Well this idea has been hanging around my head for months, so I finally decided to write it down. I don't usually do stories with unusual formats like this, so I'm a bit unsure about it, but I'm putting it out there anyway. Obviously, it's set in the future, when Christine is in her thirties, so this is very AU, but it was a lot of fun to imagine what the next thirty years might be like for the Booth/Brennan family, so I really hope you enjoy it, too. Please leave a review to let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bones and its characters. The charity Open Future is completely fictional, however, the issues involved are very real, and I have the greatest of respect for those who work with charities, and for those affected by the issues discussed here.

OPEN FUTURE

Article by: Jacqueline Davis

Date: April 8th 2049

Christine Booth is the daughter of world renowned forensic anthropologist and bestselling author, Temperance Brennan, and FBI Deputy Director Seeley Booth. Having built a highly successful career as a medical physicist, Christine went on to use her expertise and her family's resources to establish one of America's most effective and comprehensive charities, Open Future (OF). OF works with children and young adults suffering through difficult childhoods, such as growing up in the foster care system or living with abusive parents. The charity operates within schools and the foster system itself, to provide a network of counseling, educational support, befriending services and career advice, in order to help young people overcome their circumstances and build a better future for themselves. In this issue's featured interview, Christine talks with our reporter Jacqueline Davis about growing up in a unique family unit, and what influenced her to found OF.

Before we talk about the fantastic work of Open Future, I just have to ask, is it true that you were born in a stable?

Yes, that's absolutely true! My parents were working on a murder investigation, in a prison of all places, and my mother, who was heavily pregnant with me at the time, had elected not to follow my father's advice and stay in the lab where she would be safe and close to a hospital. She went into labor, and there wasn't enough time to reach a hospital, so they were forced to stop at an inn along the way. The owner insisted that there were no rooms available, so they were offered the adjacent stable instead.

Sounds like a scene from the Nativity!

In a way it was, although no wise men appeared, there was a horse that watched over the proceedings!

I bet there were jokes about that when you were a kid!

There were, yes, although when I got older, I started using it as an icebreaker in conversations. When you first meet someone, there's often the question of 'so, where were you born?' People always did a double take when I replied, 'in a stable, you?'

That's one way of making interesting conversation! Did any nicknames come out of your unorthodox birth?

I actually do have a nickname, 'Stapes', although it has nothing to do with my birth. The stapes is the smallest bone in the human body, and given that my mother is a forensic anthropologist and I was the smallest member of the Jeffersonian team at the time, it seemed appropriate.

Has the name stuck?

Yes it has, although I'm in good company on that one. My mother's nickname is 'Bones', which my father gave her when they first started working together, so growing up we were Bones and Stapes whenever he was around! It used to embarrass me when I was a teenager, and you would often hear me yelling at my father, 'don't call me Stapes!', but eventually it grew on me and now I think of it as a term of endearment.

So what was it like growing up around your parents' careers, particularly your mom's?

You mean did I see a lot of corpses as a child?

Well ...

No, I didn't. I was aware of what my mother did, but not really the specifics of it when I was younger. The way she explained it to me was that she was helping families find out what had happened to their loved ones, and I guess I just accepted that.

But did you get to hang around the Jeffersonian a lot?

Pretty often yes, but I wasn't allowed on the medical platform or near any remains. Although, I did manage to sneak out of my mom's office once when no one was looking, and I went into one of the examination rooms where a set of cleaned bones had been laid out.

Were you totally freaked out?

Not at all, actually. I picked up one of the bones, the left femur I think, and ran off with it to 'examine it' like I'd seen my mother do.

I take it she wasn't happy about that?

Certainly not! I was sitting under her desk looking over the bone when I heard her raised voice yelling, 'where the hell is my bone?' I got into so much trouble after that, along with receiving a lecture on the proper respect for human remains, which I have to admit, has always stayed with me.

Did you enjoy learning about science when you were younger?

Oh, absolutely. In fact, some of my best childhood memories occurred on 'science Sundays.'

Science Sundays?

Yeah! Whenever she could, my mother would take Sunday afternoons off and set up fun experiments for us to do. Sometimes my half-brother Parker would come, too. My mother's love and enthusiasm for science was infectious, and I guess that's where my own passion for it began.

What was your favorite experiment?

It wasn't so much an experiment, as what my mother would call a 'recreational learning experience,' which we also did a lot of. My father was able to join us this time and the three of us lay down on large sheets of paper while my mother drew around us. After we got up, she filled in the outlines with drawings of bones, and we had to try and figure out what they were.

Sounds like fun!

Yes, it was, nerdy fun at least!

Was your mother disappointed that you grew up to work in the medical profession, rather than a field similar to her own?

I wouldn't say she was disappointed, no. I think she was hoping that I would follow in her footsteps, or at least choose a field like archeology which would involve making discoveries about the past. However, as much as ancient cultures do interest me, I always felt drawn towards what scientific research could tell us about the future, and especially how it might improve quality of life. When it came time to decide on a career path, I asked for my mother's input. I think that most mothers would have said something like, 'do whatever you think will make you happy', however my mother's advice was more specific than that. She told me that my intelligence was a gift that shouldn't be squandered, and that I should choose a career that would allow me to realize my full potential and be intellectually satisfied at the same time. If I was able to help other people through my work as well, then so much the better. Medical physics seemed to fit the bill perfectly for me.

Aside from her literary success, your mother's expertise in forensic anthropology is world renowned, and you have obviously inherited her considerable intelligence. Was there a lot of pressure on you to excel to the same degree?

You might think that there would have been, especially from my mother, but I can honestly say that I never felt unduly pressured. Of course, there was a certain expectation from both my parents that I would work hard and achieve the best that I could, but if I ever came home with less than full marks on a school test or missed out on an award, I was never made to feel like a disappointment.

Was it difficult growing up with a mother who was a famous author?

Not really, no. For a start, I have my father's surname, so unless I told people who my mother was, it wasn't immediately obvious. Also, the majority of my mother's novels were written before my generation was old enough to be reading them, given their adult content, so it's not as if I had a hoard of my peers running after me asking for my mother's autograph. As I got older there were those who I met who did enjoy her novels, but whenever I went home and asked for an autograph for them, my mother would say something like, 'idolizing someone whom they have never met indicates a weakness in character, perhaps you should advise your friends to focus on the science behind my novels, which would be far more beneficial to them.' Needless to say, I stopped asking after a while!

We've talked about your mom a lot. What was your relationship like with your dad growing up? Are you close now?

Absolutely, we always have been, he's an amazing father. I was his first daughter, and I'm a bit of a Daddy's girl, so we've always had a good relationship. He never talked about it much, but I think because of the problems he had with his own father growing up, he was determined to build a solid and healthy relationship with his own children. He used to say that he was very proud of my intelligence and glad that my mother had passed that onto me, but he was also glad that I had taken on things like his appreciation for sports, something my mother certainly doesn't share! I have some great memories of us just hanging out in the yard kicking a ball about or just joking around. I really loved spending time with him.

What about your dad's Catholicism? Did you take after him in that way?

Well, religion was always a bit of a controversial issue in my family, with my mother being a staunch Atheist and my father a devout Catholic.

You must have felt caught it in the middle sometimes.

At times, yes, although I never felt that I had to choose sides. My parent's marriage is based on a compromise between their different beliefs, and I was given a solid grounding in both science and Christianity growing up. That's actually how science Sundays started. We would attend church services in the morning, and then spend the afternoon doing science experiments. It was a perfect blend of both my parents' views on life.

Is religion still an important part of your life now?

Yes and no. As a medical physicist, my life is immersed in science on a daily basis, so it tends to inform a large part of my thinking and beliefs. However, I have never forgotten the religious lessons I learned as a child, and I do have faith in a higher power. OF works with many young people whose faith is a source of strength for them, and I have a great respect for anyone who holds strong religious beliefs, like my father.

So, tell us about what led you to found Open Future, did your upbringing heavily influence your decision?

Definitely. My mother spent several years in the foster care system, which wasn't exactly a pleasant experience for her. My father also experienced a difficult childhood, and I was always raised to appreciate how fortunate I was to grow up in a loving family. As I got older and went through high school and college, I realized that there were a lot of young people out there who felt that they had no chance of a happy and successful adulthood, because their childhood had left them with a sense that the world was against them and that they couldn't trust anyone in it. Growing up as I did, with loving parents who gave me every opportunity for success, it deeply saddened me to see others not getting the same chances to reach their full potential. I really wanted to do something about it, but I was still in college at the time and had many more years of training ahead of me before I could even begin my career.

So what did you do in the meantime?

I wanted to make a difference in any way I could, so I got involved as a volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America while I was still in college. They're a fantastic organization, and I met a lot of really inspirational people. My time with them sowed the seeds for the idea of starting a charity of my own, but I wouldn't be able to realize that until years later.

So when were you finally able to think about actually establishing a charity?

Once I had established myself in my career, I started to think about it more and more. I spoke with my parents, and they were very supportive of what I wanted to do. As you know, my mother's novels and the subsequent movies based on them generated a substantial amount of income, which she had always been very generous with even before I was born. My father is also a very altruistic person, so I knew I could count on both of them for financial support to help get things off the ground. We talked at length about their own childhoods, and about the kind of help that they could have benefited from. They told me that, although they had managed to transcend their circumstances and make a success of their lives, not everyone would be so fortunate, and they felt that there was a real need for greater support for young people growing up as they had.

Is that where you got the idea for a charity that would focus specifically on giving a better future for vulnerable young people?

Well those conversations certainly had a heavy influence on me, but I was also driven by my own experiences. In high school, one of my closest friends was a foster child, and it really affected her. She was struggling with depression and feelings of rejection and distrust in those around her. I told my mother about her, and she suggested that I invite her home for dinner. After the meal, she asked me to clear the table while she had a private word with my friend. Now, I love my mother, but social interaction has never been her strong point, and she can very blunt, so I was a little nervous about what she might say.

That's understandable. So what happened?

My mother really surprised me that day. She came back into the kitchen about ten minutes later, and suggested that I take my friend up to my room and watch a movie or something, but not to push her if she didn't feel like talking. I was a bit confused, but I did as I was asked. My mother is extremely observant, and I found out later that she had noticed that my friend had a number of bruises on her arms, and that she was favoring her left side, indicating that she was injured. Having experienced abuse in the foster care system herself, she was concerned that the same thing might have been happening to my friend.

Was she right?

Sadly, yes. It took some time, but eventually my mother convinced my friend to go and make a statement to the police. Her foster parents were arrested and prosecuted for what they did to her. My mother may be socially awkward at times, but she has a wonderful caring nature and a fierce desire for justice, and I'm really proud of what she did.

Are you still in touch with your friend now?

Yes, we're still very close. After what happened, she was placed with another foster family, who thankfully treated her very well, although my father still felt the need to inform them that they had an FBI agent who would be keeping an eye on them! She actually helped me found Open Future, and is still very much involved in the organization now.

At least something positive could come out of such an experience. Are your parents involved with OF at all?

Not officially, however they sometimes give talks and volunteer their time to work with our young people, which is very helpful to them.

In what way?

When we first become involved in the lives of affected young people, often at the invitation of schools or the police, they are generally reluctant to accept our help, which is understandable given their difficult backgrounds. My mother tends to speak with those who have or are struggling within the foster system. By relating her experiences, she gains their trust, and serves as an example of someone who has made a success of her life despite what she's been through, giving them hope that they can do the same. My father often works with those whose abusive or otherwise difficult childhoods have led them to get into trouble with the law, which is unfortunately quite common. His own personal experiences and his career within the FBI make him an excellent mentor, and our young people respond very well to him.

Was it difficult for your parents to be so open with their experiences?

At first, yes, they are both very private people. I never actually asked them to do it, they offered me their help and I accepted it gladly. There are, of course, certain things that they have chosen not to share with others, and I completely respect that.

It sounds like your parents were instrumental in helping you found OF.

I would certainly agree with that. Their practical help and advice was certainly a great benefit to me, but their emotional support and willingness to share their own experiences have really been what's made this all possible. OF has grown so far beyond what I ever could have hoped for, spreading out across the country into thousands of schools and becoming very involved with improving the foster care system. I'm hugely proud of my team and the work they do every day, and I can only hope that OF can continue to improve the lives of young people in this country.

That's really great to hear. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us, Christine. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Just one last thing if I can, Jacqueline. Whilst I was very fortunate to be raised in a loving and supportive family, there are too many young people out there who have or are growing up without that love and support, often leading them down destructive paths away from the happy and successful lives they could have, if only they were given the chance. Oftentimes it is not a lack of ability that holds these young people back, it is a lack of faith and trust in the world and a belief that they don't deserve a better life. Open Future hopes to change that belief and offer them the hope, and the means, to achieve whatever they set their minds to. I would like to thank my parents for my wonderful upbringing, and the endless support they have given me, without which I would not have been able to establish this charity. I would also like to thank all OF's staff, volunteers, contributors and supporters for all their fantastic work. But most of all, I want to say how proud I am of all the young people who have had the courage to take the help OF has given them, and forge better paths for themselves in life – they deserve all the happiness in the world.

Well, what did you all think? I know it was a bit unusual, and I had to include quite a bit about my fictional charity to make this story work as a magazine interview, but I hope it was still enjoyable. I'm working on another story that is back to my usual style, and I'm hoping to have it posted in the next week or so. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Thank you.