(Sometime in the future)

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His friends had decided to have a contest. Who could drink the most beer? The rules were simple. Tim Monroe's older brother would buy the beer, but they had to pay for it. Everyone that participated in the contest would drink as much beer as possible in a certain time frame and once that time was up, it was up.

After he had bought the beer, Bobby had driven the boys out to the local high school football stadium where they would have their contest. He had made each boy promise to let him drive them home afterward, after all he didn't want any of them to get hurt or killed. This was just an introduction to adulthood and he wanted to make it was as safe as possible.

Once they were under the bleachers, sitting in a circle, Bobby placed several six packs of beer in the center of the circle. He had no intention of drinking any beer himself, after all he was the designated driver. He had bought a 24 oz. bottle of Coke, a large bag of chips and the latest copy of 'Hot Rod' magazine. He placed a lawn chair next to his car and kept an eye on the boys just to make sure nothing bad happened. He considered himself to be a great brother and he wanted his brother Tim and the boy's friends to have a little fun in a safe environment.

Hank had never tasted beer before and he was eager to try it. His father and mother drank beer and they seemed to enjoy it. They also drank liquor, but he was sure he wasn't ready for the hard stuff yet. His sister had told him about his father's father being an abusive drunk and he was going to make sure that never happened to him. His parents drank in moderation and so would he.

Once the contest began and it was Hank's turn, he popped open a can of beer and swallowed his first taste. Unfortunately, he wasn't allowed to savor the taste of the beer since his friends were urging him to drink faster. The beer kind of tasted bad as far as he was concerned, but if his parents drank it, then he could learn to like it. Hank wanted to be just like his parents.

After his first can, the beer seemed to be easier to drink as he moved onto the second can then the third. Before he got to the bottom of the third can, he let out a loud belch that his friends thought was hysterical. Grinning, he raised the can to his lips to finish it, but was interrupted by a siren and flashing lights. Stunned, he placed the can down on the ground and stared at his friends as they all stood up and tried to run away. Two of them were too drunk and fell to the ground where they stayed, one of them throwing up. The two boys who were still sober, moved through the bleachers and were soon out of sight.

Bobby who was standing next to his car, held his hands up as once and turned to face one of the approaching police officers. He knew he was in trouble, but he was prepared to take it like a man. If he hadn't been, he wouldn't have helped his brother with the contest in the first place. "Good evening, Sir."

Pushing Bobby against the car, the officer patted down the young man then turned him to face him. "What are you doing out here?"

Officer Miller who had approached one of the sick boys, leaned over him and tsked. "It will only get worse." Standing up, she moved over to where Hank was sitting and stared down at him. "What's your name, Boy?"

His mind a little fuzzy, Hank shook his head as if to clear it and replied. "Henry Joseph Booth, but my friends call me Hank. My Dad calls me Tiger sometimes."

The officer rubbed her chin and tried not to grin. "I see, Henry." She leaned over, placed her hand under his arm and helped him stand. "And how old are you?"

His cheeks burning with embarrassment, Hank stared at the toes of his shoes. "Sixteen."

"I see." Miller had seen this before and she wondered about the boy's parents. "You do know it's illegal to drink alcohol at your age?"

Slowly nodding his head, Hank sighed. "My Dad is going to be mad at me. I just wanted to try it. I'm going to be an adult soon and I thought I should find out what beer tastes like . . . to be honest it tastes like something rotten. I don't think I like it, although, it might be the brand. My Dad says Mom's favorite beer tastes like earwax."

She wanted to laugh, but the situation wasn't that funny. "I'm going to have to take you and your friends downtown. We'll call your parents from there."

Glumly, the boy nodded his head. "Okay . . . I wasn't going to drive or anything. I promised my Dad and Mom that I would never drive drunk . . . Course, I don't have a car right now. Dad says I don't need one . . . I borrowed his car once, he owns a Mustang. It broke down on me and my Dad found out. Boy did I get in trouble . . . I guess I'm going to be punished worse this time."

Alarmed, Miller placed her hand on the boy's arm. "Did your father beat you?"

"Never." Hank was shocked at the idea. "My Dad and Mom have never hit me or my sister. What's wrong with you? My parents would never hurt me . . . Whoa, I can't believe . . ."

"Whoa, just whoa." Apparently, the boy wasn't being abused after all. "I'm sorry if I made you mad. I just needed to make sure you're okay . . . Come on, you and your friends have to come with me and Officer Stanton . . . Do you feel sick? I don't want you barfing in my car."

Hank shook his head. "Nah . . . maybe . . . nah."

Oooooooooooooooooooo

Booth and Brennan entered the police station trying to find their son. Once they were assured that their son was at the station, they sat down and waited for him.

"They said bail, Bones." Booth wasn't sure if he was angry or not. Hank had been caught drinking beer and had been charged with trespassing at the high school and public intoxication. The boy was sixteen and curious, he knew that, but drinking beer at sixteen wasn't acceptable. He had been putting off talking to Hank about how alcoholism ran in the family for too long. He had given the talk to the other kids on their seventeenth birthday, but maybe that was just too late.

"I know. I have money in my purse. If I need more, I'll call Angela." Brennan knew that her son was moving through a rite of passage and that most young men did foolish things before they became an adult. "At least he wasn't drunk driving and Tim's brother was supervising their experiment.

Booth crossed his arms against his chest. "Parker didn't do this and neither did Christine as for Bobby Monroe . . . I can't believe he thought he was doing the right thing."

"Bobby is still young, Booth." Brennan wasn't trying to defend Bobby Monroe, but she was grateful that the older boy had set up the experiment in such a way as to protect the younger boys from harm. "He made a mistake. At least he made sure that the boys were in a safe place."

Angry, he stood up. "Are you protecting Bobby? He shouldn't have bought beer for minors. What he did was wrong."

"Yes, what he did was wrong, but I am grateful he protected Hank and the other boys during their initial foray into drinking and he chose beer instead of hard liquor." Brennan had feared that Hank would try drinking alcohol in much more dangerous circumstances someday, she felt a sense of gratefulness towards Bobby even if her husband didn't.

"This is my fault. I should have talked to him about my father and Jared." He was so afraid that his children would become addicts. His father, his brother, himself, all addicts. It worried him a lot. "I will talk to him tomorrow. He needs to protect himself."

Pulling on his arm, Brennan coaxed her husband to sit down. "We will both talk to him and this is not your fault. Hank is metaphorically spreading his wings. Parker and Christine spread their wings at around this age. Christine and Parker didn't drink alcohol at this age, but they did other things. Christine got numerous speeding tickets and when she was sixteen she chose one weekend to drive to New York with one of her friends to see a play. Parker took up rock climbing one summer and broke his arm because he was reckless and untrained. They were testing the boundaries of adulthood. They were testing their independence and I suppose they were testing us and Rebecca. I am sure they did things we will never know about and I for one am grateful. They are fine, independent adults and Hank will be too. He just wants to hurry adulthood along a little faster than he should."

She made sense and Booth felt better. Maybe he wasn't the terrible father he feared he was. "Yeah?"

At that moment, Hank was escorted into the room. "Dad, Mom . . . I'm sorry."

Booth stood up and held his arms wide open towards his son. "Come here, Hank." He hugged the boy and then passed him onto Brennan who kissed the boy. "We're going to have a serious talk about this tomorrow. For tonight? I'm glad you're okay."

Surprised, the boy kissed his mother's cheek and turned to face his father. They weren't behaving like he had thought they would. "I'm not in trouble?"

A sardonic laugh was Booth's answer.

Brennan patted the boy's shoulder. "Of course you are. Why would you think you weren't in trouble?"

Hank gave her a sad smile. "Wishful thinking?" He dreaded to hear what his punishment was going to be. They were probably going to keep him home this summer and not allow him to fly to England to see his brother. "Are you going to punish Parker because I made a mistake?" Maybe he could head that off at the pass, by guilting them.

"Stop." Booth slowly shook his head. "Do you forget who you're talking to? You can't guilt me like that and not your mother either. You will be punished and if that means no trip then that means no trip. Your Mom and I have to talk about it. You know your mother hates psychology, so don't try any of that reverse psychology bullshit on her or me. "Get me?"

"Yes Sir." And he did. Well, that was okay. His parents loved him and they wouldn't be too rough on him. They never were.

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