Disclaimer: I do not own Bones, but I am obsessed!

Author's Note: Holy crap, it's going to be a long summer. Still processing that finale. Sorry for the delay, I was temporarily taken hostage by Castle, but I'm back. Enjoy.

Chapter 25: Cold, Lonesome Morning

July 27, 2006 Duck, North Carolina

The first sound was the cooler hitting the ground. Russ had been holding it, and it made a loud thunk as ice packs and water bottles shifted. He nearly barreled over his girlfriend as he forced his way outside. He could be heard shouting for his father like he was calling for a lost puppy or child. It was futile, but he kept calling.

Brennan picked up the package and held it limply between her hands. Her eyes were full of questions. Booth stood with a stony glare on his face. Lucy also stood motionless staring at the brown package.

Amy looked around awkwardly, and then quietly gathered up the three youngest children trying to coax them into playing a board game. The children weren't pleased as they had been ready to head to the beach and enjoy the summer day. But they knew that something was wrong and allowed themselves to be led back upstairs, leaving behind a trail of towels and toys.

Lucy spoke first. She reached for the package, "Mom, can I open it now?"

Brennan's hands tightened around the brown paper wrapping. "No. We are going to throw it away."

Lucy protested, "No, it's mine. I want it."

Brennan thrust the box into Booth's hand. "Throw it away. I don't want to see it. She can't have it."

Booth clutched the box, unsure what to do. Both Brennans stood with their arms crossed staring at him, waiting for him to decide.

He looked towards his partner, "Look, Bones."

Brennan knew that she was losing the argument. "No, Booth. She can't have it."

"There may be some sort of clue as to where he is. At least let's see what's inside." He handed the package to Lucy and attempted to place his arms around Brennan's shoulder, an apology for siding with the girl. Brennan pulled away abruptly, angry with him. He still stood beside her, offering his support despite her refusal to accept it.

Lucy gently tugged at the corner of the paper and carefully unwrapped the box. She pulled off the lid only to see a smaller box inside wrapped in the same brown paper. Twice more she unwrapped smaller boxes, growing more confused. Finally, she found a small blue velvet box. Unclasping the lid she looked inside. Resting on a piece of velvet was a delicate chain with a pendant dangling from it. It was a silver hoop was supporting Lucy's birthstone, a small ruby, on the bottom left, while the top right featured a dolphin leaping over the gem. Lucy gasped at the present. She had been given jewelry before, but never something like that.

She held the jewelry box out to the adults. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

Booth looked a bit incredulous, "Uhh, I think that you are supposed to wear it, Squirt."

Lucy nodded a little numbly, "Yes, of course. That's rational."

Brennan seemed to finally find her voice. "We should send it to the Jeffersonian."

Booth and Lucy spoke at the same time, "Why?"

"Angela might be able to identify the artist. It's clearly a custom piece. And Hodgins can analyze the metal, see if he can isolate where it came from. And we should send him all of the wrappings, I am sure that my father left some sort of clue. Hodgins may be able to tell us where my father is. We can find him." Her eyes had lit up at the thought.

Booth exhaled before speaking. "Bones, I don't think it's a good idea."

Brennan looked at him with her sad eyes, the expression that he hated to see. "Why not?"

"I just don't want you to get your hopes up. Clearly, he doesn't want to be found. If we send this stuff to DC, what happens when they can't find anything? I don't want you to be disappointed. He's been in hiding for 15 years, you have to be good to stay hidden that long. He already took a risk dropping off that package, I doubt he left GPS coordinates for you."

Brennan merely shrugged. "My team is the best in the world, if anyone can find my father, it's them."

Booth rubbed the back of his neck and ruffled his hair. "I know how talented they are, I just don't want to see you hurt. I know that you want answers, heck, we all do, but..." He couldn't finish his sentence. This was a no-win situation. Not finding Brennan's father could be as heart-breaking as finding him and not getting the answers that Brennan longed for.

Lucy closed the lid on the box and handed it to Booth. "Let's send it to Aunt Angela. She may learn something about it. We should at least try. I guess my fingerprints are all over the paper, but maybe there is something else that Hodgins can find. We need to try."

Booth nodded and made his way upstairs. "Fine, I'll take care of it. I have been around for quite a few crime scenes, I guess I can handle sending a package to Angela. I'll give you two a few minutes."

Brennan looked as if she wanted to question Booth's ability to gather some paper and mail it, but she let it go. She turned to her daughter, appreciative that her daughter was willing to sacrifice her gift in order to try and get some answers.

Lucy's voice was still quiet as she spoke. "I'm going to my room. I need a few minutes." She left without waiting for her mother's approval and made her way up the stairs.

Lucy leaned back against the headboard in her rented room. She longed for her own room, her own things surrounding her and giving her comfort. This was not the birthday that she had planned. She had wanted fun and family, she just wasn't expecting this much family. It was too much. She had too many thoughts racing through her head. She needed time to process her thoughts.

Brennan knocked on the door jamb as the door was still open. "May I come in?"

Lucy was about to nod, but found herself speaking instead. "Why do you hate your dad?"

"I don't hate him."

"It seems like you do, you always get really mad or really sad whenever someone mentions your dad. I don't understand it."

Brennan bit her lip and silently walked over to Lucy's bed. Brennan slid on top of the covers and placed her arm around her daughter's shoulders. "I don't hate your grandfather. It's just that he left me and your Uncle Russ. I was only fifteen and suddenly my parents were gone. I ended up alone in foster care. It was very difficult and I was very lonely. It was very difficult growing up without my parents, foster care was not pleasant for me."

Lucy contemplated this information. Yes, she knew the barest of facts about her mother, but her mother was never so open about it. "And you blame your dad."

"Yes, you know that I don't believe in lying to you. I do blame him. He left me."

Lucy snuggled into Brennan's side. "Mom, thank you for always being there for me. I don't know what I would do without you."

Brennan scoffed. She was always uncomfortable with such overt affection. She loved her daughter, but she always had difficulty accepting that love in return. But she was always honest. "I don't know what I'd do without you either."

Lucy accepted that response and cuddled a little closer. "Will you be very sad if we can't find your father? I know you miss him."

Brennan did not answer. She needed her own time to process, but Lucy seemed to not need an answer, she was already asking more questions. "Can I keep the necklace? You know after we process it for evidence? It is pretty. I liked it."

"We'll see. Hodgins may destroy it in an experiment gone wrong."

Lucy's jaw dropped slightly. "Did you just make a joke, Mom?"

Brennan smiled, "I am becoming quite humorous."

Lucy poked her mother. "Yes, you are. I have another question."

"Go ahead."

"Why did he wrap my present in so many boxes?"

Brennan looked off into the distance, remembering. She took a moment, despite her considerable intelligence, she didn't trust her memories. "He used to do that as a joke for me and Russ. We would ask for something, and he would wrap it in unusual boxes so that we would be surprised. There was this calculator that I wanted once and he actually wrapped it in this appliance box that our neighbors discarded. He filled the whole thing with foam. I had to dig for twenty minutes to find it. He was very amused at my frustration."

Lucy smiled, "I'm glad that you have a few happy memories of your dad. It's nice to have them."

"Yes, I do have a few."

"I'd like to hear them sometime. If that's OK?"

Brennan nodded, "I will consider it."

Lucy sat and thought for another moment. "I have one more question."

"Yes."

"Do you think that I'm missing out by not meeting my other cousins? I've been having so much fun with Parker and Hayley and Emma. I think that I want to meet the rest of my family. I want happy memories to think about. I don't want to be sad because I am missing part of my family, especially since we know where they are. I've been thinking about it for a long time, but I think that I've made a decision."

Brennan just nodded and Lucy continued. "I want to meet my other cousins. I love my lab family, but I think that I'd like having another family, I want to at least meet them. I don't want to wait anymore. Family isn't so bad, we might like them."

Brennan swallowed, "If that is what you want, we can talk about it."

"Do you think Booth will come with us?"

"If we ask him to, and he has no plans, I assume that he would be willing to accompany us."

Lucy sat for one last moment and then smiled brightly. "OK, let's go get the others. I don't want to mope anymore. It's my birthday and we are going to enjoy it. And we are going to wipe the floor with everyone else on the jet-skis. I mean blow them out of the water."

"Yes, that sounds acceptable."

Brennan followed her daughter out of the room, it was time to compartmentalize and make the best of the day. She was determined to have fun and push thoughts of her father away. She was still contemplating how she was going to act happy when an arm came around her waist. The masculine scent and voice that accompanied the gesture set her at ease.

"You OK, Bones?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"I'm going to find a post office and I can meet you guys for lunch. We'll find him, Temperance. We will."

Brennan avoided his gaze, "Why are you so nice to me?"

Booth squeezed her a bit tighter, "Come on, Bones. Let's get you out in the sunshine, it's a beautiful day."

"Yes, it is."