A/N: just like many of you, I'm not ready to let Bones go yet. It made me wistful when I realized we weren't going to get to know anything about the younger Hank Booth and the younger Hodgins son..about how they were going to grow up...so I decided to give free rein to my wild imagination and this story was born. Jeffrey William Hodgins was named for Hodgins' older brother and Angela's father. There are references to other stories I've written, but it isn't necessary to read them first to understand what's going on here. This chapter is set about 25 years in the future, more or less...
A tuxedo clad Hank Booth stood in the doorway, watching his friend J Dub Hodgins as he tried to straighten his black bow tie. "Nice monkey suit, Dude. You almost look like a normal human being."
Jeffrey William Hodgins looked at his friend's reflection in the full length mirror and smiled broadly. "Thanks, jackass...you do, too." Smoothing out the lapels on his jacket and brushing a bit of imaginary lint from his shoulder, he shrugged at the man who had been his best friend for over 25 years. "So what'dya think? Not half bad, right? I look almost good enough to get married, huh?"
Chuckling as he stepped into the small dressing room, Hank nodded. "Yep. Sherri is a lucky girl...even if she is gonna marry you. How did you manage to convince her this was a good idea, anyway? I thought you said she was smart." Hank laughed as his friend made an obscene gesture toward him. "Hey...is that anyway to treat your best man? You'd better be nice to me, J Dub. I'm gonna be giving a speech about you at the reception later, and I remember lots of funny stories about your youthful indiscretions...maybe stuff that Sherri doesn't know about yet, and maybe some stuff you don't want Sherri to know...you know, like how you got your stupid nickname, remember? You couldn't say Jeffrey when you were little and it came out 'WeeWee'? I'm sure glad your dad came up with a better nickname for you. And maybe I'll tell the story about how you ended up with Lucy Morrison's panties in your dresser drawer the morning after the senior prom."
It was J Dub's turn to laugh. "If I remember correctly, a lot of those funny and embarrassing stories about me apply to you, too, Hankie boy. I don't think we've spent much time apart over the years, other than when you and Carla went on your honeymoon. Hey, remember the time we tried to launch the model rockets from the roof of your mom's house? Your mom was kind of upset with us, wasn't she?" J Dub's dark eyes danced with laughter. "I also remember when you borrowed your dad's '09 Mustang without permission to take Darlene Little to the movies while he was out of town. How much money did it cost to get that crease on the back bumper taken care of before he got home? Did he ever find out about that? Although, I guess if you got to make out with Darlene in the backseat of that car, it was probably worth it, right?"
Feigning innocence, Hank pretended to pick a loose thread from his jacket. "I think he's known about the crease ever since it happened, but since I took care of it myself he hasn't said anything about how I dinged up his car. I guess maybe he was kind of proud of the fact that I could figure things out on my own, and that I was responsible enough to take care of it without being told I had to…"
"Whatever...I think that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say, Hank. I call bull shit on that one, buddy." Tugging at his sleeve, J Dub tried once again to get comfortable in his crisp white tuxedo shirt. "I hate this damn thing. I tried to tell Sherri that we didn't need to get all dressed up just to get married, but she just wouldn't listen to me. After all, we've seen each other naked before, and we'll be naked again pretty quickly after we leave the reception, so there's no reason to put on a show now, but she said packages like mine are fun to unwrap." He arched his eyebrow at Hank and chuckled. "My soon-to-be new wife has a raunchy sense of humor...that's another reason why I love her."
"I'm surprised your mom is being so relaxed over this whole wedding thing. Didn't she marry your dad in a jail cell?" Hank grinned at the thought of his Uncle Jack and Aunt Angela, who'd been happily married for at least 35 years. "I would've thought she'd want you to have a giant wedding to make up for it."
J Dub laughed softly as he thought about his parents' less than storybook wedding. "Yeah, my dad's always teasing Mom about being jailbait, you know? But since she planned your parents' wedding in a day after the church burned down the night before they were supposed to get married, I think she's gotten the wedding planning bug out of her system. Wasn't your mom upset when Christine got married to Michael-Vincent in Paris without any family there? They didn't have a big wedding either."
"Nope, my parents didn't care one bit. My mom always said she and my dad planned it that way...they let Christine fly to Paris to see your brother for a week, knowing that the two of them couldn't help but give into the temptation to get married. As my dad said, they let Nature take it's course when it came to Chrissy and Mikey. Besides, Dad was glad he didn't have to lay out a bunch of cash for a short civil ceremony. He wrote them a nice fat check for a house down payment instead." Hank checked his pants pocket once again to make sure he had Sherri's wedding ring. "I guess it's easier for the mother of the groom, anyway, isn't it? They just have to plan a rehearsal dinner and then show up on time for the wedding. I mean, when Parker got married, we had to fly to London, but that was cool, you know, being on a trip and all. You should've seen my dad dressed up in one of those fancy English tuxedos. I almost wished Meredith had wanted Parker and my dad to wear those top hats, too. I would've paid money to see my dad in one of those hats."
"You've got a weird sense of humor, you know that, Hankie?" J Dub patted his hair back into place and adjusted his tie one more time. "What time is it? Seems like we should be ready to go soon…"
"Calm down. We've got plenty of time. We'll go in just a minute." Hank ambled over to a window looking out over the lawn in back of the house, watching as the guests were seated under a large white canopy bedecked with floral garlands. "You're lucky it's not raining, you know?"
"Yeah, I tried to convince Sherri to pick an indoor venue, but she wanted to have the reception here at her parents' house, so it was just as easy to get married here, too, especially since it's a nice backyard with the pond and all. The minister doing the ceremony had been her dad's college roommate…"
"It looks like a lot of people came to see you get hitched. There's your mom and dad...my parents….Chrissy and Mikey...wow, you must really rate, J Dub. Director Aubrey is here with his wife and their four kids…"
"Yeah, well…" Jeffrey was slightly embarrassed as he jammed his hands in his pants pockets. "...he had to come. He introduced me to Sherri, you know? She started in his division fresh out of Quantico, and I was over there at the new Hoover building, trying to get her new tech stuff set up for her. Her voice to type interface wasn't working right, or some sort of shit like that. I don't remember exactly what was wrong. I just remember catching my first glimpse of her, and I was a goner. I thought she was so pretty, but I didn't have the nerve to even ask her what her name was, and I didn't want to ask anybody in the bullpen...that would've been so uncool. I had to be business like when I was working at that office. I always remembered what your dad said about proper office behavior at the FBI. He wouldn't let us cut up or run around when we were visiting him there as kids, remember?"
"You're still afraid of my dad, aren't you? Ever since he hauled your ass home when the cops picked you up for rolling through that stop sign after your wild fraternity initiation party?" Hank snickered as J Dub blushed a bright red. "You know it's true…"
"Maybe I am afraid of him, but you know what? I ain't the only one, and if you're half as smart as you pretend to be, you'd be afraid of him, too." J Dub glared at Hank as he continued his story. "Anyway, Director Aubrey caught me staring at Sherri while he was asking me about my dad's new spinal nerve implants and he called her over to introduce her to me. I was so nervous...I thought I was gonna throw up, you know, but she just smiled up at me, batting those big brown eyes and flashing those dimples…" J Dub wore a dreamy smile as he remembered that day. "She was so cute in her little black pantsuit…"
"I know...and the rest is history, right?" Hank laughed as he watched Aubrey's wife Jessica try to corral their young redheaded twins. "Aubrey's a great guy. He and my dad have been friends for years, you know? When my dad retired, he told Bureau to make sure they kept Aubrey around to take his place, and I guess they took his advice. I guess they knew a good man when they saw one." Looking over his shoulder at his buddy, Hank grinned sheepishly. "And you're right...even though I'm a grown man, married, and have a great job with Army Intelligence, I'm still afraid of my dad." Turning back to the window, he shrugged. "My old man could still whip me if he wanted to…Hey, there's Ms. Julian!"
"Really? I didn't think she was gonna be able to make it...she hasn't been well lately. I'm glad she's here. She's always been kind of like a grandma to me." J Dub stood next to Hank and smiled as he saw Ms. Julian's wheelchair being pushed up the aisle to to rows reserved for the groom's family. She leaned in to get a kiss from Booth before settling happily next to Dr. Brennan. "She's kind of like your dad, you know? Kinda prickly on the outside, and a big sweet gooey marshmallow on the inside…"
"I guess so." Hank shook his head as he thought about what his friend had said. "It's hard to imagine my dad being a marshmallow even on the inside, but you should've seen him the first time he and my mom got to hold Chrissy's new baby. I thought they were gonna melt into a big puddle of maple syrup." Nudging his friend with his elbow, Hank laughed. "They were both talking baby talk to my new nephew."
The young men both laughed out loud at the thought, pausing only when they heard the knock on the doorframe. "Hey, Dad. What are you doing here?" J Dub held out his hand to assist his father.
"Hey there, J." Hodgins slowly walked into the room, leaning heavily on his crutches. "I came to tell that it's time for you two to make your appearance out back. The ceremony is going to start in about fifteen minutes."
Smiling at his Uncle Jack, Hank turned to J Dub. "I'm gonna go make sure things are ready for you. Five minutes or so, okay?" He quickly stepped out of the room, leaving father and son alone for a few final words of advice.
"Sure thing, Hank." The younger Hodgins reached out to pat his father's shoulder. "Don't wear yourself out, Dad. It's gonna be a long day, and you need to conserve your energy."
"I'll be fine." Hodgins sat in a nearby chair as he cast an appraising eye over his son, seeing so much of the young man's mother in his happy smile. "Looking good, Jeffrey. Sherri's gonna be pleased…"
"Thanks, Dad. I'm sorry Uncle Jeffrey couldn't make it…" J Dub sat down next to his father. "I wish things had worked out differently."
"I know, but he's usually happiest when he stays at the facility where he's familiar with the surroundings. I think all of the excitement and noise from the wedding and reception would just be too much for him. There's no reason to upset him and everyone else on what's supposed to be your big day." Hodgins patted his son's knee. "I'm gonna take him some pictures of the wedding next week, and he'll be happy with that. He's very proud that you're his namesake, you know?"
"Yeah, he told me that last time I went to see him." J Dub sighed softly as he looked over at his father. "You know, Dad...I'm glad Hank is gonna be my best man at this wedding, but you're the best man in my life, okay? I mean, I owe you and Mom so much. Thanks for everything…I love you guys, you know?"
Hodgins brushed away a tear. "I love you, too, Jeffrey, and your mother and I are so happy for you. I know you and Sherri will be very happy together."
"If we're as happy and as lucky as you and Mom, we'll be in good shape." J Dub glanced at his watch. "Wow. Look at the time. We gotta go…"
Pulling himself up with his crutches, smiling proudly at his handsome son. "Yep. Let's go get you married, J Dub."