Authors note: Okay, so I've moved this story along a bit. Parker is now six instead of four. Brennan and Booth have been together for a year. Sorry that I've taken so long to update! I hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
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"Brennan."
Temperance awoke to the sound of her cell phone ringing.
"Dr. Tempe!"
Despite her evident tired state, she smiled at the sound of Parker's adorable, yet high pitched voice.
"Hi, Parker."
"Whatcha doin'?"
"Well, Parker, I was sleeping." Tempe said, laughing at his casual form of conversation.
"Ohhhhhhh sorry! Daddy said that I should call you because he is sleeping and he doesn't want me to jump on his bed anymore." Parker said, talking very fast.
Temperance sat up in her bed and sighed rather loudly.
"Did Daddy give you the phone number?" Tempe asked.
"Oh, no, he dialed for me and then he gave me the phone." Parker said happily.
Temperance wore a look of disbelief at Booth's behavior.
"Hey, Sweetie, will you go and jump on Daddy's bed some more? I need to talk to him." Tempe said sweetly.
"You're letting me jump on his bed??" Parker asked excitedly.
"Yes, I'm letting you jump on his bed." Tempe said.
Parker whooped in excitement and ran toward Booth's bedroom. Tempe heard the squeaking of the mattress as it took on Parker's weight. She then heard the squeal of delight as he jumped up and down on Booth's bed. She laughed when she heard a deep voice cry out in annoyance.
"Parker! I told you to bug Bones, not me!" Seeley's muffled voice reached her ears.
"I know and I was talking to her and I told her what you told me and that you dialed the number and she gave me permission to jump on your bed to wake you up because she said that she needed to talk to you!" Parker said very fast.
Booth laughed and reached out for the phone.
"Nice little trick there, Bones." He said to her.
"Well, I had to get you back some how. Its 7 o'clock on a Saturday morning, I'm home alone, and yet I'm not sleeping…I wonder whose fault that is…" Tempe said in mock thought.
"Well, its seven here as well and I'm not sleeping either. I wonder whose fault that is…" Seeley said.
"Gee, I dunno…maybe you should talk to Parker about that." She said.
Booth got out of bed and followed the eager child into the kitchen.
"He's six, Bones; he's never asleep after seven." Booth said, scratching his head and pulling down the cereal Parker was pointing at.
"Well, I didn't sleep over last night, so I should still be sleeping." Tempe said, unsuccessfully stifling a yawn.
"Well, you're dating a guy with a six year old." Booth said, shrugging. "That happens."
Tempe started laughing and filled the coffee pot, picturing the charm smile on his face.
"Great, I'll look forward to that later."
"Well, you should."
They both laughed. In the background, Tempe could here Parker asking Seeley if she were coming over.
"Its 7 o'clock, Bud, give her some time." Booth whispered, trying to cover the phone.
Tempe rolled her eyes and filled her coffee mug. Balancing the phone between her shoulder and ear, she grabbed the remote off the coffee table and switched on the TV. She sat down on the couch and cursed as the phone slipped from her ear and crashed to the ground.
"Tempe! Sweetie, are you okay?" Booth asked.
She snatched the phone off the ground and put it to her ear, laughing at her clumsiness.
"Booth! Calm down! I'm fine, I just dropped the phone." She said.
"I know, I was just asking…" He said relief evident in his voice.
"You know, you worry too much." She began flipping through the channels, sipping her coffee.
"Well, with a girlfriend like you, who wouldn't?" He said.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" She said with attitude clear in her voice.
"Nothing, Bones, absolutely nothing." Booth said, picking up Parker in one arm and sitting him at the kitchen table. He set the bowl of Fruity Pebbles in front of him and made his way to the kitchen to make some food for himself.
"Daddy! Tell Dr. Tempe to come over!" Parker demanded.
"Parker, what did I tell you about that tone of voice?" Seeley asked.
"Not to use it with my elders." Parker said.
"Because…?" Seeley pressed on.
"Because it's disrespectful and I'm sorry."
"That's okay and if you rephrase that command into a question, I might be able to make it happen." He winked at him and Parker laughed.
"Okay, Daddy. Will you please ask Tempe to come over?" He asked, putting an enormous emphasis on the word 'please'.
"Hey, Bones, what're you doin'?" Seeley asked.
"Watching TV…" She said, knowing what he was going to ask already having heard Parker.
"Well, if you're not too busy, Parker would really like to see you in the next hour...or so…" Seeley said.
"Oh, so only Parker wants me to come over?" Tempe asked.
"Well, I could do without…but, I wouldn't mind seeing you."
Tempe huffed in disbelief.
"I'm just kidding, sweetheart. You know I'm really begging you to come over…"
"Well, you should." Seeley huffed and Tempe laughed. "I'll be there in an hour…"
"You better be!" He joked.
"I will!" She continued with the game.
"Okay then!"
"All right!"
"Fine! I'll see you soon, gorgeous." Seeley said.
"Bye."
"Bye."
Tempe put her phone down, along with her coffee and shut off the TV. She yawned and stretched, then slowly made her way towards the bathroom. After a leisurely shower, she dressed and found herself quickly driving to Seeley's. How pathetic, I'm already in a rush to see him after no more than ten hours apart. She laughed in spite of herself.
"Dr. Tempe!"
As she unlocked the front door, she was greeted with an enthusiastic cry from Parker. With a "Hi, Sweetie", she bent down and gave him a kiss a top his mass of blonde curls. He beamed and followed her down the hall.
"Hey, Love. Good Morning." Booth greeted her.
"Good Morning to you too. What are you so happy about?" She asked as Booth took her into his arms and kissed her.
"Just seeing your beautiful face makes me happy." Booth said, smiling.
She backed away slightly and gave him a look of suspicion as well as realization.
"All right, what do you want?"
"What? I can't just be happy to see my gorgeous girlfriend?"
"No, not when you're this nice. Now what do you want?" She asked.
He sighed and rolled his eyes.
"All right, fine. Cullen called me a few minutes ago and he needs me to follow up on an interrogation."
"Why can't someone else do it? It's Saturday morning, why does he have to ruin y our day of all people?" She asked.
"Remember that case I took a few months ago? When I went to New York for three days?" She nodded her head and shrugged. "Well, this girl is a prime witness, but she won't talk. Cullen needs me to break her."
"I know that case was important…wait, what are you asking me?"
"Well, Cullen really needs me there immediately and I can't exactly take Parker with me…I can't just call the babysitter with a half hour notice."
She interrupted him. "Wait, what? Booth! I-I can't" He cut her off.
"Oh come on, Temperance. You're around Parker all the time and you're great with him."
"That's only when you're here too! You know that I'm not great with children as it is, but by myself? I worry for his safety." She said only half-jokingly.
"Don't pull that, Bones. I trust you with Parker and that should be enough. I've seen you with him. Just pretend I'm there, if that helps. He loves being with you and I know you do too. I will be back before dinner, I promise. Please?"
She gave him a look of defeat and he hugged her gratefully.
"Thank you, Honey." He kissed her on the cheek and she followed him into the living room where Parker sat in front of the TV, playing with a Harry Potter figure.
"Hey, Bub, come here." Booth said.
Parker looked up and smiled. Dropping his action figure, he ran over to Seeley and skidded to a halt directly in front of him.
"I gotta go to work for awhile, all right? Bones is gonna stay here with you and I'll be back soon." Booth said. Parker nodded and flashed his Booth charm smile.
"You gonna be okay?"
"Of course, Daddy."
"Oh, I know you will be, bud. I was talking to Brennan." Seeley said, glancing over at Tempe standing in the living room doorway. She nodded and sighed.
"Good!" Booth said, standing from his kneeled position and ruffling the little boy's hair.
He walked over to his girlfriend and kissed her lightly on the lips.
"You're gonna be fine. Don't worry. Parker loves you." He gave her a soft peck on the cheek and headed towards the door, keys in hand.
"All right, Parks. I'm leaving." He said, as he reached the door.
Parker leapt out of his child sized armchair and jumped into his father's outstretched arms.
"Be good, all right?" Parker nodded enthusiastically. Seeley laughed and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "I love you."
"I love you too, Daddy."
Booth put him down and tapped him on the behind as he ran back into the living room. Brennan walked over to lock the door behind him.
"Are you sure you don't want to get someone else over here? I could call Angela. You know she's great with children."
Booth sighed and placed his hands on her arms.
"I completely trust you with Parker and I know that he does too, but if you really feel the need to have someone else here, then call Angela. It's your decision, but I really truly think you can do this without a problem."
He smiled and kissed her again.
"I really gotta go."
He kissed her on the cheek and left without another word. She locked the door behind him and headed down the hall. Parker glanced up as she entered and flashed his Booth charm smile.
"Wanna play a game?" He asked excitedly.
"Uh, sure…" She said a little hesitantly.
"Have you ever heard of Wii?" He asked, getting up from his chair and turning on the game system.
She shook her head and sat down next to his little armchair.
"Yeah, I figured you probably didn't…This is called a game system." Parker said, pointing to the white and slender object sitting vertically against the TV.
"And these," He held up two handheld objects with straps hanging from the bottoms out in front of him. "are the remote controls."
He handed her one of the controls and she watched as he slipped his small hand into the strap and tighten it against his wrist. She mimicked him and held the smooth control in her hand.
"What you have to do is point it towards the sensor on top of the TV." He explained. "See how the hand comes up when I point it over there?"
She nodded and did the same.
"Fascinating…" She said, resisting the urge to explain the sensory techniques that such an object would require to work in such a way.
"What game do you wanna play?" Parker asked, indicating the different sports games it had.
"Ummm, I dunno. What game are you good at?" She asked him.
"I'm really good at Tennis." He said happily.
"Okay, lets play that then."
"Okay! All right, this is what you do. Make sure you have a lot of space so you don't hit anything…or anyone…" He said as an afterthought.
"Why do I need space? I always thought games required no physical movement whatsoever?" She asked, confused.
"Not this game. You have to actually swing to hit the ball." Parker said, demonstrating as he spoke.
As they began the game, it was easy to tell that Parker was much more experienced than she was. Although, Brennan caught on incredibly quickly. It wasn't long before their team was winning against every opponent. Both were screaming in delight as Parker backhanded the ball onto the line to win the game. They hugged and danced around the living room in excitement, laughing uncontrollably along the way.
"We beat everybody!!" Parker yelled.
"Wow!!" Brennan said, her excitement level just as high as Parkers.
"You wanna play another game? There's baseball and bowling and boxing too!"
"How about bowling?" She asked.
Parker's face lit up as he pointed the control toward the TV and pressed bowling. Parker bowled first and Tempe was amazed when he got a strike.
"Wow, Parks, you're good at this."
"Eh, it's not really hard. Your turn!"
Tempe swung her arm forward and was disappointed to see the virtual ball fly behind her. She looked confused and glanced at Parker.
"You gotta let go of B for the ball to go forward." He said, demonstrating again.
She nodded and tried again, doing as she was instructed. She smiled as the ball rolled toward the pins, knocking most of them over.
"Good job! See? It's easy!"
They continued the game and more often than not found themselves running around the living room in undeniable glee. Brennan laughed openly as Parker attempted to break dance on the carpeted floor. Both were laughing and enjoying the game so much that they never heard Booth enter the room, carrying a bag from In N Out. He stood in the hallway and watched as his son and girlfriend danced and shouted together. He smiled as he watched and laughed openly as Tempe got her first strike and leaped into the air excitedly. It was this laugh that finally took their attention from the game and to the man laughing in the hallway. Parker laughed as well and ran toward his father. Tempe blushed and removed the control from around her wrist.
"How long have you been standing there?" She asked, tentatively.
"Long enough." He said, flashing his charm smile and pulling the bag out of Parkers' reach.
"Go put your game away and wash your hands first." He said to his son.
"Okay!" He exclaimed.
Booth placed the food on the dining table and turned toward Tempe as Parker left the room to wash his hands.
"Well, it looks like you two had fun." He said, kissing her.
She rolled her eyes and glared at him, deciding to forget her embarrassment.
"We did, actually. We had lots of fun."
"Yeah, we did!!" Parker said, rushing into the room and sitting at the table.
"Well, I'm glad." Seeley said, pulling the food out of the bag.
"You shoulda seen us, Daddy! We beat all the virtual teams in tennis!"
Seeley chuckled as he pulled out a burger and handed it to Parker.
"Did you now? Wow!" He said, glancing at Tempe. She smiled as he winked at her.
"I bet I can take you both on easily." Seeley taunted.
Parker laughed and Temperance snorted.
"Yeah right, Daddy! Me and Tempe would totally beat you!" Parker said, shooting a look at Brennan that said Isn't that right, Tempe?
"Oh yeah, Booth. Don't for one second think that you can beat us!" She said with a considerable amount of attitude.
"Oh wow, is that a challenge?" Booth asked, putting his burger down.
"Uh, I thought that was pretty clear…" Tempe said.
"Oh, you're on." Booth said, getting up and walking into the living room.
Parker glanced up at Tempe before jumping out of his seat and following his father. Once he noticed the absence of his partner, he ran back into the dinning room and dragged her into the living room with him. She couldn't help but burst out laughing at the sight of Seeley Booth leaning against the desk, twirling a Wii remote. He gave her a look of complete and utter seriousness before tossing the remote to her. She caught it, evident laughter still in her eyes. Parker picked up his and the competition began.
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Three hours and many games later, an exhausted Parker lay on the couch, remote still tightened around his tiny wrist. Tempe sat on the floor with her back against the couch, sweating from both the games and the obnoxious victory dance that she and Parker participated in after beating Seeley. Booth stood in front of the TV, smiling as he put away the game that occupied way too much of one night. He glanced at his opponents and nearly laughed out loud at the sight. He quietly made his way over to his son and slipped the remote off his wrist. After placing it on the table, he lifted his son into his arms and carried him to his bedroom. He gently changed Parker into his pajamas and placed him under his Superman blanket. He pressed at kiss to his temple and walked out, leaving the door cracked behind him. As he entered the living room, he found his girlfriend in the same position as he left her. He smiled and sat on the couch, his knee brushing against her head.
"Bones, you awake?" He asked, stroking her head.
"I'm not a dog, Booth." She said, indicating the 'petting', but not having the strength to swat his hand away.
He laughed and dropped at kiss atop her auburn hair.
"I know. Come on, lets go to bed. It's late." He said, placing his hands underneath her arms and lifting her rather easily.
She stood without complaint, letting him guide her through the house and to his bedroom. She leaned against him, only now realizing the strength and energy it took to entertain a small child all day. He handed her the t-shirt of his she wore at night as he stripped down to his boxers. She pulled the shirt over her head and crawled into his bed, wearing nothing but a bra and panties underneath. He slid in next to her, wrapping his arms around her slender waist as he went. She sighed and immediately settled within his embrace.
"You were amazing with Parker today. I told ya you could do it. You're much better with kids than you think you are." He whispered into her ear.
"Mmmm…" She moaned, not managing to get a word out.
"Thank you." He mumbled softly.
"Mmmhmm." She groaned.
He smiled as the woman he loved fell asleep in his arms.
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Sorry it took so freaking long to update! I seriously hope I still have a some fans left! Anyway, I hope you liked it! Please review!