Sorry for the delay. Enjoy. :)
Brennan wakes up and is momentarily confused. She looks around, squinting at the sunlight shining through the windows, and soon realizes that she's lying down on the couch in the living room. She sits up slowly and stretches. She pushes herself up and becomes painfully aware of her full bladder. She makes her way to the downstairs bathroom and shuts the door.
When she reemerges in the hallway, she hears distant voices coming from the kitchen, so she heads in that direction. She smiles at the sight before her: Parker and Christine sitting at the island, the little girl's arm resting on the countertop while her big brother signs her cast.
She can hear Booth's soothing voice through the baby monitor by the sink, which is only overpowered by the distinctive cries of their newborn son. She clears her throat, the two siblings turning their heads. "I'll be upstairs, giving your father a hand with the babies." Noticing the twin bowls of cereal, she nods. "I see you two have already eaten."
Parker nods, capping the silver sharpie. "Yeah."
Christine turns her head and lights up. "Mommy! Yook what Ark did." She points to her cast at the area where Parker drew a smiley face with sunglasses and signed his name.
Brennan smiles. "I'll sign your cast when I come back downstairs, Honey."
Christine nods. "Uh-huh. I wait." She settles back into her stool and smiles at Parker.
For a few minutes, Brennan listens to Parker telling his little sister not to stick anything down her cast even when it starts to itch really bad and reminding her that she has to try really hard not to get it wet. She laughs quietly to herself and disappears upstairs.
It's later in the afternoon and Brennan's lying down in her bed. She has a bit of a headache and she's more than a little tired. She pulls her legs to her chest and snuggles further into the covers. Just as she's on the cusp of sleep, the bedroom door opens.
"Mommy!"
Brennan sighs. So much for that. She pushes herself up and rubs her eyes. "What's going on, Honey?"
Christine holds up her arm and points to the two little hand prints. "Yook what La-La n Ry-Ry did."
Brennan clears her throat and brushes her hair out of her face. She rolls out her neck and rubs her eyes again. She smiles. "Wow." She fights back a yawn and her eyes fall shut involuntarily.
"Is you sleepy, mommy?"
Brennan nods. "Yes, Sweetheart. Momma's very tired." She slides down the mattress, lying flat on her back for a brief second before rolling onto her side. She tugs on the sheets and relaxes, allowing herself to melt into the mattress, letting the pillow mold to the side of her head. "Where is your daddy?"
Christine looks towards the door and points. "Dare." She pauses. "Hi, daddy!" She runs over to him and jumps into his arms.
Booth catches her, taking one step back. "Whoa, Princess." He holds her close and looks at Brennan. "Did you wake mom up?"
Christine shakes her head. "No. She wake already."
"Well, she looks tired. Maybe we should let her sleep for a while."
"Kay, daddy."
"I'm awake, Booth," Brennan slurs.
"Barely." He pauses. "Since it's a nice day, I'm gonna take the babies outside for a half hour or so." He looks at the little girl in his arm. "Do you wanna go play outside with Ryan and Ella?"
Christine nods. "Uh-huh. Ark too, daddy?"
He nods. "We can ask him." He looks back at Brennan and smiles. "Take a nap, Bones."
"What about you? You must be tired, as well," Brennan says, sitting up, holding the sheet close to her body.
He fails to stop a yawn from escaping. "How about I wake you up in two hours and we'll trade places?"
"That compromise is satisfactory."
He smiles. "Good." He pauses. "Sweet dreams, Bones."
She nods sleepily, laying back down and rolling over to face away from him.
He backs out of the room and shuts the door behind him. He sets Christine down and the two of them walk towards Parker's bedroom door.
Christine knocks. "Ark, it's me."
Parker opens the door after the fifth knock and raises an eyebrow. "What's up?"
"Come play, Ark." She grabs his hand and gives it a small tug.
"I'm kinda busy, Ladybug."
She pouts, her eyes welling up with tears. "No! You come play wit me now." She stomps her foot and looks up at her dad. "Tell Ark, daddy. He gotta go."
"If he says he's busy, he's busy, Princess. You, me, Ryan, and Ella will still have loads of fun out there."
She sits down on the floor and crosses her arms over her chest, shaking her head. "No. Ark don't go, I no go too."
"Christine, Baby, come on."
She shakes her head. "No!"
The master bedroom door opens and a zombie-like Brennan saunters out. "What's going on out here?"
"Bones, go back to slee—." Booth trails off, turning his head towards the nursery door when he hears the unmistakable cry of his newborn son. He shakes his head. What else can go wrong right now? As if on cue, the phone starts to ring. I just had to ask.
"I'll check on Ryan, you can go answer the phone," Brennan decides, already walking towards the nursery.
Booth nods and looks at Parker. "Watch your sister for a few minutes, Bub."
Parker groans. "But daaaad, I'm busy."
"With what?"
Parker sighs. "Stuff."
Booth narrows his eyes. "I'm only asking you to watch her for five minutes."
"This time," Parker grumbles.
"What was that?"
Parker shakes his head. "Nothing." He looks down at his sister. "C'mon, Ladybug." He holds out his hand and Christine immediately takes it, leaping up to her feet.
"Where we goin, Ark?"
"In my room." Parker squeezes her hand and the two of them disappear into his bedroom.
Booth rushes down the hallway and leaps down the stairs, taking them three at a time until he reaches the foyer floor. He runs into the living room and grabs the phone just in time. "Booth."
"Shrimp, open your front door."
Booth turns his head and walks towards the front door. He checks the peephole and then pulls the door open. "Pops, what are you doing here?"
"Do I need a reason to visit my grandson?"
Booth ends the call and gives his grandfather a hug, holding him a little longer than usual.
"Seeley, you're crushing me."
Booth steps back finally and runs his hand back through his hair. "Sorry, Pops. It's just good to see you."
"Are you gonna to let me in?"
"Oh, right, sorry." Booth takes a step to the side to allow Hank to pass the threshold.
Brennan walks down the stairs as she calls for Booth. "Who was on the pho—? Oh, Hank, hello." She smiles and walks down the last few steps. She goes to shake his hand but the older man pulls her into a hug. "Oh." She recovers quickly and swallows. "This is a surprise." She pauses. "Can I get you something to drink?"
Hank shakes his head. "I'm fine, Sweetheart."
"I'm sorry about Jared."
Hanks nods with a sigh. "At least he had the good sense to make preparations for Ella. Speaking of which, where are my great-grandchildren?"
"The babies are in their cribs and Parker is entertaining Christine. They're upstairs."
"You look exhausted, Temperance." Hank looks at his grandson. "You too, son."
Booth nods. "It's been a long few days."
"Have you two gotten any sleep?"
Brennan nods. "Yes, of course." She punctuates her answer with a yawn.
"I guess I came to visit at the right time." Hank looks between his grandson and granddaughter-in-law. "When were the babies last fed?"
"Ryan was fed 92 minutes ago and Ella was fed 65 minutes ago," Brennan answers, glancing at her watch.
"I'll wake you two up in an hour and a half, then."
Booth looks at Brennan, who's looking at Hank, a confused expression painted on her face. He rests his hand on her shoulder and glances at his grandfather. "Are you sure, Pops?"
"I'm sure, Shrimp. You take Temperance upstairs and take a nap…both of you. Send Parker and Christine down here. I have a project for them."
"They both only have one useful arm," Brennan reminds him.
"Both of them?"
"Christine injured her wrist yesterday. She's fine. She thinks the cast is pretty cool, actually. She'll want you to sign it. There are sharpies in the first drawer of my desk in my office."
"They'll both only need one arm for this," Hank reassures them. "Now go." He motions for the stairs with a flick of his wrist.
"C'mon, Bones, you heard the man."
"Booth, we shouldn't…it's not right."
"Then I don't wanna be right. I'm exhausted, you're exhausted…Pops is offering to hold down the fort. Who are we to argue with that?"
She shrugs. A nap does sound nice. She relents and follows him up the stairs. "I think we need to talk about hiring a nanny."
Booth just nods. "We'll talk about it later."
She nods. "Thank you, Hank," she calls down to him.
"No problem, Sweetheart." Hank takes his small bag and walks into the kitchen.
A couple minutes later, Christine and Parker make their way downstairs. "Pops?" The latter calls.
"In the kitchen, Parker."
Parker and Christine follow the voice of their great-grandfather. "Bones and dad said you wanted us."
Hank gives them each a hug and slings his bag over his shoulder. "I've got a little project for the two of you. Follow me." He walks outside onto the back deck and waits for the kids to join him.
"What's going on?" Parker looks at Hank, his eyebrow raised in confusion.
Hank pulls out one already built birdhouse and one that's in pieces.
Parker blinks. "Which one's mine?"
"This one." Hank motions to the one that's in pieces. "I thought you'd like to put it together."
"I get one too?"
"You betcha, squirt." Hank hands her the birdhouse that's already built. "I have different colored paints. How would you like to paint this anyway you want?"
Christine smiles, her eyes brightening. "Yay!"
"You have to put this on first. We don't wanna dirty up your pretty clothes." Hank holds up an oversized t-shirt. "Put the birdhouse down for a second."
Christine sets the birdhouse on a chair and holds her arms up in the air.
Hank pulls the shirt over her head. "There. Now, both of you help me lay out the newspaper."
Christine and Parker nod and do as Hank asked. Once the paper is laid across the tabletop, he picks up the birdhouse and sets it down on the table. He pulls the paint out of his bag and lines it up. He then pulls out some tools for Parker and hands Christine a paintbrush. "I'm going to get a cup of water and some paper towels. I'll be right back." He disappears into the house and returns a couple minutes later. "Alright, we're all set."
"I paint now?"
Hank nods. "Yep, Sweetheart. You can paint that birdhouse any way you'd like." He looks at Parker. "You can paint yours too once you're done constructing it. If you need me to hold a nail in place while you hammer or anything, let me know."
Parker nods.
"I can bring some model planes next time."
Parker smiles. "Cool."
Hank sits down beside Christine and watches her as she begins to cover the roof in blue paint.
