Author's Notes: Yes, it is a Christmas story just a few days after Halloween. But I had to...the freaking story is 16 chapters long, so even posting two a week, I will just manage to meet the Christmas deadline!
Also, I am still working on my alt. reality Bones story. The second draft of my novel, "The Barefoot Witch" has been eating up alot of my time.
And finally, the standard warning: I do not own Bones, 'The Santa Clause', or any of the probably 50 pop culture references I will make.
Buckle in kids, we are in for a wild ride. Remember to review!
"You better watch out, you better not cry-"
Temperance glared at her radio, flicking it to another station.
"Up on the house top-"
Click.
"Rudolph the Red Nose-"
Click.
"-is All Things Considered, on NPR. We are talking with Kevin Allen, the writer of "The Barefoot Witch," the newest novel in the Thomas and West Series. Thank you for joining us."
"T-"
CLICK!
Temperance turned the radio off in disgust, deciding to focus on the roads. Old Man Winter (who did not actually exist, but was simply a personification used by people so they would have a being to blame for the weather since they no longer had elemental deities to fill the role) had decided to make D.C. "his bitch", as Hodgins would say. What the weather forecasters had thought would be a simple snow shower that would give them a fine powder had transformed in a Deathstorm that had dumped 2 feet of snow and shut down the nation's capital.
It also had ruined Temperance's day.
First, Cam had called her and informed her that she shouldn't bother coming to work, as the Jeffersonian was shutting down early to avoid a snow-in. Thus, the British field worker from the 1500s she had been examining would have to wait till after her trip to Indonesia, where she planned to look at the recent finds that suggested that early man had developed the use of stones as sexual objects earlier than thought.
Ho ho ho
Second, said trip was now canceled, as the airports were completely shut down, leaving Temperance stuck spending Christmas at her apartment.
Third, the power had gone out in DC, and within 2 hours her apartment had dropped to 60 degrees with the mercury dropping lower every passing second. Thus, she was left sitting in the dark remembering frozen mummies she had examined and wondering who would be the one to look at her body when it was finally found a 100 years later.
'As you can see, this is a female, from the early 21st century. The lack of jewelry on her hand proves that she was not married. While now we understand how smart this would be, a marriage was simply an outdated ritual, it also explains why she died alone, as it is clear that despite her being above average in almost all aspects, she did not have anyone to check in on her to see if she had become a frozen corpse. Now then, let us move on...'
Fate, however, had been kind to her, as Booth had called her up and invited her over, to spend Christmas warm, at least, and not as a frozen Temperance-Mummy.
The only problem was, they weren't spending it at his apartment. No, Rebecca had earlier that week been forced to fly out to her folks, her father in the hospital after suffering a small heart attack. Booth had promised to take Parker, and to keep things simple, had decided to simply stay at Rebecca's place. Which turned out to be a great idea, since her place still had power.
3 hours into what should have been a 20 minute drive, Temperance finally pulled up to the small house, the bay window revealing the large artificial tree all dressed up and Parker sitting there, waiting for her to arrive. She had barely managed to open her door before Booth came trouncing through the snow, grabbing her hastily packed suitcase and garbage bag full of presents. Booth gave her a look, wanting so desperately to comment on her choice of gift hauling gear, but decided instead to simply make his way through the snow drifts and into the house.
"Hey Bones!" Parker said happily, rushing up to her as she shed her coat. "Its snowing out!"
"Yes, it is." Temperance said, always amused and only slightly annoyed at the way children could state the obvious. Moving aside to allow Booth to get out of the cold, Temperance allowed Parker to lead her into the living room. She smiled as she looked at the pure slice of Americana, right down to the stockings that said Rebecca, Seeley, Parker and..."Booth? Is that your sock?"
Booth poked his head into the room, blushing as he watched Temperance tug on the white gym sock he had tacked up to the chimney, her name written on it with black marker. "Yeah...Parker didn't want you to miss out, so..."
Letting the comment taper off, Booth returned to getting her things settled and placing the gifts she had brought (most of them from students looking to earn brownie points, along with a couple from the squint squad and a handful from friends within the writing and/or science community) while she sat with Parker and listened to him happily talk about the Christmas party he had gone to.
"So, I guess I'll be sleeping out here?" Temperance asked, nodding towards the pillows and blankets set up by the doorway.
Booth shook his head. "You'll be sleeping in Parker's room, at least tonight. I've got Rebecca's room and Parker here is going to be on Santa Watch."
"Santa Watch?" Temperance asked.
Parker nodded happily. "Of course! If you can catch Santa putting your presents under the tree, you get to ask him one question, and he has to answer!"
Temperance frowned. Booth must have seen her gearing up to give a "There is no Santa Speech" and glared at her, his eyes pleading that she just shut her trap. Temperance's jaw snapped closed, allowing Parker to continue on, describing all the things he wanted to ask Santa. Finally, Booth had convinced his son to go and fetch everyone some cookies and milk, giving the adults time to talk.
"Ok, I know you want to rain on his little parade...its your thing."
"It is not my thing!" Temperance protested.
"Sure it is. You are all about raining on parades. You are Hurricane Temperance." Booth shook his head. "Listen, just don't give him a lecture ok? Let him be a kid, alright?"
Temperance frowned. "It is natural for adults to lie to children, to protect them from hard truths. But Santa is not something that needs to be lied about."
"Santa isn't a lie!"
Temperance frowned. "You don't actually believe in Santa, right?"
"Of course not...I just believe in the spirit of him."
"There are no such things as spirits either."
Booth wagged his finger. "You say that, and then the next thing you know you have the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future riding your butt."
Temperance rolled her eyes. "That would never happen, Booth." She was about to say more, but at that moment Parker bounded in, bringing in their treats. The unlikely group sat by the tree and watched Charlie Brown wonder about Christmas, all thoughts of Santa leaving their heads.
