Thanks to all who read and reviewed. And to MickeyBoggs for giving it the once over at what was lightning speed.
Not mine
Enjoy.
Heavy rain lashed down upon a sea of umbrellas congregated together in the church courtyard. Seeley Booth stood solemnly, sheltering his partner from the elements.
"Honey?" Max Keenan worked his way towards them. "I'm so glad you came, Tempe. And Booth, of course."
The two men shared a supportive nod as Temperance locked her jaw into a look of cold indifference.
"We should go inside," he continued. "Russ said he asked to you give a reading?"
"Yes," she retorted bluntly. "I have prepared a suitable piece."
"You don't have to, Tempe, if it makes you uncomfortable."
"Max is right, Bones." Booth stroked his thumb along her jaw. "Nobody would ask you to do anything you didn't want to do."
"I'm fine," she glared. "Death is a natural and inevitable process."
Booth pulled her aside as Max stepped inside. "Bones, I am…" He inhaled deep. "…more than a little concerned about your state of mind. I think Amy and Russ losing their baby has affected you more than you're letting on."
"You are acting irrationally, Booth. You seem to have identified a need to cosset me like a child. I'm finding your behavior is the only issue at hand here right now." She stalked ahead into the quaint chapel.
"It's been a while since I heard you laugh."
Temperance stopped in her tracks. "Perhaps my developing sense of humor no longer finds your jokes entertaining."
"The spark in your eyes has gone."
She turned to face him, shaking her head determinedly. "The illusion of sparkling eyes is created by nothing more than excess moisture on the surface on the pupil."
Booth shrugged his shoulders sheepishly, avoiding her piercing stare. Accepting he wasn't going to get through to her here, he gestured that they should take their seat.
A hush descended among them as the service began. "I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. John 11.25,26."
"That's absurd," Temperance quipped angrily.
Booth glared at her, visibly hurt by her thoughtless comment.
"I'm sorry," she murmured quietly. "That was inappropriate."
They sat silently as the service proceeded, until eventually the pastor looked out to find her. "And now we will have a reading by Temperance?"
Slowly she stood and made her way to the pulpit.
"I was asked, by Russ and Amy, to say something here today." Temperance looked out across the small congregation. She was more than proficient at public speaking but this occasion was more intimate than she was used to. And while she recognized the few familiar faces of her own small family, most were strangers to her. "And I expect that some biblical reading is appropriate on this occasion, but if I am to speak before you it should be something that represents my own beliefs. And so I came across this poem." She bit her lip and glanced at a paper she pulled from her coat pocket.
"The world may never notice, If a Snowdrop doesn't bloom,
Or even pause to wonder, If the petals fall too soon."
Booth watched the heartfelt words spill from her lips as a tightness formed in his own chest.
"But every life that ever forms, Or ever comes to be,
Touches the world in some small way, For all eternity."
Temperance rested her palm against her own precious life growing inside her, fluttering frantically around its safe haven. Swallowing hard, she continued;
"The little one we longed for, Was swiftly here and gone.
But the love that was then planted, Is a light that still shines on."
Unwittingly, Temperance's gaze caught Amy's eyes and their devastation that overwhelmed her. She faltered, frantically searching the congregation for the strength to continue. And there it was. He was. Her strength. Booth's reassuring love pulled her focus back and she spoke again.
"And though our arms are empty, Our hearts know what to do.
For every beating of our hearts, Says that we love you."
.
BBBBBBBB
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"Mom?" Temperance bit at her lip in frustration, twisting at her mother's ring on her finger. She wasn't sure herself what had made her come here tonight. Why she thought talking to… Correction. Talking at a gravestone would provide her any comfort. And for a while she sat in silence.
"How did you do it?" she blurted out suddenly. "How did you know that bringing me and Russ into the world was the right thing to do? How did you know that it was worth the risk?"
Temperance waited for an impossible answer. The fall breeze rustled leaves around her and she reached down and picked up a perfectly preserved maple leaf, rich in its earthy tones.
"Momma? Why do all the leaves fall from the trees when they need them most?"
"Joy? What do you mean baby?"
"It's cold. The trees are losing their coats. Can we give them a blanket?"
"Oh, baby, that's not how it works. Don't you worry your little head. Trees don't feel the cold like we do. They sleep in the wintertime and new leaves grow in the spring."
Her eyes were closed as a single tear rolled down her cheek, a long forgotten memory pushing its way though. "Thank you." Her whisper was carried into the wind with the leaves.
Sensing she was no longer alone, Temperance turned and offered a fragile smile at the man waiting for her. Cautiously he walked towards her. Temperance slid her arms around his waist burying her head in his chest.
Booth held onto her tight. "I've got you baby," he murmured against her hair. "I've got you."
