Working on a Miracle

Sara B. 3/2005

Mulder stopped by Scully’s for no other reason than he had nothing to do and there was no one he’d rather do nothing with than Scully.  When he and Scully had nothing to do they always found something interesting to fill the time.  It usually involved bubble baths or showers and somehow they always ended up in her bedroom.  If he was lucky they used a few other rooms too.

He approached her door and was about to knock when he heard, “It wasn’t my fault Tim made me.”  The voice was that of a young boy.

“I did not Aunt Dana, Mike picked his nose and it bleeded,” came a response from the one he supposed was Tim.

He heard another voice that, unlike the others, was low and modulated, Scully no doubt.  He couldn’t make out what she said but it seemed to have worked.

Mulder knocked and the door opened and standing there was a miniature version of Scully.  The little girl looked up at him and gave him a gap toothed smile.  Fox William Mulder was in love.  Okay he was already in love with the adult version but this little girl melted his heart.

“You Muller?”

Before he could answer he heard an exasperated Scully yell, “Meggie!”  She came into view, saw it was Mulder and she waved him in.  She knelt down to look the little girl in the face.  “Megs, what have you been told about opening the door?”

“But it was Muller,” the girl answered straightforwardly.

“But you didn’t know it was Mulder until you opened the door, did you?”

The girl placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the left, and damned if she didn’t raise her eyebrow.  “It was Muller, Aunt Dana,” she said as if it answered everything.  Her posture was so like Scully’s Mulder had to bite his cheek not to laugh. 

There was a stare down between the two Scully ‘women’ and it was obvious neither was prepared to back down.  The standoff ended when a voice yelled from the kitchen, “Tim, stop eating the eggs!”

“Oh, geez,” Scully exclaimed as she trotted toward the kitchen.  The girl looked up at him with a decidedly smug look and reached for his hand.  They both knew who won that round.  Heck Scully wasn’t even a contender for a little girl who habitually took on her parents.

Moments later, two dark haired boys that looked to be about eight or nine came out of the kitchen with Scully behind them, none of their faces looked happy.  Each boy stopped when they saw Mulder and their faces lifted.  One of the boys turned toward Scully and asked, “is that . . .?”  His voice filled with awe, the boy obviously knew him.

Scully nodded.  “That is Fox Mulder.”  Mulder didn’t quite know what to make of the introduction.  “Mulder that,” she said indicating the girl, “is Megan and these two are Mike and Tim.” 

The boys just stared at him but Megan looked at him and said “Uncle Fux, Aunt Dana.”

Pointing to each of them.  Neither Scully nor Mulder could contain their laughter.

“Why don’t you call me Mulder like Aunt Dana does?”

“Okay Uncle Muller.”  He could see that Scully was going to correct the girl but he waved her off.

Twenty minutes later found the group at the dining room table with bowls filled with colored liquids, a collection of stickers, wax crayons, pin stripe tape and six dozen hard boiled eggs.  Sorry, make that five dozen and eleven hard boiled eggs.

The rest of the afternoon was spent coloring eggs for the annual Easter Egg hunt at Scully’s church.  Scully gave Mulder a look that clearly told him how sorry she was and he just shook his head to tell her not to worry.  In truth he was having a great time.  Meggie followed his every move and the boys were pure entertainment. 

But the best part was Scully.  Seeing her interact with kids was always a wonder to see.  She loved dealing with children, even after everything she’d been through: Emily, barrenness and their recent and failed IVF attempts.  There were times it all got to her but she never let the kids know, she was never maudlin.

When they were done they’d only suffered three casualties, the egg Tim ate and the two the Mike and Meggie decided they were owed.  They had barely avoided an all out ‘dye offensive’ when Scully was able to grab a bowl of purple dye from Mike as he was aiming at Tim.  Meggie’s shirt was a Technicolor testament to the day’s accomplishment.    

Eight-thirty found Mulder and Scully snuggled on the couch with some old black and white movie playing.  They had just gotten all three down for the night.  Scully pulled Mulder’s head to hers and gave him a deep, soul searching kiss.  “God, I’ve been dying to do that all afternoon.  You taste so good.  Sorry about all this.  I guess coloring Easter eggs with my niece and nephews wasn’t exactly what you had in mind when you stopped by.”

Mulder just smiled.  “Well I wouldn’t say it was on my list of ‘things to do with my Scully’ but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it.  So what happened, you never mentioned you were babysitting Charles’ kids?”

“I didn’t know.  Charles got leave and decided to surprise Renee’.  Mom was out of town and  . . .” Scully shrugged her shoulders. 

“So Aunt Dana to the rescue.”  Mulder finished for her.  “What’s with all the eggs?”

“Renee’ promised the Ladies Auxiliary so I took on the task for her.  She and Charles are coming back tomorrow; they just wanted a little time for themselves.  With their luck we’ll be seeing a new Scully in about nine months.”  Mulder looked for any sign of regret in her face” he found none.

Mulder gave her a tender look that quickly turned serious.  “Um, Scully, just how soundly do those three sleep?”  He asked her with a rakish grin.

“Mulder, the boys are in the guest room and Meggie is in our bed.”  Mulder just patted the couch they were on. 

“I don’t think so Mulder.  I’m sorry, but what if one of them woke up and found us out here.”  Her voice was tinged with regret that showed he was not the only one disappointed.

“Don’t be sorry Scully, I was really just kidding but how would you feel about some industrial strength necking?”  His hand caressed her hair.

“Oh I think that could be arranged.”  She responded as she traced his lips with her right index finger.

“Scully, what time are Charles and Renee’ picking up the kids?”  Mulder was kissing her palm and looking at her with devotion.

“I’m taking them to church then they’ll take them from there, why?”

“I’ll wait for you here and when you come back I want to start working on a miracle.”

End Story

Sara B.