(After Season 12)

Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing it. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooo

The Christmas production had been well done even if it was a school play. There had been a large star on display over the stage that glowed a light blue when the theater lights were dim. There was a light dusting of snow on the front of the stage that everyone assumed was fake and was. The children all wore appropriate costumes and they all knew their lines. Booth liked the way the village had been painted on big canvasses and he knew that someone with talent had painted them.

The play had gone off without a hitch and Hank had played his part well. When it came time for him to sing his solo, he had been clear and each word had been enunciated. Brennan had helped him practice singing the song several times before the play and was proud of his rendition of 'Away in the Manger'. It pleased her that her son had such a beautiful voice and had inherited his musical talent from her.

At the end of the play, Christine had unfurled a poster she had kept hidden under her coat until she was ready to use it and waved it over her head yelling her brother's name. The poster caught the attention of the people on stage and in the surrounding seats and they all clapped their hands and grinned at the sentiment. Hank blushed but was proud of the sign.

Curious, Booth had taken the poster from his daughter and found it to be charming. The poster had large black block letters spelling out 'Hank the best angel ever'. The poster had a lot of blue and silver glitter on it and his hands were now covered in that glitter. Handing the poster back to Christine he smiled and tried to knock off as much of the glitter from his hands as possible. His children were a constant surprise and they made him so proud, especially when they did something like this.

Once they were home, Brennan and Booth served cookies and eggnog to everyone that wanted some. Parker had given his brother a small box of candy and admonished him not to eat it all at once. Even though there was a sixteen year difference between the brothers, Parker felt close to the boy and wanted him to know how proud he was of his accomplishments.

Parker had been an only child for ten years and had cried tears of happiness when Christine had been born. Much to his surprise, he was given a brother six years later and had cried again, knowing he wasn't alone, that he had a brother and a sister. He had never liked being an only child and even though his sister and brother were younger than he was, they were still his and he cherished his relationship with them for as long as he lived.

Oooooooooooooooo

Everyone had retired to their rooms for the evening and Booth was lying on the bed waiting for Brennan to join him. "You know that case I helped Aubrey with . . . Sally Smythe . . . I felt a little down when I found out who had killed her. The boy didn't even know he had done anything wrong, not really. She had hit him and he hit her back and when she fell, he just thought she had fallen asleep. The whole thing was just . . . depressing."

Aware that Booth hated any case dealing with children, Brennan moved over to the bed and sat down next to him. "Yes, but at least Sally's parents know what happened."

Taking her hand in his hand, Booth nodded his head. "Yeah . . . then our kids weren't getting along and . . . I don't know. It just made me feel like Christmas was going to be bad this year . . . Well, Christmas is never bad, but I wasn't feeling the spirit of the season . . . then Parker came home and things started looking up and tonight . . . Christine and her poster . . . I guess what I'm trying to say is that no matter how rough things get, we usually work our way through it and the good times out weight the bad times . . . We have good kids and most of the time they make me proud to be their Dad. They're the best of us. They really are."

Her throat a little tight from emotion, Brennan nodded her head and gripped Booth's hand. "I never believed I would be a good mother or a good mate, but you helped me change my mind. I love being your mate . . . your wife and I love being a mother to our children and that includes Parker. It makes me feel like there is a future for us no matter how bad things become. Max is gone, Hank, your father and mother, my mother, Jared . . . all we have are our children. Well Russ and his children, but you know what I mean."

"I do know what you mean." Booth kissed her hand. "Hey, Bones . . . we did good. Two broken kids with no chance for a future and somehow, we made it. We found each other, we became friends and now we're married and have three great kids . . . we did real good, Bones. Real good."

Her love for Booth had grown over the years and she knew that her life wouldn't have been complete without him. "I love you, Booth."

"I love you too." He stared at her and smiled. "How about a kiss?"

Chuckling, Brennan moved onto the mattress and placed her hand on his hip. "I think we can do more than that, don't you?"

"Oh, I think we can."

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

Challenge words: Star, snow, eggnog and cookies.

I was going to write a story using all of the words in the challenge, but a big project has come up at work so this is where my story must end. Happy Holidays and I hope the year 2021 is much better that this one was. Let me know what you think of my story, thank you.