From: "Leslie Cummings" Date: Sat, 07 Dec 2002 19:16:10 +0000 Subject: Just Another Christmas Source: direct Title: Just Another Christmas Author: Barenaked Bostonian and X Knona Category: MSR, UST Rating: PG-13 Disclaimer: No, we don't own them, but we do own Christmas! Heheheh!!! Distribution: Anywhere, we're already posting to gossamer sooo... yeah just keep our names attached please! And tell me too, we'd like to know so that we can visit. Feedback: Hellz yes! To either d_scully_223@yahoo.com, or BNLXPhile12@ aol.com! Woo! Show us you care, and like houses made of bread! Spoilers: Ummm, none? Summary: Mulder and Scully share some holiday cheer... and some gifts. Leslie's Notes: Yeah, so coming back from Boston, it was snowing and I got in the mood to write a fic. I would like to thank the best Jew in the WORLD, she rocks and is so talented! I love her SOOOO! Much, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy FLIPPING Holidays to everyone everywhere! Thanks to Lauren, EY, Aiah, Chelle, Ash and Amanda for spending countless hours helping me figure out the friggin gifts. Aiah's Notes: Way to say it all, Les...this fic wouldn't have gotten finished without her, because quite frankly, whatever talent I may possess has been completely devoid of motivation lately. I blame God, who likes to abandon His chosen people. It hurts, God. I'm hurting here. Happy holidays, everyone. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ December 24th, Scully's Apartment The apartment exuded a warm glow. The fireplace was lit and made the living room seem even more cozy than normal. A tall pine was decked with stunning white lights and tasteful ornaments. Underneath the tree laid dozens of brightly wrapped gifts, each tag holding a different name. There were more than a significant amount of presents labeled "Mulder" under the tree, and she was pleased with that. Candles around the room were lit and made it seem like the room was breathing, breathing the pleasant scent of Balsam Fir and Festival of Lights, Scully's favorite holiday candles. God bless Yankee Candle. Plus, the Festival of Lights candles were a nod to Hanukkah, a holiday which Mulder celebrated. She never would have known that he was Jewish if he hadn't told her. Now, her busy body self was padding around the apartment, checking cupboards and shelves and making sure that she had everything she needed for tomorrow. She was having all of the family over for Christmas this year and she wanted it to be perfect. She was having someone else over as well tonight. She was expecting Mulder promptly at eight, to exchange gifts. She had really gone all out for him this year, spending more than three hundred dollars. But, she reasoned with herself, she didn't exactly have any close friends to buy for anymore and had more than enough money in her budget. She loved this man, as well as this time of year, and she was more than happy to buy things for him. Promptly at eight, there was a knock on her door. She knew who it was, but she looked out the peephole anyway, never too careful. There, she saw Mulder, a large bag in his hand, hanging at his side. He was smiling, knowing that she was examining the bag. She opened the door slowly. Mulder was astounded at the atmosphere in her apartment. It looked so cozy. He smiled down at her, and walked past her, dropping a kiss on her cheek as he did so. He walked over to the couch and placed the bag on it. Then, he walked back to the door and hung his jacket on the coat tree. Wiping errant snowflakes from his head, he smoothed his hair back. "So, Merry Christmas, happy late Hanukkah." He said, taking in her appearance. She was wearing soft brown slacks that looked like they were cotton, but he couldn't be sure. Atop that, she wore an off white sweater, with a slight dip in the neck. She wore no shoes, but she looked gorgeous, the firelight danced off her hair and made it glow. "Right back at you, Mulder." She smiled up at him. "Would you like something to drink I have... apple cider, eggnog, wine, champagne, hot chocolate, coffee, soda, water, beer..." Mulder laughed. "I'll have whatever is handiest." He said. "Well, I already opened a bottle of wine, is that all right?" She walked back toward the kitchen, retrieving a glass out of the cupboard. "Yeah, that's fine." They sat down on the couch for a few moments, sipping their wine and watching the fire crackle and pop. He felt nice, he felt warm, and for once, he felt accepted. He was here with Scully to do nothing more than exchange gifts. Really good gifts, in his case. He had gone all out, really, and he hoped she would appreciate them. He looked under the tree and saw the numerous boxes, each brightly wrapped. Since she had invited him to Christmas dinner tomorrow, he had brought gifts for the rest of the Scully clan and was actually surprised to be looking forward to it. Even to Bill. He reached over to his bag and opened it, sorting through the gifts inside. He placed the ones for Scully's relatives under the tree, but left four gifts on the couch, each expertly wrapped. "Oh, well, are those for me, Mulder?" she asked smirking, taking another sip of her wine. She eyed them appreciatively, wondering if he had wrapped them himself or had gotten a staff member at the mall to do it for him. "So, did you wrap those yourself Mulder?" she said, picking one up and shaking it. "Why, Scully, I am insulted, of course I did! What do you take me for?" He asked, setting his wine glass down on the table and snatching the present out of her hands. "And if you're not nice to me, you won't get anything but coal." She laughed, actually laughed, and got up off of the couch and went over to the tree. She picked up the five boxes that were under her tree and placed them on the empty part of the table. He eyed them cautiously, no way could all those be for him. But, after a closer inspection at the tags, he found that they were. One box was very small and flat. Two were average sized, not large and not small. One box was very small, wrapped like a little cube. It was about four by four inches. The fifth was a large garment sized box, wrapped in shiny gold paper. Then, she sat back down on the couch, among the glowing boxes. "Well, open one, Mulder! You've got five to go through." He smiled and picked up a box wrapped in red paper. "Scully, you didn't have to do all this, I mean..." "I wanted to, Mulder, you know, to make up for all of the Christmases we missed." She smiled a brilliant smile and picked up a box of her own. She didn't know how he would react to some of the gifts, she was nervous, but excited nonetheless. Daintily lifting the clear tape away from the paper, Scully began to open Mulder's first gift. She stopped when she heard the chuckle emanating from the other end of the couch. "Would you like to share with the class, Mr. Mulder?" she demanded sternly. "Oh, it's nothing," he replied, waving his hand. "It's just... well, you unwrap presents the same way you cut up a corpse, is all." "You'd better watch yourself, or the wrapping paper won't be the only thing getting torn up in this room," Scully muttered. Mulder shook his head. "Promises, promises." He watched with amusement as she continued to pick apart the wrapping. Suddenly, he realized he still had his own present to unwrap, so he dispatched the paper expertly, revealing a Banana Republic garment box. "Oh, Scully," he said. "Is my taste in ties *really* that bad?" "Some people like to open boxes to find out what's actually inside them, Mulder. How do you know I didn't just fill an empty box with coal?" With a lopsided grin, Mulder replied, "And how would you know if I'd been naughty or nice?" As he spoke, he opened the box and pulled out a heavy wool sweater in a deep shade of green. He laughed. "What color is this?" He whispered to her, bringing his lips close to her ear so she could feel his moist breath. "It's forest green, Mulder, it brings out the color in your eyes." She whispered back, then locked eyes with him. They were millimeters away from each other, their eyes quickly darting form each other's eyes to the others' lips. After a moment, she pulled away and picked up another box. He was disappointed, but chose not to show that. He tossed the garment box over the back of the couch, then folded the sweater and placed it on the table. "Your turn." He said, rubbing his hands together. "Shall we see what is in here?" She asked innocently, shaking the box that she had already unwrapped. She placed it in her lap and began delicately opening the box. Pulling out the gift, she admitted a small gasp, delicately holding it in her porcelain hands. She leaned back on the couch, inspecting the delicate picture frame. The picture inside was what caught her attention. It was simple, the two of them standing in the center, both smiling, taken at the one annual FBI ball they had been forced to attend. "Oh Mulder." She said, sounding quite breathless. She traced the lines of the frame with her finger. "I don't even remember this being taken. Where did you-" "Skinner helped me out, it turns out he had it... lying around." His face broke out in a lopsided grin. "I love it." She said, and then getting up, she walked to her bedroom, where she placed the picture on her bedside table. Tracing it over once more with her finger she sighed and walked back to the living room. Mulder met her eyes over the back of the sofa. He smiled gently and she walked around and sat down next to him again. "Well," She said. "I hope my gift lives up to yours." He voice was low, barely audible as she handed him cube-like package. He began tearing the paper off unceremoniously. He didn't even look at the box that the gift was in, or he would have noticed the ornate gold-stamped Hebrew lettering on the lid before he popped it open. As he ran his finger over the delicate lines of silver, a smile split his face from ear to ear. "Scully," he said, "This is too much." Scully took the box from his hands and pulled the chain loose from the velvet. "Here, let me put it on for you." She leaned forward and slid her hands behind his neck, but as she moved away again, he lifted a hand to stop her. He was silent, staring at her hands as they secured the clasp around his neck. "Speak to me Mulder. Tell me how you feel." "...This Star of David, Scully, is more than a pendant, or even a reminder of you. This is... a gift of faith. Faith in God, faith in you... faith in love." Scully put her hands as if in prayer, and brought them out to her mouth, smiling. He brought his hand up and fingered the pendant. His eyes were torn between the gleaming piece of jewelry and her eyes. "Glad you like it," she said, her voice nearly a whisper. He smiled tenderly, and reached over to grab a box off the table. This was wrapped in dark green paper with little candy canes all over it. He shook it, and feigned a look of surprise. Then, he tossed it to her and she caught it, with a mock laugh. It was small, no more than seven inches, by two, and wrapped in red paper with Christmas trees all over it. She smiled at the childlike paper and began tearing the paper off of the box. This time, her unwrapping skills were much to Mulder's liking. She found the red box that was underneath it all and began to open it. Inside, she found a sheet of paper, with gilded edges. She inspected it closely, and then read aloud. "Athena's Palace? Isn't that... A day Mulder? An entire day?! How much did this cost you!? I can't accept this, it must have cost a fortune! It's the most... Mulder, this is where movie stars go when they're in the area, I can't..." She trailed off, astounded. He laughed, and took another sip of his wine. "Of course you can Scully, you need to treat yourself once in awhile." She picked up her own wine glass and took a gulp. "Mulder, I really can't. This isn't me, it's..." "No if's and's or but's Scully. You deserve a day off in complete relaxation." He smiled, hoping she would accept the gift and learn to relax. "It doesn't matter how much it cost, okay? I like doing things for you, and what better than a day away from all of your stress, right?" He polished off his glass of wine and got up to refill their glasses. Scully sat on the couch, still staring at the slip of paper in her hands. He came back and handed her a glass. Taking a sip, then placing his on the table, he looked to the remaining gifts. Scully put the slip of paper back in the box and sighed, resigning her argument. Mulder grabbed a box, and looked to Scully for approval. She nodded, and smiled, and watched him as he pulled of the gold and red paper. Underneath was a plain white box. Mulder pulled the tape off of the lid and popped it open. Inside the box was dark green tissue paper. Mulder rifled through it, trying to find the gift that was supposedly inside. He found nothing. "Scully, is this a gag gift?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow at her. Mulder put the paper back in the box. "No Mulder, look at the *bottom*." She laughed and reached over and pulled the tissue paper back out, throwing it at him. He smirked at her, and reached to the bottom of the box, and pulled out a small envelope. Again, he quirked an eyebrow and slit the tape on the envelope. Reaching inside he pulled out two tickets...to a Knicks game. Two courtside tickets, for the Knicks versus the Celtics. His smirk turned to a wide grin. "Scully, I'm not going to ask how you got these because I tried to get them and they were completely sold out four months in advance. I..." He trailed off, fingering the edges of the tickets. He smiled up at her again. "Be my date." He stated, rather than asked. His smile grew broader when she tilted her head back and laughed. She stops, and smiled a toothy grin at him. "An honest to goodness date," she said, and laughed again. She stopped and sighed. "I'll even have you back by curfew," He said shyly, putting the tickets back in the envelope. Mulder picked up a box, and thought for a moment. This was the most special of the gifts he had gotten her. It had taken him awhile to find it, but with Mrs. Scully's help, he was able to track it down. He wondered if he should give it to her now or leave it do be the icing on the cake. Before he could decide, she snatched it out of his hands. She giggled, and felt the edges of the gift first. "Feels like a book Mulder. This isn't a book from your 'personal collection', is it?" she asked, beginning to unwrap the gift. He chuckled, but watched her intently. When she finally got the wrapping off and turned the book over, her breath caught in her throat and tears stung her eyes. "Mulder, how did you... where did you..." Her breathing was becoming heavy and she opened the front cover to verify her suspicions. "Oh, Mulder, this..." For the second time that evening, he had stunned her speechless. He smiled and began telling his story. "Well, I remembered when I walked into the office that morning when you were on the phone with your mother. I got concerned when you hung up and excused yourself to the bathroom, so, being nosey, I called her up and asked what was wrong. She told me that she had accidentally given the book to good will and that you were devastated, so I went down to good will to try and find it that night. But... they had already sold it. So, I tracked it down, and let me tell you, first editions of Moby Dick fetch quiet a price." He smiled, and put his arm around her shoulder, snuggling her to him for a brief moment. "Mulder, this is the first book that I got from my father." She opened the cover to read the words inscribed inside. "To Starbuck. I love you, sweetheart. Happy Birthday. 2/23/74." "Mulder, I..." Tears were running down her cheeks now, but she was smiling. "I can't even begin to tell you what this means to me. " She continually traced the edges of the book, feeling her father within the binding. "Glad you like it." She whispered, and released her from his grasp, but reluctantly. She got up from the couch and placed the book carefully on top of her desk, leaving it to skim over later. Once seated again, they both sipped their wine, listening to the soft music lilting from the stereo. Scully dried the rest of her tears and reached over to grab the last two of his gifts. She shoved them unceremoniously into his hands with a grin. "Open the bigger one first, Mulder," she insisted, amusement and excitement in her eyes. He looked at her questioningly but began tearing the paper off of the box. Once completed, he tossed the paper over the back of the couch to add to the accumulating pile. He lifted the lid off the box and tossed that over the back of the couch as well. He pulled back the tissue paper to reveal a pair of brand new hockey skates. He laughed, and shot her another questioning look. "Are we planning on playing some hockey, Scully?" he asked her, pulling the skates out of the box to inspect them. "Well, Mulder, it's a Scully family tradition to have a hockey game on Christmas. When we finally settled down when I was in high school, we had a house a couple of blocks from the pond. Everyone in the family would come to our house on Christmas, and one year, well, when dinner was ready, my parents couldn't find me and my brothers. We had taken our new hockey equipment down to the pond to play. Soon, everyone had gotten on makeshift gear and had joined us. So, I want to carry on the tradition this year... and see if you can take on Bill." He smiled at her and leaned over to drop a kiss on her cheek. "My, my, Scully. You were a jock, weren't you?" She smiled widely, his comment and his kiss delighting her. "You're damn right I was, Mulder. I can take you anytime." "Again with the promises, Scully," he said in a low and husky whisper. He placed his skates back in the box and looked at the last one lying in his lap. He leaned over and picked up her last gift off of the table. "You first." She insisted and watched as he began to tear the paper off of his last gift. Upon opening the box, he encountered a fleece, striped scarf and a pair of heavy woolen gloves. He took one look at the gift and burst out laughing. "What?" she asked, alarmed. "Nothing, nothing... just um, open yours." She quirked a brow at him but did what she had been told. Opening the box, she also encountered a striped scarf, but instead of a pair of gloves, a pair of fuzzy mittens and a hat. "Great minds think alike, huh, Scully?" His chuckling died down and he stared at the box. "Now... what, is, that?" He asked, reaching over and picking something off of the soft wool. Holding it up to the lights as if to get a closer look, Scully inched in closer and squinted her eyes to get a better look. She had about three seconds to realize what it was before Mulder's lips were on her's, caressing them gently. What a sneak, to put mistletoe inside her gift. Mulder had no intent on letting her lips go, but continued caressing them with his own. Eventually, she opened her lips a bit, and his tongue snaked in, gently dueling with hers. She tasted like wine, and heaven and holiday cheer. After awhile, they slowly separated. Scully, keeping her eyes closed, licked her lips slowly, savoring the moment. She slowly opened her eyes, to a very happy Mulder. "Pardon the Christmas cliche, Scully." He said, tossing the mistletoe at her. She caught it, and played with the edges for a moment. Then, reaching over she picked up her wine glass and polished off what was left. Sitting there, she began contemplating things... several things all at once. Mulder could see that she was thinking about something from her wrinkled brow. "Penny for your thoughts?" he asked, dipping his head to try and seek out her eyes. She looked up at him, smiling slightly. "Well, it just occurred to me, that I've never had a better Christmas." She looked away and chuckled a bit and looked back at the fire. "Mmm, me either, Scully," he said, reaching out to run his fingers though her hair as she continued to stare at the fire. He loved the feel of her hair, so soft, like her skin. Smiling, he began to rub her shoulder, willing her to look at him. She glanced at the clock, and realized that it was past ten, and she still had two pies to bake. Reluctantly, she got up off of the couch. "Well, I have to do some things for tomorrow, you're welcome to stay. It is snowing, and I would *hate* for you to be driving in this weather... and you *do* have clothes here..." She looked over her shoulder and shot him a look. "Oh, Scully, you and I both. The weather is terrible. I wouldn't want to risk it." He winked at her and followed her to the kitchen. "If you're intending to stay, though," She said, opening her refrigerator and pulling out several items, "You will be helping me cook. Tomorrow as well." She got out numerous bowls. "Sounds like a plan," he said, standing alongside her, and peeking over her shoulder at the cookbook. "Okay," she said. "The apple and blueberry pies are done. All we have to do is the pumpkin pie and the chocolate mousse one." She flipped through pages of the cookbook and Mulder leaned his chin down to rest on her shoulder. He was humming to the soft music. "Have yourself a merry little Christmas..." He began to sing. Circling his arms around her, he began to sway her back and forth as she laughed, attempting to crack an egg. He let her crack the egg and wipe her hands, and then he spun her around and took her hands in his, and began a slowing swaying rhythm. She smiled, and leaned in, pressing her cheek against his collarbone. She inhaled the scent of him and became even more comforted than she already was. It was, for all intents and purposes... perfect. He continued to hum and began stroking his hands up and down her back. "Merry Christmas, Scully." "Happy Hanukkah, Mulder." And they continued to dance. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Okay, random convo about this time of the year, particularly funny: BNLXPhile12: Who likes snow? Maid of Spades: ME! BurningRanger128: Heh. Snow. Maid of Spades: ME ME ME ME ME! BNLXPhile12: How much do you love snow? BNLXPhile12: How much do you love Hanukkah? PhasmaEques: I like snow when you can ski on it. Maid of Spades: So much that I spent 3 hours finding ways to provoke strangers into snowball fights in the park. Scully5590: I like it when it's outside and I'm inside BNLXPhile12: How much do you love Christmas? Maid of Spades: I LOVE HANUKKAH SO FUCKING MUCH BasDrummr: Snow is the greatest thing ever! BNLXPhile12: I love Christmas so much... that I believe in Jesus... and his houses of bread.