A/N: For those of you who guessed the movie I referenced in chapter 10, the answer is: You've Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Every time I think of daisies, I think of Bones and that movie. Anyway…

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Brennan was doing her best to keep her spirits up around Booth and his family. The closer Christmas got, the worse she hid her feelings, and thankfully, only Booth noticed.

Booth was doing what he could to keep her mind off of her parents. Jared had asked why Brennan was staying with them, but when Booth told him to back off, that Brennan's family life wasn't his concern, he got the idea and hasn't said anything since. Christmas morning came and like it had always been since their childhood, the Booth boys were up and going early, too excited for presents and to check their stockings.

This year, Booth lay in bed next to Brennan waiting for her to wake up. He wanted to wake her up. He felt like he was six years old again; Booth could hardly contain himself knowing presents were under the tree.

He heard his door creak open and checked to see who it was. Jared stuck his head in. Booth motioned for Jared to be quiet and pointed to a sleeping Brennan. Jared smiled, shook his head and yelled, "Time to wake up!"

Jared got a running start and jumped onto the bed, right in the slight crevice between Booth and Brennan. Booth attempted to throw him off the bed but Jared pulled him right down with him. They started wrestling and making all kinds of noise. Brennan was wide awake now and was yelling at the boys to knock it off. Hank appeared in the doorway and let out a high, piercing whistle.

"Alright, let's go open presents before you knock the house down." Hank stepped out of the doorway to avoid getting knocked down by his grandsons. Brennan slowly made her way out of the bed and into the living room, but not before grabbing her presents meant for the various members of the Booth family.

She set them under the tree while Booth and Jared poured the contents of their stockings on the floor.

"Bren, get your stocking!" Booth hollered. She looked over to the fireplace. There was a red and green stocking hanging between where Booth's had been and one with the name Joseph on it. She put this information away to ask Booth about later. Brennan's stocking had her name written in gold paint with a daisy painted on the longer part of the oversized felt sock.

She chuckled. "Who made this?"

"I did," Booth piped up. "Last night, when you fell asleep at the end of White Christmas. Santa must've filled it after we were all asleep."

"Booth, you should know by now that Santa is a fictional character parents tell their children about to behave. Actually, if you rearrange the letters you can spell Satan."

"Bren! Shh! It's Christmas. Let's not talk about Satan today, alright?" Booth said, giving Brennan a slight smile.

She sat down next to him and emptied her stocking. Mounds of candy fell in her lap along with some of the same tattoo like stickers Hank had bought at the game during Family Weekend and a Wildcat hair tie.

Hank came back into the room carrying a tray of mugs of hot chocolate. While he distributed the mugs, Booth and Jared handed out presents. Brennan was shocked to see she had gifts.

"Youngest goes first!" Jared called out and started ripping open presents from his granddad. But when he looked at one of the nametags, "Bren, you didn't have to get me anything."

Brennan smiled and shrugged, "Just open it." He tore open the paper and pulled out a picture frame of Booth holding Jared in a headlock, both smiling at the camera. The picture was taken before the Northwestern/Iowa game, before Booth got hurt.

Jared laughed. "Thank you."

"Your turn, Bren."

"Actually, Booth, I'm three months older than you. So, if we're opening presents from youngest to oldest, it's your turn," She said with certainty.

"Well, I think we should let Pops go," Jared butt in. Brennan and Booth agreed and Hank began to open is presents. Brennan got him a jersey that looked just like Booth's, but smaller, since Hank lacked the height and muscles Booth had. Jared got him some specialized tools to help him renovate his 1979 Jaguar that he was in the process of restoring. And Booth got him three sideline passes to the national title game. Sure, like home games, Booth was given ticket for his family, but he wanted them closer for his return to what he did best. Booth also got him new head covers for his golf clubs.

Brennan refused to go next so Booth opened his gifts. Jared gave him a giant book on the history of Wildcat football.

"I know jocks probably don't read but I'm sure Bren could teach you," was Jared's comment to his brother.

Hank had gotten Booth tickets to the next Flyers game and a few new Flyers shirts.

"Take Bren. My old ears can't handle all that racket at hockey games."

Booth then opened his present from Brennan. There were a pair of long, tie-dye socks and a Saint Sebastian medal, the patron saint of athletes.

"Socks?" Booth was confused.

"Well, I know you wear those boring white socks for games. I decided you need to wear something fun for the last game."

Booth laughed. "Okay, Bren, I'll make you a deal: I'll wear these under my white socks. How's that?"

Not quite understanding the concept of a football uniform required by his coaches, Brennan asked, "Why do you have to still wear the white socks?"

"'Cuz if I don't, Coach won't let me play. But I promise I'll still wear them." Booth smiled at her and kissed her on her cheek.

"What else did you get?" Jared asked. Booth handed him the medal. "I didn't know you were Catholic, Bren," Hank commented, "I've been looking for a medal like that for Seeley for a while now. Where did you find it?"

"At a store in Chicago. I'm not really Cath- …I haven't gone to church since Mom-….I'm not Catholic. But I know Booth is so I know if he believes this will keep him safe, than so do I."

Booth kissed her again, this time on the lips. "Thank you," he said softly.

Brennan just smiled. Jared told her it was her turn to open presents and she suddenly became overwhelmed with feelings and Brennan wasn't sure what to make of them. She was thrilled that these people cared enough about her to invite her into their home on Christmas but she couldn't get over the fact that she should be with her parents and her brother.

She slowly tore open the present from Hank. He picked out a few shirts that made Booth breathe a sigh of relief. There was a Flyers shirt, a Phillies shirt and a Wildcat shirt.

"Good job, Pops. Now Bren has something to wear at the Flyers game and for a Phillies game," he turned his attention back to Brennan, "and this summer, we can go to Phillies games!"

She opened Jared's present next. It was a scarf to match the purple and white hat and gloves she already had.

"You said you need more school spirit. Pops and I got ya covered." Jared winked at her.

Booth saw it and tackled his little brother and threw a fake punch. Booth let Brennan pull him off of Jared. Booth handed her the gift from him. It was a large, collage style picture frame. There was room for four pictures but only one space was occupied. It was a candid snapshot, taken during Family Weekend just before the game. It was of the two of them, laughing hysterically at something someone said, looking at each other. Brennan's hand was on Booth's shoulder pads as if she was hanging on to him for balance. Booth had been on the ground and Brennan in the first row of the stands, making her seem taller than him. The other slots for pictured were labeled: title game, Flyers game, and Phillies game. They had planned this out, the clothes, tickets, pictures. But then Brennan realized what this meant. She knew baseball was only played in late spring, summer and a bit into fall from watching games with her father as a child. Rationalizing, she knew Booth still expected them to be together by summer. This fact made Brennan slightly nervous, and then she realized Booth cared greatly about her. This wasn't just some summer fling for him. She looked up at him. He was smiling but his face morphed to a concerned look as he saw her thinking. Booth could almost see the gears turning in his girlfriend's head.

"You don't like it?" Booth asked, attempting to hide the disappointment in his voice.

She snapped out of her reverie and smiled at him. "No, I love it! Where did you get this picture?"

"I saw some photographer at the game and asked him if I could see the pictures he had taken of us. This was one of them."

She thanked him, kissed him on the cheek and Hank announced it was time to get ready for church. He told Brennan she was invited, of course, but she didn't have to go. Brennan took a minute to think.

"I'll come," she said.

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Everything was going smoothly for Brennan during the service until the pastor gave his sermon about family. No matter how much Brennan considered Booth, Hank and Jared her family now, she couldn't help but think of her parents and brother. With silent tears streaming down her face, she excused herself from mass and sat out in the entry way. Booth followed.

"What's wrong?" Booth really didn't need to ask that. He knew as soon as Father began to talk about family, something was going to break inside of Brennan. He sat down on the bench next to her and pulled her close. She laid her head down on his lap and cried silently while Booth stroked her hair and rubbed her back, his only attempt to console a girl who would never truly heal.

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That night, Hank fixed a large Christmas dinner for the four of them with fancy plates and place settings and all. It was a nice, relatively quiet meal, with some occasional chatting about the big upcoming game or Jared's schooling.

After dinner, Brennan and Booth volunteered to wash dishes while Hank and Jared put away all of the leftovers. Booth wanted to get done with dishes fast so he could eat the pie Hank had picked up from their favorite restaurant in downtown Philly. He sped along, scrubbing the dishes and quickly handed them to Brennan, who was drying at her own pace. Everyone was talking and laughing, telling stories about college or high school or past Christmases. Booth and Brennan were running a faux assembly line smoothly until Booth wasn't paying attention, too involved in a story, and passed Brennan a dish she wasn't ready for. It dropped to the ground and shattered.

All the color drained from Brennan's face. She quickly apologized and began to pick up the pieces in a hurried pace. Booth bent down to help her.

"It's my fault, Bren, let me do it," he gently wrapped his hand around her arm to help her up but she jerked away from him

"Don't touch me!" She screamed. Realizing who she was talking to and where she was, she ran off.

Booth tried to follow but Hank stopped him. "Shrimp, give her some room for a sec."

Booth, heaving a big sigh, nodded and returned to picking up the broken dish.

Hank found Brennan lying on the bed, facing away from the door in Booth's room. He sat on the edge of the bed and began to rub her back.

"Go away, Booth," she said through her tears.

"It's Hank, darlin'. I'm not going anywhere. Shh…It's okay. It's just a plate; it can be replaced,"

She didn't respond. After a few minutes, Brennan quieted down and sat up. She moved closer to Hank when he asked, "What did they do to you?"

"I broke a plate. They gave me fair warning. But the water was so hot and the soap was slippery. They warned me but I still broke the plate. It was on accident. They put me in the trunk of their car for two days. They warned me that would happen. It's like they were waiting for me to do that. They warned me but the water was so hot." Brennan let some more tears slip as soon as Hank pulled her into a tight hug.

As Hank released her, Booth appeared in the doorway. Hank stood up, gave Booth an encouraging slap on the back, and walked out. Booth sat down where Hank had previously been and pulled Brennan onto his lap. She rested her head in the crook of his neck.

"I'm not going to make you tell me whatever you told Pops. I don't need to know. I'll listen if you wanna tell me, but I'm not gonna force you. Just know that I'm here for you. Always."