Saturday came, and Christine was worried. Nervous in a way that she usually wasn't. She kept having to remind herself. This is my brother; I grew up with him. He's going to be angry. I can take anger; I have given enough offence to people. I can take it.
On the other hand, his wife is going to be more difficult. She took her mom's last line as an approach to the evening. Hey, Did the crime earn the punishment? I'm not going to die. Just admit it. Don't try to get yourself out of the issue. You put yourself in it by stupidity. Now it was time to own up.
She rolled her car into his driveway. It was a charming home. Two storeys, a considerable lot, quiet cul de sac. Some years before, she had heard from her parents that the Rebecca to Parker. She had been trying to get back on Parker's good side for some years after his emancipation. And as a wedding gift, the house had been bought and furnished for him and his bride. Rebecca, with all of her failings, was a brilliant woman. She had done her homework. Over the years, she had heard of Booth's dreams of a home and echoed by the boy Parker, so when she went looking for a house for her son, she just decided to buy Booth's dream house. A place set on an acre and a half of landscaped terrain, mature trees, large windows and a pool. Long meandering driveway, plenty of rooms well divided. Rebecca lamented over the years, thinking that she would have been happy if she had taken the offer placed in front of her many years before. Rebecca had made it a habit to visit Washington twice a year from her home in England; And stay with Parker. They had patched up their relationship. Parker had told her now, as a mature adult with his doctorate in psychology, the reasons behind the teenage Parker's decisions. He had explained to her that it wasn't to hurt her. But it was a way - the only way he saw - of stopping her from hurting his father, stopping this vehicle of pain; he made it very clear. "You blamed him for your own failures in motherhood, so instead of you owning up to your failures, you blame dad. You tortured him through me. Your cancellation of playdates, constantly changes of plans, moving to England. Those were just ways of hurting him." Parker would then remind her of statements that she had made as he was growing up. Rebecca begrudgingly admitted to the logic of what her son was saying. And agree that her relationship with him could be a long-distance one. But still. He was her only son, her only child. Parker would embrace her and tell her she would always be his mum.
Christine, seeing how the light bathed the front veranda, it was clear that Parker had a few children. Knocked at the door, opening the door, a little girl with mousy brown hair but dark Booth eyes. But something else in her way of being was unfamiliar to her. But what struck Christine to the heart? It Was that the girl had no idea who she was. The girl turned around and called for her parents, stating that somebody was at the door. "Mom, It might be from work. She looks FBI."
Parker rushed towards the door. Apron wrapped around his body. A splattering of food on his shirt. He looked up and smiled, saying, "Christine, I thought you were coming a bit later."
Christine smiled at him and said, "well, I came a little early to help." Christine braced herself and started, "I hadn't helped enough in the last couple of years. So here I am." Parker's smile betrayed him a bit and said, "Christine, this will be just like what Dad always wanted... family dinner. I'm not here to get retribution; I want us to be a family again." Christine nodded, And she said, "but justice has to be made. So, can I help?"
Parker turned around to his two daughters, standing a bit away, Unaware of what to say. Their father spoke with her was genuine, warm and natural, but they didn't know who she was. So, Christine bent down on one knee, looked at them, and said, "I'm your Aunt. I'm Aunt Chrissy." The name rang through the room. Parker giggled. And he said in a muted voice, "Does Hank still call you that?" Christine nodded. The older girl named Temperance stood and looked at her and said, "I don't know you. You're not in any of our photos. You weren't at mom and dad's wedding. What happened?" Christine sighed and just said, "I've been busy putting too much emphasis on my career and forgetting my family. And now I'm trying to fix that." The younger girl was Rebecca, who pulled out her phone, although she was only seven years old. She had become quite the social media adherent. "Are you the same Christine Booth with the Instagram page about Grandpa?" Christine breathes in through her nose and then sighs again. "That's me."
"Were you the one who was fired from the FBI?" Christine leaned back and said, "well, let's say I quit more than I was fired." And the girl goes, "are you the one who is doing all that work, so people know who grandpa really was?" She nodded her head said, "I want others to know who your grandfather was- My father, who I really didn't know as well as I should have." My little girl put away her phone, thought for a second and pounced on her, covering her with kisses. "At school, everybody is following you. Everyone has #wearebooth. We are Booths too, just, so you know." Christina smiled, receiving the warm embrace of her two nieces. Christine then whispers to them, "Can I help you set the table or something? The older of the girls said, "Well, we're almost done the table. But I would like to give you the grand tour of the house since you've never been here before". The girl turned and looked towards the corner where their mother was standing, and their mother gave the solemn nod. So, two girls rushed off, dragging her from room to room, showing every nook and cranny.
Parker and Gwen exchange the look. And Parker began, "She came prepared to get a beating. She's not going to leave until she receives forgiveness. His wife sighed and said, "what she's done to you, what she's done to your father; what she's done to your family, How can you just forgive her?" Parker looked at her quizzically and began to speak, "You admired my father. You watched him? You trained with him. But you missed one of his biggest, most endearing points. He was mistreated by everyone. But he wanted true justice, not revenge. He did well during his life, although he never received what he should have. But he wasn't resentful. He believed in forgiveness. He believed in giving each person their time, and they would come round because of that. Christine, it's her time. Let's see what she does with it." His wife looked at him and said, "you know, don't take this the wrong way. But yes, do take it the wrong way; You really go care. You are really the child of Booth and Bones; You reflect those two's qualities. She doesn't reflect any of them. She may have the brains she inherited from both of your parents. But she has no empathy. She doesn't empathize with anyone; she has no heart! She cares about herself and her image. Would she take a bullet for someone? I don't think so. Would she sacrifice everything she has for a loved one? I don't see it. She would sacrifice for herself, that's it. She is a climber. If those idiots hadn't killed your father, she would be there, Bootlicking the whole way up. She transitioned from the FBI to the Jeffersonian without a beat and is now roughing up the FBI agents, writing them up and quoting the FBI code and acting as though she is just a squint; she was never one of us. Not sure if you're getting what I'm getting out here. I don't think she cares about anyone." Parker, deep in thought as he pensively stirred some mushrooms, "Christine is different. She's a weird combination. That's why my dad was so worried. Hank, the balance is different, but Hank is his mom. He's, he's Temperance. He's got that great mind. But he wasn't poorly treated as a child; He's a bit socially awkward here and there. But he's not scared of anyone. He doesn't feel he needs to be rude or anything. He is socially able. I have to say he is Brilliant. I've read his last papers. He's going to pass Mum within a year or so. There'll be naming the lab the Hankian before he is dead. Just brilliant. Christine is well; you know the story of my uncle Jared."
"Of course, I know about that Jared guy. He made a pass that your mom tried to ruin her relationship with your dad. And then almost gets your dad killed. Yeah, great guy."
"Well, my dad protected him, saved him, bailed him out his whole life. And I think that's one of the elements within our family lines that we have to watch out for. It's the Jared line. Jared was brilliant. He was a really young Lieutenant Commander in intelligence for the Navy. But his problem was only thought about himself.
"Exactly."
"Christine has the flaws but isn't Jared. When she stood up to the FBI powers to be, that's not Jared. Her going around saying sorry, trying to fix things. That's not him; That is my dad. I think we just need to work with her. Be understanding. But today is going to be complicated. We're going to have to tell her the truth. If she wants to be part of this family, she will accept certain realities. And those realities are going to come from as much from me as it is from you. I'm one part of this partnership. And you have the right now, I would say more than right. Responsibility for setting down the ground rules.
The kitchen door swung open as they finished their conversation, and the two girls were there. "Mom, Do you know that Auntie Christine is an anthropologist? Just like grandma." Their mother nodded her head. "Yes, she works with your Uncle Hank and your grandmother in the lab. She is also the FBI liaison on the stinky dead people. The older girl said, "do you mean she is doing what grandma did for all those years."
"Your uncle doesn't like the stinky bones. Doesn't like the fieldwork so much. But seems your Aunt likes to get her hands dirty." Christine felt the dirty part was the beginning of the evening of retribution, and Christine was ready for it. "well guys, let's finish setting the table. And then, if you guys are done, I can show you how to do a dig. Maybe I can show you how you're supposed to dig out a dead animal or something about this in your garden. Mrs. Booth stood her spot; she raised her voice slightly, "Christine. You haven't been here for the girls' whole lives. Don't pretend now to be their bosom pals. When I had needed someone to look after them when they were little, I didn't have you. So, you have no rights. You're the Aunt that stays far away." Christine turned on her heel and met the statement, "I've made mistakes. I acknowledge them, but I will not continue this relationship with my own family. Everyone deserves a second chance. Maybe not the third one but a second one I do. I'm sorry for what I did. I'm sorry for not showing up for your wedding. I'm sorry for not being there for your bridal party. I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry that I beat you in the FBI; I'm sorry that my grades were better than yours on the farm. And I'm sorry you're still there. But if we could leave that as bygones, we can move towards a new reality. Every society is based on forgiveness. I'm here asking for it. But if there is no forgiveness possible, then what Parker is trying to do today is absolutely useless. And what you've done by allowing me to meet my nieces is cruel. Cruel to me and cruel to them, and that's the case that I will leave now."
Parker and his wife had heard stories about FBI agents on the field being chewed out by Christine Booth. In the lab, they called it to be Brennanized, but they've never seen it happen. In a familiar circumstance, They had seen their mother-in-law or stepmother however you'd like to put it, Do it in a family gathering. Still, Christine had epitomized the logic and the gravity of it. Parker intervened and said, "I think we're going to have to have an open conversation without the girls present. For both of you to vent your frustrations and find a path forward. I know from mum she was really looking forward to having Christine come here to mend the fences. "that was a signal to his wife saying back off in touch, but Christine had really hit a few mean points. Booth was gentle, although he was the best agent that anyone knew. But he never rubbed his accomplishments in others' faces. Uncle James was the same way and headed the farm with far more accolades than anybody else knew. But Temperance Brennan would let everyone know she was the best. And she was very driven to be the best. Unfortunately, it seems that personality quirk was in Christine.
Anything she would do, She had to be the best. It's true; they had been in a competitive class. And Christine had walked in there. Fresh out of Quantico. Fresh out of getting her doctorate, her third doctorate at 26. She had mastered so much so quickly that one of the female instructors decided to break this girl down a bit and went into an open sparring session and had picked on the little Booth girl; it wasn't that she was little, And it wasn't that she was that young. It was that she hadn't been through what everyone else had been through. The match was short, and it was bloody. And Christine came out victorious, and the instructor not so much. The instructor had used terms that her father had made famous in the Hoover- the squints, the dorks. An instructor had used all of them on Christine. Then Christine was called on to the mat, and she moved forward, and with a perfect jujitsu leg sweep and armbar combo, she showed she wasn't much of a pushover, but she did something which scared the others. Her moves were so fluid and so fast. But she had no pity. She broke the instructor's arm and dislocated many of her ribs by the squeeze that she had placed on the shoulder area. As the instructor screamed on the mat, Christine bounced up and bowed to her felled victim. As she left the floor, the powers to be wanted to discipline Christine. But when they looked at the video surveillance, they saw that she had done nothing wrong. The instructor had singled her out and beat her to make an example out of her. There was no referee to call the match. And the instructor didn't tap until she screamed. There was nothing to do, and the word on the street was, you don't cross Booth. But she wasn't acting like a Booth. Her marksmanship isn't supposed to be genetic, but that might be different in Christine's case. She was relentless. She would practice every spare moment to be the best shot in her class. Everyone expected her to excel in academics, but she was outstanding in problem-solving. Extremely good. So, it's true. She did beat her on the farm, but she had defeated everyone else.
Before they sat down, Parker, his wife and Christine went into a side room and decided to start the conversation before dinner was ready. Parker began in his psychological approach or psychobabble, as Booth would call it. Christine cut him off before he even got going. She rose to her feet and started in an accusatory tone. "Parker, Why did you never tell me? Parker wasn't ready for this; he put his hands up, "to tell you what."
"You never told me that dad was tortured. You never told me. He was busted into pieces. When I was a little girl, I would ask you why dad was soaking in the tub. You made a joke of it. I believed you. I always had it in the back of my head that there was an element of dad that he just likes to lay back and enjoys things?" Parker retreats, "What are you talking about?"
"I've been going around recreating my childhood trying to figure out what did I miss about my father? A friend I grew up with told me about some of her concerns. And I brought them to mum. Mom brought out the X-rays and MRIs of dad, the fact that he could play hockey, that he played with me, he played with you, he played with Hank. The fact that he actually could pick any of us up, he could play with us. He was able to build anything. The fact that he lived is a miracle. How could you have let me think that that was a loser? Parker, you are my brother. But you were always my guide. Granted, when I was little, you were in and out of my life. But in my teen years, I leaned on you. Whatever you said was true. How could you!"
At this point, Christine starts crying, "where you also part of this conspiracy to cover up all that Dad did, so it made him look like some type of loser. Some lout who takes advantage of people around him. Mom told me that he would set up Christmas, birthday parties, and Easter parties. And he would position it so that mom would take all the glory. Were you part of that? Parker sat down, rubbed his eyes and then began, "I'm not going to go through what happened with my mother and me. You know what? I think you know it. You might have been a little bit young to have realized all of it, but I'm not going to get to that point. Dad did tell me to cover up when he was not feeling well. When he was in pain, I sometimes could read it on my face, sometimes not, but as soon as I realized he was in pain and he would use a hilarious phrase, 'it's just a scratch.' Bullets in your stomach in his world, where scratches, flesh wounds, if they didn't kill you, there was nothing else. I remember one day; I must have been about 16. You were, I don't remember - you were eight or nine; somewhere in there. You and Hank decided to trip dad as he ran on the grass, trying to take him down. But in the process, he fell badly. There was no ill will; there was no desire to hurt him, But something went wrong; He was in pain. And he whispered over to me, he said, "get your mom. Tell her my back hurts." Now, to anyone else. My back hurts mean my back hurts. But Dad and mom had a secret language. They knew each other." At this point, Parker is moving his hands around. "Remembering the moment, I jokingly walked into the kitchen and said, 'Mom, Dad says his back hurts. He got tripped by Christine and Hank.' Mom's eyes grew she became apprehensive. She went to the medicine cabinet pulled out a syringe, Water Bottle a whole collection of items. At this point, I perceived that it was far more serious than I thought when I had jokingly walked into the kitchen, she ran out of the kitchen, but she turned back to me and said, 'Parker turn everything off. I'm going to be out here for a little while.' So, I turned everything off and ran after her. She was already out there; She was beside him rolled him over. She talked to him, feeling his back and injecting him with what I could expect to be muscle relaxants. With the water, she gave him some other pills. I'm not sure what they were; she took this very seriously. And I guess after you have seen his MRIs and everything else, she was worried; she always was. So, I began to learn that this was something that neither of them wanted you and Hank to know about. You didn't need to know about it. If you did, you wouldn't play with him. If you did, there would be a whole element of your life that you would lose. Dad was willing to suffer it. But when it got too bad, mom jumped in and helped. Christine then turns to the "Why did you never tell me when I was older; you could have told me." then he just looked at her and said sadly. "I was brought in on a secret. There was no reason for me to tell anyone. It would have probably had something to do with your attitude in your teen years and early 20s. You would have reduced your view of what he was; people would have begun to cuddle him and protect him, so he didn't want that.
Christine was crying with anger, "so you're going to write a book about dad making him out to be some hero. But forgetting about the Wounded Hero, he really would not let the world see a man broken to man took bullets for those he loved. You're going to make it into James Bond. A James Bond who just did his duty." Parker couldn't look at her. "No, I'm going to tell the truth. That was one of many things. But he was real. He loves those around him, and if you touched those he loved, he would kill you." Parker stopped and said, "Do you know what happened the day that mom killed her first person." Christine looked at him and said, "Mom killed someone."
No, she killed a couple of people on the line of duty. But it was a funny situation that they were not prepared to be on the field that day. Mom had a thing about using big guns, so she carried around a 45 with only five shots. And dad needed her to do something to help prisoners keep them safe. So, they swapped guns; I know you are not supposed to; it's not according to FBI code, but when you look at the situation, it makes total sense and dad with a 45 Makes sense. But mom with 45 makes no sense. Dad got jumped, and his hand was broken. And the man was about to crush his head with a bar. Mom sees what will happen with no doubt Shot dead the man, center mass one shot to the heart. Mom felt guilty; She felt sad afterwards. She also killed the one who tried to shoot her and got Dad instead. That's a different story; that was a good shot through the throat. I mean, wow.
Dad got fixed up and left the hospital with his broken arm; he came to her and tried to help her feel better and give her a gift. Do you know what the gift was, Christine?" Christine thought, "I don't know. bottle of strong alcohol." She thought that was what Dad was giving her. She was despondent that she had killed someone. No, they discussed different things earlier in the day, and a pig came up, and then he picked up for her at the store A little pig and called the pig Jasper. That's why Mom has little pigs on her desk, over the sink. Everywhere she is. It reminds her that he was more sensitive to her and her feelings than herself. So, if you ever see a little pig around, call it Jasper; it will bring a smile to her face. Christine then goes on and says, "I was I never told these stories."
Finally, Parker's wife had enough, "I can't take it anymore, and that is because you're an idiot, Christine. Everything was put on a platter in front of you. And instead of being thankful for anything, you took everything off the platter. You put it in your pockets, and you thought you deserved it all." Christine looked at her and said, "What do you mean?" "You were gifted with incredible intelligence, but that is genetics. Both your parents are brilliant. Your father is empathic, very humble, But very gifted. Your mother is off the charts smart; Your father is brilliant. That's why I always loved your father. I could sit down with him, and in 10 minutes, I learned more than you could by attending hours of lectures in Quantico. He always wanted to help you. He always wanted you to feel comfortable. Not too relaxed, comfortable enough. I once was wearing my gun, and he watched how I was walking, he called me aside during one session, and he readjusted my holster so that it was more comfortable and was less conspicuous, but that I could draw it in the case of danger quicker. That's your father. You see, Christine, when you're on a site, and you see that someone is a rookie, there will be mistakes. You make an example of people, not your father. Your father would find a way of resolving the situation, fixing the problem, and helping make the other want to come back to ask for help. Christine was just interested, Christine; you're just interested in showing off how smart you are. You know, Christine, there are moments that people don't want to acknowledge that someone may be more intelligent. You have to have a little bit of empathy for others. That's what made your father Great. That's why people are crawling out of the woodwork at the Bureau, offering to assist in finding out who put the hit on your father. If people are scared because they don't want to lose their jobs, they know something is stinky higher up. Christine looked at her and said I agreed.
"They're something that I find rather disturbing. This case with Hannah Burley." Christine nodded. Christine asked Parker, "you knew Hannah? "Yes, I knew Hannah. Dad introduced her to me. She was going to be my stepmom, after all. That doesn't mean I like her. I used to lament with Dad all the time while I would plot with Bones on how to get them together, I would tell her, 'you'd be a much better stepmom than Barbie from Baghdad.'" At that point, Christine corrected him and said, "Hannah Burley is a very well-respected Reporter. She has travelled the world and received the most amazing accolades. Both husband and wife exploded at Christine, "How can you defend that woman after what she has said about your mother in public? Did you not see the article, or Are you too absorbed in yourself?" Parker became more clinical while he observed Christine. She quickly went from interacting candidly to turning into a fortress. It was the same psychological profile that Parker had observed with Bones when she knew something and wasn't going to talk about it. Parker's wife wasn't going to let it up. "I said the same thing to your mother. You have to defend yourself. Its vicious woman said those things. Your mother did the same thing. She gave me the accolades and said how respectful she is, etc. There should be anger, fury. This is disgusting. Do you know what this Hannah Burley has said? In an underhanded fashion, that your mother stole her chance at happiness, took Booth from her, Dr. Brenan made her life impossible and for her to say yes to Booth's proposal. Christine doesn't answer. Parker interjected at this point, "Christine, is there something happening that we don't know about? Christine just said, you don't want to know. Alright, if this doesn't work outright, you know that they're going to continue at this. Parker's wife figured out something that really irked her; they were doing some type of undercover gig to flush out the ones who knocked off her father-in-law. "Do you know how dangerous that is? Christine, They're not part of the FBI. Nor is your mother. Nor is Hank. If they come after you or your mother or Hank, they'll be the end of me. I will die. Christine, then looked at her and said, Don't worry. It's all taken care of. The unspoken word was that this was an undercover program. But then, Christine turned to her sister-in-law, her Nemesis and asked, how is the Bureau treating you? How is Aubrey? How's everybody?" She snickered and said, "well, as you probably know, no one really liked you anyway. You didn't really have any friends. Christine retort reminds the others in the room of Bones. "I didn't work for the FBI To make friends; I was fulfilling a purpose to help Dad with his ledger to make sure that evil people didn't get away with murder, so having friends or not, I really didn't matter."
"But you pushed everyone away. You pushed away your family; you pushed away your father. Your brother, was there anyone they were willing to open up to? You pushed away everyone."
Christine sat blankly and said, "Yes. I pushed away everyone, in so doing, achieved ultimate success. I fulfilled all my purposes, And I was absolutely alone. And then the one person who I really wanted to emulate was worried that I would become some sort of monster, and he was killed. How do I prove that I have turned over the leaf and changed? Parker began to use his psychological talk and was cut off by his wife, "Christine, be human, be part of the family. Come to birthdays. Be there for your mother's birthday. Help set it up, Your dad is not here anymore. He wanted to set him up all the time. Contrary to ours, not giving Dad his place was so wrong; I hate that about everyone. people thought dad was a loser."
Christine began to cry. Once again. Parker noted in his mind saying, 'Christine never wept. Not after she got out of middle school. She never cried. She's crying more today than I've seen her crying 15 years, mom told me. Christine interruptive his thoughts all about the parties. He would set up the parties. Birthday parties. Her party, her birthday party, Christmas, everything. And then he would sit in the background and pretend he was a loser. He would let everyone else receive the glory, and he would be the loser in the background. He had done all the work. Parker told some anecdotes of the first birthdays of Christine.
How he had heard from Angela and others how he had thought almost really argued with Brennan over the necessity of a birthday party. Angela had explained to him once the reason why birthdays were so important. When Booth was growing up, the only days his father was sober were on birthdays, a moment of happiness in his life. And he wanted everyone else to join in that same happiness. Brennan has always understood the Booth household's joy, birthdays, and celebrations. When it was announced that she was getting married, Angela Montenegro sat her down and explained the family secrets. How birthdays were so essential and how the best way was to set up a birthday. She heard these things; she said I was under the impression that you set up birthdays. Parker and Brennan smirked at her and said, Well, that's why I'm telling you.
You're part of the family; you're part of the conspiracy now. It was never me. It was my husband. So now you need to be part of the conspiracy. You need to be the one to make sure the birthdays have a certain level always happiness. Always joyful, always fun. And always include as many people as you can. The stuck with the young bride as she saw how the wedding Blitz. Parker's birth mother insisted on society events; they would show how important they were. Parker had the social event as a way of keeping the peace. But a couple of weeks before the wedding, Booth and Brennan asked Parker, "How would you like to have a garden party of sorts a couple of days before the wedding? Parker looked at him and said, " What do you mean? Something kind of fun? We can get all the kids together, and it can be joyful and happy." Parker got the message and gathered at the booth home with friends with a family, and everyone was there, and there were salads and barbecue and everything. When the future bride and groom arrived and saw what was going on, she understood how the Booth family worked how important the family really was. What broke her heart was when she saw Brennan look around and ask a simple question. "Booth, Where's Christine?"
She pulled out her phone and found out that Christine had left for the week to do a research project in Central America. Brennan had pulled many strings to find out where she was. And you can hear the disappointment in her voice when she left a message for her only daughter, "Christine, this is your mother speaking. You were expected to be here for the wedding of your brother. You have decided that the dig was more important than your family. I think you should better call me when you get the message. We need to speak. If you need help getting back for the wedding. I will make the necessary arrangements. Goodbye, Christine." The bride had seen the anguish in Brennan's face for a moment, and quickly it went away, and a smile popped on her face, and she went over and embraced her future daughter-in-law.
Now to the present, Christine was seated in her own home with her Parker seated beside her. Those years of anger and what had been done to those lovely people welled up. "Christine, you are the most entitled individual I've ever met. God gifted you with more gifts than you should have received. But all you've done is despise the rest. Do I want you around my children to allow them to become like you? My girls are smart. But I don't need an entitled individual like you, Christine." Sobbing to herself. "You know Jessica said the same thing to me. When she finally agreed to meet, I was working on it. I promise I really am working on it. I'm working as hard as I can. I'm trying, but can't you give me a chance."
"I need evidence. Prove to me that you've changed. Prove that you're not that entitled brat who decided that it wasn't important to be at my wedding. You broke your mother's heart that day. I saw it. She then recounted what had happened to Christine's mom. "I was so enamoured with beating my mother. I was younger than she was in that dig. I was the head, and if I finished the dig, I would get my second doctorate based on evidence that we had found there. I didn't care who I hurt; I cared about results; My mother's the same way. But she had someone to ground her; I don't, I don't know what to do. I'm sorry."
Parker then stood up. Grabbed Christine around the shoulders. And embrace her in a way that he hadn't In probably 20 years. He was crying now, he said into her shoulder. "Christine. I forgive you. I forgive you for your insufferable pride. Your indifference towards the pain of others. I forgive you for your lack of filial piety towards both of our parents. I forgive you for your negligence and those you have responsibilities too, namely your own nieces, your negligence of your brother, your negligence and everyone around you. But you have made steps in the right direction. I do forgive you. I will put this behind me. And I'm hoping that I am not acting stupidly."
Seeing her husband just days before what's a ball of anger and fear if you even mentioned the very name of Christine. She came up behind the siblings and said, "Christine, I forgive you. But if you hurt anyone again. I don't know what I will do. I guess I'll take a page out of your father's book. I'll kill you!"
Christine's eyes were red, almost purple from crying. Her face was pale; she was exhausted; she dropped in an overstuffed chair; the FBI agent stood up, went into the adjoining single bath, washed her face and applied some light makeup and left the room.
Moments later, a call to come to the table was heard; she whispered to her husband, "We need to eat; the girls are going to get very suspicious. "Parker was exhausted. Not only had Parker been working as a profiler for the FBI and his private practice. But he was exhausted by the anger he felt against Christine; the act of forgiving her for everything was liberating. Parker hadn't felt this liberated in months. In a sense, he reasoned now this was how he was working with the grief of losing his father. He blamed his father's death to a certain degree on the apostasy of Christine from the family ethos.
Parker stood up, went into the washroom and scrubbed his face. After washing his face, use a little bit of mouthwash. Cleaned out his mouth and came back out, patted Christine on the shoulder as she still whimpered to herself, left the room and went to the kitchen. Christine had this reality replayed time and time again. But this time, it was brutal and a whole different dimension. Parker had seen everything but had kept things from her because she wasn't generous enough to accept. What did that mean? That meant that she had been considered by her own family as a lost cause. She Figured out what else she had done wrong. She went to the same washroom, grabbed a towel and scrubbed thoroughly scrubbed her face. Now after cleaning it three times. Her skin glowed with a certain sense of direction and resolution. She calmed her hair a bit and left the sitting room to be greeted by a hug by the two girls; the girls recounted their mom had just said told them that certain things needed to be resolved before dinner. But they said we're going to be seeing a lot of coming out a lot and that we had to get used to having you here. Dad even mentioned that you might be bringing some clothes over to have a sleepover with us. Christine smiled with that. Because that was a booth tradition. You left your stuff at the other family members' place in case you needed to stay over the fact that they had already been planning that now meant that the bridges had been mended and that maybe they could move forward. They sat down and ate, talked, shared stories, some embarrassing stories. Parker, of course, was the holder of most of the baby stories, funny stories that had popped around in the household. Since he was told and every he came visiting from England. It was now getting late. Big hugs were exchanged, a few tears. Parker's wife even came up and referred to Christine as her sister and put a note in her pocket. As they were leaving, she whispered into her ear. "Christine, I'm serious. If you want to change, I want you to be part of our family. But if you're going to hurt any of us, I will kill you." Christine smiled and said tapped her on the shoulder. "Dad would say the same thing. So, I'm okay with it."