Bones 3.09

The Santa in the Slush (extra)

It was almost 10 pm by the time she finally left Washington DC Federal Prison and walked to the lighten Christmas tree that still stood in the middle of the parking lot. There was a small smile playing in her lips that just refused to go. It was snowing but she didn't notice, her eyes fixed only in the tree and in the man standing at its side.

"Thank you… one more time…" she said when she finally reached her partner. "You shouldn't have done this…" she said reaching to touch lightly one of the decorations hanging from the tree. She had the same expression that her step-nieces when they first saw the tree.

"Did you like your present, Bones?" Parker asked standing by his father's side. When had he started to call her the same way his dad did? She smiled at the boy, knowing that there would be only two people in the world she would allow her to call her like that.

"I loved it, Parker! It's been the best Christmas surprise I've had in many years!" She said honestly, kneeling to be at the boy's level. He surprised her by hugging her tightly and kissing her cheek. It was a strange feeling for her, but she returned the kid's hug just as tightly.

"Do you believe in the magic of Christmas now?" Booth asked teasingly, his eyes bright with emotion when he met his partner's blue pools.

Her smile grew again. "Yeah… I do, Booth… Thanks to you…"

There it was again. The silence growing between them, words unspoken that were replaced by the dialogue of their eyes… the feeling of being totally comfortable in those moments where the world around them seemed to disappear. And yet, this time that silence seemed so different, so much more meaningful… Brennan was standing so close to Booth that he had her in an arm reach. He so wanted to touch her. The kiss they had shared the previous days was still as fresh in his mind as it was in his mouth.

Gathering all his courage, he reached to cup her cheek, fearing that she might just reject him, but instead he could notice the little intake and the way her eyes widened a little when he touched her. She never stepped back; in fact, she leaned a little against his palm.

"We are not leaving the tree here, dad, are we?" Parker's little voice broke their moment, and made Brennan lower her face to get it free from Booth's hand. The agent sighed. As much as he loved his son, his timing couldn't have been worse.

"Of course, we are not! Why don't we take it to Bones' house, huh?" he proposed trying to sound natural.

"Yes!" Parker exclaimed. "I get to decorate three trees this year!"

Booth saw his son running to the SUV and he turned to see his partner. "Let's go, Bones?" he said offering his hand to her.

Her eyes were bright with tears. "Yeah…" she managed to murmur taking his hand and never looking away.

"Okay, here we go…" Booth said when he finally entered Bones' apartment carrying the heavy tree.

"Here… Put it here…" she instructed just as she pushed a lateral coffee table away. She and Parker had carried upstairs the bags with the decorations that had been removed so they wouldn't brake.

"Let's decorate it again!" Parker was over excited with the idea of the two trees, this one and the one in his father's house. Temperance Brennan was amazed by the boy's energy, and because it reminded her of her own childhood. It had been years since the smell of a pine tree had invaded her home.

"It looks so beautiful…" she couldn't help but exclaim when they were done with the tree and all the other decorations the two had picked for her. Booth had suggested turning off the lights so the tree would shine with all its miniature lights. Standing by the side of his partner, the agent saw how her baby blue eyes filled with tears once again.

"It certainly does…" he murmured while he tenderly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a friendly hug, like he had done other times she needed some comfort but would be too proud to ask for it. "You'll get to remember this Christmas Eve for a few days, while the tree is still green…"

Temperance turned slowly to see her partner's profile. "I will remember it for a lot more than a few days, Booth…" she said so honestly that it made his heart skip a beat.

"I'm glad, Bones…" he said matching her low voice. He stayed there, admiring her features for a few seconds until he knew he couldn't stand it more.

"We should get going…" he said as he turned to see Parker, who was still embedded with the sparkling lights.

"Oh…" Bones exclaimed unconsciously, her heart suddenly too heavy by the fact that she would spend the rest of Christmas Eve alone.

"It's quite late…" Booth tried to explain. "And I will have to take Parker to his mom tomorrow so they can go to Vermont…"

"Ok, I understand…" Brennan said, but truth to be told, she didn't want them to go.

"Come on, buddy, say Merry Christmas to Bones again…" he urged his son, who did as requested even if his little face showed how disappointed he was.

"Merry Christmas, Bones…" the boy said as he extended his arms to hug the scientist again.

"Merry Christmas, Parker…" she repeated, kneeling to hug the boy tightly. "Thank you very, very much!"

"Merry Christmas, Bones…" Booth murmured when she turned to face him. Her face didn't show her deception, but her eyes were suddenly sad. They had lost the spark the agent had picked in them when they first lit the tree. It made him feel somehow guilty.

"Merry Christmas, Booth… Thank you… again…" she said shyly, and in a swift movement reached to kiss him on the cheek. "This was the best Christmas I've had in many years…"

Booth couldn't say anything. The slightest touch from her had always had the ability to steal all his rational thoughts, and after the kiss they had shared in her office, it seemed to affect him now more than ever. He only managed to nod and murmur something that sounded like a "yeah…"

He was going to head to the door when his son's voice made him freeze in his place. "Dad, don't move!" Parker shouted excitedly.

"What…?" Booth was going to ask, but then Parker interrupted.

"You two are standing under the mistletoe! You have to kiss!" the boy exclaimed obviously amused. He was covering his mouth with his little hands, trying to stifle his laughter.

Both, Booth and Temperance felt the floor disappearing under their very feet. The agent looked up to the hanging branch he himself had put in there and almost cursed it. Bones was looking to the other side, trying to hide her reddened cheeks. Two days before she had been the one preparing everything to kiss her partner under the mistletoe, telling herself it would change nothing, it would mean nothing, it would be like kissing her brother...

Truth was that it had meant a lot to her (she had flatly lied to their therapist when she had said the kiss had meant nothing and that it was not the cause of her crisis), and definitely it had not been like kissing Russ. The moment Seeley's lips had touched hers, the moment he had responded to her kiss with the same intensity she had kissed him, all the "nothings" had turned into "everythings": that kiss had changed everything between them as much as she tried to deny it. As much as she wanted to feel again everything she had felt with the kiss, she was not prepared to repeat it so soon. She was not prepared to repeat it ever!

"Parker, I…" Bones babbled.

"It's tradition!" the boy argued with the same "deny-me-nothing" expression his father had. Arms crossed, legs slightly opened, Parker seemed to be daring them to move away.

The FBI agent couldn't also believe what his own son was doing to him. Didn't Parker realize that he wouldn't be able to stop himself if he kissed his partner again? Obviously, not. Back in the hospital, when she had kissed him on the cheek a few weeks ago, his breath had caught in his throat just as his heart started a crazy race to the ceiling; when she had arranged all the mistletoe thing to please Caroline and get the trailer for her family, confessing him what she was about to do in a few minutes, he knew he was lost for good. The sweetness of her mouth had broken all his restrains and he had given himself in to that first kiss like he had never done with any woman before.

And yet, he was so willing to repeat the experience again.

Looking at Parker, he knew the boy wouldn't surrender so easily, so he decided to play his cards. If he was correct, Bones was just hiding behind the "sexless kiss" thing…

"Parker…" Temperance tried to talk to the boy again, but his face was so determined.

"Oh, come on, Bones… It's tradition!" Booth joined his son's side much to his partner surprise. "What? You get to kiss me under the mistletoe, but I don't get to kiss you back? Not fair…" he said and moved closer to her, his eyes moving from her eyes to her rosy lips.

"Booth…" she managed to murmur when she felt his hand delving into her hair to rest behind her neck. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think anymore. Her hands moved to his chest on their own will as soon as she felt his other arm circling her waist.

And then it was all. He pressed his mouth against hers and all common sense evaporated. She responded immediately, opening her mouth to grant him complete access, thankful as she was that he was holding her against him or her legs would melt like jelly over a hot surface. If the five seconds Caroline had demanded had turned into twenty, this time they just lost any count of minutes, the whole world around them totally forgotten, Parker included. They broke for air a couple of times, just to go back to the kiss right immediately.

Only the distant sound of an excited laughter finally made them come back to their senses. "Parker…" Booth murmured when they finally broke. The agent didn't want to turn to face his son.

"There's magic in Christmas, dad. You told me so!" he said, clearly amused.

"Ok, buddy, enough. Grab your things and let's go…" Booth said feeling like a coward for running away of the situation like this. "I… hum… I'll see you the day after tomorrow, Bones…" Only then he looked at her in the eye again, and her face surprised him totally: her eyes were not sad anymore, they were shining with a new light that he hadn't seen in them. They seemed a deeper shade of blue and a small smile kept on playing in her lips.

"Why don't you stay for dinner, Booth?" she suddenly suggested, something inside of her rebelling to the idea of having Christmas dinner all alone. "It won't be turkey, but I can make something good…"

"Mac and cheese, Bones?" Parker asked. "I love Mac and cheese!"

Bones looked at the boy and then meet his father's eyes. "Mac and cheese will be…" she said in a low voice never breaking the eye contact. "It's my specialty…"

Booth reached to take her hand and kissed the back lightly but lovingly. "Merry Christmas, Bones…" he murmured, once again his eyes telling her all his words were not.

She felt as if her heart was about to explode. In years, she had never felt so loved in one day. Normally, Christmas season was a sad one for her, it reminded her of the time when she had lost her family. Now she had her father and her brother back, she had an almost sister in law and two step nieces she liked a lot, and most important, she had Parker and she had Booth. She would always have Booth. He was right that day when he had told her there was more than one kind of family.

"Merry Christmas, Booth…" she said, her eyes telling him a lot more. "Thank you… for being you".