Simple Tastes

Seeley Booth was a man of simple tastes. Warm, colorful socks (today it was red, white and blue stripes), weekends with Parker, burgers and fries, hot coffee and Bones. Okay, so maybe adding Bones into that list negates the "simple" descriptor...but still. It didn't take much to make him happy. And so far, this day was turning out to be absolutely perfect.

Booth had Parker for the day even though it wasn't his weekend. Rebecca and Drew had made plans to go to the Poconos and her parents couldn't take Parker until Sunday morning. Not that Booth was complaining...not at all. In fact, once Bones had heard he was going to take Parker to the Smithsonian for the day she had insisted on going along. "I haven't been there in a long time, I would love to see the new human origins exhibit that focuses on the ecological and genetic connections that human beings have had with the natural world for millions of years. It's in Koch Hall."

"Sounds exciting, Bones." Booth grinned stupidly, knowing that he probably would have agreed to spend the entire day in the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (because really, who could spend the entire day looking at modern art without being bored out of their mind?) if that was what she and Parker wanted. He hoped he could talk her into the Air and Space Museum sometime during the day, plus there was a triceratops exhibit Parker wanted to check out, and the Hope Diamond was on display, as well. All in all, it would be a full day.

Their well-laid plans began to spiral down the drain when Parker woke up that morning with a terrible cough. He had a slight fever, and seemed a little lethargic as well. Parker, for his part, didn't want to stay in...insisting he wasn't nearly sick enough to stay home. But Booth vetoed his pleas for a day out and called Bones to cancel.

Now, sitting on the sofa watching Finding Nemo for the two hundredth time, Booth found he was still content. He didn't like Parker being sick, but cuddling with his son, hunkered down with a movie, was the second-best way to spend the day. Just as Dory was having another freak-out onscreen, there was a knock at the door.

Throwing the lock open, Booth found none other than his beautiful partner standing on the other side, canvas grocery bags in hand and shy smile on her face.

"Bones! What brings you to the land of Parker Booth's cold cooties? Willing to risk your health just to spend time with us, huh?" Booth gave her a brilliant grin and moved aside so she could enter.

"Booth, you know very well that there is no such thing as cooties." Brennan rolled her eyes at his joke and walked to the kitchen to set her bags on the table. "I brought orange juice and ingredients to make chicken soup. I thought that would make Parker feel better."

Even if he wasn't already head over heels in love with her, Brennan's caring gesture for his son would definitely have pushed him over the edge. He couldn't believe that anyone could ever think of this woman as cold and unfeeling. He didn't realize that he had been staring at her adoringly for almost a minute until she spoke again.

"Booth? Is that okay?" He saw the insecurity on her face and instantly felt terrible.

"No! I mean, yes! That's so great, Bones! Really." He leaned forward to hug her tightly. "I love you for doing that, Bones."

Brennan blushed and backed away to peek around the corner of the kitchen. "Hi Parker!"

"Bones!" Parker bounded off the couch and threw himself at her, hugging her tightly. "Didja hear? I'm sick!" He coughed for effect, grinning up at her madly.

"I did hear." Brennan closed her eyes briefly, loving the guileless way the boy held her close. "How are you feeling?"

"My throat hurts and I'm a little droopy. But Dad let me watch Nemo again and he said we'll make banana splits later if I eat my dinner, and then we're gonna play dominoes and maybe watch Toy Story!" Parker bounced from one foot to the other, not looking the least bit under the weather to Brennan.

She looked at Booth bemusedly. "Are you sure he's actually ill? He has more energy now than I do when I'm in perfect health!"

"Yeah, he has a nasty cough. I wouldn't kiss him on the mouth if I were you."

"EWWWW!" Parker made exaggerated gagging noises as he ran back into the living room. "Mouth kisses are for big people like you guys and Mom and Drew! Yuck!" He jumped onto the sofa and covered his face with the blanket there, continuing to vocalize his distaste at the thought of kissing Brennan on the mouth.

Laughing, Booth reached over and pulled the blanket off his son's head while Brennan held his feet. "If you're not careful, bub, Bones will start kissing you all over your face and then you'll be sorry!"

"Noooo! No kisses!" Parker was laughing hysterically as his father tickled him.

"No kisses, huh?" Brennan grinned, leaned over and kissed Booth squarely on the mouth. "Now see, Parker...that wasn't so bad, was it, Booth?"

Brennan looked up at her partner and was greeted with a pair of shocked brown eyes. "What?"

"Bones! Did you just spread your girl cooties on me?" Booth bit his lip to keep the offended look on his face from slipping into the silly-ass grin it desperately wanted to be.

Throwing herself onto the sofa with Parker, Brennan let out a very un-Brennan-like giggle. "Oh, you'll be fine, Booth. My girl cooties are friendly. You've never complained before."

"Bones is right, Dad! You guys kiss allll the time. You're imm..imnu..."

"Immune, Park."

"Thanks, Bones. You're immune, Dad. Bones cooties have already taken over! Next thing, you'll be wearin' dresses!" This idea struck Parker as hysterical, and he doubled over gasping for breath and pointing at his dad. "Dad has girl cooties, Dad has girl cooties!"

Booth shook his head and collapsed on the floor next to the sofa, grabbing Brennan's legs and rubbing up and down softly. He watched contentedly as his son and his girlfriend laughed together, making fun of him and plotting how to torture him later on. Sighing happily, Booth decided that he could even live without coffee, brightly colored socks and cheeseburgers if he could just have this...this,every single day for the rest of his life.

Yeah, simple tastes were always the most satisfying.