BB Parker's Return
Booth and Brennan were thrilled by the contents of Parker's latest letter. The young man had been asked to assist in producing a documentary about Billy Gibbon's musical career and colorful life. The old ZZ Top guitarist, retired in Austin, Texas and still kicking, taught guitar classes at the city's elementary schools. He also played small programs to entertain nursing home residents. One of which, he was most assuredly not, Angela had told them with a knowing laugh.
Her father was being inducted into Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the film was to be shown during the next Ohio induction ceremony before airing in Nashville theaters during the summer tourist season. Parker's interest in music, art, and computers had merged into a successful graphics design career and he counted many singers and musicians among his clientele.
Now that all the filming had been completed, he needed a quiet place for editing. The board of directors in Nashville wanted their documentary kept a secret until the inductees were revealed, and this was hard to accomplish in an entertainment city. So Parker was coming home to DC in search of a location where he could work in peace. To celebrate their two year anniversary, Aubrey and Jessica were taking a six-month leave of absence from the nation's capital; combining work with pleasure, as the agent was auditing FBI field offices and his scientist was delivering a lecture series in the same cities. Thus the Mighty Hut would be vacant, and a perfect place for Parker's project.
In the course of packing for their extended absence, Aubrey was boxing up his personal belongings, but leaving the furniture for Parker's use. Once they returned to DC, he and Jessica hoped to purchase the home from Booth and Brennan. He realized wryly that his wife was a minimalist when it came to sentimental things. While clearing a book case in Brennan's old office, the lanky agent had come across several childish drawings and clay figurines displayed in picture frames amid the Star Wars DVDs, science fiction novels, and criminology textbooks. During Christine's childhood, after Sweets' tragic demise, he had babysat the Booth children numerous times, and the little girl had been quite an artist. A Santa Claus with his sleigh and reindeer was Aubrey's favorite among Christine's little gifts to him. He carefully wrapped and boxed up the other keepsakes to protect them during his absence. Taping a label to each lid, he left them on the highest walnut bookshelf. But he left Santa Claus in plain sight.
When Parker boarded the plane for the nation's capital and settled in his seat, he requested a Sprite and inserted his ear buds, intending to select one of Billy's tracks he'd recorded as background music for the film's title sequence. But try as he might to concentrate on the music, he was soon lost in thought, remembering the amazing times he'd been privileged to spend with Angela's father. Giving in to his memories, Parker closed his eyes and let the music carry him back. The once concrete decision he made before landing at Dulles was choosing Bones' office as his workplace. The room could be securely locked to protect the expensive equipment his project required.
Exiting the air bridge, Parker smiled to himself. Coming home to DC never got old. He thanked the flight attendant and strode down the long hallway toward the baggage carousel. Normally he packed very light when he traveled, using only a carry-on bag, but he needed seasonal clothing for the coming months, and had checked two pieces of luggage. Thankfully, his projection and editing gear was being shipped to Washington instead.
Mentally reviewing what he'd need to do first, he didn't notice a boisterous group of people waiting in the baggage dispersal area and walked right past them toward the stainless steel conveyor belt, watching for his bag.
"Parker!"
"Bub!"
"Welcome home, Baby Booth!"
Feeling a large hand on his shoulder, the young man turned around, suddenly engulfed in a Boothy bear hug by his father. Brennan approached more gently, smiling broadly at him. Angela and Hodgins watched happily. Christine and Hank wore identical expressions of irritation that their older brother hadn't noticed the colorful sign they were holding. Shaking their heads, they let it slide to the floor as they hugged him.
"Dude, we spent all that time, and you didn't even look at it!" Hank complained as he grabbed a black suitcase from the carousel.
"You're a foot taller than last July!" Parker informed him with a handshake.
Then everyone was talking at once as the family headed to the SUV, bound for Texas Roadhouse.
Several hours later, the big black truck swung into the familiar driveway. Booth eyed the well-trimmed lawn and shrubbery. Brennan noticed the trees' growth. Hank piled out of the back seat and helped carry Parker's bags to the front porch. As their father unlocked the door and handed Parker the key, Christine walked up the steps more slowly, Parker's carry-on slung over her shoulder. Brennan watched her daughter carefully, then spoke softly.
"It's the same, but it isn't, right? Different than when we've visited Aubrey and Jessica. You weren't very old, but you remember this place."
"Just feels funny," Christine replied. "Funny odd, not funny ha ha."
"I know, honey, but that's all way in the past. Let's just go get your brother settled," her mother suggested with a hug.
From across the room, Booth looked at his wife questioningly. She nodded to him without a word. Their daughter would be alright. Having already stocked the refrigerator and cabinets with Parker's favorite foods, Brennan found herself lifted off her feet and swung around.
"Bones, you are the best!" Parker crowed.
"Nutella, oat nut bread, crunchy peanut butter, queso chips and salsa! You even got me Lucky Charms!"
"Just don't gorge yourself on junk food, please. It's still not healthy for you," she replied primly.
"Yes, m'am! I'll remember. You sound just like Mom!"
Christine opened a drawer near the dishwasher. "There's silverware here," she commented in surprise.
"Honey, Aubrey and Ms. Warren only packed up their clothing and personal belongings. They left the rest for Parker's use over the next six months. No point doing otherwise for such a short time."
"Christine, would you open the blinds in the office, please?" Brennan asked. "I want to make sure they are still functional and light-blocking, so Parker's film is protected."
"Sure, Mom," Christine replied and headed through the living room. She opened the double French doors and sighed, remembering coloring sessions with Sweets and reading books with the lanky agent who'd tried to fill the void after his death. Crossing the room, she parted the drapes and turned the rod which opened wide vertical blinds. Aubrey's criminology journals and science fiction book collection filled some shelves, but others nearest the desk had obviously been cleared for Parker's use.
Sitting down in the comfortable high-backed leather chair, Christine leaned back and blinked back a few tears, not wanting to spoil her brother's homecoming. She sat still a few minutes, breathing deeply; then resolutely placed her palms on the desk's smooth wood surface and stood up. A colorful knickknack among the books suddenly caught her eye, eliciting a broad smile.
"Mom, c'mere!" she called happily.
Brennan came out of the kitchen, and hurried to her old office, a questioning look on her face.
"Look!" Christine exclaimed, pointing at the shelf behind the desk.
"Aubrey has kept your clay Santa Claus all these years," her mother commented softly. "That man is as sentimental as your father. But what a sweet thing to do, so you children would find it."
Christine smiled again through a few more tears. "He helped fill the empty spot Uncle Sweets left. I must have bored him to tears, insisting he color with me, play tea party, and fiddle with clay."
"To the contrary, Chrissy, Agent Aubrey is a big kid at heart. And playing with you when he babysat helped me and endeared him to your father at a time when Booth was finding it tough to trust anyone at the Bureau."
"I never realized that but he surely made me happy," Christine said.
"And it meant a lot to me as well. Now let's get back out there before your father rearranges all the furniture upstairs," Brennan replied briskly, as they heard a chair being scooted across the floor over their heads.
Parker stuck his head in the door just then. "Gosh, this place brings back good memories, Bones! Watching movies with you guys when I got to come home from the UK; spending weekends and summer breaks here. I'm really going to enjoy the next six months!"
