A/N: So I just realized that this is only chapter ten and I already have 102 reviews and 59 people on alert! I am blown away! Honestly, its incredible. And the number of reviews that have either a) reassured me that I am heading in the right direction or b) provided insight into this story that I didn't think of, are amazing! So thank you so much! And I hope you enjoy this chapter!
"You want me to what?"
"I have a meeting with Cullen and I'm supposed to pick up Parker. I won't be long."
"But I can't watch both of them, I mean…" she stumbled.
"It will only be a couple of hours, please?"
And that was how Brennan found herself waiting outside Parker's school, with Chris strapped in the back seat. She was driving Booth's SUV while he took her sports car to the Hoover building. Finally she saw Parker coming out and waved to him half-heartedly.
Suddenly he was standing in front of her and she had no idea what to say. It had been four years since she had seen him and although the brown eyes and curly blonde hair was the same, the rest was very different.
Finally Parker broke the silence. "Where's Dad?" he asked.
"Umm, he had a meeting so he asked me to pick you up is that okay?"
Parker just shrugged and made his way around to the other side of the car and got in.
"Hi Parker!" Chris said, as Brennan got in the front seat.
"Hey Chris." Parker replied.
"I coloured pictures today, what did you do at school?" Chris said excitedly as they headed towards Booth's apartment.
"Nothing." Parker said, crossing his arms and looking out the window.
The drove to the apartment in silence, Brennan unsure about what to say to either of them. She decided instead to formulate ideas for what they could do for the next few hours. By the time she parked the car and they made their way into the apartment, she had a few good ideas in mind.
"So.." she said, once they made their way into the apartment. "How about a snack?"
Chris shouted yes and Parker said nothing, just went and flopped himself on the couch. She looked through Booth's cupboards and came across some cookies. Pouring a glass of milk for each of them, she brought the cookies and milk over to the kitchen table.
"Here." She said.
Chris climbed up onto the chair and wrinkled her nose. "I don't like milk." She announced.
"But it's good for you." Brennan said. Chris just shook her head and crossed her arms.
"Okay, well then what would you like?"
"Pop!" Chris said descively.
"You're not allowed pop." Parker called from the couch.
"But I want it." Chris pouted.
"How about juice?" Brennan suggested. "Water?"
Chris just shook her head and sat there.
"Okay, well what about you Parker? Do you want some?"
"No." came his one word reply.
She didn't know what was wrong with him. This was not the sweet boy she remembered.
"Um…okay…" she trailed off, unsure of what to do next. In the meantime, Chris had taken her cookie and slid down off the kitchen chair.
"Why don't we all go to the park?" she suggested.
"No." Chris said, pouting again.
"Why not? The park is fun and we can go on the swings. You like the swings right Parker?" she said desperately.
"No!" Chris said, stomping her feet. "I don't wanna do that!"
"Umm…well…" Brennan said hesitantly. "What about you Parker?" she said, looking at the sullen little boy on the couch.
"I don't want to do anything." Parker said, crossing his arms and scowling at her.
"Ahh…well…." She said, racking her brain for something that they could do together. This day had grown progressively worse and worse and she was beginning to feel like she wasn't cut out for this after all.
"How about a movie?"
"Dad doesn't let us watch movies after school." Parker said.
"Well, it will be a special treat then." She replied, smiling nervously.
"I wanna watch Little Mermaid!" Chris shouted.
"No way, that movie's for little kids." Parker said. "I want to watch Star Wars."
"I think Chris is too little for Star Wars." Brennan said. "How about a movie you both like?"
"I don't like any movies that the brat likes." Parker said.
"I'm not a brat!" Chris said, starting to cry. "I'm gonna tell Daddy you said that."
"Parker, apologize to Chris." Brennan said.
"No. You can't tell me what to do." Parker shouted, leaping off the couch and standing in front of her. "You're not my mother! You just left Dad and me a long time ago and I don't even know why you're back. We don't need you. You didn't want us and you didn't want Chris so go away!"
"Parker…I…." she started.
"Leave me alone!" Parker shouted, running down the hall to his room and slamming the door shut.
"I…uh…" She turned to Chris and saw tears running down her face. "Um, its okay."
Chris began to cry harder and soon she was wailing at the top of her lungs. And the same time, she could her Parker furiously kicking the wall in his room. What was she supposed to do?
She moved towards Chris and tried to scoop her up into her arms to calm her down.
"Ssshhh…it's okay."
"I'm….not….a brat…." Chris said between sobs.
"No, you're not a brat." She replied, sitting on the couch and rocking her softly.
After a few minutes, Chris' sobs had died down and the little girl began to wiggle in her arms.
"Tempe?" Chris asked plaintively.
"Yes?"
"How come I don't have a mommy?" Chris asked.
Her breath hitched and her heart began pounding rapidly. "W...what?" she stuttered.
Chris sniffled and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "Mackenzie said that everyone has a mommy AND a daddy and I just said that I had a daddy. Then Mackenzie said that there must be something wrong with me."
She was stunned, unsure of how what to say. Part of her was angry at this girl Mackenzie for saying such things about Chris. But the other part of her was relieved. This was her chance, her chance to tell her daughter that she was her mother.
"I…Chris…I…there's nothing wrong with you, I promise. It's just…"
As she paused to take a breath she heard keys jangling in the lock. The door opened and Booth walked in. Noting the absence of Parker and the tears in Chris's eyes, he immediately went into panic mode.
"What's going on?"
"Daddy!" Chris said, from her position on Brennan's lap. "Parker called me a brat."
"He did?" Booth replied, looking shocked. "What happened?"
"Parker's upset and then Chris got upset…" she trailed off.
He moved towards the couch quickly and scooped Chris up into his arms. Brennan got up and starting moving down the hall to Parker's room.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"To talk to Parker." She replied.
"Maybe I should talk to him."
"I thought we were going to do this together." She said, a hurtful expression in her eyes.
He nodded. "We are…"
"Then I am going to talk to him." She said resolutely.
She knocked softly on Parker's door and then opened it. He was lying face down on his bed.
"Hi Parker." She said, coming into the room and shutting the door. "You….you don't have to say anything, just listen okay?"
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you and your dad four years ago." She moved closer and sat down, her back pressed against the bed. "I just got scared. You know when are you are so scared of something that all you want to do is run away? That's what happened. I ran away. But it wasn't your fault and I really want you to know that.
And I know it must be weird now that I am back, and I'm not going to pretend that everything is the way it was before because that wouldn't be fair to you or me. But if you wanted, maybe we could be friends again."
She paused and was greeted by stony silence.
"I missed you, you know? I missed our secret talks." She looked again at the unmoving figure on the bed and shook her head. "I love you Parker." She said softly, getting up from her position and moving towards the door.
She opened the door and made her way back down the hall. She saw Chris watching cartoons but Booth was nowhere in sight. Making her way to the kitchen, she saw him putting the box of cookies away in the cupboard.
"Hey."
He turned around. "Parker okay?"
She shrugged. "He's mad at me, but other than that, I think he'll be okay. How was your meeting?"
"Fine. Listen Bones, Parkers' going to take a while to come around."
"I know." She said.
"Do you?" he asked. "Because it wasn't just me and Chris that you hurt when you left us."
"I know that Booth." She replied. "What makes you think I don't know that? And I thought we were going to work together at this."
"We are its just, these are my kids and…" Booth trailed off, realizing his mistake.
"Your kids?" she said. "If you want to be a family again, if you want me to be apart of this, then stop making me feel like an outsider."
"I'm not." Booth protested. "I'm doing everything I can to help you fit in with Chris. It's not my fault you can't handle taking care of them."
"I don't know what to do! I've never done this before, remember?" she said angrily. "I didn't know that Chris didn't like milk or that neither of them wouldn't want to go to the park or that they weren't allowed to watch movies after school." She blinked back the tears that were coming too often these days.
They stood in silence for a few minutes, looking at everything but each other.
"Look, I'm sorry." Booth said. "It's just that I want to protect them."
"I understand that Booth." She replied. "What I don't understand is why you feel the need to protect them from me."
With that, she turned and left the room.