From: KassandraXF Date: Sun, 02 Mar 1997 10:03:09 -0500 Subject: Trouver L'Amour un Jour de Fete: Bon Anniversaire 1/2 DISCLAIMER: MULDER, SCULLY, MAGGIE SCULLY, BILL JR, CHARLES AND ALL CHARACTERS THAT SEEM LIKE THEY'RE FROM THE SHOW THE X-FILES, BELONG TO CHRIS CARTER, 10/13 AND FOX. SARAH, TOPHER, DAPHNE, ANDREA, CHRIS, STEWART, HELEN, ANTHONY, MARY, KAREN, ROBIN, AND DAVE BELONG TO ME AND THEIR NAMES AND A BIT OF THEIR PERSONALITIES ARE 'BORROWED' FROM SOME OF MY FRIENDS (DID I FORGET ANYBODY?) Summary: Scully's birthday party Rating: MSR and PG Dedicated to the real Mary I think that's about it so on with the story! Oh, yes, a very teeny tiny itty bitty microscopic reference to Pusher (season 3). Trouver L'Amour un Jour de Fete: Bon Anniversaire By KassandraXF (KassandraXF@hotmail.com) "Coming!" Maggie Scully ran to the door, waving at Charles and Bill Jr. to go shut off the lights in the living room. Mary and Karen beckoned for the two brothers to hurry up and hide. A few hushed voices were scattered around the living room and dining room area. Anthony and Helen were shushing the only four kids that were there, Dave and Robin were trying to re-tack the fallen banner onto the wall for it had just fallen. Chris and her husband, Stewart, were doing last minute rearrangements of presents and food in the dining room. Maggie gestured frantically at them all before regaining her composure to open the door to reveal a smiling Dana Scully with her partner, Fox Mulder. "Hmmm...his arm is around her shoulder. Interesting...maybe my daughter has finally come to her senses..." Maggie thought, observing the two. "Hi, Mom!" Dana pulled away from Mulder to hug her mother, who hugged back. "Happy Birthday, dear." Maggie answered. "Hi, Mrs. Scully." Mulder stood back and smiled a bit shyly. "Fox! Call me 'Maggie'! You are practically my son........after all, you and Dana have been through a lot together." Maggie covered up her slip quickly and hugged Mulder as well, "Don't just stand in the doorway, it's freezing! Come inside." She indicated for them to come in. They walked a few tentative steps inside. Dana had a feeling that her mother had planned a party of some sort but seeing that they seemed to be the only ones here, she breathed a sigh of relief; she and Mulder had wanted to speak to her mother alone tonight. Not much, just to tell her that she and Mulder were in love and now they realized it. So much for a quiet evening. "SURPRISE!" The combined voices of the three kids and the grown-ups in hiding were so loud that the house seemed to shake for a second, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DANA!" "Oh, my, God!" Dana was duly startled. She turned to Mulder, "Did you know about this?" "I didn't have a clue." Mulder replied truthfully for he hadn't known a thing about a surprise party. "Mom..." She turned around to see her mother smiling widely. "Yes dear?" She asked innocently. Dana sighed and turned back to the crowd. "Oh, Dana, don't blame Maggie, it was my idea." Mary hugged Dana tightly and whispered into her ear, "So have you and Fox finally figured out that you guys are in love?" "Mary! Why is that the first thing you ask me?" She admonished her sister-in-law with a grin. "Oh, I don't know. Say, Dana, what color do you want the bridesmaid dresses to be, a peach or a pink or some other color?" Mary teased and noticed that both Fox and Dana were shaking they're heads but they were smiling. "Hi, Dana! Happy birthday!" Karen, Helen, and Robin greeted her. Anthony and Dave hugged her and both her brothers welcomed her, "Happy Birthday, Shorty!" "Hi Bill, hi Charlie, and may I remind you that this 'Shorty' beat both of you in climbing trees when we were young!" Dana laughed. "Happy Birthday, Aunt Dana!" Sarah bounced up and down with excitement. "Hi Sarah, Hi Daphne, Hi Topher, hi Andrea." She noticed that most of the kids weren't here. "Hi, Aunt Dana, happy birthday." Daphne smiled. She was Mary and Charles' daughter and unlike her mother, she was quiet and liked to mind her own business. "Same thing to you, Daphne, tomorrow right?" "Yeah." She nodded solemnly. Her birthday was tomorrow and she really didn't feel like a big fuss made over her. Dana realized it and left it alone; Daphne wasn't a loner, she just wasn't the super-sociable type. " So, Dana," Daphne's mom grinned, "anything new happen lately? Anyone send you any flowers on Valentines day?" "Mary..." "Well, speak up! Since when was Dana Scully shy? So, do you have any...admirers? Secret or otherwise...Anyone propose marriage? Hmmm?" Mary pried, good-naturedly. "No-one proposed marriage, Mary." "Ah, I should've known, no engagement ring on your finger... But, you didn't say if you got any flowers..." She smirked at Mulder, "So what kind of flowers did you get her, Fox? Roses? What color? How many? A dozen? A single rose? How much did they cost? Any ferns? Baby's breath? Were they wrapped in paper, what color? Or was it a vase? Crystal or glass or plastic? It had better not have been plastic! What kind of lover are you if the vase was plastic anyhow? So did you get her any flowers? Don't deny it!" Mulder stood there, a smile tugging at his lips listening to Mary ranting on. He looked over at Dana who was smiling as well and silently asked her if she wanted to say anything about them. She mouthed the word 'later'. He nodded. Mary saw it and decided to bring it to light. "Later? You'll tell us later? Maggie! Let's eat! I'll die if I don't hear about this soon..." Mary headed over to the kitchen, winking at Dana as she passed. Dana on the other hand just rolled her eyes. "Mom!" Daphne rolled her eyes as well and followed her into the kitchen. "Hey, Scully, Daphne seems to resemble you." Mulder commented, watching the 5 ft girl with a hair color a shade darker than Dana's walk away. "In looks, I suppose, maybe a bit in attitude." Dana conceded. "Dana?" Mary's head poked out from the kitchen, "are you two still calling each other 'Mulder' and 'Scully'?" "It sounds like it doesn't it?" Dana called back. She noticed with satisfaction the face Mary made. Complete exasperation. "I'll never get used to you two calling each other by your surnames! Crazy...Well, anyway, as long as your in this house, you call each other by your first names." Mary came out of the kitchen. "Mary, it's Mom's house, not yours. She makes up the rules." Dana mock scolded Mary. "I agree with Mary." Maggie cut in. "This is mutiny!" Dana shook her head and looked at Mulder. "At least it's not a conspiracy. We have enough of those." He shrugged. "I would not be too sure of that Mul...FOX." Mulder didn't cringe in hearing his first name. Dana almost looked disappointed at this but she had called him that a couple of times in the past week...not much though. She usually stuck to Mulder, and him, Scully. "At any rate, it's dinnertime so you two lovebirds get over here." Mary smirked again. "Oh stop embarrassing Aunt Dana already, Mom!" Daphne complained as everyone was getting seated for dinner. Dana and Fox sat next to each other and Sarah sat next to Dana. "Sarah, are you sure you don't want to sit with me?" Chris asked. The little girl nodded yes. Sarah then tugged on Dana's sleeve and started to talk about school while Dana listened patiently. Daphne, not purposely, sat next to Fox and just sat quietly not saying much for the entire meal. Mary and Helen were grinning at the two for the entire meal and exchanging furtive whispers that both Dana and Fox noticed. Karen was trying to get Topher and Andrea to eat their vegetables and tried to stop Topher from pushing the vegetables from his plate to his sister's (Andrea). Robin was talking intently with Maggie and Fox was having a conversation with Dana's brothers. Soon, most of the food was gone and it was time for the cake. Sarah and Andrea, who excused themselves from the table, and Topher who had done the same, came rushing back for the cake. Daphne, however, sat patiently at the table waiting for everybody to finish and just listened in on every conversation going on. Maggie slipped out from all the ongoing conversations with Robin and a few minutes later, they reemerged with a gigantic homemade chocolate cake, made with Dana's sweet tooth in mind, with quite a few candles on it. Fox gestured behind Dana for she was still unaware that her mother was holding a cake behind her. Dana turned around and saw the cake. "Mom! How many candles did you put on the cake?!" She exclaimed. "Only as many years you've lived plus one for good luck." "That's thir...That's a lot of candles!" Dana took care not to say her age, not that it mattered much but for dignity's sake. "Why bother not mentioning your age, Scully? It's not as if all the people at this table are strangers. Quite the contrary, they're family, excluding me of course. And during the background check I did on you when you were transferred to the X-files and I came across your age, height, allergies, weight, and a whole lot of other stuff." He shrugged indifferently. "My weight?" She said in feigned consternation. "Yup, you weigh..." Mulder pretended he was going to say her weight. "Mulder..." she warned taking the bait. "Dana, believe me, don't be so touchy about your age. When you have become as old as I am, instead of putting candles a cake, you might as well put the whole cake on fire!" Chris smiled from across the table. "I remember when I put the Christmas pudding on fire. I think I sloshed too much brandy on it and the whole thing was one big flame." Karen commented. "Oh, I remember that! It was when we were in Australia for the holidays. You had to throw it out. And after Phoebe spent so much time preparing it and the cream." Helen laughed. "You guys! Come on, lets let Dana blow out the candles before they burn too low and the cake actually catches on fire." Mary interrupted them from their trip down memory-lane. "Someone help me with these candles!" Dana was blinking from the light of the 34 candles (33 for her age and 1 for good luck). "I'll help." Fox offered, "But don't we need to sing happy birthday?" "Of course!" Everybody started to sing and when they finished the 'happy birthday' part, Mary, smiling mischievously, started to sing: "Are you 1, 2, skip a few, are you forty-two?" "I'm not that old and you know it!" Dana responded. "Happy birthday to you, You live in a zoo..." Topher sang softly. Karen looked at her eldest child with agitation, but Dana just laughed it off. "Topher, I don't live in one, I work in one. If you were referring to Mulder, I would understand. His apartment is a mess..." "Gee thanks, Scully." "I'm not even sure if the guy has a bed." She continued without paying any attention to her partner. "Now, that would be a bit of a problem huh?" Mary grinned wickedly. "Yeah, Mary, especially in light of your birthday present to her." Robin remarked. "Well, I didn't think that it was worth giving it to her at her wedding if she could have it now." Mary countered. "Excuse me, my *wedding*? Are you marrying me off already?" "No, 'course not darling, we married you off during Christmas." Mary replied, briskly. "Dana! Blow out the candles or we'll be eating wax!" Maggie said. "Yes, Mommy." She answered with an angelic look, "Come on, Mulder, help me with this." She nodded towards the cake with the many candles. They both blew the half melted candles out. They got most of the candles out, except for six. They blew again, four went out. So, Dana blew again. But those last two candles wouldn't go out. A giggle escaped from Daphne. Dana turned to the nearly-11-year-old girl. "These are fake aren't they?" Dana questioned. But the girl was giggling too much to answer but a couple of words slipped through. "Mom...made....me...bring...the...fa...fake...candles...th...that...I put...on...her...cake...a...co...coup....couple...of months...a..go.." She giggled. "Sorry, Dana, it was too good to resist. Daphne did that to me for my birthday back in November." Mary apologized. "That's OK. Mom, can you get a bowl of water please so we can put these candles out?" Dana asked her mom who evidently already knew about the candles and had a bowl of water ready for them. Dana put out the candles and reached for the knife to cut the cake. She carefully cut the first piece and looked around to see who wanted it. Seeing that no one volunteered for it, she handed it over to Sarah and went on, cutting and distributing accordingly. "Aunt Dana? Can I have your candles?" Sarah asked. "Sure, Sarah, here take them all." Dana scooped up a bunch of half melted, colored candles tipped with chocolate frosting and handed them to Sarah. The little blond girl began to suck off the bits of cake and frosting from the ends of the candles much to her mother's dismay. "Sarah! What are you doing?" Chris asked. "I like sucking the candles, they taste good!" Sarah said indignantly. Andrea nodded her head in agreement and Sarah generously offered her a blue candle with bits of chocolate still hanging of it. Chris sighed and went on eating her cake while everybody else laughed. Once the cake was finished, Maggie beckoned for everyone to come to the living room to open presents. Sarah and Andrea rushed over to the pile of presents and sat down by them. Everyone smiled at their eagerness, especially Dana. As she sat down on the couch, she saw all the presents set up prettily and for a second, she missed her sister. Melissa wouldn't be here to tease her about Mulder and to tell her that she 'felt' that it was meant to be. She wouldn't be here for anymore birthdays, not for their mother's, their brothers, anyone for that matter. She wouldn't be here for her wedding, to Fox or otherwise. Dana frowned slightly, if anybody wasn't supposed to be here, it was her, not Melissa. An accident. A bungling of her would-be assassination resulted in the untimely death of her sister. Everybody was silent, waiting for Dana to pick up a present and open it. But she didn't move. "Aunt Dana?" Sarah's shrill voice piped up cautiously, "You OK?" "Yes, Sarah. I'm OK. I was just thinking..." "Of what?" Sarah's 7 year old mind was curious. The little girl suddenly realized with an acuity that was not expected of a child of such an age. She asked concernedly, "Are you thinking of Aunt Missy?" "Yes," Dana looked at the thin blond girl, "How did you know?" "I just...just thought that what could make you so sad...but don't worry about Aunt Missy, Aunt Dana, I betcha she's right here, watching you." Sarah smiled hopefully, "She's here." The child said with conviction, "and I also betcha she's wondering what's in those presents!" Dana smiled softly at the sweetness of Sarah, at the attempts of trying to cheer her up, "Yeah, Sarah, I betcha she's here too. So I'd better open the presents huh?" "Yup! Open mine first!" Sarah handed over a neatly wrapped gift which Dana opened carefully to reveal a picture frame decorated with colored macaroni glued on to it. In it, there was a picture of her and Sarah taken in the summer. Sarah was unkempt in the picture with ice cream smudged all over her cheeks and lips but nevertheless adorable. Dana was dressed casually and was holding the sticky girl in her arms. "Did you decorate this frame by yourself?" Dana asked a proudly beaming Sarah. "Yeah I did and I painted the macaroni by myself and I picked out the picture but Bobby ate some of the macaroni! It wasn't painted though, good thing for Bob." Sarah shrugged. "You should've seen the panic I stirred up when Sarah told me that Bobby ate some of the macaroni." Chris commented mildly. This brought laughter from everybody. "My Chris, I always thought you as the calm, collected type." Robin remarked with a smirk. "Are you crazy, Robin? I was about to rush to the hospital to get Bobby's stomach pumped!" "Aunt Dana, can you open my present next?" Daphne asked, quietly. "Sure Daphne." She picked up a flat-ish box from the pile with the tag saying 'From: Daphne' then eyed her with pretend suspicion. "Don't worry about it! I didn't booby trap the box, it takes too long!" Daphne looked innocently angelic. "Sure, Daphne." Dana chuckled and opened the box with exaggerated caution to find a dark red cashmere sweater. She picked it up appreciatively, "Thank you, Daphne! It's lovely...but are you sure you didn't booby trap this?" "Read the card, Aunt Dana." There was something decidedly prankish in her voice. " 'Here's something to exercise the brain, turn over.'" She turned the card over, " 'To receive your birthday surprise, turn over.'" She turned it over again and saw the exact same message she saw the first time, "I knew there was a catch." She said to Daphne while hugging her. An hour later of unwrapping, gasping in acknowledgment of a gift and thanking the kind giver, Dana came to the last two gifts lying on the carpeted floor. Picking up the bigger package of the two, she read the label, "To my dear sister-in-law, Dana from Cupid Mary. PS I thought you might want this for your wedding but seeing the situation, you might want it now." She glanced at the dark haired Mary, raising her eyebrow in interest and opened the package gingerly, not knowing what to expect. A giggle escaped Dana Scully's lips, followed by a slight blush. To be continued... "Mary, how presumptuous can you be?" Dana inquired, shaking her head. She glanced furtively at Topher, Daphne, Andrea, and Sarah who were watching the video 'Bambi' intently. Well, actually, Andrea and Sarah were watching intently, Daphne was reading her book and Topher was being obnoxious and making retching noises at the screen. Dana lowered her voice anyway. "The Kama Sutra, Mary? Excuse me?" "I thought it was cute, don't you think Fox?" Everyone, though unintentionally, turned their attention to him. "Charming, Mary. Just charming. Could come in handy one day, Scully, don't you think?" He wound his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She just sighed resignedly and gave Mary a dutiful hug but really and truly, Dana did not really mind receiving the Sanskrit Treatise of Love, it was interesting anyhow. And like it or not, and honestly, she *did* like it, it could come in handy... There was one last present from her mother on the floor, a smallish box that looked like a box from a jewelers. She unwrapped the flower-patterned paper to find a jewelers box and opened it. It was a gold bracelet with her mother's name and her father's name engraved on it. She looked up at her Maggie Scully who had tears in her eyes. "Mom, this is the bracelet that Dad gave you, are you sure you want to give it to me?" "Of course, Dana, that's the bracelet your father gave me before he set sail. When he came back, he proposed. And I want you to have it." Maggie's voice was a little unsteady. Her only live daughter hugged her and kissed her cheek. "Thank you, Mom. I'll take care of this, I know how much it means to you." She unclasped the bracelet and tried to put it one with one hand but it did not work. Fox, who was right next to her, helped her with it and clasped it shut. Dana picked up her wrist and watched the light reflect off the names engraved in the gold. The eldest Scully watched Dana gaze wonderingly at the bracelet; the movement Dana were making right now with her wrist and how Fox had clasped the bracelet was an almost a perfect imitation of what she, Maggie, had done many years ago with William Scully Sr. Maggie hoped that Fox and Dana would be very happy together just as she and William had been. They hadn't said anything officially but the feeling was there, and she, Dana and Fox knew it. After awhile of Dana admiring the bracelet and Fox admiring Dana, Karen spoke up, "Well, I guess that's it." Fox looked up for a second. "Wait, I forgot to give something to you." he said to Dana. He got up and walked to the hall closet where his coat was and took out a small velvet box from the pocket. When he came back, Mary was obviously straining to see the size and the shape of the box. It was a small jewelers box. "Oh, my God!" Mary was ready to pounce on the box and open it herself. Fox just smiled and shook his head. "It's not what you think, Mary." Fox chuckled and he handed Dana the small green box, whose eyes had opened wide. Even though she knew it wouldn't be a ring, there was still hope, wasn't there? She looked from Mary to Fox to Maggie and then back at the box. Taking a deep breath, she opened the box slowly to reveal not a ring, but a pair of sapphire earring studs remotely in the shape of a heart. "Cerulean blue, Scully." "I'd rather think of them as azure." She answered regarding the identical studs in the light, "Thank you, Mulder." She stood up, tiptoeing, she kissed him delicately on the cheek. " 'Welcome." He murmured softly. "Fox! Now really, Dana was probably expecting a ring!" Mary looked hurt. "I was not!" "What's with that breath you took before opening the box?" "I gotta breathe don't I?" "Well..." Mary shrugged, "Anyway, you said 'later', it's later so tell us!" "Tell you what?" Dana asked, knowing very well what Mary wanted to know, "If Mulder and I are 'involved'?" She noticed everyone's interest perking up at that moment. Fox also looked interested by what she was going to say, "Fox, why don't you tell them?" "Me, Dana? Well, out of the many truths that are out there," He put his arm on Dana's shoulder, hugging her towards him, "this is one of the ones we finally unraveled." This took everyone a couple of seconds to register. Mary, naturally, was the first to speak up. "Ha! I was right! Robin, fork over the five bucks." She held her hand out to Robin. "Excuse me?" Fox and Dana exclaimed simultaneously. "A little bet, nothing to worry about." Mary reassured them, waiting for her five dollars. Maggie Scully sat there, not surprised yet thoroughly overwhelmed all the same. When she got over the initial shock, stood up and embraced her daughter tightly. "Oh, Dana, I'm so happy..." Maggie was indeed overjoyed, almost to the point of tears. She turned to Fox and enfolded him in her arms, "Fox," She began fondly, "I knew, from the time I saw you at the hospital that you and Dana were meant to be together. I just knew it..." "Thanks Mrs. Scully." He was deeply touched. "Are you still calling me that?" "Sorry, *Maggie* . Old habits die hard." "Mulder? It's getting kinda late..." Dana started when her mother interrupted. "Are you still calling each other that?!" "Yes." They replied at the same time. "Wanna leave now then?" Fox asked her. She nodded. "Mom, Mulder and I are going to leave out before it gets too late." Dana explained. " 'Before it gets too late' ?" Mary snickered, "Now that's strange...But you must have your *reasons* ." "Yes, we are anticipating trying out your birthday present." Dana said, her voice poisonously dear. "Really, Scully? Wellniceseeingyouall! Gottagobye!" He joked, at the same time dragging Dana towards the door. "Mulder, let go of me, I can walk." She laughed as she took a glance at the four children sitting on the couch; Andrea and Sarah were asleep, Topher was watching some junk on TV and Daphne was still reading. When Daphne saw that they were leaving, she smiled and waved good bye then went back to reading, Topher mouthed the words 'good riddance' but was grinning and Sarah and Andrea went on snoozing. "Oh, boy, I can't wait until he *carries* her over the threshold." Mary whispered to Maggie as the good-byes were exchanged. "I heard that, Mary." Dana singsonged and hugged her good-bye. "Bye, Mary." Fox hugged her as well. "Bye Fox. Enjoy the present." Mary smirked. Fox and Dana both hugged Maggie, not at the same time of course, and walked to the car with Chris and Stewart carrying the numerous presents Dana had received. After everything was put in the car, last good byes were swapped and hugs and handshakes were over. They waved back at the group in the house that were shivering from the cold of the night air. Then they drove off. "I wonder what their kids'll look like." Mary remarked to Chris, closing the door. *************** Early Morning the Next Day "Dana, wake up." Fox nudged the sleeping form next to him. She opened her eyes reluctantly at the garish light of day and snuggled closer to him. "No." She mumbled plaintively, pulling the covers over them a little higher. "Work?" "What work?" She smiled tiredly, drawing lazy circles on his chest with her finger. "The X-files, Agent Scully?" "Well, Agent Mulder, I've got something a little more x-citing for you." She raised her eyebrow seductively and kissed him deeply on the lips, letting her tongue wander for a bit and drew back from him, waiting for his response. "I don't think the world's gonna fall apart if we call in sick today..." He pulled her on top of him. "Nope, it won't. It definitely won't." "But the Consortium can move quickly..." He pretended to change his mind, getting up from the bed slightly. "Fox, just shut up and kiss me." "Yes, Ma'am." And he obliged. The End Trouver L'Amour un Jour de Fete: Bon Anniversaire **************** I love comments! 'Til the next holiday that has story potential