Booth and Temperance sat on the floor with Parker, passing around the mountain of gifts surrounding the tree. Booth pulled out one and looked at the tag. To Parker, From Dr. Bones. Booth looked at her and felt a welling up in his chest.
"You bought something for Parker?" He whispered to her. His breath on her ear sent shivers down her spine. She turned to look at him, shaking the feeling away.
"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" She offered him a smile, and took the gift from his hands. "Here Parker, this one's from me." The little boy took the box, excited. He tore through the wrap and held up the present inside.
"Cool Dr. Bones, thank you!" He ripped into the Pirate Set and pulled out the hat, plopping it on his head. He grinned over at Dr. Bones and let out a huge 'Arrrr', much to the amusement of the others.
"Like father, like son eh Booth?" Hodgins grinned.
"Oh, like your one to talk Hodgins." Angela laughed. Matthew and Russ looked confused.
"We worked on the case of those bones found at the money pit." Hodgins supplied.
"That was you?" Russ said, obviously impressed.
"Yep, and we found a gold coin down there too."
"You found buried treasure? Cool!" Parker exclaimed. He got up from the floor and pattered over to Hodgins, took the pirate hat off, and placed it on the entomologist's head. Jack looked at Parker. "Now you can be Captain Jack, like in the movies." Everyone laughed, and Jack was intensely aware of the bright flash from Angela's camera.
"Okay, who's next?" Booth asked as he reached for the next gift.
The pile had dwindled down to two gifts, one for Temperance, and one for Booth. Seeley handed Tempe her gift, and watched as she examined it. Attached to the top was the little skeleton ornament. A smile graced her lips as she gently freed the skeleton and held it up, examining its detail. Booth couldn't help but feel his heart swell over the joy the little ornament was causing. She carefully placed the skeleton down and opened the gift. Inside was a necklace with dangles, each bead a miniature of her mother's belt buckle. The little silver pendants shimmered in the light, chiming gently as they made contact with each other.
"Oh, Seeley, it's beautiful. How did you…"
"I had Angela draw a sketch of the buckle, then I took it to a jeweler. I've actually had it for months." He took the necklace from her hands and undid the clasp. Temperance pulled up her hair, exposing her neck as Booth gently did up the necklace for her. The light brushes of his fingers against her skin felt electric, and she tried again to not shiver from the touch. Once the clasp was done, she dropped her hair and hugged Booth.
"Thank you."
"Okay, Sweetie, you need to give Booth your gift now." Angela said, holding back the sexual innuendo that was on the tip of her tongue because Parker was in the room. Tempe pulled away from Booth and grabbed the gift for Booth. She was curious, like him, as she still had no idea what it was Angela had put together. Booth looked at Temperance for a moment, then ripped through the packaging.
Inside was a framed picture. The image ensconced in the silver frame was of he and Temperance under the mistletoe. He studied the picture, wistfully. That kiss showed everything they both felt, no barriers in the way, and no words needed. Everything was reflected in that one moment. Tempe looked at the image as well, her surprise at what it showed evident in her widened eyes. Booth looked up at her, their eyes meeting in mutual understanding.
"Thank you Temperance, I couldn't ask for anything else." He leaned toward her, intent on catching her lips in a kiss, but an excited squeak from Angela made him move away. Both looked at the artist, who had her hand over her mouth.
"Sorry." She said, earning an eye roll.
"Well, what do you say we set ups some of these gizmos and watch us some Christmas movies?" Asked Matthew. He stood and walked over to the massive pile of presents for Temperance, looking at the rather large flat screen television.
"Booth, I still can't believe you got a television for my sister." Russ said as he helped his father pull out the television.
"I have to get her to watch it somehow." Seeley grinned, then winked at Tempe. She blushed a bit and watched Angela get up to check on the progress of the food.
"You'd think that's the only reason he'd come over." Temperance muttered playfully.
"Nu'uh. Daddy would come over to kiss you, then he'd stay the night."
"Parker!" Booth gasped, but not before all eyes were on him.
"But that's what Mike did with Mommy. He'd come over and they would kiss and then he would stay over with mommy." The little boy looked up at his dad innocently. Booth sighed and tried not to blush as everyone in the room snickered. Only Temperance seemed to be a deeper shade of red than himself.
"Hey Bub, why don't you show Zach the toys you got for Christmas."
"Okay." He smiled, and then pulled the game operation over to play with Zach.
XxXxX
"No, that's not how you carve a turkey. You're just going to tear it to pieces." Matthew commented as Booth stood, tines and carving knife in hand.
"Look, I've been doing this for years, and I've never had a problem."
"And I've been carving turkeys since before you were born. You're doing it wrong."
"You want to do it? Fine." Booth set down the utensils and folded his arms over his chest.
"No, you're the one who insisted on doing it. It's not my fault if you go and ruin a perfectly good turkey."
"Then let it go!"
"You know, after the fuss you made about a little wrap and tinsel, you certainly don't mind a sloppy turkey."
"Honestly, who cares if there are little crumbles of meat? It's a turkey. You eat it. It crumbles on the plate."
"It'll only crumble if it's too dry. Move." Angela said as she pushed Booth out of the way. "Honestly, I would think the two of you could give it a rest." She expertly picked up the tines and began to cut into the turkey, the meat slicing cleanly. There was a knock sounding on the door. Russ moved away from the table as he set a bowl of mashed potatoes down and went to answer it. As he opened the door, he leaned back and yelled to the group at large.
"Did anyone arrange for ZZ Top to come play?"
Angela let out a shriek and ran into the other room. She threw her arms around her father and they embraced, tightly.
"I'm so glad you could make it! Are you hungry? We're just sitting down to eat!" She led her father to the table and sat with the rest as the turkey finally made it to the table.
