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It's Summer challenge time! I'll be adding the chapters to this series.

I think my previous chapter would have fit Challenge 3 too but anyway that was posted before the Summer challenge started but anyways…

Here's my first entry, I would say it combines Challenge 1: Write one or more one-shots using suggested words (too many words to post here), and Challenge 3: Pick your favorite episode from each season of the show and then write a story that references something from each one, whether it's a character returning, the team reminiscing or reflecting on a turning point in their lives, a line of dialog, similar case, etc.

Like many of the writers here, being asked to pick a favorite episode per season is probably the hardest part of the challenge so I'm just gonna pick episodes, because I have a lot of favorites.

This one was inspired by Season 6's The Signs in the Silence

Happy

It took me a long time to be able to remember when I was young because I didn't trust the happy memories. I couldn't believe them. Not with the life I was living in foster homes.

The hot summer sun beat down on the family on the seashore. It was a private beach and there was nobody else there save for the family of four.

Brennan relaxed on a picnic mat, wiggled her toes in the warm sand. A few feet from her, little Christine in her pink bathing suit and sunhat worked hard on constructing a castle. She had inherited her mother's determination and with her tongue sticking out ever so slightly from the corner of her mouth, she concentrated on sculpting the perfect tower with her hands and plastic spade.

Brennan couldn't help but chuckle, the concentration the little girl was affording to the sand castle was akin to what she would normally do in the lab with bones. Her gaze travelled further down the beach where at the water's edge, her husband and son were playing in the cool water.

The water on this private beach was clam enough for even little Hank to play safely but he was never far from his father's watchful gaze. The three-year-old was in his swim shorts with a Flyers' cap on his head, seated in the water which was up to his waist. He seemed happy to just splash and kick in the cool waters. The occasional gentle wave splashed at him, causing him to squeal in delight.

They had only been on that private beach in the Maldives for three days but everyone was already sporting a tan despite the generous amount of sunscreen they lathered on each other. Standing a short distance from Hank, was Booth, clad only in his swim trunks, laughing at his son's antics. Brennan's heart did an excited little flip. Her husband was well built and seeing his bronzed muscles glisten with sweat made her anxious for their nightly nocturnal activities when their children were asleep in the next room in their spacious hut which stood on stilts above the clear, blue waters.

This had been an all-expense paid vacation, a gift from Brennan's publisher for providing them yet another bestseller with her latest novel. Booth would normally object to such an expensive trip but it was being paid for and he had always wanted to see the pristine beaches of the Maldives. So the decision had been made and the family had travelled to this private beach, a little piece of paradise, away from their usual fair of murder and death.

"Mummy! Look." Christine was apparently done with her creation and wanted her mother's affirmation.

"Wow, that does look nice Sweetheart. Although it is leaning a little to the left. Architecturally, I doubt it would be safe for human occupation."

Christine laughed. "It's just a sand castle Mummy."

Brennan laughed along. "And as sand castles go, it is one of the best I've seen."

"I'm hungry. Can we have something to eat?" Christine asked as she approached her mother.

"We have fresh fruit slices. And juice packs. It is a very hot day and you need to stay hydrated. Please go get your Dad and brother. It has been some time since any of us had replenished our fluids."

"Okay." Christine replied. "But I want chocolate cake. Daddy brought it along this morning."

Brennan remembered the cake in the cooler. It wasn't exactly a healthy snack but she relented. "Okay, now go get Daddy and Hank please."

Christine beamed, then ran off, kicking some sand onto Brennan. She brushed the sand off herself, then proceeded to retrieve said cake. Christine soon returned with Hank and Booth.

"You wanted us Bones?" Booth grinned.

"Yes, Hank needs a drink, and so do you. It is very easy to get dehydrated in this heat without realising it, especially when you're having fun and surrounded by the ocean."

"Right, a drink for all of us." Booth sat Hank down next to Brennan then moved to the cooler. He handed a juice box to Christine then started to open one for Hank, sticking the straw in before handing it to his son. Booth spied the chocolate cake that he had brought.

"I want a slide of that Bones."

"Me too Mummy!" Hank said.

"Me too!" Christine moved to sit herself in her mother's lap.

I would close my eyes at night and I'd see a woman um, my mother with me in her lap. We were having a picnic on the beach. She was cutting me a big piece of chocolate cake and we were laughing.

The memory that had kept Brennan going through her difficult foster years suddenly flashed through her mind. She stopped mid-slice through the cake, her eyes starting to glisten. Booth was quick to notice the sudden change in her mood.

"Bones?" He crouched down beside her, speaking softly as his hand closed over hers that was cutting a slice of cake.

His contact brought her back to her present. She blinked back tears, locking eyes with him.

"I'm okay. Some sand got into my eyes."

"You should wash your eyes Mummy," Christine quickly added.

"No I'm fine now Christine."

Booth quickly took over, cutting up generous slices of chocolate cake for everyone. The children were hungry and quickly devoured their mid-morning snack.

"Christine, why don't you take Hank and go play by the water?" Booth suggested, wanting some time alone with Brennan.

"Okay." Christine said, holding out her hand to Hank.

"No swimming till I come to you okay? Just play by the water." Booth reminded his children of the rules he had set for them on their first day of vacation.

"I remember Daddy." Christine replied, taking off skipping towards the water with Hank.

Now seated next to Brennan, Booth looked over to her. "I know it wasn't sand in your eyes."

"I didn't want to upset the children."

"What's wrong?"

Brennan closed her eyes, the memory assaulting her again. Despite the tug on her heart, she smiled. When she opened her eyes to stare back into Booth's brown eyes, her eyes glistened with tears again.

"I'm happy."

"Happy?" Booth seemed unconvinced. "You're tearing up."

"A memory, of myself on the beach with my mother. A situation very similar to just now."

Booth quickly took her hand in his, squeezing, allowing her to explain.

"When I was in foster care, it was as if memories of my time with my parents and Russ vanished from my mind. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember what life was like before foster care and it frightened me. I didn't want the memories to fade away. But try as I might, I couldn't remember. My time in foster care was unpleasant and I had trouble believing that there was ever a time that I was that happy. That couldn't have been my reality in the past, I couldn't trust my own memories."

"So you kinda buried those memories."

"Yes. However, every night, I would close my eyes and force myself to remember this one memory. Us on the beach, my mother cutting me a slice of chocolate cake. She was laughing and so was I. I was so happy."

"I'm sorry Bones." Booth wrapped an arm round her.

"You remember that case we worked many years ago? Amy, the deaf-mute teenager."

"Yeah, her real name was Samantha."

"I shared this memory with her, to help her remember her past."

"You never told me."

"At the time, telling you didn't seem pertinent. You were upset about losing control, I didn't want to burden you further."

"C'mon Bones you know you can always share stuff with me."

"I know now." Brennan smiled. The tears gone from her eyes.

"The memories have been returning to me, ever since we got together, since Max came back into our lives. I remember Sweets explaining to Amy… no Samantha, that remembering happy moments can make a difficult situation worse, especially if one believes one can never experience that kind of happiness again."

Brennan leaned into Booth's embrace. "I believe that these memories are all coming back to me because of you, us, what we have. Our family, the life we're sharing now, enabled me to experience the same happiness I experienced as a child with my parents. In fact, if happiness could be measured, I would say that my happiness level now is much higher than it was in my childhood."

Booth smiled, tightening his arms round his wife.

"Daddy we wanna swim!" Christine shouted from the water's edge.

"Swim!" Hank shouted along.

"I suppose we should be grateful they gave us the time we needed to finish this conversation."

"I guess." Booth grinned, standing and pulling Brennan to her feet.

"C'mon, let's go for a swim."

As the couple approached their children hand in hand, Booth spoke softly to her, "I'm glad I was the one to help you experience happiness again Bones. You make me very happy too. This, it's what I've always wanted."