(Around 1991)
Rate T for language.
This story is AU.
I don't own Bones.
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Booth could count on his grandfather to write to him fairly regularly, so the letter he'd received was anticipated and appreciated, until he opened it and began to read it. "Fuck."
He placed the letter down on his lap and seriously considered throwing it away. After a few moments, after he was calmer, he began to read the letter again. He'd hated what he had read so far, but he owed it to his grandfather to read the whole thing. "Maybe it isn't as bad as it looks."
Dear Seeley,
I had a visitor the other day and I thought you should know about it. Now, I don't want you to get mad, just read this and do what you want with the information. Just don't shoot the messenger. I'm not the bad guy here.
Your mother Marianne came by to talk to me. She's been living in New Jersey for a while now. She told me that she subscribes to the Philadelphia Inquirer and she saw the article in the paper about you being a prisoner of war and your rescue. She was concerned about you and she came to see me about it. You being hurt really shook her up and she needed to make sure you were going to be alright.
I told her about your ordeal and I also told her that you're doing well, all things considered. I didn't go into the details of your injuries since I know you hate that kind of thing. I just made sure she knew you were doing alright and you should be out of the hospital in a few weeks. (I hope I'm not being too optimistic about that, but I guess we'll see won't we?)
She listened to what I had to say about you and then she told me that she's been considering calling you or writing to you. She's doing okay and she's at peace with the past. She said she's happy.
"She's at peace with the past? Holy . . . Shit what does that mean?" Booth felt the letter crumple in his hand and willed his hand to stop. "She's happy? Well good for her." Looking down at the letter, he opened his hand, straightened the paper and continued to read it.
She asked me to tell you that she's living in Atlantic City now and she's given me her address where you can contact her if you want to. That's up to you. You're a man and I won't tell you what to do.
"That's never going to happen. She threw me away. She threw Jared away because she couldn't handle having kids. Well, I don't need a mother now. I'm doing okay." He had not expected to be this angry about his mother trying to contact him, but apparently, he still considered what his mother had done to be a betrayal and to leave him with an abusive son of a bitch . . . well, she shouldn't have done that. It was hard to forgive. The abuse, the beatings. It had been too much for a kid to handle. He knew in his heart, that if his grandfather hadn't rescued him, he'd be dead now. Either by his father's hand or by his own hand.
Father Walsh had told him he needed to let go of the past and he was probably right. He had been nine years old when his mother had run away and that was a long time to hold a grudge. Father Walsh had told him that his anger would only hurt him and no one else, so it was something he needed to work on. Forgiveness was hard, but it was something he could probably do, if he prayed hard enough. "Yeah, I'll talk to him on Sunday. I can't let her upset me like this."
While she was here, she tried to talk to Jared, but your brother left the house and I haven't seen him for a few hours. He'll come back when he's ready, I guess. Anyway, that's the news from home.
Your Aunt Ruth has an appointment to see her doctor tomorrow. She won't tell me what it's about, but she always was a private person. She'll let me know what's going on if she needs to.
I hope you're doing okay. Me and Jared are coming up to see you next weekend. I'm going to bring you a box of Oreos since I know you like those and maybe I'll bring you an Italian Sub too. I know you miss those. I remember Army grub, but I assume hospital food has to be better than that. God, I hope so.
Seeley, I know you're probably mad right now and I understand why you are, but you need to let your anger go. Things happened between your mother and father that weren't too good for her and you got to remember we don't know the whole story. I do know she ran away to get away from Edwin not you or Jared. I've told you that before, but I don't think you understand that. Anyway, I'm not telling you to contact her. You're an adult and you have to make that decision yourself. I'll keep her address in my address book just in case you or Jared want it.
Jared is doing pretty good. His coach finally let him play last Friday night and he actually ran a ball into the end zone, so you know he's cock of the walk right now. He's talking about becoming a professional football player now, but I don't see that happening. He's good, but he's not that good. Don't tell him I said that. That's just between you and me. I think his plan to join the Navy is just the thing he needs and his talk about being a football star is just pride talking. Anyway, your brother is doing okay, so don't worry about him.
I got to go now. Remember that I love you and so does Ruth and Jared.
Your Pops.
Sighing, Booth wished he could see his grandfather at that moment, but a week wasn't too much of a wait. His grandfather had visited him as often as he could while Booth had been in the hospital and he always brought a treat with him when he showed up. He missed the old man, but Booth had a job to do in the Army and he liked what he did. He couldn't wait to be released from the hospital and get back into the action. His job gave him meaning and he was grateful that the Army had showed him what he was capable of.
As for his mother, he wasn't going to contact her, but he was going to work on forgiveness. His grandfather was right. He didn't know all of the things that had happened between his parents, but he did know his father had beat the hell out of Marianne when he was drunk and the last time he'd hit her, he'd put her in the hospital. "She couldn't take us with her, I guess. She couldn't take care of herself let alone take care of two kids. Still, she should have told someone about what Dad was doing . . . she could have told Pops or Aunt Ruth . . . someone."
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