(The Mystery in the Meat)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

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Carrying the folded laundry from the laundry room into the kitchen, Brennan was surprised to see several cans of food sitting on the counter tops below the cabinets. Booth was holding one can in his hand and he appeared to be reading the label. "Is there a problem?"

"No, no problem." Booth continued to stare at the label for a few more seconds. With a look of disgust on his face, he dropped the can in a box located on the floor near his feet and proceeded to pick up another can from the counter.

Curious and just a little fascinated, she placed the basket of clean clothes on the kitchen island and moved closer towards Booth so she could look inside the box. Puzzled, she leaned over, picked up a can and read the label. As far as she could tell, the ingredients contained the normal amounts of chemicals, preservatives, plant and animal based products that most canned food companies used making their food items. "Why are these cans in this box? What are you going to do with them?"

The can he held didn't pass inspection either causing Booth to place it in the box with the other rejects. "I'm looking at the ingredients listed on the cans. I'm checking for meat or meat by-products. If I find any, out it goes. Some of the cans are obvious like SpaghettiOs, but I'm just making sure. I don't want Christine eating this junk anymore and I don't want to eat it either."

A little shocked, Brennan shook her head in disbelief. "But you like to eat Deviled Ham on crackers and although I don't approve, Christine likes SpaghettiOs. You've told me quite often that products like SpaghettiOs didn't give you any adverse health effects when you were a child, so you don't want to deprive our daughter of the joy of eating them."

"Well, I was wrong, okay? We're not eating that crap anymore." Booth shuddered, wiped his hand across his mouth and picked up another can. "From now on, we're cooking our food to make sure that the meat is . . . meat. Me and Christine are not eating anything from a can that contains meat anymore . . . We're not becoming vegetarians, okay? I'm just making sure my little girl is eating the real deal from now on."

Enlightened, Brennan smiled. "Booth, I'm certain that most food manufacturers don't use human body parts in their recipes. The murder of Howard Compton was committed at Tryon Foods and the body was cut up and cooked with stew to get rid of it. All other canned food stuffs should be edible, although most contain too much salt and preservatives and they can eventually lead to high blood pressure and other health issues."

A little surprised, Booth turned to stare at his wife. "Are you trying to talk me into eating canned meat? You're always claiming that my diet is awful. Well, I agree with you and I'm going to make some changes in my diet and our little girl's diet . . . I think we should make her lunches for school. I don't think it's a good idea for her to eat cafeteria food. Companies consider schools second tier and they don't care about quality just quantity. My little girl is not a Guinea pig for big companies. They don't care about our kid so we have to."

Amused, Brennan placed the can back in the box and walked over to where her laundry was waiting for her. "Well, I for one am glad to see that you are serious about making real changes in your diet. Perhaps you should consider forgoing potato chips and dip and double stuffed Oreo cookies should be avoided too."

A little horrified, Booth stared at his wife while she picked up the laundry basket. "Let's not get carried away, okay? Potato chips are made from potatoes and cookies are made from wheat and corn products. I'm not giving up the good stuff, just processed meat. By the way, no one should be eating meat by-products. What the hell is that anyway?" He quickly held up his hand. "Wait, that was a rhetorical question. I don't want to know what that is."

Brennan shrugged her shoulders. "I'll take whatever changes you are willing to make." Leaving the room, she reminded him of a can he had forgot to place on the counter. "The canned chili is in the top right hand cabinet near the refrigerator."

Groaning, Booth glanced at the cabinet door and started cursing under his breath. It was so unfair that he couldn't trust canned food anymore especially since he loved chili. Fuck!

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A short story, but I hope you liked it.