

"Well, I am going directly to bed" Scully said barely stifling a yawn.

"Want some company?" Mulder teased from the kitchen wondering for a split second what he would do if she actually said 'yes'.

"Very tempting, I think I will accept."

The shocked expression on Mulder's face was priceless and as if in a trance followed her up to the bedroom, were they both slept in companionable silence. With Mulder on the floor.

Hope you like so far

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