SUMMARY: Scully meets a woman who shows her that Christmas this year isn't all it seems.

5:47 p.m. Christmas Eve
King Street
Downtown Old Towne Alexandria

The snow was coming down in large wet flakes. Holiday lights were strung along the waterfront's high street lamps, and all down the shopping mecca of King Street, yuletide carols were heard from every storefront.. There was the general sense in the air that everyone realized it was the eve of Christmas and if you had anything left to buy you'd better hurry or Santa was going to be very pissed.

Pissed. Yeah. That was quite the appropriate description to what Dana Scully felt as she walked at a clipped pace down the crowded sidewalk. She almost wished she'd taken the bus. At least it ran at a certain time to and fro across the vast Washington-Alexandria metro area. She'd known better than to drive her own car and try to find a park in the Christmas Eve last minute crush but she now realized that retrieving a taxi home might be as easy as getting Kersh to bend over and kiss her ass.

Damn.

Now *that* was just who she needed to think of to top off her day. She glanced at her watch. Ten minutes to six.

Damn.

How in the hell was she going to find three toys and a Heritage Hall collector plate for her mom in just three hours? Damn. Damn. Damn.

If Doggett had just listened to her and waited until next Tuesday to take the report up to Kersh, she'd have been out by lunch like she'd planned. Hell, he was such a stickler for protocol sometimes. Aggrevated the shit out of her too and now that habit of his had cost her what little time she'd allowed herself for Christmas shopping. Ho. Ho. Ho. to you too Agent Doggett. May Santa leave coal in your stocking.

She spotted the toy store first and elbowed her way through the masses. It seemed everyone in the greater Alexandria area was purchasing Fisher Price's newest gizmo. She grabbed the last two on the display, got cussed at by a big beefy woman who claimed she had mentally claimed those from down the isle and how dare she think some prima donna was gonna take them away from her. Scully was seriously considering the sig in her back as her holiday surprise to the irate screeching woman when the store manager escorted her to the back to wait while he looked for some more. She rightly interpreted the sacrificial lamb look in the manager's eyes for what it was and took off toward the register; barely managing to grab the latest Space Monster Wars 2001 Sega game for Charley's oldest son. Lord help the boy. If he only knew.

After waiting in line for thirty minutes to check out, she realized her time was really pressing thin. Where to now? Where does mom go down here to find these plates she cherishes collecting so much? The store in Georgetown that Scully normally found them at had went out of buisness as she found out when she went to get one for her mom's birthday a few months back. Her mom had told her that there was an antique store near the waterfront in Alexandria that had them sometimes. Her mom had said "antique" like there was only one such store in the area.

Good grief.

She must have walked by half a dozen already. None of them specialized in plates though and her mom had said that this one primarily did.

Just when she was about to give up and opt for a nice decanter or tea set from one of the various others, Scully spotted a bright blue sign at the corner of King and Waterfront Street that pointed and read: ANTIQUES: SPECIALIZING IN PLATES and GLASSWARE

Finally! About damn time.

She hurried down the cobbled street trying not to notice how her block heels dug into the cement clumsily. The place wasn't well lit. Just a single antique lamp was shining in the plate glass window. The hours showed that they closed at six.

Well, shit.

In frustration, she reached for the brass knob and turned it forcefully. The door creaked open and a tinkly bell jinggled above her head. Entering quickly, almost half afraid if she didn't she'd be closed out, she stepped into the small store area. The place was full of plates. Every wall, every counter, seemed to teeter with them. The bright red carpet stood in contrast to the stark white of most of the shining old pieces.

"Hello?" No answer. She seemed to be the only soul in the place.

"HELLO? ANYONE AROUND?" She repeated louder then cocked her head to listen.

Bending over, she sat her packages down and released her breath loudly. Perhaps the owner had mistakenly left the door open upon closing for the night.

Great.

She could just see herself being surrounded by police and held at gunpoint in the middle of a stupid antique store as they debated on whether to yell "Drop the merchandise lady!"

She snorted.. Wouldn't Mulder get a kick out of that?

Mulder. She closed her eyes as she often did and brought in his smug, smiling face. What the hell am I doing here Mulder? Why don't you have me out chasing down some godforsaken haunted house for fun? Why can't we be in your bed snuggled up drinking hot chocolate with just a touch of the good stuff? She could just picture him laying his head on her stomach like he loved to do so much as he told their unborn child ghost stories of Christmases past. He'd rub her tummy softly and kiss each spot, and he'd whisper to the baby and embellish the tale for all it was worth. Even inside the womb, she was sure the baby would be thoroughly entertained, enthralled and totally in love with her father. How could she not be?

The first and only smile of the day lit her features. She remembered that stupid ghost story Mulder had told her at Christmas in that soft, rich baritone just a couple of years ago. He could get them into more trouble. Then, last Christmas, they'd been separated when she went to California to visit her family, but, of course, he'd phoned and she'd had to listen to his 'theory' on how alternate realities allowed Santa to really exist. She'd good-naturedly berated him and the ridiculous dribble as he had expected her to, and then, she had laughed for a good thirty minutes after he hung up. It had felt so good. No one could make the impossible seem more fun and doable than Mulder. Again, she deeply sighed and without thinking, laid a hand to her slightly bulging abdomen. Almost six months. Had it been so long?

God, Mulder. I can't do this..this...Christmas thing. I can't pretend.

She brushed back a tear from her lid and quickly reached down to grab her packages to leave.

"Oh..Hello." A cheery female voice rang out from behind her seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

Scully turned, surprised, to face an attractive blond woman in her mid-fifties who seemed to almost glide across the room with her robust movements.

"Er..Hello." Scully returned. "I was just about to leave. I thought perhaps you had closed."

The woman beamed at her, showing slightly reddish cheeks and a wide white smile.

"Why no dear. I do so apologize." She clasped her hands together as if in prayer. " I was just in the back taking a Ben and Jerry ice cream break." She laughed delightfully as she patted her middle age paunch at her midsection.. "I do so wish they'd move that delicious ice cream parlor a bit farther away from here."

Scully had to smile. She loved double chunky nut fudge as much as the next gal. She could really go for about a gallon right now too.

"Now, what can I do for you sweetie?" The woman's manner was certainly disarming and friendly. Scully immediately felt a bit better. Taking a quick breath, she gestured around.

"Well, I would like to see what you have in a particular type of plate." She reached into her pocket and found the hastily scribbled note she'd made. "Staffordshire Heritage Hall series. I need the Georgian Townhouse plate."

The lady nodded.

"Red or Blue tone?"

Scully bit her lip. Her mom hadn't mentioned that they came in various flavors.

"I wish I could say. All I know is that my mom loves this series and it's the only one she doesn't have. She said it's the most rare in the Staffordshire line if that helps."

The woman immediately snapped her fingers.

"Ah! I bet it's the red. It is a beautiful set." She looked to the glass counter in front of her. " Look right here. I have the blue on display." Scully stepped forward and leaned over to see the pieces more clearly.

"I do think I have the red plate in but it's a bit more expensive and we don't sell nearly as many of them as the less rare blues so we keep em in the back."

Scully was so glad to get this done and get home that she'd have paid a month's salary.

"I'll take it-regardless of price if you have it."

The other woman nodded understandingly then gestured toward the chair by the counter. "I know you're tired... in your 'condition'. She smiled gently at Scully's surprise, the sweet expression on her face almost angelic. "If you'll wait just a moment sweetheart, I'll go check for you."

"Um...tha...thank you." It was almost as if her own mother stood before her, seeing the stark truth behind her silence.

"Um.. that would be wonderful." Scully let out a breath she wasn't aware she held as the woman departed. Was she showing that much already? She didn't think she was, yet, this total stranger realized right off. She knew she'd gained a bit of weight, but she'd been able to wear her overcoat at work with the recent cold snap. She was going to have to decide some things soon. Very soon. If this complete stranger could tell, then her family could, and if they could, then Doggett could and Kersh and everyone else in the damned world. She felt as if her life weren't her own anymore. Ha. When was the last time it had been? She couldn't even remember.

She was about to sit down when she noticed something shiny at the corner of her peripheral vision. She turned her head to notice a small snowglobe sitting alone on the top of the glass counter at the far end. She approached it like a child. Enchanted. Snowglobes had always fascinated her as a little girl. Just watching an emotion be captured underneath glass had a mesmerizing effect on her. She could stare at them forever.

This particular globe's dark brown base seemed very old and well handled. Of course, this was an antique store but there was just something about the object aside from the scratches and smudges that made it seem...personal. She leaned down in front of it to study it's slow action. Inside, there was just a lone snowman with a top hat on standing alone in the snow. And on his face...a buttoned smile formed. The globe wasn't like it's more modern counterparts. There were no buttons to press to make it jump in the air or small speaker attached to play a popular tune. There was just the little smiling snowman and the snow. It's simplicity made Scully want to smile back at it.

"I see you've found the only thing in the store not for sale."

Again, Scully was startled by the woman's quiet presence as she snuck up on her from behind. She would make one hell of an FBI agent.

"Uh..not for sale? You mean the snowglobe?" Scully turned toward it once more. "It does rather stand out here amongst the plates."

The woman set the plate she was holding on the counter and walked to stand beside Scully. She lifted her hands, slowly removing her glasses and wiped them on the apron she wore.

"Antiques will teach you a good lesson young lady. Every *thing* has a story worth listening to... And..." She paused to look at the small globe intently then finished. "every *one*." She studied Scully a moment, carefully letting her bright eyes travel her face, as if weighing whether she would be worth the bother to tell hers to.

The woman then reached and picked up the quaint little globe, staring at it in her hands for long moments. Scully stayed silent, sensing the woman wanted her to. When she turned to Scully again, her eyes were full of mirth almost twinkling in their brightness. A far away gaze started things.

This globe was purchased by a marine in Nha Trang, Vietnam." She turned it and shook it while Scully watched. The woman, obviously encouraged by her audience's listening ear, continued.

"The fighting was fierce in the Moro Highlands near Nha Trang in 1969." She paused. "You would have been just a baby then yourself I'd imagine." She winked at Scully and without a hitch, went back to her story. "The soldier was on his last leave and wanted to buy his new wife, whom he'd had to leave just a few months before, something that would remind her of him at Christmas."

The woman placed her glasses back upon her nose and continued to talk to the globe more than to her and Scully wondered just how many times the woman had relayed this story through the years to other disheartened holiday customers.

"The man's wife had a special Christmas surprise to share with him too and in the single colorful wrapped box she mailed, she placed a baby rattle. The gifts, according to military mail records, were sent the same day. It would prove to be ironic that neither the soldier or the wife would receive them on time."

The woman was now speaking entirely to the globe as if Scully were not in the room.

"On Christmas Day, a unit was dispatched from Nha Trang to recon in the Central Highlands. It was routine. However, that day, something went wrong. Radio communication was lost somehow and a recon order to target bomb a particular hill was delayed. Marine troops on the ground were rendered helpless as wave after wave of Viet Congs hiding in the underground hill caverns overtook them. The young soldier was captured as a POW and listed as MIA. The snow globe he'd sent his wife arrived the same day as the news of his capture was delivered to her. When her husband's belongings were returned weeks later, the unopened package she'd sent him with the baby rattle was included." She stopped to wipe at a tear streaming down her cheek. "He'd never known."

She turned to Scully with more unshed tears glistening in her eyes. "I still have the rattle too."

Scully stood silently, mute not knowing how to feel. It was if every emotion inside her, every feeling of the last six months, the last eight years, was staring at her in the form of that little snowman globe in the woman's hands. She watched as the now somber woman, gently placed it back in it's place on the counter.

The woman moved around the counter to the register, unaware that she had just spoken the fear that Scully would not aloud. Mulder could never return. Scully had to fight her own tears back as she allowed the reality of her own situation to really sink in for the first time.

In front of her, the older lady waved her hand as she begin to ring up a bill of sale for the plate she held in her hand.

"Forgive an old widow for being sentimental dear. It's just the season that does it to me."

All Scully could manage was a nod as she was unable to take her eyes off of the globe sitting still and quiet on the end of the counter. Yet, in it's reflective clear glass, she could only see questions.

Why? God? Why *now*?

"That will be $79 even dear."

Scully barely recognized that the woman was waiting on her to open her wallet and pay her. Her mind just had shut down. Somehow, she managed to fish out the correct bills and pass the woman the money over the register. As she did so, she felt a tug on her hand.

Scully looked up.

"Take it dear. I want you to have it." The woman pointed directly to her snowglobe.

Scully was stunned. There was no way that she would even contemplate taking this woman's history, her own personal symbol of her husband's love from her. She didn't know how to kindly say no.

"No! I ...I couldn't..." Scully stuttered and quickly hastened to lessen her tone. "Ma'am, um, I am flattered. I truly am." she added convictedly. "... but, I could never take something so valuable...so...so.. personal." She reached and grabbed her mother's plate and stuck it in her bag and turned to leave quickly.

"Miss Scully."

Scully turned at the quiet way the woman breathed her name. It was almost reverent.

"I've waited for over thirty years for someone to come along that I felt would understand how I felt that day. I don't know what it is exactly but I honestly feel like you do."

She walked to the end of the counter and reached for the globe. Holding it out to Scully she nodded. "It's *right*. I feel it. You need to have this. The delivery of it brought me answers- one I didn't want.. But it also brought me peace. It brought me love knowing that Jim wanted to be with me Christmas Day-to know that he loved me very much and that he would have loved our daughter with all his heart had he lived."

The kindly woman then reached and placed Scully's free hand around the cold glass of the globe.

"Please" She squeezed Scully's hand around it's cool exterior.

"Take it. It brought me a little happiness when I felt the darkest. I would just watch it and things would be bearable. Maybe, just maybe, it will bring you some joy too."

Scully bit her lip and swallowed back emotions of deep grief that she didn't care to understand. She looked deep and direct into the woman's deep brown eyes with her shining blue ones.

"Thank you. I will try. I promise."

The woman smiled and nodded knowingly.

"Just remember...listen to what it tells your heart as you watch it young lady. I always did. It is *yours* now. Merry Christmas."

With that, Scully muttered a returned 'Merry Christmas' and headed out the door.

Scully didn't remember throwing her packages into the back of the cab or even the ride home. She didn't remember wrapping the gifts for her nephews and mom. All she could think about was the simple little snowglobe. When she turned the lights out in her bedroom, to get some badly needed rest, she placed it on the small nightstand beside her bed. As she pulled the covers up to her chin, she turned to stare at the tiny globe in the room's dim light. And she dreamt of spaceships, babies and Mulder.

6:06 a.m. Christmas Morning

Scully's alarm was blaring. She couldn't seem to get her eyes open. It was as if they were glued together. Then she realized she'd fell into bed with her mascara on. Great. What time was it anyway? She was supposed to be at her mom's by nine to begin helping with preparations for Christmas dinner. Scully rubbed her neck resignedly into her pillow.

Merry Christmas.

Was it really?

She reached across to hit her alarm clock. Her arm connected with something else and she heard a loud thunk. Immediately, she knew what it was. Oh NO!

She jumped startled from the bed and fell to the floor. The globe was lying just under her dust ruffle apparently unharmed. A great wave of relief washed over her. She reached for the globe and realized that the base was loose. Great. Just great. She already loved the globe and now she'd done something stupid and almost broke it. She plopped down on the side of her bed and begin to tinker with the base. Perhaps it wasn't beyond repair. As she turned it into place, something fell from it. Scully watched it float in the air coming to a rest at her feet. It appeared to be a very small piece of once white notebook paper now yellowed around the edges by time. She leaned down to pick it up almost in awe of what such coming from inside the globe could mean.

She turned it gently over in her hand. The handwriting was a man's and it looked vaguely familiar.

"I love you both and I am with you this Christmas." The word "both" was underlined.

Scully reread it twice perplexed, before it hit her. This could only mean one thing. She became immediately excited. Jim HAD known! He must have placed the message in the globe as a surprise to his wife and she had never opened the base and found it! Without delay, Scully knew she had to return to the store and give the woman her husband's long lost message.

She threw on some wind pants and her cherished old New York Yankees sweatshirt and dialed her mom as she slid on her nikes to tell her she'd be running a bit late. Grabbing some bills from her table, and practically jogging out to the street, she didn't wait for a taxi today. With globe in hand, she fished out some ones from her pocket and stood at the bus stop. She didn't even realize she had a smile of hope on her face.

The ride across town to Alexandria seemed to take an eternity and the entire way, all Scully could do was stare at the blowing snow out her window. How wonderful for the woman to finally find out that she had been wrong all those years before! Scully felt a joy well inside herself she hadn't felt since Mulder had disappeared. Mulder...

She rubbed her own tummy, looked once more at the globe held tightly between her cold hands, and imagined his infectious grin.

When she reached her corner stop in Old Towne, she rushed down the empty street. The store was dark and a closed sign hung from a nail at the top of the window.. What was she thinking? It was Christmas Day. Of course it would be closed. A well of disappointment sprang up within her. She stared at the large brick structure in front of her and looked around.. Well, at the very least she was going to ask the residents of the apartment above the store if they knew where the woman could be located. Perhaps that was where she lived even.

She had to go around the building to the side to find the rear stairwell. Slowly making her way up the snow laden steps toward the apartment, she reached a large mahogany door with a beautiful Christmas wreath decorating it. Without hesitation, Scully knocked forcefully.

Come on...be home.

Seconds later, the door swung open and an early thirtyish attractive man stood before her holding a steaming mug of coffee. He gave her a questioning look.

"Hello. Can I help you?"

Scully nodded. "I hope so. I was at the store downstairs last night and I urgently need to speak with the woman who was working about some personal business. I had thought perhaps she lived here but if you know a name or have a number where she could be reached it would be extremely helpful."

The man drew his eyebrows up and looked entirely baffled.

"Ma'am, you must be mistaken. My wife and I own the store downstairs and we closed last night at six to attend a Christmas party at my office. She is the only woman that works there."

It was Scully's turn to look confused. "You own it?"

The man once more nodded affirmation.

"And you don't employ any other help?" A small half breed dachshund mix ran between his legs and yapped.

The man smiled and reached down to pick up the dog. "Well, if you count this mangy mutt of hers then yes, but we have no other human employees."

Scully didn't know what to think. She looked around and checked her surroundings again. She knew this was the right building. Even from this side, she could see the bright ice cream parlor sign right up the street.

"Sir, would it be possible for me to speak with your wife a moment?"

It was a last ditch effort. The woman she'd spoken to last night had been at least fifty. She was open-minded and all with regard to other people's ideas of relationships but somehow, she just didn't see this attractive young man marrying a woman old enough to be his mother. Surely though, the wife would have some insight into who the woman was. Maybe she had hired Christmas help without mentioning it to her husband?

"Sure, just a moment." He stepped back from the door. "Won't you please come in? I know it's cold out there."

Scully gripped the globe in her hand tighter and stepped into the living room leaving the man to close the door behind her.

"I'll be just a second." He disappeared into the back of the apartment with the dog.

Scully stood and looked around the beautifully decorated living room. Of course, plates of different variations dominated the decor. In an odd way, it was very beautiful. She was noticing a plate similar to the one she purchased for her mother hanging close to the fireplace when something else caught her attention. A large photograph was matted in a gold frame on the mantle. she stepped closer to it. In it, an older woman was holding a newborn baby in her arms and smiling down on it as if it were the treasure of the Sierra Madre. It wouldn't have struck Scully so forcefully had it not been the *exact* same woman who had given Scully the globe last night. There was no mistaking that smile.

"Hello, I'm Caroline Johnson. My husband says you'd like to speak with me."

Scully turned to see a young woman entering the room in housecoat holding a toddler on her hip. It had to be the woman's daughter. The resemblance was uncanny. She sat the little girl down in her playpen and turned back to Scully waiting.

"Um, yes. My name is Dana Scully." They shook hands and Scully noticed that Caroline curiously looked at the globe Scully held. She pointed to the framed photo on the wall. "Is this your mother Caroline?"

Caroline looked surprised at the question. "Well, yes, it is." Scully noticed the quiet emotion that gathered in the younger woman's face as she too turned to study the photo.

"May I ask, does she work in your shop downstairs?"

Caroline turned back to her and nodded. "Mother used to help us all the time. She loved plates and trinkets as much as I do." She reached and patted her daughter's curly locks of strawberry blond hair where she stood beside her sucking her thumb and holding a teddy bear in the small playpen.

"I do wish she had lived to see Jessica grow up." She smiled at the little girl. "She was so proud of her."

Scully felt as if the woman had literally punched her. She couldn't mean...

"Your mother is deceased?"

Caroline again nodded and brushed away a tear. "Yes, she died Christmas Day, one year ago of a massive stroke. We were headed out soon to the cemetery to see her gravesite."

Scully was stunned. The robust, cheery woman that had spoken to her last night had shown no signs of ill health and had been very much *alive*. What did this mean? Could Caroline be mistaken? Surely she would know if her own mother were dead or not. This made no sense to her at all. None. But what was new about that these days?

Scully had to ask. Her longstanding quest for hard proof made her. "And she doesn't have a sister or someone else who helps you out?"

The younger woman looked confused. "No. She was the only female in her family. Can I ask why you want to know about my mother?"

Scully looked down at the globe in her hands. Surely, she should give it to the other woman. It was, after all, her mother's.

"Um, I..." Scully knew she had to tread carefully. She didn't know what she would say to law officials if her daughter called them due to what she was about to tell her. "...I met your mother one time."

Caroline's face brightened perceptibly.

"She...she gave me this." Scully raised the snowglobe up for her to see better. "She told me your father had sent it to her." She pushed it toward her and the woman took it from her hands turning it and looking as if she had never seen it. Surely she had.

For what seemed like hours, the younger woman studied the globe. She smiled up at Scully finally.

"It's beautiful. I wonder why she never showed it to me."

Scully had no answer. She silently looked past Caroline to watch the little girl in the playpen. She was indeed something to be proud of.

She realized Caroline was watching her, waiting. Scully had no more answers for her. She felt it was time to go.

She half smiled at Caroline. "Well, I just wanted to return it to you. I'll be going now." Scully started toward the door. She needed to get out of here and try and make some sense of this.

"Ms. Scully?" Scully turned to see Caroline directly behind her, globe in hand. Scully took one last lingering look at it. Indeed, it was beautiful.

Caroline reached for Scully's fingers with her own and clasped them tightly. It reminded Scully of just how Caroline's mother had done so the night before.

"Ms. Scully, I want you to take this back with you." She noticed Scully's immediate startled reaction and insisted. "I mean it. My mother must have had a reason for not showing it to me for all these years. I knew my mother well. She was a good woman. The best. And if she ever gave someone something it was because she really meant for them to have it. She meant this for you. I know she had her reasons and that's good enough for me." Caroline practically pushed the globe back into Scully's hands.

She paused as she moved Scully toward the door giving her a genuine, heartfelt smile that said goodbye. Again, Scully was struck by just how closely Caroline's mannerisms mirrored her mother's.

"But Caroline, the reason...I found..." she started.

"NO." The word was abrupt to Scully's ears and full of meaning.

Scully locked onto the other woman's eyes and in the space of a heartbeat, she understood that 'no'. She knew that Caroline's memories of her mother were just as she wanted them to be. She wanted no changes now. Much like she herself wanted to remember Melissa, Emily and her father just as they were in her memory forever, Caroline too wanted no changes. Yes, Scully certainly understood.

Caroline reached and opened the door for her pausing a short moment to give the globe one final brush of her hand. "It's *yours* now. Goodbye Miss Scully, and Merry Christmas." And with that, Scully found herself standing outside the closed door , the wind blowing in her hair and wondering just why she still held the globe that a supposedly dead woman had given her in her hands.

As she started down the stairs and out onto the cobbled street, she tossed a familiar idea around in her brain. Maybe she was dreaming. Maybe she really hadn't woken up in a very long time and when she did, she would to find herself snug at Mulder's side as she listened to the rise and fall of his soft snore. She winced and realized just how many times in the last six months she had wished that very thing. Her wish never came true though and she always awoke alone once more. Somehow, she knew this event wasn't a dream and that somehow, oddly, this felt as real as anything that had happened to her since Mulder's disappearance.

Scully made her way down to the street corner to wait on a bench for the next bus stop. Huddling inside her parka to shield the wind, she once again looked down at the globe. What did it all mean? If this wasn't a dream then, what was it?

Words came back to her. 'It's *yours* now." Hadn't Caroline's mother said those same words with that same convicted tone to her just the night before as she pressured her to take the globe with her then? Caroline's mother had called her name and then explained to her that it was only SHE who could understand the globe's significance. Scully shook her head in disbelief. She hadn't thought about it at the time but how in the world had Caroline's mother even known her name? Scully was sure she hadn't mentioned it to her. She took a deep breath of cold air and turned to stare aimlessly at the waterfront in the distance. She'd bet Mulder would have a theory but for the life of her, she sure as hell didn't.

After what seemed endless hours but in reality was only minutes, Scully heard the morning bus stopping up the street as it slowly made it's approach. She placed the globe on the bench beside her and reached into her jean pocket to fish out the correct fee. When she pulled out her money, she noticed the piece of yellowed paper amongst the bills. Turning it over, she read it's message once more.

'I love you both and I am with you this Christmas.'

Scully closed her eyes. Jim had somehow known about his daughter. Though her mother had never had the chance to tell him about Caroline before he left her, and the package was returned unopened, he had somehow known. Scully looked down to watch the snow fall on the lonely little snowman under the glass globe.

"Just remember, listen to what it tells your heart as you look at it...it is *yours* now." Once again those words came back to Scully. For a moment, time seemed suspended. For a moment, just a moment in her bizarre and crazy world, everything became crystal clear.

He knows.

Wherever he is today.

Mulder knows.

And he loves us.

Scully stood and wiped away unshed tears from her eyes as the bus crawled to a stop at the corner. Looking down, she placed one hand across her abdomen and picked up the snowglobe with the other, placing it in her parka pocket.

For the first time since he'd left her, Scully felt a sense of peace and happiness well up within her. She glanced at her watch. If she hurried, and the bus didn't get hindered by too much traffic, she just might be able to slide into her black velvet dress, grab those presents and make it to her mother's on time for Christmas lunch with her family. She hoped they were all there. She hadn't seen them in much too long and she had some wonderful , long overdue news to share with them.

She climbed the steps to the bus, paid her fare and took a seat. She took the snowglobe out and shook it with the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas morning watching the snow glitter as it fell. Then, she closed her eyes and made a wish. Maybe, just maybe, Santa did exist afterall.

Finis.

God Bless and Merry Christmas to all.