Peyton wanted a Mother's Day story. I'm sure this isn't what she had in mind, but this is what I wrote.
This story takes place right after "The Past in the Present".
I don't own Bones.
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Standing in front of Christine Brennan's grave, Booth prayed for her, hoping that she knew that she was missed and loved. Finished with his prayer, Booth placed a bouquet of daisies on her grave. "You don't really know me. You've seen me around a few times but still you don't know me."
Shifting his feet, Booth smiled, "I live with your daughter." His smile fleeing his face, Booth shrugged his shoulders, "Well, not right now . . . I know, you'd probably like me to say I'm married to her, that she's my wife, but Bones doesn't believe in marriage so this is just the way it is. . . . Oh, I call Temperance, Bones. I don't do it out of disrespect but because she's a genius when it comes to bones and they anchor her to this world. If she didn't have bones to study I think she'd just live in her head. . . . Well anyway, I loved your daughter for a long time before we got together and now that we're finally together I found out that she loved me too but we were just too messed up to get together before we did. I had a rough childhood and after you and Max took off, so did Temperance."
Clearing his throat, Booth looked past the tombstone at the well-manicured grounds surrounding the grave stones. "You learn to trust love when you're a kid. You learn how to love from your parents or your grandparents and if you're childhood is messed up, you have a hard time understanding what love is or how it works. . . My parents probably loved each other when they were younger but I never really saw any evidence of that when I was growing up. All I saw was pain and blood between them. When he wasn't hurting her he was hurting me. That can really fuck you up, you know? My Mom got tired of it and ran away from home and that just left me and my brother with the short end of the stick. My old man got worse and all I got from him was blood and bruises instead of love and hugs . . . . I thank God every day that my grandfather took me and my brother away from my Dad. Pops and Grams were the best. They loved each other and they loved me and Jared. I learned what love could be from them. I learned that love didn't have to be pain and misery. I've always wanted what Pops and Grams had but I never found it until I found your daughter, Temperance."
Not sure where he was going with it, he continued, "You and Max should have taken Bones with you. I know you thought you were doing the right thing but you screwed that up. Russ couldn't man up and take the responsibility of raising his sister and he just abandoned her to the state. . . God the hell she went through with two of those families she was with, she's lucky she survived. One of the families locked her in the trunk of a car and she almost died and that other family, she won't tell me what they did to her but I have a feeling it was really bad. . . Anyway, you screwed up and Bones had to pay for that for years. You may have taught her what love was when she was young but by the time she was an adult, love had turned into a dirty word to her. Love to her was abandonment. You and Max were supposed to love her and take care of her but you just took off without a word. Russ, her brother for God's sake just took off leaving her with strangers that didn't give a damn about her. Those boyfriends she had, what a joke they were. None of them loved her, they just used her to get sex from her. I know you probably don't want to hear that but you need to know that what you did had consequences."
Hearing a distant siren, Booth glanced over his shoulder and then back, "I didn't mean to tell you that, but I just thought you should know that what you did wasn't the best thing for your kid. I know it's tough being a parent, believe me. I have a son that I love so much but because his mother and I couldn't get along I haven't been able to be there for him like I wanted to. Still, Parker's mother loves him and takes care of him and the boy is a happy child. I thank God that Parker has Rebecca in his life because she would do anything to protect our boy and she really tries to give him everything he needs."
Rubbing his forehead, Booth frowned, "I don't know, maybe I really shouldn't have said anything to you about Bones but I just thought you should hear it at least once. Max said that you and he were afraid to take her with you but really, I don't think her life would have been as bad as it was if you had. Maybe I'm wrong, I guess we'll never know that for sure. . . . I'm not visiting you to give you a hard time. I know it sounds like it is but I'm not. I wanted you to know that Bones can't come and visit you for Mother's Day. It's complicated, but someone is trying to set her up for murder and her life is in danger. She . . . she . . . uh, well, Bones left with our daughter a couple of weeks ago. She was afraid and she took off to hide from a serial killer."
Exhaling deeply, Booth shook his head, "I couldn't protect her and well, she left without me. She probably thought about it for a while before she took off and I guess she did the only thing she could. She took our daughter with her because she knows what it's like to be abandoned by her parents and she didn't want to do that to our daughter. Bones is a great Mom and she really loves our baby so much. I know she just couldn't bear to be away from her and that's why my baby and my best friend are gone right now. They'll be back, I know that. I just need to be patient and wait for our friends to prove that Bones didn't do the things the FBI seems to think she did. I know she's innocent but it's going to take a while to prove it. In the meantime, I know that Bones is taking care of our baby because she will always put our baby first."
Rubbing the heels of his hands against his eyes, Booth fought to keep calm, "She's a great Mom and I know she'll take care of my baby. I have to believe that because it's all I've got. I love Bones and our little girl so much. If anything happens to them, I'm not sure what will happen to me. I got to believe that it will all work out. . . Anyway, look, I brought you the flowers because today is Mother's Day. I can't give my own mother anything today because I don't know where she is. I can't do anything for Bones for the same reason. It's kind of sad when I think about it, but you're the only Mom I have in my life right now. I had to show Bones that I love her and that I think she's a great Mom so I brought you flowers to honor her and you and to thank you for the great job you did raising Bones before you screwed up. Bones has a big heart and she feels everything pretty deeply. I hope my daughter is as kind as Bones is when it comes to people she loves."
Taking a small stone out of his pocket, Booth placed it on top of Christine's grave stone. Chuckling, Booth explained, "I'm Catholic but I had a friend that told me about leaving rocks on top of grave stones and I love the idea behind it. He told me that flowers, even though they're beautiful and represent life . . . well, they die and wither away. A rock won't die. It symbolizes the permanence of memory. He said that meant that you aren't forgotten. Flowers will die and eventually be thrown away, they'll be forgotten but rocks, they can't die and they can't be forgotten. I hope that made sense. Anyway, that rock is proof that you aren't forgotten. Bones remembers you and so do I for her. We named our baby after you, so your name lives on with our little girl. It's kind of an immortality if you think about it."
Placing his hands behind his back, Booth frowned, "I have to go now. I just dropped by to give you the flowers and to wish you a happy Mother's Day. If you see my Grams, tell her hi for me. Pops and I are driving up to Philly in a few minutes. Tell Grams we're coming up for a visit and I have flowers for her too. She may have been my grandmother but I'll always think of her as my mother. This day is for her too."
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Happy Mother's Day!