"Christmas & Mrs. Scully’s House"
(Begun: December 1998. Finished: January 1999.)
by Jen

"Scully, are we there yet?"

Dana Scully turned her eyes off the road for a second to glance at her groggy partner, Fox Mulder. She had to feel bad just by looking at him. He had fallen asleep in the car as soon as he got into it at the airport, but it didn’t look like it did him any good. He had circles under his eyes and his hair was now sticking up in a million directions. He coughed again, large hacking coughs that sounded worse then just a few hours ago. Of course when you’re sick, spending the night in a crowded airport doesn’t exactly help.

"Almost, Mulder," she promised, and made a mental check of the baggage she had in her trunk. She had stopped off at her apartment and picked up her gifts for her family (and managed to sneak Mulder’s gift past him) and threw them in the trunk while Mulder slept on in the passenger’s seat.

Now she continued to drum her hands on the steering wheel as she waited for the stop light to turn green. The temperature was a "lovely" 34 degrees out and the roads were a bit icy. Finally however, Scully managed to reach her mother’s house, and its Christmas decorations stared back at her.

She smiled as soon as she saw the wreaths and Christmas lights. Maggie Scully may not have any more kids at home, but that didn’t stop her from decorating. She would pay a local teenager every year to hang her lights. Scully recalled Maggie saying how the teen’s rates had gone up but she didn’t mind. As Scully looked at the house, she had to agree that the teen did a good job.

She parked the car on the street; she was lucky to find a parking space not to far from the house. She took the key out of the ignition and nudged Mulder, who had drifted off again.

"Mulder," she said softly, "wake up, we’re here."

Mulder stirred and coughed, lifting his eyelids to look at her. "We’re here?" he echoed, straightening himself up.

"Yep. Come on Mulder, my mom’s waiting to see you. And then I got to get you to bed." She opened the door, but not before she heard Mulder answer, "Oh, Scully, is that a promise?" She smiled as she opened the trunk. Typical Mulder remark.

She looked at the three bags of gifts in her trunk, along with the suitcases, hers and Mulder’s, along with her medical bag (with a sick Mulder, she never forgot that), and realized she would have to enlist one of her brothers’ help to carry stuff in. She didn’t want to bother Mulder, with him feeling so bad already. She grabbed a bag of gifts, closed the trunk and turned to find Mulder at her side.

He looked at her through fever-glazed hazel eyes. "One bag, Scully? Do you need help?"

Scully shook her head. "Don’t worry about it. I’ll get Bill or Charlie to get them later." Mulder grumbled at the mention of Bill, and Scully knew this day would be interesting. And it was hardly 10:30 a.m. They had the whole day ahead of them.

Mulder nodded and stood there. Scully nudged him again. "Don’t just look at it, G-Men, let’s go in." She began the walk toward the house, Mulder trailing behind. She rang the doorbell when she reached the door, though she could have just walked in. She heard several sets of feet, the door opened, and she was greeted by Maggie Scully, and a smiling Matthew Scully not far behind her.

"Aundie Dane?" Scully looked down to find Matty at her feet, squealing in his little one-year-old voice. She put her bags down, to pick him up.

"Merry Christmas, Dana," Maggie said as soon as Scully had Matty in her arms. "Where’s Fox?"

"He’s," Scully turned to find Mulder still standing(leaning) awkwardly at the door. "right there. Mulder, come in."

Mulder walked cautiously from the door, looking as if he expected something to come out and hurt him. Scully smiled and grabbed his hand. "Come on, Mulder, no one gonna hurt you. Yet," she teased, but frowned when she felt how warm his hands were. She picked up her hand to feel his forehead, but he brushed it away. Maggie saw the action and took Matty out of Scully’s hands.

"Dana says you’re feeling a bit under the weather, Fox. I’m sorry to hear that. Dana why don’t you take him upstairs?"

Scully nodded. "I think I’ll do that, Mom. Where are Bill, Charlie and company? I need some help getting some items out of my car."

"Everyone’s in the family room. Charlie brought up a cassette of Patrick’s Christmas play last week. It’s the cutest thing, too. Why don’t you get Fox settled and I’ll tell them you’re here. The kids will be happy you have lots of ‘items’ to carry in." Maggie headed toward the family room, Matty saying, "Aundie Dane’s her’!" Scully smiled and turned her attention back to Mulder who was smiling faintly at her.

"Scully," he started, "This is your family day and I don’t--" He was interrupted by a fit of coughs.

Scully raised her eyebrow and waiting patiently for his coughing fit to subside. "Mulder, stop it. Now let’s get you into bed." She turned Mulder toward the stairs and he let her led him, like a child up them. Right now he felt too sick to argue. A nice warm bed was sounding pretty nice to his ears.

He even let Scully tuck him into a bed, and she frowned, concerned with his suddenly high cooperation level. He closed his eyes as soon as he was in bed. Scully wasn’t sure if it was because he was feeling really bad or the fact that he didn’t want to face her brothers. Perhaps it was a little of both. She laid her hand on his forehead, and satisfied that he would be okay for a little while, she left him be.

She found her family in the family room, as Maggie had said, gathered around the TV. It was quiet as they stared at the screen and watched a smiling 6 year-old sing ‘Jingle Bells.’ It was so unlike the noise that Scully was used to hearing on Christmas day, but she did see wads of wrapping paper everywhere and she did see Charlie’s wife, Mary, picking up as she could. Scully didn’t see her mother or Tara anywhere, and figured they were in the kitchen, cooking. Scully smiled at the fact her mother had Tara to help her. But it also made Scully miss this family "togetherness" a little more than she was used to. Matty was back on the couch sitting next to her older brother, Bill. As she walked in, Matty acknowledged her by fidgeting and Bill looked up.

"Well, look who’s here. Dana! Merry Christmas!" He said the words warmly, smiled, but she noticed he was looking around her for someone else. Mulder. Her mom must have told him he was coming.

"Merry Christmas," she said and the rest of the room turned to look at her. Charlie got up.

"Wow, Dana, I haven’t seen you in, awhile it seems. Mom’s been talking about you all the time though, in letters and the phone. About Dana’s new case and that she’s--"

Scully heard him, but only knew he was babbling, because she knew some of the things her mother talked about were not always good, hell her cases were one of them. One thing she thought Maggie disagreed with was her cases, but kept her mouth shut.

"—and the that partner of yours." Scully’s ears picked up at that word, along with Bill’s. "In fact Mom said he as coming by today. Where is he? I heard a lot about ‘Fox’ Dana’s partner," he said with a smile.

"He’s upstairs," Dana said and could swear she heard Bill mutter something under his breath. "He’s not feeling that well. Cold he caught on our case in New Jersey. And you better stick to ‘Mulder’ around him, Charlie. Mom’s the only one who can get away with calling him ‘Fox’."

"I heard that, too."

Scully seemed thoughtful for a second. "Just how much about my life does Mom tell you?"

Charlie smiled slyly. "You better pay me to shut up now, Dana."

Scully laughed. "Charlie Scully, shut up? Now that’s something I’d have to see to believe!"

Charlie laughed himself. "Bill told me that about a half hour ago, too. Want to see the tape of Patrick’s Christmas play? We’ve been carrying it around in Mary’s purse showing it to everyone we see."

"By the time we leave, your mom’s whole neighborhood will have seen it," Mary added.

"I’m just proud," Charlie admitted.

"Yep, proud of me!" a little voice piped up. "I’m a star."

Charlie tousled his son’s hair. "Enough, Patrick. Don’t want that head to get any bigger. Why don’t you say hi to your Aunt Dana?"

"Hi, Aunt Dana," the boy replied before running back off toward the TV. He joined his sister, who was busy coloring on the floor. Scully turned toward the girl.

"Hi, Lauren." The girl made no attempt to look up.

"Never mind her. She’s been involved in that drawing since she opened her new art kit from ‘Santa’ this morning. Not bad for a five-year-old, I have to say." Charlie turned. "Mom’s in the kitchen with Tara. She said she wanted to talk to you after you were done ‘visiting’. Dana’s in trouble," he teased in a voice that reminded her of many childhood memories.

"Am not," she said back. "How’s the accounting business going, Mary?" she asked Charlie’s wife.

"It’s okay. Slow. But of course everything picks up soon and I will have _no_ time on my hands."

"Since when do you have any now?" Charlie piped up and she nudged him in the shoulder.

Scully turned to Bill, who was still sitting quietly on the couch, Matty squirming in his arms. "How’s things, Bill?" She sat down next to him, and pushed a piece of fly-away hair on Matty’s head.

"Fine," he answered.

"Matty’s getting big. I was so glad to hear he was talking. Tara called Mom. She said as soon as he opened his mouth he never shut up. And Mom told her she better pray we don’t get another one like Charlie in this family." Dana smiled and was glad to see her brother crack a smile too.

"Yeah, just what we need. Not my son." He turned to face Dana better. "Mulder’s by, huh?" he asked casually, though Scully could tell it was anything but casual.

"Yeah, he wasn’t feeling well, and Mom invited him here." She didn’t say anything else on the matter. Neither did Bill. After all it was Christmas.

"Anyway," Scully continued. "I could use some help getting some things out of my trunk, and as much as I love Charlie, I’d like to do without having my ear talked off, so want to volunteer, Bill?"

She stood up and he nodded. "Charlie, can you watch Matty, I’m going to help Dana get some things from her trunk."

Scully and Bill headed out toward the car, the sound of Scully’s car keys echoing through the cold late morning. They trudged silently, and Scully didn’t want to bring up the topic of Mulder in a conversation, at least not with this brother. She opened her trunk and handed a couple of bags to her brother. Unfortunately, he got the bag that had Mulder’s gift sticking out of the top.

Bill sighed as he saw the gift. "How long is he here for, Dana?"

Scully grabbed the remaining bags and closed her trunk. "Well, Bill, _both_ of us may be leaving tonight."

"Dana, I didn’t mean--"

"Bill, I know what you meant. It’s Christmas, for God’s sake. Can we resume this conversation at some other time? I’d like to get inside and give out some gifts to my niece and nephews."

And with that Scully headed toward the door, Bill sighing and following her.

"Presents," Scully said as she gave the presents out to smiling kids. She had been surprised when she realized that with the exception of Mulder’s and her mother’s gifts, she really had wrapped everything after all. The kids tore through the wrapping paper like it was tissue and soon were opening more new toys and making more of a mess. Scully herself scattered about picking up paper when she remembered her mother had wanted to talk with her.

Scully entered the kitchen, the smell of her mother’s cooking hitting her before she even reached the door. "Something smells good in here," she commented as she walked in the door.

"Merry Christmas Dana," Tara said as she looked up from peeling potatoes.

"Merry Christmas, Tara." Dana turned to her Mom who was at the stove. She turned and greeted her daughter, wiping her hands off on a towel on the counter.

"I made some soup for Fox, honey. It’s on the counter, if he’s up for it."

"Thanks, Mom. I’m sure when he wakes up he will be." She peered into the pot, and got a stern look from her mother.

"Dana Katherine don’t you go poking around on that stove. I already yelled at your brothers for that. That’s why they’re in the family room. How was your trip?"

"Busy. The airport was a madhouse this morning. Not to mention the minor delays we ran into on the runway. But we were lucky we got on an early flight."

Maggie nodded. "Terrible to be spending Christmas Eve in an airport."

"Yeah, well it happens I guess." Scully opened her mouth to continue her conversation when she heard footsteps upstairs.

"Guess someone’s up." Maggie handed Scully a tray with the soup on it. "Just how is Fox, honey?"

"He’s got a fever, and a little cough. I think it’s just a bad cold. I’ll go bring this to him."

Scully took the tray, grabbed her bag, and made her way up the stairs to find Mulder sitting up in the rumpled sheets, his new short hair sticking up as much as it could.

"How are you feeling?" Scully asked as she placed the soup on the bureau in the room. Mulder looked at her for a second, as if regaining his bearing.

"I’m okay," he said, his voice raspy and tired sounding.

"Sure you are," Scully said as she said on the edge of the bed. "My mom made you some soup if you want it Mulder." She gestured toward the soup on the bureau.

Mulder swallowed and made a face.

"Nauseous?" Scully asked, concerned. She was hoping he would be able to hold something down.

Mulder shook his head. "Throat," he said, then looked as if he regretted saying it. "I’m fine, Scully. Really. Just not hungry."

Scully was already searching through her bag for a thermometer. When she found it, she turned back to him.

"Okay, you don’t have to eat now. But I want you to try later, ok? Now open up, I need to get a temp."

"Scully, I’m fi--," Mulder started to say but as soon as he opened his mouth Scully shoved the thermometer in.

"Mulder, you are not fine. Let’s not start this game again, it’s Christmas." The thermometer beeped and she removed it and frowned.

"What is it?" he asked.

"102," she answered thoughtfully as she placed the thermometer down on the table next to the bed. She went rummaging through her bag again and came up with some Tylenol. She shook two pills out and grabbed the water her mom had placed along with the soup on the tray.

"Here take these. They’ll bring the fever down," she said as she dumped the pills into his hands.

Mulder sighed, but took them willingly, grimacing when he had to swallow them. Thankfully for him the gesture went unnoticed because Scully had her back turned.

"Mulder, get some more sleep. It’s the best thing you can do. I’ll be back in a while to check on you."

"Sleeping through the day was not what I had in mind when I thought about how I would be spending Christmas," Mulder mumbled as he fought off a yawn and ended up as coughs instead.

"Wait a second, I want you to take something for that cough, too." She went back to searching through her bag, and produced a bottle of cough syrup. She grabbed the spoon off the tray on the bureau and headed back over toward Mulder.

"Jeez, Scully, what do you carry around? A drug store?"

"With you, Mulder, it never hurts to be prepared," she teased as she spoon fed him cough syrup.

"Now go to sleep, Mulder. I’ll be back later." Mulder watched Scully walk out the door and yawned. Some Christmas this was turning out to be. He was stuck in bed by the order of one very convincing redhead. One very beautiful convincing redhead. He was also putting out Scully’s family. He felt horrible about that. He’d have to find a way to pay Mrs. Scully back for this. He yawned again, unable to keep his eyes open. He’d find a way.

Scully tiptoed down the stairs, making sure she didn’t make a lot of noise to disturb Mulder. She walked back into the kitchen, still reveling in the smell of the food cooking inside of it. She opened the door to find Tara still peeling at the kitchen table and her mother still stirring at the stove.

"How’s Fox?" Maggie asked as she began to get plates from the cabinet.

"He’s ok, considering. He’s still running a fever, 102, and coughing, but I think he’ll be okay."

"Good. Now would you count the plates and see if we have enough. Then put yourself to good use by setting the dining room table." Maggie placed a bunch of silverware next to the plates. "And get Bill to get the highchair out. Oh, and ask Charlie if Lauren needs a book to sit on. I don’t now if she’s tall enough to reach the table, yet."

"Mom, I’m sure she’s fine. But I’ll ask." Scully scurried out of the kitchen quickly before her Mom began assigning her too many things. She dumped the plates and "accessories" down on the white linen that was draped over the dining room table. She ducked into the living room, and found the video of Patrick’s Christmas play long over, a football game was on in its place. Even Mary was engrossed. One thing Charlie had told his family about Mary when he started dating her was that she was one the biggest football fans he had ever meet. Interrupt her during a game and you deal with the consequences.

"Bill, Mom says get out the highchair, and Charlie, Mom wants to now if Lauren needs a book to sit on."

Neither person looked up.

"Sure, Dana, I’ll get it."

"No, she doesn’t need one."

Then they were back to their game. Scully thought, remembering once how engrossed Mulder had been in a Knicks game. She could have stripped and walked around naked and he still wouldn’t have noticed her. She smiled sinfully at the thought.

The thought still floated through her mind as she set the table, silverware and all. Folding the napkins, and setting the glasses. When she was done, she stood back and admired her work with satisfaction. When she reentered the kitchen she found Tara no longer at the table with the potatoes but tossing a salad.

"Tell the boys and company dinner’s going to be on in five minutes. And if they’re late, well they know the rules," Maggie sat as she bent to check things in the oven.

The rules. Scully smiled at the remembrance of the rules set during her childhood and when she returned to her mother’s house to this day. And one of them was be on time for dinner or expect to go out to eat.

She gave the message to her brothers and within the next twenty minutes she was sitting down and highly engrossed in another one of her mother’s holiday meals. Scully’s mind however kept wondering toward Mulder upstairs, though she heard no movement and assumed he was still sleeping. She set aside a plate for him and hoped he was feeling up to eating something or she was going to get seriously worried.

Dinner ended a bit early when Patrick accidentally knocked over the gravy and it stained the white linen tablecloth. Maggie shrugged it off, saying "it can be washed" and "he’s only a child." Dana helped her mother clean up.

"Dana, the kids and I are going down to park to see if the pond’s frozen over. If is it, we’re skating, if not well, we’re throwing stuff into it," Charlie said with a grin that reminded Scully of the days when Charlie used to drag her down to the park with its pond and how he would throw rocks at the birds on the pond, and how she hated when he did it. He would tease her for it and they would usually get into a fight and come home either cold, wet, muddy, or sometimes all three.

"Anyway, want to come? Show the kids how far their Aunt Dana can throw a rock," he teased.

"I can’t Charlie. Mulder’s upstairs sick and I have to check on him and bring him this-"

"Dana, go with your brother. You’ll have fun with the kids. I can take that up to Fox and watch him for you. You yourself said he’ll be fine." Maggie had taken the plate out of Dana’s hands and had grabbed her coat.

"Go on," she urged. Scully reluctantly took her coat and followed Charlie outside, Patrick and Lauren running ahead of them. Charlie had even bundled little Matty up and he ran as fast as his chubby little legs could carry him.

"Make sure he’s zippered," Scully heard Tara call to Charlie as they walked out the door. Maybe her mom was right, she did need a little "family" time out. Hopefully Mulder would be ok until she got back. She followed her brother and tried to push the little nagging bad thoughts out of her head.

"Fox?"

Mulder heard the voice but tried to ignore it. The last thing he wanted to do was open his eyes and have Scully shove some more medicine down him.

"Fox?"

That wasn’t Scully’s voice, he realized. He slowly dragged his tired eyes open and found a concerned Maggie Scully looking down at him. He struggled to get up, but Maggie laid a hand down on him firmly, pushing him back down.

"Fox, stay put. Dana went out for awhile and I just wanted to check to see how you were feeling." She sat on the edge of the bed in a motherly fashion, it reminded him of one of the rare moments his mother had taken care of him when he was sick, before Sam was gone.

"I’m fine, Mrs. Scully," he replied, but his voice sounded raspy and he found it hurt his throat to talk. *Damn cold* he thought as he tried to look more healthy and less sick in front of Scully’s mom.

"I’ll don’t appreciate lying, Fox, even when it is with good intention." *Damn, this woman is good* Mulder thought as she turned toward the bureau.

"Dana made you a plate. I brought it up, hoping you would be up to eating, but it doesn’t look as if you are," Maggie continued with a touch of a frown. Now Mulder knew were Scully got that frown of hers.

"No, I’m really fine," Mulder started again as he began to sit up, but found himself fitting a bought of dizziness. He let himself fall back down to the pillow under Mrs. Scully’s careful gaze.

"Well, you certainly don’t look fine to me," Maggie said as she reached for his forehead. She gave a frown not unlike Scully’s best ones. "Does Dana have a thermometer around here somewhere or do I have to go downstairs," she muttered, half to herself. She finally spied what she was looking for and Mulder grimaced. He could hardy stand _one_ Scully woman taking care of him, let alone _two_. This was some Christmas.

"Really, Mrs. Scully--" Mulder began to defend his case again, but lost as Maggie Scully shoved the thermometer once again under his tongue and Mulder was forced to do nothing but sit and wait under Maggie’s ever so cautious gaze. He sighed, and he didn’t want to admit it he was grateful for the care he was receiving. Though he would never admit it, he was feeling pretty bad. Headache, dizziness, and a sore throat that wasn’t seeming to get any better. Throw on a hacking cough and he wasn’t really a very happy camper. But he never let on. That would ruin his "game" with Scully. The game they played a lot more often than he wished they did.

The thermometer beeped and he waited patiently as Maggie looked at it. She didn’t seem happy with its results. "When’s the last time Dana gave you Tylenol?" she asked, fingering the bottle Scully had left out on the nightstand.

"I don’t know," Mulder admitted, guessing his fever must have gone up if Mrs. Scully wanted to shove more Tylenol down his throat. "When she last came up, I think."

Maggie looked at her watch. "That was about 3 and a half hours ago. Better wait a little while longer." She looked at him, pure concern in her eyes and Mulder once again felt so guilty for putting her out. She didn’t need to be worrying about him.

"Do you want anything?" she asked him and Mulder felt another pang of guilt hit him.

"No, I’m okay, Mrs. Scully." He watched as Mrs. Scully looked at him again then left him alone in room. Maybe he could repay Scully’s mom by taking her out to dinner with Scully one night or something.

End Part 1/3