Short update! Thanks again to everyone, I'm not totally sure when I'll be able to update again, so I wrote this. Thanks to everyone!


The next day, both Booth and Christine were sitting in the living room watching TV. While Christine seemed preoccupied by the characters, Booth was mainly staring off into space.

"Daddy…Daddy!" Christine whined, until Booth finally looked down at her and attempted a smile. "Daddy, I asked-ed you a question…"

"What is it, kiddo?"

"Is you and mommy going back to work soon?" she asked curiously. Booth bit his lip and shrugged.

"Possibly, yeah. I'm not sure. Why?"

Christine shrugged and looked down at her lap, before crawling down and sitting on the floor.

"Christine. You answer when people ask you questions. Why?"

Christine snuggled down and shrugged again, before blinking her eyes.

"Cuz I thought that maybe if you and mommy went back to work, that maybe you and mommy would start acting like you used to…" she muttered.

For a second, Booth hoped that he'd misheard. That in reality, his daughter just wanted them to go back so that she could go back to preschool and see her friends. He'd hoped she hadn't noticed anything was wrong with him and Bones. He'd hoped she'd thought everything was fine.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Mommy's sick and you're mad at me…" she stated, though this time she got up and acted like she was about to leave.

"Where are you going, Christine?" he asked, almost sharply, when she started to walk away.

"Room, Daddy…"

"Why are you leaving? We're having a conversation. Stay with me. Help me understand. Why do you think I'm mad at you, Christine?"

The little girl fidgeted until Booth patted the couch for her to sit next to him. Grudgingly, she trudged over and sat down, laying her head in her hands.

"Cuz you don't call me Chrissy anymore, and you never play wit me, and your eyes are like they are when you get home from work…You aren't acting like Daddy…" she stated, feeling tears prickle in her eyes, partially because she was afraid of getting in trouble. Christine crossed her arms over her chest.

Booth, surprised, held back a frustrated gasp or an exasperated tone. He stared at her for a long time and tried to think of a proper response. How do you respond to that? What was he supposed to say?

"Christine…I…"

Guilt, that was the first thing he felt. Guilt, because he hadn't even realized he hadn't been using their nickname. Guilt for not noticing that Christine could be hurt by what was happening. Guilt, guilt, guilt. Anger, too, because children shouldn't have to see this side of their parents. He cursed himself and pulled Christine closer, wrapping his arms around her.

"Chrissy, I'm so, so sorry. I'm not angry at you,"

Guilt for lying to her. Because as irrational as his anger was, he was angry at everyone, including Christine, because her birth could have had something to do with it. It wasn't fair to blame a child, but then, was it fair to blame anyone? He felt guilt for this too, for wanting to blame his daughter for what was happening.

"Did I make little brother go away? Is that why you're mad and Mommy doesn't come out? I didn't mean it daddy! I promise! Just like I said before, I didn't mean it!"

Booth stroked her light blond hair and looked her in the eyes.

"No. No. None of this is your fault. Okay? I'm just angry at the world. Sometimes Mommy's and Daddy's get angry at the world, but it isn't your fault. Okay?"

Her worried, pained eyes made him want to hold her longer, tighter, but he found it hard to even think about such things. He took in a deep breath and shut his eyes.

"Are you angry at God, Daddy?" she asked.

It's incredible, Booth thought, the extension of children's wisdom. We assume that they're young and stupid, and yet they manage to pick things up about us that we can't even pick up about ourselves. When Christine stared at him and asked him that question, he had no choice but to nod.

"Yeah, baby. I'm a little mad at Him too," he stated. Christine nodded, and didn't comment on that, but instead curled into his lap and hugged his leg.

"Daddy?" she started, and Booth looked down.

"Yeah, sweetheart?"

"I'm mad at Him too. For making you and Mommy sad…" she stated, and Booth's heart wrenched. However, he couldn't do anything about it, and kept his head up. Tears flowed freely.

Yeah, sometimes children have a little bit of wisdom.

Sometimes they have a whole lot.

Booth wondered if this was a good or bad thing.