TITLE:  Christmas Time is Here
AUTHOR: Erin M. Blair
E-MAIL: eblair@sonic.net 
CLASSIFICATION/CATEGORY: SRA--Story, Romance, Angst
CONTENT: Mulder/Scully Romance
RATING: PG
DISTRIBUTION/ARCHIVE STATEMENT: OK to Gossamer,
Ephemeral, X-OK, EMXC. Others: please ask me. I know I
will say yes. 
AWARD ELIGIBILITY: Spookys 2004 
SPOILERS: Existence. Small spoilers from Pilot
to the Fight the Future Movie. 
SETTING: Existence and then-AU.
DATE: Written and edited on December 22-23, 2003. Final
version was finished on December 23, 2003.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Thanks to Jen for beta reading.
DISCLAIMER: Mulder, Scully, and baby William belong to
Chris Carter. 
SUMMARY: Mulder proposes to Scully on Christmas.

**Written for the X-OK's Holiday Fic Challenge. Challenge
elements at the end of the story.**
------------------------------------
Christmas Time is Here
Written by: Erin M. Blair
------------------------------------

Scully peered at the sparkling diamond 
that was set in the blue velvet box. Mulder
had just presented it to her as a gift of love
on Christmas Day. "Mulder, I...don't know
what to say." 

They were both sitting on the couch in 
her living room behind the artificial, already-lit
Christmas tree. She missed having a real 
tree this year, but she wouldn't miss the 
stickiness of the sap from the tree. The brownish
green pine needles on the floor...  No, she 
wouldn't miss having a real Christmas tree
this year. She looked at the coffee table, which
was littered with Chinese take-out food containers. 

Mulder leaned in next to her, enjoying the feel of her
lush red hair, with its slight curl at the end, brushing
against his face. She looked wonderfully sexy at the 
moment. 

So good.

So beautiful. 

All he wanted was to touch her, to feel the 
smooth satin of her skin...

"Scully, I want to marry you. Will you...
marry me?"

"I...don't know, Mulder." Scully pressed
her lips and looked away. She knew it
were only a few months after William had been
born, but...there were some things from his
abduction that hadn't been addressed.

"When I first saw you, Scully, I knew you'd
be the one to love me," said Mulder. He 
paused as he gave her a smile. "You challenged
me to better myself. As I told you in that hallway
years ago, you made me a whole person. I owe
you everything, Scully. You owe me nothing. I
love you and our son." He paused. "I want to 
marry you, Dana Katherine Scully."

There was a silence that passed between them. Then
he heard her.

"Mulder, I'll marry you. You've given me the best
present for Christmas. Over the years, we have 
suffered so much. I just wanted everything for us
to be perfect," said Scully with a rueful sigh. "I
know...I know it's crazy for me to wish that."

His face lit with the brightest smile -- like the 
glistening golden star on top of Scully's artificial
forest green colored tree. "You've made me the
happiest man alive, Scully." His smile deepened
as he reflected on what had brought them to this moment. "If
you hadn't...realized your feelings for me, we
wouldn't be here now."

"I know, but I'm glad it has worked out for the best,"
she said as she heard the sounds of a baby crying
in the next room. "We better check on William."

Mulder nodded. "I know."

As he followed Scully into the bedroom, he watched
her pick up William. "Does he need to be fed?"

"No, he's still OK. He isn't wet yet and I already fed
him an hour ago."

Mulder nodded. "Both of you made me feel complete. I
don't know what I'd do if I lost..."

"I know the feeling, Mulder, but you have us. I think you
given me the best presents of all."

"And I have," he said as pressed his lips to hers. 

-- the end --

Feedback: Yes, please. Send to: eblair@sonic.net 


Author's Notes:

This story was written for the X-OK's 155-310 (or More, Less)
*I Want to Believe* Festive Season-Fic Challenge. This story 
could be any pairing, any era. The elements are as follows: 

1. Someone or something from the X-Files
2. Reference to a holiday.
3. Reference to your favorite episode (feel free to make it
obscure.)
4. Colors: red, white, or green. Some color.
5. Mention of one (or more) of the following:

take-out food
cookie/s
flight/flying
fish
libations
soy


I hope you enjoyed reading it as I had writing it.