Disclaimer: I do not own … Wait a sec! Yeah I do! I own all of Parker's friends! Ryan, Jake, Jessie, Melissa, Billy and Will! I own them all! Yay and they not stuck up sons-of-bitches like Carter! Yay me! Even if they are barely in it!
Author's Notes: I know it seems like a keep skipping time a lot which yeah okay I am but I think its working okay because if I didn't keep doing that this fik would become so very boring so very fast if I didn't. There will only be one more time jump after this I promise!
Thank you all for your quick responses to my question at the end of the last chapter. As the general consensus seems to be that Dr. Goodman has twin girls at the age of five I have decided to go with that because it fits. Also as names are unclear I have decided to call the Micheala and Aly.
This is quite possibly cheesy, cliché and any other word that could possibly go with that but I was begged so I decided I would – the more angst the better! XD
Chapter 10: Significant Numbers
"What're you doing for your birthday then young man?" Doctor Goodman asked, crouching down in front of the child who was breathless from being chased round the lab by Zack as the grad student tried to salvage the fifth rib of a seventeenth century skeleton from him. Needless to say Zack had lost the battle.
"Havin' party," Parker replied, watching in distaste as the archaeologist ended his game by slowly extricating the rib from his hand and handing it to an exasperated and breathless Zack.
"And who's coming to that then?" Goodman poked him in the stomach and Parker grinned and squirmed away.
"Everyone"
"Everyone?" Doctor Goodman asked in mock surprise "and who is everyone?"
"Angela and Zack and Jack and Bones o'course," he counted them off on his fingers "Ryan and Jake from school, Jessie, Melissa, Billy and Will," he declared happily.
"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Temperance called over as she looked up from replacing the rib that Zack had returned to her, she was itching to get back to the other cases but this had to be done.
Parker tilted his head to one side "oh yeah!" he turned back to Goodman "Would you like to come to my party?" he asked politely and grinning.
Goodman looked up at Temperance pleased to see she had a smile, even it was a weak and faint one on her face before looking back to Parker who was watching him avidly.
"When is it?"
"This aft'rnoon," Parker replied "at four o'clock." He gestured with his hands "when the big hand is at twelve' he reached above his head and then little hand is at the four," he put his hand down in the general direction of where the four would be if he were a clock.
"It is," Goodman praised as Parker put his hands down by his sides again.
"So come?" he asked before adding "please?"
Doctor Goodman nodded "I should think I'd be able to come,"
"Yay!" Parker clapped his hands together in delight.
Goodman got to his feet again and looked at Temperance as she looked at the fracture patterning on the pelvis "shall I bring the girls?"
"If you want they're more than welcome," she frowned slightly as she pulled off her latex gloves.
He nodded.
"What's going on here then?" Carter entered the lab, swiping his card as he jumped the steps in one.
Temperance stiffened and rolled her eyes before throwing her gloves in the trash. "Parker you've gotta stay here for a little while okay?" She leant over to get down to his height "if you're good Angela might draw you another picture or Doctor Goodman might show you some more interesting things in his office." she glanced up at the archaeologist at this point who nodded agreeably.
"Why? Where are you off too?" Carter frowned in disagreement.
"To the store," she replied curtly taking off her lab coat and going to hang it up.
Carter made a noise of disbelief "you can't just leave in the middle of a case!" he exclaimed following her.
As she left her office and hooked her bag onto her shoulder she leaned into his personal space and certified him with a rather venomous "watch me,"
"She can… she can't just… just… she can't just leave!" Carter stammered.
"Actually she can Agent Carter' Dr. Goodman said, his hands clasped behind his back 'she has something important to do'
"What could possibly be more important than identifying human remains?" Carter sneered, going to stand in front of Dr. Goodman.
"She's gone to go and get Parker's birthday cake," Zack said absently as matched two splintered bone fragments together and then sliding them into place with the rest of the now reconstructed skull.
"And again I say; what couldn't possibly be more important?"
"Thank you Mr. Addy," Dr. Goodman sighed before turning back to the offending Agent. "Miss Montenegro is more than capable of sketching on her own. Doctor Hodgins has three PhDs so I'd say he's more than qualified to work without a supervisor and Mr. Addy is a highly intelligent Grad student who has all the supervision he could possibly need whilst Doctor Brennan runs a quick errand,"
"That's not the point-"
"That is more than the point and far more than you need to know, now," he bent down to Parker's level once more. The boy was stood next to him watching Carter with a look of childlike dislike on his face as he glowered at him "how's about I show you some more of the artefacts we have here at the Jeffersonian?"
Parker nodded and without taking his eyes of Carter took the larger man's hand and allowed himself to be lead out of the lab.
"Heya sweetie," Angela said brightly coming into the kitchen, her dark blue skirt swishing about her calves as her white shoes clipped the tiled floor quietly "how's it going?" she hopped up to sit on the top and swung her legs against the cabinet doors beneath.
Temperance gave her a smile, the underlying tone of it pained and almost angry. Angela mirrored it "Parker and his friends seem to have formed some sort of army against Zack,"
Temperance stepped back a little to see into the lounge and her smile became more genuine as Zack gave her a pleading look as half a dozen five year olds backed him against the wall armed with balloons and streamers.
"Ya got anything stronger than a soda?" Jack came into he kitchen, still sporting his leather jacket.
"It's a kids party," Angela raised an eyebrow at him, her jaw dropping slightly as Temperance, in search of a soda for herself reached to the back of the fridge and threw him a bottle of beer "Tempe!" she scolded.
"Just don't leave the kitchen with that," Temperance warned him before going to rescue her assistant from the children.
He nodded in agreement before popping the top and taking a swig.
"Thank you Doctor Brennan," Zack panted as the 'army' released him "is there something wrong?"
"No problem," she replied quietly in response to both, giving Parker a smile when he held up the large fire truck he'd been given by Ryan "no problem at all,"
Zack nodded but watched her apprehensively as he went to the kitchen in search of refreshment as being the prey of five-year-old predators took a lot more out of you than would originally be anticipated.
Temperance went over to a chair and sat down, watching as Parker tore present after present open. The one thought that came running through her mind was Booth should be here.
He should see the look on his son's face as he laughed and played with his friends, as he opened presents. As he lived his life.
They grow up so fast, so, so fast and Booth was missing it. It made her feel like a thief.
She got to watch a boy that had no connection to her other than 'friend of daddy's' grow up, laugh and play.
She wasn't supposed to be the one that got up when he had nightmares or couldn't sleep.
She wasn't supposed to be the one that cared for him when he got sick. Who ran out at the middle of the night to get couch mixture or to his mom's place to collect an until-then-forgotten teddy bear?
Booth was supposed to do that, not her.
He took that shot so she wouldn't have too and now she was stealing every precious moment he could have had with his son. That Rebecca could have had.
Why? Why had he done it? He had a family, he had people that missed him, loved him, needed him.
She? Her parents were long since missing, possibly dead, she had no lover, no child. She had her job that was it. No one to love her. No one to need her.
She hadn't, at least before Parker, had a television, hadn't watched the shows and movies that he so often made references to.
But then again if she were a thief for stealing every moment that she had that Booth deserved what did that make his attacker?
His attacker stole lives.
She stole moments, days that turned to weeks, weeks that turned to months but she wasn't stealing lives.
That was the difference.
Roaring laughter and hysterical giggles broke through er reverie and she looked up and even she couldn't hold back a small laugh when she saw Dr. Goodman stood in the doorway dressed as a-
"Clown! Daddy's a clown!" Micheala cried as she and her sister ran into the room, each clad in purple and pink party dresses, braided hair in pigtails tied with ribbons to match their dresses.
Doctor Goodman however, looked less than pleased at his attire; the suit was red with blue cuffs and green and yellow circles decorating it, the trademark large shoes and red nose with a hat to match the suit. A glare at Parker was all it took for Temperance to realise who his outfitter was.
"Clown! Clown!" Will screamed, "there's a clown!"
Jack rolled his eyes from the doorway of the kitchen where he leaned on the doorjamb, tapping the neck of the bottle with the back of a fingernail.
Angela was grinning and then burst into a fit of laughter when she saw Zack's face. His jaw was dropped and his eyes wide as he stared at Doctor Goodman.
"You look almost human when you do that," Jack mused glancing to his right where Zack was stood.
Realising he was gaping Zack blushed slightly and closed his mouth, muttering.
"Balloon animal!" Jessie called out "make balloon animal!"
Sighing in acceptance of his roll as the literal clown Dr. Goodman nodded. "Sit down," he ordered "sit down, Aly come over here," he called his daughter away from a low set of shelves that held some rather expensive looking items, why on earth Temperance had left something like that within children's reach at a birthday party he had no idea.
As Doctor Goodman began blowing up balloons and twisting and folding them until they resembled the animal each child had requested Temperance got up and went into the kitchen as Angela, Zack and Jack made their way out, Jack wisely leaving his half finished beer in the kitchen.
She went over to the side and leaned forward over it, tucking her head down and breathing deeply, she wasn't going to cry. Tears would not fall today. This was Parker's day. This was the one-day that Parker would get even a fragment of everything he deserved because that boy was special. That boy deserved everything he wanted and so much more only the one thing that he wanted, the one thing she knew how much it felt like to ache in longing for she could not give.
The one thing he needed was out of reach.
Cake. That would help, make sure the cake is okay, are the candles in the cupboard? Is there a lighter around?
All checked and accounted for within about five minutes she was left again, to think.
No! She mustn't think, not about Booth, about how he should be here, how she wanted more than anything for him to walk through that door, how Parker shouldn't be sat in the corner alone, silent tears running down his face, how she–
She was out of the kitchen faster than she thought possible.
"Parker?" she crouched in front of him, giving Dr. Goodman a nod to continue that she had it, that she had everything under control… control, she needed it, loved it, thrived on it, nothing was in her control… no dammit! This is Parker's day! "Honey, why don't you come with me a minute?"
He wiped his eyes on the back of his sleeve and nodded, reaching up for her to lift him as Goodman kept his friends occupied, even Temperance's colleagues seemed enthralled by how quickly and efficiently the man could make any manner of balloon animals.
She carried him through to her bedroom and at down on the bed, him seated sideways on her lap. He leant against her, his head tucked under her chin, his thumb creeping closer to his mouth as he twisted and wrenched at the cuffs of his sweater. Temperance opened her mouth to say something but closed it again shortly after.
What could she say? I'm sorry your mom's dead and your dad's as good as? I'm sorry that every day is now a chore for me? I'm sorry that I can't be who you want me to be?
'I'm sorry' wasn't enough, it never would be.
How often had she wondered with every fibre of her being what would have happened had Booth gone into the bathroom and found Parker in there? Would she be the one in a coma? Would she have taken the shot? She didn't know, she hadn't a clue.
Booth had.
Booth hadn't even thought.
He'd seen someone with a gun and immediately thrown himself in front of them. Because he loved Parker. It was far too much to hope for that Booth loved her too. Far, far too much.
Did she love him enough to take that shot?
Yes.
A thousand times over she would take that shot if only Booth was awake. Alive. With Parker.
"I want daddy to be here," he said softly, his voice thick with tears "why can't daddy be here?"
Her heart was breaking in two, he sounded so desperate. For so long he'd tried to understand, tried to pretend like he was fine. For so long she hadn't had to answer a question she herself was asking.
For so long the words 'He's not going to wake up' had been echoing round her head, haunting her every moment.
"He's asleep," she replied, mentally kicking herself. Asleep? How long was she going to lie to herself for? Lie to him? Booth wasn't asleep. He was as good as dead. The only thing between him and the thereafter was wires and plugs, machines and pipes.
One pull of the plug, one flick of the switch would end it. That's all that was keeping him with them and even then he wasn't with them as such. He was lying in a hospital bed whether knowing or not of what was going on around him. If he could hear them, God if he could hear them…
"He's been asleep for ages!" Parker sobbed "I want him to wake up! Why won't he wake up?"
"I don't… I don't know" she stammered.
"He should be awake! I want him to be awake!" he buried his face into Temperance's shirt "Why won't he wake up?" he repeated again and again sobbing and crying, pleading, begging and sniffling.
Her jaw set.
Booth should be able to hear them, he should be able to know what was happening, and damn him if this didn't work.
She stood up, sitting Parker on her hip and picking her car keys up of the dresser.
"We'll be back," she said as she carried the still crying Parker out of the house. The slamming of the front door deafening in a now silent apartment as each person in there stared at the door then each other, questioning eyes and shocked expressions decorating everyone's faces as many scenarios ran through each adults minds before finally settling on one word.
Booth.
Thanks to me checking my emails when I got in from school and finding the amazing amount of reviews there I managed to get inspired enough to write this. So thank you, and please keep reviewing! XD. I'm as desperate to finish writing this as you all seem to be to read it. XD. As I said REVIEW!
Chapter 11 is already started!