Take my Hand

Authors Notes

-Once again I find myself with another non-song fic despite my initial intentions…oh well

-This chappie is going to be very out of character for Rebecca, basically by me knowing a normal motherly reaction

- I thought this chappie would be a sweet addition to something that has been very emotional so far, plus I love every opportunity to get a lil bit of Parker in there!

-Oh and there isn't much that has been revealed about the Rebecca/Booth/Parker triangle so I just made some stuff up, lol.

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Temperance had taken a week off after the emotional discussion she had shared with Angela and far from everyone's expectations the time to relax had become days of mental torture which had not benefited her health to any degree. She currently stood in the bathroom, the curtains having been drawn in this room and every other, not a light to be seen through the silent apartment. Her eyes having adjusted long ago to the permanent black-out she looked into the mirror, staring at her reflected doppelganger uncaring at the wreck she had become; tear tracks lined her face, slightly blackened by mascara which she was silly to have put on in the first place, red blotches dominated her face almost as much as the black lines that hung like grocery bags under her puffy eyes. Pausing to wipe away a stray tear she roughly batted one of the taps and intercepted the rush of water with her cupped hands. Taking one more saddened glance at her reflection she threw the cold liquid into her face, trying desperately to wash away the tears, the tracks and all the grief that came with them. The harsh tones of her cell amplified her headache and without bothering to dry her hands she pulled the device from her pocket to check the caller I.D – It was Angela – resisting the urge to throw the damned thing against the wall she flipped the cell open and gathered herself ready for the blatant lie she knew she was about to tell

'Brennan,' she almost sing-songed hoping desperately that her currently suppressed blocked nose would not give her away

'Tempe,' Angela's worried voice was like a bright light to her migraine, not something she wanted to take right now 'Are you okay?'

'Yeah, I'm fine…' She could visualize Angela's eyebrows disappearing into her fringe 'Really, things are…getting better, you were right about this time off thing,' There was a pause in which Temperance waited patiently, hoping that she had sold her perkier attitude convincingly, if anyone could figure her it was Angela

'Well it's always nice to try something new,' Brennan's vision of the artist now smiled with a job well done, she had been fooled – and the award for the best voice-over actress goes to…

'Maybe I can come and see you when I've finished up here then?' Angela asked sweetly. Temperance placed her hand over the speaker and swore under her breath, Angela was testing her. Not wanting to pause for too long in case her friend resorted to the psychology trip Brennan blurted out the first fob-off that came to her head

'I was going to go and see Parker this afternoon, he was supposed to be with Booth this weekend,' She tried to lessen her chipper attitude and let some of the grief drip in as this sentence left her mouth, the mention of Booth's name fell onto her like and anvil from a cliff but she bottled her emotions and once more played a false smile. Angela backed down, admitting defeat

'Okay then, I might pop over anyway just in case you have gotten back by the time I manage to escape, see ya sweetie,'

Brennan gave no reply, just left Angela with the cold sound of a dial tone – A response that many of her correspondents from the lab had quickly gotten used to. Sighing at the thought that she might actually have to go out to avoid her peppy friend she exited the bathroom and on entrance into the living room pulled back the nearest curtain; the sky was as blue as the color named after it, clouds hung in the sky like cotton candy and the blindingly bright sun made her flinch, she could almost picture the large cartoon flowers, rabbits and large child drawn rainbow to make the day beautiful day she was missing just perfect.

Begrudgingly Temperance made herself look presentable to go out starting with a shower, She was tempted to stay in the little cubicle forever, maybe if she was lucky she may be able to drown herself or the cold would just kill her eventually but after the water had turned icy cold she decided there were probably quicker ways to kick the bucket and commenced to dress herself in Green combats, plain black Tee-shirt and scrape her hair into a ponytail, she knew she was going to regret the dark colors and not wearing shorts later but she could not cope with being as multi-colored as the outside or flashing her anything but tanned legs to the American population.

Her aimless driving brought her to the local mall and she found herself wandering through crowds of people, vaguely observing displays in windows. As she passed a Starbucks and considered popping in for a shot of caffeine and possibly a baguette something small and blonde impacted with her legs with a muffled

'Bones!' large dark eyes stared up at her and she had to shake herself mentally to assure herself it was not Booth, just he next closest thing to him – Parker

'Parker? Where did you come from, where is your mom?' she bent to his level flashing him a smile despite her extreme distaste about having to be here and her worry for his safety, she need not have worried about the latter though as a harsh call answered her question

'Parker!' Rebecca pushed through the mass of people who created a wall between her and her son and stopped as she noticed the anthropologist crouched at parker's side, Tempe stood abruptly not quite sure how to convince Rebecca that she wasn't a random kidnapper and that her son had found her of his own accord, after a short pause she settled for;

'Hi, I'm Tempe Brennan; I spoke at Booth's funeral…?' Rebecca's eyes narrowed, trying to recall a memory and after another pause she smiled

'Yes, I remember, Parker often talks about you, he calls you Bones right? Obviously a phrase he gained off of his late father,' Her manner was surprisingly friendly considering the rather horrible look Brennan had received at Booth's funeral for gracing Parker with the truth – "Forgive and Forget" was obviously her motto

'That's right, I haven't met Parker many times but from what I've seen he is a good kid,'

'Yeah, he is a good kid, very much like Booth, when I got pregnant with him I wouldn't marry Booth because I didn't think of him that way, I don't feel that pregnancy is a reason to rush into marriage, nevertheless we have always gotten on like a family,' Brennan nodded briefly wondering why she had slept with him if she didn't feel that way about him, Rebecca zoned out for a minute clearly remembering the glory days she had spent with Booth, Tempe tried to distract herself to override the jealousy that had crept into her subconscious 'We have both moved our separate ways now though, I have a boyfriend – Kyle and last I heard Booth had quite a infatuation with you…' if not in present company she would have flinched, a painful memory hit her – Booth's last words – "I Love You" what they had had was more than an infatuation it was – as pathetic as it was to use such a clichéd phrase – True Love.

'I'm down here! I know you are talking about me!' cried Parker up to the two women that towered above him and who were talking in less than hushed voices about him. Smiling, Temperance and Rebecca crouched in unison to the little boy's level

'You like Bones don't you mommy? Just like I said you would!' Tempe wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at the boy's antics, every smile, every look echoed Booth but Parker was the little miracle that kept a good man's spirit alive, she settled for a mild look with mouth upturned slightly at corners

'Yes, she is very nice,' Rebecca laughed at her son's excitement. As Parker flashed another look in Tempe's direction she felt a lump rise in her throat again, she could not cry now, not here, not in front of Booth's little boy

'I-I've got to get going, things to do and…stuff,' she smiled weakly hoping that mother and son – especially the latter took her escape tactic as a proper excuse

'Can I come Bones?' the little voice piped up as Tempe straightened her legs and towered above the boy once more, another heart melting look, how could she say no? It was hard enough to see disappointment on Booth's face let alone Parker's!

'I, umm…' she didn't think it was appropriate but the look was gnawing at her, begging her to say yes, those eyes, she had seen them, she had lost them… 'It's not really up to me Parker.'

Rebecca had obviously also seen the disappointment coming

'Well I only took Parker out because I couldn't find someone to look after him; I think he is actually getting a bit bored…if it's okay with you…'

The look, the look, the look

'Yeah, that's fine,' another smile that did not quite reach her eyes but was clearly not registered as false with Rebecca or Parker

'Yay!' a squeal followed by the gentlest touch as Parker slipped his hand into Brennan's; she could swear he was Booth's clone…

First stop when Tempe and Parker had broken away from Rebecca was Starbucks, to Tempe's astonishment Parker managed to down a large chocolate shake followed by a small tuna and cucumber baguette, she ate her chicken salad baguette much slower, wondering how one little boy could eat so much without exploding. Next the pair ambled around shops trying on hats, shades and any other accessory they cared to check out

'Can we get photos like those people do in the movies?' Parker rushed over to a photo booth – one that takes a row of thumbnail pictures, Tempe nodded and both disappeared into the booth after Brennan had stuck a couple of dollars into the machine, they came out laughing and smiled as they saw their photos; in one Parker had pulled a funny face while Tempe watched him, amusement in her eyes this time as well as in her smile, in another both were laughing as Tempe tickled Parker feverishly and on the last they both pulled a face and looked at each other, cheeks glowing red from the heat in the small space.

Half and Hour and an ice cream later Parker was quizzing Brennan about her life, Tempe did not tell him too much but did not lie either

'Do you get lonely sometimes in your house with no one around?' a sticky face looked up at her expectantly but did not receive a look back, Tempe wasn't sure if lonely was the right word, sometimes she loved the quiet and having the condo to herself, she certainly did not want a room-mate but it would be nice to have a presence, something that fitted around her and could still socialize, something independent yet loved some kind of companionship

'Sometimes, I suppose but I have been alone for quite a long time, my parents went missing when I was quite young and then my brother Russ left and I went into care, I never socialized much until I met my best friend Angela and since then I have only made a few other friends… including your father'

'daddy used to talk about you lots, he said you and him were special friends, he told me lots of nice things about you like how you were pretty and your hair smelled nice… I agree,'

'You've been smelling my hair?' she laughed trying to hide her shock from what the little boy had just told her

'I smelleded it when you lifted me up to look in the mirror,' he smiled cheekily

'I thought you just had a runny nose!'

'nope,' Parker looked up at her proudly like he had just achieved something amazing 'daddy said that you didn't seem to take notice of things though, like he used to always look at you from across the room and he used to hold onto a hug just a little bit longer. He also said that you never listened to him when he tried to stop you from doing things,'

Each sentence was pulling at her heart; he had said all those things about her?

' He told you a lot didn't he?'

'yep! He said we were best buddies! He told me lots about lots of things, mostly you… he would always call you bones though so I don't really know your proper name…' Parker's face scrunched up in thought, like he was trying to remember if Booth had mentioned it at some point, she watched him for a second before telling him

'My name is Temperance'

'Wow! That's a big name!'

'It sure is! That's why people call me Tempe,' she had to admit she was getting lost in the little boy's excitement, she hadn't felt this happy since she had last spent time with Booth – that had been on their last case when they had had to investigate up north and dropped into a beautiful Quebecois restaurant

'Or Bones,' Parker piped up

'Or Bones,' she clarified

'Have you ever thought about getting a cat?' Parker asked suddenly, it seemed random but he had probably been mulling over since earlier in the conversation

'No I hadn't actually,' she thought a second, pros and cons rolled over each other in her mind 'but how about we go and get one? What the hell! She thought, she was having one of the best days of her life with a wonderful little boy who was becoming her favorite person in the world, in just one afternoon she could have comfortably thought of him as her son, why not grab the moment and make it perfect?

'I know a breeder who lives not far from here, as I understand it he had a liter born a few weeks ago,' Tempe and Parker were in the car, soon to turn into an old friends home, as the wheels crunched on gravel a man in his early forty's wearing a green sweater, jeans and sneakers shuffled up to the car and gave Tempe a large hug as soon as she had freed herself from the drivers seat

'Hey Jack,' Tempe greeted, breaking free of the hug and shaking his hand 'I heard you had a new litter in and decided to come by,' Parker came up next to her and smiled at the man 'this is Parker, he is my late colleagues son,'

'Oh Seeley Booth's son…yes, yes, you can see it in the eyes,'

'You know Booth?' Tempe was shocked but tried to hide as much of it as she could

'Yes, yes, he was the agent who was working on my wife's murder, I swear if he hadn't been on the case the killer would never have been brought to justice, I went to his funeral, I'm surprised you didn't see me,' the man looked saddened for a minute but pushed on quickly 'come, come I will show you the kittens that are up for sale,' he shuffled back into the house followed closely by Tempe and Parker who was once again gripping Tempe's hand

'This one is Peaches, that one is Harry, that one Birdie and that one Grace,' four small kittens, ambled around each other, play-fighting and catching invisible mice, they were all adorable but there was one who immediately caught her eye

'Will I be able to take one home today?'

'Usually no but for you and Seeley's son I can make an exception, there are a couple of bits of paperwork that need signing but I will fax them onto you, you can also borrow one of my cat carriers to take the one you pick home in. They are all happy and healthy with all injections needed up to this point accounted for,'

'Which one are you going to have Bones? They are all so nice and fluffy!' Tempe still had her eye on a particular one but decided to give over to the little boy's excitement

'You pick,' she said, he looked up at her as if he thought she was joking, when he say she was not his express in turned from disbelieving to thoughtful

'That one!' he said after a minute, pointing to the one called Birdie, the exact one Tempe had had her eye on, the man smiled, picked up the ball of white fur and placed him in Tempe's arms, Tempe smiled and crouched so Parker could stroke the kitten, Birdie nuzzled into his new owner before gazing up at her with his big green eyes

'Now you don't have to be lonely anymore,' Parker whispered looking from the kitten to Brennan.

The exhausted pair retired back to Tempe's apartment where it had been arranged Rebecca would pick Parker up, they were both sat on the sofa, with Parker and Birdie cuddling up to Tempe

'Were you and daddy special friends before he went to heaven?' Parker's excitable mood seemed to have come down a few of notches; Tempe could feel herself tearing up again but was determined not to cry

'You could say that, I haven't been too well recently…since he went to heaven'

'How come?' Tempe knew that was coming and thought about how to phrase the question for a minute before actually saying it

'Because just before he went to heaven he said something to me…and now I'll never get to say it back,' there was a long pause before Parker asked

'What did he say?'

'He said he loved me'

Thanx for reading, I know that chapter was a little slow in parts and some part were probably inaccurate but I quite enjoyed writing it, a nice out from the grieving for Tempe.

Btw, for those of you that haven't read the Kathy Reichs books Birdie is Tempe's cat in them, I thought it would be a nice touch, I hope it was.