Like a Valentine

Part Nine

After a big reuniting shindig at the airport, Mulder, Scully, and Emily find their way home - Home...that still feels alien and good all at once.
Mulder attempts to unpack his things on the floor while Emily follows his every move like a cat begging for attention.
"Emily, let him get settled, please."
Scully can be authoritative when she wants to, but even she is more than excited to have Mulder back. That lilt in her tone told Emily that she wasn't entirely serious.
"Alright, kiddo, close your eyes,"
Mulder instructs, hiding a little something behind his back.
Emily squeals and mostly covers her eyes.
"Okay, open."
Mulder holds out two plush stuffed animals.
"OH! A SHARK! A FOX!"
The child grabs for them both and squeezes them to her chest. Scully smiles down at the two and Mulder looks up to her with a knowing smile.
"I've got something for you too."
"Mulder."
Scully huffs out a laugh and Emily practically gallops out of the room. To say the kid is giddy would be an understatement.
"Close your eyes," He instructs, pulling himself to his feet with his hands returning behind his back.
"Mulder," She giggles giving in and closing her eyes.
Reaching out for her hands, he places a small music box in them. Scully opens her eyes slowly and looks down at the gadget. It's a small wooden box that fits perfectly there in her palms. Engraved in the wood is Tennessee Music City in cursive.
"Go on, wind it up."
Scully turns the tiny metal crank and the tune of Walking In Memphis begins to play.
"Mulder!"
From the smile on her face, he knows that she remembers that night almost two years ago in Albion, Indiana. The two danced front row while Cher sang the exact song playing.
"I--I don't know what to say."
Mulder's grinning from ear to ear. He knows he's outdone himself. This surely beats the keychain.
"Mulder..." He knows that tone... that's the tone that elicits a dog to tuck its tail between its legs.
"Did you go to Graceland again?"
"No! I actually didn't go anywhere near Memphis. I was actually more up northeast-ish... near Knoxville."
"Well good. Because the next time you go I'd like to go with."
SAFE.
Before he can even smile that smile of relief, She's pressing her lips to his.
"Thank you. It's beautiful and thoughtful... I don't even know what to say."
"Don't say anything then...dance with me."
Taking the little music box from her, he winds it back up and places it on the bed.
Much like a gentleman, Mulder holds out his hand into which Scully takes. He spins her around one good time before pulling her flush against him and the two dance small circles; her cheek pressed against his chest, his arms around her middle, hers finding their way around his neck.

That night, well after Mulder read Emily her book about sharks and she'd fallen asleep leaning against his chest, he and Scully made up for lost time.
It's nearly insane to think about the last couple of years and how they've grown closer and closer together finding and exploring this new, yet oddly familiar, spark of domesticity. In the past, Mulder never really put forth much thought into a home life, let alone a relationship- and let's face it here, that's exactly what this is. Platonic work partners don't move in together...
The whole get married, have children, the cute house with the white picket fence... none of that ever resonated with him; not to say it does now completely. Though, he'd be lying if he didn't admit the whole get married and become a stepfather thing has been heavy on his mind as of late.

Scully, on the other hand, has entertained the thought quite a bit. Each birthday she thinks about how she's just another year older, and that she's not getting any younger- a woman thinks about these things, ya know? Sure she wants to find that someone, settle down, raise a family...but what she is finding hard to grasp is that that someone has already been found. That someone lies next to her most, if not all, nights. That someone started out as a friend and then became her best friend, and then somewhere along the way she woke up and realized that that someone is the only person she can see herself with. It's a lot to take in, that she's well aware of, and given her stubbornness, Dana Scully is having one hell of a time letting herself break down her walls. Without a doubt, she trusts this man more than anyone. But if there's one thing she's always lived by, advice from her father, it has been to only rely on herself.

In this life, Dana, you will find many obstacles, and you will overcome them. In that I state my convictions, however, you must realize that this world is a very dark and scary place. In this world you can never be sure of who to trust, or who to rely on...but there is one person you'll always be able to rely on...that person is yourself. If you want someone done right, you do it yourself. Always go with your gut.

He was right, she thinks. But he'd left out that there is the possibility amongst all of the impossible to find someone who you can put all of your trust in. That, after all, is what love is, right?

"What are you thinking about?"
He asks lying on his side facing her. The moonlight spills in from between the cracks in the curtains; a perfect beam of light illuminates her eyes just enough.
"I was just thinking about...everything...us...Emily...how everything is changing so fast."
"You don't like that things are moving this fast." It's not a question.
"I- I don't know. I mean, I do know...but I don't at the same time. I guess things are just happening back to back to back and I feel..."
"Like you're not in control?"
"No, Mulder. I just feel like everything I've ever wanted is here...it's happening. But then..."
"Oh, Scully..."
"No, Mulder. I'm completely happy. I am. That's not what I'm getting at."
"What are you getting at?"
Scully exhales a breath realizing there's never been anything she could keep from him.
"I'm the happiest now that I've ever been. I've got my daughter...and I've got you. And, I don't know...I guess I'm just scared that somehow I'll lose it all. That maybe everything feels right to me...but then there's you. I never asked what you wanted...and you never signed up for any of this..."
"Any of what? Emily?"
"Yeah. I mean, you're moving in which means you'll obviously play a huge role in her life...but I never asked, I never thought about what this all means for you..."
"Scully, YOU are what I want. You know exactly how I feel about her. I love her with all my heart. If I didn't want to be here...I wouldn't."
"I know..."
"Then you know that you have nothing to worry about. Wasn't it you that said, and I quote
Don't you ever just want to stop? Get out of the damn car? Settle down and live something approaching a normal life?"
Leave it to Mulder and that photographic memory of his.
"To which I believe you replied with something around the lines of this IS a normal life."
Mulder smiles as he shakes his head,
"Believe it or not, Scully... some people can change their minds."
"Oh! Really now? You, Fox Mulder, who chases down every single crop circle lead, every bigfoot sighting, and anything that could possibly, remotely, have to do with something paranormal or extraterrestrial can just get out of the car and settle down?"
"Well, as I recall, I was never alone in all of those rental cars..."
This time it's Scully that laughs through a smile.
"So what? You're ready to settle down?"
"Maybe..."
"I'm not asking you to give any of that up. I hope you know that, Mulder."
"I know. But I also know that there's a little girl in the next room over that called me last night scared of a nightmare and found comfort in my ramblings...and then asked if I was going to marry her mother...and that if I married her mother I'd be her new dad."
Scully's eyes widen, her heart thumping against her throat.
"She...Mulder..."
"I told her I couldn't answer her question just yet...and then she told me she really wanted me to be her dad...So when it comes to changing, I knew for sure then. Last night after that call... I found myself packing my bags and counting down the hours until my flight. Until I'd be right here in our home. This is exactly where I want to be...You're not the only one who's the happiest they've ever been."
Scully's perfectly manicured fingers run through the hair above his ears and she pulls his head forward, towards hers, until their lips meet once again.

"I believe it."
"Finally."