(Season 12)
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Brennan had continued to pay Max's rent on his apartment until she and Booth found time to clean the place out. She wasn't in a hurry and Booth thought it might be a good idea for her to recover from the shock of losing her father before they went through his things. Brennan had found herself to be weepy every time she thought she was ready, but she knew that she couldn't put off the task forever.
After three months of mourning for her father, Brennan finally decided she could face the chore ahead of her and with Booth, Angela and Cam's help they arrived at Max's apartment one Saturday morning and started to go through his possessions. Some were keep sakes that Brennan would keep for Russ and her children and most would be boxed up and given to the Salvation Army. All the furniture was plain but functional and that was going to be picked up by the Salvation Army to be sold in one of their thrift stores.
Booth took on the task of going through the closets in the apartment while Cam and Angela tackled the kitchen. Brennan spent the time going through two chest of drawers in the bedroom, making sure personal items were set aside and placed in a box marked 'Max'. Her plan was to go through them at home and see what was worth keeping and what was just junk and needed to be thrown away. She didn't want to make any snap decisions while looking through the items in the apartment. She realized that she might throw away something of sentimental value to her and regret it later.
It amazed her just how much stuff her father had accumulated and had stored in the dressers. Apparently he collected odd things like old bottle caps which he kept in a small box and foreign coins which he kept in coin books.
After Booth removed the suits, ties and dress shoes from the closet and boxed them up, he returned to see what was in the boxes on the top shelf. There were four cardboard boxes on the shelf as well as two shoe boxes. Much to his surprise the shoe boxes had names neatly written on the lids in faded Magic Marker, Tempe and Russ.
Curious, he opened the box with Brennan's name on it and found a small Raggedy Ann doll, four tiny cat figurines, two cassettes one with Cyndi Lauper's name written on it in neat block letters and the other one displayed the name Pet Shop Boys. Booth was more into louder music and found it amusing that Brennan was into Pop music as a child considering she never seemed to keep up with pop culture as an adult. The box also contained an envelope of pictures and a couple of strands of cheap necklaces. The beads were bright and colorful, but were obviously meant for a child and not an adult. After he replaced the lid on the box, he looked inside Russ' box and found a sack of marbles, a sci-fi book, The War of the Worlds, a handful of Match Cars and a dozen toy soldiers. His curiosity sated, he placed the two boxes on the keep pile beside the closet.
One of the cardboard boxes contained some items that must have belonged to Christine Brennan. There were some belts, necklaces, bracelets, a few scarves and an envelope of pictures. This box was a keeper. The second cardboard box contained a few sweaters, gloves, knit caps and a woolen scarf that Max had boxed up once spring had arrived. The third box contained two pistols, two gun cleaning kits, one of them for rifles, plus several boxes of ammunition for the pistols and a rifle. The fourth box contained children's games. Booth knew that Max kept them for Christine and Hank when he babysat them.
Booth also found a rifle in a case behind the boxes and a locked box that he would have to pry open when he got home since he had no idea where the key was.
The closet now empty, Booth carried the shoe boxes and the cardboard box that contained his mother-in-law's things as well as the rifle and the cardboard box that contained the pistols out to the SUV and placed them in the trunk. When he came back into the apartment, he found Brennan in the bedroom, still going through the dresser drawers. "Booth, Dad had one dresser filled with just things, no clothes. It's amazing the things he had in here." In each hand, Brennan held up a pair of binoculars and an electronic jamming device that Brennan recognized from a few years ago when her father broke into her apartment to talk to her, before he was arrested for murder. What a strange and anxious time that had been. "I suppose I can keep the binoculars for Christine. She could use them for bird watching."
Booth took the electronic jammer from her and shook his head. "I think I'll take this to work. The kids don't need it . . . what else did you find?"
Pointing to the top of the dresser, Brennan huffed, "Several decks of cards, a chess board, a backgammon board and pieces, a metric wrench set, an Allen wrench set, a stethoscope, a box of watches and a box filled with pieces of several different kinds of pistols. I'm sure some of these things were used to commit crimes with. We'll have to take the pistol parts home. We can't give them to the Salvation Army that's for certain. I'm going to keep the coin set for Hank and Christine unless Russ wants it. I'll have to check with him."
Russ was a sore subject with Booth at that moment. Right now his brother-in-law was on Booth's shit list and he wasn't going to get off of it anytime soon. Not only did the man not show up at his own father's funeral, but he couldn't be bothered to come help clean out Max's apartment and pick out what he wanted to keep. If it was up to him, Booth would have made sure his brother-in-law didn't get a damn thing, but it wasn't up to him. "Maybe Russ' kids might like them. If not, I think Christine would definitely like to keep them." He wanted to tell Brennan to keep everything, but he knew that Brennan wasn't that kind of person. Booth knew that she would want to share mementos with her brother. "Come on, I'll help you look through the other dresser."
Brennan appreciated that Booth was there. She considered herself to be a very strong independent woman, but sometimes she knew she needed support just like he did. It made her sad to think that the things in the apartment would never be needed by her father again. "He tried so hard to get me to forgive him."
He heard her voice crack and turned in time to see tears start to fall down his wife's cheeks. Booth pulled her into his embrace and let her weep. He knew she was still mourning even if she didn't agree. He had mourned for his father one evening and that was all he had in him to give, but Max and Brennan had had a loving relationship the last few years of his life and Max shouldn't be forgotten so easily. Booth also mourned for his father-in-law. Max had been the father he never had. The old con man had accepted him as a son and Booth had loved the man though he had never actually voiced that out loud. He hadn't wanted to step on Brennan's relationship or take anything away from her. She had had a father that loved her and Booth was happy for her.
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Robin, I couldn't PM you so I'll answer your question here. In the previous chapter I mentioned that Christine lost two uncles. She lost Jared, her father's brother and her Uncle Sweets. She called him Uncle and considered him family.