(A/N): Slowly peeks out from behind a rock… hi guys, miss me? I know, I know, I'm terrible. Life sucks, work sucks, and my muse wants me to write an original story instead. Such is my life. But, good news is that I dragged my muse back to this story and gained inspiration. Woo hoo, right? Yeah, so I left you guys on a cliffhanger, but, uh, I'm going to end up leaving you on another one. But please don't hate me because I am writing the next chapter as we speak. Well, as you read, but yeah. So, review time anyone?
ZinaR: Sorry, apparently, my muse enjoys torturing people.
Allthingstvshows: Well, you get at least one answer here, I think.
5546Laura: You called it, you did. And yes, they do, which will make all the difference.
LoveShipper: It is possible, though I spent forever thinking up a reasonable, plausible way to make it happen. And I love Papa Bear Booth, he's awesome.
Loverofbones: You called it too!
MstgSzy: Aww thanks, I love those parts too. I just sit here and let myself write whatever comes to mind, so I'm glad you like it. And apparently, this story wants to be extremely twisty.
Adelled: Yup. And we're only going further down the rabbit hole here.
Tsubasaiscool: Thanks
Jsboneslover: Oh, Ruth can fall a little further, I think, though I don't know if I'll make her do that yet. She's still got to meet the kids at some point, remember? And we all know, Bones doesn't make mistakes hehe.
Allthingstvshows (2): Aww, thanks for the second kick up the butt I needed.
Alright, folks, I will leave you to it, please, read on and let me know what you think. By the way, hurling rocks at me for the cliffhanger makes me cry, but I'll live hehe. Yeah, anyway, enjoy and I will see you all next time! Woo!
Heaven Can Wait
Chapter 10
Brennan sat in the darkness of the living room, having ignored her alarm clock that had told her it was barely past two in the morning. Despite the exhausting events of the day, she found that she couldn't sleep no matter how hard she tried. After the results had been double and triple checked, Booth, Brennan and Russ had decided to head home in Brennan's Mercedes, knowing that they had to inform everyone of the latest development.
"Okay, what's wrong? You three have said barely anything since you got in." Max stated as he sat down on the couch beside Russ, a beer in hand and a curious expression. "And don't tell me you're just worried about how you're gonna tell the kids, because Parker already took it well and you know it."
"It's not that dad." Russ sighed, rubbing a tired hand over his face. "I… I didn't catch most of the science-y sounding words, but if I got the gist of everything right, we got a DNA match on the ashes."
"And who is it? We should contact their family or something." Amy added, thinking of bringing closure to some poor, unsuspecting family. Russ squeezed her hand but shook his head miserably.
"Yeah, we don't have to do that just yet." Booth shrugged, taking a swig of his own beer. "The DNA came back alright."
"Well? Don't keep us in suspense or I'll have to consider fighting you again." Max teased.
"You wouldn't beat me old man." Booth returned playfully before sighing and mimicking Russ in running a hand over his face. "The DNA says the ashes belong to Ruth Keenan. Or Christine Brennan. Either way, it definitely matches off Bones' and Russ' DNA as well, so it's not just someone changing the system on us."
"So… There are two Ruth Keenans?" Amy checked with a slack jaw, holding Russ' hand tightly as she glanced between Booth, Brennan and Russ, as if checking that she'd heard right from their expressions. Max barely saved the bottle in his hands as his grip slipped and nearly spilt the contents on the hardwood floor.
"Seems that way. I can't think of another explanation just yet." Booth shrugged. "Can we talk about something else?"
"Sure. How about how we have a bit of explaining to do?" Max suggested, frantically trying to find a calm façade.
"What? Why?" Brennan questioned.
"Because we have three little eavesdroppers and one little boy trying to get them to stop." Max gestured to the stairs where they all caught a flash of pink from Haley's t-shirt as the children clearly tried to disappear before they were caught.
"Christine! Parker!" Booth and Brennan called out in unison.
"Emma! Haley!" Russ and Amy yelled simultaneously.
Slowly, four children crept out from their hiding place, all looking various degrees of guilty. Parker approached Booth and Brennan directly.
"I'm sorry. I didn't see them straight away but I tried to get them away. They were just curious."
"It's alright Parks. We meant to tell them tonight anyway." Booth assured him, knowing that his son was telling the truth. Parker nodded, though he didn't look convinced, turning and sitting himself down Indian-style on the floor near Brennan's feet. Christine was next to approach, though she went more towards Brennan than Booth, reaching out to be picked up. Brennan picked up their daughter, placing her on her knees sideways, so she could see both of her parents.
"Who's Ruth Keenan mommy?" Christine asked as Haley and Emma sat down on the floor near Parker, looking at the adults with similar curious expressions.
"Ruth is mommy and Uncle Russ' mommy, Christine. What have we told you about eavesdropping?" Booth asked firmly, shooting all the children a disapproving look.
"Not to do it." Christine replied, seemingly unconcerned. "And mommy's mommy is dead."
"Apparently not baby." Brennan replied, hugging her daughter close. "We're not sure about anything else just yet, but she appears to be my and Russ' mother."
"Then who's in the urn?" Emma asked.
"Our mom." Russ replied with a slight smile as Emma and Haley shared confused frowns.
"Why didn't you just tell us?" Haley questioned.
"How do we give you answers that we don't even know yet?" Max returned to them seriously, waiting for them to understand that the adults couldn't have told them things that they didn't know at the time.
"Oh. Can we meet her?" Emma turned to her parents at her question, with wide pleading eyes.
"I don't want to." Christine inputted mutinously, arms crossed over her little chest and a pout settling on her lips.
"Not yet you can't," Russ told the two teenage girls before directing a questioning look to his niece, "And why not, Christine?"
"She hurt you and mommy. Why should I meet her?" Christine asked with a frown. Brennan and Booth shared a loaded glance.
"What if mommy and I wanted you to meet her?" Booth questioned.
"Then I would, but I wouldn't like it."
"Uh, right. Well, none of you will be meeting her until we trust her, or at least trust that she's not lying to us." Amy reasoned out to the children firmly, the look in her eye practically daring any of them to argue with her. Slowly, all four nodded their assent to that idea, sharing uncertain glances that told the adults the topic of what they'd be discussing later that night.
"Can we watch a film then please, Aunt Tempe, Uncle Booth?" Haley asked sweetly, changing the topic as a bickering match instantly erupted over what film they should watch, the discussion over Ruth Keenan forgotten, at least for the moment.
Brennan sighed. Whilst they had seemed to take it well, she doubted that it would be the last discussion they had with the four minors over the topic of her mother. Her mother. She had an idea about everything that was going on, but without any evidence, it was just a hypothesis, not even a theory, as there was nothing to challenge it just yet. She didn't want to raise everyone's hopes over a simple hypothesis, which was part of the reason she had found herself unable to sleep soundly in her husband's embrace, which worked so well every other night.
"First your husband, now you. What's on your mind, sweetie?"
Brennan jumped, having not heard Max enter the living room with a glass of milk in hand. He sat down gently beside her, setting the glass onto the coffee table and putting his arm around his daughter's shoulders. Brennan shrugged, relaxing into his embrace ever so slightly, but enough that he noticed. He knew a few years ago, she would have pulled away instantly, and he thanked god every day that he had relationships with his children, children-in-law and grandchildren, despite the rocky road he had gone on with his daughter and son-in-law. It was difficult for her to trust, he knew that, but he was grateful that she'd given him that chance to prove himself worthy of her trust once again. "Nothing much."
"No, there's something you're churning over in that big brain of yours, Tempe. It might help if you share it with your old man."
"Fine. Dad, what do you know about mom's family?"
"Not much, sweetie. When I met your mom, well, we weren't exactly law abiding citizens. We didn't even use our real names until the third date. I called myself George and your mom called herself Katie. Uh…" Max frowned as he tried to recall information he hadn't thought about in years. "I think she had a brother and a sister, but she didn't mention much about them."
"How old were they in relation to mom?"
"Oh I don't know honey, it's all so long ago now. I think she said her brother was older than her, and her sister younger, but really, it's not something I can be a hundred percent certain on. Why?"
"I was perusing hypotheses that could simultaneously explain Ruth's reappearance and the DNA in the urn without turning into one of Hodgins' conspiracy theories about aliens."
"And what did you come up with?"
"Dad, could mom's younger sister actually be her twin sister?"
"I don't know. Why don't we go ask her?" Max asked, standing up and grabbing his own car keys from the mantel, where everyone's car and home keys rested in a porcelain bowl Brennan had acquired on a dig in Guatemala the year before she'd originally partnered with Booth. "Grab a pair of shoes and let Booth know where we've gone. I'll meet you in the car."
"Right now? It's barely gone two in the morning."
"So? Will you be able to sleep until we know the answer? I know I won't."
"You make a valid point. I will be back in two minutes."
"I'll meet you by the car honey."
…
Ruth awoke from a restless sleep filled with glaring faces of her family to a relentless rapping on the door to her hotel room. Frowning sleepily, she clambered up from her warm bed and wrapped a faded pink dressing gown around her frame before making her way to the door and checking the peep hole to see just who her late night/early morning visitors were. She opened the door swiftly, shocked at finding Max and Brennan stood in the doorway, both in pyjamas and shoes, Brennan's face makeup free and both sporting messy bed-heads. "What's going on? Is everything okay?" She asked quickly, the shock having woken her up completely.
"Everyone's fine." Max assured her. "Tempe couldn't sleep, and we had a few questions we needed answering."
"Uh, yeah, sure, ask away." Ruth closed the door behind them and slid back on the chain. She turned to face them and gestured to the sofa at the other end of the room from her rumpled bed. "Uhm, would you like a seat?"
"I'm fine, thank you." Brennan replied stiffly. "What family do you have?"
"I don't think I follow."
"She means biological family, Ruth. Not the one you made with me." Max clarified for her, sending an affectionate smile towards Brennan that the elder woman didn't miss. It made Ruth wonder just how long it had taken for Max to get into Brennan's good books once again, and more importantly, earn the blind trust that had clearly gotten her daughter away from her husband long enough for the impromptu visit they'd sprung upon Ruth that morning. She wanted that trust, that unspoken bond. She had had it once, and she desperately wanted it again. She just didn't understand why it seemed to be that much harder to attain with her daughter than with her son.
"Oh, right. Well, my parents are long dead. They died when you were seven, Tempe. Car accident in Minnesota apparently. I didn't go to the funeral. Then I had a brother and a sister. I haven't spoken to either of them since I got into the bank robbing game, not really. They didn't know what I really did, and didn't approve of the bookkeeping I did as a legitimate way to earn money. Why?"
"How old were your siblings in relation to you?" Brennan pressed, taking a step towards Ruth unconsciously.
"Well, my brother, Henry, was two years older than me, and Elizabeth, my sister, was younger than me."
"How much younger, Ruth?" Max queried, also taking a step towards the two women in the middle of the room.
"I think about ten minutes or so."
"So she was your twin sister. Monozygotic?" Brennan asked, her expression lightening slightly as her hypothesis was gaining a little more evidence. Ruth frowned in slight befuddlement as she searched through her science vocabulary.
"You mean identical twins? Yeah, Liz and I were identical twins. She was studying to be a doctor last time I ever spoke to her."
"Ruth…" Max trailed off, unsure how to break the news to her. "The urn we have, that we thought were your ashes, we got the DNA result back from them."
"And?"
"And the DNA result matches that of you." Brennan finished bluntly. "Or that of a monozygotic twin. Like Elizabeth."
"You mean, when you found the body, it was Liz?" Ruth shook her head as tears sprang to her eyes. "No, there must be some mistake."
"I'm afraid not. The results were conclusive." Brennan countered evenly, refraining from descending into more minute details. Years of informing victim's families with Booth had finally taught her that certain things weren't necessary to discuss with them, at least at first.
Max glanced around the room, taking in the dim surroundings with a clinical eye, trying not to allow his emotions to the forefront lest he do or say something that he would later regret. No matter what his own thoughts on his wife, or ex-wife, or whoever she was to him, and her return, his children and their children were his priority, and that was how it would stay. His eyes flashed as he caught sight of a single red line trailing from a slight gap in the heavy curtains adorning the window… right to the middle of his daughter's back. He knew what that mark was. "GET DOWN!" He yelled, diving straight at the two women in the centre of the room.
As the trio hit the floor, all hell broke loose.
To Be Continued…