This is a belated Christmas present for my dear friend, SD. Please enjoy while keeping in mind that if I owned these characters, there would be much more continuity and it would have to be moved to a different timeslot to account for all the Booth/Brennan smooching. Please see the notes at the bottom of the story to explain the title.
Brennan knocked on Booth's door and laughed when she heard Parker's voice from inside. "She's here, daddy! She's here."
The Booth men had invited her to spend Christmas Eve with them since they were actually going to get to spend the holiday together this year. She had told Booth that she didn't want to intrude on his family time, but he'd assured her that she wouldn't be intruding and was more than welcome. He and Parker had gone to an early mass and she had done the usual gift exchange with her colleagues at the Jeffersonian before joining them at Booth's.
Booth opened the door with a smile. "Hi, Bones."
"Hi, Booth," she replied. Looking past him to Parker, she added, "Hello, Parker. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Dr. Bones," Parker replied.
Booth took the gifts she was carrying and handed them to Parker. "Go put these under the tree, Parker."
As Parker carried the gifts over to join the others, Booth took Brennan's coat and hung it up. "I'm glad you decided to join us, Bones."
"I'm glad you invited me," she replied as she looked around at all the decorations. "Something smells delicious."
"That would be the Booth famous Christmas dinner," he informed her. "Roast beef for the meat loving boys and a vegetarian tofu casserole for the non-meat loving girl. Then we have homemade sweet potato casserole…"
Parker's voice interrupted as he called out, "Daddy, Dr. Bones is under the mistletoe. Kiss her, daddy."
Both of them immediately looked up and saw that she was indeed standing directly under a sprig of mistletoe. When their eyes met, there was amusement shining in his. "I'm sorry, Bones. Parker insisted that it wasn't Christmas without mistletoe."
Brennan felt her heart rate speed up at the thought of getting to feel Booth's lips on hers again. Their previous mistletoe kiss had haunted her dreams for the past year and most of her waking fantasies as well. When Booth leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on her cheek, she wanted to groan in disappointment. She was almost embarrassed by how relieve she was when Parker said, "A real kiss, daddy."
Booth started to reprimand Parker for causing her to feel uncomfortable, but her hand on his arm stopped him. "It's okay, Booth."
"Are you sure?" he asked.
When she nodded her agreement, he leaned in again and brushed his lips gently over hers. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard Parker's, "That's better" but then everything was focused on Booth. She could feel his hands framing her face as he deepened the kiss, the erratic beat of his heart beneath her hands where they were splayed on his chest, the silky smoothness of his lips on hers, and the incredibly erotic taste of him as his tongue playfully teased hers.
It was several long moments later when they reluctantly broke apart from each other. "I've wanted to do that since the last time we found ourselves under mistletoe," he confessed.
"Me, too," she agreed.
They smiled at each other and then Booth pulled her into a warm embrace. "Merry Christmas, Bones."
"Merry Christmas, Booth," she replied.
A gentle tugging on his arm had Booth taking a step away from her to look down at Parker. "What it is, buddy?"
"Are you two done yet?" Parker asked as he looked up at them. "I'm hungry."
They both started laughing and then Brennan leaned down and placed a kiss on Parker's cheek. "Merry Christmas, Parker. Great idea with the mistletoe."
"Thanks, Dr. Bones," he replied. "Would you like to see the Christmas tree?"
"I'd love to," she said as she took his hand.
"I'm going to check on dinner," Booth informed them as he watched his son lead her across the room, pointing out all the different decorations. He couldn't help but smile as he made his way into the kitchen. Perhaps this was going to be an even better Christmas than he'd hoped.
XOXOXOXO
Brennan sat on the couch and listened as parker animatedly told her about several of the ornaments on the tree. He was explaining how everyone in his class at school had made one of the star ornaments when she felt Booth's hands on her shoulders. She leaned her head back to look up at him and he smiled at her. "Dinner's ready. Parker, go wash up."
Parker hurried down the hall and Booth walked around the couch to offer Brennan a hand up. She accepted with a smile and a murmured thank you and allowed him to pull her to feet.
"We are going to talk about this later, right?" he asked as he continued to hold onto her hands and invade her personal space.
"Unless you would rather pretend it was another meaningless mistletoe kiss and redraw your line," she replied.
He released her hands and reached up to cup her face. He then leaned down and covered her lips with his. When he felt her lips part beneath his, he dipped his tongue in to taste hers before slowly retreating.
When she opened her eyes, he smiled at her. "Can't blame that one on mistletoe, Bones. I guess we're definitely going to have to talk about it."
"We can talk later if you want," she teased as she stepped around him and headed to the dinner table. "But I'm not sure I wouldn't rather just do more of that."
Booth laughed as he caught up with her and wrapped his arms around her waist. As they continued to the table, he replied, "There will definitely be more of that later."
Booth released her as Parker reappeared and held up his hands for inspection. "All clean, daddy."
"Good job, Parker," Booth replied.
"May I sit next to Dr. Bones?" Parker asked.
"Absolutely," Booth replied as he pulled out a chair for Brennan. Once she was seated, he helped Parker into his seat before moving around to take his own seat. "Parker, would you like to say grace?"
Parker nodded enthusiastically and then bowed his head. "Thank you for the meal we are about to receive and thank you for letting us share this special time with Dr. Bones. Amen."
"Amen," Booth echoed and then smiled over at Brennan. "I couldn't have said it better myself."
Brennan returned his smile as Parker began telling her all of his favorite foods and the three of them enjoyed Christmas dinner.
XOXOXOXO
"Is that the last of them?" Brennan asked as she walked into the living room where Booth was arranging more presents around the Christmas tree.
"Yeah," Booth replied as he looked back over his shoulder. "Is he still asleep?"
"Out like a light," Brennan replied as she settled onto the couch. They had finished dinner and cleaned up the kitchen and then the three of them had settled around the tree to open the gifts Brennan had brought with her. Parker had jumped up and down over the rock set she had gotten him and Booth had smiled as she'd explained how it would help him learn where certain rocks were indigenous to as well as introducing him to different soil types. Although he had teased her about turning his son into a squint, he had also thanked her for willingness to help with his education.
She had been unsure about her gift for Booth, but the look in his eyes when he opened it had convinced her that she'd made the right decision. She had gotten him a leather bomber jacket to replace his favorite green jacket that had been ruined by Pam Nunan's bullet. She had debated over whether or not to purchase it and had finally decided that it was the best way she knew to tell him that everything was okay between them. He had looked from the jacket back to her and the look in his eyes told her he understood.
Parker had given her a star ornament that matched the one hanging on their tree, explaining that he'd asked his teacher for permission to make an extra ornament for her as well. She had hugged him then, promising to place it on her tree as soon as she got home. Her gift from Booth had surprised her, the dolphin earrings instantly becoming her favorite pair. He'd merely winked at her as she'd slipped them into her ears and then leaned over to place a kiss on his cheek.
Booth had allowed Parker to play for a few minutes longer, but then had ushered him off to bed, insisting that he had to go to sleep so Santa could visit. Parker had only half-heartedly grumbled as he made his way to his room. Once he was settled in the bed, Brennan had joined Booth for a reading of "The Night Before Christmas." His eyes were drooping when they reached the end of the story and they had both placed a gentle kiss on his head before leaving the room.
Booth had led her back to the living room and poured her a cup of coffee, telling her to make herself comfortable while he got all of Parker's presents out of hiding. After his third trip, Brennan had laughed and excused herself to go check on Parker. She had found him sprawled across his bed, his blonde curls framing his smiling face and his favorite bear tucked securely in his arm.
Booth finished arranging the presents and then joined her on the couch. "What do you think?"
"I think Parker is a very lucky boy to have a father who loves him so much," she replied as she met his gaze. "And the presents look nice as well."
Booth smiled at that and then leaned over for a quick kiss. "Would you like some more coffee?" he asked as he got back to his feet.
"No, I'm good," she replied.
He nodded and made his way over to the light switch to turn off the lights, leaving the room bathed in the glow of the Christmas tree lights. "That's better," he said as he walked back to the couch and sat down beside her.
She took his hand and lifted it so she could slide under his arm. Once she had settled against him and his arm was wrapped around her shoulders, she replied. "Much better."
Booth chuckled and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. "I want to give us a shot, Bones."
"I'm not real good at relationships, Booth," she told him as she looked up at him.
"So we'll work on it together," he assured her.
"Will they let us keep working together?" she asked.
"Since you technically don't work for the FBI, they have no grounds to terminate our partnership," he told her. "They might force us to keep seeing Sweets though."
She nodded her head and then looked away from him. When she didn't say anything for a long minute, he placed his finger under her chin and lifted her gaze back to his. "What are you thinking there, Bones?"
"If this doesn't work, it will complicate things," she admitted.
"And if it does work, it could be the most amazing thing we've ever done," he replied.
She smiled at that and leaned up to press a kiss to his lips. "I like kissing you, Booth."
"I think that's a good thing," he replied. "Because I definitely like kissing you."
She leaned up for another kiss and then sighed when they broke apart. "There are going to be a lot of questions."
"Would you feel better if we didn't tell anyone until we got our footing?" he asked.
She pulled back to meet his gaze. "Would you feel comfortable doing that?"
He shrugged. "I'd much rather shout it from the rooftops, but if it would make transitioning from being just partners to being in a relationship easier on you, I'll do it."
She smiled then and leaned in for another kiss. "Just for a little while, Booth," she told him. "Then you can shout it from the rooftops if you want."
He chuckled and shifted to pull her into his arms. "As long as I don't have to pretend when we're alone together, I can survive."
"Are we still talking?" she asked as she leaned in for another kiss.
He laughed softly and then wrapped her securely in his arms before lowering his lips to hers again. This was definitely a great Christmas.
I titled this one "A Beginning" because I'm working on another story in which Booth and Brennan are in an established relationship. In one of the scenes, a reference is made to how they spent Christmas together. I decided to go ahead and write the entire scene so I could see it for myself. It's actually taking me longer to finish that one than I had anticipated, so feel free to harass me about it if you'd like.