(The Boy with the Answer)

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I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

The next day, the family decided to spend the day at the lake. Booth and Brennan made a stack of sandwiches, some baggies of sliced apples and oranges and placed them in a cooler along with baggies filled with peanut butter cookies and double stuffed Oreos. They also added serval bottles of water and two bottles of beer. The couple carried the cooler down to the lake while Parker skipped ahead of them on the trail carrying several large towels. Once they arrived at the lake, they placed the cooler under the pavilion along with the towels and decided to go swimming.

Once Brennan was out of her t-shirt and shorts exposing her swimsuit, Booth found it hard to keep his gaze from her body. She was so beautiful and he never grew tired of looking at her gorgeous hour shape figure and lovely long legs. Of course, once he was out of his shirt and shorts leaving him in his swimsuit, Brennan found her attention focused on her boyfriend's body too. Both kept in shape and they were proud of how they looked. They enjoyed an active lifestyle and that included a healthy sex life.

Eager to go swimming, Parker stripped off his shorts only to find his swimsuit down past his hips. Embarrassed, he grabbed the waist and shouted. "Don't look."

Amused, Booth laughed. "Parker I've seen you naked since you were a baby. Who do you think changed your diapers, huh?"

His cheeks a rosy color, the boy made sure the string was tied in his suit to keep it from falling again. "Well, Bones hasn't seen me naked." Marching down to the lake's edge, he waded into the water and decided to practice swimming parallel to the shore.

Brennan turned her gaze upon the boy as he swam in front of them. "He shouldn't worry about anyone seeing his glutinous maximus. Everyone has one."

Since he didn't believe in public nudity, Booth understood Parker's embarrassment. "He's a kid. No youngster wants anyone to see them naked. It's a kid thing." And a me thing, but we're not going to get into that right now thank you very much.

"I don't think I cared about nudity when I was a child." She felt that too many people were self-conscious about their body. "It doesn't matter what your body looks like. Everyone should be comfortable in their skin. Of course, they should try to stay healthy and exercise when they can, but most people are not perfect, so they should be happy with what they have." She still remembered the want-to-be actress in Hollywood that'd had so many plastic surgeries that her self-identity had been wiped away. She had erased herself and Brennan could never understand that. No one should feel so bad about themselves that they feel compelled to erase who they are to become someone they weren't. "I hope Parker loves himself. That is very important."

Surprised, Booth moved closer to his girlfriend and kissed her gently on the lips. "Thank you for worrying about Parker, but he's fine. He's just a little boy and he doesn't want anyone to see him naked that's all."

She returned his kiss, stepped past him and started to run towards the lake. "The last person to the lake is a rotten ovum."

Dashing after her, Booth arrived at the lake behind his girlfriend and waded in behind her. "You cheated and what the hell is an ovum?"

Her rich laughter echoing off the water that was surrounding her, Brennan stood her ground and jabbed a finger in his chest. "I do not cheat and an ovum is an egg of course."

Booth picked her up and placed her on his shoulder which caused her to scream. "Put me down. Put me down Booth."

"Fine." He slipped her over his shoulder and heard her hit the water. Turning, he saw her spluttering and wiping the water from her eyes. "You did tell me to put you down."

Not amused, Brennan launched herself at her partner knocking him back into the water. Spluttering he shook his head and decided this was getting too rough. "Okay, Pax." He stood up and watched Parker treading water near them. "Want to dive?"

"Oh boy, yes." Parker waited for his father to come near him, lift him up and throw him in the water. Breaking the surface, Parker laughed. "Do it again Dad."

Happy to comply, Booth picked his son up and tossed him away from him into a deeper part of the lake. He ended up doing it several times until he felt a twinge in his lower back. "Okay now, let your old man swim some." Parker laughed and moved back to the shore so he could get a bottle of water.

Booth swam a leisurely pace out towards the center of the small lake, joined by Brennan. Adjusting his pace, he swam beside his girlfriend for a few minutes then stopped when he thought they were near the center. Brennan swam a few feet further, stopped and returned to her boyfriend's side. "Why did you stop?" She swam closer and placed her arms around his neck. "Are you tired?"

"Nah, I don't want to get out of sight of Parker." Booth glanced back at the shore and saw his son wading in the water drinking from a bottle of water. "I don't want to temp him to try and follow us. He's not a very good swimmer, at least not yet. He loves swimming though, so it won't be long before he gets the hang of it."

Her gaze upon her boyfriend's face, when he turned to look at her, she kissed him. "He does like to dive."

He hadn't want to bring it up, but since they were alone and Parker couldn't hear them, Booth decided to speak while he could. "You had a bad dream last night. I tried to wake you up, but you wouldn't, so I held you until you stopped crying. Do you remember the dream? Do you want to talk about it?"

She remembered the dream, but wasn't sure if she wanted to relive it at the moment. "Not out here. Maybe this evening . . . Let's go back to the pavilion. I'd like a drink."

"Sure." Moving away from her, Booth turned to face shore and started to swim back with Brennan following.

Oooooooooooooooo

Under the pavilion, Booth gave Parker a sandwich along with Brennan while Parker passed a bottle of water to the adults. While they ate, Booth watched a few ducks land in the water where Parker had been playing earlier. "Look Parker, ducks."

Turning, the boy watched the canvasbacks while he ate his sandwich. "They're kind of pretty." The birds moved through some of the tall grasses in the water and picked off a few frogs sitting on a barely submerged log.

Brennan watched them for a few minutes then moved over to the cooler and extracted one of the bottles of beer from the icy water. Holding up the other one, she watched Booth nod his head and she brought the second one to him. As they drank their beer and ate their sandwiches, they sat next to each other, their legs touching. The sound of the ducks, the squirrels and woodpeckers in the distance made for a pleasant atmosphere and Booth enjoyed it. "I don't miss the sound of cars and trucks. It's nice out here."

In agreement, Brennan nodded her head. "I find the noise in the city can be quite loud sometimes, but where we live it is much quieter than where my apartment was. The trees and the fence help suppress some of the noise."

Finished with his sandwich, Parker placed his baggy and empty bottle back in the cooler. "Can I go swimming?"

Booth shook his head. "Nope, you just ate. I was thinking we could go back to the cabin and play some basketball or maybe some baseball."

Disappointed, Parker sighed. "Okay . . . can we swim tomorrow?"

Reaching his hand down towards Brennan, he helped her stand. "You sure do like swimming." Booth was beginning to wonder if his boy had been born with gills. "Maybe we should go fishing instead. Mix up our fun a little. "

"Cool." Parker loved fishing almost as much as swimming. "Maybe we can catch a big fish and cook it tomorrow on the grill."

Brennan scrunched her nose. "Don't expect me to clean it or eat it." She didn't eat meat and that included aquatic creatures.

"Not a problem, Bones." Booth kissed her. "I'll take care of everything if we catch anything." He enjoyed kissing his partner and when he could he tried to get as many as possible.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

That evening, while lying in bed, Brennan lay in the crook of Booth's shoulder and brought up the dream from the previous evening. "Sometimes I dream about your kidnapping. I see you on the boat as our helicopter comes near you and . . . and you're standing on the deck waving your arms and I'm so happy to see you and . . ." She swallowed, tears forming in her eyes. "And the ship blows up and you disappear." That nightmare had haunted her dreams for weeks after her boyfriend had been rescued and during that time, she always claimed not to remember her dream. The thought of losing Booth was too horrible to bear and talking about it would have made it worse. The dark dreams had faded away only to return with the Gravedigger trial and she hated it. "I know that isn't what happened, but it could have happened so easily. Just a few minutes late would have been all it took."

He heard her sob and he knew this was why Brennan had taken the Gravedigger trial so hard. Taffet had tried to make Brennan doubt herself and it had partly worked. He knew he would be so glad when that bitch was dead. "Bones, I'm so sorry." He held her while she cried. He let her weep knowing that she needed the emotional release. The trial had been onerous on all of them and Brennan needed to put it behind her as soon as she could.

Eventually she quit crying, removed some tissues from the box on the nightstand next to the bed and wiped her wet cheeks dry. "I know it's silly to cry about something that didn't happen, but the dream seems so real."

"Hey, it's not silly." Booth suffered from nightmares himself and he knew just how vivid they could be. "We don't have control over what we dream, so how can it be silly? . . . The Gravedigger trial was rough on you. She did her damnedest to shake you up, but you were rock solid during the trial. That bitch tried to shake all of us up, but she failed. She was found guilty and she's going to die for what she did. You just need to give your mind time to catch up with reality. You're going to be okay, I promise."

His words helped calm her and she appreciated the strength behind them. "Yes, you're right. She did fail and she won't be able to kill or hurt anyone else." Much calmer, she closed her eyes. "Hold me."

"I am." Booth knew she was tired and he would pray that she had a good night's rest. "Always."

Oooooooooooooooooo

The next few days were filled with activities in the lake or in the backyard and time was found for hikes through the forest. The days flew by so fast that Parker realized that they would be going home the next day. "Gosh, I wish we could stay longer."

"I wish we could too, Bud, but me and Bones have to go back to work and your Mom is expecting you home tomorrow night."

Brennan stepped out onto the back porch with a tray in her hand. On the tray were three glasses of tea and a plate of fresh baked brownies. "Since this is our last day, I think we should celebrate with brownies."

Eager for the taste of chocolate, Booth stood up, took the tray from Brennan and placed it on an overturned milk crate that they had been using as a table. It was lower than the lawn chairs, but at least it wasn't on the floor. "Oh wow, thanks Bones." He grabbed a brownie from the plate, took a big bite and closed his eyes. Savoring the flavors, he finally swallowed. "God that is so good."

Not to be left out, Parker lifted a brownie from the plate and gobbled it down, grabbing another. "Thanks Bones." He loved brownies and he loved Brennan's brownies the best since she made them chewie. After he ate the second one, he tried to grab a third brownie, but his father placed his hand on his son's shoulder. "Hold it. Two is enough for now. Drink some tea."

Reluctantly, the boy picked up the glass and took a sip. "You're the best brownie maker, Bones."

Flattered, Brennan smiled as she nibbled the corner of a brownie. "Thank you." Her gaze moving out to the backyard, she thought of the possibility of buying a cabin on a piece of land like the one she was standing on. It was nice to have a retreat. On the other hand, it had been a struggle to buy a house for her and Booth and a cabin would probably cause more problems between them than it was worth. "This place is nice. I've enjoyed the peace."

Booth was glad that everyone had had a great time. "Yeah . . . this has been a pretty good vacation. I'm glad we came." The call of a blue jay broke the peace. "I think he'll be happy when we leave. He's been telling us off ever since we showed up." The blue jay left the branch he had been perched on and swooped over to the picnic table. "I guess we need to pack. We have to leave in the morning . . . Maybe we can come back someday."

"That would be nice." Brennan watched the blue jay leave the table and fly up and land on the basketball hoop. "Perhaps we can bring a bag of birdseed and set up a feeder while we're here."

Amused, Booth winked at Parker. "Sure we can. Of course, there won't be anyone here to refill it once we go home."

"That doesn't matter." Brennan didn't see a problem. "We can fill it while we are here. I'd like to see how many types of birds would show up. I may take some pictures for Hodgins."

Parker picked up the plate of brownies. "I'll take these back into the kitchen." As he stepped into the cabin, he grabbed a brownie from the plate and ate it. He knew his father would notice, but since it would be in his stomach would that really matter?

Oooooooooooooooooooo

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