(After 'The Change in the Game')

Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooo

"This is cool, Dad. Thanks for bringing me here."

As they entered The Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center, Booth held the door open for Brennan and his son. "Bones is doing research on stuff involving the soldiers that were wounded and died during the Civil War and she wants some pictures to go with her research." There was no way Booth was going to tell his son that the research involved the primitive medical treatments they'd had at the time and the fact that surgeries were not done antiseptically. The patient was given chloroform by the surgeon and then the operation began.

It made Booth's skin crawl just thinking about it. The thought of medical tools not being sterilized, doctors not caring if their hands were washed, dropped surgical tools just dunked in water and wiped off with a sponge made him grateful that he had served in the Army in modern times. From what Brennan had told him, if he'd had to deal with medicine from that time period after he was rescued from the Republican Guard it would have likely meant his feet would have been amputated. Shuddering, Booth moved those dark thoughts to the back of his mind where they needed to stay.

Brennan picked up a park map from the service desk and flipped through it. She noticed it offered suggestions for self-guided Auto Tours and walking trails. Normally she would have liked the walking trail, but her feet were swollen from driving from the District to Gettysburg and she knew that Booth wasn't a big fan of walking for hours. Her man exercised regularly and was in good health, but excessive walking caused his feet to swell. "Booth we can do the self-guided auto tour . . . there is a fee if we want a guided tour that lasts two hours . . . $75."

"$75 . . . that's . . . that's expensive." Booth was starting to worry just how much it was going to cost him to go on this specialized vacation. "But, yeah, okay."

Amused, Brennan smiled at her boyfriend. "Since this is part of my research I plan to pay for the tours, Booth. In this case, you and Parker are my guests."

"Well, if you insist." Booth looked at the brochure and noticed there was a film they could see. "Look, they've got a film we can watch called 'A New Birth of Freedom'. Parker do you want to see it?"

His attention back on his father, Parker nodded his head. "Yes Sir, I sure would."

At $15 for Brennan, $14 for him because he was a military veteran and $10 for Parker, Booth realized that no matter what they did, this vacation was going to be a little more expensive than he had counted on. We should have gone back to the cabin. That was free.

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

The tour of the museum had been interesting and once they were on the tour of the cemetery, Brennan had been able to take some great pictures. Afterward they visited the George Spangler Farm Civil War Field Hospital. Brennan had been excited to make that tour since it's the best surviving example of a farm used as a corps field hospital during the Battle of Gettysburg. Amazingly, over 1,900 wounded Union and Confederate soldiers were treated there.

The tour cost $6 for adults and $2 for Parker, which Booth thought was reasonable. There were living historians in authentic dress that demonstrated the trades of that period, which Parker enjoyed. Booth appreciated the patience and kindness the historians displayed when talking to his son. He had been at Civil War reenactments in the past when he was a child and he loved the efforts put into making sure the uniforms and costumes were as close to authentic as possible.

Brennan studied the medical devices that were on display and knew that the doctors at the time had done the best they could under horrendous circumstances. Working on badly injured patients, hundreds more waiting for their attention with little time to rest, making life and death decisions for hours at a time. Their working conditions were brutal and she was sure that by the end of their nightmarish time in the barn, most of them has suffered from PTSD.

There were a few unknown Civil War era bones in Bones Storage. The damage done by mini bullets on human bodies had been catastrophic during that particular war. Most limbs shattered when hit by them which forced field physicians to amputate the damaged limbs. She had come up with the idea of doing a research paper about the wounds while identifying the bones belonging to a young Union soldier. The young man had been seventeen years old and Brennan knew that he had died in agony. Alone, in Bones storage she had wept for the loss of such a young life and the terrible way he had died. She suspected her pregnancy had caused the emotional outburst, but in the end, she felt no shame in crying.

Their day complete, Booth drove them over to the '1863 Inn of Gettysburg'. Brennan had researched the local inns and hotels and had chosen that one because it was within walking distance to museums and several restaurants. Parker was thrilled when he found out there was a pool.

Because Parker was too young to stay in a hotel room by himself, Brennan had rented a room with two queen size beds. The rooms were comfortable and their particular room overlooked the pool. "Dad, can we go swimming, please?"

Staring down at the pool from their window, Booth smiled. "Well, we need to go eat dinner first, but I don't see why we can't go when we come back."

"Oh boy." Parker loved swimming pools and swam whenever he got the chance.

Brennan helped Booth unpack their bags while Parker watched television. "I was able to get some very detailed pictures of the surgical equipment used at the George Spangler Farm. They will help augment my research paper . . . If you'd like we can skip going to Antietam and Manassas if you'd like. I feel that I have sufficient pictures to go along with my article. If there is somewhere else you'd like to go, we can change our plans. It's not too late."

Listening to Brennan talking to his father, Parker turned from the television and interrupted them. "If I get a vote I'd like to go to Antietam. It was fun today and maybe we can see more cool stuff there . . . please." He looked at his father with a begging look which made Booth laugh.

"Alright, Sport. I don't see why we can't go see some more Civil War sites." Booth placed Parker's shirts and pants in the dresser and closed the drawer. "I think Bones wants to go to some museums around here tomorrow, so maybe we'll see some cool stuff there."

"Neat." Parker turned back towards the television. "Don't forget you said we can go swimming after dinner."

Brennan held up her new bathing suit for Booth to see. "We won't Parker." A low whistle from Booth showed her that he appreciated the suit. It was a modest swimsuit by popular standards, but it was sexy enough for her mate.

Staring at the black one piece suit, Booth appreciated the fact that anyone seeing her baby bump would probably leave her alone. It irritated the hell out of him when men made passes at his partner and hopefully being pregnant would cut down on some of that nonsense.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

The evening had ended on a quiet note. After swimming in the pool for a couple of hours, the little family retired to their hotel room and watched a baseball game on television. Luckily for Booth, it was a Phillies game. Keeping the television volume low, Booth didn't want to wake the now sleeping Parker who was lying on the other bed. Brennan was leaning against the headboard and was writing up notes about her visits to the museum and cemetery. "I think I will get my pictures processed by Angela when we go home. I am quite pleased that I was able to take pictures of the medical equipment. I'm glad we came on this trip."

Booth turned his head and smiled at Brennan. "That sounds great . . . are you comfortable? I can get more pillows from housekeeping." Booth was aware that sometimes Brennan was uncomfortable lying down and extra pillows helped.

"No, I'm fine." Brennan placed her notebook down on her lap. "I know it will become harder to find a comfortable position to sleep as my pregnancy progresses, but so far it is just mild discomfort and the extra pillows I took from Parker's bed will suffice."

The Phillies scored which caught Booth's attention. "Alright . . . I wish I'd bought some beer for the fridge. I'll think about that tomorrow." He loved nothing better than watching a game and drinking beer . . . well there were a few things he liked better, but that wasn't going to happen with Parker in the same room. "Are you having fun, Bones?" He had wanted to do what she wanted for vacation since the cabin had been his idea the last time they went on vacation. "If you want to do something special, you let me know."

"I will." Brennan reached out and grasped Booth's hand. "So far, this vacation has been excellent and it was what I was hoping for . . . If you want to do anything special, you let me know. It's your vacation too."

Pulling her hand up to his lips, he kissed it. "I love you Bones."

"I know. I love you too."

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

Kind of a quiet chapter.