A/N: Annnnnnnnnnd we're back! Miss us? We missed you! This one is going to be a bit different – read on, we hope you love it!
"Hey Mom?"
Rebecca Stinson glanced up from the copy of Redbook that had arrived in the mailbox that day to the inquisitive little boy plopped in front of the Wii playing Mario Kart. "Yeah, baby?"
"Would it be okay if Bones came to Mother's Day tomorrow?"
"Uh, well, uh, Park, you'd need to talk to your dad. I'm not sure Dr. Brennan would be comfortable."
"I already talked to Dad and--" Parker paused as he went around a particularly difficult turn he'd been struggling with all morning. "He said to talk to you and make sure you'd be comfortable. Since it's our tradition. But I just thought since you're my mom," he paused the game and shuffled on his knees to the couch where she was sitting, "and Bones is gonna be my step-mom, maybe everybody could go. Not just you an' me an' Dad."
Rebecca put her magazine down and thought carefully before responding to her son. Dr. Brennan was a lovely woman (if not a little… different – Rebecca had to give her credit, she was getting better) and made Seeley and the son they shared very happy. And quite frankly, that happiness was one of the few things in the world that truly mattered to Rebecca. But really, this was a tradition she and Seeley had started when she'd been pregnant with Parker, and they'd maintained it through the years. She'd never tried to invite one of her boyfriends to Father's Day! You've also never been as close to marrying someone as Seeley is to marrying Dr. Brennan. Rebecca sighed as she looked into her little boy's big brown eyes. As if she ever told him no when something was as important to him as this seemed to be. Fine. If Parker wanted her at their traditional Mother's Day brunch, then Rebecca would try to suck up the weird factor and have an enjoyable day.
"Tell you what, sweetheart. If you want to invite Dr. Brennan and Daddy said it was okay, then it's fine with me."
"Really?" Parker leapt to his feet and crawled up on the couch next to his mother, throwing his skinny arms around her neck. "Thanks, Mom. You're the best mom ever."
Sure she was. Until Bones became the best step-mom ever.
--
"I can't believe that you are doing this to me," Brennan groaned at her fiance, dropping to her bottom on the side of the bed and dropping her heads to her hands.
Booth eyed her morosely from above the tissue that had been permanantly affixed to his nose all morning. "I'm so sorry that I chose to allow this virus to infect me this weekend. When I decided to be sick, I hadn't completely thought through how it would inconvenience you. I'll try to be more considerate in the future."
She glared at him. "Stop being a smartass."
He sighed, a nasal sound. "Sorry, Bones. Trust me, I really wish I could be there. But the way I feel, I'd just be grossing everybody out. I'm gonna give you money to cover you and Beck and Park."
"You know that it's not the money I'm worried about."
"There's nothing else to worry about. Just go and have a nice meal with Parker and his mom. Then come back home and take care of my sniffly ass." He managed a grin, but she continued to look troubled.
The month since Booth's proposal had been a surprisingly serene one. He had curtailed all wedding talk, insisting instead that they enjoy some time simply knowing that they had a guaranteed future together...no pressure. This was over his family's protests that they should have an engagement party nearly immediately, and their initial inclinations to bombard them with questions about wedding colors and cakes and bridesmaids. Because of his efforts, she was much more relaxed about this thing than she ever thought she'd be; even though it was still slightly surreal to look down at her hand and see the canary-colored gem winking up at her. By the time they followed through with what it meant (what they decided it meant...together), she would be ready. But she still wasn't certain she was ready to have a one-on-one pow-wow with the other woman who had a vested interest in the future of one Seeley Booth. Brennan had agreed to this Mother's Day thing with the understanding that Booth, in all his protective glory, would be by her side. And now, it was looking as if this was another thing she'd have to face on her own.
"Rebecca and I are very different people," she murmured, finally getting to her feet and fussing in the closet for the dress she had brought for this occasion. "What if she and I disagree on...you know...stuff?"
"Parenting stuff?" Booth asked her, sounding a little too gleeful for someone with the flu.
She looked alarmed. "You think she's going to want to talk about parenting??"
"You'll be fine, gorgeous. It's not like you and Beck have never met before, or don't know anything about one another. And all the important stuff, you have in common. Most notably, the love and admiration of a certain little boy." He coughed, and tossed another tissue into the growing pile in the trash can. "You might just want to..." He stopped. "Never mind."
Oh, he couldn't possibly think he was going to get away with that. "What? I might want to what?" she asked him, shimmying the dress over her head.
"It's not a big deal. I don't want to scare you."
"Booth. If you don't tell me, I am not picking up your cold medicine on the way home. And you will drown in the product of your own sinuses."
"Ew! Can that really happen?"
She wasn't telling.
He sighed. "It's just...Rebecca can be just a little...competitive. Parker's never had another...you know...mom-like figure in his life. So it's possible that you might run across the green-eyed monster a little bit, and you might just want to treat it gently."
She gave him a blank look.
"Jealousy, Bones. Jealousy is the green-eyed monster."
"Oh." Considering this for a second, she pulled on her shoes. "Rebecca would be jealous of me?"
"Don't ever tell her I told you that," he said solemnly.
Finally dressed, she sat back down beside her partner. "She has to know that I'd never try to take her place in Parker's life. I wouldn't even know how to do that."
"I think she knows that. But she also knows how cool Parker thinks you are."
Brennan looked thoughtful for the moment, the began laughing softly. "You know what? This might be the first time in my life that someone has thought I was 'cool.'"
"I think you're pretty cool."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm. Too bad I think you are pretty lame," she teased him, using a term that Parker had taught her.
He feigned outrage through a sneeze. "Watch it," he wheezed. "This lame guy is paying for your breakfast."
"And marrying me," she said. It still felt strange to say it out loud, but it never failed to bring a smile to his face.
"Don't you forget it." He winked at her. "Go. Be a stepmom. It'll be fun."
"Yes." She gave him a kiss on the forehead before heading resolutely for the door. She had dealt with the some of the most intimidating people and situations in the world. Surely she could handle one brunch with a little boy she loved, and the feisty Jersey girl who may or may not be taking the form of a green-eyed monster...
--
"There she is!" Parker shrieked.
Oh good.
"BONES!" The little boy launched himself up from the bench outside one of DC's fancier bistros and into the arms of his future step-mother.
"Hi, Park," the other woman hugged the little boy tightly and smiled at Rebecca over the top of his head. "Hi, Rebecca."
"Hello, Dr. Brennan," Rebecca smiled as brightly as she could. You are not jealous of this woman, Rebecca. Not. Jealous. You are Parker's mother. He hugged you just the same when you when you woke him up this morning. You are his mother. You pushed his great big Booth head and shoulders out of your... thirty hours of labor. You are his mother.
"Call me Temperance. We should probably..." Dr. Brennan -- Temperance -- made a motion with her hand toward Parker.
"Of course," Rebecca agreed. "Temperance." Weird. Sucking up the weirdness. "So, uh, wow. What a beautiful day, huh?"
"Bones, where's Daddy?" Parker interrupted.
Temperance looked down at Rebecca's son and smoothed a hand over his hair. "He says he's sorry, buddy, but he's sick. He didn't want you or your mom to get his cold, so he stayed home. But he said when he's all better we'll go do something fun since he missed today."
"Oh," Parker frowned a little then shrugged. "At least my moms are both here!"
Rebecca nearly choked, but managed to compose herself. She glanced up to find Temperance looking at her. "Rebecca, can we... talk about something?" Temperance asked tentatively.
"Suuuuuure," she replied just as tentatively. What now? Was she going to offer a critique of Rebecca's parenting skills? "Should we go inside?"
As if echoing his mother, Parker tugged on both of their hands. "Come onnnnnnnnnn, Mom. I'm starrrrrrving, Bones."
"You sound just like your dad," Rebecca teased, glancing up at Temperance when she realized the other woman had said the same thing.
Parker grimaced. "Yikes. I hope you guys don't yell at me at the same time."
Rebecca smiled easily and ruffled his hair with her free hand. "Guess you better not make us mad, huh pal?" Temperance laughed at Parker's mock-horrified face. Rebecca had to admit, he was quite the little ham when he wanted to be. She directed her attention to the hostess waiting patiently to seat them. "We should have a reservation for four, under Seeley Booth. Is it okay if we only have three?"
"Of course," the hostess smiled. Once they were seated, Rebecca smiled across the round table at Temperance. "So, um, what were you wanting to talk about?"
"Hmm?" she asked distractedly.
"Ou-outside," Rebecca stammered. Dammit. She was not easily intimidated, but around Dr. Brennan she felt like the dumb high school cheerleader trying to explain away a bad test grade to her teacher. "You said there was... something you wanted to talk about?"
Temperance smiled and shook her head. "I'm so sorry, Rebecca," she sighed. "I... Booth's sick, and I got no sleep last night, and he snored, and I just, I'm sorry."
"No, no, it's fine," Rebecca attempted to reassure her. "He does that. And God if he isn't just the biggest baby ever when he's sick. I remember one time, he got sick right after Parker was born, and I was trying to take care of this brand new baby, and my boyfriend and... gah. It was miserable. I definitely know where you're coming from." The truth in her words struck her and she blushed. "Oh. Obviously. I, uh, we both... yeeeeah," she stammered embarrassedly.
--
Brennan eyed Rebecca curiously. She was acting as if Brennan didn't know that Seeley had once been her boyfriend. Surprisingly, her flushed face actually put Brennan more at ease. This was strange for both of them. While it was usually she who was lacking knowledge of social mores, in this case, Rebecca was as clueless as she was.
And to make things just a little stranger...
"Welcome, ladies and gentleman. I'm Armand, and I'll be your server. What can I get you to drink on this special day?"
Parker, apparently versed in this tradition, piped up. "An' orange juice for me. And some 'mosas for my moms. Since it's Mother's Day." He gave a toothy grin to the waiter, who raised his eyebrows.
"Oh. Oh. Well, what a...lovely family you are." Brennan gave an odd look to the obviously taken-aback waiter. "One orange juice for the young man...and two mimosas for his...mothers. Coming right up." He scurried away.
Rebecca's face was an even deeper shade of pink now. "Sweetie," she whispered to Parker. "Call us by our names when we're all out like this, 'kay? Mom and Dr. Brennan."
"Bones," Parker corrected.
"Why? What's wrong?" Brennan asked, still unsure about what was happening. Rebecca was so jealous that she wouldn't let Parker refer to her as his stepmom?
"The waiter. He thinks..."
"What does he think, Mom?" Parker's innocent voice piped up.
"He thinks," she continued, talking only to Brennan and gesturing between the two of them, "You know...no Daddy required."
"Oh. He thinks we're lesbians?"
"Bones, what's a lesbian?"
"It's a woman who..."
"We'll talk about it later, Parker," Rebecca interrupted. "This menu looks delicious, doesn't it?" she said loudly, trying to derail the inquisitive little boy beside her.
Brennan closed her mouth, not entirely sure why she wasn't allowed to talk about another variation of the human relationship, but doing her best to respect Parker's mother. God, she wished Booth were here.
"So. How's the wedding planning coming along?"
Why was that all everyone seemed to care about? Her new book was number two on the bestseller list. She and Booth had just solved a high-profile murder. She had just received a 100,000 dollar grant for her newest research study. But the first question that seemed to come out of everybody's mouth was about weddings. "Oh...it's not, really. We're actually in no rush. I'm not even sure we'll have a wedding...you know...with people."
She expected the same look on Rebecca's face that she saw on most of the women she told that the wedding wasn't first and foremost on her mind...and was surprised when, instead, she saw understanding. "I don't blame you. Apparently, it's a lot of work. For one day of your life. Which is probably why I never did it."
"I wanna be in it," Parker announced. "Only I don't wanna wear...one of those wedding suit thingies."
"What do you want to wear?" Brennan asked him, curious.
He shrugged his shoulders. "My Power Rangers costume, maybe."
Brennan had not a clue what he was talking about, but it sounded hilarious, so she laughed along with Rebecca as the waiter returned with their drinks.
"And Mom can wear her Madonna costume."
Interesting. She didn't even know Rebecca was religious.
The blonde woman smoothed her son's hair back from his forehead and gave Brennan a smile. "Apparently, you are having a costume-themed wedding."
"Apparently. Sounds like a good time," Brennan agreed with a laugh.
"You have any old Halloween costumes stashed away for your big day?"
And she blushed to her very toes, remembering the very costumes that brought her and Booth to this place, with this ring on her finger. The ones that had both disguised them, and revealed them to each other at the same time. "Who knows? I might just have something laying around..." she told them mischievously.
--
Rebecca was glad Parker was along to be his adorable self and break the tension, even if he had unintentionally and incorrectly outed her and his future step-mother to their waiter. When he suggested that she wear her Madonna costume to Seeley and Temperance's wedding, she nearly choked on the sip of mimosa she'd just taken. Somehow she doubted she and her cone-boobs were exactly what the newlyweds expected to see at their wedding. But as any good mother would do, instead she glazed over it and made a joke about a costume-themed wedding.
The rest of the brunch ran along the same lines, Parker making either intentional or unintentional jokes, Temperance and Rebecca playing into his zany sense of humor. When Parker'd inhaled the last thick slab of French toast the waiter had placed before him, he flopped back in his seat with a satisfied sigh. "Did you guys have a nice Mother's Day?"
"I think this has been the best one so far," Rebecca said enthusiastically.
"Mooooooom, you say that every year!"
"And I mean it every year!"
"You say that every year too!"
Rebecca grinned and ran her hand over Parker's blonde curls. "Well it's true, sweetheart. I have had a great time today with you and Dr. Brennan. But we'd better let her get going, you know how Daddy gets when he's sick."
"Mom says he whines worse than I do," Parker stage-whispered to Temperance.
"He is pretty terrible," she stage-whispered back.
The waiter returned and asked if they'd be requiring anything else. "No, thank you, it was delicious," Rebecca smiled gently.
"Okay," he replied. "I'll be your cashier whenever you're ready." Temperance took the black folder from him before Rebecca could.
"I can get it, Temperance," she offered.
"No, I've got it. New mom initiation," Temperance replied with a wink.
Once they paid the bill and were standing outside again, Parker hopped into the back seat of Rebecca's SUV and buckled himself in. He reached his skinny arms through the still-open door and grinned toothily at Temperance. "Hug Bones," he commanded.
She stepped in and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a tight sqeeze and a kiss on top of his head. "Hug Park," she grinned.
"Tell Dad I hope he feels better."
"Okay. Tell you what, if he's feeling better when I get home I'll have him call you so you can tell him all about our breakfast, okay?"
"Okay, cool," Parker replied. "Love you, Bones."
"Love you back, kiddo. I'm gonna talk to your mom for a sec, okay?"
Parker nodded and tugged on the door handle once Temperance had stepped out of the way. Rebecca had watched the little exchange with great interest, and she had to admit, she thought Dr. Brennan was going to be a pretty okay step-mom to her kid.
"Rebecca," Temperance began. She hesitated, as though she was trying to find the right words. Rebecca waited. "I don't want you to think... Seeley thought maybe... I'm not trying... I don't want to be Parker's mom."
Rebecca gaped at her. After she'd wasted all this energy being jealous of the woman she was trying to tell her she didn't want to be with Seeley anymore? What?!
"That didn't come out right. I want very much to be Parker's step-mother. But I don't want to replace you. And I don't want you to think I have any intention of ever trying to replace you."
Rebecca heaved a sigh of relief and then laughed. "I guess that did come out a little wrong. And Temperance... I know in my heart you don't want to replace me as Parker's go-to Mom. But it's hard. There's never been another woman in his life with as strong of a mom presence as you. I promise, though, I'll try to keep the green monster at bay."
Brennan smiled. "Yes. No need for green...anythings. Although, to tell you the truth, I'm pleased that you think I'm even doing well enough to have such a concern. I'm not really good with kids. I never intended on having them."
"Really? I don't know about kids in general. But you are great with Park." When she saw the genuine smile light up the other woman's face, she knew that what she had said had been extremely meaningful for her son's future stepmother. The intimacy almost embarrassed her. "Just don't break either of my boys' hearts. Or you know," she shrugged. "I'll have to go Jersey on your ass."
Dr. Brennan smiled and nodded her agreement. "Deal. I'm not entirely sure what going Jersey would entail, but I can assure you I have no intention of breaking either of their hearts."
"Deal," Rebecca agreed and they stood a moment longer, nodding at each other.
The back door of the SUV opened and Parker poked his head out. "Can you guys just hug so we can go? I'm hot."
Rebecca and Temperance both laughed and hugged awkwardly. "Tell Seeley we hope he feels better. And I hope you managed to get some sleep sometime," she smiled sympathetically.
"Thanks, me too -- I'll tell him. Have a good rest of your Mother's Day."
"Thanks, Temperance," Rebecca said. "You too," she smiled sincerely.
--
Booth was lying on the couch when she got back to his apartment, nose red, hair a mess, wrapped in an afghan, and looking absolutely miserable. The man had been shot and tortured once upon a time and had dealt with it bravely, with strength. But one little cold virus, and he was the epitome of pathetic. She smiled at the irony.
"Hey, sicky," she said affectionately, sliding onto the couch by his feet.
"You survived," he teased her.
"As did you." She grabbed his toes playfully, and he pulled them back with a whine. "How are you feeling?"
"Like something that ends up on your lab's examining table," he groused.
"Aw. Well, apparently, you feel and act that way every time you get sick."
"Oh, this is terrific. My ex, my fiance, and my son have bonded over a love of making fun of me," he said mournfully.
"Just kidding, Booth. You don't act like something on my lab table. You complain a lot more."
"Boooooones."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She smiled ruefully and smoothed back the hair that stuck out in all directions from his time on the couch. "If it's any consolation...everything went fine. Just like you said it would."
This did seem to brighten him up. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. It was fine. The food was great. Parker was great. He's going to wear his Power Rangers costume to our wedding."
"Ooooh," Booth drew out. He was grinning.
"What?" she asked indignantly.
"I just like hearing you say wedding. That's all."
He knew that made her feel a little awkward, so she took a jab back. "He might have some questions for you later about lesbians."
Booth's eyes bulged. "What? Wait. I don't want to know."
"Smart man." She looked down at her own hands, a little shyly. "Rebecca thinks...that I'm good with him."
"I've told you that you're good with him," he pointed out.
"Yes but...it suits your purposes to think that. Having Rebecca say it..."
"It means more? It means more than coming from your own partner? Your own fiance? Your own lovemonkey?" He wailed, and she couldn't help collapsing into laughter.
She spoke after she collected herself. "It just means...that it was a very good Mother's Day."
"For a very good mother," he agreed, and despite his misery his eyes gleamed, adoringly.
Despite her initial urge to push away the compliment, she sat with it a moment, repeated it to herself, let it slip through her mind like a silken ribbon. And she found that it felt delicious. And she said two words that she never thought she'd use to respond to such a suggestion.
"That's me."