Authors note: Okay, so this story sorta applies to my other story called 'I Want You', but it's basically a Christmas one-shot. For those who haven't read my other story, Seeley and Temperance have been together for almost a year and they have been living together for about seven months. Rebecca is out of the picture and Booth now has full custody. Parker has been living with Seeley for nine months and Seeley, Temperance and Parker have been living as a family for seven months. Okay, well, I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Bones or any of its characters; fox does.
"Okay, Bones, time to go Christmas shopping!"
Seeley Booth walked through the door, clapping his hands together in excitement. Temperance Brennan looked up from toweling her hair dry and rolled her eyes. She sighed heavily.
"Booth…you know I don't like going Christmas shopping…" She said.
"We aren't shopping for us, yet, we're shopping for other people." Booth said.
"Other people?" She asked, letting him know she couldn't think of any.
"Gee, Temperance, I dunno…" Seeley bit his lip in mock concentration "Parker?"
Tempe sighed and set down the towel. She turned to face him.
"You don't need me to help you with that."
"No, but I'd like you to."
She rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"We can't go shopping with Parker here anyhow; he's five, I think that he would notice if we start buying a bunch of toys that he's been talking about for the past few weeks."
"Parker isn't here." Booth said, rebutting her reasoning for declining.
"What? Where is he?" Tempe asked, clearly annoyed and concerned.
"I took him to Jack and Angela's. I told you I was gonna take him." Seeley said.
"No, you didn't. I think I would have remembered you telling me that you're taking our son to Angela's." Tempe said.
"I'm sorry; I thought I did." Booth said, thinking hard.
She smiled at him and gave him a light kiss on the lips. She walked passed him, out of the bathroom and into their bedroom.
"Why are you so fixated on involving me with Christmas this year, Booth? You were around for the last two Christmas's and I wasn't into the holidays then, either. Why are you trying so hard this year?" Brennan asked.
"Because, Bones, it's important. I'm trying harder this year because this year is even more special than the years before." Booth said, sitting on their bed.
"Why? What's more important this year?" Brennan asked indifferently.
After a few seconds of silence, she looked over at him concern evident in her expression.
"Because…well, it's our first Christmas as me and you…" He glanced up at her.
Tempe smiled and kneeled in front of him. Placing her hands on his knees, she kissed him lightly.
"Okay, I'll do it for you." He smiled. "And Parker." She added as an afterthought.
He leaned in and kissed her passionately. He broke the kiss and hugged her tightly.
"Thank you." He whispered into her ear.
She ran a hand through his hair and stood.
"Where you going?" Booth asked.
"To call Angela."
Tempe picked up her cell and dialed her best friends' number. Booth stood and opened his mouth to question her actions, but was silenced with a small motion of Brennan's hand.
"Hey, Sweetie." Angela answered the phone with excitement.
"Hi, Ange. How's everything?" Tempe asked.
"Fine, Sweetie. What's up?" She asked.
"Can I talk to Parker?"
"Yeah, sure, hold on. Sweetie, it's your mom." Angela said to Parker.
She heard a shriek in the background.
"Mommy!!!" Parker screamed excitedly.
"Hi, baby. Are you having fun?" Tempe asked.
"Yes! Uncle Jack let me jump off the stairs and he caught me!"
Tempe's mouth dropped in surprise and shock. Booth gave her a questioning look. Tempe shook her head and went back to talking with Parker.
"That's nice, honey. I just wanted to call and tell you that I love you because I didn't get to see you when you left."
"Yeah, you were in the shower. I love you too mommy!" Parker shrieked.
Tempe smiled.
"Make sure you're good for Auntie Angela and Uncle Jack, okay?"
"Yes, Mommy." Parker said obediently.
"You always are. I love you." Tempe said.
"I love you more!" Parker retaliated.
"That's not possible." Tempe said.
"Yeah huh!"
"Nah uh! But we will settle on a truce right now, deal?" Tempe said.
"Fine." Parker said in mock stubbornness.
Seeley pulled her arm to get her attention. "Tell him I love him." He whispered.
"Your Daddy loves you."
"I love him too!" Parker said.
"Okay, bye Sweetie." Tempe said.
"Bye mommy."
As she set the phone down, she felt arms snake around her waist from behind.
"You love that child too much." He whispered into her ear.
"As do you." She said, turning to face him.
She kissed him lightly and pulled him in for a tight embrace.
"Okay, we have to go shopping now." Seeley whispered.
"All right. Do you have Parker's Christmas list?" She asked, pulling away and walking over to the closet to grab her black flats.
"Yes." He held up a sealed envelope with Parker's childish handwriting scrawled on the front.
"Why is it in an envelope?" She walked over to Seeley to get a closer look. "And why is it addressed to Santa Claus?"
"I told him I would mail it to Santa for him…" He trailed off, knowing her view on the "Santa situation".
"Booth! There is no Santa!" Tempe said.
"I know that, but Parker is only five years old and he deserves the right to have faith in something fictional. There's no harm in that." Seeley said.
"And what are you going to say when he's older?" Tempe asked.
"We'll just worry about that when he's older…"
"Seeley! It's better not to procrastinate. You don't have to tell him, I will."
"Temperance, if you tell our son there is no Santa right now, I will be so angry with you." Booth said danger in his eyes.
Tempe sighed and held up her hands in defeat.
"All right. I promise that I won't tell him." She said, walking out of their bedroom and into the living room.
"Good because he loves Christmas and he told me that he is going to make his mommy love Christmas just as much as he does." Booth said, trailing after her.
She smiled. Only Parker…Booth laughed, knowing what she was thinking.
"Are we gonna go?" She asked, fully ready to leave.
"Yes, Bones, we're going."
He stuffed his wallet and Parker's list into his back pocket and headed out the door.
Once they entered the mall, Booth automatically pointed to an extravagant toy store to their right. Brennan shook her head and grabbed his hand.
"Na uh, don't you remember that place? We went there for his birthday…"
Seeley thought back to a few months ago. Tempe smiled, he remembers.
"Oooooh yeah…not such a good place…" Booth gave her a look. Tempe smiled and wrapped her arm around his waist, leading him away from the store.
"Let's go to Macy's." Booth said, placing his arm on her shoulders.
Tempe let him lead her through the mass of Christmas shoppers toward Macy's. She hesitated slightly at the long line full of eager children waiting to see Santa. Noticing her hesitance, Booth studied her face and was surprised to see something other than annoyance and distaste etched in her features. He looked closer. Is that happiness? No way, couldn't be…not from Temperance Brennan.
"Maybe it's not so bad that something fictional can bring so much happiness." He whispered into her ear.
She turned, sly grin on her face. "Maybe not…"
"See? Now that you're a Mom, you can see just how important it is to have happiness; even if it is just for a short time once a year." Booth said, holding her hand.
Tempe laughed at the knowing grin plastered on his adorable face.
"Aw, Seeley, you're so cute." She grinned widely and walked into Macy's.
Seeley ran to catch up to her after he grabbed a cart.
"Okay, necessities first." She made a beeline to the boys' corner of the store.
"Bones!" Booth called, running ever faster to reach his girlfriends side.
"He definitely needs new socks, underwear, and his shoes are pretty worn."
Seeley finally made it to her and sighed heavily.
"Sheesh, Bones, it's like you don't even notice the crowd of shoppers."
"I don't." She replied, snatching a bag of white, black, and blue socks. After checking the size and material, she dropped them in the shopping cart and moved on to the little boy briefs on her left.
"You know, for someone who practically despises shopping, you're pretty good at it." Seeley laughed as a fierce glare shot from her eyes.
"He's more into Superman than Spiderman now, isn't he?" Brennan asked, holding up the little briefs. Booth nodded and indicated to the underwear in her left hand. She dropped those into the cart as well and headed off to the shoe department. God she's a great Mom…how did that happen so quickly? Booth wondered as he trailed after her. She picked out a pair of black converses' and held them out to Seeley.
"Cute?" She questioned.
"Very, but aren't those going to be too big? I thought he wore a size six."
"Nope, grew outta those. His toes are always black from his socks and red from where it rubs against them." She said, placing the shoes in a box and setting them in the cart. She wandered down the aisle and stopped in front of the character tennies.
"Aw, Booth, look!" She pulled down a pair of pink tennis shoes with the Princess's Ariel, Belle, and Cinderella printed on the sides.
"Um, Sweetie, we have a son…" Seeley said, laughing.
She playfully swatted him on the arm. "I know! They're just so cute!" She set them down and picked up a pair of white tennis shoes with Harry Potter imprints on each side. It showed Harry on his Firebolt, reaching for the golden snitch. Tempe held them out, smiling.
"Look! They light up!" She demonstrated by tapping the soles of the shoe.
He nodded, smiling widely. God, I love her so much…He thought as she placed them in a box and set it atop the other shoe box. She began heading toward the clothes department, but stopped short when she noticed her boyfriend hadn't moved.
"Seeley, are you coming?" She asked.
"Yeah, yeah I'm coming." He called, smiling at her.
As they reached the clothes, Tempe automatically faced the jeans and began looking through the sizes. She pulled out a pair of shorts and a pair of pants and put them in the cart. Tempe began looking through the tee shirts folded haphazardly on the shelves while Seeley looked through a solitary rack holding sweatshirts. After a few minutes, each returned to the cart with merchandise.
"Oh, I didn't think about getting him a sweatshirt! Smart." Tempe laughed.
Tempe took his place behind the cart and he wrapped his arm around her waist.
"Now for the actual Christmas list?" Seeley asked.
"Yes, Sweetheart, the actual Christmas list." Tempe said, shaking her head.
Seeley pulled it out of his back pocket.
"Now, will you do the honors of unveiling what is within?" She joked.
"You know that you're making fun of Parker, right? He was worried that it would open and his list would fall out and get lost." Seeley said, opening it quite easily.
Tempe smiled. He's so smart, but so young…She gently pulled the list from his grasp and read her son's adorable scrawl. Seeley leaned over her shoulder to read the list as well.
"So how does this work? Do we get him everything on the list?" Tempe asked, turning her head to look at him.
"No, Tempe, he doesn't need everything on the list." Seeley said making his way to the toy section.
"Why not? Our total income is well enough to pay for everything he asked for."
"Because, Bones, we don't want our son growing up to be a spoiled rich kid. We want him to stay as innocent as possible for as long as possible."
Tempe laughed. "Well, we aren't gonna find anything he wants here."
"Yeah, I know. Let's go wait in the infamous Christmas line." Seeley said, rolling his eyes.
"It can't be that bad." Tempe said. "Christmas is still three weeks away."
"Bones, do you see all the people?" Booth asked, incredulous.
"Nope, I only see you." Tempe said, smiling happily.
Booth smiled and wrapped his arms around her.
"Only you can make waiting in line fun." Seeley said.
"Don't I know it." Tempe said, enjoying being within his embrace.
She walked forward, lightly pushing the cart with Seeley walking with her from behind.
"Excuse me." They turned. "Did you drop this?"
A woman in her early thirties held up a blue tee shirt with Harry Potter imprinted on it.
"Oh, yeah. Did we run it over?" Tempe took the shirt and examined it.
"Temperance?" The woman looked closer. "Temperance Brennan?"
Tempe glanced from the woman to Seeley, finally settling on the woman.
"Y-yes? Do I know you?" Brenn asked.
"Sarah Mathers. We were in the same foster home…" Sarah trailed off.
Tempe looked at her critically. Recognition dawned on her face.
"Really? You look so different…" Tempe said, shaking her head.
"So do you…You have a son?" She asked, glancing at her cart.
"Yeah, his name is Parker." She held out a professional picture of the three of them taken a few months prior.
"Wow, he's adorable. How old his he?" Sarah asked.
"He's five."
She glanced up at Seeley. "He's definitely the father, I see."
"Yeah, Seeley Booth." Seeley held out his hand.
The cashier finished ringing up their items and placed them all in bags.
"Well, he's beautiful and it's good to see that you grew up well."
Seeley paid for the purchases and picked up all the bags.
"Thanks, you too." They both smiled and went their separate ways.
He glanced at her and waited for her to speak. When she didn't, he decided to leave it alone. They walked in peaceful silence, weaving in and out of the crowd. They made their way to Toy R' Us without incident.
"Is this what he meant?" Tempe asked, holding up a remote control toy car.
Seeley took the box from her to see what it came with and to read the warnings.
"Ages 5 and up." He read aloud. "Perfect."
Tempe laughed as he skipped over to the other side of the room. She trailed behind, making it evident that she didn't know him to the untrained eye. He noticed this and ran up to her, looking and acting eerily like Parker, and grabbed her hand. She rolled her eyes and let him drag her through the mass of children and their parents. They stopped in front of a shelf full of art supplies.
"Who would bring their children shopping with them?" Tempe asked, looking around.
"Well, Sweetie, not everyone has people to watch them." Seeley said.
"Still, they all have to be out of their minds. I guess it's not that hard to bring an infant in a stroller, but someone like that…" She indicated to a mother pushing a twin stroller consisting of toddlers and holding a screaming baby between 6 and 8 months. Seeley grimaced and whistled.
"Wow, that poor woman."
Tempe shrugged and shook her head. They walked around the store and picked out a few things on Parker's list.
"You know, for a five year old, Parker doesn't ask for much." Tempe said, continuing looking around at the demanding children tugging at their mothers clothes.
"Yeah, he never has." Booth replied, setting the merchandise on the counter.
They paid and walked out laden with shopping bags. They struggled through the two feet of snow to get to the car. When they finally reached it, loaded the bags and got in, Temperance was freezing. Booth turned the heat on full blast and reached over to rub her leg.
"You know, I actually had fun today…" Tempe said, turning from the window to look at Seeley.
"Yeah, I figured you did." Booth replied. "Looks like Christmas isn't so bad after all."
"I'm warming up to it…" Tempe said, half smiling and taking his hand in hers.
"Good." Booth smiled at her and stroked her hand.
"Are we picking up Parker?" Tempe asked.
"Yeah and you gotta keep him busy while I hide all his gifts, okay?"
Tempe laughed and nodded. As they pulled up, Parker opened the door and ran out to the car screaming "Mommy! Daddy!" Tempe got out of the car and let Parker jump into her arms. Seeley got out as well and went to hug his son.
"Hey bud, did you have fun?" He asked.
"Yes! Lots!" Parker said.
Tempe gave both Angela and Jack a hug and thanked them for babysitting.
"No problem, Sweetie, you know how much we love him." Ange said as Jack nodded in agreement.
"Okay, bye Sweetie. Love you." Angela said, hugging Parker and kissing him. Jack gave him a hug as well and they all waved goodbye as Booth placed him in his booster seat. On the drive home, Tempe glanced back at her sons sleeping form.
"I don't think it's going to be too hard to distract him while you hide his gifts."
Seeley looked through the rearview mirror and smiled.
"We gotta thank Jack and Angela later for tiring him out."
They both laughed quietly. Once they pulled up, Tempe opened up the back door and unbuckled Parker's booster seat.
"I'll take Parker in. Can you get all the bags?" Tempe asked.
"Yeah, go ahead, Bones."
Once Parker was tucked in and all his presents hidden, Booth and Tempe finally made it to their bedroom after a long day of shopping. After changing and cuddling up in bed, they both fell asleep in each other's arms.
I hope you liked it! I'm considering on whether or not to have another chapter for this…Review and tell me if you think I should have one more chapter of actual Christmas, not just the shopping. Thanks!
-Lisa