"Sweetie, you seriously need to get out." Angela had her arms crossed as she stared down her friend who seemed to be spending yet another Friday evening at work rather than out enjoying the nightlife that DC had to offer.
"I'm going out." Brennan answered without looking up and continued to type away. There were a few more reports to finish her preliminary notes on and she had promised her publisher a new chapter to review over the weekend. If Angela was still here, it meant that it was most likely just past five so she had plenty of time.
There was a hint of sarcasm in Angela's voice. "It looks like you're working. Perhaps we need to review what 'going out' means." Her toe tapped impatiently as she considered that her friend was going to miss out on all of those extra things that filled your life out with color. There was a new club she wanted to go to, but it would be far more fun with Bren in tow, well far more interesting anyway.
"It's only five fifteen." Brennan glanced up and offered a soft smile. "I'm getting picked up at seven." She wished not for the first time that day that she'd driven into work this morning, but her car was in the shop because of some squealing noise that the mechanic has said was probably the fan belt, and Booth had offered to pick her up. It only made rational sense that they carpool, especially since she had agreed to go with him to observe one of Parker's pee-wee hockey matches that night as part of her being his village.
"Oh? Date? Anyone hot?" Angela was immediately interested and stopped tapping her toe, choosing to lean in to see if she could get a little more information on whoever Bren's man of the month was. Brennan going on a date was a good thing, not the best thing because if it had been the best thing, that would mean that she'd already woken up from her eternal denial and would have run off and married Booth. Pending that impossibility, a date with someone nice would at least get her out where she'd be interacting with the rest of the world.
"It's not a date." She didn't think that a round or two of child's hockey could be considered a date, especially since she was going with Booth. She and Booth didn't date. They were partners. She was his village and they had a surrogate relationship, that was all.
Angela's excitement faded into a disappointed frown. "It's Friday night. Glug-glug-woo-hoo." If she couldn't grasp the basics, they were never going to make progress on Booth and Brennan's happily ever after. "Please tell me you're not taking in some lecture on the funeral rituals of the Bogo Bogo people."
"I don't believe there are any people groups called the Bogo Bogo." She would know, she was very authoritative about obscure tribal groups.
"They love bargains on shoes, but that isn't the point." Angela inwardly rolled her eyes and made a mental not to drag Bren out to shop for some Jimmy Choo's next week. "Weekends are for social interaction."
"I'm fairly certain that I will be interacting socially. I will be going with Booth to watch Parker play hockey." It had surprised her that the league would have games scheduled so late given the age of the contestants, but Booth had assured her that on a Friday night it wasn't a big deal.
The whole idea that Bren was going with Booth on a decidedly family-oriented outing was far better than any dating scheme she could have come up with. "Ah, baby Booth playing hockey." Clearly Parker wasn't a baby, but how could you resist that cute mini-Booth smile and charm all wrapped up and topped with a blond mop of hair. He was irresistible and she hoped that Bren wouldn't be able to resist the Booth charm from either one of them. This was good. No correction, it was better than good.
"Don't let Parker hear you call him that. He's informed Booth that he's very grown up. Apparently going without a nightlight is a major milestone." At least that's what she'd thought she'd gathered from their lunch in the diner not too long ago.
"Well if he's anything at all like Booth, I bet he cleans the ice with the rest of the players." Angela couldn't hide her smile.
"Of course he's like Booth. I mean, Booth is his father. They share DNA and a similar facial structure." And he probably had gotten his athletic ability because of the physique he'd inherited as well, surely he'd grow up to be structured like Booth, but she had no idea what that had to do with cleaning the ice, she didn't think that was the goal of hockey.
"Of course." Well she wasn't going to be able to drag Bren out tonight, but that wasn't so bad since she was going to be with Booth. At least she wasn't going to be spending the night at the lab.
"Should they be attempting to skate with that much equipment on?" From Brennan's perspective, it seemed that some of these kids lacked the coordination to walk with the equipment on let alone skate well enough while wearing it to play an entire game of hockey.
"That's why this is the pee-wee league, Bones. A lot of times they're getting stuff handed down from an older brother, they're growing so fast that some families don't want to invest in equipment until they know if the kid is going to even like playing hockey." He found her inquisitive nature endearing and he nudged her with his elbow and spoke in a conspiratorial tone. "Parker loves hockey though, just like his old man."
"And I'm sure you're a very good teacher." She truly admired the man sitting next to her and the kind of father he was to Parker and she suddenly felt a tinge of sadness of who her own father had turned out to be and all of the things she had missed out on by not having him in her life for so long.
"I bet I could teach you to play hockey." He grinned at her and it seemed to pull her smile back out.
Her words tumbled out in a giggle. "I can barely stand up on skates. Don't you remember when you made me stay up with you all night to make sure you didn't have a concussion?" It had been worth repeatedly tumbling to the ice just to make sure that he was okay.
"I remember." Booth's smile was warm and he gestured towards the ice. "I think they're finally getting started." This was a great night and he got to spend it watching his favorite sport and spending it with two of his favorite people.
"Does Parker usually get a basket for his team?" Brennan really wanted to know as much as she could so that after that match was over she'd have something to interact with Parker about over hot fudge sundaes.
"It's goal, Bones, and not always. Hockey is a pretty low scoring game." As the game started, he leaned in and tried to explain to her what was going on and what the rules were in between cheering for Parker and loudly expressing his displeasure at the ref's obvious need for glasses.
"Did you see the goal I made, Bones?" Parker was so excited. Not only had been able to use the slap shot he'd been practicing for like forever, he made his team's only goal and they had won. It couldn't get better than that. Okay, well maybe celebrating afterwards with his dad and Bones with hot fudge sundaes was pretty cool too.
"I did see it, Parker." Brennan smiled. She was very pleased that she seemed to be doing such a good job at being Booth's village, and she was having fun too.
"You did a great job, Bub." Booth was so proud of they way his son had played on the ice. At the moment though he wasn't so proud of the way he was devouring the sundae like he hadn't been fed in three years. Hot fudge smears adorned his face and he was definitely going in the tub before bed tonight.
"Jimmy almost got a goal too, but he slipped at the last minute. I bet he'll get one next time." Parker wished that all of his team could have gotten a goal of their own, but they had won and they could all share that.
"While there is no way to predict the future accurately, it is a very nice sentiment to hope that for your friend." Brennan hoped that what she'd said was okay. A quick glance over at Booth made her doubt that it was - he seemed to have been rendered momentarily speechless. But just as quickly a smile spread across his face and his arm wrapped around her in a quick hug.
"We're glad Bones came tonight, aren't we, Bub?" Booth's eyes twinkled as he looked over at his son who was nodding in agreement while shoving another bite of his sundae in his mouth. And as he looked over at Bones he couldn't help but smile a bit wider, he really was glad she'd come.
