(After 'The Beginning in the End')

Thank you for reviewing my story. It is the only way I can tell if you are still interested in it.

I don't own Bones.

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The boy saw his father, pulled away from the flight attendant and rushed towards Booth. "Dad . . . Daddy." Parker was so excited to see his father. It had been a long month and in all of that time he still feared that his father might be angry with him for moving to England. During several phone calls the boy had apologized and each time his father had told him it wasn't his fault, but he needed to tell his father in person, he needed to make sure. "Dad . . . Dad." His father racing towards him, the boy threw himself at his father and Booth caught him. "Daddy . . . Dad." The child held his arms tightly around Booth while Booth kissed his cheek and told him he loved him.

The flight attendant arrived next to them and turned to stare at Brennan. "I really need to see some ID."

Her eyes filled with tears, Brennan removed Booth's wallet from his pants pocket, found his ID and driver's license and showed the attendant both. "Do you have something I need to sign?" Holding Booth's wallet, Brennan signed off on Parker's transfer while Booth carried his son over to some chairs and sat down.

Holding the boy on his lap, he waited for Parker to stop crying. He knew the boy had been under a lot of pressure and hated that Rebecca couldn't see it. "It's okay, Parker. It's okay." As Brennan sat down next to them, he reached out with his free hand and patted her knee. He appreciated that she was there to support him.

Soon the boy quit crying and Brennan handed him some tissues. After he wiped his eyes and blew his nose, he cleared his throat. "Thanks Bones."

"You're welcome." She took the soggy tissues, threw them in a trash can and sat back down. "We missed you."

"I missed you and Dad too." Parker wriggled and stepped down from Booth's lap. "Mom said I can stay until the third week of August."

Booth smiled. "I know. You get to spend two months with us. I've talked to my friend that owns the cabin and we can go up in three weeks and spend a week."

"Oh boy!" Parker loved that cabin. "Dad, I didn't know I was moving to England. I would have told you."

"I know, Parker. None of this was your fault." Booth placed his hands around the boy's wrists and pulled him between his knees. "Hey, nothing is wrong between us. I love you . . . okay?"

Relieved, Parker smiled. "I love you too, Dad."

Brennan knew that the two needed this reunion and that it would help both of them. It was the distance between them that had frightened them. "Your bedroom is ready for you, Parker. Your great-grandfather is at the house waiting for us. We're going to have a barbecue tomorrow and my father and your Uncle Jared plan to come."

Excited, Parker jumped up and down using his father's knees to balance. "Oh boy. I missed Pops."

"And he missed you, Sport." Booth moved the boy away and stood up. "Okay, let's get your bags and go home."

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Hank was waiting for the boy in the open doorway, when his great-grandson rushed up the sidewalk to the house. "Hey there Parker." He held out his open arms and waited for the boy to hug him.

Remembering his father's caution about his grandfather being frailer than normal, the boy stopped and was careful how he placed his arms around the man's hips. "I missed you, Pops . . . Dad and Bones said we're having a barbecue tomorrow."

"We are." Hank smiled at Booth as he stopped in front of the door, his hands filled with luggage. "Come on, let's go into the kitchen and have some ice cream."

"Hey now." Booth followed the boy in to the house, Brennan following behind him with her hands filled with grocery sacks. "We're going to start lunch in an hour."

Hank glanced back at his grandson. "A small bowl of ice cream won't hurt anyone, Shrimp." Moving into the kitchen with Parker in tow, Hank shook his head.

Glancing at Brennan, Booth rolled his eyes. "He forgets how many times he told me when I was a kid that I couldn't eat junk food before lunch."

Amused, Brennan laughed. "Or how many times I have told you the same thing in the past year."

"Yeah, yeah. You know I only eat a spoon or two to tide me over." Booth tried to hide his smile, but failed. "My boy does like ice cream just like his old man." He was proud of his son. The boy rarely gave him or Rebecca any trouble. When he did, it was just because he had so much energy to burn, he couldn't contain it all. "A small bowl of ice cream won't hurt him I guess."

Carrying her sacks into the kitchen while Booth carried Parker's luggage into his bedroom, Brennan stopped in the doorway. "Small bowls, Parker. You know your father is going to fuss if he sees those soup bowls."

Reluctantly, the boy placed them back in the cabinet and pulled out some smaller dessert bowls. Placing them down on the counter, he hopped off the step stool, folded it and carried it over to the pantry. "I'm hungry."

"Lunch will be ready in about one hour." Brennan heard Hank mutter as she placed her grocery sacks on the counter.

"Party pooper."

She decided to ignore the old man. She knew he didn't mean any harm and she was right about the size of the bowls. Booth might like dessert, but he was a great believer in eating meals in proper order. She also knew that he was sensitive to Rebecca's accusations that he didn't feed their son properly. Brennan knew that wasn't true, but Rebecca assumed a lot and Brennan found that to be unreasonable and very annoying.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Lunch was a success and after the dish washer was loaded, Brennan leaned closer to Booth and whispered in his ear. "Are you going to talk to Parker now or later?"

Booth glanced at the empty doorway and pulled Brennan into his arms. His lips near her ear, he spoke quietly. "I'll go talk to him now. Do you want to be there? It's alright if you do."

"I think you should speak to him by yourself. He might be more inclined to tell you the truth if you're alone. I don't want him to feel pressured in anyway." Before Parker had arrived, Brennan had brought up something that Booth hadn't considered. "What if Parker doesn't want to live in England with his mother? As far as I know, no one has asked him what he wants."

Booth had realized that Brennan was right. He had been so angry with Rebecca and Rebecca was so busy moving into her new job that neither had considered what Parker really wanted. He wanted his son to live with his mother, but not if the boy hated the idea. He wanted Parker to be happy, but he was afraid that might not be possible when it came to his parents. Booth was going to let the boy decide the next move when it came to living arrangements.

He lowered his head and kissed her neck. "You are going to be a great Mom someday." They had been trying to have a baby for the last month, but so far nothing was happening. Neither was discouraged. Brennan was confident it was just a matter of time since Booth was so fertile and she was healthy and Booth was willing to try as much as possible.

"Thank you. I hope you're right." She worried that she might not be able to bond with their child once it was born. Booth had told her many times she had nothing to worry about, but that fear never seemed to go away. "Go talk to Parker."

He moved his head so his lips covered hers. Once they had satisfied their need for an intimate moment, they both separated. "I like kissing you."

Her smile bright, Brennan pushed Booth away. "Go talk to Parker. I believe you're stalling . . . stalling?"

"Yeah, stalling, you got that right . . . and yeah maybe I am." Booth turned and left the room.

Once he was gone, Brennan sat down at the kitchen table to wait. She wanted both Parker and Booth to be happy, but she wasn't sure that was possible in this situation.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

The boy was in the man cave playing a video game. Booth had consulted with Sweets to determine the latest video games for a boy Parker's age and had bought three the previous weekend.

"Parker." Booth stood at the bottom of the steps. "I'd like you to turn off the game for a little while. I need to talk to you."

His father sounded so serious and that made Parker nervous. "Sure Dad . . . Did I do something wrong?"

"No of course not." Booth sat on the couch next to his son. "Bones and I were talking before you came back and we realized that no one has asked you what you think about what is going on. I want to be fair or as fair as I can be . . . Do you want to live in England with your mother? You don't have to answer the question right away. You can take all the time you need to answer it. And this is very important . . . there is no right or wrong answer. Okay? I want your honest opinion. You think about what you want. Not what I want or what your Mom wants. It's okay to think about you and what you want."

Surprised that his father was asking him for his opinion, Parker turned the game off and placed the control down. "Um . . . well, I'm not sure. I've been thinking about it since Mom took me to England. At first I was really mad at her and . . ." He blushed. Did he have a right to say that he was mad with her?

"It's okay, just tell me what you think." Booth wanted the boy's honesty in this situation. "I'm not going to tell your Mom what you say."

"Okay." Parker started over. "At first I was mad because Mom just put me on a plane and then we were in England. I was scared that you'd be mad at me, but then I talked to you and you said you weren't mad, but I was still mad at her . . . Mom cried you know. I yelled at her and I told her I hated her. I don't hate her, but I was mad because I didn't get to say good-bye to you and I didn't want you to hate me."

He knew that the boy had been under too much pressure. "I was never mad at you Parker and I could never hate you, so just put that out of your mind right now."

The boy nodded his head. "She cried and I felt really bad because I shouldn't have said that I hate her when I don't. I told her I was sorry and she told me she was sorry and she wished she had done stuff differently. She told me she was just worried that you might try to stop her from moving and she thinks that England will change things for her and me. She said she thinks I'll be safer . . . Mom hated the school I was going to, but she couldn't find one she liked. I don't know why she hated it, she liked it last year. Anyway . . . She found this neat school that teaches cool stuff like what the Jeffersonian does during the summer, but all the time. Plus, they do other stuff like they do plays and students are even allowed to write them and if your classmates like them they get to do your play . . . That is so awesome Dad. I didn't know that schools do stuff like that and I kind of like that . . . Anyway, Mom apologized to me about not letting me say goodbye to you and she told me that she wouldn't do that again . . . Mom is a good Mom, Dad . . . like you're a good Dad. I love you both." He stopped since he had been speaking so fast and he was now breathless. He wanted his father to understand what he was saying.

Booth smiled to encourage the boy and waited to see what he would say. His son had obviously had time to see what it was going to be like to live in England and he appeared to be eager to go to his new school.

"I want to live with you Dad, but if I did that Mom would be alone." Parker sighed. He wasn't sure what he wanted, but he knew what he didn't want. "You have Bones and Pops and Grandpa Max and Uncle Jared, but if I live here, Mom wouldn't have anyone to be with her . . . that would be bad, wouldn't it?"

He knew that the boy was trying to tell him that he wanted to live with his mother, but he was afraid to say so. "Yes, it would be bad. If you want to live with your mother then that's okay, Parker. I promise . . . It looks like you thought the whole thing out and it sounds right for you."

Relieved, Parker stood up, leaned over and hugged his father. "I don't want you to be lonely, but Mom would be lonelier and I don't want her to be all alone in England."

Sad for his son and for himself, Booth hugged the boy. "You're a great kid, Parker. I've always said so. You want to live with your Mom and that's okay. We'll visit in the summer and during the holidays."

"Thanks, Dad." Parker was glad his father had asked him. He was glad someone had asked him and he got the chance to explain. He loved his father so much and he loved his mother too. Choosing where to live was a hard decision, but he knew it was the right one for him. His mother needed someone to protect her and he couldn't do it if he wasn't in England with her.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooo

"I talked to Parker, he wants to live with his mother." Booth was disappointed, but he wanted his son to be happy. Grabbing a beer from the fridge, he sat down next to Brennan at the kitchen table. "He said a couple of weird things when I was talking to him. He said that Rebecca thought the move will change things for both her and Parker and that he'll be safer. Also, she hated the school Parker was going to. She loved that school last year, so why the change and what does she mean by safer?"

"Did Parker mention being bullied at the school?" Brennan also found Rebecca's change of heart to be odd.

Booth shook his head. "No. He said he didn't know why she hated the school. I think I should talk to her. My gut tells me that something is going on and I need to know what it is."

"I think so too." Brennan took the bottle of beer from Booth's hand, sipped some of the brew and returned the bottle to him. "Her move to England was quite sudden." She was now starting to wonder why it was so sudden.

"I'm starting to wonder about that too." Booth felt that Rebecca was hiding something and he needed to know what it was.

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