All notes disclosed in chapter one.
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Next Morning
Mulder woke bright and early the next morning. Dana was nestled snuggly into his side, a bare leg thrown over his. The drapes were drawn shut, making the room fairly dark. He could see their clothes strewn across the floor from where he lay, except for her dress. Her dress had been draped across a chair at his insistence, telling her it was far too beautiful to be on the floor.
He resisted the urge to move, afraid he might wake her, and decided to enjoy the moment. Her head was nestled in the crook of his neck; her breathing was light against his skin. His fingers ran up and down her back lightly. What he really wanted was to see her tattoo again. He had been drawn to it last night. He lifted her hands in his, admiring the different colors of skin and how well they melded together. He toyed with her fingers absentmindedly.
His mind couldn't move from how attached he was to her. And to Cassie. He was already working out ways to propose to her. He knew her likes and dislikes, her goals, dreams, and aspirations for her daughter, as well as herself. He knew about her past love life and he hadn't run for the hills after hearing. He was 100 completely devoted to her.
Dana's arms tightened around him. "Mm, what time is it?" Her voice was raspy from sleep.
"Still too early. Go back to sleep," he suggested.
"Can't. I'm already awake and so are you."
"Ooh, what'd you have in mind?" he teased.
She squeezed his hand. "Nothing, I'm still too sore from last night. I haven't used some of those muscles in about five years. It's a good sore though."
He didn't say anything but his smile said it all. He rolled over to face her, changing their positions. She protested at first but soon found another comfortable position.
His hands resumed running up and down her back. Until she shivered.
"Are you cold?"
He could feel her smile against his chest. "A little but actually it tickles."
He did it again for fun before getting up.
"Hey, now I'm really cold," she complained. He threw a long sleeved shirt at her in response. He slipped his boxers on, watching her all the while. He was sad to see her beautiful form disappear underneath his favorite old baseball jersey, but she looked just as beautiful with it on.
"This is pretty comfy. I might have to keep this," she teased, pulling him back to bed. "You're pretty comfy, too."
"Well, I definitely hope you keep me," he murmured into her neck.
"Oh, I will. Especially after last night."
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One Week Later
Maggie left her boisterous granddaughter long enough to answer the door. The persistent knocking was getting on her nerves.
"Mom, you will never guess who your youngest daughter goes out with," Melissa said by way of a greeting, making her way to the living room.
Maggie shut the door behind her. "Good morning to you, too," she said dryly.
Missy turned back to her mother, kissing her cheek in greeting. "Sorry, mom. This news is just too… there's not even a word for it, it's that big!"
Maggie smiled at her daughter's happy mood. That's when she noticed a magazine in her hand.
"What's with the magazine?" she wondered. Missy motioned for her to sit, following when she did.
"Dana's in it."
"Dana's in People Magazine?" she repeated, disbelief creeping into her voice. Missy didn't answer. Instead she flipped open the magazine to a marked page and held it open for her mom to see.
Maggie's jaw dropped open. Her hand went out for the magazine. Her baby girl was in People Magazine.
Covering half a page was Dana and a man she vaguely recognized. From the way they were dressed, she guessed they were either coming from or going to a night out. One thing she knew for sure, she'd never seen her daughter wear a dress like that.
She was wrapped securely in the man's arms, a wide smile on her face. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen her daughter smile like that.
She glanced over at the caption on the right. "Fox Mulder, of the New York Yankees, out on the town with new girlfriend, name still unknown. They've been spotted all over town, often lost in an embrace," she read out loud.
"Dana's been holding out on us," Missy said. "We were with her all day yesterday and she never said anything."
"Well, maybe she has her reasons," Maggie defended her absent daughter. "Maybe he has reasons and she's honoring them."
"Charlie is going to be so mad at her for not telling him," Missy pointed out. "And then he's going to be ecstatic."
Maggie tore her eyes away from the magazine. "Now, Missy. It's for Dana to tell us when she's ready or when I have to force it out of her."
"Can I be there when it happens?"
"No, and aren't you supposed to be at work?" Maggie chastised.
"I was on my way when I picked up the magazine and saw the picture," Missy quickly explained.
"Aunt Missy!" a young voice exclaimed, running out from the kitchen.
"Hey, squirt." She picked her up, getting a kiss from Cassie in the process. "How have you been?"
"Good, I get to go to a baseball game 'morrow!" she shared with them. Mother and daughter shared a look.
"That's mommy and Mulder!" Cassie said excitedly, pointing to the picture in the magazine.
"What can you tell us about mommy and Mulder, Cassie?" Missy asked the little girl. She ignored her mother's sharp look.
"They love each other," Cassie shared. "And Mulder has a puppy that I play with all the time."
It all clicked into place for Maggie. "How long has mommy been with Mr. Mulder?"
"For two months. They're cel-brating tonight."
Maggie arched her brows. "I might just have to have a talk with mommy when she gets here."
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"Hello?" Dana called out when she entered her mother's house to a surprising silence. Normally, she was greeted by Cassie at the door or to the sounds of her laughter. She was unnerved to hear nothing.
"Dana?" she heard from the living room.
"Mom, why's it so quiet?" she asked, moving throughout the house.
"Your father and Cassie are outside. Come here, I want to talk to you." Her mother met her in the entryway. Dana smiled nervously.
"Why do I feel like I'm in trouble?"
At that, Maggie smiled. "You're not in trouble. I just want to show you something."
Dana's face lightened but she still felt like something was wrong. Her mother led her into the living room. That's when the first squeeze started at her temple.
"Since when do you read, or buy, People Magazine?" she laughed.
"I don't. Missy dropped by this morning. Said there was a picture I needed to see." She flipped the magazine open to the picture she had memorized by now.
That's when the second squeeze started. Her eyes were drawn to the image, recognizing it immediately as taken from a week ago. She still loved her dress. It was hanging up in Mulder's closet. Come to think of it, more and more of her and Cassie's things were making their way to his penthouse.
"I guess I'm busted," Dana finally said. "It was easier than I thought to keep it a secret, though."
"Why didn't you tell us, Dana?"
"We wanted to keep it a secret. I wanted to keep it secret," she confessed. "And it's not easy when you have cameras following you."
"You couldn't have told us yesterday that you're seeing someone?"
"No, mom. I just told you why not."
"There's no need to get angry. If anyone should be angry, it should be me. I'm the one that had to find out from a magazine."
Dana sat down, the plop audible. She could feel the third squeeze coming on.
"Fine, mom. What do you want to know?"
"I'd just like to be in the know."
"Meaning you'd like to know everything."
"No, I didn't say that. You're putting words in my mouth."
"But, mom, that's what you mean," she sighed.
"Maybe a little," she relented. "But Dana, you have to realize, it's been two months since you've started seeing this man and you've never mentioned him."
"How do you know it's been two months?" Dana asked, her eyes narrowing.
"I'm a mother. I put two and two together."
Dana kept the magazine open but focused her attention on her mother. She knew she couldn't keep the relationship secret forever but she had wanted more time.
"We met because of Cassie, actually. We were in the park and she stopped because she saw his puppy. We started talking; I didn't know who he was at the time. We went out to dinner the next night and we've been together ever since. He adores Cassie and he's great with her, which is why I went out with him. She loves to spend time with him, and obviously so do I."
"Does he know… about Cassie's father?" Maggie asked softly, sitting next to Dana on the sofa.
"Yes, we talked about it on the first date. He understands. Honestly, he's the perfect father to her. Yeah, he spoils her sometimes, but he spoils me just as much so I can't really tell him not to."
That bit of information Maggie chose to ignore. While she had raised her children to be dependent economically, the family had never had much extra money to spend. She didn't know how the other side of society lived. She knew her daughter made good money as a doctor, but it was no where near what a professional baseball player made. Still, she had a feeling Dana was going to find out how the other half lived.
"Are we going to meet him anytime soon?" Maggie wondered hopefully.
"As soon as I'm ready."
"And when is that?"
"When I'm ready for the world to know about the relationship. Judging from this caption, it shouldn't be too long."
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Continued in next chapter…….