(The Family in the Feud)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I really appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

"You know Bones . . . nature is pretty interesting. I mean look at those Cleopatra fingos that made the victims eyes light up red. That's pretty cool if you think about it." Booth was trying to avoid talking about Max and he thought he was on safe ground.

Puzzled, Brennan stirred the roasted zucchini and mushrooms in the baking dish then recovered the pan with foil. "Oh you mean Coleoptera phengodidae . . . yes railroad worms are very interesting. The red glow frightens off predators." She opened the oven and placed the pan back inside.

"Um yeah, what you said." Booth finished feeding Christine, placed the bottle on the table and wiped her mouth and chin clean. "I guess that truffle hunter got the scare of his life."

Shrugging her shoulders, Brennan started to slice some Italian bread and place the slices on a plate. "I suppose."

Booth hated that Brennan was so upset about her father. She carried around a lot of baggage because of her family and what they did to her when she was a child. He tried to be patient with her even when her actions didn't help the situation. He liked Max, but he knew that Brennan had to come to terms with her past if she wanted a relationship with her father and all he could do was back her up even if he thought she was making a mistake. On the other hand, his own past with his father had been worse than hers so what did he know about it? "I'm going to go upstairs and give Christine a bath."

After Booth left the room with their baby in his arms, she continued to prepare dinner while Brennan's mind raged over what she should do about her father and his apparent disregard for rules. He had given her a fright that day when she had lost contact with him and her daughter. She barely trusted paid professionals to take care of her baby and her father was not helping the situation in that regard at all.

A little while later, much to her surprise, her father showed up at the front door and after being asked for forgiveness, Brennan had relented and invited him to stay for dinner. Booth had been relieved that Brennan had worked out her problem with her father and hoped that she would continue to see Max at least once in a while.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Dinner done, dishes washed and put away, Max gone and Christine in bed, Booth sat on their bed, his back propped up against the headboard. Flipping through his latest addition of Sports Illustrated, he watched Brennan out of the corner of his eye. "I really liked that zucchini and mushroom dish you made. It tasted pretty good and it went pretty good with the pasta."

As she removed her necklace and placed it on the dresser, Brennan stared at Booth using the mirror before her. "I told you I could make you a very tasty vegetarian dish if you would allow me to. I think you should cut down on meat . . . and bread . . . and definitely sugar."

Not really interested in changing his diet, Booth placed the magazine on his lap. "Once in a while is okay, but I'm not giving up meat for you or anyone else and I'm not giving up bread either."

Shrugging her shoulders, Brennan removed her pajamas from her dresser and shook her head. "That of course is up to you . . . I'm glad Max stayed for dinner. It was nice to have him here and Christine does seem to enjoy his company."

While she walked over to the closed bathroom door, Booth shifted on the bed and watched as she reached out to open the door. "I'm glad you forgave him, Bones. That was pretty nice of you after he scared you this morning."

Her attention momentarily distracted by Booth, Brennan opened the door and at first didn't notice what played out behind her. As she turned to face the doorway, it appeared that several spiders were jumping at her. Startled, she threw her pajamas at them and jumped back.

The look of on her face priceless to him, Booth laughed. As he laughed he fell towards the mattress and held his hands against his stomach laughing harder.

Now aware that Booth had played a trick on her, Brennan moved closer to the dangling spiders and found that they were the black plastic spiders she had used against him a few months ago. They were taped to thin strings and as she inspected them she saw the strings were taped just above the door jam. Obviously he had had rested the tiny spiders between the top of the door and the door jam and when she'd opened the door it has allowed the spiders to fall.

"Very amusing Booth." Yanking the spiders down, she turned, marched over to the bed and taped the end of the strings to Booth's shoulder. "I think these belong to you."

Sitting up, the spiders now dangled down Booth's chest which made him laugh harder. "Oh Bones . . . you should have seen the look on your . . . on your face . . . so damn funny."

Hands on her hips, Brennan watched as her mate laughed heartily. "I was wondering what had happened to my plastic spiders." His laughter infectious, Brennan joined him. Chuckling, she shook her head. "You're such a child sometimes."

Pulling the strings from his shoulder, Booth help up the spiders for her to see. "I believe these belong to you not to me."

Slowly nodding her head, Brennan moved onto the mattress, grasped the spiders and threw them over her shoulder. Her hands pushing her man back onto the mattress, Brennan smiled. "I will get you back Booth." Kissing him, she knew that he had played the trick on her to make her laugh because of the day she'd had. "I'm going to throw those spiders away."

Not interested in the spiders anymore, Booth rolled them both over and stared down at his beautiful partner. "Made you laugh didn't I?"

"Yes you did."

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

Let me know what you thought of my joke. Thank you.