A/N: As promised – chapter 9! Hope you enjoy it!

10. 13 AM EST-Time, Saturday

Garden of Katherine Scully's house

Bill constantly shot irritated looks at Mulder and Charles. He couldn't understand how fast his little brother and FOX had made friends with each other. That wasn't normal, was it? Silently, he munched away a donut and took another sip of his coffee.

"Dana often told me about you. And I think it's great to finally meet you in person!" Charles said, grabbing another donut. Somehow, he had imagined this Fox Mulder to be different. The description his brother Bill had given him, had been totally wrong. This man was humorous and nice, actually the complete opposite of Bill's description.

Mulder grinned. "Did she?"

Charle's view trailed over to his bigger sister, sitting in one of those comfortable white wicker chairs. "Oh yes, she did. And to be honest, at first it was hard for me to make up a picture of you. An outstanding personality with a somewhat clearly defined nose."

Slightly confused, Mulder serached for Scully's eyes, while touching his somehwat clearly defined nose with his right hand.

Scully simply drank another sip of coffee but her face stayed serious. Eventually, her cheeks went a little red.

"Well, but now, after finally meeting you – I see what she ment. And in addition, I think the nose is not even as striking as she tried to tell me." Charles replied, licking his lips and taking a large bite of his new donut. But his daughter Annabelle interrupted him as she tried to make her dad play a game with her.

Mulder really wondered how different Charles was from his brother Bill. He was nice and easy to talk to, funny. Probably, Mulder and Bill must have had a really troubled relation from the very start. That's what made their relationship so complicated.

"Uhm, … I have another question …" Katherine Scully chimed in. She sat on the far end of the wooden table, surrounded by all of her family on her 85th birthday. She beamed like a simpleton and looked so proud and happy.

Everybody was looking at her expectantly.

"… where the hell are my presents?"

Everyone was grinning, smiling and sharing a laugh, as the first ones got up to go get her presents, when Mulder started to remember, that he had a present for Katherine Scully himself. But then … realization hit him like a truck: flowers – in the car – without water.

All of a sudden Mulder started sprinting towards the mainhouse and all Scully could give him was an inquiring look as she slowly started towards the house, as well.

Katherine Scully questioned Dana with her eyes, who could only shrug her shoulders in ignorance. "Did he dislike the donuts?" Katherine asked with a develish grin.

Again, Dana shook her head as if to say "I don't know" and finally continued to follow the small path towards the house. Hopefully, finding Mulder and getting some answers.

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"Mulder?" Dana had no idea where to find him. "Where are you?" She slowly rounded the house.

"I'm here!"

Did this miserable sounding voice really belong to her Mulder? She slowly turned around to see him sitting on the driver's seat of their car, door open. A very pitiable looking bunch of flowers in his hands that had been a splendid bouquet of flowers only 24 hours ago.

He carefully picked at some petals and then looked up. Not only the flowers looked awful, Dana could tell. He looked like a very small and very dissappointed young boy and Dana immediately came closer.

"They withered." Mulder said.

He looked so helpless and at a loss that she feelt awfully sorry. Kneeling down, she put a hand on his knee and tried to lighten him up with a smile and nice words. "Mulder …"

"What am I supposed to give your granny now? She'll be dissappointed to no end with me having nothing for her!"

Scully shook her head no. He had this unbelievable puppy dog expression that could made her loose her mind. "No … don't you think she'll be dissappointed. You couldn't dissappoint anyone." Slowly, her hand started to draw some reassuring circles around his knee. "At least … you wouldn't dissapoint someone on purpose." She added and conjured a smile upon his face.

What would I do without you, Scully? He thought and put his hand over hers. She was kneeling in front of him, trying to make him feel better. What did he want more? Their eyes locked and he stared right into her ocean-blue eyes. He knew that if her eyes would caught the slightest glimpse of doubt in his face, she'd immediately started her Mulder-self-esteem-supporting-programm again. Mulder sighed on purpose and enjoyed the programm once again. "But … I really wanted to give her something, I mean … first I'm the unannounced guest and then …"

"Oh Mulder, would you please stop?" She said sternly and yet nicely. "For what I can see, my granny is nuts about you. She likes you a lot. It won't matter to her that you have no present …" With a quick glance down to the dry flowers and then back to Mulder's face she added: "… it's the thought that counts, right? But if it really is that important to you, then we'll give her my present together. We say it's from us. Okay?" Scully saw the little twinkle in his eyes and felt content again. "Let's go now. The longer we stay away the more thoughts and scenarios she'll form in her senile mind about what could have taken us so long." He was laughing again and exactly that was what she had intended.

Mulder stood up pulling her along. He threw the flowers into a shrub and they both started towards the house getting Scully's present.