This is my Secret Santa fic. It's kind of odd to post a Christmas fic after Christmas is over, but… this is what I've got. ;)
I got whatever55 prompts and she asked for a story with Booth and Christine in a father/daughter bonding activity, Hogdins, Brennan and Angela stuck at the Jeffersonian on Christmas because he caused a break down, and Hodgins and Michael bonding. Those were three different prompts, but she said I could mix them if I wanted to, so I did. I hope you'll enjoy it!
p.s: I realize now it's so much harder to write fluff than angst! At least for me! haha
x
"Won't you go home?" Angela asked as she entered her friend's office. Brennan was writing notes as fast as she could.
"As soon as I'm finished with this paperwork."
"Can't it wait? It's Christmas Eve! You should be home. I should be home."
"Why aren't you home?" Brennan asked, still focused on her notes. It's been a long time since she stayed at the lab on Christmas Eve by choice. This year, all she wanted was to get this job done so she could go home to her family.
"Because Hodgins decided he needs to finish this experiment today. Michael is pretty excited because he is letting him help." Angela sighed. "He really his father's son."
Brennan smiled. Michael Hodgins was every bit a squint as his father was, but he definitely had gotten his mother's charm and creativity. She felt so glad her daughter got along so well with him, even though sometimes they would tease each other like brother and sister.
"I need to finish this because tomorrow we're flying over to England to visit Parker. We want to spend Christmas night with him and he's looking forward to our trip around Europe. Christine also can't stop talking about it, we promised to take her to Disneyland in Paris." Brennan brought her attention back to the paper. "You and Hodgins are coming tonight with Michael for the Christmas' dinner, right? Booth is very excited about it, it will upset him very much if you don't."
"Yes, of course we're going." Angela said, taking the seat in front of her friend's desk. "If Hodgins and Michael aren't done with that experiment in half an hour, I'm dragging both of them out of here. The last thing I want is another Christmas stuck at the Jeffersonian."
"Booth bought Santa hats for everyone." Brennan smiled, remembering the joy in his face as he showed her his purchase. "And he's dressing up as Santa Claus. He thinks the children will believe it's the real Santa, but Christine is very perceptive, I'm certain she'll recognize her father."
"Ah, come on, Brennan, even if she does, you know it's going to be adorable."
Their conversation was interrupted by Brennan's phone ringing. A picture of a smiling Booth with a grinning Christine on his shoulders popped on the screen. Brennan smiled before answering.
"Bones, it's me!" His cheerful voice came from the other side of the line. She could hear the soft tunes of Christmas carols on the background.
"And me!" Another voice joined in.
"We are on speaker." Booth said.
"We are making gingerbread cookies, Mommy!" Christine said excitedly. "Daddy let me cut the cookies and everything! But we are waiting for you to come so we can decorate them together. When are you coming home?"
"Very soon, baby."
"Well, I want you to come very, very soon. Daddy let me try one of the cookies and also the chocolate Santa and it's delicious."
"Booth! You know we should not let her eat candy before dinner."
"Christine! I thought we agreed this was our little secret!" Booth whined. "And come on, Bones, it's Christmas' Eve. We are allowed to eat candy all day on Christmas Eve."
"You said that on Halloween too."
"Because it's Halloween, and Halloween is all about candy, you know that."
"You also said that on Easter."
"But Easter is-"
"Mommy said we shouldn't have secrets." Christine interrupted.
"And we shouldn't. You're right, Christine."
"Just finish the paperwork and come home, okay, Bones?" Booth said. "The food is so delicious I bet you can smell it through the phone."
"That's impossible, Booth." She shook her head. "Now let me finish this or I won't be able to get home tonight."
x
Brennan was finishing the conclusion of the case when she saw that Booth had sent her an image.
I think she might be a cook when she grows up.
Brennan laughed at the picture of her daughter, holding a wooden spoon and all covered in flour, smiling at the camera.
...She looks adorable.
She takes after me, Bones. Of course she looks adorable.
...I've been told plenty of times that she looks exactly like me.
...Except for her smile.
...She has your smile.
Well, maybe.
You're adorable too, you know. :)
...That wasn't the adjective you used to describe me last night.
You are full of qualities, Bones. ;)
So full of qualities.
Are you on your way home yet?
...Leaving in five.
She had just sent the message to Booth when Angela entered her office again.
"Are you done with the paperwork? Everyone has already left, I'm dragging those Hodgins boys out of here in about two minutes and I don't want to leave you alone. I know you love it in here, but this place is kind of creepy when there's no one around."
"Yeah, I'm finished with the work I came to do. I just need to get my bag." Brennan said, neatly placing the pile of paper on her desk and leaving a note to Cam.
She was grabbing her coat when the lights started flickering, right before the power went out completely and they heard an explosion.
"Michael!"
Brennan followed her friend, who hurried to the platform. They couldn't see much as they walked around the lab, the few emergency lights only helping them not to stumble on anything.
"We're fine!" Hodgins shouted.
But that didn't calm Angela's nerves, and when they got face to face to Hodgins and Michael, the boy had a troubled expression, as he looked at the robot on the autopsy table.
"I'm sorry, Mommy." He apologized.
"What happened?! " She asked her husband, who was down on the floor checking the cables connected to the robot. "I thought you were doing an experiment with bugs!"
"We were, but Michael wanted to see this new robot I'm building, but I think something went wrong with the system…" Hodgins squinted at the red cable. He had spent so much time with the robot, it was a shame he might have burnt the system.
"The lights went off when Daddy turned on the robot." Michael frowned.
"Of course something went wrong, Jack!" Angela snorted. She knew it was a terrible idea to come to the lab today. She should have said no, but God knows she's completely helpless when her son and husband look at her with those identical begging pairs of blue eyes.
"We're locked." Brennan told them after checking the glass doors. "I couldn't find anyone on the other side of the door."
"Everyone went home already, I told you." Angela sighed and then noticed the sad look on her best friend's face. "We're not spending the night locked in here, sweetie."
"It's just… I told Booth I was leaving in five minutes." She said sadly. "Christine is waiting for me to decorate cookies. She's so excited about tonight."
"I'll call the security guy to ask him to send someone to unlock us…" Hodgins said, heading to his office.
Michael frowned as his father disappeared, then looked up at his mother.
"Do you think Santa will find us here if we don't leave in time?"
x
"Daddy, where is Mommy?" Christine asked from her place in the couch.
"She told me she was getting here soon, sweetheart." Booth told her. Brennan said she was leaving the lab about half an hour ago, she was supposed to be here already. Christine was showered and already dressed for the evening, but there was still no sign of his partner.
"I don't like when Mommy goes to work and we stay home." She frowned.
"She doesn't like it either, baby." He said, pulling his daughter to his lap. He knew that for a long time now, Brennan would never trade an afternoon with them for an afternoon working at the Jeffersonian. "She had to go to work today so she could be with us all the time during our vacation."
"Do you think Santa will bring me what I asked him?" Christine asked her father.
"Sure, I bet you'll find your Rapunzel doll and her horse Max under the tree tomorrow morning." He winked.
"Not that… the other thing I want…" She looked up at him with those big blue eyes of hers.
He knew the other thing she wanted more than any other. A baby. Not any baby, but a baby sister. A baby sister who would play with her, like her cousins Hayley and Emma played together. Booth and Brennan tried to talk her out of it, they never actually discussed having another child, and although they wouldn't mind it, they wanted to give it some thought before getting pregnant this time.
"Oh, the baby." He sighed.
"My baby sister, Daddy."
"Yeah, I know, but do you remember what Mommy and I told you, Chris?"
"That Santa can only bring toys… not human beings…" She pursed her lips. "Can't he just ask the stork to bring it, then? It's easy, like it did in Dumbo. And Dumbo was a baby elephant, it's much bigger than a baby human."
"Christine, having a baby is more complicated than that, sweetheart…" Booth said, looking at the door and wishing Brennan would suddenly materialize there. Why would he have to be the one to have this conversation with Christine? He was not ready to explain reproduction to his four-year-old daughter.
"How?" She wouldn't let it go.
"Well, you need a mommy and a daddy…" He started, starting to sweat a little.
"That's easy, Daddy, because we have you and Mommy." Christine stated the obvious.
"Yeah, but well… the Daddy needs to plant a little seed on Mommy's tummy and if it's the right time, it will result in a baby." Oh, God, Bones, where are you?
"Well, I think now is the right time." She said it so seriously that Booth couldn't help but chuckle. "Can't you just plant the little seed in her when she gets here?"
Booth started to cough. Jesus Christ. "Christine, can we talk about something else? Aren't you excited to meet Parker tomorrow?"
"Yes." She grinned. "But I still want a sister."
They turned their heads to the door when they heard the sound of the keys.
Thank God, Booth thought.
"Mommy!" Christine was out of his lap and running towards her mother before he could stop her. The little girl threw herself on her mother's arms as if she hadn't seen her in years instead of only 6 hours.
"Hi!" Brennan chuckled and kissed her daughter's cheek. "Don't you look fancy in this red dress?"
"I look very pretty." Christine grinned, looking down at her dress.
"Yes, you do." Brennan let out a laugh.
"She's so like you, Bones. With the modesty and everything." Booth kissed his partner softly on the lips.
"Ewwww. No kissing!" Christine scowled from her mother's arms and they laughed, kissing one more time just to tease her. "Yuck!" The little girl covered her eyes with her tiny hands.
"I hope you'll still feel that way in twelve years, baby." Booth chuckled and kissed his daughter's cheek, taking her from Brennan's arm and putting her back to the floor."What took you so long, you said you were leaving the lab like, one hour ago?"
"Hodgins and Michael were doing an experiment." Brennan sighed. "Long story short, they managed to lock down the lab. We had to wait half an hour until someone could come and release us."
"See? I told you it was never a good idea to go to the lab on Christmas Eve."
"Angela agrees. She was quite displeased to be locked there."
"But they are coming, right? There's so much food and Cam and Michelle went to Europe this year, and your brother is not coming… there's no way we, Max and Sweets can finish all of that."
"They are coming. They should be here in about…" She checked her watch. "One hour or so."
"Then you should go get dressed while Christine here and I finish setting the table." He said, leading her to the stairs.
"It's unfair that you made everything by yourself. I should have been here to help." She frowned. She didn't intend to stay so long at the Jeffersonian.
"It's okay, Bones. It was very fun, wasn't it, Chris?" He smiled at his little girl.
"Yep! But now go get dressed Mommy, so we can decorate the cookies!" Christine started pushing her towards the stairs too, and Brennan couldn't help but laugh.
"Okay, okay, I'm going, I'm going."
x
Everything went better than planned and Brennan was smiling as she looked at her daughter playing with her grandfather while she opened his gift for her. For many years, Christmas had been a very difficult time for her, always the reminder that she had been abandoned, always the reminder that she was alone and that there was no one who loved her enough to stay. But now, looking at her house, so full of warm and filled with laugher, she realized it had become her favorite holiday. Not because she suddenly became religious or anything like that, but because she realized that it wasn't just about religion, it was about family and love.
"Earth to Bones." Booth came to her side and passed her a glass of champagne.
"Oh." She said, startled. "Thanks." She took the glass, but didn't drink it.
"What were thinking about?" He asked.
"Nothing." She smiled. "I was just thinking of how happy I am, of how great it is to be here with you, and Christine… and seeing everyone so happy."
"Feels great, doesn't it?" He smiled too, looking at their daughter. "She brought up the baby thing again."
"The baby thing?"
"Yeah, you know. How she wants a baby sister."
"Oh."
"She wants Santa to bring her a baby, and when I told her things were not like that and tried to explain to her how it happened…"
"You told Christine about reproduction?" The thought of Booth talking about it with their daughter amused her for some reason.
"Yeah… you know, I told her the little seed story…" He said, and then chuckled. "She asked me why couldn't I just plant a seed on you then."
"Oh, God." Brennan laughed. "Well, she might get her baby sister for Christmas after all. Well, unless it's a boy, of course."
"Yeah…" He agreed, then, when her words finally sink in, he suddenly forgot how to breathe. "What?"
Brennan smirked. "I took a pregnancy test this morning. It was positive. I know we didn't plan it, but…"
"I guess that's my thing, right?" He joked, then he smiled, just the way he did when she told her she was pregnant with Christine. "We are really having another baby?"
"Yeah…" She touched his cheek when he came closer. "I believe I'm still just a few weeks along, so I'd rather we'd wait until I check with my doctor that everything is fine before telling everyone, especially Christine. She'd be very disappointed if she knew and then something went wrong."
"Nothing will go wrong." He leaned in to kiss her. "Are you sure it's okay for you to fly to Europe tomorrow? Because we could…"
"Of course it's fine. My doctor agreed to meet me tomorrow morning to do an ultrasound just to make sure, to see how far along I am and give me some prescriptions, even though it's Christmas."
"That's nice of her."
"She's a very good doctor."
"Bones?"
"We are having another baby." He grinned.
"I know." She was about to kiss him again, when she heard a little voice from the other side of the room call them.
"Mommy! Daddy! Come here to see what Grandpa got me!" Christine lifted the toy box.
"You better have another little girl in there, Bones." He teased, whispering so only Brennan could hear. "We'll never hear the end of it if it's a boy."
"It could go either way." Brennan shrugged. "I have to admit the idea of having a boy is not displeasing to me. In fact, I'd like that very much."
"Well, let's hope it's twins then, so both of you will be happy." He linked his arms with hers. "If not, we can keep trying until we get another of each."
"I hope you're joking." Brennan narrowed her eyes. As much as she loved her daughter and already loved this new little one on the way, they weren't getting any younger, and three kids were already quite a lot. "I'll be just as happy if it's another girl, you know that. And I don't intend to have another baby after this one."
"You say that now…" He winked and when she rolled her eyes, he laughed. "Okay, let's go before that little one over there starts complaining."
"Hey, Booth?" She said, as they got back to the center of the living room. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Bones." He smiled. "Very merry, indeed."