(In the future)
I don't own Bones.
Ooooooooooooooooooooo
Booth had a shoe box in his bedroom closet that Christine found interesting. She knew it didn't have shoes in it, but pieces of paper and odd kinds of keepsakes. She had discovered it one day when she was looking for new shoe laces for her hockey skates. She knew her father kept some laces in a box in the closet on the top shelf and while she was searching for those laces she had found the mystery box. When she had opened it, she had discovered that it was a keepsake box, like the one she had in her bedroom closet.
Determined to explore it, she usually waited until her father and mother went grocery shopping, so she could have time to explore the box at a leisurely pace. She was being slow and methodical in her exploration of the box. Christine wasn't in a hurry about it and up until that moment, she had worked her way through about half of the box's contents. So far, she had found letters from her mother, two from her Uncle Jared and several from her great-grandfather, Pops. She had found letters from men and women that her father had served with in the Army and a couple of letters from someone named Sam Cullen who used to work with her father.
She read each letter, fascinated with the facts she was picking up about her father that she had never known. A couple of the letters had been upsetting, but she had known that her father's job in the Army was dangerous and the close calls he had were unnerving to her.
She soon came upon a packet of letters tied in a faded navy blue ribbon that were by her father to his grandfather. She guessed that he must have found them in Pops' possessions when the old man had died and her father had decided to save them. Curious she read them hoping to gain some insight into her father's childhood. She already knew about his horrible father and she knew a little about his mother, but seeing the letters excited her. She was curious about his childhood, but never felt comfortable asking him about it. She knew his childhood had been terrible and she didn't want to embarrass him or make him sad talking about it.
Making herself comfortable on her parent's bed, she slipped one of the letters from its envelope and read it.
Pops
Hi, I thought I'd write you and let you know that I'm doing okay. My feet are giving me some trouble, but since that's normal now, I'll just keep doing those exercises that Dr. Robinton gave me to do and keep plugging away. I'm being deployed to Kosovo. I'm not sure how long I will be there, but I will write you when I can. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine.
I had a dream last night about that last day I was living with Dad and how you rescued me. I just wanted you to know that I will never forget what you did for me and Jared. You saved me and I can never pay you back for that.
It got bad when Mom left us. Dad was out of control and his drinking was an everyday thing. He'd drink himself into a rage and because Mom wasn't around to beat anymore I became his target. Sometimes Jared would set him off, but mostly it was me.
I've never told you this before, but I was planning on killing myself. The beatings were so bad, I didn't see an end in sight. I know it's a sin to kill yourself and that's why I kept holding off on doing it, but I was getting desperate. I think I would have done it if you hadn't saved me when you did. My Dad was completely out of control that day and I was afraid he was going to cripple me or maybe kill me. You walked into the house, saw what was going on and you stopped it.
You're my hero Pops. Because of you, the pain ended that day and I had a future. I know you were counting on retiring before you took Jared and me away from Dad, but you continued to work instead. You did that so we could have nice clothes and so you could pay for things like me playing football in high school. You could have sent us to Foster Care, but you didn't. We were your family and like you told us more than once, you never abandon family.
Thank you, Pops. I can never say that enough. Thank you for being the father I always wanted. Thank you for giving me discipline when I needed it, but doing it in a kind humane way. I promise when I have kids I will never hit them. I will show them the love they need to grow to be strong, like you did for me. You showed me how to be a real man. Because of you, I know what love is and what kindness is.
I know you probably didn't want to hear any of this, but I wanted to say these things to you at least once. You need to know that you're my hero. You will always be my hero, Pops.
Love Seeley.
She felt a tear slide down her cheek and quickly brushed it from her face before it fell onto the letter she was holding. Her mother had told her about her grandfather being an abusive monster when she was about thirteen years old, but to read the words her father had written about it and about wanting to kill himself made her feel sad for him. His father had been a horrible excuse for a human being and she would never forgive him for his cruelty and monsterish behavior.
Her father had kept his word. He had never hit her or Hank. No matter how angry he was with her, he never struck her. He raised his voice of course and they had had several loud arguments in the past, but never once had he caused her pain. She loved her father so much and she knew that he loved her.
He obviously loved Pops and he had every right to do that. Her great-grandfather had saved his grandsons from a brutal man who should have been locked up for what he had done. She was only sixteen years old, but that was old enough to know that not everyone was punished for the evil things that they did. She also knew that it didn't mean they totally escaped justice either. Her mother told her that her father had nothing to do with his father after Pops had taken him into his home and the old man had died in a VA hospital from liver disease. The only one that mourned that man's death was Pops, but only because Edwin Booth and been Pops' son. You always mourn the death of your kids. That's just the human thing to do.
Carefully placing the letter back in to the envelope, Christine sniffed, grabbed a tissue from a box on the dresser and blew her nose. Placing the letter back with the other letters, she put them back in the box and returned the box in its normal resting place.
Moving down the hallway, she entered the kitchen and looked to see if there were ingredients to make brownies. She wanted to make some for her father. His sweet tooth was always getting him into trouble with her mother, but the man deserved brownies once in a while. After all, he was her hero, just like Pops had been her Dad's hero. Of course, her mother was her hero too. She had been blessed to have such great parents and she hoped she would be just as good as they were when she finally had kids of her own.
Ooooooooooooooooo
Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.
