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"You're in an awful hurry to get rid of us," Booth teased as Brennan rushed around cleaning up after lunch. Hank was hanging off of Booth's leg and giggling while Christine was bouncing around calling for him to hurry up.
"I'm sorry," Brennan replied, looking at him. "I don't mean to."
"It's okay," he laughed. "I know you want to get back to your Dad."
"Thanks for understanding, Booth," she smiled.
"It's what I do," he grinned. He leaned in to give her a kiss before grabbing Hank and throwing him over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes.
"Oh no! The Dragon is coming!" Christine shrieked, bolting out the door in front of him while Booth roared and growled as he chased after her. Brennan shook her head, laughing. Then she went to sit and read again when her phone went off.
Did you find anything good at the house? Russ asked. Brennan hesitated, her thumbs hovering over her keyboard. She wanted to finish these books first before giving them to Russ. Maybe that made her selfish, but she wanted this alone time with her father first.
Not really, she answered. It was a bit of a lie, but she'd tell him later once she had a few to give him. She got comfortable on the couch and opened the journal again, eager to see how her mother's birthday party went.
...
September 17, 1951
I wish I could say I had the best weekend ever, that I was allowed to go to Ruth's party, but I can't. All I can say is, my family sucks. Rebecca was so sick that Mom took her to the hospital Friday night. Ron was crying nonstop about being in pain when he wasn't actually sick (a twin thing I guess). Dad got mad at him for crying and gave him a whupping. I tried to stay out of the way, but on Saturday morning when I was supposed to be getting ready for a party, I got told I was not going. I'll admit, I lost my temper. Rule #1 in my family is: Don't ever yell at your father. Let's just say this, I looked at the world with only one eye all day Sunday. Today it's open, but things are a little blurry still. Teachers give me looks, but they don't ask. They assume I got into a fight with another kid my age. Boy, I wish they were right. Maybe then it'd be fair. The only good thing that came out of it was Ruth noticed and actually talked to me. This is what happened:
"Max, what happened to your eye?" she asked.
"I fell," I lied. She gave me a look in response that said she didn't believe me.
"It looks like it hurts," she said instead.
"Eh," I shrugged. "I'm more sorry that I missed your party."
"Don't be. It wasn't all that fun."
"I would have made it fun."
"I would have loved to have seen you try," she smiled. Smiled! I got a smile out of her. Anyway, she walked away after that, and I felt like I was walking on air. Black eye and all.
Pencils away!
...
Brennan felt her heart twist. Her grandfather was an abusive man? She felt bad for her father then. She had no idea. He'd never talked about his family before. Maybe that was why. She went to read the next entry and found just doodling. She flipped a few more pages until she found writing again. It was almost three weeks later.
...
October 8, 1951
You're probably wondering why it took so long for me to write again. I just didn't feel like it. I had nothing to say. Things at home are the same. Things at school are the same. Things with Ruth are the same. Nothing is different. I'm writing today because Dave almost got beat up bad, and all for just wearing a hat that Vince wanted to have. I've been lucky to not run into Vince too often. He's older than me by about three years. He'll be going to high school after this year, so I won't have to see him anymore. He terrorizes a lot of kids, and I'm lucky enough to be able to escape his attention the majority of the time. He makes Walter seem harmless.
I should add that Rebecca is okay. I realize my last entry made it sound like she was almost dying. Turned out she just needed her appendix removed. She's been sucking up that attention for the last three weeks though. It's getting annoying. I think a good old fashioned prank would perk her up, but I don't feel like having the punishment afterwards.
And that's all the time we have folks!
October 10, 1951
Teacher caught me doodling and said I have to write. She was "very disappointed with me" and had to let the whole class know about it. Maybe I don't feel like sharing my thoughts. They aren't that woop-de-doo you know.
Ruth sat with me at lunch today. That is worth mentioning. She even shared her dessert. I am not a huge fan of pineapple upside down cake, but I didn't want to turn down her offer either. I can hide my gagging better than I can handle her rejected face. Ruth wanted to know if I could teach her to pitch. She admitted she is better at the bat than throwing the ball, so I agreed to help her at recess. Needless to say, I have some ball sized bruises on my shins right now. Girl has no aim. We have a lot of work to do.
Aaaaand time's up.
...
"Mommy?" Hank said, interrupting Brennan's reading. She lowered the journal and put her attention on her son.
"Yes?"
"Can you come play? Daddy is getting out of control," he said. Brennan bit back a laugh. Her son was so articulate with his speech. She was glad he picked that up from her.
"Okay," she agreed. "I'll come play." She set down the journal and went outside where Booth was on his hands and knees barking.
"You can't be a dragon and then a dog," Christine complained. "That's not how it works!"
"Why not? I'm a shape shifter," Booth argued good naturedly.
"Booth, what are you doing?" Brennan asked, laughing.
"Trying to mix it up out here, but I'm not getting good reviews," Booth joked.
"Mommy's here!" Christine shouted gleefully. "Come on! You're the Queen and I'm your Princess."
"Who are Hank and Daddy?" Brennan asked, stepping into the structure that was deemed The Castle.
"Hank is the stolen Prince, and Daddy is the Dragon," Christine answered.
"Did the Dragon take the Prince?"
"No. He's just guarding him."
"Hmmm. What shall we do?!" Brennan cried, getting into character.
"Call the Dragon Slayer!" Aubrey shouted, jumping into view. Christine cheered.
"Dragon Slayer?" Booth repeated.
"Yea," Aubrey nodded.
"What are you doing here, Aubrey?" Brennan asked.
"I thought I'd swing by and see what my favorite people were up to," Aubrey answered.
"Save my baby brother!" Christine cried, pointing at Hank, who was curled up in a ball under the wooden swing.
"I'm on it!" Aubrey called.
"Watch out for the Dragon!" Christine shrieked as Booth launched himself onto Aubrey and brought him down.
"Aaarrgghh!" Aubrey shouted.
"Oh no!" Brennan cried, still in character.
"Quick! We must help!" Christine shouted, rushing over where Booth was pretend mauling Aubrey to death. Christine and Brennan jumped onto Booth's back, making him growl in response. Aubrey pulled himself free.
"I'm coming, Hank!" Aubrey shouted.
"You have to ride the swing so he'll be set free!" Christine called after him. Aubrey sat on the swing and pulled it ahead a little so Hank could run away before starting to pump his legs.
"Mommy!" Hank yelled to Brennan, who picked him up and swung him around.
"Hurry before the Dragon comes!" Christine cried, running back to their Castle while Booth chased them and Aubrey chased after Booth wielding a pretend sword. When he caught up to Booth, he pretended to impale him, making Booth come up with some interesting dying sounds. Brennan couldn't stop laughing. She loved days like this. She loved playing with her children and doing make believe. She loved her life. She just wished her father were here too.
...
"That was nice of Aubrey to bring us a dessert," Brennan said once it was nighttime and the kids were asleep. Booth was brushing his teeth.
"It was. Nice of him to eat half of it too," he laughed between brushing.
"I'm amazed he isn't fat," Brennan commented. Booth snorted. Then he went to spit and rinse.
"Hollow legs," he said after. "I remember that time of my life."
"You are not out of shape at all," Brennan said appreciatively.
"Oh I know. I also know I can't just eat like a pig without repercussions," he joked. He crawled into bed beside her. "Any more interesting tales in your father's book?"
"He's teaching my mother how to throw a baseball," Brennan answered.
"How's that going?"
"Not so well apparently."
"I didn't know Max was such an avid baseball player," Booth said.
"I didn't either."
"Well, don't stay up too late," he said, giving her a kiss before turning over onto his side to fall asleep. Brennan sat with her lamp on, reading.
...
October 12, 1951
Ha Haaa! I skipped a day of writing and didn't get caught. It's Friday. That means Dad will either come home in a good mood or a really bad mood. The way Mom fights with him sometimes is scary, but it doesn't happen a lot. I know he drinks. She tries so hard to show everyone that we are this perfect family, and I don't blame her. I wouldn't want to be judged either. I do my best to stay out of the way and be helpful, but even then I sometimes still get caught in the middle. My mother looks at me sometimes with this look that I can't describe. I don't know what it is. Disdain? Fear? It's confusing. I hate weekends sometimes. I miss Steve. We'd be out exploring if he was here. Dave gets too scared to do that. He's a bit of a Mama's boy.
Not much else to write. Happy weekend, journal.
October 15, 1951
A boring weekend. That's a good thing really. Dad even was sober for half of it. He and Mom went out Saturday night, leaving us kids home alone. They thought the twins could be trusted. Ha! Ron found Mom's stash of chocolate and ate it all while Rebecca put on Mom's makeup. I stayed outside until dark. I could feel the air changing. I'm not ready for winter. I don't like winter sports as much. I can't ski worth anything. I do enjoy a good snowball fight, though.
I saw Ruth biking by while outside. She waved. I didn't know she lived so close! I am making it my mission to find her house this week. Maybe she's brave enough to explore. Oh God, Dave is giving me that wounded look again. How does he read over my shoulder anyway?
Time's up!
...
Brennan wished she could meet Dave. She wondered if he was still alive. Him and Steve. They would be able to tell her about her Dad. She also wondered what happened between her father and his family. Obviously something happened. She was impatient to find out, but she didn't want to skip ahead either. She was finally feeling drowsy, so she put the book down and shut off the light, getting comfortable to sleep. Booth curled behind her, and she was soon sound to sleep.
I am planning on speeding things up with the entries to make things get interesting don't worry ;) Thanks for reading!
