A New Tradition

by jazzyproz

My entry for the 2016 Bones Secret Santa Fic Exchange. Christine is introduced to a new tradition, one which she is very excited to share with her mom and dad!

A/N Hello and welcome! This is my entry for the 2016 Bones Secret Santa Fic Exchange hosted by Bonesology. I wrote this story for Kathy, AKA DukeFan ( dukefan1982 on Twitter).

One of her wishes asked for the following: Agent Aubrey & Christine, Please exclude: Everyone else (B&B can be mentioned but not a main part of the story). I have, admittedly, gone a bit offline with your wish, because B&B are in the story, but I hope it's not too much for your liking… My story just flowed better having their appearances and interactions as bookends on the chapter. I don't typically write a ton of interactive stories featuring the kids for reasons of my own, but I was happy to step outside of my comfort zone and feature Christine at Kathy's request. It's a long OneShot, but I didn't want to split it up and risk breaking the momentum.

A special THANK YOU to FaithInBones for being my sounding board. I wrote another story before I wrote this one, but I was very unhappy with it once all was said and done. She listened to my rants and complaints about The Misbehavin' JazzyMuse and let me bounce ideas around. I appreciate you!

Disclaimer: In case you're new to my work, you should know I don't own Bones… LOL However, I am in *talks* with HH&Co for rights for a movie once the series is done… Well, maybe *talks* is the wrong word, since I'm the only one speaking. HAHA!

I don't have a beta, so all errors are my own

This takes place in Season Ten, so Christine is an only child.

"Christine's school has early dismissal today," Brennan mentioned as she poured dressing over her salad. "Since it is Friday and things are so slow at the lab, I thought I'd go to the grocery store after lunch and pick up the ingredients for making Christmas cookies. I promised Christine we would start baking this weekend. We might as well start today."

Booth nodded and grinned. "Great. I love when you bake." He winked playfully and then tilted his head. "Things are slow enough that you can do that? Just," he shrugged, "take the afternoon off?" He bit into his sandwich and washed down the bite with a sip of soda.

"Yes. With Angela and Hodgins both home with the stomach flu, there isn't much going on. I have my interns working on a few sets of remains in Bone Storage. I already advised Cam I would be leaving early."

Silently observing their conversation from across the table, while enjoying his own lunch, Aubrey smiled. "Mmm," he hummed, "Christmas cookies are the best… Prob'ly my favorite holiday treat of all time..." He took a huge bite of his burger and savored the juicy flavor while dreaming of desserts.

Raising an eyebrow, Booth eyed his young protege with suspicion. "That's what you said about the pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving…".

"Oooohhhhh, that pie..." He looked at Brennan then at Booth. "That pie was amazing." He licked his lips and scooped some ketchup onto a few French fries before popping them into his mouth.

"And you said the same thing about the eyeball candies at Halloween…" Brennan pinned him with a speculative expression.

"Dr. B," he shook his head. "Those were friggin' delicious. The way the chocolate melted on the insides as soon as you bit into 'em… I still don't know how you did it… Magic, I guess..." He ignored the scientist's eye roll, moved his attention back to Booth and smirked. "Y'know what Booth? You're more than a mentor at work… you're my role model in life."

"Huh?" Booth looked confused at Aubrey's comment.

"I wanna find and marry someone like Dr. B… You don't know his lucky you are, man, to have someone who is brilliant, caring and can cook like that."

Booth burst out laughing and sat back, draping his arm around Brennan's chair. "Bones is an awesome cook, and an excellent baker…among countless other qualities..." He looked at his partner and admired the pink blush that was creeping up her cheeks. "But, believe me," he leaned forward again, resting his forearms on the table as he spoke to Aubrey. "I know exactly how lucky I am…" His smile broadened. "Give it time, man. When you meet the right girl, you'll know."

Before Brennan could interject her objection to the idea of Aubrey searching for a girl rather than a woman, Booth's cell phone rang. She waited, already knowing what the call was about.

"Yep… Alright. Send me the address." He disconnected and looked at her. "We've got a case. Body found in the back-lot of an old warehouse just outside of Arlington."

Her eyes flared with concern and she shook her head. "Jack is ill; he cannot be there to collect evidence or oversee the FBI techs. I will need to go surveil the process and ensure everything is completed accurately and according to our standards." She started to push back from the table.

"Bones," he placed a gentle hand in her arm, keeping her in place. "The FBI forensics team has been working with you and the Jeffersonian for nearly twelve years… I think they can-"

"Exactly, Booth," she cut him off. "We've been working together for more than a decade, and I know for a fact that they still miss things. All the more reason I need to be there in Jack's absence."

Inhaling slowly, the senior agent rolled his eyes at his partner's constant need to be in control. Rather than argue, Booth simply conceded with a single, silent, nod. "Fine. Will you at least finish your lunch? Then you can go straight to the warehouse and meet Cam, I'll get Christine from school and coordinate with Max to meet us at the house before I join you at the scene."

"No time, Booth," she looked at him as if he'd just fallen from the sky. "I need to be present from the onset, to establish protocol... " She took a final swallow of her iced tea and pushed to her feet. "Tell Max thanks, and if he wants, we can all have dinner together once we get home tonight."

Pulling on her coat she squeezed past her spouse's chair and nodded goodbye at Aubrey as she patted Booth's shoulder distractedly. "I'll see you when you arrive, Booth."

He stretched up for a kiss, but his puckered lips were met by nothing more than chilled air, as she had already whisked away, opening the diner door and letting in a gust of cold December weather as she left. Looking back at Aubrey, he shrugged. "Maybe when you finally meet that special someone, you'll have better luck at the occasional, harmless, public display of affection."

Aubrey laughed, knowing the partners rarely showed any signs of personal affection outside their home, but nevertheless recognizing Booth's more romantic side; something of which he doubted many other agents ever witnessed. Finishing his lunch, he listened as Booth called his father-in-law and left a message to arrange meeting at the house.

Disconnecting the call, Booth harrumphed. "Usually Max picks up whenever I call. He must be out of service area or somethin'." He flagged down the waitress while he spoke, handing her money for their bill and requesting a box to take Brennan's lunch to go. He hoped he would be able to convince her to take a break and eat more, since she had barely touched her salad before running off. Looking back at his friend, he continued. "I'll drop you off at the office and then go sign Christine out a little early. While I'm gone, I want you to do some computer legwork and find out about that warehouse. I'll meet you back at the Hoover before I go meet Bones."

B/B/B/B

Aubrey was sitting at his desk when he heard his boss coming through the bullpen. When he looked up, he caught the fleeting glimpse of Booth's trench coat tails as the AIC moved swiftly towards his own office, and he heard the man's conversation.

"Okay, sweetie. Grampa Max is sick, and he can't watch you today," he carried his little girl on his hip as he unlocked his office door. "So I'm going to call Miss Rose. Do you remember her?"

Christine nodded, but her eyes told her father that she didn't really remember the person to whom he referred.

Booth looked at her knowingly. "She's the nice lady I introduced you to when Parker was home in August and we had his pool party. Remember I said she used to watch Parks when he was little? She said she would watch you if Grampa ever couldn't."

"Ohh," Christine's eyes lit up. "That lady who brought the cupcakes?"

He grinned. "That's the one." He flipped through his phone contacts until he found Rose's number and dialed it. He looked up at Aubrey as his junior agent entered the office, greeting his daughter with a high five while dropping a manilla folder containing the requested warehouse information on his desk. He watched their interaction as he spoke to Rose, ascertaining quickly that she had recently accepted a seasonal position at a retail store and was not available to sit for Christine. Thanking her and wishing her a Merry Christmas, Booth disconnected the call and sighed. He quickly flipped through his mental catalog of sitters, coming up blank. It was a week before Christmas, Angela was sick, Max was sick, their normal back-up was out of town, their back-up-back-up had a retail job and was, naturally, scheduled to work for the shopping rush… He listened to his daughter giggling at something Aubrey said and Booth thought about Wendell. His hockey-mate had often occupied Christine's attention when she was at the lab with Brennan and his little girl was naturally drawn to the young man whenever he visited them at home. Pulling up his text, he shot Wendell a message, receiving a response immediately.

WB: Sorry, I wasnt sched 2work 2day so Andie & I came to Philly 4the wknd

"Ugh," Booth grunted and pinched his temples.

"What's the matter, Booth?" Aubrey noticed Booth's frustration.

"I can't find a sitter for Christine, and Bones keeps texting me, demanding that I get to the scene…." He inhaled through his nose and spoke to Aubrey. "OK, I'm gunna tell her I'm sending you." He pinned his subordinate with a hard stare. "She's pis-" he curbed his language almost too late, remembering the little ears in the room. "She's p-o'ed, things are not going well, so be warned…"

"Hey, Booth, hang on," Aubrey held his hands up. "You need a sitter? I can watch the munchkin." He raised his eyebrows and smiled and looked down at the child. "You wanna hang out today, kid?"

Christine looked up at the man and grinned, nodding in consent.

"Wait a sec, Aubrey," Booth stood from his chair, hands on his hips. "What do you know about babysitting a four-year-old?" He shook his head almost immediately. "You know what? No, just no."

"Wha- why!?" Aubrey was downright insulted. "What the heck? I am more than capable of keeping an eye on the Mini-Booth, here." He put his hands on his hips in a mirror image and challenged his boss to argue against his babysitting abilities. "Give me one good reason why you don't think I can do it."

Booth couldn't actually come up with a valid reason, other than the fact that Brennan had never actually vetted Aubrey to sit for Christine, and she was pretty hard-core-particular when it came to someone watching their Little Einstein. His decision was made for him, however, when yet another text came from Brennan, breaking the silent stand-off. Glancing that the angry message, he pushed to his feet and nodded. "Fine. But if anything goes wrong, if you're unsure of how to handle a situation, if Christine misses us and wants to call us, you call me. Got it? You. Call. Me."

Aubrey smiled, feeling a sense of pride growing in his chest at being trusted to monitor the well-being of the world's next generation of super hero. "I won't let you down, Booth." He barely stifled his smile. "You'll see. I'm an amazing sitter. I am great with kids!"

Rolling his eyes at his junior's enthusiasm, Booth walked around to the other side of his desk. He bent over and picked up Christine, pulling her to his hip. "Ok, sweetie. You're gunna stay with Aubrey, alright?" He watched as his little girl grinned and nodded, almost as enthusiastically as Aubrey's facial expression. "You pay attention and do as he says ok? Be a good girl."

"I will, Daddy I promise I'll be good."

"I know you will honey. You're always good. Now," he hugged her fully. "Gimme a kiss, 'cause I gotta go help Mommy."

Christine kissed her daddy and hugged him. "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, baby. Mommy loves you too. How about you gimme a kiss for Mommy and I'll give it to her when I go meet her."

He chuckled when his girl wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed with all her little might. He then accepted her kiss as she crushed her lips against his cheek with a loud, fierce display of affection. "Wow," he laughed when she pulled back grinning from ear to ear. "Mommy sure gets a big kiss. How come?" He questioned their daughter as he lowered her to the floor once more.

Looking up at her tall, tall super-hero-Dad, Christine giggled. "That's b'cause I know you like to give mommy big big kisses. And now I helped you! 'Cause she gives you big big kisses too!"

Immediately feeling his face turn a brilliant shade of red, Booth squatted down so he was eye-level with his daughter. "Oh, yeah?" He raised his eyebrows. "And just what is that supposed to mean, pumpkin?"

She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. "I see you and Mommy kiss sometimes… And you's twos kisses are biiiiiig!" The child nearly doubled over in laughter, innately recognizing her father's embarrassment.

Sighing, Booth shook his head and let a rueful laugh escape his throat. "You might not realize it, but you're just like your Mommy…" He ruffled her hair and glanced sideways at Aubrey before looking back down at Christine. "You enjoy seeing me squirm…."

Aubrey nearly choked on his butterscotch candy and turned away from his boss as he swallowed his laughter. Hearing Booth's stuttering response and embarrassed laugh, he regained his composure and turned back to face the father-daughter duo. Wiping his mouth in a failed attempt to erase his own smirk, the younger man opted to simply focus on Christine, who, in her childhood innocence, was completely oblivious to the predicament in which she'd just placed her old man. Squatting down, he smiled at the little blond.

"So, whatcha think? Wanna get outta here?"

She nodded eagerly, wondering what adventures were in store for them that afternoon.

He nodded once, confident that by that point, he could rise to his feet and actually face Booth without cracking up. When he came face to face with his superior's dark gaze, he swallowed the remnants of his chuckle.

Booth handed him the house key. "Here. Call me when you get to the house and I'll deactivate the security system using my phone app."

Aubrey nodded in understanding, fully comprehending the seriousness of the responsibility of babysitting his boss's kid. "Sure thing. We'll stop by the store on the way and pick up the stuff for cookies." He looked down at Christine again. "We can make some cookies today, huh?"

While Christine became animated with excitement, Booth groaned.

"Oh, Jesus," Booth pinched the bridge of his nose. "Don't burn down my house, Aubrey."

"Hey," Aubrey looked offended for the second time in three minutes. "Give me some credit, here, Booth. I am perfectly capable of baking cookies."

Before the senior agent could reply, he received yet another text from his partner, asking him,"where the hell are you?!" Looking down at his daughter again, Booth held up his phone. "Mommy's waiting for me. I'll see you tonight, sweetheart. We'll be home before bedtime, ok?" He watched as she nodded. "Don't let Aubrey burn down the house."

"You're so funny, Daddy!" The child exclaimed with glee as she bounced on her toes.

"Yeah," he looked at Aubrey with a threatening glare. "I'm hilarious." Raising a single eyebrow, he look at his subordinate. "Call me when you get to the house. I'll leave her booster seat on the hood of your truck. Use it."

"You bet, boss!" He watched as Booth grabbed the folder from his desk and stalked from the office. The junior agent then turned back to Christine. "So, ya ready, kiddo?"

"Mmm-hmm," she instantly reached for his hand and followed him from her father's office. She had only spent time with the man she called Uncle Aubrey a few times and always with one or both of her parents, or her other family nearby. But she felt completely at ease with him, having played games together at Thanksgiving and gotten candy from him when her daddy brought her to his office for Halloween Trick-or-Treating from the other agents. She tagged along, her small hand swallowed by Aubrey's much larger one, and she sat in the chair in his office while he piled up files and prepared to leave.

B/B/B/B

Pushing the shopping cart into the local organic grocery mart, Aubrey chuckled as Christine sat in the seat swinging her legs and proceeded to open the weekly circular as if she was reading the daily specials. Aiming towards the holiday aisle, Aubrey went through a mental checklist of what ingredients they would need to purchase.

"So, would you like to make chocolate chip cookies today? Or sugar cookies?" He looked at Christine as she raised her big blue eyes up at him.

"Me and Mommy are making choc'late chips and sugars. We are s'pposed to use a special kind. She said so." She wanted to make cookies because she loved cookies, almost as much as her Daddy did. But she didn't want to miss out on making the special ones with her mom. "Is there other cookies we can make?" Her eyes were wide. Suddenly she was worried that they would not be able to make cookies at all if she didn't agree to make those with Aubrey.

He smiled, reading right through her thinly veiled concern. Winking, he dipped his head. "Well, I might have an idea." He backed up to the endcap they had just passed and reached out for one of the boxes on display. Holding it up for her to review he peeked over the edge. "Have you ever made one of these?"

Studying the colorful picture, she shook her head. "I don't know what that is…"

Chuckling, he thought about just how much like Brennan Christine really was. "Well," he pulled back and looked at the box with her. "It's a Gingerbread house! It's a house made with big cookies." He flared his eyes with excitement when he saw her smile start to grow. "We can even decorate Gingerbread Man cookies to live in the house…."

She nodded her head slowly, never taking her eyes off the bright colored candies that were stuck all over the house on the box. "I wanna do that Uncle Aubrey…" Her tiny voice was full of wonder and awe. "And," she raised her blues to him again, "we can make the little people, too?"

He couldn't say no to her if he tried, not with a look like that. "Whew," he shook his head and laughed. "Your dad's gunna have to lock you up when you get older…"

Wrinkling her brow, she folder her little arms across her chest. "I'm not a bad guy, Uncle Aubrey. Daddy locks up bad guys." She pouted and gave him a stink-eye glare that would shame any scorned teenager.

"No, you're definitely not a bad guy, Christine." He winked and pinched her nose playfully. "So, you wanna do one of these and a couple of Gingerbread Men, then?" He turned to the shelf and picked up two pre-made, ready-to-decorate Gingerbread men.

She held up her fingers. "Five."

"You want five men?"

She nodded, watching his movements with the eyes of a hawk to ensure he was pulling more people off the shelf and placing them into the cart. "Mmm-hmm." She answered with a smile.

"Why five?"

Smiling sweetly, she tilted her head. "Me, Mommy, Daddy, Parker and you!"

Unexpectedly touched by her inclusion of him in the little world she was apparently building in her mind, Aubrey smiled. "Well, I can't argue with that, now, can I?" He turned back down the aisle, collected additional products they'd need for decorating their projects and then proceeded to the check out, smirking as the child in his cart held one of the gingerbread man boxes in her hands and carried on a conversation with it as if it were a doll.

B/B/B/B

"Alrighty, kiddo," Aubrey unlocked the door once he received confirmation from Booth that the house alarm was deactivated. "In you go," he ushered her into the house and headed straight for the kitchen, unloading the bags onto the island. He clapped his hands and smiled excitedly at the child. "We need to wash our hands first, and then we can get to work."

"Daddy said you can't burn down the house," the four-year-old reminded the man, knowing they were about to start their project. "He will be very upset if you do…" She wandered off down the hall towards the bathroom so she could wash up, calling out over her shoulder. "And you don't want to upset Daddy, trust me!"

Aubrey chuckled. "Yeah," he called out loud enough for her to hear. "I'll take your word for it!" He unpacked the bags and then washed his hands at the kitchen sink. When she rejoined him, looking up expectantly with big eyes, he grinned. "The good thing is, we don't need to bake anything. These kits come with the cookies already baked. All we need to do is decorate, and hey, that's the best part!"

She giggled. "Can we eat some of the icings?"

"Well," he bent over and rested his hands on his knees so he could look at her eye-to-eye. "We would be failing miserably at our job if we didn't eat at least some of the icing." He met her grin with an impish one of his own. "And we wouldn't want to fail, would we?"

"Na-uh," she agreed with a very serious tone, they did not want to fail. "What do we have to do first?"

Pointing over to the table, Aubrey directed her up to take her seat. "We should start with building the house, ok?"

Nodding as she climbed up onto her chair, she knelt in place and rested her upper body on the table while Aubrey un-boxed their project. Watching him intently, she listened as he spoke of his own childhood and the first gingerbread house he ever built.

"I was just about your age when I built my first Gingerbread House. But back then, we had to take the time to bake the cookies too, so it was an all-day event. We had to make the cookies, wait for them to bake, wait for them to cool and then finally we could build and decorate it. It felt like it took forever!"

"Did you make it with your Mommy?" She asked the question while holding one of the bags of gumdrops, examining the contents closely.

"I did." He separated out all the pieces into sections on the table, ensuring they weren't missing anything. "It was a tradition. Every year we would build a gingerbread house and decorate it different from the year before. And we would take pictures and put them in our photo album. It's nice to have traditions at Christmas…"

"What's tradition mean?"

"Oh," Aubrey never even stopped to consider that the child wouldn't understand the word. He thought for a second. "A tradition is something that you do every year with your family, or with people you care about. It can be a craft, like this… or it can be a game that is super special and only played at that time of year… or a certain television show that you can only see around that holiday time, like watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer…."

"Mommy said Rudolph is not real, but Daddy said that she's coo-coo…. And Daddy said that no matter what, if I close my eyes and believe it's true, then Rudolph will bring Santa to our house on Christmas Eve." The little girl wrinkled her forehead in confusion and looked at her sitter again. "But then Mommy said that coo-coo is not a real word and that Daddy maded it up and then Daddy said it means Mommy is silly and that he just wants me to have a good time at Christmas and to remember to leave cookies out for Santa…" She took a deep breath after retelling the relatively lengthy story and then continued. "He said chocolate chip cookies are Santa's favorite but that Santa also likes apple pie…"

Aubrey chuckled, imagining Booth weaving outrageous fantasies for his little girl. "Well, I think that whether you leave cookies or pie, that Santa will really appreciate it. But don't forget to leave carrots and celery out for Rudolph and the other reindeer. They get hungry with all that flying around. That's hard work!"

Her eyes grew in wonder as her smile spread. "I will tell Mommy to leave Rudolph food, too. I don't want his lightbulb to go out if he is too hungry."

Winking, Aubrey agreed. "That's an excellent plan."

Turning her attention back to the spread of gingerbread ingredients, Christine grew quiet and contemplative. Raising her eyes to look at Aubrey again, she voiced her concern. "Will my Mommy be upset that she isn't here to make our tradition?"

Thinking quickly on his feet, the agent shook his head. "No, she won't be upset, munchkin. When she comes home tonight, you can tell her that you made it for a surprise. That way you and she can still make your cookies together tomorrow, and you'll have the cookies plus the gingerbread house and gingerbread men!"

"Gingerbread people, Uncle Aubrey. Remember me and Mommy are not men."

"Quite right," Aubrey noted that this little girl was most likely the smartest and most observant child in her school… but then again, thinking about her parents, he knew she was bound to have inherited their traits. "Gingerbread people."

Moving on quickly from that conversation, she held up the bag of candies. "Can I eat these?"

"Well, not yet. Not all of them. We can open it and you can have one. But we need them to decorate the house, see?" He pointed to the house on the box, showing her how it will look once it's done, if they follow the steps provided (and don't eat all the garnishments first).

"Ok," she handed him the bag, easily swayed. "I'll have just one. A yellow one, please."

Extracting the requested gumdrop, he handed it to his tiny charge and watched in amusement as she chewed the sweet and sour gummy, her eyes lighting up with excitement. He pondered how her little mind worked, moving seamlessly from one topic to another with little more that a blink of an eye.

"Vat's good," she mumbled around her sticky mouthful, her bright blues so much like her mother's that Aubrey had to pause in wonder at what kind of child the scientist had been. Once Christine managed to swallow the rest of her piece, she eyed the bag across the table, but knew she couldn't have another yet…. she'd wait until her Uncle Aubrey said she could.

"Ready?" He asked her again, waiting patiently.

She nodded and watched his hands eagerly.

"Alrighty," he continued. "First we put together the walls and then we do the roof. We have to do this in a certain order of steps." He handed her the directions even though he didn't need them. He wanted her to feel like she truly was in charge of building this project. "Here ya go," he pointed to the first step. "I think this says we need two of the sides first, right?"

Studying the paper carefully, the child quickly understood the general idea and nodded. "Yes. Like there and there," she pointed at two flat gingerbread sheets, matching the shapes on the paper to the shapes on the large cookies. "Uncle Aubrey?" She looked at him as he prepared to squirt the requisite amount of icing meant to hold the pieces together.

"Yes?" He stopped his movements, thinking maybe she wanted to do the cementing.

"Can I have a drink? I'm thirsty."

Looking baffled at the child's sudden request, interrupting his train of thought for the house, Aubrey regained balance quickly. He laid aside the pieces he had been holding and nodded. "Sure, Christine. What would you like?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Ok…". He walked over to the refrigerator and opened it. "Ice water?"

"No."

"Milk?"

"Nuh-uh…"

"Orange juice?"

"Nope.."

"Juice box?"

"Yeah!" She clapped her hand and then remembered her manners, knowing that her Daddy said she had to be a good girl. "Yes please!"

Aubrey chuckled. "Alrighty," he carried the tiny box over to the table. "Can you put the straw in by yourself?"

The little girl nodded a positive response but said, "no."

Grinning he slipped the straw from the plastic wrapper and held it out to her. "How about now?"

Reaching out as far as her little arm would stretch, she giggled. "Yes!"

He held the juice box steady as she concentrated intently on pushing the pointy end of the straw through the foil. Once she had successfully readied her drink, he let go and went back to his side of the table.

"Ok, ready now?"

Nodding once again, her big blue eyes followed his movements carefully. Just as he squeezed the piping bag along one edge of the house and held on its counterpart wall, she looked back up at his face. "Uncle Aubrey?"

"Yes?"

"Will you make one with your mommy again this year?"

"A gingerbread house?"

She nodded.

"No," he answered, considering his wording before responding. "This will be the only house I help build this year. I think it's time for someone younger than me to learn, so I'm teaching you." He looked at the two pieces he was holding together and gauging how much longer for a temporary hold to be strong enough to attach the third side. "Maybe, if you like doing this, we can start a new tradition - you and me. We can make one this year and then maybe next year, too."

She smiled at his answer, pleased to be trusted with such an obviously important job. Licking her lips as she looked at the many different kinds of candies spread out across the table, she pulled the picture of the finished product closer for inspection. "Does our house need to look like this?"

"Nope. We can make it look like whatever we want."

Her lips curled at the newfound knowledge that they had the freedom to decorate the way they wanted. When he spoke again, she turned her attention back to her teacher.

"Ok. Do you think the next part is to add another wall?"

Picking up the instructions, Christine studied them while chewing on her bottom lip in thought. "I think you're right Uncle Aubrey…"

And like this, amid sidebar conversations filled with important seasonal topics including letters to Santa and wishes for certain toys, the duo completed building the structure until it stood on its own, with no assurance from the steady-handed agent. Christine watched in silent awe as his fingers pulled away slowly, ready to spring back into action if the house started to topple. When he raised both hands into the air, she mirrored his pose, cheering at their joint accomplishment.

"Well done, munchkin." He held a fist out and she bumped it with a giggle. "We need to let the icing dry and harden a bit before we add the decorations. So while that's drying, we can work on our gingerbread m-people," he caught himself with a grin. "Sound good?"

"Ah-huh!"

"Well, you are gunna be really good at this part, Christine, because I know you like to color pictures. I've seen some of your artwork in your Daddy's office."

"I'm a ex'clent artist… That's what Auntie Angie says."

"Well, from what I've seen, I must agree with Angela." He eyed her with a serious expression, letting her know that he had been witness to her skillful artistic eye. "We have all the icing decorations here, along with sprinkles, colored sugar, candies… everything we need to decorate our people. So all you need to do is decide how you want them to look."

Understanding the extreme importance of the task at hand, Christine grew instantly serious. She eyed the currently naked gingerbread cookies, trying to imagine what they should look like. Her only exposure to such cookies thus far in her young life had only been on books and movies, and in that specific moment, the boxes in which the cookies were sold. Lifting her pale gaze up to Aubrey, she wrinkled her nose.

"Do they need to look like that?"

"No, of course not. This is your project. So you can make them look anyway you'd like."

Happy with that response, Christine started to get off her chair. "I'll be right back!" She called over her shoulder as she ran into the living room and to her little art desk. Rifling through a pile of completed pictures, she found the one she was looking for and carried it proudly over to her uncle, looking down at it as she moved, so happy at its content. Once she was back at his side, she trust it up into his hands, flashing a wide toothy grin, definitely a Booth-trait that she had inherited. "Can we make them like this?"

Aubrey felt his expectant smile falter as he looked at her drawing. He wasn't sure what exactly he had been expecting, but it certainly wasn't this… Somewhere in the back of his mind, he figured he would be looking down at a child's drawing of her family… perhaps a little girl in a pink dress, her mommy and daddy holding hands beneath a chunky tree or something of the sort…. But that's not what was staring back at him…. Not even close.

"Christine, I don't think I understand." He looked at her anticipatory expression as she moved her eyes back to her 'excellently rendered' piece of art.

"I wanna make our people like this!" She pointed to her drawing again, still wearing that same, Boothy-grin.

"Umm… munchkin," he squatted down to be eye-to-eye. "This is a skeleton…"

"Yep." She was proud, her eyes twinkling, her dimple accented.

"Right… well…". He looked at the drawing again, trying to reason a way around the fact that he had just, moments before, told her she could make the gingerbread people into anything she wanted. "The thing is, you see," he tilted his head. "Skeletons and Christmas, they don't really go together…"

"Yes-huh, they do…" She looked at the man in the eyes and patted his knee. "Come look." She then reached for his hand and pulled him over to the entertainment stand. Pointing to a DVD, she raised her eyebrows and grinned again.

Aubrey read the title aloud. "The Nightmare Before Christmas." He nodded once, looking at the drawing again. Now he understood why her rendition looked so much like Jack Skellington from the Disney animated movie... Looking at her again, he raised an eyebrow. "But wouldn't you rather draw your gingerbread people more like this?" He pointed to another DVD, this time it was 'Shrek,' and he indicated to the gingerbread man character.

"No." Her answer was concise and immediate.

Aubrey considered his options. The child clearly had a lethal combination of both parents' stubborn streaks. When mixed with her father's charm and her mother's good looks and apparent wit, however, she was undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with. There'd be no getting around this… and the junior agent knew his boss would not be happy. During his short time at the Hoover, Aubrey had heard stories of when the partners first began working together, Brennan wanted to run off to some third-world country during their Christmas break to volunteer her time at ID-ing remains. Booth had been overheard on several occasions lecturing her about the unlikely pairing of Christmas and skeletons. If rumor could be believed, the Senior Agent had succeeded and Brennan was said to have stayed in town for the holidays.

Looking down into the excited blues waiting for an answer, he couldn't say no. "Well, if this is really what you want….". When she started to bounce on the balls of her feet, he asked her again, pointing at the 'Shrek' cover. "Are you sure you don't want a traditional Gingerbread Person?"

"I'm sure!"

"Well, let's get you started, then," he motioned her back towards the table. Glancing down at the drawing again as he moved, he chuckled. "Hey," he wanted to tease her a little bit, sensing that she would be able to take it in good stride. "You know your skeleton has thirteen fingers? He should only have ten…"

Rolling her eyes, she giggled. "Uncle Aubrey! It's a she, not a he! Can't you see his pelvic girdle is shaped like a girl's!?" She almost doubled over in laughter. "You're so silly, Uncle Aubrey!"

"Annnd you apparently inherited your mom's quirky sense of humor, also…" He muttered under his breath and wrinkled his brow. When she regained her breath, he winked playfully. "Yeah, I guess I missed that. Thanks for setting me straight…"

Patting his hand as she climbed back onto her chair, she sighed and took an exaggerated breath. "It's ok. Daddy didn't know either..." Settling on her knees, she shook her head and muttered, "Daddy's silly too..."

"Well, that makes me feel better." Narrowing his eyes at her as he placed the drawing on the table, he playfully challenged her once more. "But that doesn't explain the thirteen fingers, Missy-Miss…"

Holding her prized drawing before her again, the child admired it. "Mommy said I did a ex'clent demonstration of a pterodactyl." She smiled smugly, waiting for his compliment.

Oh, yeah… you're definitely half Brennan-half Booth, Aubrey hid a grin. "Christine, I think you mean polydactyl. That's a person with additional fingers or toes…. a pterodactyl is a prehistoric bird that lived back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth. They had long wings and made terrible sounds like this…" He spread his arms out, flapping them slowly and made a loud, screeching sound like those he'd heard in Hollywood movies. When the little girl was laughing so hard her face was turning red, Aubrey ceased his imitation and accepted her hug as she flung her arms around his legs. "Well, they might not have sounded exactly like that, but we will never really know…"

B/B/B/B

A few hours later, the gingerbread skeletons were finished and the house was finally decorated with the candies that were left over once the incorrigible pair was done sneaking bites. Aubrey found a decorative platter in a kitchen cabinet and staged the house and people, so that Christine could proudly present her project for her parents when they arrived home. Having received a text warning, Aubrey knew his boss and Brennan were due to arrive any moment, so he urged Christine to finish up drawing the card she was making for her Mommy and Daddy.

Much to his dismay, when the little girl skipped into the kitchen waving her picture card in the air, Aubrey sighed. Five smiling skeletons stood next to a Christmas Tree that was covered with colorful dots and shapes he assumed were meant to be stars. One skeleton had a blue shirt of sorts, and Christine explained that was her Mommy wearing her lab coat. Christine then pointed out Parker, showing him with his skateboard, and then herself, wearing a princess crown, of course. She pointed to another skeleton with a blue streak at his neck and when questioned, Christine rolled her eyes again while giggling and pointed to the blue tie he was wearing. "That's you, Uncle Aubrey!"

Chuckling, he pointed to the last skeleton, which was dressed in a red Santa hat and red shorts. "Well, who's this? It looks like Santa, but then, where is your Daddy?"

Shaking her head to the negative, she looked at the skeleton he pointed to. "No, that's not Santa. Santa's skeleton would need to be fat!" She held her hands out to her sides in demonstration. "I went to see Santa and he was this big!"

"Wow…" Aubrey flared his eyes, thoroughly enjoying the antics of the Mini-Booth.

"That one," she pointed to the last skeleton, "is Daddy. He has a Santa's Helper Hat! He wore when we decorated the tree…" She smiled, thinking she was sharing a secret. "Sometimes when Santa is super busy, Daddies get to help. And they get Helper Hats."

"That's awesome," Aubrey pretended to be suitably impressed. "And I guess he got a Helper Suit, too?" He indicated to the clothes she had drawn on her father, but then crinkled his brow when she shook her head to the negative.

"No." She eyed him with clear, innocent eyes. "Those are his superhero underwears. I heard him tell Mommy that she can call him Captain America when he wears them…"

Before Aubrey could react to this tasty morsel of information, he heard a key slide into the door. Handing the card back to her, he pointed to the table where her completed project was ready for its royal presentation. "Hurry!" He whispered loudly. "Put it on the table for Mommy and Daddy!"

After placing the card as carefully as a four-year-old was capable, she turned and ran to the foyer with her arms outstretched. "Mommy! Daddy!"

"Heya, monkey," Booth scooped her up easily when she threw herself at him, placing a kiss on her cheek before handing her to Brennan for their greeting. Booth continued towards the island where Aubrey was seated, nodding at his young friend. "Hey man, how was she?" He extended his hand for a shake.

"She was great, Booth. We had some vegetable soup I found in the fridge. She was getting hungry and said you guys had that last night, so we had some tonight. There's still more in there."

"Yeah, thanks. I thought we would be home sooner. Sorry about the time." At the insistent tapping on his thigh, he looked down at his daughter. "Hi, sweetheart," he bent down, thinking she wanted to be picked up again.

"No, Daddy! You need to cover your eyes. I have a s'prize for you and Mommy! She is covering her eyes, see?"

"Oh! Ok, then." Booth made a big show of squeezing his eyes shut and bringing his large hand up to cover them. "Ready!" He yelled unnecessarily loud, as if they were playing hide and seek, instead.

Christine looked up at Aubrey, her excitement radiating from her tiny body. She took one hand from each parent and guided them slowly towards the dining table. "Keep your eyes closed!" Her little sing-song voice was so sweet and innocent, Aubrey felt himself getting excited for the little girl. "Just a little further…." she was looking down at her parents feet until they reached the point where she wanted them. When Booth took one step too many, she thrust her hand out to stop him. "No! Too far, Daddy. One step back…"

Being the perfect height to nail him in the crotch, Booth oomphed when her tiny fist made contact, and he quickly grabbed her hand gently, holding it in his much, much larger hand. "Ok, Baby…" He practically squeaked. "Sorry…"

Clueless to the pain she innocently inflicted, she simply smiled, though her father couldn't see it. "That's ok, Daddy." Letting go of their hands, the enthusiastic child skipped to the side of the table to stand next to her wondrous creation. Once in place she took a final glance at Aubrey to make sure she was doing right, and when she received his wordless nod, took a deep breath.

"Tah-Dah! Open your eyes Mommy and Daddy! See what I maded for you!" She swept her arms wide in a game-show fashion, as if revealing a brand new car that was hidden behind door number one. "Uncle Aubrey taught me how to make a gingerbread house and gingerbread people!"

At first, the proud parents only saw the colorful, if gaudy, gingerbread house with its bright colored gumdrops, sprinkled shingles and crooked lines of icing trim. They oohed and aahed, making a fuss for the benefit of their little girl. They told her that a grander gingerbread house never existed, and Brennan fawned that her natural artistic abilities were unmatched.

And then, they saw the people…the little gingerbread family spread out on the second cookie sheet, patiently awaiting their glowing reviews and compliments.

Brennan exclaimed with joy and overwhelming excitement. "They're skeletons! Sweetheart you made skeletons!" She engulfed her daughter in a bear hug, swaying her back and forth as she cooed praises and compliments.

Booth, however, turned to Aubrey, a deadpan expression on his face. "They're skeletons. You let my daughter paint skeletons on her cookies…"

"It's what she wanted," Aubrey tried to reason, his hands held up in surrender. "I told her that she could use her imagination…" His voice died down, "and she did…"

"Aren't they wonderful, Booth?!" Brennan's pride continued to ooze from every pore at the accomplishment of her tiny protegé. "Look!" She held one out to him, "see how amazing?"

Booth eyed her with disbelief. "They're skeletons, Bones," he growled quietly, not wanting his daughter to know he was upset.

Not picking up on his discomfort, Brennan was gleefully ignorant of her husband's meaning. "I know," she sighed, admiring another gingerbread skeleton she was holding. "And to think, you used to say Christmas and skeletons didn't mix…" She smiled broadly, holding yet another cookie out to him for inspection. "Look what our baby did…" Brennan had been having a horrible day; the crime scene had been contaminated, she had to babysit a team of rookie FBI forensics agents, the lightly falling snow turned to slushy ice by nightfall, but all of that was forgotten when her daughter greeted them at the door. "Our daughter is demonstrating remarkable artistic abilities, Booth…" Her smiled beamed. "And an advanced understanding of the human skeletal structure…"

Realizing that he hadn't expressed anything to his baby, Booth placed the cookie he was holding back down in the cookie tray. Holding out his arms, he pulled her to his chest. "Thank you for the gift, sweetheart."

Looking up at her father, adoring him as only a daughter can, she smiled brightly. "Do you like it Daddy?"

"It's," his eyes flicked to the table and then to his wife, who was, by that point, pulling Aubrey into an awkward hug of appreciation. Moving his attention back to the colorful display on the table, he looked back at Christine and pulled her up as he stood upright. "It's amazing, sweetie." He kissed her cheek and lowered her to the floor again. "I've never seen anything like it…"

Bouncing in her toes, she held her dad's fingers as she swung his arm back and forth. "Uncle Aubrey said you'd say that!"

"She, uhh," Aubrey tried to justify his conversation with Booth's daughter. "She asked me if I thought you'd like it…"

Booth simply glared at the younger man, still pissed that his junior agent allowed his four-year-old daughter to make gingerbread skeletons. Before he could say anything, however, the girl interrupted them again.

"Mommy! Daddy! We need to take a picture of me and Uncle Aubrey with our Tradition!"

"Your Tradition?" Brennan smiled at her child.

Speaking up again to defend his position, more to Booth than to Brennan, he explained. "I was telling Christine that my mom and I used to make these every year and it was our tradition that we would take a picture and then the following year we would try to make our house better and different than before….". He shrugged, feeling kind of foolish speaking about it to his boss. Brennan drew his attention, though

"I think that's a wonderful idea, Aubrey. And if you would like this to be a tradition you share with our family, we are happy to have you."

Booth's eyes swiveled to Brennan and flared in unspoken contradiction. "Bones!" He ground his teeth and glared.

"Relax, Booth. Aubrey shared this tradition with our child out of the kindness of his heart…" She waved off his moodiness and motioned for her daughter and Aubrey to pose behind the cookies and house. "Say Brie!"

"Its Cheese, Bones," Booth leaned her way as she snapped the photo.

"Yes, I know. Brie is one of the most popular cheeses worldwide…"

Shaking his head, he turned away and squeezed the ridge of his nose for the umpteenth time that day, groaning quietly.

"Christine, it's just about bedtime," he addressed his daughter. "Go brush your teeth and put on your jammies. Pick out a book and bring it to the living room. We'll sit by the tree and read it tonight."

Cheering, Christine took off, running down the hall towards the bathroom. Halfway there, she started flapping her arms and screeching in a high-pitched, rough, gravelly tone.

Seeing Booth and Brennan jump at the sudden noise erupting from their otherwise quiet child, Aubrey spoke up. "That would be her imitation of a pterodactyl…. When she was talking, she got the words pterodactyl and polydactyl mixed up."

Booth's dark eyes deadpanned at Aubrey yet again. "A pterodactyl…" He tilted his head and cracked his neck. Speaking and moving at an equally slow pace, he approached Aubrey, his voice low and threatening. "You let my child paint skeleton people instead of happy Christmas Gingerbread Men and you taught her to screech like a pterodactyl…" Shoving his hands into his pockets, he rocked back on his heels and looked down his nose at the younger man. "All in the course of one, singular afternoon..."

Shifting his eyes, Aubrey tried to look anywhere but at Booth. "I was," he swallowed thickly and grew quiet…. "Just tryin' to, you know," he shrugged sheepishly. "Help."

Brennan, oblivious to the discussion between Booth and Aubrey, was studying the cookies. "Oh, yes, I see she made the gingerbread little girl as a polydactyl individual." Brennan smiled proudly once again, looking at Booth. "Christine really is a talented child…"

Cringing at the high pitched pterodactyl noises still echoing through the house, Booth felt his blood start to boil in aggravation towards Aubrey. Just as he was about to show the man out the door, Brennan grabbed his attention.

"Booth, did you also see the card Christine made for us?" She handed him the folded construction paper containing their daughter's art. "Look," she pointed. "Christine is there with her princess crown," she grinned at her spouse, "because she says she is your little princess. Parker has his favorite skateboard… Aubrey is wearing his blue tie, just like he is now… I'm in my lab coat and you're in your Santa hat and Captain America boxers…"

"That's it," he grabbed Aubrey by his damned blue tie and pulled him towards the door. Grabbing the junior agent's trench coat from the coat tree, Booth shoved it at Aubrey, opened the door and pushed the stuttering man out onto the front step with nothing more than a grunted, "Out!" Slamming the door closed, he locked the deadbolt and turned off the front porch light, despite knowing his colleague was still out there, probably staring at the closed door in stunned surprise.

"Booth!" Brennan admonished him, her hands on his hips.

"I don't need him knowing about my Captain America boxers. It's none of his damn business what kind of boxers I wear!"

"Well, Sweets knew when he was staying here because he helped with the laundry…".

"Yes, I know that!" Booth hissed. "Doesn't mean Aubrey needs to know my business."

"I just mean to point out that I doubt he will say anything to anyone…"

"Better not… I'll shoot him…".

"Booth…"

"He's never watching Christine again."

"Why not? She had a good time, he took care of her, fed her dinner, occupied her time with something other than television… he was good with her!"

"One afternoon with him and our kid needs therapy…"

"She doesn't." Brennan eyed him flatly.

"She does! He let her make skeletons for Christmas! I meant what I said all those years ago… Christmas and skeletons do not mix, Bones."

Just then, the partners heard Christine out in the dining area talking. Peeking around the corner of the wall, they saw she was playing with the Gingerbread Skeletons as if they were her toys.

"Hi Christine," she held one cookie in her hand.

"Hi Parker," the other cookie spoke.

"Merry Christmas, Christine."

"You too. Parker," her voice changed with the two characters. "Do you want to come into my candy house and watch a movie?"

"Ok sure… what'd ya wanna watch?"

"How about 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'? It's my favorite Christmas movie. I like the songs…"

"Sure Christine. Let's go," she walked to two cookies towards the house, oblivious to the audience she had peeking around from the hallway.

Standing behind Brennan, Booth looped his arms around her waist and rested his open palms on her tummy, pulling her back against him. The parents remained silent while their imaginative child picked up other cookies and made them talk and walk through her fantasy world. Pressing his lips to his partner's temple, Booth dropped a kiss and jostled her body a little, making her chuckle quietly.

"Well," Booth whispered quietly as Christine started singing the song from her favorite movie. "Maybe she doesn't need therapy, after all…" He rubbed his cheek against her ear. Kissing her again, he grinned. "I might have been a little hasty…"

With a deep, alto chuckle, Brennan pressed back against the sturdy body of her husband. Weaving her fingers between his where they rested against her abdomen, she watched her daughter's imagination unfold. "I told you, Booth… Our daughter is not only advanced for her age… she is quite brilliant…"

Shaking his head at his wife's overactive pride, he pulled back, deciding to get changed into more comfortable clothes. "Yeah, well, I might have been wrong about the therapy this time, but Aubrey still isn't babysitting again…"

Listening to her mate's retreating footfalls as he walked to their bedroom, Brennan looked down at her phone and opened the photo she'd taken of Christine and Aubrey. Seeing how happy her little girl was, and knowing that Booth was overreacting about the boxers, she grinned and typed in a text message.

"Thank you again Aubrey, for watching Christine. Here is the picture from this evening. If you'd like to come over tomorrow, we will begin baking cookies at 2:00 pm. You are welcome to join us, perhaps we can start some new traditions tomorrow as well."

As Booth came back out from the bedroom and ushered Christine over to the seats near the Christmas Tree for her nighttime story, Brennan's phone chirped with an incoming text.

Aubrey's reply caused her to laugh out loud.

"Thanks Dr B. Tell Captain America I'll bring the hot cocoa. See you tomorrow."

Postscript A/N

Well, Kathy, I hope you enjoyed this and I hope B&B were not too much part of the story!

Thank you for a fun challenge!

I wish everyone a very Happy Holiday, no matter what holiday you may celebrate. If you don't celebrate any holiday, I simply wish you well and Happy End Of 2016!

I am hoping to get one more chapter finished and posted on Aggregation before the end of the year (I know everyone is upset with my slow posting schedule, but Real Life demands attention in order to pay the bills!) :) In case I don't get the chance, I want to take this moment to thank everyone for their continued support in the Bones Fandom - not only for my stories, but for those of my fellow writers as well. We don't gain any profit from writing, we simply do it because we enjoy telling stories. Knowing that, despite the continued waning interest in the show, there are still readers out there enjoying the crazy tales we spin make it all that much more fun for us! Here's to a great 2017, bittersweet though it is, now that Season 12 is looming over our heads. I wish everyone all the best for a healthy and happy New Year.

peace & love, my friends,

~jazzy