They don't belong to me and I'm making no money out of this. Sadly.

Many thanks to Kathy Reichs, Fox and anyone else involved in bringing these wonderful characters to us.


We can spend our vacation time in lots of different pastimes...

Thursday Evening

Two hours later, Parker had worn himself out pedalling his bike furiously round the park, splashed mud all over himself from the puddles that still lay on the paths and grassy areas, and was happily sitting in the bath. Brennan noticed with amusement that he showed no interest in the yellow duck that was still balanced between the taps.

Brennan fumbled her way round the unfamiliar kitchen, admiring the way everything was organised and sorted. Last night she had just headed instinctively for the coffee, and this morning she had been focused on breakfast, but now she took her time to look around. She was impressed at the cookbooks lined up on the windowsill; they looked well thumbed-through, and as she picked one or two books up and looked through them, they fell open at certain pages. She made a mental note of the types of meals Booth liked, out of curiosity; usually meals that could be thrown together quickly, with a small range of healthy ingredients. Maybe he had been telling the truth when he said he ate healthily. One of the books held recipes that gave details of far more elaborate meals, and the sudden thought of him cooking an intimate meal for himself and Tessa, or some other woman, made her throat tighten. She put that book back hurriedly, as if it had burnt her fingers.

The kitchen was clean and tidy, the stove was gleaming, and the sink had been left clean apart from her coffee cup from the night before and a Bob the Builder plastic glass that Parker had filled with milk before bed. A cupboard below the sink revealed an assortment of cleaning materials, most showing signs of use. She smiled to herself at the thought of Booth dancing through his apartment with a feather duster the way she did herself.

She opened the fridge, resisting the temptation to flinch as she did so, in expectation of an explosion. Even these weeks later, she found it hard to see any fridge without thinking of the time when she was so uncomfortable about welcoming Booth into her apartment. She had just begun to relax with him and enjoy his company in the one place she usually kept absolutely private from the world, only to see him blown up in a bomb aimed at her.

All was neat and tidy, the cartons of milk and other supplies she'd put away earlier lined up next to the two bottles of beer and three eggs that were already in there. She opened the freezer, looking for the supplies she'd hurriedly thrown in there before they went out. Now that she looked more closely, the assorted packages looked out of place amongst the order elsewhere, and she lined them up more neatly.

She put the fish fingers and smiley potato faces into the oven, then hurried back to the bathroom to help Parker wrap himself up in a towel and get dry. He smiled up at her. "I'm all clean now," he pronounced, and she nodded her approval as she rubbed the towel roughly over his hair. Parker's hair was longer than Booth's, and curled attractively round his face, giving him a sweet expression, but as she pushed the damp hair away from his face, she could see the shape of his jaw and cheekbones, and was struck again by how much like his father he was.

Adapting one of Booth's recipes to the ingredients she had bought and those she found in the cupboards, she threw a meal together for herself while Parker's dinner cooked, and then he sat and ate happily next to her as she tucked into her chicken and pasta. He even consented to try a small mouthful of her dinner, and pronounced it "not bad." High praise, Brennan thought wryly. She had enjoyed it herself; somehow eating one of Booth's meals made her feel closer to the man.

"Can we play a game, Dr. Bones?" Parker asked when all had been cleared away. Brennan looked longingly at her laptop, but Parker had been so good over the past few hours that she found it difficult to refuse him, so she reluctantly agreed. Soon afterwards she found herself hitting the popup in the middle of the game where the die sat and moving little counters around the board in a game called Frustration. "It certainly lives up to its name," she remarked with amusement, as Parker landed his green counter on her red one for the fifth time in the game, sending it back to base. She popped, gained a four, and moved another of her counters on top of Parker's.

"That's not fair," Parker cried indignantly. "You're not allowed to land on my counters."

"But you landed on mine!" she protested.

"You're not 'llowed. Daddy says so." Parker's bottom lip began to tremble, and his eyes shone with tears.

"Oh, well, if it's Daddy's rules..." Anxious to keep Parker happy, Brennan conceded defeat, placed the counters back and moved her other counter instead. Parker beamed, rolled the die again and moved his threatened counter to safety. Five minutes later, all his counters were sitting in the safe zone and Brennan sat back. "You win!"

Parker beamed. "I always win!"

Brennan pouted. "I'm not surprised, if that's the rules Daddy plays by," she complained teasingly.

Parker turned and put his arms round her neck in a gentle hug. "Don't be sad, Dr. Bones," he comforted her. "I'll let you win next time, if you like." Brennan hugged him back, suddenly feeling very fond of this little boy.

"Bed now," she said. Parker was too tired to protest much, so she helped Parker pack the game away, and then they searched through his things. Eventually, a little yellow rabbit was found tucked into the arm of a sweater at the bottom of his bag.

"Baba!" cried Parker in delight. He cuddled the rabbit to him and climbed into bed. "Thanks, Dr. Bones."

"Goodnight, Parker." She kissed him gently and left the room.

"Story!"

She shot back in. "Sorry! I forgot! I'm not very good at this, am I?" she confided playfully.

Parker gave her a comforting smile. "Don't worry, Dr. Bones. You'll soon get the hang of things. Daddy says the more you try at things, the better you get." His face fell suddenly as he thought of his daddy, and Brennan hurriedly picked a book off the shelf and began reading.

Brennan was yawning by the time she finished the story, and Parker was nearly asleep. She wandered back through to the living room, and noticed a book slid down the side of the cushions of the comfy chair that looked like it was used most. She picked it up, and finding a bookmark in it, she realised that Booth must have been reading it. Flicking through the first few pages, she settled herself comfortably in the chair and began to read. She briefly considered doing more writing while she had the opportunity, but convinced herself she was actually studying the writing style in Booth's book.

An hour later, she felt she was beginning to feel very sleepy, so she headed to bed herself. Booth's robe was still thrown across the bed, and she snuggled into it before making herself a mug of cocoa to take to bed with her. She drank it appreciatively, thinking of all that had happened that day. She was beginning to feel slightly more comfortable around Parker, but was still desperately wishing for Booth to come home so she could get back to her own life.

Although, now the thought had crossed her mind, she did feel a pang of disappointment at the thought of no longer staying at Booth's place. Maybe he'd still need help for a day or two? Pondering the thought, she turned the light off and lay down and fell asleep, to dream of Booth lying in a hospital bed in the kitchen watching her cook tiny red and green plastic counters.

Half an hour later she woke up to find a small body wriggling its way under the covers to join her. Too tired to protest, she quickly suppressed the thought that she really ought to put him back in his own bed, and she allowed him to curl up next to her. Not long afterwards sleep claimed her again.

A/N: If I've done anything like I've been aiming at, you should be feeling like Brennan - enjoying getting to know more about Booth by looking around his things, but starting to really miss the man.

Don't worry, he'll be in the next part!

Please let me know what you think so far - have I achieved my aim?