A Different Kind Of Christmas

By XSketch
XSketch@hotmail.com


Date: 23 Dec 2004
WEBSITE: http://thesketchfiles.bravehost.com/
SPOILERS: Post-The Truth, so the whole series pretty much.
RATING: PG
CATEGORY: S, SA, MSR
SUMMARY: They're different people celebrating a different kind of
Christmas, but they've got each other, and that's all that matters.
FEEDBACK: I'm begginbg on my knees here!!!
DISCLAIMER: These charaters belong to each other, but CC and 1013
own 'em!  I don't fit into the equation.
ARCHIVE: Of course, but please drop me a line to let me know :)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Nope, still ill, so be gentle with me :) I just had
to write this though....Would you believe it's been a whole year
since my last Xmas story? LOL :-p
DEDICATION: To all the XF 'Shippers out there - MEEY CHRISTMAS &
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The snow had been falling heavily all day - all week, for that
matter, with a blizzard sweeping through the area two days ago -
but it finally looked as if it was easing up a bit.  Each
distinctly individual snowflake - occasionally being picked up by a
breath of air and falling a few centimetres off course - is
smaller, and there is an obvious decrease in their numbers.  It's
the perfect weather for Christmas in urban Washington D.C.

It all means nothing, however, to one lonely soul as she stands at
the window and watches the white specks fall from heaven; it
doesn't make it a perfect Christmas.  There's something...*someone*
missing...and this isn't even D.C., for they'd left that all behind
seven months ago.  She remembers standing and looking out of her
Georgetown apartment at the snow too many times alone, several
times in the company of Mulder, a couple of times with the warmth
of his arms encircling her, and once with a baby resting against
her shoulder.  But this, as she lives the life of a fugitive in a
perfect home, on the complete opposite side of the country in some
town she'd never even heard of before and silently watches the
doomed drops of ice spatter against the glass panel, makes it all
seem like an age ago and too nostalgic to not wish she had them all
back.

Of course, the missing status of her beloved partner right now does
not distil the bitter darkness that fills this new life in Freesol.

She'd awoken to find his note on the pillow five weeks ago - short,
but to the point - and there'd been no word from him since.  Her
heart persistently assures that he wouldn't have left unless it was
critical, but her brain needs to find a solid explanation, and so
her torn emotions have been warring since that day, and it's
practically draining everything out of her.


        'I have to disappear somewhere for a little while.  
        It's better you stay behind for your safety.  I
        swear I'll explain when I get home.

        Love you always, M'


'When'?  More like 'if'!  He'd been gone so long, she had to wonder
if he was even still alive, considering the threat against them.  
She'd lost him three times (four if you counted his 'death'
separate from his abduction) in the short space of two and a half
years; explanations, promises and apologies were just not enough
anymore.

After fruitlessly waiting by and searching out through the window
for him for two hours, she finally turned away and moved to switch
the lights off in the house, before then getting into the large
double-bed he'd made sure was here before they'd arrived.  

Alone.

For several minutes she just lays there in the darkness, staring at
the ceiling.  A year ago she had done the same in her Georgetown
apartment - praying for Mulder's safe return ASAP and silently
wishing him a warm Christmas wherever he was.  At least then,
however, part of him had been sleeping in the crib not ten feet
from her...their miracle had given her a reason to go on.  Now
she's in a strange place, with no ability to contact her family,
and absolutely no idea where her son is...

Suddenly, the word 'ditchee' feels like her middle name.

"Your explanation had better be good," her sleepy voice slurred as
her eyes slipped shut.  "Please..."

XxXxXxXxX

She's swirling in a dream about the first time Mulder had driven
her and William home a year and a half ago when her senses are
sharply awoken by the sound of a creaking floorboard beyond the
bedroom door.  Her body sits bolt upright and her arm instinctively
reaches for the holstered gun on the bedside cabinet.

"Who's there?" she calls out, aiming the automatic at the closed
entrance.  Only the silent darkness replies, so she calls out the
question again before swinging her legs out of the bed and standing.

Suddenly, the door opens, though, and a silhouetted figure looms in
the doorway.  It's tall, but wide also - certainly nothing like the
person she had longed to see standing there every second since he'd
walked out five weeks ago.  He's also carrying what looks like a
large bag in his right hand.

"Who are you?  What are you doing here?"

Still no response from the stranger as it steps toward her.

"Stop where you are, or I'll shoot!"

Step.  Step.

"Who--"

She's cut short as an arm wraps around her and pulls her up against
the stranger's body.  Of course, she struggles as hard as she
can to free herself, but then the last thing she expects happens: a
mouth bordered by a fluffy beard claims hers.  The struggle
continues for a moment or two...but then, as the visitor's tongue
slips past her lips, something familiar about the feel of the kiss
and the realisation that the beard is fake kicks in and she
reciprocates for several long seconds before pulling away a
fraction.

"Mul-der?"  The cautionary tone is unavoidable.

"Hey," comes his whispered reply as he gently rests his forehead
against hers.  "I've missed you so much...Have you been a good girl
while I've been away?"

Frowning, Scully steps out of his embrace, and moves to switch on
the bedside lamp, only to see her partner dressed in a complete
Santa outfit - padding included.  Despite the mixture of joy and
anger mixing within her, she can't help but smile at how
ridiculously good he looks in the costume.

"Don't tell me you got abducted by elves?"

"Yeah, from the Land Of Frohike," he smiles back, letting go of the
sack and taking another step forward so that he can once again hug
her.  

"Mulder, this isn't funny...don't--...You walked out on me!  Do you
know how painful it's been?  How hurt I was to wake up and find a
piece of paper in your space on the bed?  For all I knew, the
supersoldiers had taken you back!  You could have been being
tortured, or...or d-dead, and I wouldn't have known a damn thing
about it just because you felt it was okay to assure me you'd
explain all when you got back!"  

The tears stinging her eyes sting Mulder's heart as he watches her
fight against the desperate need to sit down or collapse on the
floor.  He had known what his ditch would do to her emotions
straight after Deep Throat had told him where to go, but leaving
her behind had been the only option, and she would never have let
him go alone.  He just hoped the reward would be enough to make it
up to her.

In the dim light, he approaches with outstretched arms and fiercely
pulls her back against him.  It's been too long since he was last
here...

"I'm sorry," he utters, resting his cheek against the top of her
head after placing a kiss there.  "I--...God, Scully, it wasn't a
move I took lightly - it killed me to leave as much as (if not
moreso) when I walked out on you and William....but I *had* to go.  
There was no other way."

"Why?"

It's his turn to step away, and as the uncomfortable tension begins
to suffocate the atmosphere, Mulder goes to the bag he brought in
with him.  "I was hoping I could save this til later - maybe after
I'd snuck into bed beside you and had the first decent night's
sleep in over a month, but....I guess...."  He falters and looks at
the sack - unable to look her directly in the eye just yet.  "I
just got the most important gift for the most important person in
my life..."  Shrug.  "Merry Christmas, Scully."

All Dana can do is stare at him with confusion creasing her worn
features until she follows his gaze and stares at what she had
believed to be a sack, but what is in fact a disguise.  He's turned
it around, and she can now see that it's nothing more than a metal
frame, supporting a safety seat, which holds a child - a strawberry-
blond haired child.

Their child.

William.

Everything she's been feeling up until this point takes its toll on
her senses, and as the disbelieving gasp whooshes past her lips,
she finally drops to her knees, with arms reaching out toward the
infant.  "Mul--...Wil--...How--?...Oh, my God, William!?"

Mulder lowers himself also to the floor and lifts the boy out of
the seat, smiling "See, kiddo?  I told you she'd be happy."  His
glance flicks back to Scully, and the tears of joy streaming down
her cheeks makes the pain of the last five weeks fade away.  The
smile on his face broadens, and there's no longer any point hiding
his own tears, so he lets them fall freely.  "I told you we'd get
him back...I've promised time and again since that night in Roswell
that it'll be okay...I figured it was time to get my ass in gear."  
He kisses Will's head and then carefully passes him over to her.  
"Excuse my language, sorry.  I didn't want to leave you alone, but
another of those lost to us appeared and told me where he was..."  
A thoughtful pause, and he strokes a hand down the soft cheek of
his long-missed son.  He's had two weeks on the road to enjoy being
back with the miracle he had thought he'd never see again, but
here, reuniting with Scully and - in turn - reuniting her with
William on Christmas Day, it's like the day he was born and seeing
him for the first time all over again.  "I didn't realise how short
my time was until I got there..."

Dana had had her eyes shut whilst cuddling her baby boy as tightly
as possible since claiming possession of him from Mulder's grasp,
but now she looks up - wide-eyed - as she only now thinks to ask
how he recovered their son from the adopted parents.

"What do y-you mean?  Mul-der, what happened to--"

His gaze drops, and she knows there's no need to finish the
question.

Silence.

"I found him hidden in a crawl space down in the basement...I don't
know how They didn't find him, but I'm just so thankful They
didn't..."  Once again, Mulder reaches out to stroke an unsteady
hand over the strawberry-blond hair.  "He's grown so much, but to
me he's...he's still a few days old..."  He inches closer as she
gives a slow, understanding nod of her head, and then wraps his
arms around them both - rebuilding the protective wall around his
family that had been smashed to pieces and left them exposed in his
eleven month absence after Will's birth.

More silence as the two fugitive agents stare down at their son.

*'The Truth we both know...'*

They both look up at the same time, she pulls the fake white beard
down away from his face, and lips meet in a slow, passionate kiss
even fiercer than the one on that night a year and a half ago.

"I'm sorry I doubted you - I just got so scared I'd lost you again
after all we've benn through... I love you."

"Love you more..." he slurs, trying to conceal the yawn...with no
success.

"Mulder, you're exhausted!"

"I drove all day and night.  I *had* to be here today...It's our
first Christmas together in three years - since before I was
abducted...I couldn't--...I--...I'm fine...I just wanted to get
back...to you..."

With a sad smile, Scully shakily stands - struggling a little to
carry William's slightly heavier bulk.  "You're not fine.  Come on,
you need to rest."  She sits Will down in the middle of the bed,
turns back to where Mukder is knelt and offers a hand to help him
stand.  He obliges, but just stands there staring down at her once
at full height.  "What?"

No reply.

"Mulder?"

She's ready to think he's fallen asleep, when he suddenly lifts a
hand to cup her cheek.  "Our first family Christmas," he muses,
smiling and briefly glancing toward William.

"Mulder, we've got no decorations...We've still got the turkey in
the freezer I didn't have at Thanksgiving, but there's no dinner
and trimmings to have...No gifts for William...There's nothing to
make this Christmas..."

"Silly woman," comes his chuckled reply as he tenderly rubs his
thumb back and forth over her skin.  "We may not have the tree or
the lights and ornaments, we may not have a full dinner topped with
everything edible, but we have something a million times more
important."

All Scully can do is frown in confusion, but then hesitantly
suggests with a smile, "William?"

"Well, there is that," he beams.  "But there's something more
precious: each other."  Yawn.  "I'd happily...trade in every
Christmas I've ever had - even the ones on the Vineyard with Mom,
Dad and Samantha - for *this* one.  To be able to look into the...
blues of your eyes....T-to hear our child cooing to us...from
across the r-room... Every pain and sacrifice and moment of
loneliness was always brightened by the fact that at the end of a
cellphone line, or just acrss the office, or walkin' by my side was
the one person that...that m-made it all...worthwhile... So, we
don' ne-ed derecorationses...Just...this..."  He slumps as the
exhaustion weighing down his body takes control, and she quickly
helps him over to the bed.

"Come on, Romeo," she whispers, laying him down on the right-hand
side.  "Let's leave all those heavy words til a little later..."

William looks up at her and then taps a chubby fist against his
father's leg several times.  "Dada eep!" he cheers.

With her already broad smile reaching its maximum girth, a wide-
eyed Scully snaps her head round to stare at the boy, and has to
rest her palms down on Mulder's lightly snoring body to help keep
her from falling flat on her face.  "Oh, my God...William...Daddy
Santa's just taking a little rest from all his hard work...He's a
very sweet but exasperating man."  With a thoughtful chuckle, she
finishes removing Mulder's boots, rolls the blankets she had thrown
aside at the sound of the intruder back up the bed (covering him
and Will), and then carefully crawls in beside them.  "I've missed
you *so* much, sweetie," she whispers, hugging up to her two men.  
"Don't ever leave me again...*Please*..."

Mulder shifts to wrap his own arms around them, and quietly
mutters, "We...won't."

No coaxing needed, Will immediately closes his eyes after the
bedside lamp has been switched off, and it's not long until all
three are asleep.

Later, they'll eat turkey sandwiches; the former-FBI agents will
take their first steps in being parents together; William will
scream with delight at the toys Mulder got on the way home, and
maybe there'll be a little time to watch an old B-movie....

They're different people celebrating a different kind of Christmas
that nobody else would give a glance to, but they've got Hope,
Faith, their lives, and each other.  That's all they need to
survive, and that was all that mattered


xxxxxxxxxx
THE END


I don't want a lot for Christmas
There's just one thing I need
I don't care about presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true...
All I want for Christmas
Is you
                        ~'All I Want For Christmas' by Mariah Carey