Title: Some Gifts Touch Two Hearts
Author: MissAnnThropic
E-Mail: miss_annthropic@yahoo.com
Summary: Christmas presents given at the wrong time of the year.
Disclaimer: I own nasing! Really, I don't. All you see here (that you recognize, anyway) is the creation of someone else. I take no credit.



Dana Scully came home late that Saturday night. 3:10 in the morning, to be exact. She and Mulder had just come back from the airport; he'd taken her by her apartment first before he headed home himself. He was going to be home even later than she was, she thought through the exhausted bag over her head. She hoped he got home all right... he did look really tired when she left him two minutes ago (which was usually a good thing for the insomniac Fox Mulder, but when he needed to drive that was a different story).

She shed her wet jacket, shaking some of the rain off before hanging it up by her front door. She reached up and ran a hand through her drenched hair. Leave it to her to forget her umbrella in her rush to leave four days ago. Now she'd have to fire up the hair-dryer just to be able to go to bed with dry hair.

As she moved through the living room, a few minutes before came back to mind. Mulder had pulled up in front of her building in the pouring rain. She had hesitated getting out of the car... the rain and the fact that once she was in the cold water she'd be woken up pausing her. Mulder, despite the pouring rain and chilly wind, offered to walk her to her door. For his sake of keeping dry, she declined. He teased her about going along with her just to hold his jacket over her head. He'd said it with a smile and a teasingly tone, but the thing was she knew he really meant it. How he got the reputation around the office as uncaring was beyond her... she'd never met a man who was more of a gentleman than Fox William Mulder was. Normally, it might get on her nerves when a guy was always ready to help her (as if she needed it!) but when it was Fox Mulder she loved it. He didn't come off as condescending when he did it... it was just HIM.

She stumbled groggily into the kitchen to get her mail off the kitchen table. Her mother had been coming over to collect the mail and leave it on her table... Mulder had them taking off in such a hurry that she hadn't had a chance to call her landlord or the mail service to ask them to hold her mail for a while, so she called her mom on the way to the airport and asked her to do it. Scully smirked faintly; she remembered when she'd been on the phone with her mom in the car and told her they were on the go her mother had said, 'say hi to Fox for me, dear.' Mulder had smiled faintly when she relayed the message... it was almost kind of strange the respectful but friendly relationship her partner and her mother had.

She stopped at the table, unexpectedly finding alongside her mail a small package. A package wrapped in bright paper. Scully stopped a moment, mentally checking the date. It wasn't even February... no way it was a birthday present from her mother... but it was obvious it was a present nonetheless.

Scully sat down at the kitchen table, which was shrouded in dead silent in the late night/early morning hour. Kind of peaceful actually... despite her exhaustion Scully was rethinking jumping right into bed in favor of maybe enjoying the peace and quiet a while.

She pulled the red and blue wrapped item over to her. It felt like it was probably a book... about six inches by nine inches, about an inch thick.

Scully studied it a moment, still trying to wrap her head around what it might be or why it was there, then shrugged to herself and ripped it open at the seam.

She pulled the paper from it and turned it around to look at it. She was given pause by what she discovered.

It wasn't a book... it was a picture frame... a picture frame with a picture in it.

Scully smiled softly to herself at the sight of the picture within the gold, plain rimmed frame.

A picture of herself and Mulder. It was from last Christmas, when Scully had dragged Mulder to the Scully family Christmas despite his moaning and groaning. She remembered that so fondly... for all his whining and complaining on their way, as soon as they got to Margaret Scully's house he had a good time. He was loose, much more relaxed than he'd been in a long time. He had finally gotten to meet Charlie, a goof ball Mulder found he liked (Charlie probably could have been a fourth Lone Gunmen if he only subscribed to any weird conspiracy theories). Mulder liked him a lot more than Bill Jr., that was for sure. And that Christmas Bill, though grumbling as he did so, kept things between him and Mulder pretty civil. Actually, they avoided each other, often on opposite ends of the room, but it kept the air light and no fights broke out. Bill had even stood back without interfering when one and a half year old Matthew crawled over to Mulder where he sat on the floor and scrambled into his lap to play. Scully had never seen Mulder with children before... not like this. Mulder was great with kids... so gentle and careful. Eventually, Matt had fallen asleep in Mulder's lap and Mulder had just sat on the floor for an hour and a half because he didn't want to wake the baby.

The picture, though, made Scully think most clearly of the morning with them exchanging gifts. She remembered being the first one up that morning, as she always used to be. She was sitting on the couch, looking at the tree with its twinkling lights when Mulder came down the stairs behind her. Scully knew he was coming from the smell... she could smell his aftershave... he'd just shaved and probably had just showered as well. So okay, maybe she wasn't the first one UP, but definitely the first one downstairs.

Mulder, dressed in jeans and a heather gray T shirt, had come up behind her and leaned over the back of the couch beside her, looking at the tree. She had looked over at him, smirking that they were nearly dressed in exactly the same clothes (her T shirt was white), then greeted him with a 'merry Christmas.' She didn't remember how he responded, she just remembered a little sadly that he'd looked at the tree and the stockings on the fireplace and he'd muttered, 'So this is what I was missing.'

When the rest of the family woke up and Mattie starting ripping into presents, Maggie (wearing a secret and scheming smile) had picked up two packages the exact same size and handed one to Scully and one to Mulder.

Scully remembered she and Mulder were sitting in front of the fireplace on the floor, as they were in the picture in her hands now. In the photo image area she could see the brick of the fireplace, the ornamented and lighted side of the Christmas tree in the right edge, and behind their heads the stockings. Scully stopped, squinting down at the photograph. What?! How did she miss that Christmas day? She recognized her own red stocking with 'Dana Katherine' sewn into the fabric in gold thread, but next to hers was another stocking. It was green... Melissa's used to be green and hung next to Dana's... maybe that's why it didn't strike her to notice the difference. She did in the picture, though. The green stocking in the background next to her red one, though, was NOT Melissa's. It was a green stocking with the name 'Fox William' sewn in gold thread into the front of the stocking.

Scully thought she might break out laughing or tear up like a girl. Did Mulder notice that? Was that part of why he'd felt like he fit in that Christmas, because he saw that Scully's mother had made him his own Christmas stocking?

Scully returned to reminiscing about that Christmas morning as she ran her fingers over the two stockings in the picture.

Mulder and Scully had both looked down curiously at their identically shaped boxes, then at each other.

Maggie had laughed at them, teasing, 'come on you two, stop that psychic conversation and just open them!'

So they did... at the same time Mulder and Scully opened their presents. When they each saw what they got, they looked up and checked what the other got, then broke out laughing. Mulder did have a wonderful laugh... Scully remembered that vividly. He'd not laughed so earnestly and openly in a while... it was a rare occasion indeed.

Maggie had bought them both sweaters... matching sweaters. They knew it was a gag gift, a joke, but how they loved it!

Tara had chuckled, telling them if they put them on and walked down the street people would mistake them for THAT kind of couple... the kind that actually wore matching clothes or sent out Christmas cards to friends and family that sported their own pictures on them.

Scully smirked, thinking. She still had that sweater in her closet. Even if it was a joke, she couldn't bare to part with it. The Christmas-tree green turtle-neck sweater with red balls as ornaments on it was still in her closet... tucked safely in the back. She knew Mulder kept his, too... she saw it once when she was helping him unpack one time... it was pushed in the back of his closet but there nonetheless (even odder that Mulder kept his since he couldn't see either color the sweater had on it... she wondered how dull Christmas-time must look to him being red/green colorblind).

When they received the sweaters that Christmas, after the laughing, Charlie had teased, 'come on guys, put 'em on!'

To Scully's surprise, Mulder had jumped on the challenge. Without the need for further prompting, he turned the sweater around and snaked his arms in, pulled it over his head, then tugged it down over his body.

Scully had chuckled, then pulled her own on to play along. She smoothed out her ruffled hair once she'd tugged it on and looked over at Mulder who had just finished putting his own tousled hair back in Mulder's interpretation of perfect order (except for that unruly lock that lay over his forehead that she'd not seen since they first started working together... she had been disappointed that he'd tamed that cute little lock so soon after their being partnered together).

Maggie, while they were not looking or had had it handy without their knowledge, produced a camera and said, 'come on, you two... oh, you look so CUTE... let me take a picture!'

Of course... all this was done in jest, and Mulder and Scully knew it. Everyone was laughing, pointing at the way their clothes now matched exactly since they were (by chance) wearing the same shade and brand of blue jeans.

Mulder, to top all this off with the surprise of all surprises, had taken up the role of 'one of THOSE husbands' very much to heart during the little joke and had proclaimed, 'oh, come on, Honey, smile for the camera,' and thrown his arms around her shoulders.

Scully remembered thinking her heart was either going to stop or go sputtering out of her chest. She always loved the smell of his body and his aftershave... both were so close to her at that moment. Mulder was hugging her shoulders from behind, right profile by Scully's left temple. Scully had decided to play along... she reached up her own arms to clasp Mulder's encircling arms in her hands as he held her, leaned slightly back into him, and flashed the camera her sweetest, brightest smile.

Click.

Now here it was... the picture taken that day.

Mulder and Scully in their matching sweaters... God, they DID look like those weird married couples that wear matching clothes and spend their Thanksgivings volunteering at soup kitchens or taking kids to soccer and pee wee football games. Mulder, his arms wrapped around Scully's shoulders, was looking directly at the camera and giving it THAT smile. Dear lord... how dare he? He'd smiled the smile that made the female office staff at the bureau swoon... made HER swoon secretly. The man could have a completely killer smile when he tried, and he wasn't pulling any punches with the smile he wore in this picture. He was without a doubt and beyond all argument, drop-dead gorgeous. Even with the stupid red and green turtle-neck sweater, he was the most incredibly handsome man she'd ever seen. She had to admit, she didn't look too bad herself. Most of her pictures were intense or pissed (she didn't much care for having cameras pointed at her). Not here, though... here she was content, relaxed, and maybe leaning just a little too much into her partner behind her. But her smile, too, was the one she typically reserved. Damn... how pictures could paint a pretty lie... they actually looked HAPPY in this picture.

Not that they weren't happy in their own rights... just not the exuberant and elated happy they looked in this picture.

Scully stood, walking into her living room with picture in hand and turning on the living room light.

Without a hesitant thought, she went to her fireplace and placed the picture of her and Mulder right in the center on the mantle. Scully smirked... my god, they looked SO married in that picture. Next time one of her old high school friends started asking her online when she was going to get married she was going to scan this picture and send it to them. TAKE THAT!

Scully turned to get her laptop from her suitcase when it hit her. DAMNIT! She left her suitcase in the car trunk when Mulder dropped her off.

Scully looked at the clock. Mulder would have gotten home three minutes ago... no way he was asleep yet.

Scully picked up the phone and hit the number 1 speed dial.

"Mulder."

Scully sat down on her couch, "Mulder, it's me. I forgot my suitcase, it's in..."

Mulder interrupted her, "Yeah, in the trunk, I saw it when I was getting mine out. You want me to drop it by?"

Scully blinked. It was nearly 3:30 in the morning and he was offering to come to her apartment just to drop off her suitcase? The man, along with the recently evidenced ability to be a total knock-out, could also be the most surprisingly sweet and gentlemanly person alive.

"No... no, it's late, I just wanted to make sure you knew it was there. I'll get it later."

"Okay... want to come by tomorrow and get it?"

"Sure... thanks... good night, Mulder."

"Sweet dreams, Scully."



****



Mulder opened his apartment door the next day. Scully had stopped by that afternoon after going to the grocery store for a few more provisions and to call her mother to thank her for picking up her mail and to especially thank her for the present.

Mulder opened the door after she knocked. He was dressed casual... Scully took a moment to politely look him over. She did love how he looked in jeans and a T Shirt (this time a black T shirt). The sight made her wish he'd either relax more or that they hung out more on their spare time (whenever they were ever supposed to have that).

Mulder smiled, "Come on in."

Scully stepped inside and as Mulder closed the door behind her (giving her the once-over to take in her relaxed slacks with V neck red T shirt attire) he said, "Uh... I got your suitcase out of the trunk last night, but I don't have your clothes right now."

Scully turned to him, frowning, "You don't have my clothes?"

Mulder shrugged kind of innocently, "No... uh... they're in the wash... I thought since I had them here I'd wash them for you. I was doing mine anyway, so..."

Scully wasn't sure whether to be afraid for the sake of her clothes or to kiss him for the kind effort.

Mulder looked up, "I hope that's okay."

Scully nodded, knowing he was just rethinking having opened up her suitcase and gone through her stuff, "No, that's fine... thank you very much, Mulder... oh, you didn't wash, uh..."

Mulder smiled, "Nope... bras are still in my bedroom... I'll go get them for you, and your suitcase."

Mulder left the kitchen, heading into his bedroom.

Scully wandered into his living room. Same mild pigsty Mulder's place always was... except something different, new, on his coffee table. A wad of colorful present wrap.

Scully mused on this a moment, then looked up at his desk by the window. She was stunned by what she found. Next to the ever-present framed picture of his sister Samantha, was a gold-framed photograph of Mulder and Scully... in fact, THE same picture Scully now had on her mantel.

Scully looked down again at the table. There was a piece of paper, a loose piece of tape attached at its top and sporting the residual paper pattern it had ripped off with it when it was pulled from the gift wrap. She recognized her mother's handwriting on it.

She bent down, picking up the paper and reading it.



Fox,

Thought you might want this. I really loved having you around for Christmas last year... please don't be a stranger next year!

love,

Mom



END