TITLE: Christmas Day 2001, 4:20 p.m. AUTHOR: Forte E-MAIL: Bjm1352@aol.com or Forte1354@aol.com URL: http://www.thebasementoffice.com/ RATING: G CATEGORY: VA SPOILERS: Through "Nothing Important Happened Today." SUMMARY: She really should go finish making Christmas dinner... ARCHIVE: Gossamer/Ephemeral/M&S/Spooky awards site OK; anywhere else please ask first. DISCLAIMER: They belong to CC, 1013, and FOX; *definitely* not me. FEEDBACK: Yes, please. :) THANKS: To Mish and mountainphile, for the encouragement and quick beta. **** Christmas Day 2001, 4:20 p.m. **** "Dana?" Scully left the knife on the cutting board, wiped her hands on a towel, and stepped into the living room. The corners of her mouth curled up at the scene before her: her Mom was on the couch, gently bouncing William on her knee. Her son gave his rapt attention to his grandmother's keys, jingling in her loose fist. Why had she bothered buying toys for him? There were at least a dozen unwrapped on the floor, and all he wanted was the shiny, clinking metal. "Don't let him put those in his mouth, Mom." Mrs. Scully gave her that funny little smirk, the one she had been using so frequently that meant, "I'm going to ignore your new-mother comment because we both know I know that." William slapped at her key-hand and laughed; she gave him an indulgent smile, kissed his flushed cheek and bounced him a little harder. Still grinning at her grandson, she commented, "I just realized there's no star on the tree." Scully looked past them and drew her eyes up the tree, from the undecorated bottom (in deference to the inquisitive William), to the middle and upper portion of the tree, crammed with lights and ornaments, to the bare top. She'd hoped her mother wouldn't notice. The tree had been up over a week, yet that unadorned spot still looked... strange to her. Wrong. But right. No, not right. Never right. She felt her mother's eyes on her. How did she still do that after all these years? Would she have that power over William someday? Answer her, Dana. "No, Mom, there's no star." She could hear William giggle and the keys jingle, but knew her mother was still watching her, waiting for a better answer. "I can't put it on." She really should go finish making dinner if they wanted to eat on time. She lowered her eyes to meet her mother's gaze as William gave another happy shriek. "Does he need to be changed?" "I just changed him half an hour ago, honey," Mrs. Scully answered, stilling the boy and patting his diaper. "No, he's dry as a bone." She resumed bouncing him and jiggling the keys, to his obvious and enthusiastic delight. "You should have said something before I came over, Dana; I could have brought that tall stepladder with me." Scully shook her head. It wasn't right. It wouldn't be right until... "No, Mom. I don't mean 'can't' like *can't*." She stole a glance at the bottom of the tree and sucked in a slow breath. There, see? That bareness was fine. The tree was fine. No, it wasn't. "I mean 'can't', *won't*." She looked over at her mother again, and tried not to flinch at her widened eyes. It hurt to look at her, more than it hurt to look at the tree, so she shifted her eyes again. She really should go finish making Christmas dinner. But her legs wouldn't move. "I don't understand, honey." Mrs. Scully's voice floated to her, low and soothing, with just a bit of a quaver from bouncing William. "Putting the star on top of the tree was always one of your favorite things to do at Christmas." Scully pressed her lips together for a moment, staring at the bare treetop and trying to imagine what it would look like when it *was* right. "I decided... that that's Mulder's job from now on." Looking at neither her mother nor her son, Scully turned and walked back toward the kitchen. After all, she had onions to chop. Funny that they were already making her eyes sting from half a room away. END **** Feedback makes my day: Bjm1352@aol.com or Forte1354@aol.com Author's Notes: Just for the record, I *hate* the reason that we got in "Nothing Important Happened Today" for why Mulder took off. To me, the only plausible explanation is that Mulder is off looking for a new chip for Scully because she's no longer in remission (which she learned while in the hospital after having William). She's continuing to work so she can do research at Quantico to try to help cure herself (and anyone else out there with one of those blasted chips) while Mulder is doing the only thing he can for her. He'll find a new chip by the end of S9 and Scully and William will disappear to join him so they can continue to... say it with me... Fight the Future. Until the next movie, anyway.Thanks for reading. I wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a peaceful and joyous 2002. *~*~* My fanfiction: http://www.thebasementoffice.com/ The Map Room: http://www.thebasementoffice.com/Musea/maproom.html "Off the Top of My Head" (ep commentary): http://www.thebasementoffice.com/OTT.html Musea: http://www.geocities.com/museans/ *~*~*