Chapter 2

Two weeks later…

Grace's bedroom had that permanent atmosphere of peace and joy that was proper of all baby's rooms, especially being decorated with such good taste. The walls were painted with a light and greyish tone of green up to their half and an equally calming tone of beige went up to the ceiling. Its wooden floor kept it warm during the winter and made a balance with the white Provençal furniture. There were a few toys decorating the shelves and a beautiful white curtain tied up on each side of the window allowing the afternoon sunrays to light up the room.

Wearing a robe over her pyjamas, Scully walked slowly with a four-month-old Grace in her arms and whispered the loving lyrics of the song that had been playing in her heart lately.

"…And you, you'll be blessed
You'll have the best
I promise you that
I'll pick a star from the sky
Pull your name from a hat
I promise you that, promise you that
Promise you that you'll be blessed…"

Noticing that Grace was nearly falling asleep, she carefully deposited her in her crib and kept on singing. The little one yawned and looked at her mom and then her rosy lips curved in a cute smile, which caused Scully to smile in response.

"Like my singing, don't you?" She said, running her fingertips along Grace's little belly.

"She's not the only one!"

Mulder's voice came from behind her, causing Scully to turn her head and look at him with amusement as he approached her on the following second, leaving his shoes by the bedroom door. Dark jeans and blue button-down shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows and exposing his forearms. He had just shaved and his hair was still damp from the shower.

"Don't you think you two have slightly biased opinions?" She playfully replied, her heart skipping a bit as he wrapped his strong arms around her waist from behind and kissed her cheek. The pleasant smell of his soap and shampoo, mixed with his aftershave and cologne causing butterflies in her stomach.

"B.S., Scully. Young babies like Grace and experienced adults like me have delicate and trained ears to recognise that your voice has a very special and unique tune, which is soothing and arousing at the same time." He playfully replied, causing her to let out a small laugher.

"Jesus Christ, Mulder!" She shook her head with amusement.

With a pleased grin, he tightened the hold around her. "I'll never forget that night, when you took me in your arms and pulled me close to you so that you could warm me up with your body heat - my head on your lap as you sang a song about a frog named Jeremiah and claimed joy to the world and to you and me." He added, kissing her neck afterwards and causing her to let out a pleased sigh, her smile never fading.

"Mulder, you sound like it was romantic but the truth is that you were hurt, we were lost in the forest and surrounded by two unidentified individuals-"

"Moth men, Scully!" He quickly corrected her, and she rolled her eyes at that comment.

"Whatever it was, we were in great danger, Mulder."

"Whatever great danger we were exposed to, hearing Dana Scully singing to me while she tried to share some body heat was sexy as hell!"

"Oh, really?"

Mulder turned her around, keeping a firm hold around her and enjoying the sound of her giggling. Smiling broadly, he nodded his head with emphasis.

"Really!" Letting out a sounding sigh, he added "And if it had rained sleeping bags that night…Ahh, Scully!"

He lowered his head and silenced her laughter by pressing his lips against hers, in a gentle, loving kiss that she returned with the same intensity.

Wrapped up in each other's embrace, they stood there for a couple of minutes, watching as Grace gave another yawn and finally closed her sweet blue eyes, dozing off to a slumber after a delicious meal.

"There she goes…" Mulder whispered and Scully nodded her head.

She looked at him again, admiring his handsome features and secretly aware that she was quite messy with her hair dishevelled, sleeping outfit and no make-up.

"What time did you have to be at the publishing company?"

"At two." He replied, still holding her tight and contemplating her face, never tired of admiring those deep blue pools, alabaster skin and the multitude of freckles that spread over her face and down on her neck and arms, framed by red strands tied up in a haphazard ponytail.

"So you'd better get going. It's a long drive up to town." Her words contrasted with her will, as her true wish was for him to remain there, holding her like that. "And you don't want them having a negative impression about the legendary Fox Mulder, the writer of the 'Practical Investigation Techniques – An approach to the Criminal's Mindset' outstanding compendium!" She said, putting a lot of emphasis to the name of the book he had started to write a few years before, under her suggestion.

Truth is she was proud of him for finishing that book, which would definitely help investigators and was a concrete proof of his valuable teachings and brilliant mind.

"Now who is making it sound romantic?" He replied, feeling undeserving of so much attention.

Scully placed the palm of her hands against his chest and kept looking at him with admiration. "I'm just acknowledging a fact and how happy I am for you to have accomplished it."

He shrugged his shoulder and managed a small smile. "If it makes you happy, it has reached its main goal."

"So go, Mulder. We'll be here waiting for you."

He pulled her to his arms once again, holding her tight against his chest – her lack of high heels making her shorter and causing him to chuckle at that fact. "Ok…Is there anything you want?"

"Just you…"

Another minute passed by and he finally released the hold on her, bending down to kiss her lips. It was then that Scully's eyebrows raised as she remembered something.

"Oh…Actually, there is one thing…"

"Sure, what is it?"

She smiled with some amusement. "A nursing bra."

Mulder raised his eyebrows in surprise. "A nursing bra?"

"Yes. You see, the one I'm wearing is…quite tight and is a bit uncomfortable. When I bought it, I thought the size would be ok. But now I feel I should have bought one number bigger."

A lopsided grin appeared on his face as he heard that. "And things keep getting better and better!" He said, lowering his eyes to her swollen breasts and causing her to chuckle as she nodded.

Mulder looked at her again and kept on talking. "Not that I don't know that by heart…" He said, raising his hands in the form of a cup. "…but I'm afraid that the ladies at the lingerie department will find me a creep if I try to demonstrate the size I want."

Laughing, she nodded her head. "I'll text you all the information you need."

"Okay!"

He approached the crib and lowered his head, placing a soft kiss on Grace's tiny head. Then he kissed Scully one more time and left.

To be continued