Sunday, December 24th, 2000, 5:30 PM

Margaret Scully opened the front door to reveal a tall man standing behind a little girl, his hand on her shoulder. There was a certain resemblance between them, and both of them looked exceptionally nervous. "Fox, Merry Christmas! I'm so happy you decided to come over! Dana will be happy to see you both, she's been talking about you all night." she informed the man with something of a knowing smile. She bent down to greet the little girl before Fox could answer her. "And you must be Samantha! It's very nice to finally meet you, I've heard a lot about you."

Samantha smiled at her hesitantly, but clearly pleased. "Hello, Mrs. Scully. Merry Christmas."

Maggie led them both into the house, towards where the other guests were. Both of her sons had come for the holidays this year with their families, and there were some neighbors and family friends over as well.

Mulder felt nervous and uncomfortable, and it was written all over his face no matter how hard he tried to hide it. It had been decades since he had done the 'family thing' for the holidays. Usually he stayed home and drank too much beer or whiskey, or both, and fell asleep as early as he could. Or he found a way to work and forget that it was a holiday at all. The only decent holidays he'd had since Samantha had disappeared had been the ones he had talked Scully into working with him, actually. It had been her idea for him to bring Samantha over to her Mother's this year. She had invited Mulder himself every year that she'd known him, but he had always declined. This year, she hadn't taken no for an answer, on the principle that it would be good for Samantha to have a holiday atmosphere with other people, and especially other kids. Unable to argue with that, he had agreed to come over for the open house that Margaret hosted every year on the 24th.

Sensing her brother's discomfort, Samantha held his hand tightly as they walked through the house. She was excited to see Dana, and by the sounds and smells and colors and cheer associated with any good holiday party, but she also wasn't used to it. When their parents had thrown parties Samantha and Fox had known better than to come downstairs. It had almost exclusively been an early dinner and early bedtime for them when their parents had people over.

"Danny, can you take Fox and Samantha's coats up to the bedroom for me, please?" Maggie asked a honey-haired teenage boy. He looked quite a bit like Taylor Hanson, but his shaggy hair was significantly shorter. Before the kid ran off she stopped him. "This is my son Charlie's oldest, Danny. He just turned 13 in August, a teenager now, can you believe it?" Maggie Scully kissed his cheek. The kid greeted Mulder and Samantha with a polite smile, though he was clearly embarrassed by his grandmother's doting.

Samantha took off the dark green pea coat with gold buttons that her brother had bought her to wear for the holidays, revealing her holiday dress underneath. Maggie immediately made a fuss over it as Danny made his escape.

"Look at that dress, you look so pretty!" Maggie told her with a large cheery smile. It was a bright red dress, made from sweatshirt material. The dress sported a Christmas scene displaying a tree and various gifts and boxes, including a rocking horse and nutcracker, and the sleeves and bottom hem were edged with white whispy faux fur. White stockings, black buckled Mary Janes, and a jolly green and red ribboned hair barrette, including tiny golden bells, completed the look. "Did your brother do your hair?" Maggie asked her.

Samantha nodded, making the bells on her hair piece jingle merrily, a large smile spreading over her face. "Dana taught him how." Samantha's long dark hair had Shirley Temple Ringlets in it, and was half pulled up with the barrette in a sort of Victorian style, almost Charles Dickens-esque.

Before Maggie could say anything else Dana wandered into the room. "Hey! You actually came over!" She gave Mulder a quick kiss on his cheek in greeting, closer to his ear than his mouth but still enough to startle him. She stepped away quickly, as if surprised by the action herself, and immediately moved to greet Samantha. "Hi Sweetie, Merry Christmas!" She gave the girl a tight one armed hug around the shoulders, pulling her against her side.

Samantha wrapped her arms around Scully's waist, grinning up at her, idolization shinning in her eyes. "Merry Christmas, Dana."

"You look so pretty! Did you pick your dress out?" she asked Samantha while her Mother was busy fussing over Mulder and trying to give him a drink and some hors d'oeuvres.

Samantha shook her head. "Nope. Fox picked it out. He did my hair, too, just like you showed him!"

"It looks beautiful! We're really getting your brother to get good with the girl stuff, huh?" Scully asked her, steering her into another room still hanging off her waist.

Samantha nodded and giggled. "Yeah. We have to teach him to do make-up, too."

Scully laughed at that. "Maybe we'll work on nail polish next. How does that sound? I think he would look absolutely dashing with bright green nails."

Samantha was about to agree when they came to a stop in front of the entrance to the den. Any sound died from her lips when she surveyed the room of children watching a cartoon, apparently about lions. She looked up at Scully questioningly.

Scully smiled at her. "Samantha, I want you to meet my nieces and nephews." she told her. "That one right there is Ricky." Scully pointed to Charlie's youngest child, Patrick, a boy who was three, or maybe a tiny four, with a mop of red curls and a face spotted with freckles. "And over there is is Matthew." she pointed to Bill's son, a boy who was slightly shorter than the other, but stockier, with clear skin and blonde hair. He looked like a cherub out of a painting. Scully looked around. "Mary-Margaret is the baby, but she's upstairs taking a nap. And where is…-" As Scully trailed off her niece popped up behind her. "Hi, Aunt Dana. Is that Sammy?"

Samantha turned to face a girl her age, but about half a head shorter. She had red hair like the first little boy, but it was straight and much darker, parted straight down the middle with no bangs and ended at the tops of her shoulders. She had no freckles. The resemblance to a young Jena Malone was absolutely uncanny. She was the first child her own age, or at all, actually, that Samantha had been near in almost a month. She smiled at her shyly.

"There you are! Yes, this is Sammy." Scully looked down at Samantha. "This is my niece, Ashleigh. She just turned nine a few weeks ago, and she has been looking forward to having someone who's not a baby or a teenager to play with." Scully looked up at her niece. "Right, Ash?"

The red-headed little girl rolled her eyes. "Of course, Aunt Dana. But you don't have to try so hard." Ashleigh took Samantha's hand. "Come on; I'll show you what my Grandma has that we can play with."

Samantha hung back, not following at first. Her eyes were trained on Scully. "Dana?" she asked softly. "Dana, do I have to stay in here all night?" She remembered her parents parties very well, where she had just been an annoyance for the night, something for them to need to be rid of.

Scully smiled at her. "No, you don't have to stay in here at all if you don't want to. I only brought you in here to meet Ashleigh. The other kids are just hanging out in here because that's where all the toys are. You can go wherever you want. Did you want something to eat before you go play?"

Samantha shook her head hesitantly. Ashleigh gave her hand a tug. "Come on; I want to show you this new game Grandma got us."

Scully put her hands on Samantha's shoulders. "I'll tell you what; you go play with Ashleigh, and when you get bored you come and find me or your brother. I promise, you don't have to stay in the den, okay?"

Samantha offered a small smile and nodded, finally letting Ashleigh lead her away into the room.

Scully rejoined the rest of the party, finally finding Mulder standing with a group of men including a few neighbors and her brother Bill. He was standing a bit stiffly, holding a plate of food and a red plastic cup full of root beer. Her Mother stopped her before she could make her way over to them.

"He's a very sweet man, Dana. Very polite, and well-mannered." Maggie said, giving her daughter a knowing look. "And certainly not bad on the eyes, either."

Scully blushed. "Mom! He's a friend, a very dear friend. That usually happens with someone you risk your life for regularly, and they risk their life for you. There is nothing else going on between us."

Maggie Scully raised her eyebrows. "Oh? I didn't know it was standard to greet one's law enforcement partner with a kiss, cheek or not." Her look suggested that if there truly was nothing else going on between them that Dana should do something about that, and soon.

Scully's cheeks flushed almost as red as her hair. She tried to stammer something out, but found her throat clicking unintelligibly instead. Her Mother laughed at her.

"Don't be so defensive, Dana. You haven't been able to hide your crushes from me since you were seven years old. If it makes you feel any better, he's clearly interested in you, too. And that little girl couldn't adore you anymore if you were Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy rolled into one."

Scully started to protest again than paused. "He does?" she asked her Mother uncertainly. Before Maggie could respond, Mulder popped up behind Scully.

He offered Maggie a winning smile. "This food is amazing. It must have taken you a week to make all of it."

Maggie returned the smile. "Thank you very much, Fox! It probably would have if Tara and Eileen hadn't been here to help me cook" Maggie gave her daughter a slightly exasperated look. "This one here was too busy with work."

Mulder grinned sheepishly, looking from Scully to her Mother. "Ah, that might have been my fault. I've been out of work since I got custody of Samantha."

Maggie Scully laughed. "Oh, don't let her use that as an excuse! She's always busy around the holidays." She winked at her daughter and Mulder and made her way into the living room to offer drinks and food to the rest of the guests.

Mulder looked at Scully, suddenly feeling mildly uncomfortable. "It's nice, really, the party. I don't know why I never took you up on the offer before."

Scully felt her face cracking into an expression of mildly exasperated amusement. "Probably because up until this year you not only hated the idea of being stuck in a house with a bunch of strangers, but you hated the holiday season itself and everything it represents."

Mulder found himself wondering what it would feel like to kiss her. He already knew what it felt like to plunge his hands through her coppery hair, and they had shared a brief New Years kiss the previous year, but looking at her now… There was a semi-amused, self satisfied little half smirk on her face. The smile lit up her entire visage, and made her blue eyes shine. Her make-up was done in a light, casual way that was very different than when she worked. Her hair had a more wild appearance, not carefully business controlled, and she wore a red Santa hat with her name across the front in multi-colored glitter. Instead of the small studs she wore in her ears at work there were dangling earrings in her ears that flashed with bright red and green LED lights. The soft green sweater she wore revealed a tasteful slight of cleavage, and her black slacks were just tight enough to reveal an intriguing outline of her figure as she moved. Almost against his will he began to lean towards her.

Dana was caught in the same moment from her own perspective. Something about the lighting, dim and multicolored and magical, seemed to outline and accentuate every handsome feature of his face. Flickering Christmas lights danced in his hazel eyes. His hair had grown in just a bit and hung over his forehead, almost falling into those beautiful hazel eyes. Though she would never admit it, she had been admiring the way his derriere looked in the jeans she wasn't used to seeing him in. She leaned towards him as he moved towards her, just slightly-

"Not interrupting, am I?" Bill Scully Jr. asked, stepping into the room. His smirk suggested that he thought he was indeed interrupting something. Both Mulder and Scully jumped and looked away from each other.

"No, uh, of course not. You're not interrupting anything, we were, uh, just talking." Dana answered her brother rather breathlessly, blushing and refusing to look at him as well. She suddenly felt like she was a teenager again, recalling Bill opening the front door at an inopportune moment as she returned from her first date when she was fifteen.

"Good. Chuck sent me to find you, we're setting up the poker game, playing for quarters. You want in?" he asked, turning to look at Mulder. "It's a family tradition, we play cards every Christmas Eve."

Mulder smiled at him politely. "No thanks, I think I'll pass. I've never had much luck with gambling."

Bill shrugged. "Suit yourself. If you change your mind, we'll be in the dinning room."

An hour later found Dana sighing at yet another crap hand. Bill and Charlie tended to win the card games more often than not, but she didn't usually lose quite so badly. She was down $20 already, and hadn't won a single hand yet. Bill was up by $10, and Charlie was down by about $30. Danny, however, seemed to be having a streak of winner's luck, and was up by $50. It was the first year he had been allowed to join in the game on his own with his own hand of cards. It was a right of passage their Father had begun with them. He had played cards every Christmas Eve for as far back as the Scully children could remember. Anyone could play who was over the house, but they had to be at least 13. Each of the Scully Children had looked forward to their 13th Christmas for years, and each had fond memories of it. Charlie had been keen to continue the tradition, especially now that their Father had passed away. Dana was about ready to forfeit for the evening when Samantha and Ashleigh made their way into the dinning room.

Ashleigh made her way over to Charlie and put her head on his shoulder, looking at his cards. "Can I play with you, Daddy?" she asked.

"Sure, kiddo, but I'm not splitting the pot unless you put money in." Charlie told his daughter, his eyes dancing playfully, neglecting to mention he was down money, not up currently. His daughter rolled her eyes at him as she climbed up to sit on his lap.

Dana turned to Samantha and smiled. The little girl was hovering nervously behind her chair. "Hey Sweetie, whatcha up to?"

Samantha shrugged, smiling slightly. "Ricky and Matt fell asleep, and we got bored. What are you playing?"

Dana motioned for her to come closer. "We're playing Poker. Have you ever played cards?"

Samantha shook her head. "Not real cards. Just Go Fish and War."

Dana pulled the girl up onto her lap. It looked a bit awkward, because Dana was short and Samantha was very tall, making them very nearly the same height, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Though she was tall, Samantha was lithe, and light as a wish. Dana explained the basics of the game than let Samantha help her choose cards to play. The kid took to the game like a fish to water, and when they disbanded a half hour later Dana found herself breaking about even for the night, with Samantha having caught a few things she herself had missed.

"Being a corrupting influence on my little sister?" Mulder asked, sticking his head into the dinning room. Dana smirked at him in response, but Samantha launched herself off Dana's lap and ran over to her brother.

"Fox! Dana showed me how to play Poker! I want to teach you, so we can play sometime!" This caused Bill and Charlie to break up into loud brays of laughter, the idea of a little girl teaching a grown man to play Poker.

Mulder ignored them and smiled at his sister. "She did, did she? Well, it just so happens that I know how to play Poker, so maybe we'll have to have Dana over some night so you and her can win lots of money from me, how does that sound?" The grin on Samantha's face was answer enough for him. "But I think it's time to head home for tonight, so we can let the Scully's exchange their presents. You and I are the last stragglers."

Dana stood up and stretched. "You can't leave before presents." she told Mulder, giving him a wink as she left the room. Maggie was calling for the kids to come into the living room.

Mulder gave her a puzzled look and followed her. "What do you mean? I don't want to interrupt your family-."

Dana interrupted him, putting a finger to her lips. "You're not interrupting anything; Samantha has gifts under the tree from all of us. My Mom coordinated it when I told her you were coming over with her."

Mulder looked dumbfounded. "Scully, they didn't have to do that! And why didn't you tell me, I didn't bring-"

Scully waved to silence him. "I didn't want you buying for my whole family. You're piggybacking off my gifts. Now sit down and hush and let the kids have their fun."

Samantha sat on the floor in between Ashleigh and Matt. Mulder sat next to Scully on one of the love seats, feeling less awkward than he would've expected. Bill's daughter Mary-Margaret, Maggie Scully's namesake, sat on her Father's lap and Ricky sat on his Mother Eileen's lap. Danny lean-sat on the armrest of the couch next to his Father, trying to look bored with all the family fun time but not quite succeeding. Maggie crouched next to the tree, fishing out gifts and passing them around.

Samantha eyed the growing pile of gifts beside her with barely controlled excitement. There was one from Maggie, one from Charlie and his wife, one from Bill and his wife, and one from Dana as well.

"Alright now, let the baby open a present first, than all you older kiddos can tear in." Maggie called over the growing roar of excited children. "Bill, here's your gift from me, and here's yours, Charlie. Dana-" Bill intercepted Dana's gift and pretended to hide it. Dana mimed a playful punch at him. Though she had wanted to strangle him approximately half the time since she was about six years old, he was still her brother and she still loved him. The holidays brought out the warm and fuzzy feelings. At least, they did now that they were adults. Dana still recalled a particularly severe temper tantrum she'd had the Christmas she was eight over Bill's teasing. Bill relented and handed his sister the small bright green package his Mother had passed down for her.

"That looks like it's it, everyone ready?" Maggie asked, standing up. "Oh, I almost missed one. Here, Fox, this is for you."

Mulder froze, a look of embarrassed horror on his face. "What? Oh, no, really, you didn't have..." he trailed off into silence at the look on Mrs. Scully's face and took the gift. "Thank you. Very much. You really didn't have to."

It took a little encouragement to get Baby Mary to tear into her package, but once she got started there was no stopping her. As soon as Mary's first package was opened the rest of the kids tore into theirs, Samantha a bit tentatively, but her reservation faded quickly as she revealed a brown-haired Barbie Doll in the first package. Ashleigh had already opened an identical one, except for the hair color. Ashleigh's barbie Doll was a red-head.

"Look Fox! I got a Barbie! And look, her hair's like mine!" Samantha cried, practically screaming at the top of her lungs, waving the box at him. Samantha'd had a few Barbies in the 70's, but they had all been blonde back then. She dove back into the small stack of gifts excitedly before her brother could respond.

Mulder turned to Scully, meaning to thank her for arranging all of this, but the words died in his throat. Dana's gift still sat in her hands unopened. She was too busy watching her nieces and nephews and Samantha open their gifts. Mulder had never seen her family life before, had never seen her so much like a regular person, and in that moment she was so beautiful that it took his breath away.

Scully never turned to him until the kids finished opening their gifts. Samantha and Ashleigh's presents were identical. They each had a Barbie, and a horse to go with it that actually walked when you pressed the button in its side. They each had two board games, Clue and Twister. And they each had new charm bracelets. Both girls were already wearing the bracelets, and unpacking their new Barbies and horses with incredible alacrity.

Scully smiled at her partner. "I think Sam's having a good time."

Mulder gave her one of his half-grins. "Yeah, you could say that. She's been wanting a barbie with brown hair since we were kids, but they never made them in the 70's." Mulder gestured to the box in her hand. "You didn't open your gift."

Dana gestured to the box in his hand. "You first. I want to see what you think of it, my Mom picked it out and wouldn't tell me what she got for you." When he didn't move immediately she added "I'll open mine in a minute, as soon as you open yours."

Giving in, Mulder sighed and unwrapped the package. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped, and a totally unaffected 'Wow!' popped out. It was a baseball, signed by several of the current New York Yankees.

"Do you like it?" Maggie asked, looking over. "My husband served on the same ship with the current owner's brother. They became fairly good friends and stayed in touch after they came home. Dana said you liked baseball, particularly the Yankees, so I pulled a few strings."

"Like it? This is amazing! Thank you, Mrs. Scully!" Mulder was aware that he had reverted back to childhood, but he couldn't bring himself to care. As a child he had dreamed of being on the New York Yankee's team, and one of his greatest childhood memories had been his Father taking him and Samantha to New York to see a home game. Samantha had been six and he had been ten. He had always loved baseball, but after that day it had taken on a different power over him, and he had eaten, slept, and breathed baseball for the next two years, until Samantha had disappeared. Baseball had still been a constant companion after that, he had even played a bit in high school and college though admittedly not as much as he had played Basketball, but after Samantha disappeared it lost its driving force.

Dana smiled at him while he wasn't looking, still engrossed with the gift. She'd had a feeling her Mother'd had something good up her sleeve, but she hadn't realized how special the gift was going to be. Seeing him light up like a little kid on Christmas morning made her see him in a different light, not as a work partner and work friend, driven by his intense search for the truth, but as a person, a real person, a real friend…

Mulder looked up from the gift and caught Scully's staring gaze. He smiled at her, and she blinked and looked away, almost embarrassed. "You still didn't open yours." he told her, wearing his peculiar half smile.

Dana glanced down at the small package wrapped in shimmery green paper that she held in her hand. At first glance it seemed like it was obviously a jewelry box, but it was lighter than it should have been and an awkward shape, too short and wide to be a necklace or bracelet. She tore the paper off and opened the white cardboard box to reveal a pair of tickets to a Broadway show.

"Mom! You got them!" It was Scully's turn to revert to childhood. Though her parents had kept her and her siblings well-cultured, especially with all their moving to various countries and locations, Dana had never been to see a musical or play until she was in college. She had gone on an impromptu trip to New York City just after Finals in her third year of college with a couple of school friends, and they had seen The King and I on Broadway. Dana had been enchanted, and had been dying to go back ever since. She had lamented to her Mother how much she would have liked to have seen Miss Saigon on Broadway when she was visiting her on Thanksgiving, and now here were the tickets.

"You got lucky with those, Dana. They're for the last performance on January 7th. They only had a couple left." Maggie Scully told her, smiling at her daughter's clear delight. "I got you two of them, I figured you could take a, friend, along with you. It's not any fun to go alone."

Dana ignored the obvious implication as she got up from the loveseat to give her Mother a hug and a kiss. "Thanks, Mom. You're the best."

Samantha wandered over and climbed up on her brother's lap. She picked the baseball up and turned it over, looking at the names. She handed it back to him. "Far-out gift, Fox." When she didn't immediately slide back off his lap, he took the hint that she was getting tired. He still had trouble dealing with 'kid hints' and didn't always catch them, but he had learned that Samantha climbing up to sit on his lap usually meant she was tired and ready to get going. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was after ten and his eyebrows went up. "Come on, Bug. It's late, we better get going or Santa might skip over you."

Samantha gave her brother a reproachful look, both at the nickname he'd bestowed on her and because of the suggestion that Santa might skip over her. "Santa doesn't skip over anyone." she informed her brother, her typical sass dripping from every word.

"Oh yes he does." Mulder replied, standing up and setting Samantha on her feet. "If you're not in bed and asleep by the time Santa's ready to come by than he skips right over you. He might come back around again if he has time when he's all done, but he doesn't make any promises; he's a busy man." Mulder bent down and started cleaning up the paper and packaging from Samantha and Ashleigh's toys.

"Nuh-uh!" Samantha retorted, handing some of the trash to her brother absently.

"Yuh-huh!" Fox responded, and Samantha giggled at him. "Fine, don't believe me. But you'd be better safe than sorry, just in case I am right, don't you think?"

Samantha rolled her eyes at her brother and made a face, but there was a noticeable added pep to her cleaning and gift gathering.

Charlie and Dana used Mulder's exit to take leave themselves. Bill was staying at Maggie's for the week they were in from California, but both Dana and Charlie were local. The two Mulders struggled through the gaggle of Scullies, saying thank yous and farewells on their way through.

Maggie Scully gave Samantha a hug and than surprised Mulder with one as well. Caught off guard, he froze for a moment before awkwardly returning the gesture. "Thank you both for coming. Don't be strangers now, both of you. You're welcome any time."

"Thank you, Mrs. Scully. I appreciate it, very much." Mulder and Samantha slid towards the door while Ashleigh vied for her Grandmother's attention so she could get home. Apparently Mulder's warning to Samantha had been overheard and deeply considered by Scully's niece as well. Just as he was about to slip out the door Maggie caught him again.

"Oh, Fox, before you go! If you don't have any plans tomorrow night, I would be very happy if you would join us for Christmas Dinner. It's just going to be Dana, the boy's families and I. Dana can give you the details, I'm sure."

Mulder thanked her again, ignoring the knots in his stomach. He knew Dana and her family were trying to help him give Samantha the family experience for Christmas because of everything she'd been through, and because it was her first Christmas without her parents, but he still wasn't entirely comfortable with the whole family thing. But how could he refuse when she put it to him that way? He left the invitation open, but he already knew he was going. Samantha had heard the invitation, and between her and Dana he knew they would wear him down.

Dana caught up to them as they were getting in the car. "Thank you for coming, Mulder. I hope it wasn't too excruciating for you."

Mulder gave her one of his most winsome grins. "I think I was able to survive the torture. So much so that I guess Sammy and I will be joining you all for dinner tomorrow."

"Mulder, you don't have to do that." she told him, kicking herself as the words left her mouth. "I mean, you don't have to feel pressured to come over. I know my Mom can be rather, persuasive."

Mulder laughed. "Yeah, yeah she can. She's very sweet. I appreciate everything she's doing for us, what all of your family has been doing. So, me and Sam will see you tomorrow for dinner, alright?"

Scully smiled. "Sounds good. Merry Christmas, Mulder." As she watched them pull away, she felt a twinge of regret that she hadn't hugged him goodbye.

Samantha was sound asleep by the time Mulder parked the car outside of his apartment, and he took advantage of this good fortune by carrying her inside instead of waking her up. She was groggily awake by the time they got into the apartment, but was out like a light again almost immediately after putting on her Christmas Pjs and getting into bed. Just to be safe, Mulder waited another 45 minutes before pulling his cell phone out. "Yeah, it's me. Yes, she's asleep, she's been out for almost an hour now. Alright. Alright, I'll see you soon."

Scully walked in without knocking when she arrived, being careful to make the least noise she possibly could. Her arms were full of wrapped gifts. Since Samantha was always with her brother, he hadn't had any time to do any Christmas shopping. Scully had volunteered, and had not only done the shopping, but had wrapped all of the gifts, too.

"Scully, you didn't have to do all that, I could have wrapped them." Mulder protested, taking boxes from her and ignoring the incredulous look she gave him.

"Mulder, I've seen the way you wrap. She would never believe in Santa again. And you would be wrapping until this time tomorrow night. I spread it out over the last few days. Besides, I had fun with it."

They took turns carrying everything in, one of them staying in the apartment at all times so that Samantha was never left alone. It took seven trips for them to carry everything. The last thing to come in was a small pink animal carrier. Inside, something was occasionally protesting with a high-pitched mewl.

"I wrapped the ones from you in blue, the ones from Santa in the red and green, and the purple ones are from me." Scully informed him matter-of-factly before picking up the pink carrier and removing its contents. "And this, is your new friend, as requested." The kitten was all orange and white fluff, no more than 6 or 7 weeks old. It's eyes were still a deep baby blue.

Mulder took the kitten from her and eyed it mistrustfully. "I can't believe she talked me into this." He glanced at Scully and was unsurprised to see her smirking at him. "I like cats, I do, I just don't have much luck with pets."

Dana patted his back. "If you can handle taking care of a child, I think a kitten will be a piece of cake. I wouldn't worry about it."

Mulder let the little creature loose while Scully set up a litter box and dishes for it. The kitten stubbornly followed him as he started putting gifts under the tree, smacking at the ornaments. Mulder eyed it mistrustfully again, but a smile curled the corners of his lips in spite of himself.

After fixing Mulder's gift setup Scully settled onto his couch, clasping her hands in her lap a bit awkwardly. It was going on one in the morning already.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Mulder asked her from the kitchen, pitching his voice a bit low to keep from disturbing Samantha. When she agreed, he poured them both a glass of wine.

They sat on the couch in mildly uncomfortable silence for a few moments, taking in the quiet and the ambiance. The apartment was bedecked in green and red for Christmas and blue and silver for Hanukah. The Christmas Tree was a live tree, at Samantha's insistence, and was decorated in flashing multicolored lights, mismatched ornaments, and approximately a half ton of tinsel. An electric Menorah on the coffee table twinkled semi-realistically, four of the faux flames glowing and four yet to be lit. All around the apartment were Samantha's handmade decorations.

Scully turned to him to say something, and as she did he turned to her as well. Their eyes met, and before they knew it they were locked in a kiss. It wasn't entirely unlike the New Years kiss they had shared the year before, but it was deeper, longer, more passionate. When they broke apart neither of them could seem to look at each other.

When Scully spoke, her voice was soft. "Mulder… where are we going with this?"

His smile was gentle as he tipped her chin up towards him. "I don't know. But I'm looking forward to finding out." With that, he kissed her again.