Chapter 1: one year
Parker was so happy to see his daddy again. Over the year, there was communication between them as in phone calls through skype, e-mails and his son's nice drawings and letters. But it sure wasn't the same as holding your kid again, doing the things that a daddy does with his son. Like playing football in the park or taking him for a burger, having a real dad-to-son talk.
Rebecca wasn't just happy to see Booth again, she was thrilled with joy for Parker.
She understood she just couldn't replace his dad over the year. Now, they can finally return to their old routine.
She suggested Booth would take Parker for a trip together next weekend. Maybe going for a camping trip would be a good idea. Then daddy and son could really catch up, spending some time together.
Booth spent the whole morning that day with Parker but he realized it was time to head his way to the most important spot in the world: the coffee cart near the reflecting pool.
Why was this so important?
There, he would meet the woman who he has been thinking of for the last year. Thinking of her now made him nervous.
How would she look like after a year, did she change a lot, what would she say? All this was on his mind as he was walking his way up there.
From a distance, he could already see the coffee cart and the bench where they used to sit. There was a lady sitting there. He only saw the back of her and the half long hair. As he approached, he didn't realize at first it was the one he has been dying to see again.
He came closer and then …
she turned around and with a smiling face she said:
"Hey Booth, what took you so long?"
She stood up and the next thing he knew, there were two arms giving him the hug of a lifetime. He was almost choking and this not only by surprise.
"Hey Bones, you're too early. How are you Bones? Me, I'm only not almost breathing."
She ceased with hugging him but stood still there in front of him. Like they were standing in front of each other at the airport once more. Not letting go of each other's eyes. But she was the one taking his hand instead now. He studied her face, her mouth, her hair …
"You got a haircut, Bones?"
"Yes, I did. Do you like it?"
"Yes, your hair looks nice this way, different, but nice"
" I'm so happy to see you Booth. How I've missed you so much!
Stunned by her confession, he could only say the same words:
"I've missed you too, Bones
"I have so much to tell you, Booth"
"Yes, you wrote me about your adventures at the Maluku Islands"
"No, not about that but she realized it could be too soon to talk about what's been really on her mind for a whole year.
Instead she asked:
"How's Parker doing?"
"Happy to see his dad again"
"I'm also happy to see you again, Booth"
Again this confession sounded too good to be true.
"Are you really, Bones?"
She wanted to show him how much and tell him how stupid she was to have tried to escape from everlasting feelings. But would he believe her if she told him now?
"Yes, ofcourse I am"
"What did you miss, Bones? Us being partners or us being friends?"
"Why do you ask me this, Booth? You know how we feel about each other. It almost sounds like you're upset with me"
She almost sounded begging when she continued: "Please, Booth, it's been a year for the both of us. Why don't we sit down for a bit and talk about what's been going over the past year"
"I'm sorry Bones, sure we can talk for a bit"
She was right, he thought, maybe after a normal "talk" we would get to start to know each other again. But at this very moment, he simply didn't know that woman anymore, the woman he loved so much.
Whatever happened to rational and scientific Bones?
He should be happy about how much she has changed but instead he was waiting for her to be her old self again.
What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he just be happy for this?
Maybe one year of separation and the war in Afghanistan caused for him to feel this way.
Day in, day out, he trained young soldiers going off to a war zone and some of them never came back. The horrors of his own war came back alive although he wasn't in it himself this time.
He was happy with every letter that she wrote him but all she could write was how her own expedition was being successful.
So, yes, maybe he was, let's say, just being a bit upset with her.
Upset after sharing some nice moments with her in his apartment the evening before he left for the army.
After they had some drinks with the rest of the gang and said goodbye, Booth told Brennan he had something for her in his apartment. So, they went over there and he gave her the picture they took several weeks earlier of him and Brennan together with Parker in the park. It was a nice one, almost looked like the three of them were a family.
He told her to keep it with her in Indonesia; he told her that he was afraid that she would start to forget about him.
It was there and then that she wrapped her arms around him and told him that she would never forget about him. She reassured him she just needed the time apart to figure out what she really wanted in her life.
Finally, they kissed and it wasn't a short, just-being-friends kiss. No, this was way more than that. Booth started to get his hopes up again although there would be a year in between of them.
Before they split up, they agreed to meet exactly one year later at the place they were standing that day.
"Booth?"
She probably asked him something but he seemed to have missed that.
"What? I'm sorry, I guess I'm still a bit burnt out after coming back from Afghanistan" with tired eyes he continued:
"It feels like I'm still living in the Afghanistan time zone"
"Okay, then maybe we can have this conversation another day" she started to get worried about him.
But he replied: "No Bones, you were asking me something?"
She sighed and found again the courage to ask him: "Would you consider taking a holiday together with me?"