Chapter 9

Thirty minutes later the kitchen had been cleaned up and the three of them were on the slate floor in front of the fire playing Memory. Brennan sitting indian style next to Booth who was lying on his stomach, and Parker across from them, mimicking his father. The neat grid of cards Brennan had set up was now a muddle of confusion, cards turned every which way. Parker was valiantly trying hard to beat them but the FBI team was too much for him.

He groaned as Booth turned over the last four sets. "Daaaaddddyyy." He stuck out his bottom lip in a pout.

Brennan couldn't believe that they had just soundly beaten Parker, Booth had turned over all the matches, she had been trying to give him a fighting chance. "Do you really think that was a good idea Booth?"

"What Bones?" Booth rolled onto his back and looked at her with raised eyebrows. "He's got to learn how to be a gracious loser too."

"Yeh, but 21 to 4 is a little harsh." She chastised. "How about we do something else?"

Parker jumped up in excitement. "What are we going to do Dr Bones?"

"I have just the thing, how about you and your dad go get a big bowl and pack it full of snow while I get the stuff ready." She stood and moved toward her room.

Booth grabbed Parker's coat from the hook by the door. "You heard her Parker, let's do as she asked." He moved into the kitchen and grabbed the big popcorn bowl from underneath the sink while Parker put his coat and hat on. "C'mon Bud before it starts snowing hard again." And out the door they went to gather snow. What could she possibly have planned? A bowl full of snow. I think she might be a little crazy. But then again, she never ceases to amaze me. I'm sure whatever it is will be fun.

Inside the cabin Brennan had brought the maple syrup from her room and set it on the counter. She opened a few cabinets before finding a large skillet, that accomplished she put it onto the stove and turned on the burner. Squeezing half the syrup bottle into the skillet she checked to be sure she had the burner on low so the syrup didn't burn. No crying Brennan. You wanted to share this with them. Parker will love it, and Booth will probably be worried again, but he'll get over it. This is good for you. Memories of her mother doing this on snow days came flooding back, interrupted by a stomping on the porch outside. She composed herself and turned her attention to the stove, concentrating solely on task at hand.

"Ok Bones! Give it up, what are we doing??" Booth called as he and Parker came in the door. Maple syrup huh. Packed snow. Hmmmmm. What is the good doctor up to?

Brennan turned to look at him, "You look a little snowy for just going to get a bowl of snow."

Booth grinned sheepishly as Parker exclaimed "I threw snowballs at Daddy and then he dumped me in the snow bank!"

"Ok Bud, let's get out of our coats and see what Dr. Bones has for us to do." He shook his coat out through the door, then did the same with Parker's.

"Parker how about you put the bowl on the table so you can sit on a chair and watch, ok?" The syrup was just beginning to bubble. Won't be long now.

"Dr. Bones what're we doin?" Parker asked from his perch on the chair, his eyes huge with excitement.

"Well Parker, when I was a little girl, my mother used to do this on snow days. She'd heat up syrup, then send my brother and I outside to get a bowl full of snow. When we came back in we would make taffy! I figured since we just ate dinner taffy could be dessert. What do you think?"

"Cool!"

"We can even make letters with it if you want." She glanced over at Booth, catching his eye and giving him a small smile. His shoulders relaxed. She's ok sharing memories with my son. Wow. Who would have thought that she would open up so much this weekend! I just wanted her to relax, but here she is thinking ahead and pulling activities from her childhood to entertain Parker. Well idiot isn't that what you asked her to do? I just never thought she'd share this much. He took a step forward and gently squeezed her shoulder. Then moved to sit next to Parker at the table, both waiting for what she wanted them to do next.

"Ok guys watch out, it's hot!" She brought the now boiling syrup over to the table. "How about I make us each a taffy in the shape of the letter of our first names, sound good?"

Parker clapped his hands, clearly thrilled. "That is so cool Dr. Bones," he said as she poured the syrup into the snow making a T - S - P. The syrup hardened almost instantly, the snow melting from the heat caused the taffy to sink out of sight..

"Ok, give it a minute to cool and then we can eat it!" She could feel Booth's gaze following her as she placed the now empty but sticky skillet back on the stove. If I look in his eyes right now I'll break down. He understands how hard this is, he makes me feel weak, but at the same time he lends me his strength. How is that possible? I don't want to depend on anyone, I want to do this myself. I'm safe here, I can do this. She turned to Parker, successfully avoiding Booth's prying gaze. "Ok Parker, you can put your hand in there and grab them out. We may need another batch of snow if we want to make more...But it's starting to get late, maybe we should save the rest for tomorrow. What do you think?"

Booth looked to the clock, 9 o'clock already! and took the cue, "I think that's a good idea Bones, save the rest for after lunch tomorrow." He watched his son lick the taffy in his hands. "After you're done your taffy you are getting into the bathtub Bud. You're gonna be covered!" He laughed as one of Parker's blonde curls got stuck on a taffy covered finger. "Definitely bath." Then he turned his attention to his own taffy. Somehow I expected her to make me a B. She never calls me Seeley, but she made me an S. He glanced over at Brennan where she leaned against the counter, happily sucking the end of her T, lost in thought. We're not gonna go there right now. No need to ruin her good mood.

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Booth watched as the end of Parker's taffy disappeared. Brennan had finished hers and was boiling the rest of the syrup off the pot by adding water. Licking his own fingers, he stood and placed Parker on the floor. "Okay Buddy, first a bath and then off to bed. Bones I'm gonna put a few more logs on the fire. Did you want to help with Parker's bath?"

She looked across the table and caught his gaze,"I'm going to finish up here and work on my book a little I think. You need some time with him." She smiled reassuringly to let him know she was okay. "But when you're done let me know, I have a bedtime story to read him." Parker clapped happily, his fingers sticking together slightly.

"Is it one of the books in your bag Dr. Bones? I saw a pyramid on one!!! Can we read that?" How did she know about the Egypt thing? Maybe she just guessed. Nah, that's too coincidental, I'll have to ask her later.

"That is exactly what I had in mind! Do you like Egypt, Parker?" She smiled to herself, she already new his answer.

"I love the mummies! Daddy says you have mummies at the museum and we can come see them sometime!"

"Most definitely, I'll give you a tour one day after we get home. Now go enjoy your bath!" And off they went, father and son to tackle the bath, sticky fingers and all.