A/N: As soon as I read this challenge, I couldn't help but think of Booth's little story in "Titan on the Tracks" ("My mouth moves, words come out, but none seem to get across the drawbridge to the princess I know who waits within"). I also added just a dash of Peter Faulk/Fred Savage "Princess Bride" interaction between Booth and Parker. Hope you enjoy!
"OK, Bub! Bedtime!" Booth yelled down the hall to his son.
"Wait, Daddy!" Parker protested. "Not yet!"
"Yes," Booth said a little more sternly. "It's 8:00. We had a deal."
"OK," Parker said, pouting a little. "But you have to tell me a story."
"Parker Booth, have I ever neglected to tell you a bedtime story?"
Parker wrinkled his nose and shook his head. "Of course not, Daddy, but I just wanted to make sure." He added a miniature version of Booth's smile to seal the deal. Booth laughed and helped his son get ready for bed.
As soon as his teeth were brushed and prayers were said, Parker jumped into bed and looked at his dad eagerly. Booth sat on the side of the bed and leaned back against the wall. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
"Once upon a time…" he began.
Parker interrupted by asking, "Daddy! Why do you always start with that?"
"Because that's how you start fairy tales, Bub. Now lay back and close your eyes."
Booth started again. "Once upon a time there was a princess who lived in a castle. Her parents were captured by a neighboring country when she was young, leaving her alone to care for her kingdom. Because of her grief, she had the citizens of the kingdom bring her the bones of the unknown dead, in memory of her own loss. Each day she walked through the bones, trying to identify them and remember the lives of those who had died. It was because of this that some people called her "Princess Bones."
Parker suddenly sat up. "Princess Bones?" he said skeptically. "That's a silly name, Daddy."
"Shh," said Booth. "I'm trying to tell a story here."
Parker giggled and settled back into his covers.
Booth continued. "Sometimes when one of the skeletons would catch her interest, she would have the court artisan, Lady Angela, draw her pictures of what she thought they might have looked like when they were alive and happy. She also had a faithful friend named Sir Hodgins who was very good at identifying the plants, flowers and insects found throughout the territory. And there was also a jester named Zach..."
"What's a 'jester,' Daddy?" Parker asked.
"A jester is someone who is supposed to make people laugh, but Zach could be more irritating than funny, so he wasn't a very good jester, but he was very helpful to Princess Bones, so she kept him around."
"Oh," Parker said.
"But what was really special about these people was that they loved Princess Bones so much that they spent all of their time helping her gather as much information about the dead as they could. They also assisted her in recreating their stories and publishing their findings throughout the land, making sure the remains could be returned to their families. Although it seemed morbid…"
Parker stopped him by asking, "What's 'morbid' mean, Daddy?"
"It means something that's gross," Booth replied.
"Yeah," Parker said, nodding his head. "I think it's pretty gross to look at dead people, too. Why did she do it?" he asked.
"She did it, because she never wanted another person to have to wonder what happened to someone they loved, like she wondered about her parents. And to her it was only fitting that she worked day and night on her projects."
"That's nice of her," Parker said.
"Yes, it is," Booth agreed. "Now there's someone else very important to this story. He was a mighty warrior named Booth (At this Parker giggled again) who traveled all over the country fighting to protect the land. But because he had a son named Parker (Parker gasped) whom he loved very much, he made the decision to return to the heart of the kingdom to be near his son."
"I'm glad you're here, Daddy," Parker said, reaching over to give Booth a hug.
Booth returned the hug and said, "I am, too, Bub. And so was Booth. Although he had helped a lot of people while he was traveling, he found that he was most useful serving Princess Bones."
"What did he do for her?" Parker asked.
"Well, for starters, Booth was captain of the guard and protected Princess Bones from people that wanted to hurt her."
"Who wanted to hurt her?" Parker asked, his eyes wide.
"The same people that took her mom and dad away," Booth replied. "So it was very important that she had someone smart and strong to watch over her." Parker nodded. "And Booth was gifted in that he could talk to people like no one else could. When a skeleton was identified, Booth would go with Princess Bones to return the remains to the families, bringing Angela's portraits and the information Hodgins and Zach had gathered. The families would tell Booth stories of the people who had died, giving Princess Bones a sense of peace and making her feel like all of her hard work was worthwhile."
"Is that it?" Parker asked.
"Nope," Booth said. "Because you see, Booth had a very big secret."
"A secret?" Parker asked. "You mean he was really a bad guy?"
Booth chuckled and said, "You watch too many movies, Bub. No, Booth wasn't a bad guy, but he also loved Princess Bones."
"But you said the other people loved her, too."
"Yes, but Booth loved her in a special way."
Parker stuck out his tongue and asked, "Is this a kissing story, Daddy?"
Booth laughed again and said, "No, it's not a kissing story. But it is a story about love and the ways people show how much they love each other. Because, you see, Princess Bones loved Booth, too, but she couldn't tell him."
"Why not?"
"I don't know."
"Then how did he know she loved him?" Parker asked skeptically.
Booth sighed and said, "He knew by the way she looked at him, the things she said when they were together and by the way he felt whenever she was close to him."
"Is that it?" Parker asked again.
"Yep," said Booth. "That's it."
"But how does it end?" Parker demanded.
"What do you mean, how does it end?"
"There's no ending! What happens with Princess Bones and Booth? What about the others?"
"Well," Booth sighed. "They all worked together for many years. They did a lot of good and helped a lot of people."
"Yeah," Parker interrupted. "But didn't they tell each other how they felt?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know? But you're telling the story!"
Booth smiled down at Parker for a moment and said, "Yeah, I guess I am."
Parker frowned and said, "I think you owe me a better story, Daddy."
Booth laughed as he stood up and said, "We'll try again tomorrow night, ok?"
"OK, Daddy," Parker said as he reached up to hug and kiss Booth. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Bub," Booth said and he turned out the light.