(In the Future)

A/N: This is a sequel to chapter 22. I had a lot of requests for a continuation of that story, so here it is.

I really don't own Bones.

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Ever since Hank had been arrested for public intoxication and trespassing, his parents had been debating about whether or not to allow him to travel to England to see his brother for the summer. Booth wanted his son to stay home as part of his punishment and Brennan wanted him to make the trip to widen his education. They were at an impasse and they needed to make a decision soon or it would be too late to get a plane ticket.

"Bones, he was arrested and fined." Booth was still upset that his boy had chosen to drink beer at such a young age. He hadn't drunk beer until he'd graduated from high school. The truth was he'd been afraid to drink beer or any other alcoholic beverage, but his grandfather had assured him that drinking in moderation would not turn him into his father. "The state also took away his driving privileges for 30 days. He needs to be punished."

"We've already punished him." Brennan was trying to keep Booth calm, so she spoke softly and reasonably. She didn't want it to escalate into an argument like it had done four days ago. Booth had slept on the couch that night and his back had bothered him for two days. She didn't want a repeat of that scenario. "We have taken away his allowance for four months. He can't drive for four months and he has to keep the lawns mowed and the garden beds weeded for the summer."

Booth wasn't impressed with Hank's punishment. "Big deal. The boy saves his money, so no allowance isn't going to faze him. I know for a fact he has over two hundred dollars in his piggy bank besides the money he has in his savings account. He was bragging about it three weeks ago when we were talking about his trip to England and as for taking care of the lawn, he should be doing that anyway. That should be his job, not mine. I do enough around here. He can quit playing video games long enough to mow the lawn every week not just when he's being punished." He had mowed his grandfather's lawn every week from the age of 10 until he'd moved away from home.

"Well, I think he's being punished enough. I don't . . . I think he should be allowed to go to England to see Parker." Brennan really hated to punish her children. It always seemed to be a form abuse to her. She had been abused in Foster Care and the thought of her children being hurt filled her with anxiety.

Aware of what Brennan was thinking, Booth grasped her hands in his hands. "Hey, I know what you're thinking and we've talked about this before. Punishing the kids when they do something wrong is not abusing them. We never hit them, we don't really yell at them. Well, you don't and I try not to. We try to make the punishment a learning experience and that is not abuse . . . Okay?" He'd been physically abused as a young boy and he knew that he could never allow that to happen to his children. "You chose the punishment for Hank and I know you think that it's enough, but it isn't. His punishment doesn't fit the crime and he did commit a crime. I know I had to pay the fine . . . by way, I haven't told him yet, but he is going to pay me back. He needs something serious taken from him to make an impression and taking that trip from him will definitely fit the crime."

Brennan stared at Booth's hands holding her hands and she knew that if they didn't add to Hank's punishment it might make it harder for Booth to trust their son. Her husband wanted Hank to appreciate that what he had done was wrong and if the punishment wasn't severe enough he was afraid that their son would not learn from his mistakes and repeat them. She knew her husband, she knew his history and she knew that he had trust issues just like she did. They both needed to be able to trust Hank since it was impossible to monitor his every action. "Parker will be disappointed if his brother doesn't come to see him. You know that he and his wife Dene can't come this year because Dene has to cover for her supervisor who had a heart attack and is recovering at the moment . . . I just think it will make Parker feel lonely that he can't be with his family this summer."

"Are you trying to guilt me?" Booth released her hands and leaned against the bar. "You're not really good with the psychological stuff and you know that."

"I am most certainly not trying to guilt you, Booth." Brennan huffed a little bit. "I am merely pointing out the obvious . . . Really, you do know I would never try to make you feel guilty about anything you're doing."

Amused with Brennan's fake outrage, Booth smiled. "Uh huh. Just last week you tried to get me to quit eating nacho chips smothered in cheese because my cholesterol had bumped up sixteen points. I'm older and my cholesterol is going to go up a little, but my cholesterol is fine. My doctor said it's still in the normal range for a guy my age."

"It's normal now, but it may not stay that way if you don't adjust your diet as you age." Brennan had always worried about his diet. "You have made changes to your diet over the years which I greatly appreciate, but you eat too much cheese."

His dark eyes boring into her blue ones, Booth shook his head. "Changing the subject isn't going to solve anything Bones. We're running out of time. Is Parker staying or going?" He was tired of talking about it. They needed to make up their minds.

Reluctantly, Brennan conceded that Booth might be right about the trip. She hated to disappoint her son, but Hank brought this on himself. "I'll call Parker and let him know that Hank isn't coming. You can tell Hank the trip is off."

Snickering, Booth shook his head. "Smooth, Bones. Real smooth." She was making him crush his sons dreams of going to England, but he guessed that was fair. He was the one that wanted to cancel it anyway. He leaned over and kissed her. "Sometimes being a parent sucks, but only sometimes."

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Hank had known that he wouldn't get to go to England, but it hurt anyway. This was going to be his first trip anywhere by himself and now he couldn't go. At first, he had stopped talking to his father and mother trying to punish them for being so mean to him, but then his sister had joined him in the backyard one afternoon while he was pulling weeds away from his mother's bean plants.

"So, no trip huh?" Christine stood behind him sipping a glass of ice tea. "If you planned to screw up, you should have waited until you got back from England, not before."

Irritated, Hank used a rag he had lying on the ground nearby and wiped his glistening forehead. "I made a mistake. I know that, but I was counting on that trip and they knew it."

"That's why they took it from you." Christine sat down on the grass next to her brother. "I warned you about drinking alcohol, Hank. Our Uncle Jared was a loser and his drinking led him down a path he didn't have to follow. He almost got Dad killed because he was such a loser. You've seen the scar on Dad's stomach. He almost bled to death . . . You don't see me drinking beer or wine and you don't see Parker drinking either. Dad's father was a drunk who beat his sons so badly Pops had to rescue them and Uncle Jared was a loser because he chose to drink when he could have given it up. Dad is addicted to gambling. There is definitely something wrong with the Booth genes. There is something out there waiting for us, so we have to be careful. I don't gamble, do drugs or drink any alcohol because I've seen how it can ruin lives. Don't you get that it could affect you too?"

His irritation growing, Hank threw the towel on the ground, grabbed his sister's glass of tea and drank until the glass was empty. "Mom and Dad drink."

Christine shrugged her shoulders. "With moderation. Drinking isn't their Achilles heel. Gambling is Dad's burden. Mom . . . I guess being right all the time can be a burden." The young lady laughed. "She's pretty strong. The only thing I know that she has to be careful of is peanut butter cookies. Man, she can eat a box of those if she's in the mood, but she tries to control that. We all have things we need to control . . . I don't know what my Achilles heel is because I know that the Booths' have addictive personalities and I don't want to risk finding out what my addiction is . . . Parker gave me this talk when I was sixteen."

Hank sat down facing his sister. "Maybe I don't have an addictive personality."

She started to worry that Hank was going to do what he wanted damn the consequences. "Grandfather, Dad, Uncle Jared . . . Parker."

Stunned, Hank stared at his sister, "Parker? What do you mean Parker?"

She knew she had her brother's attention now. "When Parker was nineteen, he started smoking. God knows why, but he did. He said he got hooked after smoking for just a few months. He has no idea why he started, but suddenly he couldn't stop. Dene was furious. She had been at University and during one of their breaks she went to visit Parker and found him smoking. Parker says she yelled at him, yanked his shirt off of him, pushed it in his face and told him to smell himself. She said he smelled disgusting. She was so mad she drove to her Mom's house and refused to see Parker for a week or take his phone calls . . . At first, he was angry that she had talked to him like that, but when he couldn't talk to her and that went on for a week, he worried that Dene wasn't going to ever talk to him again. He drove out to her mother's place to talk to her. Dene apologized for being mean to him, but then she told him why she had reacted the way she had. Her father died of lung cancer when she was eleven years old. He was a two pack a day smoker. Parker realized that he had a big decision to make. He could keep smoking or he could have Dene in his life, but not both. He gave up the cigarettes. It was hard, but he did it. Booths are weak, Hank. We can be so strong about a lot of things, but we all seem to have an Achilles heel that can bring us down. You weren't born yet when Mom threw Dad out of the house for gambling, but I've told you about it. Think before you give in to curiosity. Think really hard about what you have to lose."

He knew she was right. Christine and Parker had given him the addiction talk when he was fourteen, but he hadn't really let their words sink in. He had vowed never to be like his grandfather, but he hadn't thought any further than that. "I guess if I'm going to get addicted to anything it better be like Mom's. At least Peanut butter cookies can't get you arrested."

Christine laughed. "No, but you can get fat. Mom works out, so she can keep eating her cookies and you never see her or Dad drunk. Moderation is the key, Parker. If you want to risk drinking beer then make sure you know when to stop. If it looks like it's getting control of you, just walk away. Me? I'm too afraid to try. Seeing Dad in the hospital after he was almost killed. It scared the hell out of me. When I was older, Mom told me what had happened and I vowed never to let myself become a loser like Uncle Jared. He almost got Dad killed. It was a close thing. Too close." She looked so somber and it made Hank feel sad.

"I'm sorry I got busted for drinking, Chrissy. I'll try to be more careful about stuff like that." He really hated to think that his father wasn't perfect, but he wasn't a child anymore and he knew no one was perfect. No even himself. "Thanks for coming by. I needed someone to talk to."

Glad to see her little brother taking the Booth burden seriously, Christine patted his knee. "It's supposed to be a secret, but Parker is coming here for two weeks. Don't tell Mom or Dad, Parker wants to surprise them. Dene told him to do it. She's so nice."

Filled with happiness, Hank grinned. "Oh wow, that's cool. I really miss Parker."

Christine patted his knee once more. "Expect this talk from Parker too. I think he's coming because your arrest for drunkenness freaked him out. God knows he went on and on about it when he called me."

His smile drained from his face, Hank sighed. "Damn, it sucks being the kid brother."

"Poor Hank." Christine took the empty glass from her brother. "Next time, ask me for the glass, don't take it you spoiled brat."

His cheeks a rosy red, Hank pulled a few blades of grass from the bit of lawn in front of him. "Yeah, I will and thanks."

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Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.