Disclaimer: I don't own Bones, Fox, Parker, or…cooties.
Lots of thanks will go to my beta, Christy (bella-mi-amore). Love!
And heeeere it is!
After Parker's birthday, Parker started seeing more and more of Tempe. Daddy kept on saying that they were doing work, but Parker knew better.
It wouldn't necessarily be called "work" when they start to kiss, right?
Even though Parker was only seven, he understood that his Daddy really loved Tempe. It was really weird to see his Daddy smile every time he saw Tempe.
Mushy lovey-dovey stuff would then occur, where Parker would usually skip out of the conversation before he saw them stop talking.
The months fairly flew by after August, and before Parker even bothered to check the calendar, he realized that it was already January. Of course, he remembered the fun at Christmas and New Year's, but he was stunned at how fast the months flipped off the calendar.
Christmas morning had been particularly amusing, Parker reminisced in his mind. It had all started when Parker woke up for his usual round of ripping open presents…
Christmas
Parker had awoken on Christmas morning, a hyper bundle of energy ready to run downstairs and wreak havoc. He had been good the night before and gone to bed early so that Santa could put his presents under his tree. Everybody knew that if you waited for Santa, he wouldn't come to give you presents—just coal.
Usually Tempe left before Parker's bedtime, after "discussing" several items with his Daddy. But through the crack of an open door, Parker saw a dim light on downstairs. Throwing off his covers, Parker scrunched his forehead. Had Tempe even left the night before?
Silently padding down the stairs, Parker saw that it was indeed Tempe sitting at the kitchen table in one of his Daddy's old T-shirts, drinking a mug of something. Sniffing the air, Parker hoped that it was hot chocolate.
Recognizing the scent, Parker drooped. It was coffee.
Pretending to show excitement upon bounding into the kitchen, Parker rushed up to Tempe. "Hi Tempe! You came here really early! Did you come to unwrap presents with me?"
Tempe gave a half-laugh and tousled Parker's already messy hair. "Your Daddy and I talked really late last night, and he said that I could just stay over instead of driving all the way home. As for presents, go ahead. I'll just stay here and watch."
"Oookay," Parker replied cautiously before plopping down next to the Christmas tree. As he reached for his first present, he wondered why Tempe seemed kind of exhausted today, instead of smiling all the time as she usually was.
Looking down at the present he held in his hands, Parker grinned excitedly. It was a mini spy kit, from Tempe. The card read: "To our favorite spy-in-training. Merry Christmas from Tempe."
Making quick work of unwrapping his other presents, Parker assessed what he had gotten. Spy kit from Tempe, sweater from Grandma, and a Pictionary game from Angela. Parker snorted a little at this. Count on Angela to buy him a game that included drawing. Then there was a book of dinosaurs that included detailed drawings in it from Zack and Hodgins.
Parker unwrapped the present from Daddy last, and found a card that told him to look in the garage, Curious, Parker opened the garage door.
In the garage sat a new bicycle. Parker immediately flew to it and gazed at it in satisfaction. His Daddy was the best.
Meandering back into the kitchen, Parker clambered onto the seat next to Tempe. "Thanks for the spy kit, Tempe. It's really cool!" Tempe smiled at this.
"I knew you would like it," she said before falling silent again.
Parker wondered what was going on. "What did you and Daddy talk about last night?" he tried again.
"This and that," Tempe said vaguely.
Parker was frustrated, and that was something Parker hardly ever was. He wracked his brains for something that Tempe would definitely have to answer.
Parker's face lit up as he remembered the question that no adult had ever answered for him, even his Daddy.
"Tempe, did you and Daddy make a baby last night?" he asked innocently.
Tempe nearly choked on another sip of her coffee. "What?" she spluttered.
"Did you and Daddy make a baby last night?" Parker repeated patiently.
Tempe's eyes shifted slightly before replying. "Er…no," she finally said. "Why do you ask?"
"Just random," Parker chirped back before skipping upstairs, bumping into his Daddy.
"Daddy!" he yelled, hugging his Daddy right on the stairs. "The bike you got for me was so awesome!"
His Daddy laughed and hugged him back. "Maybe we can go biking together sometime," he said.
"Yeah!" Parker replied enthusiastically.
"Come on down when you're ready for breakfast," his Daddy called back up to him.
As he heard his Daddy walk into the kitchen, Parker skulked at the bottom of the stairs, listening to the conversation.
"What's wrong with you?" Daddy asked Tempe in a low voice.
"It's just—last night—I don't know!" Tempe tried to say, but failed.
"Look Bones, if it's about last night, I have no regrets. Last night was amazing, and I intend to do it again."
Parker wrinkled his nose and wished his Daddy would tell him. Do what again? Go fishing again?
"Well…I don't know how, but Parker just randomly asked me if we were making a baby last night. I don't know how the kid did it, but it was just out of the blue."
"I admit Parker's perceptive, but I think he was just asking since I keep on putting off telling him what the term 'making a baby' really means," his Daddy replied. "Trust me; Parker has no idea what we were doing last night."
Parker gave a silent snort at this. That is true, he thought miserably.
"But what if we did—I mean, protection—"
"I'm positive we used protection," his Daddy told her in a low tone. "So c'mon Bones. Feel better now. And try to manage to wait until tonight before we do it again; wouldn't want to give Parker any bad role models.
Tempe laughed and gave his Daddy a soft slap on what appeared to be the arm. "All right, all right. Let's start some waffles."
Still confused, Parker could only turn and trudge up the stairs in his curiosity.
And now it was January. Tempe had stayed over a couple more times, and had definitely grown visibly cheerier. Parker still kept mental notes in his head to bug Daddy about making a baby until he cracked and finally told him.
Today had been spent at home, as it had been snowing the whole day. Parker watched a cartoon marathon, and his Daddy and Tempe did…who knows what they did.
As the mere light of the sun started to sink below the horizon and the snowfall stopped, his Daddy appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Hey Parker. Do you want to go to the park? It'll be really fun, with all the snow."
Parker perked up at this. He had wanted to go play in the snow all day, except it had been snowing too heavily. "Yeah!"
"Okay. Go get changed. And wear an extra jacket."
After Parker had slipped into what appeared like a billion layers of clothing, he felt very much like a giant marshmallow. Looking out the window, he saw that the sky was now dark, and the soft glimmer of the white of the snow contrasted against the purple of the sky.
Tempe and his Daddy met him downstairs, and they started to walk the short distance to the park.
Except Parker was thinking. His Daddy usually didn't like to go out of the house when it snowed. Then how come today he had decided to go to the park…?
To be continued…
A/N: I think that this is the second- to-last chapter. Yes, I'm sad that this is coming to a close, but then again, I can finally get this load off my back. After the last chapter, I think an epilogue would be in order :) Anyways, sorry if you think I focused too much on "making a baby" in this chapter, but I just thought it amusing of Tempe's reaction to Parker's question. And Parker's confusion to what Booth was talking about. Well, stay tuned for the next chapter!
Oh, and review :)