A/N: I have one more of these planned. If anyone has any more ideas, I'd love to get your thoughts so I can continue :)
"I can't believe they're gone. I know it's been a few years, but…it still doesn't feel real sometimes, you know?"
Brennan only nodded. "I miss them a lot," she admitted.
"Me too," Josh added.
"I know you're busy with your dissertation, Baby. You didn't need to leave Chicago to come down and see me."
"I wanted to. We wanted to," she corrected herself after receiving a nudge from Josh.
"We didn't want you to be alone," he told Kathy.
The fall air was unusually warm in Burtonsville and the headstones in the lone town cemetery were decorated with flowers that matched the colors of the season. Fourth of July decorations still dotted the forgotten landscape. Kathy removed the old flowers from two headstones and tossed them aside. Brennan placed the bright sunflowers next to the stone that bore Katie's name and Josh did the same for Aaron. They took steps back and stared at the stones that shouldn't have been there in the first place.
Katharine Elizabeth Allen and Aaron James Richman laid next to each other for the last eight years. At first, when their deaths were fresh in the minds of classmates and the rest of the town, the cemetery was bustling with visitors and well-wishers. Friends and teachers who loved them and the residents of the little town who knew of them showed their sympathies in various flower arrangements. As time went on, the number of visitors Brennan's siblings received lessened. Kathy, Chris, Josh and Brennan were the only ones who went steadily, and Brennan only went when someone had the request to not go alone. She had never understood talking to someone who could no longer hear you, but she knew the others took solace in it, so she kept her mouth shut. When Chris was gone, Kathy and Josh continued to take Baby with them on their weekly visits. When they were split up, when Josh was moved across town to another family and Brennan was sent to a family that lived in a rural part of the county, she had no one to take her to the cemetery. Realizing she missed the ritual and the comfort she found in Katie and Aaron's company, she'd skip days of school to spend with her siblings. The days in the cemetery only fueled the Morticia nickname and Mr. Buxley's janitor closet and the nurse's office became her hideout.
"If you had asked me years ago about where Katie would be now, I would've said married with kids. I would've thought by now I'd have grandkids."
Josh and Baby said nothing. Neither could comfort the woman mourning for the family she lost.
Every Fourth of July, the Brennan-Booth household was bustling. Apart from Christmas, it was Booth's favorite holiday and the celebrations were always spectacular. The top-of-the-line barbeque was already in use and the backyard was full of guests. Parker, holding his oldest, Nora, floated gently around the deep end, while Grace kept baby Max in a flotilla of floaties in the shallowest part of the pool. Jack and Angela's kids and grandchildren were busy setting up the fireworks for later on and Cam and her husband lounged by the pool.
Booth and Jack stood over the grill, monitoring the food while Angela and Brennan stood in the kitchen preparing the rest of the food. Elsa and Adam were the last to arrive.
As Brennan watched her daughter walk toward her, a smile covered her face.
"Mom, are you okay?"
Brennan said nothing, only pulled her in for a tight hug. She whispered something in her ear and Elsie only muttered, "I knew I wouldn't have to say anything to you."
She let go of Elsa and hugged Adam. "Congratulations."
"Thanks," Adam said, his face said confused while his voice was full of joy, "How'd you know?"
"Apparently, Bren is psychic now and Aunt Angie is still out of the loop," Angela deadpanned.
"I'm pregnant," Elsie gushed, her voice hushed.
"Oh…my god!" Angela squealed, hugging her goddaughter.
"You might want to tell your father," Brennan suggested.
"Tell me what? Are you guys moving away again? I just got used to having my little girl close to home again," Booth said, bringing in dirty dishes from the grill.
Angela only patted on the shoulder as she sauntered outside through the back screen door, her mischievous grin revealing nothing to Booth.
"What's going on?" Booth asked, looking between the three.
"Daddy…" Elsa ventured.
"You're okay, aren't you? You're not sick or anything, are you?" Booth asked, pretending to check her for wounds like he did when she was a little girl.
She smiled gently. "No, Daddy. Well, only in the mornings and Mom, can you get rid of that potato salad? Just the smell makes me want to yak."
Brennan chuckled and put the potato salad in the refrigerator.
"Your mother had the same reaction when she was pregnant with you," Booth said, chuckling, obviously not making the connection, "She refused to eat anything on the Fourth that year."
Adam had a panicked, nervous look on his face and looked at Elsie, encouraging her to say something.
No one said anything and they only stared at Booth, waiting for him to realize what Elsa had been saying to him.
"Daddy, Mom and I are a lot alike," she tried.
"I know, baby girl, you two are…Oh…"
"And he just got it," Angela said from the back door.
"Are you really, Elsie?" he wanted to know.
She nodded and wrapped her arms around his midsection, hugging her father like she did as a little girl.
"So I'm going to be a grandpa?" he asked.
"Again," Elsie confirmed, looking through the kitchen window at her niece and nephew out in the pool.
"It's different, you know," Angela told them. "Seeing your daughter have a baby is way different than seeing your son become a father."
Booth looked at his daughter. "You're going to be a great mom."
"Thanks, Daddy. Come on," she grabbed Adam by the hand, "Let's go tell Parker."
Brennan, Angela, and Booth watched Elsa and Adam stand out by the pool, announcing the news. Parker, still holding onto Nora, leapt out of the pool and hugged his sister, drenching her. Elsa took Nora out of her brother's arms and swung the toddler around. Water droplets flung everywhere and she soon pulled Nora close into a hug.
Watching his little girl hold his granddaughter, Booth smiled and sighed.
"Are you okay?" Brennan asked him.
"Yeah," he said with a nod, "I just hope Adam knows what's ahead of him."
"Like what?"
"Watching your little girl grow up. It's the greatest thing in the world."