(After the Pain in the Heart)

A/N: I wrote this story arc four weeks before Hurricane Harvey entered Texas and Louisiana.

I don't own Bones.

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They arrived at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas at around two in the afternoon and once they collected their baggage, took a cab to the Omni Houston Hotel. It's west of downtown off of the 610 loop and Parker had been amazed with the roads as the cab took them to their destination. The overpasses were a little intimidating, but since they didn't seem to bother his father and Brennan he decided that he didn't care either.

Once they arrived in their suite, Booth turned on the television to see what the weather was supposed to be like in the area for the rest of the day. A slight chance of rain didn't seem to be too bad and he flipped off the TV. Brennan unpacked her bag and Booth decided to help Parker with his bag before he unpacked his own bag. "Hey sport, need any help?"

Parker had his bag open on the floor near his bed and he had filled the bottom two drawers of his dresser. "No thank you." Closing the now empty bag, he dragged it over to sit next to the dresser. "This room is so cool." He liked the big window in the room and the fact that the room had a television. "Can we go swimming?"

"Not right now." Booth pointed over his shoulder. "I have to unpack and then Bones wants to go to the Galleria Mall. Maybe we can go swimming this evening."

"Cool." Parker loved swimming pools.

Leaving Parker in his room, Booth passed through the small living room and entered the spacious bedroom he was going to share with Brennan. "I hope he's going to be okay. Rebecca usually gets a hotel room suite with two bedrooms when they travel, so he should be okay."

"He should be fine, but we're here if he needs us." Brennan carried her empty luggage over to the closet and placed them inside. "If you don't want to go to the Galleria, we can go somewhere else. I thought Parker might like to go to the Disney Store plus we can go ice skating. I know he loves hockey like you do and he's a fairly good skater."

While Booth unpacked he listened to his girlfriend talk about the mall and the various stores that they might all find interesting. Once he was finished, he placed his empty luggage in the closet next to Brennan's luggage and closed the closet door. "I feel kind of bad that you're paying for this vacation. I want to pay for our meals and maybe next time I'll pay for our vacation."

Brennan knew that Booth felt uncomfortable with the fact that she was rich and he wasn't, but he usually tried not to show it too much. "Well, you did say I could choose where we would vacation this time and since it's my choice then I should pay the expenses. The next vacation, you may choose our destination and you may pay the expenses."

Following her out into the living room, Booth looked around and sighed. "Any place I can afford isn't going to look like this." He wished he could afford to take Brennan on expensive vacations, but he couldn't and that was a fact. "I know a guy that owns a cabin in Pennsylvania. Maybe we can go there this fall for a weekend trip. He says it's on the edge of a state park and it's got some nice hiking trails."

"Oh that sounds very nice." Brennan smiled as she saw Parker enter the living room. "Parker, if you're ready to go, we're going to go to the Galleria Mall. I think you will find it very interesting."

Eager to go ice skating with his father and Brennan, Parker rushed to the door leading out into the hallway and waited. "Is it true they have an ice skating rink at the mall? Mom said they do. Can we really skate?" His mother had told him about the Galleria before he had left for vacation. She had thought he could mention it to his father as someplace to visit during their stay.

"Yes, it's true." Brennan smiled fondly at the boy. He was a delight to be around and she found him to be amusing a lot of the time. "I read about this mall in a travel magazine and it seemed to be an interesting place to visit, at least once while we're here."

Booth made sure the door was closed and locked after they were all in the hallway. "Sounds good to me. If you have other stuff you want to see then just tell us. Parker and I are game for anything." Please don't pick a lot of museums. "Maybe we can rent a car and drive to the Space Center. I've always wanted to see that."

"Me too." Parker loved science fiction movies like his father and he dreamed about being an astronaut.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Brennan had never been to the Space Center and she was looking forward to seeing it with her family.

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The mall had been a hit with the entire family. They had window shopped and when they had found the Disney Store, Parker had talked his father into buying him a set of sheets for his room at their apartment. He had spied 'Cars' sheets and comforters as well as toys, but had felt like he could ask for one thing, he knew his father didn't have a lot of money like his mother did. Brennan had liked several of the toy cars being sold from the 'Cars' franchise and decided to buy them for Parker. She thought they might be suitable gifts for his upcoming birthday. She wanted to make sure she bought something he liked and if he wanted sheets from the movie then logically he would appreciate toys based upon the movie too. She was careful not to let him see her make her purchase and when they left the store, Parker and Booth wanted to know what she had bought. Smugly, she declined. "That is for me to know and for you to discover."

Amused, Booth placed his arms around her shoulders. "Oh I'll discover sooner or later . . . you have to sleep sometime."

"Booth, you may not look in this bag." She had also bought Booth two Disney t-shirts and she wanted to give them to him after they returned home as a surprise. "You must promise me you won't look."

After he kissed her on the cheek, Booth veered her towards the ice skating rink. "I promise not to look and so does Parker."

Disappointed that he wouldn't get to see what Brennan had bought, Parker's attention was soon diverted by the rink. "Cool, Dad. This is so cool."

"It's the ice covering the rink floor that makes the temperature much chillier." Brennan failed to notice Booth struggle not to laugh or Parker roll his eyes. "The rink is not very busy at this moment. We have come at an advantageous time."

"Sounds good to me, Bones." Booth led the way to the rental counter. His little family was going to have some fun on the ice and he was looking forward to it. "Okay everyone, lets get some ice skates and hit the ice."

Once they were on the ice, it didn't take very long for Booth to realize that Brennan didn't really know how to skate. Not willing to embarrass her, he made sure he held her hand or arm while they skated. If she was game to try, he was willing to help her. After a few mishaps where she fell, pulling him down with her, Booth laughed and began to give her a few lessons. Brennan listened carefully and after that she didn't fall anymore. She came close a few times, but Booth was there to keep her upright. Parker enjoyed skating, but kept clear of the adults. He knew if they fell on him he'd be squished. All in all, they had a good time.

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For dinner, they stopped by Piatto Ristorante and found the food to be excellent. Brennan chose the penne melanzane which consisted of grilled egglpant tossed in piatto sauce. Booth spied the pollo involtini on the menu and ordered that. After he explained to Parker that it was a chicken breast stuffed with Romano, Ricotta, Fontina and spinach the boy chose Papa Joe's speciali, a pizza making sure there were no olives on it. After they had finshed eating, Brennan looked at the menu once more and although they were full, Brennan ordered a double layer chocolate mousse cake for each of them to go. She thought it might make a great dessert later after they had had a chance to digest their dinner. Booth salivated at the thought and agreed that the dessert would cap off a great day and if Parker couldn't finish his dessert, well what are father's for?

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Once they were back at their hotel, Booth flipped through 300 channels on the television until he found something that Parker would like to watch and settled the boy on the couch. Brennan was a little restless and stood by the window in the living room and watched a light rain start to come down, hitting the window and making a pinking sound. Booth knew that Brennan hated inactivity, but he also knew that she needed to rest sometime. He felt the vacation would help her recover from a very bad few months. Her father's trial and his being shot had been very stressful on everyone and he was glad they all had a chance to get away from work for awhile.

His arm around her shoulders, Booth looked out at the view and smiled. "This is very nice, Bones. You picked a great hotel. I know we promised Parker we would go swimming this evening, but I guess the rain is going to stop that. It'll be alright though. We still have time to do that tomorrow . . . We needed this Bones. It's been so crazy lately. We need this quiet time."

"I agree, we do." Brennan sighed and thought about how close she had come to losing Booth and then actually losing Zach. "Hopefully our lives will be calmer from now on."

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Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.