"Sit still please Ellie, I'm almost done." Dana Scully said softly while putting her daughter's loose ringlets of hair into a second pigtail. She had been patient with the 3 year old most of the evening, but she was beginning to get too wiggly. "Elliot. Please sit still." She repeated, a little louder.
"I want to show mummy my costume!" The tiny redhead sitting in front of her protested. "I know baby, but you want to be totally ready first, don't you?" All Dana received in response was a small sigh, and she took it as a yes.
Once her curly hair was contained into two small pigtails, Dana carefully slid the pink knitted hat onto the top of Ellie's head. She helped her down off the counter, and had her hold onto her shoulders while she stepped into her costume. "There you go love, all dressed!" She stated with a smile, watching as Ellie grinned at herself in the mirror.
Dana stood in the doorway of the bathroom, twirling her ring around her finger, as her daughter giddily ran over to the blonde resting on the bed. "Mummy!" Her little voice squealed, "Look at my costume!!"
---
Stella Gibson had just returned home after a 12 hour shift and ached with exhaustion. She knew Dana would be taking their daughter trick or treating at the corn maze soon and she wanted to tag along, but she had to lay down and rest before she could even fathom the idea. She made her way into the bedroom and flopped down on the bed without removing her coat or shoes. Her eyelids were heavy and her eyes were closed within seconds.
She wasn't sure she'd be able to open them again any time soon, but her mind was quickly changed when she heard the cheery squeak of her daughter's voice.
"Mummy! Look at my costume!!" Stella pried her eyes open to see the little set of blues staring back into hers. She couldn't help the smile that painted her face.
"Wow!" She mused, her voice raspy. "You look wonderful. Did you tell your mommy thank you?"
Ellie swung herself around to look at Dana with a toothy grin, "Thank you mommy!" Dana smiled at her, and then at Stella. "You're welcome, love." She responded, walking over to greet her wife. The blonde kissed her softly before pulling her into her lap.
"So," she started, "Tell me who you're dressed as." Ellie giggled lightly, "Piglet, mummy! You know that!" Stella nodded with a laugh, "Right, right. How could I possibly forget?"
"We're going to head out to the corn maze soon... Would you like to join us?" Dana asked, standing up and pulling a garment bag off the bed beside her. "We have a couple hours until the party. It's fine if you want to stay here and rest until then." Dana smiled down at her wife warmly.
Stella shook her head, "No, No I want to go with you two. Just give me a few minutes to get up and get changed." The redhead nodded, before heading into the bathroom to put on her own costume.
She slipped the red dress on, and sighed while staring into the mirror. She didn't like the dress as much as she had a few weeks before when she'd tried it on in the store. She was fixated on the way the dress hugged her curves when Stella walked in behind her.
"What's wrong, love?" The blonde asked, wrapping her arms around her partner's torso.
"I just don't like the way it fits." Dana mumbled, averting her eyes from Stella's gaze in the mirror.
"What, why? You look amazing." She protested before looking back to check that Ellie was still watching TV on their bed. She moved her face closer to Dana's, "Delicious, actually." She whispered in her ear.
Dana felt goosebumps spread across her arms and smiled lightly. "You're just saying that." She murmured, leaning in to line her lips with red. "No, I'm not. You look incredible." Stella planted a kiss on her cheek, and then stepped away to put on her own costume.
She wasn't big into dressing up, so she went as the same thing every single year; A witch in a simple black dress.
Dana turned and stared at the blonde in front of her. "So beautiful." She whispered to herself, though not out of Stella's earshot. The blonde raised her eyes slowly to smile at the breath-taking redhead in front of her. "Says you." She hummed, walking over to the mirror to fix her makeup.
---
Once both women were finished getting ready they made their way back into their bedroom to see their daughter still laying on her belly watching Winnie the Pooh .
"Ready to go, love?" Stella asked, immediately drawing an excited squeal from the small redhead. "I'll take that as a yes." Dana laughed, grabbing her purse off a chair in the corner.
Stella took a moment to gawk at her partner. Dana had on a stunning red leather dress that complimented the devil horns and her red locks beautifully. Her maroon boots were thigh high, leaving just a sliver of skin showing between them and the bottom of the dress.
"You look perfect." She said quietly into her ear as she wrapped her arm around her hip, following both of her tiny redheads out of the room.
Stella wore the same thing she wore every year, yet she still looked perfectly stunning herself. Her blonde curls freshly touched up flowing underneath a simple, black silky witches hat. Her black dress was floor length and sheer, revealing a much tighter black lace dress underneath. Her black stilettos made her an extra few inches taller than her partner.
—-
As soon as they arrived at the carnival they stopped at a small booth for hot chocolate. Dana and Stella got one to share, but got Ellie her own as she was notorious for backwash.
Stella insisted on getting a picture of her girls before they went on with their evening. Dana protested for only a minute, before realizing she couldn't say no to her love. Stella snapped her picture and smiled down at it for a few moments, before taking the redhead's hand into her own.
They followed their little firecracker around watching as she stopped at each booth that was set up to get candy. She confidently approached each person passing out candy and held her bag out with a loud, "trick or treat!"
After a while Dana noticed there was a booth near the entrance to the actual corn maze that had a man wearing some kind of monster mask, and elbowed Stella to get her attention.
They both knew instantly that it was going to be an issue for Ellie. They tried to direct her away from the booth, but Ellie was set on getting candy from every single one, and much like both of her mothers, she was not very easily persuaded. They followed her nervously, anticipating the breakdown once they got to the one specific booth ahead.
Just as they expected, as soon as Ellie saw the large man in his ghoul like mask she started to cry. Dana quickly scooped her up, and attempted to walk past him, but he stood in front of them and tried to take Ellie's hand into his own.
Dana understood that he was only trying to make her daughter less afraid, but all it was doing was causing her to cry harder. "Please, don't." Scully mumbled, trying to get past a group of people who were blocking the way around the booth, while Ellie became hysterical.
Despite several requests, the man still continued to try to interact with Ellie until Stella lightly pushed Dana to the side so that she was the one standing in front of him.
"Excuse me. She told you to stop. You're frightening our daughter." Stella said briskly. She stared the man down for a moment, refusing to break eye contact. He attempted to apologize but in response Stella took a small, aggressive step towards him and he jumped back before quickly turning and walking back behind his booth.
She rolled her eyes and grabbed ahold of Dana's arm, smiling at their girl. "It's okay Ellie, don't cry. Mummy got rid of the scary man." She leaned down and placed a kiss on the tip of her daughter's nose, and another on Dana's lips before leading them into the corn maze.
It only took a few minutes before Ellie was back to normal and Dana was able to put her down. The two women walked arm in arm, following their curious girl through the maze. It took them a few tries to get all the way through, as they let Ellie take the lead, but they were in no hurry. They enjoyed each other's company, and appreciated the pride on their daughter's face each time she got it right.
The rest of the night went on with no other mishaps, and they left the small carnival after an hour and a half with Ellie carrying a bag of candy that weighed about as much as she did.
She fell asleep in her carseat on the drive home, and Dana leaned her head on Stella's shoulder enjoying the quiet night with her two favorite people.
"Melissa texted just before we left and said she'd be at our house in an hour." Dana said after a while of appreciating the silence.
"Do we really want to go to this party tonight?" Stella asked, trying not to sound as uninterested as she felt.
The redhead sighed before sitting up. "I mean we RSVP'd yes. You know how the bureau is, they don't do anything small."
Stella nodded but didn't respond.
"Monica will be there. She's counting on us to be there too." Dana added, smiling over at the blonde knowing that would persuade her.
"I guess we can't leave Monica hanging," Stella started, "However... Mulder is going to be there too, won't he?" Her question was followed by a groan, drawing a laugh from Dana.
"Yes, of course he will. But if we go I'll give you 3 passes for the night to make fun of him."
Stella grinned, "Fine, it's a deal," she began, "Besides, we did get all dressed up, no sense wasting it."
---
They arrived home after a 15 minute drive, and gently woke up the sleeping toddler in the backseat. When they got inside Dana went upstairs to finish doing her makeup, while Stella got Ellie settled in the living room with popcorn and a movie.
"Alright, what do you want to watch tonight?" Stella asked, already reaching for the movie she anticipated her to say.
"Shrek!" Ellie replied, and Stella nodded with a laugh. "Shocker." She whispered to herself, opening the movie case she was already holding, and sliding the disc into the DVD player.
"Now Ellie, you have to be good for Auntie Melissa tonight, okay?" Stella sat next to the small redhead, and tucked the blanket tighter around her. "Mommy and I will be home late, after you're already in bed. When Missy tells you it's bedtime you listen, alright?"
Ellie nodded, only half heartedly listening as she watched the TV intently, waiting for the title screen.
Stella went into the kitchen to refill the sippy cup with grape juice, and by the time she came back Dana was back downstairs sitting with Ellie. "Here you go." Stella said, setting the cup on the coffee table.
"Missy said she's a few minutes away." Dana smiled, standing up to wrap her arms around the blonde. They stood with their eyes closed for a moment, enjoying the embrace, until they heard the doorbell.
"I'll go get it." Stella stated, kissing Dana's forehead before turning on her heels towards the hallway.
Dana heard her sister's voice, and a minute later both women walked into the room.
"Hi Ellie!" Melissa squealed, scooping her niece up and sitting on the couch with her.
Stella leaned down and kissed the top of Ellie's head followed by a quiet 'I love you.' Dana did the same, and then looked over to her sister, "Alright, we should be home by 2 at the latest!" She said, leaning to kiss Melissa's cheek.
"Don't worry about it, you two go have fun. Ellie and I will be just fine." She shot her sister a wink before grabbing the remote and hitting play on the movie.
"Shrek?!" She asked, amused. "Yeah, that's her favorite movie right now. We watch it at least once a day." Stella said with a laugh, following Dana into the hallway.
—-
The two women walked hand in hand out to the car. Stella opened the passenger side door and gestured for Dana to get in before shutting it. She got into the driver's seat and sighed warmly.
"I'm glad you convinced me to go. I think this will actually be fun." The blonde said, smiling at her partner.
"Well, what can I say. I just wanted to be the person with the hottest date at the FBI Halloween Party." Dana replied. "Oh no, darling," Stella said, "That'll be me. I'm going to have the hottest date. And I can't wait to rub Mulder's face in it."
The redhead couldn't help but laugh, "Be nice, Stel! He's still my friend." Stella grabbed a hold of her hand, calling a truce, and started the car. "I know, I know. But my wife's ex is still her work partner and I just can't help it. I love to rub his face in it."
Dana didn't respond, but she leaned over and pecked her wife's cheek with a big grin. "Happy Halloween, Stel." The blonde squeezed her hand a little tighter, "Happy Halloween, D."
The rest of their drive was pretty quiet, and Dana found herself staring at Stella intermittently.
Even after 5 years of marriage, Dana Scully still couldn't wait to show up places with Stella on her arm. To be the woman married to Stella Gibson. She reveled in it. She reveled in every part of the life they'd created together.