Comments: Try as I might, I seem unable to write anything other than sappyhappyfamilyfic so consider yourselves warned ;)

I wake up draped in my Scully blanket. There's no better way to wake up, nowhere else I'd rather be. She is lying half across my chest, one hand in my hair and the other on my arm. Both of my hands are wrapped around her, stroking her back gently.

I lift one of my hands up to brush through her hair.

As I do, she murmurs my name and nuzzles my neck like a cat seeking attention.

"Morning, sunshine."

She lifts her head up away from my neck and smiles.

I seize my chance and flip her over until she is lying beneath me. This gets me a giggle and I press a quick kiss to her lips before pulling back simply to look into her eyes. I love to hear Scully giggle, I could lie here all day just listening to her. I think it may be because for such a long time I felt so responsible for her misery, that it thrills me to be partly responsible for her happiness. I say *partly* because it's a team effort. The little guy sleeping in the crib across the room has a lot to do with it too.

"Mmmm, good morning yourself."

She's practically purring and I have to kiss her again, it would be criminal not to. I touch her lips gently with mine and we kiss slowly and softly, taking our time and savoring each other.

After what feels like forever, I pull away and nibble softly on her ear, smiling as she sighs lightly and tightens her hands around the back of my neck. I lay my head down onto her shoulder, making tiny circles with my tongue on her neck.

She rakes her nails up and down my back, not hard enough to hurt but enough to make me shudder.

I hear her chuckle lightly so I assume that this is exactly the reaction she was expecting, maybe even aiming for.

Before I can respond, the phone rings and I make a grab for it, hoping to catch it before it wakes the baby and puts an end to our morning snuggling.

As I reach over her, Scully's tongue darts out to lick the underside of my arm, surprising the hell out of me and resulting in a strangled "hello" as I answer the phone.

"Hello, Fox."

It's Mrs Scully and I'm sure that she's probably picturing us up and around with the baby rather than in our current situation-her daughter pinned beneath me now apparently bored with my arm and instead doing unmentionable things to my poor, unsuspecting nipples.

"I didn't wake you, did I?"

"Um, no. Junior's still sleeping so we're just making the most of the peace. Everything okay, Mrs Scully?"

"Fine. I was thinking...you and Dana haven't had an evening to yourselves since William was born and I thought maybe you'd like to go out tonight, have dinner, spend some time together. I, of course, would love to spoil my newest grandson for a couple of hours."

"Really? Sounds great to me... but hold on while I confer with the boss..."

The 'boss' in question removes her tongue from my chest and gives me the eyebrow, curious about the conversation she can hear only one side of.

"It's your mom. She says she'd be happy to have Will tonight for a couple of hours if we want to go out, just you and me?"

I see the beginnings of a frown and I know she's hesitant about leaving Will for the first time, even if it would be with her mom. It's understandable, given the less than conventional circumstances surrounding our son's birth but I don't want her to be too scared to ever leave him with anyone else. I lean down and kiss her, then pull away so that our noses are still touching as I whisper, "Let's just go for dinner. We'll go somewhere close to your mom's then if she needs us we can be back within minutes. He'll be fine and you *know* how much he loves his Grandma."

She hesitates before nodding but then gives me a slightly unsure smile as I kiss her quickly before getting back on the phone to confirm with Mrs Scully, "What time is good for you, Mrs Scully?"

"Whenever you're ready, Fox. I'll be here."

"Thanks. We'll see you later."

"Kiss my daughter and grandson for me."

I hang up the phone and turn back to Scully, who is studying me silently. She smiles again and this time she's less uncertain about it, "He *will* be okay, won't he."

She says it as a statement rather than a question so without replying, I just nod and do as Mrs Scully asked. I kiss her daughter.

Scully is in the bedroom getting dressed while I strap Will into his seat, ready to carry him out to the car. From the size of the bag Scully has packed, it would appear that he is spending a week at his Grandma's not just a few hours. I know she's nervous about leaving him so I do the sensible thing of course and refrain from comment.

Will sits in his seat on the kitchen table, trying to cram his entire left foot into his mouth, totally unaware of the turmoil his mom is putting herself through in the next room.

As our son continues to chew his toes, his mother makes an entrance from the bedroom. She is wearing a simple black dress which falls just above the knee and black heels. Her hair is curled slightly and she's wearing darker lipstick than she usually does. She looks absolutely breathtaking and I realize that I am rooted to the spot, grinning like an idiot.

"Earth to Mulder..."

I shake out of my stupor and move over to where she stands, leaning in and kissing her on the cheek, "You look beautiful, Scully."

"You clean up pretty well yourself, Mulder. Who would ever have believed you owned such a respectable tie?"

I smile at her relaxed mood and turn away to lift the baby, who appears to have switched his attention to his equally tasty right foot, down from the table. Scully picks up the bag, grabs the keys to the apartment and we are all set for our first date in months. Actually, as I think about it, it's our first real *date*. I guess only weMr and Mrs Spooky- could possibly jump from colleagues to best friends to married with a child without ever going on what could realistically be described as a 'date'. I decide against mentioning this particular observation to my apparently calm wife- the last thing I want to do is to send the train screeching back towards panic station. So, the three of us make our way out of the apartment, into the car and -at the risk of sounding like a nursery rhyme- over to Grandma's house.

Scully has hold of my hand as we sit drinking coffee and I smile as she plays with my fingers.

She is still in a state of euphoria over her return to caffeine and it's actually quite enchanting to see someone get so much obvious delight from a simple cup of coffee.

Well, we almost made it to our main meal before the need to check on Will reared itself. I think that's pretty good going for our first time without him but then it *was* me who decided to call Mrs Scully-just in case she was having trouble settling him down. Sometimes he likes to have me sing to him before he'll sleep and I was sure we hadn't told her that before we left. I know I saw the beginnings of a Scullysmirk as I took the cellphone and stepped away from the table but I also know I saw the thinly disguised relief in her eyes as I returned a couple of minutes later.

Mrs Scully had been happy to report that Will had taken his bottle quite enthusiastically and had fallen sound asleep an hour after we left him.

After I finally manage to drag Scully away from the lure of more coffee, we head outside. It's a warm night so instead of heading straight to the car, I take her hand and start to walk down towards the waterfront. She doesn't say anything at first and we walk in contented silence for a few minutes, just holding hands, until she stops and turns to face me.

"I know this is going to sound strange Mulder, but I think this is our first real date."

"You know what Scully? I think you're right. Well, unless we count that whole Lazarus Bowl fiasco."

"The movie may have been a disaster Mulder, but as I recall, the evening didn't end so badly."

She gives a coy smile before she goes on, "We can't count that though, I was in love with Associate Producer Walter Skinner that night."

"Ah, of course. Then tonight is definitely our first real date. I would never usually do this on a first date but I have to tell you, I have a very strong feeling about us."

"Really? How odd, me too. I would never usually do *this* on a first date but I'm going to ask you to come home with me."

"Hmm, that's very forward of you. Could work though as I was about to ask you to marry me and be the mother of my children."

We both laugh at this point and start walking again, still holding hands and smiling. We walk for a few minutes until, without stopping this time, Scully looks up at me, suddenly more serious, "Children, Mulder?"

I must look confused because she continues, "You said 'children' Mulder, you want me to be the mother of your 'children'. Does that mean what I think it means?"

"Well, it means that if you wanted to aim for a whole damn baseball team, I'd happily go along with your plans. Or if you just wanted one brother or sister for Will, that would be a pretty good plan too."

She exhales loudly before continuing, "I've never thought about- well, I mean, I've thought about you and me and a house full of children but never actually-"

"You've imagined it but never allowed yourself to hope for it, right?"

"I suppose so, yes. We got our miracle, Mulder."

"Yes, we did. Last I heard though, there were no restrictions on miracles. Just because we got one doesn't necessarily mean we don't qualify for another. Maybe somebody decided it was about time we got a break."

"Maybe you're right...I mean, who's to say we've exceeded our miracle quota? We could still have one or two more to cash in."

"Miracle quota, Scully?"

"The number of miracles we are entitled to."

"Entitled to? Are you saying that each of us has a personal miracle allowance and none of us knows just what it is until it runs out?"

"I think that's what *you're* saying, Mulder. I'm just saying that maybe you're right, that if you believe in the possibility of miracles..."

"Wow! I put a ring on your finger and you start thinking like me."

"Don't push it! All I'm saying is that you once told me to 'never give up on a miracle' and look what happened."

"So, what do you say we go pick up miracle number one, then head home and discuss the possibility of miracle number two?"

"Mulder, I don't think miracle number one originated from rational discussion."

"I would have to agree with that assessment, Dr Scully. Miracle number one would appear to have originated either from herbal tea and deep thoughts on a rainy April night *or* beer, popcorn and an all time classic American movie a few nights later."

"All time classic American *guy* movie, Mulder."

"So, do you think if we'd been watching 'Steel Magnolias' that night, we would have had a girl?"

"Oh, *now* I've heard it all."

"I think we should try it, see if we can't get a little sister for Will. We can call it a scientific experiment if it makes you happy."

"It makes me happy whatever we call it, Mulder.."

I'm lying in bed wearing only my shorts as Scully comes over and sits down, gesturing for me to unzip her dress so she too can get more comfortable. She slips the dress off and, in a very unScullylike move, hurls it across the room in the vague direction of the corner laundry basket.

"Will's asleep. I think my mom must have worn him out."

"I think we should send him to your mom's more often."

With a smile, she crawls under the sheets and settles herself on top of me, crossing her arms over my chest and resting her chin on them so she can gaze up at me. I am happy to gaze right back at her, I could never tire of looking into those eyes. I know I'm somewhat biased but Scully really does have the most beautiful eyes; big, blue and remarkably expressive. She doesn't have to say a word for me to know what she's thinking, I just look into those baby blues and they tell me all I need to know. She blinks and leans down to place a kiss on my chest before she speaks, "Thank you for tonight. I can't remember ever enjoying a first date quite as much as this one."

"The pleasure was all mine."

"Still thinking about miracles, Mulder?"

"Thinking about names, actually."

"Names?"

"Yep. You got number one so I want dibs on naming miracle number two."

"I suppose that's a reasonable request. Not Elvis though, Mulder."

"Deal. Ridiculous name for a girl anyway, Scully."

"You really are convinced of this 'Steel Magnolias' theory, aren't you?"

"Don't knock it til we've tried it, Scully."

She plants another kiss on my chest before shifting her position until her head is resting on my shoulder and her breath is softly warming my neck. I reach down for her hand and lace our fingers together, stroking her skin with my thumb and smiling as she murmurs sleepily, "'Night Mulder. I love you."

"I love you too, baby."

I feel her lips curve into a smile against my neck as she slips toward sleep and I feel myself smiling back as I close my eyes.

My final thought before I follow her into slumber is of miracles.

I realize that even if we are never blessed with another, I have all the miracles I could ever dream of; I am truly happy with my quota.

end