Title: Happiness: The Gang's All Here Author: shawntaw Category: MSR, AU Rating: PG Disclaimer: Oh, if they were mine, I'd give them a vacation. If they were mine, I would have let them be happy. If they were mine...but *sigh* they're not... Summary: "The first to arrive were Larry, Curly, and Moe..." and it gets better from there!:) Previous Titles in this series: "Happiness" (through a posting error on my part, this posted as (no subject) by shawntaw on atxc) "Happiness - The Morning After" "Happiness - The Secret" "Happiness - The Secret II" "Happiness - The Adjustment Period" "Happiness - The Adjustment Period II" "Happiness - Public Displays of Affection" "Happiness - Public Displays of Affection II" "Happiness - Family Dinner: Preparations NOTE: Ended up being pretty close to Thanksgiving after all!*L* And, THANK YOU, for all the encouraging and flattering feedback! I REALLY needed the ego boost! When I feel down, I check my e-mail and then I smile. And some of the e-mail is so funny, I get to laugh too! How can you beat that!?:) ***************************************************** The first to arrive were Larry, Curly and Moe. Mulder smiled at the thought as he stood holding the door open. The three looked around them, suspiciously, not used to being in such well-lit and open surroundings. "Hey, you gonna let us in, man? This is making me nervous," Langly blinked rapidly at Mulder, pulling on his 'tuxedo' t-shirt. Byers stood silently, in his typical suit, holding a small bunch of daisies. They shook slightly betraying his nervousness. Frohike was looking behind Mulder, at Scully no doubt, and smoothing his wet, slicked-down hair. To Mulder's amazement, he actually wore a buttoned down shirt with a collar. "Hey, I own real clothes," he snapped at Mulder's look. Mulder stepped aside. "Come on in, guys." Scully gave each surprised man a quick, loose hug and smiled at Byers. "Those for me?" Byers, who was still blushing from his hug, held out the flowers. "Yes. A-A congratulatory gift from the three of us." She took them and tip-toed to place a kiss on his cheek. "I'll go put these in some water," she said as she walked away to the kitchen. Byers blushed a deeper red. "I knew I should have carried the flowers," Frohike mumbled. ******************************************************* The doorbell rang again some fifteen minutes later. Scully was in the kitchen taking care of some last minute preparations and Mulder was in the midst of taking apart Scully's computer and arguing with Langly. Frohike and Byers were leaning over their shoulders, listening to their debate and adding two cents when it was neccessary. "Hey, one of you get it," Mulder threw over his shoulder at the two men. Frohike shrugged at Byers and headed for the front door. He opened it and gasped. A blonde goddess stood at the door. She was back-lit by the hallway lights and was the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen. Kim squinted at the number on the apartment door. "I'm sorry; I must have the wrong apartment," she said, and started to walk away. "Are you looking for Dana Scully's apartment?" he asked, remembering the guest list Mulder had recited to him on the phone. "Yes, I am," Kim paused, turning back. "You must be Kim. You have the right place. I'm Melvin Frohike, a friend of Mulder's." He tried to sound smooth. "Oh," was all she said and stood there, like she was unsure of his truthfulness. "Come on in," he grinned, "Join us." She hesitantly stepped back toward the apartment, smiling warily. ****************************************************** Not five minutes later, a firm knock and a doorbell ring sounded in the apartment. Scully and Kim were sitting on the couch, involved in a deep discussion of the latest office scuttlebutt, including the dish about Scully and Mulder. Both blew on hot cups of tea and munched from a small plate of raw vegetables that Scully had set out. Langly and Byers sat on the floor across the room amidst a pile of techno junk that had once been Scully's computer. Scully had pointedly been ignoring them, not wanting to ruin the evening. Frohike stood near the computer chaos, but was alternating between staring at Kim and pretending that he was NOT staring at Kim. Mulder was in the kitchen this time, stirring his sauce and singing Elvis songs - LOUDLY - with a bad Italian accent. At the sound of someone at the door, Scully excused herself and went to answer it. Frohike cruised over to the couch and tried to make small talk with Kimberly. Kim, having been told about Frohike by Scully, now graced him with a genuine, tenative smile. Scully opened the door. Her mother and Walter Skinner stood in the hallway, arguing. "You don't have to carry them anymore, Mr. Skinner-" "No, no, Mrs. Scully, let me. Its fine, really. Now I know where your daughter gets her stubborn streak-" They talked over one another and didn't notice at first when Scully cleared her throat. She did it again and they both turned to look at her. "Everything alright?" she asked the two. Her mother tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Something she always did when she was nervous. "Of course, dear. Mr. Skinner and I happened to arrive at your building at the same time and he just INSISTED on carrying the bags up. I told him it wasn't neccessary." "I was just trying to be polite. It isn't a problem, honestly." He sounded stern, but was betrayed by an amused quirk at the corner of his mouth. Scully stepped out of the way to let them in. "So, what's in the bags, Mom?" "Oh, I brought dessert. Homemade apple pie and ice cream. I had no idea what you were serving, so I just went with my strength. Pie goes with everything." She turned and took the bags from Skinner against his short protest. "I have it now, thank you," she cut him off and headed for the kitchen. Scully noticed Skinner's eyes followed her as she walked away. ******************************************************* Mulder was stirring his sauce and singing. Scully's mother was putting ice cream in the freezer and trying not to laugh at Mulder. "Lova me tenda, Lova me truuuueeee, Neva letta me gooo..." Scully snorted behind him and he turned to look over his shoulder. "What? You don' appreciata Elvis?" He said in his horrible Italian accent. Mrs. Scully laughed abruptly and covered it with a cough. "I'll just set these pies here on the counter and go wait in the living room." Scully stood with her hands on her hips and regarded Mulder with a smile on her face. "I just came in to tell you that the gang's all here." He wiped his hands on a towel and turned the heat down on the sauce. "Let's do it." ******************************************************* The seven of them sat around Scully's table, made elegant with a simple white tablecloth and the vase of daisies flanked with white taper candles in bronze candleholders. At each place was a simple beige placemat and a salad. There were no placecards - it hadn't even occurred to Scully - so it was interesting to watch everyone vying for different seating. Mulder sat immediately at one end of the table and, of course, Scully sat in the chair beside him. Kim then moved to sit next to Scully and Frohike nearly killed himself to snag the seat next to Kim. *Oh, very subtle, Frohike.* Mulder snickered to himself. Mrs. Scully, who had been heading for the seat next to her daughter, changed tactics and went to sit next to Mulder on his other side. Skinner held her chair out for her when he saw where she was intending to sit. She paused at his gesture and then sat carefully as he pushed her seat in for her. "Thank you, Mr. Skinner," she said, matter-of-factly. "My pleasure," he replied, just as nonchalantly as he took the chair next to her. There was silence for a moment as the group looked one at another, but soon small talk restarted and salads started to be consumed. ****************************************************** Halfway through her salad, Scully realized they were missing Byers and Langly. She stood and yelled across the apartment. "Guys! Time to eat!" Conversation halted for a moment. Scully cleared her throat and sat back down. "Sorry." Byers and Langly appeared at the table. "Sorry, we kinda got caught up," Langly said and took a seat next to Frohike. Byers considered for a moment, then decided to sit opposite Langly and beside Skinner, just to balance the seating arrangement. If nothing else, he liked order. Scully looked around at her hodge-podge of a family and smiled. She knew it had been a good idea all that time ago to buy a big table. She was a little surprised that none of the guys had claimed the other 'head-of-the-table' chair. Scully had assumed that Skinner would sit in it. She looked over at him talking to her mother and suddenly understood. Scully sipped her water thoughtfully. ****************************************************** And the dinner continues...it ain't over yet.. Hey, YOU let ME know...I can't decide...has the Skinner/Maggie thing been overdone or not? I can't decide. I have two story ideas floating around in my head...