Inaugural Feast
It was 7:30 a.m. Having tied her belt, rubber her eyes, and finished off her coffee, Christine Booth frowned in frustration at the body before her. It wasn't a puzzling set of remains, and she wasn't in the Jeffersonian Medico-Legal Lab. It was merely an Organic Butterball turkey in her own kitchen. Nevertheless, the challenge she faced was just as important as discerning what had caused the death of their team's latest crime victim. It was preparing her first Christmas dinner for the Booth-Brennan clan. (She would have chuckled to herself about the similarity between her current aggravated musings and her mother's long ago analysis of a turkey's demise after hosting a dinner party for Booth, Angela, Hodgins, and Hannah Burley at one of the guests urging.) Christine had thought an 18-lb bird would provide ample meat for her family, but she swore she'd never again purchase a turkey this heavy. Placing it in the large roasting pan would've been fairly simple, but the task of wrestling this fowl into the Reynold's Brown-In Bag Angela had recommended was another matter indeed.
She had already spilled, splattered, and sprayed water all over her kitchen while rinsing off Tom Turkey, and cut her finger slicing the carrots, celery, and onions to place inside and around the bird to enhance its flavor. Now she realized she'd forgotten to turn on and pre-heat her oven. So she set the temperature, poured herself a cup of coffee, glared at the turkey, and sank into a kitchen chair to wait while the oven heat rose. Nevertheless, Christine was first and foremost her mother's child, and she would never admit her struggles to anyone. Little did she know that Brennan had fretted to Booth over that very subject, remembering her own early efforts learning her way around the kitchen. By the time she had delighted in Carly's Kitchen nutmeg macaroni and cheese recipe, Temperance Brennan had become an accomplished cook. But an adolescence spent in foster care lacked the loving culinary lessons Christine Brennan would have imparted amid laughter and hugs.
Glancing at her phone, Christine finished her coffee, rose to check the oven temperature, and prepared to do battle with the heavy pan and its occupant. Andrew was spending this holiday with his parents in West Virginia because his grandmother's health was declining. Despite her assuring him she could handle this dinner preparation on her own, she secretly regretted doing so, and missed not only his warm presence, but his strong able arms. As she hoisted the roaster into the oven, she knew he could have accomplished this task with ease.
Once the turkey was safely stowed in the oven, Christine set the kitchen timer, her phone, and her 'happy egg' buzzer for several hours hence, and walked to her bedroom to dress for the day….after a catnap.