December 24th- 12:00pm-

Temperance stood at Rebecca's apartment door, packages filling three bags that had been packed neatly by Booth after they had finally gotten out of bed and got ready for the day. He had insisted that she go and see Parker on her own first, since this had been her plan and Rebecca was expecting her. However, she had insisted on her own that he come over at some point while she was there, so that she could see the happiness in the boy's eyes at seeing his father unexpectedly.

She took a slow, deep breath, and rang the doorbell, counting to five in her head to quell the unexplained anxiety in her belly. After a moment or two the door opened, and Rebecca smiled politely as she answered.

"Doctor Brennan." She said, her voice soft.

"Tempe is fine." She smiled politely.

"Come in, Tempe." She said, her voice still soft. "He still has no idea that you were coming." She said, opening the door a little wider, she noticed the packages, and her eyes widened. "That's quite a lot of gifts." She said, watching Temperance smile.

"I wasn't sure what he'd like, so I believe I got him one of everything." She shrugged, listening to the other woman laugh lightly.

"I'll be right back. He's playing a video game in his bedroom." She said. "Make yourself at home." She said, indicating the couch, and then she quietly slipped away into the next room.

Temperance set the bags of gifts beside the couch, observing the apartment with a discernable eye. She noted that Rebecca wasn't an extravagant decorator. She kept a clean house, though it was obvious that a child lived there. She noted the photos of Parker along the mantle, and a few on the wall, along with other pictures of who she assumed were nieces or nephews. She could hear Rebecca's voice talking low in the next room, and Parker's speaking back to her. It was clear that something was bothering him, and she wondered if it was his discovery of Santa, the disruption of his holiday play, or just the fact that he missed his father.

"Parker, please come out. I have someone here who would like to see you and wish you a Merry Christmas." Rebecca said, stepping out of the room. She shrugged toward Temperance, and smiled a secret smile toward the other woman.

Temperance could hear Parker's tone but not his reply, and it sounded indignant and irritated, almost reminiscent of another Booth she knew who could be just as stubborn as a 9-year old child at times. She could hear him shuffling out and then saw him, his shoulders slumped, his head down as he stepped into the room.

"Parker." Temperance said, watching the boy's head snap up at the sound of her voice, and that pout that had been present was immediately replaced by a radiant and familiar smile. "Merry Christmas." She said.

"Bones!" Parker exclaimed, running as quickly as he could across the room, he barely registered his mother's warning to be careful and not run. "What are you doing here?" He wrapped his arms around her tightly, and immediately felt her arms around him. She was certain that she felt him tremble slightly, and his emotions were nearly too much for him as he started to cry. "I can't believe you're here!" He exclaimed.

"Oh, Parker." She whispered, holding him against her as he cried softly. "Hey, it's okay. It's okay." She whispered into his messy hair, kissing the top of his head tenderly as she rocked him gently.

"I think he missed you." Rebecca said sardonically, watching Temperance's eyes lift to hers, she realized then that she too had tears in her eyes.

"I missed you. I missed you so much." She said into the boy's hair, watching as his brown eyes finally met hers.

"I missed you too! I missed you too, Bones!" He exclaimed, swiping his nose and eyes with his arm as he tried to compose himself. "I wrote you a letter, and I hadn't heard back." He exclaimed. "I was really worried about you."

"I got your letter, and the Christmas ornament." She said, watching those brown eyes sparkle back at her. "I wanted to surprise you though." She smiled. "Why were you worried about me?" She asked, brushing the boy's hair from his face, his red eyes clearing up quickly. She could see Rebecca sit in the chair across from her as they both watched Parker straighten up a bit and take a deep breath.

"I dunno, because of monsoons and big snakes, earthquakes, and all of the other really scary things that are out there in the Maluku Islands." He explained. "When you're here, you and Dad are a team, and you work together to make sure nothing bad happens to each other. You catch bad guys, and you do experiments and things like that. You didn't have Dad to protect you when you were there, and he doesn't have you to protect him in Afghanistan." He sighed, letting out a big breath. "I was just worried, I dunno. I was worried when you didn't write back." He shrugged, sniffling a little. "I'm so glad you're here." He said, wrapping his arms around her again, pulling her into a tight hug. She hugged him tightly as well. "I'm so happy that you're safe." He mumbled into her shoulder.

"It's okay. I'm here, and I am safe." She said, feeling the boy's arms pull from her again. Her hand went to his cheek, and her finger poked his nose playfully. "Are you having a nice Christmas?" She asked, watching a bit of disappointment cloud his eyes.

He looked toward his mother, knowing that he didn't want to hurt her feelings. "It's been nice. I really miss Dad, and mom says I have to wait until tomorrow to open gifts." He said, a sly smile on his lips as Rebecca lifted her eyebrows at the boy. "Even though I know that Santa isn't a real thing, and there's no reason to wait." He rolled his eyes.

"Parker." Rebecca said, a bit of warning in her tone.

He sighed. "Sorry." He whispered.

"Your mom mentioned that you learned some things you were unhappy about." Temperance said, holding his hands in hers. "You know what your Dad says about all of this stuff though, right?"

"What?"

"Well, he might tell you about Jesus' birth, and the religious meaning of Christmas, but most importantly, he'd tell you that Christmas isn't about presents, or behaving, or some man who dresses in a suit and beard. It's about the spirit of the season. It's about making people smile, and laugh. It's about making things happy when things seems dreary and sad. It's about family and warmth and being together." She said softly, hoping to herself that it is what Booth would have told him and that she had done well by him.

Parker listened, considering what she was saying, and he smiled brightly. "Well you really made Christmas happy for me, Bones. I'm happy that you're here." He said. "Thank you for coming to see me. If Dad can't be here, you're the next best thing." He said, grinning at her happily. He glanced to his mother. "Mom, I'm sorry if I was mad at you about the whole Santa thing. I think I was just… feeling tricked or something."

"I understand, sweetheart." Rebecca said, accepting a hug from her son, knowing that with each passing year his hugs would be further and farther between as he grew into a young man. "I'm glad now that you know who has been behind all of these Christmases." She winked at him as he pulled from the hug. Parker gave her a knowing smile and rushed to sit beside Temperance, leaning into his friend as he let out a small laugh. He looked up at her with such a happy smile on his face.

"I brought you some Christmas gifts." Temperance said, watching as Parker's eyes spied the bags of gifts, and they widened at size of the bags. "I… may have gone a little overboard, so perhaps you would like to pick a couple of the gifts, and we can perhaps give the rest to charity."

"You mean like give them to kids whose parents don't have money to buy presents?" Parker asked.

"Exactly." Temperance nodded.

"That would be awesome." Parker grinned. "You're the best, Bones." He said, looking into her eyes, she could see the complete sincerity in his expression. "But I can't think of a better Christmas gift than you being here." He smiled, when suddenly the doorbell rang.

Temperance almost let out a laugh at the timing of the doorbell, and Rebecca looked thoroughly confused. "That's odd, we weren't expecting anyone." She said, glancing to the door. "Excuse me." She said as she stepped toward the door. Temperance swore she heard a gasp when Rebecca looked through the peek hole in the door, and glanced back toward Temperance and Parker. Temperance couldn't help but smile, giving away that she knew exactly who was on the other side of the door.

Rebecca opened the door quickly, and Booth stood holding a fourth bag loaded with gifts. "Bones, you forgot the last bag of gifts!" He said, noticing that she just couldn't hold her smile. He watched Rebecca's look of astonishment, and waved across at Parker and Temperance. Parker's eyes were wide as ever, his jaw dropped as he gripped Temperance's hand. Booth cocked his head to the side. "What? I don't get a hug?" He said, watching Temperance lean over and whisper something in his ear. Suddenly, Parker took off at a full on run and with a sound in his throat that was so high pitched it was nearly painful to the adults. Before Booth could even think, his son was nearly in a mid-air leap toward him. Booth easily caught him, feeling nothing but his son's arms around him, his head buried in his neck as his small fingers gripped him tightly.

"Seeley." Rebecca breathed as she watched Booth drop to his knees as his son squeezed him tightly, and Booth's arms encircled him in a bear hug. She looked toward Temperance, who was watching the reunion with a happy and knowing smile.

Parker was nearly hysterical now, his fingers digging into Booth's neck as he sobbed happy tears. "Daddy!" He sobbed.

"Hey… hey, bud. It's okay. It's okay, pal." Booth whispered, trying desperately to calm his son. "Breathe, Parker. It's okay." He said, looking up at Temperance almost desperately. "Parker." He said softly, finally standing up, with the boy wrapping his legs around his father, his arms not letting him go for a second as his tears finally slowed. "It's alright, buddy. It's okay." He kept his head buried in his father's shoulder as Booth lifted the bag he had brought in and carried it toward Temperance. She stood, taking it carefully from his hand, following him with her eyes. She could see the smile on his lips, and the pride in his eyes. "I got ya, buddy." Booth whispered to Parker, as he carefully slid the boy from his grasp and sat down, and Temperance sat beside him. He glanced toward her and grinned. "Fancy meeting you here, Bones." He said, watching her shake her head at him.

"You knew he was in town." Rebecca asked. "You knew he was going to come over today?" She asked.

"When I called to arrange surprising Parker, I wasn't aware that he was in town. However, he was aware that I was in town and decided to seek me out." She said, smiling toward Booth's wink. "He apparently cannot wait a reasonable amount of time to come barging in." She replied, teasingly.

"Nah." Booth laughed, shifting Parker to sit beside him, between he and Temperance.

"It was a pretty good surprise, wasn't it, Parker?" She asked, watching the little boy look up at her and nod his head, swiping tears from his eyes.

He then pulled himself from Booth and leaned toward Temperance for another hug. "It was the best ever." He whispered. "Thank you, Bones." He said softly.

"Hey, I didn't bring him along. He came on his own." She teased.

"I know, but… I don't know, I felt like thanking you again." He said. "I love you, Bones." He whispered, smiling as he then turned and leaned his head against his father, as he simply grinned happily. "I love you, Dad." He said happily. "This is the best Christmas ever!." He said, watching Rebecca smile as it seemed that happiness and Christmas spirit had literally exploded in her living room.