A/N It's time for another Bonesology Winter/Holiday Challenge! The challenge runs from November 28, 2021-February 28, 2022. From the list of prompts I chose:
At a party, one of the characters (including the kids) comes across a photo or object (i.e., Santa hat, elf ears) and it triggers memories for the other characters. Can be funny or serious, in canon or AU.
My story takes place December 2021
It was a week before Christmas and tonight was Brennan and Booth's Christmas party with the squints. they still had the Jeffersonian Christmas party every year but everyone enjoyed Booth and Brennan's party more. Everyone was talking and eating finger foods, Booth was getting drinks for Hodgins, Angela and Brennan when Michael Vincent ran into the kitchen, "Uncle Booth? Where did this come from? I've never seen a robot like this." Booth glanced at Michael Vincent and sat down the bottle of wine and took the robot.
"I haven't seen this in forever, where'd you find it?"
"In the bottom of the big toybox in the playroom.." A few years back Brennan had turned the guest room into a playroom when more and more of Christine and Hank's toys ended up in the living room.
"Parker's old toybox. I forgot I saved some of his toys."
"There's some old stuff in there we can play with it, can't we?"
"Sure!"
"Booth! What's taking so long with my scotch?" Hodgins wheeled into the kitchen.
"Wow, I didn't think that was still around after all these years."
"It is. I forgot I kept it. It was Parker's favorite gift that year which didn't go over that well with Rebecca… so it was great!"
"Does it still work?"
"No, it fell off the table a few years after Parks got it, it didn't break, but the voice recognition quit working. Park didn't want me to bring it to you to fix it. He played with it like it was for years. You and Zack can see if you can fix it if you want."
"Sure."
"Where did you get it?"
"Zach made it, buddy…"
"How? His hands are messed up…."
"Zach made it a couple years before his hands got messed up…"
"Oh. How come Uncle Booth has it?"
"Because I hadn't started Christmas shopping yet and your mom, dad, Zach and aunt Brennan, their boss and I ended up quarantined to the lab for Christmas and I needed a present for Parker."
"Did you all have covid?'
Booth chuckled, "No, this was years before covid."
"Oh.."
Booth caught Hodgins' eye and he shrugged, "go get your sister, Christine, and Hank and we'll tell you guys and Aunt Cam about the Christmas we spent in the lab…"
"Okay…". Michael Vincent ran off to the play room and Booth finished making everybody's drinks. Hodgins put the robot in his lap and wheeled over to everyone.
"What did you find, Hodgins?"
"Michael Vincent found the robot Zach made and gave to Booth to give to Parker for Christmas the year we were exposed to Valley Fever. We're going to tell the kids and everybody else about that Christmas we all spent in the lab…"
"I gotta hear this…"
"Me too…"
"Me three. Doctor Goodman left a note in the file he left me, but it just said that the four of you plus him had been exposed to Valley Fever six months before and Booth had an extreme reaction to the medications they gave you. I need details…"
Booth laughed, "that part was sort of fun…"
"All right, everybody get comfy, this is a long story…" Hank settled in Brennan's lap. Katie climbed into Angela's lap Michael Vincent and Christine wedged themselves beside their moms.
"Daddy, is this gonna be a bedtime story?"
"Not really Katydid, but if you fall asleep it's okay…"
"Okay."
"It was December 23 2005, the night of the Jeffersonian Christmas party…"
"And I was trying to get Aunt Brennan to go to the party with me, dad and Zach…"
"How come you didn't wanna go to the party, mommy? Parties are fun!"
Brennan smiled and kissed the top of Hank's head, "I didn't want to go to the party because I was trying to finish working so I could go on a trip for Christmas."
"Oh, we're you gonna go with daddy?"
"No, daddy and I weren't together yet…"
"Oh…"
"As I was trying to convince Brennan to go to the party for a little while then go back to work on the World War II skeleton she was working on, Booth came in with some old bones from a fallout shelter near Langley…"
"So, it was Uncle Booth's fault you had to spend Christmas at the lab?"
"Yes…"
"It wasn't my fault…"
"Booth! it was too, you know as well as anyone in this room that Brennan can't resist working on a case…"
"I know that now, back then I thought she'd just look at the bones and maybe pull some samples and let it be until Wednesday."
"I don't 'just look at bones, pull samples and let it sit until Wednesday', Booth! I work on bones whenever I get them…"
"…Anyway, Dr. B. had us all working on the case…'
"…Not everyone was working…"
"True someone was enjoying eggnog…."
"I was enjoying eggnog…'
"…But dad, you hate eggnog.."
"I didn't then, I loved it. After we got out of quarantine I never drank eggnog again.. Zach was taking bone samples for analysis and I was in the ookey room, where Zach was working trying to hurry him up so we could go to the party…"
"When you cut into bone you have to wear a mask because if you breathe in bone dust it can make you very sick and it can sometimes be hard to get well again…."
"When Zach cut into the bone the particulates caused the biohazard alarm to go off…"
"…But you both were wearing masks like aunt Brennan just said you had too."
"I was wearing a mask, but I took it off to sip eggnog, all the times that Zach had cut bone samples the biohazard alarms never went off. I assumed they wouldn't that time…"
"You know what happens when you assume, Hodgins…"
"Yeah, Yeah, Booth. Anyway, I had to get in the decontamination shower with Zach…"
"Ew, you had to share a shower with Zach? That's gross!"
"Christine, they didn't HAVE to share a shower, they just did it to be dramatic."
"Angie, we had to it could have been flesh eating bacteria! Time was of the essence! After the shower we joined everyone else in mom's office to video conference with the CDC. The CDC informed us that the bones were infected with the fungus that causes valley fever. "
"Everything would have been fine had Hodgins kept his mask on the whole time Zach was cutting into the bone, only he and Zach would have needed to quarantine. Because he was mask free at the time the alarms went off and possibly inhaled fungus spores then exhaled them on all of us we all had to quarantine at the lab."
"I wasn't mask free, I had it on the whole time Zach was cutting the bone, I just pulled it down for a few seconds to take a sip of eggnog."
"Eating and drinking in the lab has always been strictly prohibited for precisely that reason…"
"I know, but I thought since it was Christmas I could bend the rules a tad. Anyway, after we found out what we'd been exposed to and what symptoms to watch for incase one of us got valley fever someone from the CDC came and gave us shots to help us not feel so bad if we did get valley fever…"
"Did it hurt, daddy?"
"Just a little bit, katydid, but it wasn't bad…"
"Good."
"Uncle Booth had a reaction to the shot, he was high for a few hours, but by Christmas Eve morning he was fine."
"Where did everybody sleep?"
"Angela and I slept in her office. Uncle Zach and Uncle Hodgins slept in his work room- "
"With the bugs?"
"Yeah, it was the best sleep I got in a long time. I like being around my bugs and plants at all times…"
"Oh. Bugs are creepy!" Everybody chuckled as Brennan kissed Christine's cheek. "Daddy and our old boss, Doctor Goodman, slept in the bone room."
"Sleeping in there in a sleeping bag didn't bother my back, I was surprised. For all I know it bothered my back and I was too high to notice…"
"It didn't bother your back, Booth. I can always tell by the way you walk when your spine isn't properly aligned."
Booth grinned and kissed Brennan's cheek, "thanks Bones…" Brennan nodded and hugged Hank to her.
"The next morning over breakfast we decided to make it the best Christmas we could. We drew names for secret Santa gifts. "I drew mom's name. she drew Zach's name; he drew Uncle Booth's name. uncle Booth drew Dr. Goodman's name, he drew mine."
"who was your secret Santa, mommy?"
"I didn't participate in Secret Santa that year…"
"Why not?"
"Because at that time I didn't believe in Christmas and Santa."
"But you didn't have any presents for Christmas!"
Brennan hugged Hank tight, "it's okay sweetheart, I had presents to open…"
"Oh okay…"
"As we were making Christmas gifts and decorating the lab we managed to figure out who the bones were and how the person died."
"That's good."
"Yes."
"Careful Lionel…"
"Who's that?"
"It's the nickname we gave the victim because he was so neat and tidy."
"Oh…"
"Christmas Eve night the CDC arranged for our families to visit us. They were able to see us though the lab doors. It wasn't the best, but at least we got to see our families."
"Yeah. That was when everyone found out I was Billy Gibbons' daughter."
"Grandpa came here to visit you?"
"Yeah, we've never spent Christmas apart. When quarantine was over we flew to Austin and had Christmas."
"Like we always do…'
"Yeah…"
"I was a little surprised to find out Billy Gibbons is your dad, but in a way it's perfect for you…"
"Yeah, I hadn't intended to tell anyone who my dad is, at least not for a while. People tend to freak out when they find out and ask for autographs or want to hear stories. Since my job was still kind of new I wanted keep the peace a little longer…"
"I had to explain to Zach who he was. I downloaded the greatest hits album for him, I'm not sure he liked it.."
Angela smiled, "of course you had to explain to Zach who dad and ZZ Top are…"
"I had to google him myself, Ange…"
"Of course, you did, Bren. We should have gotten Zach from the facility for the night and brought him here to hang out."
"I tried, but his mom got him out to take him back to Michigan for two weeks."
"That's good for him. We'll have to have him over dinner with all of us after the holidays."
"Yeah, that will be nice."
"Who visited you, dad?"
"My girlfriend at the time, I don't remember her name though. We were going to spend Christmas in Quebec…"
"Who visited you, dad?"
"Parker, his mom let my friend Sid bring him down here for a while."
"Did grandpa come visit you, Mom?"
"No, he was with Uncle Russ. It was okay though because even though we weren't in a relationship at the time I got to spend Christmas with dad, Aunt Angela, Uncle Hodgins, and Zach. It was a good Christmas for me despite being exposed to a potentially deadly fungus. As we were going through Careful Lionel's things we found letters he'd written to his girlfriend Ivy. The letters said that they planned to take a trip to Paris, but unfortunately he died before they could take their trip. We didn't think that Ivy knew that Lionel had died. Your Aunt Angela convinced me to try and find her so I could tell her what happened to him. While everyone was sleeping on Christmas morning I managed find her and told her granddaughter, Lisa who I was and what information I had for her grandmother. She said she'd tell her grandmother and see if she felt up to coming to the lab later that day to see me and get the letters she and Lionel had written to each other. After that I waited for everyone else to get the day started, once everyone was up and had breakfast we exchanged secret Santa gifts."
"Did you have a tree?"
"I made a 3-D one on my computer set up I had at the time and we put the gifts on a table under it."
"Cool! Could you make another one this year? I wanna see what it looks like…"
"Sure, buddy we'll stop at the lab tomorrow after we pick you and Katie up."
"Cool."
"After everyone exchanged gifts the CDC came and told us that we didn't have Valley Fever and were free to go and enjoy Christmas day. Everyone went on their merry ways and I stayed at the lab incase Ivy and her granddaughter came. About fifteen minutes after everyone left Ivy and her granddaughter came. We went to my office and I gave Ivy the letters and told her what happened to Lionel."
"Was she happy?""
"Yes, she was happy to get the letters back and to finally know what happened to Lionel, but she was also sad because she knew what happened to him. I also gave her a 1943 copper penny that was in Lionel's pocket. The penny is rare because in the early 40s copper was used to make supplies for World War Two."
"Cool."
"Yes, it is cool. Ivy sold the penny and used the money to send Lisa to medical school. I used to get a Christmas card every year from Ivy telling me how grateful she was that I found out what happened to Lionel. Ivy passed away years ago, but Lisa sends me a card every year. She's a doctor in Baltimore and is married with three little girls. The oldest is named Ivy."
"Cool."
"So, what did you think of us spending Christmas in the lab?"
"It was a cool story. I wish I could spend the night in the lab like you did, well without the fungus."
"You spent plenty of nights in the lab as a baby and toddler."
"I don't remember doing it…"
"You, Christine and Hank all have…"
"I think maybe just this once a new years eve sleep over in the lab can be arranged for everybody. Arastoo and I will chaperone."
"Cool, thanks Aunt Cam. I'm gonna go play. Come on, Christine…"
As Michael Vincent and Christine ran off to the play room Brennan looked down at Hank. "Hank is asleep, I'm going to go put him in bed."
"So is Katie, I'll go with you. Thanks for letting them spend the night so Hodgins and I can finish shopping."
"You're welcome, Ange." Angela stood up and Katie stirred, "Go back to sleep Katie, I'm just putting you in bed."
"I want daddy to…" Angela smiled and walked over to Hodgins who kissed Katie's cheek. "I can't Katydid let mommy put you in bed…"
"No…"
"Yes, I love you."
"Come on sweetheart, let's get you in bed so you can go back to sleep. When you wake up, it'll be one day closer to Santa coming…"
"No!"
Booth walked over, "let me take her…"
Angela raised an eyebrow, but kissed Katie's forehead and handed her to Booth. Katie snuggled into Booth's shoulder as he started rubbing her back and heading for Hank's room. A few minutes later he and Brennan returned to the living room. "Hank and Katie are both out like a light."
"Booth, are you some kind of baby sleep whisperer?"
"What can say Ange? I'm a man of many talents…"
Brennan rolled her eyes and looked at Angela, "I have never understood how he does it, but Booth can always get our children to fall asleep in minutes. Even when they're overtired and cranky."
"Do you know how lucky you are, Brennan?"
"Yes, I'm very lucky." Brennan turned and softly kissed Booth's cheek.
"So, Cam what did you think of our quarantine in the lab?"
"I'm sure it had to suck for everybody, but it sounded a lot nicer than when the CIA made us spend the night there working on a skeleton that closely resembled JFK's remains. At least the CDC brought you guys food. All I had when we were in CIA lockdown was some stale Wheat Thins and a flat Coke!"
"It did suck, but at least I got to spend Christmas with Bones and Becca gave me extra days with Parker."
"It wasn't too bad they brought us really good bagels."
"And nobody got Valley Fever…"
"I still have my secret Santa gift from Hodgins in my studio at home. I saw Zach still had the drawing I did of his family when we helped him move into the new facility."
"Anyone hear from Goodman still?"
"No. but I saw that he's on faculty at Stanford now."
"Good for him."
"Yes. Cam did you mean it when you when you said the kids could sleepover at the lab?"
"Yes, the boys have been asking too. I have no idea why, but I decided to indulge them for new years eve. I was going to invite your kids tonight anyway."
"Great, Bones we're going on a date for new year's."
"Looking forward to it."
"Hodgins we are too…"
"As long as it involves a garbage pizza from Mickey's and watching Netflix in my pajamas count me in!"
Angela laughed and kissed Hodgins, "it's a date…."
"I can't wait."
Everyone stayed a little bit longer talking and eating too many appetizers and cookies.
A/N2: There you have it, hope everyone enjoyed it.