Chapter 25: Church and Deep Questions
What surprised Booth on Sunday morning was not the fact that he woke up alone in bed, but rather that when he went downstairs he found Bones, Parker, and Sadie gathered around the breakfast table already dressed for church.
"Hi, Daddy," Sadie greeted hi brightly, jumping down from her seat to give him a hug, "Mommy said we have to wait five more minutes before we can wake you up, but now you're up so you can look at my dress."
Booth's sleepy brain was having trouble processing what she'd said, but he smiled and nodded approvingly as the little girl twirled around and around, the bottom part of the dress flaring out as she spun.
"Very pretty," he told her, halting her spin before she made him dizzy.
Sadie giggled and scampered back to her cereal.
"You look nice too, Bones," he said nonchalantly, "Going somewhere special this morning?"
He could've sworn her cheeks flushed for the briefest second when she answered, "As a matter of fact, yes. You informed me that the patrons from the parish you attend provided meals for you and Sadie as well as offering emotional support while I was away, and I thought it would be rude of me not to thank them in person."
"Saying thank you is polite," Sadie put in.
"Yup," Booth agreed, "and so's brushing your teeth so you don't stink up the joint," he wrinkled his nose.
"Race you upstairs!" Sadie challenged Parker, dashing out of the room as quickly as she could.
"No way," Parker took off after her.
"Walk," both Booth and Bones called out uselessly.
"Oh well," he shrugged, turning to her with a grin, "means I can do this."
He pulled her close and kissed her thoroughly.
"You do that whether the children are present or not," she laughed lightly.
"Yeah, but do I do this-" he stopped abruptly and stared at her, "Please tell me you were not planning on going to church this way?"
"I wouldn't be forced to had you done laundry while I was away," she said, acting like it was no big deal.
"You say that like you were at Club Med or something, Bones. I was a little busy, you know?" He pulled back slightly and shook his head, "Look, it doesn't matter, but what does matter is that you can't go to Mass like that."
"I was unaware that God had a dress code," she sniffed, "It's not as if anyone will notice that I'm not wearing-"
He cut her off because pretty soon the kids would be coming down and there was no way he still wanted to be having this conversation when they did, "I'll know. So just think of it as a personal favor to me, okay? I'm sure you can hunt up something."
She scowled at him first, then smirked as she finally caught his drift.
"You're not offended," the grin on her face was downright feral now, "You're aroused! Is arousal forbidden in church?"
Footsteps tromped down the stairs and he willed her to keep her voice down.
"Yes. Not good," he hissed, "Go. Change. Now."
She did and within a few minutes she returned, winking slyly at him. Wishing he could go back to bed, or maybe find a comfortable rock to climb under for the day, he cleared his throat and told Sadie and Parker it was time to leave; making sure that his son grabbed all of the stuff he needed to take back to Rebecca's.
All in all, the morning went well. He could tell that Bones wasn't comfortable with all of the old ladies hugging her and welcoming her, but at the same time, she allowed them to do so, adopting the same manner that she reserved for the Jeffersonian's donors at formal banquets, complete with the polite "Thank you" for the meal givers. He was also impressed when she refrained from giving a running critique during the homily, which focused primarily on the parable of the Good Samaritan.
On the way out, however, she did instruct the priest on the proper pronunciation of Samaria, pointing out that its modern-day name was Shomron, and informing him that she had once taken part in a very fascinating dig in that region of the West Bank identifying victims of a Palestinian/Israeli border conflict.
To his credit, the man mustered up a genuine smile and told her that made her a Good Samaritan of sorts to the victims' families. She considered the thought for a long moment, then nodded her agreement and the two said good bye.
"Decided not to cover the 2004 analysis of Samaritan mitochondrial DNA?" he teased as they walked back to her car.
"I didn't believe it to be relative, not to mention Nathaniel had several other people who wished to converse with him," she arched an eyebrow, "Though I'm impressed with your knowledge of it, nonetheless."
"Turns out, I'm not just a pretty face after all," he shot her a charm smile, then wagged a finger at her, "And don't think I didn't notice you throwing around Father Menken's first name like that."
"He's told me numerous times that he doesn't mind," she frowned, "Or would you prefer I call him Dr. Menken?"
"That's at least a little better," he groused, navigating his way through the parking lot, trying not to take out any of the kids that were running around in the process.
"Father Menken's a doctor?" Sadie sounded confused.
"He has a PhD in theology," Bones clarified.
"And a Master's in philosophy," Booth added.
"Oh," Sadie sounded thoughtful, "So he's a doctor like Mommy is?"
"Exactly," Bones sounded pleased that Sadie had come to that conclusion on her own.
"Are you a Master too, Mommy?" she wanted to know.
"She's a Master of Bones!" Parker quipped.
A chuckle went around the car.
"I hold several Master's degrees, Sadie," Bones explained, "As well as multiple doctoral degrees."
"Wow," Sadie was impressed, "Can I do that too some day?"
"If you apply yourself and are a diligent student I see no reason why you could not earn a Masters or a Doctorate," Bones smiled encouragingly.
"I'm gonna be an entomologist like Uncle Jack," Parker declared, "Or a paleontologist; I'm not sure which. I like dinosaurs a lot, but then I wouldn't get to help catch bad guys like you and Dad, Dr. Bones, and catching bad guys is important stuff."
The conversation drifted into the many branches of forensic science that there were to choose from along with a brief history of how forensic anthropology had come into its own over the past decade. The kids started to tune out somewhere around Bones' mini-lecture on the importance of board certification and Booth quickly agreed with her, then shifted the topic to a more kid-friendly one.
Far too soon, they reached Rebecca and Drew's townhouse and had to drop Parker off. Bones got out of the car with him and gave her step-son one last hug before he grabbed his bags and headed inside. Booth hid a smug grin as the boy brushed past Drew with barely any acknowledgement and was up in his bedroom window waving vigorously by the time Booth backed out of the driveway and onto the road. He beeped the horn and all three of them waved back at Parker.
Lunch was eaten at the Diner and they spent the rest of the afternoon at the park alternating between the playground, the merry-go-round, and the walking path until the sun started dipping low in the western sky.
"How come Parker has two mommies and daddies?" Sadie asked as they pulled into the garage.
"We've told you before-" Bones started, stopping when he held his hand up and shot her a look.
He turned off the engine and got out, walking around to Sadie's side and opening the door.
"Hey," he smiled, hunching down until he was at her level, "feeling lonely, Kiddo?"
"It's not fair," Sadie's lower lip hung out, "Parker gets two mommies and two daddies, and Maddie and Joey do too, plus they get to see each other."
"You get to see Parker when they don't," Booth pointed out, unbuckling her and scooping her into his arms, "and you get to stay in the same house."
"I know," she hung her head, eventually letting it rest on his shoulder as he carried her into the house.
She yawned widely in his arms and he carried her upstairs to her bedroom. Sliding her little dress shoes off of her feet, he wrapped her up in the covers, smiling as she reached out for her dolphin. He picked the worn stuffed animal up off of the floor and handed it to her.
"Daddy," she yawned again, "will you stay with me 'til I fall asleep?"
"Sure thing," he nodded, easing himself down to the floor and brushing a stray curl out of her face.
"Everything okay in here?" Bones asked, peering around the open door.
Sadie nodded her head, "Will you stay too, Mommy?"
"Of course," Bones smiled tenderly.
Sadie lay quiet for several minutes and Booth thought she might have drifted off to sleep when she suddenly asked, "When I'm in Kindergarten will I have to leave sometimes too?"