A/N: and...I'm back.

The words I used in this chapter are grass, impending, and greenbelt park.

There may be some questionable anachronisms in this chapter. Who knows what's going to happen with cell phones? I hope the reader can just go with the flow of the story.

This chapter was inspired by similar discussions with my own sons, one of whom pays someone to mow his yard...

13 year old Hank Booth sat at the kitchen counter one sunny Saturday morning, chuckling to himself as he scrolled through the notifications on his fancy new phone. "Hah! No matter what Jeremy says, my game stats are a lot better than his." He shook his head as he reached for his glass of milk. "Just a few more wins this afternoon and I'll be two levels above him. There's no way he can catch up with me today, especially since I got bonus points for being the MVP in the last round we played."

A text alert popped up on his phone. "Hmm…he wants me to come over so we can hang out…in other words, he's gonna try to copy my game techniques so he can use them to beat me. Well, no problem. His mom always makes good snacks…and I can be sneaky if I need to…"

Jumping down from the barstool, Hank was about to go change out of his pajama pants when his father entered the kitchen.

"There you are.," Booth began. "Okay, buddy…go put on your grubbies so we can mow the yard."

"But Dad…"

"No…no buts. I told you last night that we were gonna mow this morning, so chop-chop. No excuses. We need to get the grass cut before it gets too hot."

Narrowing his eyes at his father, Hank puffed out a sigh. "Cutting grass is so lame, Dad! I mean, a week later, it just needs to be cut again, right? So why not just let it grow? Or…" Offering up his best Boothy grin, Hank looked up a photo on his phone. "...maybe you should get one of those robo-mowers. Jeremy's dad has one, and it's great. All he has to do is set it and then turn it loose on the lawn…"

"I'm not buying some crazy robotic mower as long as my old push mower runs, okay? So quit whining and go get changed." Seeing Hank's dour expression, Booth crossed his arms over his chest. "You're making a big deal over nothing, you know? It's not like we have to mow the greenbelt park that surrounds the Jeffersonian. We only have a third of an acre, so if you run the mower and I do the trimming, we'll be done in 45 minutes or so, and then you'll have the afternoon free…unless you tick me off and get grounded this weekend for arguing with me…"

Seeing his mother walk into the room, Hank decided to try another tactic to avoid the onerous chore. "Yeah, but isn't it kinda sexist making me help you with the yard, Dad? I mean, why can't Mom and Chrissy mow? I bet they'd like getting the exercise, right? After all, Chrissy's always worried about getting fat…"

Brennan smiled sweetly. "Your father doesn't always approve of the way I wield the lawnmower, Hank. He says I cut the grass incorrectly. Besides, Christine is working at the library today. However, if we wanted to mow the yard, Christine and I would be able to accomplish the task with very little trouble. Unfortunately for you, that's not the salient point at the moment." Sensing Booth's growing frustration, Brennan put a hand on her husband's shoulder. "It would appear that Hank has forgotten our agreement, Booth, which surprises me, since he's so intelligent."

Booth nodded. "You know what, Bones? I think you're right. Maybe we oughta refresh his memory…"

"Agreement?" It wasn't lost on Hank that his mother's voice had taken on her 'professorial' tone, and he braced himself for the impending lecture. "Um…what agreement?"

Brennan pulled a small notebook from a drawer and calmly explained. "Your cell phone agreement." She opened the notebook and turned it so her son could see the page. "Your dad and I agreed to pay for you and your sister to each have a new cell phone and basic service, remember? However, Christine wanted to upgrade her plan, and because she's working part time, she could easily afford to do so. You then complained that our arrangement with her was unfair to you, since you couldn't upgrade your plan like she did, so we made an agreement to allow you to make some improvements to your plan as well. You said you'd pay for those upgrades by doing odd jobs around the house, such as extra cleaning, or, in this case, mowing the lawn. Failure to do those extra chores would put you in arrears on your payment, and therefore, your phone would be forfeited into my custody until you make up the extra money to pay for the plan." She pointed to a couple of scribbled words. "Here's where you signed the agreement. I've been keeping an account for you, and it looks like, given the current state of affairs, that you're going to come up short this month, but you do have an option available to avoid the unpleasant consequences of that failure." She held out her hand. "It seems you can give me your phone for the rest of the weekend…or you can help your dad mow the lawn this morning and earn the rest of the money you need to pay for this month's upgrade, therefore retaining the use of your phone. I hope you make a wise decision."

Hank groaned dramatically, knowing he wouldn't be able to wiggle out of the situation unscathed. Studying his parents' stern expressions, he finally nodded. "Okay…I'll go change."

"I think that's a good idea, buddy. I'll see you outside, okay?" Watching as their son trudged down the hall towards his bedroom, Booth turned to Brennan. "I think that kid needs a serious attitude adjustment…"

"Perhaps so…and I think I know just the person for the job." Brennan smirked as she gave him a kiss. "After all, you used to be a teenaged boy…"

"Yeah…but it was a long time ago." Booth chuckled as he pulled her close. "I'll take care of it. Maybe I can talk to him while we're working…"

"An excellent idea, Booth."

"Yeah…I have them every once in a while…"

Oooooooooo

The yard work was finally done, and Hank collapsed into a lawn chair on the back porch with a melodramatic moan. "I hate yard work! I can't wait until I grow up and I never hafta mow yards again! I'm gonna live somewhere without grass…like a desert…or maybe I'll pay someone else to mow for me, but either way, when I'm a man, I'm not gonna waste my time taking care of some stupid patch of grass."

Booth nodded patiently as he listened to his son rage against lawn care. "Well, Hank, I hope that works out for you." Taking a sip of water, he wiped his mouth with the hem of his tee shirt before continuing. "So…um…do you have any idea how much it'd cost to have someone mow our yard, buddy?"

Surprised by the question, the teenager shook his head. "Well, no…I guess not…"

"I looked into it a couple of years ago, just out of curiosity. It'd cost at least 70 to 80 dollars for our yard…" Seeing Hank's surprise, Booth sighed. "Yep, that's a lot of money, right? And that's for just one time, plus your mom would want to give the guy a nice tip, okay? So if we need to have the lawn mowed every week or so, that's about 300 to 400 dollars a month…and then depending on the weather, it might need to be mowed March through October…so that's maybe 3000 dollars a year that me and your mom would have to pay if I didn't do it myself. Now…think about all the other stuff we can do with that money if I mow the yard instead of paying someone else...you know, things like getting our kids nice new cell phones…"

"Oh." Hank chewed his lip slightly. "Well…maybe when I'm a man, I'll just live in an apartment and not have any grass to worry about…"

"Yeah, maybe you could do that. I lived in an apartment for several years, right?" Seeing Hank's tentative nod, Booth continued. "But guess what? There's still chores that have to be done, okay? You still have to do laundry and wash the dishes and clean the toilets, plus besides your house, there's car maintenance, like oil changes and stuff like that, and if you live in a condo, you might be responsible for fixing the plumbing or the appliances if they break. Now, if you're living by yourself, you might have some flexibility on when you do all of those things, but they still need to be done. I mean, I sent out my laundry, but it wasn't cheap." He paused, scratching his chin. "See, that's the thing, Hank…even when you're an adult, there's still crap you gotta do, okay? And it may be stuff you hate, and it may cost a lot of money, but it's still gotta be done. Personally, I hate washing windows, but your mom thinks we need to do it every Spring, even if I don't think they look dirty."

Hank laughed at his father's 'confession'. "No way she'd let you pay someone to do that, right?"

"Believe me…I tried…but then she pointed out how much it'd cost, so we did it ourselves…and it turned out, your mom was right. Why spend money to pay someone else to do it, when me and her washing them cost us nothing but time and a lot of window cleaner and paper towels, right?" Booth nudged Hank with his elbow and pointed towards the lawn. "I know you hate mowing, but me and your mom are trying to teach you some responsibility by letting you earn money for your phone…and anyway, if you do have a house with a yard someday, and you don't want to pay someone else to mow it, you'll know how to take care of it, okay? After all, when you start working at your first real job, you might not make a whole lot of money, and you'll want to be careful how you spend it…"

"Yeah…I guess that's true." Suddenly Hank's expression brightened as an idea occurred to him. "Hey…maybe I could mow yards for other people and make some money that way."

Booth rolled his eyes. "But you hate mowing…"

Seeing his father's disbelief, the boy laughed as he continued. "Yeah, but I think I could learn to like it if people paid me seventy dollars per yard. Besides, I want to start saving money for a car, and that'd be a good way to make some cash…"

Grimacing as he thought over Hank's idea, Booth heaved a sigh. "Well, there's a lot involved in starting a business like that, okay? For one thing, I'd want to make sure you really knew what you were doing with the lawn mower so you didn't mess up someone's lawn." Seeing his son's disappointment, he smiled. "Okay...I tell you what…me and you can sit down and work out all the details, okay? That way we'll have a plan in place to present to your mom…"

"Okay…"

They were interrupted as Brennan stepped out of the back door, holding a phone. "Hank…Jeremy needs you to call him back…"

Booth nodded. "Go ahead…we'll talk later."

"Thanks, Dad…"

As he watched his son jog away, Booth shook his head. It was hard to believe that his youngest child would soon want to buy a car.

Rising from his lawn chair, he picked up his glass and walked into the house, murmuring to himself. "I wonder how much that kid would charge me for washing the windows?"

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