Erin was helping Brandon set the dining room table. Her parents were arriving home today. She sighed as she stared at the dinner plate in her hands. It was beautiful. A very pale eggshell blue, or maybe it was grey, it changed with the light. A silvery inlaid pattern around the edges like finely stitched embroidery. She ran her index finger over the pattern, her thoughts scattered.

"Are you just gonna stand there and stare at that plate hoping that something is going to magically appear? We're not at Hogwarts you know." Brandon said, interrupting her daydream. He was pointing a fork at her, waving it around like a wand. "Settus The Tablus" he said in a witchy like voice sniggering at his own joke.

Erin put the plate down and moved to the next place, putting another plate down in front of the chair before turning her unamused face to her brother "ha ha. Oh you are so funny. I'm just splitting my sides internally laughing" she said in the most sarcastic tone she could muster. Brandon lay out the cutlery on the opposite side of the table, moving from place setting to place setting.

"and by the way. You're doing that wrong." She added poking out her tongue.

"Right! Dinner is cooking. Your mother and father should be here in about half an hour" Brennan said looking at her watch. "How are we going in here?" she asked looking at the table, and resisting the urge to turn the plates so that the pattern was in the same position on every one, switch the knife and fork and line the base of the cutlery up perfectly. She pushed her hands into the pocket on her apron and smiled at her grandchildren.

She had adored having them stay with them for so long. Usually they only got to spend a few days here or there and maybe a week or two in the summer. But their parents two month vacation had meant they got to really spend quality time with the two teenagers. Granted, they tired both her and Booth out some days, and their sibling bickering was irritating at times, but basically they were good children and it had been a really enjoyable eight weeks.

Booth was sitting out on the front porch waiting for his little girl to get home. He had to talk to her about her brother's sad news. The loss of Parker's second grandchild, which Booth had decided Christine did not need to hear about at the time, and spoil the last week and a bit of her vacation. He wanted to pull her to one side and tell her before one of the twins blurted it out over dinner.

Brennan of course didn't agree with him. She wanted Christine to settle in first, and then be told quietly after having a nice welcome home dinner. But Booth, being Booth squashed that with his size twelve shoe. Brennan had no other course but to agree with him. She would try to deal with the fallout over dinner.

She smiled at her grandchildren "I'm just going up to do one last tidy in your parent's room." Brandon pulled a face and she pointed at him "I know you are less than thrilled with bunking in with your sister. But it's only for four days until you all go home. And I told you, you can always sleep down here in the living room if you prefer. But you will have to put up with your Grandfather's late night TV watching and his wandering around the house in the early hours of the morning when his hips and knees are hurting." Brandon grinned "Nah, it's OK Gran. It's just the thought of the smell" he said nodding in the directing of his sister who put down the last plate and ran around the table to punch her brother in the arm.

"Now you two. Enough. You've gotten along so well this last few weeks. Don't go and spoil it just because your parents are coming home. You don't want to upset Pops. He's looking forward to spending a few days with his little girl before you all go home." she said as she started up the stairs.


The car pulled into the drive and Booth could see Christine's smile through the window. His heart did a double beat. He loved this girl, or woman he should say, more than anything. She was his youngest child. She owned his heart like nobody else could. He knew that he was going to break her heart with the news of her brothers loss. But he wanted to get it out of the way. Booth was nothing if not determined that it was not going to overshadow the four days he had to spend with her.

"Dad! I've missed you! How were the kids. Is Mom alright? Did they fight very much? Brandon and Erin, not Mom. How's your knee? Is the walking stick helping?" she bombarded him with questions as she opened the back door of the car and pulled out a suitcase.

Booth pulled the case from her hand, dropped it and wrapped his arms around her, his large hands spanning her back, holding her close to him. "I've missed you baby" he whispered into her hair. He pushed her back from him and gave her a good look up and down. "You look great! You've got a tan!" He pulled her close and kissed her forehead wetly. "The kids were good, great in fact. Mom is Mom. Nobody fought. My knees are fine. I wish everyone would stop asking me about them and I wish everyone would just stop nagging me about that damned walking stick!" he answered all questions as quickly as she had asked them.

Christine laughed loudly. She had a laugh exactly like her father. Open mouthed, loud and deep from her belly. "Oh Daddy, I've missed you." She said hugging him again and kissing his cheek. Phil came from around the back of the car, two suitcases in his hands. "Sir." He said nodding. Booth looked at him and nodded "Philip." He reached out and patted him on the back "Looks like you had a good time too" he added.

Christine rolled her eyes. "You two. Just bring the bags in please" she started towards the house.

Booth grabbed at her arm "Uh, Chrissy. I just want to have a quick word before you go in. Phil, can you please take the bags? We won't be long." Booth said nodding his head at Phil, indicating he should go inside.

Phil picked up the bags and nodded, frowning curiously at Booth "Sure Dad. Everything OK?" he added. Booth nodded "Just something I wanted to talk to Christine about. We will be right in. Thanks Son." Phil nodded and walked to the front door and disappeared inside as his children yelled their happiness at seeing their father.

Booth guided Christine around the side of the house towards the back yard. They sat on the garden swing and he picked up her hand and held it. She looked down, her hand looked so small encased in his large ones. She frowned up at her father "Dad. What's wrong?" He had her worried.

Booth took a deep breath. "Your brother called us last week. About Sarah." He felt Christines grip tighten. "The baby didn't make it."

"No. Dad! Oh my god, how is Parker and Raelene? And Sarah. Oh Dad, poor Sarah!" she said, tears starting to well in her eyes, brim over and trickle down her face.

"I know baby. I'm sorry, but I wanted to tell you now. So that you had time to process it and try to enjoy our few days with you. Selfish I guess."

"Dad why didn't Parker call me?" she asked, almost angry at her brother. Booth shook his head and squeezed her hand tighter "Because I told him you had waited so long for this vacation. And there was nothing you could do. Nothing any of us could do. They didn't want us at the hospital. Sarah just wanted to be with Polly. Parker and Raelene were there for her. And I told Parker that I wasn't going to call you. So be mad at me. Not him." Booth said, feeling her hand pull out of his.

"what happened?" she asked quietly. Booth sighed loudly. "The cord was around the baby's neck multiple times. They couldn't remove it. It was wound so tight. Poor little thing didn't stand a chance. It was another girl." he added, his voice catching in his throat.

Christine sat her hands folded in her lap for a few minutes. She used the corner of her cardigan to wipe her eyes. Booth pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and held it out to her. "It's clean" he said pushing it into her hand. She smiled through her tears "thanks Dad. Poor Parker. Poor Sarah. I'll give him a call after dinner. Let him know we're home and that I know. I guess you were right Dad. What could we have done. It would have taken a few days to get home and for what?" she shook her head. "You did the right thing. It's OK. I just feel bad for him." she said leaning against her father's shoulder and pushing her hand between his, wanting to feel them holding hers.

They sat for a while, just swinging until the back door opened. "Christine?" Brennan stood holding the door open. "Mom!" Christine jumped out of the swing and ran to her mother, hugging her tightly. She pulled back and two sets of identical blue eyes stared at one another. "Oh Mommy, Daddy just told me about Parker. So sad. I'll give Parker a ring later tonight after dinner. You look good! How were the kids?" Twenty questions were being fired at her mother as they went inside, their arms linked around each other's waists.

Booth stared after them from his seat on the swing and smiled. My two girls. He leaned forward pushing his hands into the seat and stood up, wincing as his knee popped under his weight. "arrg Damn blast damn stupid damn knees" he growled as he took a tentative first step. Thankfully it did not buckle and he took a few unsteady painful steps towards the door. He stood outside for a moment, then stood up straight took a deep breath and stepped through the door, determined to not give any indication that he was in pain. That would start a barrage of I told you so's not only from his beloved Bones, but from his darling daughter as well. And that, he absolutely could not take.


Dinner had been wonderful. Brennan had prepared all of Christine's favourite foods. Christine and Phil had been regaling them with wonderful tales of their vacation in Europe. Brennan was clearing the table with Erin's help. Brandon was sitting next to his father and he suddenly said "So did Pops tell you about Uncle Parker?" The conversation came to a stop. Booth cleared his throat, "I told your mother Brandon. I don't think we need to revisit that subject right now."

But Brandon, being a lot like his grandmother persisted. "But Mom, Gran said that the cord thing was around the baby's neck, and that's why she died. And that the cord was around my neck too but they got it off me. How come it happened? I mean, she was in hospital for a long time. Didn't they know this could happen?" he asked.

Brennan came back into the room and saw that the conversation had turned serious. "what's going on?" she asked sitting down. Christine looked at her mother and rolled her eyes "Your grandson was just telling us that you had told him about how the cord was around his neck when he was born". Brennan looked at her daughters face, ignoring the why did you do that! look. "Oh yes. I did tell him that."

Brandon looked at his grandmother "so why did it happen. She was in hospital for ages. Isn't that supposed to be the best place to be when you have a baby?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Brennan saw both Booth and Christine cover their eyes with their hands, one of the many character traits they shared. "Well" Brennan said, and both Booth and Christine dropped their hands and looked up at the ceiling. "Here we go" said Booth. "Tell me" said Christine.

Brennan, choosing to ignore them both continued "Being in hospital for the birth of a baby is not always a choice. Yes, I suppose in our culture it is preferable. But there are many cultures where women have their children in quite natural settings. Like in a forest, or clinging to a pole over a shallow pit. In fact, did I ever tell you that your mother was born in a stable?" she asked, just as Erin came and sat back down at the table.

"What? You mean like Jesus?" she said her eyes wide. "Mom you never told us that!" she added turning her very Boothy eyes on her mother.

"Well, the story of Jesus is actually a"

Booth's hand came down palm first onto the table interrupting her "Brennan, just tell them the story of Christine's birth. Let's leave the Lords birth for another day?" Booth looked at her, his head nodding to just get on with it.

Brennan's mouth pursed a little. "fine" she said then turned a beaming smile on her grandchildren.

"Your grandfather and I were on a case. It was probably going to be one of my last. I knew that I was due to have your mother very soon. In fact your grandfather and I had one of many arguments about me still being out in the field that very morning." She smiled a sweet smile at Booth. "We were investigating a murder at a prison. We had been backwards and forwards there a few times during the day. Anyway, we had just arrested the perpetrator when my waters broke. I must say the look on your grandfather's face was priceless when he finally realised what I was saying."

Booth burst out laughing, "I thought she said something completely different I was so busy holding down this guy and putting on his handcuffs" he said smiling at Brennan. "Your Gran looked so funny stepping between and over inmates. You see, we had them all drop to the ground, so there were people lying all over the floor. She was sort of waddling like a big"

"Thankyou Booth. But you try getting through a maze of bodies whilst liquid is running down your inner thighs and a melon is pressing down"

"Mom! Dad!" Christine interrupted them both. "Really? A melon?"

Brennan shooed her away with her hand "We were in the car driving back to town, and I knew that I wasn't going to make it. I do believe I shrieked at one point and quite frightened your grandfather."

Booth was smiling "She really did"

"He stopped the car at this convention centre, I think it was. Was it a convention centre dear?" she digressed, asking Booth who frowned, his hand cupping his chin. "I think it was. I do remember the man at the door was a total dick when I asked about a room." he said, trying to remember.

"Gran!" Erin said, her hand winding in a hurry up motion.

"It doesn't really matter, the only place he said we could use, was, funnily enough, the stables at the back of the building. At that point, your Grandfather was ready to pull his gun on him, but I just wanted to get that baby out of me! No offense Christine" she said reaching over the table and patting Christine's arm.

"Your Grandfather was wonderful. He made me as comfortable as he could. I remember looking up and a there was a big white horse staring at me. I think he understood I was in pain from the look in his eyes. Big, soft brown eyes, much like your father's Christine" Brennan said smiling at her daughter, who's mouth was hanging open.

"Oh my god Mom!" she said covering her face with her hands. Phil was smiling widely, having never heard this story. He wrapped his arm around his wife's back and laughed "Please, continue!" he said, keen to hear the rest of the story.

Booth was beaming "Your grandmother was very brave. I was actually really scared. Neither of us were really prepared for this. And no matter what your Gran said about having studied childbirth in other cultures it had nothing to do with her actually doing it herself. I had delivered a baby once before, years and years ago when I was just a gumshoe in the force. But honestly, I couldn't remember a thing at that point."

"I remember your grandfather wiping my face and apologising for not getting me to the hospital. But you know what? I just knew that everything was going to be fine. I was with him. That's all I needed. That's all I ever need" she trailed off, leaning over to kiss Booth's cheek.

Erin sighed and rested her chin in her hands. She adored her grandparent's relationship. "Well don't stop there!" Brandon asked, impatiently.

Brennan smiled "Well, after about, oh, two hours I suppose it was? Maybe less. I'm not sure now. Well, let's just say two hours. Your mother was born. I remember your grandfather handing her to me and him laying down next to me. I couldn't believe that such a beautiful thing could have been made by me. By us. She was perfect. Big. And loud. She cried so much!" Brennan said laughing.

Booth looked at his daughter "and you peed on me! Like you were marking your territory." He said laughing.

Christine at this point was beet red. "Dad! I was just born! It's not like I knew what I was doing!" she said, embarrassed.

"Oh you knew" he said nodding. "and I was yours from that moment on. I would do anything for you. I knew it right away." He said smiling at her.

Brennan continued "Anyway, we finally made it home. I had called Aunt Angela of course to let her know what had happened, and that we were fine. When we came in our front door, and turned on the light, everyone was there! With presents and champagne to toast your birth. It was wonderful. I was so tired, but there was nothing as wonderful as seeing all our friends there to welcome you home. Our little Stapes" she said.

"Stapes?" Erin asked, confused.

Booth laughed, "Well, she was my little Bones" he said. Brennan added "and the smallest bone in the human body is the stapes. It's in your ear." She explained. They had it on a banner. Welcome Home Stapes It really was sweet."

"Well, that's over, thank goodness" Christine said laughing. She never failed to be surprised at how much her parents remembered. And they really had a wonderful way of retelling their stories, even if they were at times embarrassing. "On that note. I think dessert might be in order" she added.

"Icecream!" Booth, Erin and Brandon all yelled at the same time.

"Like grandfather, like grandchildren" Christine said, smirking at her husband. "Come on Phil, you can help me find the icecream that Dad has no doubt stashed in the freezer.

"I don't know what you mean!" Booth retorted.

"Sure Dad. Sure you don't" Christine threw him a smile that melted his heart.

Booth leaned back in his chair and looked around the table. His wife, loyal, beautiful, loving, sat chatting to their two wonderful grandchildren. He could hear his glorious perfect daughter laughing with her husband in the kitchen.

He closed his eyes thankyou Lord, for all your blessings. For my family, for my life, for it all.