(Season 11)

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Ooooooooooooooooo

Friday came and suddenly the beach house was quiet. Jessica had left on the previous Monday and Aubrey, Wendell and Andie had left to return home the evening before and that meant the house was back to a more manageable crowd size. Hodgins, Angela and Brennan took the opportunity to clean the house and do laundry while Booth and Max watched over the children on the beach.

Booth sat on a chair near the shoreline and helped supervise Christine and Michael Vincent build a sand castle while Max watched over Hank. The children squabbled for a while over whether or not to build a moat around the castle and Booth let them. He didn't see any reason why the young friends couldn't argue since he loved to bicker with his wife. It added spice to a friendship as far as he was concerned.

The sky was dark on the horizon and Booth wondered if they were going to get rain, but since it was far out to sea at the moment he wasn't going to worry about it. Feeling a little restless, Booth decided that getting his feet wet wouldn't hurt anything. He thought of the sewerage that might be lurking in the water, but he knew he could scrub his feet extra hard later to get them clean. It wasn't as if he was going to go swimming.

Max kept an eye on Booth once he'd realized that his son-in-law had left his chair. Booth was recovering nicely and Max was grateful for that, but he knew that Booth still had a few weeks to go before he'd be considered recovered. That Booth had almost died had put a scare into Max. He was counting on his son-in-law to be around to take care of Brennan when he died and he wished Booth would take less risks in his job and personal life. He had met Jared a couple of times before the younger brother had died and he had never been impressed with the younger man. As far as Max was concerned, Jared was irresponsible and used his brother shamelessly when things were going wrong for him. When Max had heard that Jared was dead he had been uncharitable in his thoughts, but he didn't care. Booth was better off with Jared out of his life. Booth's family sucked and Max felt that he and his family were Booth's true family. They loved him and Max was sure that Booth knew that.

The water at the edge of the beach was warm. Booth had hoped it would be cooler, but it was summer in Virginia so he wasn't sure what he had been thinking. Perhaps he wasn't. Bored, he walked over to where the sand castle was being built and praised the children for the good job they were doing. They invited him to help, but since he was still restricted about what he could do, Booth had to decline.

Once he was back in the chair, Booth realized that he missed the noisy crowd that had been around him for the last few weeks. The interns were all a quirky lot, but highly entertaining and now he wished someone would show up to help keep him company.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooo

That evening, Cam and Michele returned to the beach house and Booth gave them each a hug which surprised everyone. Booth wasn't much of a hugger unless it was with Brennan or the kids, so Cam and Michele found it odd to be hugged by their friend. "I'm glad you could come back. You can pick which bedroom you want upstairs. There are two empty ones right now."

His color was darker and a more normal shade of olive and the gray smudges under his eyes were gone which pleased Cam. "You're looking so much better Booth."

"I feel better." Booth had been on the veranda watching the birds and squirrels roaming about the front lawn when Cam and Michele had driven up and now he opened the front door to invite them in. "My stitches are out. They were pulling like hell, but it's not so bad now."

"May I look at it, Booth? The scar?" Cam wanted to assure herself that he was indeed healing properly.

Closing the door behind them, Booth shrugged his shoulders, noticed that only Max was in the living room and lifted his shirt.

Cam leaned over and inspected the wound carefully. Please with what she saw she motioned for him to lower his shirt. "It looks fine. The surgeon did a great job. The scar is long, but it should fade with time."

That sounded fine with Booth. Brennan had assured him that it didn't look too bad, but still he worried that he was getting too many scars. "That's what Bones told me, but it's nice to get a second opinion."

Hodgins came downstairs and smiled at Cam and her daughter. "Hey, I thought I recognized your car in the driveway. Welcome back you two."

Michele hugged Hodgins and carried her bag upstairs. "I'm going to put my swim suit on. The sun is still up."

Cam checked her watch and shook her head. "For another hour. Just come back in when the sun goes down. I don't want you out there by yourself after dark."

"Oh Cam." Michele rolled her eyes, but kept climbing the stairs. "I'm an adult."

"Yes, I know." Cam shook her head and followed her daughter upstairs to unpack.

Max chuckled and stood up. "I better go upstairs and check on the kids. The last time I was up there Christine was beating Michael Vincent at some video game and he wasn't taking it well."

After he sat down on the couch, Booth picked up the remote for the TV and started to channel surf. Settling on a movie he hadn't seen for a while, he placed the remote down and watched the opening credits scroll across the screen. Since it was a movie he liked, Hodgins sat down on the chair next to the couch and watched too. It had been so noisy lately and Hodgins found the peace and quiet to be very enjoyable.

Carrying bowls of ice cream in their hands, Brennan and Angela entered the room and each handed their husbands a bowl before sitting down on the couch. Brennan spooned some coconut ice cream in her mouth and let it melt as she watched the movie start. "What is this?"

"Groundhog Day." Booth scooped up some ice cream and enjoyed the flavors. Moose Track was a great ice cream and he had bought a half gallon the last time he had gone to the store with Aubrey.

"We're watching a movie about a minor holiday or about a groundhog?" Brennan thought both ideas sounded dull.

Hodgins grinned at Brennan's expression and decided to answer her question. "Both. It's a movie about a groundhog and the holiday. You'll love it. It's funny."

Filled with doubt, Brennan decided that it didn't really matter what the movie was about. She was with her husband and her friends, the children were playing upstairs and the house was relatively quiet. She liked the peacefulness at the moment and if that meant she was going to watch a dull movie then so be it.

Shortly afterward, Cam and Michele came downstairs. Michele went out to the beach to take a quick dip and Cam sat down on the chair on the other side of the couch and joined her friends watching the movie.

The house was relatively quiet and the friends enjoyed the moment. Who knew who would appear next at the door?

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

The movie almost done, a knock on the front door shattered the peace in the living room and reluctantly Hodgins got up and opened the door to find Colin Fisher standing on the veranda. "Fisher, come on in."

Booth rested his head on Brennan's shoulder and quietly muttered. "Oh great, Doctor Gloom is here."

Fisher entered the living room carrying a bag and gave everyone a tentative smile. "It's okay I came isn't it? I talked to Daisy on the phone the other day and she told me you had an open invitation for visitors and I know I don't work at the Jeffersonian anymore, but . . . ." He stopped talking and waited to see who would answer and what the answer would be.

"Of course, Dr. Fisher." Brennan stood up and motioned for him to come further into the room. "We have a guest bedroom upstairs." Not sure which bedroom was free, Brennan looked at Cam.

"Oh, use the bedroom on the right side of the hallway. It's the room on the other side of the bathroom. The game room is across from your room." Cam smiled at her former employee and silently wished she had chosen another week to come back.

"Thank you, of course it is." Fisher nodded his head at everyone and as he passed the couch glanced down at Booth. "I'm glad you didn't die Agent Booth."

A creepy feeling running down his back, Booth shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah me too." Once the former intern was gone Booth sighed. "I need a beer."

"No beer, Booth." Brennan picked up the empty ice cream bowls from the coffee table and carried them into the kitchen. Shortly she was back and handed Booth a bottle of Coke. "I'm going to go upstairs and check on the children. I'm surprised that Hank isn't fussing by now. It's close to his bedtime."

Taking the bottle from his wife, Booth unscrewed the cap and took a drink. "I'd still rather have a beer."

"And you still can't have one." Brennan climbed the stairs and was soon out of sight.

"Spoilsport." Booth took another sip and smiled at Cam and Angela. "Soon though. Very soon."

Ooooooooooooooooooo

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