Building Booths
Invicta AU: Part honor, part duty, part resilience. Hank is going to get it right this time and a young Seeley Booth doesn't need protection, he just needs encouragement.
A/N: This goes along as a supplemental for my story, Invicta. In my own little world, there is a 3rd Booth sibling to go along with Seeley and Jared: Kelly. Please let me know what you think, because I actually have another supplemental piece in the works and a few other stories involving Kelly.
For my House AU, I used The Avett Brothers as a major source of inspiration. Now, it seems to be Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers. I find music to be a huge inspiration when I'm writing, so I apologize if it seems cheesy.
Looking through the attic and I stumbled across
The thoughts I never knew you had
Notes that filled the pages of the books that you read
Words I wished you would have said, like,
School will never matter half as much as they say
And dreams are for the good and bad
And happiness depends on how you handle the day
And love is really sorta sad
When I see the sun sinking low on the south west horizon
And there is no use in lying the way I see it
And inside I'm turning red
Like an amp from the 60s
Like a page from the history in my head
My old man
Nobody listens
But everyone's talking
~"My Old Man" Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers
Alice Booth pulled her red Volvo station wagon into the driveway and instantaneously, three kids, ages 3, 8 and 13 spilled out of the car. An older woman, dressed in a sensible dress and wearing an apron stood awaiting their arrival on the front porch of an old, Victorian house.
"Seeley!" The woman called with a smile "Jared! Kelly!" She swept down the front steps and swooped up the two youngest children in a big hug. Seeley hung back, watching with a smile as a whirlwind of blond and brown hair attacked his grandmother. "Seeley?" She called out. "This is not how you greet an old woman who loves you."
With a shrug, Seeley followed his siblings. Feeling too old to be so foolish, he reached over their heads and quickly hugged his grandmother.
"That will do I guess." His grandmother smiled gently
"Alice!" Hank Booth, the children's grandfather, came out of the house. "Hi kids." He waved briefly and continued down the path.
"Why don't we go inside." Martha, the grandmother, ushered the kids inside. "Seeley," She looked over her shoulder at the teenager. "Let them talk. I made pie." Seeley smiled at his grandmother and reluctantly followed.
"Alice," Hank approached Alice Booth slowly, holding his hands out in surrender. "I hope you understand."
"No, Hank," Alice shook her head as she pulled out a large, pink overnight bag. "Thank you."
"I saw Joe go after Seeley…"
"And you did what you thought was right." Alice nodded, handing a similar blue bag to Hank.
"My own son." He shook his head. "I thought I taught him better."
"How long do you think you'll keep them?" She asked quietly
"Until they're married if I have to." Hank smiled. "Alice, you're family and you're more than welcomed to stay with us."
"Thank you, but," She shrugged. "I have work to do, a marriage to save."
"Alice…"
"Hank," She held up a hand. "He's my husband, the father of my boys, I owe it to not only myself, but my children to try and fix this. If I can talk to Joe…"
"Joe won't listen, Alice." Hank shook his head. "He's angry. He's spiteful. He's too far gone."
"But I can try, Hank." Alice smiled, almost giving away her feelings of defeat.
"Then good luck." Hank pulled Alice into a hug. "I'll take care of the midgets."
"Hank," Alice pulled away with tears in her eyes. "Thank you."
"Come back when you're ready to start over again." Hank said solemnly
"Take care of my kids." She pulled out her keys. "Let them know I love them dearly."
"They won't question it." Hank nodded. "I'll see to it."
*
Jared was half into the cupboard when he pulled back and produced an old phone book.
"Will this do?" He asked his older brother and Seeley nodded his consent. He took the book over to a chair at the kitchen table with two other books already piled on top.
"There, Kells." Seeley stood back. "See if that's high enough."
"But I don't want to sit on books." She stuck out her bottom lip
"You have to, Munchkin," Hank smiled from the stove "You won't reach the table."
"But at home, I don't have to sit on books." She whined, still standing next to the chair.
"But we're not home, Kelly." Seeley tried to reason. "We're at Pops' and Grandma's. And sometimes, you just have to sit on books."
"I have my own chair at home." She repeated
"Well we're not going home ever!" Jared said angrily as he slid into his seat next to Kelly's chair. "So you sit on books or you don't eat dinner."
"Mighty harsh words coming from an 8 year-old, Mr. Booth." Martha came around the corner and smiled a warning smile at Jared.
"Sorry." He looked down at the table.
"Are you allowed to sit on books at preschool?" Seeley attempted another angle. Kelly shook her head. "Then see? Pops' and Grandma's is cooler than preschool."
Kelly's face lit up with his reasoning. She approached her chair and Seeley got into his seat across from her.
"I can't climb-" Before Kelly could finish her statement, Hank came up behind her and lifted her up in the air above his head and then gently placed her on top of the pile of books.
"There. Now, we're ready for dinner." He winked at Seeley.
"What's for dinner?" Jared asked excitedly.
"A little of this, a little of that." Hank shrugged as he made his way back to the stove.
"Pie?" Kelly asked with a big smile.
"Nope." Seeley shook his head and looked at Kelly "We're going to eat you."
"No you're not!" Kelly squealed with disgust, shaking her head so furiously that her pigtails almost hit Jared in the face.
"I think Kelly would be delicious!" Martha smiled from across the kitchen.
"What do I taste like?" Kelly asked seriously.
"Spinach." Jared scrunched his nose up as Seeley grabbed Kelly's arm from across the table and took a playful nibble on her hand.
"And boogers." He nodded. "What do you think Pops?"
Hank came over and pretended to take a bite of her hair.
"I taste peanut butter." He nodded critically.
"Guys," Kelly rolled her eyes, acting older than her three years, "You can't eat people."
"No you can't," Martha agreed. "That's called cannibalism."
"Cannon-bald-ism?" Kelly looked up at her grandmother.
"That doesn't sound fun." Jared agreed.
"It's also illegal." Seeley pointed out and smiled at Kelly "So you're off the hook for tonight."
"So grilled cheese instead?" Hank walked over to the table
"Yes!" Kelly screamed, half out of relief that she wouldn't actually be eaten.
*
Jared sat in the basement of his grandparent's house playing with toys he felt were more appropriate for boys than for little girls, but that didn't stop his sister. Holding their grandmother's emptied candy dish and a G.I. Joe action figure's rifle, she crawled up and sat down next to her brother.
"Green bean soup?" She asked, playing a waitress.
"Sure, I guess." He shrugged as he watched her hold the rifle over the bowl and squeeze the pretend juices from it.
"You want ketchup?" She asked as she reached for a toy fire engine and Jared nodded. She handed him the bowl and waited expectantly for him to eat it. He ostentatiously ate the soup, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and then forced a burp, causing Kelly to giggle.
"Best soup ever, Munchkin." He smiled and handed back the bowl.
"Thanks." She smiled as she crawled off. "I'll make you more."
