Title: Object of my Affection
Author: Shannon - shannyfish
Disclaimer: I do not own "Bones" or its characters, Fox does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Booth and Brennan must struggle with not only the Grad Students trying to take Zack's old position, but also help get through a tragic end.
Warning: Post Season Three - "Pain in the Heart". Would take place during Season Four, probably mid to late. Warning! Do not start reading this unless you plan on reading all…like…one hundred chapters (it might be that many…might not…). This will be an epic/saga-type fic and shall include all kinds of fun plot twists. The rating of this story will most likely fluctuate, FYI.

Chapter 53 – "Merry Christmas, Booth"

Author's Note: In regards to hypothermia, since I have had it questioned. I always research several different resources before I use the information. On my wiki, I list all of my resource links and/or books used for each chapter. Also, this is fanfiction and there's a bit of leeway usually allowed...of course...miracles do happen ;) Without them, Booth wouldn't have a reason for his faith, right?

Trailer #1: h t t p : // www . mediafire . com / ?20w12iod0dd

Hopefully this all shows us, just remove the spaces : )

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Booth Residence

Presents were under the tree, Christmas lights dazzled, and Santa had taken a bite out of the cookie left for him. Stockings were hung and filled. Everything was picture perfect when Booth walked into his front room. He felt like crying. Everything was not perfect. He wasn't prepared to celebrate Christmas. It wasn't right for him to keep the holiday from Parker, Hayley, or Emma though. He knew that. He sighed heavily and then entered the kitchen in order to start the coffee. They were having ham, so there was no early morning cooking at the moment. The ham would just have to have the glaze put on and then later heated.

He set to the kitchen and put on coffee. He was going to really need it today. Coffee would help him survive the show he'd have to put on. Booth figured that it would also help out the other adults that would be attending. At least he could use being tired as a good cover for most of the day. Coffee...that's what he was considering Christmas spirit at the moment.

"Is it Christmas yet?"

Booth turned around and noticed that Parker's head was popped out in the doorway that led into the kitchen. Parker normally spent Christmas Eve with him and Christmas morning with Rebecca. This was the first time they were doing this. Of course, it was even more different because they also had included Russ and his family. "It is," Booth said with a smile. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Parker replied quietly. He looked back at the tree that had presents piled all under and around it and then back to his dad. "Can I open presents yet?"

Laughing, he approached Parker. Coffee would be ready soon enough. "You know, I think maybe we should wait for Hayley and Emma. It would be more fun for all of you to open presents together, don't you think?"

"Yeah..." Parker said reluctantly. "When are they coming over?"

"It's only eight," Booth pointed out.

"So when are they coming?" Parker asked. There were all kinds of packages and all he wanted to do was to open them.

Booth sighed and sunk into the bar stool next to him. This was going to be hard. Hard for everyone. "Buddy, you just have to calm down and be patient." Of course, being patient wasn't really something that kids were known for, especially not on Christmas morning. "They'll get here soon enough. I'm sure that Hayley and Emma are doing the same thing to Russ and Amy. Just...let's get some breakfast started, probably by then they'll be here."

"But then we have to eat breakfast," Parker said with a pout.

"Aren't you hungry?"

"Yes..."

Booth laughed, "I promise it won't be that bad." He got off the stool and entered the kitchen in order to start the breakfast. He pulled eggs, bacon, sausage, and items to make pancakes. He figured that making a big breakfast would be the best thing since it was Christmas morning and all. It seemed right to have a big breakfast. "Why don't you help me?"

"Can't I open just one present?" Parker asked.

It was a completely innocent question. After all, who really wanted to wait to open Christmas presents? "Okay, maybe just one small one," Booth gave in and left the kitchen to walk to the tree with Parker in order to pick out a present he could open. He knew that Parker had opened a few presents the night before at the Jeffersonian, but normally he wouldn't have gone to that, so he wasn't counting it.

"Which one can I open?" Parker asked excitedly.

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Booth Residence

Around nine-thirty, Russ arrived with his family. His girls immediately went squealing to the Christmas tree and checking to make sure there were presents for them. They wanted to make sure that Santa knew that they were in Maryland rather than North Carolina. Russ was glad that they were already enjoying it. He was sure that finding out that Santa hadn't forgotten them was a relief even though he and Amy had been telling them just that for weeks now.

"Can we open one?" Hayley asked.

"Yeah! Can we?" Emma asked and waited for her parents' response.

Russ looked from the girls and then into the kitchen. "I think breakfast is ready," he said looking back to the girls. "Why don't we do it after breakfast? Grandpa isn't even here yet," Russ told them.

"He's right," Amy agreed. "Everyone should be here."

Russ frowned. Everyone wasn't here, but he knew what Amy meant. He went to help Booth out in the kitchen. "Have you heard from my dad today?"

"No. You?"

"No."

"Do you think he'll still show up?"

"I hope so."

"We could call Max and ask him," Booth pointed out.

Russ nodded, "I suppose that would make the most sense, wouldn't it?"

"You want me to call him, don't you?" Booth asked with a frown as he pulled the eggs off of the heat.

"Please?"

Booth sighed, "Merry Christmas," he muttered before pulling his cell phone out of his back pocket and dialing the number he had for Max. He waited as it rang and then finally heard Max's greeting on the line. "Merry Christmas, Max," he said faking enthusiasm, though he didn't think there was anything very merry about this Christmas. "Russ and the kids were just wondering when we could expect you to be over. Breakfast is all made and the kids can't wait to open presents." He nodded, "I understand. Okay, we'll see you in a while, then." He closed the phone and put it back in his pocket.

"So?" Russ prompted.

"So, he's not going to be here until around lunch time," Booth told him. "He said he planned on being here sooner, but whatever he's doing is taking longer than he thought."

"What is he doing?"

"I don't know."

Russ frowned. He didn't know what his father thought was so much more important that he wasn't there on Christmas morning for his grandkids. They'd planned this a while ago. He knew that his sister wasn't going to be able to be present, but that didn't mean that they didn't have Christmas.

"So? You ready for breakfast?" Booth asked as he moved the eggs into a large dish. There were also covered dishes with bacon, sausage, pancakes, and now the eggs. He picked up two of the dishes and headed to set them on the table. Parker had already put out plates, silverware, and glasses. He set it down before going back to the kitchen for more of the breakfast supplies.

"So, presents after breakfast, right?" Parker asked excitedly.

"Yeah...I'd like to wait for Max to get here, but I don't know if you kids can be that patient," Booth commented before going back for the orange juice and coffee.

"I don't think so," Amy commented. She motioned for her girls to take seats at the table for breakfast. She looked to Hayley and Emma, "Isn't there some parade on that you'd like to see or a Christmas show?"

"No," Emma replied.

Hayley looked around the table. "There's a new episode of Hannah Montana..."

"Do you have cable?" Emma immediately asked looking to Booth.

"Yes, of course we have cable," Booth responded.

"Yes!" Emma shouted and then both girls started to jump up and down in excitement.

"Well, maybe we've made some stall time until Max shows up," Amy told Booth with a small smile. "Parker might not appreciate it, though."

"It's a girl show," Booth summed up. "I'm sure he can handle it though."

"I can hardly handle it," Russ mumbled as he walked by.

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Booth Residence

It was nearly noon when the kids started to ask about presents again. "We might as well," Russ said. He had wanted his dad there, but they couldn't hold off the three kids much longer. They had really been quite good until that point.

"We better get a trash bag before the paper goes flying everywhere," Amy suggested. "Where are they?"

"Under the sink," Booth responded.

The kids were around the tree on the floor, ready with presents around them in order to tear the paper off as soon as the parents gave them the word. Emma was the first to have her present unwrapped. Booth thought that in a way this was perfect, even with no Max or Brennan. The point was for the kids to be happy. So far, they were doing well.

Booth was snapping pictures, so he could show Brennan at a later time. He heard a knock and got up to answer the door. He opened it to find Angela, Hodgins, Cam, and Sweets. "Timed your arrival?" Booth asked with a small smile.

"Merry Christmas," Cam greeted and hugged him.

"Merry Christmas," he responded back. He showed them in and took his seat again. It was feeling a bit more like a true Christmas, but it wasn't quite there. It was almost all of his family...the parts that he'd invited at least...it was almost perfect.

Almost.

Barking caught Booth's ear and he immediately looked over to Russ. This was a surprise, but he had forgotten about it.

"I'll get it," Russ said quickly and got up before there was even a knock. Hurrying to the door, Russ had it open when his father came into sight. There was much more with him than Russ had expected. "Tempe," Russ breathed a bit shocked. He didn't wait until she was inside, he stepped out and hugged her tightly. "No one called us..."

"It's my fault," Brennan told him quietly. "I told him it would be better if it were a surprise."

"You did?"

"Yes," Brennan said with a smile. "Merry Christmas, Russ," she said as she pulled back and looked him over. "I hope we're not too late."

"No, of course not," Russ told her and fully opened the door and stepped aside.

Max smiled brightly. He had a Santa hat on his head and leashes which attached to four puppies, who were very excited to see their surroundings. "I figured that I'd help out with some of the Christmas present pick up."

"We forgot," Russ admitted.

"I've got you covered," Max told his son with a wink and reached back and closed the door.

"You got it all?" Booth asked, but when he raised his head to check on Russ, he felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. "Bones," Booth blurted out shocked. He was no longer concerned about the puppies, no...his mind was only on Brennan. "You're okay," he breathed as he took another step towards her. It was a lot to take in.

"Didn't I say she'd be home for Christmas?" Max asked. "Anyways, I'm passing out puppies," he said as he moved between them with the puppies and entered the other room. "Russ, come help me," Max called.

The happy screams didn't even register to Booth as he just stared at her. She even looked dressed for Christmas. She was wearing jeans with a red blouse that had sparkles on it. "Merry Christmas," Booth finally said.

"Will you please stop looking at me like that?" Brennan requested with a small smile. Her father had explained that people would be happy to see her, but Booth was more looking at her like she was a ghost. It was to be expected, she supposed, the doctors had told them that she may never recover. She did.

Booth looked down for a moment and then looked back up at her. He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. He held her as if he would never let her go again. "I've missed you," he whispered before placing his face in the crook of her neck. He just breathed. He felt like the hole in his heart had been mended. He'd live now. They all would.

"Merry Christmas, Booth," she whispered as her hand ran down his back. It felt good to be held like this. Brennan didn't remember anything after she fell asleep in the box in the cold icy water, but she knew that they'd all worked hard to look for her. Her father had told her that everyone had worked in different ways and suffered her loss at such a time. Of course, only now did she truly realize the impact of her absence at Christmas time would have on her friends and family.

"Merry Christmas, Temperance," he said into her skin. He didn't want to let go. He wanted to hold her forever.

"Booth, the kids want to know whose dog is whose," Hodgins said and then stopped. "Doctor Brennan!" he exclaimed excitedly.

The noise of voices and the hands touching had caught Booth off guard, but he realized that he couldn't hold her forever. He released her and caught her smile, his brightened as if on command. It was obvious that everyone had found out that she'd made it for Christmas. He backed up and let Angela and others take their turn in hugging Brennan and wishing her a 'Merry Christmas'. Booth crossed his arms and stared at the scene unfolding in front of him. It was truly that of a loving family. "A Christmas miracle," Booth said as he shook his head.

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TBC...