Booth had just placed his lunch order when his phone rang, he smiled as he picked it up. "Hey, Bones…"

"Hello, Booth. Is now a good time to talk?"

"Yeah, I just gave my lunch order to Meg."

"I hope you got something other than a cheeseburger and fries."

"I did, today's special is a chicken salad sandwich and coleslaw. I got that, but I subbed fries for coleslaw because it's watery and gross. You know that."

"I do and I suppose a chicken salad sandwich is a little better than a cheeseburger. Hold on." Booth heard Brennan's phone being moved then breathing. "Bones?"

"Say hi to daddy, Michael. " Booth instinctively gripped the phone tighter and unknowingly held his breath. "Hi Daddy!"

Booth grinned and let out the breath, "Hi buddy! Are you having fun with mommy?"

"Sweetheart, you have to talk, daddy can't see you nodding your head on the phone…" Booth couldn't help chuckling softly. "Yeah. Play round…"

"That'll be fun. Saturday after we go to Parker's game, you and I will spend the afternoon at the playground, okay?"

"Arker?"

"I'll see if Parker can come with us, but he might have something to do with his other mommy." Booth was going to call Rebecca as soon as he hung up with Michael and ask her if Parker could spend a few hours with him and Michael on Saturday. He was prepared to let her have Christmas just because Michael had asked if Parker could come too. He'd never asked for Parker to come anywhere with them.

"K." Booth heard shuffling then, "Booth?"

"I'm here, Bones. I guess Michael is done talking on the phone…"

"It would appear so. We worked on saying goodbye when he was done talking to you…"

"It's fine, Bones. I'm just thrilled I got to talk to him on the phone… There was a time I thought I'd NEVER be able to do that."

"I know. We've been working on it for months as a surprise for you."

"Well I'm surprised."

"I'm glad. Are you going to call Rebecca and ask her if Parker can spend some of Saturday with you?"

"Yes, she should let him, she's been good about letting me have time with him after his games this year."

"I hope so, I don't want Michael not to get the first thing he asked for without prompting from either of us. It's selfish, but that's how I feel… He's worked so hard…"

"I know, and it's not selfish, Bones. I want him to get it too. I'm pretty sure Becca will be fine with it, she knows how big of a deal Michael talking is for us."

"I hope so. I need to go, Michael just brought me a jar of jelly… he needs lunch before we go to the indoor playground."

Booth laughed, "Okay, have fun at the playground. Give him a hug for me, I'm so proud of him."

"I will. Love you, Booth. See you tonight."

"I love you too, Bones. See you in a few hours."

B&B

That night Brennan sat on the couch next to Booth. "Michael was asleep before I opened the book."

"That's good."

"Yes, the indoor playground always tires him out more than the playground at the park does."

"That's because the indoor playground has more stuff to do and play on."

"Michael seems to enjoy it more than the one at the park. Did you speak to Rebecca?"

"Yeah, she was actually going to call me and see if we could take Parker this weekend. She's got a presentation or something due Monday that's falling apart. She needs to hole up in her office and work on it the whole weekend. I'll get him from school on Friday and take him home Sunday night. I know you need to work on your book, I'll keep the boys quiet…"

"You don't have to do that, Booth. I was able to get quite a bit written today, I let Michael watch a movie after we got back from the playground. I can work while you're at the playground. We can go to the aquarium Sunday before Parker goes home."

"You're going to Parker's game?"

"Yes, he asked if I'd attend before he left last weekend."

"I like it as much as Parker does when you go to his games. The aquarium will be cool too. How did you teach Michael to talk on the phone?"

"I like going with you to Parker's games, I'd attend more of them, but it's hard with Michael and his tantrums."

"I know. He was good last weekend, I had to hold him and I got popcorn before it started. He sat on my lap and ate popcorn for almost the entire game. He got restless at the end, but didn't meltdown."

"He's progressing so much, but it scares me a little too, what if he plateaus?"

"If he does we'll work through it with him. If this is as good as it gets then that's fine. He's a lot better than he was four months ago. He can tell us what he wants now usually or if he can't it's a lot easier to figure out what he wants…"

"I don't want this to be as good as it gets, I want him to speak normally and not have the problems he currently has."

"Me too, Bones, but that might not be entirely possible."

"I know and I'll be okay with that eventually…"

Booth kissed Brennan's cheek, "so what made you decide to tackle teaching Michael phone skills?"

"He did. I called dad one day and he kept reaching for my phone. I asked if he wanted to talk to dad and he nodded, so I gave him the phone and he froze up and wouldn't say anything. After that I got one of my old phones and we practiced every day. Once he got to where he'd actually talk to a dead phone I started calling dad. At first he didn't say anything, but dad kept working with him. Once he started talking to dad I started working on getting him to say 'hi daddy'. He only learned to clearly say it without dropping letters yesterday, I was sort of hoping that he wouldn't say it last night."

"I hope he will start talking to us without us asking him questions first."

"Me too, hopefully someday. When I found out I was pregnant I had this picture in my head of him coming home from school or wherever and telling me all about it while I made dinner. I did it with mom it was usually the best part of my day…"

"Bones, he'll do that, it's just gonna take a while."

B&B

Friday afternoon Booth left his office early and headed home to get Michael to pick Parker up from school. "Hey buddy, do you want to go for a ride with me?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, let's get your shoes on so we can go."

"K." Booth put Michael's shoes on and they headed for the SUV. Booth pulled up in the pickup line just as the bell rang. Parker quickly found the SUV, Michael spotted him as he was walking toward them. "Arker!"

Booth looked back at Michael and smiled "Yeah buddy, Parker is going to spend the weekend with us. Tomorrow we'll go to his soccer game with mommy then we'll go to the playground after. Then Sunday after Parker and I go to church we'll all go to the aquarium."

Parker opened the door of the SUV then and tossed his backpack inside. "Arker!"

"Hey Mikey!" Parker slammed the door shut and climbed in front next to Booth. "Dad, did mom drop off my stuff?"

"Yeah, Bones put it in your room."

"Good. Are we getting pizza?"

"Of course. What kind of pizza do you want, Michael?"

"Eese…"

"You want just plain cheese? No mushrooms or olives?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, you want mushrooms and olives?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

B&B

After they ate Parker settled at the kitchen table to do his homework, Michael dropped a truck on top of Parker's math book. "Mikey, I can't play with right now, I have to do my homework. Go play with dad. I'll play with you when I'm done." Parker handed the truck to Michael and went back to work. Thirty seconds later the truck was back on Parker's book. "Mikey!" Brennan hurried over with some worksheets and a box of crayons. "Michael, Parker needs to do his homework before he can play with you. Why don't you sit in your chair and do some more worksheets? When you're both done you can play." Michael nodded and climbed in his chair. Forty minutes later Booth, Parker and Michael were playing an extremely loud game of Mousetrap.

B&B

The next morning Booth and the boys headed to the soccer field in the SUV while Brennan followed in her car. After getting popcorn, pretzels and water at the concession stand Michael settled on Brennan's lap and began to watch Parker's game. At its end Brennan said goodbye to Booth, Parker, and Michael and headed home to write while the boys headed to the indoor playground for the afternoon. It was almost dinnertime when the front door opened and Michael ran in the kitchen and threw his arms around Brennan's legs, she laughed and picked him up. "Hi sweetheart, did you have fun at the playground with daddy and Parker?"

"Yeah."

"That's good. Dinner will be ready in a little bit, why don't you go take your shoes off and wash your hands."

"K." Brennan kissed the top of Michael's head and put him on the floor.

"I'll go help so he doesn't try to flood the bathroom again."

"Thanks Parker."

Booth walked up behind Brennan and pulled her against him. "Did you get your book done?"

"Almost. I have one more chapter to go. I think I can get it done this week, dad's been asking to take Michael to the zoo so I might let him this week and finish it then."

"Sounds good. What did you make for dinner?"

"Pot roast, mashed potatoes, carrots and green beans. I also stopped at the bakery and got a cheesecake sampler. We can go there for breakfast if you want, they have the apple cider donuts again this year."

"We are going tomorrow plus we're bringing some home."

Brennan smiled and kissed Booth. "Okay. Can you set the table?"

"Sure." After dinner at Brennan's urging Booth and the boys went to the living room to watch a movie. When everything was cleaned up and put away Brennan went into the living room and smiled Booth sat in the middle of the couch with Parker and Michael on either side of him, all three were sound asleep, she took a quick picture and quietly went to her office. A few hours later Brennan went back to the living room and carefully lifted Michael off the couch, Booth pulled him closer in his sleep then he stirred. "Bones?"

"Yeah, I'm going to put Michael in bed, it's his bedtime." She lifted Michael into her arms and rubbed his back. "Go back to sleep, sweetie." As Brennan headed down the hall Booth woke up Parker, "Parks, wake up…"

"Mmm! Dad go away and let me sleep!"

Booth chuckled softly, "Go to bed, bub. You can't use me for a pillow all night anymore…" Parker grunted and sat up.

"Don't forget we have church in the morning. The bakery has the apple cider donuts again, we'll stop and get one and some to take home before we go."

"K." Parker stood up and headed for his room. A few minutes later Brennan sat down next to Booth. "I tucked Parker in too. I don't think he realized I did."

Booth chuckled, "They're both wiped out. Michael played on everything, he still doesn't like the teeter totter. He did it for a few minutes, but I had to stand behind him. "

"I was a little surprised you were gone so long."

"Yeah, Michael was really enjoying himself and their wasn't hardy anyone there so I just let him play. He had a small meltdown when I told him it was time to go home, but that's normal three year old behavior. Parker enjoyed it too."

"I'm glad. Sometimes I think about not working with him and taking him there and letting him play all day or for as long as he can… it's really the only thing he truly enjoys"

"You should, Michael would love it. Parker doesn't have school Tuesday, some teacher workshop. You could let Michael have a free day then too."

"He has speech therapy Monday and he still hates it, actually he hates that I'm not in the room with him more than he hates the actual therapy. I could give him a free day if he does his best and stays in the room the entire time."

"Do you want me to take him?"

"No, he needs to get used to me being there, but not with him all the time. Last week he only left the room twice. Really only once, he needed to use the bathroom and wouldn't go on his own and came to find me. Not that I blame him, the bathroom is in the back of the building. You have to walk past the offices and treatment rooms to get to it."

"So if he does good Monday he gets to play at the indoor playground all day, Tuesday?"

"Yes… Do we have to take Parker that day?"

"No, Sean's mom is having him and a few other friends over for the day."

"That will be fun for him."

"Yeah and so will playing at the playground until he can't anymore for Michael."

B&B

Sunday morning Booth got out of bed and quietly dressed for church without waking Brennan. He was on his way to make sure Parker was up when he heard Michael playing in his room. Booth pushed the door open and stood in the doorway. "Hey buddy, what are you doing up early?" Michael shrugged and held out his firetruck to Booth. Booth walked into the room, "I can't play now, Michael. Parker and I are going to church. When we're done we'll come home and have breakfast with you and mommy then we'll all go to the -aquarium for the day. Tonight I'll play with you before bed." Michael looked a little disappointed. "Do you want to come with us? You'll have to be quiet and sit still."

"Yeah."

"Okay. Can you be quiet and sit still?"

"Yeah."

"Let me go make sure Parker is awake, then I'll come help you get dressed. Put your truck away and find a shirt that doesn't have a picture on the front."

"Okay…"

Thirty minutes later Booth leaned over Brennan's side of the bed and kissed her awake. "Booth?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry to wake you up, but I wanted to tell you that I'm taking Michael to church with me and Parker."

"Do you think that's wise? Last time you took him he had a gigantic meltdown and you had to leave early…"

"I think he can handle it, he's so much better now than he was a year ago. We'll sit in the back and if we have to leave early we have to leave early, it's not a big deal, Bones. I want to do this…"

"Okay, give him something to eat on the way. He'll be too cranky if he has to wait until after the service to eat."

"I was planning on going to the bakery to get an apple cider donut and a box to bring home before we go."

"Take a clean shirt for him in case he spills. I'll make a breakfast casserole for us to have before we go to the aquarium."

"Okay. I'll grab a shirt and another pair of pants just in case, then we'll go."

"Good luck and enjoy the morning with both boys. I love you, Booth."

"Thanks. I will. I love you too, Bones."

B&B

The bakery wasn't too busy and Booth was able to quickly order a dozen apple cider donuts to take home plus three to eat now along with two half pint cartons of milk and a medium black coffee. Parker led everybody to a table in the corner, Booth helped Michael into a chair and tucked a napkin in his shirt. Michael's eyes lit up as he took a bite of his donut. "Do you like your donut, Michael?"

"Yeah, good."

"I wish they had these all year, not just in the fall."

"If they did that they wouldn't be a special treat, Parks."

"I know."

"Your mom will be here a few times to get some before they're gone. Don't worry you'll get your fill of them."

B&B

They got to the church fifteen minutes before the service started, Michael held onto Booth's hand tightly as they made their way inside and found an empty pew in the back. A few of the church members gave Booth surprised looks as he settled Michael between himself and Parker. "Are you okay, Michael?" he nodded and started swinging his legs back and forth. Just before the service started Michael climbed onto Booth's lap, he smiled and put an arm around him. "Is that better, buddy?"

"Yeah." Michael started playing with the buttons on Booth's shirt sleeve. Booth kissed the top of his head and settled back to listen to the service. When it was over Booth and Parker started heading for the door, when they were outside Booth turned to Michael, who was no longer playing with his shirt sleeve. "Did you like it, Michael?" Michael shrugged, Booth hugged him. "You did a good job sitting still and being quiet, I'm proud of you. Are you ready to go home and see mommy?"

"Yeah. Hungry."

Booth laughed, "Mommy is making breakfast for us to have before we go to the aquarium."

"K."

"What is she making, dad?"

"Breakfast casserole."

"The one with the tater tots?"

"Yeah, probably, she knows it's your favorite plus she got tater tots at the store the other day."

"Yum!"

B&B

They got home just as Brennan was pulling the casserole from the oven. Booth held Michael back while Brennan sat the pan on the stove. "Wait for mommy to put the pan down and close the oven, then you can run and hug her. Brennan smiled as she closed the oven and turned around, Michael ran to her and threw his arms around her legs, and she picked him up. "Hi sweetheart, did you enjoy your morning at church with daddy and Parker?"

Michael shrugged, Brennan kissed his forehead. "Did you enjoy your apple cider donut?"

"Yeah, good!" Brennan chuckled and kissed his forehead again.

"Bones, can we eat now? I'm hungry."

"Yes, Parker, take Michael and wash your hands while I finish it up…" Brennan put Michael down.

Come on, Mikey!" Parker took his hand and started dragging him to the bathroom. Brennan picked up the casserole and carried it to the table. "How was Michael, Booth?"

"Perfect, he didn't get agitated waiting in line at the bakery. When we got to church, we got seats in the back and I sat him in between Parker and me, but right before the service started he climbed in my lap. He sat quietly in my lap and played with the buttons on my sleeve the whole time. He was ready to come home and see you when it was over though." Brennan smiled.

"I'm glad you had a good morning with him and Parker, Booth." Brennan sat a bowl of cut of fruit on the table.

"Me too. I won't be taking him with every Sunday, he's not ready for that, but once and a while I'll take him. Especially on Easter and Christmas…" Booth got plates and forks from the cabinet and set the table. After everyone had eaten their fill of breakfast casserole, fruit and donuts Brennan turned to Michael, "Michael, let's go change your clothes to shorts and a different shirt so you'll be more comfortable when we go to the aquarium."

"NO!" Brennan was a little shocked, Michael had never told them no before.

"Daddy and Parker are going to change…"

"No."

"Okay…" Brennan started clearing the table, Booth cornered her by the sink. "Are you okay, Bones?"

Brennan smiled a little, "Yes, I'm just a little surprised Michael said no, we haven't gone over it. I wasn't going to teach it to him, at least not yet…."

Booth laughed and kissed Brennan, "Michael is growing up. I'll grab a change for him in case he changes his mind later."

"Thanks."

B&B

They'd been at the aquarium for almost two hours, Michael was walking between Booth and Brennan holding their hands. Parker was a few steps ahead of them. Everyone was enjoying the afternoon, Michael was talking a little bit more without being asked questions first. They were looking at the tropical fish tank. "Daddy…" Booth looked over, "What buddy?" Michael held his arms up. "Do you want me to carry you?" Michael nodded. Booth picked him up and they went to the next tank. Five minutes later Brennan looked over, "Michael is asleep…"

"I kind of figured that'd happen. He had an early morning plus he's walked around a lot today."

"Do you want to go rent a stroller for the rest of the day here?"

"Nah, I'll just carry him. Putting him in the stroller might wake him up then he'd be crabby the rest of the afternoon."

"True…" Brennan leaned in and kissed the back if Michael's head and then Booth's cheek.

B&B

A while later the four of them were sitting at Booth and Brennan's usual table at the diner for a quick dinner before they dropped Parker off. "Michael, do you want a cheeseburger with ketchup, pickles and no bun?"

"No." Normally when Michael didn't want what she or Booth offered they named menu items they knew he liked until he settled on what he wanted. This time though Brennan handed Michael the menu, "okay what do you want?" Michael opened the menu and pointed to a picture, Brennan looked at it, "You want an open faced roast beef sandwich?" Michael nodded. Brennan looked at Booth, he shrugged his shoulders. "That sounds good, I think I'll order it too."

"Okay. Do you want green beans with it?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." While they were waiting for their food Booth asked, "Michael what was your favorite thing from today?"

"Fish!"

"What kind of fish though?"

"Fish!"
Booth chuckled, "okay. What about you, Parks?"

"I liked the sea otters."

"Those were cool…" the food came and Brennan was a little surprised when Michael dug into his dinner, he wasn't that good at trying new foods. When everyone else was almost done with dinner Booth noticed Michael picking at the remaining half of his dinner. "Michael, if you're full we can take the rest home and you can have it for lunch tomorrow." Michael nodded. Brennan cleaned Michael up while Booth got a to-go box and packed up the leftovers.

B&B

That night after Brennan put Michael in bed she sat next to Booth on the couch, he pulled her close. "What was your favorite thing from today, Bones?"

"Listening to Michael talk without us asking him questions first, I'll never get tired of hearing him talk. It was nice to have a somewhat normal, albeit limited conversation with my own child. What was your favorite thing from today, Booth?"

"Hearing Michael say 'daddy' was the best thing. Going to church with both boys and making it through the whole service. I didn't think I'd ever be able to do that after the gigantic melt down Michael had last time. Plus watching Michael be a normal kid and eat a donut was fun too."

"Michael had a really good day today. I hope it carries over into tomorrow morning. He does well with Patti during his sessions, his big issue is needing me there in the room. I don't do anything I usually read a journal and listen to him work. The last few weeks we've been working on me not being in the room, he's not happy, but he doesn't have a meltdown over it now."

"He'll get used to it in a few weeks. Just like someday soon he'll say 'mommy' we're still working on it every night."

"I know, so is Patti."

B&B

The next morning after Booth left for work Brennan got Michael ready to go to his speech therapy appointment. Over the last year Brennan found that Michael did best if he had therapy first thing in the morning. If they did it around lunchtime he was hungry and ready for a nap. After lunch he was ready for Booth to come home. When Patti came into the waiting room to get Michael he pulled on Brennan's hand. "Michael, I can't go with you, you know that. If you go with Patti and try your best for the whole hour you'll get a special surprise tomorrow." Michael slowly let go of Brennan's hand and walked to where Patti was waiting. An hour later Michael ran into the waiting room and over to Brennan. "Hi Mommy! I got sticker…" Brennan just sat there, staring at Michael.

"Temperance, are you okay?"

Brennan blinked and smiled at Michael, before turning to Patti. "Yes, I just wasn't expecting…"

"I know, we were working on it and something clicked and he got 'm' sounds. Michael is starting to put together sentences. He did very well today and earned a sticker plus choice of activity next week."

"Mommy!" Brennan pulled Michael onto her lap and hugged him tight. "I'm so proud of you, Michael you did a great job working with Patti today. Let's go to the library for story hour then we can go home and have lunch."

"K."

"Say bye to Patti."

"Bye."

"Bye Michael. Have fun at story hour. See you next week."

Brennan hugged Michal again as she stood up and headed for the door. Later that night Booth was helping Brennan with dinner when Michael came into the kitchen.

"Mommy, hungry!" Brennan glanced at Booth and smiled. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, sweetie. Why don't you go wash your hands?"

"K." Michael headed for the bathroom.

"Did he just?"

"Yes, Michael started saying 'mommy' with Patti. When he was done with therapy, he ran up to me in the waiting room and said, 'hi mommy! I got sticker' I just sat there staring at him. Patti asked me if I was okay. When I snapped out of it I hugged him so tight… he's been saying mommy all day, I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing him say it."

Booth put down the salad bowl and pulled Brennan into a tight hug and silently wiped away tears that slowly rolled down her cheeks. "So I guess Michael earned a free day at the playground tomorrow?"

"Yes…"

B&B

The next morning after Booth left for work, Brennan turned to Michael. "Michael, let's go get your surprise. Go put your shoes on."

"K."

Brennan didn't tell Michael where they were going, she just strapped him in his car seat and headed for the playground. When they got there Brennan wordlessly got Michael out of the car and took him inside. She led him over to a bench and pulled him onto her lap. "Michael, since you did so well in speech yesterday, daddy and I decided that you could have a free day to play here all day. We're not going to work on your words today."

Michael grinned and hugged Brennan, then took off for the tunnel slide. It was a little before noon when Booth walked in. "Hey Bones."

"Hello Booth." Brennan scooted over and Booth sat next to her.

"I see Michael is still going strong."

"Yes. We have a very happy three year old right now. I've pushed him on the swing a few times and he's taken a few bathroom and water breaks, but other than that he's been playing all day. A little boy came up to him and asked him if he wanted to do the teeter totter, he did, but I had to help him… the other little boy lost interest in it before Michael did though."

"Well, it is kind of boring. I'm glad he's having a good day. I brought lunch from the diner. I'll go get him."

"Okay."

Booth walked quickly to the tunnel slide and waited for Michael to pop out. "Daddy!"

Booth smiled, "Hey Michael, are you having fun?"

"Yeah…"

"That's good. Come take a break and have lunch, then you can play some more."

"K."

Booth picked Michael up and headed for the for the picnic area outside. Booth got Michael a cheeseburger with ketchup and pickles minus the bun and fries. He had a cheeseburger with everything and fries, while Brennan had a salad and half of Booth's fries. After lunch Booth pushed Michael on the swing for a little while before he headed back to work.

"Bye, Buddy!"

"Bye, daddy." An hour later Michael walked over to Brennan. "Mommy, home…"

Brennan smiled at Michael who was clearly exhausted. "Are you ready to go home, buddy?"

"Yeah…"

"Okay." Brennan picked up Michael and head to her car, she smiled as she left the parking lot; Michael was out like a light.

A/N: One more chapter to go! Hopefully I'll have this story finished before the end of the year….