December 21- 4:00pm-

Temperance stood at her dining room table, unwrapped gifts covering the surface. She pulled two rolls of wrapping paper from the bag on the chair and set them on the table beside the scissors and tape. She sighed as she looked at the vast array of gifts she had bought, and smiled, thinking of the face of the little boy when he opened them on Christmas Eve. Naturally, her thoughts strayed to the father of that little boy, his gift knowingly hidden away safely from his prying eyes, and the socks and ties that she had gotten him were just the decoy that she needed to keep his curiosity at bay for the actual gift that she had found for him.

Her attention was pulled away suddenly by the sharp rapping on her door, and she looked up and smiled slightly. There were few people who were allowed into her building to knock on her door, and from the rhythm, she knew exactly who it was. "Hold onto your horses." She said when he knocked again, turning the deadbolt. She opened the door to her grinning partner.

"It's 'hold your horses', Bones… Not hold onto your horses." Booth joked, leaning on the door jamb, he stepped forward and dropped a kiss on her lips. He wasn't exactly sure the etiquette so he hesitated just coming into the apartment.

She returned the kiss and grabbed his arm, pulling him inside so she could close the door. "I'm fairly certain what I said was proper English, Booth." She teased back. "Where have you been all day?" She asked.

After lunch with Max, the two of them had gone their separate ways. Each had errands to run with the plan of meeting back up at Temperance's place. He kicked his shoes off and quickly hung up his coat, walking around her as he looked around curiously. "Where are you going?" She asked, a laugh on her lips, she locked the door and followed after him. "Booth?"

"Just checking on what you were up to before I got here." He said, stopping. He turned and she nearly ran into him, and his arms were immediately around her. "How was your day, beautiful?" He asked.

"It was nice. I thought of you often." She replied, looking up into his eyes, she could feel his hands gently running across her back, and her body immediately began to react to his closeness.

"I missed you too, Bones." He said, his voice low and a bit husky, he kept his eyes on her for several moments.

"I thought you said that you were picking up my gift." She said, looking toward the door and back to him, he grinned brightly and turned with her. "Where is it? Is it in your coat?" She asked, turning around to walk toward his coat, she felt his hand grasp hers tightly and tug. She allowed him to pull her toward him, pressing her chest against his, trapping her once again in his arms. Her mischievous smile matched his. "Where's my gift?"

"Do you think I'm crazy? I didn't bring it in here!" He laughed. "It's in my rental car." He said, laughing at her genuine pout. "Aw." He said, tipping his head. "Don't look at me like that, Bones." He said, watching her lip slide back and a gentle sigh fall from her lips. "Don't you want to be surprised?"

"I thought that I proved to you yesterday when I pinned you against that vehicle and nearly eviscerated you, that I am not a fan of surprises." She teased, lifting an eyebrow as he nodded in agreement, she pushed herself into him a little more.

"That's true, that's true… your warning not was very subtle." He said, with a bit of a laugh. "You will like this surprise though." He said, dropping a kiss on her nose. "I promise."

"I feel that when you kiss me on the nose, you are being condescending." She said, narrowing her eyes.

"Is that right?" He asked, kissing her nose again, he watched her scrunch her face, rubbing her nose with her hand. "You're cute when you do that." He said. She shook her head and rested it on his chest for a moment.

"I am a grown adult woman, I am not cute." She said against his shoulder.

"You're an adorable grown adult woman." He teased, and her reaction was just as he thought it would be, when she pressed her palms against his chest and pushed herself away from him. "Aw, come on, Bones. I'm just picking on you."

"I need your help with something." She said, ignoring the back and forth for a moment. She walked toward the dining room, he followed after her and laughed a little, stopping in the doorway when he saw the plethora of gifts covering the table.

"Geez, Bones. Did you get more gifts today?" He asked, his eyes wide with surprise. He glanced to her, and she shook her head. "Are these all for Parker?" He asked, stepping toward the piles of gifts.

"Yes." She replied. "Do you think he'll enjoy these gifts?" She asked.

"Enjoy them? Are you kidding me? You're better than Santa Claus!" He laughed. "Seriously, Bones? Four science kits? What kid needs four science kits?"

"They are all for different experiments." She said, defending her choices. "I didn't know what ones he would enjoy, so I just figured that I'd get him all of them. I make a great deal of money, Booth. I rarely get to spend it on those that I care about, so I may have gone a little overboard."

"A little overboard? Bones... I think you went overboard and then swam to another ship, climbed on, and then went overboard again." Booth said, still walking around to look at all of the gifts. "It's way too much, Bones." Booth sighed. "Way, way too much." He said, shaking his head at the piles of gifts. He glanced in her direction and could see a look of concern on her face as she too looked at everything she had purchased. He could see that she was concerned that she had done something wrong. "Bones it's fine. If this is what you wanted to do, then it's fine." He said, watching her sigh, the look in her eyes still there.

"Should I return some of them?" She asked, sighing. She looked toward him. "I mean…I could return some of them."

"Do you want to return them?" He asked.

"No." She replied. "I wouldn't know what to return, what he'd like best. I have no idea what interests a nine year old boy…" She sighed.

"How about this…" He said, stepping toward her, he put his arm around her and they looked over the toys together. "You tell him that he can pick out his favorites, and the rest we can give to charity. To kids less fortunate." He said, watching her eyes lift to his. There was a glimmer of hope that reappeared within their blue depths. "I think Parker would like that. He'd like to help out kids that can't have a real Christmas."

"He is quite a sensitive boy." She said. "Do you really think that he'd be willing to do that?" She asked.

"I think he's just going to be excited to see you." He said, smiling at her. "The presents are just gravy."

"I think what he'd really like to see is you." She said. "You're what matters to him, Booth. Not me. He is going to be so happy to see you. He probably won't even think about me once he sees you."

"I see a bunch of letters over there on the coffee table from a kid who hates writing. I'm going to go with you being his favorite gift this year." He chuckled. "Okay, so what did you need help with?" He asked.

"Wrapping all of these." She said, a sly smile lifting onto her lips, he cringed a little.

"All of them?" He asked. "Every single one of these gifts? Even the ones we might return?"

She let out a slight giggle. "Yes." She said, stepping out of his embrace, she took his hand. "You do know how to wrap gifts, don't you?" She teased, watching his impatient faux glare, she smiled. "If you wrap some of the gifts, then I will make us dinner." She said, releasing his hand, she glanced to him and smiled innocently. "If you like, we can also say that some of the gifts are from you." She said, tipping her head.

"If I'm going to do that, I'm going to pay for them, Bones." He said, watching her eyes roll slightly. "Don't roll your eyes at me. I'm not going to take credit for your generosity." He said.

"How about, on the tags… you write that they are from both of us." She said, stepping toward him again, she looked up into his eyes and he put his arms around her, holding her to his body securely. "And then… you can pay for them in other ways." She smiled. "Ways that are not strictly monetary, that is." She said, running her finger over the buttons on his shirt, she bit her lip a little, looking up into his eyes.

"Bones, are you suggesting that I pay for my son's Christmas gifts with sexual favors?" He whispered conspiratorially, his eyes narrowing playfully.

"I was actually referring to you wrapping the gifts and possibly setting the table for dinner, but I am completely open to sexual favors." She said, a wicked smile on her face.

"I will wrap the gifts." He said, running his finger over her cheek, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I will set the table for dinner." He kissed her forehead gently, placing his finger tenderly at her chin, he pulled it slightly for her eyes to meet his.

"And?" She whispered, hearing her own breath hitch as he leaned to kiss her lips. She smiled against his kiss as he answered her question wholeheartedly, and with a gentle groan against her mouth. They broke from the kiss and she sighed, watching his eyes the entire time. "I'm going to have to find more things for you to do around here." She whispered, and the smile that appeared lit up her entire face, mirrored by his own smile, and his gentle laugh.