(In the Future)
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I don't own Bones.
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Hank was definitely bored and he wanted to do something about it, but there was an obstacle in his path and it was a big obstacle. "Mom I want to go outside and ride my bike."
Brennan looked up from the t-shirt she was folding and shook her head. "It's raining and quite chilly outside, Hank. Find something to do inside the house."
Frustrated, the boy crossed his arms against his chest and exhaled deeply. Since that didn't seem to get a response from her, he exhaled again.
"Are you having difficulty breathing?" Brennan was well aware that her son was trying to show his displeasure, but she preferred direct communication and not subtle body language.
"No Ma'am, I'm not." Hank climbed onto the stool next to the island and placed his chin in his hand. "Chrissy and Dad aren't here and I don't have anyone to play with."
As she continued to fold clothes, Brennan thought over her son's predicament and came up with several solutions to his problem. "I see. Well off the top of my head, you can go clean your room and once that is done you can read the books you brought back from the library yesterday. There is the unfinished model you begged your father to buy you a month ago. It's still not completed. There is also the robot kit you begged me to buy you two months ago that has never been taken out of the box . . ."
"I did clean my room." Hank thought it was unfair that his mother hadn't notice that. He'd even made his bed with hospital corners like she'd shown him. "I can't read my books yet, because I'm going to read them at night before I go to bed. The model is missing a piece and Dad wants to work on the robot with me and he's been busy, you know that." Certain he had shot down her arguments, he waited for her response.
"Unless the missing piece will affect the structural integrity of the model, you can complete the model." Brennan knew for a fact the missing piece was just a head light. Booth had complained about their son's reluctance to finish it because the boy was too fussy and wanted everything to be perfect. They'd had quite an intense argument about his complaint, but she knew that Booth grew quite frustrated with their son's perfectionism. The boy was twelve and Booth thought that Hank should learn to relax after all life isn't perfect and they both knew that. He was worried that the boy would grow up a dissatisfied man if things weren't perfect. "Hell Bones, when has anything ever been perfect for me or you? We both got a bad start in life and we still came out of it okay. If we'd let the bad shit get to us we'd have both turned into losers. He needs to let things go."
"Hank, I realize that you wanted the model to be completed, but you should just finish it." Brennan was a perfectionist herself, but she knew that sometimes you had to accept imperfection. "If you put all the parts together that you have, then technically it will be complete . . . Then you can come up with a story to go with the car to explain the missing headlight . . . Perhaps the car was being restored and a thief stole it . . . something like that. Or to amuse your father, Aliens stole the missing piece because their spaceship broke a headlight and they needed a replacement."
Hank thought that was very funny and sniggered. "That's funny, Mom . . . I know Dad wasn't happy with me because I didn't finish it . . . it's just . . . it's not very symmetrical with a missing headlight . . . Mom why am I like that? Chrissy isn't like that. She doesn't care if something isn't symmetrical and neither does Dad."
Brennan had always feared that her children would inherit some of her idiosyncrasies. Both of her children were quite intelligent and did very well in school. They had both inherited Booth's charming smile and his ability to make friends when he wanted to. On the other hand, they had also inherited Booth's temperament and Hank seemed to have Brennan's sense of orderliness and perfectionism. Perfectionism wasn't really a fault to Brennan, but she did know that it could make you unhappy if taken to extremes. "When I was younger, I believed that everything should be orderly. Everything in my kitchen cabinets were stored in alphabetical order. When I placed food in the refrigerator they were placed in a specific order on the shelves. If I had leftovers, I put them in containers and labeled them."
"Really?" Hank was surprised since that was not how the household he lived in was organized now.
Brennan smiled. "Yes, really . . . Once I started living with your father and I was exposed to his more chaotic system of storing things, I tried to be less rigid, but I did organize everything in the cabinets so that they more practical and functional. After I had children time became more precious. I realized that orderliness wasn't necessary. You must live your life and you shouldn't waste valuable time on perfectionism, especially since it has little meaning in the end. Both your father and I work strenuous jobs. We also try to make as much time as possible for you and Christine. It is much better to let a little chaos into your life and use what time you have wisely . . . Do you understand?"
"I think so." Hank still loved symmetry, but he saw her point of view too. "I'm going to go finish my model . . . and come up with a story about the missing piece."
Pleased that her conversation had gone well, Brennan started to fold clothes again. "I look forward to your presentation."
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Booth arrived home to find Brennan and Christine in the kitchen cooking dinner. "Hey you two. That leak at Hodgins place wasn't a big deal. I replaced the piece of pipe under the kitchen sink. I told him he didn't need to call a plumber and I was right."
After she replaced the lid on the pot on the stove, Brennan turned and kissed Booth who was waiting behind her. "I seem to remember that time we replaced some pipes in your kitchen and the pipes burst again."
"Well, that wasn't my fault." Booth reached around her and plucked a piece of celery from a cutting board. "Plus my brain was still messed up from my surgery and you didn't put enough glue in the joint."
"I didn't . . ." Brennan was outraged that Booth was blaming her for the waterfall in his kitchen when Hank ran into the kitchen holding his completed model. The Lamborghni Veneno was a beautiful replica even though there was a missing headlight.
"Dad, look I finished it." Hank carefully handed the model to his father, glanced at his mother and then back at his father. "As you can see the left headlight is missing. What happened, a mouse king named Fred has a car just like this model and he needed a headlight, but he's too cheap to pay for anything unless he has to, so he sent his techs out to look for one. They were supposed to steal it so they could get it for free and they looked around until they found one in my room and they took it so that's why the headlight is missing." Hank drew a deep breath and laughed. "Stupid old mouse king. He should have stolen the whole car so he'd have back up parts. So anyway it's finished."
Amazed with his son's story, Booth pursed his lips and stared at the completed model. "You know that makes complete sense. Good job Hank. You did a real good job. After dinner, would you like to work on that robot kit your mother bought you?"
"Oh boy, would I?" Hank jumped up and down. "Yes Sir, I would. I'll go get it and bring it out here." The boy took the model from his father and left the room, pleased that his father liked his work.
Once the boy was out of hearing, Booth smiled at Brennan and Christine. "That boy has a great imagination, Bones. Maybe we have a budding author on our hands. Like Mother like son?"
So proud of her children, Brennan placed her hand on Christine's shoulder. "Both of my children make me so proud."
"Thanks Mom." Christine had thought Hank's story was cute, but weird. "Did I tell you that Buddy had a flat tire bringing me home? He didn't know how to change it, so I did it for him."
Booth placed his arm around his daughter's shoulders. "Good for you. That Buddy is a knuckle head. At least my kids know how to take care of themselves."
Proud of her daughter, Brennan moved back and opened the oven door to check on the eggplant parmesan. "Of course they do, Booth. They are our children."
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