All notes disclosed in chapter one.
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"Charlie, for the last time, I'm not getting you tickets to the games. He'll get the wrong opinion of me."
Well, he'll need to learn sometime
"Charlie!" she warned.
Well, at least tell me if you've met Derek Jeter
Dana looked around her. "Actually, he's less than twenty feet away from me right now." There was silence on the other end. "Charlie?"
What about Alex Rodriguez?
"Yep, same distance."
You're in the dug-out, aren't you?
Dana resisted the urge to smile even though he couldn't see her. "Yep, I'm watching the game from here today. Cassie's with a friend for the day."
Dana, come on. You've got to get me tickets
"No, Charlie. You've got to buy 'em like everybody else. Maybe when he meets the family, I'll talk to him about it."
Why until then?
"Because Charlie, you need to calm down your love of the game because you're the reason he isn't meeting the family anytime soon."
I'm not the only one!
"No, but you're the main reason."
I'm gonna have to wait until next season, aren't I?
"Yep."
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"So are you just the girlfriend being nice or do you actually like the game?" Derek Jeter asked her when Mulder went up to bat. All of the guys were extremely nice to her, making her feel a part of the baseball family they had going. She liked it; she didn't feel so out of place like she thought she would.
"Both. I'm definitely learning to appreciate the game," she admitted.
"That's good then. It usually means you're the real deal."
"Trust me, I'm the real deal. I'm not after his money or after fame. My brother's after that more than I am."
"Baseball fan?" he guessed.
"Huge."
"Well, it's a popular sport. Someone in every family is bound to like it," he told her.
"You know, I've never thought of it that way."
Derek smiled. Why did all baseball players have such gorgeous smiles? "Just ignore him the next time he asks for tickets or autographs," he advised.
She looked stunned. "How did you…?"
"I'm up to bat." And he was gone. She looked back at the game. Mulder was on second but she could see his legs itching off of it. He was going to steal.
She heard a loud crack after she saw Mulder running for third from home plate. She cheered him on with the rest of the stadium. Why had she never liked baseball before? It was exhilarating!
She saw the ball bounce in the outfield, players scrambling to pick it up. She could see Derek stopping at second just in time before Mulder slid into home plate. She couldn't keep the smile off her face when he stepped in the dug out. His coach patted him on the back, but he never took his eyes off the game.
Her arms made their way around his neck, hugging him close to her. "Why is watching you do that such a turn on every time?" she murmured in his ear, her lips brushing against the lobe.
"Is that a promise of tonight?" She could hear his smile in that pleasant tone.
"Maybe," she promised, already planning.
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"Would you get out here? We only have a few hours."
"It's gonna take that long?" Dana whined. "Why that long?"
Mulder smiled slyly. "Because I want to milk it for all it's worth." She only sighed. "All right, do you have your bat?"
She held up the Louisville slugger he'd given her. "Okay, I'm going to help you swing and Tony is going to be in charge of the machine. I was going top let him pitch but I figured you didn't want to be injured."
"I heard that!" Tony yelled.
"You were supposed to!" Mulder yelled back. He returned his focus to Dana. "So come here."
She stepped up to the plate, the bat limp at her side.
"Try to look more enthusiastic," he suggested. She threw a smile his way, albeit a fake one. "Good enough."
He pulled her into his arms, her back pressed firmly against his chest. He moved the bat to the front of them, her hands automatically moving to the middle.
"Now this I like," she told him, wiggling against him just for fun.
"Don't distract me or Tony's gonna get a show," he growled in her ear. "Now, you want your feet shoulder length apart with your weight on your back leg. When you connect with the ball, you want to throw your weight forward into the hit. Got that?"
"Throw your weight. Got it."
He motioned for Tony to start. "You want to keep your eye on the ball, but also on the pitcher's hands." They connected with the ball on his last words. The ball flew to the left. A few more went by, each getting farther and higher than the last. When they managed to his one clear into the stands, she finally understood why he played the game.
"Like baseball yet?" he asked at her awed expression.
"Like it? I think I love it," she corrected. He only laughed and signaled Tony to start again.
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"It's pretty peaceful out here at night," Dana noticed later as they walked the bases together.
"I know. I love it when we have practice or games at night. It's beautiful."
"I'm beginning to understand the appeal of baseball," she confessed. "What's it feel like when you get a home run?"
"You did it earlier; you should know."
"Yeah, but you do it with thousands of fans. I did it with two people in the vicinity," she pointed out.
"True. It's an exhilarating rush when you hit the ball into the stands, or, on occasion, outside the park. You feel like you finally match up to every great player before your time. You feel like you can do something no one else can."
She looked up at him lovingly. "Sounds like you really enjoy it," she said softly.
"I do. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world." He gazed up thoughtfully one last time before pulling her over to the pitcher's mound.
His fingers laced together with hers, pulling her body close. She smiled sweetly at him. It made it easier to ask her…
"Move in with me."
She stood speechless for a moment, her mouth gapping open. Were they ready for this? Was she ready for this?
"What?" she finally said. A little persuasion never hurt.
"Move in with me. It's been four months and I've never felt this before with anybody. I love you so much. I love Cassie like she's my own. I feel like she's mine. I hate that I only get to see you for such small amounts of time some days. I feel like I hardly ever get to spend time with Cassie."
"But Mulder," she interrupted. "You spend a lot of time with Cassie."
He relented. "Maybe. Maybe I'm just greedy for time. All I know is that I want to live with you, to spend every living hour with you. I don't feel right if I'm not with you. And please tell me I didn't just freak you out."
She shook her head. "No, you're not scaring me."
"Well, it's caring me that you haven't said much during this."
"I… I'm thinking about it."
"Really?"
"Yeah, persuade me some more."
He smiled and pressed her closer to him. "Well, other people do your laundry for you and you really wouldn't have to deal with horrible New York traffic because you'll have no need for a car. You'll have a nice, spacious bedroom. You wouldn't have to rely on your parents to watch Cassie so much. There's a great view… any of this working?"
"Oh, yeah." She rested her head on his chest and wrapped her arms securely around his waist. Part of her wanted to scream yes but another part of her was saying no. it was quiet, of course, but it was still there. Telling her it could be a mistake, don't get Cassie too attached. She wanted to pay attention to that but she also wanted to take the chance. She wanted to say yes.
So she did.
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Continued in next chapter…..