Booth sat smiling at his daughter. She looked adorable this morning. Her bed hair was sticking out at the back, her pink satin PJ top was tucked into her green flannel bottoms and tiny feet were encased in a pair of bright yellow chicken head slippers. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes shining as she ate her breakfast.

He reached out and half heartedly flattened her hair on the back of her head. It was a good morning. He gazed up through the floor to ceiling glass wall in front of him and stared at the blue sky. The trees in their front yard were barely moving and he caught sight of a pair of tiny blue birds cheekily playing chasey through the branches before flying off. He heard the weather report and it was going to be an unusually warm day for December.

"Daddy?" Christine's tinkerbell voice brought him back.

"mmm, yes honey?" he smiled at her. He would agree to anything right now, he acknowledged.

"Are we going to go buy our Christmas tree this weekend?" she asked. Booth grinned widely, his eyes lighting up.

"We sure are baby" he replied as Brennan came out into the courtyard where they liked to sit and eat their breakfast.

"You sure are what?" she asked as she sat down. Putting her bowl of muesli down along with a pot of fruit and a small jug of soy milk. Her daily breakfast.

"Daddy and me" Christine began.

"Daddy and I, Christine. " Brennan corrected her absently as she poured milk onto her cereal.

"Daddy and I are going to go and buy a Christmas tree this weekend so that Santa can come and leave me presents this year. Because, we had to move. He might not know, so Daddy said that I can write him a letter and he will post it so he knows where to come!" she finished breathlessly.

Booth's heart melted, his grin widening as he held out his large fist for her to bump with her tiny little one.

Brennan looked up with a mouthful of food and frowned "Well now Christine, you're starting kindergarten and I'm not sure that you want to be talking about that. After all, Santa is not"

"Ah! ch ch ch ch ch!" Booth's voice cutting her off as his hand banged out a tattoo on the table, to distract her from what she was about to say. He frowned heavily at her before turning his face, and smiling at his daughter. "Honey, how about you go put on some clothes and we'll go for a drive to look at trees. See if we can find the most perfect one, OK?"

Christine picked up her spoon and empty bowl and swung her legs to the side of the chair and dropped her feet to the floor. "OK Daddy. Can I wear my Wiggles top and my red shorts?" she asked.

Booth patted her bottom as she walked past him "That's perfect, except wear long pants and grab a jacket and a beanie. It's going to be cold outside looking at trees. And remember to brush your hair too pumpkin"

He watched her walk into the house and then turned round to face Brennan, his eyes wide, his mouth opening and closing like a fish for a few moments before speaking "What was that? What were you thinking?" he asked his voice pitchy.

Brennan frowned as she chewed "I don't know what you mean. I was simply going to point out to Christine that now that she is starting kindergarten, it might be time to accept that Santa Claus is simply a myth. A fairy tale even. That it is parents who actually purchase and put the gifts under the tree."

Booth's mouth was hanging open, his brow furrowed over his eyes. "No! No! No Bones! She's only five years old. Five" he held up his hand, fingers splayed as he pointed to each one and counted "One, Two, Three, Four, Five"

Brennan put down her spoon and tilted her head smiling at her husband "I know how old she is Booth. Which is precisely why I want to nip this Santa thing in the bud before she gets to school! I don't want the other children making fun of her for believing in the fantasy of a jolly fat person dressed in bright red clothes who travels through the air in a sled drawn by reindeer to deliver gifts to children for absolutely no valid reason!" she said reaching out to grasp his arm with her hand, as if to draw his attention to her. "You know what children are like" she added picking up the mug of coffee that Booth had brought to the table earlier.

"Exactly. I do know what children are like. And Bones. Five year old children ALL believe in Santa Claus and the reindeer and the sleigh. They live for it. They dream about it. They write letters to Santa and go to the Department Store and sit on his lap and give him their secret Christmas wishes. That's the beautiful thing about Christmas when you're five Bones. All your friends believe in it too!" he said, his voice light, his eyes sparkling. "Hell Bones, I still want to believe in Santa. And with Christine? Well, now I can!" he added, his voice softening as it usually did when he talked about his daughter.

Brennan sat staring at him, a frown on her face. "I'm not sure you're right Booth. It was one thing to have the day care people telling stories about Santa to her, but now that she's older"

"Five Bones. Only five." Booth interjected.

Brennan stared at him for a minute. "I'm going to go talk to Angela about this. Michael is less than twelve months older than Christine. I'm going to see what she thinks about it all."

"Great idea." Booth said, waving his hand in her direction. "I'm pretty sure you'll find that they are into Christmas like we" Brennan dropped her chin and looked at him. "Like I am" he corrected himself with a grin. "and Christine and I will go out and look for the perfect Christmas tree!" he said standing up with a flourish of his hands.

"Booth. I know you love Christmas. And I love the whole decorating the tree and drinking egg nog things. I just don't know if letting our daughter continue to believe in pre-modern representations of a gift-giver from religious history and folklore, notably Saint Nicholas also known as Sinterklaas once she has started school is the best course of action?" Booth stifled a snigger as she over pronounced the name, then put on his best serious face.

Booth walked over to Brennan and wrapped his arms around her "Bones, we are great parents. You are an amazing mother. Our daughter is a smart little cookie, and she gets that from you. But I also want her to be a dreamer and enjoy the fun that's everywhere around her. And Christmas is one of those things that every little kid needs to believe in." He dropped his head and kissed her lips and stared into her eyes. "I don't believe that you never had Christmas with your parents when you were her age Bones. I can't believe that." he said shaking his head.

Brennan stared at him, biting her bottom lip, then looked down "No. You're right of course. We did celebrate Christmas when Russ and I were little. I suppose I just pushed that memory down. It's still painful for some reason." she said frowning as she remembered.

Booth sat down and pulled her down onto his lap. "I loved Christmas when I was growing up. Even though my dad was. Who he was. We still celebrated Christmas every year. We didn't have much really. But we always got a tree. Dad would bring it home on Christmas Eve because that's when he could get one the cheapest. Everyone had picked over all the best trees and the not so great ones were put out on sale. But we always got one. We would decorate it together. Mom would make egg nog and we would sing carols while Mom played the piano. Then she would put on a record and her and Dad would dance together while Jarrod and I would sit and watch, and then take turns in dancing with Mom." He sighed heavily, remembering "It was nice, you know?"

Brennan curled into him. "And then on Christmas morning. Oh boy, Jarrod would get so excited and just about dive head first under the tree. He would take the job of handing round the gifts to everyone to open. We never got a lot. But it was always wrapped nicely with bows and stuff. And even after we moved in with Pops and Gran, we were teenagers but they always made sure we had a nice Christmas. We were lucky kids, Jarrod and me." He said softly into her shoulder.

Brennan sat quietly, considering his words, feeling his hands rub up and down her back. It was always hard for Booth to talk about his childhood. As close as they were. It was for her too. She took a deep breath. "Well we need to make sure that Christine has Christmas's that she can remember and tell her children about then" she said.

"Exactly Bones!" Booth said excitedly.

"But that doesn't mean I am completely on board with telling our daughter deliberate lies about where her gifts come from. But I am willing to delay telling her the truth until she is a year or two older." She said.

"Maybe in six or seven years time" Booth said winking at her.

"I'm ready Daddy!" a tiny voice called out from the doorway.

Booth and Brennan turned and looked at their daughter, resplendent in her bright purple Wiggles top and her bright red shorts, a pair of yellow vans on her feet. Her hair was still kicking out at the back and Brennan stood up and motioned to her "Come on baby. Let me fix your hair" turning her around and heading back into the house to brush her hair for her. "You have to look nice when you go shopping for Christmas trees with Daddy. Perhaps we might put on some leggings and grab your jacket."

Booth grinned and stood up and gathered up the dirty plates and cups and followed his two girls into the house.