It's almost Christmas. Everywhere you look you can see it. Now that I know how things can be, I'm really starting to get into this. Daddy keeps walking around the house mumbling about how commercial this holiday is, but I saw that HUGE present with my name on it hidden at Dana's house. Not that I went looking, mind you. It just happened to slide out of the closet all on it's own. At least that's what I'm saying at the interrogation. Suzannah Blake's been making me practice my denial.

Anyway, Dad and Dana and DA (Is anyone else picking up a pattern here?) and Gram have been plotting and planning for a major celebration for Dante (Here we go again) and me. They've been sneaking around all the apartments trying to appear casual. Let's face it: none of them are actors, so they aren't pulling it off.

We're not spending the holiday in D.C. Daddy volunteered to rent us a cabin in Pidgeon Forge, Tennessee. When he mentioned this, a flash of fear touched Dana's face. I've seen pictures of some of the places he's picked in the past; I understood her fear. Gram made him promise he'd pick a very nice cabin since we're pretty much going to be freezing our as ... pirations off. He guaranteed us the place was great. I heard DA telling Dana what he was going to do to Dad if it wasn't. Later on, I think I'll ask my guy what "putting balls in a sling" means; it sounds painful.

We're leaving in the morning. Our flight's at 9:20. I tried to tell them all, this was vacation, but, with three FBI agents and the mother of four, the term sleeping in doesn't exist. We kids have decided if they're making us get up early just to catch a flight, we're not going to make this trip an easy one.

Oh, yeah. I forgot. All four of us are going to be together on this trip. Dad (Do not ask me how he did it) was able to convince S.B.'s and Christian's parents to let them tag along so we could all be together.

It wasn't a big deal for Christian's parents: they were planning on being out of the country for the holidays and Christian was just going to hang out with his brothers (The Bombshell Twins as S.B. and I have dubbed them) and Terrence. Suzannah Blake's parents were tougher. It's not they're deeply religious or anything; it's just this is a big family thing with them. S.B. and I have figured out it has something to do with our mutual dream, vision or whatever from Halloween. Her parents haven't said anything about her background but both of us have put two and two together and come up with S.B. I mean, both of her parents are geneticists and they used to work for the government and she has most of the abilities that I have. We figured they want to be with her as much as possible because you never know when your friendly neighborhood MIB (Does anyone know if the females are called WIBs?) or alien might come calling. Anyway, Dad had to promise that next Christmas I'll spend it with them. He wasn't too happy about that, but he went along with it because he wants this holiday to be perfect for me. He really can be sweet.

Suzannah Blake is spending the night here. Dad says so we can get a good night's rest and be ready to go early in the morning. This man still has not figured out young girls yet. We'll be lucky if we get any sleep tonight. We've got some major discussion ahead of us. We have it on pretty good authority that Kate's going to ask Christian to the Freedom Rally Dance on MLK Day. We have to figure out our strategy now, so that we can prepare our counter-measures for an offensive strike. Yeah, I know this isn't some major military takeover; this is worse. This is elementary school politics; the fall-out could affect our lives through high school ... or worse, college. It's time to nip this in the bud.

*I still don't understand why you write in that thing. To me, it seems like a total waste of time.*

I tried to ignore the wonderful voice of my best friend as it bombarded my brain, but it was a lost cause. If I didn't answer her she'd hound me until I did; ten year olds can be such a pain. *That's fine for you, but journals are an important part of my family. My dad has one and Dana and now, me. It's our way of knowing where we've been and where we're heading.*

*You know. If you don't stop quoting Agent Scully so much, she's going to start charging you.* Suzannah Blake walked over to my desk. She had arrived about an hour ago and after we had set up the roll-away bed, Dad helped her with her meds and I decided to write. Now she's back. *And you're all the happier for it.* I looked around to make sure there wasn't a Mulder hiding out anywhere. *He's on the phone with Agent Scully coordinating things.* She looked down at the bandage on her arm.

*He's actually gotten pretty good at giving the shots. I'm impressed.* Dad had been practicing a lot especially since Dana had told him she refused to be the only one who gave me my shots. Dad had whined until she had conceded and also strong-armed Gram and DA into learning. Thank goodness they now had dummies to practice on or else I would have looked and felt like a pin cushion. *You are such a baby.* Oh yeah. This coming from the oh-so-mature woman of ten. I rolled my eyes as I thought about how I'd had to sit through months of this kind of thing. It was like she had won the lottery and she wanted everyone to know. Like ten was a major milestone or something. *You'll understand when you finally hit it. With age comes wisdom.* Oh yeah. That's not what the benefits people say about my dad.

"Oh, and you are so wise." I spoke out loud because I know she hates it when I change communication modes. S.B. is more used to staying in one area for long periods of time; I'm not. With a man like Fox Mulder for a Dad, you have to be able to switch gears at the drop of a hat ...

or in his case, a gun. "So, O Wise One, what do you suggest we do now?"

*I think both of you should get ready for bed. We've got an early call in the morning so that we can make it to the airport on time.* Bust-ed.

*You should have known I wasn't going to stay on the phone all night.* Uh huh. It was Dana; I've seen them go at it for hours. Nothing would have surprised me. *Okay, Miss Smarty-Pants. Nothing surprises you; so, then you should expect this. I'll be probing the room several times during the night to make sure you're both asleep and not planning poor Kate's demise for even thinking of deeming herself worthy of one of your guys. Then, if I so much as hear a grumble in the morning, I'll assign both of you to clean-up duty the whole two weeks we're at the cabin.

You. Will. NOT. Be. Ruining. This. Vacation. For. Anyone. Do I make myself clear, ladies?* Oh yeah, LOUD and clear.

Suzannah Blake and I knew when we'd been cornered. We looked at each other and conceded defeat together. "Yessir." This was humiliating.

There is nothing worse than having a parent who is almost as telepathic as you are. Why couldn't I have been lucky like S.B. and Dante; they were able to get away with murder and I couldn't say a cuss word without getting nailed.

I heard him mind-chuckle. *You said it: you're just lucky.* "Are you girls all packed and ready?" We nodded. "Good. I want you in bed with lights ready to be out in twenty." He turned to me and shielded against S.B. *Are you going to need me to help you sleep, Squirt?*

I had to think about it for a minute. Dad had started singing me to sleep a few months ago. He believed it helped the nightmares that had come back; I sort of agreed with him. When I'd drift off to sleep, I'd hear his voice and I'd definitely feel safer. Otherwise, I'd wake up around three in the morning screaming my lungs out and hoping he'd remember not to shoot me. I weighed my options: having Suzannah Blake tell everyone my dad sang me to sleep or having her tell everyone I have 'baby' nightmares. No choice. *Yes, please.* He gave me that wonderful smile that reached his eyes and I knew I'd made him happy. Dana and I have figured out he really lives to make the people around him happy and safe. We have to remind each other of that when he gets to be too overprotective. I suppose that's the price you have to pay for devotion.

He bent over and kissed my head. *If you like, I can do it only for you?

It'll cut down on the embarrassment factor.* Doesn't he just give you warm fuzzies?

*Nah. I don't care if she knows. She can only dream about her dad singing her to sleep; I've got the real thing and it's worth a little ribbing.* You would have thought I had told him the Consortium had all been disbanded and forced to work for the Lone Gunmen as messenger boys with the look that came over his face. Isn't it amazing how much of his self-worth is tied into how we feel about him? That hurts me because he really does deserve so much for what he's done. So, I try to make him see that in all the little things I do for him. He is my dad, after all.

*Okay. I'll be back in a few.*

He left and we started preparing for bed. I let S.B. go in the bathroom first, so that I could write all of this down. In the morning, I'll make it an official journal entry. Here's hoping we all have pleasant dreams.

Holiday Journal, Entry #10

December 19th
En route to Pidgeon Forge, Tennessee
1:47 pm

Well, we're in Tennessee. Home of Dollywood and Nashville. The plane ride was not fun. There was so much turbulence that even Dad prayed.

The flight staff were all in moods and the music channel somehow was stuck on an alternative rock station. By the time it was over, none of us cared what the cabin looked like. We were going to treat it like a mansion.

Guess what? Never mind, I think I'll tell you. Trini and Keemo gave me my Christmas present early. I'm now the proud owner of a laptop computer! Dare knew about it and she bought me a journal program. So, with this entry, I've gone technical! Now I can log things in as they happen.

DA's driving (It's a power thing) and Gram's in the passenger seat. The rest of us are spread out in the back. I've never been in an RV before, but I could learn to like it. For the last few miles we've been entertaining each other with crazy questions. You know, stuff like, what are hyenas really laughing at, what makes a dolphin smile, why does Hawaii have interstates. Stuff like that. Some of the answers have been serious, while others have been more out there than my dad.

It's my turn. "Daddy, since you're red-green color-blind, how can you be sure they're little gray men?"

For a minute there was silence and then all of the adults started laughing so hard. DA had to pull over or risk an accident. I was confused; this was one of my serious questions and I really wanted to know.

Dana had tears streaming down her face from laughing and she turned back to Dad. "Yeah, Mulder. (Hiccup) How can you be so sure?"

"Very funny, you two," he managed to gasp out. "I think we'd better change the subject; my boss is in the front seat."

DA sobered up rather quickly. "She's serious? You're red-green color-blind?" With the tone he was using, all of us lost the laughter ... but fast. Dad gave him a nervous smile. "Sh ... oot! How did you pass trials?"

"Honestly?"

"I'd prefer that."

Dad looked around the camper to see how much of this we were actually paying attention to. I don't think he liked what he saw, but he went ahead and answered. "I ... umm ... sort of influenced the person in charge to ignore it."

"How the hell were you able to do that?" DA didn't care that Dana and Gram threw him a look for using one of those words; he was angry.

"Looking back, I couldn't have told you how I did it back then. Now, I can see it probably had to do with the gifts." He shrugged. "I kept expecting them to say I didn't meet the requirements due to my disability, but they never did. I remember talking to one of the administrators and hoping that he would just forget that section of my application. I checked back a year or so after I was in and there was no mention of it in my file."

"No mention of the talk?" Dana asked.

"No mention of me being color-blind."

DA was shaking his head as he pulled back out on the road. Even though he's had time to get used to Dad's and my abilities, he's still not comfortable with them. Whenever he's faced with what we can do, he seems to file it away in a part of his brain reserved strictly for weird Mulder stuff. "Leave it to you to find a way around one of the toughest and strictest entrance programs in the country. Thank God, I'm not so easy to manipulate."

"That's what you think, Dear. Have you noticed the direction your tie collection has been going in?" The laughter was back in Gram's voice.

DA's eyes swiftly swung to the rearview mirror and watched as Fox Mulder turned beet red and squirmed in the seat. There was a warning in those eyes and I think Dad got the message. DA turned to look at Gram. "How much further to the town?"

"This is the exit coming up." She glanced at a little slip of paper she had in her hand. "According to the instructions, the megastore should be on the outskirts of town. We need to stop there and pick up supplies."

She turned to face the rest of us. "Since I don't think we'll be coming back down any time soon, I would advise you all to get everything you need now. Fox, you get snack stuff; Walter'll get the extra stuff like ammenities and batteries and I'll get the perishables. Dana, you're around Fox more than the rest of us so you should purchase all of the emergency medical supplies. You'll know what you'll need extras of."

"Hey! I'm not that bad!" We all stopped and just stared at him. "Okay.

So maybe I am, but no more than anyone else." Still no movement from us.

"Okay, fine. We might as well take stock out in Johnson & Johnson! It's not like it's a criminal offense or something."

Dana couldn't resist. Not that I blame her. "With the way you get into scrapes and trouble, it should be."

December 19th
Cabin outside of Pidgeon Forge, Tennessee
4:00 pm

It took us forever to get through the store. DA had a new platinum card and Gram had a few more ideas of how to break it in. Needless to say, I don't plan on being over at his place when he get's the bill.

We drove about twenty minutes more and finally reached the road that would take us to our two-week home away from home. All the adults were nervous the closer we got. Dad's taste was being questioned by three of them and the fourth was just hoping the place would meet with everyone's satisfaction. We kids were just enjoying the ride. You just don't know how much children love when their authority figures are uncomfortable.

Makes us feel less inferior.

As we took the last curve, everyone gasped. The place was ... well, ...

gorgeous! To call it a cabin would be doing it a great disservice. The only thing this place had in common with a cabin was that they were both made out of wood. The place was huge! It looked like it had three floors and balconies on the second and third floors that went all the way around. It was framed by woods on both sides and it almost looked liked something off the cover of a magazine. Judging by the silence, I think it was safe to say we were all impressed. If the inside looked half as nice as the outside, Dad could probably expect a really nice Christmas.

DA stopped the RV under the extended carport. "Well, if the instructions were right, this is the place." He shrugged at Gram. "Anyone brave enough to see if the key works in the lock?"

"I'll do it," Dante smirked. "Less likely chance that if we are at the wrong place the occupants will shoot a kid." DA must have agreed because he handed the keys to him, but he still kept his eye on him as he exited our transport and headed for the front door. The pride practically rolled off the older man as he watched the boy. I was almost tempted to tell him Dante had scanned the house like S.B. and I had and he knew there was no threat waiting for him. He just wanted to look good to DA.

Don't ask me why I didn't snitch; I couldn't tell you anyway. I think I sensed something more between them and I didn't want to mess it up for them. They needed each other and I didn't have the heart to deny them that. Of course, if anybody ever reads this, I'll deny everything.

Dante ran back to the RV and opened the door. "The joint's clear. Though why anyone in their right mind would rent a place like that to a guy like Fox is beyond me." Dana tossed him his duffel bag. If he hadn't caught it, the shot would have connected with his head. Not that I blame her. "Watch it! Sheesh! You say one thing against the guy and bags start flying." He came back inside, steering way clear of Dana, and helped Gram with some of the stuff.

We all started moving our things inside except for Dad. He hadn't been out of hospital that long and he was still recuperating from the shooting. It had been decided that he would stay in the camper where it was warm until we had everything inside the house and the place on it's way to warming up. Being the type of person he is, he complained and griped that he was fine (which he was thanks to his being what he was), but Dana wouldn't hear it (even though she knew what he was and that he was probably fine). Bottom line: I think Dana was having a hard time accepting that her partner had survived two fatal gunshots and was walking around like all he'd received was a couple of scrapes. I still don't know why she's surprised; from what I hear about their old cases, this is par for the course for him.

In short order, we and all of our stuff were inside. The place was incredible! It was huge and everything was done in beautiful, shiny woods. Gram immediately headed for the kitchen and from the delighted sounds coming from that direction, I'm sure she was thrilled with what she found. Dad had definitely outdone himself this time.

S.B. and I headed upstairs to check out the rooms. We found three, all decorated in soft colors with wood accents, and chose the black-and-white room. We dumped our stuff and headed out to the others who had just come upstairs. "S.B. and I checked and there are three rooms." I pointed to the room behind us. "We picked this one for us.

There're two double beds in two of the rooms and one large bed in the third big room at The End of the hall."

"That's perfect," Gram took over. "Dana, you're with the girls and Fox, you're with the boys. Walter, you take that stuff into the big room. We c..."

"And where are you sleeping, Mom?"

"Why in the big room, of course." A pure Scully look passed between the two women that had all the rest of us moving out of the line of fire.

"Is there a problem with that, Dana?"

"Don't you see it?"

"No," Gram replied as if she wasn't just answering this question, "I don't see a problem at all."

For a minute, I thought Dana was going to lose it right then and there, but, she seemed to remember there were kids around and took control of herself. "Fine. I see how things stand and I won't fight you on it, but I. Don't. Have. To. Like. It." She turned toward our room. "Come on, Girls. Let's unpack and see what other little surprises are waiting for us." Needless to say, we didn't dawdle. In fact, it would be safe to say we snapped to attention like old army campaigners. The ex-Marine would have been proud, except, his eyes were clouding over at the thought of coming between the mother and daughter.

The unpacking took no time at all and I soon found myself outside with my small band of demons. Dad's description; not mine.

"Man, I thought for sure Dana and Margaret were going to come to blows on the landing. The tension was so thick, I kept expecting to pick shrapnel out of my hide."

I glared at Dante. "Keep talking. The night's still young."

"And so are you, Runt."

"That's enough you two. We've got enough crap going on with the adults; we don't need any more with you guys." My poor, sweet Christian. I'd forgotten how much he hated conflict. He'd told me about how when he was four his dad had stepped in on a fight at one of his campaign stops. The Senator had tried to calm the two guys down, but one of them was too far gone to listen. In the midst of his yelling and swearing, he'd pulled a knife and proceeded to go after the other guy. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten the Senator was between them and had gotten him instead. Can you imagine what seeing your father bleeding on a floor in the middle of an angry scene would do to a little kid? Ever since then he couldn't handle raised voices or heavy tensions. S.B. and I had promised ourselves we wouldn't cause him any discomfort. I guess it was time to bring the Dante into it. "I want to enjoy this Christmas; I don't get that many chances to be with people I care about on holidays."

Suzannah Blake and I nodded and I suppose Dante picked up on something because he quickly diverted our attentions. "Let's go scouting for Christmas trees. Skinner said we'd be the ones to pick the perfect one for the festivities, so, we should be in agreement on the one we want."

He headed toward the woods to the right of the house and the rest of us followed. "Stay together so we won't have to go screaming for each other when we see one we like."

I followed him, even though I had a funny feeling about this.

Inside the cabin

The adults were each in their separate corners working on their own things when S.B. ran in. Dana said in that moment, the girl looked positively wild with fright. She ran straight to the smaller agent and grabbed her. "We .... need ... Gotta ... help..." She almost couldn't get out what she was trying to say.

Mulder had moved toward the girl and was trying to calm her. "It's okay, S.B. Take deep breaths."

"No. We've got ... to go." She pulled Dana more. "The boys.... they're ... wi ..with her, ... but she ... needs you ... to come."

"Is something wrong with Hunter? S.B.?"

"She .. had a as... asthma attack... No .... inhaler. Come on!"

December 19th
Cabin
6:45 pm

Dana came down the stairs to find the rest of the group waiting for her in the den. She walked over to her partner and sat down. "She's fine, just a little shaky. She's napping right now." Looking at the children.

"I wasn't able to get her to tell me what happened. Any luck here?"

"The kids were just about to tell us when you came down," Walter explained. "It took us this long to get them calmed enough to tell." He motioned to the boy closest to him. "Dante?"

Ever since the adults had found them trying to help Hunter, he'd had an almost fearful air about him. He knew what he was about to tell them wouldn't be well received, but he had to do it. Walter expected it from him. And, for some odd reason, he couldn't let Walter down. "Once we got outside, I convinced everyone to go check out trees for Christmas. I knew you had said we'd be the ones choosing and I wanted us to agree on a good one before you guys came with us. The others agreed and we set out. We hadn't been in the woods more than ten minutes when we heard something thrashing around." Watching Walter and Margaret's reactions.

"I didn't sen ....I didn't see Hunter or S.B. getting upset over anything, so I thought it must be pretty safe. Christian thought it might be an animal stuck in a trap, so we kind of started running. We hit a clearing and ... that's .... when we saw...."

"When you saw what?"

Dante couldn't go on so Suzannah Blake took over. "That's when we saw the .... reindeer."

Dana shook her head like she had heard wrong. "Rein- what?"

"We saw a reindeer - complete with antlers and everything."

"S.B., I'm sure it was a deer and a male one at that - hence the antlers, but I don't think it was a reindeer."

S.B. stood. "It was! We all saw it and we saw something else too.

Something that sent Hunter into her attack."

Margaret decided to humor the girl before she became more agitated.

"What else did you see?"

"We saw, ..." The girl swallowed trying to work up the courage to finish. "It had .... a ... red nose." Watching the reactions of incredulity. "I'm not saying it's like Rudolph or anything, but I know what I ... we saw." Giving up. "It was red-nosed reindeer!"

For about ten seconds, there was total silence. Then everyone, except Mulder and Christian, began talking at once. The grown-ups were trying to explain what the kids had probably really seen and the kids were telling the grown-ups what they had seen. As the voices got louder, Christian stared at Mulder who had gone strangely quiet. He realized it was a first and he, for one, wanted to know why.

He stood. "BE QUIET!" All faces turned to the boy and the room went silent. "S.B.'s told you what we saw and no amount of convincing is going to change that. What I'm curious about is why Agent Mulder isn't saying anything." Watching the agent. "That to me is the truly strange thing here."

As everyone realized the boy had a point, Mulder found himself rather quickly on the hotseat. He knew the gig was up - he just hadn't expected it to happen so soon. "I, ... ummm."

"Mulder, why aren't you saying anything?" His partner asked.

"Probably because I kind of expected this maybe."

"You expected what?"

"For the last fortnight, there have been reports in this area of various sightings of an unidentified flying object." He sighed as Walter and Dana glared at him. "No, not that kind of UFO. This one was described as a five foot high Rangifer tarandus with a sanguine proboscis."

Suzannah Blake couldn't pass up this chance. "That's what I said - a red-nosed reindeer!" It pays to be gifted.

Dana ignored the girl and headed straight for her partner. "Are you telling me this whole, "Let's go to Tennessee for Christmas", thing was so that you (poking him) could investigate a damn X-File! My perfect vacation away from strangeness has landed me right in the middle of one."

"No, ... well,... yeah .... Kind of." Nervously. "I thought it would be a great way to kill two birds with one stone. After all we'd been through in the last few months, this would be perfect." Holding his hands up in surrender. "And, it didn't seem like it was as dangerous as some of our other investigations or else you know I wouldn't have brought the kids."

A sound of part frustration, but mostly anger erupted from Dana as she lashed out at the man before her by hitting him where he'd been shot.

Though she knew the areas were mostly healed, the doctor in her knew they still smarted and she was quite satisfied with the grimace he graced her with. "That's just a taste of what you can expect if you come near me anytime soon. I'm going to go up and check on Hunter and then I'm going to try to sleep until I'm not angry at you any more. Which probably means until we leave here!" She turned and headed to the stairs. "Red-nosed reindeer, indeed! I'll show him red!"

As the diminutive red whirlwind left the room, the three children moved to Mulder's side in a show of solidarity ... or protection. He believed them; they had to keep him safe from Dana so that he could convince the others of what they had seen.

The cabin
12:04 am

Dana stood on the second floor balcony looking out at the trees swaying in the wind. She couldn't think of a more peaceful scene, but, unfortunately, she was anything but at peace. With hopes of feeling better, she spoke to the trees, knowing they would never tell. "How could this vacation have gotten this messed up on only the first day? We were supposed to be enjoying peace and family togetherness and instead we're smack in the middle of somebody's bad joke and my Mother's mid-life crisis."

"Is that what you think this is, Dana Kate?" A voice questioned from the shadows.

The daughter turned to face her mother. "I've given up on trying to figure out what this is, but I can tell you, it was either that descriptor or an empty-nest fling." Shrugging. "I think my first choice sounded a lot better, don't you?"

"Not particularly. I personally don't like either one of them. One, because I'm past mid-life and I don't feel like I'm in crisis and two, my nest has been empty for quite some time." Staring at her. "Why can't you accept that I might love him?"

Frustrated. "Because you don't know him!" Pausing. "Lemme tell you a little story, Mom. About a year or so ago, Mulder and I were on this case where the A.D. was being accused of murdering a high-priced call-girl he'd picked up for a one-night stand. During our investigation, we met a woman who informed us she was his wife of several years. We were knocked flat! Mulder and I didn't know he had a wife! And we weren't the only ones. I did some checking and outside of personnel and his secretary, no one else knew about her. She wasn't even down as his emergency contact, for goodness sakes! They called me when he was shot. It took her almost dying for him to acknowledge the marriage and try to work at it and it still ended up in divorce."

Stressing the point. "Up until right before Hunter came, we didn't even know which side he was on. The man did so much waffling, career politicians bowed to him. Is that the man you know? Is it, Mom?

Margaret Scully stood and calmly walked over to her daughter, but, unlike her outward appearance, her eyes shone with the Scully fire that often left grown men quaking. "Yes, Dana, it is. You make all of this sound like it just started a few weeks ago. Well, truth be known, I've been seeing Walter off-and-on as a friend since we buried Melissa. A few nights after you and Charlie and Bill had returned home, he showed up at the house offering his condolences. It was a horrible night and I didn't feel right turning him back out in it even though that's what he expected. I offered him a cup of coffee and he accepted. While it was brewing I asked him why he'd felt that he needed to do this on a night like that. And he told me. Walter Skinner sat at my table and nearly begged me for my forgiveness for any role he might have played in Melissa's death. I was flabbergasted to say the least and I almost tossed him out on his ear, but I looked into his eyes and I saw a sincerity that touched me. We talked for most of that night and I found out how scared he was for you and Fox and how much he wanted to help you, against everything his superiors were demanding. He told me how he couldn't stop himself from distancing himself from his wife." Seeing her daughter's surprise. "Oh, yes, that was one of the first things I knew about him. He took full responsibility for what was happening to his marriage and he admitted to me how much he wanted it to work.

"We met several times after that - on days that had special meaning to us and that couldn't be endured alone. He told me about that time and I believed in him enough to know he had nothing to do with that woman's death. I was with him on the night his divorce became final and I was the one who convinced him not to turn in Dante when he caught him trying to take his wallet." Shaking her head. "We almost fought to keep this from going any further, but it was a lost cause. The more I fought how I was feeling, the stronger those feelings got until I just had to admit them." She turned and looked out into the trees. "I realized I loved him. Not with the fire and passion of youth I had with your father, but with a warmth and strength and maturity that only a second love can bring. Never being one to back down from a challenge, I told him and for the first time since I buried the Captain, I felt alive as a woman when he told me he felt the same. I haven't looked back since then and I refuse to do so now." Turning her gaze back to her daughter. "I'd love to have your blessing on this, but, it won't put an end to us if you won't give it. The ball's in your court, Dana Kate."

Dana never had the chance to answer because a sudden streak of red crossed the sky and landed in the woods. Neither woman spoke or moved until they saw Mulder and Skinner running across the snow-covered yard in the direction of the strange light. "I need to be down there." She turned and headed back inside by way of her mom's room. "You make sure the kids stay inside and I'll talk to you when I get back."

The agent quickly bounded after her partner and their boss and caught up with them as they were just about at the clearing the kids had mentioned. Mulder ran ahead of them. "Did you see it, Scully? I'm telling you, from where I stood, it looked like what the kids were describing."

"And how far in La-La Land were you? You were below me and all I could make out was that red light. There is no way you could have seen a reindeer, red-nosed or otherwise."

"Oh ye of little faith. I know what I saw and this is where it was headed." They entered the clearing and found ... nothing. Not a hair .... err, ... piece of fur or hoof print or anything. "I don't understand," Mulder mused as he searched all over. "It had to have touched down here. This is the spot. I know it is."

"Sir, what did you see?"

"Honestly? A red streak across the sky." Apologetically to Mulder. "I wasn't at an angle to see anything more. Sorry, Mulder."

In frustration, the agent turned and continued searching for some sign of what he had seen, but, eventually, he had to admit it was a lost cause. With a shrug and his shoulders hanging almost to his knees, Mulder gave up and followed the others back to the house.

It was no surprise when the trio returned to find all four kids surrounding Margaret as she handed out hot cocoa. *No surprise at all,* Dana thought. *If this is how the rest of this vacation is slated to go, we're going to need more time off to recuperate from our time off.*

Holiday Journal Entry #11
December 21st
Cabin

It's four days till Christmas. Gee, it only seems like yesterday that we were celebrating the last days of Hanukkah. Well, maybe not yesterday.

Last week is probably more accurate.

Anyway, things have been very interesting since the last time I did a journal entry. Nobody's really been talking to anybody else. Oh, there's surface conversations, but there's no longer that sense of being comfortable with each other. Even my group's been feeling it, but, unlike the adults, we planned on doing something about our problems.

Today had been going pretty well. We were all trying to do normal stuff in preparation for the big day. Gram was down in the kitchen doing the cookie thing with help (if that's what you wanted to call it; for every twelve she'd bake, two would disappear) from the boys; Dana was out back checking out the car that was left with the house for use by the renters and Dad and DA were in the den decorating the tree we had finally decided on yesterday. Everybody was pretty much doing their own thing.

Some togetherness, huh?

Well, S.B. and I didn't want to be in the middle of most of the tension, so we had been up in the attic for most of the day. The view up here was wonderful and the stuff we found was just awesome, and it wasn't even dirty or cob-webby. The room was filled with tons of old clothes and papers and knick-knacks and we'd been having a ball!

*How's this, Hunter?* S.B. was twirling around in what looked like a powder blue flapper dress. I laughed because she had the hat on wrong.

*It's not on wrong, silly. This is how they wore them back then.*

*Oh. Well, either way, you look nice.* I struck a pose. *How about this one?* I had found this really pretty sunflower print dress with a matching sunflower hat and I thought I looked pretty good, but it always helped to have a second opinion. "Is it me, Dahling?"

"Definitely, Dahling. You look positively radiant."

"That's good because right now, I'm positively freezing my petals off."

We both laughed but managed to control ourselves. You just don't understand. When girls our ages get started laughing nothing short of apocalyptic proportions can stop us. The closest thing I can think of to use as an example is ... if like Hanson disbanded and declared they were going into the Holy Order. Ga, no laughter would be heard ever again.

Thinking. "It has gotten a tad nippier since we've been up here. Shall we venture downstairs and see if any cocoa is brewing?"

"Oh, yes, let's." We couldn't contain it any longer. The laughter broke free and stayed with us all the way down to the main hall. Dad and DA had finished the tree and Dana was sitting on the couch with the boys and they all looked up at us when they heard our laughter. They joined in at the sight we made, but we just ignored them as proper ladies of society should.

Gram must have been psychic because she came out of the kitchen with a tray of cookies and several mugs filled with what smelled like hot cocoa. DA jumped up to help her with the stuff and we gathered in the den.

I grabbed a couple of cookies and a mug and turned toward the tree.

"Wow. You guys did a pretty good job. I'm impressed."

DA pointed at my get-up. "Not half as impressed as I am at your own little decorating whirl. Where did you guys find this stuff?"

"In the attic. There's boxes and boxes and yet more boxes of things up there. It's great."

"And who gave you permission to go through other people's stuff, young lady?" Uh oh. I knew that tone. Dana used it on both me and Dad. I was in for it now.

"Relax, Scully. The guy I rented the place from was glad to hear children would be with us. He gave permission for them to play and have fun with whatever."

"How convenient." I was glad to know I wasn't the only one in her sights. "Does anyone else find this a bit strange? The perfect house in just the right spot complete with car and other amenities to ensure our comfort while we chase around a figment of some children's imaginations."

"Dana! Cruelty isn't necessary. The kids honestly believe what they saw and I know what I saw last night." If that wasn't a cannon roar, then I don't know what one is. Gram had just declared war.

We had all tentatively been tiptoeing around the fact that for the last two nights we had seen the red light and last night while Gram was outside helping gather natural decorations, she had been knocked over by what amounted to a big deer with antlers, fur around it's neck and something red around its nose area. Dana had immediately discounted what her mother had described as nothing more than mine, S.B's and Daddy's strong powers of suggestion. Something tells me Gram let her get away with it last night, but it wasn't gonna fly today.... No pun intended.

"I already explained to you what last night was. I didn't think we needed to go over it again."

"No, Dear. You didn't explain anything. You demanded that we accept your take on what I saw and then you marched back in and to bed. I never accepted your theory and nothing you say will convince me. I know what I saw and I know what knocked me over."

"You're as bad as Mulder. You are catering to these kids' fantasies.

Don't you realize you're doing more harm than good." For a moment, I thought Dana had forgotten that we were there. Not surprising. The four of us were keeping quiet so the wrath wouldn't turn on us. "Or, is your mind so wrapped up in other things lately that you've totally lost sight of reality?"

DA stood and blocked Dana's view of her mother. "That's enough, Dana.

You're lashing out on two levels when you're really angry at her over something else. Your mother doesn't deserve it and I won't stand for it."

"No one asked you to. You have no more right to be in this discussion than Mulder, and, I would appreciate if both of you would just stay out of it!"

Everyone watched as Dana ran outside. No one moved for a while, but then Gram and Dad both stood to go after her. DA stopped them. "You two watch the kids. I think it's time I had a little talk with my agent." He headed outside with his best no-nonsense air and I really felt sorry for my female fibbie.

Now was as good a time as any. "Gram," I caught her attention, "We're gonna go up to the sitting room and play some games. Okay?" I watched as she silently nodded and then I motioned for the others to follow.

As we were heading up the stairs, I saw my dad wrap Gram in his arms and try to soothe her. I was never more proud of him.

The Sitting Room

Once behind closed doors, Suzannah Blake spoke, "That was almost scary down there. I don't think I've ever seen Agent Scully that upset. I don't think I want to see her that upset again."

"She's afraid she's going to lose her mom and everyone's going to forget her dad," Dante quietly replied.

"You read her, Dante!" I was so mad. This is like a big no-no in my neck of the woods. "How could you do that? You invaded her privacy!"

When he turned on me, his eyes were jet black and I almost stepped back.

Almost. "Look, I don't hold to your mamby-pamby rules. If I want to know how to read a situation, I read the participants without their permission. It's kept me alive this long and I certainly don't plan on changing things."

"Enough, Guys! I'm sick and tired of all of this sniping. God knows if I wanted it, I could have just stayed home and gotten it in spades."

Christian looked like he was almost in tears. I think that, and what he was saying, made us back down quicker. "We came up to work together.

Don't let the adults messiness destroy our plans."

S.B. was quick to back him up. "He's right. The only way we can make the psi ring work is if we all work together. We already know two of us alone can't do it. It's gonna take you, me and Hunter to bring Christian in with us."

I knew they were right; I just didn't want to back down off the big cretin. If it wasn't for the fact that we needed him to do this, I wouldn't have been anywhere near him, but S.B. had read somewhere that three was better than two. Oh, well, whatever. "Sorry, Christian. I sorta lost focus on why we're up here. I like you and I want you to understand what we do and see."

"It's okay, Hunter, but you've gotta understand - Dante was raised a totally different way than us. What we might see as wrong is more a question of surviving for him. Give him a break." Hold on. Wait a minute. Is this my Christian defending the scum of the earth?

Something's not right. There is no way that my oldest friend could be siding with the Boy Blunder.

For the first time since we got here, I actually looked at the two of them. They stood side by side with a sorta "us against them" attitude. I knew they had been hanging out more with each other (Yeah, he was placed in A class at school), but I hadn't realized it was like that. This was going to take some getting used to.

"Okay. Fine. I won't blow my stack if he does something incredibly stupid again. I'll take into account his background and ignore him."

"I can live with that." Dante motioned for us to gather in the middle room. "Okay, from what I remember, we don't have to stand in any circles or hold hands or any of that crap. We just have to focus on Christian. Think about bringing him in."

Suzannah Blake looked like she was stretching for an athletic competition, but I didn't laugh because she would have kicked my butt because she was serious. This was serious; it just wasn't something kids did. "We all agree that Dante's going to be the control." The others nodded. "Right, Hunter?" She stared at me and I reluctantly nodded. I was with them; I just didn't want them to think I was happy about it.

"Good. According to the book I borrowed from Trini, everything's going to be kind of a jumble at first, but, if we concentrate, we should be able to do this. Christian, you need to open up to us. If you don't, everything we do is for nothing." She turned to Dante. "I think we're ready."

"Alright. Let's get started. Concentrate everything you have on Christian. Think of him talking to us. Focus inward." *I'm switching over now and I'm opening up. Brace yourselves. Who knows what we can expect.*

The back porch

Dana sat on the ornate swing pushing it just enough so it swung a little bit in each direction. Everytime she'd think of the things that had gone on and were going on inside, the swing rocked a bit more forcefully.

Unfortunately, for her, she didn't know who she was angrier with - them, or herself.

The storm door opening and closing snapped her away from her thoughts.

She stiffened as the AD came into view. "If Mom sent you out here, you can just turn right back around and tell her to forget it. I'd rather be alone right now."

"Your mother didn't send me out - I sent myself. I'm worried about you."

"I'm fine, so now you can go back inside where it's warm and not think about me any more."

"You honestly think it's that easy?" He moved closer and sat at the other end of the swing. "Then I guess you don't know me as well as you think. You've always been in my thoughts because you're one of my best agents, but, ever since I realized how much Meg means to me, you've been in them as family also."

Dana gasped. "I'll give you the agent part, but you're stretching the rest."

"Why? Because you can't believe I love your mother enough that I want to make her a part of my family and become a part of hers?" Cupping his chin and taking a deep breath. "Dana, I love your mother more than I thought possible because she was my best friend first. When I really needed her, she was there. Through some of the toughest and most painful times of my life, she was there with enough support that I felt I could move forward. In return, I've tried to help her deal with things and I think she's appreciated my being there as well. We never pressured each other or expected more, but when it came, it was welcomed. It got to the point where I didn't ... no, couldn't reflect on the day unless my Meg was there to help me sort out everything. Now, when she calls, my secretary patches her straight through because she knows Meg's voice will calm the worst of my moods. I can't picture my life from now on without her."

"So, what are your intentions? Are you planning on moving closer together? Moving in together? What? What should I expect?"

Walter turned and looked the younger woman straight in the eye. "You can expect that as soon as we get back, I'll be asking your mother to marry me."

"You can't be serious!"

"More serious than I've ever been about anything."

"Then you're setting yourself up for a tremendous hurt because my mother would never do that to my father. She was and is devoted to him."

Walter sighed. "That's what all of this is really about, isn't it? You think I'm trying to usurp your father in your Mother's affections."

Pausing. "I know there is no way I can ever take Bill Scully's place, and I'm not trying to nor do I want to. I know he was the great love of her life and I refuse to try to step into those shoes. What I do want is to try to make these future years happy and full of love. Meg shouldn't have to spend the rest of her life without someone to share it with."

Dana's eyes flashed. "She has someone to share them with. She has three children and three grandchildren and she's adopted Mulder and Hunter and ..."

"And they all have lives of their own." He shook his head. "You claim you know so much about your mother, but you don't even know what one of her biggest fears is. Dana, your mom's afraid of not being needed. For most of her life, she was needed. Even your father needed her to make sense of the world and what he had to see and deal with. She was his grounding and he knew there was nothing better." Standing and turning to face her. "To quote your mom, 'After the Captain died, I felt almost like I'd been set adrift in that ocean he loved so much. I felt like I didn't have a place any more. The kids all had lives of their own and weren't dependant on me because I raised them to stand on their own.

But, suddenly, I realized how much I really needed that.'"

Tears flowed down Dana's cheeks. "She never said anything."

Walter kneeled in front of the woman and took her hands in comfort.

"Probably because she knew you'd have dropped everything to help her and she didn't want you giving up all that you had become just to make her feel needed." He lowered his head to stare at the floor. "I don't have to drop everything to make her feel that way." Looking back at her. "I do need her. And, I love her and if she'll have me, I'll try my best to never have her doubt her decision again." He stood and released her hands. "You have my promise, Dana, that as long as I live, your mother would never have cause to regret her being with me." He turned to leave and headed to the door. "When you're ready, we'll be waiting."

As he entered the house and closed the door, only the forest sounds reigned. Then, quietly at first and then with much more volume, sobs could be heard echoing through the trees.

Holiday Journal Entry #12
December 24th
Cabin

We were all gathered in the kitchen for lunch. Gram had demanded it for the last three days because she said, "This is supposed to be a family holiday and By God, if it isn't going to be." No one argued because that would have been stupid, ... not to mention dangerous. So, we'd all gathered for lunch, even though a lot of other stuff was on our minds.

I had been sticking pretty close to my dad lately. Even though my birth parents and I never celebrated holidays, the closer we got to this one, the more I missed them. I remembered last year, my mom letting me help her weave the Mkeka for Kwanzaa. She also had allowed me to pick the Mazao, Vibunzi and the Muhindi because she said I was getting old enough to know how to do these things. Looking back, I know she was preparing me to do this on my own; she knew she wouldn't be here this year. That made me sad.

Daddy wasn't a bright ray of sunshine either. This time of year especially reminded him of Aunt Samantha. His loss shined in his eyes and added to the whooped-puppy look he'd been sporting ever since Dana had snapped at him. On top of thoughts of Aunt Sam, he was also dealing with the loss of my parents. He had told me that even when they didn't communicate for months at a time, he always knew my folks were out there and they'd welcome him with open arms and love. That was gone, now, and he missed it more than he ever thought he would. When he told me that, I wrapped him in my arms as best I could and we rocked ourselves.

Dana and Gram weren't happy either. Though a truce had been called, they still needed to talk. Unfortunately, the last few days hadn't afforded them the chance. In between last minute shopping and decorating and trying to keep us kids occupied, they hadn't had a moment's peace.

Poor DA didn't know how to feel. I took a chance and read him (With Dante watching me the whole time and refrains of "What about privacy?"

echoing through my head) and he seemed really happy to be here with his Meg and the rest of his family, but really sad that Dana was so upset.

It took me a while to realize that things were really serious between him and Gram and that my adopted grandparents could very soon be getting together. Wow.

About the only ones not really affected by everything were Suzannah Blake, Dante and Christian. Well, they were sorta affected. All of us were still feeling the headaches we'd been getting since we tried the psi ring. These, thank goodness, were a whole heck of a lot better than the major one we got after our first try. Dante had to blanket the adults so they wouldn't hear me, S.B. and Christian get physically ill from the pain. I swore from that day on to leave broiled shrimp alone; it was not a pretty sight the second time around. Anyway, after about an hour and a lot of children's Tylenol, we tried again ... and this time we succeeded! All four of us now had the feeling of each other's presences inside of us. And, as long as we were within so many feet of each other, we could all mind-speak. It was so cool. The headaches were worth it because we would never be alone again, ... unless one of us wanted to be of course. We hadn't told the adults because they wouldn't have understood and none of us wanted to be grounded until we were thirty.

Lunch, thankfully, was drawing to a close. This one had seemed longer than all of the other meals. I stood to help Gram with the dishes when she suddenly stopped and this look came over her face. "I know what we can do!"

DA had been watching her so he wasn't really shocked at her exclamation.

"What are you talking about, Meg?"

"I was just thinking how we all seemed like we were at a funeral rather than a Christmas celebration and then I remembered something Bill and I use to do to get the kids out of our hair on Christmas Eve."

"Oh, Mom, no." Even though she was saying one thing, the biggest smile was on Dana's face. "It's cold out there. They're predicting snow this evening. We can't do that."

I walked over to Gram and looked up at her. My interest had been piqued.

"Can't do what, Gram?"

"How would you guys like to do a holiday scavenger hunt? The ground's not too completely covered and if we divide up into two teams, we can find all sorts of stuff." Her eyes twinkled as she looked around. "So, whaddya say?"

My crowd left no doubt how we felt about the idea. Dad and Dana were jiggling their ears after we all yelled yes. DA nodded his agreement and looked over and the other two. Dad smiled and then turned toward Dana.

She watched all of us, never letting a bit of emotion show on her face.

We all held our breath. It wouldn't be any fun if Dana wasn't with us.

"Alright, but only if we all participate in making the lists. When you and Dad used to do them, we kids felt like you wanted us out for a long time because some of that stuff was hard." She grinned again. "And, we have to do teams totally by chance."

She'd agreed! Yes! This was going to be so great. Gram and DA ushered us all into the den and Dana found some paper and pen and we started tossing out ideas of what to put on the list.

"Does it have to be from outdoors?"

"Can it be an animal?"

"How about something from the RV?"

"Can we use the whole forest or are we restricted to a certain part?"

"Can we take snacks? Playing in the woods makes me so hungry." That one was from Dad just in case you couldn't tell.

Between the laughter and the ribbing, somehow we made a list and a copy.

Daddy brought out this silly Christmas hat and we wrote our names on a piece of paper and dumped them in it. We decided that Gram and DA should be the team leaders and they would pick their teams from the hat.

Gram went first. "Dana." Her daughter jumped up and kissed her mom's cheek and then licked her tongue out at all the rest of us. We all started shouting , "Fixed." and Dad and DA did a chorus of "Conspiracy"

but Gram ignored us. "You saw it was totally by chance, so GET OVER IT!"

It was so funny because then she licked out her tongue and gave Dana a high-five.

DA was next. "Hunter." Yes! We were gonna kick their tales. I ran up and gave him my own high-five.

"Suzannah Blake." If I hadn't been on DA's team, it would have been a girls vs boys hunt and that could have been nasty.

"Mulder." Now, it was their turn to do the fixed yelled. We just turned and patted and dusted each other's backs and shook hands with DA.

Now was the moment of truth. I crossed my fingers that Gram's hand would go directly to the Dante's slip. I held my breath as she pulled it out and opened it. Her eyes twinkled in merriment and I could feel my triumph as she read, "Christian." Huh? My shoulders slumped. No.

DA walked over and slapped Dante's back and ruffled his hair. "Looks like you're with us, Son."

Dante glowed. "Then, I'm with the best team." DA returned the glow. It was sickening.

We gathered in our groups and decided that we'd be back right before sundown around 5:20 or so. Then the heckles and challenges started so that by the time we headed out, both teams were primed and ready to win.

The Blues had been drop-kicked into the garbage and none of us were feeling any pain.

5:45 pm
The cabin

Maggie tried not to look at the clock on the wall as she entertained the children in front of her. by the time the big hand hit the nine, she knew it was a lost cause. *Where are they? Can't they see it's started snowing? The kids are probably freezing and Lord knows what's going on with Walter and Fox. Maybe we sh...*

Dana entered the room with her coat and a high-powered flashlight in hand. "We'll give them fifteen minutes and then we're going after them.

S. B., you and Christian will stay here just in case they make it back before we do."

The kids nodded and Maggie released her breath. She was glad her daughter had taken charge and was prepared to go in search of the others. The boys may have been the ones in the miltary, but Dana had the soul and strength of the Captain. "Just in case, we better take some blankets and some mugs of coffee and cocoa."

While the women gathered the things they would need, the time sped by and they were both shocked to hear the clock chime on the hour. Dana and Maggie headed for the door. "Don't let anyone in unless it's the rest of the group or us, okay Christian?" She watched the boy nod. "Good. If they do make it back before we do, tell them to stay here and we'll be back shortly."

The women left and Christian locked the door and returned to S.B. in front of the fire. "I think we should have told them what we had felt.

That way they wouldn't have gone out there blind."

"But then they would have asked how we both knew and we would've had to told. That would have opened up some stuff we didn't want and couldn't handle on our own. Plus, we promised we wouldn't."

"But our friends are out there. I'd rather deal with their wrath than their deaths."

"Stop that! We don't know what we felt was danger; this stuff is too new. We just have to believe they were just excited about finding things. That's all." Pleading with the boy to agree. "We just have to believe."

Christian nodded and wrapped her in his arms in comfort. "We just have to believe."

6:52 pm
A clearing surrounded by rocks

It was cold. Real cold. And dark. Very dark. The only light came from the area over the rocks and below us. A steady beam of red cut through the darkness and kept us aware of what was going on.

Dad was engrossed in the display and, in between us checking on DA, Dante and I were as well. It was pretty incredible.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Our hunt had taken us pretty deep into the woods. We had taken the woods to the left of the cabin and the others had taken the ones to the right. Within the first hour, we had found most of our stuff and had decided to go deeper because we had plenty of time. That's when the problems began. Dad and Dante had to do a nature call and ended up getting twisted around and headed in the opposite direction from us. By the time DA and I found them, we were really confused and the forest was much denser.

We had decided to just try a direction and hope for the best when we heard a noise up ahead of us. Dad got this weird look in his eye right before he took off after it and we followed him trying to get him to stop. In our haste, DA didn't see an exposed root and went flying. This caused Dad to stop and head back to us to see what the problem was.

Dante and I were checking to see where DA was hurt when he returned.

Together, we figured out it was a twisted ankle and we realized that we were kind of stuck out there until Dana and Gram found us. Daddy made the suggestion to move into a clearing he had passed because it wasn't so icky and moldy (I hate mold). We managed to get DA to the clearing and decided to just sit and wait. Something caught Dante's eye and he looked through a space in the rocks down to the clearing below us and froze. We couldn't get a response out of him for a good five minutes and then he just sat back and tried to mouth something. I decided to look myself and I couldn't believe my eyes either. Dad pulled me back and, when I just looked at him with a dazed expression, decided to look for himself.

He sat back and stared at me and Dante and just started laughing quietly. We soon joined him and poor DA must have thought we all had flipped because he quickly maneuvered himself to see what we had seen.

Same reaction.

Which brings us back to where we were and what we saw. I don't know how to say this other than to just say it, so, here goes. In the clearing below us, we saw....

"Mulder.... Walter.... Hunter.... Dante." Dana's voice floated to us from the woods. "If you can here us, let us know where you are."

Dad hopped up and headed in the direction of the voice and soon he was back with Dana and Gram right behind him. Gram hurried to DA's side and started wrapping him in one of the blankets. She then moved on to us as Dana checked out the ankle.

"Even though I know you're freezing, this ice went a long way in keeping your foot from swelling. Once we get you back to the house, you're going to be very thankful for it." Dana started wrapping the foot with the bandage from the first aid kit she had brought. DA winced a couple of times, but kept pretty silent.

"You kids are freezing. I sure hope we don't have to deal with Christmas colds. I don't think Christian or Suzannah would understand." Gram wrapped us in blankets and looked at us bewildered at our lack of speech. "What's going on? Are you guys okay?"

I nodded and then looked up to the sky where the red beam was dancing across the clouds. She followed my eyes and then looked back at me frowning. "The ... opening... in the rocks. Won't believe what you see."

"What? Hunter, I don't understand." Dante could see that she didn't, so he tugged at her and pointed at the little area. Gram followed his hand and looked over. She couldn't see anything, so she decided to move closer and look. A gasp suddenly filled our little grotto. "Omigod.

Dana, you have to see this."

Dana looked up puzzled at her Mother's reaction. "Mom, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Just come here and look. Please."

Hearing the urgent tone in Gram's voice, she followed and waited until her mother moved out of the opening. "I don't understand what's going on here and I'm not sure I want to stick my head in there if I'm going to end up like the rest of these guys."

"Dana, trust me, you need to look."

"Okay, fine." We all watched as Dana put her head through and listened to her gasp. She was there for a few minutes and when she did pull away, she accidently knocked some rocks down into the clearing. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that the noise from below were departure sounds and why Dad nearly jumped over the rocks when he heard them. Dana scooted back to DA and sent an apologetic smile toward my disappointed fibbie. "Sorry." She looked over at us and saw we were turning blue and came to a quick decision. "Mulder, I need you to help me with Walter. He and the kids are pretty near frozen and we need to get them back to the house as soon as possible." Seeing him start to object. "Look, we can discuss ... this just as well in a nice warm environment. What we ...

saw is not going to change between here and the house. What could change is Dante or Walter or your daughter coming down with a nasty cold or worse. Mom can guide the kids, but it's going to take both of us to get Walter to the house." She held out her hand. "Come on, Partner, I need your help."

Dad looked at her, the outcropping and then he looked at us. He nodded and moved to help DA up. Dana stood on the other side of DA and put her arm around him to steady him. Gram moved in between me and Dante and slowly our little group limped our way back to the cabin.

9:20 pm
Cabin

As soon as we made it back to the house, Dana helped Gram get DA in the bath and then she forced Dante into the shower on our floor and me into the bath on the third floor. By the time we were all finished, the rest of the gang was waiting for us in the den with a full fire, blankets and warm snacks.

DA was set up in the big chair with his foot propped up and Dad was seated on the sofa with his arms wide waiting for me. I ran to him and snuggled under the blankets. Dante sat beside DA and Gram and the other kids gathered by Dana.

Christian was almost bursting with unanswered questions and he didn't give us much time to get settled. "So? What happened? Agent Scully said you guys saw something. What'd you see?"

"Can't this wait until they've warmed up a bit more?" Dana was trying, I'll give her that. Of course, she forgot who she was dealing with.

"Come on, Scully. We've held out long enough. The kids are warming up, Walter's under the watchful gaze of your mom and we're all together. No time like the present."

Dana wasn't too happy, but she went along with it. "Fine. Since you're so gung-ho about it, why don't you start?"

"Okay." Dad briefly outlined how we found ourselves where we did and then set it up for our looking below. "When I looked down, I thought at first I was hallucinating but there, in plain sight, was a reindeer with a red nose being tossed a soccer ball by a dwarf."

S.B. laughed. "That's not even funny! What really happened?"

"I'm not kidding, Suzannah. We all saw it."

"Agent Scully? Is that what you saw?"

Dana looked around at us. I could tell she was battling her logical, reasonable side against what she saw and there was no way of knowing (short of reading her) which side she was going to choose. She took a deep breath and went at it. "Honestly, Suzannah, I'm not sure what I saw." Those of us who'd been there all groaned. She was going to take that tack. "No, wait. Lemme explain. I did see something, but, my logical mind won't let me believe it was a .... a .... "

I'd had enough. "A red-nosed reindeer playing soccer with an elf."

"I'll concede dwarf or midget without seeing him up close to differentiate, but not elf."

"You didn't see the ears then. The second time I looked, they were horseplaying and the ... deer knocked off the ... his stocking cap and the ears that came out might possibly be normal on Vulcan, but not here."

"Hunter .."

"No, Dana, you can't deny what you saw any more than the rest of us can." I saw her stubborn look and decided a compromise would be better ... especially since we were sleeping in the same room. "Okay, I'll drop the elf thing strictly because it was dark and no one else saw him, but only if you admit you saw the reindeer. Red nose and all."

She knew a good tactical maneuver when she saw one, so she did the only thing she could. "Alright. I did see an animal from the Rangifer family that just so happened to maybe, possibly ...," I glared at her, "have a red nose. But, I reserve the right to bring into consideration a type of genetic mutation."

I wasn't done yet. "And the flying?"

"No," She shook her head. " I'll give you pretty good-sized leaps, but I will not say it flew."

"But, .."

"Okay, that's enough, Girls." Gram stood and patted DA's arm. "I think we've come a long way in a short time and I for one would like to savour the moment for another day." She turned to Dad who had the silliest grin on his face. "Fox, if you'll help Walter up to bed, I'll make sure the kids are tucked in. Dana can lockdown the house." She gathered us together and pushed us toward the stairs. "Head on up, My Munchkins, and I'll be there shortly." She watched us ascend and listened for our doors closing. "The coast sounds clear, though I don't know how accurate that phrase is considering we have telepathic children here, but, anyway what time do we want to sneak back and do the present drop?"

Dad was helping DA stand. "I still don't understand why we have to do this in secret. It's not like they don't know about Santa."

DA chuckled. "After what we've seen here lately, I'm not sure what I know about Santa." Nodding at Maggie. "How about we meet back here around one and set up?" Gram and Dana agreed. "Good." He turned back to Dad. "So, Fox, shall we?"

"To quote the girls, let's." They moved to the stairs followed by Gram and headed up to their rooms. "Did you hear the weather report when we came in? They don't expect this stuff to clear up any time soon. It's supposed to snow all day tomorrow and if it does, we could be stuck here."

"Well, now, that's all we need. Did they have any idea when this might clear up? I had plans for when we get back."

"Let's just say it might be a safe bet to reschedule your plans for some time maybe in early spring cause it ain't happening this week."

Holiday Journal Entry #13
December 25th
Christmas

Suzannah Blake awakened around 7:15 and got out of bed. I should know because the little cheerleader-in-training kicked me. She tiptoed out the room and down the stairs and had alerted the guys and me the gifts were under the tree before she had come to a full stop in the den. I ignored her, but I knew the boys weren't. They were down the stairs before she had finished the thought.

I was tired and still a little chilled, so I decided to warm up the best way possible. I left my bed and climbed in with Dana. She awakened just enough to let me snuggle with her and then she was out again. I wasn't too far behind her. This was heaven compared to sleeping with the aerobics junior queen. By the time I made it back home, I'd probably be black and blue all over.

We hadn't been back to sleep for very long when a familiar presence wafted across my mind. *Rise and Shine, Baby-Girl. Tons of presents are waiting for you to open them. They're just screaming for you to get down there so that you can see how horribly your daddy spoiled you.* Something told me that was probably true.. He just doesn't do anything halfway. Well, with the exception of reports and paperwork, anyway.

*What are you going to do? Sleep Christmas away? I think not.* I could feel his arms lifting me up and I opened one eye to see what Dana was doing about this. The traitor was smiling and searching for her robe.

Who's side was she on? She's the one who's always going on about me needing so many hours of sleep. This was the perfect opportunity for her to say something, but instead .... It's a conspiracy, I tell you. *You better believe it, Squirt.* Turkey!

Dad, Dana and I headed down the stairs to the noise of wrapping paper being shredded and bows being tossed. The boys already had the gifts divided into piles and I must say, all of the piles were impressive.

Dana stopped to kiss Gram and then started pulling gifts away from the tree. With the madness surrounding the thing, I don't blame her; I've heard that kids can be dangerous where presents are concerned. Dad carried me over to the chair and sat with me in his lap. We watched the festivities and laughed at some of the antics.

S.B. pulled a large box from the tree and practically screamed. "This is from my parents! They sent my stuff."

"So did Christian's," Gram answered as she found a pillow for DA's foot.

"Fox asked them to send your presents so that you guys wouldn't feel so bad about being away from home. You should be very thankful for his thoughtfulness." Christian and Suzannah Blake both thanked Dad and I hugged him for being so wonderful. You should have seen the smile. Gram walked over to us with this humongous tan bear in her arms. "Oh, I almost forgot." She crouched in front of me and laid him in my arms.

"When I was at the store, I saw a display for this guy. I almost passed it up, but then I saw the tag asking 'To please take a Hunter Bear home.' I knew I had to get him then." I couldn't believe it! He was beautiful and he had this little red and green scarf that said 'Hunter Bear'. I wiggled far enough so I could hug Gram. This was great. My friends, my family and now my bear. Things couldn't get any better.

I was quickly proven wrong though. Dana and Christian pushed these incredibly huge piles of stuff over to Daddy and me. I couldn't believe how much was there. Dad sat me on the floor and then sat beside me and we were off. By the time the dust settled, I was surrounde by clothes, toys and small electronics. I had cleaned up!

Dad hadn't done too shabby either. He, too, had clothes and small electronics and I even think I saw a few toys mixed in there. (We all understand that we must cater to the man's inner child; it's like a law or something.) I looked around and noticed that no one, including Dante, had fared badly. All in all, we'd raked in a pretty substantial haul.

Thank you's for various presents were offered up and Gram told us the true story of why we celebrate Christmas. Dana had scooted closer to us and was leaning on Dad's shoulder while I was gathered in his lap. S. B.

and Christian were on the other side of Dana and Dante was seated in between DA and Gram. As she told the story, an air of calm and tranquility washed over us and it felt so good, so ...

A pounding on the front door interrupted the mood and all of us jumped.

If you haven't ever seen trained FBI agents react to a surprise then you've truly never had an experience. Their reflexes are nothing to play with and even without their guns they can be formidable. So, the rest of us watched as the training came out and half the group went on the defensive. "Fox, I thought you said we were pretty snowed in here and our chances of getting out were pretty much nil?"

Dad stood and headed for the door. "That's what the report said and when I checked outside last night, I believed them. I don't know how somebody was able to get through out there, but I sure plan on finding out." He glanced back at us and then out the peephole. I was worried because I couldn't sense anything, good or bad, outside. I was just thinking about some way to help us out if we needed it when Dad suddenly relaxed and started unlocking the door. "It's okay, guys. It's a ranger.

Multiple sighs of relief went through the room because no one wanted a Christmas Day shootout. Daddy checked the ranger's ID and led him back to the den. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Ranger Astan ... Cuzall, the gentleman who rented the place to us. Ranger Cuzall, this is the extended Scully-Mulder-Skinner brood."

"Actually, it's Cu-sal, pronounced like Sally. I get the mispronounciation all the time." Ranger Cusal smiled at us and I was in awe. The man was huge! He seemed to tower over my dad and he definitely doubled him in size and weight. He had this all white beard and his eyes seemed to dance like a thousand candles. "I'm really pleased to meet you. I hope you've enjoyed the place?" All of us agreed we had and his smile grew bigger. "Sorry to interrupt things, but I knew you folks were here and I wanted to make sure you were okay on supplies."

"We're fine, actually." DA was quite proud of himself. "While we were in town, I made sure we stocked up on everything just in case. If worse comes to worse, we can stay up here comfortably for another couple of weeks."

The ranger laughed. "Let's hope it won't be that long. According to the weather reports, the snow should stop in a few days. Unfortunately, the dig out will take a bit longer." He glanced at DA. "I sure hope you folks weren't expected any where else soon because I don't think it's gonna happen."

Dana agreed. "We kind of expected that so we contacted the kids parents and let them know of the change in plans." Eying the man. "We were kind of surprised to see someone else out on a night like this. How'd you manage it?"

"I know this area rather well and I know how the weather can do, so, I keep a team with me at all times to get me around. They're pretty fast and get me where I need to go." The ranger hesitated as if holding something back. "I wasn't going to ask this, but I think I should considering how close to it you are. Ummm, have you folks seen anything strange since you've been here?"

That got our attention. "Like what?"

"Well, I hesitate to bring it up, but, some college kids down the ways a bit have been working on their class project and I was worried you might have seen it."

No way. I suddenly felt nauseous. "What was their project?"

"Funny thing about that. Since this was going to be turned in after the holidays, they thought it might have been fun to do a Christmas story complete with Santa, elves and ... umm." He snorted with disbelief. "And flying reindeer. They did these elaborate effects that almost had me believing I was seeing the real thing. These kids were thorough. They even went as far as to rig something so that it looked like one of them was Rudolph." Shaking his head and laughing heartily. "Can you believe kids today?"

None of us was laughing. This was not good. Slowly but surely, I noticed everyone's face register acceptance and in Dad's case, resignation.

Everyone's except Christian's. Interesting. Maybe there was hope. "But something the size of a reindeer is kind of hard to create on the budget of a student film."

"Oh, it was a real reindeer, just not a flying one. Somehow, they were able to convince a local animal trainer to borrow his." Oh, great.

"Anyway, they'll be clearing out as soon as they can, so you can consider yourselves lucky you missed the show." He looked at his watch.

"Well, it's about time for me to get back to the station. Don't worry about the extra days on the rental; this was unforseen, so I'll give you to the second. Take care and happy holidays." He headed to the door and opened it with Dad close behind him to lock it. Ranger Cusal was just about to head out into the snow when he stopped, picked up a wrapped box and handed it to my father. He whispered something to him and left. Dad nodded and watched as the man disappeared in the snow.

He returned to the room and set the box in front of me. I noticed it but I was focused on other matters. "You guys bought what he said, didn't you?"

"You don't have to 'buy' the truth, Hunt." Of course, Dana was the one to respond. "I knew there was a logical explanation and I tried to convince you guys of it. But, unfortunately, you chose to believe what you did. And, I'm sorry."

"But wasn't his explanation just a bit too pat. I mean, he explained everything. Nothing was left in doubt and that just doesn't happen except in the movies." This wasn't working. So, I took a deep breath and forged ahead. "Guys, there's more to this than what he said. Gram, you were the closest to it. Did the nose thing look rigged?"

Gram sighed. I hated putting her on the spot, but I felt like I had no choice. "Sweetheart, I didn't look at it that in depth. It probably was an effect."

"Hunt, I know this is hard for you to accept, but it's the truth. It has to be the truth because what reason would Ranger Cusal have to lie?"

It was time for my big guns. I'd noticed some things while the good ranger was talking. "Probably for the best reason possible - who he is."

Suzannah Blake was confused. "Who he is? He told us who he was."

"Not who he said he was, but who he really is." I squared my shoulders and took a deep breath. "Something about him just stuck in my head and so I started thinking about him and how he looked and ... and his name ...and..."

"What about his name?"

"How his name is an anagram for Santa Claus." Christian to the rescue. I knew he didn't fall for the guy's line. "It struck me as odd also. He looked like every depiction of the big guy that I had ever seen only without the red suit. The name just cinched it."

The air of disbelief that hung over the room was major and I kind of guessed we were raging a losing battle. Dana, always the voice of reason, decided enough was enough. "There is no such thing as Santa Claus. No matter how someone may look or what their name spells out, he does not exist except as a commercial ploy for parents to find out what their kids want for Christmas." She looked around. "I know what we saw here caused some doubts about that, but we have to look at this rationally. It was all nothing more than movie magic."

Though I knew it was a lost cause, I tried anyway. "Daddy? Is that what you believe?"

For the longest time, he said nothing and then, "I'm sorry, Baby-Girl, but it does fit." Great. Perfect time for him to accept the plausible over the possible. "If that explanation had come from anyone else, I probably wouldn't have believed him. But, he seemed really sincere and ... honest. I don't trust a lot of people, but I feel like I can trust him."

Perfect. Santa Claus beguiled my Dad. Think this qualifies me for Oprah?

"Fine." There was nothing more to say. No sense beating a dead reindeer.

The comfortable mood was shattered. We were back to the way we'd been at the beginning. It was going to take something big to get us back into the mood.

DA was just about the right size to fit the bill. "I don't know if this is the right time to do this, but there's no time like the present." He reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a tiny velvet box. "I was planning on doing this as soon as we returned home so that we could start off the New Year right, but Mother Nature had other plans." He turned to Gram and all of us held our breaths. "Meg, you know how much I love you and though it's only been a relatively short time since we told each other how we feel, I feel like I've loved you forever. I know I have a lousy track record so far, but if you agree to this, I promise I'll work hard to beat the odds." He awkwardly maneuvered himself down to one knee and opened the box. Inside was the most beautiful diamond and emerald ring I'd ever seen. Not that I'd seen a lot. "There are only two things in this world I don't want to start the new year without: our family and you." He took a deep breath, removed the ring and took Gram's hand. "Margaret Scully, would you do me the greatest honour of becoming my wife?"

I swear, a pin could have dropped in that moment. No one breathed; no one blinked. Nothing, until.... "Yes, Walter, I will marry you," she answered as she wrapped him in her arms and pulled him back on the couch for a big kiss.

Omigosh! She said yes! My Gram said yes to my DA! My grandparents were getting married! Uhhh, wait. I suppose in most normal families, marriage between grandparents was a given. Oh, well, no one has ever said we were normal.

I jumped up and ran to them, hugging them as tight as I could. Dante was next and they looked like a cute little family. Yecch! S.B and Christian offered their congrats and Dad kissed Gram and shook hands with DA all the while telling them how happy he was for them.

Dana stood to the side watching the little scene and I could feel the emotions rolling off her without even trying. Before I could see if she was okay, Gram called out to her and held out her hand. "Dana?"

I was never more proud of my female fibbie as when she walked over to the couple and kissed them both on their cheeks. With a tremulous smile, she behaved like the lady she is. "Congratulations, you two. I'm sure you'll be very happy." Gram's face lit up and DA gently pulled her down to sit on the couch beside them.

Dad was so happy that Dana was doing okay, he looked like he was about to burst. Somehow, he managed to control himself. "Since you mentioned starting the new year off right, did you possibly have a date in mind?"

"Uhh, well, before all the change in plans, I was kind of hoping for a small ceremony on New Year's Day. But, it looks like that's out of the question."

Dana was shocked. "So soon. I mean, what about the church and everything. I know I'm a lapsed Catholic, but Mom's very active with the church. There's no way something like that could be done in so little amount of time."

"I know how much the church means to your mother, Dana, and all I was proposing was a civil ceremony on New Year's and then we could plan something more appropriate later. I may not know a lot about your beliefs, but I did want Meg to be happy." Sighing and rubbing his head.

"But, it's all a moot point anyway. We're not getting out of here anytime soon, so we'll just have to wait."

"Oh, no we will not, Walter Skinner." Sounded like Gram had a plan. "If we have to perform a simple exchange of vows here in front of our family, that's what we'll do. I want to start the year off perfect and being your wife, if only to ourselves, will do that. The official stuff can come later; I just want you."

Dad started thinking and I know I was afraid. "Well, it looks like we're going to have a wedding to plan. Somehow, some way - we're going to make this memorable and legit. Maybe we can contact Ranger Cusal and see if he and his team can either get us to town or someone up here. Who knows? With a little bit of luck, maybe the roads will be clear."

Dana laughed. "I have a funny feeling, these guys are going to have all the luck they'll need and then some."

Conversations turned to preparations and I kind of faded into the background to think. This had turned out to be a pretty okay Christmas.

I still missed my birth parents, but I was enjoying my new family pretty well.

I looked around the room and realized we'd missed a present on the table. Then I remembered Dad had brought it in with him after seeing the ranger off. My curiousity got the better of me. "Dad, what's this?" I pointed to the box.

For a minute, he looked confused. Then he seemed to remember something.

"Ranger Cusal said he found it on the other side of the RV. We must have dropped it when we were moving stuff inside. He said it was yours. I forgot about it with all of the excitement."

This was weird. "If it was outside all this time, why does it look almost perfect? It should be all icky and wet and messed up. Plus, we've been all out there, how come we never noticed it?" I picked up the box and looked around it. "And, how does he know it's for me? There's no tag on it."

"It was under the carport, so it wouldn't have gotten a lot of snow damage. And, as for the tag, it probably fell off when he was bringing it in. I don't know why we missed it, but stop looking a gift horse in the mouth and open it."

Fine. These people didn't want to listen to me and since I'd never heard of Santa giving exploding presents, I went ahead and opened it. I gasped as I saw what was inside.

Dana was the closest to me and checked me to see if I was okay. "Hunter, what is it?" I had begun to cry and she was worried. "Sweetie, are you okay." I nodded, pushed the box in front of her and curled myself in my dad's arms. Dana looked into the box and a look of pure confusion came on her face. Shaking her head at her partner, she reached into the box and pulled out a seven-place brass candelabrum followed by seven candles - three red, three green and one black. "I don't understand. What's so upsetting about a menorrah? You had one for Hanukkah."

"It's not a menorrah," I whispered. "It's a kinara. It's the candle holder used in the Kwanzaa ceremony. I had found a cheap one to use when we got home tomorrow night, but I didn't know what I was going to use since we were here."

"So, you're upset because your problem is solved?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm upset because that's my mom's. The one we'd used for as long as I can remember. My dad had it specially made for her because he knew how important it was to her."

Dad was squeezing me so tight, I almost couldn't breathe. "I have no idea how that got here. I didn't even know it existed."

"It doesn't exist."

"But you just said ..."

I couldn't stop the tears as they ran heavier down my face. "It was in the house when it was burned down. Everything was lost, remember?"

I could almost hear the wheels turning in Dana's head in search of something rational. "Then it's got to be somebody's idea of a sick joke. It's a copy."

"It's not a copy. You see that nick on the base. When I was about five, I cut my hand on it. Mom kept it out of reach from that point on. And, if you look on the bottom of it, you'll see my parents' initials."

She checked and by her facial expression it was easy to see she'd found the engraving. She didn't say anything, but then no one else did either.

Then, I heard Daddy murmur something.

"What?"

Dad straightened and looked Dana straight in the eye. "He said it was for Hunter and that he hoped it made her feel better. He called her by name and in the times we talked, I never mentioned it."

Dana answered the only way she could. "I think we may need to rethink some things."

December 25th
A cabin deeper in the woods

The ranger quickly walked up to the door and opened it. He stepped inside and handed his coat to the little guy close to the door. Another small person handed him a mug of something warm as he entered an inner room and closed the door. A soft red glow welcomed him as he turned around. "Do you have any idea what kind of problems you've caused? I've just spent the day after my busiest night explaining things to all the people you were careless with. I had planned on being halfway to Jamaica by now with the missus, but instead, I'm clearing up your messes. What do you have to say for yourself?" The room filled with a strong red light for several minutes and finally the ranger continued. "I know you needed a vacation and I was glad to give you one, but this could have been a lot worse. We were this close to disaster." He stood. "Well, we can breathe easier now. I think I handled things and yet left them with enough doubt so that they won't dismiss things so easily ever again.

But, from this point on, all vacations are going to happen after Christmas and in places where they don't blink at anything strange." The ranger moved over to the door and knocked a couple of times. The door opened and a tiny hand passed him a bucket of assorted vegetables. He took it and brought it over. "Here you go. I had Justin select the best veggies he could find. It is Christmas, you know." A short burst of red.

"Yes, I know. Ho. Ho. Ho."

And that's The End