Happily Ever After I'll Be
As a little girl came barreling down the hall, her pig tails flying out like the floppy ears of the worn stuffed rabbit in her arms, Parker had no choice but to turn her in.
"Dad the munchkin flew the coup!" A giggle echoed off the walls.
"Not again…" Booth muttered. He was going to be in big trouble if Bones came home and Annabelle was still up.
He trudged up the stairs, saw Parker point toward the opposite end of the hall, and moved in the direction of his and Bones' room. "Anna… Aaaannaa banana where are you?" Peaking inside his room he spotted the little toes sticking out from under the bed. He never understood his daughter's fascination with the small, dark space; most kids he knew were afraid of monsters lurking under there. After getting down on all fours as quietly as he could, he launched a tickle attack on the exposed limbs. A sharp screech cut through the silence and was quickly followed by uncontrollable laughter.
"Daddy!... No…stop!..." He grabbed her ankles and slid her out.
"You are supposed to be asleep young lady! Mommy's gonna be home any minute and—"
"Mommy's almost home?!" Her bright eyes and big smile were always his undoing.
"Yes, but you're gonna get daddy in trouble by being awake."
Her four year old brain was quick with a response. "Not uh. Jus tell mommy I had ta go potty," she said with a familiar gleam in her eyes. Like it was that simple… no big deal. Somehow he didn't think Bones would see it that way.
"Ok. What will it take to get you back in bed?"
"Ummm… a hug, two kisses, and a story."
"You drive a hard bargain." He scooped her up in a big hug and carried her to her room. After placing the required two big kisses on her pudgy cheeks, he unceremoniously dropped her in bed. "So what kind of story do you want?"
"One with a princess aaannnnd a bunny jus like Floppy!" She cried holding up her stuffed friend.
"Oookay… well let's get comfy here." Together they snuggled under the covers, the brown curls of her pigtails tickling his arm as she wiggled into place. "Alright. Once upon a time—"
"Booth!" His wife stood in the doorway with a hand on her hip and a scowl on her face. "What's going on? I thought I told you to have her in bed by 8:30. It's now… 9:15!" If he hadn't seen the twinkle in her eyes he would have thought she was actually angry.
Before he could come up with an acceptable excuse the little girl spoke up "I hadda go potty, mommy." Her lower lip jutted out just enough to make an impact.
Brennan pursed her lips and expelled a breath. She glanced from the pout of her daughter to the overly dramatic pout of her husband. Knowing she had no choice but to accept the pathetic excuse, she joined them on the opposite side of the bed. "Fine, but this cannot happen every time your father has to put you to bed. Agreed?"
"Yes, agree mommy."
"Okay Bones, let's get this show on the road. Where was I?"
Just as Booth was about to repeat the famous first line of any good bedtime story his wife interrupted. "I believe you were saying 'once upon a time,' although we all know that beginning a story in that manner usually means it will be neither accurate nor realistic."
He rolled his eyes, "Bones, we all know that by now, but it's just a story."
Even Annabelle giggled, "yeah mommy jus a story!"
"Okay, fine. Continue."
"Once upon a time there was a princess named Annabelle." He glanced over quickly to see a big grin on his daughter's face. "She lived in big castle on a hill—"
"Jus like da wizard movie Park likes!"
"Uh, yeah sure, just like in Harry Potter." He grimaced knowing Bones wasn't fond of Harry and his magic. "So she lived in this castle with the King and Queen, Prince Parker, and her best friend Floppy Bunny. One dark, stormy night, while Jester Jack and his assistant Zach entertained the royal family, there was a knock on the door." He knocked on the bedpost for emphasis and watched Annabelle's brown eyes widen. Meanwhile, Brennan stifled a laugh at the mention of their friends' names in his story. "When the king's guard, Wendell, opened the big wooden door a flash of fire greeted him! A huuuggge dragon," Booth said as he spread his arms wide, "poked his head in."
"What'd da dragon want daddy?"
"Well, he told Wendell he wanted some marshmallows."
"Marshmallows?!" Annabelle laughed.
"Yeah, you know, to roast with his fire breath." Now he had both girls in giggles. "What? Maybe dragons like s'mores too!" He saw Bones about to object in some squinty way and forged on with his story. "So as the dragon asked Wendell for marshmallows, his tail snuck in a window and snatched up Princess Annabelle!" His daughter's jaw dropped open. "The princess screamed and everyone sprang into action. The king grabbed his bow and arrow. Prince Parker yielded his sword. And Floppy loaded his slingshot with carrots. All were prepared to fight—" the clearing of Bones's throat made him backtrack a bit—"oh, and the queen knew karate, so they were all prepared for a fight."
Booth went on to explain the struggle in depth, complete with flying carrots, karate chops, and a charred jester's hat. As the battle scene drew to a close with the queen poking the dragon in the eye and the dragon running away in tears, Booth noticed Annabelle struggling to keep her eyes open.
"So when the dragon finally left, Gypsy Angela started a party. Everyone danced and sang and ate lots of food… and lived happily ever after!"
Annabelle rolled onto him to give him a hug and thank him for the fairy tale. Then, after a round of 'good nights,' Brennan turned off the lights and followed Booth into the hall. They made their way past Parker's room, noticing the little boy was sound asleep, and to their own bed. As they walked through the doorway, Booth slid his arm around Brennan and kissed her temple. "You know, I expected some anthropological tirade about the 'happily ever after' Bones. You going soft on me or what?" he chuckled.
She leaned into him. "As much as you enjoy my tirades, I happened to like the story. I've learned that sometimes there can be happy endings."
"You do know that a happy ending is different from a happily ever after, right?" he insinuated.
She punched him in the arm as he pulled her toward the bed, proving that sometimes both can occur at the same time…
AN: This was origionally for the 100 themes thing but I liked it too much to bury it in there. The title is from a Blu Cantrell song... Let me know what you think, I'm curious. ~SAM