"Come on, Bones, just guess!" Parker could hardly contain his excitement. He hadn't seen Bones in so long. He loved hanging out with her. She challenged him, but he didn't understand that. He just knew that she did cool stuff at the museum. And the museum was cool. And she usually told him stuff other adults wouldn't. He loved that.

"Parker, I don't have enough evidence to go off of. I'll need more before I can accurately…"

"Bones, it's a kids game of 'I spy'. You're not finding the cause of death of some bazillion year old man." Booth couldn't hide his smile. Watching Parker jump up and down in the backseat made him so happy. He knew it had been a while since Parker had seen Bones. He just didn't realize what an impact she had on him. When Parker realized Bones was in the car when they went to pick him up, he didn't even say goodbye to Rebecca. He just bolted from the door and into the SUV without turning back. He had been talking a mile a minute until Booth suggested they play a game to pass the time until they got to the Jeffersonian.

"Booth, bazillion is not accurate. No one could be a bazillion years old because that's simply not a number." She glanced over to Booth, but out of the corner of her eye saw Parker in a fit of laughter. He had tears coming out of his eyes. She wasn't sure what was so funny, but she couldn't help but start laughing. The little boy was contagious. Booth then started laughing. He hadn't heard Bones laugh a real laugh in a long time. The three of them continued laughing the rest of the way to the Jeffersonian.

Booth pulled into his usual parking spot. The three of them got out of the SUV, still in their fit of laughter, and made their way into the Jeffersonian. They walked through the lab toward Bones' office. Angela stood in the doorway of her own office watching them as Parker was animatedly talking about something and they started laughing some more. It was a sight to behold. She couldn't remember the last time she saw Brennan so happy.

The trio entered Bones' office and Booth sat down on the couch. Parker followed Bones to her desk and sat in the chair in front of it while she sat in the one behind it. They continued talking and Booth sat and watched in awe, a smile on his face. He was so enthralled he didn't notice Angela standing in the doorway. They separately took in the ease in which Bones interacted with Parker. It was so natural. Booth got an idea. He opened his phone and spoke into it, loud enough for Bones to hear. Angela acted like she just walked up, looking at Booth strangely, but stepped into the room to address everyone.

"Hey, what's going on here? I see the more attractive Booth has graced us with his presence." She saw Parker's eyes light up and he ran to give her a hug. She ruffled her fingers through his blond locks as she looked back at Booth and he gave her a grin. He snapped his phone closed and stood and walked over toward the desk.

"Hey Bones, can you do me a huge favor?" Charm smile at its fullest, he even gave a wink.

"You want me to take care of Parker while you go to the office." It wasn't a question. How did she get to be so good at reading him?

"If you don't mind. I know Parker doesn't mind, do you bub?" Still using the charm smile in full force, he was looking at Bones, and only Bones.

"Yeah, come on Bones! Can I stay? I don't want to go to dad's boring office! I wanna stay here with you!" Parker was jumping up and down at Angela's side, grinning ear to ear.

"Yeah, come one Bones!" Booth whined along with Parker. Noticing the slight smile that appeared on Bones' face, he knew she was giving in. Not without a fight, though.

"Booth, the lab isn't exactly a place for children. There's evidence all over the place." She knew that was a very weak argument. Parker had been to the lab before, and he was very well behaved. She just didn't want to give in immediately. Booth would never learn that way.

"Aww come on Bones, look at this face." He stepped over to Parker and pulled his lips down to a frown. The look didn't last long as Parker and Bones started laughing.

"There, that's the spirit. Besides, I'm sure Angela here can help keep the little man occupied." He put his arm around Angela's shoulders and pulled her into a slight hug.

"Fine, Booth. Go do what you have to do. We'll manage." She gave Parker a wink.

"Thanks Bones!" Booth walked toward the door. Calling over his shoulder he said, "I owe you one"

"Don't come crying to me when your son turns into a squint!" She yelled at him. He stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at her. She and Parker were doubled over laughing, while Angela just shook her head with a smile. He smiled and turned around and started heading out of the Jeffersonian. He heard someone walking behind him so he slowed his pace.

"Going to the office, huh? What was that fake phone call about anyway, Booth?" He turned around to see Angela standing behind him, hands on her hips, right toe tapping.

"What do you mean fake phone call?" He wasn't expecting anyone to notice his phone didn't ring.

"Come off it Booth. I saw you sitting on the couch, then all of a sudden your phone was to your ear, and it never rang. And don't tell me it was on vibrate, because it didn't vibrate, either."She was sure of herself and he knew he was cornered.

"How do you even know that? Either way, I've got an errand I need to run. I figure this is the best solution. I go do what I need to do, and Parker gets to spend the day with Bones. Everybody wins." He knew not to use his charm smile on her. It never worked.

She looked at him, skeptical if he was telling the complete truth, but let it slide. "Alright Studly. I'll let it slide this time. But I've got your boy hostage when I want to know some real answers." With that, Booth smiled and left to his truck. Angela went back to Brennan's office. Brennan was showing Parker some old bones from who knows when when she walked through the door.

"Hey Ange, do you think you could take Parker for a bit. There's some evidence I want to go over with Mr. Nigel-Murray." Parker's eyes lit up.

"Hey can we draw and stuff, Ange? Please?"

"Well how can I say no to that cute face?" Parker shrugged his shoulders. They went into her office and Brennan made her way to the platform.

By the time Brennan was done on the platform, and Parker had exhausted all of his imaginative resources, it had been about four hours. Angela brought him into Brennan's office and he started to fall asleep on the couch. Brennan sat in her chair behind her desk and Angela threw herself into one of the chairs in front.

"Sure is a great kid, isn't he?" Ange asked. Brennan looked up from her case file and to the sleeping form on her couch.

"Yeah, he really is. There are a lot of similarities between him and Booth. It feels almost like Booth never left the office." Ange noticed a smile creep up on Brennan's face.

"You miss him, don't you Sweetie?" She could tell she caught Brennan off guard. She hoped that she wouldn't dismiss the question, or act like she hadn't heard her.

She looked from Parker to her all knowing friend, "I do, Ange. Very much. More than I care to admit. Especially to him. But he has Hannah now. So I'm not allowed to miss him." She watched Ange shake her head.

"Sweetie, you can still miss him, and you can still feel all of those things for him. He loved you for five years and never said a word. Even when you were with Sully. He still loves you. He just has to work through this on his own."

"Ange, it's not something he can work through. You don't work through a relationship. He moved on. I just wish I could. It's just all so sudden. As soon as I realize what my feelings actually are, I have to put them away. I wish I didn't miss him so much. We don't hang out like we used to. We don't celebrate after cases. I miss Parker, too. He really is a great kid." She sighed and looked over at the boy who looked and acted so much like his father. It pained her, but she was happy she got to spend today with him.

As she finished her last words, the object of her affection began to stir. She walked over to the couch and knelt beside it. She ruffled his hair with her right hand.

"Well hello sleepy head. Have a good nap?" He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes. He looked around to take in his surroundings. He looked up at Bones and grinned widely.

"I didn't mean to sleep so long. Can we look at more bones, Bones?" He laughed at his question.

Parker stood up and stretched a little. Bones was standing with her hand outstretched for him to take it. "Of course we can, Parks, whatever you want." With that they walked out of her office and out into the lab. Ange just watched. She wasn't sure when the transformation happened, but she was glad it did. Even if she couldn't be with Booth, she at least felt something. And that was the first step. She watched Parker and Brennan move around the lab, both with huge smiles on their faces. Parker was soaking up every bit of information he could, and Brennan was happy to be teaching. She watched them stop and turn towards the entrance of the lab, and then back down to what they were looking at. She then saw Booth's form come up on to the platform. He stood off to the side just watching the two of them interact like he wasn't even there. He looked into the office where Ange was sitting and he waved. She waved back.

"They really need to get their act together; because that is the cutest family I have ever seen." She walked from Brennan's office to her own, watching Brennan and Parker talk amongst themselves and Booth grinning ear to ear.