A/N: Guest requested this story. (You really should log in and talk to me. I'd be happy to talk to you.) This takes place in the future so it is AU.

Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

"Thank you for coming, Parker." She sat nervously in the booth and bit her lower lip as her older brother sat down across from her. "I know you're busy and . . . "

"Hey, Chrissy come on. You knew I'd come, so what's up." Parker noticed the dark smudges under her eyes and knew whatever was going on was leaving its mark on her.

Christine tried to smile, but failed miserably. "I've been accepted at Columbia University . . ."

"That's great! Congratulations." Parker was so proud of his sister and wanted her to know it. "I know you've been eager to get in and . . . what's wrong? Isn't that what you wanted?"

Miserable, Brennan nodded her head. "Yes more than anything. "

Confused, Parker placed his arms on the table, leaned forward and tried to get to the root of the problem. "Christine Angela Booth . . . what is wrong with you? You tell me you've been accepted at Columbia, but you look like you're going to cry and not with happy tears either. What is going on?"

"My degree is going to be in Clinical Psychology." Christine waited for his reaction.

Stunned, Parker sat back and stared at his sister. "Oh my God! Really?"

Slowly nodding her head, Christine sniffed, reached for a napkin from the dispenser and blew her nose. "Yes. You know Mom hates psychology. She doesn't consider it a profession at all. She thinks it's just guessing."

Parker was well aware of how much Brennan hated psychology." Wow . . . I guess you haven't told her or Dad yet."

Her shoulders bowed in sadness, Christine shook her head. "I want to be me, Parker. I want to be able to help people. I want to make a difference and you and I both know I'd make a terrible FBI Agent or a forensic anthropologist. I don't want to work with dead bodies and find out why they died. I want to help living people who are struggling to live. There are people that have gone through tragedies and they need help, good help and I think I could do that . . . do you understand?"

If there was one thing Parker adored about his sister it was her need to help people. She reminded him so much of his father who was also a very giving person. "I do understand Christine, I do, but . . . let's face it, you need to talk to Mom and Dad not me. They're the ones that need to be told and pretty soon."

"I know." Christine sat back on her seat and stared at the table top. "You know I'm really good at hockey and I've been offered an athletic scholarship for it. Dad assumed I'd take it and at least play college hockey . . . he dreams of me being in the Olympics . . . and Mom . . . she's been telling me for years that she'd be proud of whatever field I chose to go in, but that's the catch. I think she assumes I'm going to be a scientist of some kind. I don't want to be a squint. She's going to hate me."

Parker stood up, moved around the table and sat down next to his sister. Placing his arm around her shoulders, he pulled her closer. "Kid I think you're selling Bones and Dad short. They love you and they'll be happy with whatever you choose to do with your life."

A tear sliding down her cheek, Christine reached up and brushed it away with her finger. "Do you really think so? I've been so scared to tell them."

"I really do think they will be on your side." Parker motioned for the waitress to come over to their booth. "Hey we'd like two chocolate milk shakes, a burger each with bacon, throw some lettuce on it so we can say we ate something green and a basket of fries." Once the waitress was gone, Parker stood up and moved back around the table and sat back down. "Okay kid, I'll tell you what. After we eat this very healthy lunch, we'll go home and you can tell them. I'll stand right beside you while you do it . . . okay?"

Grimly, Christine nodded her head. "It's a good thing Grandpa Max left me some money. I may need to use it for my education . . . and be prepared to have to take me in Parker. I might be homeless by tonight."

Amused, Parker chuckled. "Quit being so melodramatic Chrissy . . . I think the parental units are not going to react that badly." At least I hope not.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Booth was watering the garden in the back yard when Brennan opened the door and called to him. After he turned the water off, he moved over to the house, picked up an old towel lying on the table on the patio and scrubbed the sweat from his face and the back of his neck. "What's up, Bones."

Standing just inside the doorway, Brennan glanced over her shoulder and then back at Booth. "I'm not sure. Christine wants to talk to us and she has Parker with her."

A slight chill running down his back, Booth dropped the towel on the table. "Shit that doesn't sound good."

Surprised, Brennan stepped outside the doorway and closed the door. "Why do you say that?"

Leaning against the table, Booth smiled "Think about it Bones. Our kid wants to talk to us, but she brought backup. That means that whatever she wants to talk about is probably going to upset one or both of us. It's obvious."

Annoyed, Brennan shook her head. "It's not obvious to me. Is this a gut thing?"

Amused, Booth patted his stomach. "It absolutely is." Waving her to the door, Booth smiled. "Come on, let's see why our daughter is summoning us and let's try to remain calm no matter what happens."

"I'm always calm." Brennan felt that Booth was making a big deal out of an ant pile. "You are the one that has a temper."

A little outraged, Booth placed his hands on his hips. "Oh really?"

"Yes really." Certain that Booth was not as self-aware about some of his weakness, Brennan frowned. "Although you have calmed down a lot since you retired."

"Thanks for that."

Pleased that Booth accepted her compliment, Brennan smiled. "You're welcome."

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Everyone assembled in the living room, Booth decided that if he was going to be given some bad news he wanted to hear it sitting down. Once he and Brennan were settled on the couch, Christine and Parker stood in front of the fireplace and presented a solid front.

After Parker nudged her shoulder with his shoulder Christine cleared her throat. "Mom . . . Dad . . . I have some really great news I want to share with you."

Excited, Brennan nodded her head. "Of course, Honey. What is it?"

Wary, Booth remained silent and waited.

"Well, I've been accepted to Columbia University. I'm even going to receive a partial scholarship."

Extremely happy, Brennan made a move to stand up and rush towards her daughter, but Booth certain there was more, grabbed her arm and kept her from rising. "Wait for it, Bones. There's more."

Puzzled, Brennan stared at her husband and then back at Christine. "Is there more?"

Slowly nodding her head, Christine inhaled deeply and slowly let it out. "Yes . . . I'm going for a masters in Clinical Psychology." Wincing, the young woman watched as her mother stared wide eyed at her.

A little disappointed, Booth decided that if that's what she wanted to be, then he'd support her. "Okay. That's good Honey. Whatever you want to be, we'll back you one hundred percent."

"Clinical psychologist?" Brennan couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You're serious?"

Christine had expected this response and now her expectations were coming true. "Yes, of course. Mom I want to help people that aren't strong enough to help themselves. Like Uncle Sweets. Look how he helped you and Dad. I want to do what he did."

Slowly shaking her head, Brennan stood up. "Your Uncle Sweets didn't help us. We were forced to see him against our will early in our partnership. Then when we didn't need his services anymore your father wanted a profiler and Sweets agreed to do it so he could study us. We were test subjects to him."

"Bones." Not happy with Brennan's pronouncement, Booth stood up. "He did help us or at least he helped me. He was there for me when I needed it . . . when you and Christine were away from me. He helped me with that . . . and before he helped me before."

Turning to look at her husband, Brennan placed her hands on her hips. "Yes he was a good friend I will admit that, but whenever he tried to use psychology on you you complained and told him not to shrink you and you know that."

"It's complicated Bones." Booth felt like he losing an argument he needed to win. "Yeah, I didn't like him shrinking me, but I listened and he helped me through some things. Yeah he was a pain in the ass and he was always sticking his nose in my business, but he did help me. You know that."

Her voice rising, Brennan glared at Booth. "Yes he helped you so much that when you were shot by Pam and the FBI pretended that you were dead, he didn't tell me and I thought you really were dead. He was the one that kept us from growing closer sooner Booth. He was the one that made me fear that getting involved with you would only lead to a crushed heart."

Appalled, Booth shook his head. "Wait, what are you saying? He said that he didn't tell you because he knew you could compartmentalize and you said you could. You blamed me for not telling you . . . me, he was the one that didn't tell you. He was!"

"He was experimenting on me . . . on us, Booth." Furious, Brennan folded her arms against her chest. "He didn't tell me because he was experimenting. He wanted to see if I would break down and admit that I felt more than friendship for you because I thought you were dead. We were an experiment."

Stunned, Booth sat down. "He was my friend."

Close to tears, Brennan nodded her head. "Yes he was, but before he was your friend, before he was my friend, he used us as test subjects for the book he was writing. It was when he gave up on his book and took his job seriously as a profiler and not as our psychologist . . . that is when he became our friend."

Unnerved by what she was hearing, Christine stared at her parents and tried to make sense of what she was hearing. Aware that his sister was weeping, Parker placed his arm around her shoulders. "Christine . . . Honey, don't . . . just don't. Sweets was your uncle and he loved you. Any crazy ass stuff he did before you were born doesn't make him less your uncle."

Parker's words penetrating their conversation, Booth and Brennan turned to look at their daughter. Remorseful that their conversation had got out of hand, Booth stepped around the coffee table and over to where his daughter and son were standing. "Christine . . . your mother and I had a very complicated relationship when we were partners. Your Uncle Sweets . . . in his own way . . . tried to help us with our problems and for the most part he did . . . help I mean. So, I guess he did something questionable early on, but he made up for it later. When I was in prison, he helped you and your Mom a lot. He was here for you and you know that. He really loved you as if you were his niece. You know he didn't have any family. We were all he had in this world besides Daisy. He was really young when he started working at the FBI and he still had some maturing to do, but he did and he turned out to be a very good friend."

Stepping closer to her father, Christine placed her arms around him. "Dad, he was a very good clinical psychologist. He was. I've read that book he wrote about you and Mom, the one he gave up on. Daisy let me read it and it was very insightful. I thought it was brilliant even if he did think it was crap."

Brennan knew that her daughter was brilliant, independent and determined, which is what she'd always wanted her daughter to be. "Christine, I didn't mean to impugn your Uncle Sweets. I just never saw any value in psychology . . . still if that is what you wish to do with your life your father and I will support your decision. You have the right to find something that will make you happy and if being a . . . a psychologist will make you happy then of course you must pursue that goal."

Relieved that Brennan was bending, Parker sighed in relief. "Hey . . . uh . . . Christine we're all proud that you got into Columbia and we're really proud that you know what you want to do with your life. Really and wait until Hank hears about your good news. He'll be happy for you too."

With a snort, Christine released her arms from her father and turned to face her older brother. "Ha, he already knows and he's already decided to move into my room when I go to college because it's bigger. He's going to swap rooms and put my things in his room."

Chuckling Booth shook his head. "He always did want your room even though I've told him and told him that your room is the same size as his room is."

"Booth . . . no." Brennan shook her head. "Christine's room is bigger by 30.48 centimeters."

With a roll of his eyes, Booth turned to face his wife. "A foot, big deal."

Amused, Brennan smiled. "Booth do you really know the metric system? You always tell me to convert to feet when I'm talking to you. Have you been lying to me all this time?"

"Um, well." Booth decided to confess. "I do have a college education you know. I just like people to talk American to me that's all."

Oooooooooooooooooooo

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