text version
Title: A Surprise Party
Author: Devin
Email: franny122004@gmail.com
Website: http://dancing-through-life.com/
Rating: G
Category: SR
Keywords: MSR (implied)
Spoilers: Tempus Fugit, brief mention of cancer
arc and Emily
Summary: It's Scully's birthday and Mulder's got a
plan.
Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine.
Author's Note: This was written for the MSRP's
Scully's birthday challenge.
February 2, 1998
Okay, so maybe he hadn't always done a lot for
Scully's birthday but was the look of total and
utter shock on her mom's face when he said he
wanted to plan something special this year really
necessary?
"You want to plan something for Dana's birthday?"
Maybe it wasn't the reaction he should have had
but he felt the great nee to defend himself. "It's
been a really tough year. Plus after the..." he
couldn't bring himself to say the word 'cancer' or
mention Emily's name, "incidents in the past year
I think she deserves to celebrate life a little."
"I completely agree," Mrs. Scully said, having
fully recovered. "What did you have in mind?"
"Uh, see I hadn't really gotten that far yet.
Convincing her in the first place is going to be a
lot of work, she's already said that she doesn't
want to make a big deal out of it."
"Well, than maybe you should do something with
just the two of you. I know she enjoyed herself
last year, before you got called out on a case
that is." It was Mulder's turn to look surprised.
"She didn't tell you?"
Mulder shook his head but decided not to go down
that path. "I really think she needs a party, Mrs.
Scully. She needs to be in the middle of a bunch
of friends, laughing, and having a good time."
"Then maybe it should be a surprise party. If you
tell her during the preparation stage then you'll
have to drag her through it kicking and
screaming."
Mulder nodded, realizing the truth behind these
words, but was thinking about what he'd just
gotten himself into. "I'm going to need your help.
I know a few people I could invite but I'm sure
you know more. And, I figured maybe you could
handle the inviting her brothers."
Mrs. Scully shook her head imperceptively; she was
getting tired of the animosity between Bill and
Fox.
"Well, I need to get back to the office. Can we
start planning this weekend?"
"Sure."
***
Friday
Scully groaned and stretched as they moved on to
yet another form that had to be filled out for
their latest case. "Mulder, I can't take much more
of this. What do you say we tackle these
tomorrow?"
Not looking up from the form he was filling out,
though it was more to avoid meeting her eyed than
any interest he could have in the form, he
answered, "As much as I admire your dedication and
willingness to give up a Saturday, I have plans
for tomorrow."
"What kind of plans?" she asked as playfully as
possible, but there was a hint of something else
in her voice. Mulder caught it and couldn't help
the little grin that crossed his face.
"Nothing special," he said casually, and before
she could enquire any further he began cleaning
up. "You know what? I'm starting to get hungry.
I'm going to take these home and order a pizza.
You want in?"
"No 'meat lover's'."
"Of course not." He held up her jacket so she
could slip her arms into it and let his hands rest
on her shoulders briefly. "I would never do that
to you-"
"Again," she added but smiled up at him all the
same.
***
February 14, 1998
'Mulder's been acting weird lately,' Scully
decided, as she sat at her computer reading the
annual sonnet from Frohike on Valentine's Day, she
almost wasn't sure she would get one this year
after the way he swooned of Ester. She was in the
middle of type a reply, thanking him and
considering Mulder's odd behavior when her instant
messenger started beeping at her.
/NYY96: hey fbi woman/
'Speak of the devil,' she thought ironically but
couldn't help smiling just a little.
/starbuck223: I dont want 2 go/
/NYY96: what?/
/starbuck223: wherever the ghost, monster, or
alien is/
/NYY96: u wound me, scully. i had no intention of
going monster hunting tonight. u can put away the
butterfly net./
/starbuck223: *looks suspicious* what then?/
/NYY96: i just wanted to know what you're doing
say... 9 days from now?/
/starbuck223: going to work/
/NYY96: haha ur such a comedian, i meant after/
/starbuck223: mulder... i already told u bout
this/
/NYY96: i kno, I kno. u hung the 'do not
celebrate' sign on the door at the beginning of
feb/
/starbuck223: so y r u bringing it up? im gonna
have a hard enough time convincing mom to ignore
the day/
/NYY96: aw c'mon scully. we'll do what we did
lasst year/
/starbuck223: what? Go on a case?/
/NYY96: ouch/
/NYY96: nope, dinner, and ur gonna go, even if i
have to kidnap u/
Scully sighed and thought about how she would
answer him, it was kind of sweet that he was
making such a bug deal out of it. Plus, it would
only be dinner.
/starbuck223: okay/
/NYY96: good. now, go enjoy ur poem from Frohike
;) ttyl/
/NYY96 has signed off/
Across town Mulder dialed Mrs. Scully's number.
"Hey, Mrs. Scully. Yeah, she agreed. So, Bill and
the Lone Gunmen are signed up to help you prepare
before everyone starts showing up. Is there
anything else left to do?" He listened as Mrs.
Scully read through their checklist and, not for
the first time since this started, realized where
Scully got her organizational skills.
***
February 23, 1998
Scully looked around the small restaurant as they
waited for a server. She was actually pretty
impressed with Mulder's choice. It was a nice
quiet place, with just enough people to give it
atmosphere but not enough to make it so you
couldn't hear yourself think, and it was probably
family owned, judging by the pictures hanging on
the walls.
"Does it pass inspection?" Mulder asked, amused by
the way she was dissecting the place with her
eyes.
She smiled at him. "So far, so good. We'll know
for sure when the food comes."
"Always the skeptic."
"And you wouldn't have it any other way."
Something flickered in his eyes before the
returned to their bantering light. "We can go with
that theory," he said with a wink.
After they ordered and the food came they sat in a
comfortable silence that came with knowing a
person for a long time, occasionally they would
banter or talk but most of the meal was spent in
silence.
***
"Thanks for talking me into going out tonight."
Mulder gave her a lop-sided 'I told you so' smile.
"Oh but we're not done yet." As they pulled up to
a red light he reached into the back seat and
pulled a gift bag out and handed it to her. "Plus,
I've got cake in a cooler in the back."
She burst out laughing when she opened it to
reveal a stuffed alien wearing a birthday hat.
"Thank you, Mulder."
He didn't comment but continued driving to her
place.
***
Mulder watched as Scully shifted the little alien
and a bag of leftovers in her hands and she began
to unlock the door. For the few seconds between
when the door was open he suddenly began to get a
little worried. Luckily it wasn't enough time to
panic though because as soon as she opened the
door the apartment was flooded with light and a
room full of people yelled 'surprise'.
He'd never seen Scully's jaw droop so fast.
After the initial shock wore off she laughed,
which seemed to be the only encouragement people
needed to walk up to her and wish her a happy
birthday. She greeted them all but out of the
corner of her eye kept her gaze locked on Mulder.
He smiled and for the second time tonight winked
at her.
"Happy birthday, Scully," he mouthed at her.
"Thank you," she mouthed back.
The party continued into the night.
The End
