A/N: I apologize in advance for all incorrect medical information. Bones is not mine. Thanks to Em'sPride and LibbyKate for your reviews which inspired me to update, sorry for the wait.

Chapter 10: True in Their Affections

This sucked, sucked, sucked, sucked Michael thought, even though Mom says he isn't allowed to use that word. This stinks didn't have quite the same ring to it though. They had redistricted the schools over the summer. Just under a fifth the kids in his grade were going to another school including him. The others were staying at the old school, including Kennedy. Michael sighed, he felt like crying. His whole life Kennedy had always been there with him, making things more fun, making them less scary.

"Hurry up, Michael," he heard his Mom yell from downstairs.

Michael slipped the vest onto Staccato Mamba and attached the leash. He then headed down the stairs quickly.

Michael only brought Mamba to school maybe three days a week. He had grown accustomed to the building and his classroom. But though they had walked around the new school over the summer, Michael didn't feel anywhere close to as confident.

Michael ate the waffles his Mom made quickly. She didn't know how nervous he was, Michael made sure of that. His Mom was so good to him all the time and Michael didn't want to worry her. So he pulled on his backpack, picked up the leash and took Sophia's hand. Angela and Jack hugged and kissed them goodbye.

On the way to the bus stop Sophia tugged on his hand urgently.

"Michael, are you scared?" she asked softly.

"Of course not, silly," Michael answered quickly, tightening his hand around the leash.

Sophia sighed and continued to walk slowly. She had really been asking to validate her own feelings.

Michael could tell he had said the wrong thing when her hand loosened its grip. He had tried to appear confident but that clearly hadn't worked.

"I'm a bit scared, Boo," Michael admitted.

Sophia's grip re-tightened and she gave his hand a squeeze.

"Me too," Soph said, "What if I don't know anyone in my class, or if my teacher is really mean, or if I get lost, or if I really want to go home?"

She rattled off the items like they had been on her mind for a while.

Michael answered in a sage older brother voice, almost cracking up over how wise he sounded. "If you don't know anyone, I bet you'll make friends really fast. You already met your teacher and said she was nice. If you want to go home tell the nurse you feel sick and she'll call Mom. And if you get lost, start yelling my name and I'll come find you".

Sophia nodded and stood beside him waiting for the bus. She just barely stopped herself from petting Mamba's silky ears. Instead Soph played with the keychain on her backpack.

When the bus pulled up Sophia climbed in first. She paused momentarily to make sure Michael followed her and then headed to the middle. Soph sat down next to another girl and immediately started talking.

Michael hesitated before moving all the way to the back of the bus. He goes to take his usual seat when Sophia cries out, "Oh, Michael, someone's already sitting there. Sit in the seat across the aisle".

Michael's face flushes red with embarrassment and he sits down telling Mamba to sit as well.

When he gets of the bus Sophia is waiting for him. She takes his free hand and smiles. "I did make a friend, kind of".

Michael's a bit annoyed with her ditching him, but smiles back anyway, "Good".

They walk to Michael's class first and then Sophia reluctantly pulls away. "See you first thing after school, right?" she checks.

"Yeah," Michael answers striving for a casual tone and just missing it.

"Bye Michael, Bye Mamba" Sophia calls out before racing towards her classroom.

Michael opens the door and steps into the room. His teacher immediately rushes toward him and shows him around. She explains where everything is and how to use it, like he's in kindergarten. When the bell rings, Michael drops into his seat, relieved. Maybe now the day will progress normally. Staccato Mamba curls up beside his desk.

Michael listens hard to the voices of the other children. Through the chatter he notices only a few kids' voices he knows. Michael has to tell several new children not to pet his dog. They all whine or roll their eyes; oblivious to the fact the action is lost on him.

The teacher, Mrs. Williams, decides that first they are going to play a game. The kids all look around knowing what they consider a game and what she considers a game might be very different.

"Stand up, say your name, what you like to do, and the name of the person before you," Mrs. Williams says.

In what seems like a random order Michael hears kids begin the "game". Then, the room is silent and Michael can hear snickers.

"Your turn," whispers the boy standing next to him. It was Henry, from their old school, Michael was glad he was in this class.

He stood up, "My name is Michael, I like to play the piano and guitar. That was Stephanie". Michael sat down quickly.

"Why do you have a dog?"

"I want bring my dog tomorrow".

"I want to pet her".

Michael remained silent.

"Would you like to share why you have your guide dog with you?" Mrs. Williams asked.

Michael shook his head no.

"I bet he's retarded," one of the boy said in a loud whisper.

"No, I'm not. I'm blind," Michael retorted quickly.

"Principal's office now, Jonathan," Mrs. Williams said angrily pointing towards the door.

One of the girls raised her hand politely.

"Yes, Clarissa," asked Mrs. Williams.

"How do you play the guitar if you can't see?" she asked Michael curiously.

Her voice seemed to be missing any malevolence so Michael answered, "I have stickers along the neck of my practice guitar to tell what fret I'm on, but after a while you memorize the positions".

The rest of the class time Michael remained silent. He didn't know who was sitting next to him and after the first incident he wasn't about to ask. Finally the teacher dismissed them for lunch. Michael rose and followed the swarm of children to the cafeteria with Mamba beside him.

He sat at his class's assigned table and ate his lunch. Michael listened to the sounds beneath the talking. The crinkle of brown paper bags, the crunch of fresh apples, and the thud of footsteps. He also took in the smell of cafeteria food, yuck, the lunch mom's perfume, frosting from someone's dessert. Starting to feel overwhelmed Michael reached down and ran his hand over Mamba's furry back.

At recess instead of playing with the other kids Michael sat on a bench. Henry tried to get him to play but once Michael said no he took off, distracted by the other boys. Michael sat there and softly talked to Mamba. His dog put her head in his lap and Michael ran his fingers over her ears. For most of the conversation Michael told her what a good girl she was, what a good friend, what a good dog. But at the end of recess Michael let it slip, "I hate it here". Mamba whines almost in agreement and then the bell rings.

When the day finally ends, Michael is glad. Sophia meets him at his locker and waits for him to get the book he wants to take home. Then she grabs his hand and pulls him towards the main entrance. The hallway is filled with jostling, screaming kids but Michael is buoyed by his sister's presence.

"The sky is bright blue with barely any fluffy white clouds. I see one, two, two and a half. It's really sunny too and the grass is bright green and short," Sophia skips along beside him. Soph knows if she keeps her tone happy and the words coming Michael won't notice she's upset.

"I can smell the fresh cut grass," Michael nods stopping when Soph does. Sophia swings open the door and tosses in her backpack. She then crawls in after it. Mamba jumps up after her and Michael follows.

Sophia looks at the driver's seat expectantly. "Ana?" she says surprised.

"Where's Mom? She always picks us up after our first day of school," Soph frowns.

"A su trabajo. They both expect to be home soon," Ana replied.

Once they got home the kids started their homework and Ana made them a snack. Michael took a bite out of his apple slice.

"Peanut butter too," Sophia told him softly, swooping her slice into the creamy goodness.

They had finished their homework by the time their parents came in the door.

"Gracias Ana," Angela said moving swiftly to hug Sophia and Michael. Jack nodded in agreement and saw her out.

"How was school?" Angela asked taking off her high heels and sitting in one of the kitchen chairs. She wiggled her red polished toes happily.

Michael turned towards her, his face cross.

"Ok, I guess," Sophia answered looking down at the remnants of her snack.

Ange gently lifted her chin up. Sophia's brown eyes shone back at her.

Jack reentered the room, "How was your first day?"

He was answered with doleful looks from both children.

"I miss my old school," Sophia said, "I wanted Mrs. Grano for third grade. She has a class pet. I miss my friends".

Angela sighed and looked up at Jack. They had expected the kids to be unhappy. Sophia would just need to learn how to deal with the changes. But it broke her heart to see a tear fall down Sophia's cheek. Angela reached for her and the eight year old collapsed into her hug.

Honestly, both were more worried about Michael. He was losing his support system of teachers and friends who knew him, not even mentioning the worst blow, losing Kennedy. To make matters even worse his Braille teacher had called in sick today.

Michael took a deep breath, "I hate it there," he said quickly, his words stumbling over one another.

Angela and Jack one again exchanged concerned looks.

"I'm not going back there, and you can't make me," he said crossing his arms.

Sophia nodded her head in agreement.

Angela bit back assurances that they would fix this and rose to her feet. Sophia stood up and asked to go play. Jack nodded and the kids took off, Mamba chasing after them.

"I don't know what to do," Angela whispered feeling Jack's arms encircle her.

"We could check out the private schools again," Jack offered.

"St. Alexis or The Academy for Gifted Students" Ange offered the names.

"Yeah," Jack said, gently kissing her neck.

Angela laughed and turned to kiss him properly.

The phone rang and then they heard Sophia yell "Mom! It's Uncle Booth, for you".

Ange picked up the phone, "Booth?" and heard Sophia click off her line.

Booth responded, "Angela, we have a very upset little girl here. Kennedy misses Michael and Sophia".

Angela hesitated, "They miss her too. Jack and I are looking into private schools".

Booth confers with Brennan. "We were considering that when we first enrolled Kennedy in school. Bones says she would still place her in one for the academic benefits. We went with public school because I wanted her to be normal".

Angela agrees. "We liked St. Alexis best. How about you guys?"

"That's the one I would have picked. Bones didn't like that it was a Catholic school but agrees it has the better science and math programs," Booth explained.

The parents agreed to check out the schools and not say anything until then.

Later that night, after story time the parents tucked in Sophia and gave her hugs. Sophia was still a bit upset but she kissed them both on the cheek, said "I love you" and went to bed.

Michael was a tougher sell. He was angry with them for not doing anything. They didn't want to get his hopes up. Michael turned away from them when they entered.

"Good night Michael," Jack said.

Michael ignored him.

"We love you," Angela said reaching out to touch his arm.

Michael shoved her hand away and replied, "Well, I don't love you".

He was cross with them and not about to let them off the hook. Angela pulled back and left the room.

"We do love you Michael," Jack reinforced, "And we will try to fix this though we may not be able to. But that was not cool".

Michael resists the desire to shrug his shoulders. Instead he stands up and moves toward the door. Jack follows him down the hall into their bedroom. Angela looks up with teary eyes expecting Jack.

"Mom," Michael says softly his voice dripping with guilt.

Ange slides off the bed and walks towards him. She stops a few feet away, "Yes?"

Michael throws his arms around her, "I didn't mean it before. I love you most".

"Hey," Jack complains playfully.

Angela hugs him tightly, "I love you too".

"Mom?" Sophia asks from the doorway, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

Michael pulls out of her arms, "Come on, back to bed Boo".

Soph hugs Jack and moves toward Angela, "Mom, why are you crying?"

"I'm fine," Angela says shooing them out the door.

Sophia and Michael move out the door. Michael turns back, his expression worried.

"I'm fine now," Angela repeats and the kids leave.

Jack wraps his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm fine," she tells him, really meaning it.

Jack rolls his eyes and kisses her, resting his chin on her shoulder, "I know," the point of his chin presses into her skin.

Michael climbs into his bed and snuggles against his dog. "I think this might all work out Mamba," he whispers into the dog's ear. Mamba licks his cheek happily. "Good girl".

"Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to."

-Alfred A. Montapert

A/N: I'm trying to figure out how often to update this story...would once a week be okay? Thanks for reading!