It was the night before Christmas Eve. Scully was standing at the stove, stirring a pot of soup and humming to herself. Mulder was at the computer checking up on a few things he had ordered for the kids that still hadn't arrived. Joshua was playing his Xbox and Hannah had corralled all of her plastic horses in her bedroom and was singing to them.

It was domestic bliss, and for the first time in her life, Scully wasn't waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The ache in her heart for her father, her sister, and Emily was still there, but ever since Joshua was born, she had peace concerning those deaths. Her little boy had healed a lot when he happened upon the scene. When they had found Mulder dead in the woods, the only thing that pulled her through was the thought that she would see him again in their son's eyes. She had talked to him every night before he was born, assuring him that everything would be okay. Now, she often felt that he could read her mind.

"Mom?"

She smiled and turned around to find the subject of her thoughts standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Hi bud."

He walked over and stood next to her, his arm around her middle.

"What'cha makin'?"

"Chicken soup."

"Can I help you?"

"Do you want to butter the bread?"

He nodded and went to the drawer, pulling out a large loaf of sliced French bread.

"All of it?" he asked, setting it on the table and taking the butter off of the counter.

"Yeah, I think so."

She sat down across from him at the table and watched as he concentrated on buttering each individual slice of bread.

"What are we doing tomorrow, mom?"

"We need to clean up the house a little and take those presents to the drop off station."

"For the kids that have dads in jail?"

"Yeah."

"I sure hope we got them a lot of presents."

"Yeah, we got quite a few."

He was quiet for a moment, glancing up at her a few times before sighing.

"Mom, you know my friend Cody?"

"Yeah, I like him. He's usually the catcher at your baseball games, right?"

"Yep. Remember he spent the night a while ago?"

"Yes, I do."

"Well he told me that his dad got fired. And his mom doesn't have a job either and so they're not going to have very many presents for Christmas. So I was thinking that I could give him one of mine."

Scully's heart nearly broke at the compassion her son showed. It didn't surprise her, but to want to give up one of his brand new presents, sight unseen just to make his friend happy was almost too much for her to fathom.

"Honey, I think he would like that a lot."

"Could we invite them over for Christmas dinner? Aunt Monica and Uncle John will already be here and Cody's family won't take up much room. His parents are really skinny, I promise."

She chuckled and reached over to smooth down his cowlick.

"If they don't have plans already, they can definitely come over. We'll call them after dinner."

He grinned and finished up the last slice of bread before going over to her side of the table and climbing up in her lap. She could hardly remember the last time he had done that.

"Can we watch movies tonight, mom?"

"Sure."

"Can we get out the hide-a-bed and eat popcorn too?"

"Of course."

He hugged her and kissed her forehead before jumping off her lap.

"I'm gonna go tell Hannah!"

He ran out of the kitchen, almost colliding with his father.

"Slow down, Turbo."

"Sorry!"

Mulder chuckled and sat down next to his wife.

"Honey? What's the matter?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Joshua is just growing up too fast."

She relayed their discussion to Mulder who seemed to well up almost 2 sizes with pride.

The movie was over and both kids were deep asleep on the hide-a-bed with their parents, who were just hanging on to the last bits of wakefulness. Hannah was curled up mostly on Scully's chest, a thumb stuck in her mouth. Joshua was snoring softly, his face buried in a pillow.

"Hey," Mulder said in a gravelly voice. "Remember when Hannah was first born and she'd sleep on us like that? And every once in a while she'd grab onto you really tight."

"Like a koala."

"She was so tiny."

Scully nodded and dropped a kiss into her daughter's honey colored hair.

"Dana?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for being such a good mom. We have amazing kids, and I think that all has to do with you."

"Well, I think they were pretty good to start with."

"I know. But you've taught them how to love people, and how to be responsible. They're so mature for their ages, but they still act like little kids. You've just done an incredible job, despite all the things that were stacked against you."

She felt the tears coming and she wiped them away.

"You're a good dad too, you know. Ever since you've been back they've both been so joyful. Joshua especially. He doesn't let himself get concerned over things anymore. They were always happy, but to see their eyes truly light up every day... it's because you're home and they don't ever have to worry about anything again. You have no idea how good that is to see."

He smiled and reached over Joshua to grab her hand.

"I love you, Dana."

"I love you too."

They fell asleep there with their children, perfectly cozy and content.