A/N: Chapter 8, voilà! Have fun and enjoy, as always!
9. 18 AM EST-Time, Saturday
Scully's room, Katherine Scully's house, Lincoln Landing
The sun streamed through the huge eastside windows right into Scully's bedroom and tickled her nose. With a growl she turned in her large, wooden bed, trying desperately to get some more sleep, but the warmth and the sun made an agreeable sleep nearly impossible. She sighed, opened her eyes and brought herself into an upright position. She yawned and stuffed some pillows behind her back to make it more comfortable, while looking out of the window and feeling good. Even if her sleep had been interrupted. Her whole room beamed, for the rays seemed to reflect their light off the yellow walls. Dana closed her eyes and smiled. Yesterday had been unbelievable. After showing Mulder his room, they had explored the attic and Scully's grandfather's telescope. They had watched the stars for hours, in which Mulder tried to convince her constantly that he was seeing U.F.O's. It was silly but it had been wonderful. Even now she smiled. She inhaled and exhaled deeply and pushed her covers aside, got up and strolled over to the bathroom. This would be a lovely day.
Mulder's room, same time
His room was situated exactly next to hers and now the sun tickled Mulder's nose as well. Sleepily, he looked at his clock and started grinning – it was 9.21 AM. He couldn't think of a day where he had selpt that long. God, that felt good. He yawned heartily and trashed his sheet to the side, before turning to the bedside and getting up.
9. 26 AM EST-Time, Saturday
Katherine Scully's, Lincoln Landing
He really had beaten the world record in getting up, getting a shower and getting dressed. And that made him proud. Now, he was on his way downstairs, searching the house for Scully's family.
The whole house seemed to be in a Sleeping Beauty's sleep – the windows and doors were wide ajar, the slight breeze moved the curtains back and forth, he heard a radio from the kitchen and the birds from outside. But nobody came into sight.
"Hello?" Mulder called looking around the dining room. "Hey!" But nothing, no answer. He slowly crossed each room and had to admit that this was a wonderful building – he admired its architecture. "Scully!" He called before realization hit him – every person in this house could be called Scully. So, he tried her first name: "Dana!" But again, nobody answered his calls. He slowly but definitely felt stupid. He called and called, but nobody would answer. He tried it one last time: "Dana!" And as he rounded the corner to finally ending up in the hallway again, he nearly bumped into Katherine Scully.
The old lady stopped breathing for a moment. "My goodness, Fox, you scared me to death!" She panted and placed her right hand just above her heart.
Mulder was slightly concerned and placed his hand over Katherine Scully's back, wanting to guide her to the nearest chair, but Katherine declined.
"I was looking for you, Fox."
"Mrs Scully, I'm truly sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
"Oh, for god's sake – would you please call me Katherine? Mrs Scully sounds so … ancient. And I'm just 85 years young!" There it was again – this amused smile.
"Oh, of course, I'm sorry, it's your birthday today, Mrs Scully. I'm such an idiot for …"
"Katherine!"
Mulder smiled embarassed as he noticed his mistake. "Yeah, Katherine. I'm sorry. Happy birthday!" His hazel eyes smiled at her.
He's so kind-hearted, thought Katherine Scully and put so much gentleness into her voice as possible. "Come on, Fox … and please, don't excuse yourself so often. You are not responsible for everything that goes wrong on this planet, young man!" With a tight grip on his arm she pulled him towards the garden.
Mulder followed her without resistance.
9. 31 AM EST-Time, Saturday
Garden of the peach plantation
The sun hit his face remorselessly as Mulder stepped onto the veranda with Katherine at his side. He hadn't been shown this part of the Scully property yet – the peach trees stood in lines here, like in the olden days of the plantation and their blossoms and peaches shed and unbelievably intensive smell, sweet and rich.
Katherine glanced at him from the side and noticed his astonished look. Apparently, he seemed to like what he saw but frequently discovered new things. And Katherine seemd to like him more with every minute.
They descended a huge stairwell and followed a small path that led deeper into the labyrith of peach trees. The further they went into the forrest with its white blossoms, the clearer Mulder heard laughter and voices, as they suddenly stepped onto a clearing. They were all there, gathered around a large table: Maggie, Dana, Tara and another woman, yet unknown to him. The table was loaded with all things one could imagine for breakfast. Mulder couldn't remember when or if he ever saw something like that.
Not far from the table, Bill and another man with red hair, which led Mulder to the conclusion that this must be Charles, Scully's little brother, were talking and laughing. Little Matthew was crawling to Bill's feet and triesd to catch a butterfly. And then there were two other children. A redheaded girl and a boy. The girl was climbing around in a peach tree while her brother threw unripe peaches at her.
Mulder simply had to smile. Finally he saw Scully's whole kinship group.
"Hey, look who's here! The late-riser!" Called Katherine and tightened her grip on his arm.
Everyone was looking up and over to the two arrivers, while Katherine maneuvered the two of them over to the table.
Scully stood up and approached him with a huge smile. She was wearing a lovely, lavender coloured dress. She should definitely wear dresses more often! Mulder thought.
Katherine Scully seated herself on Dana's chair and pured herself some tea, before sighing contently over at her "lab rats". After taking one sip, she asked the other women: "So, what do you think of him?"
Maggie, not realising her own dreamy facial expression, turned speechlessly towards her mother in law and looked confused. "What?"
"I was just asking what do you think of him ?"
Megan, Charles' wife, smiled and casted her eyes back to Mulder. "Well, I must admit he's rather … handsome!"
Maggie Scully's mouthed popped open and she sqeezed Megan slightly. "Megan!"
"Hey! Am I not supposed to say that he looks handsome?" Megan rubbed the spot were Maggie had sqeezed her.
"You are married to Charles!" Hissed Maggie and couldn't believe her daughter in law found Agent Mulder handsome.
"Maggie, nobody can compete with my Charles, but you have to admit that …" Her eyes trailed back to Mulder, "… he is … hot."
"Oh yes!" Tara agreed and giggled together with Megan.….
Maggie couldn't believe it. Both of her daughters in law found Fox Mulder good-looking, handsome … even … hot.
Katherine Scully laughed heartily. "Oh Maggie, would you please simmer down? He really is a treasure. He has a good heart, is well raised, smart and shamelessly handsome. God knows, if I was 40 years younger, I'd …" Replied Katherine Scully with an amused smile and liked the stunned look of her daughter in law. "Oh, come on, Margaret, you have to admit it!"
Maggie looked back to her daughter and Fox Mulder, who just had eyes for Dana and her dress. Maggie liked Fox. Really. And yes, even if fit was hard to admit – he was quite handsome!
"And this is Dana's new boyfriend?" Megan asked and observed every gesture of the couple talking in some distance from the table.
Katherine shared a grin with Tara and they were about to answer Megan's question, as Maggie was first: "No, he is her partner. They are co-workers at the FBI!"
"Partners?" Megan asked with an ambigous smile. „Seriously?"
Maggie nodded calmly and didn't get the ironical undertone in Megan's voice: "Yes, they are working together since nearly seven years now and they really are …" Maggie's voice trailed off, as Megan, Tara and even Katherine couldn't help themselves from lauging anymore. "Okay, what did I say?"
"Partners?" Megan repeated giggling.
And there it was again – realization hit Maggie like a truck. She knew right away what this was about. "Oh god, you are like little school girls. That's embarassing. The two are just friends, okay? Dana told me that herself. There is nothing going on. Understood?"
The smirks and grins on Tara's, Megan's and Katherine's faces vanished sheepishly and they lookd into each others eyes. "Well, but that doesn't mean that it is impossible!" Katherine mentioned in a low key, which was a sign for Megan and Tara to start laughing again.
Mulder glanced over to the women's circle, who seemed to share some quite good laughs, and somehow he felt that it was him they found so funny and entertaining. But he tried to shove the thought aside. Right now, he couldn't look away from that dress Scully was wearing.
"Hopefully, you slept well." Scully said, brushing through her loose hair.
"Sure. Even better than in a long time." He saw that Sully liked his answer but again his view trailed back to the dress. He couldn't get enough of looking at it. So, he eyed her up and down with his hazel eyes.
This didn't go unnoticed by Scully and she carefully scrutinized him as well. "What is it?"
His first shy smile started out to be a huge grin. "Well, I was just asking myself where all the feeding cups are that you warned me about?"
Scully laughed heartily. "Oh, you just have to wait a little longer, I suppose. Be patient. And now, come on. I'd like you to meet my little brother Charles, his wife Megan and their kids Annabelle and Patrick." She said and grabbed his hand, guiding him towards the table.
A/N: That's it for chapter 8! I love reviews, of course. And you have been so wonderful and kind to make my days with them. See you in the next chapter … Thank you for reading.