All disclaimers still apply.  Written 11/11/95 by Macspooky

STRANDED FOR CHRISTMAS Chapter 2

     Fox finished with the tree while Dana went to work on
dinner.  It was good that they were back on speaking terms
again.  It would have been dismal to have been stuck in this
cabin for heaven knew how many days with someone who
you were angry at.  Perhaps all their problems hadn't been
resolved, but they were friends again.  He knew he would
have to talk to her about their working relationship.  The old
spark had gone out of it.  It wasn't as much fun.  For himself,
he gave in too easily and let her muzzle his reports.  Perhaps
they were both just tired and burned out.  In anycase, that
didn't matter at this moment.  It could be discussed when they
got back to the office. 
     "Dinner's ready," she said finally.  "Gourmet Dinty
Moore beef stew."
     "At this point, I could eat a horse," he chuckled. 
Dinty Moore beef stew was no great sacrifice for him.  It was
a regular part of his bachelor's diet when he bothered to do
that much cooking at all.  They didn't say a lot while they
devoured the makeshift meal. They were really famished.
When they had finished, he watched her pump up water with
the old fashioned pump at the sink and wash the dishes
quickly.  The water must be ice cold, he realized.  He
snatched up the nearby rag and dried them for her, vowing
that next time he would put hands in the cold water. He felt a
little petty for having left her luggage in the car. Then, he
went and threw another log on the fire.
     A few minutes later she joined him on the love seat
handing him a mug of cocoa.
     "It's a pretty sorry looking tree isn't it?" he asked
accepting it with a thankful nod. He thought idly that it was
more tree than he usually had.  He never bothered.  He had
no one to bother for.  Dana was being sweet, trying
to make up for her carelessness, he realized.  He had,
he thought, been a real bastard running off and leaving her
without a word like that.  He had broken his promise.  He had
once again considered his needs and wants over anyone else's.
     "Oh, I don't know.  I think it's rather lovely," she
replied softly.  
     "Right...just because the back has no needles and the
ornaments are falling apart and....."
     "Well, we are warm and safe, which is more than we
thought we would be this morning.  It's beautiful, Mulder.
Thank you for thinking of it."  Briefly she touched his cheek
now in need of a shave.  
     They lapsed into silence.
     "Dana, I'm sorry.....I mean.....it's okay that I'm stuck
here on Christmas Eve.  I don't have anyone....but you....you
are missing Christmas with your family......and it's my fault."
     "No....no Mulder...I'm not.  I mean, I might have gone
to see my mom the day after but.....well, my brothers....since
Melissa.....they have wives and children, and they don't want
me near their families.  I couldn't deprive mom of seeing her
grandkids....I was just gonna stay home anyway."  It was
difficult for her to admit the rift in her family.  It hurt her.  It
hurt so very much.  Even her mom blamed her for Melissa's
death.  Although she never came out and said it, Dana sensed
it.  She knew.
     "That's awful!" he exclaimed. He was, perhaps, beginning
to understand her conduct of late.  The rejection by her family
made him angry.  Dana was such a private person and didn't
invite questions in her personal domain.
     "No...it's understandable.  They're scared...and Missy,
well, she was always kind of the favorite sister....know what I
mean....just like,well, I was kind of daddy's favorite."
     "I still think it's terrible.  I'm sorry, Scully."
     She nodded and bit back tears.  She wanted to ask
him if you ever got used to it, but didn't.  She supposed you
got numb to the pain after awhile, but never used to it.  It
probably never completely stopped hurting, this rejection by
those you loved.
     After a long period of silence, Dana decided one of
them had to say something.  Forcing herself to smile, she
took his hands in hers.
     "Do you have a Christmas wish, Fox Mulder?" she
asked him.
     "My sister....."
     "No, besides that one.  That's my wish too, that you
should find your sister. I want that more than anything too.  I
mean something just for you, something selfish, something
for right now......."
     He gazed into her blue eyes that met his so sincerely. 
She looked so lovely in the firelight, the flames dancing off
her red hair, bringing a lovely glow to her skin.
     "It's silly, silly and impossible," he said.
     "What?"
     "I can't tell you."  He had a feeling if he said more that it
might end in disaster.
     "Yes you can.  What is your Christmas wish?  I mean
if you could have anything at this moment.....just at this
moment on Christmas...."
     "I don't know.....I guess....."  He reached out with one
hand and touched her cheek, "I guess at this moment I wish
that you were.....Mrs. Fox Mulder....and that, well, I could
take you over to that bed....and....well, put my baby inside
you, and we could be a family, a real family that never rejects
each other or blames each other, that loves each other.  Nice
fantasy to have about my partner huh?"
     "Unexpected," she smiled. She was deeply moved and
genuinely touched.  She had known he cared about her, but
didn't think he really  had those kinds of thoughts, at least not
recently.  It felt good to know that he loved her too.  She had
thought that was her domain, wanting something more with
him than just a partnership.
     "What about you?  What would you have this very
moment if you could?"  He felt really silly having exposed
himself to her, especially in light of their recent difficulties.  It
had to be the atmosphere or something. 
He hated this time of year, what it did to him, how vulnerable
it left him.  Well, at least she hadn't laughed out loud.
     "A Justice of the Peace," she replied.
     He looked at her and blinked.  "What did you say?"
     "A Justice of the Peace," she smiled.  "But, I guess
that isn't about to happen is it?"
     That was the last thing he had expected her to say. 
Laughing, he got up and went and got some string he had
seen in a draw.  He broke off two small pieces and started
playing with them.  She watched him thinking he had gone
quite mad this evening and wishing that wishes did come true. 
When he was satisfied with what he had done he returned to
the loveseat.  Hazel eyes looked at her face.  He thought to
himself that he must have gone quite insane.  He took her left
hand in hers.
     "I, Fox William Mulder, promise to love, honor and
cherish you for richer for poorer, for better or for worse, in
sickness and in health until death do us part," he smiled
gently.  He slipped the piece of string on her finger. "With
this string, I thee wed."
     Deeply touched, filled with love, she smiled at him and
took the other piece of string from him.
     "I, Dana Katherine Scully, promise to love, honor,
cherish and sometimes even obey you, for richer for poorer,
for better or for worse, in sickness and in health until death or
aliens from outer space do us part," she returned with a sweet
smile.  She slipped the string on his finger, "With this string, I
thee wed."
     "I now pronounce us man and wife," he stated.
     They both laughed.  It felt good.
     "You may now kiss the bride," she added.
     "I may?  I mean....."
     "You damn well better."
     "Giving orders again, Dr. Scully?"
     "Nope, giving orders again, Mrs. Mulder."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Fox came to wakefulness slowly.  What a night it had
been!  They had sat on the loveseat necking like a pair of
teenagers. Neither had really intended the fantasy to go any
further than those long slow kisses that had felt so wonderful.
When bedtime had come, he had planned to
sleep on the floor, but she had pointed out that the
temperature was going to drop in the cabin during the night,
and lacking any extra blankets,  they had climbed into the
double bed together.  The problem was, the mattress had
sagged in the middle and they had rolled together and had
been unable to break apart.
     Suddenly he had begun showering her with kisses once
again, unable to hide his love for her.
     "I want more, Dana, so much more," he had
whispered in her ear, "but I can't protect you.  I have nothing
to protect you with."
     "You don't have to protect me all the time, Fox," had
been her soft reply.  "Sometimes, you have to forget about
protecting me.  I love you.  I love you so much. This should
be a safe time for me."          
     Oh yes, what a night it had been, a time of wonder, of
magic, a night of careless abandon, of love, of giving vent to
all the feelings they had kept so carefully bottled up for so
long, a night of fantasy in which he pretended she really was
his wife, and she pretended he was her beloved husband.
     It had been a night of placing kisses gently all over her
body, of her placing kisses all over his, a night of joining, of
oneness, a night of ecstasy, of dreams come true. 
     He reached for her, but she wasn't there. Disappointed
he turned over and half sat up. She was standing by the stove
dressed in jeans and a shirt, a mixing bowl on one hip stirring
something, her red hair hanging loose.
     "Dana," he said tentatively.
     "Good morning, Fox," she smiled.  "I'm making you a
special breakfast."
     He smiled.
     She set the bowl down and ran to him.
     "Merry Christmas, Fox...." 
     "Merry Christmas, Little Bit...."
     And it was......the most wonderful Christmas either of
them had ever known.

The End of Chapter 2