From: Donna Honeycutt Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 19:35:50 -0800 (PST) Subject: X-Mas (1/1) Source: direct Reply To: donnah@donnas-stories.com Title - X-Mas Author - Donna Email address - donnah@donnas-stories.com URL - http://www.donnas-stories.com/ Rating - G Category - MSR, post-colonization Spoilers - Beyond the Sea Keywords - Mulder/Scully Friendship Summary - Merry Christmas Feedback - Please Archive - Anywhere, just let me know so that I can visit Disclaimer - Mulder, Scully, the Lone Gunmen and Skinner all belong to Chris Carter, 10-13 and Fox. No infringement intended. X-Mas He hit the mute button. One more rendition of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and he'd throw a shoe through the screen. No, not really. It had been a good Christmas as far as his Christmases went. He'd spent Christmas Eve with the guys. That had been fun. They'd watched A Christmas Story. Langly especially had enjoyed it, snorting beer through his nose when Ralphie decoded the secret message. Frohike had rolled his eyes and shaken his head. That was what had gotten the chuckle from Mulder. He'd have to look for a lamp like that for Frohike next year. It was comfortable with them, no strain of 'family'. Frohike had none. Byers, like him, never mentioned his family and Langly was estranged. It gave them one more bond at times like this. He'd spent more than one holiday with them and felt all the better for it. But it would have been nice . . . no, don't go there. He stretched and got comfortable. It hadn't been all bad not having any work to do. Though it would have been nice to have an X-File as an excuse to see . . . Yeah, right. He grabbed up the phone when it rang, startling him. "Hello?" He looked away from the screen where he'd been waiting for the commercial to end. "Hi." "Scully?" He sat up, the TV forgotten immediately. "Just thought I'd call to say Merry Christmas. I wasn't sure you'd be home." "I'm glad I was." He smiled just visualizing her. "I didn't know if you'd gone to see your mother." He gave a dry chuckle. "Mom likes to vanish this time of year. She usually goes to Raleigh." "Vanish?" "Well, she is Jewish." "She's Jewish? I don't think I knew that." "We didn't practice. Dad was Episcopalian - very proper, so we celebrated with a tree and all; at least until the divorce. Then she couldn't get far enough away from Protestantism. I thought you'd be with your family," he changed the subject, his voice softer. "Uh, no, Mom went to Charlie's to be inundated with grandchildren." A frown formed on his brow. "So where did you spend Christmas?" "Oh, Ellen invited me over. I got to see my godson and the new baby. I don't see how she does it." "Does what?" Mulder asked, listening closely to her tone, which seemed a little strained now. "Keep up with two kids. Trent is all boy; and with a toddler careening around the place, it was a madhouse." "Worse than what I've put you through?" She chuckled then. "No, but more compressed." "Are you home now?" "Uh, yes," she sounded sad now, and lonely. Or was he projecting? It hit him then; this was the first Christmas since she lost her father. The two of them had been close, not like . . . "Scully, would you mind if I came over?" There was a definite pause then. "I couldn't ask - " "I'm asking, Scully. An hour, okay?" "You don't have - " "Scully." "O-okay. Mulder, thanks." He was smiling as he hung up. ***** It was dark when he arrived at her door. She answered his knock quickly and a smile appeared when she saw him. She looked comfortable in her casual clothes, a light green sweat suit, but there was something about her eyes . . . He pulled a package from behind his back and entered. "I thought we weren't going to exchange presents." Her eyebrow was high. He shrugged and handed it to her. "Guess I forgot. Go on, open it." She smiled shyly and he followed her to the couch. He sat beside her, watching. She tore the paper from the box. She opened it and smoothed back the tissue paper. It was a lovely blue scarf. She lifted it from the box. "Mulder, it's beautiful." He smiled down at her. "The color made me think of your eyes." Her jaw dropped slightly. "I'm sorry. I just - " "No, don't apologize." "You're not offended?" She smiled then. "No. I was thinking 'great minds'." He looked puzzled, but grinned when she pulled a package out from beside the couch. "Great minds, huh?" She glanced down, then met his eyes. He ripped the paper from the box and his face lit up when he spotted the scarf inside. It was dark heather brown and when he lifted it from the box, he saw a green thread running through it. "I like it, Scully." She blushed then. "It made me think of your eyes." Her smile grew as his face lit up. Working with this man was frustrating at times, a lot of times, but things like this made it worthwhile. He hadn't hesitated to come over when he realized she was lonely. And now, she wasn't. Donna http://www.donnas-stories.com/ "Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards." Robert Heinlein