Thanks for all the reviews!
A vacation goes better with a little forward planning and preparation...
Wednesday afternoon
When Brennan left Booth's room she found Cullen was still waiting outside. "All right?" he said cheerfully. "Do you want a lift anywhere?"
"Could you take me to the Bureau?" Brennan asked him. "I need to pick up Booth's car."
He nodded. "No problem." They walked together back to the parking lot. "I told you he would be fine," he said.
"Do you know how long he'll be in here?" Brennan thought to ask.
"I expect they'll discharge him tomorrow or the next day," Cullen said. "He'll be off for a couple of weeks, then back to his usual self."
"Oh." Brennan had been counting on only having responsibility for Parker overnight. What if Booth had to stay in hospital for the weekend? What would she do then?
She was still carrying Booth's jacket. Now she slipped it over her shoulders. It felt warm and comfortable. She put her hands in the pockets and fished out a bunch of keys. Not as many as her own bunch; she supposed there was one for his apartment and one for his car. She wasn't sure what the other two were for. Oh well, if it turned out to be important she could always experiment.
When Cullen dropped her off she made her way to Booth's black SUV. It was the only car in the area that had a child seat in the back of it. Brennan stood and stared at it. What the hell was she going to do with a small child? Was it too late to back out? She thought of Booth, stuck in hospital. She thought of Rebecca's reaction when she thought Booth wasn't able to have Parker. And she thought of the small boy, who needed a dad as well as a mum. Yes. It was far too late to back out.
She started the engine and drove carefully to the Jeffersonian. She had travelled in Booth's car many times, but this was the first time she had had a chance to drive it. It handled well, but was much bigger than her car. She felt the power under the hood, and had to fight the temptation to drive faster than she usually did.
When she arrived back in the lab the others all rushed over. "How is he?" Angela demanded. Brennan smiled at them.
"Could someone get me a coffee please?" she asked, slipping the jacket off and heading for her office. The others followed her, Zack holding a mug of coffee. He handed it to her, and she sank onto the couch with a sigh, laying the jacket down beside her. "Booth will be fine," she announced. She could see the look of relief on the faces of her colleagues. "He took a bullet in the left shoulder, and needed surgery to remove it, but it only hit flesh. He should be out in a couple of days."
"That's good news," commented Hodgins. Zack still wore a frown. "Even a minor bullet wound can cause major problems," he said. "For example…"
"All right, Zack, I don't think Brennan wants to hear all that right now," Hodgins snapped at him. "Come on, we've got work to do." He almost dragged his friend out of the room, looking back over his shoulder apologetically.
Angela looked at Brennan. "You look as though there's more to the story," she commented.
Brennan nodded and told Angela how she'd somehow ended up offering to look after Parker while Booth was in hospital. Angela seemed amused by the idea. "But Bren, you have no idea how to take care of a child," she pointed out.
"I know, but it can't be that hard. We'll manage," Brennan said stoutly. "I just need to see Goodman, persuade him to let me have the day off tomorrow."
"And just why would you need a day off?" Brennan jumped at the familiar tones coming from her office doorway. She hastily explained to Dr Goodman about needing to look after Parker.
"Have you forgotten about the meeting with the representatives from Guatemala?" he asked with a frown.
Damn. She had forgotten. "What time was it? Eleven?" she asked. "I can always come in just for that."
"And what will you do with the child?"
Angela came to the rescue. "I can look after him while Brennan's in the meeting," she assured him. "He'll be no trouble, I promise."
Dr Goodman still did not look convinced, but Brennan prayed that with children of his own he would be sympathetic to her plight. Finally he nodded. "Very well," he said. "But both of you will be responsible for making sure the child causes no problems. Then, Dr Brennan, I suppose you had better stay with the boy until Booth is able to take over."
"Thank you, Dr Goodman," she smiled. "He should back tomorrow, but I'll enjoy the short break."
She finished up what she could, and packed up some work to do at home – at Booth's home, she reminded herself. She left at around five thirty, and called into her apartment first to pack an overnight bag. Then she drove to Booth's place.
It felt very strange, to park in Booth's usual place and let herself into his apartment. She was wearing his jacket again, although it made her a trifle too warm, and his keys made a satisfying bundle in her hand.
She stood in the middle of his apartment, looking round. It was reasonably tidy, although a stack of papers strewn across the middle of the coffee table bore testament to a possibly hasty departure. She tidied the papers, then went to the kitchen and checked through the cupboards. Not much food; she supposed Booth had intended to go shopping. She had no idea whether Parker would expect any meals that evening. Maybe he'd have already eaten. She shrugged; if he hadn't, he would have to share her meal. There was enough for her to knock up something with pasta. Kids ate pasta, didn't they?
She wandered through the rest of the apartment. The bathroom, full of items like shaving foam, a plastic yellow duck balanced between the taps (Booth's or Parker's?) and a distinct absence of the sort of toiletries she was used to. Parker's bedroom, neat and tidy now. The Sesame Street duvet was pulled up neatly to the pillow and smoothed down; the toys neatly tidied away in a giant toy box, or arranged on the shelf next to the window.
Then she reached Booth's room. The bedclothes had been hastily pulled up; the pillow still remained crumpled from its last use. A white shirt lay discarded on the bed. The wardrobe door stood open, showing hangers full of suits and shirts, and a couple of pairs of shoes and sneakers standing in the bottom. One of the drawers in the dresser was partly closed, the denim of a pair of jeans wedged in the gap and preventing it from shutting fully. The bedside table contained a digital radio alarm, steadily displaying 6:10pm, and next to it stood a white phone and a bedside lamp. She looked around the plain cream walls, and the brown woodwork, and tried to imagine Booth here. The room seemed to fit him somehow.
She went back out of the room and back to the lounge area. A large television and DVD player dominated the corner of the room. A music centre stood on a small unit under the picture window, while two armchairs and a small couch surrounded the coffee table. She eyed the couch, frowning. That looked comfortable to sit on, but she wasn't so sure she could sleep there all night. Oh well, maybe she could get away with using Booth's bed. After all, he wouldn't be around to even know, let alone object.
Feeling a cup of coffee was in order, Brennan made her way back to the kitchen and figured out where Booth kept his stuff. She was amused to find a Jeffersonian mug in the cupboard, and wondered idly whether he had bought it from the gift shop or lifted it from the small kitchen next to the lab. Ten minutes later she was sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of coffee by her right hand and her laptop in front of her. She became absorbed in the latest chapter of her novel, and was startled some time later when there was a knock at the door.
She jumped up, took a last mouthful of her nearly cold coffee, and hurried to the door. Standing there was a dark-haired woman she assumed was Rebecca, plus the small curly-haired child she had seen a few times with Booth.
"Hi Parker," she said to him, feeling almost shy. "And you must be Rebecca. I'm Temperance." She held out her hand, and Rebecca shook it.
"Pleased to meet you," she said. "When will Seeley be back?"
"Uh, I'm not…" began Brennan, but was rescued by Parker.
"Dr Bones!" he shouted, as he saw her. "Mommy, it's Dr Bones!" Brennan winced at the nickname. Where the hell had he learnt to call her that?"
"Oh, you're Bones!" exclaimed Rebecca. "Of course, I should have realised, I'm sorry."
Brennan smiled. "That silly nickname," she said, feeling embarrassed, but at the same time proud to think that even Rebecca had heard of her by that name.
Parker came through the door and disappeared through to his bedroom, where she heard him tipping toys onto the floor.
"I'm so grateful you could help out," said Rebecca. She stepped back slightly. "Here's his bike."
"Bike?" Brennan wondered what Rebecca was talking about. Then she caught a glimpse of a small two-wheeled bike with training wheels, standing just outside. It was designed in police colours, with a hooter on the front handlebars and a small carrier box on the back mudguard.
"Seeley promised Parker that he'd help him learn to ride without the training wheels this week," Rebecca explained. "Didn't he mention it?"
"Oh, uh, yes, uh – that's fine. I'm not sure where to put it though." Brennan looked around for inspiration.
"It will be fine just inside here, surely," Rebecca answered, pushing it through the doorway and stowing it just inside. "Parker has talked of nothing else all week. He's really excited."
"I'm sure he is." Brennan thought of the time she had learnt to ride a bike; of the bruises and torn knees that it had cost her. She smiled. "I'm sure they'll have fun."
"Okay. Well, here's his bag. Do tell Seeley to take good care of him," Rebecca said. "Parker? Come say goodbye, honey, Mommy's got to go now."
Parker came running back and gave his mother a hug and a kiss. Then he grasped Brennan's hand. "Will you play with my cars with me?" he asked. Brennan looked apologetically at Rebecca, who grinned back. "Enjoy yourselves," she said cheerfully and left, leaving Brennan to shut the door and look down helplessly at the young version of Booth who was eagerly tugging her towards his bedroom.
A/N: I didn't think up Dr Bones - the name is used by kind permission of Tempecameron, who used it in her story Maternal Instinct - if you haven't read that story I strongly recommend it.
Please review and let me know what you think. Hopefully, you'll get at least one more part before I'm parted from my computer for a week (sob!).