She went to his second funeral without protest. Angela, Hodgins, Cam….they all thought it was because she'd grown in her humanity. Finally realized the importance of closure. The truth was she knew his body didn't lie in the coffin. No tears fell from her eyes. Around her were muffled sobs and tissues dabbing at blood shot eyes. She thought it would be easier this time, knowing he wasn't in the wooden box that hovered over the gaping hole in the ground, but for once she had been wrong. Instead, she found the pain worse, knowing he was still alive when ever y part of her felt dead and she had no one to talk to about it.
The days passed quickly and slowly at the same time. To everyone's shock and surprise, she didn't immediately cut her contract with the FBI. At first, she went out in the field every couple of weeks to help recover a body and take specimens. Then over time, the field trips became less and less. Bodies were automatically brought to the lab and examined. Agent Perotta was the one to visit most often, filling them in on details and getting the forensic information she needed to solve cases. She called them her people occasionally, when it slipped off her tongue before she could catch it. It twisted her heart just a little bit more. They were Booth's people. Always had been, always would be.
What surprised everyone the most was how they all expected her to lose herself in her work again. Spend long hours on the platform or in her office, disappearing for hours into Limbo to identify the remains of lives that had long been gone from the Earth. It had happened before and they expected it again. And even though that pattern held true during the week, a shockwave ran through Cam when she walked in on the first Saturday after Booth's death and Dr. Temperance Brennan wasn't there.
The sounds of a carousel drifted through the air. Children laughed and ran around the green areas of the mall, sneakers crunching through the leaves that fell from the large oak trees. She held onto his hand tight, listening to the entire retelling of his week in school. She'd upheld the promise she made and true to her word, had contacted Rebecca to arrange for her to spend time with Parker in the wake of his father's absence. Rebecca had agreed without hesitation. A part of her had changed when she heard Seeley had died. His passing affirmed that no one lived forever and Parker should spend time with those that cared most for him. She wanted him to always have a strong memory of his father and the best way she saw of accomplishing that was by letting the woman he loved-truly loved- spend time with him.
"And then I got a B on my spelling test." His words sunk through the thoughts she had been lost in and she smiled, squeezing his hand tighter.
"Well, I think that deserves some hot chocolate." She felt a tug on her hand and looked down to see him jumping up and down in excitement. "Can we ride the carousel first?" He smiled up at her and she froze as she saw herself looking down at a smaller version of Booth for a moment. She recovered before the child noticed and lead him over to the carousel. He was unusually cheerful for a child who had lost their father. A part of her wondered if at nine, one was able to comprehend the finality that came with death.
The afternoon passed quickly and before she knew it, she was dropping Parker off at Rebecca's. They exchanged pleasantries and then she left, alone for the afternoon once more. Angela called, asking if she wanted to catch a movie and Hacker had called, requesting drinks with her. She declined both offers, claiming she was behind on submitting chapters for her book.
Excuses failed her though, when she found herself sitting at his gravestone, a plastic pig clutched in her hand. They'd made a lot of promises to each other. She realized this a long time ago, but hadn't been faced with the completion of many of them until that moment. She knew he wasn't there. Logic told her it wouldn't make a difference if she spoke to his head headstone or to the television she had moved from his apartment to hers. They were both just symbols of the man she had called her partner and best friend. Her heart told her it made all the difference in the world and so she held the promise she had made to him long ago, at a different headstone. She came and spoke to him every weekend, after she spent the day with Parker.