Chapter Text
Fox Mulder used to hate his alarm clock. That obnoxious electronic blaring was like the jarring equivalent of his dad shaking him awake as a kid. Now he doesn’t hate it as much. Not when he can turn the thing off, then roll over to meet the eyes of the most beautiful woman in the world.
“Good morning,” Scully says sleepily, curling up to him. She’d stayed over at his place last night, a rare occurrence in the weeks since they’d gotten together on Christmas, what with her having a child to take care of. But they’d gotten in so late from a case that Scully thought it best to leave Emily at her grandmother’s until morning.
“Good morning. You sleep okay?” Mulder asks, kissing the top of Scully’s head and inhaling the intoxicating scent that is just all her.
“No. Your mattress is lumpy.” She mumbles into his neck groggily.
“Guess we’ll just have to do this at your place next time.”
“I guess so, as long as you don’t mind early wake-up calls from a hungry Pomeranian and a four-year-old child.” Scully moves to get up, but Mulder holds her there.
“Nooo, it’s Saturday.” He whines, wanting nothing more than to keep her in bed with him all day long. They don’t get nearly enough alone time for his liking, even if they’ve taken to converting all of their adjoining motel rooms into suites. The Bureau doesn’t need to be in the know about them just yet.
“I have to get my dog from the boarder, my kid from my mom, and groceries because I actually have to have food at my place now.” Scully suddenly looks more tired than before.
“I’ll go with you.” Mulder offers, willing to do anything to spend a Saturday with Scully, even if that means helping wrangle her four-year-old in a grocery store. He might get dinner out of it.
“Really?” Scully asks as Mulder finally lets her go and she sits up in bed, running a hand through her hair.
“Yeah. We never get to do boring errands together.” Mulder insists, watching Scully’s every move as she gets up out of bed, completely naked.
“Probably because we’re so busy investigating unexplained phenomena.” She smiles back at him and goes into the bathroom. A few minutes later, Mulder hears the shower start running.
He just stays there in bed a moment, taking in the fact that this really is his life. The same Dana Scully who’s been debunking his theories for years just sauntered naked from his bed. He feels the urge to pinch himself as he follows her into the already steamy bathroom.
“Mind if I join you?” He half-yells over the sound of the running water.
“Get in here,” Scully says, one wet hand reaching around the shower curtain to do a come hither motion.
Not needing to be told twice, Mulder throws the curtain back and steps in, wrapping Scully up in his arms, marveling in the heat radiating off of her. “So I’ve been thinking,” he says, peppering kisses into her neck and shoulder as the spray of water hits his back.
“About?” She asks, running her fingers through his hair almost comfortingly.
“We’ve been dating for almost two months and we’ve yet to go on a real date. One that doesn’t involve an assignment or a kids pizza place. Emily’s been on my case about it.” Mulder lets go of Scully so that he can grab his shampoo bottle, pouring some in his hands and lathering it into his hair, then rubbing it over his chest.
“Oh, she has?” Scully asks, clearly not looking into his eyes right now, just taking in the view.
“Yes, she really has. And it is Valentine’s Day tomorrow night…” Mulder closes his eyes and rinses off before he and Scully switch positions so that she can have the water again.
“Mulder, are you asking me out?” Scully asks, clearly amused at the context, but not complaining, either.
“I realize the setting is a little ridiculous,” Mulder says as he motions for Scully to turn around and grabs her shampoo (the extra travel bottle she’d brought over a few weeks ago for occasions like this). He begins rubbing it into her hair, massaging her scalp with his fingertips as he does.
“Yes, I’ll go out with you tomorrow night. Do you have a place in mind?” Scully asks, leaning her head back, eyes closed as she enjoys the sensation.
“You just leave that up to the Master of Romance, Dr. Scully,” Mulder smirks, having made these plans a week ago.
“Okay, but the Master of Romance better have a reservation already because every place in the city will be packed.” Scully leans forward into the water.
“Ye of so little faith. You’re lucky you’re so pretty.” Mulder plants a kiss on Scully’s shoulder and admires the pattern of freckles.
“Mulder, I wasn’t kidding about being very busy today…” Scully trails off as his hands begin to wander down the front of her body, skimming over her breasts and then going still lower.
“I know.”
“Mommy, Fox!” Emily runs from her grandmother’s porch just as Mulder and Scully get out of the car. And to Scully’s very clear disappointment, she runs right into Mulder’s arms, laughing as he picks her up and swings her around.
“Ah, I missed you!” He says, setting her down to go and finally hug Scully.
“Don’t mind me, I’m just your flesh and blood who pays for your preschool,” Scully says playfully, hugging her daughter tight. They’d only been away for three days, but Mulder knows how hard even that long can be on her. He’s had to talk her down from impulsively quitting the Bureau in a fit of Mom Guilt before, reminding her that she probably sees her daughter more this way than she would as a staff doctor.
“Did you bring me anything?” Emily asks.
“Em, you know I can’t bring you a souvenir from everywhere we-“
While Scully’s saying that, Mulder pulls the Drummond, Montana keychain out of his pocket. It’s become a tradition for the two of them in the year Scully’s had custody.
“Thank you, Fox!” She says, taking it and looking over the lettering. “Home of the Bull...Bullshippers? What’s a Bullshipper?” It amazes Mulder that Emily can actually read that as he bursts into laughter.
Scully rolls her eyes. “It’s a play on words. It’s from a ranching community.” She explains, smacking Mulder in the arm. She’d told him to avoid a keychain with the town’s motto on it for this exact reason. There’s really nothing like a good old-fashioned cattle mutilation epidemic in the middle of nowhere. “You can put it with all the others at home.”
“I will!” Emily wastes no time in getting in the back of Scully’s car, strapping herself into her car seat, raring to go, but Mulder knows Scully needs to question her mother, who he waves to on the porch before he gets in the passenger side of the car.
“So, what did you and your grandma get up to while we were gone?” He asks, turning on the radio to an 80s station at a low volume.
“Ummm...I went to school, me and Grandma made cookies ,” She thinks a second to see if she’s forgetting any important details. “Oh, and Grandma took me to the movies and we saw October Sky yesterday .”
“Oh yeah? The one about the rocket scientists? How did you like that?” Mulder supposes that most adult men find conversing with a preschooler to be a chore, but aside from Scully, Emily is his best friend.
“I liked it! Homer’s daddy was mean to him at first because he didn’t want to be a coal miner but then he realized that Homer really loved rockets so everything was okay. Except for the teacher; she died.” Emily explains, likely spoiling the major plot points, but Mulder doesn’t really mind.
“Homer like Homer Simpson?” He asks, pushing her buttons with a smile.
“No, Homer Hickam Jr.! He was a NASA scientist.” Emily says, the slightly annoyed inflection in her voice reminding him all too much of Scully.
“Oh, okay. Sounds like a really compelling story.” He says, changing the radio station when it goes to commercial.
“When are we going to launch my rocket?” Emily asks after a beat, making a thudding sound as she pats her legs with her hands impatiently, looking out the window for a sign of her mother finally coming to get in the car.
“When it gets just a little warmer, kid.”
Emily’s been asking the same question once every week or so, wanting to finally play with Mulder’s Christmas present from her, but there’s still a good layer of snow on the ground.
On that note, Scully gets into the car, looking more tense than she had before her conversation with her mother.
“What’s up?” Mulder asks, his hand reaching for hers as a comforting gesture. From the look of her, she needs it.
“Emily, would you like to tell us why the headmaster of your school wants to have a meeting about you on Monday?” She asks, her calm voice just barely hiding how angry she actually is as she starts up the car.
“I don’t know…” Emily trails off, sounding guilty.
“They just play with letter blocks there, right?” Mulder asks, surprised that Emily even could be in any kind of trouble, let alone that she actually is. She’s many things, but a troublemaker is not one of them.
“It’s actually one of the best Catholic preschools in the DC area. As you saw, Emily’s learning to read.” Scully fills him in. “But apparently, she’s been causing disruptions in class.”
“Sister Sarah put me in time out because I kept saying the answers to the math problems,” Emily admits, sounding ashamed.
This is apparently news to Scully. “You got in trouble for knowing the answers?” She asks, and Mulder swears he sees the exact moment she switches from punish to Mama Bear mode when Emily nods. “Oh, I am definitely going to have a talk with them about this.” Mulder’s seen Scully angry, but this is something else entirely. He almost has half a mind to offer to drive, knowing her proclivity for going through stop signs while emotional, but keeps his mouth shut, and they get to the grocery store in DC without incident. “Now, I’m only getting what’s on my shopping list, so no throwing things into the cart, okay?” Scully says this to Emily, but also to Mulder.
“Okay, Mom,” Mulder says, rolling his eyes and earning a giggle from Emily. He picks one of the carts with the kid seat attached to the back and motions for Emily to hop in.
“Behave yourself or I won’t take you shopping again,” Scully warns, wiping down the cart handle and pushing it into the store, beginning to zigzag down the aisles, checking off her list as she goes. When they walk past the Oreos, Mulder discreetly slips a package of Double Stuf into the cart. “Mulder, what did I literally just say?” Scully asks.
“You said not to throw anything into the cart. Which I didn’t do. I placed it gently in the cart.”
Scully sighs, looking up at the ceiling as if questioning all the life choices that led up to her dating Spooky Mulder and letting him be a corrupting influence around her child. “Nothing else.” She says and keeps walking, Emily holding up her hand to high-five Mulder.
They continue on that way until Scully’s list is done and they check out, Mulder peeking at the tabloid trash as Scully pays. “Hey Scully, Jennifer Aniston’s having an alien baby and Brad is not happy about it.” He announces.
“I’d imagine not.” She says, taking her receipt and loading the bags into the cart.
“ Really?” Emily asks Mulder, her eyes going wide.
“No, not really, sweetheart. Those magazines just say ridiculous things so people like Mulder will buy them.” She says, pushing the cart out to the car, Mulder following behind to help put the bags in the back of the car.
“I’m so offended. I would never buy that crap.” He insists, unbuckling Emily from the cart and helping her up into her car seat, which she straps herself into.
“Mommy, Fox said a bad word!” Emily says, pointing accusingly at Mulder.
“Nobody likes a tattletale, kid. Besides, crap is not a bad word.” He says as he gets in the car.
“It’s not?” Emily asks, surprised.
“Yes, it is,” Scully says, pulling out of the parking lot. “Mulder, watch your language. She’s a word sponge.”
They pick up Queequeg from the boarder on the way back to Scully’s place, Emily talking to him in his crate the rest of the way home and then taking him into her room to help her unpack.
Mulder helps Scully carry in the groceries, noting all the healthy food along with things like dinosaur chicken nuggets and berry applesauce, which honestly seem a bit more appealing. Scully silently begins putting things away, and Mulder can tell something’s bothering her. He gets up behind her and begins massaging her shoulders, earning an appreciative moan.
“You’ve been tense all day.” He murmurs, planting a kiss to her neck.
“It’s just that I’m so frustrated, Mulder.” She admits.
“With me?” He asks, knowing he was probably being more than a little unhelpful with Emily earlier. Being serious with the kid doesn’t come easily to him; it’s not like he’s dated any other single mothers.
“No, not you—well, a little bit—but I’m mostly still upset about Emily’s school punishing her for being too smart,” Scully admits as she turns around to face Mulder.
“She’s a special little girl. Sometimes teachers just don’t know how to handle stuff like that. I once got beat with a paddle for correcting a teacher in second grade.” Mulder winces at the memory, though it seems oddly applicable when talking about a school’s stance on extraordinary children.
“Yeah, I got a yardstick to the ass from a nun for back-talking at least once.” Scully bites her lip and goes back to putting the groceries away, but Mulder knows something’s still on her mind. “Mulder, I have kind of a big favor to ask of you.” The fact that she says this without wanting to look Mulder in the eye tells him a lot already.
“I’m intrigued.” He says, hopping up to take a seat on the edge of the counter.
“Apparently, my mother was told the school wants to speak with both of Emily’s parents on Monday,” Scully explains.
“Well, that’s an easy fix. Just tell them she doesn’t have a father.” Mulder says, finding it hard to believe the school would be unaware of Emily’s home situation this late in the school year, but then, he knows Catholics aren’t crazy about non-nuclear families and that they’re good at ignoring things they find unseemly.
“So here’s the thing.” Scully turns to face him, looking very guilty. “It’s an exclusive school and I may have embellished Emily’s application slightly in order to portray a more conventional home life. And you were already going to be on her emergency contacts list…”
Mulder puts the puzzle pieces together and sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Scully, did you list me as Emily’s father, who is married to you?”
“Uh, yes. But to be fair, I never thought anything like this would come up.” She at least has the decency to look guilty (in an unfairly adorable sort of way).
“Dana Scully lying on her kid’s Catholic school application. What is the world coming to? Alright, I’ll go. Do they think I’m a neurosurgeon or something?” At the end of the day, there really was no scenario in which Mulder would say no to this. Anything that involves pretending to be married to Scully all in the name of deceiving the Catholic Church and helping out Emily is a more than ideal situation in his book.
“No, they know we both work for the FBI. You more hours than me, hence you not being at the school events.” Scully explains, clearly having already taken this charade further than one application as she starts on dinner, sautéing some garlic and olive oil in a skillet then adding in some pre-chopped bell pepper and onion.
“Oh, so I’m an absentee father. That totally changes how I’m going to play this.” Mulder envisions in his head an abrasive persona who works long hours and has no time for his family. He’s basically Skinner, but with hair.
“Mulder, do not do anything that will get Emily kicked out of school. It’s so close by and the teacher to student ratio is amazing.” Scully warns, but Mulder would never dream of doing something like that, even if the people at Emily’s school seem to him like stifling pricks.
“Anyone ever told you that you’re a really good mom?” He asks, honestly impressed at all Scully manages to do with so little help all the time.
“You’re just saying that because you want to stay for dinner.” Scully accentuates her point by dropping some chopped chicken breast into the sizzling skillet. “Fajitas.”
“Not that I don’t, because that smells delicious, but no. You don’t get near enough credit for all you do for that girl.” Mulder makes himself useful and stirs the pan while Scully grabs tortillas from a bag of unpacked non-perishable groceries.
“She’s my daughter. I just want what’s best for her.” She shrugs, but Mulder knows how much the recognition actually means to her, judging by the way the corners of her mouth creep up into a small smile.
“Did I ever mention how much I love this side of you?” Mulder asks, gesturing around them. He probably just grew way too accustomed to Dr. Scully the FBI agent over the years, because there are still parts of Dana that surprise him. Like how she’s hands down one of the best cooks he knows, or how she’s probably raising the next Homer Hickam Jr. (even if she doesn’t want to admit it because of course her only child would be obsessed with outer space of all things).
“No, but now you have.” Scully smiles and gets on her toes to kiss Mulder, her lips so soft against his.
“Ewww!” They break apart to turn and see Emily standing in the kitchen entryway, looking disgusted.
“Weren’t you the one that wanted us to get together?” Mulder asks, pulling Scully closer, to Emily’s apparent disgust.
“Yeah, but I didn’t know that meant you’d be kissing all the time. It’s gross!” She scrunches up her face as if to emphasize her point.
“Kisses aren’t gross. Come here, I’ll show you,” Scully says, chasing Emily into the living room, laughing maniacally.
“No, Mommy, no!” Emily giggles as Scully picks her up and begins kissing her all over her face while her little legs flail. They both look as happy as Mulder’s ever seen them he takes in the scene before him and thinks he could definitely do this the rest of his life.
“Now, you have my cell phone number, Mulder’s cell phone number, and my mother’s home phone on this list, all of which Emily’s memorized if something happens to the list. I also included the number for poison control. You hopefully won’t need that but just in case.” Scully uses a magnet to put the list on the refrigerator. “And she has no known food allergies. There’s money in the kitchen to order pizza and she likes Canadian bacon. Just Canadian bacon, no pineapple. Any questions?”
The girl shrugs. “I think you covered everything, Dr. Scully; I’ll take good care of her. Go have fun with your boyfriend.” She indicates Mulder, who’s been waiting through Scully’s rundown of everything from Emily’s bedtime routine to what movies will help make her sleepy. It’s all very endearing in a neurotic Scully kind of way, though even Emily didn’t have the patience to sit through all of it and ran off to play in her room.
“Thanks, Jessica. I’ll be back in a few hours.” Scully turns in the direction of Emily’s room. “Bye, Emily!”
“Bye, Mommy!” Emily calls faintly from her room.
“Ready?” Mulder asks, holding his arm out. Scully nods and takes it, letting him lead her to his car, opening the door for her.
“So, where are you taking me?” She asks when he gets in the car and buckles his seatbelt.
“I was thinking Bennigan’s and the planetarium, actually,” Mulder says this as a joke, but Scully looks at him like he might actually be serious. “Actually, I got us reservations at Michel Richard Citronelle.”
“You did not,” Scully says, but Mulder holds strong. “Six years and you’re still surprising me.” She gives him a small smile before turning to look out the window to watch the passing street lights.
Mulder could say the same, thinking that he doesn’t know how he’s been in this car so many times with this woman and is only now able to say how much he really loves her. What was he thinking?
The wait is out the door when they arrive at the restaurant and Mulder strolls up to the hostess with Scully, smirking as they’re immediately brought back to their table. “You really thought I was lying about having a reservation, didn’t you?” He asks.
“Clearly I need to stop being surprised by you,” Scully begins looking over the wine menu and Mulder can’t help but fixate on the way her lips purse as she spots what he imagines is likely a white Zinfandel or a Pinot Grigio, her favorites, depending on what she orders for dinner.
“Clearly.” Mulder sips his water as he begins to do the same as her, then thinking he could maybe go for a microbrew or something on the rocks tonight.
“Oh my god, Dana? Is that you?” The train of thought about proper pairings is interrupted as Mulder and Scully’s attention is drawn to the table next to theirs, where a skinny man with a receding hairline is seated across from a blonde woman in glasses as he signs his credit card receipt
“Ethan?” Scully’s voice betrays how truly unhappy she is to see this man. He must be her ex. That Ethan.
“Wow, I haven’t seen you in what, six years? You look so great!” He indicates the woman with him, who looks almost as uncomfortable with this situation as Scully. “This is my wife, Cathy.”
“Yeah, I’d heard you’d met someone. It’s nice to meet you, Cathy. When did you two get married?” There’s a certain inflection in Scully’s voice that Mulder knows well. The one she gets when she’s deeply uncomfortable but doesn’t want to let on that she is. Mulder unconsciously reaches across the table to take her hand comfortingly.
“Four years ago today, actually,” Ethan says before his wife can, then finally seems to notice Mulder. “Who’s your friend?” He pointedly looks to their joined hands, a twinge of jealousy in his voice that Mulder thinks is incredibly inappropriate on at least three levels right about now.
“Um, Ethan, this is Fox Mulder, my…” Scully hesitates, not knowing exactly what to call Mulder, though he’d actually really liked Jessica referring to him as her boyfriend earlier.
In this split second, Mulder makes a decision. Because he realizes he already knows exactly who this is: Ethan Minette, Scully’s ex-boyfriend and investigative reporter who’s been instrumental in making it nearly impossible for him to make any new congressional connections. The guy who dumped Scully when she’d joined the X files and didn’t have as much time for him anymore. The guy who, when breaking up with Scully over the phone when she was away on a case, told her that she would regret pushing him away one day. Mulder knows exactly who Ethan Minette is, and he doesn’t fucking like him.
“I’m her husband. Man, you’d think after five years it would be easier to tell people.” Mulder grins and squeezes Scully’s hand tighter as if to say, ‘Just roll with it. I’ll get rid of this guy.’
She must get it when she smiles broadly, nodding. “Yes, this is my husband, Fox Mulder. I think you two might already know of each other.”
“Oh. I thought you two were just partners. Nobody told me you two had-” Ethan looks almost crushed while his wife looks like she might want to sink into the floor. Mulder can’t blame her.
“Well, what can I say, Ethan: once you go Spooky-” Mulder’s comment is cut short by a kick to his shin from Scully.
“What he means to say is that it’s not unheard of for people who spend long hours together to form a certain...bond,” Scully explains, which Mulder is sure would have been Ethan’s worst nightmare to hear six years ago, and that’s exactly why she said it. So there’s really no further harm in what Mulder does next.
“Yeah, and our daughter certainly has helped that bond.” He pulls his wallet out of his pocket and shows off Emily’s mall Santa picture. “There’s my little pride and joy. Isn’t she Dana’s spitting image?”
“She- she is.” Nothing like an adorable little kid to get rid of an oddly jealous ex-boyfriend. “Well, I’m so glad everything worked out for you, Dana. We better get going now.” Ethan gets his jacket and begins to usher out his wife, who Mulder has a strong inkling will be forcing her husband to sleep on the couch tonight. Happy Anniversary, jackass.
“You too, Ethan.” Scully waves and takes a sip of her water. “You’re insane, you know that?” She asks while she picks up her dinner menu.
“Hey, I’m only getting warmed up for tomorrow, Mrs. Mulder,” He says pointedly.
“Well, if you hold character like that at Emily’s school, I think we’ll be fine, Mr. Scully.” She smiles.
“I think that was probably one of the best meals I’ve ever had, even if my wallet’s crying right now.” Mulder unlocks his car, checking his watch to make sure they aren’t going to be late to the next part of their evening before getting in and starting it up.
“It was very delicious and you’re incredibly thoughtful for taking me there.” Scully leans across the center console to give him a kiss on the cheek before buckling her seatbelt. “But you know as well as anyone that you don’t have to take me to fancy restaurants or buy me expensive things to impress me. I know you better than anyone and I still love you.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for next time,” Mulder nods, “But I think that means you’re really going to love the next part of tonight because my budget is now capped at $20.”
“Mulder, remember that I have to relieve the babysitter by 10,” Scully warns.
“Midnight, actually. I slipped her some extra cash when you were busy checking the fire extinguisher.” Mulder admits.
Scully rolls her eyes. “Well then, what’s next on the agenda, Moneybags?”
“Now you get a choice. A) The Planetarium.” Scully gives a big thumbs down at this suggestion. “B) The drive-in outside the city is doing a special showing of Love Story ,”
Scully gives another thumb down. “Too depressing. Not to mention stupid. ‘Love means never having to say you’re sorry’? That’s ridiculous. I don’t know why people like it so much.”
“That’s exactly what I thought!” Mulder laughs. “Okay, C) You and I go park this car in a secluded area and steam these windows like we’re in the cargo room on the Titanic.” He waggles his eyebrows.
“Tempting. Very tempting. But how about D) You and I go to the video store and rent Titanic and whatever happens on your couch happens.”
“Deal.” Mulder turns the key in the ignition and begins driving to Blockbuster. “Did you know it’s the only James Cameron movie to not feature nuclear war or space?” Mulder kind of hates himself for knowing that, but what can he do.
“I didn’t, but I’ll treasure that information forever.” Scully rolls her eyes at him, but she’s smiling.
They get to Mulder’s place in twenty minutes, popcorn and candy in the Hollywood Video bag along with the double VHS pack of Titanic. Scully makes herself comfortable on the couch as the movie’s fake archive footage plays over the opening credits and Mulder goes to make the popcorn. He can’t remember a time in his life before this when he could just be normal and comfortable with a woman who won’t take any of his shit but who still loves him anyway. For a brief moment, he had thought that Diana reemerging in his life would bring back those old feelings, but if anything, it’s only accentuated how absolutely essential Scully is to him.
“Don’t burn the popcorn!” She yells from the living room on that note and Mulder smiles.
“If I take it out now, it’ll be half kernels!” He yells back as he gives in and pushes the cancel button on the microwave. The things he does for the woman he loves.