A/N: I know it's been an insanely long time since I've updated this and I am sorry for that. My muse was stuck on this one and moved on to new things then RL got in the way. I had the following chapter half written when I received a review that made me question WHY I was writing this fic and if I should I continue to do so. After months of thinking about it I decided to finish it. Please if you think this story is too OOC for you and you don't like it simply don't read it no need to send reviews stating how much you don't like it and the story would never happen and what I'm writing is bad….. And for those wanting B&B to be more loving to one another it's coming. (But this story isn't really about B&B's relationship). Final thing, I know Parker isn't Brennan's biological son, but I don't think that matters to her nor would it stop her from calling him her son. Tyler isn't either and she's referred to him as her and Booth's son in the second chapter and probably will again.

Onto the story

Tyler had been with Booth and for a little over a month and going to daycare and loving it as long as Brennan and/ or Booth checked on him a few times a day. Booth and Brennan loved being Tyler's foster parents. Erica's visits went well; Tyler didn't panic when she visited anymore. Brennan was surprised when a few days after one of her visits Erica called Brennan and asked if she and Booth would meet with her the next day. Booth held Brennan's hand as they waited for Erica to call them back to her office. "Bones, relax everything is okay, our home visits have been excellent. Erica probably wants to go over the paperwork for the adoption or something like that, nothing to worry about."

"I don't want him to be taken from us Booth in the five and a half weeks we've had him, he's changed so much, and we've changed so much. He gets his cast off tomorrow; I wanted to be there for that."

"Yow will be, I won't be though, I have a meeting with Hacker I can't reschedule. Text me and tell me how it went though."

"I will. What's taking Erica so long? Our appointment was at 4:30…"

"Bones it's only 4:32, relax. I think I'll grill burgers tonight, how does that sound?"

"Good. We still have vegetables from the other night. I can make kabobs for you to grill too, Tyler liked them pretty well. "

"Sounds good." Booth rubbed circles on the back Brennan's hand. "Seeley, Temperance comes on back to my office." Booth glanced at Erica and smiled slightly at Brennan and squeezing her hand. "Come on Bones, nothing to worry about…"

"Temperance relax, this meeting has nothing to do with yours and Seeley's custody of Tyler, as far as that's concerned he's yours. We're just waiting on the paperwork to make it official. This has to do with the Kramer's and their charges. Let's go in my office where it's private." Booth and Brennan followed Erica to her office and sat down in the hard plastic chairs across from her desk. Erica wasted no time getting to the point, she knew this was going to be hard for the parents to take and if she had another choice she wouldn't ask. "Seeley, Temperance, the Kramer's are denying ever abusing Tyler. We know they did; we have medical evidence. I hate to even tell you this, but I need to know from Tyler if they did anything to him before-"

"You know they did, he had bruises that were at least a week old when he came live with us."

"I know Temperance, but for legal purposes I need to hear it from Tyler-"

"No! Absolutely not!"

"Temperance-"

"No, Tyler has gotten so much better since he's been with us, his nightmares are almost gone; when he does have them he doesn't wet the bed or sweat through his sheets anymore. You know as well as we do he isn't going to talk to a stranger about what happened to him-"

"I know but we need to know. On any of my home visits there weren't any indications of abuse. Tyler never said anything to me when I asked him about it. I will be watching on a two way outside the room, if Tyler gets overwhelmed or upset I will stop everything and get him out of there. You and Seeley can be there as well-"

"No!"

Booth squeezed Brennan's hand, "Bones, I don't like the idea of it anymore than you do, but we need to have Tyler do this. They need all the evidence they can get so the Kramer's pay for their crimes-"

"I know. I just don't want to see him go through this. I went through it with my one of my sets of foster parents, the ones who locked me in the trunk… it wasn't easy to begin with, but what was worse I could tell the psychologist I talked to didn't care, he was just talking to me because he had to. I don't want it to be like that for Tyler, he doesn't deserve that."

It clicked for Booth, Brennan's adamant refusal to have Tyler talk to anyone about what happened to him. "Oh Bones, I'm sorry. It won't be like that for Tyler. What if we get Sweets to do it? Tyler likes him and you know Sweets cares. We can do it in his office; Tyler has been there and would be more comfortable. We'll be right outside the door, if it gets to be too much we can stop."

"I still don't like it, but I would feel better if Sweets talked to Tyler."

"Thank you, Temperance. I don't see a problem with Doctor Sweets talking to Tyler, though I'd like it to be done this week if possible."

"Thank you, Erica." Booth pulled his phone out of his pocket putting it on speaker he called Sweets and explained what they needed. Sweets agreed to help, setting up an appointment for 5pm Friday. Forty minutes later Brennan plastered a smile on her face and went inside the Jeffersonian and got Tyler from daycare. That night Booth grilled burgers and veggie kabobs, after dinner was eaten Brennan got all the toppings out for ice cream sundaes and after the family had constructed the sugar laden masterpieces they went outside to enjoy the evening with their ice cream.

The next morning Brennan let Tyler sleep in for a few hours before she got him up. "Time to get up, sweetheart." Tyler rolled over with his eyes still closed, "No…"

Brennan smiled and kissed Tyler's cheek. "Yes, come on, Seeley left you pancakes, after you eat we'll go to the doctor and get your cast off."

"Do you think they'll take it off today? They didn't last time….."

"Yeah, I think they'll take it off today. Your arm wasn't quite healed two weeks ago."

"K. Is Seeley gonna be there?"

"No, he has to work, but when we're done I'll call him and see if he can meet us at the diner for lunch."

"K."

"Go eat then I'll help you get dressed."

"K." Tyler slid off the bed and headed to the kitchen, Brennan followed behind grabbing the plate of dinosaur shaped pancakes from the oven's warming drawer, sitting them in front of Tyler.

"Dinosaurs!"

"Yeah, you get dinosaur pancakes today. Seeley also wrote a note, do you want me to read it to you?" Tyler was learning his letters, but hadn't begun forming them into words yet.

"Uh huh."

"Okay, the note says, 'good luck today, bud. Enjoy the pancakes. I'll be home tonight and we can do something fun. I love you.'"

"Do you think Seeley would mind if I started calling him dad?"

"No, he wouldn't mind if you started calling him dad, but you don't have to if you don't want to."

"I want to, he is my dad right?"

"Yes, Seeley is your dad Tyler."

"Okay." Tyler went back to his pancakes, without another word about calling Booth dad. _

Two hours later Tyler had x-rays taken of his arm and now he and Brennan were sitting in an exam room waiting on Doctor Spencer to come in. The Door opened, "good afternoon all! Tyler how's your arm?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore. Can you tale my cast off now?"

Doctor Spencer chuckled and popped the X rays up on the light box, more for Brennan than himself seeing as he'd all ready looked at them in the hallway. "Yes Tyler I will take your cast off today, you won't have to get a new one. You will have to wear a brace on your arm for three weeks, but you can take it off when you take a bath and when you get dressed so it will be easier. The brace isn't as hot or as heavy as your cast is either."

"K."

Doctor Spencer smiled and got the tools he needed to take the cast off. "Okay Tyler lean in to Brennan and close your eyes, this won't take long then you can go do something fun." Tyler did what Doctor Spencer asked and twenty minutes later he and Brennan were on their way to the diner. Brennan's phone chirped with a new message as she was opening Tyler's door to help him out of the car, she read the message and looked at Tyler. "That was Seeley, he can't have lunch with us today, and he's still working."

"Oh…. can I get a cheeseburger this time?"

Brennan chuckled, a few weeks ago Tyler wouldn't have asked to have anything, he would have gotten whatever Booth or Brennan read to him that sounded good. "Yes, you can get a cheeseburger or anything you want."

"Okay." After a lunch of a mini cheeseburger for Tyler and salad for Brennan, a shared order of fries and a shared Strawberry milkshake, they were home. Brennan was a tiny bit bored, her book was done and she wasn't in the mood to start on the next one. she watched Tyler play for a little while then went to the kitchen to check that they had all the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies, seeing that they did she called Tyler in to the kitchen."Tyler comes here, please."

Tyler walked into the kitchen. "Tyler do you want to help me make chocolate chip cookies?"

"I've never done that before…"

"It's fun, I used to help my mom all the time when I was little."

"Okay, I need to put my toys away first…"

"You can leave them out, it won't take long. Go wash your hands, it's okay if your brace gets a little wet."

Tyler nodded and pulled his stepstool over to the sink and started washing his hands. Brennan helped Tyler measure, pour and stir ingredients. Next she handed Tyler two spoons and showed him how to drop spoonfuls of dough onto the cookie sheet. While Tyler filled the pans with dough Brennan discreetly took bits of dough from the larger spoonfuls and added it the smaller ones to try and get everything the same size. "You did a good job making the cookies, Tyler."Tyler nodded, "can we eat them now?"

Brennan smiled, "no, they have to bake first then cool a little. Go wash your hands and go play, I'll bring you one when they're done."

"K." Tyler pulled his stepstool over to the sink and started washing his hands. When he was done he ran off to the living room to play. Fifteen minutes later Brennan handed Tyler a napkin with a still slightly warn cookie on it. "It's a little warm still, but you can eat it." Tyler took a bite of the cookie and grinned."Do you like it?" Tyler nodded. After another cookie Brennan looked at Tyler. "Tyler, let's go wash your face, you've got chocolate all over!"

"Okay." before they went to the bathroom Brennan snapped a picture of Tyler's chocolate face and sent it to Booth.

Later that night after playing trains and a round or two of Hungry, Hungry Hippos with Booth, Brennan got Tyler ready for bed and instead of tucking he in she carried him to the living room, handing him to Booth.

"Hey bud, Tempe and I need you to do something really important for us and Erica on Friday. We need you to tell Sweets what Maggie and Harrison did to you-"

"Can't I just tell you and Tempe instead?"

"You can, but you still need to tell Sweets too."

"Why?"

"Because, it's his job to write down what happened to you and give it to Erica so she can make sure Maggie and Harrison don't hurt anyone again."

"Couldn't you and Tempe write it down and give it to Erica?"

"I'm afraid not bud, it won't take long. You'll just go to Sweets office and tell him what happened he'll write it down and we can go home."

"Are you and Tempe gonna be there?"

"We can't be in the room, but we'll be right outside the door with Erica if you need us."

"I don't want to!" Tyler burst into tears; Brennan took him from Booth, sitting him in her lap. "Seeley and I don't want you to either, but you need to so we know what happened."

"No! Maggie said I could never tell anyone!"

"Sweetheart, Maggie was wrong; you can tell what they did to you. We need you to tell Sweets so he along with Seeley and I and Erica can make sure they don't hurt anyone else ever again. Tyler they can't hurt you anymore, I promise. I know it'd going to be hard for you to tell Sweets, but Seeley and I both thought it'd be easier for you to tell him than somebody you don't know. Seeley and I won't be mad at you, you won't get in trouble."

"K."

"It's bedtime, do you just want to stay here until you fall asleep?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." Booth grabbed the Spiderman throw blanket from the corner of the couch and draped it over

Tyler. "Good night, bud. I love you."

"Good night." Tyler hadn't said 'I love you' back to Booth yet, he had to Brennan a few times in the past few weeks. Booth knew it was coming; Tyler still needed time to adjust to him.

Long after Tyler had fallen asleep Brennan laid him in his bed, and then she went across the hall and got into bed with Booth.

"I hate this… I hate that we're making him do this…"

"I know Bones me too, but it's the only way. No one else can tell the judge what happened…"

"I could with a full set of x rays…"

Booth chuckled a little," I know but you're his mom; you can't testify. Besides I think putting him though a full set of x-rays would be a little too traumatic right now. Sweets knows what he's doing, he won't push him if Tyler shows signs of getting stressed out. We'll be right outside if Tyler needs us."

"I know…" Booth kissed Brennan's hair. "Bones, it's gonna be had on everybody, even Sweets, but we'll all get through it. Then hopefully we can put the whole mess with the Kramer's behind us."

"I know. I hope we can too."

Friday afternoon Booth drove to the lab and he and Brennan went to the daycare and picked up Tyler then went to Sweets 'office. Booth didn't go into Sweets office because Tyler was being really clingy to Brennan and was starting to get agitated by the whole event. Booth knew that his presence in the room might make things worse. Tyler wouldn't let go of Brennan's hand after she helped him into the chair across from Sweets. "Don't leave!"

Brennan knelt beside the chair, "Tyler, Seeley and I will be right outside the door. Just tell Sweets what happened to you while you were living with Maggie and Harrison-"

"I don't want to!"

"I know you don't, but you need to. When you're done talking to Sweets we'll go home, have dinner, watch a couple movies and play some games. Tomorrow we'll go to the zoo and maybe the park if it's not too late."

"K." Brennan kissed Tyler's forehead."I love you." Tyler nodded and started playing with a string on his t shirt. Brennan smiled and slipped out of the office. Brennan nodded at Erica and let Booth pull her close. "He'll be fine Bones."

"I know."

Sweets watched Tyler for a minute; the poor kid was scared and nervous. "Tyler, you don't have to be afraid, you're not going to get in trouble for anything you tell me. Just take your time."

Tyler looked up at Sweets. "But Maggie said if I told anyone what happened I'd get in a lot of trouble, I'd have to go away! I don't want to go away, I like living with Tempe and Seeley! They don't yell at me or hit me… we do fun stuff all the time…"

Sweets smiled a little, "Tyler, I am very happy that you like living with Seeley and Tempe and that they don't yell at you or hit you, and that you do fun stuff all the time. What Maggie and Harrison did to you was wrong; they shouldn't have done any of it to you. I need you to tell me what they did so they can't do it to anyone else again. You won't get in trouble. You won't go away; you'll go home with Seeley and Tempe as soon as you finish telling me what they did to you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"K. "

"What happened when you broke your arm?"

"Joey and I were playing and ran into the table and knocked over a vase, it broke… I didn't mean to it was an accident!"

"I know it was an accident, it's okay." Sweets waited a minute before asking his next question, "What happened next?"

"Harrison came in from the kitchen or something and picked me up, he hit me first, and it didn't hurt too much. Then I tried to get away, he grabbed my arm and twisted it, it hurt but not bad. Then he twisted it more…"

Outside the door Brennan pulled away room Booth. "Bones go to my office if you need to." Brennan shook her head; Booth took his keys from his pocket and found the one he was looking for."Theirs a private bathroom next to it…" he pushed the key into her hand and she took off. Booth turned to Sweets' office.

"…that time it hurt really bad, I heard a pop then I started crying. Harrison hit me really hard then. I couldn't move my arm anymore… Maggie came out then, she took Joey away. After Harrison left Maggie put me in my room, I stayed there until Erica came over… my arm still hurt, it usually didn't hurt the next day when they did stuff, but that time it did."

"So they hit you before?"

"Yeah, lots of times…whenever I did something wrong…..they never it Joey though, I guess 'cause he lived there before I did…. "

"Did they start hitting you as soon as you came to live with them?"

"No, they started hitting me after Joey's birthday."

Outside Booth turned to Erica, Who's Joey?"

"He's the Kramer's biological son. He had a twin, Samuel who died when he was 2 days old…. I guess the birthday was a trigger and having another child who was close to Joey's age set them off."

Booth nodded, "Where's Joey?"

"He's with his maternal grandparents; they would have taken Tyler if they were younger and not in Florida…"

"Are we done yet? I wanna go home."

Sweets looked up and motioned for Booth to come in the room. "Yes, we're done now and you can go home. You did a good job telling me what happened Tyler." Tyler nodded.

"Hey bud, are you ready to go home?"

Tyler twisted in the chair to see Booth; he put his arms up so Booth would pick him up. "Yeah, where's Tempe?" Booth picked up Tyler surprised at how tightly the four year old clung to him. Booth rubbed Tyler's back and kissed the top of his head. "Relax bud, it's over they can't hurt you anymore. She's in the bathroom, we'll go in my office and wait for her, and then we'll go home."

"K." Booth carried Tyler out of Sweets' office to his own. Once Tyler was distracted with bobble head Bobby Booth sent Brennan a text letting her know that Tyler was done talking to Sweets and they were ready to go home when she was. A few minutes later Brennan walked into Booth's office and was greeted by Tyler throwing himself into her arms, "I sweetheart, are you done talking to Sweets?"

Brennan sat down in the chair with Tyler in her lap. "Yeah."

"That's great! You did a good job today sweetie." Tyler snuggled into Brennan lap more

"Bones, are you okay?"

"Yes, let's go home."

"Okay. P-I-Z-Z-A okay for dinner?"

"Yes, that sounds good actually…"

Booth chuckled and got all of his stuff together and put his hand on Brenna's back, leading her and Tyler out the door. When they got home Tyler refused to leave Booth or Brennan's side. Brennan snuggled with him while Booth changed out of his suit and ordered two pizzas, one half pepperoni half cheese the other veggie for Brennan. Forty five minutes later Booth put the pizza boxes on the coffee table and popped in The Lion King. Late that night Brennan placed Tyler in the middle of her's and Booth's bed, hoping that sleeping between them would help with the nightmares that had woke him up three times already.

A/N 2: I do have a reason for Tyler telling Sweets about what the Kramer's did to him; it will be in a few chapters. I won't wait a yr before updating again, I promise…. Gonna work on Sometimes Waking up is Hard to Do next, that chapter is about half done.