Written from a prompt given by FaithInBones ... "a baby he doesn't know says Da Da to him in a store." Hope you like it Faith! I'll try to write your other prompt next. :) Anyone else?


He had been in the grocery store when it happened. He had just stopped in aisle three, mesmerized by the frosted animal crackers.

Christine and Bones both loved those cookies. Together they could devour an entire box within an hour. As he stood there, he couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or to cry.

He was broken from his trance by the sound of a little girl from across the aisle.

"Da," the tiny child was repeating as she looked at him, her chubby cheeks filled with laughter as she babbled. Booth subconsciously returned the smile and when the baby reached for him, he instinctively reached back.

The child's mother was startled when she saw him reaching for her baby. She recoiled and placed her arms around her child protectively. The frightened look on her face made Booth realize what he was doing and he quickly recovered. He tried to turn his reach into a wave instead.

"I'm sorry she just reminded me of my daughter and, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Booth shook his head repeatedly, internally scolding himself for what he had done. This wasn't his daughter. No, his daughter was … he stopped, unable to even form the words inside of his mind.

His daughter was gone.

His daughter was with her mother.

She was on the run.

Hiding from a serial killer.

But she would be home soon.

And she was fine.

She just wasn't here.

Christine just wasn't with him.

None of the phrases seemed to work so he didn't explain, but he didn't need to. The child's mother seemed satisfied that he was harmless. "No, I overreacted. I'm sorry."

She offered a smile and walked away, her child calling "Da, Da, Da" all the while.

Booth grabbed the pink bag of cookies from the shelf and placed it in his cart.

He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take.