(After 'The Party in the Pants')

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Oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Stunned. That was what Booth felt along with rage and disappointment. His mother had come back into his life and at first, he had been happy. It had been a long time since he'd seen his mother and to find out she was alive and well was a relief.

As an FBI Agent, he could have done a search for her at any time, but he had promised himself that he would leave her alone. She had run away from her husband after a terrible beating and being thrown down a flight of stairs. Booth had been nine years old at the time. Marianne's injuries were numerous and she had been hospitalized. Watching her being wheeled out of the house on a gurney and placed in an ambulance had been the last time he'd seen her until the present.

That night he had heard his father beating his mother and he had vowed to stop it, but as he had descended the stairs he had heard a wild scream in the kitchen. Rushing into the room, he heard crying and shouts coming from the basement. He had swallowed his fear and when he stood in the doorway, looking down, he had seen his mother lying on the floor and his father yelling at her to get up. Afraid, he called the operator and told the lady on the other end that his mother had fallen down a flight of stairs and needed help.

While his father had raged at his mother, he had opened the front door and waited for help to arrive. Once the EMTs were there he led them to the kitchen and pointed at the basement door. By then Edwin Booth had realized that his wife was injured too badly to move and was relieved to see the EMTs. He never questioned his son about calling for help which surprised Booth.

He remembered standing on the porch, his brother holding onto him tightly, shivering and crying. His own tears had fallen that evening too and the look of fear on his father's face would forever be with him.

When his mother had not returned, he had assumed she was too afraid to come back and he had tried to accept that. He had hoped that she would remember she had children and come back for them, but she never did. Booth had tried to protect Jared as much as possible from his father's wrath, but there was no one there to protect him. It had taken a miracle to save him. One horrible Saturday afternoon, his grandfather had come by to borrow the lawnmower from his son and found Edwin brutally beating his oldest son. Hank had lost it, struck his son and banished him from the house. He had placed his grandchildren in the car, loaded their clothes, shoes and some of their toys in the trunk of the car and that was the last time Booth and Jared had seen their father.

His mother showing up seemed like a God send. Marianne looked healthy and strong and she wanted to see her son. He had thought that they could be a family again and he had eagerly introduced her to Brennan and Christine. They had reminisced about his youth when they were still in the same house and for the most part that was fine until she brought Edwin into the conversation. He never talked about his father and he didn't want to be reminded of the ugliness he had witnessed as a child. They danced and that too brought back warm memories for both of them. He had some good memories as a child, but most of them involved his mother.

Her visit was going well, until she invited him to give her away at her upcoming wedding. She was marrying her piano player and that was fine with Booth, but then she mentioned Reggie's kids. She had told him that he was going to have a brother and a sister and he was stunned. When she had run away from Edwin she had found Reggie and they had toured clubs together. She had also started a relationship with him and she helped raise his two children.

Outraged, Booth couldn't believe it. His mother could raise another man's kids but had no thought about her own children. He and Jared had needed a mother, someone to protect them from Edwin Booth, but she had not thought of them at all. It was too much and he had walked away from her. His mother had betrayed him and expected him to accept it.

That afternoon, Marianne had confronted him in his office. She had told him that she was going to forgive herself even if he wouldn't and she was going to be happy. She had wanted him to taste her little bit of happiness and he couldn't take that away from her.

Once she was gone, Booth wasn't sure what to think or to do. His mother had abandoned him to his fate when she had left him with his father. She never contacted him nor did she tell anyone about what was happening in Edwin Booth's house. She left her children to be beaten almost every day while she found a new family to live with. New children to take care of. She was happy with what she had done and he was supposed to accept it.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Brennan had talked to him about forgiveness, but it was so hard to do. His mother had thrown him and his brother away when they were young. She had given no thought about what it was like to be tortured by Edwin and to be under his control. No thought what so ever. He needed to talk to someone that knew what he had gone through. He needed help.

Hank Booth speaking.

"Hey Pops, listen . . . uh . . . Mom showed up." Booth wasn't sure what he wanted to say and hoped that his grandfather would help. "Yeah, she just showed up a few days ago."

Okay . . . Did she say where's she been?"

"Yeah, she's been working in Atlantic City and living with some piano player and his kids . . . She's been busy singing and raising Reggie's kids . . . not her kids, a piano player's kids." He was so angry he could barely talk.

I see . . . why did she come to see you? Did she say?

"Yeah, she's getting married to the piano player and she wants me to give her away." He paused before he spoke again. He wasn't sure how his grandfather was going to react, but he wanted to be honest. "When she told me about the kids and how she raised them . . . I lost it, Pops. I yelled at her. I couldn't believe she had the nerve to tell me that she had raised someone else, but not her own kids . . . She left me and Jared behind, Pops. She ran away and started a new life and didn't give a shit if we lived or died."

I'm sure she did care, Seeley, but Marianne . . . Marianne rarely talked to me. She wrote jingles for an ad agency and she raised her family. She never told me about what Edwin was doing. I don't think she told anyone. Maybe she was scared or maybe she thought it would get better . . . I never knew about the beatings you kids took from your father until I found him beating you that day and I took you and Jared from him. I thought about it afterward and I realized that Marianne had probably been beaten too. I guess I'm stupid because I never connected the dots. Edwin called me one evening and told me that his wife had fallen down some stairs and was hurt. I went to the hospital and visited her, but she didn't talk to me. She just stared at me and I left. The next call from Edwin was to tell me that she had left the hospital and he didn't know where she went. I assumed she was tired of being tied to a barber who drank too much, but I swear it never dawned on me that your father was abusing her. It never crossed my mind.

"Pops . . . Pops, I never blamed you alright? My father was the one who beat me and Jared and Mom, you saved me and Jared from that. No way can you blame yourself for what Dad did. No way . . . but Mom, she left us behind. She didn't tell you or Aunt Ruth what was going on. She just left us to our fate and . . . and found a new family . . . Pops, I don't want to be vindictive. I don't want to be my father . . .

Whoa, right there, you just stop right there. You are not your father. You are not abusive towards your family . . . you aren't, are you?

"Ha! If I ever hit Bones in anger or our baby she'd kick my ass from here to Sunday. No one messes with Temperance Brennan . . . I love her and Christine, Pops. I would never hurt them. Never, but Mom . . . I don't know what to do about Mom. I don't know if I hate her or love her. It's messed up. I want to forgive Mom, but I almost killed myself because the beatings my father gave me were getting so bad I was losing hope. The only thing that kept me from doing myself in was because I was afraid that God wouldn't forgive me, then you saved me and . . . and I was safe." His feelings running high, Booth cleared his throat and wiped a few tears from his cheeks.

Son, you never told me that . . . Seeley, your mother was a victim of abuse like you were. Abuse can affect people in different ways. You . . . You fight evil in the world. You found a way to go after the ones who commit evil and you try to fix it or at least give families closure . . . Marianne ran away and started a new life. It was all she could do. I'm sure she loved you, but she wasn't strong enough to take care of anyone else just herself . . . she found a family and I guess this piano player gave her what she wanted, a family without the drama. I don't pretend to know what was in her head all these years, but you need to remember that she was a victim just like you were. Yes, I can see why you're angry with her, but maybe you should just let it go. Holding on to wrongs doesn't solve anything and those feelings can kill something inside you . . . Your father was shot down in Vietnam and he never flew again . . . he kept hate in his heart because of that and eventually that hatred turned to drinking. I guess it was a quick slide into hating everyone and abusing your mother and you kids were the final step . . . You don't have to go down that path. Just forgive your mother and let it go. It's what I would do.

Staring at the toes of his shoes, Booth knew that his grandfather was right. If he didn't want to be his father, then he had to let things go. He needed to forgive and forget. "Thanks Pops. I knew that you could help me . . . Bones tried to help me. She gave me the same advice you just gave me . . . She's a genius you know."

Yeah, I know . . . Do what you have to do Seeley, but don't let the past chew you up.

"I won't Pops. I think you and Bones are right. Mom can have her happiness with my blessing. It's all I can give her Pops."

It's enough son. I promise you that it's enough.

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

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