The three words I used in this story are bike, boisterous, and black out. Christine and Michael-Vincent are about 9 in this chapter and Hank is about 5.

It was a warm Saturday evening in early June. Angela and Hodgins had come over to have dinner with Booth and Brennan, and after the meal, they decided to relax in the pleasant front yard, chatting as they watched their children at play.

Christine and Michael-Vincent were laughing boisterously as they raced their bikes down the home's long driveway and then onto the sidewalk in front of the house, making a turn in the cul de sac and then pedaling up the driveway again. Hank was making a valiant attempt to keep up with them, but his bike still had its training wheels attached, and he also wasn't allowed to leave the driveway, much to his loud annoyance.

Aware that her son was becoming increasingly frustrated, Brennan decided some intervention might be in order. "Christine, why don't you and Michael-Vincent play with the soccer ball for a few minutes? That way Hank can be included as well. You know how much he likes soccer."

"But Mommy, me and Michael-Vincent are tied in our races! I wanna win one more race! Please? Hank can kick the ball around by himself, can't he?"

Brennan arched an eyebrow at her daughter. "To begin with, it's 'Michael-Vincent and I' instead of 'me and Michael-Vincent'."

"Yes, Mommy."

"And I'm not saying you have to put the bicycles away for the rest of the evening. I'd simply like you to think of your little brother's feelings. He can't ride his bicycle as well as you can ride yours, and he's becoming quite upset as he tries to keep up with you. Play soccer with him for a little while, and then later you can ride your bikes some more."

It was clear that Christine didn't like that idea, but she knew better than to argue. "Okay…"

The three children kicked the ball across the yard, playing a game of keep away, and it seemed that Christine was having so much fun that she'd forgotten about riding her bike.

"Asking them to kick the ball around with Hank was a good idea, Bones…" Sitting back in his lawn chair, Booth reached out to take her hand. "Hank's really got a foot on him, doesn't he? Who knows…maybe someday he can be a place kicker for the Eagles…"

While the adults were visiting and the children were playing, the sun set, and dusk gradually faded into darkness. The streetlight at the corner of the lot came on, flickered slightly, and then, after a loud BOOM, it went dark, along with all the rest of the streetlights along the sidewalk and all of the lights in the surrounding neighborhood.

"Mom? Dad? Where are you?," Michael-Vincent called out.

"Mommy, I'm scared.," Hank cried. "I can't see anything…"

"It's okay, kids. It's just a temporary blackout." Booth's voice was calm as he spoke to them. "I think a transformer blew up somewhere. The electric company will fix it, but it'll take a while. In the meantime, you're okay. Let your eyes adjust to the dark for a few minutes, alright? And then follow my voice…"

"Okay…," Christine said in a tentative tone. "Where are you, Daddy?"

"Come and find me!," Booth teased, tapping his nails against the arm of his chair. "I'm not going anywhere, okay? Move slowly and carefully towards the sounds I'm making…"

It took a few minutes, but soon the kids were reunited with their parents. "That was kinda fun!," Michael-Vincent exclaimed. "It was kinda like a treasure hunt, wasn't it?"

"I suppose it was.," Brennan agreed. "Now, speaking of treasure…look up at the sky…"

In the absence of artificial light, the night sky seemed ablaze with stars. "Wow…" Michael-Vincent was amazed. "Look at all of them…there must be a million…"

"Not quite a million.," Brennan said in amusement, winking at him. "More like several thousand."

"My mommy knows all about the constellations.," Christine stated proudly. "She knows all their names and their stories and everything!"

"Well, perhaps not all of their stories, but I do know quite a few." Brennan chuckled as she tousled her daughter's hair. "I have an idea! Let's all stretch out on the grass and look up at the constellations. Come on, Angela…join us."

Soon the children and their mothers were laying on the lawn, picking out various patterns in the stars above as Brennan continued the lesson. "In ancient times, people didn't have television or a lot of books to read, so they entertained themselves by telling stories about the patterns of stars they saw in the sky, like that one…Draco, the Dragon. And look over there…see that group of stars that look like a W? That's Cassiopeia, the queen…"

"That's silly." Hank's nose scrunched up at her statement. "That doesn't look like a queen, Mommy. It doesn't even look like a person…"

There was an exasperated sigh in the darkness. "It's supposed to be her throne, Hank."

Even though it was dark, Booth knew Christine was rolling her eyes at her little brother. "Be nice to Hank, Sweetheart…he's still learning about that stuff, okay? Besides, I don't think it looks like a throne, either. It just looks like a letter to me."

Brennan giggled softly at her husband's comment. "Booth, did you know that stars are different colors? If you look closely, you might be able to tell…"

"Huh. Really?" He nodded as he glanced up at the sky. "Hmm…that really bright one over there looks kinda red…"

"Actually, that's not a star, Booth. That's Mars…"

"It's the red planet, right? See, I know some space stuff, too…"

After a few more minutes of stargazing, Hodgins called the children over to where he was sitting. "Hey, kids…come meet my new little friend. He's a fine member of the subfamily Luciolinae…"

"Uncle Jack, that's just a firefly." Christine stood with her hands on her hips. "How can you be friends with a bug?"

"Bugs can tell us all sorts of things. Did you know that each kind of firefly has its own sequence of flashing its light? That way they know which kind of firefly is which…by how it flashes its light on and off."

"Really?" Hank was amazed as he studied the small creature in Hodgins' hand. "How do they know how to do that, Uncle Jack?"

"It's just something they're born with…kind of like how we're born with the ability to do different stuff." He gently nudged the small insect, and it flew away. "Or, as your mom might say, Hank…it's an instinct encoded in their DNA." He pointed out over the yard. "Look at all of them. I'd say they were happy about the darkness, wouldn't you?"

The number of fireflies flickering in the deep black night seemed to rival the number of stars in the sky. Michael-Vincent turned to his father. "I wonder what they're saying to each other."

Angela giggled softly. "I think maybe they're asking each other out on a date."

Hodgins chuckled at her joke. "I think you're probably right. The light show is how they find a mate."

The children were unimpressed with that bit of information. "Hey, I know!" Christine poked Michael-Vincent's arm. "Maybe those bugs aren't all flashing in the same pattern! Maybe we can catch some of them and see if they're doing different things!"

"That sounds like an interesting investigation.," Brennan said. "However, you must be gentle with them, okay? You don't want to hurt them. After all, they're just minding their own business, doing what fireflies do."

"Okay."

Soon the children were busy trying to catch fireflies, much to Hodgins' delight. "I still remember being a boy and putting some of those little critters in jars. I'd watch them for hours…"

Angela smiled as she listened to his story. "So you were always a bug and slime guy…"

"You bet!" He laughed out loud. "And you wouldn't have me any other way."

After a few more minutes, there was a slight buzzing sound, and the lights in the neighborhood gradually came back on. The contrast between the total darkness and the amount of light streaming from the house and the street lamps was startling.

"But I don't want the lights to come back on right now!" Christine stood in the middle of the yard with her arms crossed over her chest, wearing her best pouty face. "I was having fun in the dark!"

"Well, it's not like we can control that, right?" Booth winked at her, beckoning her to come and sit in his lap. "Tell you what…later on this summer we'll go camping out in the country somewhere and when it's evening, you can play in the dark all you want, okay?"

"Okay…"

"It's getting late.," Angela announced, rising from her chair. "I think we need to head for home. Michael-Vincent, go get your bike and put it in the back of the van…"

"Alright…"

"Christine, you and Hank need to put your bicycles away as well."

"Okay, Mommy."

"Well, it's been an interesting evening, hasn't it?" Booth grinned as he picked up the lawn chairs. "Hey, Hodgins, I'll let you know when we go camping. Maybe you and Michael-Vincent would like to go with us."

"I think we can work that out…"

"That sounds like fun, but you guys can discuss it next week, because right now I'm getting sleepy. Let's go home, Honey." Angela helped her husband maneuver his wheelchair into the van. "We'll see you all Monday…"

"Okay. Good night."

They waved goodbye as the van pulled out of the driveway. Turning to walk back to the house, Brennan leaned against Booth. "It's an interesting paradox…"

"Huh? Paradox? I don't get it."

"I was just thinking about how being in total darkness ended up being an enlightening experience for our children."

"You mean because our kids figured out they don't need lights and electricity to have fun?"

"Exactly. They learned about astronomy, and Christine and Michael-Vincent came up with an experimental design to find the answer to a question they were interested in." She kissed his cheek. "I'm glad you understood what I meant. You're very intelligent, Booth."

"Yeah…maybe." He gave her a sexy grin. "Anyway, I know some other ways to have fun in the dark. Wanna try some more experiments later, after the kids are asleep?"

"So you found our discussion of fireflies and their mating displays stimulating, didn't you?"

He laughed as he pulled her close and gave her a kiss. "Nah. Trust me…I don't need to talk about fireflies to be stimulated…not when I have you."

Thanks for reading. If you have time to review, I'd appreciate it. Laura