AN- Sorry for the delay in posting… this chapter got left behind in my work computer, and I was afraid I'd lost it. But it was recovered, and here it is. Just a little bit more blending and family fluff. I hope you enjoy.

The Twist in the Past

Ch 11

Booth and Brennan stood side by side in her kitchen, working together to get dinner ready. They were working in companionable silence, both having similar thoughts about the domesticity of it all, when the silence was broken by the soft sounds of sobbing coming from down the hall. Both parents instinctively dropped what they were doing and headed toward the sound.

"It's Parker," Booth said, and Brennan nodded, letting him go ahead.

She stayed back while Booth made his way to the guest room where his son was napping. He opened the door slowly and walked over to the bed. Parker was lying on his side, facing away from the door. His father sat down on the edge of the bed and gently touched his shoulder.

"Hey Bub," he said quietly. "What's going on? Did you have a bad dream?"

Parker sniffed as he nodded and turned toward his daddy.

"Uh-huh," he said, sitting up and allowing Booth to take him in his arms.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Are you still gonna be my daddy?" the little boy asked, again sniffing back his tears.

"Oh, Parks," Booth said, holding the boy close. "Of course I'm gonna be your daddy. I'm always gonna be your daddy… even when you're all grown up."

"But you're Ella's daddy now."

"Yes," Booth answered, nodding. "I am Ella's daddy. But that doesn't mean I'm not your daddy, too." He let out a long sigh. He sensed Brennan standing near the door, but he didn't turn to acknowledge her. "Hey, listen. You know your friend Nolan?"

Parker nodded.

"How many sisters does he have?"

Parker thought for a minute, and counted with his fingers.

"Three," he answered.

"And they all have the same daddy, right?"

Again, Parker nodded.

"Daddies can have lots of kids," Booth told him. "But that doesn't change how we love any of them. I'm really happy that we have Ella to love now, but that doesn't mean I love you any less. I love you both the same and that's a whole lot…"

"To the moon and back?" Parker asked.

"To infinity and beyond," his father replied, leaning down to place a kiss on the top of his head. "You feel better?"

"Yeah," the little boy answered, calm.

"Think we should invite Bones in?" Booth said with a grin, looking back over his shoulder to find Brennan watching intently from the doorway.

Parker peeked over his father's shoulder and nodded as a shy smile spread across his face.

Brennan glanced at Booth, clearly unsure of how to proceed. He nodded and she walked over to the bed. She sat down next to Booth.

"Hi, Bones," Parker said quietly.

"Hi, Parker," she replied. "I'm sorry you had a bad dream, Parker," she said. "When Ella has one, she likes a nice cup of hot cocoa. I thought you might like it, too. Would you like some?"

"How did she know, Daddy?"

"I don't know, Parks," Booth replied, looking over at Brennan.

"What?" she asked.

"I always make hot chocolate for Parker after a nightmare," Booth told her. "Pops' recipe."

"Well, I don't know if I can live up to your grandfather's recipe," Brennan said, "but Ella likes it."

"I'm sure it's great, Bones. Whatdy'a say, Bub? Wanna go give it a try?"

Parker nodded and started to climb out of the bed.

"I'll go check on Ella," Brennan said, following the Booth boys out of the room. "Booth, the cups are already out on the counter."

The Booth boys headed to the kitchen and Booth poured a cup of the sweet confection for Parker

"Bones is nice," Parker said.

"She is," his father agreed. "I think that we are pretty lucky to have her and Ella as part of our family."

"Yeah," Parker agreed. "Dad?"

"Yeah, Parks?"

"Do you think Bones has any marshmallows?"

~~~BnB~~~

Dinner was a raucous affair, two adults trying to convince two four year olds to eat. Parker fought the idea of eating a salad and Ella was not at all sure about chicken nuggets.

"Really?" Booth asked a smiling Brennan as they worked together to wash the dishes. "What four year old doesn't eat chicken nuggets?"

"She's never had them. I told you, Booth," Brennan replied. "Ella doesn't eat processed foods. We occasionally go out for pizza, but I try to cook whole foods for her at home."

Booth just shook his head. He was sure that Brennan and their daughter would continually surprise him.

"Mommy!" Ella called from the living room. "Can we watch Nemo now?"

"In just a few minutes, Ella," Brennan answered. "As soon as we get the dishes put away."

"Why don't you two go back and make sure all the toys are picked up in Ella's room?" Booth suggested.

"Okay, Daddy," Ella said, running off to her room.

"You too, Parker," Booth said.

"But Daddy, they're not my toys," Parker said.

"Did you play with them?" his father asked.

"Yes," Parker answered.

"Then get your butt in there and help. Now."

"Yes, sir," Parker answered, with just the slightest bit of pout.

"Never a dull moment, Bones," Booth said. "Never a dull moment."

"I'm beginning to see that," she replied. She took the pan that Booth had just finished washing, dried it and put it away. "That's the last of them."

"Let's go face our little monsters," Booth replied with a laugh. "I don't know about you, but I think it would be a good idea to get them into their pajamas and settled in for the night before we put on the movie."

Brennan looked startled.

"Were you planning to spend the night?" she asked.

Booth laughed.

"No, Bones," he said. "Don't worry. First, I would never be that presumptuous. And second, I know we're not ready for that step just yet. Parker never makes it all the way through a movie in the evening. I brought his PJs so I can get him ready for bed before the movie. That way when it's time to go home and he is undoubtedly asleep, I can just carry him in and put him straight to bed."

"Oh," came Brennan's short reply. "That is quite logical. And I would venture to say that Ella will be asleep before the movie is over, as well."

"Well, let's go get 'em rounded up and ready for bed."

"I'll get Ella," she said. "You can use the guest room to get Parker ready. Did you bring a toothbrush?"

"No," he said. "I didn't think about it. I thought I was doing pretty good to remember his PJs."

"We have an extra," she answered. "I'll leave it out on the counter with Ella's toothpaste."

"Thanks, Bones."

~~~BnB~~~

Brennan piled some pillows and blankets on the floor and they settled in with the kids in between them.

"Hey!" Ella exclaimed. "That's my blankie." She reached to snatch back the blanket that Parker was snuggled under.

"Ella!" her mother chastised. "You must learn to share. Especially with your brother."

"But that's my favorite," Ella pouted.

"Ella."

"But, Mommy…"

"No, Ella. Now, if you can't share with Parker then you can go to bed and Daddy, Parker and I will watch the movie."

"No!" Ella cried.

"Then you know what you need to do," Brennan told her daughter.

Ella handed the blanket back to Parker.

"Here, Parker," she said. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Parker said. "Thank you for letting me use your blankie. When you come to our house, I'll let you borrow mine."

"That is very sweet of you, Parker," Brennan replied.

"Let's get this show on the road," Booth said, reaching out to aim the remote control at the TV."

Both kids laughed and cheered.

"I love Dory," Ella said. "Who's your fav'rite charc'ter, Parker?"

"Nemo!" the little boy exclaimed.

Booth flipped on the movie and everyone settled in to watch.

~~~BnB~~~

Sunday found Booth and Parker attending mass while Brennan and Ella had brunch with Angela.

"Auntie Ang'la," Ella said, after taking a sip of her juice. "Did you know that I have a daddy now? And a brother, too?"

"You've always had a daddy, Ella," her mother said.

"But Parker is new," Ella said, matter of fact.

"Actually," Brennan said. "Parker is six months older than you are, so he's always been there, too."

"Mommy!" Ella said. "I just meeted Parker yesterday."

"You sure did, Ella," Angela said. "And I can't wait to hear all about it. Tell me all about Parker, and your daddy."

"Angela," Brennan said, her tone full of warning.

"What?" Angela asked. "I'm just catching up with my niece. She's had a pretty big week."

"My daddy is nice," Ella said. "And Parker bringed his Ninja Turtles to play with me…"

"He brought his toys, Ella," her mother corrected.

"That's what I said," Ella replied. "And I let him use my Dora blankie."

"That's really nice of you, Sweetie."

"Mommy made me."

Angela laughed out loud.

"It's hard to remember to share when you're not used to doing it," Angela said. "I was an only child, too."

"I'm not a only child, Auntie Ang'la. I have a brother, remember?"

Brennan laughed. Angela brought it on herself. It was her best friend whom Ella had learned sarcasm. Of course, now that her father was around, it was likely she'd be hearing a lot more.

"Eat your breakfast, Ella," she told her daughter.

"So, Mommy," Angela said. "I'm very interested in hearing what you think about spending so much time with Daddy."

"It's been nice, Angela," Brennan said.

"Just nice?"

"Yes," Brennan answered. "Just nice. Getting the children together was the first step…"

"And that went well," Angela offered.

"Yes, it did," Brennan agreed. "But it was just one day. It will take quite some time before we know how well it's going to work."

"Bren, it's already done. The kids know each other. They know they are siblings… there's no turning back now. And you don't want to turn back anyway."

"No," Brennan admitted. "I don't"

"Look Bren," Angela said sincerely. "I know you're scared. I know how tough it was to do everything by yourself when Ella was a baby… I was there. But you don't have to be alone anymore. You've got a gorgeous man who is obviously in love with you, from what I can tell he's a doting dad… and he's all, 'truth, justice and the American way'… he's the total package, sweetie." She paused to take a sip of her latte. "And did I mention he's hot? Seriously, if I didn't already know he was yours… I'd buy a ticket for that ride."

"I don't own him, Angela."

"Oh yes, you do Bren," her friend replied. "You just don't know it, yet."

~~~BnB~~~

After church, Booth and Parker ran through McDonalds for lunch. He wasn't sure either of them could go a whole weekend without fast food, but he was sure that Brennan would not allow it when they were with her and Ella.

They went home and changed clothes before sitting down to eat their lunch. Parker spent more time playing with his french fries than he did eating, but that was par for the course.

"Daddy," he said. "Can we go to the park today?"

"Yeah, buddy," Booth answered. "I thought maybe we could go and ride the carousel."

"Yay! And get ice cream, too?"

Booth laughed. Ice cream was always a good incentive with his son.

"Maybe," he hedged. "What would you think about Bones and Ella coming with us?"

"Okay," the little boy answered.

His father watched the boy intently. Parker didn't seem very enthusiastic about the idea, but neither did he seem to be bothered by it.

"We can go by ourselves, if you want," he offered. When he and Brennan had talked the night before about taking the kids to the park, she had insisted that if Parker showed any signs of needing or wanting time alone with Booth, then they would give it to him.

"No, Daddy," Parker answered. "I wanna show Ella the care-sel. I can ride on the black horse and she can ride on a white one."

"That sounds like a plan, little man. So, we'll finish up here and go meet the girls at the park. We can play for a while and then get some dinner before it's time to take you back home to Mom's."

"'kay, Daddy," Parker said, dragging a fry through his ketchup.

"Eat up, Little Man," Booth told him. "I think we're going to make a run to the supermarket and surprise the ladies with a picnic supper, what do you think about that?"

"I love picnics! Can we have b'loney sandwiches?"

"I don't think so, Bub," his father answered. "We need to have something a little more substantial for dinner. We'll drop by the store and see what they have, okay?"

"Okay."

"We need to go down to the storage room and get the cooler, too."

Booth checked his watch.

"I'm probably gonna have to clean it up. We haven't used it since we went fishing with Pops last fall."

"I want to go fishing," Parker said.

"Not today," Booth replied with a chuckle. "We're going to the park, remember?"

"Does Ella like fishing?"

"I don't know, Parks. We have a lot to learn about Ella and her mom, don't we?"

"Yep!"

Booth stood up from the table, ruffling Parker's curls as he walked by.

"Finish your lunch, Parker," he said. "Or no ice cream."

"I am done," Parker replied, and his father looked down to check his progress.

"Two more bites of your cheeseburger," Booth said. "And then you can be done."

Booth worked to put the apartment right while Parker played Ninja Turtles in his room. He called Brennan to set up a meeting time and let her know that he was taking care of supper. He found himself mimicking her eye roll when she began to lecture him about preservative laden processed foods. He shook his head as he assured her that he would get something that met her exacting standards. He found himself smiling at the thought of having this particular 'argument' with her for many years to come.

After retrieving the cooler and cleaning it up, Booth packed it in the truck along with Parker and his gear to take back to Rebecca's and they headed out for the afternoon.

They stopped off at Whole Foods where Booth picked up some a green salad and some mixed fruit. He got some sandwiches, potato salad and some kind of fancy cold soup that he thought Bones would like. He added them to the cooler with the ice, water and juice boxes that were already there and they made their way to the park to meet the girls.

TBC

AN2 – Here we come to the end of another chapter. You know what to do.