Cockeyed Optimist

By:  Tess
tnv099@aol.com

Date: 22 Nov 2001
Distribution:  Please keep all headers and other
pertinent information attached and let me know first.
Spoilers:  General through S8 - veers far, far away
from S9
Rating:  R
Content:  S, R
Keywords:  MSR
Disclaimer:  The characters mentioned herein are the
sole property of Fox and 1013.
Summary:   Lately, the good days seemed to come with
more frequency


Author's notes:  This is the fourteenth story in a
series that uses the wonderful lyrics of Rodgers and
Hammerstein to set a tone.  

More importantly, this story is set in a universe
created in a previous story I wrote entitled
Debrouiller.  Several people wrote to me to ask that I
continue the story with hopefully a little less angst.  
While it is not necessary that you read Debrouiller
before delving into this story, it may help to make
things a little more clear.  You can find that story
and all of my other stories at:

http://tessfiles.envy.nu

Cockeyed Optimist

When the sky is a bright canary yellow
I forget every cloud I've ever seen
So they call me a cockeyed optimist
Immature and incurably green!

I have heard people rant and rave and bellow
That we're done and we might as well be dead
But I'm only a cockeyed optimist
And I can't get it into my head

I hear the human race is falling on its face
And hasn't very far to go
But every whippoorwill is selling me a bill
And telling me it just ain't so

I could say life is just a bowl of Jell-o
And appear more intelligent and smart
But I'm stuck like a dope with a thing called hope
And I can't get it out of my heart
Not this heart

   Rodgers and Hammerstein - South Pacific


Cockeyed Optimist
By:  Tess


Scully carried William up the stairs and into his
nursery.  They had been living in the house for a
little over a week and William's was the only room that
was completely in order.  She eased the sleeping baby
into his crib and tucked a blanket snugly around his
sturdy little body.  William smacked his lips and flung
his arms out to his sides.  His chubby legs jerked
against the crib mattress and he kicked the blanket
aside.  

"Just like your father," she whispered, thinking
gratefully of the brand new king-sized bed in the
master bedroom.  Coordinating the delivery of the new
bedroom furniture on the same day as the move into the
house had been a feat of perseverance and good, old-
fashioned bribery. Scully shook her head in
exasperation and once again tucked the blanket around
her sleeping son, knowing full well that it would be
kicked aside before she closed the door behind her.  
Well versed in William's sleeping habits, Scully had
tugged a tiny, long-sleeved T-shirt over her son's head
before slipping him into fleecy pajamas.

The wind kicked up, rattling the window in its frame.  
Scully walked over to the window and pushed the curtain
aside to peer out into the darkness.  The glass rattled
lightly again and she watched a torrent of leaves swirl
and dance in the wind as they tore free of the branches
of the old maple tree in the yard.  She laid one hand
against the chilled pane of glass, always peripherally
aware of the alarm system installed by William's self-
proclaimed fairy godfathers.  

Winter is almost here, she thought idly.

Scully pushed away from the window and looked around
the nursery, heaving a satisfied sigh.  She and Mulder
had spent the first two days after moving into the
house, putting this room to rights.  The walls were
painted a soft, soothing blue.  A cheerful paper border
in a baseball motif lined the walls near the ceiling -
Mulder's contribution, of course.  A sturdy,
comfortable rocker sat in the corner near the crib.  
White washed shelves covered with stuffed bunnies and
bears hung from the walls.  A small bookcase held a
portable CD player and a stack of lullabies on compact
disk.  A collection of soft-sided books rested on the
shelf below the CD player, perfect for a baby's
grasping hands and inquisitive mouth.  A miniature
basketball hoop and ball were tucked into another
corner of the room.  The room - warm and cheerful and
safe - sheltered a tiny baby and waited for the day
when a little boy's running feet would pound across its
floors.  God willing, it would bear witness to
William's journey toward manhood.

She could hear Mulder moving around in the kitchen and
she reflected back on the day just passed.  It had been
a good day, she thought.  A good couple of weeks.  
Lately, the good days seemed to come with more
frequency, she realized.  She was slowly but surely
climbing out of the fog and despair that had marked the
first few months of her life as a new mother.  Here in
this home, living with the two people who made up her
entire world, Scully found herself waking up each day
to a renewed sense of optimism.

Scully snapped on the night-light and eased the nursery
door closed behind her.  Ignoring the unpacked boxes
stacked in the spare bedroom as she walked along the
hall, she hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Is he asleep?" Mulder ran a damp sponge over the
countertop and looked up at her questioningly.  Scully
nodded and snatched up the dishtowel that was draped
over his shoulder.  

"He's down for the count."  She lifted the heavy turkey
platter out of the dish drainer and began to wipe it
dry.  

"Well, he's got a belly full of pureed sweet potatoes
and carrots."  Mulder wrinkled his nose at the memory
of the food Scully had mashed up and fed to William -
and of the way it had ended up smeared all over the
baby's face and hands.

"It's not easy to eat Thanksgiving dinner when you only
have two teeth," Scully said mildly.  "And he seemed to
like it."  She knelt onto the tiled floor of the
kitchen to slide the platter into one of the lower
cabinets.  As she climbed back to her feet, Mulder
sidled up behind her, trapping her between his body and
the counter.

"Dinner was great," he whispered as he feathered his
lips over her neck.  Scully shivered as his warm breath
washed over her sensitive skin.  She turned and linked
her arms around his neck.  Her eyes fluttered closed as
his teeth lightly sank into the tender skin below her
ear.

"Hey, Scully," Mulder murmured as he trailed his lips
around the rim of her ear, sending another shudder
through her body.  "You grew up in an all-American
family, right?"  She tilted her head to the side,
exposing her neck and collarbone to his exploring lips.

"Umm... yeah," she hummed as he scraped his teeth along
her jaw line.  "I guess so.  Why?"  She tightened her
arms around his neck and sagged against the cabinets
behind her, welcoming Mulder's weight as he leaned more
heavily against her.

"I was just wondering..." His tongue darted out to
tease the corner of her lips.  "... if your family ever
played the 'I'm Thankful For' game."  Scully turned her
head, blindly searching for and finding his mouth with
her own.  Their lips met and clung in a moistly chaste
kiss.

"What game?" she asked, as they broke apart.  She
rubbed her face against his, enjoying the rasp of his
roughened skin against her own smooth cheeks.

"Why don't I just teach you?"  He banded his arms
tightly around her.  "For instance... I'm thankful that
we decided to stay home - just the three of us - and
enjoy Thanksgiving as a family."

Scully smiled.  It had been a near perfect day.  The
televised parade had given way in the afternoon to
football.  As the fragrant smells of roasting turkey
and sweet potatoes filled the air, Mulder had tussled
gently with William on the carpeted floor of the family
room and Scully had reveled in the sounds of his sweet
baby giggles.

"I'm also grateful that our little boy is sound asleep
in his bed, sated from his very first Thanksgiving
dinner."  Mulder's lips cruised over her temples in a
series of soft kisses and Scully had to admit that at
that very moment, she too was extremely grateful that
William had so easily succumbed to sleep.

Mulder continued the game. He reached down and gathered
the hem of Scully's skirt between his fingers, pushing
the soft material up her legs, bunching it around her
waist.

"I'm so thankful that you're not wearing pantyhose."  
His big hands slid over the backs of her thighs,
tracing random patterns on her smooth skin.  Scully
gasped and buried her face in the hollow of his throat
when he slipped one teasing finger under the edge of
her panties, brushing against her rapidly heating flesh
before darting quickly away again.

Mulder lifted his hands away from her thighs and her
skirt fell back into place, the material slithering
against her over-sensitized skin.  Scully watched
through hooded eyes as he swiftly unfastened the
buttons of her shirt and slid his hands into the opened
edges. His fingers cupped her breasts, his thumbs
brushing over the nipples hidden behind the lacy fabric
of her bra before he deftly flicked open the front
clasp and brushed the material aside.  Her breasts
spilled into his waiting hands.

"I'm eternally grateful that William has been weaned
and that these belong to me again."  He boosted her
onto the edge of the counter and lowered his head to
take the tip of one aching breast between his lips.  
Scully had the dim thought that she should take
exception to Mulder's choice of words, but she knew she
was similarly possessive of his body.  She moaned and
raked her fingers through his hair, clutching him
tightly in her arms and urging him on with pleasured
sighs and the broken sound of his name slipping from
her lips.

Mulder's tongue scraped wetly over the slope of her
breast.  His lips parted again and his mouth drew on
her nipple with a gentle suction sending a frisson of
pleasure through her entire body.  Scully's efforts to
wrap her legs around his lean hips were hampered by her
long skirt.  Frustrated, she pressed her hands against
his shoulders, forcing him to take a step back.  

Mulder moaned as her breast slipped from his mouth.  He
glanced up at Scully and she swallowed convulsively at
the hungry look he directed toward her.  She reached
out to push a lock of hair off his forehead and he
captured her hand in his own.  He lowered his head and
his tongue lapped at the pulse throbbing in her
delicate wrist as he again crowded her against the
countertop.

His head ducked down to steal another kiss and Scully
planted one hand in the center of his chest, stopping
his downward movement.  She clasped his fingers in her
small, strong hands and began to pull him out of the
kitchen with long, determined strides.  Mulder
considered lodging a protest but when he saw her
heading for the staircase, he quickened his own pace.

At the top of the steps, they crept quietly down the
hallway, careful not to awaken William who was
slumbering peacefully in his crib.  They hurried to
their room and Scully fell onto the bed, scrambling
back until she was kneeling in the center of the king-
sized mattress that they had yet to christen.

Mulder had taken time away from his work at the Center
for Paranormal Studies and Research when they had
moved, but had returned to the think tank a couple of
days later.  Scully spent her days taking care of
William, finding her way around the new neighborhood
and unpacking.  By the time Mulder came home from work
and William was put into his crib each night, they were
both too exhausted to even consider making love.

But tonight Scully felt energized.  She wanted Mulder
with an intensity that she hadn't felt since before his
ill-fated trip to Oregon more than a year ago.  During
those few months when they had moved their relationship
from friends and partners to lovers, she had been
consumed with an almost uncontrollable curiosity about
him... a need to learn everything that she didn't
already know about him.  They had connected on a level
she had never known existed.  When they had been torn
apart she had felt the loss of him in her heart, mind,
body and soul.  Then he had been returned to her and he
had struggled with his separation from the X-Files and
subsequently the seeming loss of his identity while she
had labored to safely carry their child to term.  
Despite their joy at being reunited they had been out
of sync with one another and every day since then, they
had fought to find that once effortless rhythm.  

Now, she held her hands out, silently asking that he
join her in their bed.  Mulder crawled across the wide
mattress until he was kneeling in front of her.  Scully
trailed her fingers over the curve of his cheek, urging
his mouth closer to hers.

"I love you," she whispered, causing his lips to curve
into a happy smile.  "And I'm thankful that you have
the day off tomorrow."  Scully gripped the front of his
softly faded denim shirt in her hands and gave it a
quick jerk.  Mulder's smile widened as she fell into
the game with him.

"I'm thankful that your shirt has snaps and not
buttons."  The sharp, popping sound of the snaps giving
way under her tugging hands punctuated her words.  
Mulder's head tipped back onto his shoulders when she
pulled the shirt away from his body.  The smile slid
from his lips and his heart began to pound when she
pressed her lips against his breastbone in an open-
mouthed kiss.

"I'm grateful for every beat of your heart."  He
tangled his fingers into her hair, holding her close,
reveling in every touch of her lips against his skin.  
Her mood had quickly changed from playfully teasing to
deeply emotional and Mulder basked in her loving
affection.

Scully sat back on her heels and skimmed her shirt and
bra down her arms, tossing the garments toward the foot
of the bed.  She rose back to her knees and wrapped her
arms around his waist.  Twin murmurs of pleasure
escaped their lips as her soft breasts were crushed
against the hard planes of his chest.

Their hands were in constant motion now and every time
they touched it was as if they were relearning each
other all over again.  Scully's fingers glided up the
length of Mulder's spine and she remembered the first
time she had the freedom to trace a line over the
silken skin of his back.  Mulder's hands feathered over
her ribcage to cup the sides of her breasts.  His
fingers followed the network of fine blue veins running
beneath her pale skin in a pattern he had long ago
memorized.

"I'm so grateful that I'm not alone this
Thanksgiving... that you came back to me..." Her words
were whispered into the sinewy muscles of his shoulder.  
"So grateful for the beautiful baby you gave to me."  
He covered her lips with his, his tongue gliding past
the barrier of her teeth.  Scully hollowed her cheeks,
pulling his tongue deep into the wet recesses of her
mouth, trapping him within her as she ground her hips
against him.

They pulled apart, gasping for breath.  "I'm thankful,"
she told him.  "So very, very thankful."  Scully's
fingers skillfully popped open the buttons on the fly
of Mulder's jeans and she slid her hand under the soft
cotton of his briefs.  Her fingers played over the
velvety tip of his erection, gathering up the silky
beads of liquid that she found.

Mulder groaned, his head dropping onto her shoulder as
more blood rushed from his brain to his already
painfully hard penis, leaving him dizzy with
anticipation.  He reached behind her back to unzip her
skirt, pushing it and her panties down her legs.  
Scully wriggled awkwardly out of her clothes and lay
back onto the mattress.  Her beautiful auburn hair was
spilled across his pillow, Mulder noted with an oddly
possessive thrill.  

Her hands rested on her midriff, hiding the soft swell
of her belly.  A legacy left behind from her pregnancy
that no amount of stomach crunches would ever return to
its former muscled glory, it was one of Mulder's
favorite places on her body.  Like her longer hair it
spoke of womanly softness.  His eyes traced over her
fingers, devoid of jewelry. He wanted to change that...
wanted to wrap her finger in gold and diamonds...
wanted to mark her with his brand and be similarly
marked with hers.  

Scully reached out with both arms, urging him to come
to her.  He crawled over her, caging her between his
arms and legs.  Her small hands came up to push his
jeans and briefs from his hips and he helped her to
wrestle his clothes from his body.  Mulder slowly
lowered his body to cover her and once again his mouth
sought hers.

His harsh sigh mingled with her throaty moan.  Muscled
arms burrowed under her finely sculptured back while
silky legs wound themselves around lean hips.

He was hard and hot; she was soft and wet.  Pressing,
penetrating... welcoming, yielding.  Take me into you,
don't let me go... fill me, don't ever leave me...
bodies moving in concert... slow, languorous kisses...
soft, broken murmurs... I love you... I've always loved
you... I'll always love you... lazy smiles, languid
caresses... yes, right there... oh God!... do that
again... ragged breathing, husky whispers... insatiable
mouths... mounting passions... faster, please... hold
on tight... eager hands, pounding hips... primal
thoughts... mine, my mate... need - devouring,
consuming... building, climbing, driving... flying...
come, come with me now...

Her name exploded from his lips on a harsh cry as he
stiffened in her arms, her body rippled around his,
impossibly drawing him deeper into her.  His arms
trembled and he sagged into her welcoming embrace.  
Long moments passed and he summoned the strength to
move, stopping at her mournful cry.

"Don't leave me."

Mulder smoothed damp hair away from her flushed cheeks.  
"I'll never leave you," he promised.  He shifted
slightly, lifting his weight from her and they fought
their way under the disheveled bedcovers, coming
together again in a sleepy tangle of arms and legs.

*************

Scully awoke just as the sky began to lighten with
streaks of pink and purple.  Through the baby monitor,
she could hear William babbling and cooing softly as he
entertained himself.  She could picture him in his
crib, chubby fingers wrapped around his feet as he
pulled his toes toward his head in a way that only
babies could.  She listened as he yawned and sighed and
heard his feet rub against the crib sheets before he
settled back into sleep.

Cradled in her arms, softly snoring and sleep rumpled,
Mulder slept with his head pillowed on her stomach, one
arm thrown possessively around her hip.

Outside, the wind whistled and howled.  Leaves of gold
and red and orange brushed against the window in a
giddy whirlwind of color, blurred by the frost that had
formed on the glass as the temperature outside
plummeted while the little family was cocooned inside
the walls of the house.  Scully counted her blessings
and drifted back into sleep.

The End

Acknowledgements:

First, I'd like to wish a happy Thanksgiving and the
beginning of a joyous and more importantly, peaceful,
holiday season to each and every one of you.

What, or rather, who am I thankful for?  Well, firstly,
Aly for keeping me updated and for taking such good
care of my stories.  If you visit my website, its
artistry is all because of the talented Aly.  Follow
the links to Aly's own sites to see more of her
gorgeous work.

I'm eternally grateful to my crack beta team.  David
who makes me laugh on a daily basis.  And I wouldn't be
writing if it weren't for Char and her encouragement
and friendship.  You either have her to thank or blame
for my continued scribbling.  Thanks to both David and
Char for reading this story the very moment I e-mailed
it to them (despite the late hour) while I waited with
bated breath for their comments. They didn't keep me
waiting long, bless their hearts.

Finally, I'd like to thank anyone who takes the time
out of their incredibly busy lives to read my stories.  
I cherish the feedback I receive.  Thank you so much.

I'd love to hear from you and you can reach me at
tnv099@aol.com

Tess