December 25th- 3:45pm-
Everyone had arrived, and the festivities had begun. Laughter and happiness filled the apartment, and for Temperance, that was all she wanted for Christmas. She thought of her initial plan, of just herself and her father, possibly Russ and his family, but with the addition of Pops and Rebecca, Parker, and of course Booth, it was now perfect.
She stood in the kitchen putting the final touches on some of the dinner items, the sound of laughter and conversation sprinkled in from the next room. She felt a bit envious of it for the moment, but reminded herself once again that she was the hostess. It would all be worthwhile once the food was on the table. She stirred the sauce on the stove, gently moving the spoon back and forth, when she felt his arms on her shoulders. His body pushed forward against her, and she couldn't help but lean back into him.
"Everything smells so delicious." He said softly, his breath gently tickling her ear. His arms wrapped around her, and her head tipped back onto his shoulder.
"It's almost done." She said, reveling in his arms.
"Oh, you thought I meant dinner." He whispered seductively, listening to a little squeak of a giggle slip past her lips. He laughed himself and kissed her neck. "What do you say we kick all of these people out and enjoy Christmas dinner alone."
"No." She said simply, a shiver climbing up her body, she fought the urge to push herself further into him. "But if you don't stop holding me, someone may walk into an extremely inappropriate display."
"Mm, C'mon Bones." He whispered before reluctantly releasing her from his hold, sending her a wicked smile. Suddenly the door to the kitchen opened, and Parker popped in quickly. Booth turned to see her knowing smirk and shook his head with a grin. "What's up, Bub?"
"Dinner smells so good, Bones!" Parker said enthusiastically.
"I'm glad you think so." She said, smiling at the excitement in the little boy's eyes.
"Dad, Mom was wondering when dinner is gonna be ready." He said, focusing his eyes on Booth. His mother had said no such thing, but he didn't want to seem like he was nagging.
"You can tell your mom that she can just hold her horses." Booth said teasingly, he stuck his tongue out at the little boy playfully.
"Okay! I'll go tell her!" Parker said, simply teasing his father, he turned and ran out the door, with no intention of telling his mother such a silly thing.
"Wait!" Booth said, knowing the scolding he'd probably get if Parker told Rebecca that, he took off for the door. "Parker! Wait!" He exclaimed, listening to the melodious sound of Temperance's laughter behind him.
It wasn't long before Temperance had Booth announce that dinner was ready, and everyone started their slow move from the living area to the dining room. The lively chatter was friendly and happy, and Temperance couldn't help but stand back and watch as Russ and Max bickered, and Hank pulled the chair out for Rebecca while Parker and Booth moved toward the kitchen to bring the food to the table. She turned her head to see the lasagna being brought out and gently placed on the table.
"There is vegetarian lasagna, and regular lasagna." She said, pointing to the two different kinds. The sauce is meatless, but there are also meatballs if anyone would like them. There's also salad, and..."
"They can see everything, Bones." Booth whispered directly into her ear, watching her jump with a bit of a smile. "It's okay... Sit down, relax." He kissed her cheek. "I'll get the wine." He winked at her, sensing the nervousness in her voice.
She eyed him for a moment and nodded, narrowing her eyes slightly before she sat down, never one for taking orders, even if it was a sweet tease from Booth.
He turned and headed for the kitchen, grabbing hold of the wine bottles on the counter, he brought them into the room and the adults each filled their glasses while Booth joked with Emma, Hayley, and Parker, who were seated directly across the table from him. "Alright." Booth said, looking up as the noise level dropped off slightly. He lightly tapped his glass with a spoon, as everyone hushed and looked toward Booth. His eyes flashed to Temperance, noting the pink in her cheeks, and the radiant smile on her face. "I just wanted to propose a toast." He said to everyone around the table.
The room hushed and watched Booth lift his glass, the kids holding up glasses of juice, giggling at the tradition. "First of all..." He paused for a moment, looking at everyone around the table. It was odd, but for some reason he felt a bit self conscious all of a sudden, almost nervous. He shook it off and took a deep breath. "Okay... Well, first of all, Temperance and I wanted to thank everyone for spending your Christmas day with us." He said, glancing to Temperance, he could see the surprise in her eyes that he had chosen to use her name and not his nickname for her. She looked around at the faces that surrounded her, and knew that he was showing to them the strength of their family and his respect for her on all levels. "It means a lot to both of us that you are all here. It has been difficult for both of us being away from our homes and loved ones the last few months, and we just wanted you all to know that we feel fortunate to have you all in our lives." He smiled. "It means a lot to us that you could celebrate with us... so um, well, before you all get too hungry and stage a coup. Here's to family, friendship, food, and togetherness." He said, raising his glass. Everyone raised their glass and expressed their agreement with a bit of a laugh, as dinner was officially served.
Both lasagnas were a big hit, and before everyone realized it, bellies were full and the gentle groaning of each person could be heard as they complimented the hostess on a delicious meal. "We have gifts for everyone as well." Temperance said, catching Booth's eye, he lifted an eyebrow and she smiled conspiratorially at him. "Once we open gifts, we can think about dessert, if you are interested." She smiled at the whispering coming from the children, and the grin on Max's face as he watched his daughter proudly. "Booth, you can go with everyone into the living room, and I can start cleaning up, okay?" She asked, watching his eyes narrow.
"No, no." He said, smiling toward her. "It's your turn to visit with everyone. I'll clean up."
"Booth is right, honey." Max said when he watched her open her mouth to protest. "Come into the other room with everyone, relax." He smiled.
"You've been hiding in the kitchen all evening. It's time for you to take a break." Rebecca said, watching the nods from everyone else.
"I'm not hiding!" Temperance said with a laugh as she watched Russ stand up and move toward her playfully. "Alright... alright..." She said as she felt his hand gently take hers.
"Alright kids, help me get Auntie Temperance into the living room!" Russ teased.
"Let's go, Bones!" Parker said happily as Emma and Hayley playfully cajoled her into standing. She relented and stood, swatting at her brother playfully, as everyone but Booth retired to the living area.
She sat among her guests, and took a moment to look around at the happiness that was surrounding her. She sat on the couch, with Parker on one side of her, and Rebecca on the other, as Hank started to tell a story about Booth from when he was a young man, a story that Temperance was quite sure would have embarrassed him if he had been in the room. Parker looked across toward the tree and grinned happily.
"You put my ornament up, Bones!" He said with a laugh, he jumped from the couch and moved toward the tree, glancing back to Temperance as he smiled.
"Of course I put it on my tree, Parker. That was why you sent it to me, wasn't it?" Temperance teased.
"Yeah, I guess." He giggled. "I'm glad you liked it." He said, walking toward her, he moved to hug her tightly.
"I love it, Parker." She said, kissing his head as she gave him a squeeze. Suddenly, she felt a little self conscious sitting beside his mother, giving the boy a hug. She glanced in Rebecca's direction and saw the other woman smiling, sending a shot of relief to her heart. Parker stood up and smiled at Temperance, then skipped over toward where Emma and Hayley were playing and joined them.
Booth stepped into the room and looked around, catching Temperance's eyes. "I thought there were gifts!" Booth exclaimed playfully. "Where are the gifts? I want some gifts!" He said when Temperance glowered at him, a hint of a smile on her lips.
"Shrimp, you had better behave yourself!" Hank tossed toward his grandson, giving Temperance a wink. "You better keep an eye on that one, Temperance." He said with a faux huff, that made everyone laugh.
"I know exactly what you mean. He's a troublemaker." Temperance laughed, watching Booth's jaw drop. When she knew she had his attention, she smiled. "Booth, in the bedroom closet there are several bags, would you mind getting them?" She asked.
"I'll help!" Parker said suddenly, as he hopped up, and the two Booth boys headed toward the bedroom. She smiled when she noticed Booth stop Parker just outside her bedroom, and disappear inside to grab the bags. It didn't take long before Parker was running down the hallway holding two large shopping bags of gifts, and Booth had disappeared into the guest room for a moment.
Temperance happily took the bags from Parker, thanking him for his help, and he sat beside her as she gave him gifts to hand around to each person. She handed a gift to everyone in the room, each surprised and delighted by the surprise from their hostess.
Parker sat beside her as everyone opened their gifts, and she watched Booth step from the guest room. She gave him a curious glance and he shook his head, shrugging with a smile. She narrowed her eyes and his grin only became wider. "Bones." Parker whispered, hoping that he was quiet enough that nobody would hear. "Bones, you already got me a bunch of gifts. I can't take another one." He said, trying to hand back the gift.
"This is a special gift." She said, nodding toward it. "It's a Christmas Day gift." She winked, trying to appeal to his logical side.
He glanced to his father, who nodded, and then carefully unwrapped the paper. Under the paper he found a stationary kit, complete with pens and pencils, envelopes and paper. "Wow, Bones." He smiled. "Thank you!"
"Now you can write me even more letters." She winked at him and he laughed, looking at the paper. "Though, you... may have to use my home address." She said, sighing slightly. "I have some news." She said, looking around as everyone looked up from their gifts. "I don't know if you all heard about the earthquake in Indonesia." She said, noting that everyone seemed curious about what she was going to say, and other than Booth, it appeared that the news had been missed. She glanced to Booth and then around to her family. "Apparently two days ago there was a fairly massive earthquake on the Maluku Islands." She said, clearing her throat. "My dig has been cancelled." She said, still seeing blank looks. She smiled. "It means that I won't be leaving for the additional months as I had expected." She laughed, her tone turning solemn for a moment. "I mean... there were some casualties, so it's not an ideal situation, but I will be happy to um... to come home." She said. "For good."
"You're coming home for good?" Parker asked, the smile on his face bright and happy.
"I am." She nodded.
"Awesome!" He exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Temperance happily, as everyone started talking at the same time. Max tried to put a silver lining on it, and Russ was simply happy that he wouldn't have to worry about her. Hank said he was happy that he would be able to see her more. Her eyes traveled back to Booth as she watched him holding a paper in his hands, nodding toward the kitchen. She tipped her head curiously, and Parker disengaged himself from her, as she carefully stood up.
Conversation switched to other subjects for everyone else, but her focus was on Booth. "What is it?" She whispered, watching him take a step back, she was a bit humored by his behavior, though it was moderately suspicious. "What is that?" She asked.
"It's... something I want to give you. Something I need to show you." He whispered, taking a step back toward the door of the kitchen, though he didn't walk through. He was just finding a quiet place for them to converse. "Here." He said, handing over the papers in his hand, he watched her look through them. He knew that she could read quickly, and he knew that as soon as she started reading, she'd have questions.
"This is a contract." She said, reading through it at an alarming speed. "Booth?" She said, looking up at him.
"It is a contract." He said, nodding his head.
"It's your contract with the army." She said.
"Yes." He nodded. "I'd like to direct you to um... this paragraph right here." He said, watching her eyes dart over the document.
"This says..." She mumbled, looking up at him. "Booth?"
"It says I was only obligated to serve for six months." Booth replied. "I was only required to report until the 20th of November. I have an option to discharge with honors." He said softly, still noting the look of shock on her face.
"You... but... but you said..." She stammered.
"I know what I said, Bones. I was going to try to stay there the whole year, since I feel a sense of obligation to my..."
"No." She said, shaking her head. "No, you... you shouldn't stay the whole year. It's dangerous. Come home." She said, her tone of voice was near begging. "You have an obligation to your son, to our jobs. You have an obligation to me." She said, swallowing hard. "I love you." She whispered. "I need you." She was finding it increasingly difficult to keep her emotions in check. "Come home." She whispered.
"I don't have a place to live, Bones." He whispered. "I don't actually... well, have a home at this point." He let out a chuckle.
"Yes you do." She said, her eyes flicking toward the decorated Christmas tree and back to him. "You have a place to live, Booth. Don't go back. Please? Please don't go back."
"Bones, you're going back to Maluku." He whispered.
"For a week, maybe two. I'm not staying there." She said, her tone holding a bit of panic. "You can come too. You can go with me. That way you'll know I'm being safe." She said, her tone a bit desperate. "I can't... I can't believe you didn't tell me." She said, her tone lost somewhere between elation and confusion.
"We'll talk when everyone leaves." He said, dropping a kiss on her. "Merry Christmas, Bones." He said, watching the light in her eyes glitter happily.
"Merry Christmas, Booth." She said softly, and her arms wrapped around him tightly, as she tried desperately to tamp down the bubble of excitement and happiness that was threatening to explode.
"Alright, lovebirds!" Max exclaimed, wearing the pink knit hat that Emma had placed on his head, he caught Temperance's attention and she let out a laugh. "Where's that dessert we were promised?" He said, sending everyone into fits of giggles, as the festivities continued.
So... Um, I'm not sure how much longer this story should go... *narrows eyes* Comments and reviews appreciated.
