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Chapter Fourteen

Before they knew it, all of Bennie's children had been called to the sitting room, including Thomas, the little boy that had enchanted Angela outside. He was still sucking his thumb and he held another little girl's hand in his other. All the children settled on the couch across from Angela and Hodgins, all sitting in an orderly manner, with the younger children on the older children's laps.

Angela couldn't help her reaction to the youngest children, especially the twin girls, who smiled up at her with bright brown eyes covered by fiery red hair.

Bennie turned to her children. "My dears, this is Mr. and Mrs. McGovern. They're here looking to adopt a child or two." There was a unanimous gasp. "Now, I know that many of you may be surprised. We haven't had an adoption in years, but I want you all to be on your best behavior for the nice couple. Alright?"

All fourteen children nodded. Some, Angela noticed, were now frowning and holding on tightly to their siblings. Angela frowned. She didn't like being the cause of so much stress for these children, even if the adoption wasn't real. Bennie turned to her, then. "Mrs. McGovern, would you like me to introduce you all?"

Angela shook her head. "That won't be necessary. I'm sure they can tell me their names." she said, politely. "Why don't you go take a rest?" Angela said this as gently as possible, noticing how weary Bennie looked.

Bennie nodded, gratefully. "Thank you, Dear. If you need me, I'll be in the kitchen."

Angela nodded and watched as the woman went before turning to the children. "Hello!" she said, smiling brightly. "I'm Angela and this is my husband, Charlie." She motioned to Hodgins, who smiled and waved. "What are your names."

"Kyle."

"Stephanie."

"Megan."

"Marti."

"Kerry."

"Garret."

"Tobey."

"Sam."

"Jason."

"Cassie."

"You know me!" Max said, giggling. Angela smiled at the little girl. She also seemed to have Booth's charm. How extraordinary.

"You know me, too!" Thomas said, taking his thumb out of his mouth for a second.

"Maggie."

"Ana."

Angela smiled. "Those are all really nice names. I hope I can remember them all."

Hodgins grinned. "Me too!"

Kyle scowled at him. "Mama can remember them all, no problem."

Angela frowned. "I'm sure she can. She seems like a really nice woman."

"She's the best!" Jason interjected.

"Jason!" Ellis scolded from the couch. "Where are your manners?"

"Sorry, Miss McDonald." Jason said. "My Mommy is the best mommy in the world. She saved me."

"Saved you?" Angela asked.

"Jason went to another home for a while because of some problems he had, and the parents there abused him horribly. If it hadn't been for Bennie's insistence on visiting him, well..." Ellis trailed off. "We're just glad she insisted."

Jason and the rest of the children nodded. "That's why nobody will ever replace her."

Angela smiled, sympathetically. "We're not trying to replace her, Sweetie. We're just-"

She was cut off by Hodgins cell phone ringing. "Sorry!" he said, looking at his called ID. "I'll just take this outside." he said, rushing out.

Angela excused him and he ran out, answering his phone. "Charles McGovern. Attorney at Law." he said, playing his part.

"Hodgins!" Booth said. "What the hell are you doing? You're supposed to be compiling evidence!"

"Sorry, man, but I couldn't get away. I'm outside now, though. So...just stay on the line, okay. Make it look like I'm on a business call."

"While you're collecting evidence?" Brennan's voice came over the speaker.

"Yeah, well, I can pretend I dropped my pen or something and I'm looking for it." Hodgins said, walking towards Eustace's truck, which was in the driveway. "Like I'm writing something for a client."

"Do you have paper?" Brennan asked.

"No, but I have hands."

"Of course you do! But what does that have to do with anything?" Brennan asked. Booth explained it to her. "Ohhh, I see. That's very unprofessional, Hodgins."

"Doesn't matter." Hodgins said. "It's not real." Quickly, he got down on his knees by the back wheel of the truck, and began gathering up gravel, throwing it into his pocket, before acting on a whim and reaching into the wheel. Feeling something strange, he scooped up some dirt, with a few foreign objects in it, in his hand and pulled it out. "Bingo!" he said, putting the dirt in his pocket.

"What?" Booth asked.

"I found some dirt in his tires. It doesn't belong anywhere around here."

"How can you tell?" Brennan asked.

"How many times do I have to say that this is what I do before it sinks in?" Hodgins asked, irritably.

"Hey," Booth said. "You better cut the attitude if you want use to babysit your kid while you're out with Angela next week."

"Sorry." Hodgins mumbled, standing up and brushing himself off.

"You better be. Call us if anything else comes up. Alright?"

"Mmkay." Hodgins answered, hanging up, before turning back to the house.

Only to come face to face with Eustace Andrews...a very angry Eustace Andrews.

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