I was sitting here thinking to myself that I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to finish this, that's not too terribly worrisome is it? I don't own them.
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Booth woke up sometime later no longer spooning with his partner, but lying on his back acting as a mattress for one scientist he loved to look at. Brennan had turned towards him and curled around him, leg wrapped around his, foot nestled at his knees, head on his chest, and one of her hands clenching his t-shirt tightly in her sleep her body at rest between his body and his arm.
His arm that was under the his sleeping partner was giving off that uncomfortable pins and needles feeling and he took his hand off her hip and flex a fist a few times until the feeling went away, with it gone his hand settled back on her hip bone with just a hint of smooth skin teasing his sense of touch.
This was what he wanted, what he knew from the start was what was meant to be between him and Brennan, and he didn't need her to change for that to happen, this was it, the little moments like this. With a sigh he realized his reason for waking up, and discovered in their musical chair of sleeping positions Bones had someone ended up with most of the blankets on her side. Booth bit back a laugh wondering if this is what he had to look forward to for the next 30, 40, 50 years, and sent a silent prayer up to his God that it was exactly the thing he had to look forward to with the same woman that slept in his arms now.
Reaching across both himself and his partner Booth secured a corner of the comforter and gently gave it a pull managing to bring the covers back to his side and causing Temperance to sigh contently now that she was more cocooned in the blanket. With a grin he kissed her forward, happy to see her so relaxed, and drifted back to sleep.
When Booth woke the next time it was because a bright light was making it hard to stay in the land of dreams, when he opened his eyes to see what time it was he came face to face with Marcus, and startled he seemed to jump in bed while making a sound that mimicked that of the 3 Stooges. "What are you doing?" Booth hissed out eyeing his girlfriend that managed to sleep through the whole ordeal.
"I was looking for Tempe but couldn't find her, so I came in to see if you knew where she disappeared too." Marcus explained, "Clearly you did know."
Booth could feel the heat rise to his cheeks, "Yeah, about that…"
"You had a better time on the island then we thought?" Marcus suggested when Booth trailed off.
Booth shook his head, "No, no we'd already decided before then that we were giving us a shot." Booth said, "On the island we just thought of ways to make you all pay while humoring ourselves at your expense."
"I see." Marcus said, his voice monotone and Booth couldn't tell his he was angry or not.
"There is so much talking." Brennan mumbled hiding her face in the crook of Booth's neck as if it would make everyone go away and leave her in peace for a few more minutes or hours.
Marcus and Booth exchanged amused glances both now being accustomed to Brennan's anti morning ways. "That's because it's morning sweetheart, and I was coming to see if you'd be joining us for breakfast." Marcus said as the moment passed.
Brennan lifted her head looking first to Booth and then to Marcus, "Don't you think that Booth and I deciding to take our relationship to another level mean we deserve breakfast in bed?"
Marcus looked at them for a few seconds before a startling laugh escaped him, "As romantic as that does sound, and we've all be about trying to romance the two of you together…" he paused with a tickled grin, "I wouldn't miss you're walk of shame to the breakfast table for anything."
"Walk of shame? Shame of what?" Brennan asked glancing at Booth trusting that he would have the answer she wanted pervaded.
Booth had a mixed expression, part cringe part amusement, as he looked down his nose at his partner, "Walk of shame is college reference for one night stand usually with someone you're ashamed to be caught sleeping with."
"But neither of us or ashamed of the other." She replied more confused that before.
Booth's answering smile warmed her from the inside out, "I know, I think in this instance he means the part where we were caught in the bed together more than anything else."
"Correct." Marcus threw in more so to announce to the pair that he was still in the room, he took a step away from the bed and waited until they noticed his remaining presence.
"Why would we be ashamed for being in bed together? We sleep in the same tent together, everyone knows that." Brennan carried on trying to make sense of Marcus's bizarre statement, completely glossing over the reply the other man in the room gave while her focus was completely on her partner.
"I know." Booth said with an amused glance to Marcus, "What do you say we just get it over with so I can eat some breakfast."
Brennan sighed sitting up, "Alright, alright. I'm getting up." She turned her frown to Marcus, "By there won't be a walk of shame or whatever you meant." She added throwing back her covers and getting out of bed. She didn't look back when she crossed the room and walked out the door presumably to go to her room to get ready for the day.
Marcus and Booth pulled their amused stares from the empty doorway back to each other, their amused expression both melted into expressions of awkwardness, and Booth fiddled with the comforter, "Look…"
Marcus shook his head, "She's right, you shared a tent it's not like any of us care if you share a bed too. I just hope that this is more than just one of those college one night stands." When Booth started to defend himself Marcus stopped him, "Now son, I'm not accusing you, or her for that matter, of doing such a thing, I know enough about you to know that you wouldn't do that to our Tempe, I'm just…what I'm trying to say is…" he coughed in that way only guys can do when forced to talk about their feelings, "What I mean to say is…you're a good guy Agent Booth you have good values and a good head on your shoulders, and I know that everyone here will be very encouraging and welcoming to you as part of our family."
Booth nodded feeling like a lump had settled in his throat and he had to clear his throat a few times before he managed to get anything else, "Thank you Marcus…that means a lot."
Marcus nodded and they both avoided eye contact each looking around the room for something that would bring their conversation out of the serious turn it took, "Well…I'm going to go see what Elise is cooking up." Marcus said moving backwards towards the door, "I'll see you do there." And with that the older man left the room, closing the door behind him and Booth didn't stop the sigh of relief at being left alone.
It had meant a lot to him that Marcus was okay with his relationship with Bones, not that he thought Bones would stop seeing him if her father figure disapproved of it, she was too strong minded for that, but Booth liked knowing that he wasn't unliked by his girlfriend's family. With an uplifted mood and a grin to match he threw the covers off and hopped out of the bed to get ready for the day.
After taking a quick shower and getting dressed in jeans and a faded Rolling Stones T-shirt he existed his room pulling the door closed behind him, stepping across the hallway he tapped his knuckles to the door blocking his entrance into Temperance's room. A few moments later the door opened to reveal his partner dressed casually in black slacks and a blue blouse that brought out the color of her eyes, "Morning." He said with a grin and held out his hand to her.
She accepted his outstretched hand linking their fingers together, "Good morning." She replied and used her free hand to pull her door closed behind them, "Are you ready for the walk of shame that isn't really shame that I still don't understand but no longer care about?" she asked, and Booth couldn't hold back his amused chuckle.
"Yes, I'm ready." He replied with another chuckle and the two made their way down to the breakfast room, when they got their all conversation stopped and Booth could tell just by the looks that Marcus had in fact blabbed about his findings this morning. Everyone turned their amused glances their way before looking to their joined hands and Chloe and Samantha let out some girlish noise between a cheer and a squeal that was followed with one clap something Booth would never understand the need for a single clap, he wasn't even sure it counted as a clap.
"Good morning dears." Abigail greeted the pair as they made their way to the other side of the table and took their seats; even Temperance couldn't miss the 'cat got the canary' expression that graced the older woman's face.
"Good morning." The two said in return together which caused Chloe to let out an excited, 'aww'.
Booth groaned, "Alright, Bones and I are dating each other but we'd like it if you'd keep your 'ohh and awws' as well as your sighs and stares to a minimum." He stated and reached across the table to pick up the bowl of toast offering it to Bones first before taking a piece for him. "What's on the agenda today?"
"Shopping." Chloe was quick to reply and Booth didn't miss the nearly silent groan coming from his bedmate, "Lots and lots of shopping for the girls and for the kids and males white water rafting."
"What if the girls want to white water raft?" Brennan asked putting fruit salad onto her plate, she didn't want to write water raft after an incident she'd had a few years back, but if the only other option was shopping…
"If girls want to white water raft they can…you cannot though." Chloe said with a mischievous grin, "Nor can Booth decide to go shopping, he can stay at the house or go rafting, but those are the options."
"Can I stay at the house?" Brennan asked with interest.
"No, you only get the shopping option." Chloe replied with a no nonsense tone.
Brennan rolled her eyes but decided not to comment and instead focus on her breakfast Booth glanced at her with an amused but sympathetic expression knowing that she probably going to get grilled by their relationship status. Booth turned a warning glance to Chloe before moving his focus on his breakfast as well. "I'm good with going white water rafting, but are all the kids going to be okay with that?"
"Well." Parker spoke up, "It was our idea, we thought it up while you were upstairs with Dr. Bones." He paused, "Marcus said that you and Bones were together now, does that mean I can call him Grandpa Marcus now?" he asked, "And is Max my grandpa too?"
Booth felt the piece of ham lodge in his throat and forced a hard cough to work the offending object out of his throat that had lodged itself there when his son had asked the unsuspected question, "Uh…" He cleared his abused throat, "You know what, maybe we should discuss that later." He said quietly to his son, "Why don't you tell me about the white water rafting idea instead."
Parker sighed heavily like it was a burden to not know about the grandpa statuses, but then launched in detail the plans for the men and children for the day, "It's going to be all day, and Avery already said we were going to stop and get some of those disposable cameras that we can take pictures but it wouldn't be too bad if the cameras went overboard because they wouldn't be reusable. And the place is called…uh...K…Kull…Kennabec?" At Avery's nod he continued on, "Kennebec River Row, and its all day and there will be lunch and it's going to be so awesome!"
"Twelve miles, about 4 hours of water time, maybe more with the kids along." Avery took over and Parker went back to eating his breakfast but continued to listen to what he already knew, "We'll have to have two rafts, two kids and two adults plus a guide for each raft."
Booth nodded his approval, "Sounds good, and are we sure none of the woman want to come?"
"No way are we going to allow you to turn this into a white T-shirt contest where you accidently cause Tempe to fall in." Chloe accused jokingly causing the FBI agent to turn a deep shade of red.
"Booth wouldn't do that he has an honor code." Brennan replied, "And if that doesn't work then he has to attend Sacrament of Penance which is something I don't think he would really enjoy confessing."
Booth turned to her with an amazed expression, "You know what the term for confessional is?"
Brennan turned a light shade of pink, "Well I'm a genius, it isn't usual for me to know these sorts of things." Watching his expression waver a bit she relented with an almost embarrassed shrug, "However," she continued on more quietly, "I may have learned a few things about the religion that is so important to you. You'd asked me one time to stop talking about your religion like it isn't real because it's so believable to you so I researched the more Catholic prominent that I might better understand." She said, "But that doesn't mean that I believe." She added, and Booth found that he didn't care, he was just touched that she'd done any looking into his religion and not in an attempt to verify that it didn't exist or wasn't real.
"Thanks Bones." He said just as softly and reached out to take her hand in his for a moment of affection before going back to his meal knowing that she wouldn't be comfortable with a continuing display, she might be open and abrasive sometimes but this was new to her and he wasn't going to force public affection on her. "Need me to arrest anyone to get you out of this shopping torture?" he asked raising his voice to draw the attention of several people at the table, hoping they'd all take the hint and not comment on the couple's private moment.
"Oh please, you can't just arrest us because Temperance asks you too." Chloe said immediately with a glance at Christopher that basically warned him to hold his tongue, being the prankster in the group they wouldn't put it past him to say something.
Booth shrugged, "Hey if she wants a case, I do my best to get it for her. She wants her sister to get arrested for kidnapping her and a federal agent and leaving them in the wilderness without anything to protect them with…I can make that happen too." This time he added a look that suggested they think before they prank the duo or more accurately him again.
Chloe held up her hands in surrender, "I'm not the only one who was involved in that!" she proclaimed, and the rest of breakfast was taken in a very light and playful tone.
When breakfast was done and the group worked together to take the leftovers and silverware to the kitchen so Elise and Mitch didn't have to collect it, they split off to get ready for the day's events. Booth Parker and Brennan made their way to the stairways leading to their wing of the house.
They'd barely made any progress up the stairs before Parker bypassed Booth and grabbed Brennan's hand as they continued up the stairs, "Dr. Bones does this mean I can call Max and Marcus my grandpas now?"
"Uh." Brennan said giving Booth a glance over her shoulder, "I-Don't you think Grandpa Hank would be sad if you called someone else grandpa?"
Parker shook his head, "Nope, he said that it was only a matter of time until Max became my grandpa. Wait until I tell him that Marcus is going to be my grandpa too! I'm going to have three grandpas!" he exclaimed with excitement.
"Let's calm down Parker, Bones and I just started dating so we aren't even at the stage of marriage and merging families yet." Booth tried to let his partner off the hook.
"But Dad." Parker said with the patented kid whine, "We came on vacation with her, doesn't that mean we merged our families already?"
"He does have a point Booth." Brennan said, "Parker, I do not mind if you want to think of my family as your family. I've always thought of you as part of my family."
"Really Bones?" Parker asked in awe, "Because I always thought of you as my family too. You're the coolest and I tell everyone that you and dad are going to get together and it finally happened and Jason is going to be so mad."
"Jason?" Brennan asked, "Why is he going to be mad?"
"Jason is this kid in my class he always gets straight A's and is always raising his hand in class and stuff. But with your and Max's help I raise my hand too and he gets annoyed because he isn't always called on so it doesn't make him look as smart." Parker shrugged, "Wait until he finds out that my second mom is one of the coolest scientists in the world and she has other scientists who work for her, and she works with my dad who is an FBI agent…he already knows that though…"
"Wouldn't it be better if you were friends with this Jason person?" Brennan asked knowing from her past how cruel kids can be when they have an issue with someone who is different or smarter than them, and didn't want Parker to get picked on by a kid who was getting annoyed that Parker was taking some of the classmates' attention away.
"No way Bones!" Parker said with a violent shake of his head, "He's so mean and he thinks he's so much better that everyone. My friends and I stay away from him but it doesn't mean I'm not going to try to do my best in school just because he doesn't like it."
"That's very good to hear son." Booth interjected himself into the conversation as they reached their rooms, "But still Bones and I are just starting our relationship so don't go telling people that we're already married." Because he didn't need anyone scaring off the anti-marriage girl next to him. "
"But aren't you and Bones going to be together forever and ever?" Parker asked with childlike innocence.
"Of course." Booth answered without hesitation, "But that doesn't mean we want everyone else in our business right now, we don't want them to buy us wedding gifts before we even get married, or we'll end up with thirty blenders!"
Parker's eyes got wide, "That would be bad, okay I won't tell anyone that Dr. Bones is going to be my second mom, but I'm going to tell them that you're dating her, it's going to make Jason so jealous."
Brennan grinned though she didn't fully follow what was going on with talks of blenders and second mothers, "I'm glad that you are okay with the news of your father and I being together."
"Duh, Bones, I'm more than okay. I'd be even better if you'd get married though, so if you could go on maybe…" He tilted his head in thought, "five dates a night then you can get married in like a month because that'd be a lot of dates!"
"We'll talk about it, but we make no promises. Don't get your hopes up." Booth said, "Go put on your swimming trunks and put on pants and a shirt over them because I don't know the attire rules." Parker nodded and went into his room and Booth turned to his girlfriend, "Look, Bones…"
"Why would we get thirty blenders?" She interrupted.
Booth frowned, "Uh, I just said that so Parker wouldn't keep talking about us getting married, I know that you don't believe in marriage and I didn't want you to…panic." He shrugged helplessly.
Brennan studied him before shrugging, "Okay." She replied, "Just. I'm not as opposed to marriage as I used to be why my cousin came I realized that as long as there was a good reason to marry…I just think it's old fashioned and outdated, but I'm not as opposed." She explained, "But I'm also not willing to marry you just because your son wants to make Jason the mean smart kid jealous."
Booth nodded a small smile tugging on his lips, "I wouldn't want you to marry me for that reason either." He answered before growing serious, "Did you mean what you said to Parker about being family?" At her confused expression he continued, "About thinking of him as your family."
Brennan's face lost all confusion and she nodded, "You're the one who told me that there are more than one types of family." She reminded him.
"But, Parker's just a kid and I didn't think he'd made that much of an impact on you. Not that you didn't show an interest, you've always been very nice and accommodating to him. I just mean…you know, I didn't know that you thought of him as family." He said helplessly feeling like he was making a mess out of it and probably offending her or hurting her feelings somehow.
"Booth." She said very serious, "Parker is a very bright and well behaved child, he makes it very easy for someone to care for him." She replied with a small fond smile as she talked about the smaller Booth, "But even without all that going for him, he isn't just some kid, he's you son, and that already makes him special in my book…figurative book that is."
Booth was touched even as he smiled at the figurative book comment, "You know Bones, you're all heart right under being all brain, you're all heart."
"I can't be both all heart and all brain Booth." She said with an exasperated tone but he could tell she was amused.
"Layers." He said, "You have layers like ogres and onions."
"Ogres and onions? You're comparing me to ogres and onions?" she asked slightly offended.
Booth chuckled, "More like a movie, Shrek, we'll have to watch it with Parker some time, it's a kid's movie about and ogre who compares himself to an onion…because they both have layers."
Temperance narrowed her eyes at him deciding what to do with this new piece of information but shrugged, "Alright." She said, "This onion is going to go change for a shopping trip with the ogre and bigfoot."
Booth laughed whole-heartedly, "I'm really racking up those negative points in the boyfriend department aren't I?" he joked.
"Why would you be getting points? Points for what?" she asked now suddenly wondering what her point tally was.
Booth shook his head, smile gracing his face, "Not literal points, it was a joke." He answered and if reading her mind he added, "You get a 9.5 in the girlfriend points system, you get half a point reduction because you steal the blankets."
This caused Brennan to laugh as she backed into her room, "If you say so, have fun with the boys today, make sure Melanie doesn't feel left out. I'm not too surprised she's chosen to go with the boys rafting that go with her mother shopping." Brennan's tone had a hint of a whine causing Booth to chuckle at the unusual childness coming from his partner. "Her and Angela could spend a month shopping together, I should make that happen and maybe they'd both leave me out of it."
Booth leaned forward and captured her lips with his in a quick kiss, "Who knows, maybe you'll have fun." He said trying to be helpful, "I'll see you in a bit." At her nod they both returned to their separate rooms to prepare for the day's events.
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Dun, dun, dun. Another one bites the dust. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the reviews last chapter, I luff you all! And no one is an 'update jinx'. And for me being behind on episodes
I'll shut up now, just know that you're reviews really do keep me going and thanks so much.