Sorry, I tried uploading this before I went away, but the document manager insisted I was uploading an empty document and I didn't have time to argue...

I'm now back, and apart from the French essay which must take up my time tomorrow, I should soon be back into the swing of writing. Enjoy!


...but working together can avert a crisis.

Sunday morning (continued)

The crash was followed by silence, and Booth and Brennan looked at each other, then both fled to the kitchen. Parker, still in pajamas, was sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor, surrounded by items from the cupboard, and his hand – Brennan gasped as she saw how Parker held out his right hand, which was dripping with blood. More blood was all over his chest and face, and spattered all over the floor.

Booth had reached the doorway first, but at the sight of his son he froze, and Brennan impatiently pushed him aside to get to the boy, who was sitting stunned into silence.

"Booth, do you have a first aid kit?" she asked. "Booth?"

Booth was still standing staring at his son, his face white with shock. It took him a few seconds to respond, and then he was moving carefully past to reach down a green box from a cupboard. "Here," he said. "Is it bad? How is he?"

Brennan frowned down at the child, who was starting to cry loudly. "I don't know..." she said, crouching by the boy and checking him over carefully.

Booth was starting to sound panicky. "Parker? Are you okay, Bub? What happened?" He knelt down beside them, and Brennan could see his hands shaking as he held out the first aid kit. Right now she had no time to be concerned for him; Parker's needs were more urgent. She would deal with Booth later.

She turned away from him anxiously, and looked closer at the boy, who was holding his hand stiffly away from him and howling loudly. She frowned, bent closer still, dipped her finger in the red, and then in her mouth. Then she started to laugh.

"Bones? What is it?" Booth sounded anxious. "Bones!"

She looked up at him and began to laugh. "It's not blood, Booth. It's ketchup!"

"What?" Booth looked more carefully, then tasted it for himself. Brennan indicated the shattered ketchup bottle lying next to Parker on the floor, among tins of food and the cookie tin. Parker sobbed loudly. "I only wanted a c-c-cookie!" he wailed.

Brennan pushed the boy towards Booth. "Go and clean your son up," she told him. "I'll clean up this mess."

"Thanks, Bones," he said gratefully, and helped the boy to his feet. She heard him scolding the boy gently as they headed towards the bathroom.

Brennan turned her attention to the mess on the kitchen floor and worked methodically, cleaning it all up and placing the broken pieces of glass carefully in the bin. By the time Parker and Booth reappeared in the doorway there was no sign in the kitchen of any damage, and Parker was clean and dressed.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Bones," Parker said, still sniffing.

She turned and gave him a small hug. "You gave us a fright," she told him tenderly. "And I think it's about time you started calling me by my proper name, instead of Dr. Bones."

"He can't say it, Bones," Booth told her. "I already tried. I said he could call you Dr. Bones."

She looked up at him thoughtfully for a moment, then at Parker. "Dr. Bones was okay when we didn't know each other very well," she told the boy. "But now we know each other a lot better, I think you need to call me something else. How about you calling me Tempe? Not many people are allowed to call me that, so you'll have a special name for me too just like your Dad."

Booth grinned approvingly, and Parker nodded. "Okay, Tempe," he said happily, and gave her a kiss and cuddle.

She was taken aback for a moment, unused to such a display of affection; then she returned the cuddle and kissed him gently on the cheek. "All better now?" Parker nodded.

"But his Dad could do with a coffee or something," Booth commented with a wry grin. "I'm sorry, Bones, I don't know what happened to me; I just froze."

"He's your son, Booth," Brennan pointed out. "I can't blame you for panicking when you think your son's badly hurt."

He nodded. "But still – I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here. I'll make that coffee, shall I?"

She smiled gratefully. "That would be great."

She left the father and son in the kitchen and went to Booth's room – her room for the moment. She shut the door quietly, sat down on the bed, and putting her head in her hands, she began to cry softly. She had been convinced for a couple of minutes that Parker had been badly hurt, and that it had happened because she was too busy arguing with Booth to take care of him. She had reacted automatically to the emergency, but now her emotions had a chance to catch up with her brain, and she could no longer hold back the tears.

She heard the door open and hurriedly stood up and turned with her back to the door, but she felt Booth's hands on her shoulders, tenderly but persistently turning her round. She held herself stiff for a moment, then relinquished control and allowed herself to relax into his embrace, as he held her tight. "I'm sorry," she said through tears. "I was just so scared."

"I know, Bones," he soothed her, rubbing her back gently. "I was terrified myself, remember? At least you didn't freeze, like I did. You dealt with it, and you figured out it wasn't serious. If that had been just me – I'd have been rushing him to hospital." He laughed, and she drew back slightly and looked at him.

"You only froze for a second, Booth," she reassured him. "You'd have been okay."

"Yes, but I didn't have to be. I just remember feeling so grateful you were there, because we wouldn't have to do it alone."

They stood there for a moment, just holding each other, before Brennan pulled away, feeling suddenly uncomfortable at having Booth so close. "I hope he's not up to mischief again," she said with a small laugh.

"Don't worry, he's under strict instructions to play with his train set and nothing else," Booth assured her. "I think he got quite a scare as well."

He stroked her hair gently back from her face, and dried her eyes with his sleeve, smiling. She tried to avoid his steady gaze, but he put his hand under her chin and tilted her face to look at him. He bent slowly forward, and she held her breath, feeling her heart pounding in her chest. Was he going to kiss her?

"Dr. Bones, I mean Tempe, can I have a cookie now?" Suddenly Parker was in the room with them, and Booth pulled back and let go of her, turning away. Brennan finished the job of mopping up her tears, and nodded.

"I think we all need something sweet," she said. "Then let's go to the park, shall we? I think we need to work off some of your energy, young man."

Booth touched her arm. "I'll buy us all lunch," he offered.

She smiled. "It's a deal."

So near and yet so far, huh? Sorry again for leaving you over the weekend, and thanks for all the reviews.