"Promise me…Please PROMISE me you'll be nice."

"Kate, you know we can't actually promise. We'll try."

"Josh, Aaron, knock it off. Come over here and pick up your jackets off the couch before someone sits on them," Chris said.

It was prom night and the boys were done preparing for their night on the town. Katie was pacing by the door, the hem of her dress barely grazing the floor. Kathy had helped her sweep up her hair in an elegant do and her jewelry matched her dress in a way that only accented her look instead of weighing her down. She had been asked to prom months ago and she was incredibly anxious for the night to arrive. Tyler Pronger was a hot commodity at Burtonsville High and dozens of girls were incredibly jealous of Katie.

Josh and Aaron shrugged on their jackets, completing the look to their tuxes. Brennan sat at the kitchen table, working on what little homework she had. Most teachers knew that the kids wouldn't be working on much this weekend and assigned busy work if they assigned anything at all. She watched as Josh and Aaron plotted something in the corner of the room before sneaking out the back door. Brennan saw them out the windows as they ran out to the driveway and walked alongside Tyler Pronger's car as he coasted in.

"Hey guys, is Katie ready?" Tyler asked as he stepped out of the car.

"Hey, Tyler, how's it hangin'?" Aaron asked. Tyler immediately noticed the aggressiveness in his classmates.

"Not bad. You guys ready to go?"

"Yeah, I think so," Josh said, "You excited for tonight?"

"Very. It's my senior prom."

Josh and Aaron just nodded. "What are your plans for after the dance?" Josh asked.

"Not much. It depends on what Katie wants to do."

"And if Katie doesn't want to do what you want to do?" Aaron said. The brothers were blocking Tyler's path up to the door.

"Then we'll find something else to do," Tyler answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Brennan, who had seen the whole thing, ran to Katie to let her know her date was there, and had been for some time.

Furious, Katie pulled up her dress a bit to avoid stains as she walked through the grass to where Tyler, Aaron and Josh were conversing.

"Just keep it in your pants, okay?"Katie heard Josh say.

"JOSHUA!" She yelled.

Brennan had summoned Kathy and Chris to the front porch to watch what was going down.

"Josh. Aaron. Go inside. Now!" Katie spat.

"Kate…" Aaron spoke this time.

"I am so not joking around!"

"Fine," Josh said, holding his hand up in surrender. He and Aaron went back into the house, where they cowered behind Brennan from Kathy's ice glare.

"Why did you guys have to do that?" Kathy asked, somewhat outraged.

"Come on, Kath, they're just protecting their sister," Chris said with a laugh.

Brennan pushed them away from her, laughing along with Chris.

"Don't be like that, Baby," Aaron said, "We'd do the same thing for you!"

"Good thing I'm not going to prom," Brennan muttered.

"I can't believe you guys!" Katie shouted, stomping back into the house with Tyler at her heels. She calmed herself down for a minute before introducing her date to her parents. Plesantries were exchanged and the four prepared to head to the dance. Tyler and Katie went out to the car first while Kathy gave one last word of advice to Josh and Aaron, who were going as each other's date as a joke that Brennan just didn't understand.

"Be nice," Kathy warned.


"Mom, just make Daddy and Parker promise to be nice. And Uncle Josh! I don't want Adam to feel unwelcomed."

"I'll talk to the boys. Just drive safe, okay? We'll see you soon."

"Bye, Mom. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Brennan hung up the phone and walked back into the living room where her three favorite men in the world were busy getting the Christmas tree decorated while Parker's wife, Grace, supervised.

"What'd Elsie have to say?" Booth asked.

"She and Adam are about an hour away."

Booth and Parker grumbled but didn't say anything.

"She wants you guys to be nice. They're both staying with us for the week. She also wanted me to tell you to quit making plans to scare him off because they are as serious as a heart attack."

The phrase made Booth's head snap up to look at her and he almost dropped the glass ornament he was hanging.

"Serious as heart attack?" he repeated.

"Yes. So be nice."

"No."

"Booth…" she warned.

"Bones, she's still a kid. No one her age needs to be serious as a heart attack yet."

"Dad, Bones kinda has a point. Elsie's twenty six. She's a doctor now. And technically, you were younger than she was when I was born."

Booth grumbled again at Parker's very rational point and grabbed the stockings from the storage box to hang over the fireplace.

"Booth, will you just give him a chance? Elsa seems to really like him."

"Fine, I'll…be nice," he muttered.

"Thank you. Elsa will appreciate it," Brennan told him, giving him a kiss.

An hour later, Elsa and Adam walked through the front door of her childhood home. Her parents had lived there since before she was born. She couldn't remember a Christmas that wasn't at this house. There were hugs all around and her boyfriend was introduced to the family. Brennan suggested they make some peppermint hot chocolate, Elsa's favorite Christmas tradition and Adam offered to help her. As her mother and boyfriend disappeared into the kitchen, Elsa pulled her uncle, brother and father off to the side and warned them.

"Be nice. Adam is a good man. Don't be rude, don't make snarky comments, don't ask embarrassing questions and don't pull pranks on him," she added at the end, directed at Josh.

"Damn," her uncle muttered.

"I mean it!"

"Okay, okay," Parker called a truce, "We'll be nice. Dad, you should probably behave 'cause it looks like Bones approves."

They all peeked into the kitchen where Adam was telling a story that had Brennan laughing. Elsa smiled smugly and sent a told you so look to the men.

Everyone continued decorating the tree and when dinner rolled around, nothing bad yet had happened and Elsa was pleasantly surprised.

"Wow, Elsie warned me that you guys were going to make things rough on me, but it's not bad at all," Adam said, smiling.

"He called her Elsie," Parker whispered to his dad, "Me and you only call her that. This is serious."

Booth glared at him and took another bite of his mashed potatoes.

There were more stories about Adam and Elsie's time at Northwestern. He told the story of how they really met at a dig in Nicaragua despite that they had been in the same anthropology courses back at school. Things blossomed and now here they were almost a year and a half later.

Josh leaned over and whispered to Booth and Parker, "They've been together for a year and half and we're just now meeting this guy? Sounds suspicious…"

"Actually," Brennan said, in her best professor voice, the one she had adopted when the dynamic duo's crime fighting days ended and the universities came calling, "They've both been quite busy and now is the first time they've both had a chance to visit together. Now, if you three are done, quit trying to be sneaky and eat your food."

The three men sat up straighter and Grace swatted at Parker to reprimand him. They all muttered apologies and ate their food without one more word. After dinner, Elsie took Adam on a snowy nighttime walk of D.C. while the rest of the family watched a movie. It was late and everyone had gone to bed with the exception of Booth and Brennan. Sitting on the couch with only the tree lights on, she leaned into him as he held her close.

"Our little girl is still out. It's cold. Should we call her? See if she's okay?" he whispered.

"Booth, she's fine. Elsa's not out there by herself. She has Adam," she whispered back.

"That's what worries me."

"Seeley Booth, you need to stop that. What are you going to do when she gets married?"

"Die," he muttered. Brennan rolled her eyes. "I'm serious, Bones. When I look at Elsa, I still see the pajamas with the footies and the goalie mask that was too big and the first strikeout she threw in little league. She's still that little bundle I held in the hospital. When I look at her, that's what I see. I know now that when I'll look at her, I'll see her college graduation and the look on her face when she completed her dissertation. And I'm…having issues with the idea that soon, it'll be diamond rings and white dresses and…babies. That's a lot for me right now."

"Booth, she's not pregnant. Trust me, her ilia haven't shifted. Her gait hasn't changed."

"Okay, well there goes that issue," he said sarcastically.

"Don't be like this. She wants her daddy to approve."

He only nodded.

"She's never going to stop calling you Daddy. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

"Good. Are you going to wait up for them?"

"Nah, I'll be there in a second. Go ahead."

She smiled and kissed him, leaving promises lingering on his lips.

Booth chuckled and watched her walk down the hall. He hadn't been sitting on the couch alone for very long when the front door lock turned over and Elsie and Adam wandered in, brushing the snow from their coats.

"Hey, Daddy," Elsa whispered when she saw Booth sitting there.

"Hi, baby. Hi, Adam."

"Hello, sir."

Booth had to admit: this kid's manners were better than Parker's were at that age.

"I'm going to sit with Daddy for a bit. Go on. I'll come to bed soon."

They exchanged looks and he held her gaze for a while. She smiled and it looked liked Parker's. Booth could see the nonverbal communication at work, something her mother still had problems with. She smiled a bit bigger and Adam broke down and laughed a bit. He smiled at her once more before sliding off his shoes and hanging up his coat. Adam smiled at Booth and said goodnight while Elsa took over her mother's seat.

"Daddy?"

"What's up, baby girl?"

"Adam and I are getting married."

Booth bit his tongue and let out the breath he had been holding. He had seen it coming.

"Daddy, say something," she begged.

He hugged her and placed a kiss on her head. "Congratulations, baby girl."

"Are you being serious, Dad?"

"Of course I am!" Booth turned to look her in the eye. "I'm really happy for you, Elsie."

She smiled. "Thanks, Daddy. But don't say anything to Mom yet. Adam wants to tell everyone tomorrow morning at breakfast."

"I won't say a thing," he told her, making the zipper motion over his mouth.

"Thanks, Daddy." She stood and moved toward her room.

"Hey," he called, "Help your old man up."

Elsa laughed and hoisted him up. Booth hugged Elsa one more time, thinking of the days of the footie pajamas and pigtails.

"Daddy, will you promise me one thing?"

"Anything," he said, pulling away from her hug enough to look at her.

"Be nice."