This is being written for the Bonesology Challenge: The first prompt for our 12 Days of Christmas fan fiction challenge is: (25th) Mistletoe.

Rules: Choose a couple and stick with them for the 12 chapters. Each chapter has to be self-contained.

Of course, as we all know I don't own Bones.

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Booth was disappointed. He knew it was silly for a grown man to be disappointed over something so trivial, but he just was. Changing his clothes, he wondered why it meant so much to him and he realized that it did because he had thought it meant so much to her, to both of them.

He knew she didn't believe in God or an afterlife, but every year she set her beliefs aside and helped him celebrate Christmas. Brennan knew that Christmas was his favorite holiday and she had started celebrating the season before they became a couple. She had done that for him because most of the time, his perfect Christmas found a way to self-destruct and she couldn't bear to seem him in pain or disappointed. He had loved her for that giving of herself and since they had come together they had shared every Christmas together. He loved her for many reasons and that was just one more thing on his very long list.

After they became a couple, Brennan had insisted that they start family traditions that they could honor each year. They bought the biggest tree they could find and placed it in the living room. The decorations they used were ones that he had accumulated over the years, but once a year she bought a new one and added it to their collection, so that they would have a combination of new and old ornaments. Besides she needed to offset all of those Philadelphia Flyers ornaments.

They bought presents and taped them up excessively so that no one could sneak a peek at what was inside the brightly colored wrapped boxes. They were both notoriously nosy and neither one of them liked surprises that much.

They cooked turkey and tofu turkey and made all the required side dishes. They played Christmas music and they danced to it. They had so many little things that they did that when one was missing it made Booth feel off kilter.

Christmas was their favorite time of the year and Booth looked forward to their own personal traditions, except for this year. For some reason, Brennan had skipped one of their traditions and this made Booth very sad. Being the man of action that he was he was tempted to fix it, but decided in the end that he would leave it alone. After all, it was her part of the tradition, not his and if she didn't do it, it would feel all wrong.

They had been through a lot in the last few years and Booth knew that the only reason Brennan was celebrating Christmas this year was for their children. In the last two years they had lost their house, he'd been imprisoned, they'd lost a dear friend and he had fallen into old habits and had taken up gambling which almost wrecked their marriage. Their life had been a trial by fire so to speak.

Booth knew he had been a source of great disappointment to her after all they had been through and to pile it on, he had almost got himself killed trying to help Jared out of a disaster of almost epic proportions.

All things considered, Booth knew that Brennan had very little to celebrate this year and that she was going through the motions for their children. Thinking it over, Booth accepted that some traditions had a tendency to fall to the way side and he would accept this because he needed to. The holidays weren't just about him or the kids, Brennan was part of it too and he wanted her to be happy too.

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Entering the kitchen, Booth found Brennan standing near the stove, checking on something in a pot. He moved across the room and placed his arms around her. Kissing her shoulder and then her neck, he looked over her shoulder and found she was cooking Osso Bucco. "Oh my God, Osso Bucco . . . really?"

Turning in his arms, Brennan placed her arms around his chest and kissed him. "I'm making mushroom risotto too, just in case you'd like to eat something that doesn't involve meat."

His lips meeting her lips once more, Booth felt the kiss becoming a little more intense when Brennan pulled away. "Max came by and picked up Christine and Hank. He wanted to take them to see Santa Claus. I told him we'd already taken them to the mall, but he wanted to do it again. I didn't see any harm and the children seemed to like the idea."

Pleased that he had a little alone time with his wife, Booth wiggled his eye brows at her. "So we're alone?"

Chuckling, Brennan nodded her head. "Very much so." Pointing up, Brennan laughed. "By the way . . . I expect a little more after all we are standing under mistletoe."

Puzzled, Booth looked up and found some mistletoe taped to the ceiling. "What . . . When did you do that?"

Amused at his reaction, Brennan shifted in his arms and moved her hands lower down his back to his hips. "Just before you came home."

Booth felt her hands massaging his hips and turned his gaze back to her bright blue eyes. "I thought you forgot . . . or just didn't want . . . I thought maybe you weren't in the Christmas mood this year . . . because . . . um . . . "

Staring into his warm chocolate eyes, Brennan smiled. "You always expect me to hang up mistletoe in our bedroom, Booth. Every year I hang mistletoe in our bedroom and we reenact our steamboat kisses, but this year I wanted to surprise you. I wanted to break our routine. I'm Wild Card Wanda, Buck and this is my promise to you. Our life is never going to be routine. Just when you think our lives are becoming uninteresting or boring, Wild Card Wanda is going to show up and she's going to shake up your routine."

A gleam in his eyes, Booth leaned over and kissed her. As their kiss moved into a wilder stage of emotion, Booth knew that his Bones loved him and wanted to make sure he was happy and that is exactly what he wanted for her. "First off, life with you is never boring, but . . . um . . . You know Bones, we haven't done it on the counter in a while. Think the Osso Bucco can wait?"

Her heart beating rapidly, Brennan moved back a step and moved her hands to the hem of his t-shirt. Tugging it upward, she laughed. "The Osso Bucco can definitely wait Booth."

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Any good? Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.