(Santa in the Slush)

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I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

"Since Parker is not going to be with us this Christmas, why don't we go away for the holiday?" Brennan absolutely hated Christmas and she dreaded the fact that Booth wanted to celebrate it at home with her. "We could go to the Caymans and just enjoy ourselves."

Booth knew that Brennan hated Christmas because of her family and the fact that she didn't believe in God or Jesus, but just because his son wasn't going to be with him didn't mean he couldn't celebrate with the woman he loved. "Bones, I know this isn't your favorite time of the year, I get it, but I don't want to celebrate Christmas in some tropical island setting. I want to see snow and want to see the Christmas decorations the stores put up and I want to shop with Christmas music playing in the background. I promise I won't overdo it, but we could get a small tree and decorate it and exchange presents and on Christmas Eve, I could cook us a feast and we could watch old movies. It'll be fun, I promise."

She heard his plans and even though he considered them to be subdued they were anything but and she really hated his ideas for the holiday. "If you don't want go to away, then that's fine. I've been offered a position at a dig in Guatemala and I was thinking about going. You could spend time with Hank for the holiday and I could enjoy myself too. I would only be gone for four weeks . . ." The look on his face told her that he was upset. "Booth you know I told you when we became a couple that I would continue to go on digs. It's what I do."

"But . . . but it's Christmas." Booth was shocked that Brennan wanted to abandon him after she knew that Parker wouldn't be with him. "It's a time for families to be together."

Even though she felt guilty, Brennan really thought her idea was best for both of them. "It will just be for four weeks and you will have a better time celebrating the holiday with Hank than with me."

Disappointed, Booth stood up and picked his still full plate from the table. "Go ahead, Bones. You do what you think you have to do." No longer hungry, he walked into the kitchen, scraped the food from his plate into the trash can and placed the dish in the dishwasher. Certain if he stayed he might lose his temper, Booth walked back into the living room, grabbed his jacket and retrieved his badge and gun from the safe. "I have some work I need to catch up on. I'll be back later."

"Booth." Brennan knew that her boyfriend was upset and she thought they should talk about it. "Booth I'm not going to the dig to hurt you."

Not interested in her explanation, Booth left the apartment hoping that he would calm down and accept that his girlfriend was going to leave him during his most favorite time of the year. He was going to be alone and he obviously didn't get a say in the situation.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

Booth was working on his quarterly budget and the numbers were starting to run together on the page, so he knew a cup of coffee might be in order. While he was in the breakroom, he studied the snack machine and tried to make up his mind whether or not he was hungry. His stomach was in knots and in the end he decided that coffee was all he could handle. As he walked back to his office, he heard the elevator ping and was surprised to see Dr. Sweets leave the car and walk towards him.

"Agent Booth, I saw your car in the garage and I thought I'd come up and see how you and Dr. Brennan are doing." Sweets was wearing a festive tie and socks and was in a happy mood. He loved Christmas and even though this was the first Christmas he was going to celebrate without his parents, he was determined to have a good holiday.

Annoyed that the psychologist was bugging him, Booth ignored him and walked to his office, the younger man following him. After he was sitting down at his desk, he checked his emails to see if Cam had any more information that was relevant to the case he and Brennan were working on. No emails and Booth knew that he would have to talk to the doctor if he wanted to get rid of him. "Bones and I are doing fine. I have work to do."

Sweets ignored Booth's surely attitude and sat down in front of Booth's desk. "Why are you working tonight? Shouldn't you be home?"

"If you must know, I have a budget I need to finish up before I can take off for Christmas." Booth didn't want to continue the conversation and he hoped Sweets would just leave.

No such luck, Sweets nodded his head and remained seated. "It's almost Christmas or pretty close to it anyway. Shouldn't you be home decorating a tree and buying presents and stuff like that."

His emotions boiling under the surface, Booth needed someone to talk to and since the youngster wouldn't go away, the agent thought it might be okay to use him as a sounding board. After all, Sweets was his therapist. "My son is going to be out of town for Christmas and Bones is considering going on a dig. I'm pretty sure my Christmas has turned to shit."

He heard the anger in the agent's voice and that worried Sweets. "Why would Dr. Brennan be considering going on a dig at this time of year?"

Booth shrugged his shoulders. "She hates Christmas. You know her story, her parents abandoned her a few days before Christmas when she was fifteen and she's blamed God ever since . . . well, she doesn't believe in God, but that might have happened when her parents left, who knows. Anyway, she doesn't want to spend Christmas with me because she hates everything about the holiday . . . I love Christmas, but with my son in Connecticut and Bones in Central America it might as well be an ordinary day."

"Couldn't you celebrate with your grandfather?" Sweets wanted to help Booth, but wasn't sure how to do it. "It wouldn't be the holiday you wanted, but you could still be with a family member."

"That's what Bones said too." Booth was so frustrated with Brennan he wasn't sure what to do. He loved her so much, but sometimes she pushed him away at the worst times and it made him feel like he wasn't good enough for her. "I don't know . . . I don't know what I'm going to do. My grandfather usually celebrates with my brother Jared if he's in town. Jared gets with Pops during Christmas and I usually get with Pops on Easter. That way Pops won't be alone during the holidays. We've been doing that for a few years now . . . This case we're working on will probably be wrapped up in a few days . . . Bones should get to do what she wants to do, so I guess I'll just stay home and . . . " His voice trailed off as he stared at the small wrapped present he'd placed on the edge of his desk earlier that morning. It was Brennan's Christmas present and he hoped she liked it when she opened it, if she opened it. "What are you doing for Christmas? Spending it with your folks?"

A sudden sense of loneliness hit him and Sweets knew that he was kidding himself if he thought his holiday was going to be fine. "No, both of my parents died last Spring. I am celebrating though. I have a tree in my apartment and I've volunteered at a homeless shelter. I'm going to help cook Christmas lunch there. It will be nice. My father and I used to do that every Christmas morning and then we'd go home and my mother would have dinner waiting for us. She was the best cook. Her turkey and sweet potatoes . . . so anyway I have plans just not with family, but that's okay."

Embarrassed that he was whining about his Christmas when he still had family alive and well and that loved him, Booth blushed and nodded his head. "Hey, if you want to, drop by our place around two on Christmas. Bones may not be there, but I'm planning on cooking dinner anyway. I have a small ham in the fridge thawing out. I plan to cook baked potatoes and roast some mixed vegetables and I think I'm going to have some mac and cheese and some rolls and I plan to buy some pies. I'll have plenty. We can watch a game afterward or maybe a movie."

Hesitating, Sweets wasn't sure if he should accept. He was Booth's therapist and it might not be a good idea to meet with him socially. "Let me think about it."

"Sure." It seemed like Booth couldn't even get the boy to spend Christmas with him and he wondered what he was doing wrong to make so many people reject him like that. "It's up to you. I'm going to have a tree. It's for Parker when he comes back from skiing. I have some presents for him . . . come or not, it's up to you." Tired and sad, Booth stood up. "It's time for me to go home."

Sweets watched the agent leave his office and he was certain that he hadn't helped the agent at all.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Brennan was asleep when he got home and because he didn't want to wake her, he slept in the guest bedroom and the next morning left early to check on some leads he had to follow up for their case. Later that morning, he called Brennan and invited her to go with him to do some interviews and she accepted.

As they worked the case that day, both avoided talking about the Christmas holiday and finally cracked the case. Because she hadn't seen her father in a while, Brennan drove up to the prison for a visit. Once she was there, she knew she had made a mistake because her father wanted to celebrate Christmas with her and Booth. She had told him about the dig and he seemed to take the news poorly. Angry that everyone was trying to make her feel guilty about a holiday she despised, Brennan made up her mind and decided to go on the dig. After she returned home, she found Booth in the living room decorating a small tree. His tree one more poke at an open wound, Brennan informed Booth of her plans and surprisingly, he smiled at her and accepted her news.

"I hope you find what you're looking for Bones." Booth had decided that he was going to celebrate Christmas and no one was going to make him feel guilty doing it. If no one wanted to spend the holiday with him then it was their loss. He was going to enjoy the holiday no matter what happened. "I'll miss you of course, but I want you to be happy, so I'll see you when you get back. I'll be right here waiting for you."

So pleased to hear Booth's words, Brennan hugged him and kissed him. "Thank you for understanding Booth. The dig is important and it's possible that this dig could change history. Three skeletons have been found at the site and they need me to help identify the remains."

Her excitement told him that he was making the right decision, by letting her go without a fight. "That's great. I'll look forward to reading about it one of your squinty magazines." Kissing her once more, he turned back to his tree and continued to decorate it. "Make sure you call me every day and let me know how you're doing."

Relieved that Booth was being so kind and understanding to her, Brennan smiled. "I will." His tree was well formed and the decorations were pretty. "I like your tree."

"Thanks Bones." Booth placed the Angel on top and stood back to admire it. "Some of the decorations belonged to my mother. They belonged to her mother so they're kind of old, but I love them."

Ooooooooooooooooooo

On Christmas Eve, Brennan took a cab to the airport while Booth went to his office to finish up his paper work. He needed to finish it before he took off for Christmas and he knew he could wrap it up in a few hours. While he was working diligently, he was almost finished when a policeman escorted his son into his office. Torn with the idea that his little boy had run away from home to be with him, Booth explained to Parker that he could never run away like that again. It was too dangerous, but he also praised him for finding a policeman to help him find his father. He admired the ingenuity of his small son and was secretly pleased that his boy was so resourceful.

After a call was made to his very angry ex, Booth was surprised that Rebecca relented and let Parker stay with him for Christmas. Booth pledged to drive the boy up to Connecticut the day after Christmas and Rebecca said that was fine although she meant to have a long talk with her son when she saw him.

Now that he wasn't alone for the holiday, Booth's mood was suddenly buoyed and while Parker had a Coke and a snack, Booth finished his paper work and they left. Before he went home, Booth drove up to the prison where Max and Russ were and carried in a small cake with Parker closely walking behind him. The guards usually didn't allow cakes to be brought in, but since Booth was an FBI Agent and he allowed them to cut up the cake to make sure he wasn't bringing in contraband he was allowed to bring the cake to the interview room. Once there Booth sat quietly with Parker on his lap while they waited. After a while Max and Russ were brought to the interview room and Booth stood up with Parker to greet them. "Merry Christmas." Booth pointed at the cake. "I brought some chocolate cake. The guards cut it up, but it should still be good."

Puzzled, Max sat down and stared at his daughter's boyfriend. "Where's Tempe?"

Booth shrugged his shoulders and sat back down with Parker once more on his lap. "She has this dig she wanted to go to. It's really important and they needed her. She wouldn't have been happy hanging around here anyway, so why make her stay? She hates Christmas. It's all good." Booth patted his son's knee and smiled. "This is my son, Parker."

"Merry Christmas." Parker was a little nervous around these strange men, but since his father said they were relatives he accepted them. "I picked out the cake."

Max smiled and picked up a piece of cake. "Thank you. That was very thoughtful and Merry Christmas."

Angry that his sister had chosen to be in a foreign country instead of with her family, Russ went to the door and opened it. "This is stupid." Once outside, the guards escorted him away.

Embarrassed that his son had been so rude, Max shook his head. "He's not doing well here."

Since he wasn't that concerned about Russ, Booth reached over, picked up a piece of cake and handed it to his son. "Bones will be back in four weeks. I'm sure she'll come and see you then. She just needs to get away for a while. She's been working hard and stuff has been tough for her for a while. She needs this break."

"Okay, I get it." Max didn't understand at all, but if Booth was okay with it then he supposed everything was as fine as it could be. "Tempe was always stubborn. If she didn't want to do something she'd find a way not to do it. Thank you for bringing the cake. I appreciate it. Thank you Parker."

"You're welcome." Parker spoke around the piece of cake in his mouth. He wasn't sure why the one man had left, but the old man sitting at the table seemed nice. "We're going to watch Christmas movies when we get home and drink egg nog and Dad bought some Christmas cookies and we're going to have fun."

Amused, Max remembered when his children were small and how much fun they had been to be around. "That sounds like a lot of fun." Max winked at Booth. "Sounds like a great Christmas Eve to me."

A genuine smile on his face, Booth agreed. "It would have been great if Bones had stayed, but we'll exchange presents when she comes home. We're okay. Christmas can be rough on people."

His piece of cake finished, Max pointed at the rest of the cake. "You might as well take that home for Parker. Thank you for coming to see me."

"You're welcome."

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Entering the apartment, Booth noticed the lights were on in the living room when they should be off. After he placed the cake down on the table next to the door, he placed Parker behind him and drew his gun. "Whoever is here, you might as well come out. I know you're here."

Stepping out of the bedroom, Brennan held up her hands and laughed. "I knew you'd do that."

Shocked, Booth holstered his gun and rushed over to where Brennan was standing, picked her up and swung her around for a few twirls. Once that was done, she set her down and kissed her. "Why are you here?"

Brennan returned his kiss and replied, "We're family, Booth. Family belongs together during Christmas." She noticed Parker standing near the door and moved away from her boyfriend towards his son. "Parker, Merry Christmas."

Happy to see Brennan. Parker rushed to meet her and hugged her. "Merry Christmas Bones. I'm glad you came back. Dad was sad that you were gone, but he said you had a right to be happy. Now we can all be happy together."

Hugging the child, Brennan kissed his cheek and smiled. "Yes, we can all be happy together." Brennan had changed her mind about leaving Booth during the holidays before she was called to board her flight. She had appreciated that Booth was willing to let her go, but she knew he was unhappy about the situation. Thinking over how much he loved Christmas and how alone he was going to be during his special holiday, Brennan decided that she couldn't go through with the trip. "This holiday is for families and we're a family."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The next day, while Brennan was checking on the roasting vegetables in the oven, Booth and Parker were playing a video game in the living room when a knock on the door sounded. Surprised that they had company on Christmas Day, Booth opened the door and found Sweets in the hall holding a bottle of wine and a wrapped gift. "Is the invitation still good?"

Booth stepped back and called out to Brennan. "Hey Bones, I forgot to mention that I invited Sweets over for diner."

Stepping into the living room, Brennan stared at Sweets with a look of shock on her face. "Really?"

Booth shrugged his shoulders and took the bottle of wine from the younger man. "He's alone and no one should be alone on Christmas Day."

Grateful that Booth had invited him, Sweets smiled. "I see you didn't go on your dig, Dr. Brennan."

Since he was stating the obvious, Brennan shrugged her shoulders. "The dig wasn't that important." Turning she reentered the kitchen to check on the baking ham.

Pointing towards Parker, Booth smiled. "This is my son, Parker. Everyone's plans changed at the last minute, but you're still invited Sweets. The more the merrier."

"Yeah the more the merrier." Parker was curious about the present Sweets was holding, but he knew he'd see what was in the box sooner or later. "Merry Christmas."

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

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