Thank you for your kind reviews! btw, I want to apologize for any tense mistakes, I know there are probably some, but writing this way is harder than I thought. I've never done anything like this before, but I hope you like it.
Three weddings - Part 2
Matt - age 23
I paced down the church corridor, my stomach in knots. The nightmare I'd had the night before had really thrown me. I mean, I know that Jess loves me, but the dream had seemed so real! Standing at the altar, watching her disappear out the door... I shook off the thoughts. 'Just a dream, Matt'
"Matt, you gotta calm down!" My sister, Allie took my arm, and I stopped pacing. "What's with you, anyway?"
How could I tell her? She was always so confident, so sure of herself. She would never understand my doubts, or so I thought. "Just anxious, that's all." She nodded, but I knew she knew there was something more.
She leaned up to whisper in my ear. "She's nervous too. And, she looks absolutely beautiful!" She kissed my cheek, and hugged me. I hugged her back, my sweet little sister, who always knows just the right thing to say. She stepped back and smiled at me, that charm smile of hers, and I instantly felt better. Allie's smiles were like sunshine, and no one was immune. "Thanks, Allie."
"That's what I'm here for!" I watched as she turned and walked away. I thought of her, of all the adventures we had been through together. The summers Parker, Allie and I had spent, plotting and planning, swimming and climbing, playing and lazing around. The winters, when we spent a lot of our time indoors, coming up with new adventures, much to Mom and Dad's dismay.
And let's not forget the times the whole family got together. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grandparents. I wouldn't describe my life as perfect, but it sure came close. Don't get me wrong, we've had our share of sad times, Parker's real mom dying of cancer, the time when Mom got hurt trying to back up Dad, but I couldn't help but think that if my life with Jess was as good as it had been up until now, I'd be one lucky guy.
"There you are, Matt!" I had been so wrapped up in my memories, I hadn't noticed that I had ventured outside. Parker came walking up, squinting into the bright June sunshine. I looked at my brother, and I had to smile. Growing up, he had been my hero. I had followed him around endlessly, but he had never seemed to mind. I couldn't ever had asked for a better brother, and the fact that we didn't share biological parents had never been a factor.
"Are you ready? Because it's almost time." I nodded, and followed him back inside the church.
BBBBBB
As I stood at the front of the church waiting for my beautiful bride, I looked out over the mass of people sitting in the pews. I caught my father's eye, and he smiled at me encouragingly. I smiled back gratefully, then watched as he put his arm around my mother.
They've always seemed to me to be the perfect couple. Don't get me wrong, they're not perfect, per se, but no matter what comes their way, they seem to handle it, to take it in stride, and to move on. I can count on one hand the number of times that I've heard them actually fight. They bicker all the time, but that's just their way. It's hard to imagine them apart; I don't know what one would do without the other.
I was 5 years old before I found out that my dad wasn't really my biological dad. I didn't really understand too much then, not like I do now, but it never really made a difference to me. I mean, look at my aunts and uncles. Most of them aren't 'biologically' my relatives, but I love them, just the same. Uncle Jack & Aunt Angela, Uncle Zach & Aunt Emily, they're my family. Their kids are my cousins. I have the best family in the world, and I'm about to add more. Jess' family is almost as crazy as mine!
My Dad's the greatest, but I'm most like my Mom. I look like her, take after her. My friends have always been in awe of my mother. Tough, beautiful, successful, and the greatest mom in the world. Jess was impressed from the start, she had read every one of her books, but she took it in stride. Mom and Dad love her.
I heard the beginnings of the Wedding March, and I looked up to see Jess, on her father's arm, walking toward me with a smile on her face. I saw the love shining in her eyes, love that's reflected in my own, and I knew that I'm the luckiest man in the world.
Booth
If I thought I felt old the day Parker got married, it was nothing compared to today. Not that 55 is old, but it just seems like yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital. Time seems to be flying by, and I'm helpless to stop it.
Looking out over the dance floor, I watched as Matt danced with Jess, and I thought of Temperance and I. I closed my eyes, remembering the day we met. I didn't like her, and she didn't like me either. I had no respect for her work, for what she did. By our second case, I had grudgingly accepted that she had a valuable skill. By the third, I was in love. Not that I would've admitted it then, not even to myself. It took me two years to finally realize how much I loved her, and a little longer to convince her, but I did it.
I felt her eyes on me, and I looked over at her. Still as beautiful as the day I met her. She smiled at me, standing and reaching out her hand. "Dance with me?"
I stood up and took her hand, leading her out onto the dance floor. As if she even had to ask. Any excuse for me to hold her.
A few dances later, I sat back down at the table, watching as Matt danced with his mother. I had never realized how much I had missed with Parker until Matt was born. I was there for his first steps, his first words, his first everything. And now, here he was, married. I couldn't be more proud of him. He had been working at the Jeffersonian, under Jack, while he was in college, and now he was ready to go out on his own.
I had always known one of my children would become a squint. When Parker had been 6, I thought it would be him. He had been so infatuated with Bones and the squints. Well, I was wrong. Now he was a lawyer with a 3 year old son, and a baby on the way.
It was the opposite with Allie. She was always willing to be a guinea pig for one of Matt's experiments, but she hadn't been interested in doing any of her own. She had been all about martial arts and helping people. I smiled as I thought about her. My little girl. It figured that the one child to follow in my footsteps would be my daughter. Strong, confident, and beautiful, like her mother, but she was like me, too. From the time she was eight, she would climb up beside me, and ask me to tell her stories about her mother and I, how we would catch the 'bad guys'. She would listen for hours. Of course, I never told her the bad stuff. I'm not crazy.
I'm so proud of her, wanting to become an agent, but at the same time I'm terrified, because I know all too well how dangerous the job can be. Still, I couldn't talk her out of it, even if I wanted to. When she sets her mind to something, she doesn't stop until she gets it. Kind of like Bones and her damn gun.
I felt a hand on my arm, and I turned to see Allie, smiling at me, and my heart melts. She's always been able to do that to me, from the moment I first held her in my arms.
"Isn't it time that you danced with me, Dad?"
I smiled at her. "Now, that's the best offer I'd had all day." She pulled me up, leading me out onto the dance floor, and I'm struck again at how lucky I am. I nodded to Parker, who was standing to the side, holding Brandon in his arms, then my eyes again sought out Matthew and Tempe, still dancing. Then I looked down at my daughter in my arms. Yeah, I've got to be the luckiest man in the world.
Bones
I felt odd as I stood there, high heels sinking into the soft earth, moonlight casting shadows across the ground. It's not a place I come to often. Booth, but not me. He's standing behind me, and I know he's watching me, but giving me space.
I looked down on the stone, reading the words etched there. 'Timothy Ryan Sullivan, 1972 - 2007.' I'm not sure why I came here, something compelled me to come. I think Booth's rubbing off on me.
Watching Matt get married, I felt the loss of Sully. He had missed so much, and my heart ached for him, and for Matt. Booth is Matt's father in every way, but I still wish Sully hadn't died, that he could have been a part of his son's life, to know the wonderful man his son had become.
Booth has come here over the years, 'telling' Sully about Matt's accomplishments. Even Matt has come here, but I never have. Until now. I glanced back at Booth, and he smiled at me. I turned back around to the headstone, not exactly sure what to do next, until I hear Booth's long ago words; 'forget about where the words are aimed, what I say is that I remember them'. I took a deep breath.
"Hello Sully." Strangely, I don't feel weird, and I go on. "Your son got married today. I wish you could have been here to see it." I paused, trying to picture him in my mind. "I do miss you, and I know Booth's missed you, too. And Matt's missed a lot not knowing you." I smiled. "You'd be proud of him, he's a wonderful man." I struggled to find words, exactly how to describe his son, who I love with all my heart. The son who changed my life, along with Parker and Allie. And Booth, of course.
Booth, who was the one who started it all, who broke down the walls that I had built up around myself, after my parents dissappeared and Russ left. It was difficult for him, I made sure of that, but he never gave up. He stayed with me through everything. Even when I found out I was pregnant with Sully's child, he helped me through, and he's loved Matt as if he was his own biological son.
"I'm sorry, Sully" I whispered. "I've never believed in an afterlife, but I hope I'm wrong. I hope you've been able to watch your son grow, to see how happy he's made me." I paused again, then, "Thank you. Thank you for giving him to me." A light wind lifted my hair, blowing it across my face, then was suddenly still. I shivered. If I wasn't the rational scientist that I was, I might believe it was Sully, answering me.
I felt Booth's presence beside me, and he took my hand in his. I looked up at him, this man who has been by my side since the day we met, 26 years ago.
"Did you get any answers this time?"
I smiled at him. "Nobody gets answers from a slab of stone."
We laughed together, then we turned and walked away. Again I felt the slight wind at my back, and I smiled slightly. 'Goodbye, Sully'
