As a kid, after Samantha, he often spent Christmas Eve daydreaming. He'd lay in bed and imagine that when he woke up, he'd finally be the one to experience a Christmas Miracle. Samantha would be there, rosy-cheeked and a beaming smile aimed right at him. His parents would sit around and watch as they opened presents. His mom would kiss his head fondly and his dad would go outside and play ball with him.

Instead, he'd wake up to a house haunted by the ghosts of Christmases past. As he opened the presents his mom undoubtably picked at random from the Sears catalog and his dad focused on the newspaper instead, they'd all be thinking of the pink bear Samantha had gotten the last Christmas she was there. The bear that now was collecting dust in the mausoleum that had once been a child's bedroom.

He'd always wondered what it would be like to sit at a table with so many people you could barely hear yourself think over the laughter. To be surrounded by unquestionable love and happiness. Family.

"Hey," Scully whispered, bumping her knee against his. "You okay?" she asked, smiling as she swirled her eggnog around in her glass.

He looked at her, lounged next to him with a bright golden box in her lap, rainbow colored Christmas lights casting a kaleidoscope of colors onto her pale skin. "Fox!" Maggie Scully called from the other side of him.

He turned and saw the older woman navigating precariously around the family members chatting and sitting on the floor, presents scattered all around them. He stood and held out his hand to her, helping her keep balance as closed the gap to him. "I'm so glad you're here," she beamed, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you for letting me crash," he replied with a smile.

She made a tutting sound with her mouth and dismissed his comment. "Don't be silly. You're always welcome here. Thank you for getting Dana back in one piece. I'm glad we were able to occupy Matthew long enough to postpone the gift giving."

"Me, too," Scully called out from the couch, making both him and the older woman smile.

"Speaking of," Mrs. Scully said, raising a green bag from her side. "I'm extra happy you're here so I can finally give you your present myself instead of passing it through Dana."

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Scully. You didn't have to do that," he smiled, taking the offered gift.

She slapped his arm playfully before giving him a stern look. "Enough of that, Fox, or else I'll put snow in your shoes."

He smiled at the threat and conceded with a smile, sitting back down next to Scully.

"I wanna see what you got," Scully demanded, nuzzling next to him and trying to peer into the package.

"Want to open at the same time?" he asked, gesturing to hers. She smiled and nodded, setting her drink down before tearing at the wrapping of her gift.

He looked into his own and pulled out a wad of green tissue paper. Unwrapping it carefully, he revealed a pack of four coffee mugs. One had a cartoon alien, another a cartoon sasquatch, then a cartoon Loch Ness Monster, and lastly a cartoon mothman. It was perfect. "Thank you, Mrs. Scully. This is perfect," he smiled.

Looking over, he saw Scully shooting a bashful smile to her mom. He glanced down to see what she got and was met with a brand new coffee maker. Real subtle, Mrs. Scully. He saw the woman offer then a fake-innocent shrug before winking and directing her attention to Bill trying to assemble a Fisher Price Little People toy.

He watched as the little boy giggled in excitement, clapping his chubby hands together as he watched the adults fiddle with his new toy. He was so distracted by the sweet scene that he jumped in surprise when he felt a pair of lips press against his cheek. As soon as they were there, they disappeared, and by the time turned his head, Scully was already taking a sip of her drink.

She looked at him over the rim of her mug and shot him an innocent look that read 'what?'. He smiled at her before throwing an arm over the back of the couch and pulling her close to him, placing a kiss to the crown of her head. "Merry Christmas, Scully," he whispered.

"Merry Christmas, Mulder," she replied sweetly, nuzzling into his side.

This was the Christmas he'd dreamt of.