(One Year after 'The End in the End'.)

This is a short little Christmas story that came to me two days before Christmas and I felt I needed to write it down and share it.

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Flipping through the envelopes he'd just brought in from the mailbox, Booth was shocked to find a festive red envelope that looked like it might hold a Christmas Card. Glancing at the window across the living room, the bright August sunlight was streaming through the window, which made the card seemed even more out of place.

The envelope was addressed to Seeley Booth and Temperance Brennan and contained no return address, just a small Christmas tree sticker where the return address should have been. Curious, he opened the envelope, pulled out the card, opened it and was stunned to see the signature at the end of a note hand written on the inside of the card. His heart beating faster, his knees feeling weak, he sat down on one of the stools and stared at the signature for a few moments before reading the note.

Seeley, I'm wishing you, Temperance and Christine a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. It seems that the years move along too fast now and I can't believe it's Christmas in the year 2013, but it is. This last year has been amazing with a lot of things happening both good and bad. Temperance being shot back in February had to be the worse thing that could have happened to our family and your wedding in October was the best.

Each year has surprises waiting to unfold for us and most of them are unpredictable. That is what makes life so interesting, the unpredictability. My mother used to say 'nothing is perfect thank God'. She knew that it was the imperfect things that makes life interesting and I believe that too.

I'm getting old and I don't think I have too many Christmases left to celebrate, but I want you to know that almost every Christmas I have seen has been worth celebrating. This is my favorite time of the year and I can only think of one year that I didn't enjoy the holiday as much as I should. It was after Marie died and I didn't see any point in celebrating anymore. That was a bad year, but after you and Jared moved in with me, you boys helped me to relearn to love Christmas and I have kept that love since then.

Thank you, Seeley. Thank you for giving me a granddaughter in law and another great grandchild. Having you in my life has made me a better, happier man. I will always love you.

Merry Christmas,

Pops

His cheeks damp from tears, Booth placed the card down on the kitchen island, grabbed a napkin and wiped them dry. After blowing his nose, he picked up the card and read it one more time. He had been feeling a little depressed the last few days and he knew why. The anniversary of his grandfather's death had just passed by and he had found that day to be harder to take than in the past.

Life was change. His grandfather used to say that a lot when he was growing up. When something happened that he didn't like, his grandfather reminded him that along with the bad the good would also come along eventually.

The Lab had been blown up and he, his wife and friends had almost died, but they were saved, the Lab was rebuilt and life moved on. He had been promoted to Assistant Deputy Director, moved up to the third floor of the Hoover and he was doing his best to make a difference. He missed going out into the field with Brennan and worried about her safety. Aubrey was now head of Major Crimes and he was also Brennan's partner if she had to go to a crime scene. He trusted Aubrey to take care of and protect Brennan, but that didn't keep him from worrying. He would always worry.

Staring at the card in his hand, Booth smiled at the signature and felt like his grandfather had found a way to talk to him when he needed him to. He had always felt better after talking to Pops and this card had helped him have those words, even if they were one sided.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Brennan entered the house with Hank and Christine and found that her living room had been transformed since that morning. In the corner of the living room there was an artificial Christmas tree decorated with strings of lights, colored glass balls and various decorations that they had collected over the years. Strings of lights were resting on the fireplace mantel and on the foot of the fireplace and there was one Christmas card taped in the center of the mantle. The front of the card showed a red nosed reindeer standing in snow with the words Merry Christmas printed at the bottom of the card in red letters.

Not sure what was going on, Brennan and her children inspected the tree and the decorations and found it to be festive but a mystery none the less.

"Booth! . . . Booth!" Brennan walked down the hallway and found the bedrooms and bathrooms to be empty. As she walked back towards the living room, she heard the door leading out to the garage open and close. Moving rapidly down the hallway she entered the living room and found Christine and Hank hugging their father who was kneeling next to them.

"Daddy, why do we have a Christmas tree?" Christine was staring at her father trying to understand. "It's not Christmas. Is it? It's not Christmas is it?"

Amused, Booth laughed. "No, it's not Christmas, Pumpkin but I got a Christmas present from Pops today and I wanted to celebrate."

Confused, the little girl licked her lips and turned to stare at her mother. "But Pops is in heaven. How can he send you a present?"

Hank, unaware that anything was wrong, toddled over to the tree and poked one of the Christmas decorations. "Pretty." He was three years old and he liked the lights and the tree. He didn't know why they were there, but he liked them. "Pretty Daddy."

Standing, Booth walked over to where Brennan was standing and kissed her. "I promise I haven't gone nuts, Bones. I got a Christmas card from Pops today. I guess he mailed us one in 2013 and we never got it. He never said anything, so I don't think he realized we never got it."

"2013?" Brennan walked over to the fireplace and touched the Christmas card. "It's been lost in the mail for five years. I'm amazed we got it at all since that card should have gone to our old address."

Not wanting to question the miracle of the card, Booth shrugged his shoulders. "That doesn't matter. What matters is we got it . . . um, I didn't want to just read it and throw it away or place it in my memento box and forget about it. I wanted the card to get the holiday it deserved. Pops sent this card to us to help us celebrate Christmas and sure it isn't Christmas, but we have to celebrate anyway. Pops loved Christmas, he loved the trees and the decorations and the songs and he loved his family to get together and have fun and that's what were going to do tonight. We're going to sing Christmas songs and we're going to make gingerbread men and we're going to look at some of the videos I made of past Christmases when Pops was here and . . . "

"And we're going to honor Hank." Brennan understood what Booth was doing and why. The anniversary of Hanks death had just passed and she knew her husband missed his grandfather. She didn't know how or why they received a card from Hank who had been dead for four years and for once, she didn't care. This would help Booth get past the sadness he had been living through for the last few days and it would give him a happy memory of his grandfather.

"Yeah." Walking over to the fireplace, Booth touched the card and smiled. "Merry Christmas, Pops. Thank you for the gift."

Ooooooooooooooo

Merry Christmas and I hope everyone has a bright and shiny New Year.