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Title: Ringing in the New Bones: A New Year's Story

Chapter 3: Bones!

Once the excitement had died down from Booth and Brennan's performance, the kids and teenagers got themselves ready for a game of flashlight tag. The Hodgins Estate was secure, but a couple of the men were outside to supervise. Sweets had announced that he had never played this kind of tag and joined in the fun. Of course, Booth couldn't help but to tease the baby duck about his speculated age.

Everyone had a blast running around in the dark, screeching out of terror and surprise, laughing at being sneaky, and just letting the special one-of-a-kind night carry the party goers in a cloud of happiness. But then there was a screech that was different from the rest. It made the hairs on Booth's neck stand on end. Parker ran out from a cluster of trees yelling for his dad.

"Dad! Bones!" He was out of breath more from his fright than from exertion. Booth caught up to him. "Dad!" Parker pointed to the cluster of trees he had just come from. "Bones!"

"Calm down Parker. Bones is inside. Just tell me what's wrong." Parker was "It" and had the flashlight shining directly in Booth's face. "Let me have the flashlight."

"Bones, Dad! I mean real bones! Over there!"

Booth told him to take a few deep breaths. "Parker, just show me where they are. I'm sure it's just from a poor defenseless animal. We'll take care of it."

Parker was already leading his dad and a large group of kids to the "crime scene."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Everything stopped when Sweets ran into the Great Room. "Dr. Brennan!"

"Whoa! Hold on there, Sweets," said Cam. "Dr. Brennan walked off with Angela for something. What's the rush?"

"Parker found some bones. I came right inside, so I don't know much about it other than Booth was taking a look at them."

"What?" yelled Hodgins. "This has got to be some kind of mistake."

"Or a prank," added Wendall.

"Too much security for a prank. It's probably just from an animal." To the group Hodgins called out, "Everyone relax. Stay cozy warm and we'll see what's it's all about." Hodgins headed towards the door, grabbed a few flashlights, and set out to find the Bones along with Sweets, Daisy, Wendall, and Clark. They found Booth on the ground and reminding the kids to back away. "Look! We have all the help we need. Daisy, can you take the younger ones inside?"

"Sure. I'd be happy to, Agent Booth." "Did the girl ever not act cheery?" thought Booth. "And when did Clark get here?"

Wendall crouched down opposite of Booth and inspected the remains as best as he could without gloves. "Poor things," sighed Wendall.

"I assume they are animal bones."

"You're right, Booth. This looks like a litter of kittens."

"A whole litter?" asked Sweets. He was glad the Daisy wasn't there. She could deal with human remains just fine, but have her look at the demise of pets and she was all mush.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Angela and Brennan walked into the small entertainment kitchen and were surprised to find a group of kids. They were instantly amused at their pretend play.

"Looks like we really are making a squint out of Baby Booth." Angela laughed quietly so they wouldn't be noticed. She wanted to watch as long as possible. "What does Booth think of this?"

"He jokes about it about I think he's perfectly fine with it."

Just then Parker noticed the two women in the room. "Bones! We have a case!"

Angela busted out laughing and Brennan chuckled. "Who does that sound like?"

"We have to wait for Dad and the squints to get back with an identification before we can start to look for the cause of death."

"Baby Booth, what are you doing?" asked Angela.

Parker sighed loudly. He wondered if they had listened to anything he just said. "Bones…" whined Parker. "Let me show you what we found."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Booth? What's going on? Parker said your team is identifying bones."

Booth smirked although it couldn't be seen. "We do have bones, but it's a sad story. Clark is taking care of everything so let's go inside and I can explain it all to everyone that wants to hear about it."

"Clark? When did he get here?"

"Beats me," shrugged Booth. "I didn't think parties were his thing."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"I feel sorry for those kittens. What do you think happened to them?" asked a young girl.

"Well, a few different things could have happened. I guess you have a case after all, Parker." Parker beamed at Brennan. "But you have to wait to look at the scene when it's daylight."

"Can we come tomorrow?" Parker and a few others were excited.

Angela spoke up. "Why not? We're already having people over for a football TV something or other tomorrow. As long as your parents don't mind."

"Yes!" yelled Parker and he pumped his fist and high-fived a new friend.

Brennan chuckled and her eyes sparkled. Booth rolled his eyes as he walked up behind Brennan and wrapped her in a hug that he surprisingly got away with. He had to wonder how much alcohol she had consumed. "You've squintified my kid, Bones," he whined.

"Squintify isn't a word, Booth. And besides, you know you secretly like watching your son excel in science."

"I'm not admitting to any such thing."

"We'll see come midnight," smiled Brennan mischievously as she looked over her shoulder at him.

Angela's jaw dropped. "What did you do to her, Ange? Not that I'm complaining," said Booth.