(After 'The End in the End')
I had a few requests for a sequel to chapter 53. Here it is.
I don't own Bones.
Oooooooooooooooo
He knocked on the door and hoped for the best. "Tempe, it's me." When the door didn't open, he leaned his forehead against it. "Tempe, please, I'm sorry . . . I know you were counting on me, but I couldn't . . . please Tempe, open the door."
Suddenly it opened and Russ had to balance himself to keep from falling to the floor.
"Well?" Brennan wasn't in a forgiving mood and wondered why she had bothered to open the door.
Stepping back, Russ wiped a tear from his cheek and stared at his sister noting the anger on her face. "Tempe, I'm sorry, I couldn't come. I'm not strong like you . . . when I heard Dad had died, I just lost it. I couldn't believe I'd lost him again. All those years I thought he was dead and then he came back and I was happy for me for you for all of us . . . And then you called and said he was dead . . . I lost it Tempe. I couldn't handle him dying again. I . . . I'm sorry, I should have gone to the funeral but I couldn't do it."
Not sure what to make of her brother's explanation, Brennan noticed the tears on his cheeks, the blood shot eyes, the dark smudges under his eyes and she knew he was being sincere. "I counted on you to help me."
"I know and I'm sorry." Russ wiped his cheeks with a handkerchief then blew his nose. "Amy offered to come with me and help me through it, but I . . . I couldn't say goodbye to Dad. I just couldn't do it. He's died twice . . . I know not really, but I thought he was dead the first time, so that . . . I'm sorry."
Since Russ was all that was left of her family, Brennan knew she had two choices. She could close the door and say goodbye forever to her brother or she could forgive him for being weak and move on and with their relationship. "You should have called me and told me you weren't coming. I know Amy called me, but you should have called."
"I know, I know that." Russ held out his hand and touched his sister's arm. "Tempe, I really am sorry. Please forgive me. I just . . . Please forgive me. I don't want to lose you too. You're all I have left."
Sighing, Brennan nodded her head. "I forgive you . . . you let me down, you betrayed me, but I forgive you."
Relieved, Russ stepped closer and placed his arms around his sister. "Thank you, Tempe. Thank you." He sobbed. He knew this could have gone badly. "I'll make it up to you. I'm not sure how, but I promise, I'll never let you down again."
"Promises easily made may be hard to keep." Brennan stepped out of her brother's embrace. "Please come in. Booth took Christine and Hank shopping with him. He plans to stop at a pizza restaurant and buy pizza for them for lunch."
"Thank you." Stepping into the house, Russ looked around. The house looked lived in with controlled clutter here and there and that was fine with him. Following Brennan into the living room, he noticed the little children's table set up near the picture window and children's books and a play tea set resting on top. "I won't stay long."
Pointing towards the living room, Brennan stepped into the kitchen. "I'll get us both a beer and some cookies." Once she was back in the living room, she placed a plate of oatmeal cookies on the coffee table and handed her brother a bottle of beer. "I've taken care of Dad's apartment. I gave most of his possessions away to Goodwill and the Salvation Army. I kept some books, photo albums, a scrap book he owned, his jewelry, two dolphin statuettes, a box of jewelry that looked like it belonged to Mom and some videos. I had no use for the furniture and left it at the apartment. The manager said he would give it to a young couple who had recently moved into the apartment complex who needed the furniture."
"Yeah, that's okay." Russ knew that his sister shouldn't have dealt with that by herself. He had let her down a lot in the last few weeks. "I don't want anything of Dad's. You keep it all. That's fine."
"I've closed Dad's bank accounts and transferred the money to my accounts . . . He had a will and left me executor. He asked that I give you a portion of his savings account and he hopes you will save that money for retirement. He also left you his graduation ring. I buried him with his wedding ring . . . He left a trust fund for Christine and Hank. He also left your daughter's a trust fund. The money has been set aside to be used for further education. He didn't stipulate college. He said the money could be spent on a trade school if that is what they want to do. He wants them to get a fair start without student debt. If they choose not to get a further education after high school then they have to wait until they're 30th birthday to the get the funds."
Surprised, Russ smiled. "I didn't think Dad would leave them anything since they were step grandkids."
"He loved them, Russ." Brennan sipped some of her beer. "He also left Parker his watch and a small trust fund. The money is to be given to him on his 30th birthday to be used as he wishes. He wanted Parker to have something to remember him by."
"That's fair." His father had been full of surprises. "He loved his grandkids. I'm glad he left Parker something. He thought Parker was a lot of fun to be around. He told me that more than once."
Parker hadn't been able to attend the funeral, but he had written Brennan a lovely letter about Max and how much he had loved the old man. She had appreciated the boy's kindness and Booth had teared up when he had read it. He had called his son as soon as he could to thank him for the letter. He hadn't told Parker about the trust fund. "I want it to be a surprise present for his 30th birthday, Bones."
"Yes, Parker loved Max and Max knew it." Brennan sipped more of her beer. "Like I said, I have some videos Dad had at the apartment. I haven't seen them yet . . . would you like to see them while you're here?"
"Yeah, sure I would." Russ was happy that his visit was going this well. "I can stay a couple of days . . . I don't have to be back at work until Tuesday."
Pleased, Brennan smiled. "Then stay. I haven't seen you for a while . . . We can also look at the photo albums. I don't recognize a lot of the people in the albums. Perhaps you can tell me who they are."
"Sure, I'll do my best." Picking up a cookie, he bit into it. "These are good. Thanks, Tempe. Thank you for letting me be your brother. I know I messed up."
"You are my brother, Russ. You did make a mess of this situation, but I assure you that is the past. Booth says it's important we don't live in the past. He says it just makes you miserable."
Ooooooooooooooooo
It was Sunday and Russ had arrived at his sister's house as Booth and the children were leaving for church. "Booth."
"Russ . . . you broke Bones' heart. Just so you know that." Booth knew that his wife had forgiven her brother, but he hadn't. "She needed you at the funeral and when you didn't show up . . . she cried."
Embarrassed, Russ looked at the toes of his shoes. "I know. I . . . I couldn't say goodbye to Dad. Not again. I just . . . Tempe is all I have left and I won't screw up again. She can count on me, Booth. No matter what, I will be there for her in the future."
"Yeah, if you say so." Booth shook his head and herded his children towards the car. He didn't want Russ there, but he knew that Brennan could handle whatever was going on.
Once Booth and the children were in the car, Russ entered the house and closed the door behind him. He found his sister in the living room, waiting for him. "Booth is mad at me."
"Yes, he is." There was nothing she could do about Booth's anger, so she was glad he wasn't there at the moment. "We can look at the videos and then I plan for us to have a salad for lunch. Booth and the children are going to eat at the Diner for lunch. They do that every Sunday. I usually meet them there, but not today."
After he was seated, Russ looked at the videos stacked on the coffee table. Picking them up one at a time, he read the titles. "Christine? . . . Can we see this one first?"
Placing the DVD in the player, Brennan sat down, picked up the remote and hit play. Soon they witnessed a scene from a beach and their mother holding two year old Brennan while Russ attempted to build a sandcastle. "Hey, I remember that day." Christine placed her daughter on the sand and handed her a tiny shovel. With her hands, Christine scooped up sand into mounds next to the castle while Brennan dug a hole in the sand, a determined look on her face. "We worked on that sandcastle for over an hour. I was proud of how high we made it. Dad helped when he wasn't filming us. Mom says he was too much of a perfectionist and it was better for him to leave the castle alone." Russ laughed. "She was right too."
The next scene showed them having a picnic in a park. Brennan appeared to be three years old. They were eating hot dogs and Brennan had a smear of mustard on her cheek. "You used to love hot dogs when you were a kid . . . I know you're a vegetarian now, but if Dad barbequed, you insisted he make hot dogs. He was a pretty good griller. He made a mean kabob and what he could do with a steak . . . it makes my mouth water even now thinking about it. He never did tell me what his secret spice rub was."
The video moved on to the backyard of their home in Illinois and they were obviously witnessing a birthday party. "Hey, that was my nineth birthday. Mom made my favorite cake and Dad churned some ice cream. He wanted coconut ice cream and the stores didn't sell it, so he had to make it . . . I got a new bike that year . . . Mom spent a lot of time making sure I could ride it without killing myself . . . I miss her."
Swallowing, Brennan nodded her head. Her mother had been someone she could talk to most of the time and she had felt less alone when her mother was around. "I do too."
"Yeah . . . hey, that's when Mom and Dad took us to ride horses. That was cool." The scene showed both Russ and Brennan on horses while Christine stood between the horses nervously looking up at her children, her hands on their feet. "Mom didn't like horses. She told me she got bit by a horse on her uncle's farm when she was a kid and she didn't trust them . . . Dad didn't ride horses because he said it was too far to fall, but he thought if we learned how to ride a horse when we were young, we might like it."
Brennan remembered the horse ride and she had enjoyed the experience. She had ridden horses as an adult and she felt her early experiences helped her feel comfortable around the large animals. "Mom and Dad loved to try new things. They weren't rigid in their beliefs."
Russ laughed. "No, I guess robbing banks made them free spirits or something like that." Suddenly sober, Russ sighed. "What a mess they made of things . . . it just boggles my mind sometimes that they were criminal masterminds. Me, I couldn't even work in a chop shop without getting caught . . . I'm not too bright."
"Russ, stop that." Brennan hated self-pity. "I'm glad you weren't a master criminal mind. Chances are you'd either be in prison now or dead. Just be you, Russ. You have a family that loves you and they count on you. Don't forget that."
"Oh, I won't believe me." Russ sighed. "Meeting Amy was the best thing that ever happened to me."
And Brennan knew that meeting Booth had changed her life for the better. "We can look at the other videos if you want to or you can take them home, look at them and mail them back. You can make copies before you do that."
"Thanks, Tempe. I think I'll do that." Russ looked at his watch. "Hey, let's have that lunch you promised and then I'll drive home. I have Monday off and I'd like to fix the roof on the shed in the backyard. It's leaking and Amy has been bugging me to fix it."
"Of course." Brennan turned off the DVD player, retrieved the DVD and placed it back in the case. Handing the cases to her brother, Brennan left and moved into the kitchen where she placed salad on some plates and carried them and dressing over to the kitchen island. "We can eat here."
Once they there settled at the island, Brennan poured some homemade dressing on her salad. "I buried Dad next to Mom. I've ordered a tombstone and it should be installed this week . . . In case you wish to visit them."
"Thanks Tempe, but I'm not ready yet." Russ ate some of his salad. "We . . . we're orphans. I thought we were orphans for over twenty years and then we weren't and now we're orphans again. Our lives are . . . bizarre."
"Not bizarre, but certainly not normal, but then I have never considered myself or my life to be normal." Brennan shook her head. "Is anyone's life really normal?"
Russ thought about it for a moment. "Probably not."
Oooooooooooooooo
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