Day 2

"Where's Parker?"

Rebecca had just opened the door to her apartment when Booth pushed his way inside. "He's in his room, Seeley. Don't you think we need to talk first, though?"

Booth started walking towards Parker's room. "No, I need to see my son."

"Dad! You're back!" Parker ran to hug his dad, left arm complete with an above-the-elbow cast. "How was your trip? Did you bring me anything cool? Mom said when we were at the doctor that you would probably bring me something. I got a black cast because you would think it was cool. I'm so glad you're back dad."

Booth squeezed his son, just thankful that his son still wanted to talk to him after he had been gone for so long in Richmond. "Yeah, Parks, I brought you some really cool stuff, but it has to wait until your mom and I talk. Maybe after we can go get some food together." Booth looked over Parker's shoulder at Rebecca, who nodded at the request.

"Oh yeah dad! Can Bones come with us? She said she would sign my cast when I got the new one on!" Parker jumped down and looked up at his dad, waiting for a response.

Booth's emotions felt like a roller coaster. In the past few days, he had arrested Brodsky, been reunited with his partner, found out that his ex and partner had lied about his son, and now Parker was tugging at his already weakened heartstrings with his request.

"I think Dr. Brennan is busy tonight, sorry Parks." Booth couldn't even bear to use her nickname if he didn't have to. "Now let your mom and me talk and then we'll go, okay? "

"OK!" Booth was glad Parker dropped the subject of Bones joining them. He walked out of Parker's room behind Rebecca into the living room where he sat and rested his head in his hands. He was feeling unsure of whether he wanted to know the extent of what Rebecca was about to tell him, or if the details would anger him too much.

"Seeley…" Rebecca started, "I am sorry we kept it from you. It was just that you were in Virginia and we knew you had to catch Jacob…" she trailed off.

Booth shuddered slightly at the use of Jacob Brodsky's name. "Just start at the beginning, Rebecca, I want to know everything." Even if he didn't want to know everything, he knew it was the best way for him to make sense of it.

"The day you left, Parker was upset," Rebecca sat in a chair across from Booth, "so I took him to the rink to work out his frustrations."

Booth smiled for a second, knowing his son was taking after him. There was nothing like a little on-ice pickup to cheer him up.

"Parker was just playing and somehow he got tripped. He fell onto his elbow and another kid fell on top of him. "

"I didn't even cry, dad!" Parker yelled from the hallway. Rebecca kindly excused him to go play some music and let them have a private conversation. Booth couldn't help but laugh. Parker was becoming a miniature version of his father so quickly.

"He said he was fine." Rebecca continued. "But I took him to the emergency room because his elbow was swollen so badly. When we got there, they did x-rays and found out he fractured his ulna. They casted it and sent us home.

"On our way out, we saw Camille and her boyfriend Paul. She suggested we let Dr. Brennan see the x-rays to see if there was anything she could do. Parker loved that idea," Rebecca paused, as the look on Booth's face showed some displeasure, "so I called her and we met at the diner."

Booth leaned forward. "Brennan was already gone by then. Her flight left Dulles that night at 11."

"She rescheduled her flight to come see us," Rebecca let out a small laugh, "evidently when you're a famous author, you can afford to do that kind of thing." Rebecca looked up at Booth, who was very obviously not amused. She continued, "Dr. Brennan looked at the film and said she wanted to do more x-rays to make sure there was nothing else."

Booth leaned back on the couch where he sat and groaned. He was growing more and more upset that Brennan hadn't just allowed the doctors to do their own job. Offering to use the Jeffersonian's equipment to do additional x-rays only made him that more upset that neither Rebecca nor Brennan – or Camille, for that matter - had cared to inform him that his son broke his arm.

Sensing Booth's irritation, Rebecca tried to defend herself and the doctor. "She was very kind, Seeley. She loves Parker and just wanted to give a second opinion," she reached a hand and placed it on his knee, "and that is never a bad thing."

Booth stood up, nervous energy getting the best of him. "Then what did she say? I saw the file, but I don't understand any of it." Booth began to pace.

"She saw a shadow on the x-ray in his humerus - his upper arm…"

"I know what a humerus is Rebecca, get to the point."

"He has a tumor in his bone marrow. I took him to the doctor the day after Dr. Brennan found it. They took a biopsy and said it was a rare, malignant form of bone cancer, called Ewing's sarcoma." At the sound of the words, Rebecca broke down into sobs. Booth continued to pace, giving the response no mind. Rebecca continued through sobs, "They did all kinds of tests, Seeley. The tumor is localized and…" she paused to wipe her nose, "it hasn't metastasized, so they think Parker's got a pretty good shot of getting through this. The doctors said we're lucky Dr. Brennan caught it. They weren't even looking at Parker's upper arm when they looked at the x-rays."

Booth leaned with both of his hands against the wall in the living room. Up until this point, he had resolved himself to being angry at the women in his life for keeping this from him. He gave up on the façade he built to seem strong. This was his son. His only son. Booth's own father had been awful to him, and had been far from the model father. Booth tried his best with his hectic schedule and responsibilities to provide for Parker, but he couldn't help but feel guilty that his choices in life had drawn him away from his son – the Rangers, the FBI, murder, and even his relationships with women kept him from spending enough time with his son.

Booth broke down. He felt like he had let Parker down. Booth slammed his fist into the wall, crying.

Parker's bedroom door opened, and slowly, Parker made his way to his father, who was now on the floor against the wall. Rebecca excused herself to her room. "Dad, it's gonna be okay." Parker said. "You said that I'm a Booth, right?" Parker put his hand on his dad's shoulder. "That means I'm tough. I'm gonna be fine, Dad. I promise. Don't be sad." Booth held Parker in his arms, fully intending on never letting go.

AN: One of my best friends in high school had AML, Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Through her, I met a beautiful girl named Emily who had Ewing's sarcoma. Sadly, Emily's fight with the disease ended in 2008. Her family was inspired by her incredible passion for life and perseverance and started the Emily's Kids Foundation. The Foundation takes donations to purchase gift cards and other assistance that goes DIRECTLY to families dealing with childhood cancer - including local tattoo shops donating proceeds of tattoos designed by the foundation! Her story is very near and dear to my heart, so I felt no problem in doing a shameless plug for their foundation since it fit into my story line so well.

I'm not sure how the rules work as far as posting links are concerned, but if you Google Emily's Kids Foundation, you will definitely be touched!

And as always, let me know what you think. This story is sad and dark so far, but often those are the ones that connect with us the most.